She's Back!!!!

Today I spent the whole day in bed. I have a terrible cold. My sinuses are plugged and when I swallow, it feels like pins sticking me. I wish I could say I am back from bad health. I have gone from two and a half weeks of itchiness from the poison oak to a head cold. My first day of not scratching was Saturday, Sunday I came down with this miserable cold. My back side was covered with poison oak, now, after drying up, my left leg and buttocks looks like I have chaps on. I could ride a horse. It feels like, you know, one of those kids "feel and scratch" books, when you feel the page for a snake or elephants ear. Only this is my leg were talking about. It's real, not in a book.
Anyway, Teena left for Delaware last week and arrived home late last night. She brought back gifts for us. She got Tom a T Shirt from Delaware and me a cute wind chime.
She just brought over a can of pineapple juice for me to drink. I drink hot pineapple juice when I have a sore throat. It is really soothing. Tom and I know that we are very fortunate to have a friend like her. She takes good care of us along with her five children she has to manage. We love you Teena!

Teena brought this little hummingbird wind chime back from Delaware for me. She knows I love those little creatures. Notice the gray skies, no sunshine here in Cali. But, the tulips, daffodils and other flowers are popping up ushering in Spring regardless of the weather.While I was outside taking a picture of the wind chime, I noticed our gorgeous Wisteria plant wondering all over the Apple tree. It does every year. I love how it covers the whole area making shade for the ground.

The Littlest Cowgirl

I finally figured out a way to get these pictures on my blog. I have been working on this since I got home from work, around 5:15. I decided to hook up my printer, copier, scanner I purchased in January when I bought my new computer. I have to admit I am not the sharpest when it comes to electronics,I know the Geek quad would not hire me. But, low and behold, I got the printer working. When I scanned a picture, it went onto my computer but the pic is so small and I can't figure out how to enlarge a pic. I have tried several ways but nothing is working. So if anyone has an insight as to how to enlarge a photo, please let me know. I finally just took a photo of each photo, does that make sense??? with my camera and loaded it onto my computer. If, and I say if, I ever figure out how to work the scanner, the pictures will be clearer. Until then, I will use my camera.
Anyway, here is some pics of Lawren when she went to Madilyn's birthday party a few weeks ago. As soon as she hopped up on that saddle she was rocking back and forth and ready to go. She has had some experience from riding her rocking horse we got her for Christmas. She just needed some spurs.

Out n About on the Townie!

It was such a beautiful day today, even tho we had some gray skies, Tom and I decided to go for a bike ride after lunch. So, we headed down the bike path and headed toward John and Sylvia's cottage.
They just returned from a week's vacation in China. We rode over there and they shared their photos' with us. The neat thing about it is they have a 42" screen TV that their camera was hooked up to. We got to view the photo's on the big screen. They went to Beijing and Shanghai. They were there for a week on tour. Hopefully, someday, Tom and I will get to travel there. I would love to see the Great Wall, Tiena men Square and ride a Rickshaw. Did you know that Shanghai is the second largest city in the world? 18 million

Tom on his Townie. Last year, Tom and I bought each other new Townie bikes for our anniversary. We haven't been able to ride much, we did go to San Francisco and road along the beach. Next month we are planning to ride along the American River in Sacramento. We enjoy just getting out and about.

Me on my Townie. I guess I should have wore my bike pants...oh yea, I don't have any.

John and Sylvia on their front porch.

Fun and Family

If you should happen to notice the time of this blog, yea, I am at work. Kathleen emailed me some pics of this last weekend and I couldn't wait to get them posted. Not to worry, I am on my 15 minute break.
These pictures are from the other day when we went to park.
Tom and I are so blessed to have such adorable grandkids.


Lawren is at a park where she lives. She loves to be outdoors and being with her little friends.

Keiran got to choose which park we went to, he loves this one because it has a shovel you can dig with. He has so much fun when we go.

Lawren with her daddy going down the slide. The first time she went down the slide, she went a little to fast, so after that, she had to go with someone. Daddy was the most fun to ride with. Actually, he was the only one who fit. Uncle Corey made an attempt to go down the slide and made it half way. There was no way I was going to try it.

Happy Ishtar!

I know it's late, I have to work in the morning, but this poison oak is making me nuts. If anyone has a secret tonic for relieving the itch, please leave me a message. So, since I am awake, I thought I would blog.
When my kid's were little, we never got to involved in the Easter thing but we did dye eggs and hide them around the yard and house. If my memory serves me right, we hid them about 20 to 30 times. Corey loved hunting for them and hiding them from his younger brother. We hid them in the house one year, he and Ryan found all but one, I never kept track of the exact amount, so a missing egg went unnoticed and did not surface for a week or two when we all started smelling an unpleasant aroma. We were able to zero in on the location after two weeks, it was hidden under one of the cushions on the couch, which was a hide a bed, and fell down onto the bed. Oh the memories of it all.
Well, since Lawren is walking, I thought she would enjoy hunting for eggs this year. Only, I bought the plastic ones, no more using the real deal. We filled them with fish crackers, didn't want to corrupt her taste buds. She had no problem knowing exactly what to do.


As you can see it didn't take Lawren long to figure out to put the eggs in the basket. I am telling you she is advanced.

Most of the pictures I have taken recently of Corey are supine, on the couch with a remote in hand. He was sitting up, so I had to get in on camera.

Family Day

We have had all of our children home this weekend except for Ryan. We are missing him too. Everyone is taking advantage of the warm nice weather. Earlier Grandpa Murphy and Lawren went for a bike ride on the three wheeler.
Uncle Corey is attempting to ride Keiran's scooter. It only holds up to 150 lbs. and we are quite sure Corey weigh's more than that. He has always been one to never listen or obey.
Keiran and Auntie out on their bikes getting some sun and exercise. Keiran is quite a good bike rider.
Here is Grandpa sitting out on the front porch in the rocker taking it all in.
Lawren is taking a nap after a very busy day. She rode her first horse today. A friend of mine's granddaughter had her first birthday today and Lawren was invited. They had a big event, a bouncy house, face painting, and horse back riding with a professional photographer. As soon as we get the pics, I will post one.
Sean and Jeff were feeling a little left out of the family fun so they decided to have their own fun. A little silly don't you think?
Everyone took a little break and decided to come in for dessert, we had strawberry shortcake. Strawberries won't be in season here for another few months but these were good with a little help of some sugar and whipped cream.
There is still some daylight left so we are off to the park.

Tea Time!

We had a women's ministry tea a while back. Sorry, I am just now getting around to posting some things I have done. It was held at Teena's home, in Escalon, right before she moved back to Manteca. Lavonne is the leader of women's ministry. She gave a inspiring devotional.
Next month we are having a guest speaker come and talk to us about Breast Cancer awareness. Should be very informative.
Several women attended. Here is Susan and Kayla.
They made all kinds of yummy food and hor De oveurs with a variety of herb tea's.
Even Max, Teena's kitty wanted to join in the fun. Max is a male kitty, we can now call him a peeping Tom.

Answer to Prayers!

Today was a great day, even tho I had to work. This morning, as early as I could get ready, Teena and I decided to go garage saleing. She always seems to find whatever she prays for. She recently moved back to Manteca and was in need of several things to make her home look cozy. She found more than enough stuff. All I wanted, and needed I might add, is a desk for my kitchen. I prayed but nothing happened. (O ye of little faith). I was so discouraged. I did manage to find an old New Testament Bible,it's even red letter, I didn't even have to pay for it. Guess the Lord figured I needed that more than a desk.
Well, I went back to work feeling like Charlie Brown during Halloween, "all I got was a rock," and Teena proceeded to do her daily routine of running kids back and forth to school, cleaning house etc. She happened onto a house that was having a sale near where she babysits. She and Erika said a silent prayer, and sure enough, the owner had an adorable desk for $20.00. Now that is answer to prayer if I ever heard it. Still dont' know why I didn't find it, but glad to have gotten it after all.

So, here is the infamous desk. Just wait til I get it sanded, some new white paint and brushed nickel knobs. Where is Pastor Hess when I need him? Oh yea, in New York. Guess I will be on my own with this one. Can't wait to get started.

Sabbath with the Indians.

We took a trip up to the Murphy's(Sean, Alana and Keiran) Sabbath. They only live a few miles from Indian Grinding Rock, so we headed over there for some fresh air and a look around the park.
Here is a photo of a tee pee, notice to the right a storage shed made up of four posts with branches wrapped around it.


The remains of the potholes they used to grind.



The Poscoi'a we'a. Notice the deer in the field. The game field looks similar to a football field on a smaller scale.




The front of the Roundhouse.



We could not go inside the Roundhouse, it was barred, this was taken at the entrance.

The back of the Roundhouse.


Sean, Alana and Keiran welcoming us into their tee pee.



Keiran sitting on the base of a big Oak tree.


We ended the Sabbath with the scene of a true sundown. The picture is just a glimpse of the true beauty it portrayed. Colors of red, orange, pink, blue, purple. Just breath taking.

PHOTO SHOOT

I haven't made time for blogging but had to so I could post these.
Lawren had a photo shoot done yesterday. Her mommies friend, Jennifer, had this wonderful idea to have them taken in a mustard field. She was such a good girl through all of it. She even left her hat and headband on while taking pictures.
Thought you all would enjoy seeing them as much as I do. Well, maybe not as much as grandma here, but you know what I mean.
Do little girls get much cuter? I guess if you happen to have a granddaughter of your own you will disagree, but we think she is pretty darn special and adorable. She has the personality to go with it.





I think she might be thinking of her Grandma Murphy here????

Holding onto her yellow duckie.

Still Trying

I have not been able to blog in quite some time. I keep trying tho. I seem to be busier than normal. Work is crazy. We changed our physical address at work to a PO box and Medicare didn't like that. They don't forward mail. We had to re apply. So, the Dr. has not had any Medicare payments since last June. Well, it finally went through, Melissa and I are swamped. We are so behind at work. It's crazy.
I miss blogging. I have several pic's to add. Hopefully I can catch up this weekend. I have a busy schedule this weekend, potluck tomorrow, I am taking a green chile casserole, 5 can casserole, salad, french bread and Tom's famous chocolate cake, I have a women's ministry tea on Sunday, there goes half my day. It should be fun tho.
Anyway, hopefully this will give a few of you something new to look at until I get some time to load my pic's.
We did get our tiling laid in the bathroom. We are getting ready to grout.


Here is one sweet pic to look at. I was able to go and visit my precious little granddaughter last weekend. I have to say, she is crazy about her amma, not to mention that amma is crazy about her too.

Well, What Do You Think?

It has been a week since I have added anything to my blog. Well believe it or not, we have been busy working on our shower. Tom finished tiling the shower itself. We still need to grout the area, but we are making some progress. I will be able to order the glass hardware free shower doors soon. I am getting excited now. Soon, we won't have to fight for the bathroom. Having two bathrooms will be a lot easier. How did people survive in the 1800's? Oh yea, that didn't live as long as we do.

This was my project, yesterday, while the superbowl was going on. I worked on the floor. Tom helped some, he cut the tile, I layed it down. Working with 18" tiles is not as easy as you would think. They are heavy.
Today, the right side of my neck and shoulder are hurting. I might have to call Anna to see if she has time to work on me today. She is a massage therapist. She works out of her home. So convenient.