Scott in print!

See this writeup in the McComb, MS newspaper on a sermon Scott preached there!

Kidney Stones!

So, currently I'm home from church with kidney stones! I never expected this and didn't realize how painful such a thing was! I sucessfully dehydrated myself on Friday and late that night started vomiting and then having serious pain in my left side. That went on for a few hours before I decided to go to the ER and Scott loaded the kids in the car at 3:30am and we were off! I was given something right away that took away the pain and nausea and went home after just a few hours. But, I was surprised how much pain I was in all day yesterday and it's still moderate pain today. But, I think I'm on the mend and Scott has successfully balanced carting me to and from the hospital, taking care of three kids, preparing to preach three sermons today and watching FSU lose yesterday. He's quite a man!

Happy Halloween!

While our Halloween festivities began a week ago, it was with great anticipation that the kids awaited Halloween night. We went trick-or-treating from 6-8 pm in a nearby neighborhood and Tate even got in on the action this year. (We were remembering that last year he was four weeks old and Scott and I traded off wearing him in the sling the whole night!)

The night was a success with lots of candy to prove it!

Here are a bunch of pictures from Halloween night and the week preceeding it ...

Implosion

For a month or so Eben and I have been watching videos on YouTube of imploding buildings. So, it was a treat when we found out there would be an implosion just down the street from us. This was a Veterans retirement home that was right on the beach and uninhabitable since Katrina. They imploded it and will be rebuilding a new one. We barely made it in time and didn't get quite as close as we would have liked but we were only a block or so from the site.

Here's one someone recorded and put on YouTube:

Tyler: a star!

Tyler's been on a roll lately. We went to the Bob the Builder show at Lynn Meadows Discovery Center and she was selected to come on stage:





Then, at a Halloween costume contest, Tyler won first place in her age group. She had some stiff competion, the other kids had little acts prepared and we hadn't come ready for that - but she looked so precious as Dorothy!

Mama takes a vacation!

Last weekend I left all three kids with Scott for the first time and went on a 4-night cruise to Cozumel with my mom and sister. We went on a Carnival ship that ports in Mobile, AL. It was a fun cruise - the ship is Carnival's smallest and oldest ship and although you could definitely tell that was the case, we had great food and lots of relaxing time. We enjoyed a horseback riding excursion in Cozumel and had really yummy mexican food. My thanks goes out to my mom who took us on the cruise as our Christmas gift. It was so fun to spend good time with her and my sister - it was a first for us and something we'd decided we need to do often!

Also my thanks goes out to Nona for coming for a couple days while I was gone to help Scott out since he was balancing all his regular work and three kids! She did a great job of keeping the fed and entertained while also doing all sorts of housework and laundry! It was such a treat to come home to a really clean house!

Finally, Scott ... he singlehandedly broke Tate of his mommy-attachment issues! He did a great job with all the kids but most appreciated was the fact that when I came home Tate had learned how to entertain himself! Daily I've been reminded of what a great dad he is and the fact that having another person around with different ideas and perspectives is really valuable!

Here are some more pics from our cruise and after we got home ...

Cats!

No, not the Broadway production you're thinking of. However, we've had enough cats around our house lately to put on our own production. Let me preface this by saying, Scott and I are not "cat people". But, in August we had a sweet cat show up who was so skinny we couldn't help but start feeding her. We named her Cleopatra and even though she stayed outdoors she quickly became a "pet" to our kids. She would let Tate carry her around upside down and tried to sneak into the house whenever possible. We ended up loving her so much, we found her a wonderful home ... with my parents in Orlando! She made the trip down with my dad and very quickly adjusted to being a domesticated cat.


Then, about two weeks after she'd left, an identical looking boy cat showed up. I'm convinced he's Cleo's brother. He now comes and goes as he pleases.

Then, the night before I left for my cruise, I found this precious kitten meowing by the fence in our front yard.


We took her to the Humane Society the next day but she was too little to be fixed so they couldn't adopt her out. We took her back and fortunately found a home for her with new long-term volunteers who live at the Village in Houma, LA.

So, for now, no more new cats - but, if you're interested in one, I should have some more before too long!