Thanksgiving...

It was bound to happen, being that Thanksgiving is just around the corner...

I am thankful for light sabers, footballs & shoes strewn about my house, because it means that I have been blessed with kids.

I am thankful for a budget, because it means that we still have an income.

I am thankful for dirty dishes, because we have been able to eat...
laundry, because we have clothes...
& toilets to clean, because...well, you get the picture.

I am thankful for a messy, unorganized craft room, because it
means that I am a creative person with little time on my hands for such menial
tasks as actually putting the stuff away once I get it out.

I am thankful for the car pool, because it means that
my children have somewhere to go & some other people to go with.

I am thankful for sore muscles, because it means that I
have a body that works & that I have worked it.

I am thankful for the movie twilight, because there haven't been any
unrealistic chic flicks out for a long time & basically, I like unrealistic chic flicks.
(yeah I read the books, liked them. so what.)

I am thankful for Dale, because he isn't Edward and because in
all reality, it would suck to be married to a vampire.

I can't help but spoil em....

When Shay was about 10 he was obsessed with Hum-V's. That was the car that he was going to drive when he got older. So being the kind parents that we are we went out & bought him the

latest version....

it's a little bit smaller...

more economical...

we are calling it, the Hum-B-L-E...
(just in case he started to think that he was the Hot Man on Campus)



Yes, that is a big dent in the back-end, we may or may not fix it...depending on his driving skills.
The best thing...it's a standard transmission, so it is harder to multi-task.
By that I mean text & talk on the phone,
and apparently drive...

This is where you are supposed to see a video recording of our
experience teaching Shay to drive stick in the church parking lot
but my computer is archaic & won't upload videos in a timely manner.
Just imagine a lot of jerking, laughing and Dale trying to be patient, oh
and Shay saying "I hope you're not going to put this on your blog!!!"

We had cut the lessons short because I was feeling a bit whip lashed
and getting a monster headache.
Pray for us, that we can get him street ready in 6 months.

Birthday time...

Yesterday, Baylee turned 10, after the friend party and then the family one...I was tired & didn't get this posted...

B is for the best.
she is the best daughter, the best sister, the best cousin.
she loves to go on dates with Mom & Dad, she reads to Keaton at bedtime and on Sundays, she organizes games of house, store or building forts.

A is for adventurous.
she loves scary rides, bungee tramps, rock climbing...
A could also stand for athletic, she is good at gymnastics & soccer.
Just last week she went head to head on the soccer field with a 12 year old boy & won.



Y is for youthful.
One thing I love about her is that she still plays with Littlest Pets & dolls.

L is for loving.
she loves her friends (she has a lot of them) & loves all 4 legged creatures.



E is for enthusiastic.
she not only lives in color, she lives in techni-color.
everything she does is heightened.

E is for energetic.
if we could figure out how to bottle it, we wouldn't have to save for college.

We love you BAYLEE!!


scenes from the parties

Baylee is lucky to have been born on Friday the 13th,
just like her Uncle Sam...



Happy Birthday
to 2 of our favorite people on earth.

The perfect weekend (almost)...

Those of you that know Dale, know this about him...
1. He loves LSU and everything Southern
and
2. He can't spend any money on himself, so he justifies it by taking along a willing child
(and since Shay loves LSU as much as Dale, he becomes the willing child)
therefore, the yearly trip to an LSU game has become a tradition.

This year they chose the Alabama game, not exactly a cheap ticket.
They went without tickets, hoping to find some on gameday.
(Dale said he would take out a 2nd mortgage to go, because he didn't want
to let Shay down, of course.)

They got into the game via a friend sharing some season tickets...


pretty sweet seats, I must say & no 2nd mortgage required

went to gameday on ESPN (you can see Dale for a few seconds)...
went to a parade, with the band, cheerleaders & players...



visited family & friends...
ate southern food, alligator, frog legs, po-boys, corn bread dressing (etc.)...
and had a perfect weekend (except for the score...but it was still an exciting game.)

The highlight of the whole weekend was meeting Dale Brown, former head basketball coach,
he coached Shaq, and currently has an office on campus.
Shay wrote him a letter saying that they were coming down & could they meet up with him?!!!
Coach Brown called the house last week and they set up an appointment.
Ask & you shall receive...



Shay is holding one of Shaq's shoes, size 24. (You'd think that they would at least smile.)

Challenge #3...

Ok, I decided to put off the Hip Hop class challenge until later, mostly because it scares me to death, but just so you know & can prepare....it is on my list, so get ready. The next challenge is this...Do something nice for someone who annoys you. Ready, set, go...you have a week.

Really?????

I am concerned.

The very first thing out of both Tanner & Shay's mouth upon coming home from school was to tell me that they heard a lot of racist comments pointed towards the White House today. I asked "like what?", they repeated a few of them and it was instantly apparent that kids were getting this stuff from home.

Political viewpoints aside, the fact that kids (especially Tanner's age) even know how to utter such words is just plain wrong.

Ok. I'm done. The rose colored glasses are going back on.

Who to vote for...

If Tanner were President, he said he would make trail mix without raisins.
Baylee said if she were President, she would make it with only M & M's.

Career choices...

The other day, Baylee announced, as if it were a requirement,

"I don't think I'll run for President when I get older, it takes too much work."

Last night, she said that she wanted to quit violin because you can't play that instrument in a rock band. ???!!!

Shay suggested Coldplay's Viva la Vida,

I said that I seem to remember Metallica using a full orchestra in some of their music,

Tanner brought up America's got Talent,

but the best came from Dale when he said, "What about Charlie Daniel's The Devil went down to Georgia?" Baylee's reply, "WHO?"

Needless to say, practicing this morning went well. And...

If I get a vote on her future career, I would have to say "Rock on Sister!!!"