LUCKY ENOUGH TO TEACH THESE LITTLE TURKEYS!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

 FATHER-DAUGHTER DATE TO 

COLUMBUS,MS. AFB.....BACK TO THE BEGINNING!!

My Dad called me up and wanted to know if I would accompany him to a pilot graduation down at Columbus Air Force Base.  Of course I said yes!!!  I hadn't been back there since the day we pulled away almost 30 years ago.  It was amazing how fast the memories came back to me.  My parents really enjoyed their time there, and I can see how. I fell in love with the simplicity of it all.  

 We were there to celebrate my Dad's friend & fellow coworkers son (Tony's) graduation.  We started the day with breakfast at the Officers Club, a short tutorial on the air force and then headed to the pilots graduation.  It was short and sweet and perfectly patriotic.  I love that stuff.  It's hard to hold back the tears when you can feel the patriotic spirit so strongly.  I was happy for Tony and could tell his dad and mine were too.

 After graduation Tony made it possible for us to head out to the flight line to watch the jets land and then we got to take our own personal rides in the simulators.  I bombed my ride-all of my rides!!!!  I now know that Dave and my Dad put in hours to pass those sim tests.  

 We took our own personal pilgrimage---Here are some of the Antebellum homes of Columbus. 

 The "scare-ity police".  That's what we called the security guards when we were little.

 The Officers Club, my Dad's class patch and the "W" womens college.

 A replica of the home we lived in, the BX, the hospital where Aaron was born & the Commisary.

We ended the night off with a special dinner and program for the newly graduated pilots.  It was so fun to be part of Tony's special weekend and I had a great time spending a few days with my Dad. That NEVER happens!!!  It was a great little memory that I will hold dear.  Thanks Dad for letting me be your date!!!  I can tell that your passion for the Air Force is something you hold dear.

HER SECOND BROKEN BONE-OUCH!

Our "Smiley Ryleigh" wasn't all smiles~I picked her up from dance and she had tears in her eyes. I asked her what was wrong and she held up her finger and I think it had tripled in size.  I quickly ran her to the after hours clinic and sure enough her crooked pinky was broken and her knuckles dislocated.  A little girl in dance accidentally kicked her in the hand as she was kicking her legs up to do a cartwheel.  Who knew there was so much force in a cartwheel!!! Ryleigh being the sweet and quiet girl she is, decided to wait an hour after dance was over to say something.  The poor thing didn't want to get in trouble for interrupting class.  Her teacher felt so bad and had no idea.  Ryleigh of course was super excited to have a cast and to be able to show it off at school.  She chose pink and green and had signatures on it in no time.  She should be all healed up and ready to go in a few weeks.  

 WE'VE GOT THE FEVER!!!!!!!

 I got the girls Bieber tickets as part of their birthday gifts this year.  They were beyond excited and I must admit I was a little excited myself.  My first concert was "Boys 2 Men" and I remember thinking it was the best night ever....I'm pretty sure my girls felt the same about Justin.  It was a 3 hour concert, but they were troopers. They sang and danced until the very end.  I was happy I could spend this exciting night with them...although I think Dave and Carson were a tad bit jealous haha! Justin definitely made "Beliebers" out of us!!!!

 USA GYMNASTICS TOUR

After seeing the USA women's gymnastics team do so well in the Olympics I decided I HAD to go watch them live on their tour.  I got some friends together and we all took our daughters.  It was a great mommy-daughter date and so much fun to see Gabby Douglas and her teammates in action.  

NO SURGERY FOR THIS BOY!!!!

As many of you know~last June we were in Orange Beach, Florida at the Little League World Series.  In the first game Carson was up pitching, threw the ball & felt something pop!!!  Right away (and with Grandpa Jim's help) we knew that was not good.  Well after many months of testing, finding out his growth plates were not growing in correctly, physical therapy, a few unsure doctors and lots of prayer we decided the best thing to do would be to head to Birmingham, Alabama where they are the world leaders in sports injuries and orthopedics.  We know our Heavenly Father had answered our prayers and many of yours too because we went in thinking we were having surgery that weekend and walked out with a healthy boy and no surgery.  The statistics are very low but surprisingly Carson's body had decided to start healing on it's own. The facility there at Andrews Sports Medicine was amazing.  We knew we were in the right spot when we had heard that CC Sebathaia (pitcher for the Yankees) had been seen by our doctor the week before!!!!  After the good news, Carson and I decided to stay in Birmingham for the night and enjoy the sites for a day.  We had a great little getaway and more importantly drove away with peace of mind.  We'll be back in January for a follow up......hoping for the same news again.

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN-2012

 Two years ago we started the tradition of having neighborhood families over for soup, rolls & hot chocolate in our garage.  We started with about 20 people and this year we were up to 50.  I love it and my kids love having friends over and being able to head right on out at sun down for a little trick'or treating action!

 This picture pretty much speaks for itself. Evan went as a skeleton, Ryleigh Princess Tiana, Cara a  gypsy & Carson a Collierville cheerleader.  I was pretty impressed with Carson.  I suggested the costume and he went with it right away.  He had fun with it and I think the girls were shocked to see he fit in their uniforms....he had to make sure he let them know that he had bigger muscles though haha!

 The top picture is me putting my Pinterest pinning to work and the bottom of course is our pumpkins.  The kids carved their pumpkins all by themselves.  I think they did a great job.  I think they even surprised themselves!

We had a great night and thanks to the neighbors, lots of fun memories were made.