Thanksgiving....

Thanksgiving... it's not all about eating the yummy home-cooked food. For me, it's about family and friends and taking a step back and truly being thankful for how truly amazing life is!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to make a list of a few of the things that I am most thankful for... so here goes!

~God's grace

~my wonderful husband

~my children

~family

~true friends

~family get-togethers

~my camera (to capture the special moments in life)

~my job & being able to spend more time with my kids

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these are just a few of the things i am thankful for!

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I hope everyone has a GREAT Thanksgiving!!

:)

well... i tired to find a cute little funny about Thanksgiving but didn't have any luck! So,i will just post a picture of my 3 turkeys....

better late than never.... Right??

this year had to be the quickest "trick or treating" that we have EVER done!

emilie had softball games all day and we didn't leave the ball park until 6:45. i think it was almost 8:00 before we even started on our Halloween adventure.

my sister-in-law Tammy was the driver... we wouldn't all fit into "mini-me... a.k.a, the dodge journey that i currently own"! hannah was a "pink poodle", diddle was a "rodeo-show clown", and emilie was a "princess"! they were so cute...

dad and diddle discussing how to properly ask for candy... "trick or treat, smell my feet!"

(unless of course you were talking about hannah's...lol... inside joke!)

it didn't take diddle very long to shuck the wig... so, in the spirit of the night, jon put it on and wore it!

he was getting this trick or treating thing down... look at that serious face... that's a rodeo clown on a mission!

emilie stopped for a picture... strike a pose sister!

one of our stops was aunt virginia and deb's house!

(and deb wasn't even there... she went to canton, can you believe that!!!)

cheese... he was so tired of taking pictures!

we made a quick stop by granny and pawpaw's and we were able to get a group shot of the kiddos... weren't they just precious!

~this was our Halloween night... quick, but fun.... and believe me, the kids got PLENTY of candy!~

Don't miss out on this GREAT deal!!

I recently had Spanki Mills, one of my closest friends, take pictures of my kiddos for Christmas cards and they turned out great!! So when I logged onto my computer today to check out the latest post from my oh so talented friend, I learned about her "holiday special" ! I wanted to share it with anyone who reads this blog, because if you have had your pictures taken by Spanki Mills, and many of you have, you don't want to miss out on this offer.... And if you haven't had your pictures taken by her... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!! Her special offer ends Jan. 1st, so don't miss out... I know I won't!
I hope everyone had a great halloween and has an even better week ahead!!!
Smiles.. Lacie B

Red Ribbon Week 2009... hippy day

"hippy day".... my mom totally hooked my kids up with appropriate attire for hippy day at school! they were sooo funny!

"peace out dudes!"

.... and diddle had to dress up! not hippy themed, but he thought the clown hat worked! we didn't argue! lol

this totally groovy teacher dressed the part too!..... any ideas who it may be???

"cher" even stopped by to support "hippy day"!..... what a fun day! :)

Happy Birthday to Darren and Emilie!!!

I can't believe how big my babies are getting!!

Darren turns 11 on Oct. 1st and Emilie turns 9 on Oct. 5th!

In honor of their birthday's, I decided to scroll through my old photo albums and post a few pics of these two turkey's over the years! Last night, I was sitting in the middle of the floor looking through my albums and I had tears rolling down my face. I just can't believe how fast they have grown up! Before I know it, they will be teenagers, driving, graduating, college, families of their own.... Ok, I am stopping there! *tears*

forgive the pics.. i had to scan some of them and they are a little messy! :)

This pic is one of my all time favorites... the expression on Darren's face says it all! This was the day we got to bring Emilie home from the hospital! He was so proud of her! Look how little Emilie was, that dress swallowed her! :)

This was the two of them laying in her crib. He used to crawl into her crib and talk to her and play with her.... she loved her bubba!

This was one of our many trips to Galveston. This particular trip was with Nana and Aunt Toot.

This one was on our first trip to Moody Garden's. The dinosaur exhibit was a hit!

This was the first and only time they attempted to grow strawberries. The strawberries never got ripe enough, someone would always pick them before they were ready... no one ever fessed up to that one!

This was a fourth of July out at the "Blakley Ranch". The kids love going to Boomaw and PawPaw's for the firework show...

This was a pic at Schlitterbahn! Gosh they were so little!

This pic was taken at Lake Madison on top of the dam!

D and Em cleaning out their pumpkins... getting ready to carve up a master piece!

My birthday present last year! I begged them to take pictures for me!

... and last but not least, a pic from our vacation to South Padre two summer's ago!

There were so many pictures, I just picked a few to share! My babies are so important to me and I am truly blessed to have such wonderful kids! H

Happy Birthday Darren and Emilie, Momma loves you!

:)

D-Back Baseball... fall league

the D-Backs played a little baseball this weekend!

they had a GREAT couple of games!

D-Backs vs. Montgomery Elite (21-3)

D-Backs vs. Pride Black (16-0)

Two games played and Two games won!!!

I took a few pics of Darren and Thomas Jay. They are two of the three boys representing Madisonville on this Navasota team!

This was Big D sliding into home on a passed ball by the catcher!

Thomas Jay... running home!

Darren getting a lead off from 1st base! Get low D!

this picture makes me LOL... Thomas was getting a sign from Dylan our catcher... that is one serious face pitcher!!! Jon says he looks just like his daddy in this picture... little Hud!

Our boys did great.... and I am looking forward to next weekend! Look out Web Gems and Pride White the D-Backs are ready for you!

progress....

Well.... we are making progress! You see, Dylan has been sleeping in our bed with us for a while now and we have tried many, many times to get him out of our bed! we have tried sooo many things... he got a brand new bed, new blankets/pillows, we've tried bribery, brother and sister sleeping in his room with him, stuffed animals, Jon or I sleeping in there with him... and nothing has worked! So when Dylan asked to sleep on the couch a few nights ago, I thought what the hey.... it's worth a shot! He crawled onto the couch, with a pillow, a quilt, and Coco (darren's favorite stuffed animal when he was a little boy and between me and my bloggy friends, Coco is still sometimes found snuggled up to Big D in his bed!). I was skeptical, but it didn't take long for him to be out like a light!

He slept here until about 3:00A.M.... then he made his way to our room! Every night since then, he has asked to sleep on the couch or on a pallet in the floor... he hasn't made it though the night yet but Jon and I are hopeful!

Progress... it's a beautiful thing!

first day of school....

Well, this was the first day of school! Everyone was ready to go.... even diddle! I can't tell you how many times over the summer that Dylan would tell me that I needed to go to work, bubba and sis needed to go to school, and he needed to go to mimi's!.... well, diddle finally got his wish... school has started and our routine of work, school, and day care is back!

here are the kiddos on the first morning!... can you tell diddle was excited!

these smiles... they were forced... look at Em... silly girl!

look at diddle's hair... poor baby, his momma didn't have time to comb it down! Even though he was excited, I'm not sure that he was all the way awake yet... he looks kinda sleepy! LOL

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and because I am really behind in posting stuff... i thought i would add a pic of this! .... drum roll please... my bulletin board!.....thanks to Debbie's great idea, I finally got it done!

meet the teachers....

I know that this post is a little late... but you know what they say, better late than never!Emilie is in the Intermediate School this year... she is getting so big!

This is Ms. Sorrell... her homeroom teacher.

This is Mrs. Howeth... her Math/Science teacher... I told you I would put this on my blog Leigh Ellen, and If I do say so myself, it is a GREAT picture of you!

Sanford and Blakley... these two girls aren't in the same class, but they are ready for 3rd grade!

This is Big D's homeroom teacher... Mrs. Shiver! He didn't want me to take pics this year, he thought I would embarrass him! ..... wait until next year when he is at the Jr. High and I am snapping away at that meet the teacher! Oh yeah... I am getting some pictures, gotta have the digital memories! LOL

This is Mrs. Patterson, Darren's Math and Science teacher!

Both of my kiddos were excited about their teachers and so was I... they are going to have a great year!!

Billy Joe #45..... Go Stangs!

I can't believe that my nephew Billy Joe is in high school!! Gosh he makes me feel old!

Billy Joe is #45.... middle line-backer and tight end!!

Get low Bill.... Uncle Jon was so proud of this hit!! Speaking of Uncle Jon, he is loving the fact that Billy Joe is playing football... he has every home game on his calender...

another great hit!!

and the stare-down... sorry #54, you are going down!!

Bill.... high steppin'!

another hit...

We love watching Bill play...

GO MUSTANGS!