Pampered in the heat

What do you do with children when it is 100+ degrees? Abbie got creative and started her own salon. She recruited Grace & hope to help decorate. She was very organized and professional. Abby Wheeler came by to be pampered at Abbie's Salon. They had a blast. Here is her salon.

Indestructible Hopie Continues......

The very first post on this blog was titled "Indestructible Hopie", that was almost 1 1/2 years ago. With our precious Hope we might be able to start a series under this title. Our new adventure last weekend was the ingestion of a watch battery.

As I was putting the girls to bed, we had extras that night; it got far too quiet far too quick. I should have known!! Unbeknownst to me the girls were passing around a watch battery that belonged to a lapel pin that lights up, and touching it to their tongues. Well the battery ended up in Hopie's mouth ~ surprise, surprise, surprise! So the girls erupt from the room telling me Hopie swallowed a part of her heart necklace. They made it sound like a very small part of her heart necklace. Upon inspection I couldn't find any sign of it and sent them back to bed letting them know that Hopie would be okay. Upon putting them to bed Abbie asks me, "Isn't it bad to swallow a battery?" I informed her that it was, "WHY???" :( That is when they show me what Hopie swallowed. That is when I kicked it into gear. Parents, Doctors, & poison control are called for direction! She was taken to the emergency room to confirm where the battery was. It was in a "good" spot, if there is such a thing. A "good" spot would NOT be inside Hopie, but that is neither here nor there. It had made it to her stomach. The critical area & timing was to pass the esophagus. So several hours later, a couple of scary moments, lots of prayers later she is discharged to go home & pass a battery at home. I love my job!

Upon farther investigating on why they were playing with a watch battery I was told, "It made my tongue tickle!" I still am wondering how I feel about having my own case number at poison control. I do hope that Hopie does not provide us with the material for a series under this title. BUT if she does, Jesus had let me know that I will be okay! He assures me I am equipped for the task before me! I praise Him for watching over Hope's body & spirit and being with me. His presence is my peace.

So continues the Adventures in AbshireLand!!!!

Today's Swim Meet

I am so happy that the girls are enjoying swimming this summer. I wondered if things would get old for them after awhile but Kayanna is dressed first thing when I say it is time to go to swim. They are lovin' it. Today both the girls got to participate in the swim meet. Abbie was sick for the first swim meet but Kayanna got to swim in that one. So today was Abbie's first swim meet.

Our first event us Kayanna in the 25 meter freestyle.

She cut almost 8 seconds off her time ~ 36.72!!!! You go Hope!!!

Our second event was Abigail's 50 freestyle. We almost missed her! We had been looking for her then we turned around and she was up on the block. Hence ~ no good movie footage. She did great with a time of 50.98. She was telling us of her butterflies even after her event. She has gone into this very apprehensive because of the crowds but she did great.

Our third event was Kayanna swimming a 25 meter backstroke. Again, she cut almost 6 seconds off her time ~ 38.07. She did fabulous.

Our last event was Abigail swimming a 50 meter backstroke. She does this stroke beautifully & gracefully. She came in with a time of 1.01.97. We are so proud of her.

"Swimmers set your feet!"

It was a fun, hot day watching our fish swim. They are amazing!

"Bolt" ~ The Newest Abshire

Our little dog that I shared about a couple of weeks has stuck around. We called home to check on him while we were on vacation and he was still here. We called the pound & our local vet to see if anyone was looking for him. No one was looking for him ~ so he is ours! Now we had the business of naming this new critter! We settled on Duke for a day but that is too confusing with Luke. Dodger was another runner up. We got the list down to about 20 names when Abbie decided he would be "Bolt". Disney did a movie with a dog that reminder her of the dog:

The girls have suggested we paint a lightning bolt on his hip!

He is just a pup, about 7 months old. He is a queensland mix. He is a good dog. Bolt & Bentley are the best of friends. We are glad he can join this crazy clan of ours!

The Adventures of our 2009 Vacation

Our family vacation this year was full of discoveries, laughter, tight corridors, mileage, & FOOD! Rob has always talked about his time in northern California and how beautiful it is. Well the perfect opportunity arrived to visit this area. It all started with a wedding. Rob's Dad, Jim was getting married. We arrived the night before just in time for a fried chicken cook off. Oh my, how very yummy!

Hope is about to dive in!

We discovered how very funny yet sweet a wedding could be! The Bride in this picture gives you a glimpse of the fun that was involved.

We discovered some pretty good looking people in the wedding party.

Sorry Rob, no dashing picture of you!

We all had a good hard laugh about a red headed cowboy! :) And he never even knew! We (Aaron & Keri) are so childish sometimes!

On Sunday we got to visit with some friends in Redding and visit their church, The Stirring. We were so glad we got to visit and hear what Jesus is doing in our friends lives & in their area.

We can not visit a new area without checking out their pizza. We discovered a new fabulous pizza! Mary's Pizza Shack has pizza called The Napoletana
"Our legendary homemade pizza dough topped with diced fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil,
olive oil, and a light layer of mozzarella cheese. Authentic Italian pizza pie." Look for me to copy this one for our Friday Night ~ Pizza Nights!

On Monday we headed up to a cabin on the Klamath River.

Jim insured there was great food. Aaron & the girls got to go rafting and have a blast. Mama got to sit in her favorite spot on the porch and read & listen to the creek. It was so peaceful and quiet up there. It really was so good for the soul to just be away and in His creation. One of my favorite things was looking out my bedroom window at this:

I could totally get use to a horse grazing outside my bedroom window!

After a few days of rafting & swimming at the river we headed for the coast & the Redwoods.

We discovered that our children had never stayed in a hotel and were in awe of the experience. We had connected rooms with the Cobbs and had a blast. We also discovered how bad pizza can get!

We discovered how small we really are next to trees that wouldn't even be a splinter to God.

We discovered how good a lunch can get when the Abshires forget the peanut butter!

There were a ton more discoveries but I wanted to capture some of the best here so we wouldn't forget and share them with friends & family. We will close with two last discoveries. One is that Adventures In Odyssey are a great thing in a very long car trip. Second is discovery two of Luke's newest things!

His newest position he loves and his newest trick!

He is lucky he is so stinkin' cute!

Click here for all the pictures ~ Mom! :)

Visit the Cobbs

Newest Addition.....Time Will Tell

The Abshire Clan might have a new addition! No, I am NOT pregnant! There has been this cute little dog out at the stables for over a week now. He seems to have a good disposition and good natured, very friendly and good with kids. He has been under foot as I have worked with Baby Girl this past week. He even follows me around while I clean her corral. I am not usually a sucker. I think through things and try not to make hasty decisions.

My plan is to get a dog that will work cattle with me. But that would have to be after Luke starts school, so I have time to work with them. (See there is the planner in me!)

I didn't even consider taking him home until a couple of days ago when he didn't seem to be leaving the stables. So I thought about it (sucker) and the children helped the process by pleading with me every time we went out there.

"Mama, he needs a home!

We can't just leave him here!

He is lonely Mama, look at him!

Can't we just take him home with us?

He needs a family!"

I now understand what I put my folks through. I brought home so many stray animals and my folks were so gracious with them. I just rolled my eyes as I put the dog in the van tonight. He has adapted well with Bentley, does good with the children, and is a cute little dog. We will see if he sticks around.

If he does, we will need a name for him!

That ought to be interesting!

Bentley seems to enjoy a buddy!

We'll see..........

Role Reversal

Papa has had a different schedule this week. They are doing a key audit at work and he has had to leave the house at 12:15 am and work until 4 pm. So bedtime for him has gotten earlier & earlier this week. The usually routine for us is as we put the girls to bed we hear, "Can you lay with us?" So we each take one and lay with them as they fall a sleep. It is a precious time. Although we have been known to crash with them until we awake with an ache!

Anyway, tonight Abbie was rubbing her Papa's head before he feel a sleep. After bathing Luke & overseeing Hope's bath, I went to check on Abbie (mostly to make sure she wasn't keeping her Papa up). No worries there! I catch them both just sacked out!

Like father....like daughter!!!

Sweet dreams!!!!

Our First Swim Meet

Yes, the Abshire Clan has entered into the world of organized sports. Today was our first swim meet for the girls. Abbie didn't get to swim because she has been sick all week and still didn't feel good today. She was able to go with us to watch Hopie swim. The meet was in our home town so Papa was down there at 6:30 setting things up. The place was packed by 8:30. It was fun to see friends & their children from other towns come and swim. Hopie swam in two events, the 25 yard backstroke & the 25 yard freestyle.
Here is Hopie after warm up.

Hopie doing her backstroke.

Hopie preparing for freestyle.

Hope's freestyle....

Papa has his girl after the race.

Our Tiger Shark did so good for her first time in a swim meet. It was fun to be together and hanging out. This is what our Saturdays will look like for a while this summer. We look forward to watching the girls race, hanging out with friends, and having fun in this new season of our lives.

Hey God.....

The other day I received a gift from a couple friends that brought me to tears. Not just for a couple of minutes but the rest of the day. They shared that this was a gift from the Lord and that they wanted to obey. I couldn't put my finger on why I reacted the way I did. I don’t know that I really understand it today. I know I was humbled by the gift. I know I felt unworthy to receive it. But when I was all done trying to figure my messy, complicated self out, I came up with how tender God is to me. It blows my stinkin’ socks off at His love for me. I could tell Him ALL the reasons not to love me (as I did that afternoon) but He already knows all that and still loves me! There is something about being loved so unconditionally that strikes the very core of me. He moves me deeply. So I now have a sweet smile on my face as I think of the tenderness of my God and say ~ thank You.