Semi-Wordless Wednesday

One happy wife and momma celebrating her 31st BD with a huge piece of chocolate cake! Sweet friends and family - thanks for a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a lovely holiday celebrating with our family. J and R started the day by appeasing their mommy and posing on the porch bench with the same turkey from last year. They both love to clap... and see how many adults they can get to clap with them!We had a non-traditional lunch. There was Honey-Baked Ham, Aunt Iva's Sweet Potatoes, Grandmama's potato casserole, squash casserole, green beans, fruit salad with Great-Grandma Effie's dressing, cranberry sauce (both kinds), rolls and pumpkin pie. Mom made the sweet potatoes (as usual) and she worried about having too much water (as usual) and they were TERRIFIC (as usual)! The boys also ate their first TG feast. They did not care too much for the potato casserole or the ham... who knew?!?!
It was the first holiday that both sides of our family shared the table. It was absolutely wonderful to sit together, laugh, reflect on the things we are thankful for and then watch hours and hours of football! Jason and his folks were are all grins.
And here are my grandparents and parents. I am a "dish person" so this was the perfect excuse to use our good china. Once again, I have made the resolution to use our china and not save it for special occasions only.
After lunch we all wrote down the things we are thankful for. I hope that it will become an annual tradition. Do you have any special TG traditions?

Thankfulness

That was last year! Rylan and Jacob celebrated their first Thanksgiving in style with adorable turkey outfits. That is a Beanie Baby turkey next to them. They were SO tiny!!! Still less than 10 pounds each. You may notice the wires... those are for the apnea monitors. I cannot believe how much they have grown in a year.

Last Thanksgiving was their first road trip... 45 whole minutes to my grandparents house. Granny had a delicious spread, on her pumpkin pie dishes (another blog for another day) and we had a wonderful afternoon eating, laughing,watching the boys lay there peacefully and watching football.

This year is going to be a little different. We are going to be at our house hosting the big event! My parents, my grandparents, and Jason's parents will all join hands together to thank our loving Father for another year. Mom and I will do the cooking since Granny cannot stand very well yet. And the boys will not lay still for a minute this year! But, like last year, there will surely be football and laughter.

As I think about all there is to be thankful for, my mind races. First and foremost, I am thankful for God's Word, His love and forgiveness. Also His loving hand of protection and care. I am very, very thankful for a Christian husband who loves God more than he loves me. A husband who loves our family with all his heart and takes wonderful care of our family. As I look at Rylan and Jacob, I am so thankful for their growth and development. They are quite normal 15 month old boys thanks to God answering many prayers. I am thankful for my parents who raised me to know God and seek Him. Who taught me to be a servant and help others with kindness in my heart. I am also thakful for my in-laws who raised such a wonderful son. I am thankful for an abundance of material things that pale in comparison to heavenly treasures. And I am extremely thankful for you... my dear sweet friends who have supported me through trials and joys.

On this Thanksgiving, I hope that everyone will reflect on what they are truly thankful for and give thanks to God above for his indescribable gifts.

The Mayflower

At the beginning of November some dear friends gave the boys a Little People Mayflower play set. We have had more fun talking about the Pilgrims and Indians and reading books about the first Thanksgiving too. But mostly they have loved playing with the toy set.

It came with a little green flag that goes on top of the mast. The first thing they both do is pull the flag off and chew on it! They also really like the music that the boat plays and dance along. We set up the tables and people for the dinner, but the boys like to scatter the people and make them go on the boat. Another favorite part of the set is the pumpkin. They love to roll it along the ground and chew on it too. Hopefully next year we can have a "thankful" wreath and handprint turkeys, but for this Thanksgiving for our 15 month old angels, it's all about the Little People!Rylan putting the Pilgrim man to sleep on the boat.
Jacob, with green flag in hand, getting a plan for the best way to play this time!

Football Fans

So the boys are 14 1/2 months old and already watching football. I know, it's no surprise to those who know our family. Last year when they were tiny and on the monitors, Jason propped them on his chest to watch ESPN Gameday together for the first time. Now it is a Saturday morning ritual.

Last night GPop, Jason, Rylan and Jacob were watching the Texas Tech vs. Oklahome game. They were cheering for Tech (sorry Steve and Erin!) An OU player dropped the ball and Jacob yelled, "UH- OH!" Then another OU player fumbles the ball and both of the boys start clapping! I guess they have picked up on the plays already and are ready to cheer along. It's cute to see "my boys" sharing in football fun!

Friday Night Lights

Fall Friday nights in the great state of Texas can mean only one thing...FOOTBALL!!! We ventured out this Friday to our town's last home game of the season. First we met some church friends at a local BBQ joint for some delicious brisket and then we were off! My dad was the principal at the high school for 20 years before retiring last spring and I graduated from it too, so we had lots of heartstrings being pulled at the game. The boys even had Wildcat polos to wear that looked adorable, if I do say so myself!
The boys did GREAT! They mostly sat in our laps and watched the action. They would clap as we say "Yeah Wildcats" and even clapped for good defensive plays. They also jumped as the crowd went wild when we scored.

We sat near the top and saw several friends... many from my teaching days, former students and co-workers. We also saw some old high school friends.

Halftime was our cue to head home to get the boys ready for bed, but not before watching the bands play and the dancers dance. It was quite a show!!!

I don't know if the boys will play football, but they sure enjoyed the game. Since my dad coached football for many years and Jason played through college and their uncle (Jason's brother) played Division 1 in college, they are probably destined to roll around on the turf. But for now, I savored holding them in my lap and watching them clap their tiny hands as our team went on to victory!

SURPRISE!!!!!

This weekend was FABULOUS!!! Six months ago, our dear friends Trey and Lacie moved 6 hours away to a small country town. We were all so sad, but determined to keep our friendship strong. Flash forward to September... we knew Lacie was turning 30 at the end of November and we wanted to do something special to let her know how much we love her and our friendship. So after a few emails and calls to Trey, we devised a scheme to surprise Lacie and make a wonderful memory too.

So Heather, Maria, Deanna and I left Friday about noon to drive 6 hours north to surprise Lacie. The plan was for the P family to go out to eat, we would sneak in the back door, decorate the house pink and then wait to give the surprise of a lifetime. So we got stuck in 2 hours of STINKY Houston traffic and were running late. We were laughing and so nervous that we would not make it in time to pull it all off.

We arrived 15 minutes before they are supposed to be getting home from supper at a pizza joint 200 yards from their house. The four of us are running across the neighbors yard loaded down with decorations and gifts, when what should be see? TREY!!! He is holding Braden and waving for us to go back to the car. So we turn around and run as fast as our little feet can carry us! We jump in Heather's SUV and duck down. Our hearts were pounding and we were laughing, even though we were all out of breath. We waited for what seemed like an hour (really 6 minutes) and their car drove off.

So we ran back across the yard, decorated and waited in the dark. We saw the car pull into the driveway and we were all grabbing each other as we sat on the floor about to burst with excitement. Lacie opens the garage door and says, "Trey, there's something wrong inside the house!" After much coaxing, she came in slowly. As she saw all the pink she started saying, "No way! No way!" Then she rounded the corner and the hugs and screaming began!!! We were SO excited that we had pulled it off! She suspected nothing!!! Then her sweet husband gave her another surprise - a plane ticket back from Houston. She was coming home with us on Saturday! He also got his sweet mom to come to their house to keep her 2 boys.
So we stayed up practically all night - laughing, crying, eating, some drank coffee (I'm the last hold-out!), talking, and more laughing. About 4:30am all the birds were in bed. Saturday we toured the tiny town Lacie calls home and stopped in the next "big city" for lunch at an adorable cafe where we shared 3, yes 3, desserts... Dr. Pepper Cake, East Texas Sawdust Pie and Peanut Butter Pie. Then we went in some "bling" and antique stores on the square before hitting the farmer's market.
So as we were driving home for 6 hours, we talked, laughed, sang church songs, giggled and planned future gatherings. And then we got a wild hair! Robyn was not able to make the trip because she was moving into her new house that weekend. Robyn's 30th BD was just the week before, so what did we do? We went and banged on her front door at 10pm and yelled, "SURPRISE!" of course!!!
As I look back on this weekend, it reminds me of many past fun times with this dear group of friends. I get all welled up thinking of the trials and joys we have shared. There is no doubt in my mind that the LORD put these wonderful friends in my life. Thank you birds for being such WONDERFUL friends!!! And I look forward to many, many, many more fun memories!

Menu Planning Monday

It really was done yesterday...I promise! This week I am cheating off my dear friend, Holly. She has started a blog just for recipes and it ROCKS!!! Check it out at www.marathonbirdcooks.blogspot.com

Monday - Chili and cornbread (the chili comes in a jar at HEB and you just add the meat...the cornbread recipe is from Lacie and it was delicious!!!)
Tuesday - Chicken and Asparagus Risotto Skillet (from Holly's blog - all 3 of my boys gobbled it up!)
Wednesday - leftovers
Thursday - Taco Soup (from Holly's blog)
Friday - Chicken Pot Pie (from my other friend, Paula Deen!)
Saturday - baked potatoes at the Family Devo
Sunday - lunch out and sandwiches for dinner

So what's cookin' for your family this week?