Life with my sister

Hello all!!! Because I'm sure there are those of you that read this that are like me and want to know all the little details of peoples lives, I will share with you what I've been up to. At the end of November I was thrown for a loop, (there is a story there but I won't tell it) which put my December into sort of a funk. Don't you just hate it when that happens? We went to a few Christmas parties, went Christmas shopping as much as the kiddos would allow, and decorated the house with the sights and smells of Christmas. We watched Christmas movies on tv and even movies that really weren't Christmasy at all (like Cars and the Incredibles-what is Christmasy about those?) The boys sang in our church's Singing Christmas Tree. Samuel had a solo and did a great job all 4 nights. I think we had something like 1400 people come see the tree. It was a beautiful service all 4 nights, the music was wonderful, the singers did great and Stephen did a terrific, God-honoring job...

" You take the good, you take the bad..." I got Facts of Life...YEA. She knew I loved Facts and got me the first 3 seasons. My beautiful mother-in-law wanted a picture of us. How sweet of her...how vain of us! Lindsey took these pictures in front of our house when she visited in November . We used a couple on our Christmas card this year. Molly has helped us so much on our house that we thought it was most fitting to give her a photo of us in front of the house. My father-in-law opening his new Craftsman drill. He needed a new drill because he had worked his to death. He is so funny about this tools. I wish you could all see his shed full of tools. It is amazing. The hubs with his new GPS....he has named her "Ruby Route". Thank you Ben & Molly. We loved our visit and our gifts. Abby

I always wrap his presents so pretty...he of course forgets to put bows and name tags on mine. I love him anyway! He posed liked this on purpose in order to look "sexy" as he showed of his new wedding ring. Not sure he achieved his goal with this one...he is still cute though. This is a Willow Tree Christmas and it excites me. These are the 2 he got me. One is for our new home and the other is for the happiness I attempt to bring into our home. He is super thoughtful. We always go eat somewhere nice and exchange our gifts to each other before we head to the Fort each year. It makes our gift giving more personal and we are able to enjoy our gifts for a bit, before we have to pack up and leave. I hated doing it this way the first couple of years (it was all Rand's idea), but I have grown to look forward to it. Abby

I found some random pictures and thought I would post a few. I love Christmas memories and these pictures flood my heart and mind with lots of good times. Christmas Morning at Granny's 1985 I love this picture for lots of reasons. One is that Granny's hands and sweet little lap are in the corner of this picture. It melts my heart to see those hands. She was our great-grandmother. She died when I was in the 8th grade. Then, my sister who was super cool and in high school, is sitting in the other corner. I love Mama in this picture. She is passing out the presents. This is how she is pictured in my heart. Then there is Uncle Mike with the beard. My most favorite part is Sarah, Zach and me sitting on the organ bench in deep thought about the presents in our laps. Something that really catches my eye for the first time is the cards taped to the wall. Would you look at all those cards Granny got in the mail? She was loved big time! What a precious picture. Christmas 1996 with Mel...

Christmas. It evokes the same feelings in most everyone. It reminds those of us who have a personal relationship with Jesus that it is indeed His birthday (and it is our earthly Daddy's b-day also)! We are reminded of the hope, the sacrifice and the joy that goes along with the birth of our Savior. It is a time to rejoice in the best gift ever given to all of us. I love that...we all share the same gift....we are all equal. For many of us it also reminds us of the added, fun and extra part of Christmas - Santa Claus. Growing up we always had Santa at our house. We knew the reason for Christmas was Jesus, and Santa was just a nice fat man who kept us on our toes all year. I loved Santa and the mystery of him. I still believe in some ways. It is most fun that way. For all of us it reminds us of gifts. Some of us give big, some of us give little, some of us give all we have and some of us are greedy with what we give. Yet, we all give. We grew up in a house that gave what was reasonab...

I do not understand why men desire getting up at 4:30 in the morning to go wade around in water to kills birds, especially when it is freezing outside. Then, they try to be so quiet that they are actually loud. When they pull out of the drive the rest of the house is wide awake and not appreciating the birds, nor the hunter. I love my hunter and the excitement he gets over a flying peasant, yet the love of the hunt baffles my mind...my very tired mind. Abby

Make a Smilebox greeting

Randall and me with the St. B banner. Again, HE carried it in the parade. And yes, he wore those antlers. Our humble float. The "Boob Bus" always appears in the parade. (I could so get fired for calling it that) This is our mammography mobile unit. Abby

My first Newcomer friends - Melissa and Stacee. I feel like I have known them forever. My friend Paula. She makes me laugh outloud. I love my new friends I have meet through the Newcomers Club. I am the VP for the Newcomers in 2009. I am a sucker, I reckon. Anyway, I wore my purple jacket again and feel like I got my wear out of it this season. I shall retire it to the closet or let my sister borrow it for the rest of the season. Only family parties left for me and that excites me. I can wear a sweatshirt and be in-style...now, that is my kind of party! Abby

I saw this on another blog, and it was too fun. I won't tag anyone but please do this for yourselves. It is most fun and sometimes correct! Instructions: 1.Put your music collection on shuffle 2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer. #. You must write that song name down NO MATTER WHAT!! IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY,” YOU SAY? “Carry you to Jesus” WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? “Whatever” One of the correct ones! WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? " Jesus speaks to me" WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE? " On my knees" Oh, I desire this to be correct WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? "All I have to do is dream" WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? Where there is faith" Another one I desire WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN? "Walking her home" Who is her? WHAT IS 2+2? " Awake my soul" WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND? " I will be here" Really, how sweet is that? WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY? "The ...

I hosted my annual cookie & ornament swap today in my new home with a new group of friends. It was great fun! I invited 18 and 9 came. I had several who could not make it due to other events. We managed well without them but hope to see them at the Swap in 2009! Tad (Newcomer friend), Mama Sue (family friend), Callie (Newcomer friend), Linda (Newcomer friend) Linda, Pam (I work with her hubby), Laura (my boss), Deania (work friend), Melissa (Newcomer friend) Cookie Gangster - he melted the chocolate for my cookies. Cookie Taste Tester - he ate the broken ones Abby

I never post pics of us from our social functions and I get harassed about it from several of you. So, I thought I would post the pics from the outing on Friday night. I plan to wear this to my Newcomers party on Tuesday because I was not photographed in this on Friday night. Really, how funny is that?! I am most excited to wear this cute jacket again! ( Jules, you can borrow it when you come in 2 weeks...I know you will want to.) Rand in his new black velour or corduroy sports coat (not sure which one it is). Anyway...what a dude! Abby

Hey everyone! I just found this neat site www.emailsanta.com . Your child can fill out information telling Santa what they want for Christmas and you get an immediate reply from Santa, personalized just for your child. All 4 of my kids wrote letters and each reply was different. It was a lot of fun for them. So, go try it out, you can even print the letter (that is if you have ink in your printer, if you don't have ink, you'll just have to do it all over again sometime when the kids aren't around!) and put it in your scrapbook! HO!HO!HO! Julie

If you click on this, it will enlarge. I blacked my last name out for all the stalkers out there. I wish them not to hunt me down and kill me, rob me or ask for my John Hancock. This is me in the December issue of the Jonesboro Occasions Magazine. I was one of the 2 newcomers highlighted, this month. This picture was taken at my desk. I am mad because they edited my motto and it looks like I do not know my scripture real well. I said "Count it all joy" and they added "as" in there. Great stuff. Oh well, means the same thing, I reckon. I guess Randall and I have reached the top of the heap. We are in both "who's drinking now" (the slang name for the social mags in J-Town) magazines more than once this month. I realized today, I truly can't wear my new Burgundy velvet jacket to both Christmas parties this week, as I had planned, for fear of being documented at 2 events in the same outfit. Heavens. Yes, it is like social club days at OBU, all over a...

Yea!! It's officially Christmas on our blog. Abby has had her Christmas tree up for a couple of weeks and mine is bought and lying in the back of Stephen's truck waiting to be put in a stand and decorated. Our houses are looking like Christmas, and thanks to holiday tea and mulled cider candles, smelling like Christmas. We just love this time of year, no matter what I might say that would lead you to think otherwise. SO,I asked Abby to make the blog look and sound Christmas(y) and she did it! She even got up an hour early and sat in a cold room to do it. What a girl! I say that to say this: Not all of the music that you will be hearing through your speakers and playing in your head is Sisters approved. There are a few songs that I like, but not ALL of them. The Dolly Parton song would not have been on my list of favorite Christmas songs and neither would the Alan Jackson song. BUT, since I don't know how to make any changes on this blog of ours I will not complain any lo...

This is the elf suit I have to wear to our employee childrens Christmas party at the Malco on Saturday morning. Those without children wear costumes...I need to get me a baby, I tell ya! I am helping with the Santa photos, so of course, I am an elf. I am dreading those tights and the shoes...should be a good 4 hours of total humiliation and fun! Abby

Meet our newest family member, Caden . We were there when he was born and I most excited about that. It was a first for me. I always arrive after the babies in "my" family are born. It was an experience, to say the least. We had our ears peeled to the doorway and heard him when he entered the world...it was so wild. All the guys literally ran to the end of the hall so they couldn't hear the noises and Kristen ( Caden's soon-to-be aunt, come May, when she marries Caden's uncle Brandon)and I only wished we had access to a glass so we could hear better. Caden is the son of Randall's cousin, Micah (and Caden is the new grandson of our faithful reader, Diana). Micah's wife, Tabby, was not due until Dec 15 th . They both came to Jonesboro to go to the doctor for a check-up on Wednesday. I ate lunch with she and Micah before her appointment. She was feeling fine, looked good and we were all looking forward to turkey the next day. I then went home and began p...

We hosted our first Thanksgiving. Since we have a home that entertains well, we decided to bring Rand's Dad, step-mom, sister and her family to J'Town for turkey. I loved watching the Macy's T-Day parade from my very own TV. I have not done that since I was growing up at home. Anyway, hosting it was a lot of fun and a lot of work. I am very blessed that it all turned out so well. My smoked turkey was a bit dry, but we had so much other good stuff, that it didn't matter. I made my first gravy, ever! Giblet and brown gravy without any help...I must pat myself on the back, if that is okay. I have a few pictures of the day...enjoy! This was the first time I had an excuse to use my Meemaw's Gravy Boat (or as wee like to call it, "The Skutt family Gravy Boat"...makes it sound real fancy.)I also got to use my great-great grandmother's serving spoon. It was really cool to polish such special heirlooms. This is Rand's step-mom, Molly. I am blessed to hav...

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We are so thankful for our families and our friends (even our stalker friends STACY!!!!). Abby is cooking dinner for Rands family today. Her first Thanksgiving dinner, I'm so proud. And I am at my in-laws watching dinner be prepared. Just call me Mary and call Abby Martha. We know and we are proud of it! Happy Thanksgiving. Give thanks to our God! Julie

Stephen has been doing the childrens time during our Sunday morning worship since Jeremy left in August. He has done a good job and I think made some friends from the 3-5 age group. This past Sunday morning he began by asking the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up. One little boy said a professional hunter, one girl said a nurse, David wanted to be a soccer player, Daniel, after thinking about it while everyone else answered, wanted to be an ice-cream taster, and Anna wants to be a princess. Everyone laughed, it was funny and so typical of Anna. When she got back to her seat I told her there weren't any princess jobs (I tell her this a lot!) She looked at me and said "yes there are" I asked where and she said" you know where Mickey is? There." So, it looks as if my daughter will be working at Disneyworld . Oh, what a proud mom I am! Julie ps . Do Christmas and car repairs a...

This is Rand's birthday cake that I had made at Hay's Grocery in J-Town. I have hidden it in the trunk of my car for his dinner party tonight....I am so excited about it. This is a pic of him on his tricycle and he has on his dad's ballcap...so cute! (it is cuter in person..the pic posted a bit blurry) And yes, I do realize I did not make the cake and I should feel bad about it, since I am the cake lady...but I don't feel an ounce of guilt, really. Actually, it was nice to not have all that icing mess to clean up. Worth every penny...and a picture cake ain't cheap! Abby

This is me with Silky O'Sullivan in the middle of Beale Street - April 2007. This cracks me up..of all the pictures I have, this is the 4th one in the 4th folder. How funny. Oh, the girl in the pic is the one Rand worked with that had an affair with his other co-worker...needless to say, we are not friends anymore. I am not friends with home wreckers! Why did I post this pic, you ask? Well...My friend Trish tagged us. Here is what we are suppose to do: We have to post a picture from our 4th folder, and it is to be the 4th picture in that folder. Then we are to tag 3 other bloggers. I am tagging Amanda, Lindsey and Stacee. Abby

Happy Birthday to my extra fine, hard working, steady, duck loving, determined, fun-loving, birthday boy! (And if he blows that duck call in the house one more time...He is going to be the dead duck!) Abby

I had intended on posting a picture of an Ole Miss sweatshirt a pair of Old Navy jeans(wide legged, really cute) a red cable knit Duckhead sweater a pair of brown Cole Haan shoes but for some reason, I'm blaming blogger, but it could be my slow internet, it won't post. Anyway, I was going to ask what those 4 things had in common. The answer is (actually 2 answers) they all came from my local resale shop and they all cost $4 or under! If the picture had posted you would have been much more impressed that I got all 4 items for $8. The most expensive item, get this, were the jeans. Not the shoes, they cost $2.00 and look brand new, the label on the inside of the shoe isn't worn at all. Truly amazing. Abby and I talk often about loving a sale, so I thought I would share an example...

My dear friend, Lindsey came to visit us over the weekend. She helped me decorate my new house for Christmas. I loved it! Lindsey & Rand preparing to decorate the mantle in the den. Perfecting our tree...or attempting it anyway Our very unique tree crown/topper The proverbial tree picture Our first tree in J'boro...awe The mantle in our living room. Lindsey did a fabulous job on this! We were so glad she came to visit. It was such a nice time. We laughed a whole lot and that was most fun! Abby