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...

Isn't she lovely?! Here she is at home in her recliner. God loves this woman, that is for sure...and so do we. Our mama is now back in her place recovering by herself, with visits each day from loving family and sweet friends who live near by. Praise Jesus for this smile on my mama's beautiful face. She did it!! She has had a rough month but the bad is over and only good is to come from here. Her strength is better with each passing day due to her determination to get well and do for herself. We never anticipated her to be at home without help at this point. What a praise this is. Mama told me she is doing so well because she is loved. She needed to be reminded how precious she is to so many, and that has been accomplished through this for sure. I spent the weekend getting her comfortable and secure at home. It was fun to spend quiet, quality time with my mama. I worked hard, rested well and loved watching her prove to herself she could do this on her own. I am the one who pu...

This will be my last hospital post. I promise. Lesson 1: Mom was freezing us out in her first room. We were dressing warm just to sit in her room with her. The first night I stayed the night, I was free-zing! A nurse came in, saw me shivering and brought me, get this, a heated blanket. I was warm the rest of the night. It blessed my soul (it really warmed my soul too) to have a heated blanket. If you have to stay the night at the hospital, ask for a heated blanket. Lesson 2: The nurses have access to popsicles . They don't always tell the patient they can have them, and most patients, even with the strictest dietary concerns can. The best thing is patients family members can have them too. They also will give you a coke. This is great for those of you that can eat and drink in hospitals. I, however, didn't partake of free popsicles or cokes. I can't seem to eat or drink where sick people have been. I tried. I spent quite a few dollars on Sonic drinks before I realized t...

The kids enjoy dyeing Easter Eggs every year. Since I am far from being OCD or a type A personality, the kids get to dye the eggs anyway they want. They can use every color for one egg or just one color. It doesn't matter to me. Their creativity gets to shine! We were at Aunt Janet and Uncle Mike's house this Easter weekend and Aunt Janet was so sweet to let us use her kitchen to dye our 3 dozen eggs. And to let us use her refrigerator to store them in. her frig may never smell the same again! I spent Easter morning with Mom at Aunt Janet's. The kids and Stephen went to church and then joined us for lunch. I missed being at church (It makes 2 years in a row. Last year Daniel was sick.) but enjoyed being with Mom for the last time for a while. We had Whole Hog BBQ for lunch. It was Mom's choice, but it is our favorite BBQ restaurant. I made a cake and the kids had a couple of Easter egg hunts. We spent the rest of the day in front of the tv watching The Masters. I hav...

Mama has a long road ahead of her. She is still in ICU and will be for a few more days. She is expected to be in the hospital for 3 weeks once she gets out of ICU. Your prayers of strength for all of us, especially mama, are very much felt and appreciated. Thank you for loving us enough to lift our family up often to our healer and merciful savior. Great is thy faithfulness, O God my father There is no shadow of turning with Thee Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not As Thou hast been, Thou for ever will be Great is thy faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed thy hand hath provided Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me Great is thy faithfulness Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest Join with all nature in manifold witness To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love Great is thy faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed thy hand hath provided Great is thy faithfu...

Today our dear mama is having a portion of her colon removed. Julie and I have made the pilgrimage home to care for her. Before you read any further, please pray for our mama. Her name is Kathy and she is a jewel. Pray for her to have peace, the surgeon to have a steady hand and sharp mind, pray for her to have rest and a stress-free recovery. March is Colon Cancer Awareness month. I find it an ironic blessing that all this came about this month. Mama had never had a colonoscopy and her doctor had been on her about it for a while. She finally scheduled one. She hated every minute of the prep and the waiting on the procedure proved to be a bear also. She had to wait for hours. We got updates from our Aunt J, who had taken her, and it went from comical to maddening, real quick!( My favorite part was when Aunt J told her she would take her anywhere she wanted to eat afterwards and she told Aunt J she just wanted to go home and eat scrambled eggs. I still laugh about that.) After the proce...

Henry was tickled to get behind the wheel of his new Power Wheels truck. We purchased it at a seasonal resale a few weeks ago in Memphis. Randall did an overhaul on it (tricked it out...for those of you who know the lingo!) and finally let him drive it. It was more of an attempt to drive it. Henry only pushes the pedal when he feels like it. He sure looks cute in it, moving or not. It has a radio in it so he likes to sit and listen more than anything. Watch out neighbors, Henry Patton is going to be on the go this spring! The dreaded haircut with Henry. We have been cutting his hair since he was 10 months old. He has some thick and curly hair, just like his mama and daddy. Up to this point I have had to hold him and hold him down, kicking, crying and swatting while the hairdresser cuts his hair. This past weekend he proved what a big boy he is becoming. She set the seat up for him without knowing I hold him. I played dumb and went along with it to see if he would sit down. He did. He t...

Henry is 25 months old. Sometimes I sit and start to panic that I am going to regret not writing it all down. This weekend was one of those weekends. I just sat down and started typing. I feel better now. I know I will never be able to record it all. I have so much bottled up in my heart that will stay there forever. Henry, you are 25 months old: You have learned that you have an opinion and you share it. It is adorable and annoying! You love to say “NO WAY” and “NO WAY JOSE!” You sometimes laugh when you say it…which makes it adorable. You love your “monkey” like crazy. You still like both the blue/white & blue/green one . You love to rub the silky part. When we were at Marmie’s for Christmas Daddy had run an errand in the truck and your “monkey” was with him. Marmie gave you a green silk nightgown and you were happy. Silly, sleepy boy and crafty, smart grandma! You love trucks, trains, tractors, buses, combines, and bicycles…anything that goes, basically. You love pushing your t...

S Family Christmas comes every year and every year it is great fun. We head to Daddy's house in Mississippi for a fun-filled day of family, gifts and food. And almost every year Daddy is supporting and sporting a new team's pullover....just kidding. He went from Arkansas to Ole Miss and now back to Memphis. I love it. He looks good in Tiger blue. S Family matriarchs , Babs and Bob. Meemaw and Peepaw did well. From Babs and Bob you have the beautiful brunette S girls. We are quite the trio. Jules and I love our cousin Hollye to pieces. She is like a sister to us. Coming from a small family, we bonded well growing up even though we lived a state away from one another. From the 3 of us you have this handsome group! Thanks to Jules for doing most of the work :) The S family produces such pretty girls. Meemaw would love pampering these two just like she did us. Claire and Anna are " our pretty girls". Meemaw used to say "my pretty girl" all the time. I love...

Santa came and came big. Before he came we had to soak up the real meaning of Christmas. We went to church on Christmas Eve and Nana and Papa came in time to go with us. We got to sing and light glow sticks...Henry loved it! He got to go in the service with us and he did great. Christmas at our new church was such a treat this year. I reflected on things I had never really thought of. I love taking away new little nuggets of truth. I always enjoy a Christmas Eve service. It puts the rest of the night and the next day into perspective. Keeping with our Christmas tradition, we wore matching pajamas for the third year in a row. We wore Sesame Street themed pajamas this year. It was fun times. We love doing Christmas at home now that we have Henry. It is so peaceful and fun. We stayed in our pajamas all of Christmas Day. Nothing like a day in the pajamas. Those are rare for us these days. It was bliss. Christmas with a 2 year old is fun and exhausting. Capturing him on camera is difficul...