Life with my sister

This week flew by for me. I seemed to be going and going more than normal. Because my normal is usually staying home and loving it! Monday Anna and I headed to central Arkansas for a ministers' wives fellowship. Those women make me laugh. I'm fortunate to be in a their group. Tuesday we had a bit of snow. It was so pretty coming down, but didn't last long. Anna got a hold of my camera and did this with it. It's a bit scary. The week was fun, the weekend hasn't turned out anything like I had planned though. Oh well, I'll enjoy it anyway!! Julie

This I loved Abby's blog post yesterday. Saturday was a fun day and filled with lots of love.  Seeing family members twice in three months was awesome! I thought I would add a few more pictures. These were the cutest BLT's I've ever had. And they were yummy too. Eddy and his wife Ranwa put this shindig together. It was elegant and fun. We might have added more fun than we should have. This is my favorite picture of the day. David and Daniel trying to act like they were drinking more than just apple juice and pink grapefruit juice. These faces make me smile, shake my head, and feel so much love! Julie

This past Saturday we all met in Little Rock to celebrate our Aunt Suzy. She is our mother's aunt, our Mawmaw's sister. Aunt Suzy turned 80 and her sons and daughter-in-law planned a perfect surprise party for her at the Clinton Library. Can you believe this beauty is 80?! We age well in our clan, and for that I am most thankful! The photo of this cake does it no justice at all, but I used my phone for photos on this day. Her son, Clay flew in his cake designer from New Orleans and had her make this wonderful cake. It had 8 layers and 80 butterflies. It may also have been the best tasting cake I have had since I can remember. Kim was a pleasure to meet. I have asked if I can come watch them work sometime. I think working for a baking company and designing and baking the cakes you and I buy at the grocery store has to be the coolest job. Our family is so diverse and I love it.   My Mama with Aunt Suzy and her son Clay. Pam is in the red and she is one of ...

I used to love doing these, I love even more, going through and reading them years later. January 23, 2014 ...Outside my window..It is so cold and windy today, but the sun is shining. It really is quite pretty. ...I am thinking..Because Anna and I watched a Hallmark movie, I'm thinking that I'm going to be an emotional mess at my children's weddings! ...In prayer for..Stephen is actively looking for a full time job. He needs one badly, please pray with us ...I'm thankful for..this is superficial but real. I'm thankful for a friend who is a barber who cuts all of our hair for free. My hair has never looked better than when she cuts it! ...In the kitchen..I decided I don't want to make what was on the menu for tonight, so I punted. We had baked taquitos and they were yummy! ...I am wearing..my most comfy faded blue jeans, black quarter zip pullover and a colorful scarf. My fave comfy outfit. ...I am going..To clean my room tonight It seems to have been a dumping g...

TheWe weren't the most exciting bunch last week, but we were Bunyan d had a little bit of fun. I made fried chicken! We are the original family game night family. This week among other games, we played Headbanz, it's like charades  a bit and we laughed and laughed! These two have quite a bond. They love each other so much, and are fun to watch. I had to run some errands one day and these three asked to come along. It's much better running errands with them! Martin Luther King weekend is one of my favorite times to shop. All the stores have their Christmas decorations marked down way low and it's the only time I can afford good ornaments. Ha! And after our tree fell down this Chrismas I need to replenish! I got all of these for a steal! I missed shopping with Abby though!

This winter has been cozy thus far. Lots of cold days at home. I have actually loved it...and I think Henry has also. Lots of time in Jammies and books. This guy loves books! We have been trying to make wiser food choices and it is hard for my nugget, fry, chip, candy loving boy. This night he was eating a foot long fruit roll up after eating his veggies. Balance I say!! Playing church is a new one for us. This day Henry was leading music. He sang and played guitar and keyboard. We sang every praise song he has ever heard and all was lead by him. It was pretty impressive and made this mama heart turn to mush. Love this child!! This time he was pretending to be a "worker man" and he wore his worker vest and backpack. His cubbies vest from Awana. Love it. The bathroom was his truck and he was inside his pretend truck in this photo. Imagination on fire!  This was the coldest morning in forever. We stayed bundled up like this most all day. I love lazy cold days but I am ready for...

Oh my! I don't talk about my cooking skills too much, because well what would I say?  But tonight, I'm talking about my skills. We had this for supper tonight! Fried chicken made by me, at my house. I know. We were all excited too. I come from a long line of excellent fried chicken makers. I even went to Mamaw's for my birthday one year, I think year 35,  just so she would make me fried chicken as my gift.  I give you this picture for proof that I made it. Ha! My only fail was that I didn't make gravy. I made mashed potatoes, green beans, Sister Shubert rolls, and the chicken. But I couldn't get everything done close enough to the same time to make gravy. Oh well, I'll try again next time. Tomorrow night we're having beans and cornbread. It's like I'm a pioneer woman! Haha!

It's the beginning of a new week so I thought I'd share some pictures from last week. They aren't of good quality, but they are of good people! This is Abi. She had just returned from a mission trip to Africa, and her first stop was our house. We love her, and her family. David had/has poison ivy on his face (again), so he put cream on it to help with the itching, that why his face is shiny! A picture of the girls of the family. We take a lot of pictures together, and I'm sure we will keep this trend up! Daniel and Anna. These two keep me laughing. They each have the funnest personalities! They had spent the day at the trampoline park and were pretty tired.  See what I mean about not good quality, but good people? I bet the pictures get better over time, I mean, they have to don't they? And one of these days I'm going to get one of Samuel!

I have nothing really coherent today, just a few random thoughts. ...I miss Christmas movies. There were so many good ones this year, I'm hoping there are some good Valentine ones soon. ...The first few days of 2014 were really bad. Really. The last couple of days have been pretty great.  ...There is supposedly a Velvetta shortage. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I love cheese dip, Velvetta is a must but I feel so ridiculous "stocking up" on it. But if I can't find it at my store, I'm going to be really upset. Such a first world problem. ...I got a dishwasher!!! I know I mentioned it the other day but you don't understand my excitement. ... Can you stand the cuteness of this picture? I was about Anna's age in this picture. She wishes I had kept the coat for her. This was one of my very favorite Christmas gifts ever, a rabbit fur coat. Oh, the 80's! What a great time. ...and let's talk about Abby in that picture. She was a beauty even then. ...

ThWell it turns out I did make a bit of a resolution this year. Oops! Not a better myself resolution, but a do something different resolution. You're going to love it. You're not going to believe it. I hardly believe it myself. Abby doesn't even know, she's probably going to do a cartwheel. Well, maybe just a somersault! I'm going to take a picture of one of my family members everyday this year. And not just that, but I'm posting them!  Can you stand it?!! Pictures of my family on the internet. Daily! I know!! I'm going to post them on Instagram everyday. And let me tell you that this is just the 8th day and there have been a couple of days that everyone was asleep before I remembered to take a picture. You're not surprised are you? I'll post some of them here each week too. You can join Instagram without posting any pictures, you can just follow me, and anyone else you know. It's easy, and it's no big deal. This is my picture today. I GOT A ...

Yesterday in all of my angst, I reverted back to teenage girl status. I opened my bible and hoped (sadly more than I prayed) that something would pop out at me to soothe my soul. I know this isn't the way to search scripture, or study the Bible. But yesterday, it's what I did. Instead of opening my real Bible, or even my Bibles on my iPad, I opened the one on my Kindle. It of course was already on a page and I began to read. What I read was in Matthew 26, when Jesus was being anointed with expensive, fragrant oil. I read that and immediately felt peace. It dawned on me that I have three different reactions to scripture when I read it. One is total confusion. I can read passages and it is like the words shouldn't even be put together in sentences. It's almost like a foreign language to me. I know when that happens that I'm just reading to get it read for the day, not to be gleaning more understanding and wisdom from the Bible.  The next is anxiety. There are some pas...

If you know me, you know I don't like conflict or confrontation. I like peace. Everyone getting along, people compromising, giving in a little, taking a little so that things run smoothly, feelings aren't hurt and people get along. That's what I like. That's not what I've known lately. Not much peace in my neck of the woods. I've done my share of all the things I listed above, I've also not done my share of those things. Sometimes conflicts will arise. Not everyone is on the same page at the same time. Sometimes the same page will never be found.  I'm sure in this case common ground and peace will be found soon. Circumstances will be forgiven and hearts will be mended. But for now I'm working through a lot of emotion and feelings. That sounds like such a girl thing to say. I wonder if men would use the same terminology. Probably not. Right now I'm praying. And praying some more. I'm seeking God out through His word, books written by His peopl...

Finally I can say Happy New Year! January 1st began with doughnuts and shopping but quickly became just a yucky, bad day. When I went to bed I decided to try the Groundhog Day approach to the next day. I would just try again. So, January 2nd came and I locked my keys in the van while out of town and had to have AAA unlock my van. I had a horrible headache and still had to grocery shop. And not just a normal trip, but a big trip to the grocery store. The little boy behind me in line said, "that's A LOT of money" twice when the clerk gave me my total. It was that kind of trip. So I once again decided to try the Groundhog Day approach. And today was good. No need to call AAA, no headache, just a lazy New Years Day. Finally! I thought about a do over when the boys and Stephen played Monopoly all afternoon. All. Afternoon. But I chose joy and joy prevailed! I didn't make any resolutions this year. I know myself, and know that I wouldn't keep any of them. There are thin...

I woke up this morning to the news of Mrs. Betty Gilsons death. I'm sure most of you reading this knew her. Not only knew her but loved her. How could a person not love Mrs. Gilson? She was a short lady, always wore pleated polyester skirts and smiled. Oh, did she smile! She was one of those people that oozed the joy of the Lord. You could tell just by lookin at her that she loved Jesus and loved His people.  She especially loved Mr. Gilson. He was a tall man, and she was so short. They were so cute together. Always holding hands, sitting side by side in their car, smiling at each other, praying together. A beautiful testment to a loving marriage. I didn't know the other Mrs. Gilson, her mother-in-law, but my mom and Mamaw did. They would talk of her wise advice and sweet loving spirit. She was one you could sit with, tell your problems to, and she would give advice. I wish there were more people like that now. There are so many young married girls that need Godly wisdom impart...