Sunday, March 25, 2018

What a Week........

What a busy week it has been!  Pigs, 🐷🐷🐷  Rabbits, 🐰🐰Projects, 🍞🌵📷  Baseball, ⚾ Basketball 🏀 and Volleyball..    AND: The Stomach Bug!  😷

This is what keeps us young.....Going  to as many of the grandkids events, as we can possibly make it to.



Mylee Jo and her rabbit!  This was Mylee's first show and I was super proud of the way she took care of details and did not feel intimidated at all.  She got 7th place with her rabbit, which was not bad considering there were at least 30 rabbits in her class.


Trey, Tori and Friends at the livestock show.  The livestock show is tons of fun for these kids, but it is also a learning adventure as well.  
By the time their animal gets to show, each kid has put in hours upon hours, walking....feeding....watering and taking care of their animal project.  Lots of work...and they also learn that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.



Tori and Trey just hanging out......




 Mylee waiting for her rabbit to be judged.....



Mylee's rabbit being judged......Oh my, this guy judged 274 rabbits.  I know his hands and feet were aching by the time he finished.



Trey and Tori all dressed up to show their pigs....Of course, you can't show your pig in the arena without being DRESSED UP!
New Boots, Belts, jeans, shirts and lots of primping (Well, the primping is for the girls)


Trey .....just hanging out....waiting to show his pig, Wilbur.





Mylee's project in photography......... She used her mom's iPhone and went out to the back pasture to take this picture of the longhorn.  The weather forecast was calling for storms, and you can clearly see the storm clouds rolling in... in this picture.  She received a Blue Ribbon Award on this project and was able to sell it at the auction for a good price.  


This is another one of Mylee's projects.   A "Rock" cactus garden.
She painted the rocks and after they dried and she coated them with a shiny coat of mod podge, she arranged them in this bowl full of rocks.   She also sold this project at the auction!  This one received a Blue Ribbon too!!



BEST OF DIVISION!!!!!  This is what the purple ribbon is for.  She made two loafs of Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Bread.  The judges chose her bread as Best of Division in the class and she also won a Blue Ribbon for the bread.  

She worked hard on all of her projects and I was so super proud of her!    Tori and Trey did a great job raising and showing their pigs.
The pigs did not make the sell......but both of them will be processed and put in our freezers!  YUM.



I thought this was a cute picture of Tori....Washing her pig!



Lots of lots of Pigs!!  #4695 was my favorite girl in the arena!!

In between all of this......Trey and Carson both had High School Baseball games.....and oh....Tori played Volleyball.  {No pictures of the Baseball and Volleyball games}     Mylee made the All Star Basketball Team and her team was playing in the Regional Tournament.   They won 2nd place....which still allows them to advance to the National Tournament.   

Mylee did not get to play on Friday night.....because the stomach bug hit her on Thursday.     She was a sick little girl.  She was able to play some in the Saturday game.

And now.......for the Really Big News!!!!!  At the Livestock show, Sam purchased 6 raffle tickets for a John Deere Gator like the one shown below.  


About a $10,000.00 dollar value on this machine.    Sam purchased a ticket for ME, one for HIM and one each for Trista, Ty, Tom and Shanda.  

Guess whose ticket Won this Gator?   Not mine!   Shanda won the thing!!!!!   We were all so excited.   

So....this has been my past week.   Exciting and Exhausting!

Hugs,
Shug 🌹
               

Sunday, March 18, 2018

She believed she could....so she did!!



She Believed she could, so she did!!!


I have talked about my niece many times and most of you already know that she had a brain injury at the young age of ....... 3.

The story goes like this......Tammy, along with her family, 

were traveling down an old country road on a Sunday afternoon, some 39 years ago......August 20, 1978.

As their vehicle approached a hill, another car was coming from the other direction.  Being a single lane country road, both vehicles were  in the middle of the road.   This resulted in a head-on collision, which killed my sister and her husband. (the kids step-dad)     Tammy, along with her brother and sister all had multiple injuries and broken bones.  Tammy's head hit the dash of their car, which caused damage to her brain.

My parents became their care-givers and guardians.  Tammy's brain injury left her with damage to the right side of her body, with very limited use in her right hand.  Because of the brain damage, her intellectual disability does not allow for her to make
the responsible decisions that are needed for her to be a self-functioning adult.

My parents are now deceased, and since Tammy is unable to care for herself,  ...my brothers and my niece, along with Sam and myself, all work together to take care of her.  

She attends Breckenridge Village, which is a residential community for adults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities.   

I am extremely thankful for this place and I am also thankful that BVT is located, only about 10 miles from where we live!!!

When Tammy first started attending the day program there, the staff at BVT set up specific guidelines to help Tammy, according to her particular needs.

One thing that they did, was to start her on a therapy program to help improve the use of her right hand.

For 3 long years now, Tammy has worked hard to achieve a goal.   The goal was to squeeze a ball and in doing so, a penguin would pop up out of the ball.  

I am happy to say that this past week.....She finally was able to squeeze that ball and make the penguin pop up!

This is huge!!

~She believed she could......so she did!!!!~

If you have never witnessed the excitement of a great accomplishment from a disabled person.....you have no idea what you have missed.   

Such a simple thing to those of us who have no disabilities, but such a HUGE and amazing happening to those who have struggles.  

Determination has helped her reach this goal...

Thank you Lord for the miracles in Tammy's life.

Shug 🌹

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Two Pigs and a Rabbit.....

Two little piggies.....Dean and Wilbur!  These are the grandkids show pigs.  "Dean" belongs to Tori and "Wilbur" belongs to Trey.

I was there the day that these two little piggies were delivered to the pen.  They were both so very small and just as cute as can be.


Look at them now!!!!!  👀   The white one is Dean


and here is Wilbur.

These pigs have GROWN!

Next week is our County "Life Stock Show" and the kids will be showing "Dean" and "Wilbur."

We also will be showing a RABBIT....  This will be Mylee's first year to show, and she is so excited about showing the rabbit.

Fun times for the kids and such a learning experience for them as well.  I'm hoping they all do great with their Pigs and Rabbit!

🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀



Sunday, March 11, 2018

~  If only tulips could last a little longer!  I fell in love with the gorgeous orange tulips that you see in my header picture.  I was running a quick errand this afternoon, and happened upon these beauties! 

This was only a small portion, of an array of tulips, that lined the yard.  I kinda stopped in the middle of the road to take this picture.....with my phone.... but oh, how I would loved to have walked up into the yard and taken a whole lot more pictures.

My errand this afternoon, turned into a Blessing for me.  Not only did I get to see so much beauty as I traveled to my destination, but I also had a visit with an amazing lady, who I so admire.  

It is a true Blessing, when a friend who has had way more than their own share of hurt this past year.....touches her friends heart and gives her much encouragement.  

What a beautiful day it has been!!

Shug 🌷  


Saturday, March 10, 2018

~ Oh my.....I would love to be right there in the middle of the place where my header photo was taken!  Sam and I took this trip year before last with our wonderful friends........

Plya Del Carmen and Cozumel.....gorgeous places to visit and the water surrounding the area is absolutely beautiful.  


This picture was taken as we waited for one of the ferries to take us from Cozumel back over to Plya Del Carmen.  We all loved the area so much and was hoping to go back and do this same trip all over agin.....BUT....if any of you have been keeping up with the 
news lately, you have heard about the warnings for Americans going to these Countries.   If I'm not mistaken, I think that some of the cruise lines have even closed some of the excursions that involve any of the ferries.  SO VERY SAD that a simple vacation can be of so such danger to so many people.


Here is another view from one of the yellow ferries that we took...


Hopefully......this can some day be a safe place to travel to.....AGAIN

Shug 𝒫......

Friday, March 9, 2018

It's time for Spring Break.....



Hope everyone enjoys a few days off!

Shug ⚘

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Baseball....... My Favorite Sport!

Are any you big Baseball fans?   I enjoy everything about this sport!  And.....I especially enjoy the game, when my grand babies are playing!




#18 plays for the Brownsboro Bears and
this guy.......Eat, Sleeps, and Breathes
Baseball.  

He just so happens to be our #3 grandson!

Ever since he was a little boy, he has loved the game!
If we ask him a question about any Professional player or game, he knows the answer.  Even about games or players who played way back before I was born.



Carson is our grandson that was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes about a month ago.   Even though he has had some really bad days with his body trying to adjust to the insulin shots....he has still been able to play baseball.

There have been a couple of games that he played, when he felt terrible.....but he has so much determination in him, and he did not allow his diabetes prevent him from playing. 

I am super Proud of him!

When I say I love baseball.....this means that I love toting the lawn chair....toting my big bag full of jackets and blankets....making sure I have snacks packed for the kids.....sitting out in Cold, Windy weather....OR....sitting out in temperatures that exceed 98 degrees...sweating and red faced.....
AND, sometimes driving over a hundred miles to watch my grandkids play ball..

Life is Good....
and so is Baseball....

Shug ⚾







Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Joy becomes our laughter when we fill our cup with friendships and love!!




What makes you happy?  

Gosh....so MANY things make me happy!  Happiness is a big word with so many opportunities to help us live a better life!  

Is happiness an ALL DAY...EVERY DAY happening?  The simple answer is No.  Life happens and situations happen which can distort our laugher and joy!

For the most part....I wake up each day, determined to find every possible avenue of happiness to help make my day, become a winner!!

My cup of happiness was overflowing today!!  I had the awesome pleasure of having lunch with three of my best friends.  

I couldn't believe how quickly timed passed...

We met around 11:20..to beat the lunch crowd, and two hours and forty-five minutes later....we were just finishing up!   NO, NO, ....
we were not eating all that time.....We were visiting!

We laughed and laughed some more.....enjoyed a wonderful meal...
talked about making a trip to see the gorgeous Texas Bluebonnets.

We laughed some more....and talked about AGING and the wrinkles thing!  

It was a great day....filled with happiness and much JOY!

hugs to you all....
Shug 🌹




Sunday, March 4, 2018

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TYLER.......

I have great memories of March 5th....some 22 years ago! 


This handsome guy was born!!


Tyler Samuel.....

Our First Grandchild....grandson!


This picture was on his birthday 2 years ago...
A few months later, he joined the Air Force!

Last year he was in training to become a Weather Apprentice for the USAF!

This means he has been gone on his birthday for the past two years! 😓


This year...he is over 900 miles away from all of us back here at home!  Big Birthday hugs to him from his Shug/Sugar!  He calls me Sugar most of the time, but when he's really serious about something....he calls me Shug!


This picture was taken when we visited him last September....  





Back home....on the Country Road...Tyler and his guitar!!



Koby (One of Tyler's best Friends)

and

Tyler.....

both of them are so handsome!!



Happy 22nd Birthday, Tyler.....



HUGS,

SHUG  🌹


Saturday, March 3, 2018

What a gorgeous day it is here in East Texas!
Oh my....The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and my heart is filled with much happiness.


My daffodils are looking gorgeous!  I love the bright yellow of daffodils....I only wish that the blooms lasted all Spring and Summer.


Coming off of about three full weeks of nothing but rain and cloudy skies, the sight of these stunning yellow flowers, reminds me that there are seasons for everything!  Without the rain, how could the beauty of a simple daffodil gracefully brighten my day?



My hummingbird feeder is ready and I am anxiously awaiting for the teeny tiny winged friends to appear!  


And this my friends, is a branch that shows life of my pomegranate tree!  Spring is on it's way and I'm loving it!

New Beginnings....New Life....it surrounds us each and every day!  

Enjoy your Blessings this day!

Shug 🌹

Sunday Thinking

  Happy St. Patricks Day!   🍀 Tomorrow, I will be filling my hummingbird feeders.  The little beauties should be arriving any day now.  I a...