Catching up on all the fun stuff around here!

We've been having FUN!!  It will probably be impossible to catch up here in one post, because we've been doing stuff and I've been taking so many pictures.  

Before I get to the fun part of last week, here are a few things that happened first.  After about five or six weeks, Dick finally finished his 1000-piece puzzle.  Would you believe, there was a piece missing??  If you look closely in the row of green trees, you will see a little area of our red table showing through. 

Do you remember the crazy saga of my messed-up Crocs order last fall?  For my newer friends here - I had seen an ad on Facebook for brightly colored Crocs, and since that is what I wear around the house, I decided to order a pair of orange and blue ones.  They were so cute!  Turns out it was not an order from the official Crocs company, but a place in China.  It took weeks for them to arrive, and when they did, they were brown, one shoe was size 8, the other was size 9!!!  So of course I complained, and the seller offered a tiny percentage off if I would keep them.  WHY would I want to keep them??  I started a PayPal dispute that went on and on and on.  I even got an email from the seller one day saying that her ex had just broken into her house and stole all her money and beat her children, so could I please keep the shoes because she needed the money.  In the end PayPal said I would get my money back, BUT I had to return them to the sender.  I checked, and it would cost me $27.50 for the postage to return them!  PayPal said they would reimburse me for the postage.  So I returned them.  I did get back the $46-something that I originally paid for the Crocs, but PayPal never did reimburse me for the postage.  AND LAST WEEK THOSE CRAZY CROCS CAME BACK TO ME IN THE MAIL!!!!  I had had it and threw them in the trash.  Needless to say, I no longer order things from places I know nothing about!  

I have two Bible studies going right now.  One is Wednesday afternoons at 2:00 online with Pastor Lynn.  We have been doing the book by Adam Hamilton, "Final Words from the Cross."  I have really been enjoying both the book and our online discussions.  

Last Thursday morning I went to the Abide women's Bible study at Calvary for the first time since COVID brought it to a halt last March.  It is being done both online and in person, Thursday mornings and evenings.  Since I have both of my vaccines now, I decided to do the Thursday morning in person.  There might have been 15-20 women there, and masks were required.  No snacks and coffee like before.    We are doing Beth and Melissa Moore's new Bible study on Galatians.  It will be good.

I left right from the Bible study last Thursday to go to Lancaster to pick up Destiny, Alex, and Elizer.  I was not at all excited about the rainy forecast, but it was not heavy on the way down.  It WAS heavy on the way home, and windy too, but at least I had company.  Elizer HATES being in his car seat, but thankfully he slept a good part of the trip to our house.   

I had a surprise when we got home.  Our water cooler in the kitchen, which is at least 16 years old, had sprung a leak and there was a mini flood on the kitchen floor.  So I ran for the beach towels.    

THEN I could finally focus on getting our poor neglected toys out for Elizer.  He loved the chance to be on the floor and check out all the new stuff.   I also had fun feeding him.  Our baby booster seat finally had a new occupant!  He was seven months old that day!

Destiny, always up for a new craft or project,  had ordered a kit for making gummy sushi!  They were so cute, and actually tasted pretty good!  

Elizer had gotten some baby shots that morning and was running a fever.  They had enough baby Tylenol for one dose, but Destiny and I decided to make a run to Walmart to get more.  While we were there I also bought another water cooler, since Dick had declared ours too old to fix a rusted water line.  Dick and Destiny got the new one set up after we got home. 

On Friday morning Dick went to work, I had fun with Elizer and cooked dinner for Anthony and Lori, Destiny played with LEGO's, Elizer worked on learning to crawl while Alex watched him.  

Destiny's project that day was applying acrylic leather paint to the worn spots on Dick's recliner.  The fake leather was "shedding" at certain places, and I was getting so tired of the little brown pieces of litter on the carpet all the time.  So I googled and found this temporary solution.  It'll keep us from needing to buy a new recliner for a while, hopefully.    

Look at that boy in the air!  He LOVES when his daddy puts him up there.

Later we took dinner over to Anthony and Lori, then went to Wegmans for groceries.  

Before we even got home from the store, Destiny's brother J'von's basketball championship play-off game was starting down in Lancaster.   We had so much fun watching it together online.  They won the game!  Destiny celebrated by making herself some fancy iced coffee!

Then she gave Elizer a bath.  Ahhhh.  Nothing so delicious as a newly bathed baby!

Destiny also had ordered a foot treatment kit for us to do together.  First we soaked our feet in the tub, then put booties on that were full of stuff to soften hard skin.  We had to keep them on for a long time.  I couldn't stay awake long enough, so I cheated and took mine off sooner than I was supposed to. 

On Saturday morning Destiny brought Elizer out to me when he woke up and I had him all to myself for a while.  Dick had left for a hair cut appointment.  Elizer was so happy and delightful!!

Later Destiny and I left for an appointment at The Mommy Shoppe at Houserville House of Hope. (Shoppers are by appointment only due to COVID.)  She was able to get a big paper grocery bag full of baby clothes FREE!.  There were so many choices!!  If she had wanted more than would fit in the bag,  they would have been garage sale prices.  What a WONDERFUL ministry this is!  

After we got back home it wasn't long till it was time to take Destiny to a hair appointment.  This girl has THICK hair and it had gotten so long.  She decided that it was time to make it more manageable for her mommy life.    

After she was all settled in, I went back home to take care of Elizer.  Dick and Alex had a big project to do - cut down all our tall grasses.   They were thankful for the electric hedge trimmer that Dick and Sam had bought last year when they were tackling that job.  They took the grasses to the community grass clippings trailer and filled it to overflowing.  Alex had to stand on top and stomp it down!

Elizer and I took a short walk.

I also made baked chicken thighs and mashed potatoes (rice for Alex) for our dinner later.  Then I went to pick up Destiny.  It had taken a LONG time to cut and color her hair.  Destiny's butt was tired and the beautician's feet were tired!  

Here's a close-up before-and-after collage. She was very happy with it.

We ate dinner and just hung out the rest of the evening.  As you can see, Elizer gave us no end of delightful moments!  We're hopelessly in love with him!

I'll finish this post now and start a new one to share our Sunday and Monday pictures.  There are so many good ones, so don't miss it!