Little brother...

.....big MESS! This weekend has been LONG LONG LONG! I don't exactly look forward to a long holiday weekend because it's not terribly uncommon that the hubs has to work. Don't get me wrong, the longer we are married, the more his schedule "grows" on me. It has its perks, and I'm thankful for the time off during the week where I can zip kids around without disturbing Garrett too badly.

Tonight our NOT SO SMALL group (somewhere around 19 kiddos ...and not sure about adults) met at the playground. I had a grumbly attitude about it before I went actually. I thought here I go...dragging these kids to a cook out. Normally fixing their plates alone makes me crazy because they all need something at the same time.

What a blessed time a simple playground cookout was for me tonight! I needed to get out; the kids have been running around me in circles this weekend..particularly Garrett. He has cried for days for some reason. I didn't hear a peep out of him tonight. I mean look at this face! He just wanted to get out and get dirty!




He even walked quite a bit!

Just as they always have, everyone helped me take care of the kids. I went to fix a plate...it was already fixed. I'm packing up my stuff and my chairs are already walking to the car. They always want to help, and I'm always acting like I got it for some crazy reason. I'm so thankful for these people. I'm glad I didn't miss out on a blessing tonight! Let someone help you this week whether you need it or not! I highly recommend it:)

An after school birthday wish

I picked Allie up from school today and headed out to the Lion's Den. Little Lion turned 6 today. Surely you've seen him by now. He was Allie's first friend....literally. We had lived here 2 weeks and attended small group for the first time...which has evolved, but we are still in the same group. A 2 year old little lion cub greeted us at the door. I don't remember what he said, but I KNOW it was along the lines of "I"M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!" If there is one thing about Little Lion that sets him apart, it's his greeting. He's always happy to see Allie, Mary, and Garrett. Happy Birthday sweet friend! You've only changed a tiny bit:)

"I didn't spill it"

What a strange week this has been for me. I started having some numbness in my legs about a week and a half ago, and it spread upwards. It is not that my skin was completely numb, but like there was a layer of something covering me. This past Sunday my hands started to feel weaker although I was able to complete all my normal tasks. I felt like I just had to work a little harder to lift things. By Wednesday, my whole body except for my face felt numb to the touch. I went to the internist yesterday, and he sent me to the neurologist today. He was a nice dude, didn't make me feel as CRAZY as I was feeling! He said it was more than likely a "Guillian barre sensory variant" Well that made total sense! (not really) He did want to rule out MS, so he sent me for a 2 hour MRI. Ya know what the radiologist wrote on the report..."NORMAL"!!! Despite what people think, I am normal and have a very nice looking brain and spinal cord (despite a slightly bulging disc in my neck that I'm sure G the Giant has caused).

Long story short, the numbness is probably from an autoimmune process (Guillian barre) after I had a little cold virus a couple of weeks ago. Guess my immune system is chewing on my neurons instead of the virus which is long gone. He said it takes about 4 weeks to run its course and should "peak" soon.

Now an MRI can detect alot of things, but not scatter braindedness....is that a word? Tonight after a tiring day, I turned on my bath water and walked off. I started reading to Mary and 20 minutes later realized what I had done. There was 1/4 inch of water on the bathroom floor. Mary said over and over...I didn't SPILL IT!!!!!! Well I did....and of course our washing machine is still broken.....oh well...it's just wet towels.

A blob of fun

Allie started 1rst grade this week! She was ready, and so was I:) I don't know if it was just easier because she is at the same school or what, but she was "tired of summer." She's very excited about her new teacher and her old friends. When hubs asked her how it went she said, "It was a BLOB of fun"


How do I look?

She said here she was "waiting on the bus" and then ran to my car. She knows there is no school bus at her school, but she sure did think she was funny!

This was taken yesterday after her first full day. Wow...looks like it was a busy one. Mary was glad to see her home.
This is Scott, Rachelle, and their daughter. They were on the way to vacation with family and decided to stop by. Scott and hubs were in school together, and spent more time together than he and I did....studying of course. It was a treat to spend some time with them.
She liked Garrett!
And he liked her.
Oh and there's Grace! I almost forgot that I took these pictures last weekend. Mason and Amber and fam were coming for the weekend to see Abbott. They were able to keep Garrett and Mary for us as we left to go to Fayetteville. THANK YOU GUYS!!!

Can't leave out the "first day interview". Excuse my goofy voice. Madyn came home with us after a short school day, and they were a "LITTLE" excited.


Please please please continue to pray for Katie and Jason. We attended Reese's memorial service this past Monday, and it was so beautiful yet so heartbreaking. Katie gave the eulogy, and she posted it on her blog. I encourage you to read it. It is so powerful to show the way God spoke to Katie during the time she had with Reese.

Baby Reese

I'm heartbroken for my sis-n-law (really my sister and not the other way around) Katie and her husband Jason as I write this post tonight. I cannot sleep as I've spent much of the night praying for them as their baby girl Reese Catherine went to be with Jesus. Katie has very bravely shared Reese's short life through her blog.

15 Months

15 months....

Most kids are water skiing by 15 months but not mine! Mary was walking at exactly 15 and a half months, and now Garrett is right behind her. It's not that he's a late walker, it's that he was an EARLY CRAWLER!!! I've been chasing this baby for at least 8 months already. Yes, I'll be chasing him still, but you've never seen a baby crawl so fast. At least now he'll be easier to retrieve! SHeww...relief is in site!

We also have a word!
Of all words, guess what word came first...ALLIE!!! Guess it's the word he has heard more than any other word in the English language.

More Beach pics

I don't know which was more time consuming.....driving to the beach or trying to figure out which of the 500 pictures to delete! We had a great time this year with the fam. We missed Em and Adam being there of course. I predict next year that Abbott will be running around the beach with the rest of them...unlike the three 1 year olds we had this year. I've never seen 3 kids who could walk but just wouldn't!


Yep that's Garrett' head of hair....already has more than Mary.