Winslowe Sinatra Update

Don't you LOVE these blue-eyed babies of mine?

Mommie's Lil Rough & Tumble Cowboy

Gentry acting goofy!

Shhh...they sleep in heavenly peace!

He's gonna be SO SPOILED!!

We've been having such a good time with our new puppy. He seems to be adjusting quite well to his new surroundings. He's been with us a little over a week now. So that makes him about 7 weeks old. He loves to play with Gentry and they run around together in the yard chasing each other. Gentry is very much into the fact that it's "his dog"! This ownership phase he's going through, I'm not quite sure what to make of it. Nonetheless, they get along beautifully as well as Winslowe getting along "fair" with the 2 shih-tzus. We were worried that Winslowe might be the aggressive one, but actually it's the other way around. Emmy & Little Bit get pretty snappy with him. But I make them all play together so they'll get used to being around one another. Emmy tries to act like she's all big and bad and starts this low growling stuff, and then the next second they are rolling around playing together...funny stuff!

Winslowe loves to relax like his mama! He can crawl up in this bed and snuggle down with the best of them. He is going to be easy to housebreak too...I think! ;) So, all in all, I'm still happy with my decision and hope he continues to bring lots of smiles to us. Here are a few pictures of us with him. Enjoy!

Gentry's 1st Trip To Build-A-Bear

So, all of you moms out there I'm sure have heard of Build-A-Bear stores found in most malls. Dale & I went clothes shopping for Gentry today and decided to let Gentry get a bear, pick out some candy from the candy shoppe, & ride the carosel after he had been SO GOOD shopping with us...really...he was amazingly well-behaved. So, since we were all in decent moods by the time we were done shopping, we decided to end our excursion with a stop at Build-A-Bear. Gentry picked out his bear, but MOMMIE picked out his outfit!...GO CARDS! We got to make a birth certificate for him and I didn't have time to think up a clever name like I did with my siberian husky or the rabbit. So, we just named his bear plain, old, unimaginative...TEDDY! It seems to suit him well and Gentry was SO happy with him. Here are a few pictures of our time in the world of "Build-A-Bear".

Things I'm Liking Right Now

Well, since it's been 3 months since I've been out of the hospital, I'm finally being able to get out and about...but only about one day a week! Even though it's not much, it's still progress for me, so I'm thankful for just the one day I have strength to be able to get my running around done. I've been usually taking my Mondays and getting my errands and shopping (what little bit I can do) done. Dale is usually home on Mondays and can keep Gentry for me while I go out. The crowds are obviously much less than the weekends and I can move at my own snail's pace! :)

Since I've been freed up a bit from what I call my "house arrest", I've found a few things that I'm liking that I wanted to share if you haven't seen them. So, here's my list of things I'm liking at this point in my life! :)

In no particular order:

* Febreze's new scent called "Brazilian Carnaval"...LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!...and Dale does too. It's got a berry kind of scent, but fresh too and not overpowering.

* My glass milk jugs from Brylane Home's magazine. They are clear glass milk jugs that gives your milk a longer shelf life and looks pretty on the table. Kind of retro looking from "back in the day" when the milkman would deliver milk to family's homes. One side has a cow on it and the other side says "pure milk".

* V-8 Fusion's Gogi-Raspberry Juice...this is the easy way out for people like me who don't get their proper serving of vegetables in a day! I found this combination to be pleasing to my palate. I pour of glass of it and sip on it usually while I'm fixing supper. There may not be anything to it, but it sure does give you a feeling like you're at least TRYING to do something healthy for yourself. I can never think of gogi juice without thinking of MaDonna's late father Rev. James McFall. About a year or two before he passed away he started selling gogi juice and he was CONVINCED it would cure me of my lupus. He was so concerned about my affliction and I always thought it was so kind of him to care for me that way. He sent me a lot of free boxes of Gogi juice for me to try. (He also sent me a ton of juice plus as well). And that stuff wasn't cheap! I don't have anymore left of the gogi juice he sent me, but now with my V-8 fusion drink...every time I have a glass, I think of my friend, James McFall. (You will never be forgotten!)

* Martha Stewart Living Magazine - when I was in the hospital for a month back in November/December, my sister-in-law, Nikki, would bring me up tons of magazines to read. She brought me Gourmet, Bon Appetit & Martha Stewart Living. The funny thing was, I had been put on IV feedings and was not allowed to eat anything except ice for 17 days. All the magazines she brought me were torture because I CRAVED all the food I saw in the magazines. But, I loved looking at them anyway, and made big plans to have a huge test kitchen day once I got out of the hospital. She still brings me the Martha Stewart Magazines when she's done reading them and I have gotten to where I look forward to reading that one in particular. She covers a wide scope of topics and I find myself earmarking lots of pages to put in my own notebook of "tips".

* crazy8.com - My best growing up friend - Tara - connected me with this website. It has great, affordable clothes for babies & toddlers. I'm not sure how big the sizes go, but I think it's somewhere around a 7 or 8? I'm still in 2T-3T with my guy, so I'm good for a while on this site. They are kind of similar to Baby Gap or Gymboree, really trendy, in style, but SO SO affordable. I have been outfitting Gentry in a lot of his casual clothes from this site for the past 2 seasons. Looking forward to getting his spring/summer stuff. Nothing too dressy on this site, but great for casual & play clothes.

* Sam's Club Parkerhouse Rolls - I found these a couple of weeks ago on my grocery shopping excursion. They have this huge bag of 30 rolls...in the freezer section...but the neat thing is you can take out just however many you need and ziplock the bag closed again and pop it back in the freezer. These rolls are as good (or better) than homemade rolls. You just take them straight from the freezer, put them on a cookie sheet, into the oven for 10-15 minutes @ 375* and VOILA! I do a lot of different things to "customize" them. I brush them with melted butter and sprinkle poppy seeds or sesame seeds on them; or make honey butter and spread that on and bake; or melted butter with garlic; or a mixture of chopped fresh herbs such as parsley or thyme. You've GOT to try these babies! Mmm...Mmm Good!

* and last but not least...fresh flower arrangements! I posted a picture on my blog of the orange roses I got at Sam's that day. And since then I've been in the mood of dressing up my dining room table with fresh flower arrangements. I know...this is not a new idea, but I've not done this much before. I have several different silk arrangements for the different seasons that I keep and put out during the appropriate season, but I've just never taken the time to do a fresh flower arrangement much. But since I bought those orange roses and saw how pretty they were and how long they lasted and how much I enjoyed the beauty of them on my table, I thought, "I'm going to try to keep this up." So, I just get an inexpensive bouquet of whatever I think is pretty that week. I spend between $10-20 on them and they last at least 7-10 days. The bouquets I buy have that little "food" packet with it and it really does make a difference in how long the flowers last. My style is usually to just stick with one color and do lots of different flowers but all in the same color scheme. But this week I went with all different colors and still loved the way it turned out.

So, these are my finds, bargains and what I'm enjoying these days. I've tried to post pictures of a lot of these things because I'm a visual person and like to SEE what people are talking about. My best bud & brother, Jared is coming over for dinner tonight. It's kind of a payback dinner because I asked him to pick up a prescription for me that I needed and didn't feel like going to pick up myself. He said he would and I promised him dinner. So, we're having chicken and pork enchiladas with green sauce instead of the red, refried beans & spanish rice. Sugar cookies & grapes for dessert. Can't wait to dig in, but I'm looking forward to the company even more. He's one of my favorite people to hang out with. When I was in the hospital he was there with me almost 24/7...and I'll never forget that. Well, I better get to cookin'!

Privacy Please!!

So, I don't really mean I want privacy...if I did I wouldn't be keeping a blog up and running!! :) Once you see the pictures, you'll see why I titled this blog "Privacy Please"! :) With a three year old running the household, we've learned to always have the camera charged & ready to shoot. Dale captured these photos the other day of Gentry and I thought they were so funny. When Dale walked in there he said, "Poppa, I'm reading!" And he looked back down at his magazine intently taking in all he could and acting like he really could read. Then he looked back up at Dale and said, "Poppa, I want "man-book"." So, Dale not knowing what he meant by that started going through the stash and when he finally got to the "Field and Stream" magazine, Gentry stated nodding his head and saying, "Yeah, poppa, that one...that one." I wonder where he learns all of these bathroom rituals?!?! The pictures finish the story. Enjoy!

A man's work is never done until he's completed the "paperwork"!

Winslowe's Here!

So, the newest addition to our animal family is our Siberian Husky. We drove to Kansas City yesterday to pick him up. He is adorable! I was not disappointed. My favorite feature is, of course, his blue eyes...thus the name Winslowe "Sinatra"! :) He is doing well so far. He is six weeks old and loves to cuddle and be held. I've posted a few pictures of him.
Gentry is going for his first "real" haircut today so I can't wait to see what he comes home looking like. I had planned on taking him, but started feeling bad when we got home last night. I have fever, chills, laryngitis and my constant companion...pain!
So, I'm taking it easy today trying to rest and soothe my throat with some hot tea. No big plans for the weekend. Dale has another batch of chickens hatching this weekend. I hope you have a great weekend and enjoy this beautiful weather. I'll sign off for now!

Never A Dull Moment

I had a sweet surprise on Thursday from my sister asking me if she could bring Courtney up for the weekend since she was off for Spring Break and also wanted to hang out with me and Gentry that night. I was SO GLAD for the company since Dale was out of town working. 24/7 conversation with a three year old can get mighty interesting!! So, I welcomed some "adult" conversation.
I was glad I got to share dinner with her as well so I didn't have so many leftovers. Not that I couldn't have handled them all on my own, but a meal shared is ALWAYS pleasurable. We had lobster ravioli with a cream sauce, salad & parkerhouse rolls. Then chocolate covered strawberries leftover from earlier in the week! Still yummy!!
I love hanging out with my sister. She gets me like no one else does. We know each other intricately and somehow she still loves me anyway!
Her hubby had to work Friday night, so we decided to go to a concert over in St. Louis together on Friday night. I got to hang out with some of my cousins that I'm so close to and also saw some old/new friends from Louisiana. I had a GREAT time, but by the time we made it back to the house around 1:30 a.m. a striking reality hit me, that this gal ain't up to what she used to be! My feet were screaming "Get These 4 inch Heels OFF!"...my ankles were swollen, I had a headache and couldn't WAIT to find the most comfortable nightgown to slip on!
But, I couldn't go to bed without wandering down to the basement one more time and checking on our first batch of eggs that were hatching. As of right now we hatched 17 and one is working SO HARD trying to make their entrance. Christy & I, being the "uneducated" city girls that we are had never seen a chicken hatch before. We ended up being late for the concert because we wanted to watch one hatch. It really is a pretty amazing thing if you've never seen something like that.
I have always heard that if you see an chicken trying to hatch out of an egg that you can't "help it" along in the process. Got me to thinking about life and how it's sometimes in the struggle where we find our strength to face the days ahead and what's outside our comfort zone. I guess if we always had it easy and were saved from our own selves, that we'd never gain the strength it takes in the midst of the struggle to make us who we are. I'm not trying to get all philosophical about a crazy chicken hatching, just a thought that ran through my mind while all this was happening. Enjoy the pictures!

Taking A Poll

Hello friends and family! Okay...so as most of you know, I am one of the biggest animal lovers on the planet. I come by it honestly from my Grandma Sullivan and Great-Granma Robertson. At the moment I only have 2 indoor dogs left. I had 5 shih tzus, but due to tragic circumstances, I lost my beloved Rocky, Cambridge & Budgie over the past 1 1/2 years. I still have the "mom" Little Bit and the baby of the family...Emmy.

But, I've been wanting another dog and have been SO completely intrigued by the Siberian Husky. I think they are so majestic and regal looking and their blue eyes are so striking. So, I've been contemplating back and forth for a month or so trying to decide if I really wanted to take the plunge and get another puppy.

I mentioned my dilemma to Dale over the weekend and that's all he needed. It was like telling a dog "sick 'em"! He got on the internet and started searching all over the place to find me the perfect "TOP BRED" siberian husky.

Long story short is that we're going next Thursday to Kansas City to pick up a black and white male siberian husky with beautiful blue eyes. I can't wait!!!! I'm so excited about getting another baby to spoil!

So, I've narrowed it down to three names and I was going to take a poll to see what everyone liked as far as the name choices.

Here are the names:
-Windsor
-Westin
-Winslowe

I've got 1 vote for "Westin" and 1 vote for "Winslowe" so far. So chime in everyone! Here's his picture.

At THIS Moment...

At this moment...

I am reading a Dolly Parton Memoir, a book called "Inside The White House" about "secrets" known only to white house staffers over the years, "Bringing Up Boys" by James Dobson, "Creating Family Traditions", and the book of Isaiah from the Bible. I know, quite the span of subjects! I get bored easily! :)

At this moment...

I am concerned for my best friend, MaDonna, because she's having to face difficult family decisions with regard to her dying brother. I wish I could be there with her just to be support for her...OH...and so she can take me to all those UNREAL places to eat in Lake Charles! I'm CRAVING some more rice dressing from Nina P's!!

At this moment...

I am sad because I just found out my uncle who's been battling cancer got more bad news on his prognosis yesterday.

At this moment...

I am glad my sister and family are finally moved into their new home. I can't wait to see it.

At this moment...

I am looking forward to making homemade beignets & coffee this evening...ordered straight from Cafe du Monde in New Orleans

At this moment...

I am reminded by an earlier conversation I had today with my doctor just how much of a miracle Gentry is. He should NOT even be alive, but here he is lighting up the world with his 1000 watt smile and infectious personality.

At this moment...

I am grateful I got to spend a little time visiting with my precious mama today. I haven't seen her in two weeks and I was starting to go through withdrawl. I DO NOT know how I survived before moving here and enjoy SO MUCH being able to see her so much more often now.

At this moment...

I wish Dale didn't have to go out of town every week to work, but I'm also thankful that in this uncertain economic crisis, that Dale has a job and we have all of our needs met.

At this moment...

I am enjoying being a part of facebook and reconnecting with people I haven't seen or heard from in over 15 years.

At this moment...

I am content; always reaching and striving for what's just beyond the open door, but learning to be content with where I am AT THIS MOMENT in my life!

Blessings!!!

All Good Weekends Must Come To An End

25 BEAUTIFUL orange roses I picked up at Sam's on Friday for $20!! Now that's a deal! Aren't they pretty? My mouth-watering Chocolate Covered Strawberries I made tonight! Mmm...Mmm...Good!

Gentry & Mommie making chocolate cake. Yes, that is marker drawn all over him!

Monday night...well actually it's early, early Tuesday morning, but I still consider it LATE Monday night. I had an enjoyable weekend with my guys. They got in late Thursday night and we just spent the weekend here at the house hanging out and getting things caught up. Dale and I sat up until 1:30 a.m. talking when he got home and then all of a sudden I asked him, "Are you hungry?" And then it turned into a nice impromptu early morning breakfast. We sat down at 1:45 a.m. and dug into some good ole "country breakfast" food. It felt like we were teenagers again doing something that was "forbidden" and loving every minute of it. It was casual with paper plates and Zac Brown Band music playing in the background, but it was much needed one-on-one time that we enjoyed the most. There are pictures below of our adventures.

We slept in a little bit Saturday, then had a fruit tray and juice in bed while we watched "vintage" cartoons with Gentry. Then Gentry decided he wanted to take the new bunny rabbit for a spin in his tricycle!! Poor thing...she was so scared, but didn't move a muscle while he was riding her all over the place! We've decided to name her "Beignet" because that's french for the word powdered donut and we thought that was appropriate for her. Here are pictures of Gentry & Beignet tooling around in his tricycle.

Beignet's favorite spot to hang out.

Beignet's got her eye on the prize...actually she won't touch a carrot, but loves McDonaldland cookies! (and lettuce)

Gentry's "passenger"

On Saturday night we had Ryan (my brother) and his wife Christine over for dinner and game night. We played a new dice game (new for us) and I actually won the first game...which I never win anything, so I was pretty proud of myself! :) We always have such a fun time when they come over for dinner and a visit and always promise each other that we'll do it more often.

Sunday of course was church and then today Dale spent making sure all of his animals were taken care of before he leaves out again early in the morning to head back down to MS to work. We enjoyed chicken piccata, squash casserole & chocolate covered strawberries for dinner tonight. YUMMY!! And the leftovers will be even better!

I head back to the doctor tomorrow for another checkup. Hopefully things will be improving even more on my labwork. My main issue this weekend was tremendous pain again. I can't remember the last time I can actually say I was without pain. It's just something I've learned to live with, but still no fun when the pain ramps up more than normal. Well, I'm going to post a few more pics and sign off for now. Hope you all are enjoying your week so far.

What A Friend!

I woke up this morning feeling a good bit under the weather, sore throat, earaches, chills, and pain...but wait...come to think of it...I'm always in pain, so that doesn't count. :)
So, I reluctantly rolled out of bed in my pajamas, wrapped a coat & scarf around my face so I could go pick up a prescription "incognito"! I got some food on the way home, then fixed myself a WONDERFUL cup of English Toffee Cappuccino and curled back in bed.
I woke up with an old hymn on my mind this morning.
The song is "What A Friend We Have In Jesus". That is one of my favorites because He sees us at the lowest points in our life and carries us through them...but He also celebrates with us when we rejoice as well.
As you know, music has always been my passion. I love it all...well most all of it! :) I enjoy all the praise & worship songs. So bring on all the new stuff, but let's not forget those old hymns that have comforted many from generation to generation. Let's keep passing the hymns down to our kids too.
Read EVERY SINGLE WORD of this song...it will inspire you!

What a friend we have in Jesus!

All our sins and griefs to bear

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He'll take and shield thee;

Thou wilt find a solace there.

Trip Down Memory Lane

Grandpa could ALWAYS make me laugh!

Showing off my pride & joy!

This picture brings tears to my eyes many times because I think of all the people that her precious hands have caressed, loved & cared for and seeing her wrap her arms of love around my little one is a priceless treasure. No one loves children like grandma does!

Kenneth & Jewel Bolinger

Isn't She Lovely??!!

He's got style!

My precious "Jewel"

One of my faves

Well, today I've had a lot of time to think and reminisce. Dale & Gentry left last night going to Mississippi for the week. I miss them like crazy and it's SO quiet in the house. It's amazing how much noise one 3 year old can make! So, it's been "loudly" silent except for the crowing of the roosters & the gobbling of the turkeys running around outside.

I've always kind of been a loner at heart, so solitude doesn't bother me. I miss my guys, but am thankful that I'm comfortable enough in my own skin to be able to enjoy my times of solitude as well.

With solitude comes A LOT of thinking...for me anyway...and today I've been thinking about my grandparents. I'm so blessed to still have all four of my grandparents still alive. My dad's parents are in their mid-70's and my mom's parents are both 90!!! And still living in their own home! I can't imagine what it will be like to have to say good-bye one day to them, but I know that time is inevitable.

My thoughts especially turned to my maternal grandparents today. From meeting for the first time around the age of 13 or 14 until they got married in 1937...to still being madly in love some 70+ years later, well, it's just the thing that fairy-tales are made of.

Grandpa & Grandma Bolinger had 12 children together...my mom being #10. Grandpa fought in World War II for 1 1/2 years if I remember correctly. Grandpa was the first one in his family to attend a old "brush arbor" church meeting and was saved when he was 13. He felt a call to preach at a young age, and eventually moved to Lansing, Michigan to start a church. He pastored there until 1986 and resigned to enjoy retirement. However, God had other plans for him and he ended up pastoring my home church for five years...after his "retirement". Seems that God wasn't through with him.

When they came to Belleville to pastor I was around 14 years old. I wasn't really close to them growing up because we lived so far away from them with dad being in the military and us living in several different places. But, when they moved back to Illinois and became our pastor, I got REALLY close with them. They lived in the church parsonage for a time and I used to go over there on Sunday mornings and have coffee and breakfast with them. I would sit and listen to all of their stories and tried to soak up every bit of history from them that I could. Since I was home-schooled during my high school years, on many occasions I would go home with them on Sunday nights and spend two or three days with them at their home in Salem. I felt SO blessed to be able to get to know these extraordinary people.

Of all the things I could write about them, I think the one thing that sticks out the most to me is their unshakable faith in God. They have certainly had more than their share of heartache in their life, but their faith and trust in God has been inspiring and rock solid. They have passed a legacy and heritage down to future generations that beckons us to march forward with faith & trust in a God who never changes.

Dale & I were so grateful to be able to have him pray a blessing over Gentry at his baby dedication. I have posted some pictures on here of "The Early Years" and also some of Gentry's dedication. My prayer is that the road of truth Grandpa & Grandma Bolinger paved for their family can be a road that I can continue to walk down and teach my son the importance of enjoying the journey as well.

Well, I hope this doesn't come out as fragmented as it seems in my head at the moment. There is just SO much I could say about them, but don't want to take up too much "cyber-space" to say it. Enjoy the pictures and thanks for strolling down memory lane with me today!

Blessings - Melanie