Totally Snowed In!!!

It might be days before we are able to get the van out of the garage!!

We are snowed in!! We have gotten about a foot of snow and the weather app on my phone is saying more to come our way this evening yet!! It was coming down so softly when we awoke this morning but by the time we got out for a walk in the snow it was coming down hard/sideways with the huge kind of flakes!! It piled up fast after day break!! Dave and I got a sweat going just walking out our long driveway and back!! It was hard walking in the deep snow with wearing so many layers!

It was fun to have a slow paced morning with Dave at home, instead of going to work he made the  breakfast!!:) He did walk out to the road a bit ago though to catch a ride with Nelson to go off someplace. I tell him he can never be here at home for a "Whole Day" It has been years I'm sure since he has stayed home for a whole day no matter how much snow we got...:) He loves the adventures of being out in it...:) I'm perfect here and I'm just more then happy to stay off the roads!...:)

The kids are enjoying the deep packy snow! They waited until it stopped coming down to get out in it but once they were out they spent hours!... We hope it will be here for awhile! The playtime that is going along with this snowy winter is such a blast!! The kids spend hours outdoors in the snow! They do great with taking care of drying there own clothes after coming in and since they have been doing it so often this winter already the Little's can now even mostly dress themselves in snow clothes!...:) I'm loving this stage of life I'm in...:)

I spent some time with my Grandma Beiler yesterday. I will share a bit on what I see happening to her as her Alzheimer's goes into the next stage.

My mom is getting ready for the sunny south and it was also her birthday yesterday... Happy Birthday Mom!! I told her I will spend the morning with grandma so she can do her own thing. I dropped off Javon at school and went over to sit with Grandma, I had her morning newspaper that I was reading.... After she told me she don't get the newspaper anymore. We kept talking for a bit but after she said the same thing over again about ten times I finally saw these morning hours were going to drag by if we just sit here saying the same things over and over again so I asked her if I could help her with her cleaning? I saw it was a bit dirty with pretzel crumbs here and there form her visitors.

We got busy cleaning. She did her back sun porch as I worked in the kitchen and living room. I kept hearing her singing and was happy to hear her because it seemed to be one of her better days. She went out to the barn to take out her trash and after she just didn't return I went looking for her. (she was not dressed to be outside!) She was cleaning the barn! She said someone has been in here and moved my stuff all over the place! She did come into the house with me to continue her cleaning. She can still work which is a blessing but she kept getting side tracked! She starts something and then lets it lay then after awhile she sees it and then she will blame somebody else for making the mess!!

We had lunch together and after telling me tons of times that the fruit in her fruit bowl was given to her and that she will never eat it all before it goes bad I thought my head would spin! I'm still hearing her repeat conversations in my head today!! She seems so confused!! She wants to go places all the time and does not like to stay in her house for to long, yet as soon as you take her somewhere, even where she said she wants to go she then wants to go home after all!! She can be very demanding to!! She can get really mad to if not given her way!! She wants the phone and she does still have one but she will call somebody and minutes later she will call again because she forgot that she called! If you remind her she will argue with you!

It's so sad to see her go through this confusion as she does seem "with it" at times to. It's hard for caretakers to know how to deal with her in this stage of this illness! She is healthy otherwise so it's tough when trying to visit with her and she repeats the same thing over and over. She will drive herself crazy trying to figure out who we are talking about only to ask again seconds later! I found chips and crackers stale because they were left opened, she will blame whoever she thinks was in her cupboards last. At this point everybody is just trying to keep the peace and she seems to get what she wants but it can wear her out to. If you try to make yourself boss with her she can get so upset so people seem to just do as she asks most times. Keeping calm with her seems to work best yet it's really hard to have patience and understanding with someone so demanding!

Pray for her if you think about it and also for the family as they care for her. Gid's are coming home from Florida after a much needed three weeks away and she is looking forward to them returning. (they live on the other end of her small house.) She will be able to stay home overnight again more and it seems she got so much worse the past weeks from the stress of so much moving around, yet it can be very stressful to just keep her in her tiny house day after day to!... It's a really tough illness to deal with! Grandma had a brother with this illness and I'll never forget her saying "Oh I hope I never have to go through that!"


We played some games this morning while drinking hot chocolate and I hear the kids in the kitchen again. I'm off to enjoy more of this "Snow Day" with them.

Valentines Day coming up tomorrow... Enjoy some quality time with your "Sweet Heart"

I love being married to "My Sweet Heart/Best Friend"!!