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!