Life with my sister

Yesterday as I was sitting on my comfy couch I started thinking about Memorial Day. It is a long holiday weekend to go see family, go to the lake or go the beach. Yet, this holiday (also known as Decoration Day) is really a day set aside for us to honor our soldiers. As I continued to sit on my comfy couch I watched a news segment about some local veterans. Most if those men were in their late seventies and early eighties and fought in WWII. They are not going to be around too much longer to share their wisdom with us and share their stories. We need to take the time to thank them every chance we get and allow them to share their story with us. Our soldiers are the ones who defend our country, its values and its freedom. We also have our new veterans coming back from a war that has seen much controversy. We must thank them in the same way because they have fought just as hard as those in the World Wars, Korean War and Vietnam. Regardless if we think this current war is right or wrong, ...

Samuel made the all-star baseball team! He is so excited! If he knew I bragged about him here he would surely want me to tell you! Last night David asked when we were going to Uncle Mamaws and Uncle David's. I told him we would go this summer, so be on the look out Longview !!! And yes Abby we will also come visit you! I hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend. My mom is coming to spend the weekend with us. We have no big plans except to go to the bakery at the Village. Oh, my goodness they make some good fried pies, do-nuts(except for those yucky sugar free ones Abby loves!HA!), rolls, brownies, cake, well just anything they make is good. If you ever come to Star City, I will take you to the bakery! Love ya, Jules

I must clarify that my “Love Hurts” blog was not about anyone who reads this blog. Don’t start biting your nails or scratching your head. It is not you!! I love you people…you are my “peeps”. God is good in this situation though. I am at peace more today than ever about the situation and I know that this person is aware. Maybe not the full scope, but some what aware and that is better than nothing. Thanks for your prayers. I mean that. I deleted the the original post to protect the innocent :) Abby

So, I've been busy! Abby sent me an email and titled it WRITE A BLOG!!! This is the first time I've been at a computer in days, so get ready!!! This is the last week of school, so we have been extra busy around our house. Friday we had nine weeks awards assemblies at the school. David and Daniel got awards for having all S's for this term and were named Star Citizen in their class. The teacher is supposed to choose one boy and one girl from the class, but Mrs. Kim said she had to pick David and Daniel together, so their class had two boys and one girl ! Mrs. Kim said that D&D are great examples to the rest of the class in their behavior. (well, it is good to know that they act nice somewhere!!!HA!) Samuel received an award for getting all A's this term ( he had been named Star Citizen the second nine weeks!). Today was the end of the year awards, and D&D received awards for making all S's all year!!! YEA!!!! Samuel missed making all A's by 2 points in ma...

Have I told you about my neighbors? Mrs. Rochelle and Mr. Garry are God sent. Actually, they looked at their house for the first time the day we moved into ours. They say Rand is what sold them on the house! They are in their mid fifties, parents, grandparents and wonderful friends to us. They love to take us to all the new restaurants in the area. They buy us gifts “just because”. Last summer they bought Rand a John Deere tractor yard sprayer because it looked like him. She sends me flowers when I least expect them. She sent them one time when I was bitten by a fire ant and had a swollen foot. This past Christmas she sent me a wonderful centerpiece for a Christmas party I was having at my house. I told her one day last spring I liked blue hydrangeas . I came home the next day to a blue bush sitting in my garage. We can’t begin to compete with them! I love walking across the yard to their backdoor to find my favorite drinks in her fridge (even cut up lime). She keeps Rand’s in the frid...

I am cleaning out some old files on my computer and just came across these images. What a joy it is to watch these kids grow up and be someone special in their eyes. My fab four and 2 cousins (who think I am their aunt) remind me that aunthood is truly bliss! Gracie, Daniel, David and Anna - family reunion, 2006 My little Princess - 2007 Claire loves coming to our house - October, 2006 Cute Cousins - Christmas Day, 2005 Country wagon ride - 2006 Going to Grandma's - 2005 Sambo's weekend with his Aunt & Uncle in Mississippi - 2005 Celebrating my birthday in 2005 Anna loves her Uncle Randall ( last May at our house) Claire with the fab four at Daddy's wedding reception last winter Thank you God for these precious children!! Abby

Part 1 of 3!!! I have talked to some of my friends lately and the conversation has always turned to spending time with friends. We all want to spend time with each other, but we are unable to make time for it. I think it is important to keep up with friends and make time for them. Now that it is baseball season, and we are very much a baseball family, I understand the difficulty of getting together with others outside of our families. Last night was our first "mexican movie mama monday nite". A few girls from church are getting together once a month just to spend a little bit of time together. We drove to Monticello and ate mexican food. We didn't go to a movie because we got away late (because of ballgames of course!), but we had such a good time. I encourage all of you to have a mexican movie mama monday nite(say that 3 times fast!) with your group of friends. Or you could have a "taco teacher talking tuesday nite", or a "thirsty tortelinii thirty thursda...

Oh me! Molly (Rand's step mom) called me this afternoon so excited and a little perplexed. She received a Mother's Day package in the mail today from us. She opened the box to find a card on top that said "Mawmaw". She got so excited and opened it up. She then called me to say she got the card and asked if there was something I needed to tell her. She thought I was pregnant! I got my packages all screwed up and mailed her present to Mama & Mawmaw and their presents to Augusta. I cried like a fat child at the thought of them not having their gifts on Mother's Day. They all laughed because poor Molly was so excited about a baby to find there was no baby. I feel like such a hill for getting her hopes up and then screwing up the packages. What a Mother's Day Mess that I will never hear the end of! Thanks to Mom, Molly and Mawmaw for being such good sports about this and helping me see the humor in it. I of course am still somewhat heartbroken at the thought of...

Well, we made a decision to stay put for a little while longer and see what great things God has planned for us. Rand was offered a job in southeast Illinois and we have been praying over this situation for two months. This morning we were able to shut the door on this opportunity and wait for a new door to open. We have learned a lot about ourselves these past few months and how our goals and God’s goals connect. As much as we hated to turn down this new opportunity, we knew it wasn’t inline with God’s will for us right now. So, we hope, we wait and we trust that God will lead us into greener pastures and places that will teach us why we face the trials we face right now. Please continue to pray for us as we seek His will. Rand and I both want to do work we are passionate about and work in which we can find fulfillment. This is our hearts cry right now since we are not currently experiencing that joy. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement lately, it has been much needed and app...

It has been a long time since April 18, when I last shared my wisdom and wonderful stories with you. (HA!HA!) So, I will now update you on all my happenings. April 20- Anna turned 3. We got up early that morning and drove to Pine Bluff to pick up her cake. It was so cute!! At 1:00 all Anna's friends came to celebrate her birthday. They had so much fun. They squealed and played with the streamers that were decorating the fence. She opened her presents and loved them all. It was a good day for Anna! April 21- Star City has an annual festival called Stardaze and it is set up right in front of the church. So, we took advantage of the situation and FBC held our own little FREE carnival with bounce-arounds and games with free prizes. It was a hit! That afternoon our revival team came in. Trent Broussard flew in from Michigan and Tom and Robbie Bray drove in from Florida. It was great to see our friends again. We had a great week with them. April 24- David and Daniel turned 6!!!!! I can...

I know I need to write a blog, but I can't think of anything to write! Hold on, I'll get with ya'll. Love ya! Julie