Home sweet home

Isn't it good to be home? We always enjoy visiting friends/family, but the best part is coming home. Everything seems fresh and new. sigh.

Our Mikayla is still not feeling well. My heart hurts for her. We bought her a new thermometer today; it's called a temporal scan thermometer. A bit pricey, but get this: you simply run it across her forehead and into her hairline. SO cool. But Mikayla's not. She had a temp of 102.6 today:( I checked online and they said for her age, (and she's now 9 months old!) if it reaches 103 to take her in. So, we're keeping our eye on that. I'm not sure if we'll be bringing her to church tomorrow or not. Maybe I'll stay home with her. The neat thing about her is she doesn't act sick. Oh, I love that girl!

Christy coming over tomorrow evening (or that's the plan) for some New Year's festivities. Woo hoo! We got some yummy things to eat @ Wal-Mart. Yes, we took Mikayla out in the cold. But, we bundled her up very well in the blanket her Aunt Laura made her. A lady @ Wal-Mart said that you can tell Mikayla's loved by her smile. hmmm... how cute. Turns out she's right!

Our cat is still alive. Yay! My parents are due back on Monday evening. another yay! boy, life is good:)

What a wonderful year it's been!!! Full of so many new things. Being a mother is extremely fulfilling for me:) and I love the daddy Jody is to our Mikayla. Truly the Lord is good to His own.
"O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."
~Psalm 34:8

My very own Beethoven

Another good day here @ the LA Dodsons. So tonight we go over to the church for a hymn sing, which I suggested because I thought it'd be an enjoyable time. Well, it was. I had NO idea my mom-in-law played the piano, but she sat right down and beautifully played while we belted out some old hymns. I didn't think much of it except for the fact that Jean did quite well, and I was enjoying myself. So, Jody, yes Jody, goes up to the piano for his turn. I'm thinking ha ha ha ha, that boy can't play. And he sits down and tells me he's going to play Farther Along (which is not my favorite song; sorry, but to me it sounds kinda whiny). I chuckle to myself and he starts playing and Jean comes to sit by me and starts singing along.

I WAS IN SHOCK. seriously.

I'm just sitting on the pew, holding Mikayla and in awe of what my husband's doing. My mind is racing with all sorts of thoughts. The main one being, I've got to see this up close and personal. So, I numbly walked up to the piano, only to find out that Jody is playing on an electric piano with music that the pianist recorded so the church can have music the times she can't be there. The mystery was solved. And, of course, there was lots of laughter. They sure pulled a funny one on me, eh? :) I'll probably laugh about that for many years to come!

In other news. My Mikayla is still not feeling so well. Poor baby. I'd sure take her pain for her if I could. I remember sometimes (I think it was during my pregnancy)I'd be hurting and Grace would say, I wish I could take half of the pain for you. Now isn't that the sweetest!? How reasonable.

Other fun things I did today:

$- played many rounds of boggle (with Jean)
$- played a Scrabble game
$- sang
$- kissed Jody
$- ate some delicious food prepared with love by sweet Jean
$- played dominoes (and WON, but I really didn't want to put that)
$- had a nice visit with Renee and her sister 'Tina
$- got some phone calls from friends (Grace and Christy- the friend who went to my house, played with our cat, cleaned out his litter, and loved on him. AWWW!) Can't beat that in a friendship, am I right? I might thank her with some lemon grass rice noodles. that'll be sure to make her feel appreciated.

Do I have MONEY on the mind? Nope. Just couldn't find a bullet button. hee hee

Feels like a bath night. Get some rest, ladies. CC, enjoy your new Eeyore! Good night; sleep well.

Good times in LA

We arrived in Louisiana safely, thank the Lord, on Saturday afternoon. And, as usual, we brought the rain with us. It ALWAYS (well, as much as I can remember anyways) rains when we come. They like that about us:)

For the first time we're staying in the Dodson's new home built mostly by my father-in-law. It's BEAUTIFUL and big and so much fun to be in. Mikayla has her own room (the southwestern theme room) and we have our own down the hall from her. We're staying in the pink room. It's pink, but not so pink that Jody feels like his manhood is being compromised. (was that a weird sentence or what!??)

They have lots of treats here. I told Jerry that, and he said, yeah, but they produce too many leaves. ha ha ha! I'm still laughing about that one. :)

My mom rescued my amish friendship bread mix. She said if any more time passed, it would've exploded. Thanks, ma! And she's even going to feed it and bake it for me. Man, what a special mommy I have.

I've only eaten between 10 and 15 tootsie (MINI) rolls today. I don't know what the effects of that will be...

Ok, what a (semi) blah post. Sorry, guys. More later, maybe. Good night, ladies:)

Nursing Strike

That's what "they" call it, anyway. Mikayla hasn't wanted to nurse since around noon yesterday:( What a heart-breaking time it's been for me. I realize I've had 8 WONDERFUL months of nursing and I thank the Lord for that! So, maybe this is just a stage. She'd rather bite than nurse. Hmmm.... My sweet friends Pwe, CC, Grace and Misty have been extremely comforting to me at this time. Maybe it's time to wean our precious daughter. Through prayer, that's something that Jody and I will decide together. sigh. The thought of it just saddens my heart, but as the hours pass, the thought gets more realistic.

On to a brighter subject. Hasn't the moon just been gorgeous the past few nights?? What an awesome God we serve who is in total control of all things. I love it.

We had a fun LNO the other night @ Cc's house. We even tried some "dance" (more like aerobics for me) moves. I've got ZERO talent in that department. Ask anybody. I'm not overly concerned aobut it though. Ha! Jody likes me just the way I am. So there, Christy.

I need some help with this next question. If a person is eating "raw", would Jambalaya and Taco Bueno be on the menu? Just curious...

Well, I'll be signing off for now. But, don't worry- there's more to come. yawn. Good night, sweet friends. You know who you are:)

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

Hello, dear friends out there! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving time- we sure did:) We had lots of family down and spent lots of good times together. We even had the Risses come all the way from Georgia; what a blessing that family is. AND, I got to meet my sweet new niece Naomi Joy, who is a tremendous JOY!

I don't know how many of you read Spurgeon's Morning and Evening devotionals, but I wanted to share some of what I read the other day. In the November 29th morning devotional, it starts out with this verse:

"Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people...Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. -Leviticus 19:16, 17

And here are some of the quotes from it that I really liked: (it's worth reading, believe me)

"Tale-bearing emits a threefold poison; for it injures the teller, the hearer, and the person concerning whom the tale is told.

The reputations of the Lord's people should be very precious in our sight, and we should count it shame to help the devil to dishonour the Church and the name of the Lord.

We may ourselves one of these dark days need forbearance and silence from our brethren, let us render is cheerfully to those who require it now.

Be this our family rule, and our personal bond--
SPEAK EVIL OF NO MAN."

I thought that was good and it was convicting for me. How EASY for our flesh to want to speak evil of others, instead of confronting the person, rebuking them and loving them the way that the Word of God exhorts us to.

I pray the Lord would help us all to be extra cautious with the words we speak. We don't want to be those who bring others down and speak idle words.

In other news, I don't think that our dear Mikayla is feeling too well today:( She's been coughing and sneezing and she covered my sweatshirt today with throw-up (sp?). And I do mean covered. I'm so thankful for her good health, though. This may be something that's not too serious; we'll see.

Hope you all have a wonderful day. I'm off to read some blogs, make myself a grilled cheese (IMHO, the simplest yummiest sandwich), and put my sweatshirt in the dryer:)

PICS!

PS Emmie's the photographer. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Here's a very recent pic of Mikayla taken just minutes ago. Oh, I love my baby girl!

Charity never faileth

3 words with such meaning. I think those words sum up 1 Corinthians 13. Any input or thoughts on what it actually means?? Does it seems sometimes that charity DOES fail? I know it doesn't because the Word of God is true. Hmmm.. I need some input here.

Yes, my dear parents spent the evening with me. Does it get any better than THAT?? I want to make a list of this evening's happenings, so here goes:

1- we talked, talked and talked some more
2- we had rotisserie chicken salad
3- my mom and I made fudge with walnuts (big mistake!)
4- we played Scrabble
5- we played with Baby Girl
6- did I mention that I won 2 of 3 games of Scrabble? (sorry, mom:)
7- and we almost played boggle, but my dad chickened out

Good times to be sure. You know, as I mentioned to my parents and CC, this world is so big, and so many people have hurts. It's easy for me to get caught up in my own little world and just focus on my own personal affairs. I want to get away from that and be a blessing to others, and reach out and be open for however the Lord would choose to use me in another's life.

I'm going to be on the lookout for a ladies' bible study here in Brownwood prob @ Coggin Ave Baptist Church. I REALLY miss those times and the study I did there, I learned SO much. It was extremely exciting to see such beautiful truths from the Bible explained like never before. I've gotten the "ok" from my dear husband, so Lord willing, I'll be attending one soon. Yay. :) I love learning new things.

What else is new? Oh yes, the Georgian Risses are coming for a visit this week. I, Lord willing, get to meet my new niece Naomi Joy. What a beautiful name. No doubt tears will be present, as was the case in the meeting of sweet baby Abby Rose. I'm really looking forward to this visit.

I've got a dentist appt on Thursday morning.

I REALLY wish I could find my glasses. I lost them a couple of months ago, and so often I find myself wanting to take off my contacts and put on glasses to give my eyes a break, but alas, they're nowhere to be found. So, my contacts get a lot of use from me. If I don't find them before January, I'll get some new ones. Has anyone priced glasses lately?? IT'S RIDICULOUS! but, it might be one of those things where once you know more about it, it makes more sense. try me.

8- many moths entered my house tonight. what ARE moths anyhow?? to me, they're just sandy butterflies without the beautiful colors. I imagine they have SOMEthing going for them...

good night! I've babbled more than seems right.
ps. I'm IN LOVE with my precious husband and my baby girl. sigh.

You guessed it!... not.

Well, everyone gather 'round. Have I got some great news for you. I won a gray throw from BRMC. Whoo hoo! Just in time to keep our family warm. Jody so kindly took this pic just a few minutes ago. Hope y'all have a great day. I've got LOTS to do and I'd better get busy. Toodles.

Everyone, please guess

Ok, last week 3M had its annual health fare. While there, I took the grip strength test and scored (I think) a 98. I didn't think much more of it.. until tonight. Jody called (can you believe I had the ringer off??) and left a message telling me that I won some kind of prize from doing the grip strength test. And that he's bringing it home tonight. WHoo hoo! I don't know if the prize is b/c I got the highest score or if they drew names to determine who to give the prize to. Hmmm.

so, what's your best guess? Humor me and guess, please. I will try to post the results tomorrow.

My guess? a cup. You can't take my guess.

And, Misty, I work out at home. A few birthdays ago, Jody bought me an eliptical (or cross) trainer. So, I either do that or walk outside. And Grace has a treadmill. Talk about SPOILED!

You ladies are special, even if you don't guess. I promise. bye for now.

Grrrr... Grace!

I'm so mad @ my sissy Grace. I just enjoyed a lovely evening with my parents where they treated me and Mikayla to Prima Pasta (shrimp scampi!) and afterwards went to Wal-Mart. I called Grace when I got home and you know what she told me?? She said, "I'm fixing to exercise." Rats. I guess that means I need to also. So, I guess in a way she "motivated" me, but I could just wring her neck. Not really, of course. If she WAS here, I'd just give her a hug instead:)

Mikayla is doing better at bedtime- whee! I'm thrilled.

Our cat Mingus is getting FAT. Maybe he can hop on the cross trainer with me.:)

Oh, I got a new (for me) digital camera. thanks, ma! The one that CC gave me went capoot (sp?). So, I just gave it to Mikayla for a toy, and she really thinks she's technical or something. She loves that and our old remote control. go figure.

Speaking of figures, I'd better go and work on mine. The good news? Jody loves me just the way I am. yay:))) I love that guy!

Grace, I'll get you later.

A healthy baby boy

Jody, Mikayla and I had a great time in Abilene today where we were able to see Baby Easton on his birth day. What an absolute miracle the birth of a baby is. I'm so in awe of how the Lord so perfectly does what He does. sigh. He weighed in @ 8 lbs. 9.5 oz. Good size! About 1 pound more than Mikayla weighed. It was a blessing to be a part of it all. Tina is a PRECIOUS mommy and had such a sweet attitude, considering all she'd been through.

Afterwards we headed to the mall, where we ate lunch @ El Chico; it was pretty good, but Jody's chimichanga, we determined, more or less resembled an egg roll. I guess Abuelos, which is closed on Mondays (rats!), has us a bit spoiled. Then we headed over to Steve and Barry's where we got a $10 pair of jeans for me. whoo hoo! (Thanks, CC, for the idea) Somehow I go through jeans very quickly. go figure.

My computer is sounding like it has the hiccups, so I guess it's trying to tell me something. I'd better log off before it logs me off. Good night, everyone. Everyone's doing so well blogging. Keep up the good work!

It's official

Yep, you guessed it. I got my certificate for taking the continuing education photography course @ Howard Payne. And boy, does it ever look snazzy. It even has that gold star thingy in the bottom right hand corner. Wheee! And those of you coming to the LNO at my house tomorrow evening MAYBE you can get a look at it. maybe. My mom has one, too:)

Speaking of LNO, which I hope you all can come (6pm till who knows when), Mary's birthday begins in less than 2 hours. Yay for Mary. Happy Birthday. And, to Christy, but hers is officially on Sunday, the 22nd. Grace, wanna come? :( maybe next time, eh? I finally decided on the menu. phew. nothing like a little last minute planning.

Have you ever read the story about Gideon in the book of Judges?? What an awesome story!! He started out with 3200 men to fight the Midianites, and the Lord whittled that number down to 300. Lots of lessons there. I thoroughly enjoyed the bible study on it today. You oughtta read it sometime.

Oh, and I was reading in Matthew where it speaks of Christ being born. And one of His names is Emmanuel, meaning God with us. That's SO wonderful!! the Lord Jesus Christ was God in flesh. I'm aware that sounds pretty basic, but it's surprising to me that people don't believe it. How I love that truth. What a most humbling thing for God to be made flesh and dwell among us. sigh. What a Saviour!! How I love him!

Good night. I've got some straightening up to do before my lovebug's face I see. :)

I've been inspired by 2

Well, well, well- it's been awhile, eh? I've been inspired by 2 dear ladies to finally get back into blogging. The first is my sister Grace, who just moved to TX(!), has 3 children and has several new posts complete with pictures. And Mary, who commented to me this evening that it'd been awhile since I had last posted. Ok, I get the hint:)

My precious daughter is crying right now, but she should be sleeping. That's been the scene for about a month now. I'm pretty frustrated with it. How I love that girl. My brother-in-law Dean suggested changing up her nighttime routine, but we don't have much of one to change. Just getting into pj's and putting her in her crib. Any suggestions out there?? I need help. I pray the Lord will give me wisdom/patience/and love dealing with her. She's fine when we pick her up (usually). It's hard for me to believe that she wouldn't want to just GO TO SLEEP! I sure do.

Mikayla and I had a most lovely evening with Grandpa and Emmie. My dad cooked some beans and my mom made some delish rice (although Rebekah's taught me to make rice, I still can't- it's unreal!), and I made some guacamole. What a yummy dinner! AND, Mary and Christy joined us in a game of Imaginif.

And we had moo-llenium crunch ice cream for dessert. -Mary.

I'd better go tend to my daughter. Her crying absolutely breaks my heart. I need prayer, but I guess, don't we all? :)

Sweet Aunt Laura

So, the other day Mikayla gets a package in the mail from Seguin, TX. Come to find the cutest little stuffed dollie from her Aunt Laura. She loves it, as you can tell from the picture:) What a most pleasant surprise it was!

This past Monday marks 10 years since the Lord saved me. Wow! I'm just so in awe of His goodness and faithfulness to me. At the age of 16, He reached down and so mercifully redeemed my soul. I thought I had no need of God, but I couldn't have been further from the truth. Praise be to God for his salvation!

AND, our dear Mikayla started officially crawling on Saturday. It's so precious to watch her. And she sits up by herself. And last night when I was changing her diaper before bedtime, she cried (whined, really) mamamama. That'll sure melt a mommy's heart:) She hasn't actually said the word, but I'll take it in a cry:)

My dear mother's coming over today for a visit. Love that lady. I've been watching Bleak House; it's pretty good. Anyone else ever heard of it?

Bye for now!

Then I saw her face

Guess What. I got to meet my dear sissy's latest addtion to their family- Baby Abigail Rose Ledbetter. She's so tiny compared to our Mikayla. I felt like she was a toddler compared to Abby. Talk about taking your breath away. I intentionally did not wear mascara that day knowing that I'd cry when I met her. And I did. She's absolutely lovely and yes, I'm in love. Then again, I knew I'd be. And now, I've got one more new niece to meet, and Lord willing, I'll meet her in November when Mike, Misty and family come for a visit. I'm really looking forward to that:)

So, what are YOUR plans for the weekend? Mine include the Bwd Reunion celebration, the 2nd half of the Early football game (the best half AND it's free), maybe a trip to Starbucks or something fairly similar, IOW, lots of fun planned:)My husband is now mowing and just found out that he's working the weekend. So, we weren't counting on that. Mikayla and I will be off to visit Grannybear with Emmie (aka Pwe or Vivian or Mom). I see dominoes in our near future. Granny's always up for the challenge.

My mom and I are taking a really cool photography class with Mark Dumas as the teacher. We've only be once and we're already learning so much! He's making it such a neat class and even sharing his "secrets." We like secrets, don't we, mom?

I'd better post this before it's time for Jody's next water break. I FINALLY have a pic of my new niece (so sweetly attacking my daughter).

The mystery is solved...

Well, I know you are all on the edge of your seats waiting to see what my husband brought home for me. It was none other than a miniature, pureheart, seedless, watermelon! :) (he also brought me home a wonderfully written LOVE note- my favorite)

At work a lady was eating one and sharing the other half with everyone else. She even offered Jody a bite, which he politely declined. This gave Jody the idea to get one for his wife, after hearing such raves from his fellow employees.

So, now I have a chilled, very cute watermelon to eat. Whoo hoo. I really like watermelon.

On his way home last night, he stopped by Kroger and bought it. And, no, it wasn't $2.50, it was $3.49! Guess he forgot his Kroger savings card:)

And to top it off, he said, if I would have had money, it could've been a complete surprise. Yeah, that's what I was thinking- what a dear!

Two dollars and fifty cents

That's how much money my husband wanted from me today to get me something. Interesting, I must say. He NEVER wants to have spending money. I used to ask him, Honey, don't you want like five dollars in case you ever want to get something?? Nope- very unlike me, I might add.

So, before he left for work, I asked him if he needed a little extra for tax. He looked at me strangely and said, I don't know- just give me a 5 and I'll bring home the change.

And now I'm curious. Wouldn't YOU be??

I WILL keep you posted.

Maybe I'll find out around 11:30 tonight when he gets home. Wheee!

Ps. Grace got her new cell phone in the mail. Whoopee! Back to good talks about lots of things, all day long. :)

Pps. A wonderful! bit of news. The Lord has saved our nephew Joshua. What a mercy.
"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations." ~Psalm 89:1

Evening shift

My dear husband alternates between working evenings and days from week to week. Although ideally we'd like for him to have a straight day job, we really enjoy the different times in the day that we get to spend with each other. He's on evenings this week, so that means we get to sleep in together and have lunch together. This morning we all (Jody, Mikayla and I) headed to the park for nice walk. The weather was gorgeous and we walked for about an hour. So nice.

I can't believe I haven't posted the news that my sweet, sweet sister is moving back to TX. I'm thrilled, to say the least.

While I'm typing, the Sonic commercial came on about the real fruit smoothie. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? For some odd reason, I like them.

Well, tomorrow's plans entail shopping for a birthday gift, playing dominoes with Grannybear and attending church in Coleman in the evening- not to mention a few other things.

I had a great evening at my parents' house. CC was there. My mom made yummy cabbage rolls, Mikayla spit up sweet potatoes on my parents' carpet (which they were very understanding about), we made birthday cards, my mom made us a frapucchino (sp?), and I hid CC's chapstick. And for those of you who know CC, hiding her chapstick was a HUGE deal. Of course I laughed while she was quite frantically looking around for it, so it made it pretty obvious that I was the "guilty one." I think she still likes me. She only had to have dry lips for about 10 seconds- she's a HOOT!

Did I mention that I love my husband?? He's had a cold the past few days, so I've been trying to be kind to him (well, extra kind- right?). Lord willing, he'll be feeling better soon. Good night, sleep tight!

ps. I DO NOT KNOW how so many women blog every single day. somehow it doesn't work out for me.

Fearfully and wonderfully made

Sigh. Don't you just LOVE rain??? It's been rainy and cooler here for about the last week. I absolutely love it. I feel like it's here just for me. I know that sounds crazy, but that's really how I feel. And my mom; she loves it, too:)

I was thinking about our daughter. And, of course I think she's beautiful. And not the kind of beautiful that I think she could win all sorts of contests or anything like that. I know that she's fearfully and wonderfully made. Wow. Babies are such an awesome work of God- it's mind-boggling (sp?). I watch her grow and move around and smile and kick and nurse, and I'm so in love with the family God's blessed me with. There are so many things that I understand more clearly now that I'm a mother.

So, when I post pictures of my girl so often, it's not done haughtily because I feel like I want to show her off, but because I'm just so in awe of the precious gift she is to us. And I like for others to see how she's growing. And boy, is she ever growing. In no time at all, she'll be crawling around everywhere. I love to watch her play contently, I love to change her diapers, give her baths and wake her up in the morning to feed her. She's blessed my life in many ways, and I'll always be grateful for the extreme privilege of being a mommy.

And I know that the kind of beauty that really matters is that of the heart. Proverbs 31 tells us "favor is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." I pray that she'll come to know and love our great God.

I'm the happiest woman in the world. honestly. And I certainly feel so loved. I'd like to post my testimony of the Lord saving me. So, keep your eyes open for it. This month it will be 10 years!! Have a super evening, dear ladies. ( I assume no man reads my posts)

Picture day

Phew. It's HOT outside (and inside). And like I told my mom, I never want to complain about the weather, as I know who is in control of it. I'm looking forward to FALL. Yep, sure am.

So, today I wanted to take some pics of Mikayla, and we brought her green quilt outside to act as the grass. How sad. She was a great sport, even though it's over 100 degrees here.

New subject. Mealtime. It's so neat to have her now sitting at the table with us to eat. Sometimes we give her baby food and sometimes nothing. We just like her there with us. Anyway, we all hold hands when Jody prays and once he starts, Mikayla just looks at her daddy so adoringly with a huge smile. Ok, I peeked. And now that I caught her doing that, I peek every time. She thinks Jody's talking to HER. How funny. I love it.

Mikayla is working on crawling. Not quite there yet; the desire is there but not the skill. Ultra cute to watch. :)I guess it's time to start vacuuming again.

Mikayla will be 5 months old on Monday. Wow. We are so incredibly blessed. We thank the Lord for our precious gift!

Ok, that's all for now.
Ps. hi, CC!

Monday, Monday

Good afternoon. Hope you are all (all 3 of you:) doing well. It's Monday. Well, I guess that's obvious, and we're having a great day. My dear Joseph went into work @ 11, so Mikayla and I are alone for most of the day. What fun we have.

We took this photo a few minutes ago. I'm enjoying motherhood like CRAZY! What a blessing children are...



We had some good preaching services @ Bible Baptist this past week. They blessed my soul immensely. Dan Cozart preached for us. I ALWAYS enjoy listening, but this year it was a little different having a baby daughter. Slightly more distracting, but hey, that's part of life. Still a wondrous time. And some attended from the church in Coleman, which thrilled us! (thanks!)

I'm off to Wal-Mart today, of course. So, pretty much a low-key day. I got most of my housework done on Saturday- yay!! Hope you all have a most wonderful day.

"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles."
~Proverbs 21:23

A good name

Greetings. Last night a dear brother in Christ went home to be with the Lord. What a sobering time it's been. Just to think that he now is feasting on Christ- his precious Saviour. Wow. "I can only imagine." He has no more earthly cares, struggles, worries, sadness, pain. And he's now with the one who loved him so much he died for him. Amazing. I love it.

My heart DOES go out for his precious family. His dear wife, daughters and their families, grandchildren, etc. What pain they must be feeling. We went to visit his mother today- what a sweet lady. Death puts life into perspective, I believe. This world is so temporal; we are to lay up our treasures in heaven. How very clear that becomes when something like this happens.

What he left his family was a good name. He loved the Lord and it showed in his life. What a dear man. It's so awesome to KNOW that I'll see him again. Praise the Lord!

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints"
-Psalm 115:16

Big mistake

Well, I just got through eating my bowl of cherries. No, that's not my big mistake. It happened last night when I had my parents over for supper. I have (or should I say "had")a TON of packets of Splenda and thought I'd make some tea with splenda to go with our meal. So, I boiled the tea bag and started tearing apart the little packets to equal about 1/2 cup. After opening approx 70 packets, I had around 1/2 cup or so. I thought splenda = sugar. NO, no, and no. That tea tasted HORRIBLE! So, I dumped it out and we had peach drink instead. There's gotta be a lesson there somewhere...

I'm not sure if this blog could get any more interesting. Let's see. I LOVE my sweet daughter! I took her out of the house for about 5 hours or so, and she did great! Didn't even whine or anything. How blessed I am!

AND, my sweet mommy bought me DIAPERS! YAY. We love diapers around here. Diapers for Mikayla. Thanks, sweet mommy! and treated me to Bahama Bucks. Does it get any better??? We got to play dominoes with Grannybear and had lots of fun with her and my uncle and cousin.

Wait. I think I hear my baby girl crying. I guess she's allowed to now. What a long day it's been for her. Ok, I'd better jet. More interesting posts to come? Who knows. Can't expect too much from me, I guess:)

It's amazing

I looked in my inbox this morning and found an email from Flylady telling me that it's anti-procrastination day. So, I read it, and realized that I'm a procrastinator! I couldn't believe it. I thought everyone else was, but not ME! Anyway, I am, and I've realized just how much you can get done if you actually do it. Wow, profound statement, I realize. Nonetheless, true.

Found some neat (free!) graphics from momof9'splace. I'm not sure how to do that link; let me try: I think that's it. I'm kinda new at this. I found this beautiful graphic that I'll try to share. OH well. Didn't work that time. Let me try the pic of Baby Abby once more.
I'm having problems with Blogger. Maybe next time- ha!

I'm off to feed Baby Girl, get laundry finished, and other various things. My dad's coming over for lunch, so there's plenty to get accomplished before then.

The eternal God is they refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
Deut. 33:27

My new niece!

Guess what I'm doing! Yep, eating cherries. They are so delicious. Can't get enough of 'em. When my parents and Grace lived in Washington, I went to visit them and fully expected to have my fill of them. Nope, not even one. I don't know if I'll ever get over that one:)

Praise the Lord for my sweet niece Abigail (Abby) Rose, all of 3 days old. YAYYYYYYY! :) I think she's a beauty (but of course I do). She did have a dr's appt today and lost 1/2 a pound, but is healthy and doing well. I'm SO thankful for the Lord's goodness in this. And I finally have a picture!

Jody's working tonight, so Baby Girl and I are planning a nice evening together. We're taking her umbrella stroller and walking around the mall together. In the mail I got a $10 coupon for JCPenney, so I'll see what we can find there. Should be a very nice/relaxing evening. That's the plan anyway:) I love spending time with my dear daughter! We have lots of fun together.

Thankfully, my mom (and Ian and Sarah) arrived in GA safely this morning. She gets to see 2 NEW GRANDBABIES! I'm quite thrilled for her:)

Off to get more cherries...

ps. the pic's not working; I'll try again later

Happy National Ice Cream Month!

What a good month July is. Not much (in our family) happens in this month, but now we have 2 special events to add to July. Jamie's wedding and Grace and Dean's baby girl Abigail Rose was born today!!!!!!!!!! :) What a fun-filled day.

It started out by picking up my mom from Blanket, then we headed to Gatesville (sp?) for sweet Jamie's wedding. On the way there, I called Grace to ask her how she was, and she told me that baby Abby had been born about 4 minutes before I called. What a tremendous blessing it was and what a mercy that the Lord gave her yet another wonderful birthing experience. So, we got cut off b/c reception is not the best on those TX back roads. I was searching the skies for a tower. Anyway, we got a little more info before the wedding started. 7 lbs even and I forget how long. But, Grace said she's beautiful and I even got to hear her cry! :) So, I'm stoked about that. Rats- I don't have a pic to post. Maybe later.

Jamie's wedding was really nice. It appears that she and Dustin really like each other:) It was quite special seeing them vow to be faithful and love each other, etc. Weddings are so cool. And, of course, she looked beautiful and extremely happy. There were LOTS of people there, and I even spotted a few babies. Very nice wedding; I'm so happy we got to go. Mikayla started fussing in the middle of it,so Jody (sweet Jody) took her out and I got to enjoy the remainder of the ceremony. AND, I got to meet Jamie's dear friend Erin. What a SWEET GAL! That was a treat.

On the way home, we stopped @ Tapatia's (or something like that), where they brought out steaming hot hot sauce and chips. I've never seen that before, but it was yummy food. The guy behind us wanted a hamburger "with LOTS of mustard." Go figure. Mustard's ok, but it's definitely NOT something I want anything at all drenched in.

Which brings me to my subject. We stopped @ Dairy Queen in Goldthwaite on the way home, and Jody ordered us some ice cream. He said, "and I want a small, chocolate chip, caramel, cheesecake blizzard, I mean cheeseQUake..." For some reason that tickled me a bit (b/c it was what the sign said). To this day, I'm still laughing:) Ok, it just now happened, but it's a good memory. And you know how they turn the blizzards up-side down?? Well, the girl (armed with many tatoos) very proudly turned our blizzards up-side down and left them there for about 2-3 seconds (seemed like forever). And Jody comments, "wow!" and she just beams. Pretty funny all in all. It's been a good day and I need to get off this computer to get ready for the Lord's day tomorrow. Isn't ice cream month great? We definitely celebrate this month.

Ps. that new blizzard is NOT all it's QUaked up to be...

Pow-Wow Days in Comanche

Good afternoon. Hope everyone is doing well. I've had a good day. I had a procedure done today with my dr, which wasn't tons of fun, but thankfully, it's over now. Lord willing, the healing process will begin. My husband is SO precious to me and comforts me so beautifully. How I love him!!

AND, my sweet dad watched Mikayla for us while we were out. He took such good care of her. He even WASHED MY DISHES!!! Gotta love that:)) When we walked in, Grandpa was holding Mikayla playing the piano. What a sweet sight.

Ok, now for the subject. Every year Pow-wow days in Comanche has a photo contest that we like to enter. I didn't last year, but my mom did, and she won in her division!! GO, Pwe! Anyway, I think I have a favorite for this year that I want to enter. CC, you need to get one and Pwe, too, for this year, ok? And we can all go together- it's SOOO hot there, but lots of fun. My dad usually drives the bus to run people around-it's HIS privilege- go figure. Hope you all have a good day!

It's good to be home!

Hello! I know it's been quite a long time since I've posted. I'm not sure when my life got so busy. Maybe the day I found out I was pregnant:) Who knows... But, it did! We had an excellent visit with my sweet in-laws from Louisiana; they're sooo special.

And the day we got home from our trip, I had the privilege of attending a shower for my sweet friend Jamie. I'm terribly happy about her upcoming marriage. I know I enjoy my marriage tremendously- thank the Lord!

This evening, I spent time with my sweet niece Sarah and nephew Ian. (sorry, Grace, the pics I took of them didn't turn out:( ) And with my parents and CC and J&A. Sweet kiddos all around me today. How fun.

Have you ever noticed that when you get home from a trip that there is SO much laundry to do??? It's crazy. Add to that our washer being out of pocket for a while and you're REALLY got lots of clothes. So thankful to have that done with. Awww...

Time to feed Mikayla. Not the most exciting post, I'm sure, but better than nothing, right? :)

1/4 of a year!

Just a quick post here. Our daughter is 3 months old today- thank the Lord! How we love and enjoy her. It's amazing the love God gives for a child. It's unexplainable! Thank you, precious Lord, for the gift of our daughter and for your continued mercy in her life. Our prayer is that she will know the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour.

We love you, Mikayla Grace! Happy 3 months!

My Mikayla

The Breakfast Club

Well, here they are. The ladies who attended the breakfast today at my house @ 7am. What a good time we had. Attendees included Grannybear, Pwe, Christy, and Miss Mikayla. Thanks for coming, ladies! Love you all:)

My Beautiful Mommy!

I want to share something special my mom did for me. We've been having hot water heater problems since Sunday. To make a longer story shorter, two nights ago, we had to stay @ my parents' house. After Mikayla was fed, my mom volunteered to stay up with our crying girl so Jody and I could sleep. An hour or so later, I woke up to Mikayla crying, so I went to check on her and lo and behold, my sweet mommy was holding Mikayla, rocking her, and saying nice things to her. It's a precious (yes, precious, SS) memory I'll always have of them. Then, I woke up to breakfast in bed from my sweet mommy!!! :) She brought me a bagel with light Promise butter, oatmeal (sorry, Laura:), oj, and grapes. Wow, I'm certainly blessed! Here's a picture of her I took this morning. She might not like it, but I think (know) she's beautiful inside and out! Love you, Mamalou!

A tiny bit more info about the cake

I like Spurgeon's quotes; they are so cool sometimes. (can ya read it?)

Good morning. What a beautiful day the Lord's given us. This morning was so gorgeous!! Mikayla and I walked for an hour (phew!) @ Coggin Park from 7-8. This kind older man said I was doing a good job and gave me a thumb's up sign. Did I mention the fact that I was red-faced and sweaty? Well, I was. We must have been quite a sight to behold.

About the cake. It was made from a cake mix. That's not such a bad thing, is it? For some silly reason (pride?) (cakes from cake mixes are GOOD, right? well, at least easier) I didn't want to share that, but there it is. Open for all the world to see. Well, the blogging world, at least. There, I did it.

It's so nice to have my mommy home!!! How I enjoy spending time with her. She took some BEAUTIFUL pictures from her trip up North. The best part is she and my dad are treating us to Corina's on Friday for watering their plants. Whooo hoo!!! All that hard work is finally going to pay off! They've got the BEST cherry coke. Rats. Oh yeah, they have pretty good food, too:)

No pics of BG today; maybe later:) She's growing so fast. AND, last night was the 2nd night in a row that SHE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT. Maybe that's why I'm feeling so good:) I've gotten some much needed rest. sigh. smile.

Ok, here goes:

The story behind the picture of the cake. I entered a cake contest for the 3M picnic, and I had the most horrible time making it! It was very ugly (not to mention BROWN) and lop-sided. So Jody comes home (at 11:20) the night before the picnic and says they're grading it on 3 things:

1. appearance (gulp)
2. texture
3. taste

So, I told him to look at the cake and he said, "should we go to Wal-Mart and get more stuff to make another one?" How's that for a little confirmation that I made a less-than-desirable looking cake??

Anyway, needless to say, I didn't place (1st prize- $100 2nd- $50). I didn't want to. Ok, I'm kidding. But the good news is, it got eaten at the picnic and we only brought ONE piece home:) And the moment we walked in the door after the picnic, my sweet Joseph got out a fork and ate the very last piece. What a sweetie!

And we celebrated his first Father's Day. So, here's Baby Girl and her daddy on Father's Day:)

Story to follow...

But, here's the pic: now doesn't that spark your curiosity?

She's working on it

This is Mikayla's first Father's Day to be a part of, so she's writing in a card for her Grandpa (not the "rocky road" one, but the other:). She's such a hoot! I guess she's left-handed, and as my mom says, most gifted people are!

AND, Thank the Lord, Naomi Joy Risse was born last night around 10pm to Mike and Misty Risse:))) She was 22 1/2"(I think) and weighed in at 9lb. 10 oz. Wow! I do wish I had a picture, but alas, I don't:( Mommy and Baby are doing splendidly; thank you for your prayers!

I got a clean bill of health @ the dentist today. So, I'm good for another 6 months. It's not much fun going, but it sure is fun leaving. There's just something about the dentist... Don't get me wrong, he's a great one.

Lord willing, I'll be attending church services this evening with my special friend Christy, yep the one who walks with me and yesterday we went 3 miles together. Yay for the Chan! She was such a champ about it. We did have breakfast at Subway though. It's a little motivating factor for both of us:)

I'm going to try to get a nap in. It's not too late to share a special verse with me. The deadline is Friday. (I'm sure) I'm off to get some housework done!

11 weeks old!

Greetings. My sister Grace asked me why I've not posted in a while. I guess it has been ONE day- excuse me! My sweet daughter is 11 weeks old today. I praise the Lord for the gift that she is to me and my husband. She's singing the blues right now. I've enjoyed the past 11 weeks so much. Being a mother is a beautiful privilege and an honor!

Misty is in the hospital right now, and the last we heard she was a 6:) Lord willing, little Naomi Joy will be born today- a new niece for us!! Will keep you posted.

I'm heading to Blanket tonight to do some watering of plants, etc. I'm REALLY looking forward to my parents coming home. Let them water their OWN plants!! Just kidding, of course:) (love you, mom!)

I HAD to do it

I know, I know, I've been posting pictures like crazy. It's all CC's fault giving me this trusty digital camera. It's my first one ever, so who can blame me?! My Joseph and Baby Girl were just "talking" to each other, and I loved this picture!

IT'S HERE!

Good morning! Thanks to Mr. Keys (spelled incorrectly intentionally), we now have our very own piano- yay! What an appropriate name for somebody giving a piano away, eh? I thought it was pretty cool. And let me tell you, I've already played a few tunes. Ok, who am I kidding... I've got a long way to go, but I do want to learn. We're very thankful for it!

Guilty!

I try not to make a habit of keeping yummy/carbonated/caffeine-loaded/sugary drinks in my house; know why? 'Cause I'll drink them. So, getting one is a treat for me. This evening, my dearest! Joseph went and got me a wild cherry pepsi. Yum. So, yes, I did drink the whole 20 oz. Tomorrow's another day, right?

Mingus, where are you??

Ok, I've found that little cat. We have so much fun with him. Does anybody else find it difficult to successfully post pictures?? It works for me about every third time or so...

I am blessed!

I had a wonderful Lord's day with my family. It amazes me just how much the Lord has given me! And to quote our pastor, "the greatest blessings are spiritual blessings." Indeed! I've asked my dear husband Joseph (by the way, Joseph = Jody and Jody = Joseph to clear up any confusion- I only have ONE husband) if he had a special verse or quote that I could put in this blog, so I'm waiting for him to give me that.

I heard from my sweet mommy today! Her visit with her in-laws is going really well, which we're so grateful for. She said the weather is beautiful in MN! We got into our Explorer today and it said the temp was 105!!! Crazy.

Ok, CC, are we going to walk this week? You can't get away from me that easily. Blogworld, Christy wants to run a 5k with me this September- whoohoo! So, any encouragement for her as far as running goes would be be great! Thank you. She was a joy to have at Jody's most current run yesterday. She was a big help with Baby Girl Dodson. We love that girl. Well, both of them. And we both had a tiny bit of free dr. pepper and BIG red. And we enjoyed bkst (not to be confused with brisket) @ Sonic. Fun times, to be sure.

Ok, my Joseph is ready with his verse/s:

Ephesians 1:15-23 is a prayer that we can pray for other believers.
:17 is what really spoke to him which reads, " that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.

He wants to share one more, which is a verse I really love and have committed to memory. I'd encourage each of you to do the same, and the Holy Spirit will bring it to mind at the most perfect times (it's on a daily basis that I need wisdom that is from ABOVE):

James 3:17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

And, if a photo shows up (by some wild stretch of the imagination), then it's Mingus- our favorite cat!

Hope you all have a good week!

PS. Do any of you have a verse you've memorized that has been a blessing to you and would encourage others to memorize it also?? If so, please share!

My brother and daughter

A day of surprises

Ok, the day starts off with CC and Baby Girl and I walking at the park. It was a beautiful morning, and we ran into Dora the Explorer. So cute! But, like CC mentioned in HER blog http://cfcwd.blogspot.com, she was slightly older than Dora is usually portrayed~ about 40 years or so. But we got a hello from her (I think that's what she said) and a sweet smile, so that was pleasant. Then this other lady asked me if I liked my jogging stroller b/c she has a son who lives on the beach and wanted one, etc... I told her it's great. And CC mentioned (to me later) that it might not work so well on the sand. Good point!

Fast forward to after lunch and I get a call from my dear brother Paul. He was going through town and wanted to stop by for a quick visit to see us. That was really nice! He cut his daughter Kalee's hair; it looked really good, and I asked him about it. He said, "well, I cut my own." Hmmm... Anyway, that was a treat to be sure!


So, it's date night for me and Joseph so we decide to go to Emilio's Mexican Restaurant that used to be about a zillion restaurants (location, location, location). There's this family sitting kinda next to us and they'd ordered some drinks. Well, a sharp looking guy (I can only assume is Emilio) comes out from the dark and brings them their drinks. It's hard to put this into words, but he came out PRAISING these people and making a big to-do (sp??) about their margaritas. Honestly, you would've thought they just ran a marathon or given millions to charity or something grand like that. But, nope, they just ordered a drink. And I told Jody, that's how the world is- it praises sin and it is so deceptive. I felt like I had to vent about that. It made me sad and a little mad.

Then (don't read this part, CC!) Jody and I took a left out of Emilio's and headed straight to... Yep, you guessed it- Dairy Queen! Rats!! We split a small blizzard. I don't know what the deal is with me, but like Christy said, we DID have a VERY nutritious Kashi bar for lunch. So, it was well-deserved, right? Ok, probably not.

I'd better get off so Jody can fight in some war. It's hard for him to do that when I'm on the computer. We're "camping out" tonight- WHEEE! I love when that happens. Ok, good night, people.

Ps. Heard from my mom and she and my dad are having a swell time. She said Mt. Rushmore is beautiful. I already miss them!

pps. I'm supposed to be getting a piano tomorrow- yay!

Here are a few faces of my baby girl.

New family picture

HELP!

All my links moved down
to the bottom of the page.
Can anybody help me lift
them up to where they belong??

Baby Girl

IT WORKS!!

Ok, I know my blog is in desperate need of an update, and my Mikayla gave me this title. I was holding her on my lap while reading something online, and everything was quiet except for her occassional(sp?) hiccup. I said (I guess louder than I thought) "goo, goo, goo, baby, I love you." Poor girl was so startled and scared (it was hilarious), but you wanna know something? The hiccups STOPPED! Getting scared cures hiccups, or at least in this situation it did:)

My sweet friend Christy gave me a camera that she no longer has use for and I LOVE IT! It's my first digital camera and I'm having so much fun. Thanks, CC!! I've been taking pics like crazy, loving the fact that I can see them without having to pay money to see them. WHeee! As a side note, I like film cameras better, but digital can sure have its advantages. So, I'm going to try to post some pics today. It usually doesn't go too well for me, but we'll see.

My parents are going for a week and 1/2 up north. I'm going to miss them a lot:( And Mikayla will miss them even more. She just loves for Grandpa to show her the "rocky road." He says that she needs to learn that life is not just smooth and marshmallowy (sp??). It's so fun seeing them together.

Ok, I'm off to try to post these pictures. We'll see how that turns out. Did I mention that I love my husband sooooo much? Well, I do! :) And I thank our Lord for him.

Getting to know me

1. FIRST NAME? Sarah
2. ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? no, but my dear mama wanted to pick a name that sounded pretty when he said, Sarah, I love you; and that's my dear Joseph!!!
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? about a week ago, I think
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? sure, but Pwe's is the best
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? peppered turkey breast
6. KIDS? just one precious gift- Baby Girl!
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WHO WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH? weird question if you ask me, but probably Laura Bush
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yep
9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? try not to, but sometime it just happens
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? I think so
11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I think so
12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? cinnamon toast crunch
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? most of the time
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? sure (I could take CC any day!)
15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? peanut butter
16. SHOE SIZE? 8
17. RED OR PINK? since BG came, it's pink, I guess
18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? sin
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my sissy Grace
21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? um, neither
22. LAST THING YOU ATE? watermelon (phew! it's healthy)
23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? the purr of the computer
24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? orange
25. FAVORITE SMELL? prob bacon
26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? I think Mama
27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? I'm only attracted to my dh and I love his eyes
28. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes
29. FAVORITE DRINK? cream soda
30. FAVORITE SPORT? softball
31. EYE COLOR? Blue
32. HAT SIZE? 6 3/4
33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yeppers
34. FAVORITE FOOD? avocado
35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Happy ending- why not?
36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED AT THE MOVIES? Not sure...OH! Narnia
37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? white
38. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter
39. HUGS OR KISSES? both
40. FAVORITE DESSERT? cheesecake
43. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? When God Weeps, and Galatians
44. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? just took a good, hard look and it appears to resemble blue sand
45. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? I guess the news
46. FAVORITE SOUNDS? BG cooing and when Jody says he loves me:)
47. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? neither
48. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Canada- sorry cc:(
49. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? well, I know it's NOT making rice
50. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? October 3,1979, El Paso, Texas
51. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? CC, Abigail, Alison

One (of many) lesson I've learned from Baby Girl

Greetings, Blogworld, whoever that may be. We've returned from a wonderful visit to San Antonio where we were treated with lots of love and hospitality. It's such a treat to see others enjoy the precious gift the Lord has so graciously blessed us with- Mikayla a.k.a Baby Girl!

On to the subject of my post. Having a child has taught me many spiritual lessons. I need to make this snappy (sorta) b/c my dh is supposed to call @ 11. So.......

Lesson #1- on sleeping through the night:

It's for Mikayla's own good that we train her to sleep through the night. She'll get her much needed rest and be in a better mood, etc. It's hard sometimes to hear her cry (we make sure she's fed, changed, clean, and all that goes along with that). But there are times we just let her cry to teach her. There are some things I noticed about this:

• We can hear her (the Lord hears us when we cry and He doesn't need a baby monitor)
• We care for her (our Lord definitely cares for us!)
• We, at any time, can go give her relief by holding her close or whatever (our Lord can change our situation or give us relief from pain/hardships/trials)

Many times God has us go through these hard times -promising us that He will never leave us or forsake us. He wants us to trust Him completely and wholly, knowing He does all things well. So, when we're going through a rough time, our God, who is in control, knows what He is doing and we need to submit to what He has ordained in our lives. God does not make us go through unprofitable trials. (We don't like to hear Mikayla cry just to hear her cry- there's a point in it all.) This has not been typed out how I wanted it to be, but I hope it makes sense.

In other news (to quote CC), I think the musicmakers (and Ali) need to start a blog! They are such sweet, witty women, and I think it'd be enjoyable to "hear" what they have to say. They no doubt could give some good advice and keep us entertained.

I went to church with my parents and CC this evening, and it was a blessing! "and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Wow- we've been forgiven. I hope to never get over that glorious truth. As we have been forgiven, so we must forgive. God gives us the grace to do that. (Thank you, Bro. Scott)

Oh boy, I'd better close; Lovebug's supposed to call. How I adore that man! More later- I feel like I'm overflowing with blogging material.

Blast from the past

While casually watching the 10 o' clock news on KTAB this evening, I spotted Mrs. Priddy- one of my favorite teachers from Panther Creek. What a treat that was! She's looking as good as ever. I don't know who I liked better- Mrytie or Debbie... hmmm..both great teachers! I obviously never called them by their first names, but now I can- hahahahaha. (Like they'd care or something)

Yes, Rebekah, I think I WAS overly attached to that banana. It was consumed today finally by my dh. I did make banana bread today- yay! We like banana bread at our house. I made two; one for in the morning when my parents and Christy come for a visit. And one for the Hamiltons. I promise I WILL have at least one post that doesn't have the word banana in it; this is getting ridiculous!

Lord willing, we'll be going to San Antonio on Saturday morning to visit the Hamiltons for a few days, then head over to Seguin to visit Jody's brother and family. Hopefully the drive will go ok with Baby Girl. I think it will. I can just see the amount of things we're going to be packing for 3 days. We're already heavy packers. Jody suggested taking the swing, which is HUGE. NO. He's so funny:)

Jody and I told ourselves to not always be looking forward to when Baby Girl does this or that, but to enjoy every moment with her. And we still want to do that. However, we both kinda shyly told each other that we won't mind when she sleeps through the night... is that so bad?! Don't get me wrong; I LOVE getting up with her and looking at her and feeding her. I MISS MY SLEEP! It's worth it a million times over.

Off to bed. Hopefully rest is in my future this evening. I want to take Mikayla for a 3 mile walk in the morning. Hope we feel up to it. What are the odds??? (When we walk, we usually go 2 miles, so we'll see).

Buenas Noches! (sp?)

I'm on a mission...

Does anybody know where I can find some disposable diaper bags. PLEASE help me out here. I got 300 from my baby showers, then got 100 more from Wal-Mart, and I'm running low. The cheaper the better!

THANK YOU to all who support this blog. How surprising and encouraging it is. With some good advice from my friend (who I'll let remain anonymous- you know who you are) I'll continue on. She said, "as long as you don't try to be witty, you'll do ok." Wow, thanks a lot! There are those who blog, and those who blog well. And I'm one of those who blogs. :) But, that's ok. My strengths lie elsewhere. i.e. changing TONS of diapers.

Did anybody watch AI tonight? GOOOOOOOOOO.............. TAYLOR! He's not my idol, but Jody and I sure think he's a swell singer. Did anyone else think that Clay looked like Slade? (Thanks, Grace!)

I got 5 bucks off my oil change today b/c it's ladies' day. Neat, eh?

One more thing: the banana is back. No lie. I was emptying Jody's lunch box- putting away ice packs, etc., and there it was. why didn't you eat the banana, I asked smugly. He said, I wasn't hungry. Hmmm... oh well. Tomorrow's another day.

Baby Girl is screaming her head off. YIKES! Wait... silence. Awww, good night!

Happy Birthday, my Joseph!

The birthday dinner was a (warm) success. My mom and CC nearly passed out b/c it was so hot in our house- SORRY:( Hopefully, this blog will include a recent pic of our family, thanks to Christy:). How blessed I am!

Highlights of the party:

1. 1. My family claims they liked the meal
2. 2. Mom and CC DIDN'T pass out
3. 3. The cake wasn't too rich, like I'd thought it would be
4. The banana is turning a very nice shade of yellow, which will allow it to be in Jody's lunch tomorrow!
5. Cleanup is finally over- Good night!

One lone banana

Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart to go shopping for my dh's birthday. Right after grabbing my wobbly cart, I headed straight to electronics and saw one green banana on the ground. I thought to myself, I'll pick this up and then add it to the other bananas when I pass that section b/c I can just see what a mess this could make. So, while I was loading my groceries onto the belt, I reluctantly put the banana down and paid for it. Crazy. Now it's sitting on my table. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so green.

Lunch today with my Mama:) Yay!

I cooked the brisket last night and was sampling it this morning. Can't quite figure it out. Mostly it tastes like salty meat. But, it's ok. Tastes NOTHING like the one I got the recipe for. Oh well.

Well, Baby Girl's asleep, so I'd better get a "nap" in before she awakens to eat. I call it a "nap" b/c it doesn't seem like it should be called that when you're awakened 2 or 3 times between 1 and 8 am.

Let me leave something profitable:
"Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." Galatians 4:7 Wow!

trying to figure this out...

My very first blog entry

Well, I'm trying out this blogging thing. I didn't think I ever would, but here I am. I have NO IDEA how to do so many things, but I guess in time I'll learn. Today's been a blessed day. My baby girl is sleeping right behind me. She's due to eat in a few minutes. Also, it's house-cleaning day- lots of fun. Ok, that's all for now. Tomorrow is my dear husband's birthday- yay! I'm going to try to make my first brisket for his bday meal. Should be interesting...