Referred

I guess you could say that we are back in the Vanderbilt loop...being passed from one doctor to another. Dr. Wyman didn't want to make any orthopedic decisions so is turning Woody over to an oncology orthopedist. And, we were very pleased that he recommended that we see the same orthopedist who treated/operated on the cancer tumor in his upper arm bone--Dr. Ginger Holt. That was way back in 2009. Dr. Wyman said that we needed to find out if we are dealing with dead bone (radiated bone that has died) or cancer in the bone. We walked into the clinic to register today and thought that we might be there for hours and hours...the line just to do the initial registration was out the door and into the hall. But we were through in record time. We were actually walking out of Dr. Wyman's exam room at the time of Woody's scheduled appointment with him. We were very favorably impressed with Dr. Wyman. We got called back to Dr. Wyman's exam room before we even got seated in the waiting room. Woody was doing a bit of huffing and puffing by that time and at that point a wheel chair was gotten for him...a much appreciated wheel chair! He stayed in the wheel chair till we went out to get in our car that the vallet parking brought back to us. We were home a little after six and left around 12:30...so for a Vandy trip...not bad! We came home and pulled out the leftovers from yesterday's Memorial Day feast...an easy meal. On our way home we kept up with Elijah's game by me texting with Kathy. His team had another good game. Their season is drawing to a close...just this week and next for games and then a tournament after that. We are now settled in for an uneventful evening...or so we hope! We are waiting for Dr. Holt's office to call us with the appointment day and time that we will go back to see her.

Remembering in 2016

We had a nice day with family. The preparation of most of the food took place at our house and the grilling and eating took place at Nathan and Kathy's. Worked well! We changed out tradition of hamburgers and hotdogs and had a variety of shish kabobs...veggie kabobs as well as meat kabobs. It was a hit...a lot of work on lots of our parts. Graham helped me this morning and Erin and Wade helped me get the kabobs put together early afternoon. We had our meal mid afternoon and called it lupper (lunch and supper combined). Kathy, Wade, Melany, and I did the clean up. With others carrying things back and forth between the houses. I am still finding sticky places on my counter tops and floor...oops we dripped marinade in several places. Guess I will have to mop the kitchen floor again (should have waited and not done it yesterday!). Melany, Wade, Erin, and Alex left a little while ago. I will admit to being quite tired! Woody ate outside on their screened in porch with several of the children. Eating outside meant he didn't have to deal with steps except going out and in of our house. Tomorrow may prove to be an interesting day...we will be heading Vanderbilt way mid-day. I imagine that we won't be home very early tomorrow. Woody will meet his new melanoma doctor, Dr. Kenneth Wyman. Wondering what the day has in store for us! Will hopefully fill you in in tomorrow's blog. Now I will end tonight's blog with a thank you to all who have protected and preserved our freedoms over the years and at the present.

Taking a Knee for Elijah

Tonight's photos are in chronological order...first the coach is pitching to Elijah, middle Elijah gets an RBI base hit, and the third is just after Elijah got to second base...the ball was thrown to second but instead of one of the other team's infielders catching it, Elijah "took it" in the middle of his back. When a player gets hurt all the other players (both teams) "take a knee" (kneel down on one knee) to show respect for the injured player. As soon as Elijah was up and ready to go again, each player was back on their feet ready for the next play, too. Elijah is fine...said that it hurt, but then ready to get back in the game. This has been a pretty busy day for me. I got up fairly early and got the beans on to boil. I wanted them ready to go in the oven before I headed out to do "Woody's Saturday errands." Once the beans were in a slow oven and I rested for a few minutes, I was off to WalMart, Lowes, and the library. When I got back, I brought the groceries in and put them away. While I was gone, Woody made the coleslaw for Monday. He said that he took it slow and easy. He also cooked corn on the cob for our lunch. So he isn't "just" sitting around. The game was a late afternoon game. On the way home, we went back to WalMart as somehow I managed to not get home with the canteloupe that I bought. I would have ignored it but it was part of some groceries that I was buying for a friend. We had hamburgers for supper along with a couple of bites of the baked beans (just to make sure that they were edible!). Now I am going down to attack the kitchen...that is if I have enough energy left!

Pain Explained

We just got back from the ball game. It was a rain out. In the picture of Elijah batting, you can see the dark clouds rolling in. Now for the main news of the day...take note of the top photo...not good news from the doctor. The doctor is pretty sure that the cancer has returned or still there (perhaps never went entirely away). That place on his leg continued to show a hot spot due to radiation and it was never "for sure" that it was entirely gone. Woody is now wearing a knee stabilizer brace...as his tibia is fractured...to what extent we don't know at this time. Woody's knee surgeon pretty much is leaving it up to Vanderbilt to make decisions as what happens next...treat the cancer or fix the bone. The doctor's office got him an appointment with his new doctor, Dr. Wyman, this coming Tuesday at Vanderbilt. They did x-ray it this morning and you can see sort of a splinter of the bone sticking out on one side...and there is sort of a shadow on the opposite side that the doctor said could be another splinter...which could mean that the bone is broken across. All PT has been cancelled and exercises put aside for the time being. He is not to put weight on that leg...he can touch his toes of that foot down if necessary. He is finding the walker even more useful now. We had both been wondering if cancer was causing his pain in that leg...and I had even wondered if he could have a break. So on we go with his melanoma "adventure." The brace is helping him a lot with the pain along with not putting any weight on it. He did manage to go to the ball game. He got a bit wet getting back to the car, as he can't move very fast and the rain came upon us rather quickly. It is still raining...a good long drink for the plants...now I won't have to drag the hose all over the yard watering plants tomorrow. I'm off to start making my mother's recipe for Boston baked beans...the beans will soak all night and then cook slowly for a good part of tomorrow. We're starting to get ready for our Memorial Day family get together on Monday.

A Sign that June is Close

Our day lilies are blooming...shows that June is just around the corner. We have had a pretty quiet day. I got up and worked some in the kitchen...putting dishes away and washing some of the larger pots by hand that I didn't get around to washing last night. Then I decided that I had better get motivated to go out and water as we are in for some quite warm days and not much in the way of rain predicted. So I hauled the hose from garden to garden. That about did me in for the rest of the day! Woody continues to work on his PT exercises. He still can't put weight on that leg. He has questions for the doctor when he sees him tomorrow. I read quite a bit and worked on organizing some of my sewing things. Trying to get ready to do some summer sewing. Woody has read, watched TV, done crossword puzzles, and played Scrabble with the computer.

Once Upon a Time...25 Years Ago

Twenty-five years ago this date, Melany and Wade got married. Where have the years gone?!? In some ways it seems a little like yesterday and then in others it seems like even more than 25! Such a pretty wedding! I'm glad that the part of putting on a wedding is behind me! Woody did our weekly Krogering today. He used the grocery cart as a walker. He went just a little before I left to work in the church library so I wasn't here to help him unload the car after the shopping. He even had almost all of the groceries put away before I got home. Work in the library saw the three of us complete a task that we have been working on for quite a while now. Good to see a task completed and the stacks of books we have been working on disappear back onto the shelves. After leaving the library, I stopped at the public library to return some books and check out some more. Then I came home to rest for a little while before I cooked some pasta to go with the marinara sauce that I made a few days ago. This marinara sauce had fresh home grown sweet basil, oregano, and marjoram, and garlic...pretty tasty. We are all settled in for the evening. Sounds like some rain has blown in...I wasn't expecting rain. The plants will be happy for this drink. Happy 25th anniversary, Melany and Wade!

More Super Heroes & More Baseball!

Woody has rested but done quite a bit too...he has faithfully done his rehab exercises...he harvested the rest of the garlic (thanks in part to the new tractor gardening seat)...drove to the prayer room...and then went to Elijah's baseball game. He continues to have to use the walker, but he did think that today he was a bit better as one hurt had gone away...at least for part of the day. I had school with the children. It was Joy's turn to have a "Grammy long time." It was decided that was a good time to make her a super hero mask. She cut out the mask shapes and I glued fabric around the two pieces and then sewed the two pieces together. That job took a bit longer than her time so I finished it for her. Not long after I got her mask finished, Isaac showed up with a white t-shirt so I could make him a "Compost Boy" shirt with short sleeves. He and I did that. Then it was time for me to rest...if I was going to be able to go to Elijah's game! It was another good game...at least for our team...12-0. Elijah was a super hero with his hitting again tonight. He was lead-off batter for the first time and did that place in the batting order proud. He really knows how to keep his eye on the ball (I'll bet that being able to juggle five balls has a lot to do with knowing how to keep his eye on the ball!) and his hits are going farther and farther. Good job, Elijah! We are home and settling in for the rest of the evening. It has been a rather busy day.

Super Heroes Abound!

Last night's children's musical, The Agape League, was a super presentation. Pictured here are our super heroes, Joy = Jumper, Esther = Serenity, and Elijah = Super Hero #1. They each had speaking parts and did any super hero proud (including parents and grandparents). Woody headed off to therapy early. Today was his last scheduled therapy appointment. He was reevaluated and now has another month of sessions scheduled. He really struggled with walking over the weekend finally resorting to using the walker again as it was just too painful to put much weight at all on his right leg. The therapist continues to say that the pain is due to the fact he isn't walking correctly on leg...so it continues to be a gait pain. I had school with the children in a more relaxed mode. It is obvious that the school year is winding down. Isaac didn't feel all that great this morning so his session was abbreviated. They were all pretty much into getting their new (to them) RV ready for a road trip. The girls and Kathy went shopping for supplies for the RV so the reading schedule got changed around a bit. Elijah read and then Abigail read. Esther had her long time. We got the bodice of her doll dress all ready for the sleeves and then she sewed the gathering stitches on the top of the sleeves. At some point Isaac showed up with Graham's old "Compost Boy" cape and mask...so he could be a super hero too.

I made the "Compost Boy" cape, shirt and mask "many moons ago" for Graham when we made up the super hero for the boy who emptied our two households' compost buckets out on the compost pile. Isaac was thrilled to take over that super hero position in the family! And, since Isaac had a mask Elijah decided that he needed one too so....this afternoon he came over and we made him one. The girls now think they need a mask too...that will happen another day/s!

Adventure Day 3 + A Safe Return

We had a pretty busy morning with our "charges." Woody stayed at the house with Graham, Isaac, and Joseph and I took Abigail, Joy, Esther, and Elijah to the church for the dress rehearsal for the children's musical (which will be tomorrow night). Abigail just wanted to go and watch the rehearsal and I decided that I would stay and take pictures since I could take them from several vantage points. By the time we got home it was time to get lunch ready. We found out that their mommy and daddy weren't all that far away. So after lunch a major effort on the part of the children went into getting the house straightened up before their parents got home! It's amazing what seven children can do in just a short amount of time! All went outside to watch for the arrival of their parents in their new "camper" (RV). I managed to capture the moment of them all running to the new vehicle. Each was very excited. Isaac kept saying, "Awesome!" At a point after snapping a few pictures and enjoying their excitement, Woody and I slipped away from the scene and headed back to our abode. And, have been settling back in over here! I did go outside for a little while to take advantage of a very nice day to water our hanging baskets and do a little weeding and deadheading. I got our dishwasher loaded (Woody had been eating over here for some of the meals and I had used several of our pans when I was cooking next door.). THEN it was time to head back to my recliner and rest for a while. That rest included closing my eyes for a bit of a nap...couldn't keep my eyes open very long after I sat down! Woody is back in his recliner downstairs. He has watched a library DVD or two and kept his leg up. He said that it is feeling some better than yesterday but he is still hurting quite a bit.

Adventure Day 2

I can sum it up with these words: "LOTS of pancakes! LOTS of sandwiches! LOTS of spaghetti!" The children who had school work did their lessons this morning. Their school year is winding down. Those that didn't have school played. When the school work was done, play began for them. It has rained off and on and it is pretty wet outside...but they managed to get in some outside time...Ummmmmmm several pairs of muddy shoes and socks...oops. Right now they are all sitting in the living room watching the Cardinal baseball game with Goosey (Woody). Speaking of Woody, he is still in a lot of pain...not from his knee but from swelling down near his ankle and foot. He isn't getting around the best today. Lately it seems like it has been one step forward and two back for him. Well, guess it is time for this break to be over and time for me to head back into the adventure. The parents (Nathan and Kathy) are on their way home. They are driving a new (to them) camper. The children are so excited and can hardly wait for their parents' return tomorrow. The camper is the reason for this trip. They had been looking for one for some time...ever since they sold their old one. This one will give them more room for their family to sleep...it had gotten pretty cramped in their old one. Abigail has already "called for" the bed that she wants!

Adventure Day 1

No picture tonight as the camera with today's pictures on it is next door. The day started out with Nathan, Kathy and children going to the Montessori preschool where I taught for 27 years...and, "of course" I had to go with them...back to my old stomping grounds! Shortly after we got back Woody and I headed next door to celebrate Nathan's birthday...cake and ice cream before lunch! After that we came back home and got ready for what should be an adventure till sometime Saturday. Nathan and Kathy have flown the coop...literally. They, at this time, are somewhere in the air between here and PA. And, we are attempting to keep the peace next door...so far so good. Woody has gotten Elijah to and from ball practice and I have gotten supper on the table. Phew! I will end by wishing Nathan a BIG happy birthday and head back next door. More about our adventure tomorrow!

What-A-Wednesday

At last I am online and able to blog. When I started to blog tonight, the internet wasn't connected correctly and it took a bit to finally get it connected. But here I am...at least I think I am here! Today had been a super busy day. It started out with Woody headig out early for rehab and then he went on to do our weekly Krogering. I had a normal Wednesday of school with the children.Abigail started making a jean skirt out of a pair of jeans...deconstruction sewing! She took the pockets off and embroidered a machine embroidery design on one of them. She will do the other one the next time we sew. She has lots of machine embroidery planned before we make it into a skirt. As soon as Abigail's Grammy time was over I grabbed up my purse and headed out the door for an appointment. Not knowing how long my appointment might take, I cancelled out usual work session at the library today. After my appointment I stopped by the library and checked books in and out...just general library maintenance. On the way home I stopped to get some machine embroidery thread that I needed to embroider names on Joy's and Esther's shirts that they will wear in the children's musical this weekend. As I type this Joy's shirt is embroidering...her name is "Jumper" in the musical. Next I will embroider Esther's shirt...her name is "Serenity" in the musical. Before I got underway with the shirts, I deboned chicken breasts and then made Chicken Rosemary using fresh rosemary that is growing on our back patio. Woody has bright blue "tape" on his lower right leg...it's supposed to help with the pain...guess time will tell! They are really working with him trying all sorts of things to get him over the "shin splint/ankle and foot" pain. I hope that something works soon! Guess I am off to take Joy's shirt off the machine and get Esther's hoopped up and ready to stitch. Woody and I will start on a three day adventure tomorrow...more about that tomorrow!

A Tuesday Nail Biter

Elijah's game was the late game tonight and we just got home. It was another game that was too close for comfort for most of the game and Elijah's team always seemed to be playing catch-up. But in the end when it counted they went ahead and stayed there when it counted...at the end! At this point in the day, I can't even remember what we have done today! The children and I did have school. Woody worked some out in the yard. Since Elijah's game was later, Woody went to the church for his time in the prayer room before the game.

Monday...Once Again

I took tonight's photo on our excursion to the doctor this past Friday. It just shows how green and pretty our area is at this time of the year...all the rain has really greened us up! Woody started out his day by heading off to therapy before 8am. After his therapy he did his usual Monday stop at the Life Care Center. He also did our WalMart shopping that he didn't do on Saturday. I had a usual Monday school day with the neighbor grandchildren. Esther cut out the doll dress that she has been machine embroidering and even got to start sewing it. She is doing a great job. Doll clothes are good because they have short seams...but they are also difficult because those seams are small and the area to work in is small. So far Esther is doing a great job making a new dress for her 18" doll, Noel. After lunch, Woody and I went outside and he pulled my new "toy" (the tractor scoot seat) around to the back to the garlic bed. He decided that he would harvest some of the garlic today AND I decided to help...guess the new gardening seat that the Proctor's gave me for Mother's Day influenced me. (Gardening isn't exactly my thing...for those who don't know me!) I took over after Woody harvested quite a few heads of garlic and we pulled the tractor gardening seat back to the back "patio" slab and I got the garlic heads ready to dry. Looks like we will have fresh garlic to cook with for a while. After I did that I pulled my garden seat around to each of the garden containers on the back patio and did a little weeding. I even went out front and finished the deadheading that I had started while the Proctor's were here on Saturday. I will say that the new gardening seat really does help a lot. Today was a good day to work outdoors...not too hot and not too cool and not much wind to speak of...quite pleasant. When it isn't so pleasant and the mosquitoes get bad then I will have trouble spending much time outside. The front porch looks so inviting with the new hanging baskets. Wade noticed that a bird has built a next in the chicken bird house that they gave me for my birthday. We don't know what kind of bird it is...guess I need to sit quietly on the front porch and see if I can spy it/them coming or going. Woody made another trip out this afternoon...he drove down the street to the pharmacy to pick up a couple of his prescriptions. He also made his filling for veggie burritos this evening and cleaned up the kitchen. After supper I made the mistake of getting too comfortable in my recliner and napped for a bit. I told myself that I shouldn't sit down there when it was just a little before "blogging time" and I was right...a bit late tonight as it took me a while to motivate myself out of the chair after I woke up.

It Takes a Village!

From the above picture it looks like it took quite an effort or at least concentration on the part of quite a few in our family to get my Mother's Day present from the Proctor's put together! It finally did get put together and immediately the little boys decided that it will be a great addition to outside riding/pull toys!

Once the tractor seat gardening seat got put together, Melany used it to plant the flowers that they gave me. She had planned to come and weed for us and she did do some weeding, but it was a pretty chilly day and got chillier as the day went on. After lunch, Woody and Alex went to Elijah's ball game. Elijah's team had another great game. Melany, Wade, Erin and Alex stayed till late afternoon. After they left, I pulled my new gardening seat over to one of the gardens and finished deadheading the plants that I had started while Melany and Wade were planting. It was nice to be able to do that without having to bend over to do the task. We are settling in for a quiet evening. My next task is to go finalize the Sunday School lesson for tomorrow. I had a nice day celebrating Mother's Day for the second time!

Another Nail Biter!

Tonight was sort of a see saw type of game...the other team got ahead...we caught up...they caught up...and finally our team pulled ahead when it mattered...right at the end of the game and came away with another victory--18-14. Quite a game! Our day started out a bit differently for a Friday. We headed out early for a doctor appointment for me. This is my six-month check-in mainly for labs to make sure that my many meds aren't doing things to me that they shouldn't! The doctor is in a town 45 minutes away...so we had a 1 1/2 hour drive and then a little more than an hour with the nurse practitioner and doctor. I have a problem with one of my elbows that is probably another place that gout has decided to take up residence. The doctor is trying to figure out what to do about my gout. I say "just carry on!" I think that they were more concerned today with my blood pressure...but by the time that I got home it was in a good range. My blood pressure is never very good at any doctor's office. I am to take it periodically over the next couple of weeks and report the readings back to the doctor. I spent the afternoon cleaning. Isaac came over and was a big help with putting things back in the toy closet and back on low shelves in the kitchen. The public library is almost next to the ball field where Elijah played tonight so we left a little early and made a library stop. I had a book on hold and Woody did his Saturday library stop on Friday today. We are rearranging out day tomorrow a bit since Melany and family are going to pay us a visit. I was going to add another picture, but it took so long for the pictures to load tonight that I will hold off on this other one for another day. I am off to do a few more things around the house before I call it quits for the day and settle into my recliner. Woody is downstairs cleaning up some of his things in the family room. He has been busy today. Woody took advantage of being at the doctor today and got one of his prescriptions straightened out. He got a hair cut soon after we got home from the doctor. Then after lunch he actually mowed a good portion of the front yard. Graham finished it for him. And an aside...Woody checked the rain gauge today and we got 2 inches of rain yesterday...no wonder everything is so green! Very pretty in Middle Tennessee at this time of the year!

Rainy Thursday

This morning started out a bit differently than a usual Thursday. I only had Joseph come for school. The rest of school got cancelled because Nathan and Joseph's six siblings had to head off to a juggling gig. Joseph came over a couple of other times to stay with us as Kathy needed to go help out some friends. Woody woke up with his foot and ankle hurting. He said that it was rather discouraging to wake up hurting worse than when he went to sleep last night.Woody's knee is doing great! His main pain is now in his foot and ankle. The therapist is working on that. Woody continues to faithfully do his PT exercises. Late this afternoon Woody went next door so Kathy and Nathan could go out on their weekly Thursday date. He came back just a few minutes ago. We have had a couple of periods of rain waft through our area. One came through with quite a bit of thunder. At the moment all is quiet outside weatherwise and we are settling in for another quiet evening inside.

Snake in the Grass!

Can you spot the snake? I saw him slither across our patio in the back of the house. I had to go grab the closest camera and when I got back outside it was a bit of a challenge to find him. But find him I did. I cropped this picture so you could spot him more easily...that is if you want to spot him!

Wednesday went pretty much as usual. Except that Woody had a physical therapy session early this morning. After his session, he went on to do our Wednesday Krogering. Since I was having school, Woody even put the groceries away. He went next door for a short time to keep an eye on some of the children. Nathan and Kathy were helping a friend get her house ready to move into. After school time I grabbed a quick lunch and then headed off to church. Donna and I worked for a couple of hours in the library. On the way home I stopped at the public library...dropped off some books that I had finished reading and some DVD's that Woody had watched...picked ups several more books for me to read. We have eaten supper and are settling in for the evening. I will end this post with a picture of a pretty iris...to make up for the pictures of the snake!

WOW! What a Game!

Another evening at the ball park! And, it was one of those games where you sat at the edge of your seat because it was so close. Elijah had a great game. He played in the pitcher position...in coach pitch it is an infield position. He did a great job of stopping the balls and getting them thrown to the base they needed to be thrown to. Way to go Elijah. On top of good fielding, he did great hitting too. AND...drum roll............He got the game ball again! He is really becoming quite the little ball player...and he is loving it. Oh, and, we were the home team this time so we edged by the other team by one run. Earlier in the day, we pretty much had a usual Tuesday. I had school with the children. Joy got her sewing notebook caught up to date and then spent the rest of her time doing art work. She is drawing a picture of her family using pencil and chalk pastels. My back seems to be much better today...it just feels tired...if that makes any sense! I made a pot of potato soup. Woody followed behind me and cleaned up the kitchen. He is faithfully doing his exercises getting ready for his next therapy session which is tomorrow. After the game, he dropped me off here at the house and then drove to church for his time in the prayer room.

Mother's Day And Beyond

Yesterday Nathan and Kathy and family invited us over for Mother's Day lunch. Nathan did the grilling...yum! After lunch we sat and visited for a while. I didn't do much yesterday...mainly rested my back...and by the evening my back was feeling much better. I got up early this morning and it continued to feel much better all the way through our school time. Then mid-afternoon it started causing me problems again. So the rest of the day I have been resting my back and myself...mainly reading. Woody headed off fairly early for his physical therapy session. While he was out he went to Life Care and had Bible study with Jeff and then visited with several friends who are residents there. Esther and I worked some more on embroidering motifs on her doll dress during her long time with me today. Later in the afternoon she came over and did a bunch of drawings using the Osmo app that we gave her last year for her birthday. It needs my iPad so she comes over here when she has the urge to work with it. After she finished drawing, Elijah came over and wanted to finish the book that he and I read this morning. That about sums up our rather quiet day after Mother's Day.

Beautiful Day for a Fish Fry

We spent the afternoon out in the beautiful countryside of a neighboring county. We were at the annual fish fry...a fund raiser for the crisis pregnancy center in that county. I will say that I took not a one picture of the actual events at the fish fry...which meant that I didn't take any of our grandchildren enjoying all the activities provided for the children--a zip-line, bounce house, other inflatables, face painting, pony rides, etc. The food was delicious as always. Woody didn't do much meandering around. Once he got seated, he pretty much stayed seated. After we ate, Woody stayed put and Linda Hasty and I went scouting around to find a place where I could take some family photos of the Hasty family. They rarely have all ten of them together so we gathered them and posed them on and in front of a fence and hopefully I managed to get several good pics. That was the extent of my photo taking today...except to go out and take a picture of the above rose shortly before I came in here to blog. I have been having some problems with my back since yesterday afternoon (one of the reasons that I didn't walk around taking other activities at the fish fry). I did really well during the fish fry outing, but on the way home Woody hit a bump or two in the road and the "spasms" started up again. So I am gingerly moving around at the moment. I do okay as long as I stay in one place! There was a bit of walking to get from our car to the eating area so Woody got in a bit of walking today...on the grass which isn't easy...and the grass wasn't level. We had to go uphill getting there which is easier for him. I scouted out where the golf carts were to take us back to our car since it was a downhill walk...much harder for Woody to manage. So we rode in style back to our car which helped us both a lot! We are home settling in for another quiet evening after a rather active day. Woody did do his usual Saturday morning errands--WalMart, the library, and a hospital visit. I talked to Melany after we got home from the fish fry. She wished me a Happy Mother's Day because they will be going to Wade's parents' tomorrow and will be out of cell phone range for part of the day. They will come here next Saturday to celebrate with me/us.

What a Friday!

I have decided not to take the time to post a photo tonight as I have three little charges downstairs that might need some attention at any minute! Late this afternoon Elijah, Isaac, and Joseph came under our wings. Their mommy and daddy and the rest of their siblings had an out of town juggling gig tonight. If Elijah had gone then he would have missed his game. Elijah had a great game...he had two hits out of two at bats and he drove in a total of three runs. Despite Elijah's good game, his team suffered a loss tonight...only their second loss. They had lots of fun anyway! I managed to get in some sewing today. I am attempting to make what is called a "bowl cozy." It is a quilted square that ends up fitting around a bowl after some seaming and darting. Then you can place a bowl of soup in it and place it in the microwave and when it is nice and hot you can pick it up by the corners of the cozy and not get burned on the hot bowl. Well, I have three little boys downstairs who will need to head next door shortly to get in their jammies...that is after they have a snack of popcorn. Their family will be home late tonight so we will put them to bed next door and I will await the rest to get home and then I will come home. Woody is downstairs doing another round of his rehab exercises. Our household is a bit livlier than usual at this hour!

A Blustery Day in May

The wind meant that it was a rather chilly day. I stayed in most of the day trying to stay warm. I had a usual Thursday school morning. Woody headed out for another therapy appointment fairly early this morning. I did venture out mid afternoon to go to the public library. I returned some of the things that we had borrowed and also checked out a couple more books for myself. I did a little cleaning this afternoon...ran the vacuum in a couple of rooms. Woody was busily doing his exercises this afternoon. He gets new ones just about every time he goes for therapy. After we had supper, Woody went next door to take care of the crew while their parents go out for a date night. I think that they are going out for Mexican food with friends...appropriate on Cinco de Maya!

Wet Wednesday Afternoon

We can be glad that we did most of our running around in the morning and early afternoon. Woody did our weekly Krogering this morning while I was having school. After lunch I headed off to the church library to work a while. My one mistake was not getting away from the library soon enough. The bottom fell out just about the time that another worker and I were heading out. We stood inside and watched it come down in torrents for a while. When it finally let up some, we headed out and didn't get too wet. By the time that I got home, the rain had pretty much let up. I had planned to stop at the public library on the way home, but decided to do that on a drier day! I came home and fixed out supper. We have eaten and are now settling in for the evening. Tonight's blog photo shows the sage that is in the corner of one of Woody's raised beds. This rain has brought a bit of a chill back into the air. I think that it may be rather cool in the morning. I think that they are calling this "blackberry winter." I pulled out a sweatshirt again today. I keep taking cool weather clothes out of my closet and then keep finding their way back in. I will try again after this cool snap...maybe they will stay in that other closet after this?

Busy Tuesday

A rather busy Tuesday in our household. I had school with the neighbor grandchildren in the morning. Joy worked on catching up her sewing notebook...printed pictures and got the pages ready for her to put the pictures on next week. Woody headed off to therapy while I was having school. He also worked a little in the yard...trying to get more grass to grow in the front yard. After a quick lunch I went to get my hair cut. I also made a trip to JoAnn's. I needed two coordinating cottons to make something that I have been planning for a while. I also found some material for Abigail's next project/s. I have the fabric all washed and ready for our projects. My former "boss"/owner of the local Montessori school and I had a nice phone conversation this afternoon. It was good to catch up with her. I have cleaned a little and read during my resting moments. I still have part of a load of wash to put away that's still in the dryer and another load to put into the dryer. THEN it will be time for me to put my feet up for the rest of the evening. Woody just got back from the prayer room at church. He is still driving to and from...not up that far a walk. He is still going easy on his walking. Last week his walk ended up being a bit much and his leg hurt more for several days after the walk. He plans to pretty much just walk around in our yard and walk when he grocery shops, etc. I think that we are settled in for the evening. I know that I am tired. I'm hoping that I sleep better tonight than I did last night. Woody's eyes seem to be getting better with the drops that the doctor prescribed for him.

It's May!

An experiment tonight...have tried to load a short little video of our chicken yard art. Well, experiment didn't work...so went back to posting just a regular picture. This is the first rose to bloom this year on the rose bush that friends gave me after my mother died. It tends to bloom each year right around Mothers' Day. Today has been a pretty typical Monday. I had school with the children and Woody went to Life Care to have Bible study with Jeff and then visit with several friends who reside there. He also had his eyes checked out...they had been bothering him and were red. I'm not sure what exactly was decided, but he doesn't have pink eye. He got some drops to put in them. This afternoon he made his vegetarian chili again. As soon as I post this I am heading next door to have strawberry shortcake with Nathan, Kathy and family...so posting quickly! (Not sure that the video worked...will work on it or post something else after strawberry shortcake!)P.S. The strawberry shortcake was yummy!Here's a picture of the chicken yard-art as a still shot...the chickens peck when the wind is blowing...that's what I wanted you to see in the video.