Weekly Visit:

 

Our weekly visit includes rushing home from work, Dwayne has to take a shower, we call in a pizza to Quik Spot.  Go to Quik Spot, pick up pizza, sodas and lottery scratch off tickets.  We eat the pizza on the way and then scratch off our tickets.  Sometimes we win, most often we don't.  We have won $50 a couple times, then it's exciting.

We show up at April and Mike's and Cash is standing at the window watching for us.  He gets so excited when he sees us and starts pounding on the window.  He never knows which one of us to look at first.  As soon as we come in the door, he is crawling towards us as fast as he can.  Now he is trying to walk to us but gets in too big of a hurry and falls, then the crawling begins.  What a welcome!!

We spend a couple hours visiting with April and Mike but mostly playing with Cash.  Cash and Grandpa have their own routine of taking Grandpa's hat off and throwing it to the floor, picking it up and starting over again and again.........  They also have a growling thing going on.  Cash snuggles up to Dwayne's chest and starts growling and Dwayne also starts to growl as he shakes Cash back and forth on his chest.  Cash loves it.  When Dwayne stops, Cash starts rubbing his head into Dwayne's chest and moves it back and forth real fast.  They can go on like this for what seems like hours.

Cash and I have more of a quiet type of play and he LOVES to put fruit puffs in my mouth by the handful.  He giggles every time he does it.  I had more than my share of puffs Wednesday night.

We look forward to Wednesday nights and the drive seems to get shorter every week.

 

I am so grateful we have the opportunity to visit our grandson every week.  Sure makes us happy.

Weekend Update and Mom's 85th Birthday aka Cousin Party:

Friday:
We picked up Desmon for the weekend.  We then went to Pizza Inn for little Nathan Allen's 5th birthday.  The food was good and the visiting with friends you haven't seen in awhile was nice.
The kids had a great time.  They ran around (in a back room) chasing each other, buying super balls out of the machine.  Desmon had ten of them; I now have ten super balls at my house........  Oh, well, I always liked super balls as a kid

Nathan & Blake

The boys running and playing reminded me of when we took them to see Monster Jam in St. Louis last winter.  What an awesome day they had.

Nathan, Blake and Desmon

Blake and Desmon

 

Saturday:

Usually we make molasses on the last weekend of September and also have what Mom calls a "cousin party" at the same time.  Anyone is welcome but we have a lot of Mom's family show up.  Our cane isn't ready yet this year so we just had the cousin party.  Dwayne and the boys enjoyed it as they could visit with everyone instead of working all day.

Mom's 85th birthday was on September 18th.  Saturday we had a birthday celebration along with the cousin party.  We had a big turnout.  There was close to eighty people in attendance.  Mom and Dad got to visit with friends they used to go on double dates with eons ago.  The weather cooperated and we just enjoyed the wonderful day.

Mom and Dad

Food Table

Later in the day, Dwayne took us all on a hayride.  The kids enjoyed it.  I think the adults had a pretty good time, too.  It was nice my brother, Russell stayed for the hayride.  We don't get to see him that often.  Kate went too.  It was only Judy that didn't go, but her back has been hurting her so she stayed behind.

Deone (Wayne, Jr.'s girlfriend), Chad and Bella

Ended the day with a beautiful sunset.

Sunday:

We were both exhausted from the day before and we don't seem to bounce back like we used to.  We spent the day being lazy and just staying around the house.  Chad came over midmorning to get Desmon so they could have a day together.  Chad was taking him back to his Mom that evening, but before they went to Rolla, Desmon insisted on coming by to tell Miss Connie and Mr. Dwayne by.  We got great hugs and Desmon told Mr. Dwayne to be sure and be nice to Miss Connie.  lol  Dwayne likes to tease me and Desmon doesn't like it.  Not to his Miss Connie.  He looks out for me.  Love that kid.

 

I am so grateful for another birthday celebration for my Mom and the great weekend we had.

Weekly Visit times three:

 

Monday:
Our Wednesday night visit was changed to Monday this week.  Mike's Grandma Holtmeyer passed away and her visitation was Monday evening.  When we walked into the church, Cash went crazy over seeing his Grandpa.  He was waving his hands, grunting (he has different grunt sounds for something he wants) and leaning as forward as he could to get to Grandpa.  When we got to their pew he was more than ready for Grandpa to pick him up.  Grandpa doesn't spoil him much.......
When it came time for the Rosary, we took Cash down to April and Mike's.  As always, we enjoyed playing with him and watching all the new things he has learned.  If he wants to go outside, he leans forward and grunts looking at the door.  I didn't realize the different sounds you can make with a grunt and you know what he means.  We say door or outside, but he doesn't want to attempt to say it right now.  Funny the different phases they go through.

Liz and MacKensie

Tuesday:
Liz and Nathan come over every Tuesday night to hang out.  After work, we went to J. C. Penney's to buy Mom a birthday present.  Stopped by Mom's on the way home.  They are always glad to see the kids.  MacKensie and Kate were there.  Kensie came on down to the house, too.  I don't get to see her near as much as the other kids and I enjoyed the time with her.  Me and the girls hung out at the kitchen counter and talked "girl talk".  Of course that involved selfies.  Where did my little nieces go?  They look entirely grown up here.  And beautiful.

Deone and Tess

Wednesday:
It was such a nice evening out and I felt really good yesterday.  I told Dwayne I didn't want to cook and that I would treat him to supper at Sput's.  We were surprised when we went in and my nephew, Wayne, Deone and Tess were there.  We sat with them and had a great time.  Sput had a special of Salisbury steak.  It was really good.  Sput has good meals and you know everything is kept clean.  Very reasonable prices.  (Sounds like an advertisement for Sput's.  lol)
Tess asked her Uncle Dwayne to play pool with her.  They played a couple games and Tess was really good.  She is great in all sports and now her talent also shows up on a game of pool.  She is remarkable young lady.  April babysit Tess and her sister, Kara when they were young so we saw them a lot.  Maybe I'm just being a little partial, but she is a sweet, caring and beautiful young lady.

A week of visiting family everyday is a treat.  I am so grateful for a close knit family.

Mom & April's Birthday Dinner:

Cash, April, Grandma Nonnie and Grandma Great

Chad, Grandpa Dwayne, Cash, April, Mike, Lizzy

Zach, Michael, Chad, Dwayne

Lizzy, April, Mike, Todd, Grandpa Great, Zach, Chad,Cash

I always have a big birthday dinner celebration every year for Mom and April, as their birthdays are just a day apart.  This year, my nephew, Tony asked if he could have it at his house.  Heck yeah!!
I enjoy having the family over but I have to admit I liked not having to bode the responsibility and work this time.  (Getting old........ lol)
We are having a big reunion Saturday for Mom's 85th birthday so several weren't able to attend on Sunday.  Every year when we make molasses, Mom's family attends and we call it the cousin party.  This year we will have the cousin party minus the molasses making.
It rained during planting season so Dwayne didn't get the cane out until much later.  So, we're running at least three weeks out on the big molasses making this year.  It's a big disappointment as everyone enjoys it so much.  But you have to go with mother nature.
Mom's health has been pretty precarious this year and we are so blessed to have her with us.


I am so grateful to celebrate my Mom and daughter's birthday together.

Cash:

Friday:

Mike and April went to a Cardinals game and dropped Cash off at my work.  We didn't stay long as there was no way I could get any work done with Cash being there.

We went to Mom and Dad's but Cash wasn't in a very good mood as he had just woke up and hadn't really got used to Nonnie having him yet.  We had a short visit and then headed to the house.

Grandpa worked only eight hours so he was able to get home by 5:30.  We sat on the back porch and let Cash play.  He had so much fun crawling around on the deck.  He was able to stand at the railing and look at the cows.  He was fascinated.  The little stinker got quite dirty playing on the Porch so Grandma Nonnie had to give him a bath.

 

Drinking the water. 

As you can tell, Grandpa parted his hair.  Cash thought it was real neat to comb his hair.  He did that for quite awhile.

Saturday morning was play time while Grandpa went to get a hair cut.  After a brief nap, Grandpa took us to Sput's to eat lunch.  As April says, the helmet is a great conversation starter as everyone is curious and wants to know why he's wearing it.
After lunch, we went to Mike and Susan's for a visit.  Mike even held him a couple times.  Cash liked their dog, Opie, but only to look at.  He didn't like Opie to get too close or lick him.  Hum, that's the same way his Grandma Nonnie likes dogs........
On our way home, we noticed April's car was at Mom and Dad's so we turned around and went there.  Cash was in a good mood and LOVED riding horsey on Grandpa Great's leg.

So enjoy being able to share a grandbaby with my Mom and Dad.  They loved seeing him.

We then went on home and April spent the afternoon with us.

That evening, our neighbors, Jim and Shirley Peterman came by for a visit.  They stayed a couple hours.  It's nice to keep up with the neighbors.

We watched TV for awhile but we seemed to be worn out.  Funny how you didn't get so worn out when your own kids were little.

 

I am so grateful for such a wonderful visit with Cash.

 

 

Happy Birthday, April Lee:

This post was from 2011 and as you can tell by the pictures, I hadn't learned how to crop pictures yet.

So much has changed in three short years.  A wedding and the birth of a child.  I am so proud of the mother my daughter has become.

 

Monday, September 19, 2011

September 19, 1985:

Birth info wrote by April in scrapbook:

Surprise, it's a girl!!!
Mommy and baby coming home from the hospital: Outfit bought by Daddy.
Protective big brothers:Chad with the little sister he wanted: He had stated he already had a brother, he needed a sister.
Todd meeting little sister: Even though he claimed he wanted a little brother, he was and still is totally in awe of his little sister.
Daddy, with Chad's help giving first bath:

1st Birthday:
Twenty-six years ago I got the surprise of my life. Pregnant with my third child and back in the dark ages of no ultra-sounds unless absolutely necessary, we did not know the sex of our baby. My doctor's guess all along was another boy. Jeffrey Dwayne was due October 4th, 1985.
Well, little Miss April Lee surprised us two weeks early on September 19th, 1985. I don't have the picture at work with me of Dwayne and I holding her right after her birth, but we are smiling ear to ear and the picture of April looks like she was smiling also.
My children's birth is somewhat related to their tempramate. Chad was due December 12th and promptly arrived that day. Growing up, Chad was always right on schedule. Todd was due April 4th and did not arrive until April 17th, two weeks late. Growing up, he was usually late getting up, in no hurry, etc.
April was two weeks early. She has always wanted to be on time for everything, follow the rules (generally) and great organization skills.
I think in adult life the boys may have swapped a bit, as Chad is usually late for family dinners (although this year he was gone back to being very punctual) and Todd is always on time.
My pregnancy with April was very difficult. I wasn't sick so much, but had problems though out the pregnancy. My friends joked that now I knew what it was like to be pregnant as my pregnancies with the boys were so easy and no sickness. I pretty much felt great.
My labor with April was horrible (no epidurals, I was stupid with all three and went natural. Dumb!!) Labor started around 4 a.m. and we arrived at the hospital I think around 7 a.m. The day kept getting worse and worse. If I hadn't had her by that evening, we were going in for a c-section. I wanted a girl so bad but I remember by mid-afternoon thinking, I don't care what I have, please just make it go away. I was totally exhausted and didn't think I would ever make it to delivery. Finally, at 6:53 p.m., we welcomed a baby girl into the world. I don't know who was more surprised, Doctor John or Dwayne and I. We were elated!! The name, April Lee was picked out before we were even married.
Even after her birth, I thought I'm so tired, I will fall asleep the minute I get to a room. No!! I was so excited, I was calling everyone and at 1 a.m. the next morning I was still wide awake. The nurse decided I needed a sleeping pill and to get some much needed rest. My mouth hurt as I went to sleep from grinning so much.
We had always planned on four children, regardless of boys, girls, or both. So, even that day, we still planned on in a few years of having either Jeffrey Dwayne or Arin Rebecca. My body decided the third labor and delivery was just too much. A couple years later we learned a fourth pregnancy/delivery was just jeopardizing my health. Our family was complete with three children. God is in charge and his birth order of our children could not be more perfect.
While I was in the hospital, proud daddy went to Strawberry Patch (which was an expensive children's shop in Rolla at the time) and bought April's outfit to come home in. A beautiful lavender print dress set with shoes to match. That was Dwayne's job each birth to buy the outfit to come home in. He did a great job all three times.
Our baby girl has turned into a beautiful, (inside and out) young lady we are very proud of.

Our daughter, 26 years later:
Guess we'll keep her! lol

Happy Birthday, April Lee!!

I (and Dwayne) are very grateful for our daughter, our two precious sons and the life we have.

 

Weekly Visit:

Grandpa, Chad, Cash, Grandma & Todd

 

Wednesday evening the boys went with us to St. Elizabeth on our weekly visit.

April's birthday is the 19th, so we all went out to eat at Miss Kitty's.  Cash didn't know what to think of Chad and Todd since he doesn't see them that much.  He did go to Chad and take Chad's hat off and on like he does Grandpa.  We're all still is such awe at having a new baby in the family, Cash gets total attention from all of us.  He doesn't know who to pay attention to next.

We ate at Miss Kitty's and had a good meal.  Time visiting with all three of our kids at once is so special.  Something we once took for granted is now a highlight in our lives.

I'm so proud of April and the wonderful young lady she has become.  She is a great mother and wife.

She makes us just as happy as the day she came into our life.

 

I am grateful to have a daughter and share in the celebration of her life.