Nickole's Birthday

Here are a few pictures I swiped from Nickole's First Birthday party. You can see more at Moocrew2

Weekend, Day 1

The day so far... I slept in until almost 7:30! Mr C has been on laundry since he awoke in the wee hours. The next load to go in will be the last load... the sheets I just stripped from the bed.

The front of the house was done fairly well yesterday. The boys swept and mopped and straightened. I dusted this morning, and cleared the drop zone of all the accumulation it snares as people walk by. The day is sunny, the flag is flying. We are nearly ready to do "something". Just haven't figured out what.

After my shower, I had to hunt for jeans. Finally found one of my 3 pair in Dan and Sam's stack. My unmentionables were also not to be found. I finally found one I usually only wear with sweatshirts. I was a bit apprehensive about wearing it with the knit sweater I had laid out. As I went to put the sweater on, my fears were confirmed. The sweater itself has a label sewn in: Sag Harbor. That would be me.

Have a good day~

Worn Out...

I have been running ragged the last few days. While my "very early" new shift hasn't yet started, I am working the new position 5 days a week. (Or will be soon.) (I am working store open thru finishing my assigned tasks for now.)

Today the district manager spent the entire day in our store. He went around and made the observation that our store's reputation as the best kept in the district is slipping. Boss credited the chaos to me having my hours cut so severely for the last 6 weeks or so. There were new displays to set up that should have been completed over a week ago. So my boss asked me to stay all day today and train others to set up the displays. In return, I get to be off tomorrow! I will have all 3 of Tom's days off with him.

We will probably undertake major cleaning again... though with all the smaller "deep cleaning" projects we have done lately, it shouldn't be bad at all. Maybe I will defrost the freezer. Definitely going to clean the laundry room.

I got grand daughter Alana's birthday present yesterday. I need to drop that by sometime this weekend. (Unless you want them to come stay tonite or tomorrow, Jennifer!)

Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Well, that was fast...

I went in at 8:00 for my first day of doing the freight "by myself". (No keys yet, so I don't go in way early.) Tomorrow I go in at 7:30. Took me about 3 hours, and I had a full pallet and a partial pallet. Boss decided that I am NOT going to be the one to continue to set up the sales, nor continue to change the displays. I will ONLY be doing freight, incoming and outgoing. (I didn't do returns today, only the incoming stuff.)

Matthew was fed and dressed when I got in at 11:30. Not sure what he ate, but he is literally bouncing off the walls and furniture. The boys did a fine job with him... without resorting to TV. (I don't turn TV on for him very often. So when he does get to watch, he zombies in no time.)

The boys are now working on their lessons and the day is "normal", though I just got in from work. (Doesn't "feel" like I already worked.)

Whew.

We just had the taxes done. SO glad it is over with. We did it the "painless" way... at a family tax preparer we have used for the last 4 or 5 years.

I am thankful to not have to THINK about doing the taxes, though we were a simple form this year. It took less than 20 minutes, since the place we use has our basic information stored from last year.

I have had to spend HOURS, literally, on the phone with the IRS in years past. One year, our refund failed to show up, failed to show up, failed to show up. Finally, I got a form from the IRS needing "more information". I called them. I was informed that I had put incorrect birth date data on the form. (The form has no place for actual birth dates on them. Not now, not then!)

The woman I spoke to told me the IRS was showing we had submitted information indicating we have used the SAME birthdate for more than one child. She needed the correct information on our childrens' dates of birth. I told her that the date of 06/17/1996 was correct on both children. She tried to tell me it could NOT be correct. I finally asked her if she had ever heard of TWINS?

"Um..... yes. Guess your information was correct after all. We'll get your refund right out to you."

After that, I always added a little * by the boys names and off to the side "*twins".

Scenes from this week

This is Sam, ready to work on his forge.








This is Jaffa, "smiling". He is smiling at the vacuum cleaner hose that one of the boys is threatening to vacuum him with.







Big Brother Ben showing how far the chain maille has progressed.

Ben... he has is a character.

Blog Fodder

I love my kids. I love the way they think.

Daniel just came and asked me why you have to practice eating before you get married.

He was wondering, because he has heard of "rehearsal dinners."

You know, the night before the wedding, the whole party gets together to practice eating. Or something.

Aren't they Grand?

Here are my Grandkids. The three together belong to my Daughter-in-law Seneca. Jade, (wearing the hat) is 13. Amber is 9. Gavin is 3. Gavin belongs to my oldest son, Chris.


Gavin


This is Tyrel. He is 2. He belongs to my daughter, Becky, and her husband, Stephen.


This is Nickole. She will be a year old on the 25th of this month. She belongs to my second son, Bill, and his wife, Glynna.


This darling girl is Kimber. Her brother Tyrel styled her hair with lip ointment, so she looks just like her CowGranny waking up in the morning! Kimber is almost 4 months old! She is Becky and Stephen's daughter


This is Connor. He is my eldest grandson. He and his sister Alana belong to my son Chris. Connor recently had his ninth birthday. (He was laughing as this picture was taken, so he looks a bit hunched over.)



This little lady is Alana. She is six years old, fast approaching seven! Her birthday is March 5th.

A fine looking bunch, aren't they?

So THAT's where they come from!!!

I have noticed that whenever I see a Blue Heron... I have only ever seen them one at a time. Lone birds in ponds and streams. Never in a crowd... not even in pairs.

So... where do baby Blue Herons come from?

I have posed that question several times.

Today, I happened to ask it of the right person. My son Benjamin.

"Where DO baby Blue Herons come from?"

"Duh, Mom! The STORK brings them!"

I'm glad he cleared that up for me. It's a load off my mind.

Like Uncle/ Like Nephew

My Son, Ben and Grandson, Tyrel

Good and Plenty? Or Pepto- Bismal?

This house is several miles down the road that we live on. Interesting, isn't it?
Makes a person wonder, "What were they thinking?"

Stirring Up Dust

I tackled my bedroom today. I have been noticing a "moldy" smell in there. With all the cold weather, with Mr C sick... the bedroom window has remained closed, blinds down, curtains closed. In cleaning my way around the room, I took down the curtains to be washed. Opened the blinds... and discovered the moldy smell. The windows- the actual glass on the windows! had mold growing on it. Yuck!
That has now been taken care of.
It is taking me all day to do the room, since I can only do a portion at a time. Remove things, dust them as I go, wipe surfaces down, vacuum, and mop that section. Then I wait for the floor to dry, so I can move things back. Proceed to the next section. There are LOTS of things to move and dust. Some spots (like under the rolltop desk), I have had to blind vacuum. I have found coins, medicine, and a sealed package of ear plugs sucked up into the vacuum. When the current section of floor is dry, I will be shoving the bed to the far (clean!) side of the room to deal with the inevitable dust bunnies and lost socks that accumulate beneath beds. I should be finishing the entire room in another two or three sections.

Happily, I have NOT found mold growing on the walls behind the furniture, as I did a couple of years ago. This house has smelled moldy to me since we moved into it. I strongly suspect it was a run down wreck that had some cosmetic work done just before we rented it. (Like painting over mold!)

Mr C got me a big bag of Hershey's Kisses for Valentines Day. He said that I should eat them instead of asking him for kisses. I totally copped out of Valentines Day this year. No Cards, Candy, or Cookies for anyone.

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Please be praying for Tom's Aunt Elaine and his family on her side. She was taken off life support yesterday and moved to a hospice. Tom's Mom has gone to Florida to be with her sister.
***
Have a blessed day!

Another Fine day

It has been cloudy and overcast, but at least it isn't snowing, sleeting or dropping any other form of frozen precipitation on my head.
I had to venture out to the grocery store for some very bare necessities. Since I hadn't given supper a thought until I was out, I made a quick decision to do spaghetti. Got a bagged salad cheaper than I could have bought the ingredients to make one, and added a loaf of italian bread to the cart.

I have my voice (mostly) back today. I still sound gruff, but the gunk is breaking up. I felt so bad, I was sure I had a fever... but no. All I could muster up was 97.3*, which is even lower than my usual low by a few tenths of a degree.

I offer apologies to my kids and grandkids... I just did NOT make it out to buy Valentines cards and goodies in a timely manner this year. So No treats and cards in the mail from Us.

Yesterday when I was without my voice, my youngest grandson, Tyrel, called me. Ben had to answer the phone, and since Ty is only two and a half, he didn't understand why I was saying I couldn't talk to him. So Ben gave me the phone. My best shout came out as a whisper. Tyrel lowered his voice and whispered back to me! He calls me CowGranny. After a few minutes of whispering, he asked to speak to "Cow-Umpaw". Tom is Tyrel's "Grumpaw". Too cute for buttons!

Hope you have a wonderful day. I have pictures up at Winter Follies!

Big Snowman!

Daniel built two huge snowballs to make this snowman.

Sam and Ben helped stack them up.




Mr Snowman is over 7'5". But I think he is a little too plump to play basketball.

Here is Daniel with the finished snowman.

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This is a drawing of my eldest son and his three biological children. It was drawn in pencil and ink on an envelope, from individual pictures of the four of them. The artist is really talented, I believe! It was drawn by an acquaintance of my son.

Chris, Alana, Gavin, and Connor.

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Mr C actually got up and went to work today! I don't know if he will last all day, as he is pretty weak. But he seems to be feeling much better. My sore throat and bronchial congestion has settled in my larynx. One of the favorite places for the Cruds to settle in me. I have NO voice. My whisper isn't whispery and yelling makes me sound like the Giant in Jack and the Beanstalk. Yelling also sets me coughing. I don't have any fever at all. Normally, I run at 97.7*. I got all the way up to 98.2 yesterday... and the medical profession doesn't see that even as a low grade fever, since "normal" is 98.6*.

May you have a great day! Look for a blessing in it!

Pictures

These pictures were taken around our yard yesterday morning. Then it continued to snow all day.
















I am liking high speed internet! I can upload pictures in a matter of minutes, as opposed to a single picture taking 45 minutes to an hour to upload... and that was with making it a lower quality picture first!

And after seeing THIS movie listing... Tom and the boys just had to watch the movie.

[Movie, Science Fiction. (1960) Michael Rennie, Jill St. John. A British professor, a playboy and a rich woman in pink pants see lava and dinosaurs in the Amazon.]

You know what?... the woman in pink pants kept them clean during the whole movie! The male characters were filthy, sweating, grime faced. The woman didn't even have a speck of dirt on her butt after edging along a narrow trail on the side of a cliff, over a magma river, hiney to the wall!

Maybe that is explained on one of the channels we didn't watch: The Unexplained. She also kept her Sexy Hollywood Hair.
**************

Mr C began feeling better yesterday afternoon! He did have a rough night. Pneumonia makes a person cough. A lot. He sounds like a seal on the beach: bark, bark, bark. I'm sure getting more antibiotics into him is going to turn the tide. Smart doctor, kept the course of antibiotics short. Just five days. Some people are notorious for stopping the antibiotic as soon as they feel better.

I learned yesterday that one of Mr C's sisters is also recovering from pneumonia in Idaho.
His Mom is preparing to travel to Florida on Wednesday, to look after her sick sister, Elaine. Mr C's Aunt went to bed not feeling well, and didn't wake up. For two full days, she "slept". No water, food, or potty. Her DH was just going to "let her sleep". One of her grandkids intervened and convinced Elaine's husband to call an ambulance.
The doctors have her on IV's for dehydration, but don't yet know whether she had a brain seizure, a stroke, or what. They found a bladder infection. She did correct the doctor calling her by her first name- she has always gone by her middle name. Other than that, she hasn't done much talking. Mr C's Mom wants to be sure her sister gets adequate care once she is released. Prayers are appreciated for Elaine!

Hope you have a sunny, snow melting, wonderful day!

Update:

We got back from the doctor. They tested him for flu and swine flu... the Swine flu was not conclusive, but could not be ruled out. He was diagnosed with "Flu accompanied by Pneumonia". He was give antibiotics and some stuff for his coughing. The cough stuff had hydrocodone in it, which hit him on the way home. He is trying for a nap.
Doc expects he can return to work Wednesday... but allowed that Tom could postpone that if necessary. I will be glad when he is feeling better!

Global warming strikes again

We got another 2" of snow/sleet overnight last night. We still had snow from the last snowfall on the ground, though we were beginning to be able to see patches of earth here and there. It is supposed to snow all day today and the 'early overnight'. (We are classified as being a SOUTHERN state! )

Mr C was going to allow me to take him to the Doc yesterday. I had intended to take him early- but 'early' he was in an 'improved' cycle. Thinking he was finally better. (This stuff has done this for 2 solid weeks as of tomorrow. High fever, aches, sweats, feel better. Start over. Add in hacking up lungs.) He knew I had promised to cover 2 hours at work in the afternoon. When the sick cycle began again, I tried getting him out the door. He held off until 45 minutes before I had to be at work. So I dropped him off at the ER. I know how those places work. He would be lucky to be in triage by the time I put my 2 hours in, and returned to the ER.

My shift ended, and I was counting down my cash drawer when he called. He was WALKING towards home. (A mere 17 miles away, in damp 40* weather.. with 102* fever.) He got tired of waiting to be seen. By the time I got to him, he had walked about 2 miles.
He had a bad night. Another bad night, I should say. So as soon as the Doc's office opens, I hope to persuade him to go. Before the roads get worse.

Battening down the hatches... again

We are supposed to get another bout of "mixed winter weather" tonight. What fun.
NOT.

Mr C is still sick... he has said I can take him to the doc later this morning. I am rushing him, since I work a couple of hours this afternoon. Working today will put me at the amount of hours my check reflected for the last TWO weeks! And Boss man said he will be calling me in a couple of times this week to do some 'paperwork' (on the computer!) to get me headed to the new position. I will be jumping from 10 hours a week to 25 hours a week. That should help the finances. Plus the early hours will allow me to continue home schooling as usual.

Matt just woke up. time to feeed him and get the show on the road!
Have a good day!

A few pictures

A picture of my cow mug on the window sill... and if you look closely, the window is frozen shut with a layer of heavy frost! This was taken during the cold spell just before Christmas.












Here is my anonymous model showing off the chain maille that he and his brothers have made from a roll of fencing wire. Below is a close up of the anony-Ben-ous model's belt buckle. It is "Starfox". Ben built his own forge from junk. recycled scavenged materials. He then melted down aluminum cans and cast the buckle in a sand mixture. (My kids are SO talented!) They haven't finished the chain maille. It will eventually be closed on the sides and have a head protective hood to go with it.

High Speed Post

This is my first blog on high speed internet. This picture is several days old... but it still looks much the same outside. Except the roads are clear and dry.

Mr C is home sick again today. He came home Thursday afternoon feeling bad. He spent all his days off being miserable. It appears to be the same stuff that laid me up a week or two back, when I stayed in bed pretty much for 2 days.

I'm sorry. I have a very low threshold for whining. Yes I am sorry you are sick. Take some ibuprofen or NyQuil and go back to bed. Do not sit in here telling me to make you feel better.
My kids have mostly already learned that.
Mr C., I don't think ever will.
Future wives of my sons, you will thank me for being the mean Mom. I do what I can do to help the sick feel better... but don't whine to me over things I can do nothing about. Especially if you will not take medicine.

The High Speed internet was installed yesterday. It was late afternoon before it actually came online. By 8 pm, it was down again. I had to call the customer service people (again) this morning. Happily, I have connected with nice people who speak English, and even Non Geek English. They have fixed us right up both times. (When it comes to computers, it is all Geek to me)

I baked a turkey Sunday. This was a big one. Turkey pot pie for supper last night. MMM MM MMM.

Have a great day!