Life with my sister

So, it's been a while since I've checked in with you. Last week I had to go to the beach for vacation. I'll blog with pictures later this week. We got back from vacay last Saturday night and hit the ground running. We had a non-stop week. Besides school, basketball practice and church we had See You At The Pole pre rally Tuesday night. It was a great time for the kids to get together prior to meeting at the pole Wednesday morning. The above picture is at a birthday lunch for my friend Stephanie (not pictured). This is my friend Nomi. The lady that seated us wanted to know if we were sisters. What??? We decided that it had to be because we were both on the chubby side, other than that we look nothing alike. Nomi is such a sweet friend, God has truly blessed me with Nomi and Stephanie. I couldn't have asked for better friends for this season (and hopefully all the rest of the seasons) of my life. Thursday was Senior adult and student day at the fair. Some of ou

I started my career at this hospital. It has a special place in my heart.  This is where I learned to do public relations and fundraising outside of a text book. This is also where I fell in love with helping others who cannot help themselves. Our beautiful cousin, Hollye Ann, has worked here FOREVER-EVER in nurse management and sent me this video and said "blog it, baby!". I know some people see Danny's kids and get sad, yet you must know it is not really a sad place at all. It is one of the happiest places I have ever worked.  If you don't have a "cause" you should look into all the opportunities in making sure that no more children die in the dawn of life. (I still have the St.Jude/ALSAC elevator speech memorized, 11 years later!). Abby

   Somebody is a year older today!   Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall;  A mother's secret hope outlives them all. -Oliver Wendell Holmes We love you for all you are, all you do and all you have  shaped and molded us to be. Celebrate yourself today, Mother!

http://www.kait8.com " title="KAIT-Jonesboro, AR-News, weather, sports, classifieds">KAIT-Jonesboro, AR-News, weather, sports, classifieds Yep, that's me. Congressman Crawford is in our Sunday School class. Our pastor asked me to attend this news conference this week (he is standing behind me in green). As you know, I am vice-chairman of our area pregnancy center and as our pastor like's to tell people a "HUGE pro-lifer". It makes me giggle to hear him say it but if I am going to be known as "huge" anything...this would be it. It is an honor to have Rick as our congressman and our friend. I was proud to watch him receive the endorsement of the National Right to Life PAC. He is standing strong to protect life and maintain our conservative values. Knowing he is protecting life and standing on the promises of God in the decisions he makes is comforting as he represents our district. I am not real political and do not share my views open

 We have been enjoying cooler days here lately. Henry has gotten a lot of play time on Fort Henry. He tells me every time we are swinging together that his daddy built it for him. It is so cute. I tell him his daddy loves him a lot and he smiles. He knows!  Henry has finally learned how to steer his truck. Randall put a new battery in it and it goes 5 mph now. Randall has an app on his phone that will detect the speed. Henry takes his daddy's phone for rides and we can see how fast he is going. It is funny. He decided to take his daddy for a ride instead of the phone. They went at a snail's pace but Henry didn't mind. He loved hauling his load of daddy! Henry has learned how to turn real fast on the driveway and spin out. It is hysterical. He laughs so hard when he does it. It literally makes me smile to type it. I need to video it. He also tries to run over mama, and that is not so funny.  I could not find H Sunday morning before church. We were in the back of th

In honor of the first day of fall, I am sharing a yummy pumpkin dump cake recipe...and a picture of my little pumpkin! I made the candy corn swag on my den mantle out of burlap and it was super easy and it looks very festive. I encourage you to make a fall dish and do a fall craft this weekend! So, here is the recipe: Pumpkin Dump Cake 1 (29oz) can Pumpkin 1 (12 oz) can Evaporated Milk 1-1/2 cup sugar 4 eggs 1/2 tsp salt 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp ginger 1 box yellow cake mix 2 sticks of butter 1 cup pecans Beat together pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar and eggs. Add salt, cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Mix well. Pour into 9x13 pan. Sprinkle evenly with dry cake mix over top of pumpkin mixture. Melt butter, drizzle over the top. Sprinkle with nuts and Bake at 350 for 1 hour. It is good with vanilla ice cream or all by itself, Happy Fall Y'all! Abby

We took Henry to the Craighead County Fair this week. We ran into our friends as soon as we got there. It was great fun. Quinn and Henry climbed on a tractor because they both love some farm equipment and are smart enough to know red and blue are just as good as green. Well rounded boys! I thought this photo was so precious. I may have to put it on my memo board. It is a keeper.  Randall and I were both representing our state pride at the fair. It was unintentional and fun. Randall was saying "cheese" in this picture. it makes me laugh. All Henry was concerned about was finding a red car to ride. So, that we did. He was such a big boy to ride all by himself. He was a little hesitant at first but once the ride started he was all grins. The Jeep ride required him to ride with another little boy. His facial expression in this picture is priceless. He is looking at that boy like "why you in my Jeep, punk?!" He then found a red flying boat and it w

 Randall told me to take off work on Friday because Emily had an "Abby and Emily fun day" planned for my birthday. I got up without an alarm clock and went for a run in the park. Randall got Henry dressed and off to school. It was perfect. She picked me up mid-morning and our first stop was for our joy juice...Sonic Diet Coke. Our next stop was at Darling's in Newport. She told me where we were headed and I was stoked because I was about to order some t-shirts from there and have them shipped. It saved me money! We had fun taking in all the fine things at Darling's. Our next stop was Doc's Grille in Searcy. It was possibly the best lunch I have had in a long time. The company and the food were both divine. I had fish tacos and broccoli. An odd combination but so yummy. We then hit up some fun boutiques in Searcy and then headed to Hay's. We drove up and realized they were having a tent sale. Leave it up to us to run into a tent sale! We en

I thought I would share some highlights of my birthday. My boys were sweet to give me some fun gifts and a super cute card. My extended family was  kind to send me gifts and cards. It was a fun morning opening all of them before work. My work day started with a sheet cake waiting on me. My coworker remembered me telling her my favorite birthday cake of all time is a sheet cake. She had never eaten nor made one so her doing this was an act of love. I walked into the break room to find this and a table of fruit. I felt celebrated! After work my boys and I headed to the White County Fair. Randall treated me to a turkey leg. He knows I cannot attend a fair, carnival or festival without a turkey leg. It was divine. I could only eat half of it. He ate the rest of if. That is true love. Henry and I love reading all the Llama Llama books. We spotted Llama Llama wishing Henry's mama Happy Birthday! Randall said he swore that thing was about to spit on me. I

I decided to celebrate my birthday this year with 34 (random"ish") acts of kindness. Proverbs 11:17 says "A kind man benefits himself" and after taking on this fun task, I can honestly say that it is so true.They are listed in no particular order and were done in no particular order. I had some planned out and the others just came to me as I went about it. It has been so much fun. Here is a recap of all 34 of them. 1. I sent cupcakes to school for Henry's class to have a birthday party in my honor. 2. I let traffic go ahead of me during the lunch hour in a busy intersection with construction. 3 -5. I gave the mail man and Henry's teachers a Fast Break and a thank you note. 6. I spoke kindly to someone who grates my nerves. It was seriously tough and very random! 7. I left coupons on the break room table at work. 8. I held the door open for a busy construction worker who had a load of plywood in his arms. He wasn't expecting it and h