PEACE BEGINS WITH A SMILE...

"Do all the good you can, By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can, In all the places you can,
At all the times you can, To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can." -John Wesley

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Ice...

Well, this is it. This is what caused school to be cancelled today.

The kids enjoyed hot chocolate from Starbucks - our one and only outing of the day!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Fianlly, Real Winter Weather

Okay, it's about 28 hours later than forcasted, but there is actually ice hitting the windows as I type! We went to Fat Daddy's tonight to celebrate Dave Petersen's 41st b'day. We went early just in case the roads got too bad. Now I am dreading have both kids home all day tomorrow with nothing to do but watch movies. That is only fun for so long. I would like to think they would get along all day together, but I'm kidding myself to think so. If we are caged up in here all day, there is no doubt, there will be arguing! Snow day here we come!!
'

Waiting on the Winter Storm!!

Living in Texas I guess you get used to mother nature being bipolar! Literally, last week we were in shorts and short sleeves and it was 80 degrees. Today, several school districts closed due to the winter storm that was coming! It's almost 4 pm and so far it's just cold with a little drizzle. Our school didn't close but we were asked to pick up early "just in case the weather gets bad". This is crazy!! I do like a little winter weather. Actually, I like wearing sweats, sipping hot tea, lighting the fire place and curling up in warm blankets. That is not something we get to do too often in Texas! As to whether or not we will get some real winter weather is yet to be seen. I drove by the grocery store and there were loads of people stocking up on firewood, water, snacks and who knows what else. I opted out of that. We have a gas fireplace and I figured why start grocery shopping now, it's not part of my regular routine!! Surely there will be some restaurant that will be willing to deliver some take out to the Huff household tonight!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Derby Pics...

You can tell right out of the gate that our car wasn't going to win!
These boys had fun and that is all that really matters!
Jacob, Jett, Grayson, Ian
Grayson has been playing with his derby car since we came home. Once I find it, I will take a picture and post it so you can get a better "up close" look at it!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Another Weekend Has Come and Gone...

Grayson had a blast at Kyler's party Friday night. All the boys actually slept outside in the tent in 30 degree weather. Clay said at one point there were no heads visible - they were all snuggled deeply into their sleeping bags. We didn't place in the Pinewood Derby. Grayson was very disappointed. We knew our car wouldn't be fast but it was pretty original. Grayson's basketball team won their game on Saturday! It is so much more fun to watch this season versus the summer league. I got to spend some time with Michelle, Shari, Stacy and Laura last night for Shari's birthday. We watched the 'Sex in the City' movie in Michelle's awesome theater room! Jessie asked a few minutes ago if it was time to get ready for school tomorrow. Even the 4 year old thinks the weekends go too fast! Honestly, I think my favorite part of the whole weekend was snuggling on the couch tonight with both kids and Kendall watching America's Funniest Home videos!

And now I am sitting here regretting all the food I ate that I know I shouldn't have eaten this weekend. There is a reason the word diet begins with 'die'. I completely blew it - Anamia's twice, Fat Daddy's once, cake at 11 pm on Saturday night and ice cream tonight. Not to mention the wine calories. I can definitely say I will be skipping my weigh-in tomorrow!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Preparing for a Busy Weekend

Well, here we go again. Another busy weekend. Grayson is at a camp-out/sleepover at Kyler's house. I went to fight night at the taekwondo school which was a GREAT idea at the time. I haven't been in a ring for about 8 months, so needless to say, I will be hurting tomorrow. I only made it through 5 rounds before I was done! We hung out at Fat Daddy's afterward and thankfully, Lanette brought me some pain medicine that I may need tomorrow. Grayson has the Pinewood Derby tomorrow and basketball. Shari's b'day is next week, so Michelle and I are trying to pry her butt out for some girl time tomorrow night. She deserves it! And of course Sunday will be the normal routine - church, lunch w/ friends and a much needed nap! At some point I will try to catch up on laundry - yea, right - that is never caught up!! And then it will be time to prepare for next week. I have several meetings and will be going to Oklahoma twice!! Calgon....take me away!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Facebook

To all of you who have begged me to get on Facebook (Eric, Sheila, David, Heather, Clay, Carrie, Becky...), well, I finally did it! Shari convinced me this evening. I feel like a complete moron trying to figure this out. But, I guess if I can blog, I can Facebook! So, here's to a new addiction that will keep me up late at night! Like I need something else to do!

Fianlly, A Win!

Kendall's 30 and over basketball team finally won a game last night! They haven't won since the first game they played last season. Although, it was only a one point loss last week. So far they are 1-2 for this season. Maybe the humiliation is over!! Higgs - you have got to get back out there with them!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

A Late Night...

Last night we had a few folks over for an iPod competition. This little game was created by Jason and Stacy Benge. You pick 3 songs off of your iPod, we listen to them and vote based on the grouping of songs. It is so funny to see what people think is good! I picked 3 Sir-Mix-A-lot songs and got no votes. Rosemond should have been here, she would have voted for me. April won - her songs had everyone dancing! Even little Abby showed us that at 5 months, you can have rhythm! Addyson decided to get the Guitar Hero going by picking up the drum sticks! I love my friends and always have so much fun. Thanks guys for coming over! Sorry I crashed before you all left! But hey, I still got up and went to church this morning!


Saturday, January 17, 2009

Anybody Got a Saw?

It's that time of year for Cub Scouts to build their Pinewood Derby car. Of course, we don't have power tools, so we took our block of wood to "Mr. Fix It" (aka Charlie). He taught Grayson how to use 2 different types of saws and 2 sanders. Grayson decided this year his car would be modeled after the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. It was so awesome to watch Grayson using these tools. Charlie is so patient and a wonderful teacher! We only had one injury - Grayson got a little too close to the sander and lost some skin on his knuckle! The test run on the cars is Tuesday night and the derby is next weekend. I hope he does well! I will update our progress...



Wednesday, January 14, 2009

OUT WITH THE OLD...

And in with nothing else! I fianlly got around to cleaning out the playroom and toy closet this week. This is what I donated to CCA. It looks as if my kids may be left with nothing. Not the case! It is amazing how much stuff they have accumulated. When I picked Grayson up today, I explained to him what I had done. I still had one pile that I wanted him to go through and choose what he wanted to keep. I was so proud of how mature he was sorting through his toys. He really wanted to give them to kids that don't have a lot of toys. He kept a lot less than I expected!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

What A Day!

Well, I got my wallet back today! Yea! I left it someone's car on Saturday and they gracefully overnighted it to me yesterday! I am so happy! But, because I didn't have my wallet until after 3 p.m. today, I didn't have a debit card or my company gas card to get gas with last night. So, you guessed it, I ran out of gas today!! All I can say is THANK GOD FOR CHARLIE EVELER! He brought me gas and got me on my way! Some people are just angels!

To All My Friends Who Read My Blog...


I LOVE YOU ALL!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Grayson and Baby Abby

Grayson loves babies! Today we went to lunch with the Robert Crew and the Theaux Family. He kept begging me to take a picutre of him with Abby Robert. I wish I would have gotten him with Taylor Theaux too. He is so sweet with them!

Weekend Update

What a busy weekend! On Saturday, I started the morning with E-cycling at Town Center. It's where the Keep Coppell Beautiful Board collects just about anything electronic for recycling. I had no idea how cold it was going to be and showed up in just my work out clothes! Well, I should have checked the weather - it was in the 30's and the wind was blowing hard. Kendall had to bring me a coat, scarf, gloves and coffee. We had a successful event. I haven't seen the tonnage of what we collected, but it was amazing just how much was brought to the site - TVs, computers, cell phones, stereos...

Then it was on to Maryn's birthday party at Art from the Heart. Jessie had a great time painting with her friends. Happy 5th Birthday Maryn!!

I shuffled on over to watch Grayson's basketball game - they won! We came home for about 45 minutes, then I took Jessie to Sarah Beemer's party at Pump it Up. How exhausting. But I mustered up enough energy to go on a date with Kendall at Daddy Jacks! Later that night, we ran in to some friends at Anamia's and hung out with them for a while. It was great to see Megan Norris - we haven't seen her in a while!
In the midst of all the fun, I lost my wallet! I didn't realize it until we were on our way to church this morning. I hope it is at Daddy Jacks. I don't carry credit cards other than my company AMEX, but my driver's license and debit card are in there. Not to mention it is a brand new COACH wallet! Uuuggghhh!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

One thing to say...

SEC, SEC, SEC!!!
Okay, one more thing - this is for the folks who watched the National Championship game at my house..."I'd rather have 2 minutes in heaven than one!" Smiles :)

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The Anticipation of the Alarm Clock...

Grayson got a new alarm clock from Kendall and me for Christmas. We finally remembered to set it last night. The kids were so excited that it was going to "beep" just before 7 am this morning! Ironically, I was also anticipating my alarm going off early. I kept waking up all night thinking it was time to get up. I suppose I was afraid I was going to miss my early flight to Lubbock today. So, I ended up watching TV at 3:30 this morning. Around 4 o'clock I went up to check on the kids. I re-tucked them in and gave them a kiss. It woke Jessie up and she rolled over and said "Grayson!, It beeped!". It was so cute to hear her excitement about an alarm clock. I convinced her it was still night time and to go back to sleep. By the time the alarm did go off, I was long gone to the airport. Kendall said it scared Grayson. Ohhh, the little things in life!!

Monday, January 5, 2009

A 30 year old kid...

Shane and April Robert were so nice to invite us out to April's parent's house for Shane's 30th on Saturday. The ranch was BEAUTIFUL! We had a great time celebrating with them.

The kids found the zip line which kept them entertained for quite some time!
This big kid (aka Eric) was showing off on the trampoline! Luckily the party was filled with EMTs/Paramedics in case he hurt himself!
The birthday boy takes a swing at the pinata! (No, Eric, it is not a wind sock!)
This is when the party officially died. Shane started singing karaoke! It was more funny than fun!
Jessie was exhausted on the ride home. She fell asleep minutes after we pulled away. Maybe we should buy a ranch for her to run around on??

More Singing

Well, Cathy and Dave had so much fun at the Higgs' house with us that they went and bought guitar hero for the Wii! So, Thursday and Friday night we ended up at their house singing and playing like we were all in a band! What fun!

Grayson was very good at the guitar!
Ooohhh, the concentration to hit the right note!
Jessie thought she was playing - we turned her guitar off and she never knew it!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR!

We started our night at the McCrary's house where we got to see our sweet friend Terrance Tipps. He came back for a little visit from North Carolina. The kids had a great time playing with him. Jessie had a little injury to her newly pierced ears and Miss Sheila comforted her with an ice pack.

Terrance, Grayson, Jessie and Madison

Then it was off to the Higgs' house for good old Rock Band! As silly as it sounds, this is one of the most fun activities we do!

Jackson and Abby show off their New Year's Eve hats!
All the kids are ready to party!
Dave and Cathy joined us for some fun. I don't think they knew what they were getting themselves into!
Cathy, Stacy and me
Grayson joined in on a couple of songs with me!
Sing louder Dave!
Happy New Year Cathy!
It's midnight - Dave and Dave give a toast!
Higgs - you know how to throw a party! Cheers!
Ringing in the new year with my favorite 7 year old!
The kids had a little toast of their own with sparkling grape juice!
Sweet Jessie just couldn't hang...she was asleep by 10p.m.!