Thanksgiving Birthday 11-28-08

We truly have so much to be thankful for, not only during this time of year but all year long. I am so thankful for my family and for the time I had off from work to spend with them. I have to work this weekend but I have enjoyed having the holiday free to be with family. We didn't gather for our big meal until Friday because a few of us had to work and this gave everyone time to be with their immediate family. Like always we had lots of food and fellowship. Our family has grown so much over the years. I am posting just a few pics from the festivities. We really did enjoy each others company and the kids had a great time. The weather was nice so they were able to get outside and play some football while the girls stayed in and caught up on things.

This is a picture of Brian's parents with Landon. He is very blessed to have a nana and a popaw tha love him so much.




This is a picture of my parents with Landon...he really is very blessed to have two sets of grandparents that love and adore him. He really has it made when it comes to being spoiled by grandparents.

This is two of my nieces...Charity is my oldest brothers daughter and the younger one, Aubry, is my other nieces daughter and my brothers granddaughter. They are really beautiful girls.

This is another one of my nieces, my sister Kathy's little girl. I am so amazed at how much she looks like Shirley Temple with those little curls and her blue eyes. She was definitely the center of attention with her little smile and she was singing and dancing so that everyone would notice her.

We really had a good time visiting with everyone. We really should get all of us together more often..but you know how that is. Everybody is always so busy and it is so hard to just get through our everyday routine with work and kids but I think we should at least make an effort. For those of you that have the opportunity to see family everyday, be thankful and enjoy them. It is a true blessing.

Now I would like to say Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband...I love you honey. You are the greatest blessing and I am so thankful that God put us together. You are a wonderful husband and a fantastic father. Landon and I love you so much.

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and please take time to dwell on all the things we have to be thankful for...they are there if we open our hearts and focus on what God has blessed us with. May He continue to bless you all.

Camp Explore 11-17-08

This has been a very busy week for us. On Monday, Landon was off to camp with his classmates. He went to Camp Explore and they had a great time. The weather could have been better but I think that the kids really didn't mind. I sent plenty of warm clothes, hats, gloves and boots. Despite the weather they were able to do all the activities they had planned. They went out in a canoe, shot a bow and a rifle, and built a rocket to launch. Landon said they did get a little cold but all in all they did really enjoy the camp. I really missed him and I was glad they only stayed over one night. These are a few pics from the morning they were leaving. He is really blessed to have many great friends at school.

This is Cooper, Ryan, A.J., Landon and Reece. They have been buddies since kindergarten.

This is Landon and A.J.'s teacher..Mr. Koth...he is really a great teacher. He was Landon's

teacher in third grade and we were so thankful when he moved to fifth grade. I think it is awesome for boys that age to have a male role model in school.

I have been working all week and doing overtime to learn a new responsibility with my job. I am sorry that I haven't updated more this week. I will try to post more in the future. Landon spent the night with his cousin at his Mom Mom and Pop Pop's house..they plan to help her put up the Christmas tree. I am sure they will have a good time. Brian's aunt has been sick this week and is in the hospital. I would like to ask you to say a prayer for her. Also please pray for my mom and her constant battle with back pain. She has been put on new medication and I pray that will help. God is good and I know He can do all things if we believe. Love you all, have a great weekend!

Proud Parents 11-12-08

This week has been so busy with work and school. It truly sounds like a broken record. We have been working so hard on school assignments with Landon and really trying to get him to take pride in his work. Fifth grade has been an adjustment for him because he has had to work harder to earn his A's. We received several papers today from school and they all said excellent and great on them as well as 100%. We are so proud of how hard he has worked lately. We have developed a routine every evening and I also think that it helps that soccer is over for a while.

This afternoon we were able to visit with nana and papaw and we really enjoyed spending time with them. When Landon got up this morning that was the first thing he asked me...when is nana and papaw coming today? He has a habit of asking me different things every morning about what we are going to do in the evening because he likes to have things to look forward to at the end of his day. Sometimes it is as simple as what we are having for dinner...but today he was happy that we were going to have visitors. After they left we went to church together and he earned another badge for AWANA...he was thrilled. Well that is our week overview. Not very exciting but we are clicking along. We did go to Dollywood last weekend and we had a good time. I was beginning to get a cold and by the end of the day I was tired but we still had fun. Have a great week...God Bless!!

Our Weekly Overview 11-6-08

Hey everybody, I hope you are having a great week. It has been a very busy week for us. We have been tied up with school, homework, church and work. Brian has not been home before 10 pm all week. I feel as if I have been a single parent this week and it has been tough. I sure do admire the parents who have to do that on a daily basis. It makes a huge difference when you can do things together. I love you Brian and I appreciate all the money your are earning this week, but I like having you with us more.

Here are a few more pictures from our sleepover last weekend...these are from Saturday night when we put the mattress in the den floor and the boys camped out. They played board games and watched some football on television. I was so proud of them...they were so good and I think they had a great time.

Landon has a hermit crab and the boys had so much fun figuring out all the tricks he could do. The poor thing probably needed to be medicated after they were finished with him!

At Landon's school last week they handed out tickets to guess how many pieces of candy corn were in the glass pumpkin. If you were the student who guessed the closest you got to take the pumpkin filled with candy corn home. Landon was the only student out of 550 kids to guess the exact amount...897! The ironic thing was that his good friend Jacob was second with a guess of 894. Our plans for the weekend will depend on the weather. DB has a playoff football game and we hope to go to Dollywood for their Christmas Celebration. I hope you all have a great weekend. We have sure had some beautiful weather this week...I hope everyone has had time to enjoy it. After homework everyday, Landon has been out riding his bike. We went to church tonight for basketball tryouts...I think he is going to play Upwards at the church and also some indoor soccer this winter. God Bless you all!!

Halloween Sleepover 10-31-08

Not only was it Halloween at our house but it was a rare opportunity to have two of Landon's friends stay over. AJ. and Jacob came over to go trick-or-treating and to spend the weekend with us. Their parents were out of town with their older siblings for soccer and a band competition. Here is a cute picture of all three of them before we went out for the evening.

Jacob was Mario, A.J. was a hobo and Landon was Indiana Jones. This is a great picture of them acting very silly. You would not believe the candy that they got from just our neighborhood.

It has always been a tradition for all the kids on our street to meet up and go trick-or-treating together. We have always had a great time. As you can see from the pictures below we continued to pick up kids as we traveled down the street. They always have a great time going out together.

By the time we got to the end of the street we had several kids in the group. It has been so neat seeing them all grow up over the years. I cannot believe how fast time flies. I think it won't be long and some of these kids will not want to go out anymore on Halloween. I think it is sad in a way. I guess we should be thankful that they are healthy and happy and growing up.

After we went around the neighborhood we went to our church and they played games ate smores and of course...collected more candy. There is enough sugar in our house to sink a battleship. I usually end up throwing some away after a month or so. They came home afterwards and we set up a camp in our living room and they watched a special about scary houses and then they wanted to watch the old classic Jaws. They loved it and thought it was so funny because of how fake it was. For three boys they were really good. They are out playing and riding bikes today because the weather is so beautiful. We are going to take them to play putt putt afterwhile.

The picture below is of my dear friend Cassie's kids. They were absolutely priceless and they came up with the idea all by themselves. Ian is John McCain, Macey is Sarah Palin and Cade is a secret service agent. Are they not just too cute? I love it!!!


All in all it was a great day. I want to say Happy Birthday to a very special person, Landon's Popaw and Brian's dad. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! We hope you had a great day!