Life with my sister

Can you believe this baby is 9 months already?! I am in awe at how fast he is growing. He is literally a little weed, I tell ya. I love how active and social he is. My 9 month picture was a chore to take and the picture quality tells it all. He is on the move all the time and he grabs everything within his reach. He had pillows flying, the blanket on his head and the 9 month poster in his mouth. Whew, child. Our month -by-month photos are not near as staged and styled as they used to be. It is now point, shoot, hope you got a decent one, and then grab Henry quickly! This baby boy gives me such joy. I can have have a blue day, but as soon as he smiles at me, babbles with laughter or reaches for me I am reminded how small my worries are and how big my blessings are. Henry is so good at helping me "keep it real". I love that about him. Henry is so aware of his surroundings. I remember when he was a wee little baby and Julie telling me to soak up the months of him being unawar...

It is that time of year again. Everywhere you drive, you see billboards for consignment sales for children's clothes. They have cutesy names and cute logos. And they make you want to go buy some used clothes! I have been selling my kids clothes in a consignment sale in Little Rock called Duck Duck Goose for years. It is really the only way I bring in money for the family. Its really the least I can do! Generally the sale takes place at the very beginning of the spring and the very beginning of the fall. Which means that I must go up to the attic, bring all of last years clothes down and have a try-on session with the kids. Oh my, but how they love it! Oh, how I kid! With four kids in the house and all their clothes from last year out and usually in my bedroom floor my house is a clothes mess! After they try the clothes on and it is determined what can still be worn and what can be sold the real work begins. The clothes must be hung on hangers, priced, tagged, put in the computer,...

When the hubs is away there is little cooking going on at my house. He is harvesting his corn right now and not home very much. So, frozen and quick grabs it is. It makes the topics for Food Friday a bit dense. I have not been watching many cooking shows lately either. I have been watching a lot of Praise Baby and Disney Channel instead. It makes my little foodie happy. You might not think of cauliflower as a convenience food, but I do. I love to buy it and broccoli and grab a handful at a time and chomp away. I bought cauliflower this week and have really enjoyed it. Frozen meals can be so overdone. I bought this one for the first time this week and loved it. It tastes different than the other frozen pizzas I have had in this line and others. Tell me - what do you do besides frozen meals when you need a quick and easy meal at home for just yourself? I need ideas!! He harvests beans next....there is no end to the frozen foods in sight! ha. Really, Woman...you want me to eat a banana ...

Today was the big day! Daniel got his cast off!!! We have been anticipating this day for 5 long, hot, non-swimming, non-bike riding weeks. I have had to wash his hair, get him in and out of the bath (no, I probably didn't HAVE to get him in and out of the bath, but it just seemed like the right thing to do) and he has been stuck on the bottom bunk at night. He doesn't like the bottom bunk at all. I will say that he has gotten off pretty easy around the house though. He hasn't had to take the trash out, take the clean clothes into my room from the laundry room, scrape his plate into the trash after a meal (we REALLY need a disposal!), or bring in the groceries. I have a feeling his brothers are going to make sure he pays them back for having to do his share of the work for this time. He hasn't had to wear shorts that button or zip. Or wear shoes that tie. He loved that! He lives for sports shorts and crocs ! I was going to post a picture of his new free arm. But it still...

I love being a hostess. I like to think I am a hostess with the mostess...at least that is what my mama tells me and we all know mama's blow wind in their babies sails. I will run with it though...I like it! I love overnight guests. Well, I actually love all guests. Yet, the ones who choose to rest with us get the pleasure of signing our guest book during their stay. It sits on the bedside table in our guest room. My sweet sister made this for me Christmas 2007. It was signed once in my Mississippi home by her family and then moved to my home here in Arkansas. It has been signed a lot since then and I love it. I have had several of my dearest friends laugh at me about my book when prompted to take some quiet time and write in it...and then my sister harasses me in it each time she stays. It makes me laugh. I love the story it tells. My Mama uses it as a journal when she is here and writes down all we do during the day and then tells me how wonderful I am, etc. Anyway, there are ma...

Its school time and I love it!! I love the school supply aisle at Walmart so very much! The pencils, notebooks, folders, erasers, pencil boxes, backpacks, paper, pens.... It could be a sickness. Speaking of school, I found my first friend in first grade on facebook over the weekend. I was so very excited to find her. Her, not so much. She didn't even remember me. She finally said she remembered my hair and that I had freckles. I think she found our class picture, still couldn't remember me, so she just stated the obvious. Oh well! I have fun memories of her, aparantely she, not so much. Which brings me to this little story. It has nothing to do with school, but does have something to do with people not remembering me. Friday, Anna and I went into a local gift store to request a door prize for a women's conference we are having this weekend. I have browsed and shopped in this store many times over the years we have lived here. The owner has always spoken to me and checked m...

As children all over our communities head back to school I find myself thinking about my old school days. My mind goes from elementary to college and it makes me giggle like a school girl. In my day the back to school clothes shopping craze was not what it is today. Our 64 count box of Crayola's was IT. Nobody cared about your new shirt or your new shoes, just about your colors. I loved carrying my lunch in style. My Mama wrote me little notes and put them in my lunch. Can you believe this was actually MY lunch box. I found a picture of it on a vintage website and it is now $60. I can assure you my Mama did not pay over $5 for it back in 1983! I loved, loved, loved this lunch box. I wore it out and then got a Rainbow Brite lunch box. After that one wore out I was too cool for a lunch box. "As if! Stop it!" When I started junior high the Trapper Keeper was too cool for school. I had one in this very color in the 7th grade. I thought I was the cat's meow when I was old...