Life with my sister

9 years ago today I said "I do" to my Randall. I always loved this picture. It is in a little frame on my bedside table. It was taken in the brides room after the ceremony. I remember Mama and Mawmaw being afraid we might run off into a broom closet before the reception! We were so excited to finally be married, if you know what I mean! ha. I really like the Aqua Net can in the background the best. All good southern girls use Aqua Net for their 'dos. This is possibly the most priceless photo I have in my album. Because I share this blog with my favorite sister, I thought it was finally time to show this little snapshot of us. I was taking my photos before the ceremony and feared I forgot my deodorant so like any good sister, Jules applied for me. There are too many reasons why I love this girl, just sayin! Wasn't she beautiful in that dress. I loved my wedding. It was perfect. This was our first Christmas card photo. If you are familiar with our annual card, you kno...

Henry was all smiles when I picked him up early on Friday from school and told him we were going to see Juju and the gang. He had his Gigi, juice and his DVD player playing. He was set and ready! His little squinty smile is funny stuff. We traveled to Stuttgart on our way to Pine Bluff to see Samuel and Daniel play basketball. Henry had never been to a basketball game. He ran right onto the court and after the ball. Anna caught him for me. She is such a good little helper. I wish I had her all the time! Aren't they cute in their raccoon and beaver hats?! Daniel is on the far left and Samuel has the ball. I loved that they were both on the court at the same time. They are in a homeschool group that plays other homeschool groups and small private schools. It was fun to watch them play, cheer for them and hopefully not embarrass them. They are at that age and I forget sometimes. They are all still Henry's size in my aunt heart! This little love went to a lock-in with a local ...

I get to spend the weekend with this silly bunch. Julie told me this weekend better meet her expectations! From the high side of the delta (or as us natives like to call it..."the dirty") to the low side, we will roll on down and see them. Pine Bluff better watch out, Henry and Aunt Abby are rolling in for the weekend! I thank God for my precious family and the joy we get over seeing one another. Nothing in this life is more precious than this. P.S. I am taking a little break from Food Friday for a while. I hope you don't mind :) Abby

I have been singing this song all morning! Abby

Mama had all her babies at her house this past weekend and she loved it. Jules and I took the trek west without our hubbies in tow. It was fun to have girl time and to have the kids play with each other for a few days...or should I say it was fun for Henry. The Fab 4 were so gracious to entertain that sweet boy of ours! This makes coming "home" even sweeter. Melissa is my BFF, if you are not familiar with her from previous posts. We have been friends since I was 4. Besides my sister, she is the friend I have had the longest in life, and she is my best friend. She had baby Luke 4 months after I had Henry and she has 2 other cute boys, Drew and Grant. Luke and Henry are going to be a pair! Henry calls him "Wookie" and all week he has said "Wookie house". Sweet little angel wants to go back. Melissa and I got to spend time together 3 times n 1 day. I loved it. Going downtown is always so much fun. We grew up in Fort Smith. If you do not know what makes Fort S...

Happy Birthday to my older, stylish, sweet and sassy sister! Julia, I hope you have a blessed day because you being on this earth is a blessing to all of us. It is a joy to know Mama bonded us together in her womb and then Daddy chose to make us sisters...sisters that hold tighter than crazy glue! It makes me smile to know you are another year older and wiser than me and there is not a thing you can do about it! Join me in wishing a HAPPY, HAPPY day to my favorite and most beautiful sister, Julia Kathryn (Or you can just call her Julie ) with a little celebration, Bobby Sherman style! I used to play this record (yes, a record) when she married and moved out when I was 15. I would cry and hyperventilate because I missed her so bad. I have always loved that girl! Abby

I got to touch her sweet face, look in her pretty hazel eyes and hear her contagious laugh in person. I love my big sister and I am SO glad I got to spend 24 hours with her this week. We were showing off how we looked alike with the same hair-do in this picture. Looking alike is rare for us so we have to own it when we do! Loving on my fab four makes this heart of mine beat a little louder. I love these babies as though they are my very own. They think Aunt Abby is crazy and I am cool with that. Daniel, Samuel, Anna and David are such precious little gifts from God. Samuel is 13 and too cool for school until Henry hits the scene. He lets Henry take over his man cave and I just love that...and so does Henry! Henry is also still trying to figure out if David and Daniel are the same person or if it is really two of them. Bless his little heart! Knowing Henry has the fab four to look after him, teach him and mother/father him make me feel so blessed. I know I can count on him to always...

4 years ago today Life With My Sister started with this post . It is hard to believe it has been 4 years already...wow! Thank you for following our fun little life together. We had a fun 1st year , 2nd year , 3rd year and look forward to an incredible 4 th year! In celebration of our 4 years, please go and "follow us" on the sidebar of our blog and tell someone about us and encourage them to "follow us". We would love to have more readers to share life with. Life With My Sister is such a fun outlet for us, and we hope it is a fun outlet for you also. Here's to another year with the Sisters!!!! Happy 4th Blogiversary ! Julie & Abby

Julie convinced me to download Skype this week so she and the kids could see us. I did and it pretty much ROCKS! Samuel and I have gotten a lot of face time, along with the other 3 little cuties. Henry loves it and goes "Ah-oh" the whole time, as though it has to be a mistake to see his cousins in real time on the computer! Samuel has his own Skype account. Is he really this old now?! I remember this little chubby faced boy like it was yesterday. Oh me. Doesn't this picture crack you up? Well, maybe it doesn't, but I laughed outloud at the 11x13 I discovered this week in a photo box. We really did it up big in our denim, I tell ya! The adorable little guy in the yellow suit had his 28th birthday this week. Man, we are getting so old! I am pretty confident Granny would be pretty proud of her adult great-grandchildren. The preparation for Spring always makes me think of our precious Granny. This warmer weather is making me so ready to wear Spring dresses! I love this ...

Have you ever had one of those days where you just missed someone? That is today for me. I miss my mom. I know there are missionaries and soldiers and soldiers families that haven't seen their moms in months or even years. I also know that if we win the HGTV dream home in Vermont ( I can dream, right?!), that I will soon be acquiring a Vermont driver's license and that would put me further away from her. But I miss her. I miss my sister. I have seen her cute face three times since I've seen mother but I miss her terribly too. I also miss two men who chose to leave this life without asking me first. I hadn't seen these guys in years before they left, but just knowing they were in this life with me was a comfort. And then today I found out that a dear lady in the faith, a great lady with a beautiful legacy of God's love died. She is dancing in Heaven today. A facebook status of a facebook friend today said to finish the sentence "what I love about Grand Avenue...

Aren't we just the cutest things?!! I took this with MY camera. And posted it here on the blog. Truly 2011 is going to be a banner year! I was trying to decide what to write about today and remembered this cute picture and decided to blog about sisters. While I was preparing part of supper I was thinking of Abby. We don't get to talk ear to ear much. For reasons that are out of our control we only get to text each other most of the time. Sadly, I can go a week without hearing her cute voice on the other end of my phone. Its a good thing we get each other's text humor!! While I was thinking of all of this, she was calling me. But since I wasn't at my desk I didn't notice that my phone was vibrating. When I saw that she called, it just made me sick that I had missed the opportunity to get to talk to her. She called to tell me she had heard a song that I love. One Touch by Nicole C. Mullen . Have you heard it? Its on her Sharecroppers Seed cd and it is an awesome song...

Yesterday Abby and I did Christmas together. We hate not being together on Christmas day, it goes against our sisterly bond, but since we're married now and have children, somethings must change. It was such fun watching Henry "do" Christmas. He probably wasn't awake much last Christmas, but this year he was awake and ready to participate! I know Abby wanted perfect Christmas pictures, but he was playing with wrapping paper and bows, he didn't much care to stop and smile. Although he did, because he is such a good boy! My kids got just what they wanted and were itching to go outside and play, but waited patiently on the adults to finish opening presents. Then they were playing hard! Abby has left to go home now and will spend Christmas day at her house with Randall's family. We will go home Christmas afternoon. And next weekend we head to our Dad's to have Christmas with him. I love dragging Christmas out over so many days. I loved it as a kid, and still ...

awkward time funny time proud time We are thankful for sisterhood. We are thankful for the memories of good times, awkward times, funny times, sad times, bad times, scary times, the "I think I will pull your hair out if you don't leave me alone" times, and the "I am so proud of you, sister!" times. God was so good to give us each other. What a blessing to know you have a friend who has lived the same life and understands you better than you want her to! Abby always says Julie was her first friend. What a blessing! This is the first day of the Gratitude Challenge we will do for the month of November. We will try to post something each day. It may be a post by itself, or at the end of a post about our other topics. We will mix it up, so look for it! We want to focus on having a heart of gratitude this month as we prepare for the holiday season. Be sure to comment off and on and tell us what you are thankful for. We all have so many things in which we can show g...