BALLGAME AND JANUARY RECAP

This last day of January started early with the arrival of g-son. He didn't want to go back to school today after playing until almost 10am,he almost cried but thankfully we avoided any drama and he went on his way without further protest after a promised stop at the local Dollar General after school.
These 2-hour delay days make the morning verrrrrryyyyy  long !!!
I baked cakes this morning, 6 caramel, 2 chocolate and 3 pound cakes along with a couple acorn squash and 3 sweet potatoes for mine and hubbie's dinner  vegetables  for several days.
After lunch I did some housecleaning and changed the furniture covers in the living room. I have neglected my regular housework this week with all the extra activities. I put housecleaning at the bottom of my "to do" list so it is easily pushed aside when family fun times come around.
I picked up g-son this afternoon as other g-ma was busy.  After that promised stop at Dollar General we came by home to have a snack before the ballgame.
I had to get the driver of a big crane truck to move and unblock the driveway on the way out to pick up g-son and  when we got back home I decided to wait until they finished what they were doing because they didn't have any flaggers to stop traffic and were creating a very dangerous situation on the curvy road.  I say a prayer each day that their negligence doesn't cause a bad traffic accident and hurt someone.
Rebekah and Evy walked by while I was outside watching the crane unload huge generators from the trucks.
Finally they got two of their men to flag traffic so g-son and I headed out to the school to watch daughter's basketball game.  They were hosting Franklin tonight.
Here she is with her team surrounding her listening for instructions.

Franklin had a very good team with some really big girls so daughter's team was having a hard time but they were playing hard.  This is daughter talking to them during a called time-out.

She has done a wonderful job with these girls and they are so improved from the beginning of the year they are fun to watch.  Daughter is a very calm. medium voiced coach and the girls act like they really enjoy playing for her.
During tonight's game they had a "pink out" in honor of one of the varsity girl's mother who had surgery yesterday for breast cancer.  I was proud to see all the men who were there with pink t-shirts on. Way to go guys !!!
G-son and I left after her game, which they lost, to come home in time to do the outside chores before dark.
His dad was up at his shop working on his truck and came by to pick him up.
I did the chores and had a salad while watching the news then spent the rest of the evening icing cakes and washing eggs. I have a couple orders for tomorrow and with the forecast of almost 60 degrees and sunny I hope to have a decent sales day.
January is going out calmly after being a very cold month with  some record breaking lows on a couple occasions. The two inch snow we had on the 28th was the most snow we've had in a couple years and the very cold weather that came with the snow made it a real mess on the roads. We still have quite a bit of snow around in the shady spots.

#1 son bought an old fixer upper truck from his cousin to help him out of a jam and has spent many hours working on it this month.

D-in-love is busy with her job at the heating oil company she works for in all this cold weather her phone is ringing off the hook. She also went with the youth to chaperone at Great Wolf Lodge,helps with the fifth quarters and stays busy helping with the music and other things at church.

#2 son moved into his new house the first week of the month just ahead of a major cold front and power outage. He acts like he really likes this house.

Daughter is busily starting her second semester of teaching while coaching and taking the church youth group to the Great Wolf Lodge for a fun weekend along with sponsoring fifth quarters at church to give the kids at school a place to go after the home games on Friday nights.

Aaron and Rebekah have had an up and down month with news of a property loan they are waiting for. They brought their bull back from Georgia and he has been busily breeding their cows this month. They only got one out of six calves last year and are questioning this bulls breeding health so we are helping watch so we can make sure the cows are bred this time.  Little Evy is growing like a weed, she now has 4 front teeth and crawls everywhere.

Hubbie and I have had a pretty routine month. We bought a new mattress for our bed and found that our sleep patterns improved drastically.  I spent a lot of time this month doing what I call my "deep" cleaning. I came up a little short but with a couple days next week I should be done.

The DOT crews moved in and started the new bridge project in front of our property. It makes it a hassle to get in and out but I have decided I might as well get used to it. When I go down and the drive is blocked I just blow the horn until someone comes running to move their truck.

January 2014 is part of history after midnight tonight and I am thankful to God for the blessings of each day and for the health He gave me to get things done during the cold month.
I look forward to what God has in His plan for me and my family in February 2014.
Good Night and God Bless.

ANOTHER SNOW DAY FOR G-SON

G-son arrived at about 7:30 this morning and after I got him settled in with his breakfast I laid back down in the warm bed  since it was 1* degree, yeah that's a lot lower than they predicted.  He couldn't stand being the only one awake so I shortly gave up the idea I might get another snooze.
Another morning of carrying fresh water and beating on ice filled water troughs until my head hurts.
You cannot believe how much I am looking forward to the next week.

I'm sure all the animals are in agreement that their lives will be much easier in the above freezing temps.
With g-son here today I did a little cleaning in my office but did things with him most of the day as he was bored.  After lunch we made a trip to the bank and Aldi. He likes to go with me to Aldi because I put him in charge of the buggy.  He is really a help now at carrying things.
We got back home with plenty of time for him to play some games on my laptop while he waited for his pawpaw to get home so they could walk down to the frozen pond again.
I made another attempt at work in my office and got some things re-located before chore time rolled around.
The air is turning colder quickly this evening with another low teen's night predicted.
My throat is scratchy and I feel dragged out this evening so it was a couch potato night for me and my 4-legged kids.
I have been vigilantly downing my "Air-Borne" all day to hopefully fend off any sickness that might be trying to sneak up on me.
There is still plenty of snow hanging around after a sunny but cold day with temps barely breaking 32 degrees.

 Schools are opening on a 2-hour delay tomorrow because all the roads will re-freeze tonight from the melting of the day.
Thanking God for the blessings of this day and for keeping all my family safe on the roads during this snow.
Good Night and God Bless.

SNOW SLEDDING

Slept in a little this morning as the temperature was around 12 degrees.  The sunshine beckoned me from the bedroom window, trying to convince me that it was warm out there regardless of what the indoor/outdoor thermometer on the wall said !!
I did chores then walked around a bit to make a few pics of the still really pretty snow fall.
The road looks a little better this morning. I suppose both sons got to work okay as I haven't heard any different.

Our driveway looks about the same as yesterday.

This was a very wet sticky snow and it is still sticking to everything.

The warm sunshine made even laying on the snow comfortable for Annie and Sadie.

Rebekah brought over some vegetables and deer meat for a good homemade soup for lunch. While it cooked the sledding began.
This is Evy's first snow and she didn't know what to think of all the white stuff !!!

"

"Okay when does the fun start? "

I'll help you decide which turn signal to use dad, we need to go that way !!

G-son had a blast !  If we would have had about another inch of snow sledding would have been much better. But we take what we get and this is the most snow we have had in a couple years around here.

Push mom !!!

D-in-love looks like she is enjoying the ride !!

This is what happens when you get off course !!!

 A triple loaded sled moves faster !!!   Notice the driver is the only one that is smiling ????

A breeze started and with the high 20's temps it was time for Evy and I to come inside and warm up.
She then watched all the action from the warm inside.

Everyone came in for a big bowl of the hot homemade soup which really hit the spot on a cold snowy day.
After lunch everyone scattered with their own activities except g-son and he stayed with me while mom kept a dr. appointment.
He talked his pawpaw into going back outside with him and although most of the snow was melted off the sledding hill they found other things to do.
Finally as the temperature started to drop into the mid 20's they came inside and got a snack and rested for a while before chore time.
#1 and #2 son came by for a bowl of the left over soup this evening. Thanks Rebekah, everyone enjoyed the soup.
Tonight is supposed to be another single digit cold night and the schools are closed again tomorrow.
It is already 13 degrees at 10:30 tonight so I expect a really cold night ahead.
As I watched the news tonight I feel guilty about all the fun we had today as I see pictures of these folks in Atlanta that got stuck in a traffic jam as the roads turned to ice rinks yesterday and became parking lots.

Schools could not get the students home on the icy roads and some are still staying at school for the second night tonight.  Folks stuck in cars on the highways that ran out of gas are sleeping in store aisles to keep warm. This is a Public's store along one of the multi-laned highways  that opened their doors to those people.

There are stories of babies being born in cars and rekindled friendships from folks who haven't seen each other in years while being stuck on the roads.  Helicopters are helping evacuate the sick. The entire city of Atlanta is said to be in total gridlock.
I can guarantee these folks are not having a fun time in this snow !!!

Talked to daughter a couple times today and she said the roads in her development had melted off pretty good by this afternoon and she shoveled her driveway out.  She didn't try it out anywhere today as the road her development is on is one of the last roads to get scraped by the DOT and it is a very curvy road. She will try to get to work in the morning.

Grateful to God tonight for a very blessed day of family and fun.  My prayers go out to anyone caught outside on this cold night.
Good Night and God Bless.

UNEXPECTED SNOWY SURPRISE

The chilly air felt more like snow was on the horizon this morning. The temperature on the way to school was a balmy 23 but that was higher than the predicted low of 15.
After dropping g-son I made a "milk and waffles" run to Walmart on the way home.
I finished chores with still a cloudy cool day on tap.  As I finished my breakfast #1 son called to ask if I had heard if they were going to let school out early?  I could see outside and there was nothing falling here but he said the roads were getting white at his work place across town.
About 30 minutes later I got a text that schools would be closing at 11am. 
I gathered laundry and read my Bible while I waited to go get g-son. As I left for school it started flurrying lightly. This storm named Leon was supposed to skirt us to the south but now it looks like we might be in the bull's eye !!

By the time I picked him up and got home the snow put a veil on the mountains and was

 starting to stick some on the bridges and shady spots on the roads.

This was our back yard at about noon.

We had lunch and watched the news.  This school bus was from the high school daughter works at. Luckily no one was seriously injured when it slid off the road and flipped on it's side over on Hooper's Creek road.

I did laundry between watching all the excitement down on the road of folks sliding all around.
Hubbie came in early from work and g-son was suited up and ready to go out in the first snow fall of this amount in a couple years to play.
This was our backyard at around 2pm.

G-son loves the snow.

This is the first snow we have had since his aunt T moved out and he had no one to play or sled with but Pawpaw.

They looked like they had a fun time !!!

The snow was really coming down this afternoon.

His mom made it home from work in Asheville okay thankfully and his dad was at work keeping the roads as clear as he could with the fast falling snow. This is a pic of him as he scrapes our road.

Both my boys are always out in the snow with their jobs. This is what #2 son was doing today and he said it was very slippery in these little mail trucks.

I had refilled all the feeders this morning and was rewarded with some awesome pics of my feathered friends this afternoon.
This White Throat Sparrow was all puffed up against the cold snow.

Mrs. Cardinal gave me a great pose.

Mr. Eastern Towhee had dinner at the feeder.

As I went out to do the evening chores I snapped this picture of the now 2" deep snow.

As I looked down at the road it doesn't look any better and now with the colder air of the evening and tonight's low near single digits it isn't going to get any better.  Be careful out there !!!

I love the quietness of a snowfall, it's as if God throws a blanket over the world to calm things down. I walked down to the mail box tonight just as darkness fell to enjoy the feeling.

Talked to daughter after she got home today about 12:30 and to #1 and #2 sons after they safely got home tonight.  With everyone safely off the roads I can relax and enjoy a quiet evening.
God is a mighty God who gently loves each one of us, I am prayerfully grateful for the safety of all my family and friends today.
Good Night and God Bless.

DAY WITH MY LITTLES

Started the day with g-son arriving at 7am. Hubbie got up to fix him breakfast. I stretched and was watching the morning news on the bedroom TV when my phone rang. It was Rebekah standing at the locked back door. Ooops, guess the news wasn't interesting enough to keep me from dozing !!!
Evy was staying with me this morning to give her mom a chance to sleep some after working all night.
After hubbie got back from taking g-son to school he played with her while I got dressed and did the outside chores. A nice above freezing temperature this morning made feeding chores quicker.
Evy loves to bounce in this little seat that hangs over the door jamb.

After jumping around for a little while she had her morning bottle and then reluctantly took a nap.
While she slept hubbie checked out my speedometer problems but found out he couldn't change the cable because it will zero the mileage. It has to be repaired by a licensed shop and they put a sticker on the door with the mileage at the time of repair.  He shook the cable to make sure it wouldn't completely fall off.
I had another cup of coffee and worked my morning crossword puzzle then picked up the toys g-son had left all over the living room yesterday and this morning.
Evy is a joy when she wakes up, after sleeping for about 1 1/2 hours she was in a great mood.
after a little snack of some puffs her mom left for her she was back to playing.
She loves to ride this little tractor. She hasn't mastered going forward but laughs so hard when she kicks off and it goes shooting backwards !!
The tongue action always  helps !!!!

Yeah !!!!   I asked her to say "cheese"  !!!!

Fun, fun, fun  what a sweetie !  As you can see in the background it did no good to pick up these blocks, seems both the kids like them dumped out of their tub so they can turn it upside down !
After lunch her mom came after her as she was just about ready for her afternoon nap.
When she left I headed outside in this wonderful sunny 56 degree afternoon. Hubbie was moving some boards to make space for another wood stack when he ran across 15 of these leather like eggs.

These little Black snakes must have gotten killed back in the really cold spell in October before they hatched.

They looked like they were almost ready to hatch. Black snakes usually lay their eggs in August and it takes 72 days for them to hatch.  I had never seen snake eggs before and I guess it wouldn't hurt me to go the rest of my life without seeing any more !!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the animals were really enjoying today's warm sunshine and temps as if they knew it is going to be short lived and tomorrow will be a different story.

After I picked g-son up today we came home to mac and cheese and some playtime. He got his report card today and it was a good one, much improved over last time.
He is such a smart boy and is getting so big !!! And oh by the way my speedometer worked fine this afternoon???
His dad worked on his truck awhile so g-son and I got some extra "us" time today.
It was back to fires in both wood stoves tonight with a predicted 18 tonight and 28 for the high tomorrow with a chance of snow later in the day.
Grateful to God for the blessings of the day and for a warm place to lay my head tonight as I pray for the ones who don't have a warm place to sleep.
Good Night and God Bless.