LAYING HEAVY ON THE HEART

Wyatt, at 11 months old, finally has his first tooth!!! And to beat all, it is in the top, not in the bottom as they usually are. I was beginning to think we were going to have to get him a set of dentures! lol

By the way;

If anyone is searching for SAM, his new bog can be found at:

http://sayit-baldys.blogspot.com/ Go by and read his posts...he will wlecome all!

Saturday night after work, Dan and I went with Amanda, Kelvin and Wyatt to Bonners…a restaurant that is way out in the country. They opened for business the year me and Danny got married, which was 1971. You know the food and the service has to be good, for it to have been in business for over 37 years and be so far back in the woods! The place was packed by the time we got there, around 8:30.

The inside of Bonners is very rustic like a cabin…it has long wooden tables and various animals mounted on the walls. …but what got Wyatt’s attention were the deer! He could not sit still and kept pointing at them until his daddy or either Uncle Dan would take him to see one up close. He was shaking he was so excited! It didn't take him long to start saying “DEER!” either!

Yesterday, we had a cookout here at my house. It rained some, but Kelvin managed to get the pork chops done in between times. Amanda fixed potato salad and deviled eggs, while I made Wyatt’s favorite; green beans and potatoes! That child could eat his weight in green beans!

Anybody see the John and Kate Plus Eight show last night? It was so sad…and by the end I was crying right along with Kate. Life is hard and we all trip up and fall from time to time...we have all made bad choices….nobody is perfect and anyone who says that they have the perfect marriage or that they are the perfect parents are lying … so yes, I feel for both John and Kate….but mostly for the little kids.

Wyatt in his granddaddy's Danny’s boat. ( Thanks Troy.)

For the last week or so, I have been feeling sort of depressed…I don’t know how to explain it…except to say that losing Danny has been laying so heavy on my heart here lately…

I miss him so much…I miss his laugh, and the way he would call me “boo”, the way his hand felt when he held mine…I wish he was here…I wish he could see his little grandson…I wish so much that I could see him…

I would give my life just to be able to hug him and tell him all the things things that I could have said, or should have said to him…more often….Like how he was always my hero…how I always felt so safe when he was with me…like how I always wished that I could have been more like him and less like me….

Why is it that we always think of all the things we could have or should have said to those we love….

When it is too late?

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

LITTLE MIRACLES

Another week has passed …time sure does fly…

Anybody watch  JOHN AND KATE PLUS EIGHT ? I have been watching the show for a while now and love watching the antics of the eight little children….seeing them grow up and seeing how their parents coped with all eight of them. Speaking of the parents…Their  in the news now…and unfortunately, it ain’t pretty. I hate the fact that the children will see these ugly stories about their parents one day. That’s the thing about being famous…It’s sort of like living in a small town…EVERYONE and their neighbor knows your business…

Except in a small town…most folks try to help you out when you’re down…not hurt you.

Dan’s poison oak has gone away… Thank goodness for the steroid pills…       

 

Here he is with Wyatt at KFC today.  He loves his little nephew with all his heart and it nearly killed him not to be able to hold him while the poison oak was on his arms and hands. Dan is soooooo happy now!  (Wyatt and I am too!)

Gas is creeping back up around here in our little town and all the surrounding area, but then again, it is getting that time of year again…aka: summertime. Isn’t it amazing how every year, around this same time, the price of crude oil goes up??? ;-)

Saturday I was so tired after working all day, I came home and went to bed and just cried. My legs hurt…My back hurt…and my head hurt…We hadn’t been that busy in a long time and well…I think my age is telling on me too. I was so grateful when the day was over. Our boss gave us a bonus for working so hard…bless her heart…and she works harder than any of us.

Every once in a while, during our short lives here on this earth..most of us are fortunate to be blessed with true miracles…I know my family was, when God sent little Wyatt to become part of our family.

After the heartbreak of losing Danny….this child has put new meaning in the word love for this old woman…

This baby  has taught me how to smile and even laugh again…at a time when I thought I no longer could….or even wanted to…

Sometimes…..if you are lucky enough…..                           

God will bless you with another little miracle …

                

       That should be here around CHRISTMAS.

I am so happy I could burst….being a grandma is the best thing that has happened to me in a long, long time.

                  

    Breakfast at Grandma’s; and about to go to sleep!

THANK YOU GOD FOR ALL YOUR MANY BLESSINGS ON ME.

                  &

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

WEDNESDAY TIDINGS

This week I have been working hard at home.

I finally got the floors swept and mopped…the clothes washed and all of the bed covers washed and dried.

Then I did what I put off doing forever and that is shampooing the one room that has carpet in it…DAN’S.

To do anything in his room, I have to make sure we talk about it for days before actually doing it..He hates any kind of upheaval or change, so it is hard getting him in the mood to let me do anything if he is here. Usually I just catch him gone camping with Troy to do anything in there , but he hasn’t been in a while…so I had to talk it out with him.

Speaking of Dan…He went outside one day while I was at work last week, and cleaned out the two old dog pens that use to hold Danny’s beagles.He pulled up all the weeds and such… Had he asked me first, I would have warned him about the poison oak that had overtook the pens…

As it is now, he is ate up with the stuff. :-( 

I called his doctor and he prescribed some ointment for him. After only a day, I called back and explained that he had it everywhere and he needed something else…so he sent in an order for pills to help him today.  I know he is miserable, as he has told me so… in so many words…..over and over and over and over again. Dan does not handle sickness of any kind very well and will let me know it…constantly….

Bless his heart.

I bought some  “Sweet Bay Rays”  BBQ sauce Monday when I got groceries and I used it yesterday afternoon on some pork loin…Oh man, was it good! I will be buying it again!

I also made some homemade macaroni and cheese ...matter of fact I had enough to make two casseroles…

So I made Amanda one also….

Gosh, they were good!

Wyatt is waiting for Grandma to cook him breakfast….

Yes he is sitting on his Grandma’s table!

Playing with his “cookies”.

He takes them out one-by-one.

He examines each one carefully!

He loves his little “Cookie Jar” toy I got him!

God bless his little heart….

and

Thank You God for this adorable little sweetheart that You sent to us.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

MOTHER’S DAY 2009

I went to Church Mother’s Day.  Amanda and Wyatt went too! The men of the Church cooked out on the huge grills while we sat in Church listening to the sermon and the singing. My great nieces sang !

The men got to hear too as they had loud speakers hooked up outside. They did a good job grilling too!  We had BBQ pork chops, ribs, and chicken…along with beans,corn,and various vegetables and an assortment of desserts.

                

          Here’s Wyatt eating his lunch at Church!

Amanda had pink roses sent to me Saturday while I was at work! I haven’t had roses in I don’t  know when…and could probably count on one hand the ones I’ve had during my entire life time. (Guess I am just the type woman no one sends flowers to, huh?) The roses were so pretty and they were pink…my favorites!

               

Dan got me a card and also ‘took’ me out to eat..with the help of Amanda and Kelvin doing the driving! He really surprised me!

             

My ‘other young-un’ Kandy found me up town getting Amanda’s card from Wyatt Sunday ( the one that got stolen) and we got to talk for a bit. When we got ready to go our separate ways, she reached in the car and handed me this card…and when I read it I nearly cried…

                        

Just goes to show that sharing one’s blood and DNA doesn’t make a mama…or a child. Thank you sweetheart.

Sunday after Church, I got a card for Wyatt to give his mommy. So, while Amanda and Kelvin were gone to his mom’s , I slipped over to their house and put the card securely in the screen door. Do you know someone stole that card before they got back home??? MAKES ME SO DARN MAD!

So, today I went back to the store where I bought it yesterday and got the very same card and personally gave it to her for Wyatt…I guess whoever took the first one must have thought there was money in it…When they found none, they could have least put it back. Some people are so sorry and mean.

I went to see my mama on Mother’s day too. I went that afternoon after I got back from the BBQ at the church…She was sitting in her wheel chair and had her a little snack lined up on the seat of a hard back chair in her room. She was so happy to get the new ‘dress’  and snacks that I got her.

              

And that was my Mother’s Day….I hope each and everyone of yall had a good Mother’s Day too.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

MY MAMA

            

One of the first  words ever spoken from a baby’s lips… M A M A…

Such a simple name….but when ever uttered, means so much…and never fails to brings back so many childhood memories…

Daddy may have been this  little girl’s first love….but her mama was the one that was always there.

                            

She  is the one that held my hand when I was scared to walk into school for that first day…and would sometimes hold my hand up to hers and said, “look at our hands together…” 

I always knew that hers were the biggest, and the strongest…but it would be  years later before I realized  the love and the strength those hands never failed to showed me.

Mamas have a hard life sometimes…Lord knows mine did…

She spent all the years of her life doing without … so that others could have.

                  

The house we lived in had not a drop of  paint on the old pine board walls…had no rugs on the old wooden floors…had no bathroom…no running water…no curtains…no pretty bedspreads….no pretty pictures on the walls…We had an old tin  bucket for our water and an old wooden table to sit at…we didn’t even have chairs for our table…we little children sat on tall fruit baskets…

                   

I remember looking out the window at my mama, who was outside chopping wood with an old ax in the dead of winter…an old wool scarf tied around her head and wearing an even older threadbare coat in an attempt to keep the cold away from her body…and how when she came in, her face would be all flushed red from the frigid  air and how her eyebrows would have ice crystals in them…but Never complaining…as she carefully loaded the wood into the old pot bellied stove…to get her children warm.

                  

Oh…Mama…my mama….

Your love warmed this little child of yours in so many more ways than that….

I can not begin to count the ways that you loved me…stood by me…stood up for me….comforted me….fed me….and yes, even saved me….from myself.

It has taken me too many years to realize….

That  it is YOU who helped me learn the true meaning of loving a child…..

Of being a Mama.

GOD BLESS YOU ‘MY MAMA’.

A MEAL LIKE MY MAMA’S

         

This morning, as with every morning, I was lying in bed waiting for the alarm clock to go off.  Don’t ask me why I don’t go ahead and just get up…I could…but I don’t. I lay there thinking about stuff…just waiting for the radio to turn on. This morning they played I OWE YOU, by Jimmy Dean…I had not heard this song in years …This morning I really listened to the lyrics…and I cried like a baby…because it sounded so much like my mama…If you have not heard it…Google the lyrics and read the words.

After I got up, I ‘looked’ some dry great northern beans, and put them on to boil. ( To "’look’ dry beans; you pour them out on the table and look through them for rocks, trash, and /or rotten beans! Then you wash them off. ) I got a big ham bone out of the freezer and thawed it out in the microwave. I left the beans boiling gently on low heat while I showered and got ready for work. After my shower, I poured the beans into my Crockpot and then added the ham bone. I left them on low and went in to work.

When I came home tonight, I had the best supper! I work 11 hours, so by the time I got home, the beans were very tender and the ham meat had fallen completely off the bone…I baked some cornbread in my old iron skillet and fried some salmon patties to add to my meal. Mmm-mmm….a meal fit for a queen!

Here is my Salmon Pattie recipe if anyone wants it…

Salmon Patties

1 tall can pink salmon-drained and deboned

2 eggs- beaten

1 stack saltines ( soda crackers)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

dash of hot sauce

salt and pepper

(Some folks add a little chopped up onion into their Pattie mix, but my kids don’t care for it. Also; some folks don’t pick the bones out…but I do.)

In a medium bowl, crush and crumble saltines up real fine. Stir in two beaten eggs. Open the can of salmon and drain off the juice. Pick the bones out. Put the salmon in the bowl with the crackers and eggs.  Mash the salmon up good with a fork. Add the lemon juice and a dash of hot sauce..such as Texas Pete. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix all together and form into small patties. Pour enough oil to cover bottom of a  skillet. Heat oil on medium heat until hot. Place patties in hot skillet and fry… Fry on each side until golden brown.

An inexpensive and even ‘good for you’ meal!

A meal like my sweet mama use to make….

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

HARD TIMES

Whew! I had already a rough week….

and then along came Saturday.

My cell phone was stolen.

It was lying on my table at the BBQ and while we employees were busy in the kitchen, my phone walked out the door. There were only two people in the dining area at the time, so I am almost positive that they are the ones who took it.

By stealing my phone, they put me in a bind since I had to pay 4 different insurances this month…but what really hurt me the most was the fact that I had a memory card in the phone and there were over 300 photos of my mama and little Wyatt on it.

I had downloaded a lot of the pictures to my computer, thank goodness, but the memory card also held some very precious videos of them both. It makes me so sad to know that I have lost these forever.

I went to Verizon and got a new cell phone today. It cost me around $55.00.  I got one of the lower priced ones.  They were able to restore all my contacts, since they had been downloaded a while back when I had to have the phone replaced once before. I also lost all my ringtones and games…two of which I hadn’t even gotten the bill for until I came home today!

On brighter news….just look what my nephew caught the other day!

             

That monster that he is holding is a flathead catfish weighing over 40 pounds! He caught it at the lake here in our little town. Troy is Danny’s sister’s son and use to go fishing with Danny a lot.

I just know Danny was looking down from Heaven and smiling as he fought to get that big fish in the boat!           

             

             Wyatt: taken today

    GOD BLESS YOU ALL