Wordless Wednesday

Refreshing Restful Weekend

We had a fabulous weekend. Casey and Charlie came down Saturday and we spent the day playing with guess who. She was in such a good mood. Barely fussed at all. She played and toddled around. It was sooooo cute. She laughed and called the cat - "Ki Ki" (Kitty Kitty) over and over. She even almost caught her. It was so cute to watch her squat down and call her as Sid was trying to find some escape from Avery under the vehicle. We had our "Easter Dinner" a week late with a different menu. As you recall our Easter plans were changed. I planned on doing a recipe post with Saturdays meal but I forgot to photograph it so I will save that for another time. It was delicious though. So we ate together and visited. Avery enjoyed once again gazing at Josh which is still pretty funny. We spent time outside. Averys daddy picked her a flower which she enjoyed. Avery got to swing a little. It was so sweet to see her clapping when she was happy about something and saying "yay". It was a beautiful day. Avery loved it. I loved watching her laugh at the things that amused her. In this case it was her silly Poppa. She has a cute little laugh. The guys even found something to do! We missed Mark who was studying hard in Ruston. If he had been here - perfection. It was a great day. I took a ton of pictures of course. I think Avery was getting sick of the photos at this point. LOLDoesnt it look like she is saying "Nonna, this is getting ridiculous." LOL
On Sunday we got to go to church together. The first time in a long time. Avery did really good. As a matter of fact the nursery worker "also known as Poppa" did a fantastic job and got her to sleep as well as her new friend Amaus. After church we went to La Fiesta for lunch. Avery did so good. She just sat in her high chair eating french fries and chicken. She didnt make a peep. That was the first restaurant trip we have taken her to that was enjoyable for her. It was fun. Everything seemed so normal. LOL If you dont know what thats about click here to read this previous post. Avery even got her first taste of a KoolAid Kool Burst. Isn't that what Nonna's are for? I hope she doesnt have a red dye allergy. hee hee I look forward to more weekends like this one. I am planning on going to see her at her house this coming weekend. We are going to do the March of Dimes Walk which we are proud to be a part of. So Casey, Charlie, Avery, and I will be walking on Saturday. I will again have my camera and hope it's another beautiful Saturday. You may or may not get to find out. OK you WILL get to find out cause I am a picture taking maniac. I admit it.

Wordless Wednesday

Spur of the Moment Trip

Our plans for Easter changed because Josh went to see Mark and Avery got sick. So instead of a big Easter Dinner at home, we headed out towards Arkansas. We had never been to Hot Springs before and a friend of mine told us about a beautiful waterfall I would have loved to see, so off we went. We made it to Little Rock through horrible storms. The winding road was not visible through the hard rains. I was so nervous but we made it and stayed there the first night. Up the next morning we went on to Hot Springs. Yes it was still raining but we had fun anyway. When we got there we got our umbrella out and walked around town. It was raining good and we were getting wet so we walked down to a Hotel we saw down the street. I didnt think we could afford it but since it was there and a dry place we went in to check on a room. We saw that we could actually afford a small room so we booked it. The very nice gentleman who took care of us upgraded us to a larger more expensive room. Thanks to him! However, the room would not be ready for hours. So we decided to go with our trusty umbrella and check out the Hot Springs. So we did just that. We ended up needing another umbrella though. Todd didn't seem to think he could fit under mine with me so we got him one of his own. We had fun going down paths and up steps and seeing the steam floating up from the Hot Springs in the cold air. But after a while our feet were completely wet, and our jeans were completely soaked so we decided to go back to the Hotel and just stay there in the dry lobby which was beautiful and rest there until our room was ready. As we walked in we let the nice gentleman know that was our plan and that we would be checking with him from time to time to see if our room was ready. He did a little computing and then let us know that he upgraded us AGAIN to a much more expensive room, (well he didnt exactly say that but that is how it turned out) and that it was ready. So up we went to our dry room. This was more than a room. It was definitley a suite. We went in our room and walked into the hall, which led to the bedroom with a beautiful bed which we needed steps to get up to. Then we walked into the living room with a large window and a large couch and several chairs. It was just great. Nothing like we have ever stayed in before. THANKS ARLINGTON! We decided later we were hungry and turns out they had an Easter Brunch downstairs so that is where we ended up. It was beautiful with wonderful piano music playing as we ate. There was more food there than we have ever seen. The ice sculptures here and there were amazing. The food was great and I tried things I have never tried before, like an oyster on the half shell, which I did not enjoy, but hey at least I tried it. Mark told me I ate it wrong, LOL. I also tried this delicious treat. Bananas Foster. Now that was great and fun to watch him prepare. We stayed there far too long grazing and left much too full but it was a great experience and we enjoyed it. The next day we planned to do one of two things. Either go horseback riding which would have been great, or drive on up to Petit Jean to that waterfall. Turns out the rain and clouds and cold really didnt fit in with either of those options so we prayed that my mom was feeling better from her recent bout of Bronchitis and headed on up to Memphis to visit her. Before we left though we decided to take advantage of the fact that we were at a Spa and get a couples massage! Wow it was so relaxing we didnt want to leave. We headed out though without even calling mom to let her know our plans. As a matter of fact she thought we had a house full of company for Easter. She wasnt aware of all the cancellations so we just went up and knocked on her door. I should have had my camera out for her look of surprise. I am surprised I didnt think of that. LOL Anyway we got to visit with her which was great. We met my sister and her husband for dinner that night. It was so good to get together with them and visit. We did a little shopping too. Then we left and since Avery was feeling better we went by to see them and to keep her for them while they worked on Thursday. She was precious walking all around. She played and was really good. She did not enjoy her breathing treatment though, poor sweetie. We enjoyed seeing them and spending a little time with them as well. So all in all our trip was a success! I did want to mention that anytime, and there were 3 I think, that we have made a trip to moms without our children something happens that is unfortunate. The first time, Casey was hit in the face about 6 months before her wedding. Zach our nephew swung a wiffle bat against the basketball goal and it split in two and flew out and hit Casey in the face cutting her lip requiring a hospital trip. The next time Mark called saying he was fine but while working putting up gutters on a house he had been electrocuted! The fire went in his hands and shot out his feet and threw him to the ground. He had burns which left scars but thanks be to God he survived and was fine. He went to the hospital and was checked and it certainly spoiled my trip and because I couldnt handle staying away, we came back home so I could see for myself that he was fine. Now again this trip, we got the call, this time from Josh to say everyone was fine but that a friend of his had broken the glass on our front door out and cut his hand badly. They took him to the hospital and he was having it stitched up. Ok This track record to moms is not great is it? This spur of the moment trip was different, unplanned, and except for Adams hand, turned out great. Hope your week was great too.

Words and Thoughts

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

That is my memory verse this time. It's a good one to remember. I find that concentrating on the words of my mouth being pleasing can sometimes be easier than keeping the meditations of my heart that way. Memorizing this scripture is helping me to take notice when the meditations of my heart are moving away from being pleasing to my Lord and my Redeemer!

Thank you Lord for your word to memorize, learn, and meditate on. Help my words and my thoughts be pleasing to you.

History

On this day 28 years ago, this young skinny smiling teenager asked me if I wanted to wear his class ring and be his girlfriend. We were on our way to church youth group after he picked me up in his little brown Datsun Hatchback he called "Betsy". LOL I was so surprised when he asked me because some days/weeks before we had a discussion in which he indicated that the question would probably not be asked any time soon. So we were just hanging out and having fun together at that point. I of course thought we would end up married but just left it as a matter of prayer. I was so excited when he handed me that class ring. (I still have it of course.) I wore it proudly to youth group that night with a smile on my face. Gosh we were both so young and skinny then. LOL Yes that was April 8, 1981. Seems like forever ago. At some point after that we BOTH knew we would be getting married. So in a little more than two years later, on June 4, 1983 (just 8 days after I graduated from high school) we tied the knot. I never was one of those little girls who planned their weddings out their entire lives. I just knew I wanted to be married to Todd and the details weren't really that important to me. I knew the dress was right when I tried it on. I had tried many on that day but when I put mine on I just knew it was the one. Layers of ruffled lace and long sleeves! It was the 80's people. But the rest of the details were really in the background and the important thing was just the two of us becoming one. We lived in a small mobile home and worked jobs and were happy. We decided we would wait two years before starting our family. But as you know with our family plans are made to be changed around here. So in actuality 7 months after we were married I became pregnant with our baby girl. Casey was born in October of 1984. She was tiny (well I thought she was tiny at 6 pounds 5 ounces-little did I know babies could be tinier than that, say 2 pounds, 2 ounces. but that's another story). We were so young to be parents but loved her with everything and did our best to take care of her with God's help. Then three years later in December of 1987, our first son came along. He weighed exactly the same as his sister and we were greatly blessed to have these two wonderful children. Much to our surprise four years later another blessing, Joshua came into our family. After Casey was born I quit my job and was a stay at home mom. Of course to help pay the bills and so we could actually eat, I had a day care center in my home. Our kids always had other kids to play with. They enjoyed it. They never complained about having to share or needing their space. They just enjoyed the extra playmates and Casey enjoyed having a large classroom full of kids to teach! Then one day, they all grew up. I don't know how it happened really. One day Casey was a mom, Mark was at college, and Josh was on the High School Baseball team. Gosh, funny how it all started that one night before church on this very day 28 years ago.

Wordless Wednesday

Normalcy

We made our first trip to the Catfish Festival in Winnsboro, LA. It was much larger than we expected. Tons of people, food, music, and art and crafts. We had a really good time together.

We had a very nice weekend. The highlight of course was seeing Avery. It was such a blessing to see her outside and having a good time. She loved seeing all the people and strolling around. She literally squealed with excitement. It was great. At one point Casey made a statement that almost made me cry. She said something about this just making her really happy. I said "What?" She said "Being normal". We have really been waiting for things to be normal for a long time. We never have felt that from the beginning of her pregnancy. So for that one moment, on one beautiful day in April, for her to be able to experience that, and be so happy about it, well as I said, it almost brought me to tears.

So what does a southern girl normally drown her tears in?

The corn dog was great! I caught sight of myself in a glass door and decided to take a picture. Thats normal right?
Avery finally began to get a little sleepy. I was glad Poppa took hold of the camera and snapped this little yawn.
She gave it up and caught a little nap in her stroller before we left.
Only 4 more days till we get to see her again. I am meeting them and she is coming home with Nonna on Thursday night to stay a couple of days and then her parents are joining her here with us for Easter! Maybe there will be more normal stuff to come! Hope you all had a great normal weekend too.

Wordless Wednesday