More Birthday Wishes

I really meant to post yesterday and wish my wonderful mom a happy birthday!!!! I shouldn't reveal her age but .... I will be 34 this year and she was 35 when she had me. Ha ha. She is truly a great mother! She was a stay at home mom for me and my two older sisters, and I never really understood ALL that she did for us until I had kids of my own. I guess growing up you could say we were spoiled by our wonderful mother. I remember getting up in the mornings before school and sitting down to prepared breakfasts and then coming home to wonderful suppers where we all sat at the table together. My bed would be made, my room cleaned, my laundry done and put away, and the house was spotless. At school when the teachers would ask what you wanted to be when you grow up, I would always say "a housewife". I wanted to be and do exactly what my mom did (I still do, but this day and age it seems so hard to make ends meet). She worked and still works today to make her house a home. I love walking into that house and it will always be home to me. Besides making a wonderful home, more importantly she has guided our family spiritually throughout the years. Growing up, we never missed a church service. I truly feel it planted the seed for me to grow and want to know my Lord and understand what He did for us all; and to now be that example and plant that seed in my children. As we all know, there are always going to be disagreements within a family and we have had our share, but we have always come through just fine knowing that our love for one another is so strong. Thanks mom for ALL that you do - the nuturing, guidance, support, and especially the unconditional love means so much. I hope you had a GREAT birthday yesterday! I love you.

Now I want to wish DeAnna an early happy birthday!! Her birthday is tomorrow. She and Jody were born exactly 2 years and 10 days apart from one another. My kids call her Aunt Dee and she is a wonderful aunt to them. We have a great deal with each other in that I will take Rody to school in the mornings on my way to work and she will pick up Savanna for me in the afternoons from school. But here is where she gets the raw end of the deal. Jody is usually in the middle of something and can't watch Savanna until I get in from work so Aunt Dee is left to watch her, give her snacks, break up disagreements, pick up after her, etc. I am so grateful for her! She has such a sweet spirit and is a great mother. I hope you have a great day tomorrow!! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Granny!

Time has gotten away from me so I have some catching up to do. September is a month of birthdays for our family. Last Saturday, the 20th, was Jody's Granny's birthday. That morning we went to watch Rody play his first flag football game. He did so well. Then we went around with Jody to advertise for our upcoming auction by putting up flyers at different store throughout the countryside. We stopped by the Red River county fair that was going on. We looked at all the show animals and let the kids ride a few rides at the carnival. After that we went on out to Jody's Uncle Mark (who had a birthday on Sept. 11th) and Aunt Debbie's cabin and celebrated Granny's birthday. She turned 75 but definately doesn't look or act like her age. I have never met a woman who is more involved and on the go like she is. I can only hope and pray that I am as active as she is when I am 75. Mark and Debbie had grilled a feast (steaks, pork chops, chicken) for everyone there and the kids loved riding the four wheeler to go feed the catfish in their pond. They really have a nice peaceful place at their cabin.

From right to left - Granny, her brother - Royce, her sister - Margie, Margie's husband - Butch






Granny and her kiddos - Mark, Marcia, and Deaneth

Granny with 2 of her 7 grandkids - DeAnna and Jody

Granny with her 4 great grandkids

Shane LOVES cake and giving hugs!

The Friday before the party at the cabin, DeAnna wanted to get some pictures of the great grandchildren together and have them developed and framed for Granny's birthday. DeAnna came up with the idea of a cow theme since the Hares have a few dairies around. We aren't professionals, but I thought we did OK and they turned out really good once they were framed. I took some on my camera too, but the ones on DeAnna's camera were so much better. Getting all four to look at the camera and say cheese was the BIGGEST chore. By the end of our little session, I was just about ready to pull my hair out.

While we were getting things ready for our picture session, the kids were outside playing in the pasture. I couldn't resist getting a picture of all four in their rubber boots. I am so glad that BreAnna is letting us take her picture now.

These were some of the biggest catfish I have ever seen!!!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Today is Jody's birthday! He is so much older than me - Ha Ha (we will be back to the same age in December) It's on days like this when I reflect back and realize how long we have been together and truly appreciate him and the life we have together. Don't get me wrong, we definately have our moments of frustration with each other, but overall he is a great husband and an amazing father. I am so thankful that God lead us to each other. He doesn't ever read my blog but maybe one day he will learn how to use a computer so.... Happy Birthday Baby! Love ya!

I HATE Headaches

My mom and grandmother always told me not to use the word hate, but I think in this case it would be OK. On labor day weekend, we made our regular trip to the horse sale in Lufkin. We didn't do as well as we usually do but it was understandable because of the anticipation of the hurricane Gustav hitting. I guess you could say I hate hurricanes, too. First Dolly messed up our trip to SA and now Gustav was messing up our sales. Anyway, a lot of the customers there come from Louisiana and they either didn't come to the sale or they were leaving early to get back home. You would not believe the traffic there on Saturday night. I bet we waited a good 5 minutes for a break in the line of cars coming to get over to our room at the motel.

Well, back to the headache. I kept getting headaches every day while we were there but I would take something and they would go away but after we got home on Sunday it went downhill from there. There was NOTHING I could take that would ease the pain. I couldn't get out of bed, felt achy and nauseous. I had not felt this bad with a headache (or migraine, you could say) in a really long time. I pretty much missed the whole week of work and went to the doctor twice. But thank the LORD, who I visited with quite a bit while I was in pain, it has finally eased up and I am back to work this week. Sorry I have been such a Debbie Downer in this post but I just wanted to vent and have someone feel my pain, lol.

Kindergarten Again

Before school started people would ask Savanna what grade she was going to be in and she'd say, "Kindergarten again." As many of you know, I stuggled with holding Savanna back because of her late birthday, but I am so relieved that I did now that school has started. There is no turning back and I am glad that I have done it now instead of wishing that I would have done it later. Savanna's first day of school was a success. It started out stressful - when I started to leave the class, she got very emotional and started to cry, but her teacher reported that after I left everything was perfect and she was the best helper all day. And on Tuesday, she couldn't wait to go back. Here are a few pictures from her first day of kindergarten again.

Bowling Party

We had a bowling birthday party on Sunday, the 24th, for Savanna. All her cousins and 3 friends attended. They all had a good time. Of course the afternoon wouldn't have been complete without me doing something stupid - so when I purchased the candles to put on her cake, I didn't see the words "magic" or "relighting" on the box. Poor Savanna would blow them out and then they would just light back up. Maybe she wished for a smarter mother and it will come true. ha ha

Spot

I mentioned briefly that we got a new puppy. They were giving them away at the horse sale and they were just too cute to pass up since we have been promising Savanna that she could have one. Plus, her birthday was coming up so it made it easier for her to beg for one. Anyway, she decided to name it Spot or as Shane says "Spop".