Snow Day!!!!

I'm very late in posting

these pictures. This snow

came February 2nd.

Isn't it pretty? Glad it came
and left very quickly!

Banner had a great time
playing in the snow!

Peanut didn't seem to
mind the white stuff!

They acted like they've
never seen snow before!

Michael went out with me
while it was still snowing.

Rain Came Home

Almost two weeks ago we

got to bring Rain home. She

has settled into living at our

home with little fanfare.

Isn't she cute?

Frank is really interested in

the new gal on the block!

We got our Senior Green Belts!

A couple of weeks ago Emily,

Michael and I all tested and

received our Senior Green Belts.

(The only difference in the belt

is a black stripe down the middle.)

Tag I'm It.....

My cousin, Megan,

http://megsmcclure.blogspot.com/2007/02/im-it.html

has tagged me to give up just a little
info about myself...the little things
that make me peculiar. Things
you may or may not know about
me. So here goes....

1. I am obsessed with Harry Potter.
I am so excited the last book is
almost here. I am also so sad to know
that the end of an era is upon us...
except for the movies that will be
coming out. Borders has a great
discussion going on about Snape:
Friend or Foe. I'd love to discuss
this with any other fans.

2. I can't stand to have both sides
of the sink filled with dirty dishes.
I tend to procrastinate on unloading
the dishes so the sink fills up. I just
have to keep all of the dirty ones in
the side next to the dishwasher.

3. I confess it...I'm a multi-tasker.
Enough said.

4. I never go anywhere without
my camera with me. You never know
when you might need it. I am addicted
to photos. I used to take the kids to
get the pictures professionally taken
all the time. I've slowed down a little
on that...proved to be very costly!

5. I don't enjoy wearing skirts and
dresses. I guess I've just gotten to the
point in my life where I want to look
nice, but be comfortable. So slacks for
me. Emily, on the other hand, would
wear a dress or skirt everyday if I'd
let her. Sometimes I look at her and
I think..."Where did you come from?"

I struggled with coming up with these
5 things about me. I'm not sure it
was true to the gist of the tag, but this
is as good as it gets.

Jump Rope For Heart

Emily's school is participating with

The American Heart Associations

fundraiser "Jump Rope For Heart"

If anyone wants to donate to

this...we turn in our

donations on Febuary 13th.

She will be jumping in honor

of her Grandaddy and her Chief.

What is Jump Rope For Heart?

Jump Rope For Heart promotes the value
of physical activity to elementary school
children while showing them they can
contribute to their community's welfare.

This is a time when children can establish

the foundation for movement skills.

These are also the years when positive

learning experiences can help establish

a positive attitude and appreciation for

participating in regular, daily physical

activity for life. By jumping rope and

securing sponsors, students raise money

for the fight against heart disease and

stroke while learning about:

-the seriousness of heart disease and stroke
-the lifelong benefits of physical activity
-the importance of living a heart-healthy lifestyle

Valentine's Day Challenge

This is an additional post to
my earlier one from my
cousin's blog about some very
worthy school needs. If you'd
like to participate, click on the
following link. This will let them
know that their challenge is
being funded.

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/viewChallenge.html?id=16448

More Birthday Party Picts

Here are some more pictures
from the party two weekends
ago. John's and Star's party
was lots of fun and had lots
of people there.

Three Party Boys.

Here is Emily with Starla's
cousin and neice. They had
lots of fun playing together.

Michael and his Mimi
and Grandadday. You can
tell who's having fun!

Copied my Cousin's Post....

I copied the following post from

my Cousin, Megan's, blog. Thought

it was a great idea. What d'ya think?

What are you giving/getting for Valentine's Day?

"Ugh", you say, "I don't even want to think about it".

Yes, I know. Women really only want a heart felt

"I love you" and to be relieved of supper duty

(assuming that there is no hope for jewelry

- we always want jewelry!). Men really only want

one thing and it doesn't cost anything... ahem.

Don't let the traditional Valentine's Day fare

trap you. Flowers, while beautiful, have a definite,

very brief life span. Chocolate, yum... chocolate,

only adds minutes to your workout. You might be

best to give/get an aloe plant and a box of oatmeal.

Handy, yes. Romantic, no.

That's why four of the most intelligent,

good looking bloggers I know and I have partnered

to promote a super duper special Valentine's Day

project. Instead of buying gifts that are a mere

motion, how about involving some emotion?

We (Niki, Andria, Ashley, Jeff and I) have

chosen four proposals from DonorsChoose.com

and we are asking you to help fund them.

DonorsChoose is a website specifically set up for

teachers across the country to request help for

classroom projects, books, supplies, etc. What a

wonderful way to put your money to good use!

We have a blogger challenge set up to see

if we can get these proposals funded before Valentine's Day.

Take a look.

Writing with 'Bare' Books

Capture Learning with a Digital Camera

TIME Magazine for Kids

Dramatic Reading Needs Props

If you are interested in contributing to one

of these (and I hope that you are!) please

do so via the challege website. That way we will know

what funding we are bringing in rather than someone else.

Happy Birthday To You!!!!!

The party in Des Moines
on Saturday had lots and
lots of cake. Here they
are...John's is especially
loaded down.

Wow that is a lot of smoke!

John and Starla are cutting
a cake wishing them
"Congratulations". They
are getting some practice
in for their wedding!

Starla and John were born
on the same day, though
6 years apart.

Happy Birthday to both of them!

Playing in a Winter Wonderland.....

Over the weekend we went
to Iowa for a combination
party for John's 40th
birthday, Starla's 34th
birthday and their engagement.

The kids were so excited
to see the snow. There
wasn't a whole lot, but
plenty for them to have a
lot of fun. They are playing
in Starla's backyard with
her son, Johnny.

Emily couldn't wait to
drop down to make her
snow angel.

This is Johnny...he had
a great time showing off
his backyard to Emily
and Michael.

Michael had a
blast....especially just
falling down in the snow.

Moon Halo or Sun Dog

Last night I saw the most

peculiar and spectacular

ring around the moon.

I didn't remember ever

seeing one before, but

Kenneth says he showed

me one, but it wasn't this

prominent. They are called

Moon Halos or Sun Dogs.

Unfortunately my picture

wasn't very good. Here it

is. I couldn't get the whole

circle in my picture.

This is a picture I got off
the internet to show
you the effect of an
entire halo. Pretty cool.

Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away....

Here she is...the newest member
of the family. We got the
last test back today and
it was negative (which is good)
so she's ours! Yeah!!!

Her name used to be
Rainbow, but the little
boy who bought her did
not think it was a good
name for his pony, so he
shortened it. I don't
think we'll be going back
to Rainbow either.

She is just the quietest
little girl. Both Michael and
Emily had a great time trying
her out. Michael loves the trot.

Look at them
grooming away on
her and she stood
there like the
good girl she is!

Cats, Cats and more Cats

This past Sunday we took
the kids to see Cats. They
loved it and were very
well behaved! I love it!

The Kids and Their Cars!

Kenneth took this picture

the other day and just posted

it on his Mustang site.

Here's his link.

Take a look at the entire herd.

http://www.mymustangsite.com/MCPG/

Grandaddy Came Home!! Yeah!!!!

Yesterday my grandfather

came home from Rehab after

his heart surgery. We wish

him a speedy recovery!

Here are some pictures:

6 months old

85 years old

Black Beauty

Sorry to have been offline for so
long. Finally I'm back to posting
pictures of the kids.

We are starting to look
for a new pony for the
kids. This guy is Black
Beauty. Not to sure about
him. I think he's more
than the kids can handle.
I may rethink that if the
owner drops his price
significantly.

Spectacular Sunset

I took these photos last week

and am only now getting them

downloaded of my camera.

Unfortunately the picture

doesn't do the sunset justice.
It is difficult to try and

photograph someone in

front of a sunset. Here is

my best attempt.

Grandaddy...aka...Chief

My grandfather underwent open
heart surgery yesterday. I am
very happy to report he came
through fine and is feeling and
looking much better today. We

are all sending him our love

and prayers for a speedy recovery!

Here are some photos of Chief.

This is lovenly titled...
"Beach Bum". Taken in 1983.

This is a shot from when
we visited Florida last March.
We are really looking forward
to seeing everyone again in
just a couple of months.

I can't believe I'm saying this....

Congratulations to Florida

for winning the National

Championship.

There...I said it.

No seriously, I'm thrilled

that since the inception

of the BCS three SEC

schools have won the

title. No other conference

can boast that.

Oh, and did you know

that Tennessee (Go Vols)

won the first BCS title.

Just wanted to share

that in light of our poor

bowl performance. Oh

well you can't win them

all, but we did win the

big one when it

mattered most!

His and Her Mustangs....

Look what Santa brought

for Christmas....

His and Her Mustangs.

Michael is lookin' pretty cold.

Emily's lookin' pretty cool!

Happy Birthday to Megan!

Happy Birthday to my first

cousin...Megan. She's turning

the big 28 today.

This is her with her daughter

Ella (commonly known as E).

Ella is also the "Bath Laugh"

girl from an earlier post.

I wish her the happiest birthday

and hope she has one hell of a

good birthday cake!

Christmas Part Two

Here are some more pictures
from Christmas Morning!

Emily asked for some new
dress-up clothes. Here she
is all decked out as Cinderella,
The Belle of the Ball!

Michael and Emily both
got homemade t-shirts
made by Daddy. Pony Rides
available here. Evidently he
knew what Santa was going to
bring to them this year.

Grandaddy with Emily.

I wanted to give equal
billing...Grandaddy with Michael.

Mimi opening one of
her presents from us.
Her picture doesn't tell
the full story. She was
up most of the night baking
tea rings to take to friends
Christmas Morning. I was
very impressed with her
for doing that. By the way
the tea ring she brought to
us was scrumptious!

Christmas Day 2006...Whew...We Got Through It!

2006 Christmas Tree ready
for the early morning opening.

Ridiculous! But since I've no
one to blame but myself, I
can't say to much about the
multitude of stuff!

Kenneth and I got to bed
around midnight. At 3:30
Emily came into our room.
She and Michael had been
given strict instructions not
to go out into the living room.
I told her to get into bed and
to go back to sleep. She got into
bed but laid there fidgeting for
about 45 minutes. Finally I told
her to go to her room and stay
there. I told her she could play
all she wanted but that we were
not getting up yet. As she was
climbing over the babygate (we
still use this to keep the dogs in
at night) she slipped. She didn't
get hurt, but got stuck and started
crying. I let her get back in our
bed and this time she went back to
sleep. Around 7:00 she woke up
again. This time I turned on the
Disney channel and let her watch
tv. Soon Michael showed up and
finally around 8:30 we got up
I thought that was pretty good.
I know I never let my parents
sleep in til 8:30!

The kids were a little
excited at this point.

Look what Santa brought!
His and her matching
Mustangs. He must have
known that this family is
all about the Mustang!

Emily found a letter
on the tree and is
reading it to her little
brother. They found
out they got tickets to
go see the Broadway
show of "Cats".

They were very excited!

Daddy got Michael a guitar.
I foresee some lessons in
the future.

One very happy Emily.
She had a great Christmas!