Surprise!!!

On Monday, my parents will celebrate their 30th anniversary. For the past few months, my grand-parents, brother, Mrs. Peggy, John, and I have been working to throw them a surprise anniversary party. It's something I've actually been thinking of for over a year now. We didn't do anything for their 25th anniversary. John and I had just gotten engaged, and Austin was still a teennager, so putting our parents' first for a day just wasn't in the forefront of our minds. So, we really wanted to work together to do something special for them. There were all sorts of lies and stories told trying to keep the party a surprise, but, in the end, I think we did. I doubt Mom and Dad would tell us if they did have any suspicions though.

The invitations were sent out a few weeks ago. Amy Beasley did a great job of those for me. You'll see a picture of them below. We invited a bunch of family and friends, most of which live out of town. I knew it would be incredibly difficult for everyone to make it to a party that was thrown at six on a Friday night, but we were so happy that so many people were able to make it. Thank you to all of you for making it such a special night for Mom and Dad.

We told mom and dad that John and I were taking them out to eat to celebrate their anniversary. Since they couldn't make a decision over where they wanted to go, I told them I made the reservations, and they just needed to be ready to go at six. After we picked them up, we told them we needed to swing by the clubhouse to pay our Homeowner's dues. When we pulled up, they said, "It looks like somebody is throwing a party." Mom says she couldn't figure out why both John and I were getting out of the car. It definitely took them a few seconds to figure it out.

OK, here are quite a few pictures from the night. Thanks to Amy Casas for all the pictures. She's the best. :-)

My adorable Godson. How sweet is he?


My sweet, adorable son. I could just smush that little face.

My mom's favorite, german chocolate cake, made from scratch. Too bad she made one the day before. I just didn't know how to tell her I was making one.

The luminaries on either side of the door.

The centerpiece. My mom loved the idea in Southern Living, and I tried it out.

Some of the other decorations.

A family picture before the festivities began. Miller was trying to feed Mommy a cracker.

Uncle Marcus, Aunt Shanna, John David, and Uncle Nelson. Uncle Marcus was sneaky. He had told us that he wouldn't be able to make it, so I was shocked when he showed up with my cousin, John David.

Miller with Kathy. She was holding him while we went to pick Mom and Dad up. I think she was a little nervous that he would get upset, but once he saw Mimi and Paw-paw show up with Uncle Austin, he was OK.

Dad wouldn't open the door once we got there. I ended up walking around the car, and opening the door for them. I think they were frozen in shock.

They finally got out of the car.

Shocked, happy faces.

Jessie and McKason were the first ones mom go to.

Mr. PD worked with my dad in the Air Force.

I think this is when my mom realized Uncle Marcus had made the trip from Amarillo.

Uncle Marcus and Dad. John David and Mom in the background.

Mom hugging Mr. AJ, their neighbor for 20 years or so. Mr. Terry in the background.

Denise, Uncle Marcus, Mr. PD, John David, Dad, and Mr. Terry.

Mom hugging Mrs. Becky, neighbors for over 25 years. Mr. Jerry in the background.

Mr. Jerry, Mrs. Becky, and Mom.

Fay, Pam, Denise all worked with Mom.

This picture looks really bad, but Mimi isn't going after McKason with the cane. Technically, I think he was trying to use it as a microphone. These kids call them Mimi and Paw-paw and Nonna and Pops. As far as they are concerned, we really are one big family.

Uncle Austin was keeping an eye on Miller, making sure he didn't head for the pool.

Miller and McKason fighting over Uncle Jessie's dinner.

Mr. Jack, Mrs. Donna, Mr. Don, and Mimi.

Mrs. Becky and Mr. Terry

McKason on the attack!

Mom, Mr. Terry, and Mrs. Peggy

McKason giving his note to Mom and Dad while Denise, Uncle Marcus, and Aunt Shanna watch.

McKason, sniffing the flowers.

Miller sitting on Paw-paw's lap.

The invitations for the party.

Sibling picture: Uncle Marcus, Aunt Shanna, and Dad.

Uncle Marcus and Dad, enjoying his favorite, Chocolate Pie. Unfortunately, it turned out like more like chocolate pudding.

Look what I can do McKason!

And McKason does it too.

McKason and his daddy.

Climbing onto the bench.

Casas family picture

Mom and Ms. Linda. Ms. Linda was her bridesmaid 30 years ago.

Back row: Uncle Nelson, Dad, Uncle Marcus, Mom, John David. Front row: Del, Denise, and Aunt Shanna.

Nonna, Miller, and Pops

A cute picture of John and me.

Uncle Austin all by himself. Unfortunately Mary Alice wasn't able to make it. We missed you MA!

Austin, Mom, Dad, me, Miller, and John

Austin, Mom, Dad, and I

Austin, Mrs. Peggy, Mom, Dad, and I

Uncle Austin playing with Miller

Dad, Mrs. Linda, Mr. PD, Mom, and Mr. Jack.

Mrs. Peggy and Miller, going for a walk.

Mrs. Melba, Dad, Mom and Mr. Don

McKade, the picture crasher.

Mom and Dad with Mimi and Paw-paw

Jessie, teaching the younger one to be a picture crasher.

This is what happens in half of all our pictures, at least one person is watching Miller instead of looking at the camera.

Like I said earlier, the Casas family = part of the family.

Finally, a picture with the Casas's and Mom and Dad. There were some really funny pictures that went this one in which McKade was pulling up his mom's dress, but because Amy is such a good friend, I decided not to post them.

Mom and Mrs. Peggy, friends for over 30 years.

Here, John is taking the picture, not telling us about the crazy fool behind us giving bunny ears. Nice Jessie, real nice.

A picture with just Amy and I.

Fun times with Miller and his Uncle Austin.

It's so much fun, he decided to scream about it.

Mrs. Peggy gave them a book she made about their friendship, 30+ years in the making.

McKason, John, and Miller

I don't think Miller wants his daddy holding McKason.

The gift from the Casas family. It was so cool. It says Chewning Est. 1980.

McKason, trying to blow out the flame.

They both needed one to play with.

Look at those stud-muffins.

A great friendship

Jessie, showing off his "best side."

He had literally just licked the side of my face.

But I love him anyway.

Aww

Ah, Jessie, always entertaining.

The sweet boys at the end of the night.

My little man - shoes off by the end of the night.

Best buddies

Probably my favorite picture of the night.

McKade, meditating.

OK, that's it for the party. This post literally took almost as long as the party itself. Have a great week everybody!

Texas Aggie Football

I know I'm repeating myself by saying we've had a lot going on recently, but this time it's putting it mildly. I'll follow up this blog with another one that will explain a lot of it actually, but first I wanted to post pictures of the past two weekends. Right now we're definitly wrapped up in Texas Aggie football. We've been devoted fans for years, and, it's nice to see them in the top 25 again. Whoop! Gig 'Em Ags! Last weekend we were in Bryan/College Station for the OU game. John was lucky enough to get to go to the game, and he ended up being hoarse for the next two days from screaming so much.

This weekend was a big one, which is what the next post will be about. So, without further ado, here are some pictures for last weekend and this one.

The Second Annual Texas Aggie Tailgate:

McKason and Miller, with his Lil Buck hat on


Umm, Will, please don't aim for the toddler.

Miller, looking like a big boy, sitting in McKason's lawncare.

Tale a careful look at this picture. Notice the sweet little boy with the Aggie shirt on that says, "Start 'Em Young. Raise 'Em Right." Then, you've got the crazy kid behind him, who looks like he's getting ready to push the sweet boy over. This is just one picture though because I can guarantee you the rolls have been reversed a time or two.

Checking out what's in the ice chest.

Uh-oh! I just happened to snap this picture at the right time, as the lid was closing on McKason's head.

At the football game:

Will and John, trying out the self portrait thing.

Looks like they got it right this time.

Ernie, Will, John and Eddie

"Now forming at the North end of Kyle Field..."

This picture is for the true Aggie fans. I love the tubas. Can't you just hear the student section right now?

The aTm.

The Wrecking Crew, stopping them on the goal line.

Final score

Ernie, Will, John, and Jessie. Who's the odd man out in this picture?

Eddie, John, and Elliot on Kyle Field.

Will with two random OU cheerleaders.

This weekend:

Right before this, Miller was standing at the fence petting the horse all by himself. Of course, by the time Mommy gets her camera out, he's done.

We went back to Sci-port this weekend, and, again Miller had such a good time. This time we had the Casas family with us, which made it even more fun. This was Miller hanging out in the chair. It seems like he really likes to sit in chairs that are made for his size.

With the wheelbarrow. I was constantly worried that he would trip somebody with this...especially the person in the walking cast right behind him.

OK, everybody, I gotta get to work on that other post because it's gonna be a monster. I already picked out eighty something pictures for it..

All Saints Day

Hello everyone and happy Monday!
I am thrilled to say that I had today off of work. Unfortunately, I am spending most of the day working. It never stops, but I didn't review a single case this weekend so I need to catch up today. Instead, I spent most of my free time reading "The Stranger Beside Me," which is the story about Ted Bundy. I've got to get it finished up because my mom has her eye on it. She even started reading it last night while she was at our house to pass out candy while we were taking Miller around.

OK, let's get everybody all caught up with what we've had going on in our lives. Although Paw-paw was in the hospital for over a week, I'm happy to say he is now home and on his way to getting stronger again. My birthday celebration basically started on Wednesday when I went to lunch with some co-workers at Another Broken Egg. John and I loved that place in Baton Rouge, and I was so excited to see one had opened in Shreveport. My true birthday was Thursday, and one of my co-workers was nice enough to make an adorable Dirt cake for my birthday. It was so tasty I decided to make one for my birthday celebration with my family on Saturday.

Friday was Miller's Halloween party at day care, and, I have to say that was exhausting. I don't know how those ladies do it because a room full of loud, crazy on year olds is just rough. They took Miller's costume off of him for the party because they didn't want him to get food on it, but I promise, I've got plenty of pictures of him in it. I had a wonderful lunch with one of my friends from work to celebrate my birthday and her "coming out" party. It's not what you think. She came to work in her costume. It was an oven, strapped on her stomach, with a bun in it. Get it? Work closed at 3 on Friday, so Miller and I got to start the weekend early.

Saturday, we got homemade cinnamon rolls. I swear those things are made in heaven and delivered to earth through my mom's oven. Then, we drove over to Tyler to surprise Granny Chris for her birthday lunch. Again, more yummy food. Can you tell I've been on a diet a really long time, all I'm talking about is food. I know Chris was surprised and she was so happy to see all of us. We headed back to my parents' house for a dinner of boiled lobsters and dirt cake as well as Aggie win! Whoop! We had such a good time, eating, watching football, and playing games. I really couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration.

John, Miller, and I were up early for church. John and I sat in for the Sunday school class we'll be teaching. I think the teacher was glad to know the two of them would be getting a break. It was so much fun, and I think John and I will enjoy it. Afterwards, I had to hit the shops to spend the birthday money that was burning a hole in my pocket. My wardrobe definitely needed the boost after losing all this weight. Then, I came home and bought a fabulous pair of boots from DSW online. I CANNOT wait for them to get here. :-) Of course, we had to take Miller trick or treating. We just went to a couple of houses right around our neighborhood. Miller really seems to enjoy passing out the candy. Whenever someone would get here, he would race me to the door. God forbid I should get there first and go out without him. He would throw a fit. It was a great weekend though, and I'm glad to actually get a blog post in.


Miller at the pumpkin patch:

A cute picture of Miller and Pops.

My little stinky skunk.

At his Halloween party. He was working on making quite a mess.

Mommy and Daddy trying to tag team Miller, in an attempt to get a good family picture.

Mommy, Miller, and Daddy on Halloween.

A cute profile pic of my little "Stinky."

Miller loves picking up the little pumpkins "Apples" and bringing them to whoever. Usually, it's Pops that gets them though.

He has such a sweet expression on his face..Well, they both do.

Warning: this picture shows my baby, looking more like a little man than a baby.

Another pumpkin patch picture.

Family pic

Here's a video of Miller on Halloween with his "apples."

Alright, I'm off to review some more and munch on some celery. I gotta make up for this weekend, right?

Screw it...

OK, this post has been in "draft" mode since October 3, but I just can't find time to make the changes I want to make. I'm just going to post it as is. Let's be honest here, you guys really only want to see pictures of Miller anyway right. John was so sweet to upload these for me, way back on October 3. Some of them are sideways, so please just turn your head to the side (that was the editing I just didn't have time to get done). As it is, I am hurrying to finish this post during my lunch hour.

Miller is a sweetheart right now, and SUCH a daddy's boy. He says ball, and yesterday he walked over, picked up one of my shoes he had dug out of my closet and just said "Shoe" as if he's always been saying it. John looked at me, and said "I love when he does that sort of thing." It's true. It's so much fun to watch him change every day.

John and I are both still losing weight. John's doing better than I am here recently though. Combined, we've lost over 50 lbs, so that's pretty good!

John had his birthday last week, and unfortunately I was in San Antonio for a conference all week. So, not only was I not there for his birthday, I left him with his wild child for a week too! Mom did and great job of stepping in and cooking John his favorite (chicken fried steaks) for his birthday, as well as helping us out by watching Miller when John had class Tuesday and Thursday.

We've been to the pumpkin patch this year, I just need to get those pictures up. Also, Sunday is Trunk or Treat at the church, where kids go around trick or treating at people's cars. I can't wait to get pictures of Miller in his costume. Let's hope he does better than he did this week when we tried it on. Finally, John and I are starting something new in our lives that we're both really excited about. We're going to be rotating in as Sunday School teachers for preschoolers at our church. I can't wait. We've got to go through a background check, but we've already got the sign in to look at lesson plans and stuff. I'm so excited!

Ok here's the pictures that are now a month old. :-)

Miller, happy to be in the tub.

One night we had walked down to mom and dad's. I guess Miller had a snack in his stroller, and Vaushe climbed up there on her own to find the crumbs.

I love this picture! It's from Toby and Ann's engagement party. My men are so handsome!

Just John and I.

This was Miller, playing with Uncle Austin. This picture is actually rotated correctly, he was just hanging upside down.

In his little hat from Mrs. Peggy and Mr. Terry, standing on Uncle Austin.

OK, there's more. I just have to find the time...good luck, right? :-)

It's about time, right?

Well, in my defense, this isn't the first time I've sat down to post a blog. I've been having technical difficulties. Plus, it doesn't help when you have a 14 month old who is obsessed with electronic equipment. As I type this, he's right here next to me with my hair dryer he's brought over from the other side of the house. He's bouncing back and forth between John, who's watching college football (Of course!) and I. I have become a college football widow, which is extremely funny since John will openly admit I'm the reason he started watching college football again to begin with. He's obsessed! I'm hoping it'll get better as the season goes on. All I have to say is A&M better make it into the top 25.

John finally finished building his "super computer." This thing is crazy...all different colors of lights, more fans than I can find. It's impressive, and he's really proud of it. It took about a year to get done, so I know he's happy he finished it up.

Also, John is back in school, this time at LSU-S for his Bachelor's degree. He's still taking a couple of courses at BPCC because 1) LSU-S is not so great when it comes to offering night classes and 2) BPCC is cheaper. So, he's taking courses that will transfer for his major.

Miller is a wild man! He moved up to the next classroom, and I think he really enjoys it. Those babies were just slowing him down! He likes to be entertained constantly, there's not much hope of him sitting quietly and entertaining himself. It's pretty much a free for all when it comes to where stuff will end up at the end of the day. I lost a tennis shoe for a few days once because he put it in the dirty clothes hamper. I already mentioned about my hair dryer. John and I pretty much have to tag team it until the little guy goes to sleep at night. He's so much fun though. He calls John Pa-Pa, and I'm BaBa. He can find his ear when we ask him to...well, about 75% of the time. John is right now teaching him to do Gig 'Em Aggies. My grand-parents swear he's a genius. Last weekend I was chasing him around their car, and then I would change directions and sneak up on him from behind. Eventually he caught on, and started looking under the car for the direction my feet were going. Little stinker. Speaking of stinker, Nonna and Pops bought his Halloween costume this week, and it's ADORABLE.

We have been going out of town here recently. We had two trips to Rockdale, one of which was for John's 10 year reunion. Wow, we're getting old. There's also quite a bit coming up in the next few weeks.

Finally, our diet has changed up around here. So far I've lost 24.5 pounds, and John's lost 12.5 pounds. I joined a weightloss place here in town, and we're walking on a nightly basis. Miller loves the walks. In fact, he'll even fall asleep in the stroller from time to time.

Miller after our nightly walk.

The little stinker got ahold of a marker, had the cap off, and had drawn on himself before I even knew it was missing.

Sleeping in the car on the way to Rockdale from Bryan.

McKade's stink face.

In the white trash stroller. Miller wasn't too fond of it, but how cute is it that he and McKade match?

At the park with Mommy and Daddy, in the race car

A family shot. This is after he played in the water.

Granny Chris and Perry came for a visit. Miller loves to play with these blocks.

A family shot - proudly supporting our Aggies.

Oh yeah - I got a hair cut. So, just to put it in perspective, the total weight of Miller and I in this picture is still less than what I weighed by myself just two months ago.

This is the only picture I actually got uploaded from our family pictures from Memorial Day. I think they're just too big. It's a cool pic of Austin and MA though.

It was raining one day when we got home. Miller insisted on walking in it. Thankfully, John went with him instead of me.

This is what happens when Mommy leaves her reviewing flags where Miller can easily get to them.

Miller playing at the park like a big boy.

Miller - shoveling it in as fast as he can.

Miller playing in the water at the splash pad.