Because I just couldn't wait...

...to show off my little Casper the Friendly Ghost. I realize it isn't even October yet, but I have a few finishing touches to make and Lena Kate will be ready for her first Halloween. This Oct 31st should be much more exciting than last year. I ended up in the hospital with kidney stones-ouch! Lena Kate was safe in my tummy which made it all ok. I'll just say I will never forget that Halloween and not for good reasons. I can remember every part of that day.

By the way, I got crafty and made her tutu for less than $10! I'll be making more for sure. I made this one really poofy for the costumee, the next one may be girly colors and not as full. It was fun and super easy.

Lena Kate is not the only country girl

Missy spends HOURS down at the pond chasing turtles and who knows what else. I had to go outside tonight at 8:30 to round her up. She was on the other side of the tank in the dark....to boogie man (coyotes and who knows what else:) could get her! She was as happy as ever and CAKED in mud. I had to hose her down...and shwooo she STINKS like yucky pond water. Sorry Aunt Amy for the Coach collar getting so dirty! Hope it cleans up well.

Missy worked up an appetite after all that turtle chasing.

Lena Kate's new chewstick is now a dried sausage stick from Smolik's. Who would've known that it was the perfect teether nice and cold out of the fridge. Her Daddy is proud.

More Country Fun

Lena Kate loves to swing on Granny's front porch. Just look at the delight on her face :)

Try to ignore the food on her upper lip..I promise it wasn't a booger!

A good spoon is fun to play with...Granny is always prepared.

Rumor has it that when the cenizo blooms it is going to rain...guess what, it bloomed and then it rained. The hills were so pretty and green with splashes of deep pink.

If only you could have smelled this baking. It has since been consumed...mostly by myself!

We've been having lots more fun out at Mimi and Papa's. Lena Kate and I have been cooking some nice cool weather food now that the first cool front of the season is upon us. How does chicken and dumplings and carne guisada sound? Tasty it was!...and we have leftovers. Plus, we went into town to the best BBQ place around. Smolik's is quite a gem for Mathis, Texas. They serve up some mean brisket, chopped beef sandwiches(bbq buns as Granny calls them:) ribs, sausage, and fabulous chicken fried steaks to boot. Add a side of fried okra or onion rings and I'm in a place as close to food heaven as you can get.

Papa is doing better every day. Yesterday I knew he was feeling better since he started giving me a hard time about what show we were going to watch on tv.

Today we have a big trip to take Granny and Mrs. Edge to 5 Points to go to the big Beall's sale. Honestly, I think they have one every week, but it ought to be quite an adventure. That is, of course, after Granny gets her hair done. I think we are also going to stop at Hobby Lobby to get some items for Lena Kate's Halloween costume. She is going to be a cute little friendly ghost. I can't wait to get it complete...just wait for the pictures!...oh, the suspense.

Country living is the life for me!

Here is a preview!

This is Granny's old high chair-still coming in handy!

Just a swingin

A littl green is nice to see:)

Whatcha got LK?

Why did Daddy go bye-bye?

We've had tons of fun playing and working in the country. Lena Kate has been helping by getting into every cabinet she can find. We've had daily visits to Granny's house. I also cooked several nights, baked homemade bread from Mimi's starter (the cinnamon is my favorite!) and made some chicken and dumplins for Papa when he came home yesterday. He is doing well, but his hand really hurts where the IV leaked-ouch.

Lane was here since Friday morning and just headed back to work today...we will miss him but decided to stay here since he is coming back on Friday. Papa, Mimi, and Granny are excited about more Lena Kate time. They love watching her pat-a-cake which is her favorite game. She claps and rolls it and everything. What a smart girl I have!

We also did a bit of dove hunting when Mimi got home from the hospital the last few nights to babysit, but there were not too many flying. I just love dove hunting even when they are not flying because it is so peaceful and a good time to just sit and talk with Lane. Hopefully this cool front that is blowing in brings both buckets of rain as well as the birds further south. If not, we'll take the rain! Things have greened up a bit after the rain 2 weeks ago here, but more is needed. Thanks for the rain prayers and keep them coming!

Cock-a-doodle-doooooo

More swinging...now that those pesky skeeter bugs are gone.

Sugar anyone?

More pics to come!

Prayer Request for Papa and Colin - Updated

*UPDATE* Dad is out of surgery now and doing well. Colin's surgery was also a success. God is good! Keep those prayers coming for a quick recovery for Dad and for sweet Colin.

Original Post:

Lena Kate would like for you to please pray for her Papa on Thursday the 17th. He will be undergoing surgery for a hernia that has developed likely as a result of prior surgery for colon cancer in December 2006. He also had hernia surgery last April so we've all been through this before. From prior experience Dad doesn't recover rapidly and it has taken many days for his bowels to "wake up" before he can go home. Please pray that the surgery is a success and he recovers swiftly. As you can imagine it is hard for him to follow doctor's orders and stay put (not lift feed sacks, etc.) If you would also include some patience prayers that would be greatly appreciated. Lena Kate is anxious for her Papa to be feeling good again soon!

Papa, Lena Kate, and me

One of my sweet college friend's baby boy Colin is undergoing heart surgery tomorrow as well. He was born with a heart defect and this will be his 2nd surgery in his short life...I believe he is approx 5 months old...maybe 6. He is a fighter and has been doing well, but this is a serious surgery to last 5-6 hours. Please keep his little body and family in your prayers too if you will.

Auntie Sarah - We Love You

Lena Kate and I had a wonderful weekend visiting my bff Sarah in Franklin, TN this past weekend. It was so nice to get to see her again and have some of those wonderful girl-to-girl conversations that are just not the same unless they are face-to-face. We went to Logan's for lunch. Sarah is the Accounting Director so we got to sample as much yummy food as we could on her food stipend. My favorite was the two yummy mini-desserts. Lena Kate enjoyed licking the salt off of peanuts-dont worry, she is not allergic and I didn't let her put them all the way in her mouth! This was after we worked up quite an appetite on a long walk and then a grueling workout. P90X kicked my behind! I now have that hurts so good soreness. Then we spent the afternoon piddling around downtown Franklin. It is such a neat town with fun boutique shopping and a great little cooking shop. LK was a hit everywhere we went and she is such a flirt just smiling at EVERYONE. I don't know how many times I get asked, "Is she always this happy?" Fortunately for me, she is! That evening we had Sarah's sweet husband Keith pick up pizza for dinner and we watched chick flicks in their great room while Lena Kate played. It was just the perfect day of fun and fellowship between two soul sisters. Thanks to Keith for letting me have Auntie Sarah for the weekend! Then on Sunday we went for another walk and worked out again before we all loaded up and went to lunch at Barbara's which was this great homecooking restaurant. We sat outside at a patio table. It was just delightful - what can beat fried chicken, fried okra, and creamed corn?! On Sunday afternoon we stopped by this greeat cupcake shop in downtown Franklin for some of the prettiest cupcakes. They were quite tasty and I got a cute t-shirt too. You can see me model it while posing with the sweet cakes in the slideshow. We relaxed Sunday night and just spent some quality time hanging out. Lena Kate was a doll the whole weekend and Sarah and Keith really enjoyed her as well. She was also a good little travel partner. Fortunately neither flight was booked so I got to have a seat for her to play in too. I'm so fortunate to be able to go visit Sarah- so thanks to Lane for letting his girls go for the weekend. I enjoyed every second and can't wait to see Sarah again. It makes me sad to think it will be too long, no matter how soon we are together again. We just really get each other...and I'm sure each of you know how special those friends are and how hard they are to come by. Thanks again to Sarah and Keith for having us and making us feel right at home. We love you and my God bless you now and forever!

Here is a glimpse into our weekend together. People often ask if we are sisters. I like to think that we are soul sisters:)

(Put your curser at the bottom of the pictures to see captions)

Hey Lena Kate....

How do you feel about going to Nashville to visit "Aunt" Sarah?


Hip, Hip, HOORAY!

Yup, that is what I thought. Watch out Nashville, here we come!

Play Dates, Mommy Dates, and BBQ's

We had a great Labor day weekend. Lane's parents were here Saturday and the girls had a fund afternoon shopping adventure following lunch at PF Changs. Everybody came home with a goodie bag. Leelee got Lena Kate some fall clothes on sale and some Robeez Moccasins..soo cute! Thanks again Leelee for everything! We love ya. Then we all went out to Willie's Icehouse for fried food goodness-fried pickles anyone? By the way, Lena Kate sported her Aggie outfit for the start of football season and the Aggies won - Gig'em! We'll take every win we can get our hands on. I sure hope they have a good season this year. Leelee and Grandpa and brought Lena Kate a Roscoe the Ram to represent Angelo State so that the battle is fair. Lane was happy to see that and is ready for Lena Kate to have a blue and gold outfit too.

Sunday I rushed around and made Pioneer Woman's baked beans, a strawberry cream pie and vegetable dip in a bread bowl and Leelee and Grandpa stopped by for another visit before heading back to San Angelo. Then we all loaded up and headed over to Gus and Amy's for a labor day/housewarming BBQ with my family. Mimi and Papa came up and we all had a great time. Good food and good fun!

Lena Kate has been showing off this past week. She took two steps two different times on Saturday and she has been waving and clapping up a storm. I love watching her learn and catch on. Babies are amazing in how fast they grow and learn.

She fell asleep after the BBQ before we could get on the road home. She is like Cinderella, if she isn't asleep at 8 pm, she turns into a pumpkin.

Clapping for Daddy and the soccer boys

Daddy worked up a thirst playing goalie

Watching Daddy play soccer

Mama and her favorite gal

Can you believe this little guy just turned 2 in May? Look at that form. All the guys were playing soccer with Charles. I don't know who had more fun, Charles or the big boys. They were ALL hot and sweaty when they got done.

Posing with Mom and Uncle Rod in front of the pretty pool

Lena Kate relaxing with the family

Daddy and Leelee playing with Roscoe the Ram...I think she needs a Reveille..it is only fair!

Sporting her Aggie outfit for game day

She looks like a little cheerleader in training

Girl's night Out- On Thursday night I met these sweet girls out for our first Girl's Night Out since our babies were born. We had yummy chocolate goodness at the Coco Lounge and great conversation. It was so nice to get out and not rush through dinner to keep a little one happy. Lane stayed home with Lena Kate and they did great. She was sound asleep in her bed...diaper and jammies on correctly and all. Thanks again Lane for staying with your girl so Mommy could have a much needed reprieve. I think we are all looking forward to hour next GNO, especially since all the babies and Daddies did super great.

Too much fun at our playdate-this was after her official nap, LK fell back asleep on the couch for another hour and 1/2....snuggle with the remote.

Yes, we know we are cute - Lena and Catalina

Hey girl, you think you can give me a boost and we can blow this joint.

Help me Momma, she's attacking me with a piece of bread!

Getting ready to go have lunch at Paesano's with Papaw John (my old boss). John and I had a bet that I wouldn't lose all the baby weight I gained by July 1st. Guess who won!...me, of course. Had I lost, John would've got a homemade Italian Cream Cake...but I won so I got Shrimp Paesano and Tiramisu for dessert. I did take him some chocolate chip cookies as a consolation prize. He loves those too. I really enjoyed working for him so it was nice to meet and get caught up. He reminds some of my Dad so, of course, I think he's great. Monica also got to come to lunch too. She has been working so hard these days. For those of you who don't know, Monica is my childhood friend that took over for me when I left Tetco and United Pump Supply. I meant to get a picture when we were at lunch. I had my camera out and everything.....but I guess I got side-tracked by all the yummy food. Lena Kate was a good girl as usual. She banged her spoon and tried to be loud...but it is loud there to begin with, so no worries.

Playing Around

Lena Kate had soaked her shirt with her water cup...so she was "running around" like a shirtless boy. She must like being a little nudey. She tries relentlessly to run away from me when I have no diaper on her and she HATES to put jammies on each night.


This face cracks me up. Hamming it up!