My Man

Last weekend was busy, full, and lots of fun. It culminated in Daniel's ordination service as an elder in our church on Sunday, and what a joyous day that was! It has been a privilege to see how the Lord has grown Daniel in the faith - he is not the man he was when I met him, and what a wonderful thing to see the Lord work in someone you love! Here are some pictures on our pastor's blog from the day:
http://www.jeffriddle.net/2011/02/crbc-elder-ordination.html

The visiting pastor's wife must have a great camera, because she captured some beautiful moments. Our pastor and the elders from our "sending church" prayed over Daniel - words that only he could hear - and Daniel said they were powerful prayers.

He says that they don't have a secret handshake, but I don't believe him.

Basketball Update

So far, the only game that Cora's team has lost is...

the one that our pastor and his whole family came to watch. :)

Today, with Opa attending, Cora's team won 20-11, and Cora made two baskets!! I told her I had a dream that she made two baskets, and she said, "I don't think that will ever happen, Mommy." I'm always glad to be proven right, and this time doubly so. :)

Heather, we continue to be impressed with the Upward Bound program, staff, and organization. Our coach is pretty great, too, and I'm so glad for that with this being Cora's first experience.

Now off to Jackson's Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. What a fun weekend for Opa to be here!

Previously Undiscovered Pictures!

Daniel finally found his camera the other day and decided to see if there were any pictures on it to download, and behold! There were! He took these during his annual hunting trip to his parents' farm in TN. Each year he brings two of the kids to spend time with his parents, which means they get some one-on-one time with their grandparents. Which also means they get ALL the sweets their little hearts could desire. It takes about two weeks to detox when they come home. The first two pictures were taken on our piece of land, located about a mile and half from his parents'.

Here are the Bobbsey Twins with Grandpa and Hamma (pronounced Humma, but not spelled that way - don't ask me why. I just married into this family). Although he looks a little stern in this picture, kids and animals LOVE Grandpa. They just had a dog adopt them, because I think there's some sort of dog underground where word passes around about nice people who are open to more pets. They named him Hooch, and he's living up to his name.

Here are more pictures of the girls on our land. And if you thought that these pictures gave me a heart attack when I saw them, why yes, you would be absolutely right. It's better if I don't know what goes on while they're in TN.

I asked Adah if she was scared to climb that high. She looked at me quizzically. It's not a stupid question, is it? C'mon.

I love these last two pictures of Daniel with his girls. They look so cute, and he looks so...redneck. (His hat says SHOOTERS, by the way, not HOOTERS. In case you were concerned. His daddy gave him that hat, and he loves that MidSouth SHOOTERS hat.)

Night, y'all. I must get my sleep, because we have sickos in the house who might need me during the night. I mean sick people, not weirdos. (okay, never mind, we have those, too)

A Post All Its Own

This is what we call in our house, "Worshiping the Fire God." This is where you can find Roscoe every day, and woe to you if you try to get between the fire and him.

More Time Travel

I had such a good time looking through photo albums for the post on Shiloh's birthday that I decided to do the same for Abigail's. Looking at the albums brought back all the wonderful memories of adding our precious daughter to our family, the friends we met while in England, our wonderful church family, and the experience of living in England. What a fun reminder of God's goodness to us over the years.

Of course, the following picture provided a not-so-wonderful reminder of the long and difficult labor I had with Abigail! We should have known that she would end up being contrary from her refusal to COME OUT ALREADY. :) In this picture, I had been in active labor for about 24 hours (I was smiling between contractions :) ). We finally ended up going in at about 1:00 a.m. Monday morning. Then we walked and walked and walked the halls while they offered me tea and toast. :) Abigail got into trouble about mid-morning and then got into serious trouble. The midwife ordered the doctor to give me a C-section. They would have to put me under general anesthesia because it was an emergency and I didn't have anything in at the time. I hope I will always remember the look on Daniel's face when I turned to him in fear and anxiety. He looked back at me with a wonderful smile and said, "I will see you both afterward. Do you hear me? I WILL see you later. I love you." He had the privilege of holding our daughter first and then introducing her to me when I woke up (which was MANY hours later - they tried to wake me up and couldn't because I was just so EXHAUSTED :) ). She was smaller than Cora by a whole pound - 6 lbs., 6 oz., so her size was obviously not the reason she couldn't come out. :) And she's been a petite ball of contrariness every since. I looked in her baby book today, and she finally made it into the 5th percentile for height and weight when she was 18 months old. :)
Here's Miss Attitude shortly after birth. Remember the wonderful husband I told you about? He decided to get photographic evidence of how knocked-out I was from exhaustion and anesthesia, but I will not be posting that on this blog. Shame on him.

Here are the two big sisters meeting Abigail! I cannot get over how cute they are.Even though Cora's eyes look frightening from the flash, I just love this picture because of the look she's giving Abigail. She loved her baby sister - and I could see her maternal personality even then. She wanted to be near Abigail all the time, she wanted to tuck her in, and she wasn't bothered at all when she would cry. She would just sit beside her and rock her in the bouncy seat or keep patting her. She's going to be an awesome mama.

Poor Abigail was always all bundled up because it was SO cold in our house. We thought it was normal for radiator heating until the landlord finally took us seriously and discovered they weren't working properly.

There's Cora again, just sitting beside Abigail. :)

I don't know what mean person in our house did this. :) Notice the suspicious look on Abigail's face. She was planning payback even then.

Cute Houseworth Girls!!!

Here is Abigail all dressed up for a lunch at our friends' house. This was about a month before we left England.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Shiloh and Abigail. They look cute in blue!

Abigail is three months old in this picture and ready to play! We were visiting Oma and Opa before moving to Ohio.

Here is our Abba-dabba-doodle-ding-dong about a year later, loving on her baby in our house in Ohio. That baby doll was about as big as she was. :)

I love this picture of the girls taken in October of 2003. That's it for tonight on our blasts from the past. I must go to bed! Abigail Emma, we are so thankful for you. Someone asked me shortly after you were born if I had been disappointed to wake up and find out I had another girl. I was completely shocked and I don't think I could speak for a minute. Then I think I spluttered, "NO! Of course not! I have Abigail!" I can't imagine life without you, and I look forward to seeing what interesting observations you have on life every day. You brighten up our lives, you drive us to frustration, and you are a wonderful conversationalist. Please don't ever lose your spunk. Love, Mommy and Daddy

Eight Years Already?

Has it really been eight years already? Really? Isn't it annoying when people say that, and yet isn't it true? I think the last five years have flown by and I'd like the next few to slow down, already. I don't feel like I've MISSED anything; I just feel like it should still be 2000.

We celebrated eight years of knowing Abigail Emma today. What a blessing! As per Houseworth tradition, she got the day off from school and Daddy took her out to dinner. She chose her favorite standby - China King Buffet, where she ate loads of crab and shrimp. She requested a red velvet cake with cookie dough ice cream. She is the queen of weird combinations. Yesterday we started the celebration by heading to the pool to swim. Tomorrow we will extend the celebration with an ice-skating outing and hopefully the opening of a gift that must be stuck in Chicago with the weather. :)


Here are Shiloh's pictures from her decorating endeavors this afternoon. She is SO HANDY. And she loves doing it! She took the pictures to document her handiwork. I believe she enlisted Cora's help, but only as slave labor, not as co-decorator. :)

Here is the birthday girl in a new outfit that Daddy helped her pick out with a gift card. Daniel picked the hat, and they found the outfit from there. She looks good in pink!

Um...what happened between yesterday and today? Because yesterday I think I was feeding her plums from a jar and she was smiling big gooey smiles at me.

Abigail asked for a guitar, so that was one of our gifts to her. We'll have our pastor's daughter give her some lessons. :)

Abigail is pretty easy to please with cakes. She's never said, "I want a pony with pink hair" or "I want a snowy owl" like some other people in the house. No, she just says, "Maybe a star? Or two? With sprinkles? And lots of icing?" Okay, then. Easy enough. Shiloh and Cora made Abigail's birthday tiara. Shiloh got the privilege of bringing in the cake.

Of course, I must leave you with an Abigail story at the conclusion of this birthday post. She and Cora had decided to bunk together in the guest room in the basement a couple of nights ago while Shiloh and Adah bunked together in Shiloh's room. I went downstairs to say goodnight to Abigail and she was on the bed with a card game in progress, but Cora was upstairs reading with Daniel. She looked at me excitedly and said, "Mommy, I'm playing with an imaginary person, and...I'm WINNING!" She sounded incredulous that she would actually be winning against an imaginary person. I'm not sure if I should be worried, but she sure does entertain me. :) I love that kid.

What Winter is Good For

Napping by the fire - bliss.

Old Friends Reunited

Last Saturday I had the chance to meet up with a high school friend whom I haven't seen since my wedding 15+ years ago. She graduated from UVa and now lives in Northern Virginia. She was coming into town for the UVa basketball game, so we agreed to meet up at the Barnes and Noble afterward to hang out. We met when I was 11 and she was 12 - wow! Now she has two adorable little girls. I thought it might be a little awkward, but we had such a good time catching up over coffees and then dinner. Adah and Abigail hung out with me to get to know her girls as well. What a blessing old friends are! Abigail and Ivy Jane:
Adah with Bailey and Ivy Jane:

An Explanation and a Birthday

Abigail: "Mommy! I've always wanted to know what I looked like cross-eyed, so I took a picture of myself to see! Look!"

I'm so proud. Here is Adah dressed up like a medieval princess. She bought those tiaras with leftover money on a gift card. Hand-me-down medieval princess dress - check. Sparkly tiaras that leave glitter everywhere - check. HOURS of dress-up fun with Abigail - check. Life is fun as an 8 year-old girl!

Here is our firstborn baby all grown up (sob). She went out with Daddy for Mexican food before her family birthday celebration that night. She LOVES Mexican. Daddy also took her out today to spend her gift card at Target where she shared a Starbucks mocha frappucino - also her favorite. She was one happy girl. She sensibly bought...clothes. :)

She wanted me to take a picture of her hair. :) She asked for this style, and I hesitantly agreed to do it. She is known for being...um...exacting, if the job is not done as she envisions. :)

Going out with Daddy!

My beautiful girl...

Shiloh doesn't care for birthday cake, so she requested an apple pie again. Cora suggested the horse cutouts for the top - can you tell they're horses? :)

Fun with Ice-Skating!

The girls attended a birthday party held at our local ice-skating rink, and they had GREAT fun. This was the first time Adah and Abigail had ever been ice-skating, but they're pretty proficient at rollerblading, so they didn't have much trouble. Abigail was trying to copy some of the moves of the older girls that my friend brought as "helpers," and she managed an arabesque (what is it called in ice-skating??). I got a few pictures and videos, and then I headed out to a local coffeehouse all by myself for a night of cross-stitching and sipping yummy coffee. The boys did...whatever the boys do when we leave them alone. The house was still standing and they were in bed when I came home, so that's all I care about. :) When the public skate first started, they had the ice to themselves!

Beautiful Adah, who was a little unsure and then decided she REALLY liked it!

One of the things the ice rink does to help new skaters is to give them upside-down buckets to push along the ice in front of them for balancing. It works wonders! One of the moms had never been skating, and she used them, too. The great thing about them is that you can pile as many as you need on top of one another so they're height-adjustable.

I'm sorry I sound so annoying in videos. I should just quit talking, really.