Life with my sister

Stephen and I are the slowest people when it comes to naming our children. I was in the hospital with all of the boys before we decided on heir names, and decided on Anna's the night before I went to have her. We take names pretty seriously and want them to be just right.  Daniel Stephen and David Robert were not names I came up with, they're all Stephen. I had other names picked out but we compromised a bit and the boys are very happy with their names. Being that David and Daniel look so much alike they are often called by the wrong name. Being a twin is fun, they have fun with it. I love having twins, it's the funnest thing I've ever done and am so honored God saw fit to give us twins. Being called the wrong name is the downside of being a twin. People tend to think of them as one person. People often don't take the time to look/study their differences and know them. David and Daniel don't act like it bothers them and will laugh it off, but think about it. If ...

School has started, football is being played. Bible verses are being memorized and I feel a rejuvenation in my soul. Our mornings are full of school. I work three mornings a week and when I get home we start school, ( usually around 9) so besides laundry, nothing else gets done in the morning. It leaves my afternoons busy and productive. Which is a good thing seeing that my summer was anything but productive!  Football is keeping us busy! Samuel plays every Friday night, but also some Monday nights and he practices until 6 or after every night. He's loving it, and we're loving it! Samuel and Lauren, could they be any cuter? His number is really 10, but they don't have a 10 in the away jerseys. When we travel he wears 20, but the program has Joseph Valient listed as 20. So when Samuel goes out to kick, the announcer says " And Joseph Valient is out to kick." It makes me laugh!  David, Daniel, and Anna aren't loving football as much as the rest of us are. That i...

This month has proven to be one full of some of our favorite faces! We had our best newlywed friends come visit us for the weekend. We had not seen them in 8 years. They have moved back to north Mississippi and we are so glad!! It was fun to meet up again with children. It was like we never missed a beat. True friends. We live life alike and I really like that about us :) This meet up was good for my heart. Our sweet Aynn at my Mama's house for supper and laughs. She lost her precious husband a few weeks ago and I missed the funeral. I needed to see her, hug her and hear her laugh. It was wonderful and Mama cooked a yummy supper for us. We all celebrate September birthdays so a cake was on the menu too.  No words for how much I adore this visit to Sandy Ridge Farm. Our friends Dustin and Anna farm sweet potatoes in Senatobia, Mississippi. They invited us to see the harvest. We were thrilled to check it out. Dustin gave Henry the grand tour and even purchased a toy tractor for him j...

In the great outdoors...Saturday David, Daniel and I went walking on a couple of trails in town. It was hot, I sweated way more than I wanted to, but it was a really nice time to be together. Today is warm. Ok, it's hot! Not! Within our walls...The second week of school is finished. Yay!! I'm in a toss everything kind of mood, so there are quite a few trashbags heading for the trash. A heart of thanksgiving... A heart of prayer...The closest family friends we had growing up were the Walkers. We spent so much time at their house, I considered it part mine. Aynn and Ron treated me like one of their own, and I loved it. Ron is in his final days and I'm praying for his family and friends. I know if I'm as saddened by this as I am, those so much closer to him are too.  Random observations...It's that time of year again. Acorns are falling! I get so excited when I get to step on them and hear them crack. It's weird, right? From the kitchen...Tonight we're having c...

It was a Football Tuesday night last night. Well, not a real football night, more like a scrimmage against two other teams.  Daddy came over to watch Samuel play. It was so fun to sit beside him in the stands watching him play. There's no way I could count the hours I've spent listening, talking, and watching football with my dad. But there was something special about getting to watch my son play with my dad beside me.  Samuel didn't disappoint. He was 3 for 3 on extra points and punted too many times for me to remember. (Our team may not be as good as we wish they were.) The field is turf, which means no dirt, but Samuel walked out on the field to play dirty.  The boy always has the dirtiest uniform of anyone on his team. This picture was taken before the kickoff. Before he kicked a ball. And when the game ended, he was still the dirtiest one, and he hadn't even been tackled. I have no explanation. We lost both of our games/scrimmages, I'm hoping we gets the kinks ...

In the great outdoors...Man, it was HOT today!! I had errands to run and was outside quite a bit and I was sweating. Poor Samuel had baseball and football practice and was dripping wet when he came home....at 6:40! Within our walls...School has started! Woo-Hoo! A heart of thanksgiving...I'm thankful to the Lord for all He has done for us. We aren't living in the grandest way, but we are living a pretty grand life. A heart of prayer...Everyday we're making decisions, some life altering, some not. We're just praying the decisions we make are the ones that are God honoring. Random observations...The kids are sleeping later than normal lately. Samuel has to leave for school by 7:30 so he doesn't get to sleep in, but the other three do. It used to be that they were up by the time the sun came up and I had to make a rule to keep them in their rooms until 7:00. My kids are growing up! Thoughts from the kitchen...It was beef and broccoli tonight. I failed to make enough, s...

I'm so excited about school days...can you tell?! We made the decision to place Henry in the pre k program at our public school. It was a prayerful, fact seeking decision this past winter. We visited the private school in town and interviewed the administrator,  weighed our options of staying where we were, or going to the public pre k. We really never dreamed we would pick what we picked, but God knew! I have never been so at peace with the decision as I am today. We are public school kids ourselves. It is not the same as it was, yet I still trust it enough for Henry, for now. We are blessed to live in an area with wonderful schools...and Randall always kindly reminds me what we pay in taxes to the school! We of course still pay out of pocket for the pre-k program at our school.  We pulled Henry out of the preschool he was attending at the end of July. I felt he needed time to unwind and decompress before we started new. It was a tough move to make. He has missed his friends ...