And We're Off...

Look out NOLA...here we come!

My Baby Girl...15 Years Ago

A Pack or Three?

Ally was a BEAST on the court two nights ago! She ROCKED! It was so much FUN to watch her do well but most of all HAVE FUN and enjoy the game again. She hasn't quite been herself on the court since her broken arm incident two years ago. We were PROUD parents!

Happy to See Me

How happy to see me was this girl? The basketball team texted me and asked me to deliver cupcakes to school during lunch on Ally's birthday. Of course, I said yes! I thought Ally would fall out DEAD of embarrassment when she saw me. I quote her, "Mom, I am a FRESHMAN. You do NOT come to the lunchroom and bring ANYTHING to me. Please leave, NOW! Of course, I laughed and her friends invited me to stay and eat with them. I was a well behaved Mother and I left ASAP. 

Is this the FAKEST smile you have ever seen? At least she faked it!

Happy 15th Birthday to my first born...Ally! I love you!

iPad Anyone?

Warning: If you leave your iPad on the rear of your truck and drive to duck camp and back, it may look something like this...Just Sayin'

Out with a Bang

And duck season went out with a bang...pretty much as unsuccessful as our deer season this year. Well, maybe not quite that bad. Judson did get a few ducks. 

He went to Stuttgart for closing weekend. Didn't kill many ducks, but I am sure he killed quite a few brain cells with all the red wine that group drinks! The picture above is at Mack's. He had one of the guys take this picture so he could send it to the kids! He is such a kid himself. I wish I could be as easy going and happy go lucky as he is and not so uptight. I am just not wired that way. 

As always, he had a great time with the guys. Me and the kids always enjoy a "lazy" weekend without Dad every now and then, too! We are always glad to have him back after a night or two! 

Braces...Again

I was crossing my fingers that Oney would not need "phase 2" braces. He has already had braces on a couple of years ago. I knew we were doomed though. His sisters both had phases 1 and 2. I know it is so worth it but ouch! I told Dr. Werner that I could sure have a nice sports car for what I have spent on all three of their teeth. He is the nicest man. My family just loves going to see all of the sweet girls in his office. We of course have a favorite! She is an absolute doll! 

Impressions...yucko!

What a CLOWN!

Look at that cute, sweet smile! He melts my heart! I fell in love with a man that looked just like that at about this age...SCARY...huh? 

Hunting Cousins

Oney getting his game face on as he and Judson get to go duck hunt with Brad. Nelson and Hyatt came too which made it a lot of fun for Oney! 

Keeping It Real

Do you have certain friends that every time you see their house it is just perfect? Well, last week I popped in on a friend and her house was in a pretty good mess. She kept apologizing for the mess. So, within a couple of days of popping in on her, my house was a total mess one day. I texted her these pictures so that she could see how imperfect we ALL are...she replied..."thanks for sharing your realness with me"! It takes forever to get the house straight and about 5 minutes to destroy it! 

No Deer This Year

Yep, you read the title correctly. No deer this year for me...not even a doe! Boo-hoo...The picture below is of Oney and me the last day of deer season. He was the only child that felt sympathy for me and my hunting habits. The girls were sort of "over" the deer hunting this year. They valued their sleep more than sitting in a deer stand. As we we headed out the door that afternoon, Oney said, "Let's put some face paint on for fun". Of course, I went for it! 

One of my favorite Christmas presents this year was my new pink Browning gun case! Now maybe we can all keep our guns straight-well I can anyway! 

This is me pouting in the deer stand that afternoon. Not a happy camper. 

Even though I didn't kill anything but time, I still LOVE to hunt! I can't wait until next year! 

Squirrels, Rabbits & Rats

Judson and Poncho snuck out of the office one afternoon and went to the farm for a little stress relief! Poncho has been trying to get Judson to go rabbit hunting with him for some time. Judson finally did and boy did he have fun. Judson really enjoys Poncho. He is the kindest, most polite, gentleman. He has been a great friend for Judson. He is a very unselfish person...those friends are sure hard to come by in this world! 

Their kill for the day consisted of ...

over 30 squirrels

2 rabbits

and a tree rat! 

How funny is that???

Wonder Woman

Enough said...

Edible Atom

Just another science project...

Oney definitely has a new appreciation for our cake decorators and how hard they work. He did an AWESOME job on his atom project. I am proud of him. He may not make straight A's on his report card, but he ALWAYS aces his projects. I guess its a boy thing. 

Seven Day Weekend

I think this should be Judson's new theme song..."Seven Day Weekend"...It describes him to a "T"! It even says his favorite line in it - "We can sleep when were dead"! 

So, as Judson gets older each year, we are able to "one up" him and catch him off guard. He used to ALWAYS be on his toes and NEVER let his guard down! 

We ate Mexican after basketball practice tonight. Our surrogate family (Breck and the girls) joined us. The kids asked if they could tell the server it was Jud's birthday (it was two days ago). Of course, I agreed, knowing what was to come! 

Ally's tweet with his picture simply stated..."He never saw it coming"! Happy Birthday to an AWESOME Daddy and Husband! Not to mention a great sport! We LOVE you! 

Sunset

This was one of the most beautiful sunsets that I can remember. Oney and I were driving home from the store and couldn't help but take a picture. I think everyone that saw it either posted it on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. 

A Birthday and A Snow Day

Happy Birthday to Judson! 

A year ago, we celebrated Judson's 40th with a weekend long event at Pickwick Lake. It was a perfect weekend! I am still amazed that I was able to pull off a surprise! I don't think I could ever do it again, but I sure am glad I did it! This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend. He wore his crown I bought him most of the night...he was enjoying the moment! 

We had a low key celebration this year...cake and ice cream and a home cooked meal just the five of us. It was kind of nice actually. Then we watched a movie together. This was Judson's cake.

Can you believe we had a snow (ice) day today? I cannot remember the last time we had two nights at home with no practice, no games, no meetings, etc. It had to be before Oney's football season. It has been so nice the last two nights being able to relax a bit and not have to rush from here to there. This picture is me in front of a fire again! I could get used to this sort of routine.

Happy Birthday Judson...we LOVE you!

Perfect Monday Afternoon

This was my view as I headed to pickup the kids this afternoon. School was dismissed at 2:00pm because of winter weather. I was shocked when I got in the car. My office doesn't have windows and I had been glued to my desk all day. When I received my alert now text from school, I couldn't believe they were dismissing early! Once I got on the road, I understood. Then, 30 minutes later, it was all gone! I say better safe than sorry especially when teens are driving. I am SO glad that I am not an administrator making that call. How can you ever be "right"?

So, needless to say, we got home at 2:30. 

No basketball practice.

No basketball game.

Not going back to work today. 

Judson isn't home from work yet. 

Abby is napping.

Ally and Oney are at the neighbor's house.

It's just me, my Brookstone throw, my Apple, my blue leather chair, my diet coke, and a blazing fire in the fireplace. Ahhhh...after having auditors in my lap last week, what more could you ask for???

Racing to Rosies...AKA Aunt Jan's

Friday, after Abby's basketball game at FACS (which they won), she and I took off to Nashville for the weekend. We got there late Friday. We visited with Aunt Jan for a few minutes and then crashed! We are always worn out on Fridays! 

Abby had to attend a TASC State Board Meeting all day Saturday at Ravenwood High. Jan was nice enough to drive Abby to her meeting and leave me in bed for a couple extra hours! I think I actually could have stayed there ALL day long! It was a nasty day/weekend as far as weather. 

Jan and I were able to have a nice lunch at Burger Up and just catch up. Since I was so sick over Christmas, I didn't feel like we had our usually time together...I felt a little cheated! After lunch, we went to the shoe store, Off Broadway, a Nashville tradition. I got a couple pairs of shoes for $30.00! Thanks Jan for the coupons! 

After we picked Abby up, we went to a couple dance dress stores for her to look for a Valentine's Dance dress. We were a couple weeks too early...not much available yet. Then we headed back to Jan's for the night. We ordered Carrabbos to go and put on our pj's. Jan had a party to pop in to and the minute she left for that, Abby and I raced to the bed to just "veg"! The picture below is us laying in bed watching the Miss America pageant. 

This is Abby wearing my neck brace like a goofus! She is such the little entertainer...always has been!

The Denver Broncos lost to the Baltimore Ravens. We were flipping back and forth between the game and the pageant. This tweet really caught our attention. I am not a Ray Lewis fan, but ...

When we left Nashville Sunday morning, it was about 67 degrees. I didn't take a picture exactly when we left. When we pulled into our garage, it was 37! Holy cow! I NEVER turned my windshield wipers off. It was the most miserable drive ever!!! 

We always enjoy going to visit Aunt Jan. We always ask ourselves when we leave, "Why don't we come visit more often"? One word...LIFE! Thankful to Jan for being a great hostess! We look forward to coming back in about six weeks when Abby has to come back for the Convention! 

ACM Update

Finally...they replaced Reba...with "my MAN"...LUKE BRYAN! Don't get me wrong-I LOVE Reba-but, I can look at Luke Bryan ALL NIGHT LONG!