Pageant mom... erm, I mean AUNT!

Pageant Mom sounds better- but Brittany gets the credit for these little beauties!
My nieces were in their first beauty pageant this weekend!


Beautiful Kelsie...



Adorable Abby...




Good luck, sissy!



Unfortunately, though, the way these things work is that there can only be one winner. A bittersweet moment for the family, but (drumroll please...
Introducing
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Little Miss Blue Ridge 2006
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KELSIE JOE!!!




Blowing kisses to her adoring fans!



There's the proud pageant mommy!



Abby with her roses




And of course- my little beauty had to get in on the action just a smidge... so she swiped a bouquet

Sept 1st- a Redneck Holiday

Opening day of dove season!
Woohoo!

Since I am not a redneck- I wasn't all that excited. My favorite part of the day is cute father/son pictures. Lots of those right here!

The "getting ready to leave" shot


9-01-2005- boy has he grown!
We miss you, Toby (sometimes, lol)!


Cotton (and I'm going out on a limb here, as I haven't researched his bloodlines) is a full redneck. Lol. My son, therefore, is 1/2 redneck. So this is a BIG day for them.
They had tons of fun, they've been twice so far this weekend. I'm sure they'll go twice tomorrow...

Here they are with all of their gear


Jacob has his gun, all ready to go


"show me how you shoot the birds"


"C'mon Daddy! Let's go!"


Papa joined the fun, of course!


(this shot is courtesy of "Pooh's photography." Isn't he getting GREAT?)


Riding in the truck


I guess Daddy was hungry? Lol.


Cotton giggled forever- waiting for me to empty the camera and find this...Niiiice one, Honey.


Here's the boy in action



Yes, my precious baby is holding a dead bird. At least it has it's head.



One of the cutest and sweetest things Cotton has ever said to me, in 7 years, was as they were kissing me goodbye yesterday.
He said "Thank you for giving me a son to do this stuff with." Awwww! You are very welcome!

I could just eat him up with a spoon

he's SO sweet!

Jacob did this life-sized self-portrait at school. Apparently the teacher asked them what their dream was when they grew up. Some examples of his classmates' dreams: to be a mommy, to be a cheetah, to be a clown, to be a teacher... and my absolute favorite (okay- my 2nd favorite) one said "My dream is to be 5." Lmbo! Kids are great!

Here is Jacob's


Can you read it?


"My dream is to be like my daddy."

"Bee-sets" and a "Jessie hat"

A girl can't leave home without 'em.
She LOVES those annoying little rubber bracelets that come 12 in a pack. I buy her pretty beaded bracelets, and I even tried to tempt her with a silver charm bracelet the other day- No go. It has to be that particular kind! Oh, and of course, she has to wear all 12 of them at once.
Then I got her this hat on a tip from Brooksy, and she actually wants to wear it. Every. Single. Day. Everywhere we go, with any outfit I put on her.
I think a lot of moms would balk at her get-up most days, but I gotta let her be who she is! The kid cracks me up!






Then she wanted to ride the horsey at the grocery store, in her "Jessie hat"... could she get ANY cuter? I honestly don't think anyone could! (not to be that braggy mom or anything :blush:)






Note to everyone that loves my curly haired little princess...
ANYthing with Jessie the yodeling cowgirl from "Toy Story 2," and jewelry are the top 2 on her list to Santa! And that Jessie stuff is hard to find- so keep your eyes peeled!

Sept 13

That'll be my BLOG's birthday!
I have been browsing over the last year of posts... reminiscing.

I think I'll throw myself a little party. With cake. MMMMMMmmmmm... Cake!

I'm so happy...

my eyes are wellin'!

My little brother graduated boot camp yesterday!
I want to hug him so bad!



Isn't he handsome?

You go, Bonk! I'm so proud of you!

Woohoo!

Fall soccer is upon us!

I've only been looking forward to it since, umm... the end of spring... and now it's HERE!
I sent out my little email to all the parents. We've planned the first practices and the big team meeting...

We've been making calls and dealing with a uniform situation that is just fubar. Why would you NOT be ABLE to have uniforms ready for the first game?
Yes, this is the shop that is run by the same people that make the schedule. The very same ones that only gave out team rosters this week, so that we could contact parents to ORDER uniforms- that won't be ready until after the fist game! AAAaaargh! /vent

Anyway... I think we may have all boys this time. Unless Brynn is a girl- which I have no idea. That name could go either way.
We have our MVP Luke back, along with another Luke, and a Lukas. That'll be fun. :oS

I am really hoping that Jacob remembers everything he learned last season! Just as he was starting to get aggressive, and WANT the ball- the season ended!

First practice is TUESDAY!
Stay tuned for pictures!

Cass Cass has a b-day

We went to a GREAT birthday party Sunday!
Tons of fun. :o)

Someone snapped a few shots of us, and I really love them- thought I'd share.

She asked Jacob to give Lucy a hug, and he didn't- lol- but Punkin just leaned her little head over on Jacob's shoulder. Awwww!


And a rare, but always appreciated- picture of me!




And a VERY Happy Birthday to one of the cutest kids I've ever had the pleasure to know: Miss Cassidy!
We all adore you, sweetheart. Everyone that knows you does!
Thanks for letting us share your big day!

A favorite

I love this site!

http://www.silverjewelryclub.com/

usually it is a bunch of crap (at least in my humble opinion)- but sometimes there will be something really cute!
I have gotten about a dozen pieces in the past 2 years- and for $5.99 each- it's worth peeking in once in a while!

Care Bears

Lucy LOVES them, only she calls them the "Burr-burrs."
Cotton decided he would teach her to say it properly, as I was cooking dinner the other night. It went a little something like this:

Lucy: Daddy! Wook at da burr-burrs!
Daddy: Care bears! Can you say (very slowly)C A R E B E A R S?
Lucy: B U R R - B U R R S...
Cotton: can you say CARE?
Lucy: care
Daddy: Bears:
Lucy: Burrs
Cotton: Care. Bears.
Lucy: Burr. Burrs.
Cotton: C-c-c-c-c-c-c-CARE Bears.
Lucy: C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c- Buuurrrrr- Burrs.

I just about peed my pants at that point, I was laughing so hard! So, yes, she CAN say "care" and "bears (kinda)." But the care bears really are the burr-burrs. Remember that!

She is also "skurred" of "spideys," because "spideys bitechoo."
If you turn on the vaccuum- you will be "skurrednin' da baby."

I am sad to report- her most used, and my favorite phrase "Whatcha NO?" has grown up. :o(
I dropped a pan in the kitchen earlier, and she said- clear as a bell "What's dat noise, Daddy?"
I hate when that happens. Proof positive that I won't have a baby much longer at all.

Poor little fella!

I feel so badly for Jacob!

He had to get 4 shots today! FOUR of them! His poor little legs are so sore. :o(

Then, he was playing in his room and did something to the bottom of his top bunk. I'm not sure if he lifted one of the slats or what...
But when he lost his grip on whatever it was- he managed to shred the tip of his pinkie finger! It looks AWFUL! It is so swollen, and the skin is just peeled off of the tip. It's definitely not broken, just a flesh wound, but it's ugly looking. :o(

Needless to say- I've been keeping him pretty medicated tonight. Tylenol, motrin, and more tylenol. He's been lounging on the couch, and had a nice long nap.
I hope he's okay for school tomorrow! He only stayed brave for the shots because I told him he couldn't go to school if he didn't get them.
He told the nurse, during the 3rd poke "Get that thing OUT OF ME!!!" Despite feeling terrible for him, I had to giggle.

Also- the stats.
37 lbs. 49th percentile for weight.
41.5 inches. 50th percentile for height.
20/20 vision in both eyes. Perfect ears.
Healthy, smart and beautiful in every area- but we alredy knew that!

He had a GREAT day!!!

Jacob had a great first day of school!
No tears!

He is ready to go back, but he told me "Not today, momma. I only go on Tuesdays." ;o) Actually, he goes on Thursdays, too.

I had a bit of a hard time with it.
I asked the teacher..."So... we just leave, then." She replied "Yea- that's kind of the idea." Oh, okay.

Lucky for me, Lucy wanted to run around outside of the school, because I was completely lost after walking out of Jacob's classroom. We hung out for a bit, and then Shannon and Faith came strolling up. After some quick encouragement from Shannon, I packed Lucy in the car and left. Then I debated for 10 minutes about calling Shannon to se how Jacob looked.
My frind- I love her- she called ME! :o) To tell me he looked just fine. Thanks, Shannon.

Lucy and I headed to McD's to get some apple dippers and let her run off some energy. Just my luck- the dang McD's didn't have a playground! So after our snack we had to find alternate entertainment.
Pet store across the street? Ding ding ding!
We looked at puppies and kitties, mice and hamsters, chinchillas and squirrels, snakes and lizards, birds and fish... and lots of other cute creatures!
We spent about an hour in there, and I can definitely see return visits in our future. :o)

Apparently she has developed some new fear of spideys, though, because she was none too thrilled about the tarantulas. Poor baby was shaking!

After we finally got bored at the pet store- we had to run into Wal-Mart for a couple of sewing supplies and a pair of shoelaces...

Then it was time to go get Jacob! Yay!

He really didn't have much to report about his day.
He told me "somebody sat on my J, and I had to sit on an X." Aww.
The teacher wouldn't let him paint- but she didn't let anyone else paint, so fair's fair.

He is ready to go back tomorrow... so that is encouraging. Maybe after tomorrow he'll be a little more chatty.

the "boudreaux" pictures

as Rachel's adorable husband called them.
Otherwise known as the budoir photo shoot.

Can I just say- DAMN, I am HOTT!
I know you can't say that about yourself, and normally I am pretty modest, but after looking at these... WOW!

So here are a couple of very G rated shots... enjoy!
(and FYI- I don't think I even made it above PG13, but you just never know who will be reading this thing!)

First day of preschool. Kinda...

We had open house/meet the teacher day at Jacob's preschool Thursday.
Tuesday is his official first day of class, but hey... He was dressed in his new school outfit that Nana got him, he had his Spongebob backpack on, and he posed with his teacher! How much better can "first day of school pictures" get?
besides- it was his first day to actually GO to school!

Here he is- all dressed and ready to go!



A fast watch + an overeager mommy = we sat in front of the door for a few minutes... like 15 of them. Oops.
Oh well- I had time to snap a few pics of my cute li'l schoolboy!



Isn't he beautiful? ;o)



Here he is with "Miss A'Cutchan," which is *pretty close* to what her name really is. :o)



Wish me luck... on Tuesday I have to actually walk away and leave him. He told me he will miss me, but he's not going to cry.
I couldn't promise that back to him...

Buddies... a cute picture post gone astray

(this started as a cute happy post about my kids being best buddies. Then I started pondering... read at your own risk)

My kids are playing SO well together lately.
They have always gotten along pretty well, always taken care of each other, and always asked about the other if they are apart. But now... it's hit an all new level.



It's like Lucy has hit that magical age, and now they are perfect playmates. They've always been pals- but then the past few months have been difficult. Lots of power struggles.
Suddenly I am hearing less and less bickering, and more and more giggling!
They actually hug and kiss each other good bye and good night, with no prompting from me!



We have some friends, a brother/sister duo. I just adore them both, and better yet- they adore each other! I hear them on the phone with one another, and they say some crazy stuff like: "be careful tonight, I love you, I miss you." Stuff that my sisters and I don't say to each other. I say these things to Aaron, but only recently. Cotton and his siblings aren't like that, either.
I wonder how to nurture that love, to keep it going.
I see my kids being so close NOW, and remember that bond with my siblings as a child. We used to have so much fun!
My parents don't even speak to their siblings. I have aunts and uncles and cousins out there... somewhere.
Where did it go? What went wrong? How can you spend your entire childhood with someone, and then just lose that bond. That history..?



Our friends lost their father this week. At the funeral service, they walked in holding hands. At the house afterwards, they stood with their arms around each other.
And their mom... as she mourned her husband, who was she clinging to? Her best friend in the world- her sister.
I was so jealous. I want that, too! It may be too late for me, I don't know. But I will do my best to make sure that my 2 little *best friends* stay that way for life!

Maybe it has to do with a difference in where we are in our lives. Geri is a single girl- trying to find herself, trying to figure out how to make it on her own. Tish is barely grown, still content to be Daddy's baby. Aaron was just totally out there, but now he is just a letter away and trying hard to be a good man. God, I miss him. So much more than I thought I would.
Cotton and BJ are making a good go of it. It helps that they both have wives and babies that can all hang out together. Brittany and I also both REALLY want them to be close- so if they need a nudge, they'll get it. ;o)

I guess we still have time to work it all out. I hope it does work out.
It's so hard to be alone in this day and age. Of course I have my friends, and I love them so much. But I feel like my sisters should be closer than my girlfriends, and it's not that way at all.

It makes me sad.
It makes me feel helpless. And it gives me something to work towards.

Mike

We will miss you.
The family you and Nancy created is an inspiration to us. Thank you for letting us be a part of it- for your friendship and your love.

I am glad you aren't hurting anymore.