Rachel is 11 Years Old

Today is Rachel's 11th birthday. We celebrated her birthday last night by going to ride go-karts and eating at On the Border. Gray-Gray was here to watch the girls while Tim and I were on our youth Fall Retreat so she was able to join in the festivities. Rachel is growing up very fast. It is hard to believe that she will be in the youth group with us next year. Rachel is a great helper. She often gets up early to make pancakes or eggs for the family. She is very responsible and trustworthy. Rachel LOVES to read - especially Nancy Drew Mysteries. She is also very diligent in managing her money and thinks that some day she might like to be an accountant. Rachel loves her American Girl Doll - Samantha - and was thrilled to get some clothes for her from Bebe and Pop. Rachel comes up with lots of ideas for what the girls will play and if she is finishing school or reading a book the other girls often have "nothing to do." Happy Birthday Rachel. We love you!

#4 kicks up some dust on the track

We enjoyed having these cars all to ourselves.

Rachel's special birthday breakfast.

The girls were excited to give Rachel a Nancy Drew Computer Mystery.

Rachel loves the Jonathan Park Cds and book light from Gray-Gray and Granddaddy.

Rachel decided on a special dessert rather than a birthday cake -Yum!

Ready to ride on her new bike.

New Members of the Family

About a year ago we were given six fish as a gift. Reluctantly we purchased an aquarium, filter, fish food, and all the paraphernalia fish need to survive. The fish were all named and were enjoyed for about 3 months and then the newness began to wear off. No one really cared for our poor fish and we were often surprised to find that they were surviving. Well over the last few months one by one the fish began to die. We had all talked about the fact that we did not really pay any attention to the fish and that it would be okay if they were not around. We were under the impression that everyone was okay with this fact until Abigail's fish, Tiger, died. He was the largest of the fish and was easy to identify. We were surprised at the tears that poured forth when Tiger was found floating in the tank. In a moment of weakness, Tim promised Abigail that we would get another fish. So here we are with six new members of our family. For a total of $1.68 we restocked our fish tank. Welcome Squirt, Tiger #2, Goldie, Sherbert, Bruce, and Jaws. Jaws, Daddy's fish, has already made his way to the great ocean. I am sure he will be replaced soon.

Soccer Saturdays

During the months of September and October we spend our Saturdays on the soccer field. The girls enjoy their teams and it is great exercise.

Abigail is showing the number of goals she made in her game. Her team is called the "Golden Chicks." We love their glow in the dark shirts.

A strong Senn defense.

Rebekah has been on the same team for the past four years. The girls have a great time together and are learning a lot. This is the first year that they have real goalies.

Camping Indoors?

We have felt like we have been camping over the last three days. We lost our power when the remnants of Ike blew through AR on Saturday night. We received back our power Tuesday afternoon at about 3:30. So for the past three days we have been "roughing it" inside our own home. We have been thankful that the weather has been unseasonably cool. Tim and I both agreed that there is something nice about the simplicity of this way of life but we were ready to be able to eat something warm and be productive after 7:30 in the the evening.

A power outage can't stop Tim's Monday morning breakfast of eggs and coffee.

Our most valuable resources - a cooler and lantern.

Small Victories

Below you will see Abigail holding a check from the IRS. This represents a small victory in our lives. When we received our stimulus check this year we also received a letter from the IRS stating that they had withheld some of the stimulus payment because we had made an error on our tax return and owed them more money. I am not a tax pro but after I reviewed my taxes I was sure that they had made a mistake. I made a call to the IRS only to have a very frustrating conversation with a lady who would not even listen to my reasoning. So I decided to present my case in writing, enclosing all the information to prove that I was correct in my evaluation. In my mind I knew I would never hear from them again on this issue. They had their money and that was that. Imagine my surprise when I opened my mailbox this week to find a check for the disputed amount. We are rejoicing in our small but important victory!

Ode to Lila

This is my first attempt at putting a video on the blog. The girls have written a song to Lila, our dog. Lila is a pet who could only be loved by her owners. Elizabeth is incredibly faithful to feed and take care of Lila. She even goes out to "train" her. We are thankful for our crazy dog. Just for fun I thought I would put a picture of Lila here so you could see what she looked like. She is fascinated with the green light on the camera so here is what I got:

A little wild eyed but at least she is sitting.

The Joy of Being Young

Abigail is doing very well this year in school. The other morning after she finished her math test, I was looking over the paper and telling her she did a good job. She looked up at me with a puzzled look and asked if I was going to send the paper off to be checked by someone. After I recovered from the fact that she wasn't sure that I could accurately grade her paper, I asked her "who would I send the paper to?" Without a single hesitation she replied "to the President of the United States." The joy of being young - what else would keep President Bush so busy!
Rachel and Elizabeth are on the same soccer team this year - the Red Hots! They had their first game of the season today. Rebekah and Abigail's games were cancelled due to water problems on some of the fields. We are looking forward to another busy soccer season.

Gustav Hits Arkansas

We are feeling the effects of this powerful storm. We have had a consistent downpour of rain for the last 48 hours and have received over 6 inches of rain. We are thankful that we have had power the whole time and have had no trees fall. Many of our church friends have not been so lucky. Many schools have been closed due to a lack of power. I can't imagine what it was like in Louisiana. I am putting some pictures on here to brag about my handy husband. Last spring we had the main water line into our house break in the front yard. Tim spent hours digging to find the leak and then we had a plumber come and repair the pipe. All this to say, while Tim was digging we decided to add some french drains around the side of our house and into the backyard. We had some drainage issues where water would stand at a few low spots which made it very muddy and hard to grow grass. Well this storm was a true test of our drainage success - and we passed with flying colors! I have included a picture below. We had very little water in our yard thanks to all of Tim's hard work. Here is our french drain working beautifully!

Our poor neighbors did not fair so well. A little waterfall landscaping??