Slowing Down

Hello friends,

Our days have been so busy lately . . . there is just so much going on right now and I am having one heck of a time keeping up with everything! So much to share but so little time . . . I am always racing the clock! :) Just this week alone I have had 3 teacher conferences, 4 doctor appts, 3 baseball games, 1 meeting about the golf tournament, Allie's portrait appt, and a hair appt. We have Donnie's parents coming in on Friday and the golf tournament is Monday. So life is definitely BUSY with a whole lot of chaos going on! :) Because of this - I am going to be taking a little bit of a blogging break for a week or so. I need to catch my breath and get caught up on laundry, e-mails and thank-you cards. I need some time to slow down . . .

Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you.
~John De Paola

But I do have some things to share before I go . . .

Brandon's procedure on Friday ended up being a little more complicated than we thought. In fact - the dermatologist wouldn't even attempt to remove the granuloma and has referred us to a plastic surgeon. Apparently there are risks involved . . . there is a high risk of bleeding with this type of granuloma and it is near arteries in the neck. And she was concerned about scarring and a biopsy needs to be done . . . not exactly what I wanted to hear! So we have a consultation appointment with the plastic surgeon next week. Poor Brandon is scared to death - so I am anxious to just get it done so he doesn't have to worry about it anymore. And well - truthfully - FEAR is still hanging out in my heart as well. I don't like it one bit when my children are scared or hurting!

Allie is doing great and growing so fast! She started crawling this week and is on the move - definitely hard to keep up with this little one. She is fast and determined and I have to watch her closely because she is into everything. Her little personality continues to shine and we all love the snuggles, kisses and giggles she gives so freely. She is such a blessing to all of us. I have so many pics to share - but haven't downloaded them all yet. Here's a couple of pictures from last week . . .

We also had Allie's portraits done for the first time. We went to Sears - because I wanted a particular background that I had done with all 4 of my boys. (I'll share all of those in another update!) :) Allie wasn't overly smiley during the photo shoot - but we were still able to get some beautiful pics! We have over 47 shots - so I will just share a couple today - and will post more next week.

Shortly after Jacob passed away Donnie's work, Enterprise, came to us and said that they would like to host a golf tournament in memory of Jacob to raise money for childhood cancer research. At last year's tournament over $50,000 was raised and we are excited about


The 2nd Annual Cadillac Invitational sponsored by Dimmitt Cadillac and Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Held In Memory and Celebration of our son, Amazing Jacob Duckworth
on October 15, 2007. The tournament benefits the Pediatric Cancer Foundation and it is such an honor to be a part of this event. We would love for you to join us!

Ending with a scripture that definitely spoke to me tonight as I was feeling overwhelmed . . .

"God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done."
2 Corinthians 9:8
The Message

Covered in blessings,