Petey takes good care of Pony!

This may not look like much to you but it means SOOOOOOOO much to me! A couple weeks ago someone stole our hanging baskets off the front patio. A neighbor saw the guy but was afraid to try and stop him since he was a BIG man and she wasn't totally for-sure what he was doing. She ran inside to get her husband but by the time they got back outside, he'd taken the baskets and driven off.

So after filing the report with the constable, Petey installed large, bright, motion-detector lights on the peak of the roof...if you click on the picture, it will enlarge so you can see how nicely the front yard is now lit up.

Let me tell you, working in the attic, running wire, in the middle of August, in south Texas is a TRUE labor of love. Whenever I see the lights, I think of how much my Sweety loves me!

With this being Petey's first night gone, it brings me comfort to know that we have the added security of extra lighting out front. And I stop and thank God for my wonderful husband who does such a GREAT job of taking care of me, even when he's on the other side of the world!!

(and Petey allowed me to buy 4 more hanging baskets which I planted with lantana ((of course!!)) and then he double safety-wired the baskets to the hooks which are sunk in concrete...if someone wants to steal THESE baskets, they're really gonna have to work to get them!)

Road trips are fun...if they're not too long!!

And a road trip to College Station to help our nephew move back into his dorm at Texas A&M is just about perfect = )

The Durango was filled to capacity. This was my seating area...

It was a bea-u-ti-ful day to be driving through the Texas country-side!

Even after items shifted and I lost the spot where my feet were supposed to go = ) I alternated stretching them out to the side or putting my feet on top of the stuff on the floor and having my knees level with my teeth...almost...hahahahaha

It was GREAT getting to spend this time with John Chase...remembering holding him as a cute little 4 month old baby and now he's starting his 4th year of college, taking classes that I don't even understand the NAME of, much less what they're teaching!

And this was my last day with Sweety Petey before he leaves again...bittersweet time of enjoying myself but knowing we're counting down the hours til my beloved is gone for awhile...

Thankful for all the blessings of the day!

I thank God for furry babies!!

Last night as Petey and I were playing Tetris and snacking on some baked BBQ chips, little black kitty came out to investigate...and promptly started crawling INTO the bag of chips!

We shoo-ed her out but then she seemed so interested that I broke off a bit of chip and gave it to her. She munched it down immediately and went looking for more.

So now we're calling her Chip = ) Or Chippy...or Chipster...or Chippy Kitty...hahahahaha

As you can tell from the video, I think she's darling! Our friend, Lauren, came over to visit Chip...we had a great time talking to her. We know so many interesting people!!!!

God has blessed me with the love of so many little furry babies through the years and not a single day goes by that I don't thank Him for their lives. And I thank Him for allowing me to be married to a wonderful man who understands just how much these critters mean to me!

The Russells come for calzones!

This is my Sweety with the youngest Russell sweety = ) Hard to believe Brian is 6 months old already! And now that he has "a neck", Petey will hold him! hahahahaha

We had a wonderful time with the Russells, even though it was too short a time in my opinion. Each one of them is SO interesting to talk to and spend time with!

With my trusty Bosch mixer I'm able to mix up dough for 2 large calzones and 2 loaves of bread at once. Or I can do 1 calzone, 1 focaccia bread and 2 loaves of bread. Or 1 calzone, 1 focaccia, 1 loaf of bread and a batch of cinnamon rolls...

Well, you get the idea = ) Actually, it will mix and knead dough for 6 different things but I've only ever done 4.

Anyhoo...I thank God for the Russell Family and how much they mean to our family!

A "mew" little friend...

We've been having some kitty-fun around here for the past couple of days. A stray mama-cat had a litter of kittens on our street. We have LOTS of critter-lovers here so we all kept a close eye on their well-being and whereabouts.

The neighbors across the street tended to the litter the most so they took all the babies they could catch and found good homes for them through the Nacogdoches Animal Shelter, where they'd recently moved.

But this little girl and the mama were too wild to be caught. They hung out around our woodpile a month ago and Petey fed them and made good progress in taming the mama... not so much on the kitten.

Then Piper got through the garden gate and scared them away...we thought that would be the last we saw of them. THEN a few nights ago, the kitten was on our front patio. Another neighbor said that she'd been putting food out for it but hadn't been able to tame her much.

We decided to put some food and water out too and see if we could help. Petey's really good at this kind of stuff = )

Every evening around 9pm the kitten would show up. We could sorta touch her head but that's as close as she'd let us get...until...

Tuna fish! I had the idea to open a can of tuna for her...then Petey was able to pick her up and last night we decided to bring her inside to keep her safe.

And now, 24 hours later, she's climbing in our laps to snuggle, purring like crazy... sweet as you can be! She doesn't want to be left in the room alone...I can't believe the difference in such a short time!

I'm so glad she's safe now. The neighbor who was most recently feeding her said that she doesn't really want her so we've asked a friend who we know is considering a kitten.

But if she decides not to adopt her...we may be adding this Skeeter Mini-me to our family = )

(Skeeter was our cat who died almost a year ago...he looked just like this little one when I rescued him!)

Awana Games Circle is ready for action!

We finished painting the Awana games circle today. We worked on it several hours Friday, then Saturday with a bit of help from Guadalupe and girls, then several hours today...ta-da!

While we were painting, I kept thinking of the kids who were going to be enjoying this come next Sunday night. I could hear their voices...screaming (in a good way!), cheering their teammates on, doing their best.

Then I also remembered playing games at Awana when I was in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Most of the Bible verses that I have memorized are the ones I memorized during those years!

Awana stands for "Approved workmen are not ashamed"...taken from 2 Timothy 2:15. Being part of Awana changed my life...if your children have an opportunity to join a club, I hope you will consider it = )

John & Faithy

This is my brother, John, and my sister-by-love, Faithy = ) The pic was taken at Minute Maid Park for an Astros game a couple weeks ago.

I was standing at the kitchen sink this morning in the process of getting ready for church when I happened to see John and Faithy drive by on their way to church.

I'm SO thankful that we live 1/2 a mile away from each other! Way cool beans to be able to just pop in (gotta love the pop in!) at our respective houses...to eat meals together, run together, work together, share things...basically look out for each other throughout the course of a day.

I felt that connection again this morning when I saw them drive by..."there they go, on their way to church". I thank God for the opportunity to live so close to John and Faithy and that they're so much fun to hang out with = )