Kaitlin at work

Kaitlin took pictures on Thanksgiving day of Marisa's family for Marisa's mother.
Giving a few instructions
She is giving jumping instructions now

I love it that Carl is showing how the jumping is done.
Here is the final product

And they are off!

Here is what Marisa looked like in June of 2008 with her friend Abby.
Here is Dr Phelan right after he put her braces on.
Here they are a few weeks ago. It is really nice to have a professional photography that travels with you. Here is the picture I took as she was leaving for class and then to see Dr Phelan. Dr Bob was visiting Dr Phelan. Dr Bob, with great pride, told everyone that Marisa got engaged at his house. That really made Marisa's day.
Here she is post braces. Dr Phelan told her she would have to wear her braces for two years but she got them off in 18 months. One of the reasons she got them off early is she takes incredible care of her teeth and Dr Phelan knew she would wear her retainers.Marisa never lost her beautiful smile with or without braces.

A fabulous day after Thanksgiving breakfast.

Mayo+
cranberry sauce+
white bread+
leftover turkey=
a wonderful breakfast.yum yum!

Things we learn from our children or The Andrew Peterson concert

I don't know how many years ago my son, Andrew began listening to Andrew Peterson's music. Andrew and Taylor have been able to see him in concert many times.Kaitlin wrote this about the concert she went to . I have enjoyed listening to AP's cds and hearing the stories behind the songs that Andrew and Kaitlin have shared with me.

Last Monday I attended my first concert and I am ready for more. Carl came home from work and Marisa and I jumped in his car. Kaitlin has class on Monday but it ended early and she was able to join us.

We heard Andrew Peterson, Ben Shive and Andy Gullahorn.
The songs and the stories were amazing. One of mine and Marisa's favorite songs is Queen of Iowa. We both tweeted him to ask him to sing it. We were not disappointed. He sang it for the first song of the encore.
Marisa bought both of AP's books and had him sign the second one at her favorite part. She was also able to ask him how to pronounce two of the names from the books. Carl told him that I won his first book in a blog give away from his blog www.rabbitroom.com . AP thought that was neat.
The concert was amazing and I am ready to see another. EmilyR and Ryan were there as were Darrell, Clare, Katie and Marcus.It is neat that my children and I are friends. I am so thankful that I am in their lives and that I know what music they enjoy and can enjoy it myself. My mother was such a wonderful example to me of loving adult children well.

If you need some wonderful Christmas music I highly recommend Behold the Lamb by AP.

Me and Eric Liddle

I am glad God made us all different. How boring would it be if we all did the same thing in the same way.

I am thankful for all the different jobs that people do. I am thankful for the job that God has given Carl and that it affords me the opportunity to do the job that I love.

I love being a mama. I love to hover and offer comfort. I love to anticipate needs and have that drink of water ready for you before you even know you are thirsty. I love to hold your hand while you are getting blood drawn or having an I V put in.

Yesterday my friend, Cara, needed me. She called the day before, very apologetic, needing a ride home from the hospital after some out patient surgery. " No big deal," she said, "If you could just take me home afterwards." I have had out patient surgery and I don't like going in by myself so I suggested to Cara that she drive to my house and we go together.

She agreed.

We got to the hospital and began the process of checking in. When the check-in lady found out that Cara worked at the hospital, she told her to shout that from the roof tops as she was getting treated. The folks at the hospital could not have been nicer and they got even nicer when they realized they were treating one of their own.

I got to hold her hand as they drew blood and got the IV all set up. Cara is a nurse so she watching all this happen. I had my head turned the whole time. My distractions methods weren't needed on her here. They put a really cool paper sheet on her that had baffles in it. They hooked up a blower to it and it became a warm blanket.

We chatted after they had done all the pre-op stuff as we waited on the surgery. We laughed as I told her stories about my children. She especially liked the story about when Andrew plus Carl and I went to the oral surgeon for the visit before you get your wisdom teeth out. We had to watch a video about getting your wisdom teeth and any pain you may have and what to expect etc. When the nurse came back, after the dvd was over, to ask if we had any questions, Andrew, with a straight face, asked for a copy of the dvd. He said that he really enjoyed it. Needless to say she was stunned and I can honesty say she probably had never been asked that question before.

I kissed Cara good bye as the Versaid (not sure how to spell the drug that makes all things good) began to make her smile really big. She was on to surgery and me to the waiting room.

Now I could write a whole blog about the waiting room but I will suffice to say the I did finish my book despite the man near me that was reading the close-captioning from the TV out loud. Wait, I should say...OUT LOUD. Interesting folks.

I got the call when her surgery began, talked to the surgeon when her procedure was over, and after about 3 hours got to see her in recovery. She found out in recovery that she can't drive for 24 hours. She stayed the night. She is sleeping in Kaitlin's bed even as I write.

I talked to her mama who is several states away in body but her heart is here. She thanked me so much for loving on her doll baby and keeping her updated on her progress.

As we got home, Cara thanked for the hundredth time for taking care of her. I loved doing it. I thought about what Eric Liddle said when asked about his running. He said " I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run I feel His pleasure.

When I am mothering, I feel His pleasure.

For Elaine

My sister in law, Elaine, loves Disney. We have been able to vacation there with she and my brother several times. As special as WDW ( Walt Disney World) is, it is even more so at Christmas. It never gets old seeing the Christmas decorations at WDW. They were put up this week.

Enjoy!

Happy Veterans Day

There is a church in LR that puts out flags for all patriotic holidays. I love it.A special thanks to all our veterans!

Semicolonblog has some poems and history about the day.

The Pioneer Woman!

The Pioneer Woman came to Little Rock this evening. Kaitlin had class, Money was at work, so Marisa and I jumped in the car to get her cookbook signed. We had a delightful time!
Marisa and I got to Walmart at 5:15 for a 6:00 signing. There were about 25 folks ahead of us and the line behind was down the length of the store.



Kary and her husband were just behind us. Kary did something very cool. She brought Ree a cookbook. I can't remember if the cookbook was from her school or church. When she gave it to Ree, Ree just thanked her and told her she loved getting cookbooks.Here were the ladies in front of us, I am sorry to say, I didn't get their names.
September stopped by to chat a minute.
So did Holly
We saw Desi, Cathy and Mara. Desi is the one that told me that Ree was going to do the book signing. Thanks Desi!
Here is the life of the party or the line. Ann on the left and her BFF Linda. They kept us all laughing as we waited. My favorite line from Ann was that she would love to invite The Pioneer Woman over for supper but she can't because Ann's family thinks all of The Pioneer Woman's recipes are hers!

Linda was going to have her book signed to 'the best stalker'. She said that her husband said that she stalks The Pioneer Woman. In the line as we talked about The Pioneer Woman we talked about blogs. Marisa told our new friends that I had a blog and what the name was. Ann began referring to me as Bubs. She asked what the relationship was between Marisa and me. When Marisa told her that she was engaged to my son, she began referring to Marisa as Daughter in Law. Marisa took lots of pictures of them.

The Pioneer Woman's husband The Marlboro Man was also there. Lots of women swooned when they saw him. Here is Kary getting her books signed by him.
Ann had him sign her book- to my favorite cowgirl. The Marlboro Man asked Ann if she had ever been on a horse, she didn't even lie, she told him straight up, No, then just laughed her infectious laugh.
Marisa had him sign her book too.
Here we are with the woman of the hour. As you can see Kaitlin made it to Walmart from her class. Money is taking the picture, he met us here after work. As she was signing our books, I got the feeling we were the only folks there. She asked if Kaitlin was my daughter and when we said yes, she said that she could tell. I told her Marisa was soon to be married to my son and this was her first cookbook. She added a special message in her book. How fun was that. What a genuine person she is.
Kary with Ree

Ann and Linda with Ree.I was really pleased to see so many folks there tonight. We got back to our car at 7:15 after a laughing good time.

ESPNU tonight

My family is going to the a local football game tonight. It on ESPNU. Here are their signs.
Kaitlin was so excited she couldn't stand still.
A rare still moment
Michael Dyer verbally committed to AUBURN today. John wants to thank him!

Way to go Rodney Scott

If you watched the AUBURN game on Saturday you may have seen the helmet to helmet hit that left Zac Etheridge non responsive on the field. He was carried off on a body board. He gave a very weak thumbs up as he was carried off.

One of the neat things that happened after 'The Hit' was Rodney Scott, the Ole Miss player, that ended up under Zac, didn't move. His decision to stay still is one to the reasons that Zac is walking around today.

We hear so much about unsportsmen like conduct in college football that I wanted to give a shout out for a job well done. Rodney Scott, I've never met you but I plan to follow your career and I am praying for God's blessing on it.

Art Show

Kaitlin got two photos in Mustard Tree Art . Her photos are on page 2 and 7 in the gallery-Jesus is Light. How exciting. Our friends Dan, Bri, and Grant also got work in.

Aim High

Something for us to strive for

I wasn't taking pictures and driving, I promise

We have had the rainiest October/fall since about forever or maybe the 1800's. Here are some pictures Kaitlin took as we drove home from church one Sunday. This is to remind me that we did see the sun a few times this past month and to let you see the beauty that I am privileged to see as I drive home.








The path home is always a welcome sight.It was not a brilliant fall with fantastic color. I see most pretty leaves on the ground as they have been blown down by the wind and rain but I have enjoyed it none the less and say Hello November!