Quiet Time

I'm sitting at the computer, as you can tell.
It's very quiet in the house right now. All of the animals are asleep. Even Alex is sleeping with his little green head tucked under his wing.
The finch chicks still have not peeked out of their nest yet. Mama and Daddy are still sleeping with them at night.
Jerry and Tish are sleeping in anticipation of a busy day at work tomorrow. I can't seem to sleep.
This is a happy home. I look around and see the evidence everywhere. There are little toys scattered around the floor as if, we still had small children. The puppies love to play with their toys. I put them away and they methodically get each one out of the box. Junior makes a little pile of all of his favorites and lays with his head resting on them.Mocha sneaks up on him then quickly snatches one away, the game begins. Back and forth the toy goes as each puppy takes it away from the other while they chase each other madly around the house. then almost at the same time they fall on the floor in exhaustion and go to sleep. I pick them up and place them in the crates for the night.
There is a shredded paper towel laying near the keyboard from Jerry and Alex playing "tug-of-war". After Jerry went to bed and Alex began dozing on his gym. I picked him up and placed him back in his cage for the evening. He mumbled something to me that might have been "night-night" or "thank you".
I enjoy my evenings with my family and my assorted babies. But, I also enjoy this time, when everyone is asleep and safe in their beds and the house is quiet. I have time to reflect on my blessings. I have time to plan my day tomorrow, or I have time to do nothing at all.
When all of your children are grown and on their own, the general idea is that a mother is supposed to be sad and lonely. Or suffer "empty nest". I guess I don't know what that is. After raising four children, it feels kinda right that I have the ability to not have to worry about things any more. I don't have "empty nest" anything.
They also say that marriages fall apart after the children leave. Supposedly that is because the married couple suddenly discover they have nothing in common. I think that also is a bunch of bunk! Jerry and I do have our differing interests, we are different people. We have time to spend doing all the things we never had time to do before. He can finally go fishing any time he wants, tie jigs and flies, play on the computer or do nothing. Unlike the years past when all he had time to do was work to support a larger than average family. I believe he has earned his right to be happy and support him whole-heartedly. I don't think anything has changed between us simply because we fulfilled our parental obligations. I think we now have the opportunity to pursue our separate interests and then discuss in great detail our separate interests. We are no longer obligated to discuss report cards, school supplies, bedtimes, or any other subject that deals with rearing children. We can talk about us!
We will be married 31 years next month. I cannot imagine my life without him. I am 47, that is three quarters of my life with my lifelong love beside me. No, nothing has changed for us, except that maybe we are more sensitive to each others needs, more rspectful of one anothers feelings or maybe we are more comfortable with one another. Maybe our love has just gotten to the point that it is hard to see where one of us stops and the other begins. However it goes. I love him and always will.
I do really enjoy my quiet time alone. It gives me an opportunity to look at my life and realize how incredibly blessed, I really am.
Thank you Lord, for all of my blessings.

Baby Finch Update

The baby finches hatched sometime before Thanksgiving. I am really not sure of the date. We had to listen to them cry for "Mama and Daddy" the whole time Mom was here.
I checked on them over the week-end. They had some wing and tail feathers at that time. I grew hopeful that these two would survive. The last bunch didn't.
Apparantly, "Mama and Daddy" have matured some since the last group of nestlings.
I took a good look at them today when I got home from work.
Both babies are now fully feathered.
My research has led me to believe that they will be emerging from the nest in the near future.
I can't wait to see them in good light.
So far, all I can tell is they don't have any color to their feathers yet. No bright orange checks and their beaks are black.
Both look heathly and fat.
No worries now! I think they are gonna make it!!!!! Yeah!!!!

Christmas Past, Christmas Present, Christmas Future

Christmas Past:
waking up on Christmas morning as a small child, running to the living room to take a peek under the tree, at what Santa left, the odd "new plastic" smell of the sweet new baby doll, the whole house smelling of Grandma's Spice Cake and HOMEMADE Hot Cocoa.
Waking up on Christmas morning to the excited voices of my own 4 children, "Mama, Daddy, WAKE UP, Santa was here!" as if they were surprised that he actually came.
then later in life, colored paper, ribbons and bows covering the floor as my grandchildren rip into the gifts and stockings at Grandma's house and a big family dinner, full bellies and laughter.

Christmas Present:
God's blessings on my life are too numerous to count. I am thankful for all He has provided. I have a good life and a content heart.
My wish would be for ALL of my children to come together to celebrate. I want to cook for them, fill stockings with little surprises and see the joy on their faces as they open the gifts their Dad and I picked out especially for each of them.
I will have Christmas, and even if I can't have my wish, I will have each of them there in my heart and in the memories of Christmases Past.

Christmas Future:
Down the road of life, we can never predict what the future will bring.
I pray for many happy Christmases with the love of my beautiful family surrounding me.

God grant me Peace this Christmas and for those yet to come.Bless my children and grandchildren with an overflowing abundance of happiness and love.

For my family, those close and those far away:
May all of your Christmases, past, present and future, bring you fond memories and a happy heart. I love you, all!!!

Beth's Cake!!!

Mom and Beth, decorating her cake. I think she did a great job. More important she had a really good time doing it! Way to go Beth. You can always take up cake decorating, if the Education thing doesn't work out.LOL!!!

It's Hard to say, "Good-Bye"

What a wonderful week-end!
I just waved "Good-bye" to Mom, Eddy and Beth. They are headed back to Shreveport. We all had such a good time. I got to show off my cooking and Eddy got to eat, and eat and eat.
Mom made Grandma's Spice Cakes. It is a traditional family recipe that my Great-Grandma Wynn used to make. I guess the recipe is at least 100 years old by now. The smell of the Spice Cakes baking brought back some fond childhood memories. It is the scent of happy times at Grandma's house. Licking the batter off the beaters, I felt like a little kid again!
Mom loved it here. Eddy commented on the fact that when he was outside, two cars and a lady walking her dog passed by. This is a peaceful little neighborhood.
Beth got an opportunity to bake and decorate a cake. She really enjoyed it. I sent her cake home with her so she could show off her artistic abilities and so we wouldn't eat any more. Although Weight Watchers doesn't put any restrictions on what you eat. A dark chocolate cake with rich dark chocolate icing and decorated with Buttercream icing is probably not a good thing to keep around.
It's really hard to express the joy I felt this week-end having my family here and being able to cook for them and show them personally how much I love them.
I hope that they all enjoyed their visit as much as Jerry, Tish and I enjoyed having them. I hope that they will return again very soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am having a great Thanksgiving! Mom, Eddy and Beth are here! Geri and Brian came over for lunch and we ALL pigged out on Honey Brined Smoked Turkey, Smoked Ham with Brown Sugar and Pineapple Glaze, My Famous Cornbread Dressing, Sweet Potato Cassarole, Mashed Potatoes, Giblet Gravy, and among other holiday traditional dishes, a brand new favorite recipe.........Fresh Cranberry Salsa. That's right, salsa made with Cranberries. It was great.
After eating ourselves silly, Mom and I sat at the table and just visited. That was nice.
Tish played the Wii with Brian and beat him silly.
The younger crowd took Saul for a walk(drag) while us older folks chilled!
Now all the food is put away, the guys have gone to bed and we are all just winding down to go to bed.

All in all, it has been a wonderful day.

In recognition of the day's meaning, I am going to take just a moment to list those things I am personally thankful for.
I am BLESSED to have a wonderful husband who adores me and treats me like a queen. I have 4 healthy, grown children, 2 gorgeous grandchildren and 2 more on the way. I have a comfortable home, a good job, and enough money to stay content. I have my precious Mom, my sweet step-dad, my great, little sister. I have my brother and step-sister, whom I love dearly and best of all, I have my Salvation and my Faith in God. I have the belief that I am protected and loved by my family and my God.

I have a good life and I am more blessed than many people in this world.

For all that, I AM THANKFUL!!!!

I Love Shopping!

Lots of overtime can be TOO MUCH WORK sometimes. But, it sure is nice to get that paycheck with all the overtime, the raise and $50.00 in Walmart cards. I went shopping today for some of my "company coming" items that I needed. I bought a really nice comforter set for the bed in the "guest room". And I finally got a nice comforter set for my bedroom.
I also got a Wii for the whole family to enjoy! There is even a fishing game on it. Jerry is going to get it all hooked up for me when he gets home from his usual Saturday morning fishing trip.
Tish and I got matching heating pads for those aches and pains from all that overtime we have been putting in. Both of us seem to be having more back pain than usual. Not that my job is all that physical but sitting at a computer all day can make your back hurt too. And lifting babies, getting up and down off the floor all day and spending hours on your feet is not all that easy for an expectant mother.
I still have a lot of work to do. tomorrow we are going to the laundry mat to wash all the winter bed clothes. The heavy blankets and comforters are just a little too much for my machine to handle. She also wants to get all the baby's things washed.
Sunday we are steam cleaning carpets. It has been a little while since I did that last and they definately need sprucing up. Sunday evening, grocery shopping is on the to-do list.
I have to buy stuff to make those cookies for Eddy. I'm afraid he might decide to stay home if I don't have his Oatmeal Raisin Cookies waiting for him when he arrives.LOL.
I hope Mom is prepared to never want to leave, once she gets here.
I am looking forward to seeing my sisters, Beth and Vickie. I can't remember when the last time was that I was so excited about Thanksgiving. I love cooking for and entertaining people I love.
It feels good to be able to get things done that I have been wanting to do. It really feels good to know that the bills are all paid and there is some money left over to have fun with. God is good all the time. Thank you Lord, for family and good times! Thank you for good jobs and all the little blessings I find every day!

Count Down to Thanksgiving!

Only one more week to go until Mom, Eddy and Beth arrive for their first visit to my home! I am so excited. I can't hardly wait. I have a whole weekend of entertainment planned.

Beginning of course with dinner, Wednesday night.

Followed with the whole family thing on Thanksgiving Day. My step-sister and her husband will be here for the Big Dinner, along with Geri and Brian and of course, me, Jerry and Tish. I wish Aaron could be here, but I won't get to see him until Christmas. I would love for Mom to meet her great-grandchildren, but they already have other plans. I guess, it can't all be perfect!

Friday morning is the "all girls" shopping trip. We are going to brave the "Day after Thanksgiving" crowd and have some fun!

Then Saturday, Ashley and her family are coming over for Dinner, so they can meet Aaron's grandparents.

Sunday, Mom and the gang will be headed back to Shreveport. Hopefully with a lot of cool and interesting things to tell about their trip.

I am praying that they will decide, they want to come back to stay!

I love you Mom and I can't wait to have you here so I can treat you like a queen and Beth like a princess.

Oh yeah, I haven't forgotten the home-baked Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for the king!

Showering the Baby!!!!

What a face! She doesn't like this picture because she is making a weird face. However it is a great picture of her round belly. At 7 months, you still can't tell she's pregnant unless she turns sideways.


We went to her Baby Shower yesterday at Ashley's house.

Here are some highlights.





Here is the cake, I made and decorated for her. It is surrounded by candles made from a baby food jar.

The jars were painted with blue and green polka dots, they are tied with blue, baby footprint ribbons and have a tiny blue pacifier hot glued to the center. They were a big hit.




Pictures Of games and some highlights of Tish opening presents. Tish was really happy to see Mrs. Howe who has always been a special friend to her. We both want to thank Ashley and Jenny for such a great party and the sweet baby gifts.

We had such a fun afternoon. Baby showers are great, we were both really tired when we got home. It didn't take me long to go to sleep once we got home.

"More Alex"

Alex surprises me everyday with his intellegience.
He is always coming up with some new behavior or phrase that catches me unaware.
A few nights ago, we were sitting on the couch, watching T.V. after dinner. Alex was perched on my shoulder, preening my hair (a new behavior for him). Tish was sitting on the other end of the couch. Alex climbed off my shoulder onto the back of the couch and made his way toward Tish. She is a little nervous around him (he is a notorious biter) so she moved forward a little bit, out of his reach. She was talking to him, however and she said, "Gimme a kiss!" Expecting his reply to be his usual smooching sound. Alex surprised us all by replying , "Come here!"
Tonight, I decided to offer him a new treat. I know that he loves fresh strawberries. He will pick all the seeds off, eating them one by one before finally nibbling on the fruit itself. Tonight, I offered him a piece of pomgranate. Alex took one look at it and promptly asked, "What's that?" Of course once he tried it, he loved it. I knew he would.
This morning, he woke up with Jerry, and while Jerry was ironing his clothes for the day, Alex walked over to him and waited to be picked up and placed on his play gym. I think that is another breakthrough behavior for him. He normally does not appraoch Jerry to be picked up. And has a tendency to bite, when Jerry tries to pick him up. What a switch!
I have had a Quaker parrot in the past. She was extremely affectionate and loved to be held and cuddled. Alex does not like to be touched other than stepping up to be placed on his gym or on my shoulder. He still will not let me stroke his belly or scratch his head. I usually end up with a sore finger and a parrot that is laughing hysterically at me for hollering out, in pain.
The biggest difference in the two is the level of intellegience. Jada would talk, some. But she had a very limited vocabulary and she really didn't use her words in their proper context, except when she wanted to be cuddled and she would say, "Pick up Jada!" Alex usually speaks in concrete requests and replies to questions appropriately. He greets me in the afternoon by saying, "Hello, Mama." He tells the dogs, "Night, night" when I put them to bed. And he will say, "Shut up" when they are barking. He still says, "Here, kitty kitty" and answers, "Meow" when you repeat it to him.His word and phrase vocabulary is just too large to list it all, or even to remember, what all he can say, in just a few minutes.
We have definately come a long way from the aggressive little, green monster that would not let me near him, to a real, little, social butterfly. I am looking forward to the day that I can actually pet him and cuddle him.
I hope that the day will come, when Alex will enjoy snuggling under the blanket, on my chest while I read a book. I think we are on the way.