every captive thought

Yesterday when James got up from his nap he had on one muff-muff and one cowboy boot.  Such an interesting little guy.  So when I dressed him for church he still wanted to wear them.  Too bad it was 101 degrees outside. This morning we went to hear Brad's dad's first mass as a deacon. It was wonderful!  He did a great job!  I was so proud of him.  Then tonight my sister, Christi and her boys came into town!  And today is Grant's 9th birthday! We had a great time singing to him, eating a cookie cake and watching him open presents! Happy Birthday to you... Papa and Will James, Will, Grant, and Brock James LOVES when his cousins are in town!  They all have so much rambunctious fun together.  And then he sleeps really really well.  Love it.  Jude is finally getting in on a little bit of the action too.  Mostly he just sits in amazement and watches all of the activity. Brock and Jude Jamesie and his Daddy Jude ...

First and most importantly...my Mother made a delicious meal as always tonight but the dessert....OH. MY. GOSH.  It was a new recipe she tried out and I haven't stopped eating it since we got to her house.  The good news is that they are really thin and so you can eat several of them and still have room for more.  They are called PRALINE BARS but that name does not do them justice.  At all.  And the recipe doesn't do them justice either...you are just going to have to take my word on this one and make them right away. Praline Bars 12 unbroken graham crackers (4 squares each) 2 sticks of butter 1 cup packed brown sugar 1 cup pecans, chopped 1 cup chocolate chips Place the graham crackers in a jelly roll pan with sides.  Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Add brown sugar and pecans.  Boil slowly for 2 minutes.  Pour over the graham crackers.  Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.  Bake at 300* for 15 minutes.  Cool for 10 m...

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband, Daddy, and Father-in-law!  I sure have been blessed with some truly amazing men in my life! This morning started out with church with my parents.  James had a great time seeing all of the great animals they have in the nursery wing.  Birds, fish, turtles, and a guinea pig (that James called "a bunny with no ears)!  James loved it! Of course he had to make sure Puppy didn't miss any of the action.   Then we went to Mom and Dad's for lunch.  James decided to help Nana cook in one of Papa's old aprons.  Handy that they have the same name, huh?  We had a scrumptious lunch of chicken fried steak, cream gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, fried okra, rolls, and apple dumplings.  YUM!  My Mom knows how to cook up some good Southern food! Then James looked at the ads with Papa. It is no secret that Jamesie is a Nana's boy.  He loves her so much.  I think it has a lot to do with that u...

Karin and her sweet family came over this morning for coffee and donuts since they were in town for the ordination.  The kids always have so much fun together. Caught on the stairs In the toy closet Playing baseball Addi Pie Playing Jamesie playing baseball with Daddy and Uncle JT James and Addi playing baseball We all went to lunch over at Stan and Marva's later.  Brad gave Stan an antique rosary for his ordination gift.  He really loved it. The kids had some more fun playing over at Grandma and Grandpa's.  Addi picked one of Grandma's flowers. And of the 47 pictures James took with my camera...this one cracked me up.  Grandma's couch and his tootsie foots...  He's running my battery down.

Today started out with Brad's dad, Stan, being ordained as a deacon.  Come to find out, that is a big ole deal in the Catholic church.  (This baptist-raised gal did not know that until about 2 years into the 4 1/2 year process).  We are SO proud of him for this accomplishment and commitment.  Here is an article about it from the paper this morning.  Stan is the one right smack in the middle. After that we went down to Palo Duro Canyon.  This is the 5th year for 24 Hours In The Canyon , an event that raises money for The Don & Sybil Harrington Cancer Center and The Lance Armstrong Foundation specifically for helping patients diagnosed with cancer.  This year a donation was made in Jude's name supporting a rider for the 3:00 hour. We made it down to the canyon just in time to hear them announce Jude's hour. Kimberly and Ryan are some of our friends from church.  They started and direct the whole event.  24 Hours In The Canyon has becom...

First and most importantly...Happy birthday to my sweet mother-in-law Marva! I love you! Thank you for being such a wonderful mother-in-law, mother, grandmother and friend. You are a blessing to us. This morning I made Jude's first batch of baby food! Sweet potatoes! Yall...he LOVED them. And I pray this child inherited my eating habits and not Brad's food snobbishness. James is a little mini Brad...looks like him, built like him, acts like him and eats like him. Jude wasted no time gobbling down his sweet potatoes. I feel sure that if he could have, he would have asked for some more please. Tonight Stan and Marva came over so we could celebrate her birthday. James celebrated the cupcakes.   Hands-free of course. Totally the product of two type-a's.   He can't stand dirty hands. Or dusty tables. He loves to dust.  And I love that he loves to dust. I really took this picture to show my sister how he loves the muff-muffs she sent him. They are big boy ...