My heart is so full after a wonderful weekend visiting friends in Henleyfield and surrounding areas. It was a jam-packed few days, but we sure had a blast! Here are some highlights:
*Visiting my teacher friend Joni and her kids Hughie and Ellie. Evangeline quickly discovered how to climb on a stool to reach their stash of candy. She has a candy-radar I promise!
*Staying with Mr. Doug and Mrs. Carolyn. We love getting to see them as always, and Evangeline especially enjoyed seeing the horses, dogs, and cats. Trey had a VERY rough night Friday evening and we really appreciate how patient Mr. Doug and Mrs. Caroyln were. Most people don't like being woken up in the middle of the night by a screaming baby, but they didn't seem to mind at all! I told a friend we were staying with church members from Henleyfield and she remarked that she was surprised that we had people we felt comfortable staying with. I am very grateful for their friendship and a place to stay whenever we want to come down to visit.
*Sunday School Party at Henleyfield. Drew is jealous that I got to go to the annual Sunday school party and he didn't. I even got to play dirty Santa and won a candle warmer. It was a blast getting to see all my friends and watch them fight over a set of flashlights! Those were the best Dirty Santa gifts I've ever seen!
*While I partied, Evangeline hung out at our old house with all her buddies. The Wises are staying there since their house burned and it was so much fun getting to hang out in it for a little while. Evangeline seemed a little confused at first, but warmed up quickly when she saw Zander and Angelynna. Everytime I asked Evangeline if she wanted to go see Zander she just laughed and laughed. She loves "Dander" so much!
*Evangeline got to go to Morgan's 10th birthday party and skated for the first time! Also she had some cake (always a favorite) and Judy gave her a balloon which she held in her hand the entire way back.
*We had a sweet visit with Mrs. Sybil and Mr. E.J.! Mrs. Sybil is recovering from shoulder surgery and hasn't been able to get out much lately, and we enjoyed getting to stop by!
*A trip to Bogalusa to see all of our Dobson/McJunkin friends. Jenny and I were college roommates and her parents moved to Bogalusa after Hurricane Katrina shortly before I moved to Pearl River County. We were thrilled to discover that they lived only about 20 minutes from us. I made frequent visits to their house whenever Jenny, Tim, and their kids Anna, Adam, and Alyssa were over. I really really miss seeing them so frequently! Evangeline had a blast playing and going for a ride through the jungle on the golf cart! Trey seemed happy to see everyone, too, but he missed his Daddy. I caught him on video saying, "Dada" for the first time.
*Mrs. Phyllis, our sweet neighbor, had an 80th birthday party that we were thrilled to be able to attend. And..... we got more cake!
*Stopped by our other neighbors, the Barnes', and got to see them for a little bit. Mrs. Rose is the kind of person that when she tells you she misses you, you know she means it. She said everytime she makes white beans she thinks of Drew because she was always sweet to call up and tell us she had supper ready for us. The Barnes' also miss Blue Bell a lot. Blue Bell was a good guard dog for their house, too.
*The major highlight, and our purpose for coming, was the children's choir program at New Henleyfield. They are a talented group of kids and I couldn't have been more proud! Mara and Ashley did a fantastic job directing them, too! One of my favorite moments was Beau's solo. Afterwards I told him what a great job of singing he did and that I always gave him rap solos and didn't know he had such a beautiful voice. Beau responded, "I tried to tell you!" The kids all seemed so happy to see us and it just made me feel so loved! I am so thankful to have been able to have worked with them for four years. I meant what I told them, that I have now moved from their choir director to the President of the New Henleyfield Children's Choir Fan Club.
We headed home exhausted, but feeling totally blessed. Blessed to have these friends in our lives who loved us and still love us. I am thankful that God gave us safe travel there and back even though I was so tired. I am looking forward to our next trip down there!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Getting Ready for Christmas
Last night in Kid's Rock we talked about things that we do to get ready for Christmas. Our Bible story lesson was what God did to prepare for Christmas. We talked about Zechariah and Elizabeth, an angel coming to Mary, Mary visiting Elizabeth, Elizabeth giving birth, and an angel visiting Joseph. Then we made Advent candy garland, which was really cute, though involved. We tied 25 (well, actually 21) pieces of candy to a ribbon and numbered each one so that the kids could eat a piece of candy every day to count down to Christmas. The garland turned out really cute, but I'm not sure that all the kids got the idea. I caught one sweet little girl offering candy from her garland to people in the sanctuary shortly after our craft had been completed. Another child managed to get home with an entire pocket full of candy in addition to her garland! Still, tons of fun getting ready for Christmas!
Around the Dabbs house I feel kind of on top of the game this year. Our Christmas tree, complete with baby gate, went up a few days before Thanksgiving. Even with the baby gate there are several ornaments that still keep scurrying down from the tree and ending up in various places in the living room. I caught Trey chewing on one the other day. So, not only is the tree up, but it has been re-decorated several times (especially the bottom left side which is a little too close to the gate).
I also put up a few other special decorations. I have a Willow Tree Nativity set that is really one of my favorite things I own. Wiseman #2 lost his head before December was even here. :( Thankfully my sweet and patient husband was able to super-glue it back on. It's not perfect, but if Balthasar stands in that back, you can hardly notice.
I do have a non-breakable Nativity set for Evangeline to play with that is on the shelf just below my Willow Tree one. She likes it, but likes mine even better. She can barely reach the Willow Tree one, but if she puts enough effort into it she can get some of the figures down (hence the headless Wiseman). I am thinking about going to Lifeway to buy a Fisher Price Nativity set. I have a 40% off coupon and am wondering if I should get one now with it, or wait and try to find one even cheaper after Christmas. The decision will probably come down to whether or not I feel like driving to Lifeway in the next few days.
Our Christmas cards went out today! Not the greatest cards in the world (the pictures anyway) but they have a cute design compliments of Katie S. Crawford (my sister). We did things a little weird and sent some people a Christmas letter and card and others just a card. The reason behind this was the fact that we only had 50 letter envelopes. I like our letter, but am really bugged by the fact that it has a typo. I caught it in proofreading and changed it, but forgot to tell Drew to print out a new one. UGH! It's irritating. Next year I plan on sending a letter to everyone and hopefully the letter will be free of typos!
I am 90% done with my Christmas shopping. Okay, that's not an exact percentage, but it's pretty close. Drew is 100% done with his shopping, as he announced on Friday. I asked who he bought presents for and he said me. Must be nice to only have to get presents for one person who pretty much makes you a list. He took Evangeline with him, but she wouldn't crack as to what he had bought.
We've been teaching Evangeline two Christmas songs: Away in a Manger and Jingle Bells. Her version of Away in a Manger goes like this, "Away Main main main no no no bed." Repeat. Really cute though. She does pretty good at Jingle Bells too and can say the "Hey" right on cue!
Tonight Drew and I are starring in the Singing Saints Dinner Theatre production of The Gift of the Magi. That is a whole 'nother blog post!
I am enjoying reading a Carols Devotion on My Bible App (I love that thing!) and Drew and I are still trying to get some good ideas for what traditions we can have to keep Christ first at Christmas. Specifically we have been discussing when to read the Christmas story (Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?). What are you doing to get ready for Christmas?
Around the Dabbs house I feel kind of on top of the game this year. Our Christmas tree, complete with baby gate, went up a few days before Thanksgiving. Even with the baby gate there are several ornaments that still keep scurrying down from the tree and ending up in various places in the living room. I caught Trey chewing on one the other day. So, not only is the tree up, but it has been re-decorated several times (especially the bottom left side which is a little too close to the gate).
I also put up a few other special decorations. I have a Willow Tree Nativity set that is really one of my favorite things I own. Wiseman #2 lost his head before December was even here. :( Thankfully my sweet and patient husband was able to super-glue it back on. It's not perfect, but if Balthasar stands in that back, you can hardly notice.
I do have a non-breakable Nativity set for Evangeline to play with that is on the shelf just below my Willow Tree one. She likes it, but likes mine even better. She can barely reach the Willow Tree one, but if she puts enough effort into it she can get some of the figures down (hence the headless Wiseman). I am thinking about going to Lifeway to buy a Fisher Price Nativity set. I have a 40% off coupon and am wondering if I should get one now with it, or wait and try to find one even cheaper after Christmas. The decision will probably come down to whether or not I feel like driving to Lifeway in the next few days.
Our Christmas cards went out today! Not the greatest cards in the world (the pictures anyway) but they have a cute design compliments of Katie S. Crawford (my sister). We did things a little weird and sent some people a Christmas letter and card and others just a card. The reason behind this was the fact that we only had 50 letter envelopes. I like our letter, but am really bugged by the fact that it has a typo. I caught it in proofreading and changed it, but forgot to tell Drew to print out a new one. UGH! It's irritating. Next year I plan on sending a letter to everyone and hopefully the letter will be free of typos!
I am 90% done with my Christmas shopping. Okay, that's not an exact percentage, but it's pretty close. Drew is 100% done with his shopping, as he announced on Friday. I asked who he bought presents for and he said me. Must be nice to only have to get presents for one person who pretty much makes you a list. He took Evangeline with him, but she wouldn't crack as to what he had bought.
We've been teaching Evangeline two Christmas songs: Away in a Manger and Jingle Bells. Her version of Away in a Manger goes like this, "Away Main main main no no no bed." Repeat. Really cute though. She does pretty good at Jingle Bells too and can say the "Hey" right on cue!
Tonight Drew and I are starring in the Singing Saints Dinner Theatre production of The Gift of the Magi. That is a whole 'nother blog post!
I am enjoying reading a Carols Devotion on My Bible App (I love that thing!) and Drew and I are still trying to get some good ideas for what traditions we can have to keep Christ first at Christmas. Specifically we have been discussing when to read the Christmas story (Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?). What are you doing to get ready for Christmas?
Yea Alabama!
Bama's going to the BCS National Championship! Yay! Before the Bama/LSU game I said that I definitely did not want a rematch no matter what. I still don't want a rematch and would've loved for LSU to have lost to, say Ole Miss, and for Bama to be playing OK State. But, I am happy that things worked out so that Bama will get to play for their 14th National Championship. My dad has two tickets to the game and my mom, the ever pessimist, does NOT want to go. So, he offered me the opportunity. I would love love love to go! I missed out on NC #13 because I was 38 weeks pregnant with Evangeline and it was in CA. There's one big complication to my going though and his name is Trey. He absolutely cannot be away from me that long. I found out today that the Sugar Bowl's rules actually say that under 2 can enter for free and I got to day-dreaming about Trey coming along. Then I snapped back to reality and realized that it was a bad idea for several reasons. Plus, it's Drew's birthday that day and I don't think he wants to spend the evening babysitting Evangeline. So, my bro-in-law is gonna go with my dad, and I'm sure he'll enjoy it much more than Trey would have.
This is officially the first football season since I was eight that I haven't gone to a Bama game. I managed to make it to at least one game the whole time I was living in Texas. And, I even went last year when Evangeline was 8 months because she, unlike her brother, could be left without me. As sad as I am about this, I've learned that the TV really isn't that bad. So, I will spend the evening at home, cheering on the Tide and tending to my babies. Roll Tide!
Oh, and in other football news, Baylor is #12!!! Sic 'Em!
This is officially the first football season since I was eight that I haven't gone to a Bama game. I managed to make it to at least one game the whole time I was living in Texas. And, I even went last year when Evangeline was 8 months because she, unlike her brother, could be left without me. As sad as I am about this, I've learned that the TV really isn't that bad. So, I will spend the evening at home, cheering on the Tide and tending to my babies. Roll Tide!
Oh, and in other football news, Baylor is #12!!! Sic 'Em!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Six month check-up
Today I took Trey for his six month check-up. He has been super fussy the last few days so I was interested in what Dr. Wilson had to say. The verdict: perfectly healthy! Ears were great, motor skills ahead of the game. Very social! Trey impressed everyone by sticking his tongue out and twirling it around- a new trick he's learned recently. He was clearly very proud of himself.
The only thing we (mostly me) were concerned about was his size. Trey was 8lb 4oz when he was born, roughly 75% height and weight, just like Evangeline. He's stayed in the upper range on height and weight at all his other check-ups. At four months he was 95% height and 75% weight. Today, he had only grown 1/4 inch in two months. They measured him three times just to be sure. Finally, the nurses concluded that they must've been off the last time. I hope so. But mamas worry! Also, he was down in weight too, to the 30%. He's 16lb, 12 oz. Evangeline was 17 lb, 2 oz at six months, so it's surprising that he's even smaller than she was. I was always small as a baby and preschooler, and Trey seems to take more after me, so maybe he's just going to be small for his age?
Shots were no fun, as usual. Poor little guy can get SO mad! Now he's sleeping them off. Bless him!
The only thing we (mostly me) were concerned about was his size. Trey was 8lb 4oz when he was born, roughly 75% height and weight, just like Evangeline. He's stayed in the upper range on height and weight at all his other check-ups. At four months he was 95% height and 75% weight. Today, he had only grown 1/4 inch in two months. They measured him three times just to be sure. Finally, the nurses concluded that they must've been off the last time. I hope so. But mamas worry! Also, he was down in weight too, to the 30%. He's 16lb, 12 oz. Evangeline was 17 lb, 2 oz at six months, so it's surprising that he's even smaller than she was. I was always small as a baby and preschooler, and Trey seems to take more after me, so maybe he's just going to be small for his age?
Shots were no fun, as usual. Poor little guy can get SO mad! Now he's sleeping them off. Bless him!
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