FEBRUARY ENDS WITH RAIN AND A FEBRUARY RE-CAP

Well bet you can't guess what the weather is doing once again this morning. Seems every time we get a nice sunny day it makes up for it with at least a couple rainy days.
As I put on rain gear to get out and do the chores I was thankful that it wasn't really cold and icy.
I took RL to pre-school and then headed home to get a busy morning started.
After breakfast for IR and myself I settled in at the computer to get February's goal of tax month completed. I haven't finished daughters and son-in-love's return yet because I've been waiting for numbers and figures that they have to find stored away after their move.
Hopefully on this last day of February I can manage to get theirs finished.
It has rained all morning making it much easier to sit inside at the computer.
I took a break for lunch then discovered something else I need from daughter but it should be easy to look up when she gets here to pick up IR.
IR finally went down for a good nap at about 2:30 in the quiet house.
When daughter came in she gave me the information I needed and we finished her and son-in-love's taxes to keep my goal in tact for another year.
After she left hubbie and I did chores and then I worked on weekly paperwork and paid the bills for the week.
We watched the first episode of Survivor on TV. Every time this show comes on TV I tell myself I'm not going to get started watching it but I always do. At least it was a pretty good show tonight to begin the season.
There was 3/10ths inch of rain in the gauge this evening and the rain has really picked up tonight as I can hear it pounding on the metal roof over the noise of the TV.
We are supposed to be pretty socked in tomorrow with a lot more rain.

This year's February was a record warm one of all time. We had mostly rainy days and warm temps but it was a good month with no freezing temps except at the very beginning.
February for us was pretty normal.
The groundhog saw his shadow on the 2nd which signaled 6 more weeks of winter but after a few days at the first of the month that were wintry and icy we have seen no evidence of winter in the month.
We have certainly had our fair share of rainy days with some flooding.
On several days we broke record highs for both daytime and nighttime temps which encouraged a lot of early blooms and buds.
We celebrated a happy Valentines day with the family.
This is tax month for me and I did manage to get ours and #2 sons and daughters taxes finished in the month even it was right up to the last day !!
The big news of the month was the passing of the Reverend Billy Graham at 99 years old after a several year period of failing health.
Also in the news was the winter Olympics held in China this year.
G-daughter RL also had her own Olympics at Mud creek pre-school and hubbie, IR and I attended this event which she won the gold in her age class.
With all the rainy days we have not kept up our exercise routines and I feel like this is something we both need to get back into.
Hubbie was sick for the third time and lost his voice and got a terrible cough , he was diagnosed with a really bad sinus infection.
Daughter also had a sinus infection and IR cut more teeth so she didn't feel good on several days.
Son-in-love had a bought of strep throat and RL had a virus that caused a fever for a couple days.
The work is finally complete on the house #2 son and Tif are buying and now they just wait for the closing date.
As we move on into another God given month I pray for all my family and that God's Will be done in all that we do. We are thankful for the blessings that came in the past month and for the protective arms of God and His mercy upon us in all that we accomplished .
Good Bye February and Hello March.
God Bless and Good Night

KIDS, KIDS AND MORE KIDS

Had a different morning today as d-in-love is taking RL to pre-school. I did chores and had breakfast while IR napped. Daughter said she woke up very early this morning so she is getting her extra sleep in this morning.
It is a very foggy morning.

I changed out the monthly bed and furniture covers and then put away all the Valentine décor replacing it with my wildflower plate collection and other early spring stuff.
IR had her breakfast at about 10:00 and then she played in her bouncy until it was time to go pick up RL.
Hubbie had to pick up some rat poison at Southern Ag and I had to stop and order some signs for customer parking only for market in the same area.
RL was proud of her hand print flag.

We thought both girls would be asleep but neither went to sleep all the way home.
We all had lunch, the girls both had chicken nuggets and hubbie and I had left over hotdogs from Sunday.
After lunch hubbie took RL outside as IR needed a nap. I got her to sleep and put her on the couch blocked in by a dinning room chair and did more cleaning around the house.
RL had to come back inside while hubbie went to pick up g-son at school while his mom is still in Asheville.
RL was relentless until she got IR woke up from her nap. Then they played together until their mom's came in.

We all rode over to Re's house to take some pictures of all the kids with the new little goat kids. We didn't expect to have another of the mother goats having babies at exactly this time but she did so that kind of blew a lot of the picture taking opportunity as the kids all were overly excited but we did manage some great shots of the kids with the kids !!.

Man that's a lot of girl power  !!!!

The boys are way out numbered but they are soooo handsome !!!

The mama goats wanted in on all the petting also.

Of course when all these kiddos get together there is always a lot of fun play.

IR was more fun to hold than a baby goat, just ask CO.

I would love to have heard this conversation !!!

G-son might have been dreaming of driving one of these big tractors soon !!!

Hubbie and I stayed and helped Re get the new little baby and her mom settled down and then came home to do the chores .
This is my second little Silkie setter and she settled down quickly in this pipe to help keep the eggs warm.

#2 son and Tif came to pick up a treadmill out of their things stored in the barn to let one of their co-workers use. They got the final walk through of the house they are buying yesterday and said they loved it and it was just what they wanted. They are supposed to close mid March.
Hubbie and I rounded up an old barrel and took it back over to Re's to make a warm place for the goat kids to get in tonight out of the cold.
Aa came in and helped cut the hard plastic barrel and we got it set up and then hubbie and i headed home for a light late supper .
Then we settled down to watch the UNC / Miami basketball game which Miami won on a last second shot.
Thankful for the blessings of this day and for all the youngsters that I get to watch grow up.
God Bless and Good Night.

TIRESOME MONDAY

Monday morning and another rainy morning !!! I got chores done and then took RL to pre-school. She went to sleep on the way there and was not happy when the teacher woke her up and cried to go back home with me for the first time since she has been going to this pre-school.
I came home and had my breakfast while IR took a morning nap.  She woke up just as I was gathering laundry together and I fixed her breakfast before going downstairs to get the weekly laundry started.
I spent my morning dealing with the laundry while hubbie occupied IR . We left to pick up RL a little early so we could stop by the school and drop something off to daughter.
RL was crying when I picked her up and was not a happy little girl but she did eat a couple chicken nuggets before she crashed for a nap on the way home.
Hubbie carried both girls inside and IR had lunch with us while RL napped.
RL took a good long nap but woke up still miserable for some reason. Nothing pleased her today and she wore both hubbie and me out before her mom picked her up.
IR took another nap this afternoon and was happy to sit in her walker and watched Daniel Tiger thankfully.
After both girls left hubbie and I took a short rest and watched the early news .
Then we headed out to get the chores done. There is definitely a different feel to the air outside as the cold front has finally made it's way to our area. The high today was 61 and the clouds left around noon leaving the afternoon sunny. There was only 1/10th inch of rain in the gauge from the overnight and morning light rain fall.
Now the temps are going to be more near normal for a while. I hate to see those freezing overnight temps.

I wonder what will happen to all the budded out and blooming plants , hopefully it won't get really cold anymore this winter . My Forsythia is starting to bloom !!

Tonight we watched a Duke / Virginia Tech basketball game which Virginia Tech won and then we both headed for early bedtimes to try recoup for tomorrow.

Thankful for the blessings of this day .

God Bless and Good Night

WONDERFUL SUNDAY

Would you believe it is raining again this morning ????
 As I got on my boots and raingear to head outside I hated to complain to badly with all the severe weather hitting other parts of the country.
I came back inside and had oatmeal for breakfast then we put on the corn on the cob we bought Friday and got out the other things ready to cook as soon as we get home from church.
Church was good today as both our Pastors were back from their trip to Israel where they walked where Jesus walked.
We had 2 young folks Baptized today which made the day very special. Sawyer's dad Baptized her.

And Pastor Craig baptized a young high school student that has battled a troubled past and decided to follow Jesus Christ for a better life.

All the Glory to God !!!!
We came home to get the grill started for the burgers and hotdogs and I put the fries in the oven and put on the baked beans and hotdog chili to cook while slicing tomatoes, lettuce and onions for the burgers and getting out all the other condiments. We also had chips for the kids and the fresh corn on the cob which was very good for this early corn, just ask these two as they enjoyed theirs.

These two are so cute together and they act like they really like each other "most" of the time !!!!

And BB really loves it when the only other male kid around here plays with him.

Everyone had a wonderful visit and then they all left leaving hubbie and me to a quiet afternoon. The rain has stopped but the clouds and dampness feels cool in the mid 60's temps so it was a good afternoon to watch a race on TV.

#2 son and Tif went up to do some measuring and decide some things to do around the outside of the house they are buying. It is finally completely finished so their closing date in March will be a go hopefully. They haven't seen the completed inside yet but are going in sometime this week to check it out.

Hubbie and I did chores and then relaxed for the evening to recharge for a busy week coming up.

The rain gauge had 3/10ths inch in it from the morning rain and it is suppose to rain heavier tonight as the cold front passes through the area.

Thankful for a wonderful Sunday and for the amazing blessings that God chooses to send my way each day.

God Bless and Good Night

MARKET DAY SATURDAY AND MONTHLY BOARD MEETING

Up and out in a misty rain this morning to get chores done today. Hopefully the sun will make its way through the clouds for at least a nice morning and maybe warm up the sales at market.
We made it to market on time and got set up before any customers even showed up.
Sales were a little better today and I even sold a small bonnet for the first craft item I've sold in many days.
Hubbie stayed until lunchtime and then he made a second trip to Sam's Club to pick up hotdogs and hamburgers for lunch tomorrow. We had bought some on sale chicken tenders on Thursday to have but when we smelled a rotten smell in the refrigerator and discovered the smell was that chicken we threw it out.
Thankfully the morning turned out really nice and #1 son and d-in-love took advantage to clean out a storage shed they have up near our barn. The kids had fun playing around the house and in the "doghouse" #2 son made in this pic d-in-love sent me.

We had our second Curb Market board of control meeting today after market. We had a lot of business to discuss and the meeting lasted 2 full hours and I still forgot to bring up a couple things I had written in my notes.  Being the secretary and taking down the minutes was a big job plus trying to get in all the things other vendors had given me to bring up in the meeting I felt like my brain was a jumble . But we did get a lot of things resolved.
I made a stop at Aldi for some baking supplies for next week and some groceries.
I got home at 5:15 and hubbie came and helped me unload then went back to work with #1 son who was re-roofing their storage building after getting it cleaned out.
I did chores and then came inside and watched the news on TV. The procession carrying Rev. Billy Graham's body left Montreat and drove to Charlotte today as crowds of folks gathered along the roads where he was traveling to show their love and respect to Rev. Graham's family.

This memorial will remain open in Montreat for visitors and his body will lie in state at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte until next week then it will be taken to the capitol for a couple days before being brought back to Charlotte for burial.

Another winter strom has been named, Polly, is right on the heels of Oliver with snow and ice for the north western states for the weekend.

This little sweetie had pizza for the first time tonight and as you can tell from the mess all over her face and the big smile it was a hit with her !!!

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for the wonderful love of a graceful Savior.

God Bless and Good Night

PRE-SCHOOL OLYMPICS

Clouds look like they will win the battle today as the sun rises with just rays peeking through the dark clouds.

I got the chores done and took RL to pre-school as usual .
I came home and fed IR her breakfast and had a bowl of oatmeal before getting ready to head back out to RL's preschool for their version on the Olympics this year.
The children's center was all decked out in proper Olympic décor.

RL's class were the Canadian Polar Bears and this is them as they marched in. RL is the girl on the right in the middle looking this way.

RL's class.

Saluting the flag for the pledge.

 Their event was the first one and RL blew away the competition and finished well ahead of everybody !!

 Getting last minute instructions......

And they're off.......  RL is leading the way......

 After picking her ball up and putting it in the basket she's headed for the finish line.....

Even the teacher couldn't keep up ......

She holds the Polar Bear prize ........

IR was cheering her cousin on !!!!

RL watched the other events from the other classes from teacher Jodi's lap.

Our great nephew Noah also competed in the 3 year old class and won his event as a Penquin.

After the program she was a hungry Polar Bear and ate chicken nuggets and several little tomatoes from a produce stand we stopped at.

Both girls went to sleep on the way home and we made a stop at an estate sale out the road from our house but didn't find much except a few garden tools.

The girls woke up when we got home and we all had lunch together before going outside for some play time.

This one thought the warm sunshine felt good enough for a nap. What better way to end this day then sitting on the porch in a rocking chair listening to this little angel sleep.

Can't believe this 73 degree temps and sunshine in February. But we will surely take it and just hope it holds up and spring comes early this year.

After everyone left hubbie and I got the chores done and I baked a couple pound cakes for market tomorrow. Hoping this nice weather holds at least through the morning so maybe folks will be out shopping around.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and for a great Christian preschool with such wonderful teachers and administrators to help teach these little ones about the love of God and the hope for the world.

God Bless and Good Night.