Hobby Lobby Made Me Do It

 Hobby Lobby is so close to us that I find myself going there at least once a week. But I am enjoying my Hobby to the fullest. I have been busy and having so much fun sewing as you can see. I made the girls some matching shirts. Instead of buttons, I used snaps on these. Caroline has trouble with buttons and tries to pull the garment opening apart so....the reason for snaps. She can pull these apart but might have help snapping them closed. She will learn. I took the plunge and used the embroidery part of my sewing machine and embroidered a different color heart on each shirt. I don't know why it has taken me 5 yrs to get over my intimidation of this machine but I did and I see more embroidery in my future. LOL. Next, I just need to learn more about transferring designs from my computer to my machine. My machine is a small scale one, 4x4 size embroidery and I'm perfectly fine with  that. 

I made me some items and I love how they turned out. I purchased some Pioneer Woman place mats a while ago and got busy at home and put them up for a while. Well, I brought them with me and made these and they serve my traveling needs perfectly. I will be making more projects with her placemats too. 

I found some material for Dallas. It was on sale 30% off so I said, Why Not! I don't know what I'll make yet. Probably some throw pillows for his bed. 

I have a few more projects I'm fixing to work on too. I'll let you see when they are done. 

I have enjoyed my using my instant pot and air fryer. I have made some pretty good meals in them. I always make a big batch of egg bites for dear hubby to take to work with him. I make about a weeks worth and wrap them. He takes them to work and puts them in the fridge in his office. He can grab and go at work. Makes me feel nice that he has something homemade to eat at work. I also made some for some of the staff and they loved them. They told me I was going to have to make some more. LOL. I think I will make them a sweet treat next.

I made some enchiladas one night and a pasta dish the next. It is easy to make pasta dishes in the instant pot. 

Last night I made a quick meal of fish tacos and a southwest cole slaw. 

One day the weather got so bad, I was actually getting a little worried. I had to run errands that morning to pick up a few groceries and I got back in time. I did not like the look of the clouds and the Noah weather broke in on the radio. I turned on the local news here and saw that we were under severe thunderstorm and a tornado warning. About 10 minutes later a tornado was in rotation 9 miles from us. Me and dear hubby were worried about each other. He told me exactly what to do and where to go if I had to. I started calling my parents and Dakota back home. It would eventually head that way too. After a while the watches and warnings ended, but it thunder stormed the rest of the day. I was looking out the window at one time and literally saw a lightning bolt touch down across the bridge on the interstate. I heard a loud pop. I don't know what it hit, but it didn't sound good. It finally calmed down after the evening. It was over before dear hubby got off work. I'm glad because I prayed him all the way home. 

We had a rough weekend last weekend. They placed a traveling football team on our floor and some scattered on other floors. It was not pleasant to say the least. They literally were up all hrs of the night, going from room to room, elevator and stair wells. Not to mention, loud noise, music, etc. That first night was awful for our friend across the hall because finally around 1 am they went to one room that adjoins his and decided to party there the rest of the night. He got no sleep at all and we all had to be up at 4 am. 

  The next night, we went  to bed around 10 pm, these kids decided they wanted to play football in the hall way. We had enough. Dear hubby jumps out of bed, calls downstairs, however, it was a young girl on night shift and I told him it was unsafe for her to come up here with all these young guys. It was too dangerous. So, she played a good call. She called the coaches room  and told him to come quieten everyone down. Dear hubby went out in the hall and was waiting on the coach to come. He was asking the boys nicely to hold the noise down since we all had to get up again around 4 am. A woman was sitting in the hall way eating cheetos and watching everything. She said she was a parent and chaperone. Are you kidding me? You're supervising these kids making all this chaos and noise at 10 pm at night with no regards to other tenants trying to sleep. Finally the coach appears much much later. They finally get settled in a room somewhere a few hrs later. I got up in the middle of the night and they were still awake and I could hear them. Again at 4 am, still awake. They finally went to bed around 6am. Well, guess what? Coach had to start waking them up around 9 am to check out. HAHAHAHAHAHA. That's what they get. We were so tired and sleepy and throw miserable in there. I prayed and prayed they were leaving. I looked out the hall one time and a young mother and her two very young children were checking out. Made me wonder what kind of night she had because the was closer to their rooms than we were and if we could hear them all the way to ours up the hall, I know she was miserable too. They all left and it was so quiet. Finally, we could sleep. I felt so sorry for house keep though. It took them 8 hrs to clean just this floor and all their rooms. Management was so upset. 

Folks, please learn, know and understand hotel  and motel etiquette. There are quiet hours. People come in from all different places, and for all different reasons. Mostly, to REST and SLEEP. Also, if you wouldn't make that big of a mess in your own home, don't do it else where. Just because that's what "they get paid to do" doesn't mean you have to act like you had no raising and be disrespectful. CLEAN YOUR CRAP UP.  Ok, I'm off my soap box. I  will just say, I can see an RV in our future.  Home away from home and we can have our own space and peace and quiet. 

I have started a new book. I absolutely love Sharon White. She is very traditional in homemaking, homekeeping, marriage and parenting. I plan to get more of her books. 

We had some items delivered at home for the girls. Dakota went and picked them up and Jordan wrapped them for us. To say they were excited is an understatement. Poppie sure does know how to make two little princesses happy. 

Not much longer and we get to hug and kiss and squeeze the tater out of them. And we get to see how our kitchen is coming along. So far so good. 

Well, I have laundry to do, so I'm off. Have a blessed day. 

All Things Wonderful

 I left you last by telling you that our little Caroline was going to have tubes put in her ears and her adenoids taken out. The morning came of her surgery and you can plainly see that she was not happy about it. Later, they had to start giving her the "happy" medicine. She was being so goofy. Afterwards, on the way home, mommy let me facetime her and she was so groggy and talking off the wall. She was going to go get ice cream. 

Lolly, her other grandmother finally got around to trimming her hair. She looks so grown up. She had to take off quite a bit due to sissy cutting her hair. 

They are having so much fun with their Uncle Finn and Lolly. 

I am still playing around with the air fryer and instant pot. Bruscetta tastes really good in the air fryer. I did purchase a whole rotisserie chicken from Kroger and paired it with some fresh cut up vegetables that I sauteed in the instant pot. It turned out delicious. 

I am so excited. I have had this sewing embroidery combination machine for 5 years and have been so intimidated to even learn the embroidery part. I don't know why. So, I contacted a lady at a quilting shop and she offers private classes. So.......She worked with me for 4 hrs and taught me how to use my machine and features. I still need to learn how the computer part of it works. I've got to learn how to transfer images to the machine from computer. We played around a little and I honestly don't know why I was so scared. Then, on the way back, I found another sewing shop and  she offers private classes too. I have a serger that is 25 years old and have never used all the features on it. Well, I have set up another private class and she will teach me how to use all the features on it and come up with cool projects. I don't know why it has taken me all these years to do this. I've missed out on alot of things that I could have been doing. Oh well, looks like I'm fixing to catch up. 

Our kitchen is coming along. Everything is stripped out. Paint is going on the walls and flooring is being put down. There are more pics but they are on dear hubbys phone so I need to get him to send them to my phone so I can post them next time. 

I might get into trouble, but I can't stand it any longer.  I just have to share a few photos with ya'll. He finally got to call home. He chose to call Brylee, (his girl) but that is just fine with me. Not even upset or envious. We are all just glad to hear from him and know that he is ok and doing well. He is having fun actually. This is all right up his alley and what he enjoys doing anyway. The mail situation is not so good. He has only received one letter and it is from dad. We have all wrote at least 3 letters a piece and he has only gotten one. ONE!!!!! We haven't gotten any letters from him as of yet. There are so many parents in the support group that are upset just as much as  we are. At least we know he is ok and doing better than we were thinking. I can rest more easy now. It is getting about time for us to book or reservations for hotel for graduation. I cannot wait to see him and hear all his stories. 

I have uploaded one or two new videos since I have last posted. 

Hotel Cooking and Travel Hacks

Hope you enjoy it.

We Are Making Do

 We are making do here in our hotel. We only have a few weeks left. Then we are homeward bound for a few days. Our kitchen is all gutted out and I keep trying to get someone to get me some pics, but everyone keeps forgetting. I would love to see the progress instead of just hear it everyday. 

I have a few hacks I'd like to share with ya'll. First is how to get more space out of your packing. I have learned how to pack things to create more space and how to plan outfits and fold them properly. In the first pic, I picked out a pair of pants and found multiple shirts to go with them. One pair of pants, 3 shirts, in one bundle. Lay the pants down first, fold each shirt longways in half and lay on top of the pants. Then start at the bottom of the pant leg and roll up into a log. Viola! You can put several bundles into your suitcase this way. Or you can fold an outfit up for everyday this way. Sometimes I roll a pair of pants, the shirt, underwear, bra and socks (if any for that outfit) all in the bundles. Or there is another way.

Packing Cubes. These things are amazing. You can put your bundles or several into one packing cube or you can put like items into one packing cube. I have done both. In one, I have my pj sets. In another I have all my socks. In another, underwear and bras. 

Here is an example of how much these things hold. I have two long sleeve shirts and 7 tshirts in this one cube. The cubes are designed to compress the clothes and make them tight into the cube. This creates more space. I could have packed a pair of jeans and shirt bundle and put them into the cube, but I have so many jeans that these shirts will go with so I just did them this way. 

This is how I fold my jeans and jeggings or leggings if I am not rolling them with a shirt into a bundle. I could put all my blue jeans into a packing cube, but I didn't have one  that size. These things come in all sizes. When they are all packed, you know what is in each one and when you need something, you just grab the cube and put it back instead of shuffling through loose clothes and messing up your suitcase. These keep everything in your suitcase organized. I love them. 

Next, is making the most space in your little refrigerator in your room. I can only shop  for groceries for about two meals at at time. There is a little freezer at the top which I keep a little bag of ice to keep me from going down to the ice machine so much and it all melting before it gets used. Yes, that is alot of jello. When I had Covid, Dallas has bought me a bunch and we put them into the fridge. But when it was time for me to go and I had to clean out the fridge, I brought it with me instead of wasting it. So, at night, if I get a little snacky, I grab one. You have to shop small not just in quantity but size as well. I try to find the smallest size of something I can find. 

This is our little snack drawer and place to hold some non-refrigerator items. 

I have had to learn to get creative with cooking. I watch some videos on air fryer meals and instant pot meals. It is a learning process. I'm getting there. Dear hubby does not say a word, he understands that I have never just relied on these two appliances to make our meals. He's very patient. I would like to add that not all hotels will let you have a set up like this. Some hotels want let you bring appliances in. You will have to check with management. I talked to the manager of the hotel and she gave me her permission since we are a long stay for a while. She is really nice. All the staff are. Of course, Dear hubby has been coming here for three years, so they know him. There is a washer and dryer too downstairs and I can wash a little load at a time, but sometimes I want out, so I will take the laundry to a laundry mat and it doesn't take long at all. They have extra large capacity washers and dryers. You can wash two regular loads just about versus one at home at a time. Housekeeping knows I clean our room, so the only thing they have to do is give us fresh towels and trash bags everyday. 

I took some scraps from the girls ponchos and made them some matching little drawstring bags for play. 

Then it was time for me to make me a little something. 

I'm working on putting up some more videos on YouTube on our channel at Keeper of the Home at 4D Farms. 

We still haven't gotten any letters from Dallas yet, but I guess no news is good news. It's the not knowing that is killing me. I know the first 2 to 3 weeks of Basic is extremely busy and intense, so I also know he is not getting any free time and I know he's probably exhausted. This week they have a 5 mile march to complete. 

 Well, it is time for me to go and find something to do. I try to stay busy doing the same things I would do if I was at home. It helps the time go by faster so we can get back and see our girls. Everyone is saying that me and Poppie is all the girls are talking about. Atleigh has been telling mommy that she want Gmaw. She is missing me. We found out that Caroline has to have tubes put in her ears and her adnoids taken out. She is beginning to have the same issues as Atleigh did as a baby. Atleigh had to do the same thing when she was 2 yrs I think. Not long ago, one of her tubes fell out in my hand when I was carefully cleaning her ears. They are designed to fall out after they have corrected the ear canal. It still freaked me out. Caroline will have surgery next Monday. 

 

Making the Most of My Time

A few posts ago, I showed ya'll the ponchos I was making for the granddaughters. Well, I have been putting my time to use and I got another set made. This is my set. I brought plenty of projects out here to do to keep me busy. I'm going to make some things and then I have some hemming and projects to do. I'll keep you updated and show you. This sure does help pass the time on rainy days, and I don't feel like going out any where. Also, it saves me money. Every time I go out to run errands, I wind up seeing things I want and then I buy them. I bought a little wrist wallet and a blouse the other day. This is not going to help our kitchen renovation budget that's for sure. So, it's better for me to just stay busy. 😂

I wanted to be up front and honest with the hotel manager and let her know I had an air fryer and  instant pot in the room. She doesn't have a problem with it. As long as I don't leave the room while they are on and running. I feel so much better knowing I have her permission. I made dear hubbys favorite. Sloppy Joe pies. I use Pillsbury Flaky Layer biscuits (again, his favorite). The instant pot is great for using like a frying pan on the saute' mode. Then I popped them into the air fryer. 

 

This morning I made a grilled cheese in the air fryer. 

Dallas, Company has a few Facebook group pages that we follow and they post pictures frequently. We have been able to spot him in a few pictures and I get so excited to see him. However, I can't post any on any social media or blog platform right now due to security reasons. Just know it makes this mommas heart glad. We have been sending him letters frequently. I know he is so busy and so tired sometimes, so I'm not worried or upset if it takes him a while to write back. 

I put up two new videos on my YouTube channel. One is making my homemade cinnamon rolls:How I Make My Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

and Planning Your Garden

Well, it is another rainy day here, and we have been getting tons of rain back home. It has rained for 4 days on and off with a few thunderstorms on and off. I guess God is getting the ground ready for people to start putting in those gardens. I cannot wait until March 13th when the time changes. 

Looks like it's a messy bun, comfy pant wearing kind of day. 

Recovering and Hotel Living

 Boy, I am slowly recovering from Covid. I can have good days and bad days. It's the recovering that takes the longest I think. I am so thankful that some people can have it and have light symptoms and can recover quickly. As soon as I got the all clear from the dr that I was not contagious anymore, I got to see my little buddies. I went down to Dakotas house and he cooked for me and Brylee and I got to read some bedtime stories, pray with my little buddies and tuck them into bed. It was a good night. 

With Dallas gone to Basic Training, Brylee came to help me clean Dallas room and help pack up some things he wanted packed up. Well, really, I paid her. I knew she was missing him already and needed to get her mind off things but at the same time be close to him. This was the perfect solution. I was in her shoes at one time when Dear hubby went off to USMC Boot Camp. There was no way I was going to let her do this for free.  His room was a mess. This gave me some time to spend with her too. I took her out to eat one night and I had a chance to give her some advice from one military girlfriend (then) to another. She stayed with me for a few days. It was really nice to hear her talk of their plans. Reminded me of me and dear hubby when we were this exact same age with our whole lives ahead of us. It was refreshing.

Dear hubby had to already leave to the next job. So, as Dallas was not at home, and I'm still recovering, hubby is getting worried about me. Also, we are suppose to be having kitchen renovation done. So, now is the perfect time. So, as I am trying to recover, I slowly started packing up our kitchen. Brylee also helped me with this. Some days were better than others. Some days I had energy, but used it so quick and got alot done, then some days minimal energy and got bare minimum done.  I am not a procrastinator. If I know I've got something to do, I put my nose to the grindstone and get it done. I guess, just because I still felt so fatigued some day, I just dreaded it and became a procrastinator. Finally, the day came that I got it all done. Then the next day, I started packing all my things. The next day, I was time for me to leave. I fought fatigue the whole way there. Dear hubby was so worried about me the whole time. I finally made it to where he was. 

These pics show the set up in our room. Why, yes that is a sewing nook. Since we are going to be here for a while, I have got to have something to do. My serger and sewing machine have their own carrying cases and they travel nicely. The clear tub consists of book and my Bible to read. The black tub underneath the table is my project box. It is sewing projects I am going to get completed and some patterns I am going to retrace adnd make some projects. 

Dear hubby always takes his own linens everywhere. No need to explain why there. We even bring our own mattress topper just like the one we have at home because it is  pain t sleep on different mattresses all the time. No pun intended. It will mess your back up in a heartbeat. Our own pillows too. 

This little sink comes in handy when I need to wash some small dishes and the tub will wash all our bigger stuff like our instant pot liner. I even bought some cleaner and a spray bottle too. I don't like them cleaning when I am in the room. I like cleaning our own room like I clean my house  so  I know its clean. That' just me. 

This is our coffee station, dining area, and computer area. 

I put up another table to extend our kitchen area. I brought an instant pot and an air fryer. We have a refrigerator and a microwave. Under the table is a tub with all our essentials. Next week, I will start meal planning and cooking our suppers. This week , dear hubby just wanted me to recooperate and he picks us up whatever we want to eat when he gets off work. 

This is our new farm caps that Brylees mom made for us. Next is some shirts. 

I have joined a few Facebook groups of Dallas company in hopes of catching a few glimpses of him in pics or gathering info. We have sent a few letters already but he is so busy that he hasn't had a chance to write us. It's ok with me because he has waited for this all his life. On an app we have to use for mailing, they have weekly updates.  This week has been Army History, Code Of Conduct,  Rules and Regulations. Then they moved on to Basic Medic Skills and Basic Combat Training. This is right up his alley because all his martial arts training will come back to him and this will be his favorite part. lol 

All this mom can do is pray every day. 

Dear hubby is fixing to get off work and bring our dinner. So it is my time to give him all my attention. lol.

What A Roller Coaster

 Boy, it has been a roller coaster ride the past few weeks and honestly, at one time I wanted off, even if it meant jumping. More on that in a bit. Let's get caught up. I started working on a project for the girls that I meant to do last year and never got around to it. I started making their carseat ponchos. These things are so easy for buckling them up and them staying warm all while no danger of being strapped in over the poncho. The new law now for carsear safety is do not buckle them in with their coats on. So this remedies that. The back of the poncho goes lifted over the back of the car seat, while you reach underneath the front and buckle them in and close the front back up. Viola! They stay warm. If they should get too warm, they can easily slip it off their heads and lay in the seat beside them. I've got one made now 5 more to go. I'm making Daddy, Mommy and me a set each. 

I found several videos on YouTube and pieced areas of each video I liked together and got started. 

The girls other grandmother has stepped up to the plate and is now watching the girls for Dakota when it is his week. I am beyond thankful and happy and relieved about this. They are having so much fun. And yes, that is their little Uncle Finn in the pic with them. 

We have had this project going on for some time now. I will go ahead and tell you because it is still going to take a while to get it finished. Dakota has been wanting a cattle farm since he was a little boy. Well, so has dad. So, they went in together and started our 4D Farm Cattle Co. Inc.  We have bought our first few calves but they are being homed at a friends pasture until we can get this pasture all fenced in and ready. Dear Hubbys momma told him a long time ago he could use that pasture for anything he wanted. Dakota is doing alot of the work, simply because he is just enjoying it. I can't wait to  see our little calves running around over there. 

This is one of Dallas' high school friends that he graduated with and joined the USMC. They were suppose to have gone at the same time, but thats ok. He came to see us after his 10 day leave after graduation from boot camp. We are so proud of him.

We had a little family night with Dallas for his bday. 

Dear hubby informed me before he had to leave out again that we were going to be doing a kitchen renovation going as soon as I got the kitchen all packed up. So I started working on that too along with my packing to leave too. 

A few days after that I started coming down with something and was not feeling really well. Then all the sudden something hit me and hit me hard. I got bed ridden for a couple days until I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to force myself to go to an emergency walk in after hr clinic. Low and behold I tested positive for Covid.  ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME. I had dodged it for so long. Oh well, it finally caught me and let me tell you I would not wish this stuff on any body. I was so sick dear hubby or Dallas was going to get it. I literally was bed ridden for a week and a half. The body aches was atrocious, the fever and chills never ending, nausea unbearable, my skin literally hurt to touch it, and the worse part, the cough. I have literally coughed so much that my chest and ribs actually are sore. Dallas took care of me all this time, because dad already had to leave me behind and go to work. I lost my taste and smell too. 

The time came for me to have to get Dallas to the recruiting office for his ship out date. I had to force myself to do that too and fight fatigue while doing it. I could not let Dallas know it was a bad as it was because I did not want him going off worried about me. He needed to focus on himself because now its all about him and his new adventure in life. I put my big girl panties on, although I wanted to jerk them suckers clean off. This is the part of the roller coaster I wanted to jump off on. I got him to the office and we said our goodbyes and surprisingly I did not cry. I think its because I'm just so happy for him finally being able to live his dream. 

But this is what my Momma eyes and heart saw:

After having to wait at the airport for 3 and a half hours his plane finally left and he had a change over in GA. He grabbed a little bite to eat because he said he was starving. He text me this from the plane:

After a 6 hr long flight he finally landed in MO and an officer met him there and picked him up to which they still had a 3 hr drive to the base. They made it there in the wee hrs of the morning. He sent me this: 

He's got alot to learn but I have no doubt he will be great. They will be quarantined for 5 days and then start processing in. He will send us a letter with his address so we can start writing him. 

As soon as I dropped him off on that morning, I got my tooshie right to my dr this time. I wasn't playing around with this stuff anymore. They gave me some steroids to help get me mobile and clear up some of this inflammation in my chest, and they did chest xrays to make sure I wasn't setting up pneumonia. They gave me an antibiotic to fight off any infection I might be having or getting from this cough or sinus'. A strong cough syrup and an inhaler to help open up my passage ways for the shortness of breath. This morning I am happy to report that 3 times in the night I woke up drenched in sweat and had to change clothes and put towels on the bed to lie on until I could strip the sheets and wash them. I hope and pray I sweated that demon out. I woke up and was actually looking forward to getting out of bed and was finally able too. My appetite and smell has come back and I am able to eat solid food. I have been living off broth and jello. It was all I could hold down. I managed to get showered and start doing a few little things. Now as time and energy will allow I'm going to finish getting the kitchen packed up and my packing done so as soon as I walk out this door, our construction guy can come and do his thing and start gutting out our kitchen. We are so excited. We have waited on this for so long. 

Well, its time for me to end this post. I am so thankful to be up and about today. And as far as asking me have I been vaccinated or am I going to be vaccinated, the answer is still no. I will not debate it either because this is my choice. I will say this, I am not against vaccines or immunizations. They have all helped save lives from serious illnesses. I get the flu shot every year. My thing with the vaccine is this. It has not been tested long enough and I am not happy with the fact that some people have died after getting it, or still wound up in the hospital with this dreaded thing even after being vaccinated. When more research is done and the success rate is much higher, I might consider it in the future. So that is my conviction at this moment. 

I hope everyone has a lovely day.