Laurie's Life

Steve carving the turkey. "Carving".......he was cutting it for us. "Carving" sounds so proper. Emily sitting with my favorite casserole-Hashbrown casserole!!!!!!!!!!! Cousins on Thanksgiving night. Sarah Kate with her cheesy smile! She was saying,"cheese!" One of my best friends, Kelly came over with her kids. This is Logan and Lauren. My girls love to play with older kids! Steve with Emily at his all time favorite place to eat- The Sandbar My parents-Mary and Russell Harper and her family joined us at the Sandbar. The girls had such a good time together. Sarah Kate after a busy week. She was worn out. On our way home we stopped at a gas station and saw this dog "driving" an 18 wheeler. Emily laughed and laughed. I told her that well behaved and specially trained dogs could drive trucks. I did not let her believe this for very long.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in South Arkansas with my parents.(I will post pics tomorrow!) On Saturday afternoon we took the girls to see Santa. We told the girls they could ask Santa for three things. Since the Wisemen brought Jesus three gifts, we told the girls Santa could bring them three gifts also. Sarah Kate carried this little pretend lipstick in to see Santa. She declared as she put on her lipstick," I just gonna stand right here!" She told us that several time. "I just stand RIGHT HERE!" The girls are peeking at Santa from the back of the line. Sarah Kate is really working that lipstick! Santa makes her a bit nervous! Emily runs right up to Santa and he was so good to her. She told him two things she wanted. After she came back to us, she got in a panic when she realized she had forgotten to tell him she wanted a Pillow Pet. I told her she could go back up and tell him that. She was relieved that she was able to tell him. Now for Sarah Ka

Several years ago a friend of mine printed off this prayer by Mother Teresa and gave it to me. Mother Teresa was one of the most self-less people ever. I love this prayer! Deliver me Jesus from the desire of being loved and accepted Deliver me Jesus from the desire of being extolled Deliver me Jesus from the desire of being honored, praised and preferred Deliver me Jesus from the desire of being consulted Deliver me Jesus from the desire of being approved and popular Deliver me Jesus from the fear of being humiliated Deliver me Jesus from the fear of being despised and forgotten Deliver me Jesus from the fear of suffering rebukes Deliver me Jesus from the fear of being ridiculed and stereotyped

Emily went to her very first sleep-over on Friday night! She spent the night with one of her very best friends, Sarah Grace. I truly believe it was one of the best weekends she has ever had. In fact she said, "I am more excited than getting on a plane and going to Disney World!!!!" When Steve came home from work I told him that Emily was spending the night at Sarah Grace's house and he said, "I'm sad....that is just so grown up." She does not sleep at our house and she did not sleep at their house either. She woke poor Tracy up at 2:00 a.m. Steve and I were so chawed about that. She is wanting to know when she can go again!

My hunter is home! No deer, but he had a great time. We are glad he is back home with us. Tuesday night was girls night at Kelly's house. We always have such a wonderful time. I love getting to know people better. We had some great food, my favorite being Chili's chips and salsa! Thank you Jessica!!!! At the end of the day, I never want to go anywhere. I just want to be home and relax. I always want to back out of going to girls night. But, when I go, I LOVE it. It is always so refreshing to me. I went to Emily's Thanksgiving feast at school this week. We had some wonderful food and I loved seeing the children in Emily's class. This is Emily's teacher, Ms Beth. She is a great teacher and has been so good for Emily. Sarah Kate's favorite baby, Lena Kate. I hosted playgroup at my house today. I did not get a picture of everyone, but here are a few I got. Kids always like dressing up at our house. We don't have any boy dress up clothes and so o

Steve went deer hunting this weekend with Scott in South Arkansas. My parents came to visit me and the girls. We had a good time together. Meme brought the girls these puppies. They are crazy about stuffed animals! I never cared much about them when I was little. Emily loves to play school with her stuffed animals. I told her last night that she might be a teacher when she grows up and she said no, " I am going to be a checker at Walmart." We have heard this several times. My Dad went to the Razorback game with one of my best friends, Beth's husband. This is Daddy and Joey before they left for the game. I think they nearly froze toward the end of the game. Meme and Emily playing dress up. Emily about to leave for school. She is so proud of her ponytail. Well, yet another batch of Sea monkeys has died under my care. Forget it, we are done with them. I don't think Emily was very upset at all. I am happy to hear that some of you tried the roast recipe and li

I got the opportunity to go hear Kelly speaks at a local MOPS group yesterday morning. She did a wonderful job! I loved getting to hear her share. I was so proud of her. I had lunch with my friend Tracey. Tracey has many health struggles, but it is neat to see how God is working in her life. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. Emily made this at pre-school and I thought it was so cute. She explained the sign language for thank-you and then showed me her masterpiece. I love the detail of the earrings! I thought she may have said, I am thankful for my Mama, but no....it said "my kitty." Then she explained that it was not Kristen,but Pink-a-boo. This would be the cat that spent maybe 24 hours in our home last April. Emily went to a birthday party for her friend Isabella tonight. She had a great time. BEDTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Emily has had insomnia or something for the past two weeks. It is about to drive me and Steve CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is tired

Ever since Steve and I started dating, when we would go to Mississippi, his aunt would make the BEST ROAST IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!! Steve's Dad's side of the family gets together at his Granny's house for lunch every Sunday after church. The food is always sooo good!!!!!!!!!!!! I have always taken a liking to his Aunt Judy's roast. It really is the best roast I have ever had. When we were there on Labor Day weekend, my sister in law asked Aunt Judy for the recipe. Aunt Judy began naming all the ingredients. She said Ranch Dressing mix, and I bugged my eyes out and nearly chocked. I HATE RANCH DRESSING. I don't even like to be in the room with it. I had to focus on the word MIX....not the mayo and butter milk and sour cream that you add to it. Just typing those words makes me shudder. The recipe sounded awful as she rattled off the ingredients, but I promise, you have got to make this if you like a good roast. Trust me on this. Here it is: Get a tender chuck

Last night I went to see my best friend, Kelly dance in the NWA Dancing With the Stars. I had a REALLY good time. I feel like Steve and I have become an old married couple. We do a lot of take-out on the weekend and then we usually go to bed really early. I loved the opportunity to get dressed up and go to an event. Kelly did a fantastic job and she looked beautiful. I got to sit with some of my favorite people in the world! Melissa, Julie, Jill and Jennifer. These girls are a lot of fun. I have met them through Kelly. Amber, Kelly and Amanda. I go to church with these three and they lift my spirit every time I am around them. I LOVE these girls! The star with Shannon. She is sooooo sweet and I met her through Hillary. One of my very best friends, Hillary. I was just delighted that she was our house guest this weekend. We had a great time being together. Hillary is soooo funny. I LOVE funny! I am beyond thrilled that both these girls are having babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And