Life with my sister

It is Food Friday! I introduced this a few weeks ago and said it would be a mix of recipes, ramblings about food, and a host of other things related to food. Well, this week is an example of a post with no recipes and instead a little rambling. Above you see the weekly Food Friday photo of Henry...it can't be Friday without a food photo of our little foodie! It is posted first this time, instead of last, because I am a dork and loaded the photos backwards. He is not eating in this picture, as you can see, but he is in a field of soybeans so I thought it would work...a stretch I know! He went with his Daddy to check on his beans and corn last weekend. I love my boys and I treasure our fun times. We grill a lot at our house. Almost too much. We tend to grill the same things too. pork chops, chicken, fish and burgers. We use the same seasonings and really don't think outside of the box. We are getting bored with our meat. If you grill and have some great recipes or ideas to sha...

"A thousand times I've failed Still your mercy remains And should I stumble again Still I'm caught in your grace Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame My heart and my soul, I give You control Consume me from the inside out Lord Let justice and praise, become my embrace To love You from the inside out Your will above all else, my purpose remains The art of losing myself in bringing you praise Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise From the inside out, O my soul cries out" When I fail at the tasks put in front of me, when I stumble in my walk, when I fall flat on my face from pride, when I let others influence me and their judgements consume me, when all else fades I am reminded that He is Everlasting and that is all that truly matters. Thank you Jesus for never letting your light fade in me, for letting your purpose remain in me and for giving m...

Well it's the last week of July and that means only one thing! CHILDREN'S CAMP!!!!! Siloam Springs Baptist Camp has a children's only week the last week of July each year. It is fabulous! There are hundreds. Hundreds of kids all in one place. Eating, playing, studying God's word and worshipping together. Mike Seabaugh is the worship pastor for the week. He was the pastor at FBC in Camden when we were at Hillside Baptist in Camden. I was his daughter's kindergarten teacher and this year is her senior year. Yes, it makes me feel a little aged, but I'm handling it well. He does a great job. The kids loved him, and most of all children are saved under his preaching. Siloam is nothing new. My mother went to Siloam , Stephen and I went to Siloam as children, and now our children are going to Siloam . Three generations of Siloam campers. Who would have thought!!! Not a lot has changed at Siloam since the first time I went 31 years ago. Oh My Goodness! 31 years a...

Last Thursday I texted Julie to see how she was doing. She was taking Anna to the doctor and hating to miss the funeral in Fort Smith. I get a text back from Samuel telling me “Dude, this is Sam. Peace I am out!” I just love that he is almost 13 and a T-total preteen. It makes my auntly head spin, really. So, I went on to text him back and I wanted to share the conversation with you. If you know us in person, you will laugh. If you don’t know us outside of this blog, you may just think we are silly. Either way, I wanted to share: (little Samuel driving Aunt Abby's old turquoise "Cavy") Abby: Where is your mom? Samuel: She went to Fort Smith with Dad for the funeral. Christy will check on us often. Do not worry and do not tell Marmie! Abby: What? Is this Samuel? Samuel: She said cereal and sandwiches and I cannot use the stove. Abby: You are a dork. Where is your mom? Samuel: Headed north. I am getting scared. Don’t ever leave Henry alone. Abby: Where is your mom and why...

Yesterday while I was cooking lunch Daniel decided to scale the wing back chair in the dining room. Before you ask, I don't know why! His arm looked awful when he got up off the floor. He looked at me and said "call 911, call 911, call 911." He was pitiful. He was scared and hurting. (If you want to see what his arm looked like go here . I hurried and put up lunch, put shorts on Daniel, because he still had his pajama pants on. After all he does have mono! Grabbed my phone, which was dying, and hurried Anna and David out to the truck. Samuel was on a puppet ministry trip with the church. He was due home soon, but I couldn't wait. Stephen was in Ft. Smith helping with the funeral of a friend. I began praying immediately. We are 30 minutes from any hospital, and I was unsure of where to take him. God gave me the names of people to call and ask advice from and I ended up going to Baptist in Little Rock. Daniel was so quiet. He wasn't crying or talking. We put the fla...

This has nothing to do with Food Friday, but I had to go down memory lane. It was on this very Friday afternoon last year that Randall and I found out we were having a boy. I have been a "boy mom" for a year now and it makes my heart most happy. This day last year was one of the most exciting days of my life. I remember the anticipation and the butterflies in my somach as though it was just yesterday. It was a year ago tomorrow that we named him Henry while we were in Memphis buying his fabric and registering for different things. So sweet, so fun...now on to the main event for today...the food! Rhubarb Pie This is a family favorite from my mother's side. I had the pleasure of eating this very piece if pie that you see in the above photo this past week. My sweet Mawmaw made a rhubarb pie just for little ole me. I loved it and loved texting my Aunt J about the pie and making her jealous! hee hee 3 cups sliced rhubarb dash of salt 1/2 t orange peel 1 cup sugar 3 T flou...

Tommy Atchley was a great man. He was a christian and a lover of the Lord. He was a powerful testimony to the love of Christ. He was honest, nice, caring, giving, and funny! His family and Stephen's family vacationed together at the beach for many years. The families were close and he was Stephen's first "boss". Stephen spent a couple of summers working at Tommy's heating and air business. Stephen learned a lot those summers. Somethings not worth repeating. But he also learned how Tommy conducted himself in his business. Stephen has preached many a sermon on the kind of man Tommy was. On how a christian man should conduct himself in business and in his personal life. Tommy made a great impact on Stephen and so many others. Tuesday night Tommy went to be with the Lord. It is such a sad time for his family and friends. He had such a great spirit and personality about him. Stephen is going to Ft. Smith for the funeral. He and two other preachers that are all about t...

We love the Bye Bye Buggy! Henry used to get to ride in it more often but since I pick him up earlier these days he does not get to take rides with his friends as much. Today I worked the book fair at his school and his teacher was sweet enough to load him up with his mobile infant friends and come see me. He is the only non-mobile infant on the Buggy. He is special! These friends were former classmates of his but have moved across the hall. Henry is now big man on campus in the non-mobile room. He has friends in both classes...I love that. This face is priceless. He was laughing and out of breath from the little incline they went down to get into the fellowship hall. It got his stomach....I used to do that going down the "wee hill" in the Fort. It makes my heart glad to see him react to things like this. So cute...and such his mother's child! Notice none of his three girlfriends in this shot are letting the incline get their stomach. What a hoot my Henry is! Abby

If you read the post following this one you know that Daniel is sick now. I took him to the doctor this morning and he also has mono. 2 down, 2 to go! Stephen had to be in Pine Bluff for a couple of meetings today, so in between the meetings he was able to take David to the dentist for me while I was at the doctor. David did good at the dentist and I felt better that he wasn't alone. Not that he would have known he was alone. But I would have known and it would have made me a wee bit sad. Thanks for your prayers and sweet comments. I'm hoping that Daniel begins feeling better and can be fever free by Saturday so that he can go to church camp on Monday. Pray with us please. Julie

As you may recall David was diagnosed with mono on July 1. He had a terribly high fever, sore throat, headache, and no energy. After a little over a week he began to feel better and he was his normal self again. Fast forward to July 18. Daniel comes home from swimming all day and says he doesn't feel good. I take his temperature and its 101.8. He has a low body temperature so 101.8 was really high for him. He has since been complaining of a sore throat, headache and lack of energy. Fast forward to July 19. Anna is running a low grade fever and has diarrhea . REALLY???!!!! Samuel is away for a couple of days with Stephen's parents. I'm praying he misses all the sickness. We are all supposed to leave for church camp on Monday. We'll see! I'll let you know what the doctor says about Daniel. I take him in the morning. I'm going to go ahead and have them see Anna too. All while David is at the dentist. Oh yes, the joys of mothering!! But don't bother asking if...

We took Henry to east Texas to meet my grandparents. It was long overdue and a super sweet time of us being together and loving each other. We are so blessed to have such a loving family. I took this as Mawmaw grabbed Henry from me for the first time. Mouth and eyes are in motion and I just love it...I needed her to touch him. I know that may sound odd, but I needed it and today I am smiling because of it. Henry took right to them and loved playing at their house. He found the mirror in the dining room and took right to it. He is his mother's child! I have a picture of me looking in another mirror my Mawmaw has when I was close to his age. I thought it was cute. We loved taking Henry to Texas and showing him what it is all about...oil and family. We took some fun photos in downtown Kilgore in the Texas size heat. Henry loved looking at new things and posing for the camera. He is a ham. He and his daddy are a silly pair and quite cute, if I must say so. Henry in front of the ...

Yellow watermelon...yummy! This was my first yellow one and it was so good. My mother-in-law got it at the watermelon farm and had it chilled in her fridge. I stopped by her house one day last week and she gifted me with it. We ate on it for days and days. There is nothing like a cold watermelon in the heat of Summer. Unusual Peach Cobbler 3/4 stick butter 1 cup flour 1 cup sugar 1 1/2 t baking powder dash salt 3/4 cup milk 1 large can peaches & juice Melt butter; mix all ingredients except peaches. Pour over melted butter. Add peaches and spices (cinnamon & nutmeg). Bake for 45 minutes at 350. This was my great-grandmother's recipe. I typed it just as it was written in her recipe file. My Granny was the best cook. I made this cobbler this week for Randall and it was as yummy as ever. I love making things she cooked. It makes the dishes so much sweeter! Well, I guess Food Friday has to include something about this little foodie of mine. We found a new "dish" fo...

Vote each day through Sunday by clicking here . I love hearing my friends and family tell me their co-workers are voting and many have posted to their Facebook pages. I know this is a wee bit cheesy, but it is something simple and fun and we all crave that a little bit from time to time. HE IS #3 TODAY!!! He moved up from #5 yesterday.So, vote for Henry, tell your friends, and let's see if we can get the $250 prize to put in his piggy bank! Henry's Agent

This boy makes me happy! After 7 months I think I finally realize that being truly happy and focused on Jesus, this sweet boy and his daddy is all I am asked to do in this life. Everything after that is just the cherry on top. We are making a personal commitment in our home to cut out unneeded stress and drama, and focus on the real deal. It is a challenge for me at times, but one that is refreshing and most honorable. I am blessed and it is time I act like it! This is when I want to stress but have to stop and laugh...silly boy! He pushed the sweet potato jar out of my hand and there you have it...all over the floor, cabinet and me. It even made it to the laundry doors behind me in this picture. It was everywhere. He just had that look of wonder and confusion on his face and could not understand why the feeding stopped and he kept barking for more. I must say that it was a cute mess! This clean, happy face is what it is all about. When you look at this face you can tell he knows he...

Stephen and I are getting close to our 17 th anniversary. And in all of these years we've had bedtime snacks. We started eating Granny Smith apples and caramel dip while watching ER and Chicago Hope on tv . Those were the days. Now that we have children, we wait until they've gone to bed and then we eat. We've eaten chocolate chip cookies, no bake cookies, fruit and fruit dip. Lately, we've been eating popcorn (not microwaved! Coach Whitson taught me how to make popcorn on the stove many years ago, and I must say I'm pretty good at it!), and s'mores . Man, I love a s'more ! I put a marshmallow on a graham cracker under the broiler and when it is nice and brown, I take it out , put the chocolate and cracker on top and man its good!! I think they've made me sleep better lately. How about you? Do you have bedtime snacks? Julie

Click on this link above. The baby with the most votes wins! Vote everyday this week, if you will. We want our little pool boy to be the winner!! Thank you, Thank you! Abby

On Fridays we will now talk about food. I love food. I live to eat and think most of us would admit that we do not eat to live. Food is fun and brings people together. What better way to bring us all together at the end of the week...welcome to Food Friday, my blog friends! Friday's are my day to post, so this will be mainly me and my food thoughts, ideas and creations. Today I want to share a cake recipe that I made this week for a friend who had a baby. It was the first time I had made this cake and I loved the cost, the ease of cooking it, the presentation and the text message I received from my friend telling me how yummy it was. It was a winner! Butter Pecan Cake 1 box butter pecan 3/4 cup vegetable oil 1 cup water 1 can pecan coconut frosting 4 eggs Mix well and place in greased Bundt pan. Bake at 300 for 1 hour. I love an easy and yummy dessert recipe! And I am late posting Henry's 7 month photo. He is taking part in Food Friday...he likes to eat his veggies and fruits s...

Some friends of ours are on vacation and told us that we could pick peas, okra, and tomatoes from their garden while they were gone. So, all week I've been planning on taking the kids out to their garden to pick. Sounded like fun. Imagine the cute pictures of them kneeling by the pea plants smiling in the middle of the garden. Cute, precious. HARD WORK! Oh my word! We sweated, our necks and backs ached, three bumblebees accompanied me most of the time I was there. We saw nasty looking bugs, got stuck by thorny bushes, and our shoes. Well, they are very muddy. I'm a city girl. I love country things. I love that I can have fresh tomatoes, corn, okra, and peas from a garden in my town if I just request it from a friend. But I do not like picking them myself. (True confessions: I called Stephen to ask him what color the peas were supposed to be for us to pick. There were brown ones, purple ones and green ones. I had been told that these peas were a different color than the normal p...

David is still suffering with the effects of mono. Poor kid. He just lays around. I told him last night he had already had it a week, and people say it lasts 2-4 weeks. So maybe he just has 1-3 weeks left. I hope, but I doubt. Sunday I kept him home from the morning worship. Sunday night we were cooking out and playing games at church. He went for a couple of hours and then begged to come home. After we ate, he and I left the others and went home to rest. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be well-rested when this is all over. Stephen's dad sent the kids money for fireworks. They each got to pick out what they wanted to buy with their money. Sunday night, we all gathered in the backyard and watched as each of the kids fireworks were blown up, popped, and set afire. Then we watched Stephen's fireworks. I think he got to spend more money then they did. His were bigger and brighter! But we had such a good time, in between swatting the mosquitos! What did you do for the fourth?

The man and woman traveled together They met up with all the man's work people They missed the child Last week Randall and I traveled to Minnesota for a company retreat. It was a nice change of pace. It was our first time to travel together without Henry. I willed him over to Juju for the week, after he had a brief stay with his Nana. I am so glad we have such sweet family who love our boy and take any opportunity to keep him for us. Sweetness. Juju met us and handed over the baby boy. It was a struggle to have her give him up, but she did it and we were so very glad to see his sweet face. He heard our voices and went crazy. It was precious. Juju is a good second Mama. I willed her to him as I boarded the itty-bitty plane that took us to our little resort town in Minnesota. It sort of freaked me out so I texted her and said "Raise him well and tell him we love him!" ha. After we got Henry loaded in the truck we headed to the Fort to see Marmie and the gang! Henry lov...

Happy Fourth of July from our little firecracker! Abby