First Hair Cut

I'll be honest, Sam has a mullet.  Well, had a mullet.  A full out "business in the front, party in the back" cotton-top blonde fashion faux pas.  So, off to Keisha's we went for Sam's first haircut.  And, true to my supermom status, I didn't even bring a camera.  Hooray for cell phone cameras, as mediocre quality is better than nothing at all.  

Anyway, I sat him in the chair...immediate tears.  I guess one too many trips to the ENT where sitting in a chair meant being held down by 3 nurses while the doctor "vacuums" the goop out of his ears has left a lasting impression on my boy.  So, I had to sit in the chair with him, and this is as close as we got to smiling...

He actually did really well and Keisha is a pro with the little guys.  She gave him a great trim where he still looks like an adorable baby boy, minus the mullet.  

Monster Cookies

There are some family traditions that just keep getting better over time.  Our monster cookie tradition is one of them.  Ever since I can remember, Grandmom has made monster cookies, Madge Smith candy and homeade fudge for Christmas.  We looked forward to these yummy treats all year long, and they became a staple item for the holidays.  As we grandkids got older, we began "helping" her make monster cookies.  The recipe is HUGE and so is the mess, which makes it all the more fun!  

Now that we are all grown up, we have passed down the tradition of monster cookies to our kids.  Here is the next generation making monster cookies with as big of smiles as I ever remember when I made them myself.

JudyLynn and Michelle have been heading up the monster cookie effort for several years now, and they make sure to include all the new members of the family.  This was Becca and Sam's first year to participate in monster cookie making.

The kids rolled the dough into balls and grandmom arranged them on the pan.

Sam just about went unnoticed when he quickly reached into the bowl to grab 

a "monster" and shove it in his mouth!  Little stinker!

I wonder if she knew when she got this recipe and started making these cookies long ago that it would develop into a family tradition as special as this... You can't replace these memories or this lady.  My Grandmom is one of the most special people I know.

Please notice how many kiddos lost their shirts in the cookie making process.
Did I mention it's a big messy recipe that makes the best cookies in the world?!

Show us your messy monster cookie hands!!!!

The finished product...the first pan of piping hot monster cookies and the fourth 

generation of boy hands (that were thoroughly washed) that made them!

Bass Pro Shop Santa

Thanksgiving cooking and lots of little boys in the house are not a good mix.  So, I figured the best way I could "help out" (since I don't cook) would be to take the boys over to the Bass Pro Shop that's just a stone's throw from Nani's house.  JJ, Becca and I loaded up all the boys and set out for outdoor world.  The boys loved all the animals, especially the bears and fish.  

After we finished watching the fish for a while, we went over to the kids/Christmas section of the store.  Sam was caught chewing ornaments... JJ actually got him to look the right direction for a picture.  It was major stimuli overload with flashy, shiny things everywhere.  

Brayden stopped long enough for a couple pictures before he met up 

with Pops and was gone again.  This kid is seriously cute!

Kayden found what he wanted for Christmas.  I included the price tag in the 

photo so Santa would have all the information he needed!

Cameron accumulated a collection of stuffed animals in the stroller he wanted to buy...

before he remembered he needed to go potty.

And, Rudolph showed up to hang out with the kids while they played.  Sam liked him FROM A DISTANCE, but Cameron was brave enough to have his picture taken with him.  And, where there's Rudolph, it's a safe bet the big man in the red suit isn't far behind...

We got to see SANTA at Bass Pro!  We took all the boys up to have a quick picture made with him.  It was touch and go until Santa pulled out candy canes, and he was able to win over three of the four.  Sam, however, was not impressed and not happy to see the man with the bag.  Oh well, maybe next year!

Thanksgiving 2011

There are many things that are challenging these days in the world of education, but one thing I can't complain about is the holiday schedule.  Five days off to spend with my family and do fun things with my kiddos...

First up, a little pre-Thanksgiving crafting to make sure the "decorations" are fun and festive.  The boys each made a pumpkin turkey to take the Thanksgiving feast(s).  Here are the beginning stages of our craft.

Kayden hung in there and finished his turkey first.  He was so proud of his turkey complete with a beard (which he kept referring to as his "gobbler").

Kimmie had the barn looking great for our Thanksgiving day lunch.  

Sam really enjoyed the mod podge pumpkins and painted gourds.

Cameron picked his outfit out himself.  A checkered plaid blazer jacket, jeans, cowboy boots, and his handcrocheted owl hat.  I'm pretty sure he is our "urban artsy" one in the family.

All the boys made a trip to the corn field to gather corn to feed the birds in the pheasant barn.

Here is our crew feeding the pheasants.  They are a bit skiddish and don't like us getting too close.  When they get nervous, they take flight...all of them.  Sam was surprising cool with all of it.

This year we started a new family tradition of writing what we are most thankful for on the table cloth with pens and markers.  Each year, we will add new items we are thankful for to the same table cloth until it is full of years worth of thanks and gratitude for the blessings in all our lives.  What a great way to remember past years together and preserve these memories.  The kids had a paper table cloth on their table they could color on and draw pictures.  Kayden and Pawpaw made some finishing touches on this cloth while Amanda and I finished planning our annual all-nighter Black Friday shopping trip.

Then, it's off to Birmingham for a Thanksgiving feast with the other side of the family...

Piles of Leaves

Brothers have a special bond, and Sam is lucky to share some special memories with his brothers.  He is also blessed to have some SERIOUSLY great brothers...who just happen to have come for a week long visit.  First up, they decide to make leaf piles and dive (or drive) into them.  They began with the traditional free-fall dive and quickly progressed to headfirst nose dives and full body slams.  My boys are no sissies.  They began including Sam in the fun by piling up the leaves in HUGE piles and running Sam through the piles in his wagon.  True joy is my boy's face when he gets to play with the big boys!

Oh, Me of Little Faith

About two months ago, I blogged about Kayden's finger injury.  At the time, we were still in the earlier stages of healing but we had been pretty much resolved ourselves to the fact that Kayden was going to lose some portion of his finger.  We began to prepare for exactly what that meant.  Healing, but not complete healing. In eight weeks' time, God has certainly shown us he still works miracles today.  Kayden wears one on his right hand now.  When doctors said it wouldn't heal, the tip would be lost, it would look different, maybe be a bit shorter, possibly have little to no nail, God said, "Trust me, I got this."  Eight weeks later, he has this...

No plastic surgury, no amputation, no short nubby finger, no funky fingernail.  Can you even tell there was a serious injury here at all?!?  God is a God of miracles, just ask Kayden.  Why did I even doubt?

Thankful Journal - November 2011

Jealousy can be defined as "counting someone else's blessings instead of your own."  It's easy to do, focus on all the shortcomings in my own life while only seeing the highlights in others' lives.  I want to have a more grateful spirit and a content heart,  so I am going to update this post every day throughout the month of November with something I am thankful for that day.  I'm going to try to make my "thankful thing" something that is relevant to the events from that day.  Hopefully, by this Thanksgiving I will have a whole new awareness of what it truly means to be thankful.

November 1 - I am thankful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Without him, I would have no reason to smile, no reason to hope, no reason to dream about my abundant and everlasting future.  I'm a hot mess, but HE loves me and has called me by name.  What amazing love.

November 2 - I am thankful for my husband, Michael, the spice in my life.  When I want to sit it out, he makes me dance.  When I want to watch from the the side lines, he wants to run the ball.  He's the spontaneous to my mundane, and I am the calm to his storm.  We make a great team, and I look forward to facing the rest of our lives together, hand in hand.

November 3 - Today, our house was alive with laughter, more than usual.  Sam was in a great mood, and we could just look at him and he would laugh.  He crawled back and forth in the bathtub just laughing for no reason at all.  We wrestled and tickled until we both couldn't breath.  Laughter is such amazing medicine for the soul, and I am thankful for all the laughter in my life.

November 4 - I am thankful for the health of my family and me.  I have a student whose father is battling for his life today.  My neighbors 10-year old nephew is fighting to stay alive as well.  I have been reminded that a healthy spouse and healthy children are not a guarantee, but a gift.

November 5 - I am thankful for date nights.  Tonight I took my sweet husband out to see WICKED while Sam stayed home with Nani and his cousins.  We don't go out by ourselves very often, so today made for a special memory, just the two of us.

November 6 - I am thankful for the great leaders in my life.  I am blessed to have been surrounded by wise mentors, teachers, parents and role models who have led by example throughout my life.  Today we said goodbye to one of those leaders in our church ministry.  Lori is leaving our group to spread our program to other churches and nations.  The seeds she has sown in her six years with us are countless, and the impact she has made is immeasurable.  To have been told the right way to go is one thing, but to have been shown and made to experience it is the best thing.

Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.  - Hebrews 13:7


November 7 - I am thankful for my co-workers.  This year has brought a new level of stress when it comes to the new evaluation system.  We've experienced parents (well, really just one parent) reach a new level of nasty when communicating with us teachers.  And, we just left yet another faculty meeting a bit cross-eyed from all the new mandates, directives and initiatives being put in place.  It's really nice to work with such a great group of teachers who can somehow put a smile back on my face.  We have an "all in this together" mentality in my mini-school, and I couldn't be more grateful to work along side them each day.


November 8 - I am thankful for a good night's sleep.  For several weeks now, Michael has been in the clinical portion of his nursing school, and the paperwork is astounding.  He works in a nursing home all day, and comes home to complete paper work all night, literally.  Last night he finally came to bed around 4:00am, and had to wake up at 5:30.  Each week it has become common practice for him to completely miss at least one full night of sleep completing paperwork.  He's amazing.  I couldn't do it.  I need my beauty rest, and I am thankful I get it!


November 9 - Today I am thankful for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.  For children born in Tennessee, checking the mailbox if fun!  Sam gets a new book in the mail each month until he turns 5 years old... absolutely free!  What an amazing program to promote early literacy- a cause near and dear to this reading teacher's heart!  


I'm also thankful for CVS couponing...I just bought a BOX of pampers diapers today for $6.00!  What a sweet deal!


November 10 - I am thankful for test days.  When I was a student, I hated test days; they stressed me out.  It's a whole different ball game as a teacher.  All day long, it is quiet in my room.  I don't have to get up in front of the kids and do my usual dog-and-pony show (complete with tap dancing and ponies) to teach something new.  I can plan for next week.  I can enter grades in the gradebook.  I can catch up on the huge list of teacher to-do's.  Today was a test day, and I am whole-heartedly thankful.

November 11 - First thing this morning I accidently shut Cameron's fingers in my car door.  Immediately, he screamed, I opened the door to free his fingers and held my breath, expecting more finger drama and blood.  Surprisingly, his fingers were sporting a decent "dent" but no blood.  We rushed inside with Cam screaming.  I sat him on the table and asked him what we should do to make it feel better.  He screamed, "Bahhhhhhh, whaaaaaa...(silence)...boo boo bunny."  So we got boo boo bunny and held him on his fingers for a minute, put bandaids on it, took a dose of tylenol and headed to daycare five minutes later.  THANK YOU boo boo bunny, bandaids, and tylenol for fixing a multitude of ailments!

11/11/11 - Veterans Day.  We had a program at school to honor our veterans where I found myself moved to tears more than once.  I was reminded that I should wake up every morning and thank God that I live in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.  But, my freedom is not free.  Ordinary men and women show extroadinary sacrifice to make this the most wonderful place to live on Earth.  I am thankful for the commitment and sacrifice of the U.S. miliary both past and present.

I have a student whose house burned down this morning, and her family lost everything.  I went to see them at the hotel they are staying at to find out what they need.  None of them even had shoes on their feet.  They asked for underwear, socks, and shoes most of all.  I was reminded of just how much I have in the midst of a family who has nothing but each other, and ultimately they were happy just to have that.  I am thankful for a new perspective on how blessed I am.

Whew, big day on the grateful meter.  My cup runneth over.

November 12 - I am thankful for the one day a week where I can spend the entire day with Sam, Saturdays.  Being a mom is my most treasured responsibility.  I cherish the time Sam and I spend together.  I admit the time we spend apart makes me really appreciate the time we get to spend together all the more.  He is growing up and learning new things so fast.  Tonight he charmed two little girls at the table next to us at dinner by winking at them.  When they went to pay, they bought him a lolly pop at the checkout and came back to our table to give it to him.  Whew, he's his daddy's boy!  I can't get enough squeezes and laughs from my sweet boy, and I look forward to Saturdays where I can have a whole day of it!

November 13 - Even though it comes at the expense of having a sick boy, I am thankful for this cuddle time.  Sam is usually such a busy body and prefers drilling something with Daddy over reading books with Mommy anytime.  But, when the boy is sick, Momma gets some good quality snugglin' from her baby.

November 14 - Today, Sam and I spent the day at the doctors office and later the hospital.  Again, my boy is running a high fever for no apparent reason, so Dr. Sam sent us over to the hospial for some tests. First we checked in and the sweet lady gave Sam this bear to keep with him in the lab (since I didn't know we would be here and didn't bring blanky or dulcy, supermom here).  It had a note attached to it saying how the child who received this bear had been prayed for and was loved.  Sam loved it and charmed the lady who gave it to him with a big smile and blew her a kiss.

Off we went for blood work first, followed by a flu test in the nose, a catheter in the you-know-where, a chest x-ray, and a "bag-it" urine test.  By the time 4:00 rolled around and neither of us had eaten anything that wasn't from a vending machine, I finally called uncle and said we are going home.  The lady at the check-in desk, this bear made by a stranger, Karen and Cindy in the lab, Stacey our nurse, the grandfather in the waiting room who played with Sam while we waited, Stephanie in the ER who was genuinely happy to accept Sam's "sample" at 8:45 pm when I FINALLY got it, all these people made an already highly stressful day a little less so.  I am grateful for the kindness of complete strangers.  They have inspired me to intentionally "pay it forward."

November 15 - I have a fairly long commute to work each day, about 35 minutes.  Today, I am thankful for my commute.  It gives me to time pray and get pumped up in the mornings. (Not to mention talk to Kendall and eat my breakfast my husband makes for me each day)  I have time to unwind and leave my work issues at work in the afternoons.  I know it seems strange, but my commute time is a blessing to me.

November 16 - I am thankful for my clean house.  It's only taken me about a month and my husband's passive observation that my "standard of clean seems to have changed lately" to give me the motivation that I needed to get this place back in shape.  I think the trick is DON'T. SIT. DOWN.  It took until about 10:30, but it's clean.  "Housework is something no one notices...until it's not getting done."  So true.

November 17 - I am so thankful for Sam's daycare, Cuddles and Crayons.  Those ladies are A-mazing!  My boy loves to go to school.  He paints and does crafts.  He plays with his buddies and dances to new songs he learns.  And tonight, Mrs. Sandra prepared and served Thanksgiving dinner for almost 100 of us parents and our kiddos!  What a treat it was to meet all the parents and have a great meal together with each other.  I am grateful to be a part of the Cuddles and Crayons family, and it is a blessing to leave my boy at "school" and know without a doubt that he is loved and well cared for each day.  

November 18 - I am thankful for the occasional girl's night out.  Today was one of those days.  My twi-hard friends and I attended our third Twilight movie premiere together followed by sushi afterward.  It was so nice to see Kayla and Danielle together again.  I must say it is shocking how inconsiderate our "neighbors" were during the movie, but it made for a great laugh session at dinner.  I am thankful for good friends who read good books and attend the "book to movie" premieres wearing the t-shirt!

November 19 - I am thankful for homecomings.  Ethan and Evan arrived in Tennessee today for Thanksgiving holidays after a long spell of distance.  They have each grown about a foot!  Sam is totally smitten with them and so happy to have them to play with.  It's going to be a great holiday break with all our boys.  What a blessing it is to have my house full of boys!

November 20 - What a gift prayer is!  The idea that I can talk to God and he hears my voice and knows my heart brings me great comfort.  I am just beginning to really understand how powerful faith and prayer really are, and today I was reminded by my small group members who are gifted in prayer.  Prayer can heal what science cannot.  Prayer can change what time cannot.  I am choosing to believe in the power of prayer, invest my faith in it, and speak things that are not as though they are...in Jesus' name, Amen!

November 21 - My sister is the greatest!  She's a great mother, a true friend, and one of the strongest women I know.  Today I was running late coming home, so she picked up Sam from school.  By the time I got home, she was already bathing my son in the tub.  Her boys have been sick over the past few days, and she didn't want to take a chance that Sam had any bad germs on him from the car ride.  She is definitely today's hero and a great example in my life that I am so thankful for.

November 22 - I cannot express how thankful I am for holiday breaks from public school teaching.  I have the next 5 days off to celebrate Thanksgiving and spend some quality time with my boys.  I could use the rest and the change of pace.  How blessed I am to have the opportunity to do both.