My Sweet Little Molly

Well, it finally happened. We had our first trip to the doctor's office for something other than a well-child visit :( Our Molly had an allergic reaction when we were in Tennessee, and she just couldn't get over the coughing. Friday night and Saturday morning were awful for her, so we called our wonderful doctor friend, took a road trip to his clinic, took another road trip to the pharmacy, and finally arrived home and started her breathing treatments.

The great news is that she is feeling soooo much better. I realized that I will have to battle a spirit of fear concerning my children and moving to Africa. Saturday morning I kept thinking, "What if this had happened in Mozambique?" The good news is that God is in Africa too! He is more than able to watch over and protect my children wherever we go. He is able to watch over the children we will leave behind as well. Such a journey of faith and provision.

Pumpkin Carving Time!

We are not a Halloween family, but we do love pumpkins! This year we have a large assortment of pumpkins in different sizes that we grew in our garden. Mason picked a pumpkin that was so tough-skinned that we could not cut it. Randy finally had to get his power tools out to even get the top off - lol! I can honestly say that in 30 years of marriage, I have never had pumpkin dust all over the kitchen before :) Finally, all three were carved, scooped out, seeds cleaned and cooked, and the kitchen returned to normal. Mason, Molly and Madelyn are almost as excited about pumpkin carving night as they are about Christmas. Tonight we are painting pumpkins - more pictures to follow!

A Quiet Life

Our past week was my favorite kind - nothing special going on, lots of family time, and very stress-free. So......I really didn't even pull my camera out of the drawer :( Fortunately, I have many, many pictures of some very adorable children, so enjoy!

The Looooooong Road Home

We returned home Wednesday night from a 5 day marathon road trip to Fort Worth and Tennessee. We drove over 2000 miles, watched at least 18 movies in the car, went to a wedding, had fun with family, visited a missionary couple, went to the zoo in Nashville, and then drove 17 hours in one day to get home - whew! Now I have a huge pile of laundry and a busy weekend at church. Somewhere in there I am taking a long nap!

Our niece, Jordan, married Saturday night in a beautiful garden wedding in Fort Worth. We were a little chilly, but everything was so pretty. Jordan, you were a stunning bride! Randy's sweet mom rode with us and made that part of the trip much more fun. Missy, Matt and Dan also drove to Ft. Worth for the wedding, and we loved bring together for a day.

The next morning we said goodbye to Norma, Missy, Matt and Dan and started the trip to Nashville. It was a long day of driving to get to Randy's brother's house. Rod and Julie were very gracious and allowed us to completely take over the top floor of their house for three days :)

On Monday, we loaded up again and drove another 3 hours to visit with a missionary couple, the Maxwells. They are the directors for the mission school we think we will attend next year in Mozambique, Africa. What a precious couple! They answered so many of the thousands of questions we have about mission work in Africa. I am forever grateful that they would give up one of their few days at home to meet with us. Thank you Tony and Pam!!!!

The next day was ZOO DAY!!! The Nashville zoo is a beautiful place, and the weather even cooperated and didn't rain. Mason, Molly and Madelyn had such a fun time, and Randy and I loved just watching the three of them.

Wednesday was the longest drive of my life - 17 hours from Nashville to home. We left at 7 in the morning and didn't arrive home until midnight - ugh. The bright spot was meeting Missy in Oklahoma City and driving home with her so that she could spend the weekend with us.

We had a wonderful time, but there is no place like home!

Kissy Huggy Cute!

I don't see an Olympic medal for either girl, but they love gymnastics and look sooooo cute every Tuesday in their leotards and tights! Thank you Miss Brandy for making Tuesdays very fun :)

(Don't you love Madelyn's "real" smile?)

Happy Birthday Sweet Mason!

Our precious Mason is 8, and I am a little sad that he is getting so old! His birthday fell on a school day, so we sent cupcakes for Mason to share with his buddies. Randy went to the school and had a fun lunch with the birthday boy while the girls and I went toy shopping.

Sweet Memaw took Mason birthday shopping the day before his birthday, and he had soooooo much fun spending time with her and picking out the perfect gifts. Thank you Memaw for a wonderful afternoon! Nana and Papaw sent birthday money, so Mason and I will do a little more shopping next week :)

A wonderful day filled with hugs, balloons, and just the right birthday presents. I love you sweet Mason. You make my heart happy!

Little Dresses for Africa and More!

When we meet with the Maxwells in Tennessee next month to talk about African missions, I want to give them something for the children in Mozambique. I found an amazing website that has a simple, simple pattern for making dresses out of pillowcases. I spent a dollar at the thrift store, pulled out my boxes of elastic and trims, sewed for 45 minutes, and.......made 2 precious little dresses! And don't you just love my two little models :) I will hopefully be able to make 10 more dresses before our trip.

Mason's sweater is growing (slowly), and I now know that I LOVE wool yarn - sigh.... I also won (bought) 10 skeins of sari and wool yarn on Ebay. It came in the mail yesterday, and I am in love again - sigh... It is made with end pieces of Indian sari silk woven with soft wool. Don't tell anyone, but I am making bags with the sari yarn to give at Christmas to two grown girls I love very much. Missy and Nana, pretend you didn't read that!

Mason was a little disappointed that I didn't have a dress for him to model, so I took a picture of him with the sweatiest, smelliest hair ever - lol!!! Be glad that this blog doesn't have a "smell" feature :) After a week of fall weather, our weekend temps have been in the 90's. Tomorrow fall will return again, and we hope it decides to stay for awhile.

Have a blessed week sweet friends and family!