Life with my sister

The birthday weekend in Twinkle Town was most fun. We had lots of cake, laughs and plenty of smiles. David & Daniel had their little friend stay the night on Friday (their birthday) and we went and had Mexican and lots of cake back at the house. This year the boys wanted their own cakes. Daniel wanted a strawberry "8" and orange is his favorite color. David wanted a cookie cake with soccer balls. They deserved it... I mean no one else but a twin/multiple has to share a birthday cake. It really is sort of rude. It was double work, but worth seeing their little smiles. Anna had her manicure/pedicure birthday party on Saturday and it was very girlie and fun. Julie made her tutu and my friend made her shirt. I painted the birthday girls nails myself. Her cake was fun. I made it up as I went along. Fun Times. Thank you to my sister for having me for the weekend. She says I was "grouchy" but after 3 cakes, a long week at work and a long drive to see her, I was a b

Note to Twinkle Town residents. Abby is in town. If you would like her to grace you with her presence let us know! She will be taking pictures with fans. No flash please (it distorts the color of her hair...see previous post!). I can't believe that David and Daniel are 8 years old today. I know all mothers say that. But really. Where has the time gone? I can still remember all the events of April 24, 2001 as if they happened just hours ago. But I promise not to go over them with you now. Just suffice it to say that Dillards does not sell socks anywhere near where they sell shoes. So if you are a pregnant woman on your way to the hospital to deliver your twin babies. And you need a pair of socks, because the thought of no socks in the hospital makes you cringe, and because you didn't know you were going to the hospital when you left home for your doctors appointment. Then don't park by the shoe department thinking that the socks would be nearby. You know, thinking that socks

8 years ago today my twin nephews, David & Daniel, were born (I also had jet black hair, without any gray and tighter curls. Man, I have aged). I loved holding both of them at the same time. It was incredible to have that much love wrapped in both of my arms. I can still smell them then when I look at this picture. How fun. Today these sweet boys still make their Aunt Abby smile with pride. They are both so special in their own little ways and are the most loving little guys. I am leaving in a bit to go see them for the weekend. I am making a cake for David and a separate one for Daniel. They wanted different things. I fear Aunt Abby's creativity is lacking this year, so they best not cry when they see these cakes. After the massive Blue Angels cake last year, there will be a minor diversion in the "wow" factor. I think I am losing my touch or I need a little R&R.....I hope it is the later. I love creativity and miss mine lately. This little miss is having her

We are wishing our Aunt Donna Jo a great big birthday full of fun. We love you the very big much! We have so many birthdays to celebrate this week, we have chosen to celebrate Aunt Donna's early. Hope you have a great birthday week!!!

Today my baby is 5. Or as we say at our house, " a whole hand!" Having my youngest turn 5 means the end to a few things. sippy cups diapers having to dress anyone church nurserys strollers toddler department at clothing stores But I don't mind giving those things up. I have given Anna sippy cups, changed her diapers, dressed her and all the other things that go along with being a mom of a child and loved every minute of it. I wouldn't trade it for the world. But now we are beginning a new journey. A journey of a 5 year old. I think today she is walking with her head held a little higher. She is taking all the excitement about her birthday and using it to her advantage. Her brothers are doting on her today, just as they did 5 years ago. She knows it and is taking full advantage of it! If you have read this blog for anytime you already know a lot about Anna. But let me take a few lines to refresh your memory. Anna is a cute little brown haired, brown eyed darling. She

What questions do you have for the sisters?

I know Easter is over. Pictures have been posted. Eggs have been found. Easter grass picked up (at least for the time being.) I hate Easter grass. It stays around until Christmas and then I have pine needles to pick up until Easter. Oh, the joys of the holidays! I just have a couple of stories... The kids dyed eggs Saturday and the Easter bunny put them in their baskets Easter Eve. Apparently the EB put someone elses dyed egg in Anna's basket. She was so excited, she knew she hadn't colored that egg and she said "The Easter Bunny dyed me a egg!" I laughed! It was one of my favorite quotes of the day. For breakfast Easter morning I made sausage balls. The kids love them and we eat them probably once a month. I had also cooked a turkey and made dressing for lunch. David came in and said " this smell reminds me of Thanksgiving, I love it." And it reminded me of Thanksgiving too. I usually co

Aren't they precious? Anna's dress is a Strausburg dress and I love it, love.it! She loves it too and didn't want to take it off after church. Daniel is wearing a pink and white striped linen shirt with his khaki pants. Quite cute. David is wearing a white linen shirt under a pastel patchwork plaid blazer with a green and white striped tie and khaki pants. He picked out the whole outfit and thought he was something. And he was! Samuel wore a white polo with khaki pants. He was late coming home from church this morning, so I took his picture separately . He was also very handsome this Easter. I hope your Easter was a great one. Our Lord has risen from the dead! And for my daddy- Up from the grave He arose....!

I have posted this before but thought it was a great day to post it again. I saw it on our friend Emily's page and thought, "What a perfect post for today!" Abby

The kids wanted to know why a day when such an awful thing happened is called Good Friday. So, being the good teacher that I am, I shared my great wisdom I googled to find the answer. Here is a summation of what I found. Good can also mean holy or God. In other countries this day is referred to as Holy Friday or Mourning Friday. Those seem much more appropriate, but now since I am so wise since I googled, I know the truth and Good Friday doesn't seem so strange a name. I tend to look over this day. I don't like to dwell on bad things that happen. I pretty much focus on Easter Sunday, thats when the good stuff happens! But I do take time to remember the pain and hurt, rejection and humiliation that Jesus felt on this day. Dying on the cross wasn't an easy thing for Him to do. He, afterall , was human. This wasn't an easy day. But unlike me, He not only dwelt on the bad things that were happening, he FELT the bad things that were happening. And why? Because He loved m

Easter is not Easter without jamming out to this favorite Michael W. Smith oldie but goodie. The video was always my most favorite. In fact, I somehow have it on a VHS tape. I think my sister is to thank for that. I have all kinds of Michael English, SCC, Amy Grant and Smitty videos on VHS. Great memories. Anyway, enjoy this video as you celebrate this amazing week. Abby

This is like marathon blogging. Three posts in one evening. I just want to say that I love my sister. Very much. No one could love her more. Well, except Jesus but you know what I mean. In fact I can hear her say the word Jesus as I type His great and might name and it makes me smile. She has the cutest way of saying some words. She and two of her friends used to have their own dialect in school. They were so funny to listen too. I don't think Matt thought it was as funny as I did though. Don't think for a minute that I won't post here. I will. I do. And I'm pretty sure the blog idea was mine. So there!! Oh, let me let you in on something. As you probably know I hid something at Abby's when I was there last month. Tonight she and Randall accused me of hiding their garage door opener and his allen wrenches(I don't even know what an allen wrench is or why you would need more than one, or where in the heck he would keep them!) So, don't let all that sisterly lo

I am beginning to wonder if she is ever going to post on here again or if she is having way too much fun out on her own? She best come back here soon....I miss her. Without her I am not whole! Let her know you miss her too, if you will. I know I miss the shared postings...it is all me lately and I know that is enough to drive you far, far away to another blogosphere! Tell me this: What would you like to see more of? Sister tales Q&A Craft & thrift reports Random daily & weekly updates Give us direction as we move forward. We value your opinion since you take the time to read all this nonsense! What do you want to see? We want comments.... Abby

I love listening to this song and belting it out really loud. I hope you will also find great joy in it. What does this wonderful cross mean to you? It means life, peace, joy and acceptance to me. Actually it often changes. That is the beauty of the cross. It takes on many different meanings and meets us right where we are. Abby

Today is the start of Holy Week. For we Christians, this is a most significant week. I love reading about Holy Week and seeing the different interpretations of it, etc. I like to soak it all up and take it all in. I took some of this from a reading I did today and tweaked it a big bit: It is Sunday. It's time to leave the party at Lazarus' house and go to Jerusalem for the Festival (Lazarus was just raised from the dead....good reason to party). Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that Jesus asks a couple of his disciples to go into a village nearby and borrow a colt that has never been ridden before. Jesus knows all the details: where to find the colt, how they will recognize it (it's tied up), what to say to the owner of the colt. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on this colt, and people are basically proclaiming him to be their king. In those days, a king would ride into town with great fanfare on a horse, surrounded by attendants and soldiers. Jesus had none of that. But Jesus do

This week I have spent a lot of time with one of my newest friends and I am reminded how blessed I am to have such a quick connection with such wonderful people here. My friend gave me these flowers tonight and they remind me of all my new friends. They are beautiful, colorful, strong and bring sunshine to my life. None of my friends are alike and their ages vary. Never have I had such an array of people to share life with. Thank you Lord, how could I ever ask for more!? Abby

Spring Break for us was last week. We went to the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock. It was really good. The guided tour is informative and entertaining. Upstairs at the museum tucked away in a corner is a childrens room. It has a place for the kids to play dress-up, have puppet shows, play games, and watch educational videos. We also went to the MacArthur Military Museum. It wasn't on my list of fun things to do over spring break, but it wasn't so bad. They give the kids age appropriate scavenger hunts to do while they walk through the museum. My kids thought it was great, they are always up for a game. They even got a little prize for getting all the answers correct! Because I am so cheap, the best part of the week was at Shorty Smalls! We ate lunch there on Monday. At the end of our lunch the manager came by with free coupons to use on our next visit. We were excited and decided when we came back on Thursday to see the military museum that we would once again eat at