Visiting the Bailey's 3-26-21

 Remi was here for her Spring Break. Vanessa picked her up on Friday March 18th. Keannon has been working out of town writing claims for the Winter Storm in the Houston Area. 

Since Keannon couldn't come home, Vanessa and the kids went to him. They were gone until late
Thursday night.

This is what Vanessa posted on Facebook

Snuck away this week to visit dad while he was gone and big sister was here. So glad I found this place and so glad Keannon  snagged us a room! I’ve seen this hotel on tons of travel blogs. 1000 rooms but on the roof of the 6th floor there is a Texas shaped lazy river along with a pool! There is a park across the street, the Aquarium down the road, and they even had an outdoor roller skating rink the kids skated at one night. This has been the best!

This view of the Texas shaped lazy river is from the top floor of the hotel. Pretty cool huh?!

With Remi's flight going back home Sunday morning, our best opportunity to see her was Friday night. We went over for dinner.

Kennedy and Remi wanted to take me around the neighborhood in the golf car.

Our next time to see her is Summer break which will be June.

Have a good one!

Playing Jacks 3-08-2021

Sometime ago I was in a store. I don't even remember what store it was but I saw a bag of Jacks. It
instantly brought back fond memories. I LOVED playing Jacks and I was pretty good at it! I remember playing them at school during recess when the weather was bad and we had to be indoors.

The Jacks I found were not like the ones I had as a child. They were much larger and made of plastic. I think they make almost everything out of plastic these days! 

Anyway, I brought them home a put in the cabinet that I keep games in. One day when Kashton and Korin were over and looking through the games they found the Jacks and asked about them.

It was a teaching moment! It actually kept them entertained for quit a while.  

The hardest thing for them to get was to catch the ball in the same hand as the jack. They wanted to use both hands. It was hard for them however with their hands being small and the jacks so large.

I think I will see if I can find some more like what I had as a kid. Someone suggested looking at Cracker Barrel. They have all kinds of unique and interesting things. They might just have some.

Have a good one!

Kashton's 8th Birthday

Kashton's birthday was March 5th. Vanessa had his party on Saturday March 6th. Before we could celebrate his birthday, Kennedy had a volleyball at 12pm and Kashton had a soccer game at 1pm. I'll post those pictures in another blog.

Kashton's birthday party theme was "Nerf War". Everyone was to bring their own Nerf guns and the Nerf bullets were provided. The party started with a Nerf War on the property behind the kids house. It doesn't belong to them but they are allowed to use it. I didn't want to become a casualty so I didn't take pictures. I did however take a video.

The patio area. The sliding doors were finally installed earlier in the week.

The lady who makes these cookies is amazing! Not only is the art work fabulous, the cookies are good!

Kashton wanted my chocolate cake. It's a simple sheet cake made with buttermilk and a no-bake frosting from a recipe that came out of a Kitchen Klatter Cookbook my grandmother Donna Mae gave me. All the kids request that I make them this cake for their birthdays.

The card I made him. 

In keeping with the "Nerf War" theme, I found this picture on the internet and printed it off to make the card. I just added the happy birthday sentiment.

Kashton is the most fun of the kids to give gifts to as he is so expressive!

Vanessa says he loves to put together Lego sets. I got him a jeep. 

Kashton received many nice gifts and money.

Another successful birthday party in the books!

Have a good one!

Korin Plays Volleyball 03-05-2021

 

Vanessa signed up Korin for Volleyball. She is a little young but she is as tall as the other girls who are a year older! She seems to really like it.

Keannon is the coach of the team.

Here is a short clip of Korin serving. 

The ball was close enough that Korin was in the right form... the ball just wasn't in the picture.

Have a good one!

Kashton Plays Basket 02-27-2021

Kashton loves soccer and basketball. First Baptist Church hosts a basketball program every year to teach kids the fundamentals of basketball and share Christ. The program is called Upward. 

Because of Covid we were not allowed to attend any games until the last one (I don't know how this one was any different). Anyway. I was glad I was able to attend at least one!

The lighting in the gym wasn't very good for action shots although I took a few while Kashton was warming up before the game.

I find it very interesting that for a kid who is a lefty most of the time he is dribbling right handed.

I also took some short video clips.

Kashton scores!

Kashto scores again.

After the game awards were given for different accomplishments during the season. Kashton got one for layups.

Have a good one!

Kennedy Plays Guitar 2-13-2021

Vanessa has a friend who's son plays drums and guitar. She asked him about giving Kennedy guitar lessons and Kashton drum lessons. They all go to the same school. Once a week on Thursdays he takes the kids to his house for lessons then brings them home. It's been working pretty good so far.

When Kennedy was at the house I asked her to show me what she had learned. I was impressed!

Have a good one!

Winter Came to Texas

 We have had a fairly mild winter. We've had some cold and a couple of snows that only lasted for one day each.

Meteorologists began forecasting an arctic cold front that would be coming with cold that we hadn't seen in decades. The first dose of cold air arrived the morning of February 9th. The temp  was 27 degrees that morning with a windchill of  17. A Winter Weather Advisory had been issued. The high that day was 34.

Wednesday February 10th the temp was 26 degrees when I woke with a wind chill of 16. The high that day was 28.

Thursday February 11th the morning temp was 22. We escaped the ice that was forecast. A Special Weather Statement was issued about another surge of colder air that was coming early the next week. The high was 28.

Friday February 12th the morning temp was again 22. High was 26. Forecast is calling for snow on Sunday Valentine's Day anywhere from 4-6 inches.

Saturday February 13th the morning temp 17. The sun came out some during the day and the high reached 30. With the threat of wintry weather on Sunday, I decided to take the grands their Valentine's a day early.

I made tags instead of cards and attached gift cards to their favorite eating places on the back.

Sunday February 14 we awoke to white and 16 degrees. The wind chill was 2. A Winter Storm Warning was issued. The Elders decided to cancel in-person services and we met through Facebook live. The temp continued to drop through the day at 4pm it was 9 degrees. At 10pm it was 5 degrees with a wind chill of -13.

I blanketed the horses Tuesday morning 2-9 but even with the blankets out in the wind the blankets weren't enough. I was very grateful they had a barn to get out of the wind.

It's a little frosty!

The whole state of Texas was under a Winter Storm Warning. There was even snow reported on the beaches at Galveston!

It snowed almost all day. It wasn't heavy and the flakes were small and very dry. We got 6 inches. A Hard Freeze Warning and Wind Chill Warnings were issued and in effect until noon on Tuesday. 

Monday February 15th the morning temp was 2 degrees with -18 degree wind chill! At least the sun was shining! Kids lost power as did everyone on the North side of town about 2am. They came over and spent the day. Keannon got the generator going he had so they went home for the night.

Tuesday February 16th we had the coldest overnight low which was -3. The high was 18. The forecast was for another winter storm but thankfully that system missed us.

Wednesday February 17th the morning temp was 19. High was 25. Church services were cancelled. With the extreme cold we had water mains breaking all over town and one of the pumps that provides water to the city went down.  We went on a boil water notice and were asked to refrain from washing clothes, dishes or showering until the system was back up to 100%. The people who lost power also lost water as their pipes froze. It was a mess. Thankfully we never lost power or water.

Thursday February 18th the morning temp was again 19. High was 29.

Friday February 19th we started at 12 degrees and had a heat wave. The high was 45! Friday was my first day back in the office. I took blankets off horses after they wore them for almost 10 days! Saturday it warmed to 62! Crazy Texas Weather. We hadn't had a cold snap like this since 1983! Needless to say we will be talking about this storm for years to come!

Have a good one!