Happy Birthday Brandie!!!!

It just doesn't seem possible you could be 24 already!!! I don't have much memory of this day 24 years ago, but it was a great day all the same!!! I love you. I hope you have a great day celebrating, both your birthday and New Years Eve.

Merry Christmas!!!

I just wanted to wish everyone reading a Merry Christmas! Here are Santa pictures from earlier this month. We are loading up and heading to Mom and Dad's this morning, so I will post pictures from this morning in the next few days. Hope you all have a great day!!

Ironic justice?

I was so ticked off this morning! I had just dropped the kids off at school and was heading back home when some JERK in a black Mustang blew by me....and the garbage truck in front of me...like I was sitting still. He obviously didn't care one bit that there was also a car coming right at him. Well, as he passed me I had the same thoughts as I often do when other idiots do such things.....It would be great to see him pulled over up the road with a cop sitting behind him, or maybe slid off into a ditch! Ha.....what I saw instead was that little black Mustang wrapped around a tree in a mangled mess!! There were a couple of other cars that had come up on the side road that were already stopped and out to help....and I had daycare babies with me....so I went ahead on. I just couldn't believe it.....having the thoughts that I'd had and then seeing that! Ok, so then I had just passed that and getting near home when a big truck was heading in my direction. Apparently he was not going fast enough for the 2 cars following him because they drove right around him, into my lane....headed right for me!! I almost came to a complete stop to avoid being hit! As the trucker passed by me, my hands and his were in the air as if to say "What the hell"?? I was really glad to get home. As if that wasn't quite bad enough.....I'm not finished yet! A little later, on the way home from picking Emily up, another impatient driver came flying up on my bumper. This time, there was a cop in the right place at the right time!! I gladly watched as he got pulled over!!

An up and down Friday

UP.......I got an email from Wyatt's teacher bright and early Friday morning with a subject line that simply said "YAY!!". Hmmm, wondered what she seemed so excited about even before school started? Wyatt made it into the 1st grade spelling bee!! That's pretty cool, we are excited too. He came home with list of words he can study over the holidays. Of course he thinks he's so smart that he already knows "most" of those words! Yep, he's a little on the (over) confident side! The spelling bee will be soon after they go back to school.

DOWN.....I finally gave up fighting Emily's cold symptoms with over the counter meds. I was able to get her into the doc on Friday morning. She has more than just a cold/cough.....he listened to her chest and back for a while because she is wheezing! He checked her out really well and sent us home with a breathing machine. So we have given her breathing treatments all weekend. After 24 hours we could tell a significant decrease in her coughing and she had a MUCH better night last night then she has had in a while! I could just kick myself......after going through asthma with Sara, I feel like I should have caught this much sooner! Of course, different kid = different treatment. I never had to do the breathing machine with Sara....but then she didn't have a lot of wheezing. She had more of the cough which made if hard for her breathing or to take a breath. She was on oral meds till the doc felt she was old enough for an inhaler. Thankfully, that is as far as Sara went. The doc always told me he felt like she would outgrow it. For the most part, I think she has. I guess only time will tell with Emily.

Wow, time really is flying by!!

I've been looking through pictures. Some, because I am trying to get them ready to burn to disk. Others because I am looking to add them to scrap pages. Anyway, I found some I had taken a few summers ago. This one made me want to cry! They were still such babies.....Emily just past a year and a half and Wyatt a little past three. Sometimes they are still best friends!

Could I stop time...for just a little while?

It just seems to be flying by! I can't believe that by the time I finish typing this post it will be December 1st. Oh well....an update on our November.

I don't have many pictures for this post. I think my camera is trying to die on me! Sometimes it will take just beautiful pictures, but mostly they are really strange looking. I'm pricing new ones so hopefully after the first of the year I will find the one I want at the price I want it! Lets just hope I get a few good Christmas pictures out of this one before it goes completely blank!

We have had unbelievable weather...very warm for November. As a matter of fact, up until the day before Thanksgiving the kids were still playing outdoors in shorts and t-shirts. It has finally cooled off and our temps are more seasonable now. Thanksgiving was good. The kids and I headed south to see the girls and mom & dad. We got to spend a couple of days visiting, have Thanksgiving lunch and then headed home in time to make it to Jeff's mom and dads for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a busy day!












The day after Thanksgiving is when Fort Worth has their annual Christmas Parade.....a Parade of Lights. The dealership where Jeff works supplies pickup trucks and drivers to pull some of the floats. When they came looking for volunteers, Jeff signed us up! We were in a very nice truck, pulling a beautiful float in the parade. It was so much fun. We were hanging out in the "drivers" area before the start....and guess who came up to look for his float? Yep, Santa....and Mrs. Clause too of course! The kids were more than thrilled!! He came over and talked to them for a minute and gave them each some candy. They were so excited. Longhorn also supplies trucks for the Cotton Bowl Parade....we are supposed to be pulling a float in that one too! We can't wait! If it happens, I will post an update....you know, so if you are watching on TV you can look for our float!!










The kids are good. Both still loving and doing well in school. At this point, even though I know she is learning, I would have to say it is some serious social time for Miss Em! She has made a couple of little friends and by the way she talks, they are pretty much stuck together like glue! Wyatt finally lost a tooth. I wondered if he would ever let me close enough to touch it. When I was finally able to get a good hold on it, he started to freak out till he realized it was already out. Then he was just excited about the tooth fairy coming....goofy kid!

The kids made some pine cone turkeys for Thanksgiving.

Not one, not two.....

not even three, but FOUR loose teeth!!!! I couldn't believe it. Wyatt was talking to me this morning and I guess I looked at him just right and thought something looked a little funny with his teeth. I checked and sure enough the one I thought looked funny was loose. So I checked some others and the two front top and bottom teeth are all loose! One on the bottom will be gone soon I'm thinking. He has already decided it might hurt to pull them, so they have to come out all by themselves. Ummm....yeah, ok son. It seems that's what at least one of the girls thought too!! ;)

Fun at the track

Wyatt and I had a great time yesterday! We came home with tons of free stuff, some CHEAP Dale Jr. jackets, and Wyatt got a new Elliott Sadler shirt and cap. The boy got to build a wooden Jimmy Johnson car at the Lowes display(and then went back and built another for Emily)....and Momma got a gift card for a free Kobalt screwdriver. He got to race a remote control car.
























We watched the cup drivers take the track for practice....twice.








The race itself was great for me......my driver won!!!! Go Kevin Harvick!!!!









I actually had to wake Wyatt up to watch the finish. Yep, about half way through, he fell asleep! We were practically the only ones in our row, so I just laid him down and put my jacket under his head and he slept.









Before he went to sleep, he got to see a couple of pretty good wrecks happen right there in turn 4 where we were sitting. He also really enjoyed listening to the scanner! After the race, instead of waiting for a tram back to the campground, the two of us started walking. From our seats, it wasn't a very long walk. Paw Paw came looking for us though and gave Wyatt a ride back on his shoulders! Granny fixed steak and baked potatoes for dinner and we just chilled out (well, Wyatt ran around being a goof) and had a good visit. Like I said, we had a great day, but we were exhausted when we got home!



Sitting in a Jeff Gordon show car









View from our seats

Happy Halloween!!

We went with more of theme than a costume....back to the 50's. We really don't do much trick or treating anyway. Most of our neighbors keep to themselves and I don't trust going to places we don't know. So, across the street we march to visit Freda. Of course she has a treat bag made up especially for each one of them. They made off like bandits at her house alone.....and that doesn't include what they got from Granny & Paw Paw and Grandma & Grandad. Before bed we watched "The Great Pumpkin".....what would a holiday be without Charlie Brown???

Introducing Lucy!

The newest member of our family is an orange tabby kitten. She is about 8 weeks old, has beautiful blue eyes and is finally getting a little spunk about her after being sick with an upper respiratory infection. Emily wraps her up in a blanket and packs her around like a baby!

A few pictures....

Mid swing











Playing in the catchers position












Emily's first time on a roller coaster!
Getting ready to take off...












Can we go again, Sissy???












Sleeping babies

What a month!

October has been busy. We have had conferences with both the kids teachers and they are both doing GREAT in school! There was an open house at school and all grade levels had the kids performing on stage. We've had ball games twice a week all month. We squeezed in a couple of trips to Six Flags for Fright Fest. The kids and I made a weekend trip to visit mom, dad and the girls. We had a cookout at Jeff's mom and dads. Wow....I think that pretty much sums it up.

Now on to what Wyatt and I feel is the most important (upcoming) event.....the two of us are going to the Busch race this Saturday!!! Paul (Jeff's dad) got two free tickets and he gave them to us. We are so excited!! We are going to head up to the track bright and early Saturday morning to hang out with Granny and Paw Paw at their camper before the gates open. We have tried to explain to Wyatt that with our scanner, we will be able to hear the drivers, their crew chiefs and spotters talking to one another. He gets it and yet he doesn't quite understand how it's going to work. He just knows he is excited about going to the race track. We will see the Cup boys practice a couple of times before the race. Instead of sitting in a ton of traffic after the race, we're going to head back over and hang out with Granny and Paw Paw for a while longer and have dinner. It's going to be a fun day for me and my boy!!

HA......I believe this is sooner rather than later!!!

Ummm, I'm speaking of my comment in the post from last night about pictures! Anyway, here are the rest of the homecoming week pictures as well as a couple from Six Flags this past weekend. They better load quick though.....babies are napping!!

Jammie day












College/Pro shirt day.....go Mavs & Raiders!!!












Purple and Gold school shirt day












I can't believe we got Em to get this close to Shaggy and Scooby!! This is a first. She will not go near Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Bugs Bunny....any of them. I was thrilled to get these pictures. But look at how much distance she kept between herself and the opposition!!!!

School picture day.....

and Wyatt's first baseball game. I don't have pictures for this post though. Just thought I would add a quick update.
Emily didn't have a clue what to expect on picture day.....but she sure was excited about it! She was asking me a couple of questions on the way to school and Bubba piped in and took over the conversation....giving her the low down on how picture day works. He assured her that it was "cool". Yep, that's my goofy kids! They both seem to be doing really well in school. We will find out for sure on Thursday.....parent/teacher conference day.
Wyatt also had his first baseball game tonight. Actually it was supposed to be last night, but they called it because of bad weather. I have not been going to practices because they run past the kids bedtime......Emily stays home with me so that I at least have one of them in bed at a decent time! Anyway, Jeff seemed to think the game may not go so well for our team. We have a couple of kids that......well, lets just say that appropriate behavior is NOT a priority at their house! Those kids behaved just as we had expected. However, when all was said and done....our team only lost by one point. The kids who were there to play, played really well. That included Wyatt! He made three really good hits, scored 2 runs and got a man out on second....which is where he was playing tonight.
I have some pictures that I need to post.....but it is my bedtime so I'm not taking the time to do it tonight. Hopefully I will have them up sooner rather than later! I hope all is well with everyone. Leave us a comment so we know you've been here reading! Goodnight...sweet dreams!!

Time on my hands.....

My daycare babies are sick today! I guess you could tell something was up with all the new post today. I should be doing some extra cleaning to get ready for company......but that's not happening. Instead I am catching up on some computer stuff! Ok, well I am up and down from here doing some cleaning. I'm just not used to having the house all to myself!! I'm about to get off here now though....going to take advantage of the time and go have lunch with the kids. Hope everyone is having a great day!!

Aunt Linda is at it again!!

Thanks again......Emily just loves it and so does Momma!!












Granny was thinking that I told her 50's day was Friday (for homecoming week spirit/dress up). So she and Aunt Linda got the great idea of making Em this adorable skirt and sending to her. Well, 50's day was actually on Monday and the skirt came in the mail (as a HUGE surprise) on Tuesday! Ha.....there is absolutely NO disappointment about it missing 50's day on this end though! She loves this skirt so much, I wasn't sure I was going to get it off her last night. She put it on to make sure it fit....and then we had to take pictures....and then she had to dance around it, you know, to make sure it twirled properly!! Reluctantly, she took it off then. When daddy got home from work, it would not be enough to SHOW him the skirt....she had to try it on again!! I'm thinking this will be great for Halloween. They have another week later in the school year where they "dress up" every day.....I'm thinking it is drug awareness week. Anyway, there is usually a 50's day thrown in that week so Emily will be prepared this year!! Thank you Granny and Aunt Linda...this was a great surprise!!!

We're having company!!!

Sissy is coming up this weekend! I made the mistake of mentioning this to Emily a couple of weeks ago....before Brandie even confirmed that she was coming. She brought me her school folder, which has a calendar in it. She ask me to show her the day that Sissy would be here! Needless to say, she has been bugging me about it ever since. Every few days she will bring me her folder, point to the day and say "this is when Sissy is coming, right?".

Granny, Paw Paw, Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob are coming this weekend too!! We are going up to Texas Motor Speedway with them to watch some dirt track racing Saturday night. We are VERY excited....especially Wyatt!!! He really doesn't have a clue of what to expect.....but it's racing so he is excited!! I guess I better remember to take my camera. Anyway, I had no intention of mentioning this visit to the kids until the last minute....simply because they get so excited and drive us nuts about it. Well, Emily listens/hears way more than I guess I had imagined. After a phone conversation with Mom the other day, Emily announces to Bubba that Granny and Paw Paw are coming next weekend!

We also get to see Sara very soon!!! She has an ortho appointment next week so she is coming up a day early to she can spend some time with us. Needless to say, I am keeping my bigmouth shut about this visit!! The kids will be thrilled with her surprise visit after seeing everyone else too.

So, we get to see them all now......and again in a few weeks. The kids and I are headed down for a weekend visit next month. Ummm, I'll be attempting to keep that trip to myself as well!!

It's been busy around here.

This is homecoming week.....which means a "dress up" day everyday this week! Monday was 50's, Tuesdsay Camo, today jammies, tomorrow college/pro shirt and Friday will be purple and gold school shirts. There was the homecoming parade in town on Monday evening. The kids enjoyed that. Monday evening was also the first night of baseball practice.....yup, that's right baseball.....not t-ball! There was some sort of mix up and Wyatt was put on a coach pitch team. He is old enough, we just thought another season of t-ball would do him good. After thinking about it, we've decided this will be for the best. This is the more laid back season so a better opportunity to get him up to speed with the coach pitch league. Here are some pictures from this week. I will post some of the rest of the week when I get the chance.
50's day












Em didn't have a camo shirt so she had to borrow one from Bubba

Mr. Bear!

So Wednesday Wyatt came home and wanted to know who the "leader" of Texas is. Jeff ask if he meant the Governor? Yes, that's what he meant. Jeff told him it was Rick Perry. Wyatt was so excited.....if he was the first one to give that answer to his teacher the next morning, he would get to bring Mr. Bear home for the night. We took the opportunity to discuss who the President is while we had him on the subject. That was a little more than he was interested in.....after all, he only needed to the know the Governor! Well since I don't get the kids to school until just before the tardy bell rings, I didn't expect him to come home with the bear. Ha....I was wrong! I talked to his teacher after the fact. She said it was so funny, she saw him come into the class from across the room. He came in with a mission. He went straight to her and said "Rick Perry"! He was one of the last ones in, but the first one to give her a name. Needless to say he was pretty excited about having Mr. Bear for the night.

Do we.....or don't we??

So today is the day we sign up for fall T-ball. We had been planning to start Emily this fall because we have been told the fall season is less hectic and is more laid back. Since she is younger we thought that would be a good thing. Well, I've been thinking and Jeff and I have been talking and we have decided not to put her in for now. Jeff was kind of feeling like maybe we should wait another year (Wyatt was just shy of 6 when he started and Em won't even be 5 till January!). I think we need to find something that is "hers".......Bubba has his thing (sports) and Em could have her thing. So I think I will start looking for some sort of tumbling/dance class that we can try out. As much as she loves being outdoors with the bugs and snakes and frogs, she also loves to wear dresses and have painted nails and pretty hair things. Anyway, I discussed this idea with her. Her first questions was......"you mean like a ballerina?" Ha, maybe a dance class is just what we need!!

Just an update

We are two weeks into school and the excitement has not dwindled! Well, they don't want to get up in the mornings, but they are still really excited about going to school. As a matter of fact, yesterday when I told Em that it was Friday and she didn't have to go to school *tomorrow* she got upset! It's funny at the school drop off. There are several faculty members at both the bus and car drop off points to help the kids out of vehicles and into the building. Well, the ladies that help at the car lane laugh at Emily. She always bounces out of the truck and is so happy to be there....her excitement is very obvious! I've gotten emails from Wyatt's teacher telling us what a great kid he is, how excited she is to have him in her class, how "awesome" he is.......ummm, is she really talking about our boy???? I guess if he is going to be a monster somewhere, I'd rather it be right here at home!

Thank you Aunt Linda!!!

Emily will tell you that she is a Princess......especially when she is wearing her new dress that Aunt Linda made her this summer! When I was taking these pictures, she ask me if she could twirl....cause this dress twirls soooo pretty. I snapped a couple of her twirling, but couldn't capture how pretty it really is. Thanks again Aunt Linda!!