Oh, we thought Tuesday was a good day. The first day of fall! Hooray! Any Midwestern girl is happy when this day comes. And their daughters. Here’s a sneak peek into our day of fall celebration!
We, like the squirrels, gathered acorns
Abi and I have begun a tradition that I am almost giddy about when I imagine us baking together in the future. It was a delight of a day. Fall, welcome to Lanshire.
Ahh, the joys and challenges of owning a fixer-upper! Last Thursday morning, Donald and I woke up to hear a light leak in our bathroom – yep – a pipe was leaking. Oh good. So – run outside and turn the water off. Wash up before heading to work (of course this happened on my one day to go to work) – oh wait, can’t turn the shower on. Rinse off the breakfast dishes – oh wait, can’t use the sink. Oh, the things we take for granted. Anyhow, thankfully donald’s mom came right on time to get abi, and that made “dealing” with the process so much easier. We realized that this was not an easy fix – and certainly not something that could get accomplished before Donald had to head off to class at 9. So, made plans to spend the night at The Wallaces. What a blessing to have them 20 minutes away. So thankful. Called the two plumbers who have done bids on our master bathroom to see if they could add it to their bid – but decided to turn to plan B when they both listed quite a high number to add in our little fix. What is Plan B you ask yourself? Plan B = Donald and Angela wearing the Plumber hat. Yep – we fixed the leak in the pipe. For ten dollars. (Plus the cost of a drywall patch). Must say that we’re really proud of ourselves. It was one of the most interesting date nights we have had.
All the tools a good plumber needs (they really don’t need a cell phone or the lotion – but the lotion is nice afterwards!)…
Knocking off the baseboard in the hall bathroom so that we can access the leak from that side…
Yikes! It’s not ever a good thing to have a hole in your wall
My side of the wall (in our demo’d masterbath) – yep, that’s under our house!
Donald cutting the pipe, and getting ready to install the “shark bite" our $10.00 fix.
Two tired, and delirious, plumbers at 11 o’clock with out little bit of pipe
However, she was not a showgirl – but a three-toed sloth!!
AHHHHH!!!
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Right after this picture was taken she fell asleep on me. Delight. Definitely one of my top five animal experiences of all time. And thankfully and amazingly (if that is a word), I have had some pretty incredible experiences with animals. I love sloths. Miss Lola here is going to be one of our education animals at the Zoo. OK, promise not to have another animal post for a while :)
Why I love wireless – I am sitting outside on our front porch while Donald is at work (sweet, wonderful hubby working on a Saturday so I can stay at home – for now, one day at a time!) and Abi is sleeping. It is raining and I am blogging. Ahhhh, this is relaxation.
The main idea for this post – Abi loves well. It is a blessing to watch her. It is an action. It is active, not passive. She is intentional. It is more pure than most types of love that I see. Today we went to the library to kill the last hour or so before lunch (we needed to get out of the house – we had cabin fever with all the rain!) and Abi headed straight for the mini stairs that they have there. Insert groan from me – I have a love-hate relationship with those stairs. Two other “big kids” came and sat on the ledge by the big window and started reading to each other (which was super sweet to watch). So, Abi just walked over to them (somewhat timidly) and sat down and gently placed her hand on the girls leg and listened. So sweet. Melt my heart. And make me think.
She’s done this before. Often. I think that many children have this beautiful capacity to freely love. Smiling at strangers. Smiling and being genuine to those that society turns their heads from. Reminders of love. Thank you, my Abi.
These past two weeks I have craved for and savored family time in a way I hadn’t ever really done before. It’s so wonderful. It is as it should be (for me). Mommas, Poppas, and Babies. Life is good.
This past Sunday evening we had such a blast when we headed to the Frisco Roughriders game with some friends in our community group! Now the last time Donald and I were at a ballpark together was when we were freshmen at A&M and my sorority’s formal was at the Diamond Club at Ranger Stadium. (Alas, my scanner is not cooperating, unless I’d have inserted an awesome picture here from that night – haha! Back in the day when Donald was in love with me and I was oblivious…oh wait…). And, thanks to the outfield section where you can sit in the grass – all of the kids had a great time too. We didn’t watch too much baseball, but perhaps that is OK. Great company, happy babies = a successful night at the ballpark.
Sweet Abi & Annie
The rest of the Pattillos, with baby Emma
Told you there were happy babies to be had!
Doesn’t she look mischievous? I think she was trying to get some more food…
The only thing missing from the evening were some peanuts and crackerjacks…
