2021 in Summary

As I looked over the past year on my blog I realized that quite a bit happened in 2021. 

It began with me reclaiming my life from the Pandemic. Luckily, living in Texas, life returned pretty close to normal with the exception of Chuck having to wear a mask at work, and me having to wear a mask to doctor’s appointments. 

I returned to my in-person WW meetings, but was sad to find that most members never returned. Luckily, my friend Carol and I were able to continue our after meeting lunches. It felt good to be around people again. 

We began building our house at the beginning of the year with the foundation going in at the end of 2020. Each Saturday Chuck and I would drive to DeLeon to check on the week’s progress. We were excited to write scripture verses on the framing before the sheet rock went up.

From start to finish, not including the construction loan process, it took nine months to build the house. And just like expecting a baby nine months can go by pretty slowly. 

In the month of March I had an unexpected set back with a sprained ankle that happened while unloading groceries out of the car. It took a good two months to get back to normal, but I still had to baby it to some degree for several more months. 

You never realize how quickly things can go awry, and how much you depend on being able to get around independently. 

In the spring I continued to travel to Comanche to homeschool the older grandson, and to make it possible for Brittany to return to work two days a week. I also picked up her groceries on the way into town which also helped lighten her load. 

I never realized how much I would enjoy watching the boys. We became much closer, and both the boys and I looked forward to seeing each other each week. 

We found out that Brittany was expecting another boy, and attended a lovely shower hosted by her Comanche friends. Two days after we moved into our house the little guy was born, and he has been a blessing ever since. 

In June we put our Euless home on the market, and it sold within two days for well over the asking price. Praise God! Trying to coordinate the closing on two homes became a logistic challenge for me, and I found myself quite overwhelmed taking care of all the details.

 

Add into the mix acquiring an apartment, and shopping for furniture from IKEA soon after moving into the house it became a juggling match with balls falling willy nilly all over the place. 

It didn’t help matters much that I had gotten off my hormone replacement medication, and was literally running on empty. I was watching the boys two days, and running to Las Colinas mid week, trying to manage two households, and was failing miserably. 

Over time with Chuck’s help I was able to adjust my schedule, acquire a new doctor, and get my health back on track. What seemed to be a daily struggle has transitioned into a much better situation, and I’m loving watching the two younger grandsons each week. 

Chuck and I are attending a new church where we have met several new people. We both have attended separate Bible Studies, and have had dinner with three lovely new couples. 

Chuck was able to get a new riding lawn mower, tractor, and several power tools which has allowed him to take care of our property. Because of him the Rocking H is looking great!

It’s definitely been a year full of blessings with the birth of our new grandson, moving into our dream home just down the road from Brittany and Will, to even our beloved Tuffy fully recovering from being shot and missing for a week. (What kind of person shoots a cat?)

I’ve been able to meet my sisters, my YeeHaw friends, my friend Carole, and explore the surrounding community with Chuck. We even were able to meet Chuck’s aunt and uncle for lunch. 

2021 definitely had its challenges, but thanks to the grace of God we have all remained healthy, and are full of plans for the coming year. 

52 Week Book Challenge

 I fell in love with reading when I was eight years old and read The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. I literally could not put the book down as I read it walking home from school that day. 

Over my lifetime I must have read at least a thousand books. 

Sadly, after getting my i pad twelve years ago I found myself less and less interested in books. 

It was only the obligation of my book club that kept me reading at least the one required book per month. 

What I had found was that my ability to concentrate had suffered greatly from constant internet use. I was able to bounce from subject to subject, and no longer seemed able to stay focused on just one thing at a time. 

My beloved fiction seemed a waste of time as I read about imaginary lives. I became a knowledge-heat seeking missile, and was drawn only to non- fiction. 

When given the chance to read or to spend time on my i pad, the tablet won out every time. 

I am challenging myself in this new year to read a book a week. I know I am perfectly capable of doing this, and have begun compiling a list of books to read. 

Many of them are coming from my own library, but I do intend to purchase a few I’ve had my eye on. Sadly, my local library is a little limited in the choice of books it offers, but I’m not opposed to getting a few titles from there as well. 

I’m actually getting excited about this challenge, and plan on keeping a log of the books I’ve read. Who knows this may become a yearly habit, and at the end of thirty years I will have read 1,560 additional books!

I may even post about each book I’m reading on the blog. Looking forward to 2022!

Spider-Man

My middle grandson LOVES all things Spider-Man. 

After opening several Spider-Man related gifts at his house Christmas morning he longingly proclaimed he wished he had MORE Spider-Man gifts. 

His older and wiser brother reminded him that he hadn’t yet opened any presents from Mimi and Papa. 

Luckily, I had bought him several Spider-Man gifts. He loved his Spider-Man web thrower that he wore on his wrist, and looked forward to coloring in his new Spider-Man coloring book, but his favorite gift of all was his almost three-foot stuffed Spider-Man. 

He loved it so much that he struggled to open his other gifts one handed since he rarely put his new big buddy down. 

That night when it was time for bed he willingly gave up Cow, Llama, Biscuit the Longhorn, and his John Deere Beanie Baby for Spider-Man as his sleeping companion. 

He promised his Mom if she let him sleep with it he would remain in his bed all night. 

After receiving a text the next morning from Brittany it appears he was successful in doing so, hopefully giving his parents a good night’s sleep as well. 

Christmas 2021

Chuck and I woke up at the apartment after spending Christmas Eve with my family. 

We hit the road around 8:30 and arrived home two hours later. 

The Beahm’s arrived at our house loaded up with prime rib and presents, and the festivities began. 

The boys loved opening up their presents, and spent the majority of the day playing. 

The older grandson played checkers with his a Dad for the first time, and although he did not win, his thinking and use of strategy was quite impressive for a six year old. 

The middle grandson had received a Spider-Man Fit Bit, and was observed racing around the kitchen trying to get more steps. LOL!

The baby entertained us all with his overwhelming cuteness. 

Our meal was delicious, and although when everyone left Chuck and I were pretty exhausted we felt overwhelmed by the blessings the day had brought us. 

The best Christmas present of all is living in close proximity to our loved ones in our beautiful farmhouse. 

Christmas Eve

I’m excited this year to get to spend Christmas Eve with my brother and sisters. Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!🎄

Golden Books

Chuck and I were in Abilene today, and stopped by the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature.

Today was the last day for their exhibition featuring 80 years of Golden Books. These childhood favorites featured many different illustrators, some who went on to write and illustrate on their own. 

What I love about these illustrations and the books they grace is the innocence of childhood they represent. 

After leaving the gallery we headed to the gift shop, and Chuck gifted me ten Golden Books of my own.  

I’m glad we were able to make the exhibit before it was shipped off to Pennsylvania.

Possibilities

                                  The possibilities are endless. ❤️

Rudolph Sandwich

Little did I realize that many years later I would be making Rudolph sandwiches with my own grandsons. 

This activity was always a favorite with my students, and I’m glad I kept it! 

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!🎄

Compost Tumbler

          

    We are preparing for our garden this spring by composting our left over produce. 

Each day I add the produce to a covered plastic bin which I keep in the refrigerator.

Every few days I add it to the composting bin, and give it a good spin. 

One time we noticed bees flying around the tumbler, but added garlic to the mix which seemed to run them off. 

We are hoping to enrich our soil with our compost. 

Gingerbread Village

I purchased a gingerbread village kit the other day at Walmart. 

It needed to be assembled, and Brittany suggested I do this ahead of time and let it dry. This was a brilliant idea, and made the whole decorating experience a lot more fun. 

I’m also glad that I picked up another tube of white icing because the tube included in the kit was hard to manipulate. It did a good job of adhering to the gingerbread houses, but would have been difficult to maneuver for the decorating. 

The boys enjoyed themselves, and each boy decorated more than one house. 

I put the entire village on a cookie sheet and sprinkled some marshmallows as snow. 

It was a pretty easy Christmas activity for the two older grandsons. 

Wood Rack

Now that we have the wood stove we purchased a wood rack to keep wood handy for the stove. 

The Wood Stove

Well our wood stove is finally up and running. 

We ordered it in August. It arrived in October, and was installed just in time for colder weather. 

I must admit I’m liking the look of it quite a bit. 

Chuck burned several small fires to get the stove seasoned, and then was able to burn a full fledged fire. 

After last winter, as we contemplated building our house in the country, we decided a wood stove might not be a bad way to go. 

I’m looking forward to a cozy winter this year. 

Cookies

It’s weird about cookies. 

One is never enough, and three are always too many. 

Hmmmm... 🤔

Gaslighted

I think I’m being gaslighted by the cotton ball industry. 

Just yesterday I opened up a new bag of jumbo cotton balls. 

I had to do a double take thinking my eyes were deceiving me. As I glanced between the cotton ball and the packaging something didn’t quite add up.

 

There clear as day were the words Jumbo on the packaging, and yet the tiny nugget of cotton ball was staring back at me from between my pinched fingers. 

As I thought about it I wondered if regular sized cotton balls were the size of mini marshmallows?

Interesting how the manufacturers either assumed I couldn’t read or would just take their word for it when it came to the size of their cotton balls. 

Handy

This little guy is figuring out his hands. He’s grabbing and manipulating objects around him.

Of course, the hands are the venue to the mouth which he’s highly motivated to accomplish these days. 

I’m enjoying getting to be around to witness these milestones first hand. 

It’s In the Bag

I didn’t wrap one gift this year! I just need to add the tissue paper, and tags and they’ll be ready to go under the tree.

 Woo Hoo!!!

Joy

Joy-the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying 

Back in October I had an exceptionally joyous experience which I didn’t share on the blog because I was in the middle of my thirty one day series. 

Our neighbor’s seven puppies escaped along with their parents and came over to visit. 

I cannot tell you how fun it was to have seven little puppies crawling all over you at once. It was reminiscent of the childhood favorite 101 Dalmatians.

They were absolutely the cutest things, and they made themselves right at home on our carport. 

If you are ever feeling down in the dumps try to locate a cute litter of puppies for a pick me up. There’s nothing like it!

Enjoy the photos.

Anticipation

Each morning when my grandsons wake up the first thing they do is go and check for their Elf on the Shelf, Stevie. 

This year my daughter has gone all out to be “the keeper of the magic” and I’m sure each night when the boys go to sleep, “visions of sugar plums dance in their heads.”

The funny thing too is that I’m checking  in each morning excited to find out about Stevie’s antics. 

The other day when I wrote about needing motivation my friend’s husband, Tim Wood advised the following as a way to stay motivated;

“Anticipating what’s around the corner. Every.Single.Day.”

Between his advice and my grandsons example of anticipation I can see how if we lose this aspect of life it suddenly can becomes very routine and predictable.

In fact, looking forward to something can be more enjoyable than the actual event for some people. Either way adding back that natural excitement about life is something I don’t want to lose sight of. 

What are you anticipating?

“This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:24 NKJV

Christmas Memory

When I was a little girl living in Florida I remember at Christmas each child in the class would        bring a small gift to exchange with another child. 

Now I’m not exactly sure the logistics of the exchange, but I do remember one of the gifts that I longed for. Apparently it was quite popular back then, but sadly to no avail I never received it. 

Do you remember the Life Savers Storybook? I’m not exactly sure if it was the candy that I craved or just the cuteness of the little box. Knowing me it had more to do with the cute little box that looked like a book. 

Well today when I ran into Aldi to pick up a couple of things I came across that treasured box and couldn’t resist buying it. It’s taken fifty-five years, but I’ve finally received the childhood gift of my dreams. 

Another thing I remember always wanting was the large box of 64 crayons with the built in crayon eraser. Sadly, I think the largest I may have gotten was the box of 48. 

Gosh! It sounds like I had a really deprived childhood! Don’t even get me talking about the princess phone, or snow shoe boots I never got.😂

Stinky Situation

         

              Brittany got slowed down a little bit today while driving down our county road. 

It looks like this little guy was in no hurry as he made his way down the the road. He even lifted his tail when Brittany pulled into the driveway to open the gate. 

It’s times like these you wish the remote gate was working. Luckily the skunk decided there was no reason to spray. 

Country living! 

Morning Sunrise

The sky was exceptionally beautiful this morning when I let Cooper out. Now that the trees are becoming more of a silhouette the rising sun is easier to see. 

However, what made the sky even more exceptional than usual was the crescent moon up above. The combination of the two were really breathtaking.

I hurried in to get my phone to try to capture the moment. Sadly this photo pales in comparison to the real deal, but it will have to suffice.

Living in the city I didn’t catch too many sunrises, but they really are something to behold. 

One Smart Dog

 One of the things I like to do with my three year old grandson is play counting games. I have made several counting games where he counts different objects on to little boards. 

One of the last games we played had dogs on the boards and we counted mini dog bones. As you can well imagine both my dog Cooper, and my daughter’s dog Ellie were quite interested in this game. 

In fact, it was pretty tricky trying to count the bones before they were gobbled up by the dogs since we played the game on the floor. 

Today we played a new game with Christmas trees and pom pom ornaments. I placed the boards on the floor like I usually do, and then placed a number card by each one. 

Immediately my dog Cooper was right there checking us out. He noticed the boards being placed on the floor, and saw that some kind of counter was being placed on them. 

He kept sniffing the little pom poms somewhat perplexed that they didn’t smell like food. I was pretty impressed that he had made the connection between the two games. 

He’s pretty good at noticing things and anticipating what will happen next. 

Now Ellie, not so much, as she continued to rest comfortably from a distance. Of course, she may have been the smarter one realizing that the pom poms weren’t dog bones at all! LOL!