Girls just wanna have FU-UN!!

1. Turn the music off at the bottom of the blog...
2. Turn your speakers up!
3. Hit play...
4. Sit back and enjoy the show!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone, thank you for all the gifts. Our only wish is that we could've been with everyone, but we love and miss you all so much! Thanks for making our Christmas so wonderful!!

Happy Birthday Taylor Rae!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR TAYLOR!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

It's hard for me to believe you are 17 today! It makes me think back to when you were a baby and what JOY you have brought to our lives and what a beautiful young lady you have become. I love you like my own and your sister adores and idolizes you. I love to see the 2 of you together, it's always so much laughter and fun. We can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

Love, Dad, Susan and Izabella

All I want for Chri-th-ma-th is my 2 front teeth!

I knew it wouldn't be long until that other one came out. This one was a little traumatic. So far, each of her teeth have come out differently, this one was no exception. It has be dangling for about 3 days now and this time Izabella thought she could pull this one out all by herself. She started to pull it out and the minute there was blood involved, then came the tears. She wouldn't let Daddy look at it and I heard her calling for me. When I got upstairs I asked her to let me see it and literally it was just hanging so I just pinched it and it came right out. OMG! what an ordeal! It took a few minutes but then came the smiles! I thought I would also give you all a look back at the past teeth that have come out. I can't believe we are up to 5 already! AND, there's one more on the bottom that won't be too far behind this last one.

Time to play catch up....again!

Taylor's Grandfather bought her a new car about a month ago. One of those everything presents for the next 5 years all rolled into one :) She drove herself down here for Thanksgiving, we met her in Chattanooga just to make sure she knew how to get here from there. She did great and now, she gets to do it from now on. It's a great "first" car (technically her 3rd, but this one is HERS!) She loves it as you can imagine!

Sisterly love...

Thanksgiving recap...

Deck the halls...

He loves me, he loves me not....

So, we found this little hole in the wall mexican restaurant near our house that we just love. Viva Mexico! Izabella has a crush on one of the waiters there, his name is Oscar! He waits on us all the time, it makes me wonder if he remembers us, the way that Izabella remembers him. One time, she ordered a strawberry daquari and when he brought it to her he touched the back of her head and when he walked off she said, "I think he loves me too!" so stinkin cute!

The last time that we were there, Steve made sure to ask for his section. Izabella gets very shy when he's around, but by the end of the dinner she's got some nerve up, so this time she wrote him this little letter. I thought it was so cute that I took a picture of it with my cell phone (that's why the quality is so bad!) He was very sweet when she gave it to him, she can't wait to see him again!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving.....

We are spending this holiday with our friends (and old neighbors) Lara and Rodney, their kids and her sister and brother in law, Leah and Rohan. So, no turkey cooking for us. However, Ms. Lara gave me a list of things to bring to even things out. I made a chocolate cake yesterday, my spinach and artichoke dip and this morning I am working on green beans and mashed potatoes. I decided to do fresh green beans this year. It's been a long time since I've cleaned and snapped these. My mom and I used to pick our own green beans and I would sit on the porch and clean and snap them and then we'd can them, so that's brought back some nice memories. We used to pick lots of our own veggies and I even remember making our own apple sauce! Good times...

Taylor came down Tuesday night, I'll post more about this later, but she drove her new car down...and yes she made it in one piece and with no help from anyone. I guess she'll be driving herself down from now on. Maybe we'll get to see her more often now, it's just a 3 hour drive door to door.....

This year, like every year, we are thankful for our health and the health of those we love, our family, which we miss dearly and wish we were able to be home with for the holidays, and our friends, who always bring us so much joy.

We love and miss everyone and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

A comfy place to rest our heads...

So, you know our anniversary was in October. I haven't been sleeping very well and when Steve and I sat down and thought about how long we'd had our bed, we were going on almost 13 years on the same mattress. So, we got ourselves a new bed, which we love. Then, I was able to sweet talk him into rearranging the furniture in our bedroom and get a new set for the new bed. Below are the results of what I was able to do....I've always loved the blue and chocolate together and now I have it! I think it turned out pretty well and it actually makes our room look a lot bigger and brighter. It's nice to wake up to this every morning.

Izabella's first book report!

So, Izabella got this assignment 2 weeks ago. She had to pick a book, read it twice and then do a book report on it. She had 3 choices for how she wanted to present her book report. She could make a T-shirt, do a shoe box type of thing or make her own book. Which ever she chose she had to include the title and author, the setting of the book, 3 words from the book and their meanings and then she had to write 3 sentences about why someone should read the book she chose. Well, she chose to make her own book. She chose the book "The English Roses" by Madonna. Excellent book I have to say. It's about a group of 4 girls, The English Roses, that all hang out together but there's one little girl, Binah, who they tease, make fun of and do not include in anything they do, just because other people comment on how beautiful she is. A fairy visits The English Roses one night and let's them see into Binah's world without her knowing about it. They come to find that her mother had died when she was very little and she has to do all of the chores, cook the meals for her and her father and get her homework done each day. They come to find out that they shouldn't judge someone based on what others say about them and jealously is a big ugly green monster.....It's a great story, especially for this age because kids can be so mean and nasty to each other. They never realize how it feels until they get the same treatment in return. I was happy that Izabella picked this story for her report. Below you will see the report that she turned in and Steve and I couldn't be prouder of her. She did everything all on her own with NO help from either one of us! (if you can't see the pictures or want to see more detail, just click on each on and they will enlarge)

LOVE that last sentence!

Star Student...

Izabella was chosen as *Star of the Week* in her class. This is the 3rd time (since starting her school career) that she's been chosen for this. Each time, she fills out this poster so that everyone in her class can learn about her. She was out sick with strep last Thursday and Friday but when I checked online for her class' weekly newsletter, we found out it was her week. She's very excited!

(if you click on the picture, it will enlarge so you can read some of the smaller stuff)

Signs of fall...the best time of year!

What a beautiful family!

Taylor came to visit for her fall break and brought her friend Jessy with her. We tried to do as much as we could since we haven't seen her much this year. It was beautiful weather and we had fall festivals to go to and we decided to do the Cagle's Corn Maize again this year. What fun! Enjoy! This is absolutely my most favorite time of year, between Sept and April....love it, love it!

Happy Halloween

Momma's sweet angel!

After we went Trick or treating, I had a sleep over at the house for all the girls. I think I'm crazy! 5 little girls all on a sugar buzz! They watched movies while all the mom's and dad's sat in our garage talking about everything from politics (yuck!) to scary movies, etc. Always a good time!

Introducing Miss Lily Kathryn Blann

David and Melissa had their 3rd little one yesterday, isn't she adorable???

Lily Kathryn Blann

10/30/08

6 lbs. 6 oz.

20 inches

12:25 pm
I can't wait to get my hands on her! Give her lots of love from GA until we get to meet her in person!

Let the teeth fall where they may...

When I got home last night, Izabella came running to tell me that she had yet another tooth come out. This one was knocked out by a flying acorn, go figure!
If you click on the letter above it will enlarge so that you can read it! ENJOY!

Happy Anniversary!!

Today is our 12th Anniversary! Hard to believe, really! When I was thinking about posting today I decided to share with you a letter I wrote to Steve back in 2000, that answers the question, why do I love you....and it's still true to this day plus some!

To the one I love,

You've asked me in the past and even recently, why do I love you, and the more I thought about it and continue to think about it, there's not just 1 reason, there's several. And, I'm sure that every day that we're together, that there will be even more. I thought since it's Valentine's Day, there's no better time for me to tell you all the wonderful reasons why I LOVE YOU!

The first thing that caught my eye, of course, is how handsome you are. I love how you've always made me feel as beautiful as I think you are. I love your sense of humor. Your ability to make me laugh has always drawn me closer to you. You were the one that taught me how important laughter is and you've shown me how to laugh at myself. I love your family and the way you are all together. I love the way you stand up for what you believe in. I love your child-like nature, which helps me see the innocence in the world. I love your kind heart, which has proven itself time and time again. I love the way you look when you're sleeping. Sometimes, I watch you in the mornings just sleeping and it makes my heart happy to know you'll always be there when I wake up. I love the dreams that you have that have now become our dreams. I love your determination and your vision of our future. I love your patience. It has started to rub off, but I know I need more work. I love your smile. I love the way you are with Taylor. It does my heart good to see how caring you are with her. Also with the rest of the kids. I love how gentle and tender you are. I love your willingness to give into their every request. I love your thoughtfulness. I love your sincerity. But, most of all, I love your inner beauty and your spirit. I love knowing that you are mine and I am yours. I love knowing that despite our differences we are still able to see past them and still love and respect each other. Yes, it's true, you drive me crazy sometimes, but I'm sure the same holds true for me.

I've never been more certain and completely fulfilled by the decision I made to spend my life with you. I think about where we started, where we've been, what we've been through, where we are and where we are going and while it hasn't always been easy, it's exactly where I want to be. You complete me by bringing out the very best in me. You can add that to the list. My love for you is never ending and I will always be here for you. This is my gift to you!

I love you honey more today than yesterday, although we've been married for 12 years today, we've been together almost 17, it's been a great ride so far and I'm looking forward to many more wonderful days together! Thank you for loving me!

xoxo,

wife

We have a budding writer on our hands...

I got the nicest email from Izabella's teacher this morning. She just loves her and thinks she the funniest little girl. She sent me some pictures that I thought I would share also. Part of their weekly homework is spelling, they keep a spelling journal and each week they have to pick 3 activities to do with their weekly spelling words. Izabella always picks the Spelling story where she has to take 5 of the 10 words and write a story using the 5 words. Here's a sampling of last weeks work, I think the spelling words in this one were: chest, flex, like, lift and desk. Quite creative I think! Notice the drawings that go along with the story!
Here she is busy at work at her desk. The are working on addition, subtraction, mutiples and number families right now. She loves math, so she says, let's hope that stays that way! I never did!Here's the final chapter about (her boyfriend) Chuck, sounds like a happy ending to me! Enjoy!

Ride! Bella Ride!

I came home from work on Thursday and Izabella told me that she learned how to ride her Bike that afternoon! I couldn't believe it! She has been so close in the past few weeks and she finally did it. We're so proud of her because we knew she could do it, she just had to believe it too! NOW, she can ride with the big dogs. This is what we get to see Friday and Saturday night, jealous?

Ahhhh.......this is the life!!

Just another night sitting out with friends talking about the week and what's going on and we all looked up to see this beautiful sky and remembered....I am SO grateful!

Texas Fun!

Here are all the other pictures of us having fun in TX over Fall Break. We really miss everyone back home and we hope to get back there soon. We're working on it as hard as we can!

Izabella finally let go and REALLY gave swimming a shot. Look how great she did!

Fun at Auntie Ann's & Uncle Wob's

While we were home we had a wonderful day and visit at Auntie Ann's and Uncle Rob's house on Sunday afternoon. Here are some shots of that day. You'll notice the girls started playing dress up and doing a nice fashion show. That's Auntie Ann, save up, you'll be having more girl time like this when Miss Ella gets big enough. By the way, I LOVE the backyard, it's really come together, I'm jealous! I think these cousins play well together! And what a bunch of good looking kids!

Fishes, Fishes and more Fishes..

David fell in love with fish when he started scuba diving years ago. So, he decided to bring that into the house. These are pictures of the 2 tanks he's got in the house. They are so cool and I can just sit and watch them for hours. You'll see him feeding some of them. There are also some pictures here of just some of the coi fish in the ponds outside next to the pool. He must have atleast 2 dozen of them and they are huge!

So proud of my big brother...

While we were home, I took a ton of pictures of my brother's house. It's just beautiful! They've been in the house for about 4 years now (I think) and it's still a work in progress, but I think they 've done more than they have to finish by now. I think the last few things to do are to replace all the windows, kitchen and to finish off the rest of the basement. I love staying there when we come to town because it truly is like a resort! Anyway, here are some pictures of the house. (these are in no particular order!)

While I was taking pictures of the house, I came across this wedding picture of David and Melissa and I just thought how beautiful it was and wanted to share it with some of you again and with some of you for the first time. They've been married now for 12 years! My how time flies!

We're off to TX to Surprise Grandpa Bill!

As you all know, we had planned a big surprise party for Grandpa Bill's 70th birthday! Still can't believe you're 70 Dad!! So, we're off!

Ah, to be home again, look at that beautiful sunset!

Now for the party. We got him! He had no clue, didn't even know that we were in town! He was completed shocked and ever so grateful that so many people would come to a party just for him! I don't know why, everyone I know loves him and were happy to be there to celebrate with him. Here are a few pictures from the party. For those of you that came, THANK YOU! you made him feel so special ! and for those of you that couldn't come, we missed you but take a look at how it all turned out!

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