'Tis the Season...

It is almost December 1st and I cannot wait! I love Christmas time. The spirit of Christmas, remembering Christ's birth, the joy of children, time with family and friends at all the parties, giving gifts... I could go on and on. It is a great time of year. I love it so much Will and I got married December 27the with Christmas wreaths, garland, poinsettas, and lights and SNOW the day of our wedding in Ballinger, TX. We have our tree up and ready for presents to fit snuggling underneath it. The girls have their lists made... Abbey wants anything cowgirl, such as a new cowgirl shirt, spurs, and a new Jessie doll (Toy Story 2, She still loves that movie). She has also asked for a new basketball. Lainey wants anything ballet. If any one has any good suggestions, please let me know. She has a million tu-tu's, leotards, the Bella Dancerella Stuff... so I need specific suggestions. Emiley wants spurs and chaps and a microphone.

I got my first Christmas gift today. Abbey took money to school today to by small gifts from the special needs kids. This is a great thing the teachers do at Hamilton I.S.D. to teach the life skills students how to make things and deal with money. Anyway, Abbey bought be a bead necklace that says "Go Dogs" and Will got a bulldong pin. They are so cute! She did a great job and I was proud that she thought to buy for others and not just herself.

Lainey is excited about playing the role of Gabriel in her school play. She has been reciting her lines..."Mary, this is not just a baby, it is the Son of God."

Emiley has had an ear infection and horrible cough. This is a bad time of year for her. She spends much of the winter on the breathing machine. She is lots better and has been fever free for two days.

We have a fun trip to San Antonio this weekend. My Mi-ma has been here this week helping me out and we are taking her with us to SA to stay with my aunt. We are looking forward to our "third annual" Christmas shopping trip and visit with Santa in San Antonio. We get to have fun while Will gets caught up on all the new tax information for the year at his conference.

This Christmas season I hope to share some verses that has meant something to me over the year. Today, I will share my favorite verse, I John 4:7-8. "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love." Tis the season for love... God's love, Will's love for me and mine for him with our anniversary, love for my kids, their love for me, love for my family. I am so thankful for the ability to love and for the feeling of love in my heart. May the season bless you again and again throughout this month!

A Texas Sleigh Ride

These are pictures of what the girls call a "sleigh ride." Will ties the bottom of a wooden crate onto the back of his truck and drives very slowly through the pasture. They have also taken a log from an old tree we cut down and tied it to the back of the truck and called it a "log ride." The girls love it! I personally think it is a bit dangerous and scary, but I let them do it and hope thier daddy will be responsible. The other day the girls were having a "sleigh" ride while we down cut small cedar trees for me to decorate the front porch with. It was going great until Will ran them into a cedar tree! I was yelling at him from the back of the truck to stop... but he said the sleigh would go right over the cedar tree. I don't think he realized how BIG the cedar was. It broke the sleigh and the girls took a bit of a spill. Good 'ole daddy found some wire by the fence row and wired the "sleigh" back together so we could continue on our ride. We had a great day together! The "sleigh" did break again because of a HUGE rock. That time daddy could not fix it and we had to put the poor "sleigh" in the burn pile. It was a great "sleigh" for about a year! I am sure our creative daddy will find something else to tie to the back of the truck and haul my girls on! I never thought I would be a country girl, but I am slowly turning into one. Its lots of fun living out here and doing simple things like tying wood to the back of a truck for a ride around the pasture! Maybe we can do it again if we really get some snow over the next day or so!!!!

P.S. Sarah has gone home. We woke up the other morning and she was no where to be found. She was lots of fun while she was here.... And HI Kate and Kooper! Amy told me yall have been reading about us! We hope to see you over Christmas break.

Thanksgiving...

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was another great year! It seems like this week has just flown by. The girls were out of school Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We have enjoyed spending lots of time together with Will home, too. Our house was the head of Thanksgiving Headquarters. It all began on Tuesday evening when my mom came for a couple of days. We begin early Wednesday morning preparing for the Thanksgiving feast on Thursday. We made everything that we could ahead of time and had a great time doing it. The girls even helped by setting the table and making place cards and wrapping napkins. They were so proud of their work. Wednesday afternoon we finished up and took time out for a coke at Sonic and a quick trip to the gift shop to buy some new candles. Oh, yes and we even ran the suburban through the car wash, not that it helped that much since it is so dry and the dirt road just gets it all dusty again. Wednesday was also my birthday, so Wednesday night my mom kept the girls so Will and I could go to dinner ALONE! It was great to just get to visit and relax for awhile before all the company on Thursday. Thursday came and my mom went to her brother's and then off to my brother's for some other Thanksgiving gatherings. We then had a great lunch with Will's family... His mom and dad, sister, and her kids, and us. It was great and the food turned out pretty good, too. (If I may say so!) That afternoon, my dad came to visit on his way through after a wonderful time at my Mi-Ma's in San Angelo. I missed getting to see all my aunts, uncles, cousin, brother, sister-in-law, and niece and nephew, but that is the price I pay for getting the spend ALL OF CHRISTMAS with them! Can't wait to see you all!!! Anyway, we watched lots of football, played lots of games, and ate way too much! By Friday afternoon, all the company was gone. We did however get a new visitor... The cute little dog pictured with Lainey was dropped off at our place Friday afternoon. The girls have named her SARAH. She is really cute and sweet and we have yet to find her owner. The girls are hoping we never find her owner and that she can be Jack's new playmate. She looks like part Beagle, part Basset Hound. She rode in the back of the truck with us today to the grocery store, so she is fitting right in. Thanksgiving was a SUCCESS. We had a blessed time with our family and hope that you did too.

You may have seen this sweet poem before, but I would like to share it with you anyway. My sister-in-law, Gina, sent it too me...
Count your blessings instead of your crosses.
Count your gain instead of your loses.
Count your joys instead of your woes.
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears.
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean.
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth.
Count of God instead of yourself.

This really hit home after this Thanksgiving. It has been a really tough year for me and I have seemed to only look at the negative here lately. I pray that as we draw to the end of 2006, I will remember this...think positively and count fully on God in all things. We love you all.

Bedtime Prayer...

Emiley has always been a REALLY good sleeper. She falls into a deep sleep fast and talks and snores all night. When she was a baby, I had to put her to bed in her room with the door closed and NO monitor so that I could sleep because she slept so loud and never woke up during the night. Over the last week or so, Emiley says that she had been having bad dreams. She has come into our room and gotten in our bed three times over last couple of weeks. This is the first time that she has ever gotten up...EVER in the middle of the nights so I knew she must really be having bad dreams that were waking her up. I told her that we needed to start praying before she went to bed, asking God to help her have good dreams! The first few nights she said her prayer in her bed as I was tucking her in. The other night she told me she could not pray in her bed. I said OK do you want to kneel by your bed or go pray with daddy or what. She told me she needed to look out her window so she could see God and He could see her. I couldn't hold back the tears as Emiley stood by her window, looked out, and asked God with all her heart to help her sleep good with only happy dreams!

Oh the things kids do...

The girls had been helping me all day putting up the Christmas tree... then they got tired of doing that so they decide to lay "the warm fuzzy blanket" out on the tile floors. Then they tied a rope to the blanket and put the loop around Abbey. (For those of you who know my girls know they love ropes and tying things up. I often find five or six ropes tied to their dressers with animals on the ends of them. Thos are my country girls!) Lainey and Emiley then took turns "riding" on the blanket as Abbey ran around the house on the tile floors. After they had fallen off their "homemade sleigh" one too many times, they decided to pile their stuffed animals onto the blanket and give them a ride on the sleigh. This is the picture of all their animals on the blanket and Lainey and Emiley posing with them. Abbey wanted in the picture too with the rope around her waist, but she was "dressed" only her panties (like always)so I didn't add her in the picture. Things are crazy around here like always... But we are ready for the holidays!!!

What we are thankful for...

I already told you about our Nutcracker day on Saturday, but Sunday was a pretty special day too! Over the last few weeks at church our preacher had asked us to write what we are thankful for and put it in the "Thanks Box." His sermon on Sunday was on giving thanks and he read the things that people had written and put in the box. As I sat in church I thought about everything that I have to be thankful for... The obvious ones are my husband, the girls, my mom and dad, my Mi-ma, my in-laws, my aunts, uncles, and cousin, and don't forget my great friends...The my thoughts ventured off and I started being thankful for grace, mercy, my faith, and love... Which lead me to me thankful for God's word, Jesus and his sacrifice, the Holy Spirit,and my church family...By this point I am moved to tears and I begin to thank God for Will's job, our food, our nice home, my suburban, and all the material things we have... I even was thankful for my dish washer, microwave, stove, washer and dryer, and crock pot in which my dinner is cooking... I am so blessed I could go on and on... The last thing the preacher pulled out of his box was a picture that my adorable little Abbey had stuck in the box. This brought even more tears to my eyes as I realized that she had been listening to his sermons and had wanted to contribute to the excercise. She had drawn a turkey ( the typical Thanksgiving one with her hand and her fingers being the feathers). At the top of the page she simply wrote, "I AM THANKFUL!" I want to just be thankful for everything and give thanks in everything I do. Today, I sat down with each of the girls individually and asked them to name five things that they were thankful for. I touched my heart so deeply that they each named God or Jesus in their list. I am so thankful that Will and I are instilling God and the Church into our children and that we live in a nation, state, and city where this is possible. Anyway, here are the girls lists:

Abbey (age 7)

1. Mommy and Daddy

2. Jack and Jasper (our dog and horse)

3. All animals

4. The vets who care for animals

5. Jesus

Lainey (age 5)

1. Family

2. Friends

3. My animals

4. The food we have

5. Jesus

Emiley (age 4)

1. Palm trees (which we do not have in Hamilton, but is really wants to be a hula girl)

2. Me growing up

3. God

4. My special rock

5. Skuttles (her made up name for her Care Bear)

One more thing about our day at church... I was also touched to hear that my girls have made a difference in someone else's life too. Both Lainey and Emiley were personally mentioned on someone's Thanksgiving list that was read at church. I believe it was written by a young boy who lives at the Brummett Youth Ranch. My children love those boys and those boys need so much love, espcially young innocent love that only children can give

I hope that you and yours are truly blessed as you give thanks this holiday season!

The Nutcracker...

Well, this past Saturday Will and I took the girls to see the Nutcracker in Abilene at the Paramount Theatre. It was so much FUN! The looks on their faces were priceless. Even though Abbey loves the sights inside the Paramount, she did not care for the actual ballet. She asked if there was another halftime during the intermission. When I informed here that there were only two acts, she said, "Oh good. I was afraid you were going to say there were five acts. " She did fall asleep sometime during the scond act. Lainey had the best time of all the girls. She really wants to be a ballerina and has no interest for t-ball, soccer, basketball. The dances and twirls all around the house on a daily basis in her leotard and ballet shoes. She was in ballet for a couple of months here in town, but decided she did not want to attend anymore when she found out she was going to have to perform. She is not a performer... she, unlike her sisters, does not like to be the center of attention, especially in front of people she does not know. Lainey had the perfect seat. We were on a middle row and she was in the middle seat. No one sat infront of her so she had a PERFECT view. There was a little girls behind her who talked or sang throughout much of Act II. Lainey kept turning around and saying SHHHH or HUSH to the little girl. At one point, Lainey leaned over to me and said, "That little girl does not know her ballet manners. She needs to be quiet or get out of here." I just loved it! She was so into the performance. I was thankful that Emiley was sitting three chairs down from Lainey because she too talked thoughout the ballet. She was sitting by Kathy Strong, a friend of ours from Abilene. Emiley loved the costumes and was captivated by all the color and movement. She loves any and everything. Those of you who know Emiley know that you cannot win an argument with her. She told Will and I as we were pulling up to the Paramount Theatre that the theatre in Hamilton was called the Texan "Feeter." We told here it was a theatre too and she said no it wasn't , it was a "feeter." Will and I laughed as we argued with our four year old for quite some time. Then in the Nutcracker when the peacock came out she told me it was a "peahawk." I told her it looked like a peacock. She agreed, but said this one was called a "peahawk." After the Nutcracker, we all gave them a standing ovation. Lainey was WHISTLING as she clapped as loud as she could. It was so cute. She was so excited to be there! To top it all off, the girls were able to have their picture taken with the peacock "peahawk", the Sugar Plan Fairy, and the Snow Queen. It was a great day for us all...Abbey said the best part was her Butterfinger she got at intermission and finding out that the Abilene Civic Theatre was presenting High School Musical in January.

The leaves are falling...

Well, Angie the fall leaves in Tenn. are beautiful but the ones I see in my front pasture aren't too bad either. I love this time of year and I am thankful that God gave us different seasons and colors to enjoy!

OH... Miss Em

Well, for everyone who has ventured out, taken that step, and had that third child you know they are one of a kind. Now we did not "plan" to have Miss Em. ( We didnt really "plan" any of our girls, but God blessed us over and over and over again in three years and three weeks. ) Lainey was five months old, she had RSV, and we were moving to a town I had never heard of when I found out about baby #3. Thanks to my sister-in-law Amy, I made the move and kept my sanity with two little one and anther on the way as we moved to a small town, not knowing a soul excpet for the CPA and his wife that Will would work for. We had been praying that God would lead us to a small town to raise our girls. Our prayer was answered and here we are in Hamilton and loving every minute of it. Anyway, back to Miss Em... She can make you smile by just looking at her!!! She is a doll... She is her daddy with reddish hair and her mama's eyes. She brings everyone joy especially the older folks at church who never forget to bring her bubble gum or peppermints. Emiley Morgan is so genuine. She loves her mommy, daddy and sisters and is not afraid to show it. She talks all the time!!!! But what choice does she have, she must keep up with the older two. Emiley also loves church songs. Her favorite for so long was "I will call upon the Lord." It was awesome to hear her sing, "'And the God of my salvation be exalted..." She would carry the last note as long as she could. This week at church on Sunday night she told me to sing #83 with her while the preacher was preaching. I tuned to that song and we sang silently together, "God is so good. God is so good. God is so good. He's so good to me." I love her so much! She makes me slow down and thank God for the uniqueness in all my precious babies. Miss Em... I cannot wait to see what you will be!!!

Abbey the Athlete...

Abbey Grace is going to be a great athlete someday... actually she is already a good athlete. She brags everyday when she comes home from school that she was the winner of the Indian Run in P.E. She also won first place in the 50 meter dash and second in the 100 meter dash for her grade (girls) last year in the spring. She said she let her best friend Ashlee beat her in the 100 because she already had a blue ribbon and Ashlee already had a red one from the 50. Just a side note, Ashlee's mom Gay and I are really excited about watching these two grow up together. They are both real go getters! Anyway, back to my Abbey... She recently had her soccer awards ceremony. Her team won first place in the under 8's. She scored at least one point in every game and scored five points in the last game of the season! Her team was undefeated. It was a great season and we look forward to softball in the spring. Abbey is such a blessing. She is not afraid to be herself. She knows what she loves and is not afraid to be different. She would be happy wearing her "cowgirl jeans," melon cowgirl shirt, boots, and hat everyday! Abbey loves to ride horse with Emiley and is growing into a very beautiful independant young lady. It is hard to believe she is already seven and in the first grade. I am cherishing everyday with her because time is flying way to fast!!! Before too long we will be taking her to ACU... My sweet Athletic Abbey Grace

Life with Lainey...

Well, everyone who knows our family knows that Lainey Elizabeth is one of a kind! She is very creative, intelligent, adorable, cute, sweet and lots and lots of fun. Those who know her also know she is very clumsy. Well, Lainey had a little spill this weekend on "Grammy's Concrete" as she says. She and her cousin Wayne went to play outside after a great birthday party for Jessica. Lainey was trying to play outside and play with the Leapster at the same time. Not a good combinations for Lainey! She is alot like me... we are best at doing one thing at a time. Anyway, Lainey took a spill and ended up with this beautiful black eye. She said she needed to get dressed up like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz today for preschool so maybe her friends would not realize her "terrible" eye. (For those of you who don't know... Lainey is also VERY dramatic. Will says that is alot like me too.) Lainey was "Dorothy" all the way down to the braids on the sides of her short hair. She has decided to ask for Ruby Slippers for Christmas to go with the dress that Aunt Sue made her. Anyway, Lainey's new eye color is getting her attention right now. I'm sure by next week she will have another battle wound to share! Life with Lainey is great... God has greatly blessed me!

Here we GO!!

Hello All! After reading the blogs of some of my old ACU buddies... I have decided to join in the fun and become a blogger. With our three precious little girls, Abbey, Lainey, and Emiley, I always have a funny story to tell, something sweet to share, or an adventure from our lives together. I hope that this blog will help those I love stay connected to us even though we live far apart. I love you all so ... Here we GO!!!