Talent Show

On the last day of school, the elementary has a talent/variety show. The children try-out before their teachers the week before and the top 3 acts are chosen to perform at the talent show. Reagan as you can see was one of the acts chosen. She sang 'Soak Up the Sun' by Cheryl Crowe. She did a fabulous job. She will tell you she wasn't nervous at all. All the kids did a great job and we were especially proud of our little Sunshine Girl. Great Job Reagan.

Fun in the Sun

This past weekend myself, my Mom, Lisa, and her kids all went to Buchanan Lake/Dam and camped out in our new trailer, Jay (this is what Reagan has named it). The McAnallys, the Shucks, and the Youngbloods (except they left early because Ryan was tired and couldn't take the heat :))were also there. I think there were 16 of us in all. Darrell didn't get to come because of course he was working but he took the trailer down for us on Friday and set it up then came back to work. We had a great time. No makeup was worn, no curling/straitening iron was used, and the attire of the weekend was swimsuits, shorts, and t-shirts. Just great relaxing fun. My Mom even liked it and she was a bit skeptical. Of course, Thursday night when I was trying to get everything loaded into the trailer and my sister was trying to get all the food and their stuff packed in the Suburban, we discussed that fact that maybe staying at the Mariott was a better idea.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. The kids had a blast as you can see.

Here is Reagan taking one the of the boys down. I think she has been watching too much American Gladiators. Here is Meagan and Reagan. They were rarely out of the water.

Meagan, Reagan, with stud-muffin Caden.
Mom and Henlee enjoying the shade from the umbrella.

Henlee's Fave Five

Dear Henlee: You were 5 months old yesterday. It is really hard for me to believe that you haven't been a part of our family forever because you complete us. You favorites right now are:

1. Your blankie when you are tired.

2. Your sister talking and playing with you.

3. Your Mom holding you and your Daddy talking to you.

4. Your bottle - you love this thing.

5. Sleeping. You are a very good sleeper. You go to bed between 8:30 and 10:00 and sleep until 6:30 and 8:00 - Sometimes longer if I can let you.

You have the sweetest smile and are really starting to talk a lot.

Picture Perfect in Pink

The girls and I had our pictures made this past weekend by Beccy Rowe. She did an awesome job. I had set it up for 9:00 Saturday morning thinking that Henlee would sleep until 8:00, I would feed and dress her and she would be ready to show off. Well, Henlee woke up around 7:00 so by 9:00 she was ready for a nap. Beccy took the pictures of Reagan while Henlee took a nap and ate again and then we came back to finish up. There are 131 pictures in all. Beccy took the pictures of me and Henlee while we were giving Henlee a break.

A Mother holds her children's hands for a little while but their hearts forever!

Mommy, I just love my blanket.


This is one of my favorites because Reagan is like this with Henlee all the time. There is something about sisters and their bond.

Dirty Underwear

I hate touching underwear, towels, wash cloths, or socks when I get ready to put them in the washer. I also don't like them to touch my other dirty clothes. Therefore, I have a presort system that I learned from my mother-in-law. I have a separate basket that towels, socks, underwear, etc., go into. When it is time to wash, I simply carry the basket to the washer and dump it in. Works for me.

Check out other great ideas at http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/.

Mother's Day

Me and Reagan

My sweet sis, Lisa, and Henlee

Me, my Mom, sister, and brother, Everett

Grandma Jane, Reagan, and Henlee

Darrell, his Mom, and HenleeOkay, this is the third time I have started this and I can't decide where I want to go with it but I think I have figured it out. I was going to write about how blessed I am to be a Mom to two beautiful girls but I decided to look a little farther, so here goes:

Thank you Mom for raising me to love my family, love others, and most of all God. Thank you for loving my children and assuring me that I am making good decisions for them. Thank you for bringing me lunch so that I can work out at lunch. Thank you for helping me fold my clothes. Thank you for staying with me and rubbing my feet when I was sick. Thank you for being a pillar of strength. Thank you for going shopping with me, or going to Weatherford with me, or just going with me. Thank you for being MY MOM and Momo.

Jane, thank you for having a son that knows how to cook, that appreciates a clean house, and loves his family. Thank you for raising him to be a Christian man who leads his family to thank and praise God for our Blessings. Thank you for giving him great memories as a child that he wants to create those kind of memories for his own children. Thank you for being a Grandma to our children and loving them. Thank you for all the wonderful meals - on Sundays, Birthdays, while I was sick, etc. Thank you for being Darrell's Mom and Grandma Jane.

One of my favorite passasges in the Bible is Proverbs 22:6 - "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." My good friend Celia Kennedy gave me a cross when Reagan was born that had this verse on the back. Whenever I see this cross, I am reminded of the job I have. My Mom did it with me, Jane did it with Darrell, and now I will do it with my children. It is not easy but with God's strength helping me, Reagan and Henlee will one day fly.

Oat Crop and Rick

It is that time of year again - harvest time. We wanted to get a picture of the girls with their Daddy before Super Dave (David Melde) comes and windrows the oats. It seems that that always happens on Mother's Day weekend. This weekend or next weekend is probably Darrell's last weekend off for a while. That means that me, the girls, and Momo will be spending lots of time together. I am sure that I will blog again about our oat crop when it actually gets harvested since it will be Henlee's first harvest. We all get pretty excited around here.

I have also included a picture of our new bull - Rick (better known as RD). We discovered the other week that our other bull, Fuzzy, wasn't meant to be a Daddy. As you can see, RD is quite the Casanova. He has already been courting the ladies. Here he is with Freckles. He is a little small but the boy is only 17 mos. old. The ladies definitely have them a younger man.

As you can see, I have not figured out how to post my pics with the paragraph or then how to move them where I want them. Have a great weekend and hug your Mother and tell her you love her. Love you Mom.

Fun 4 $1.99

Reagan has been asking her Daddy about flying a kite for the last couple of weeks. On Thursday he went and bought a kite at the local Alco store. We went to Church this morning and after a good visit with Momo and Papa and Grandma Jane, we busted out the $1.99 kite. It was so much fun. Darrell reminisced about him and his brother, Doug, flying kites as young boys in their backyard. Darrell is soooo good to do things like this with Reagan. This is when you sit back and love your husband MORE for the love he has for your children.

Thankful Thursday

I was thinking last night as I went to bed what I was going to post today. I was actually going to do a post on each of the girls but then I remembered that it was Thankful Thursday. As I thought about this, I have a lot to be thankful for this year.

1. My health - as some of you know the start of this year was quite bumpy and now I can say I am truly thankful to have my health back. I don't think you realize how bad you feel until you feel good again.

2. Along with the first one, a great healthcare system, doctors, nurses, etc. right here in town. Being in the hospital for a eight days and being able to be right here in town was wonderful. I would take our doctors and staff over any big hospital.

2. My precious girls - Each day I thank God for trusting me with their care and upbringing.

3. My job - Most of you know that I have the best job in the whole wide world and that is because I have one of my best friends for a boss.

4. A great babysitter for my girls - Bobby is the best and loves those kids like her own.

5. Finally my family - every single one of you.

Okay, I could go on and on but this is enough for now. Have a great day and remember to count your Blessings each day - it will make you smile.