Weekending

Good Monday morning friends. We are still fighting germs in our house and it seems when one kiddo gets to feeling better another one goes down for the count. The two oldest grandboys spent the weekend with their other grandparents and I washed all the sheets and towels (again), Lysol-ed the house, cleaned all the bathrooms, then opened up some windows to let the sunshine and fresh air in. 

Hubs, daughter1, little miss, and I hung out at home mostly, with a few little errands thrown into the mix too. I've been doing a lot of cooking with a full house here and was running out of steam by the weekend. You forget how often kids eat. I mean there's breakfast then there's lunch and then of course dinner plus snacks in between. They are not picky eaters at all, but I'm just not used to all.the.meals. 

I made a chicken pot pie on Friday and we had BLT's Saturday which doesn't feel like real cooking and was a nice break. Pictures? Nope. 

How about an outdoor project update because I do have some pictures of that. When last we spoke (about this) we were waiting on furniture to arrive and guess what? It's here! The truck pulled into our driveway Friday morning and the unloading and figuring it all out commenced. Thankfully the designer came with them because it required a bit of finagling. 

It's a large space and we needed large furniture to fill it. Plus we always have people coming and going here so we wanted a lot of seating. It took a while to get the rug in the exact correct precise right spot and then get the furniture centered. Where is the center anyway? Is it between the columns? In line with the sliders? in line with the line that runs through the patio? hmmm...

Hubs needs everything symmetrical to the nth degree, while I'm more of a 'let's eyeball it and see how that looks' kind of gal. These delivery guys were great and super patient. 

Can you move it about four inches to your right? 

Wait, can you move it two inches back to your left? 

Bring it forward just a smidge. 

Too much! Can you back it up a hair? 

Maybe we should try removing one piece? 

Maybe we should add that middle piece to the left side instead? The right side?

Somehow the rug is now off center. Can you slide it over just a tad without 

moving all the heavy furniture we just asked you to set down there?

In short, we're a lot. Daughter1 tried to gently suggest hubs and I go upstairs and let them set it up and then come down and weigh in, but that's not how we roll here.  We have opinions. Especially one of us. Hi hubs! 

The end result though is so pretty! Can't wait to have a party of some kind when the weather warms up for good. 

I love the swivel chairs which sit out a bit from the main seating. You can join the conversation or swivel and look at the lake. 

We've made a cozy outdoor dining space under our screened porch and I love the new table and especially love all those chairs. 

We still need a fan installed in the dining space, along with some twinkle lights or Edison bulbs, and I need some lamps for the serving pieces, and some art and 'stuff' but we're on our way. 

We sat out by the new little fire table that afternoon and it was lovely. 

I have my new soon-to-be favorite napping spot all picked out-

Saturday we loaded up the car and went to see a couple of houses that are on the market. My daughter and her family are house hunting, and she's finally got her land legs after the move, the trip across the pond, the germs!!, so starting the hunt in earnest now. While Saturday's houses were a no-go, I guess it's good to eliminate things too. There's not a ton on the market, but listings generally pick up here in these next couple of months. While they're not in a big rush, I know it's hard not to be itching to get settled into your own space too. One day at a time. 

Saturday night we put little miss to bed, then the three of us watched Back In Action with Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx. I thought it was going to be silly, but it was actually pretty cute and we all enjoyed it. 

Sunday hubs took daughter1 to see three more houses and a couple of these might be worth another look once her hubs arrives later this week. I did more cleaning, more laundry, and just some general picking up while they were out and it felt good to get the three inches of dust off my bedroom furniture. Hubs grilled burgers for dinner and then it was early to bed for all the littles. We watched Groundhog Day because it seemed like the thing to do. 

It's an unusual season here...we're trying to hold on to some of our routines, but others we've chucked out the window for the time being.  It's fine. Better than fine. We love having the kids here and I know the other grandparents feel the same. 

I confess I might need to mother my daughter a little less, but it's hard. I mean she's right here in my very own house so it's tempting to weigh in on all sorts of things I don't need to weigh in on. She was going to run an errand the other day and I launched into directions when she reminded me she lives here now and is going to have to learn her way around. Plus it's 2025 and she has gps so I actually never need to launch into directions. 

It's what I do though. Mothers gotta mother.

Think maybe I'll put myself in time out right here. 

Linking with Holly and Sarah for their regular Hello Monday weekend catch up. 

Monday Morning Coffee Hour

Good Monday morning to you. How was your weekend. Ours was sick! 

I wish I meant that in the slangy way the word is sometimes used, but nope, it was the real deal. 

Here's the thing no one tells you about having grandchildren. They come with hugs and kisses and words and germs. Have mercy, the germs! I feel like a first year teacher when I'm around them (iykyk). I still remember having the most wicked case of strep throat ever my first year in the public schools. 

I do think you build up your immune system being around kids, and if that's truly the case mine should be good for the remainder of the year. 

My daughter said, 'you're not going to blog about this are you mom?' Of course not.

Oh my word it has been a week. 

I'll spare you the gruesome details but let's just say one half of the team had a fever-cough-sinus thing and the other half had what I feel certain was norovirus. Sadly I was in the second camp.

Actually by the weekend most of us were fine, but we kept it low key and just did more movie viewing and less eating than we normally would. 

We survived and I have the pictures to prove it. Sort of. Getting five littles to all look the same direction at the same time, whilst also feeling crummy, is not without it's challenges, but we persevered. I plan to have a cousin crew photo every year wearing matchy matchys. They've been told. 

Meanwhile...in Arkansas...

Hubs missed out on all the fun here because he was duck hunting with friends. I know it's not everyone's thing, but rest assured we will cook and eat what's 'caught'. 

Honestly I'm glad hubs wasn't home last week, because we need someone operating at full capacity. 

He always says he thinks I'd enjoy this, but I'm not keen on the idea of cold, dark, early, and wet. Especially the cold part. 

I do enjoy the photos though. 

And that was our weekend. Dead ducks...

... and lame ducks. 

Linking this post today with Holly and Sarah and their Hello Monday blog hop. 

Don't worry...I used lots of hand sanitizer. 

Weekend Reboot

Happy Monday everyone, and Happy Inauguration Day America! 

Don't at me. I know not everyone is excited about today, but I absolutely welcome the change. Not everybody does but hey, that's America in every election cycle. May God bless her as we usher in a new administration. Nobody should be hoping our new president fails at his job.

Moving on...the weekend. Linking with Holly (Pink Lady Blog) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) for their regularly scheduled Hello Monday weekend recaps.  

There are grandkids in the house, toys on the floor, marinara sauce on my dining room chair, and a morning coffee hour that now includes legos with a side of lots of questions asked and answered. 

We love it. 

I don't have many pictures from the weekend. While there's something we call multitasking, there's this whole other something which is multitasking with jet-lagged toddlers who need stories read, snacks procured, games played, and laps to sit in. Doesn't leave a lot of room or hands free for picture taking. 

Backing up to Thursday which I long ago declared the official start to the weekend. Hubs flew to London last Sunday/Monday so he could fly back to the states on Thursday with Daughter1, her three children, each toting his or her own backpack and snack box, a wagon, five oversized-overweight-overly heavy suitcases, two car seats in travel bags, and a partridge in a pear tree. 

Since my son-in-law will be in the UK for a couple more weeks, wrapping up his job there before he can join his family here, and since we parents never stop wanting to help where we can, off hubs went to do just that. The kids (the grown ones I mean) were grateful, and hubs could sleep without the thought of his girl trying to manage all of that on her own keeping him awake at night. 

These grands are seasoned travelers and trans Atlantic flights ain't no big thing to them. It's all the  'stuff' associated with flying that frays the nerves. They landed in Atlanta late afternoon then had to get through immigration and customs, and the nightmare that is Atlanta traffic anytime at 6 o'clock in the evening, then another two hour drive here, but they did it!! They arrived home about 9 PM. 

Of course by 9 pm little miss had finally hit the wall, so my daughter plunked her into bed in the clothes she'd been wearing all day and night and then I looked at my daughter and kind of wanted to plunk her into the bed right beside her. 

She's an absolute star y'all. 

Friday started early because jet lag is for real.  Everyone was surprisingly cheerful, and we pulled out the toys and they got to work playing. I bought a doll stroller for little miss and she spent most of the day pushing it around the house, putting all her stuffies and special things in it, taking them out, chatting happily. The boys put together legos and Nana (that's me) made french toast because it was a french toast kind of morning. I also played Battleship and Rush Hour and listened to little boys explain which transformer is which and just soaked up that familiar feel of family in the house that is so precious. 

Daughter1 worked on unpacking their belongings and making sense of how to temporarily settle in to our house while they find one of their own. They can move over to the in-laws lake house (the in-laws don't live in it full time) if the home buying process takes too long and that's the plan sometime after my son-in-law arrives. 

She's also in a wedding (we don't do things by halves here) mid-February, out of town of course, so she had to get herself to the alterations lady Friday afternoon to have her bridesmaid dress basically remade before she needs to be in it. Whew. It's all kind of a lot on day one. 

As an aside, why are bridesmaid dresses sized so ridiculously ridiculous? Why aren't they sized like all the other dresses women wear? 

I'd invited the other grandparents aka the in-laws, to come for dinner along with my son-in-law's sister and brother-in-law, so it was a fun welcome home celebration. I made lasagne and a pan of baked ziti the day before, and it was so good. Yes I am saying so myself lol. It was though! 

I also baked a cake for dessert. Southern Living put out a calendar of cakes, one to bake each month of the year, and I thought I'd try it in 2025. I need to do these when I have company in the house so they'll get eaten so this was the perfect time to whip up the January recipe-

Buttermilk cake-

I'd never had a buttermilk cake but the ingredients give it a taste similar to pound cake, although not nearly as dense. The icing was scrumptious! Very much like a caramel frosting. I would definitely make this one again, and thought it tasted even better the second day. 

Saturday dawned early again, for the boys anyway. Apparently little miss had been up on UK time five hours earlier, then went back to sleep about the time the boys were getting up, and this is just how it is with kids and jet lag. 

Once everyone was really up, fed, and dressed we got out of the house for a bit. We went to a small museum one tiny town over called Museum of the Cherokee, and everyone enjoyed it. Hubs is always up for an arrowhead hunt. 

Afterwards we walked to the cheesesteak place for lunch, then wandered into a couple of shops before heading back home. 

Everyone was tired. Ti-red. I laid on the couch for a few minutes trying to finish the book I was reading, but then a tea party was happening right in the middle of my keeping room, and who doesn't want to drink tea poured (mostly) carefully by the cutest little server ever???

We had left overs for dinner and everyone went to bed early. 

Sunday little miss was up early, but the boys slept in and eventually we'll all be on the same page. The sun was shining so we took a walk in the neighborhood and soaked up some much needed Vitamin D. 

Hubs had some real estate-ing to do on Sunday and we all watched a movie that afternoon. I made an easy dinner, a chicken dish I hadn't made in years that I probably over made back in the day, but everyone liked it. We used to call it Russian chicken but I don't know if that was the official name. You mix apricot jam, a packet of Lipton's onion soup, and a bottle of Russian salad dressing together, then pour it over the chicken, cover and bake. Still delicious. 

And at this point my daughter was fading. Here's something I know about motherhood...no matter how old your children are, you never get over the instinct mothers have to help, soothe, and fill in the gaps where they need filling. 

You will one day look at your grown adult daughter and think, how can I help? How can I make this moment, this transition, this whatever easier? 

You send her for a warm shower and her pjs while you read her children bedtime stories, and oversee teeth brushing and bedtime prayers. 

You remember the exhaustion that lived beside the sweetness of mothering young children, and the memory of sitting on her bed listening to her bedtime prayers leads you to say one of your own..

Now I lay me down to sleep, thank you for this life so sweet.

Hello Monday Musings

Good Monday morning everyone. How was your weekend? Ours was cold, really cold for South Carolina. We had snow on Friday which is a rare treat. It's come and gone now, but was so pretty while it lasted.

The temps were freezing and it was a really wet snow, and yes I know wet isn't the best adjective to use here, because isn't all snow wet? This was not the light and fluffy kind, so I didn't get out in it. 

Someone did though, and he loved it. LOVED it!!

He does an army crawl across the grass and it makes us all remember what he was like as a puppy living in the Pacific Northwest. 

There's something about a snowy day that inspires me to cook. Hubs and I started the day with blueberry waffles which are hubs favorite, but not something I make on the regular. I also made a pot of chili for dinner because that's in the snow day bylaws. 

Saturday we had some errands to run and opted for a breakfast date before making a few fun stops like filling up the gas tank and wandering the aisles at CVS. We came home and I finally cleaned out the pantry. I don't know how the pantry periodically ends up so out of order, but I pulled everything out, wiped down all the shelves, got rid of a few things, then put it all back in mostly the same place, but not quite. 

Change is good. 

Also reorganizing the pantry is a satisfying job to have done. 

I put a roast in the crock pot before we left on Saturday and the house smelled so good all day long. Did you come here today to read about what we ate all weekend long? If so you're in luck lol. I made the Mississippi recipe which calls for a packet of ranch dressing, and didn't realize until it was too late that the ranch mix I bought was spicy ranch. I didn't even know Hidden Valley made a spicy ranch mix? 

All's well that ends well though because we like spicy here. It honestly didn't change the flavor too much,  a tad more peppery than usual but very tasty. 

A pretty low key weekend overall...reading, football, watching the snow fall, comfort cooking, and a few small projects crossed off the to-dos. I finally made my winter bucket list, and always refer to my calendar when I  create my list to capture anything eventful I know will be happening. While we don't have any big trips or significant travel on the calendar this winter, the calendar somehow still manages to look awfully full. 

There will be grandkids in the house this winter and I might make a bucket list with them once they're here. I usually do one in the summer when they're visiting, so this would be different and fun I think. In the meantime here's mine-

So how was your winter weekend? Frosty? Fun? Filled with family? Do you have a winter bucket list? 

Linking today with Holly and Sarah for their Hello Monday weekend recap blog hop. 

Merry Happy Monday

Recapping last week's Christmas fun today, and linking it all with Hello Monday hosted by Holly and Sarah. 

We got to Daughter2's house Monday lunchtime and spent the afternoon playing with the grands. My daughter made this Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner that night and it was so good. I will definitely be making it myself someday soon. 

I feel like this post might be heavy on the food mentions, but c'est la holidays.

On Christmas Eve we had a nice breakfast courtesy of my son-in-law who made us sausage and eggs on the Blackstone. He grilled the hot Benton's sausage we'd picked up on our way into town and it's delish. I'd never purchased their sausage before but my daughter wanted the hot so we grabbed some to bring home too. It's not overly hot, just super flavorful. 

After breakfast we bundled everyone up for a walk, with a stop at the playground for sweet baby J to show us his tricks on the slide. 

This one y'all...

She's a mover and a shaker and we laugh and say when it comes to the grands it's the two little girls who are gonna give us all a run for our money. I cannot wait to see them together soon. 

My sister and her hubs sent my daughter a wonderful charcuterie gift from Gourmet Gift Baskets, which we enjoyed for lunch. The dried fruit and nut tray is amazing and there was a separate tray of cheese, sausage, and crackers. There's not a lot of dining out with littles this age but we didn't miss it. 

The babies both nap in the afternoon which gives everyone else a little time to relax too. 

For dinner my son--in-law cooked a prime rib that had first been slathered in garlic butter, and we had twice baked potatoes and broccoli to go with. Our family tradition used to be new pjs for everyone to open on Christmas Eve, but now that we have grandchildren I like to give the jammies earlier in the month so they can wear them all of December. I got all the grands and their parents the same set of the Christmas Cookie pattern from Caden Lane and they were so cute. 

And appropriate. My daughter the baker-

We didn't get to church on Christmas Eve as their service was at 5 PM and that's just a tricky time of day for a two and a half year old and a ten-month old. The little people manger helps with the telling of the story in a way the 2-year old can understand and that's the important thing. 

Christmas day dawned bright and early and it was so much fun to see the little man take it all in. You never know what they're going to remark on first, but he slayed us with his initial observation in a room full of gifts and an uwrapped t-ball set that, 'Some of these presents have bows. And some have no bow'  

He is so extra y'all. 

He was overjoyed with every single gift he was given and we leisurely opened presents, added batteries, worked new puzzles, tried to figure out how to turn off! the train when it needed a rest, enjoyed homemade cinnamon rolls and an egg casserole, and thoughtful stocking stuffers for all the adults too. 

We have loved adding trucks and trains and cars and legos to our supply of toys in the house but it's fun to now have some little girls to buy for too. 

We Facetimed with the UK contingent and we're all looking forward to being on the same land mass when Christmas comes round again next year. 

Thursday we had a slow morning then went to a nearby park for a nice long walk. It felt good to move, and while I enjoy all the holiday-ing I also look forward to cleaner eating and less indulging. After December 31st I mean. 

Thursday night hubs and I were left in charge of the littles while their mom and dad had an honest to goodness date night. They went to a nearby Italian restaurant where Momma was able to enjoy a whole entire complete meal uninterrupted. Happy new year to her! 

It's the little things, right? 

Christmas is still up at my house and will come down sometime after the first of the year. I hate the thought of putting it all away, but I do love the thought of a clean house. Hope your Christmas was merry and bright! 

A quick p.s. for anyone new here...I host a weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge on my blog and you are most welcome to join the fun. It's a random Q & A with room for a thought of your own too. The questions will post on Sundays this year, and the link-up will still go live on Wedenesdays. Happy new year everyone!