This Holiday season came and went so fast.  I have Christmas 2015 all packed away and waiting for Christmas 2016.  This year was awesome.  The boys made out like bandits, as you can imagine.  It was so fun to watch them open gifts and see their excitement as they opened them.  "It's a box!!" I would hear...I thought -  well gee I could have just wrapped empty boxes, haha!!

Christmas 2015 at Ritzy & Ritzywife's

 Told you the boys made out like bandits.....see......

Mama & her boys

I love this picture because all three of them have their heads tilted the same way,  so sweet...


Ni-maw had to buy gifts for "itty-bitty" even tho we still don't know if we are having a he or a she.  Hopefully we will find out at the end of this week.
Gee, this Oklahoma winter has been everything but that.  I am still waiting on that cold weather.  It was odd with it being so warm.  Couldn't wear those Christmas sweaters or you would get too hot :-(
Well, if you read the last post.....Nemo survived the stay at Ni-maw"s house.  Whew!!
He is home, safe and sound!!
Ritzy was out by the patio a couple days ago and told me the daffodils are already coming up thru the ground.  No.......... it's way too early.  Told ya we weren't having a winter........
Our neighbor who owns/operates the bait/convenience/cafe store across the road has recently made some changes to the outside of the building...It is so awesome....here....see for yourself.......

Winganon Bait/Convenience/Cafe

In case you are wondering what NVM on the population is it stands for - "NOT VERY MANY" :-)
Well I have "stuff" to do so I guess I better get started......not much....but still  has to get done, haha!
So I will see ya later........................Ritzywife out............

Ni-maw is so happy.  We learned a few weeks ago that grandchild #3 is on the way.  Expected arrival is sometime in May 2016.  Yes, it's only one this time but it's still not known if baby is boy or girl.
Should find that out on daughter's next appointment in 3 weeks.  Boys are so happy to be getting a little brother/sister.  Braedy says it's a little sister.  I'll take his word for it.
Plus, last easter when I ordered Braedy & Calvin's Easter baskets the two boxes came in the mail and I was so excited to open them up and give them to boys.  i could not believe my eyes when i opened both boxes and inside each box  was a girl diaper cake.  Are you kidding me?!?!? it could have been anything else.  At first I was ticked off, then I got to thinking about it and thought that maybe i might need them in the future...hahaha!  Well whether this baby is a boy/girl, they are getting used.
Also that Easter basket mix up made for a mad dash to the store.
This Holiday season seems to be quickly coming upon us.  I didn't even decorate inside for Fall.  I did some outside decorating tho.   Was just too busy.  Can hardly wait to decorate for Christmas.  I have all the gifts ready to be wrapped and placed under the tree and in the stockings.
The boys and I have been singing "Santa Clause Is Coming to Town and Jingle Bells".  They love to sing and I hope they continue to love singing and appreciate music as they grow older.
They are on vacation this week.  It will be Friday before they come back.  Ni-maw will be so ready to see them and get/give hugs and kisses...   It was funny on Saturday before they left, Uncle Matt and I stopped by to get "Nemo" their beta fish and Calvin said " Well, Ni-maw you are coming with us....Braedy agreed.  I told them that no, ni-maw was staying here to take care of Nemo.  Last night I was talking to them and they both said they wanted to come to my house.  I said sorry boys, you are on  vacation with mommy and daddy, you are gonna have so much fun and Ni-maw will see you when  you get back.
Now, on to Nemo -- the beta fish.  I told my daughter that I will not be held responsible if that fish "bites the dust".....that is if a fish can do that.   A few years ago I thought it would be a good idea to have one of those fish... so I bought the fish, container, water, & food .....  Well let's just say that after the 3rd fish in one month's time I decided I was not meant  to have ANY kind of fish for a pet.
I reminded my daughter of that little fact, but she still let me bring him here.
Pray for "Nemo"....with that Ritzywife is out ;-) ...................

It is already October, I feel like I missed Summer because of my being sick.  I finally have the medications under control.  I have been feeling better, except for trying to recover from 2 falls.  The first on was in my kitchen.  I had pulled the bottom range drawer out to put back 2 pans.  I should have put them in at the same time but i dried one.... put it in ....turned around dried the other one and stepped back and caught that drawer and down on my bottom and back I went.  Pulled muscles in the  lower back and thighs.   I was worried about the blood thinner, but I did not hit my head, thank goodness.  Well I was still sore from that when about 2 weeks later I was trying to catch a katydid for the grandsons and my right foot caught on a clump of grass and dirt and down I went again.  I could feel the muscles pull in my left leg and my next to last toe on left foot was bent in a way it was never designed to do.   I was so sore the next day I could hardly get around & for the next 10 days or so afterward.  After a month I am still sore when i stand, but the swelling in my ankle and toe has gone down.  I will be elated when I get back to "normal" again. 
Now the AWESOME news..........Ni-maw & P-pa are looking forward with great anticipation to our 3rd grandbaby sometime around the end of May 2016.  Woo-Hoo!!!!  And as far as we can tell it is only one this time.   The twins are so happy to be looking forward to a little brother or sister. 
I told my daughter that after those twins...one should be a breeze...haha!!
They start pre-school next fall. 
They have been coming to mi-maw's to play and they love it.  Braedy told me that this was his home and he wanted to live here.  That just melts my heart......If that's the way they feel then I have done something right ;-)!!!   Nothing fancy, just fun at Ni-maw's....see:

They do clean up pretty good tho....so handsome:

I really don't know where to start so here goes.....After Kaysie's funeral service things were starting to get back into routine then about 4 weeks later at the end of June my sister-in-law's grandmother and a neighbor I have know all my life passed away. 
Since I play the piano at church the family had asked if I could get some music together for the service but in the meantime I am also on the dinner committee at church and on Wednesday, July 1, 2015 the lady who heads that committee and I went shopping for the groceries needed for that meal.  I know that the weeks leading up to that event that I was seriously stressed, dehydrated, and just not rested.  After unloading the groceries at church, we grabbed a quick bite that we had purchased on our way home and then each of us went home.  I had just got home, grabbed some sunflower seeds and my diet coke and headed to my swing.  I got seated and felt an all too familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach.  It has happened numerous times over the years and I always chalked it up to something I ate or anxiety.  Well this time it didn't go away and my heart was beating about 175 times per minute.  I called Ritzy and asked him to stay on phone with me til he got home in case I passed out.  Our neighbors viewing was also that night at 6.  I felt like i needed to be there for my sister-in-law. So.....we went even tho I wasn't feeling right. Well after the viewing ended at 8 my family wanted to go to the church to practice the songs that were going to be sung, i did NOT feel up to it but went anyways.  I still had to get the music together for my to play before and after the service.  I ended up laying down at midnight and getting up at 6 the next morning.  Had to be at church at 7:30 to start lunch for family.  All this time I felt like I could not let the family down.  I don't know how I did it but I got to sleep that night and woke up to the same thing the next morning. Well the day came and went and fast forward to July 4, 2015---I am still having the fast heartbeat and after coming home from mom and dads after lunch....I tell Ritzy that he is going to have to take me to the ER. 
We get there and no meds they give me will slow the heart rate.  One of the people back there casually says.....well, your heart is in AFIB.......WHAT?!?! this may be casual to you but to me it is a shock!!!!
I spend the next 4 days in the hospital, monitoring my BP, heart rate, get started on blood thinners.  My whole life just changed.......They finally had to transfer me to Tulsa St. John's to shock my heart back into normal rhythm.  All this was very scary for me.  I had to have Ritzy be with me all the time, I was afraid to be alone for almost a month, and when he couldn't a friend or relative would come stay with me or I would go to their house.
2 months have passed and I am finally beginning to feel like "me" again after getting used to the new medicines I have to take.  All this time I could not have the boys over and that broke my heart.  Ritzy and I finally let them stay last saturday night.  I missed a whole month of church. 
I am still trying to get this under control by learning to eat the right foods, drinking enough water, no more caffeine, starting to get exercise, keep losing the weight.  Things that are good for my heart.
At times I admit  it is still scary.  But  I trust God to get me through.
Not the Fourth of July I had imagined, with that Ritzywife out.....................................

My niece who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in May of 2009 passed away May 28, 2015 -- 11:45 am....6 years later.
I found out she was only given 2 years at the time of diagnosis.  It was a hard fought battle but even tho we lost her she did not lose in the end.  She is in heaven with her Redeemer and Savior and the loved ones gone on before.
Her kids and her mom ( my sister) and dad and sister are always in my thoughts and prayers.  Granny& Papa too.  My sister-in-law and I also spent a couple of nights sleeping on couches, or chairs so we could be close when and if anything changed during the night.
The last night I decided to just spend the night to help support my sister.  .  I had gotten up at 6:00 am and went to Bartlesville.  At 10:00 pm everyone else was leaving and I made the choice to just stay up for the night so my sis and her hubby could get some sleep. The brother-in-law's aunt and uncle had stayed but they were sound asleep.   Kaysie's breathing had changed and we knew it was not going to be long.  Around 2:00 am on Thursday morning the breathing became more labored and that's when Debbie (my sister) and I started staying by her bed.  At 5:00 am we noticed more changes and that's when I called Granny & Papa ( mine and Deb's parents) and told them it would be wise to get over there.  Also let my brother and his family know.  That's when Debbie and I put away 2 pots of coffee to get us thru the night and next day.....  At 6 I called Ritzy and asked if he could bring me my meds and my toothbrush (70 mile round trip out of his way) which he did.  Thanks Ritzy, I appreciated it!!
A nurse came in around 8:00 am to take her vitals and could find no vital signs as they were too weak to register.
When her personal nurse came in an hour or so later he just looked and told us it would be anytime to 2 hours and she would no longer be with us.  Debbie and I had been sitting by her bedside just loving on her and telling her we loved her and just giving her our touch.  When the nurse got ready to leave he told us to just keep doing what we had been doing, which was showing her how much we loved her .  A couple hours later my sister made the comment that she needed to go to the bathroom and coincidence or not, that's when Kaysie's breathing got very weak and we knew it was the end.  Her mom stayed and I told her dad to get up there by the bed NOW!!  After a few weak breaths she was gone.  But......she was surrounded by her loved ones who were praying for her, loving her as best as they could and an hour or so before I had asked my Dad (Papa) to pray as we all held hands around her to give the peace that was needed for this event.  It was very sad but awesome in the sense that we all knew her suffering/pain brought on by this tumor/cancer was over forever!!! 
All of that to say Ritzywife is gonna miss her very much....I am praying for those kiddos that they will be cared for and raised the way that God wills.  For my sister who is going to miss her daughter... and try to remember all the good and even the bad times.  For it is the bad times in our lives that make us appreciate the good that happens.  Our family has been very blessed in that this is the first difficult time of dealing with the death of an immediate family member that we have had to experience.  For reasons I will not mention I also pray that God's will is for those kids be raised by their Nana & Doodah!!
Kaysie...Aunt Cheryl loves you.......Ritzywife out.................

I love watching my grandsons grow and learn something new every day.  They are quite sharp.  They are also very entertaining. The above picture was taken yesterday after they awoke from a nap.  Calvin (on the right) wanted Braedy to come over by him so he could give his brother a hug. I love watching them work out a problem, or try to come up with a solution as to why their "weedeater, chain saw or lawnmower" won't start.  They tell me it's either hot or out of gas.  Those imaginations are expanding.
They are twins of course but they are very different too. 
Braedy's favorite phrase is "WHY ?"
Calvin's favorite phrase is "WHAT'S THAT SMELL?"
I love it....
They do have to learn that picking up something and whacking the other is not acceptable.  The daughter sent me this picture in a text last night:
Ni-maw felt so bad for Braedy I kissed his little head in the picture.   No E.R. tho...she just cleaned and bandaged it, which is what mamas do.  Also I am pretty sure Calvin got a good lecture about  why it is not acceptable to hit his brother....or any one else for that matter...
Ritzywife out.........................................................

I have been seeing a lot of this lately on Facebook posts or hearing people, out of ignorance, make the statement.
I totally disagree.....tell that to the child who was physically or sexually abused.....or the person who lost a loved one because of a drunk driver........or the victim of a random drive by shooting.......or a person dying of a horrible disease such as cancer.
My son and I have often had this discussion and we usually just have to call a "truce" and each one of us has to realize we are entitled to our own opinion.
I have heard people say - "well it must have been so and so's time to go......that is totally wrong...granted the Bible says our days are numbered but we can make that "time" come earlier by our poor choices in lifestyle or situations we put ourselves in.
Most of the time the things that happen are due to our own or others poor choices....not due to God's will.
Everything that happens in our lives does not come from God....but  nothing slips by Him either.
We can believe the promise that He is there no matter what happens and it is our choice to turn to Him in those times or turn away and blame Him.
Life is hard.....but He promises that He will be there to get us thru life's circumstances, He doesn't promise it will be easy...for if it were easy why would we need Him???
But the statement that "everything happens for a reason" is just wrong for the reasons I stated earlier.
Bad "stuff" happens on this earth because of SIN.  And it will continue to happen til Jesus comes again.
My rant is over.........for now.................Ritzywife out!