Laurie's Life

This morning Kelly and I took our girls on the new Crystal Bridges museum trail. We had so much fun walking and talking. I am sooooo out of shape and un-athletic. I was huffing and puffing the whole time. We went up some major hills that seemed to stretch for eternity. Sweet Kelly offered to push my girls in the double stroller up one of the stretches. I think Kelly could see I was about to collapse. I pushed baby Harper and it gave me a much lighter load. I let Kelly push my girls because she is so much more fit than I am. I am out of contacts, so I had to walk in my glasses. I was sweating so bad that my glasses were down on the tip of my nose. I know I looked like the wolf posed as granny in Little Red Riding Hood. Kelly took these precious pictures of our girls. She could be a photographer! I am chomping at the bit to get these pictures in a frame for my house. These little girls make me so happy! You should have heard Kelly and I trying to get the girls to look at ...

My little goat woman. In El Dorado, Ar there used to be a woman that lived in a box car and had lots of goats. She was called the Goat Woman. THIS was Emily's favorite exhibit at the Tulsa zoo. The goats. Not the wild, exotic animals-the goats. Well, she also like the chimpanzees, but she was most concerned that they were not wearing any clothes. She said,"those silly monkeys are naked!" Steve took off early on Friday and we headed to Tulsa for a mini vacay. I had saved my latest issue of Southern Living to read on the drive there. The weather was beautiful on Friday. The drive went fine until I halved a cereal bar for Emily and Sarah Kate to share. Emily had an all out fit because she wanted the whole bar. Her crying caused SK to cry and Steve was trying to get us to our hotel in unfamiliar territory. It was not a pretty picture. All I could do was laugh. What else can be done? We made it to the Double Tree and got some incredible, warm cookies. One bi...

I have to tell a story or two on myself. Our Sunday School class seems to have babies all the time. As a part of the class ministry, we take meals to families with new little ones around the house. A list is sent around in SS or sent out by email and we sign up. I have always thought this was "my thing," I love to cook and look at new babies. I used to sign up most every time a list went around. When I was newly pregnant with Sarah Kate and extremely sick, I signed up to take a meal to a sweet couple that had a new baby boy. I decided on spaghetti and meat sauce. I usually buy Kraft seasoning for the meat sauce or some other seasoning envelope. As I made the meal that late afternoon, I was talking to my mother on the phone, keeping Emily occupied and feeling very nauseated. Too much to handle while cooking, especially for someone other than my family. Because I was rushed and nauseated, I did not taste the food. I took the spaghetti and meat sauce to their house ...

My parents came last week for a visit and my Dad took this picture of me and Emily. I thought it was good! We are to the point of getting some little pig tails now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her hair is growing slowly , but surely! Last week, we had a visit from Steve's family in North Mississippi. This is Uncle Clark, Aunt Miriam, and their twin daughters, Allison and Angela. These two sweet girls have been to every state except, North Dakota. But they can mark that state off, because they went there last week and stopped by our house on the way home. We had a great time visiting. They are just easy to be around. Sarah Kate at 13 months. She is starting to say lots of words these days. The two happy sisters.

I do feel like the Lord prompted me to post about singleness earlier this week. I certainly think it struck a chord with many women. My thoughts and my writing were simple, but I am glad many of you were encouraged. I read through each comment twice. I feel a real bond with you single ladies that is only understood by women who have been there. As I read through the comments, I just wanted to sit down with you and eat some brownies and talk. I have prayed for you this week! I have been thinking this week..................perhaps it is harder to be single for women than for men? Men get to initiate the relationship. I often times felt "helpless." There was nothing I could do about my singleness. Then, that brought me to the reality that GOD IS THE MATCHMAKER. I just had to work on being the right woman. I didn't mention in my earlier post that I was a bridesmaid in nine weddings while I was single. I loved each one, but I wondered when my day would come. I a...

I know there are some single girls who read my blog and I wanted to write to you today to I hope, encourage you. I have several thoughts on singleness because I have walked that road. I know how it feels. I did not get married until I was 32 and started dating Steve when I was 31. I really had my life all plan out. I wanted to go to OBU, find a preacher and have 4 children by the time I was 30. I really started to panic when I was 25 because I was still single. I had LOTS of blind dates and I really liked doing that. I always had high expectations. People were always trying to set me up. I have some stories about some of those dates. I always had very high expectations for a man and people gave me a hard time about that. I never let it worry me because I KNEW what I wanted. Here are some of the things that were really important to me: I wanted a guy who had a real and strong relationship with Jesus. I wanted him to be from a good family. I wanted him to have a dependable job...

This week we have had VBS. We are having a delightful time. Here is our friend Dorothy pushing Wells. When I see the babies in the Bye Bye Buggy I have to laugh. Sarah Kate cries her head off when the ride is over and they take her out. She has a major meltdown. Hester is one of our most favorite nursery workers. My girls have always loved her. One of the men working in VBS told me that Sarah Kate looked like a sheep dog. That will really bless a mother's heart. I had to laugh and agree with him. I am working in the baby room this week and loving every minute of it. I LOVE babies and have ever since I was a baby. Emily is having such a great week. She is not in the official VBS yet, but they are doing great activities with these little ones. I have been so fortunate this Summer to get to see so many old friends. My OBU friend, Christy came to visit on Sunday with her sweet girls. It was so good to see them. Christy is one of the sweetest people in the world and so thou...

I so wish I had Sarah Kate's hair! She was born with beautiful hair and I KNOW it came from her Daddy. I have terrible hair that I have nicknamed "fizzledust." Emily has started letting me blow dry her hair. It has always been so thin that I just towel dry it. This morning Emily wanted me to dry her hair, although it was dry. I had given her a bath last night. Soooooo.... she said, "Oh Mama, my hair so cold, it just so cold." I dried her dry hair.

I have something crazy wrong with my blog right now. I realize that I have the same picture on there twice, but all I see when I post them is gibberish computer stuff. Oh well......... Sarah Kate had her one year check-up and she weighed 21 lbs and 10 oz. He said she was growing great. She is in the 75th percentile in height and head and 50th percentile in weight. Sarah Kate and Emily have gotten to where they play really well together. SK thinks she is just as big as Emily. They were playing "Mama and baby" in these pictures. Emily is sooooooo sweet to Sarah Kate. a onblur="try {parent.();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_XseQf_4bAzEZkTeHp4gMARItJ_nJuhWSarGQ8sN2_Xx20pEe4UsLfay6cQUreJ59mx2n27evr7n0DyvloiY7Z5BgF_C2c8XkaEEVH49UJ0vjmQI-qxAvwYSzFFruWtGEc8pECA/s1600-h/024.JPG">

Sara showed me this video over the weekend and I can't stop watching it and singing it. I have Emily hooked too. I am about to drive Steve crazy.

We traveled to Memphis/Mississippi this weekend to visit friends and family. I got to stay Friday night with my friend Kim (the one I thought lost my cat) and Sara who lives in Turkey. We were friends in college and have stayed close. We had so much fun together this weekend. I think I smiled the whole time. I had not seen Sara in two years. I always feel enriched when being with Sara. She is so wise beyond her years. She is also very funny and fun. Kim is a comedian, so I could not have had more fun and laughs. Kim and Sara are two friends who have their acts together. Sara has FIVE children! Yes, FIVE! She is such a good mother. I always learn lots from her. Steve took the girls on to his folks house and I joined them on Saturday. We got to spend time with Granny. Check out the steaks. Ohhhhh they were so very good. I like a really flavorful steak and this had it! The family playing a game. Poor Sarah Kate got so hot. She would NOT get in the swimming pool. She wo...

Sarah Kate only sees about 50% of the things around her because of her hair. I keep a bow in it ALL the time. I took this shot right when she got up this morning. Bless her heart. I just hate to cut it. I am going to keep doing the bow thing till she starts pulling them out. Kelly and Lauren gave Emily some of Lauren's old ballet clothes. Emily has never been happier with these new found items. Here is Sarah Kate walking through the living room after her bath tonight. She is no longer crawling. She is so proud of herself. I am proud of her too! She is carrying around the top to a pitcher. These are the kind of things she LOVES to play with. Earlier today it was an un-opened package of contact holders. About three months ago, I began bathing the girls in the laundry room sink. It is so much easier that leaning over the bath tub. This old mama needed a simple way to bath them. Tonight we ate at Kobe and I am still in awe of the wonderful meal. I LOVE food and when I f...

This weekend, we had one of my dear friends, Kelly, come and visit from Little Rock. Kelly brought her seven year old daughter. Lauren. This was a special tr eat for Emily, since she loves hanging out with older girls. I let the girls sleep together in Emily's big bed. We have continued with Emily sleeping in the big bed since Lauren went home. Emily is always saying, " I a big girl!" This bed is extremely high and I pray every night that E will not fall out. So far, so good! Kelly and I have been friends for 35 years.

Mandisa Video I heard this song a few Sundays ago at church and it really got my attention. Mandisa sings about several difficult paths that we may find ourselves on and she reminds us of the truth that God is with us through it all.

This weekend, we headed to South Arkansas with Kelly and Scott and Harper. Three small children driving for hours in a car, could have been a disaster, but it was great! We had a very fun travel together. Steve helped Scott and his Dad get the deer camp ready for hunting season. Hummm.....not quite sure what that involves. But, Steve had a WONDERFUL time. Friday night, me and my parents and the girls joined them at the deer camp for steak and all the trimmings. It was a delicious meal! I love being in a setting like that. ( Summer, pine trees, pond, grilled food, sweet tea....you get the picture) I just wish I could have done some fishing. The highlight of Emily's weekend was getting to walk the neighbor's dogs. She LOVES animals! Harper and Sarah Kate. These were our make-shift high chairs as we ate. Sarah Kate stole all of Harper's little blankets as they were sitting side by side. I am sure SK thought they were cute! Happy Father's Day! It was a bless...