Ronald McDonald House 10K Race

Today my friend Melinda and I ran our first 10K race together. Our finish time was 1 hour, 3 minutes, which was basically a 10-minute/mile pace. We were VERY proud of our accomplishment! Plus, we got medals!!!! I feel like an Olympian! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Today we hosted our first official Thanksgiving meal, complete with turkey and dressing! Lane and I both come from families that love to eat, and both of our moms are fantastic cooks. So, I was a little nervous about living up to Thanksgiving expectations.
I really enjoyed the whole process. I made lists of what all needed to be done and when I was going to do them. Below is my first Thanksgiving "battle wound" where I burned my arm on a skillet Monday night when making cornbread for my dressing. It looks a lot worse than it really was. I put some Neosporin on it that night and it hasn't hurt since. We had a couple of other families from church over (the Birds and the Deavers), who weren't able to be with their families either. I made the turkey, dressing, gravy, hashbrown casserole, corn casserole, rolls, an apple pie, a buttermilk pie, and a frozen peanut butter pie. The Deavers brought green bean casserole, deviled eggs, and a pumpkin pie. The Birds brought pasta salad and squash casserole. So, we had quite a spread!

The bird!

The spread!

More spread!

With my "first Thanksgiving" behind me now, I look to the future with much more confidence! It's always scary when you attempt something BIG that you haven't done before. The turkey turned out great! (and was VERY easy!) The hardest part was finding the bag of giblets to pull out. Thank you to the Butterball people for putting both the giblets and the neck in bags for me to just pull out. If you know me, you know that sticking my hand down into a dead turkey carcass was gross enough...I couldn't imagine having to actually cut them out myself!
I used my mother-in-law's dressing recipe. She makes it in the crockpot, which I think is just brilliant because it frees your oven for other things!
Overall, everything tasted great! The kids all had a great time playing together. There were parades and football on TV. It really turned out to be a "normal" Thanksgiving! If we can't be with our actual family on such an important day, there's no one better to share the day with than our friends from our church family. That is one of the things that I am most thankful for! Of all the places Lane and I have lived and worked, we've never had many friends our own age to hang out with. We feel truly blessed to be part of such a fun and encouraging group!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

4 Little Turkeys Sitting in a Row....

Thank you, Veterans!!!!

Thank you to all of those who have served in the Armed Forces so that we can be free. God bless you for your sacrifice!!!

The Zoo Rain-out

My mom came to spend the week with us last week and we had the best time! She went to work with me and Josie everyday. We were cutting the twins morning nap, so every morning we went on "field trips"....mostly shopping, but on Friday we took the kids to the zoo.
The zoo is always a fun place to go. I was a little disappointed with the animals...they were all napping! But we did get a good look at the lions and the elephants.
We had seen most everything, and the plan was to eat lunch and swing by the zebras and giraffes (my favorite!) on the way out. We had just gotten settled at our table and had 3 toddlers ready to eat---complete with table toppers down, cups ready, and food on the table. I went to get a drink, and when I got back it was starting to rain. It started slow, so we didn't worry about moving the kids immediately. I figured it would drizzle for a minute and then move on. But it just started raining harder and harder and we were all getting drenched! Nathan was singing and flapping his arms in the air. Natalie was splashing in the water on her table topper. Mom and I were just laughing (what else could we do???) And Josie was just getting wet!
We finally got everyone (and all the STUFF!) moved to a dry spot. We knew we had to leave the zoo by a certain time, so we had to make a mad dash for the car in the pouring down rain. Needless to say, we were all SOAKED. And of course, then the sun came back out. :-)
God definitely helped make our zoo trip a more memorable adventure!

Josie's new friend - Gobble! Gobble!

The table where we were eating lunch.

Praying for the rain to stop.

Rain, rain go away!

"Lots of Love" Granny

Last Monday night my dad called and said that Granny had a stroke and was in the hospital. It was not looking good. Granny & Pa had gone out to dinner with her sister, Dorothy and her husband. They were laughing and having a good time. Granny suddenly felt "dizzy" and laid her head on Pa's shoulder. She fell asleep and never woke up. Apparently, blood was pooling at the base of her brain. On Tuesday morning, at 73 years old and surrounded by her husband, children, and siblings...Granny went home to see Jesus.
It's really hard to believe that it's been an entire week since Granny went to be with Jesus. The past week has been such a whirlwind of emotions.
These are a few of my favorite Granny memories:

• Granny never EVER began a day of shopping without first getting a Hardee's biscuit.
• Each year, our birthday cards were typically a few days late and signed, "lots of love, Always Late Granny".
• Granny loved a good bargain. She could look at a clearance rack for what seemed like forever, and then walk away empty-handed.
• When we were little, Granny & Pa loved to take us fishing. One day my sister, Leah, threw her whole rod in the lake because her baited cricket touched her. Granny loved retelling a funny story.
  
• I was baptized by Pa at Granny & Pa's church in Tallassee, AL.
• Granny was always easy-going. I don't remember her ever arguing with anyone about anything.
• At holiday get-togethers, we'd stay up playing the domino game "Chicken-Foot". Granny and Mama Stiff (her mom) always played with us.
• Granny was always careful not to have a "favorite." So, at Christmas we all got the same things in different colors. You were lucky if you got to open yours first so you'd be surprised.
• Lane and I have a pretty unusual last name. It took Granny a while to get it right after we got married. I remember getting a card to "Lane and Kristen Widdrick" once.
• I will forever be thankful of the day that Josie and I got to spend with Granny & Pa back in May. Lane was in China, and we had flown to Hartselle for Josie's birthday party. Before anyone else got there, Josie and I got to spend an entire day with Granny & Pa (and my Mom and Dad.) Granny was so proud of Josie! I'm glad they got to spend that time together! It makes me sad to think Josie will probably not remember her.

That's all I can think of for now. But I'm sure I will add to the list later as I think of other things I will miss about her. She was a tremendously special lady. I will forever be grateful for all of the things she taught me---but especially her love for the Lord that she handed down to my mom, who handed it down to me. She and Pa began a legacy of Christianity in our family. Even though I'm excited for her that she's now with Jesus, and Poppy and Mama Stiff and Terry.....I'm still going to miss her a lot.
I will always think of her with "lots of love."

Sewing

I tried my hand at sewing and learned I am far from an accomplished seamstress. However, I've already washed this and it didn't fall apart in the washing machine....so that's got to stand for something! I bought the shirt and appliqued the J on it, then made the pants with the same fabric. At one point I had one of the legs sewed to the other one inside out. I had to rip out several seams and start over several times. My stitching is a little crooked. But I'm just proud that I finished them. I've made curtains before, but this was my first attempt at an actual pattern. For my first time, I say not too bad!

She did NOT want her picture taken....can you tell?

The Dentist

Yesterday I had to go to the dentist to have a crown replaced. While in the chair, I was thinking about how really violating it is to go to the dentist. At least when you go to any other doctor, you have your own room, and they close the door. They usually give you a paper gown or paper blanket to cover yourself with....helping you have some sort of privacy. Not so at the dentist. You can have 2-3 people poking around with your mouth wide open for all the world to see. Not only that, but then there's the continual water sprayer and vacuum going on in your mouth. It's just very invading. I know it all needs to be done, and dentistry has come a long way in making procedures more comfortable for patients. But still....It's not one of my most favorite activities.
So, I was really worried about Josie's first dental appointment and how she was going to handle it. I think next time, I'll go to a pediatric dentist. It was much more fun! The minute we walked in, she LOVED the waiting room with all the toys. Then they took her back and got her all settled in her chair. They gave her pretty pink flower sunglasses to wear (I got sunglasses, too, but mine were ugly "scientist" looking glasses). Then she got her own mirror to hold. She was not a fan of the girl cleaning her teeth (with the rotating drill thingy), but who is??? She got 2 Elmo stickers for being good and a No Cavities Club sticker. She had yummy bubblegum flouride painted on her teeth. Dr. Delclos (highly recommended to anyone in our area...he was great!!) said her teeth look fantastic! She still has 2 molars coming in on top. We're doing a great job of consistently brushing her teeth every night, no need to floss right now, and she can keep her paci!!!! Then Josie got to go to the toy box where she picked a beautiful yellow beaded necklace, a matching yellow bracelet, and a lovely mini rubber ducky. She did cry, but was easily comforted when everyone was done looking in her mouth. Overall, for her first visit, I'd say she did pretty awesome!

Soooo pretty!!!!

Yesterday morning, Josie and I were dressed and ready for church a little bit early. (Don't ask me how that happened!) She looked soooo pretty in a beautiful dress handed down from her friend Audrey. On a whim, I thought "Let's go outside and take your picture in front of Mommy's flowers!" I was so proud of how they turned out! I am not much of a photographer at all. It's just not my thing. But I guess the sunlight was just right, because these look great! I had been putting off going to get her 2-year pictures taken professionally, but I think I may just make copies of these to hand out to family.

Children's Ice Cream Social

On Saturday, we had a get-together for the kids at church. We made cards to take to the nursing home, played games, and had ice cream. Well, some of us had ice cream. Josie refuses to try it---I guess the coldness and texture just isn't for her yet. But she did have a cookie.
Oh, and the kids dressed up in costumes, too!

Angel Babies

Last week we finally had the official dedication of our new babies' classroom at church. We ordered this transparency kit from creativeforkids.com. It's basically a paint-by-number system. You use the transparencies to draw the images wherever you want and whatever size you want. Then, they've already assigned what Folk Art paint colors you need for each image. It's soooooo easy!!!! We came up with the verses ourselves and I just found a font I liked and typed them up. It took us about 2 months to finally finish--working an hour or two whenever we could. But now it's finished and it looks fantastic! Now our babies have a clean, bright and welcoming place to learn about Jesus' love for them!
We dedicated the room in memory of Wyatt and Eloise Deaver, the twins our friends lost earlier this year.

Josie and Ginger Go for a Walk

The kids I keep have a dog named Ginger. Ginger is really old....17 years, I think. She's completely deaf and "hobbles" when she attempts to get around at all. She's very quiet and low key---I almost forget she's around!---quite the opposite of how our pug, Chloe, used to be!
Ginger used to stay outside, but they've recently brought her inside due to some health concerns. So, this morning while the twins were napping, Josie and I took Ginger outside to go "potty."
Josie absolutely LOVED leading Ginger around! Josie was so sweet to her and they only got tangled up in the leash once! It was a very cute scene to see them together!
No, she didn't ask for a dog of her own. And no, we are not getting one. :-)

Our Not-So-Big Backyard o' Fun!

So, we finally got around to spending Josie's birthday money on some outside toys. We ended up getting a great deal on walmart.com. We got the swing set for $99 and the water/sand table for $57....both with free shipping!
When Josie walked outside for the first time to see the swing set, she said "I see side!!!! I see sing!!!!" She was very excited. She can already climb up the slide ladder all by herself. Of course, I still stand behind her to make sure she doesn't fall. And she LOVES to swing! It kind of surprised me, but she prefers the normal blue toddler swing to the car shaped one. Go figure...
Lane put together the sand/water table inside and it was a day or so before we got sand to go in it. Josie had the best time playing and running her boats around the dry table right in the middle of the living room! It was tempting to just leave it there.....
But we moved it outside to the deck, got some sand and water in it and she had the best time! She got soaking wet, but I couldn't have cared less. She wasn't the biggest fan of the wet sand on her skin. I think right now she's definitely a bigger fan of the water side than the sand side.

Happy Birthday USA!!!!