Thanksgiving 2008

What a relief! Thanksgiving came and went this year and nobody in our immediate family got the dreaded stomach virus. Now I know that I'm probably jinxing us to get it NOW! I realize that it's inevitable. It's going around and my kids, husband and I will most likely get it. I'm just glad it didn't happen over Thanksgiving.

Last year. we (my parents, sister, Raymond, Bethany and I) all flew to Tennessee to visit my paternal grandparents - Granny and Grandy Cook. The Monday before we were to fly out on Tuesday, Bethany got a nasty stomach bug. On Tuesday she seemed better, so we went ahead and flew to Tennessee. It was pretty obvious during the flight that either, a.) she wasn't better or b.) she gets airsick. She managed not to puke during the flight, but looked pretty green. She lost it all, though, as we were waiting to be picked up from the airport. We kept thinking she was better and then the next morning she puked again. Then, on Thanksgiving night, my cousin got the same thing. Friday morning - the day we were to fly back home - Raymond got it bad. Can you imagine making your way through an airport and flying with a miserable stomach virus? Not to mention ME! I was pregnant, dealing with a 2 year old, her carseat and ALL of our luggage because poor Raymond was miserable. We made it home without much more incident thank goodness. Of course, I got the virus after we were back home and Raymond was back at work. That's how it goes for moms I guess!

Even with all the sickness, we had a wonderful time visiting with my grandparents. I'm so glad that Bethany got to visit their home and spend a few days with them. It was really a special time.

So... that's why I was so paranoid that we'd get sick again this year. Thankfully, we didn't. We had a nice Thanksgiving with Raymond's mom, brother, sister-in-law, her mom, nephew and niece. It was really great catching up with them and getting to watch all of the cousins play! This year we had lunch at Furr's Fresh Buffet. It was easy on all of us, the food was good and the best part??? No dishes to clean!!!

Of course, it wouldn't be a proper post from me without a TON of photos. So here you go!

B and L modeling the outfits that I made for them.


Sweet cousins - Bethany and Lexi














All of the grandchildren - Bethany, Lexi, Chase and Landry




All the grandkids with their Gram


By the way, we are SO excited! We will be having a new little nephew tomorrow! Chase and Lexi's mom is being induced tomorrow to have a little boy. We can't wait to meet him! I guess we'll have to do the grandchildren picture again soon to add him!

Well, if you made it this far, thanks for looking and indulging me. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to wish all of my loyal readers (a.k.a - my friends and family) a very happy Thanksgiving. I hope all of you are healthy, safe and have a wonderful time being with family. Of course, I hope yummy food is enjoyed by everyone! We will be heading out for the Dallas area on Thanksgiving morning. Raymond had to work today (Wednesday) and we decided against sitting still in traffic on I-35 all night long tonight. So, we'll be driving on the relatively clear highway tomorrow. We look forward to getting to spend time with both Raymond's and my families while we are there.

Be sure to check back on the day after Thanksgiving for my new Christmas blog! I bet you are all on pins and needles!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Party Time!!!

This weekend was a fun-filled party time! Bethany's actual birthday was on Tuesday, but we had her party on Saturday. This was the first time that we haven't invited ALL of our friends and their families to the party. This year, we just invited Bethany's friends, who are her age. We had a great turnout and a really fun time. The party was at Wazoo's. How much more fun could a bunch of 2-4 year olds have??? Pizza, cupcakes and bounce houses galore! It was a great party for ME, since I didn't have to do anything to entertain the kiddos!

Back in May, Bethany's cousin Lexi turned 3. Raymond's mom (Gram) baked and decorated Lexi's cake. Ever since then, Bethany has been saying she wants Gram to make her birthday cake. So Gram got roped into cake duty this year! We ended up deciding to do cupcakes in the shape of a tomato, since Bethany wanted a Veggie Tales theme. It turned out cute and the cupcakes were super yummy!!! Thanks Gram!

Bethany was so lucky to have lots of friends and family come to her party. Her Gram, Grandma, Pappy, Aunt Sara, Uncle Tyler and Cousin Lexi all came in from out of town to celebrate with her. She sure is one blessed little girl!

Here are some photos to commemorate the occasion.

Pre-Party




Cute little sis who got left out most of the time!


The CUTE Veggie Tales balloons I found on ebay!








Cute Cousins












Bethany's cute friend Benjamin came straight from another birthday party that morning, where he got his face painted like a pirate!




Bethany gathering her peeps for pizza.


















Present time!




Little sis getting some attention from Gram.


An attempt to get a pic of all the kiddos that were at the party. I think we missed a couple.


Of course, a birthday party wouldn't be complete without a breakdown from the birthday girl. She didn't want to leave.


This is at home after the party - already wearing one of her favorite presents!!! We proceeded to have to play all of the games she got WHILE she was wearing the Snow White costume. Fun times.

Happy 3rd Birthday Bethany!!!

I can't believe it was three years ago today that we met you for the first time. This is what you looked like.



Of course, later on you got all bundled up and looked oh so sweet.



That first year with you was a challenge! Of course we loved you very much, but you DID scream a lot! You were very "healthy" (ahem, fat) and couldn't really get around much there for awhile. Finally, at around 5 months old you rolled over and at 8 1/2 months you crawled. Just 2 months later you were walking! By the time you were one, you were saying and signing lots of words, you loved your milk and pretty much any food, and you were always a good sport about wearing huge bows on your head! You sure were a cute little one year old!



Your second year was wonderful and still challenging. You were talking up a storm - short sentences at 15 months and real conversations before you turned 2! When you were 15 months old you got Rotovirus and scared us all when you had seizures and had to be admitted to the hospital. You recovered well, though, and there was no permanent damage! Your hair finally grew long enough to put into pigtails. I was so excited!



Your third year you showed all of us how incredibly smart you are! You started spelling, counted to 70, and remembered virtually everything you ever heard! While I would say this year epitomized the "terrible two's," I wouldn't trade it for anything. I feel like we really have been able to develop a relationship. It's so nice to have conversations with you and to know what you think and how you feel about things. I love you more than words can ever say and I hope that you can know that someday.

Happy Birthday to my sweet 3 year old girl!

I just don't understand...

people who can't put their kids in carseats!!! It makes me so angry! This weekend I was driving down Interstate 20 in Ft. Worth with my mom and my sister. We passed a car and all gasped out loud when we saw a little girl, probably around 2, looking out the window of the car. The window was rolled more than halfway down, she was holding onto it with her hands and her little head was just peering out the window, hair blowing in the breeze. Not a carseat to be seen. I would have called the police if I could have gotten her license plate #, but we couldn't get it. Then, this morning while I was getting gas I saw a woman put her baby in a rear-facing infant carseat (at least she was in a carseat) in the FRONT passenger seat! She had a completely empty back row. I don't know why I care so much, but it just infuriates me to no end. There are things that we can't protect our kids from. They WILL get hurt. I know this. However, shouldn't we all take every precaution that we can to protect them?

Monday Meme

I was tagged by my friend Debbie over at Mother Hubbard to do this ONE word Meme. I'm not great at being concise, so we'll see how this works.

TYPE ONLY ONE WORD FOR EACH ANSWER. IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK!!!
1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Your significant other? working
3. Your hair? highlighted
4. Your mother? friend
5. Your father? smart
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? weird
8. Your favorite drink? Coke
9. Your dream/goal? salvation
10. The room you're in? messy
11. Your fear? loss
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
13. Where were you last night? traveling
14. What you're not? organized
15. Muffins/donuts? donuts!!!
16. One of your wish list items? self-control (It's hyphenated, so it should count, right? See, there I go breaking the rules!!!)
17. Where you grew up? Texas
18. The last thing you did? bedtime
19. What are you wearing? jeans
20. Your TV? off
21. Your pet? annoying
22. Your computer? annoying
23. Your life? blessed
24. Your mood? calm
25. Missing someone? Rebecca
26. Favorite pastime? blogging :)
27. Something you're not wearing? socks
28. Favorite Store? Target
29. Your summer? HOT
30. Your favorite color? teal
31. When is the last time you laughed? tonight
32. Last time you cried? Thursday
33. Who will/would re-post this? Becky
34. Four places I go over and over? Church, Wal-Mart, Chick-Fil-A, Sam's
35. Four people who e-mail me? Mom, Dad, Sara, Amy
36. Four of my favorite foods? ice-cream, pizza, brownies, chips
37. Four places I would like to be right now? bed, beach, date, movie
38. Four people I tag? Becky, Kristi, Holly, Rebecca