Papa

I know I am very behing on blogging. I have lots to write about and many pictures to post, but today my mind is elsewhere.

My Papa (Dad's dad) passed away this morning. We all knew that he was nearing the end, but it doesn't make it any less sad. I think that mostly I am sad for my Dad. It's hard watching a parent lose a parent.

But I am mourning my Papa. I have SO many memories of him. He lived out in "the country" in Granbury with a little bit of land. I think I often took for granted when I was little how fun it was going to visit. There wasn't any other kids to play with out there, and he wasn't the type of Grandfather that would run around and play with you or get on the floor and play games. But he made my brother and I laugh SO much. He sometimes, okay many times, used language in front of us that I'm sure made my parents cringe. But Neil and I laughed so hard, it just fueled the fire. He let us ride on the riding lawn mower with him when we were little and by ourselves when we grew up a little bit. They used to have lots of chickens and even a turkey that we would chase around the yard. He would come visit us in Lubbock with the biggest Cousin Eddy motor home you have ever seen. It was awesome. He loved hearing about our school and the things we were involved in. He loved getting into deep conversations with my parents about religion, and I'm sure if I wouldn't have rolled my eyes and walked away, I would have learned a thing or two.

Here are just SOME of the things I loved and want to remember about my Papa:

* He always called Cora "legs." I have no idea why...she doesn't have really long ones, but maybe he liked how fat they were.

* He always preferred to drink a big glass of milk with every meal.

* He always wore a hat. My favorite were the cowboys hats he wore.

* He was in the Navy, was a firefighter, and worked many years on the railroad. I wish I knew more stories from each of these. I know that he was very hard working and dedicated.

* He had a great laugh that was contagious.

* I love that when I looked into his eyes I could also see my dad and my brother.

* He loved being around family. He lived the last few years of his life in an assisted living facility, and he was always so excited to have visitors.

* He got cold easily.

* He would talk to you forever. He loved telling stories.

* His little bird legs were the cutest thing ever.

* I loved watching Kaitlyn get to know him. I hope she will hold memories of him with her.

I know there are many more stories, and things that he said. Hopefully after being with family this upcoming week I will remember many more and be able to record them. Love you, Papa.

Light the Night Walk

A little over a month ago the three year old daughter of some of our really good friends was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia. Everything happened rather quickly - she was taken to Cooks in Ft. Worth and given about a 2 1/2 year treatment plan. FORTUNATELY, the type of cancer that she has has a VERY good prognosis. Tatum is already considered in remission and will continue to receive chemo treatments to make sure that they zap it all and prevent it from returning. She is back in Abilene now and can receive most of her care here.

On Saturday night there was a Light the Night walk around ACU to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Another family from church put together Team Tatum to walk in her honor. There was an overwhelming response in participants and donations. There were over 200 of us out there in our yellow shirts! Tatum is the sweetest, most hilarious girl. I think her and Cora are a lot alike! It was an honor to be a part of this event!

Cora and Tatum back in May...such sweet Friends!

Our new favorite T-shirts!!

They had face painting, but Kaitlyn chose to get a moose painted on her hand. Weird.

This is Kaitlyn with Olivia, Tatum's sister. They are the same age and in the same class this year at school. They had fun kicking a ball around for awhile. Olivia has been so strong during all of this!

They passed out balloons that lit up for everyone to carry during the walk. It was so neat to see all of them when it got dark!

We love you Tater Tot!

First Day of FIRST Grade!!!

Kaitlyn has been so excited for school to start this year. I feel like the summer just FLEW by. We stayed pretty busy, and the first day of school just snuck up on me! I know I will say this every year, but I can not believe she is in First Grade. We got her haircut a few weeks ago, and now she even looks older! I don't think I needed that.

She got a wonderful teacher, Mrs. M. We go to church with them and their daughter is in our Huddle. This is who Kaitlyn wanted and talked about all summer, so she was excited! There are also a handful of Highland kids in her class. I really think she will have a great year - we feel truly blessed!

She is SO excited about having a locker this year. Their usual Elementary school is being renovated, so they are using a Middle School. It's a little annoying to have to drive over there, but she loves it.

Walking in with one of her best friends, Emma.

My SAD attempt at making Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast - at her request.

Wedding!

I am WAY behind on blogging! This will (hopefully) be the first of 3 blogs today.

Brian and Jennifer......

My sister-in-law Jenny got married on the 22nd. It was quite the party with many out of town family members that we had not seen in SO long. James' parents did a great job planning such a fun weekend for everyone involved. Kaitlyn and her cousin Lofton were the flower girls. They looked precious and had a blast dancing the night away at the reception. The rehearsal was on Thursday night, so on Friday we got to enjoy the day by the pool, ending with a fun cookout for the whole family. It was a tiring, but very fun weekend! Jennifer made a beautiful bride!

Flower Girls.... (notice Kaitlyn's new short haircut!)

This is James' Mamaw from Mississippi. I just LOVE his grandparents. She's like 86..doesn't she look beautiful?!

Kaitlyn ACTUALLY got her fingernails painted for the big day. I was SHOCKED that she agreed to do this. She is normally very against it.

The stretch hummer we got to ride in on the way to the wedding!

Bride and her Daddy....

Sweet girls...

Dancing with her cousin, Graham.

Hello 7 chins...

My Three Girls...

It's been nice to just be home for awhile! We didn't do too much this past weekend, and it was great! We had some friends move to Abilene (actually right down the street from us!), and were able to watch their boys for awhile on Saturday while they got some unpacking done. It was fun having little boys in the house for a few hours!

Since there is not many activities to write about, I thought I would catch up on the girls and what they are saying/doing these days.

KaItLyN :

She starts First Grade on the 24th. Crazy! She has stayed pretty busy this summer, which has been good. She loves her friends and wants to invite someone over every single day. She is still a little smarty pants and surprises me every day with the things that she says that just seem too old for a 6 year old to be saying. I love spending time with just her. I know she craves my attention a lot because during the day most of time is focused on Cora and Claire. So, she and I go on bike rides in the evenings a couple times a week. We love riding our bikes around campus, or to Cajun Cones for a yummy treat. I love doing this with her and hope she grows up to have good memories of it. I took her to the Drive-In movie the other night and she seemed to really enjoy that. (Even though my car battery died and we couldn't hear the movie as well. Not one of my finer moments) Let's see...some other things she has been into lately:

She loves infomercials. The other day she ran into the living room and said, "MOM! Did you know that for only $19.95 and a snap of your fingers your car and your house can be sparkly clean?!"

She is constantly on the look-out for homeless people, or people in need on the streets. We have given food to a handful of them, but she's never satisfied with just this. She always asks if they can come home with us and spend the night.

When she grows up and becomes a Mom, she wants to name her daughter Madelyn Jane and her son Jonathan Root. You read that right, Root. I have no idea where she got either one of these names.

She used to HATE brushing her teeth, but I bought her an electric toothbrush and now she brushes them like 4 times a day.

She has started wanting to read books by herself, which I am LOVING! She is really into Junie B. Jones right now. I have found her sitting on her closet floor just reading away.

She wants to take Hip Hop dance lessons. James and I have vetoed this for now.

She knows every word to every song and every artist who sings it on Radio Disney. She also loves her Praise music at night.

CoRa :

I am loving the stage Cora is in right now. She is talking so much and her little personality is just so sweet. We have almost mastered potty training, so she should be good to go by the time school starts in a couple of weeks. She has become quite the swimmer this summer! We just strap her arm floaties on and she is off! She will jump off diving boards, so down slides, and can hold her breath for such a long time! She watched Kaitlyn in swim lessons and really picked stuff up I think. She loves her sisters. She has a very "nurturing" side of her. If either one of them are crying or upset, she is quick to comfort.

She has the BIGGEST country accent. It completely cracks me up. My favorite thing that she says is "I THANK!" If you ask her a question, she just thinks about it for a second and says, "I thank!"

If I am having to get on to her for any reason (which doesn't happen often), she will respond with, "Don't worry 'bout me" or "Don't get me in trouble!"

The other day I just picked her up and gave her a big hug, squeezed her real tight and said, "OH, I just LOOOOOOOVE you Cora!" This was the rest of the conversation:

Cora: (looking at me with a little smirk) "Are you gonna buy me somethin'?"

Me: (laughing) "What?"

Cora: "Are you gonna buy me somethin'?"

Me: "Well, what do you want me to buy you?"

Cora: "Chicken."

Cora loves chicken and would eat it for every single meal.

She refuses to drink milk of any flavor and gets her share of dairy from yogurt and cheese.

She stays with me so well when we are out shopping or going places. But she does love to occasionally hide in the racks of clothes.

She is not a big TV watcher.

She's almost completely potty trained!

She loves getting dressed up for church and going to Bible class. She looks forward to it every week. She also makes sure that we remember to pray before every meal.

She still loves her lip gloss and has to have it for nap time and bedtime. She just rubs it on her lips until she falls asleep. It's like her pacifier. She also likes to sleep with her flip flops. Preferably on her feet, but she'll hold them too.

I love listening to her sing. She has the sweetest little voice.

ClAiRe:

Claire requires the most attention these days. She gets into all sorts of trouble. She is an expert climber and explorer. This is where we recently found her - just to give you an example:

She is VERY into music. She loves to dance and sing (or hum) along to songs that she hears. My favorite thing she does is play her harmonica. I tried to upload a video, but I couldn't get it to work. She is SO good at playing her blue harmonica. She even dances along with it. It's hilarious. One sweet story - Claire was born with a little heart murmur. She's had a couple of Echo cardiograms and everything is fine, but the doctor ALWAYS comments about it when they listen to her heart. We recently switched doctors, and the first time the new Pediatrician listened to it she said, " I do hear her little murmur, but it's totally benign. In medical school we were told it is called a MUSICAL HEARTBEAT." How cool is that?! I got a little teary eyed when she said that.

She loves her big sisters, but can definitely hold her own with them and let them know when they are making her mad.

She's figured out how to get out of her crib. Makes going to bed a little bit harder. I'm refusing to believe she is old enough for a big girl bed. She's my last baby!! I can't imagine a day with no more cribs!

She hates her car seat. It's pretty much a struggle every time.

Here are some of the things that she says:

"See-um" (Sam, the puppy)

"Gane?" (when she wants to play her GAME on my iphone)

"Nouse" - (her minnie mouse that she sleeps with)

Anytime you call her name, she responds with, "What." It's hard to describe what it sounds like, but it's pretty cute.

She loves to swing outside. She could do it for hours, I'm sure.

Being the baby, she has mastered the words, "Don't", "No", and "Mine."

I could kiss her sweet cheeks all day long!!!!

My mom asked me one time how I could stand all the sweetness of my three girls. I just love and kiss on them all the time. I don't know how I stand it. I just do! I am blessed beyond measure.

Shower Time!

I was glad to help host a wedding shower for James's sister, Jennifer on Saturday in Dallas. It was neat to get to meet some of her friends and be a part of such a fun time for her. We stayed up in McKinney so that the girls could take full advantage of the pool at Grandpa and Grandmere's house. Puppy Sam made the trip with us and enjoyed a few dips in the pool as well!
I LOVED watching Jen open this gift. She has always collected Barbies and has SO many of them still safe in their boxes. Her grandmother, who passed away years ago, left this Bride Barbie for her. She was surprised and got so emotional. It was sweet to watch.

Jennifer and her bridesmaids.

With the Bride and Mother of the Bride!

June, me, Jen and Jan. Lots of J's!

Pool time! We found a floatie that Claire would sit in for longer than 1.7 seconds. Kaitlyn is cracking me up in the background.

What fun is a pool if your Daddy doesn't toss you up in the air?!?

Claire...

Cora...

And Kaitlyn...