Life with my sister

  He had jokes, always It’s been a year this week since my daddy left this earth to take up residency inside his mansion in glory. I love to laugh at the thought of anyone thinking Bob Skutt is dressed like cupid, Casper or flying around in angel wings. Y’all, Bob, isn’t fluttering about watching over us! "Ho Ho Ho it's the Grandmonkey" My father in costume for eternity is a strong “nope”. One time he dressed like an elf for the Santa float in the Fort Smith Christmas parade. I was too old to think that was cool. It was a tragic day for the offspring. He ran around Garrison Ave. and threw candy while in an elf costume. Photos were taken and distributed about town. One was even framed inside the trophy case at the field house of our beloved Northside High School. I walked past it for years and moaned every time. Never a dull moment with him and I am positive that was the last costume he ever wore on earth or in eternity. It was truly something. King of the wild frontier My...

We are inching up to the first heaveniversary of daddy's death. I decided I didn't want to forget the details of that day from my perspective . He was such a loud light in all of our lives and that is missed more than any of us can truly express. I know heaven is a louder and lighter place because of his presence. I still picture him arriving in heaven and it makes me grin ear to ear with a tear.  “Abby, It’s your dad. He’s gone.”   Those words came from a tear stained face and through a broken voice shattered with shock. My husband delivered the news. He knew how those words would devastate me in a way like no other bad news ever had. I had lost jobs, friends, a goldfish, car radiators and engines even, but never had anyone had to tell me I had just lost something as precious as a daddy.  "He's gone." Never something you prepare to hear and the word "gone" still rings oddly in my ear, almost a year later. I sat in Randall's truck screaming ugly word...

One word to describe this year: Overwhelming. In every sense of the word. Recovering from all the ways 2019 overwhelmed me will take a minute. Overwhelmed in both the good and bad ways. Overwhelmed with disappointment, loss and frustration but also overwhelmed with goodness, love, grace and much hope. Joy always comes in the mourning and morning. This year was proof of it. Best thing I did for someone this year: I fought for my child through what felt like a minefield at times. I fought for his best interest in school, in his faith, on the field, at the table, in the gym and in the loss of a grandparent. He is 10 and unaware of how much we do to feed his success, help him thrive and protect his heart. Randall and I get to enjoy the joy in the journey. That's parenting, right?! Favorite movie of the year: Toy Story 4 on opening night with my people. Favorite show of the year: Dallas - all 14 seasons watched again. Most embarassing moment of the year: That's hard ...

Yesterday I read a blog a friend of mine wrote about being a foster parent. She has been so real in her telling of her time as a foster mom. It’s been refreshing to read her highs AND her lows. So many times people make it seem like rainbows and fairy dust. As her blog post went on she admonished the church,  the people in the pews, to be foster parents. And that got me thinking. The Southern Baptist Convention is going through a challenging time right now. The climate in the convention is harsh. People are mad, wounded, looking to lash out. While others are defending the actions of men that have been so wrong and for so long. I thought about my friends blog, her call to be a foster parent and began to put thoughts together of why more people can’t/won’t be foster parents. I’ve been in the church my whole life, I know Christians, I know church people. And this is what I know. The men and women that are filling our churches are sinners. And sadly many of them are just fine liv...

Oh, for the love of the game. Can we not just let kids play ball when they are little and not try to shape them into who we wanted to be and never were? I'm just sayin....I could easily fall into that trap with my child because I was never the best at anything physical, but thankfully I don't engage in such behavior because what I lack in athletic talent, I'm off the chart in good sense. Being a parent is one of the hardest jobs on earth. I mean, if you want to do it it right and with all your might. Watching your kid struggle and succeed all in the same breath is an experience like none other and cannot be expressed with words really. Moms just know and have this look they give each other that basically says "yep, I see your baby. shine on, mama." Henry and his best buddy (2017) My son has the character that many grown men could only wish to have. He has done well accepting the fruit basket the Holy Spirit has given him (aka- fruits of the spirit) ...except...

This photo popped up on Instagram last week and it has consumed me ever since. Shocker, huh? Jesus laughs. Who knew? If you think this is irreverent than you need to click off here right now because your holy toes are about to get stepped on. We always see the stoic Jesus or the wounded Jesus.  I don't think He wants to be seen that way and I am pretty certain he does not want His children to be seen that way. Serious and wounded is how we are taught to see Him in pictures. I like to think this is the true picture of who Jesus is. Love is all over this face. I can't help but smile while looking at it. None of us know what He really looks like and we all see Him differently. The Bible tells us to count it all joy through trials of many kinds. I am no Bible scholar. I have a degree in communications and a minor in home economics. I took an old testament course in college and made a C. But, I have been washed in the blood, raised in the Bible belt as a Southern Baptist who...

 This boy. Oh, this boy. He has a purpose far greater than we realize and I cannot wait to see what God has mapped out for him. It will be anything but boring. Henry is all boy yet more perceptive than anyone I know and with that comes intense awareness of others feelings. He carries others burdens in a way I wish I could bottle up and pour into my own heart some days. He isn't worried like we worry, he is just concerned and hopeful with sweet innocence. It is a beautiful gift he has. Bath time is a big time of reflection for him. I hear a lot about friends at school and their days during his baths. I am pretty certain these friends have no idea how Henry has grasped onto their day and that he is thinking of them and praying through anything that he picked up as a concern during the day. It makes me laugh sometimes and sometimes it brings me to tears. I wish I could be the type of friend Henry is. He had a foster kid at his school leave and come back and the sadness a...

It's Food Friday! I am not a huge fan of Chicken noodle soup but with weather like we have had and days couped up in the house, I found myself branching out with what I had on hand. It reminds me of being sick at home by myself as a teenager and opening the can of soup mama had left out on the counter for me before she left for work. It reminds me of having a sore throat or a stopped up nose. It always made me feel bloated. I am weird, but tell me you don't relate things together like this? Anywho, I ran across this recipe and it was a winner! My guys liked it and it was easy to make. I hope you will try it and pass it along. 3 cups of cooked chicken (chopped) 8 slices of cooked bacon (crumbled) 1/2 yellow onion (diced) 1 ranch seasoning packet 30 oz  chicken broth put all this in a pot and start to bring to a slow boil. Add spaghetti noodles (eyeball them...you chose the amount) stir them in and let soup heat until noodle are soft. Add 1 cup milk (or more if yo...

Who reading this has a vision casted for yourself in 2018? Well, I have a fun way to cast a vision for yourself, your marriage, your work and your family. I love doing this and haven't done it in a few years. Since we had a ridiculous amount of time inside this week because of the weather, I made one. Henry loved making collages with all the old magazines for his bedroom wall, so it was an activity that both of us enjoyed. Maybe you are like Julie and your response to this is," Sister, I don't have a single magazine in my home. I read online. It's 2018. hello." You can make a vision board in several different ways, you don't have to use magazines. I have started a Pinterest board to help you get your creative juices flowing. Sometimes it is so good for my mental well being just to stop and be crafty and reflect on things that make me happy. As you can see, mine is wordy. I love words. They have so much power. Pictures don't reach me like words do. E...

I just love to do fun crafty things. I also love to focus on blessings when and if possible...we all know those times can be hard though. So, a few years ago I started a blessing jar for the year. I cut some paper into strips and put it in the jar with a pen. My goal is for those in my home to stop and jot down a blessing throughout the year. Fold it up and throw it in to the jar. Easy, peasy and fun.   On New Years Eve we get out the jar and read what was in it. It is comical to recap it all and it is also so cool to see what little things made an impact on us throughout the year. My guys are something else and love to leave things like this in the jar at times. What are some fun, interactive ways you get your family focused on their blessings? we would love to hear! Abby Jo

It’s Friday and that means food!! Back in the day every Friday was Food Friday over here at Life With My Sister . It's time to bring it back! Food is one of my favorite subjects. I wake up thinking about my next three meals, the good thing is, I'm not picky. Fast food, nice restaurants, eating out, eating in, as long as it involves eating i’m IN! Especially when it is eating with my sister...she's my fave. I lied a little just then. Eating in really isn’t my favorite thing to do ( sorry, sis!). The cooking, cleaning up, planning, shopping stink. None of those are things I enjoy. Although, I do love a bargain and our grocery store has a little clearance section in the back refrigerated section, and I love it! Yesterday I got a gallon of milk for $1.00 and eggnog (I have drunk my weight in eggnog this Christmas season) for 25 cents. A quarter? Are you kidding me?  Grocery shopping is really at the bottom of my list of fun things to do. To do it w...

What a time of reflection the new year brings to us. "Bye, Felicia" was the most overused hastag and witty comeback I have ever typed with my short little fingertips. I don't know Felicia, but that poor girl needs a welcome basket or a party invitation in 2018. Every 365 days we get a do over . A cold, brisk try again awaits us as the calendar strikes day one. I am quite fond of this slow and cold time of year. It is when I met and fell in love with my husband . I love the newness and stillness that comes with the brand new year. As wild as it sounds, winter is my favorite time of year. You know, some years are just plain crazier than others and 2017 was every bit of that. It was my best professional year ever and one of my worst on a personal level. I just plain bombed life as mom and wife. Taking on too many good things that were not my best yes caused me to stink up my reign as queen bee of the Lee 3. I can blame it on a lot of distraction and things not fitting...

1 Cor 10: 23-24 Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Even as adults we test this truth. We think of kids and how they test the limits. Well, we do it too. For us it looks a little different sometimes. We often want something so bad we will do anything to get it when all the while that something was not meant for us. Last week a house went on the market right down the street from us. We have not been looking to move, though we do look at anything that might peak our interest but after over 3 years of doing real estate, we have stayed put. We are not risk takers. We stay near the safety net and tread in the smooth waters as much as we can. Randall insisted we look at this house Friday night. So, we did. We fell in love with it. We stayed forever in it and talked about what we would do to it, etc. We made a formal offer that night. It was a foreclosure so it was up to the bank and it was a holiday so we had to wait. Sunday during lunch Randall suggested we drive o...

We never post anymore because we are full of excuses and no one reads this these days, thanks to the ever updating Facebook and and Instagram. but today while I eat lunch at my computer, why not update it a bit and shake things up on a Wednesday. I have been convicted this week. I never share Jesus. Really share Jesus. Like as in asking the hard questions to people in my life who I am not certain really know Him. I think one of the reasons I don't feel bold in my faith is because my story is so vanilla. I mean I barely have sprinkles on top and it may even be sugar free vanilla. I can't let that stop me though. Grace wins whether you are saved as a child or as an adult in prison or a young girl in a pregnancy crisis center or an adult going through the motions. Grace is the same and the blood was shed just the same. So, here is my faith story. I was raised in the buckle of the Bible belt in Fort Smith, Arkansas. God's country. One grandfather was a Souther...

It's an election year, do you know what that means? It's Leap Year! An extra day has been given to us so let's do something special with it.  It's a special gift, even though it's a Monday this year. Let's do something special with the day. Here are some ideas for how to spend our extra day, February 29!  1. Fold clothes for a foster family.  2. Donate $29 (for the 29th) to your local pregnancy resource center.  3. Volunteer at a local elementary school.  4. Pay for the car behind you in the drive-thru line.  5. Take a dessert to your local Fire Department.  6. Write letters to soldiers overseas.  7. Volunteer at an animal shelter 8. Pick up trash at a park.  9. Leave quarters on washing machines at a laundromat.  10. Donate $29 to your church's missionary orginazation (IMB, NAMB) 11. Provide dinner for a foster family.  12. Leave an extra tip for your waiter/waitress at lunch/dinner.  13. Have a special dinner just for your fa...

God works in our lives in ways we can't imagine or see at the time it's happening. I've wished so many times to be able to look ahead and see how everything works out in a particular situation. I know so many times the outcome is never what I would have imagined in the onset.  This story is no different. The fact that I'm able to look back on the last eleven years and see God work is a gift from Him. I challenge you to look back on your life, your circumstances and see how God worked in your life.  Many years ago Stephen and I made the decision that our children wouldn't play sports on Sunday. (Stephen made the decision and I agreed with it) It was an easy decision to make with him being a pastor and an obligation to be at our church on Sunday.  It was also an easy decision because the opportunity of playing on Sunday had never presented itself to us, however we saw the popularity of travel baseball teams on the rise and knew the subject would come up sooner, rather...

We love counting down the days to Christmas in this house. We have advent two ways. A Chocolate advent calendar is one of then. We always had one growing up. One year mama couldn't find chocolate so we had tiny little toys in each window. It was very odd and we were ready to rush through that one! Julie and I took turns opening the days each year. One had even days and one had odd days. I was so glad when she married and moved away because it was all mine then!  Julie and I carry on the tradition with our kiddos. It's loved by them as much as it was with us. It's so fun to keep that tradition going. How many calendars have we hoarded up in our deep freezers over the years thinking we would never find any again?! We are serious about the chocolate advent calendar.  I don't do the Elf on the Shelf. I love admiring those that do. It's really cute. I just can't get a peace about it for us. What we do works and Henry loves it like it is...and we do too.  At our house...