Sunday, June 13, 2021

Celebrations

 Late May and the first half of June are some of the busiest times of the year for our family. This year it was even busier. We have celebrated with friends retiring and had two birthdays with family. 

My post today is to document the celebrating, but if you stick around to the end you will see it has been a little bit harried to say the least. The celebrations were still special and sometimes the craziness that comes with the days makes the good times even more important.

The first celebration ended up being a 2 FOR 1 Deal. Our niece Kristan comes each year from Texas. We try to get our small family together each year. Kristan is Lindsay and Paul Allen's only cousin. I have no siblings and Jeff has only one niece from his two siblings. Until Tucker arrived on the scene, Kristan's twins were the star of the show.

They still are but now they share it with Tucker. We planned our visit for Tuesday night. With Jeff's birthday two days away and it being his 60th, I decided to see if I could make it a surprise birthday party for him. FAMILY only party, but just a way to celebrate him.

The kiddos.

You may remember last September I had my 60th and the kids gave me a themed party. I loved it. At our age we don't need anything but what fun that was! 

After texting back and forth with the kids we came up with a "Born to Rock" party. 

Jeff has always loved rock music. It makes for "discussions" in the truck on trips when I want some calming old country music and he wants to listen to rock. I can take about two songs and I am out.

I did manage to surprise him and for me that was the goal!!!!

I ordered 3 banners to hang around the house. Here is one of them.



Tucker and PaPa rocking out.



Tucker was with me that day...More about that later. He was a little concerned that all the attention was going to PaPa and not him. I think he might need a little brother:)


Mother made a cake. 


When it came time to blow out the candles he wanted to help.




I made some brownies for the kids adding guitars to carry on the theme.



Donna added the fun with a shirt that Jeff wouldn't be caught in. I am sure I will have it as a sleep shirt or work shirt later.

We enjoyed pizza and family time.

On Jeff's actual birthday we had a simple out to eat at the Mexican restaurant where we had a long wait. There is a story coming soon about waiting in restaurants. Not today though.

We celebrated Paul Allen's birthday on Saturday. Jeff and Paul Allen have birthdays two days apart. Lindsay and I both have September birthdays.

I didn't have any candles so I made him blow out a candle in a votive:)





Now, there was one more birthday in all this! Gus turned 4 this week also. Mommy can't forget to celebrate him too. He got in on all the festivities.



Oh and Jeff and Paul Allen had a morning fishing since my last post. This happened Saturday a week ago. Paul Allen really gave his dad the best birthday present he could have given him with time on the boat fishing with him. They caught supper that night.




Jeff, Paul Allen, and Katie are leaving after church today for an overnight fishing trip to the east coast so I am grand dog sitting.

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Now, as you can see we have had some really good times, but wow...it has been crazy too.

Mother had an episode that involved a visit in the middle of the night to her home and then having her spend the next night with us. Watching a parent age is not fun. Good good days mixed in with some hard too.

Lindsay and Tucker have been really sick. I have kept Tucker so much that I was completely exhausted and plan to spend the day while Jeff and the kids are fishing too lay on my tail...praying Mama stays healthy and happy so I can do just that.

I will say keeping a baby is much easier than keeping a 2 and half year old. He is better and for that I am thankful.

Lindsay has had an awful cold and finally had to take an antibiotic and was told she could take Sudafed. In true family form (like her dad and brother) that was a HUGE no no. She ended up in the hospital ER for a day with an extremely high heart rate and then contractions that wouldn't let up. It was way too early for a baby to come.

Each time she thought she would be able to go home something else would happen. She ended up having to take the drug that is used to stop contractions. She is starting to feel better. 

Yea, in between the good there was lots of stress and tiredness. 

I actually made it all the way to Sandestin to the hospital through so much traffic that I began to wonder how in the world will she ever get to the hospital when she actually goes into labor. I am still pondering that and PRAYING about that.

Then I left to go back into that madness to go pick Tucker up from daycare. Just par for the course there was a bomb threat at our courthouse and that locked traffic down in the other direction even worse than I had already been through. 

In between all that celebrating I was a tired stressed girl but like I said at the beginning...it can make you even more grateful for the good.


Counting blessings,
Sandy


21 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, how scary!!! So glad Lindsay and your mom are ok. Now to the fun things...that CAKE.. my favorite. And the tee shirt is priceless. So glad you were able to have some good family times amid the tensions. And yes, taking care of an elderly parent is hard.

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    1. I know you know about the mamas. Lindsay is feeling better but that was quite scary. Now to get her to take it easy. Mother still makes that cake. It is something she can do so I let her do it. By the day she did it she had gone from stroke level blood pressure to her normal ---128/67. What 86 year old has that kind of normal blood pressure?! But let her get worked up over something and the other happens. I am afraid one day I won't know the difference.

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  2. Love the theme for Jeff's party! I like the old rock 'n roll, but also the old Motown and country music as well. Glad Jeff and Paul Allen were able to get in some fishing and happy to hear that Tucker and Lindsay are feeling better. Hope your Mama continues to feel better. Rest up and take care, Sandy!

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    1. I have spent a day resting since church and hopefully the dogs will let me sleep in a little in the morning:) Our music in all genres was the best ---no doubt!

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  3. What a rollercoaster of a time you've had. I'm glad everyone is doing better now though. Good thing you did get the celebrations fitted in there!

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    1. Yes, it was a roller coaster ride for sure. Up one day and down the next, but I got through it. I have spent the day with my feet up for the most part.

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  4. Happy Birthdays To All!
    Prayers for everyone's health
    I hope you do get your rest.

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  5. Wow!! You have had quite a time. Nice celebrations tempered by stress and scary stuff. Let's hope the contractions some late at night when the traffic has died down!! Prayers for all!! xo

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    1. Yes, late at night instead of a day when the roads are bumper to bumper for miles and miles. Sounds like a song!

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  6. Hi Sandy: Happy Birthday to both the guys in your life and Happy birthday to Gus, this is such a fun post, I am in awe of the big fish they caught, i bet they were good.
    I like a themed birthday party it brings so much fun to the day.
    So sorry about your Mother, I hope she is doing better.
    It is amazing what they do to stop contractions.
    Have a lovely week.

    Catherine

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    1. Poor Gus got a lesser birthday party than normal although he ate like a king at both parties. I don't think he felt slighted:) And yes, the fish were so good. On that particular occasion Jeff grilled them and they were delish!

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  7. Oh my goodness, and a bomb threat in the middle of all that other excitement is like the proverbial "icing on the cake", or is it "the straw that broke the camel's back?" Glad you survived all of the above. Praying now that Lindsay will have smoother sailing into her last weeks of pregnancy and a safe and happy delivery of a healthy happy baby. I love that you innovate as needed for candles, etc. We do a lot of that around here too. The twins are adorable, and so is Tucker. Just think, this time next year the little one will be almost one year old, adding to the fun! Praying your mother is better and that you can get some rest before the rest of the action begins. I do know what it is like when our parents are failing. We went through some crazy times with our folks, but looking back I am just so thankful we were able to be there for them in their last days upon the earth. And now we really miss them, but I know where they are and we will see them again someday under much better circumstances! Take care of yourself and try to get some rest. Busier days are yet ahead. (But happy days!)

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    1. That particular day was one that whipped me. The upside is I slept good that night. I do hope I can have the patience I need and stamina to be a good daughter for Mama. She has really accelerated in many ways since last year when she had the shingles. That took a lot of her strength. I am looking forward to the baby. I am hoping that Jeff and I can take a few days off together just to be lazy at our Auburn house. I told him I don't really want to go anywhere...just a change of pace so we can hike or take a slow drive to rest our minds and bodies. I know he could use it from work. I am so blessed that I have all my immediate family within a short distance and can enjoy family dinners with them. Votives work just fine for candles:)

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  8. Wowee. What a lot of stress mixed into the celebrating. You deserve a rest! The pictures are great. Fun to see your family and extended family celebration pics. And those guitar picks in the cake pieces are so cute! I think I need to look for those. :)

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    1. The banners and picks came from Amazon. I have really tried to shop locally as much as possible as I feel the local business needs it, but our Party City didn't have anything for the theme. I did get the 60 napkins and candles from them. I surprised him, which was my goal. That man is hard to buy for and always figures everything out early.

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  9. At the very least, all that activity made for interesting blog fodder! You lived to tell about it and we thank the Lord for that.

    Those fish brought home for dinner were so big! What a treat!

    You all are in my prayers, praying especially for good health and stamina for everybody as the due date for the new baby approaches.

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    1. Blog fodder indeed. This week has started off a bit calmer. Thank goodness.

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  10. Wow! Sometimes life can be a little too exciting! Glad the good outnumbered the bad! Hopefully you can sneak in a bit of relaxing quiet soon...

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    1. Too exciting was right. I am looking for a little more boring:)

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  11. Oh, my! I'm sure hoping everyone is doing better by now, Sandy! Things need to calm down for you all now as you wait for baby Palmer's arrival. Happy Belated Birthday to your husband--hope his 60s are a wonderful decade for him :)

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I am so glad you stopped by my little blog. Drop in again anytime.
Sincerely,
Sandy