It's Icky Out

Just saying.....it has been raining all day and the temp is near 40 degrees (thank goodness).  Hopefully, this will help the farmers out (and the rivers).  Have a great day!

Headache

I had a cortisone shot in my knee yesterday.  Woke up at 5 AM with the mother of all headaches.  Is that correlated.  Just saying.....

Celebrating Steve's Bday

We finally did it!  As you know, I was sick on Steve's birthday on December 24, 2012.  I wanted him to go on without me.  He didn't want to.  So we stayed home Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Today, we finally all met (except for a few) at Shang Yuen for the greatest Chinese food in all Des Moines.  Heather's husband wasn't there, nor were Steve's girls, but Amber was there!  Josh's Shelley and Taylor weren't there and Abby's Justin was gone, also.

I always order Shrimp Fried Rice.  The shrimp is so big you have to cut it in half or even thirds.  Yum!   Steve normally orders Hot Braised Pork (as does Josh).  For some reason they were out of pork so they both ordered Hot Braised Chicken.

I'm not sure what the rest ordered, but it was fun watching everyone eat and talk.  Little Aiden was eating with a spoon all by himself.  It was so cute.

What did you all do today?

A Box of Music

One thing I haven't talked about is the box of music Steve brought home from his Mom's.  There's a record there (78 rpm) called Sweet Memories by Floyd Kamerick with Midwest Rangers (Grand Ole Oprey was on the A side).  This record is very old.  The top of the record says 'Winterset, Iowa and by Leonard Austin and Eldon Hope Pub., Co.'  Leonard was a friend of Steve's parents

There are also a whole assortment of songbooks in the box.  With Steve again playing his guitar, they will give him a whole assortment of books to play music from. 

I'm so excited to be surrounded with music again.  Some day when you visit our house, you may happen upon Steve playing his guitar!

These Are The Last Ones

These are from Alyce's birthday party.  She was so excited as you can see in the pictures.





Alyce is patiently waiting while Mom lights the candles.



You can see the smile is starting to appear.


And finally, she looks at Grandma to take the best picture.







Steve has been practicing on his Dad's Gibson, each time until his fingers hurt.  He knows he has to get callouses on his fingers in order to enjoy playing without pain.  Did you know that? That they have to get callouses on their fingers?

Steve tried to teach me basics on the guitar many years ago.  It hurt way too much for me.  I love the sound and look of someone playing the guitar, but I don't like pain.  And my fingers are so little and have very little reach to hit all the keys.  I gave up.

I'm glad I gave up in a way.  If I had learned and then had to give it up due to the bone spurs in my thumb joints, it would be a great heartache. 

Steve's not going to give it up.  He loves music and it brings back great memories of his family playing music!

More of the Same


These are more Thanksgiving pictures.  Above, the kids hide in Kayla's closet, Kat is peaking in. 


Here, Alyce and Cambria are running out (apparently not wanting to be caught)


                                Cambria is excited and blinked as I took the pic.  She's still so cute, though.


                                I'd say Tay is worn out by the kidlets, but I think she was just tired.

The Doors Of My Life

If you read my blog, you know we got new inside and outside doors for the entryway.  It has made a tremendous difference in the warmth in the house.  As long as you shut the door properly, absolutely no air comes in. 

Now I want to get a new door that you can go outside from the living room.  I think we will look at virginia beach doors.  We again need inside and outside doors (or at least an outside one).  The inside door is fine but hard to open and close.

Being married to a carpenter does have its bonuses (when they will get to work).  Right now, with Steve being off, I may start leaving hints to have him get a new outside door and fixing the inside one so it will open easier.

I can't wait to have two sets of doors that I love.

Little Kidlets


Little Aiden, I can't remember what he's pointing at, maybe it's someone in the kitchen.


This is Kat in Kayla's bedroom as I was going around trying to get candid shots.


I love this picture of Cambria, she's playing with Alyce and Aiden.


And, of course, the best friends, Carter and Christian.  When they get together there's usually running involved.

Let's Dream Again

It's been quite a while since I put my thoughts on paper (electronically speaking).  It's funny how your dreams change as you get older (probably cause you grow up somewhat).

Years ago, I just wanted a house big enough for our family, a nice car, healthy kids, and to live long enough to see all my grandchildren be born.  Then I wanted a smaller house (as the kids left the home), a newer car, and healthy kids and grandchildren.

Right now, I wouldn't mind just making plans to rent a beach house somewhere where it's above 75 degrees.  I'd take a couple outfits, a suitcase full of books to read, and a couple 12-packs of Dr. Pepper. 

We'd do the norm, stock up at the local store for breakfasts and lunches and eat out at supper.  That's what we always did when we took the kids on vacation (less expensive that way).  As for now, I think I'll be dreaming in my sleep.

Thanksgiving Pics


Abby so wonderfully gave us her house for our Thanksgiving Dinner.  She has more room than us.  This first pic is Abby and Taylor (posing).


Josh and Carter


Steve and Josh

And Pato.  This is all after we ate, you can tell we were full!

Looking For Help

I walked around on crutches for one day.  Then I went to get a knee immobilizer and walked with that on and used one crutch.  After a few days, I walked with just one crutch, no immobilizer.  Eventually, I bought a cane.

I could walk with the cane and it made my leg feel better, but my hand jiggled a lot on the cane, so it seemed a little scary.  Then, Steve brought me an old platform cane from his Mom's.  It is what I need but the tips of the cane are mostly gone.

This would be so much easier if I had hurt my ankle or foot.  I could get one of those knee walkers at rentakneewalker.com.  Unfortunately it is my knee that was hurt.

I bought a platform cane to try it out.  The platform still isn't that sturdy.  I do better on the crutch.  So I am back on the crutch again.  I don't see the orthopedic doctor for another week.  Bummer.  I do have PT three days this week, hope it will help.


This is a day I was over at Steve's.  Jadah is eating an ice cream cone, Steve is checking a text, and below is Sydney.


Below is a pic of Heather hiding behind something.


Is My Favorite Show On Tonight?

I love the show 'Once Upon A Time'.  It's a show about nursery tales:  Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White (not to mention the Seven Dwarfs), Little Red Riding Hood, etc.

The show is acted by real people and is set in a town where they cannot leave.  It jumps back and forth in time but is really good.  There are  very few shows that I really get attached to.  Chicago Fire is another one.

Then there are the old shows that I get on DVD (no commercials!)  Let's see, there's Mash, Little House On The Prairie, Bones....these are a few of the wonderful things on DVD.

The only thing bad about sitting here watching TV is this disgusting carpet.  If we lived in North Carolina, I'd call carpet cleaners durham nc.  We have so many stains on the carpet, yuck!

Well, it's 7:00 PM now and my favorite show is on, so bye for now!

Latest Pics

Just thought I'd share a few pictures I've taken.


Aiden on the swingset for a short while.


Mikayla decided to swing for a while, too.


Steve giving Abby a few pointers.


Justin, Jordan, and Taylor.

Still on a Crutch

My leg is still painful when I walk without my crutch.  If I use it for a couple days, the pain is light.  I can even walk without the crutch for a short while.  Then the pain comes back with revenge. Sometimes the pain is as bad as it was when I broke my arm.  Back to the crutches.

Steve is in Winterset at his Mom's again.  I think there were two or three rooms left last night.  I can't say envy them the work they are doing.  It's already 6:00 PM and he's still not home.  Maybe he needs a Momentum Vortech Watch.

I have know idea what we're going to have for supper.  Just don't feel good enough to cook.  But, what's knew, I never like to cook anymore.  Steve rarely cooks, once in a while he cooks bacon but, that's pretty much it.


Steve and the Girls

Steve, Amber, Sydney, and Jadah came over to visit for a while.  It was wonderful!  I just love it when they come over.

I showed them the chest of drawers Steve got that used to belong to Cleo and the sewing machine that has to be an antique.  They loved them, too.  I wish I had more of my parents things.  I do have the china closet and buffet, which I will always cherish.

Do you have anything that means a lot to you?

A Surprise for Steve

I got up with the 'scraping razor' feeling in my stomach again, today.  That hasn't happened in a long time.  Plus the normal nausea that I have every morning that I get up early.  So, I did not go to church.  Steve went by himself.

It's 10:46 AM, now, and I feel better.  At least the razor feeling is much less, the nausea is less, too.  I get so tired of having these feelings.  It's not going to stop me from going to Steve's surprise party.  Since we had to cancel his birthday party due to my having the flu (stomach) on his special day, we are making up for it now.

I'm going to have to figure out how to have him here at the right time so we can arrive at Shang Yuen by 5:30 PM.  I've been thinking about him getting ready to go.  I wonder if he'd like a dovo straight razor.  Instead of his throw away ones he uses.

I sure hope my stomach settles down by the time we are supposed to leave.  Prayers would be nice.  I always appreciate it when family and friends send prayers up.  Bless you all.

Time For Bed

I'm watching 'Little House' for the second time so Steve can watch it, too.  We're almost to the end of the story.

Time sure flies when you're having fun, or  atleast, enjoying yourself.  I think Steve is coming down with something as he keeps clearing his throat every once in a while.  It can't be the show, although the ending is pretty sad.

It's funny, I'm also reading a book by Melissa Gilbert, 'Prairie Tale' .  It is her biography which includes her life from birth on.  It is awesome.  A suggested reading by all means.

Back in the Old Days

I just love the Facebook game that's called Words With Friends.  I'm playing it with Abby right now!  You can play across town or across the country.  Sometimes my sisters Jackie and Sue play it with me.  They are both better than me.  Of course, they've played a lot longer than me and know a lot of weird words to play.  Who ever heard of qi?  Abby asked me what it meant after saying, "You and Jackie, what's with the words qi and qis?" I have to admit I don't know what it means.  I guess I better look it up sometime.

Since watching 'Little House on the Prairie', I've been thinking about what it would have been like living back in those days.  Going off to a new state because the government gave you 160 acres of land free.  Cutting down trees to build your family a home, cutting notches in them so they will fit together to create air tight (or nearly air tight) walls.

Then you go hunting for supper and get chased by some wolves, so you end up dropping the game you shot, only to have the wolves follow you home and endanger your livestock.  Not to mention the thought of Indians in the area.  I guess there were hard times for our pioneers. 

Although, it would do you no good if you were a pioneer, click here for San Diego Personal Injury Lawyer.  San Diego is a long ways from home.

Caroline sure had a lot of pluck when it came to being a pioneer woman.  I wouldn't have made it back then, I'm too much a pansy.



Letters Fom Yesteryear

When Steve came home from his Mom's he had a lot of letters Josh had written her when he was in the service.  He is planning on getting them back to Josh.

He told me that he told them to just throw away the ones he wrote his Mom.  I can't believe it.  Why would you throw away a part of history?  Those letters meant something to his Mom, they should mean something to him.

I would love to read them.  As far as I know, they are thrown in with the trash to be taken out.  How sad :(

Healthier Eating

As you know I've dropped from 188 lbs. down to 160 lbs.  That took me approximately a year to do that.  Next came the hard part.  Trying to get below 160.

I've been fluctuating between 158 and 165.  Very frustrating.  I've hit what I call the 'plateau'.  Once I get down to 158 I get so excited.  Then I go and do something stupid like eating pizza.  Just takes two pieces and my weight is up by two pounds.  I'm not kidding.

I'm thinking about getting portion size plates.  What do you think?  Something has to change.  I weighed 103 lbs. when I became pregnant with Heather.  Couldn't gain weight.  When I was in the ninth grade, my Dad used to give me money to pick up a milkshake after school. (I weighed 65 lbs. in the eighth grade.)

Now I can't lose it.  Such a drag.

Saturday Night

Well I've already watched the Premiere of 'Little House on The Prairie', 'Just Like Heaven' (with Reese Witherspoon), and now I'm watching "Criminal Minds'.  I haven't been outside much as it is freezing outside, although I think the wind has calmed a little.

The bad thing about watching TV is the commercials.  I abhor commercials.  You watch about 13 minutes of a show and then pause for 3 or more minutes for who pays for the show to air.  The best thing about watching DVDs is not pausing to watch commercials.

On to the show...

The Drum

Today Steve brought home a few things from his Mom's house.  One thing was a drum that Tom used to play on.  It brings back memories.  Memories of going to Steve's Mom and Dad's and listening to Steve and Bert playing their guitars.  Sometimes Bert would sing, sometimes I would sing along.  Usually I didn't know the words.

A lot of times the kids would play with toys  while they listened to the music.  They always got excited when they knew we were going and Daddy was bringing his guitar.  I just know someday we will have a musical family.  We can record our own music.  How awesome would that be!

Does your family play music or sing?  I know my dream of having my family becoming the next hit parade is just that, a dream.  But sometimes dreams come true!

Brrrrrr

We had a high of 22 degrees today.  And after having 55 degrees or so yesterday, it feels pretty cold.  Sure cutks down on going outside.   As you know, I normally spend a lot of time outside.  I love, love, love the outdoors, especially, the sun.

Today Steve went to his Mom's to help clean out the house.  She is really sad that they are selling it.  She really isn't able to live on her own.  The assisted living center that she lives in is really nice and it is close to where we live (10 miles or so).

I have hopes that she settles in and enjoys living there.

I'm Home Alone Tonight

As I'm not feeling too hot tonight, so I didn't go with Steve to the Bible study.  He's on her own, but I'm not worried about it as he does most of the study anyway.  Time will tell how it goes.

I am nauseated again and my eyes burn (almost feels like pink eye but they aren't pink (or red).  On top of that, my knee is still killing me.  I've been to PT twice, but only once did I actually have PT (the first was mainly being checked out.)

I don't mean to whine, but I just want to be healthy for a while.  Is that too much to ask?  I guess so.  Meanwhile, I've been looking at so many work at home types of jobs.  Steve would really like to have his own business, but, still no idea what.  All I know is when we really figure it out, we will need a microsoft pos system here.

Wouldn't it be great to not have to go outside your home to work?  I think it'd be a blast!

My Angels Are Showing Again

After having many days of having snow cover the grounds around our yard, the snow is finally melting.  I am so excited.  Of course we had ice all over the driveway that up until today, was solid.  Finally, it is breaking up, too.

I could see the tops of my angels last night and now they are at least halfway uncovered.  I can hardly wait till they are completely clear again.

Of course, the temps are dropping tonight and will be colder for a few days.  We can't have beautiful weather all the time.  It was in the 50's today and we probably see that for a while.  How's the weather your way?

Time with Kayla and Aiden

Today Abby had an appointment in the morning, so Steve and I went over to spend time with her kids.  After Abby left, Kayla told me she went to a dental appointment earlier.  I knew Abby was taking the 3 of them to an 8:30 AM appointment (thank you for not asking me to watch them or go with you that early).

After Kayla told me about it she said, "See!" and smiled a big smile and I saw how white her teeth were, sparkling really.  I asked her if Aiden had his teeth cleaned, too.  But she said no. 

We had a fun time with the kids.  They had the most fun pressing their new toothbrushes onto the baby wipes container (they had suction cups on the bottom of the toothbrushes).  Then they would pull the brushes back and it would pop the baby wipes container open.  They'd laugh every time.  It made me laugh when they laughed.  It was almost as fun as triangle direct

After lunch and when Abby was back, the kids went down for naps and Abby and I did, too.  I talked Steve into working on his Bible study work while I slept.  It was grand, just didn't last long enough.  After that I dragged myself to the car to drive to Walmart and then on to the Y.  Steve was happy.  It's the first time I've been to the Y in quite a while. 

Tuesday Night

Last night Steve and I were at Steve II's for our weekly Bible study.  We had just started watching the DVD portion of the study when my phone rang.

It was Abby.  She wanted me to know they were taking Aiden to the hospital.  He was standing on a potty chair that folds down into a stool.  He fell off and hit the back of his head on the wall.  It was bleeding pretty bad so he need to go to the ER.  (These kinds of things always happen after the clinics close.)

Later, before leaving Steve's, Abby called and said he was OK.  PTL!