Little Lumberjacks

I LOVE our fireplace! But it sure is a lot of work. My wonderful dad (with some encouragement by my mom) brought us a load of wood a few weeks ago, but with as cold as it has been, it's disappearing fast. So, last weekend we headed to the woods to cut some more. The kids did pretty well, considering it was WORK. A little bribery goes a long way sometimes (a Coke from Mamaw's house).

Chad's "determined" face
Everyone thought they could split the wood like Daddy

Love the expression

Landon trying to carry as much as he could so it would be fewer trips

It was a long walk back to the trailer to load

No Snow!

Well we didn't get any snow, much to the displeasure of the kids, but we sure did get plenty of sleet. Yeah, that is 3 1/2 inches of sleet. It is beginning to melt off some today, but the kids have been out of school for the past 2 1/2 days. Maybe they will be able to get back to school tomorrow. Not looking forward to making those days up next June!

Front yard
Driveway and backyard

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I have to say that I am one of the lucky ones. I was blessed with a wonderful, Christian mother that would do anything for anyone. She is THE most hard working woman I have ever known. She gives 110% in everything she does. She loves her family with a passion and has been a wonderful example of what a Christian wife and mother is supposed to be. Thank you, Mom for all you do and for loving us so much! Happy Birthday!!!!

Holiday Visitors

We love our family! It has been so nice over the past few weeks to be able to visit with family and see some loved ones we don't see very often. It's always great to spend time with all of them. There are so many different personalities, backgrounds, and traditions, it makes the holidays so much fun!

My nephew, Ben and niece, Grace

We have Christmas with them at Thanksgiving every other year.

Hugh (Chad's brother) and Chad watching TV

My brother, Rusty and sister in law, Tiffany
Easton calls Rusty "Uncle Soft Hair"!

Uncle Hubert and all the cousins, Alana, Houston, Britton, Victoria, Landon, Easton and Felicia

We missed you, Misty!

Britton, Landon and Easton with Uncle Elroy (Chad's brother)

We missed you, Terry!

Don't you love this time of year?

A pic of the front yard from last winter. It just seems to sum up my feelings today.

This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love decorating for Christmas and putting up lights and searching for just the right gift for everyone. I love searching all the Black Friday ads and planning out each stop I will make and at what time according to the priorites of the gifts and prices. I love the kids excitement trying to figure out what are in all those wrapped gifts and making their lists for Santa. I love that they believe in Santa and the "magic" of this time of year. I love sitting in front of the fire listening to the wood crackle and the smell of the wood burning. I even love going to church smelling like smoke from the fire. I love the cold weather and putting the electric blanket on the bed and crawling into bed on a cold night. I love seeing family and friends that I don't get to see very often and spending time with the ones I see all the time. I love when people are nice for no apparent reason and they want to help others who are less fortunate. It's just a great time of year. Why can't it be this way all year long? I guess it would take some of the "specialness" out of it if it were always like this. There are things about the holiday season that I don't care for, but I don't want to think about those things today. I just want to LOVE this time of year, if only for today!

My husband is a Hall of Famer!

O.k., maybe not NFL Hall of Fame, but a very distinguished honor. Last weekend Chad was inducted into Arkansas Tech University's Hall of Distinction. That is the highest honor anyone can receive from that college. Arkansas Tech is where he played college football and was drafted from by the Pittsburgh Steelers. This weekend they inducted all athletes that had, in any sport, been All-Americans. There were 35. We had a nice luncheon and great video of each athlete and then awards. The stories of each athlete were amazing and to be included in such a talented group of people was really something special for Chad. I always knew he was a great athlete, but his football years were before I met him, so I never actually realized how talented he really was. It was really a special time and I am really proud of him!

Receiving his award
The kids were so proud of their Daddy

Maxie Mathis, just one of the many talented athletes

that Chad had great memories of.

Back in the day (as Chad would say)

A Witch, a Mummy and a Zookeeper

These posted backward, but I'm not going to go back and upload them. Poor Landon threw up the entire night before and missed school on Halloween. He was miserable, but still wanted to go trick or treating. He only made it to a few houses and decided to sack out in the car while Britton and Easton continued their candy hunt. Thankfully, the next day he was better and was able to make his last soccer game. Here are my little trick or treaters.

Easton after trick or treating

My sick little Mummy, Landon

Halloween 2008

Don't they look excited?