Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving is always a busy time for us around here. It was so busy for us this year that I got lost somewhere between the turkey and the cake balls, but I found my way again after a 'normal' day yesterday with the kids back to school and Robbie back to work.

We've seen a lot of family over the past few days. On Thursday, we started at my in-laws house in Hope where we had our first Thanksgiving meal. Robbie's parents, his sister, Kristi, and her family were all there. We had a yummy meal for which I made red velvet cake balls and Mississippi Mud cake. And I am happy to report that I finally discovered the secret to a beautiful cake ball, so they may be making their appearance more often from me. Not that I'll be making them daily now, but if you invite me to something, I'll be the one in charge of the cake balls.

Who knew a pretty cake ball could bring such self-satisfaction?

Aaron, Brynne, Austin, and Brett

Soon after we finished eating, we went just outside of Hope where my mom's side of the family were. A lot of the people that go to that Thanksgiving are people I only get to see once a year, so while we are there I try to make my rounds and talk to the ones that I don't see often.

Ok, y'all know how your mouth says something before your brain approves it? That happened to me when I was talking to my cousin, Rhonda. I've known Rhonda my entire life, but she lives in the Houston area so I really only see her once, maybe twice a year. And every time I've ever seen her she is with her beautiful mother, Joan. I was well aware of the fact that she is married, and has been for a long time, but I don't remember ever meeting him. So when Rhonda introduced her husband to me, my mouth talked before my brain thought and this is what came out, "This is your husband? I've never pictured you with a man!"

Why didn't I just say "nice to meet you"? I did not mean to imply anything with that, other than I've never seen her with anyone but her mom, but it just didn't come out that way. Anyway, Jay, if you are reading this, IT WAS NICE TO MEET YOU! Not sure if I ever got around to saying that!

And I have to say, I'm glad this happened with Rhonda and not someone else because she is just as crazy as I am, which is why I love her. :)

On Thursday night we went to my brother, Johnny's house where we had dinner and then Robbie, Luke, Kaulyn, and I played a game of nerts. Luckily I didn't say anything stupid like I did earlier that day.

Or at least I don't think I did.

On Friday, my birth mom and her husband came to our house, along with my sister, Reva, and her family. Friday was a beautiful day so we spent a lot of it outside on the dock talking and watching the kids throw rocks in the pond. The boys rode 4-wheelers and played ball. And Marty even spent some time building a special little place for our outside dog to have more shelter since it's getting colder outside. It was so nice to get to spend a day with all of them. I only wish it could happen more.

On Saturday, we went to my parents house to celebrate Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family. The only other time of the year that we get together with that side of the family at their house is on Easter, which may explain why Austin walked around carrying a basket of Easter eggs, begging people to hide them for him.

All of my parents grand kids: Kaleb, Austin, Jennifer, Brandon, Luke, Aaron, and Kaulyn

Dude. Wrong holiday.

But I do understand that hunting eggs is fun and should be done more than once a year. Who can blame the kid?

When we got back into town on Saturday night, we went to Best Buy to get some TV's for the new house (that we will eventually move in to a some point within the next few months). We already had 4 bar stools that we bought at Kohl's, and with the TV's in the car with us too, we barely had room left for the boys.

Unfortunately the people at Best Buy do not allow you to leave your kids at the store if you buy too much, so we had to find a way to squeeze them into the car with us and all of the boxes. And I'm glad we did, because HOW CUTE ARE THEY?!

I will try to post some house pics later this week. Our cabinet/trim guys are almost finished, and the painters have already started with the caulking and pre-paint work. We're getting there. Slowly. But we are going to get there.

And because my nephew, Luke, is so hard to get a picture of, I had to include this one. On Wednesday for Austin's birthday, my mom and I took all of the kids to eat lunch at McDonald's and then went to the movies to see Happy Feet 2 (which I actually fell asleep in). I was impressed that my niece, Jennifer, was able to get this picture of Luke in McDonald's.

Well done, Jennifer. I know this was not an easy task.

To Austin, on your 6th

Dear Austin,


I just can't believe that you are 6 years old today. You have been such a blessing in my life from the day you got here. Daddy and I really didn't think that we were going to be able to have another child after we had Aaron, but you were prayed for so much that God decided to bless us with you.

You are, and have always been, so fun to be around. I love that you just say what's on your mind. Here are just a few things that you've said that made me smile:

• To Grandma: "I didn't know your hair would blow in the wind!"
• To the lady at the bank that had just said a word that you are not allowed to say "My momma says that's a bad word, so you shouldn't say it".
• To me while shopping in the mall: 

Me: "Austin you are driving me crazy"
You: No mom, you are driving ME crazy"
Me: "Oh really?"
You:" Let's just call it a tie"

• To a lady waiting on an elevator at the doctors office:

You: "So did you see the doctor today?"
Her: "Yes, I did."
You: "Is everything ok?"
Her: "Yes, I think everything will be fine."
 (elevator comes and lady gets on)
You: "Have a good day!"
Her (smiling): "You too!"

• To me while riding 4-wheelers:

You: "momma, I want to take a rocket ship to heaven so I can see God"
Me: "You can't get to God in a rocket ship. You have to live like God wants you to and when you die you get to see Him"
You: "Well, that's not very awesome. I think I'm gonna have to ask daddy about that."

• A lot of times at dinner in the evenings you ask everyone, "so how was your day today?"
• When you used to take naps I would lay down with you and you would say,"so what do you want to talk about today?"
• Last week you opened my car door for me and I didn't say thank you and you said "And what do you say??"

One of my favorite things about you is your outgoing personality. You love everyone you meet, and everyone that is your age is instantly your best friend. I think it's really neat that before school every morning you go out to the new house and tell all of the house workers good morning, and when you get home from school they all ask you about your day and ask if you stayed on green. You can carry on a conversation with anyone at anytime. You have a very pure and trusting heart. You are not afraid of much at all.

You love your brother and would do anything in the world for him. If Aaron has a friend over at the house, you think you are just as big as they are and try to hang out with them. And if they won't let you in the room with them, you will sit outside and listen to them. You just want to be close and be as involved as you can.

You do really well with any changes that come your way, which is the complete opposite as your brother. You do really well with just going with the flow and you somehow seem to have a way about you that can turn even bad situations fun in some way.

I have loved watching you grow for the last 6 years and I can't wait to see what the future holds for you. I know you will do great things! I love you so very much, Austin Lane.

Deer, A Day with Aaron, and Soccer

Yesterday the deer on our deer camera from a few months ago went from this:

To this:

And I wish I could say that a member of my family was responsible for filling up the freezer on this one, but I can't. This deer has had everyone in the area talking for years, but no one has been able to get him. But yesterday he messed up (probably by thinking more about a doe than his own life) and stepped right into the line of fire for my sweet neighbor, Joey. And even though it would've been awesome for Aaron to have been the one to get him, I'm really glad that someone we know got him. I know his family will have MANY good meals out of that one!

Yesterday was a busy day of house errands for me, but it was actually enjoyable because Aaron and I got to spend the day alone together. Austin had school, but Aaron was exempt from having to go to school this week because of how well he did on his Benchmark test last year. Aaron made my usual, mundane day of errands really fun. He loves looking at trucks and if it's a Ford, he guesses if it is a 150, 250, etc. So we played that while we were in the car (which was a large part of the day) and we also had a contest on who could find the most vehicles of the color of our choosing. He chose red and I chose black. He won, but in all fairness, I was having to actually watch the road and pay attention to my driving while he was turned completely around looking for red cars. I also made a deal with him that he could hit me on my arm every time he saw a yellow car. Ok, what is up with all the yellow cars? I had to end that game because bruising was starting to set in.

It rained on and off all day yesterday so by the time we got back home, Aaron was ready to hop on his 4-wheeler and go mudding. He wasn't out there for 10 minutes before he was back in telling me that he was stuck and needed help. And like a good mother, Delisa was there. (Now I have the State Farm jingle stuck in my head.) Anyway, I am happy to say that Aaron and I worked together, in the rain, to use the wench and get his 4-wheeler out and going again. Everyday I am amazed at how grown up and resourceful my Aaron is. He knew exactly what had to be done to get that 4-wheeler out and knew that he would need my help to do it safely. Even though nothing great happened to us yesterday, it was such a good day because Aaron and I had a rare, precious day alone together.

Aaron working on wench hook

We made it out! Time to unhook the wench.

On a completely different note, soccer season ended a few weeks ago, and I am so proud of both of my boys. Aaron's team moved up to U12 this year, which meant they were playing with some new rules and some bigger boys. Our last game determined what place we were in for the year, and since we won it, we ended up getting first place overall in his division. Our coach has taught these boys to play with dignity and respect over the last few years, and they always come out on top because of it.

Aaron with Coach Jeff and his 1st place trophy

Aaron has a 'team' of great coaches: Caleb, Jacob, Jeff, and Josh

The team with their 1st place trophies

Overall, I'm really not sure how Austin's team did because in the 5 and 6 year old division, you're just having a good day if your child is aware of which goal is theirs and that they are kicking it in the right direction. I will say this about Austin, though. He made major improvements over the past few months, and in the last several games he scored lots of goals for their team. Every time he would score he would look over at me and I would give him a thumbs up and he'd give it right back and grin from ear to ear. He knew he had done well and had pride in himself because of it.

Austin's team, The Raptors: Austin, Heath, Hudson, Greyson, Blaze, and Seth

Austin at Chuck E Cheese with his coach, Marshall Wood

Oh how I love these boys!

I'm Just Ready to Move In

Well, I think I'm close to giving up on the idea of being in the new house by Christmas. I've already had to let go of the idea of being in by Thanksgiving (how is that less than 2 weeks away already?!) but the way the math is adding up on contractors times, Christmas will be pushing it. Here's how it seems to be playing out:

Cabinet and Trim work: another 1 1/2 weeks (end around Nov 23rd)
Painter: 3 weeks (end around Dec 16th)
Tile: (end around Dec 30th) (See how Christmas day just flew right by us?)

I think all of the other workers that need to come do their finishing up can come while some of the other things are going on. So I'm wondering if I should change my goal from being in by Christmas to being in by January 1st, or should I tell the painter that 3 weeks is a ridiculous amount of time to paint one house? I've even considered painting a large portion of it myself because I KNOW I can roll a paint roller on a wall and I also know that I'm just READY TO MOVE IN THIS HOUSE.

Seems like I've mentioned that before. But y'all. I'M READY TO BE IN THE HOUSE.

Ok, you get the point.

This week I went to the paint store and got some samples for wall colors that I'm considering. And I need help. Any advice is welcome and will be taken into consideration. For my living room and kitchen, I'm thinking yellow. But you don't go to the paint store and tell them that you want a gallon of yellow. You look at all 2,647 different shades of yellow and try to pick one out of that. Here are 2 shades that I'm thinking about:

I felt like I was straight off of an HGTV show painting different colors on the wall to see how it looks and then standing back from it and thinking 'hmmm... yellow or yellow, that is the question'.

And here are the colors I'm considering for our room:

Blue or blue, that is the next question.

Our bedding is a neutral color and I know that I want reddish accents in the room, so the wall color can go either way. I really cannot decide on these colors. I like them both.

As far as the house progress in the past few weeks, here's what we have going on. All of the cabinets, other than the kitchen, have been built. In the next week, they will get all of the kitchen and pantry done, they will finish out our garage, they will get all of the drawers built and get the cabinet doors in and put on, and get our stairs done. Here are a few pics of where we are today:

Built-in's in the game room

Kitchen

Rolled towel holder above the tub in the master bath

Aaron's room is one of my favorite places. We got rough cut wood for one wall and we got some of Rob's grandmas old tin fence to put along the bottom of the room. Seriously, LOVE THIS.

I love how everything is turning out. I've already had a few of those 'if I had this to re-do, I would do this instead' moments, but overall I am really happy with it. I designed this house pretty much by myself. I spent about 2 years designing the house plan, and to see it all coming together is like giving birth to my house baby. It's like another child that we've worked and prayed for for years. And it will be like another child in that it will need cleaned and taken care of.

And will cost us money out the wazoo.

JJ comes for a visit

This week my brother JJ, his wife Heather, and their daughter Kaitlyn came to spend a few days with us. This was my first time to get to meet Heather and Kaitlyn and I am SO glad they got to come. They got here Tuesday around lunch time so I met them for lunch and then headed back to our house. Kaitlyn is four years old and she is such a little doll. I couldn't wait for Austin to get out of school so he could meet her because I had a feeling they would be fast friends. They went with me to pick the boys up from school, and when I went in to get Austin, Kaitlyn went in with me. I introduced her to Austin and he grabbed her hand and held it until we got back to the car. It was so sweet. And the two of them only separated for school and bed the rest of the time they were here. They were so very cute together and got along really well.

Cousins Kaitlyn and Austin, playing in the sand

We stayed around the house a lot because there is still lots of decisions to be made on our new house and I like to stay close when we have workers here. I did take them to the post office on State Line and let them put a foot in Texas and the other in Arkansas. That's the only 2 states Kaitlyn has ever been to, so that was really neat. What's funny though, is that I knew that sign was down there and have lived in the Texarkana area most of my life, but this was the first time I actually saw and took pictures by the sign.

JJ, Heather, and Kaitlyn in two states at one time

How cute is she?!

JJ is a hunter and he brought his bow and arrow so he could practice in his spare time. When Aaron saw this, he came in the house and got his. Aaron is a lot better with a gun than he is with a bow, but JJ was very patient with him and helped him out with it. I was called into the new house several times while all of this was going on because I had some decisions to make about doors and cabinets, but when I came out one time JJ and Aaron had put down their bows and were throwing a baseball to each other. All of this while Kaitlyn and Austin were in a sand pile playing beautifully together and when I wasn't talking to my cabinet guy, Heather and I got to sit and visit a lot. It was awesome.

JJ and Aaron with their bows

JJ surprised me. I didn't know he was that good, but the boy hit his target almost every time.

Some other things we did while they were here was go fishing (in our pitiful excuse of a pond), jump on the trampoline, and ride 4-wheelers. Kaitlyn loved the trampoline and I think she would've slept on it if we would've let her. Heather felt that way about our dock. I brought up the point that we tend to have snakes around the pond, but I'm not sure that fact would keep her from sleeping out there.

They think they're just fishin....

Kaitlyn said "Aunt Delisa, your dog LOVES me". My response "how could he not?!"

Kaitlyn was determined to find the perfect stick to dig in the mud with. She spent a lot of time at the edge of the pond.

I feel so, so blessed to be able to get to know this side of my family. I never dreamed that I would be hanging out with my birth fathers sons. Not in a million years did I think it would ever happen. I get along so well with both of my "new" brothers, Heather, and Kaitlyn, and I'm so happy that they are in my life.

Trick or Trunk or Treat

Last Saturday night was the annual trunk or treat at our church. Aaron decided he was too old for it this year, so he chose to spend the night with Craig and Kassie instead.

And here begins the whole middle school 'I'm too old for that' attitude.

(sigh) 

Besides the trunk or treating, there is also some bounce houses and slides, a hayride, a train ride, and hot dogs are provided. Robbie got there early this year to help cook. I think they said around 500 hot dogs were consumed that night.

Austin really enjoyed the games that some of the cars had set up. Unlike me, he likes to work for his candy. I prefer to just get to pick out what I want, get it, and be done.

But I guess that's why they don't let the adults trick or treat.

We spent several hours out there and got to see lots of friends that we haven't seen in a while. Austin had a blast, but that child rarely goes anywhere where he doesn't have a blast.

Austin with his friend, Layton

Monday was Halloween and we went with our friends, Ernie, Anne Marie, Lane, and Blake to do some actual door-to-door trick or treating. It was so fun! It has been a long time since we actually went door to door like that, but the kids seemed to really enjoy it and it was fun just being with friends.

Aaron (the hunter), Lane (the hippie), Austin (Mario), and Blake(a sweet frog)

This house had a Flintstone's theme set up and had actually built this car that they were giving kids a ride in. So fun!!

I think Lane's hair kept getting bigger as the night progressed!

The kids got so much candy that we ended up putting a big bowl of candy in our new house for the workers. They said that they didn't want any, but within just a few days, almost all of it is gone.

And that was our Halloween for this year. It was fun, nice and cool, and no one got hurt. So I say...it was about as perfect as it could get.