Life with my sister

The weekend before Henry's surgery his Marmie came to visit us and we three headed out to the pumpkin patch for a little fall time fun. We took Henry to this same place last year and thought it was really fun. We decided to take him back this year. He and his Marmie were so cute in this cutout. This year he is much more independent than he was last year. Henry is full of life. There is never a dull moment. I adore his personality so much. It is contagious. He is my growing little pumpkin. Last year he was almost at the middle of that third pumpkin. If I was a savvy blogger I would have compared the 2 pics for you but I have no time to dig through old photos, so just believe me! Henry spotted a wagon full of fall goodness and decided he needed it. It was a hoot watching him attempt to pull it. He was actually successful at it and I feared a hernia, so I made him stop. He was unwilling, of course, but he had diversion, thankfully. That diversion was corn. ...

Henry is sound asleep in the hospital tonight. He got dehydrated and was not taking his medication so the doctor admitted him for some IV fluids and meds. He is so pitiful and lifeless. It is sad. We pray all the meds and fluids will get our Henry back on course and headed home tomorrow. My friend Lisa prayed the best prayer for him tonight in the hospital room. She asked God to bend his little will and that he would take his meds when he got back home. I ask you to pray the same, if you will.   Abby

 Henry's surgery went well and we have him at home for at least a week recouping. After a rough first day of not wanting his meds, we are finally getting him to take them. I snapped some photos at the surgery center, of course. Henry was unsure of his surgery but excited about the dog gown and toys they nurses gave him. Randall and I were back with him in pre op while my sweet mama waited in the waiting area. They got some meds in him, after quite a battle, and they instantly made him loopy. It was so funny and sad at the same time. Randall recorded some if it on his phone. I will try to load it on here sometime soon. The nurses gave him lots of stickers so he had me stick them all over his body.  I tired not to cry, but I did for just a bit while we were waiting for them to take him back to surgery. I was glad my mama was there with us while we waited during the surgery. I am also so glad she sat by me after ragging on my attire and wet hair in the wait...

"You are gonna do what?" Today this precious boy is having his tonsils and adenoids removed, having ear tubes put in and getting tested for allergies. I am a wee but anxious, but I know that he is one of many to have this done, but yet still, he is our only one and this is not our normal. Pray that this helps our Henry Patton dry up and breathe better.  Pray for his doctor to have a steady hand, sharp mind and a soft touch with our son. Pray for Henry's pain tolerance, to not resist his medicine, and for him to have a speedy recovery. Pray for Randall and I to be anxious for nothing but in prayer and application let our requests be known to God! This is gonna be big for us. We are both very over protective of this precious joy of ours. My mama heart is heavy this morning for my little fella but I rest knowing we have our loving family and faithful friends praying us through this. I took this photo at the ENT last month when we scheduled the surgery. He was so ex...

We loaded up last Friday and headed down to the Alabama Gulf Coast for one last rendezvous in the sun before the year is over. Randall finished his harvest last week, so it was perfect timing. Our first stop when we hit the coast was the Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores. Henry loved the funnel cake and I enjoyed watching him eat it. He was covered in sugar. We have eaten them several times this fall at the fairs and such. He is a sucker for one...and so are we! It is like they knew I was coming! I saw my name without an "e" in it. I was so excited, but I did not buy this...no worries! We did end up buying some wall art for the den and some other cute things. We are a sucker for a festival. We then went to check into the Caribe. We love it there. We like the view of the bay and the gulf. We stayed in the exact location in May, just 2 floors lower. It is so clean, modern and quiet. The pools are great and the access to the beach is close. Henry loves the el...

A couple of months ago the pastors wife at First Baptist in Leachville, AR asked me to speak at their women's luncheon that was held this weekend. I love FBC Leachville so I immediately said yes. Last week I was wishing I hadn't been so quick to say yes. Nervous doesn't begin to describe how I felt. Oh my! I don't mind getting in front of people and speaking. There have been many times when I've introduced the speaker but there has never been a time when I have been the speaker. It was a new experience but I'm glad I got the opportunity to share with them. The room was decorated with beautiful mums. They gave me one to take home and it was honestly the biggest mum I've ever seen. It was almost too big to pick up. And you know what happened? I left it. Oh, I was just sick about it. It was beautiful and HUGE. I hope Christy takes good care of it for me. Stephen and I were able to go alone and spend a fun time at dinner with our friends Jill, Nathan and D...

It is always busy at our house these days because of scenes like this one. Henry decided to dump all his toys out of the toy box and then dump all his books out of the baskets and put them in the toy box. He of course stops and recites each book as he fills up the toy box. It made a huge mess but occupied him for a while and occupied trumps mess sometimes. It was also just super cute to watch. Santa Claus brought Henry this barn for his first Christmas.  He was 3 weeks old. Just in the past month he has taken to it. He is also learning more about Santa Claus. I am not sure why the intrigue all the sudden since we have not even had Halloween yet....but something makes me think it has to do with that bloomin Barney VHS...Marime is going to pay for that someday, someway!  It is constant "Where Santa Claus go? Him go North Pole, Mama? Him make toys? Barney at North Pole with Santa Claus? Santa Claus bring me red truck with trailer and crossfit toys, Mama?" Yes it is fun.....

Daniel is on the left and David is on the right in both pictures. (At least thats what we tell ourselves about the first picture) I can't believe these babies are 11 1/2. They seemed so little, and fragile back then. I didn't know what to expect with twins. I had visions, and nightmares about two boys the same age. But those visions didn't come true. They were good eaters, sleepers (Thank you Babywise!) and even good toddlers. I often say having them is the most fun I've ever had.  When I was pregnant I thought one would be blond and the other brown headed, they arrived looking just alike. We didn't know who was who just by looking the whole first year! It wasn't a good feeling not being able to tell your children apart.  Although David and Daniel look a lot alike they act so differently. And I love each of them so very much. God gave them such different personalities. They bring much laughter and smiles to our lives. ...

We live in a town with no family. We live hours away, counties away, and state lines away from them. It is what we know and it is how we have lived now for 4 years. It is life, yet there are days I would give a front tooth to have my mama, my sister, my daddy or my mother in love in the same town as me. Randall travels a lot. It is what we know and it is how we have lived for years now. It is life, yet there are days when he is gone that I wonder if I will make it to bedtime with a shred of sanity left in me. This week is one of those weeks. He will be on a late flight tonight and get back to town at about 2 am to ensure he wakes up with us in the morning. He tries to stay no more than 2 or 3 nights away at a time. I know some people have husbands who are home every night and feel the way i do, because their husbands don't help. Mine helps. He helps too much! I am bad about letting him do it all some nights so when he is away for 3 nights I begin to fold. I am spoiled I g...

  If you have a pulse in the state of Arkansas this football season you know that stAte is the stuff! We have never been real big fans of Randall's alma mater because around these parts you either love or hate the Hogs and we love the Hogs.  In fact, we had only been to 2 stAte games in the 4 years we lived here until this past weekend. Things are changing around here and since our beloved Hogs are in agony and too painful to watch, we decided to support the home team. Henry loved the impromptu tailgate with our friends. He and Quinn ran around in the grass barefoot like true Arkansas delta boys. They were a rowdy mess. These delta red wolf boys make my heart happy. James and Randall keep me on my toes and usually laughing. They don't let much pass when it comes to my shenanigans...or Emily's either.   Randall discovered while getting dressed for the game (and noticing that Henry and I matched...but of course) that he owns no ASU attire excep...

If you've read this blog for very long you know that my people aren't fond of taking pictures. Well, except for Anna. I don't even fight them anymore. I just hope my mind can hold the memories we make and that I won't need the help of pictures. I hope, I don't believe it will happen. My memory is not what it should be! So, these are the picture I will show you from our beach vacation. I took others of the actual beach and my kids in the water but for some reason I'm having trouble posting them. Surprised? But, who needs to see the kids when you can see a picture of me in the Walmart bathroom and Stephen and me at our fave restaurant. Really, it's a toss up between the actual beach and the eating we do that are my favorite things to do on vacation. I couldn't even sleep the night before we left for thinking of all the great food I was going to get to eat. The picture of Stephen and me was taken at Mcguires. They have the best steaks. Did you ...