Happy Birthday Sweet Hubby

 The 7th was my sweet hubby's birthday. 

This was my tribute post of Facebook:

On this day 49 years ago, a very special person was born. All of his family knew he was very unique and and one of a kind.  

I am so glad God saw fit to bring him into my life. I can be the first to tell you he is my angel sent to me from Heaven. He was born just for me I think. We could have met 6 yrs before we actually did but it was not Gods timing yet. When we finally did meet, we have never looked back.

I can personally tell you this man has so many qualities about him that make him so unique an special just like his family said he was, just because I have experienced every single one. 

He has a heart, mind, passion,  dedication and loyalty for family. 

Some of these things were not taught to him by example, it's like he was born with instincts that you cant teach someone. Nanny says she does not know where he learned some of these qualities,  he was just born with them. If you truly know him, you know exactly what I'm talking about and know I'm not making this stuff up. 

He is driven by a passion of providing for his family. He is not happy if he cannot take care of his family financially. That's why he made a vow to better himself and work his way up to where he is today. He has always provided for our needs and then some. We have never wanted for anything. If I did, I never noticed because he was always a step ahead.

He is very nurturing in taking care of his family. He will take care of us when we are sick and wait on us hand and foot  and deny his own rest to make sure we are comfortable. He takes care of his momma and brothers and sisters and will do anything for them. He even takes care of my momma and daddy. 

He is very loyal in his relationships.  If you are a friend of his, you have a friend. 

He is and always has been loyal to me. His coworkers say all he talks about is his wife and family. He is always very upset when he has to go but lives for the day when the job is done so he can come home to me. The man had worked 12 hrs before and drove 18 hrs just to prove this to me. He always says some things are just not worth screwing up and loosing. I'm so glad. ❤❤ He said I can never leave because he would just pack up and follow me anyway. 😁

This man has more endurance and perseverance that I cant explain it. It's like hes our personal Superman. It's like he just swoops down and takes care of it. He does not like for me to stress or worry about anything. He just takes care of it all and how he does it, I have no clue. 

He has a rough exterior because once a Marine, always a Marine. But dont let that fool ya. I know the sensitive teddybear too. 🐻

He is very serious about making men out of our boys. He is dedicated to making sure they turn out to be fine, responsible men who can hold their own and take care of their families. He knows their gonna mess up sometimes but he sure hates to see it but hes always there. 

He loves to put smiles on little children's faces especially at Christmas time. It's what he thrives on and lives for. 

And now we get to do this all over again with the next generation through our grandchildren.  They are going to be very blessed too and loved and taken care of. That's just what he does. 

We are so blessed to have him in our lives. I am not joking when I say he is a great brother,  son, husband and father and poppie all in one big bundle. And he is ours. We want to wish a very special person a very happy birthday and we love him very much.

Our oldest son cooked steaks for all of us and we spoiled him a little. Nothing compared to what he does for us. 

The other night I created the ultimate pizza. Double decker pizza. It was so delicious.  

We got up this morning and checked the last three row of corn. We got about 8 more dinners worth.  The corn is fading out but I am real pleased with what we harvested this year. We are still getting squash and zucchini andpeppers. The next batch of peppers we are going to try our hand at canning roasted peppers and Preserving them in olive oil. If you have tons of squash and zucchini that you don't know what to do with, go to:allrecipes.com and all you have to do is type in your ingredient you have and tons of recipes will come up. It is pretty awesome. 

Good Week

It has been a good week. We've worked and played. 

I'm still getting squash, zucchini and peppers out of the garden. 

We have three corn rows left to harvest and we get some a little at a time. The tomatoes are fizzling out at the moment. I am going to try to see if I can get a second little harvest out of them. Sometimes I can, sometimes not. But I have done good this year. I am very pleased. Nothing makes me feel more secure than a full freezer and pantry. Dear hubby has helped alot. He knows when I need a rest and he takes over. 

I've been cooking some good meals too with our fresh vegetables.  

One night we had Italian meatloaf, fresh corn, squash and zucchini fritters, my homemade fermented and canned sauerkraut,  and pinto beans. 

Tonight I did the ultimate. I made a double decker pizza. Yummy. 🍕🍕🍕🍕

IT'S JUST THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY.  I told my momma years ago, about 15, to NEVER EVER get rid of this little house. She got it at a yard sale and it was Dakota and Dallas play fort for cowboys and Indians. She held onto it. Now it's ours. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🏚🏚🏚🏚🏚🏚🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠

Got handsome man to put me some pallets together and make them safe. 

This has been a year long project. Took apart, pressure washed, painted, put back together and fixed up. Complete with lights and mailbox. 

 I'm so proud,  my eyes are misty.

We've got to play some too. 

Sunday Reflection

While all the world seems to be falling down around us and we are wondering what in the world is wrong with people, I just have to sit back and recompose myself and just pray and think. 

Today is a day of relaxing, rejuvenating  and reflecting.  

Whirlwind

It has been a whirlwind around here. Harvesting, canning and Preserving is upon us. We have been getting corn, squash, zucchini and peppers. I'm loving filling up my freezers and pantries again. 

My sweetheart said he was here to make my life easier. Well, he did. He got me a food mill attachment for my Kitchen Aid so my process goes a little faster. 

We are turning tomatoes into sauce.  🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅

This attachment is the bomb. It cuts my time down drastically.  I prefer running tomatoes that have been frozen and thawed out through it rather than fresh ones. I get more puree that way and they don't have to cook down as long. 

This stuff is liquid gold

 

One night I put my pressure cooker to work and made sweet and sour meatballs with fried rice and sauteed veggies. The sauteed veggies was all from our garden. 

My Aero Garden is doing great. I think I'm going to put it to use during the winter and see what else I can grow inside. 

We had a chance to have the girls over a weekend but we split them up to give them a break and they could have alone time with each of us. The first night we had Atleigh. However, she had fun with us but she cried for sissy. The next night we had Caroline. Atleigh did not want to leave. We had fun one on one time with each but they didn't like being without one another so we want do that again. We've done it before and they didn't mind and didn't do that. We did it because you know how siblings fuss and fight. But this time was different. So next time, they will both be here. 😁 Gmaw want let them fuss and fight. 😁  The girls did a switcharoonie on us though.  Atleigh who is usually my buddy, was a Poppies girl this time. And Caroline, which is a Poppies buddy, was attached to me this time. Lol. 

Just a girl and her Poppie.

 

 I had the best little helper in the kitchen. And when it was bedtime, we of course had to watch a movie with "nacks and juice". 

Cannot believe we have a Senior this year. My where has the time gone. Just yesterday he was my clingy, donut eating, kitchen baking, taste testing, football yelling, ride or die partner. Now, he's daddys buddy. After 9 mths and painful labor he ditches me. 😥 

Oh well, he will miss me when he leaves here next year. 

Got a whole year ahead of us. Let's do this Cool Terminator Cowboy Senior co 2021. 👨‍🎓👨‍🎓🕶🎓📚📒📃

He has to go two days during the grade rotation to get with all of his teachers and receive instructions for virtual learning. It will be called ReConnect. They will have access to their teachers should they have any questions or concerns or problems. They will set them up with emails, apps, links to websites and video calling so they can be a part of the class too. Some days he will be required to go to the school for his classes that requires hands on or dual enrollment like Welding. He is also signed up for a general medical class that will help him when he goes into the military. It's pretty much what they did at the end of the school year when this all started but they have worked out alot of kinks and revised issues and I think its going to work great. There will be ways the teachers can contact me too if there is ever any questions I have or any problems arise. Also, if they want to transition back into traditional school which means going to the classroom, it will be easy for them. They will have to rearrange some of his classes so that the days he does have to go onto campus that his classes will be back to back so he only has to make one trip to school and when he is done, he can leave. 

Jossie does not start school until the end of August and she is still learning how her classes will go. Some classes she will do online and some they will have to attend the classroom. They will do this on a rotating manner to keep class size down. It will be hard at first until they get a routine going and work out some kinks.

Well, I have to go pick some more veggies. Have a great day. 

Corn

Well, today was corn day. I am so glad it is not all coming in at one time. I love staggering our planting. I would not be able to keep up if it was.

We also need to eat good so we can keep our energy up to keep up.

Chicken chimichangas,  Spanish rise, and refried beans.

Work Hard, Play Hard

We have been working hard around here lately, but we have also learned to play hard and rest when we need to. We get up early in the morning and get some things done and then we make it a point to take a break around lunch and take showers and get some rest. After rest time, we go for round two. It may be going back outside to get more work done, which results in another shower when we're done or something else. I am so thankful for a husband and son who does alot of the hard labor around here. I really just can't hold up some days and I have to just say I can't take anymore right now.

 The laundry has to be done more in the summer due to several showers a day, but that is ok. Summer is our hardest working time and sweatiest.  When I say sweat, I don't just mean a little sweat. I mean a drench sweat to where when you come in, your clothes are soaked and you can literally wring them out. Our heat and humidity is brutal here. You can stand outside 2 minutes and start sweating and you can just breathe the humid hot air. We are in heat advisories now.

One day I declared a ME day. It was all about taking care of me. I pampered myself all day. Manicure and pedicure, because garden dirt hides in inconspicuous places. Then I just had a good day out in my little back yard oasis. Who says you can't have fun in a little pool. I packed me a picnic lunch,  grabbed a book and my tablet and my bluetooth speaker and just had some me time outside by my grandkids pool.

One day we had free and my momma came and spent the day with us. She is still a little leery about getting out into public unless she has to. So we just had the same thing here. I made us a big picnic lunch and we had the girls and Jossie and we just made a day of it. 

We're doing great in the garden too. I am putting up lots of zucchini and squash and we are getting tomatoes more frequently.  I am turning tomatoes into sauce today and canning it.

I also turned some purple cabbage into sauerkraut 

We have found a little watermelon growing and my DIL Jossie is so excited because she planted them. 

Look at this golly whopper of a tomato 

I thought my carrots were done for and bolted, but when I pulled some yesterday I was excited to see some had actually grown. The heat did get to them though, so I will let them reseed themselves and try for fall crop. My littlest granddaughter planted these. 

We have been using alot of our fresh veggies in cooking. Last night I made Broccoli Chicken Alfredo with some broccoli that we grew. It was delicious.  

I've been putting some squash and zucchini in some eggs for breakfast.  The possibilities are endless. 

I made a squash casserole one night with some of our fresh corn. 

We will clean up one end of the garden so I can plant some pumpkins.  

We are checking the corn everyday. All is not ready to harvest at the same time. This is good so we don't get overwhelmed.  We are having to start watering some because we are getting into our draught months. Planting and maintaining a garden is not for the weak that's for sure. You have to work it if you want anything. You can't just throw a seed out there and leave it to tend for itself. 

I am loving all my flowers blooming this year. The sunflowers are about 7 to 8 ft tall and the bumblebee bees are loving them. I plant them for the birds every year. The butterflies are loving the zinnas and marigolds.  

I have been dead heading flowers and saving seeds too.

It is the middle of July and my mum's are already blooming. 

My aero garden is sprouting herbs. 

When your hubby learns to use his clippers during a pandemic, you just keep rolling with the flow...

I got a hold of hubby's head after the clippers when he got done with the boys. Not bad if I say so myself.  This was my second time to do his hair. 

I love the sound of pinging jars...

As far as school goes, no one still knows anything yet. There are so many questions and no answers. I know this is hard on school boards and no one really knows what to do and there is not going to be any way that they can please everyone at the same time. Dallas and his girlfriend have decided to just go virtual.  Even if people go back and do traditional,  everything is going to be so confusing,  disorganized and chaotic. If one kid or teacher gets it then they will have to leave and quarantine and anyone who they have come in contact with. I can see students and teachers being in and out of school so much for absenteeism and etc. It will be one big mess. Then they still haven't got all the kinks out of the virtual learning. Some kids do not have internet access etc. Not to mention some classes are hands on like welding that Dallas is taking and FFA. 

This is all crazy right now.  

We will just have to make do and learn the best way we can this year. I know schools all over the US are concerned and trying to work things out. 

Well, I have really had enough for one day. I'm going to just relax and put my feet up. Goodnight all.