Quail_Antwerp: Words from the Barnyard...

[Quail_Antwerp]

So it's been a loong evening - and I think tomorrow is going to be even longer.

Calling hours were nice. They had a nice poster set up with pictures on it of the wedding cakes Grandma made. I didn't realize they were doing that, and my wedding cake 13 years ago was the last one, and the only fountain cake, grandma had done.

So I'm taking the pic up tomorrow to add to the poster. My Aunt said I'd get it back afterwards.

I'm also going to try to find some other pictures I have hanging around here - but I won't be able to get into the main pic storage, because the t.v. sits on top of the cedar chest and my million pictures are IN the cedar chest (which was a really dumb idea on my part!)

Since Aunt Hazel gave me the sweater from Grandma, I've also developed an unhealthy obsession with vintage baby clothes - and little smocked dresses. I have asked everyone I know if they know how to do the smocked dresses - and tonight Aunt Hazel told me to give her my address, because she DOES know how to do smocked dresses/vintage dresses and will send some up to me.

YAY!!

AND this morning, Mom told me that Aunt Hazel had given her a box of Grandma's things - and there's several baby girl dresses in there that my Grandma had made years ago!!! Tonight Aunt Hazel told me she had already gone through them, and pulled out the ones that weren't good anymore. I guess clothes sometimes don't age well?

Anyway, so Aunt Hazel and I were talking about how cute it will be to take some of Grandma's homemade baby girl dresses and use them as decor for Baby Girls room. I think we're going to maybe see if we can frame one and hang it on the wall, too.

I don't know when I'll get the chance to go through the box, because it's at my mom's house and well...stuff doesn't always survive my mom's house.

 

[Bimpnottin]

It's not easy, but it sounds like you will have some really cool things to remember Grandma with and pass on to your kids.

I was thrilled when we were able to get artwork that Gram had done, and she was an excellent artist, painting, clay, etc. So, we have quite a few of her paintings hanging up and a bunch more that need frames. It thrills me everytime one of my girls says that they want to be an artist like Great Grandma.

And because Great Gram was an artist, my oldest daughter, about 5 at the time she died, started looking at the sky, especially when it's a cool sunrise or sunset and told us that Grandma was helping God paint the sky.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Grandma's services were nice. I mean, in the sense of funerals ever being nice???

It was nice afterwards, anyhow, when all of my family were at the wake and we took a million pics. I did get a nice group shot of my family and my brother's family to send to our grandmother in Georgia. That would be my dad's mom. So she'll be getting a pic of me and E with our kids with my brother J and his wife S and their two girls. It's a lovely photo.

And we got a beautiful pic of just E and me with our kids. Lovely pic.

Came home to 6 guinea keets and 1 muscovy duckling in the incubator. The muscovy duckling is the only egg that my white muscovy duck had laid before she flew off. So it's a beautiful little yellow duckling!

Well, now i supposed I should tell on myself - on the way to the services, we saw a church rummage sale yes, we stopped.



I found an adorable 3-6 months sweater - it's white with green trim and has a little clothesline stitched across the back, and little embroidered outfits hanging off it. TOO CUTE. 25 cents!!

and then I found a hand knitted baby afghan, ecru in color, and absolutely GORGEOUS! again, only 25 cents!! it's definitely retro, and smells like an old lady LOL so I'm probably going to hand wash it, because it's so dainty I'm afraid the washer will rip it apart.

But I think it will make an awesome prop in pics of Baby girl when she gets here!

Or, at least add to the vintage decor in her room I'm so obsessed with vintage baby girl stuff right now!

Well, i spose that's about it for now. We're tired, have to return the borrowed car to its rightful owner yet tonight.

Happy Friday, and pics will follow soon! I promise!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

For some reason, my boys NEVER sleep in - it doesn't matter how much we wear them out the night before, or how late we keep them up - THEY ARE UP AT THE BUTT CRACK OF DAWN and even the roosters are begging them to sleep in a little.

And every morning they are as loud as can be, having no respect for people who may still be sleeping in the house.

Baby boy always - and I do mean always gets into the fridge first thing in the AM. Or he'll find the bread.

The other boys are always wrestling, carrying on, and using their outside voices.

And usually, I catch them doing something they are not supposed to do - like writing on the walls. AGH.

My cousin joked that they, "painted their new room" well, I painted their butts!

This morning was NO different, except something inside me finally snapped. First, my 2nd from youngest son took baby boy to the bathroom and showed him a spider in the tub. Baby boy tried to leave, and 2nd youngest son grabs his hand and pushes it towards the spider.

I came flying out of my bed because I heard baby boy screaming in sheer terror, "Get my hand out get my hand out stop it get my hand out."

So after I washed the dang spider down the drain, 2nd from youngest got paddled for terrrorizing his baby brother - who by that point was hiding and trembling under the bed. He only came out after I "came to his rescue."

In the corner, my oldest son - read that again, MY OLDEST SON WHO HAPPENS TO BE 10 AND SHOULD KNOW BETTER - had tied his no-sew fleece blanket, that was a homemade Christmas gift from Becca and her mom - he was trying to get it off himself before I saw it, but it was around his neck so tight I had to cut it off.

Ask me how mad I was for that one?

And yes, he got paddled, too - and believe it or not, he had the nerve to tell me to quit spanking him! I was shaking, because he could have choked himself to death, but I was also mad that I had to cut this beautiful gift. I told him spanking him was not as bad as what WOULD have happened to him if i hadn't cut his blanket off.

And yes, he tied it himself. He told me he had it that way on. purpose.

So now I'm still mad, gave them strict orders to clean up that room or else, and I confiscated ALL of their no-sew fleece blankets before they ruin them, too.

And I'd like to just sit down and cry, because I love that my kids had got these beautiful blankets for Christmas, and my boys just never seem to appreciate having anything nice. They tear up all their nice stuff.

Yes, I know that's what boys do. Tell me, though, how is it that I have friends who have boys, and they have nice things NOT tore up?

You would think that my kids, given the fact that we do not get them everything under the sun would appreciate the nice things they do get on occassion.

My bright spot for now, my old computer that was with one cousin to be worked on (and hopefully save my pictures from the last five years) was returned to me at grandma's wake last night. He and his wife told me it wasn't good for anything except as a giant paper weight - that it had so many viruses, that he needed to wipe the whole thing so to fix it, we need the recovery disc.

Well, I couldn't find the recovery disc. at. all. So they returned it to me last night. My other cousin, who lives in Canton, was there and he went to school for computers and does continuing education as new updates come out, etc.

He took it home with him.

Last night he called me and said NONE of the pc had been wiped, ALL of my files are still there, especially my pictures!!!

I sat down and CRIED. Literally! I know it's just pictures, but my last photos of my grandmother are in there - from before her alzhiemers, when she still knew us. PLUS all of baby boy's baby pictures! (we're talking about 3-4 years worth of pics, almost 1000 pics or more)

He's going to burn all the pics to disc PLUS restore them to the pc - and he said he's pretty sure he can fix it for me and restore it back to the way I had it before it went down with viruses.

We were on the phone for a good while discussing the computer, too. He said he should have it all done this weekend, and he'll try to get it back to me next Sunday at our annual 4th of July cookout! YAY YAY YAY YAY!

Well, off for my first morning cup of coffee...and hoping the rain holds off, as we have a lot to get done today. And hoping the day gets better.

Happy Saturday.

 

[Henrietta23]

I'm glad you've got all those pictures and files still! I'm sorry they're giving you such a hard time. I've only got the one 9 year old boy and he can reduce me to tears too. Hope it improves (and I'm glad the 10 yo didn't hurt himself!)

 

[emilosevich]

Sorry you're having such a bad morning with the boys. My little one at only 3 can sometimes make me wonder what I was thinking. I hope it gets better through the day.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

It's already getting better

The oldest two kids are cleaning up the kitchen for me - I love it when they help and do a good job!

My Aunt Debbie shared pics through Facebook from yesterday, and she got a lovely shot of us as a family photo infront of a fire place at the church where we held the wake.

And lots of other nice pics of random family, too.

And my cousin called this morning again - pc is almost fixed!!

 

[Denim Deb]

If it makes you feel any better, my son was scissor happy when he was little. I don't know how many things he destroyed w/them. Plus, we went camping one time and he found a pin and poked several holes into his brand new air mattress.

 

[Wannabefree]

QA just tell those boys that if they get up that early they better be doing chores. That should deter them We had to make a rule that the kids couldn't get up before we did or they'd be in deeeeep trouble. It's not just boys, DD, now 14, used to get up and go outside when she was FOUR, and we're talking 5 a.m. here on Saturday morning!!! She tore things up, and was just as rambunctious as you describe yours as being. Her older sis tortured her too....it's just the unbelieveable stupidity of being a child. Maybe time to set a few rules, make them stay in their rooms and allow them to do a few things in there until you or DH gets up. It worked for us Then the only things they could tear up was their own stuff at least...and they did and regretted it later Either way, it was a step in the right direction. Hope they calm down as they get older

Good on the computer! I still have one in the attic that I need to get pics from :/

Hope you have a beter rest of the day!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Ok, so the day may have had a not so great start, but it's getting better and better!

I've done a quick clean of the house, and now the living room is near spotless (it's never perfectly spotless, not with five kids running through! lol) and the kitchen, too!

AND my SIL just called, and she and my brother are going to be here in a little bit! YAY!! She said she is bringing me some things for the baby - one of which is A CRIB!!

The sad thing is, I had JUST donated all of our last few pieces of baby furniture (including the crib & bassinet) less than 6 months before I got preggers with baby girl.

I would say I'm going to hold onto all the baby stuff this time for the next 3 or so year, but my Dr and I have discussed a 5 year plan - which will hopefully take me to menopause with no more babies

SIL doesn't have a crib mattress for the crib, but that's OK, because they can be fairly cheap to pick up so we'll get one. I think Walmart has one for like $38 or something.

AND she's going to look at the crib set I like and see if she can sew something similiar herself - because omg crib sets are so expensive! The thing with the one I like, there's also a matching twin set (purchased separately of course!) and I thought it would be nice if baby girl and DD had matching bedding. And this set (called Daniella from Babies r us) isn't real baby-ish, and when I showed DD the pic she loved it.

so, that's the scoop here now. I'm taking a break from the cleaning, sipping a drink, and going to relax for a bit before our company arrives.