Definitely Trey's blackmail picture for his life. Lord help him. Had to share. I can't stop laughing when I look at this!

It has begun...

What has begun? I'll let the pictures do the talking...I'm too sleepy to come up with something witty!


Trey definitely is on paw patrol...he is always lookin' for the Wildcat!


He found him...


Trey loves him some Coach Neill! He was getting to catch the snaps from the center...In case you were wondering.


Daddy in action...


Trey get's very excited to see his daddy at the game...


I think the feeling is mutual!


And, so it has begun. Our favorite time of year!

He is Amazing.

If you need proof, go here.

Unexpected Arrivals

Wow, yesterday was quite the day. I woke up ready to get going, simply because Grammie and Iggie were watching the kids, and I could get some stuff done! Joe let Beaux and Dixie out in the morning before I took him to work, about 6:45. I let the puppies back in around 8:15 when I was leaving to go drop off Trey and Em. So let's just throw that out there...the dogs were out for about an hour and a half. When I put Dixie in her cage, I gave her a hard time because it looked like she had been playing in the mud. Anyway, moving on...I went up to school, ate lunch with my mom, and got my hair cut. I brought the kids home around 3:00 for a MUCH needed nap for all of us. Trey was already up in his bed and I was climbing the stairs with Emery...I stopped about midstep on step 3. An all-too-familiar whimpering was coming from the study, and it was much too high pitch to be Beaux or Dixie. I got Emery laid down and ran back down to check on the dogs. Nuzzled up under Dixie were two tiny little feet poking out. A puppy. Nice. Considering we had ABSOLUTELY NO idea that Dixie was pregnant. It is kind of odd for a dog to have 1 puppy, so I stepped outside on the deck, did a once over and listened for more puppy sounds. Nothing. I kept checking on Dixie until about 5:30 or so, when the kids and I headed up to Joe's school to watch a volleyball match. We got home around 7 or so and Joe decided to mow the yard. Trey wanted to play in the back yard, so I opened the blinds and watched him from the kitchen while I got dinner ready. About 10 minutes later I see Joe bolt across the back window and into the study....with 3 more puppies! If you're still reading, then you know the only time that Dixie was outside more than 10 minutes today was like 12 hours earlier!! The puppies were all okay, AMAZING. While Trey was outside, he stumbled upon one (literally), and went and told Joe that puppies were in the yard. Joe said, "Trey, we do have a puppy, but it's inside with Dixie"...Trey, "NO, daddy...LOOK!" So, without further a do....


Full bred Sheltie puppies...3 girls and 1 boy...


2 sables (lassie lookin') and 2 merles (australian shepherd lookin')


And because Mommy and Daddy don't make an appearance very often...

Ladies first...


Daddy


As Joe, and I like to say...the puppy fairy dropped off our puppies. This is Dixie's 4th litter, and EVERY litter she has been a rock star. There is never any mess, no nothin'! The puppies are cleaned off and ready to go by the time we find them. We will be selling our lil' puppies, so let me know if you are interested!

We Tried...

I was so excited for Trey this morning, when I remembered this. Luckily, Joe doesn't have to go into football practice until early evening today...so, we went for it. Leaving daddy & Emery home, and having a little date on our own! We got downtown, VERY easily...got parked (fairly close I might add)...and got in line.




The line was long, but moving...so, I thought it wouldn't be too bad. A nice gentleman, volunteering was coming down the line and he informed our little section that we were facing...ready for it? A 3 1/2 hour wait. I'm a good mom, but sorry Trey. I just had my purse and my camera...not too many tricks up my sleeve to entertain Trey for that long. We removed ourselves from line to take a closer look at the train...shh, I hadn't broken the news to Trey that we would not be boarding.




Trey was so stinkin' excited, I felt so bad to tell him that we wouldn't be getting on that train. I did take him into the train station and tried to buy him an engineer's hat...surprisingly, he didn't want it. {Sweet, saved me 5 bucks!} Anyhow, on the way home we made a pit stop to try and make his day a little better...




It worked! Phew! And, yes he is in his underwear and shorts...
I just took off the polo and let him run!



T minus 5 days until I go back to school.

New Recipe - Yum

I decided to throw something new into the mix tonight. Do you ever feel like you have the same rotation of meals, week after week? We actually do. First, let me introduce you to my new best friend. By new I mean, he's over 6 years old...we just hadn't really hung out before.

He did all the work...I just filled 'em up.

Okay, okay...the recipe. I got the recipe off of my new FAVORITE web site...

Italian Beef Sandwiches
2.5 - 4 lb. Chuck Roast (or whatever kind you like)
1 packet Good Seasons Italian Seasoning
2 cups beef broth
2 tbsp. Italian Season (generic, whatever you like)
Pepperoncini peppers (I put 3 in there and added some juice)
Any other seasonings you want to add - salt/pepper/garlic powder/etc...
Deli rolls or Hoagie buns
Cheese - I used mozarella
Mushrooms/Onions - optional, I sauteed some to add to my sandwich

Add meat, seasonings, broth, and peppers to crockpot. Cook on medium setting for about 5-6 hours. Take roast out and shred with knife and fork. If it is not falling apart, it may need to cook some more. Mine looked like this after I was done pulling it apart...

If you're not a meat eater, I strongly encourage you to click the back button...now.



Once you've pulled it apart, put it back in the crock pot in all of it's yummy juices and let it keep warm until you're ready to serve. Here's what my sandwich looked like when it was done...

Don't be jealous of my fine china...


These were SO good. SO easy to fix. I think I would even eat this as a roast, and I'm SO not a roast eater. I think this is a fabulous recipe to feed a bunch of people, you'd just obviously need to up the ingredients.

And because I find it hard to post without mentioning Trey and Emery...well, here you go.


Trey was a BIG helper in the kitchen...see?



Emery? She was just hungry...

A Day for Trey...

Talk about a kid in a 'candy' store! Trey loves him some airplanes and airports! Here's our trip in pictures. Enjoy!







Em & Uncle Cody


Serious conversation...


Patty cake...


Pure excitement...


Oh man...our life is changin'!


Silly Trey...


Just takin' it all in...


The End! Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

{My Two}

What do you do when you've been cooped up in the house all day...don't want to spend money...don't want to go anywhere? Get the camera out! Massive picture post, sorry!

We started out with Dr. Seuss, good entertainment...


Even Emery paid attention...


Until Trey decided to sit on her...it's normal, no worries.


See, I said it was normal...


Then, we got some of Emery in her pettiskirt. Thanks Grandma! We LOVE it!


Diva in the making...




Then, Trey took off for a bit...


Em was concerned about her brother...


He's always being SILLY...


He can be pretty darn sweet too...


To top it off, Emery decided she was d.o.n.e.


I begged asked Emery nicely to walk in the grass, so that I could get a picture of her new talent...walking, that is. It wasnt happenin'. Until, next time! Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Nana!

88 years and counting! You may remember this post, the doctors had given her about a month...they obviously don't know Nana!

Today my uncles, and my mom and brother got to celebrate Nana's 88th birthday with her. Who would have thought? We stayed back home, because lil' miss decided to have a fever. Teething? Left over ear infection? We shall see. Anyway, we just wanted to wish Nana a Happy Birthday, and thought she deserved a shout out.


Here's Nana and Cody today...

*Worship*

Wow. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I LOVE our church! We just got back from the Saturday night service, and it was awesome. The worship band is recording a live album during all 4 services this weekend. They've really been emphasizing the meaning of worship lately...and I can't tell you how much better it makes my week/weekends to go to church, if nothing else, to hear the music. I can't sing to save my life, but these songs just get to me. I changed my playlist to some of the songs that will be on the new album, plus a few more that I just like.

Tonight, Mark (our pastor) shared a verse that his wife Laura had on her blog in the last couple of weeks. She is such an inspiration, definitely stop by and read her story. The verse really stuck with me. It was out of Psalm 116.

"How kind the Lord is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours! The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and then he saved me. Now I can rest again, for the Lord has been so good to me. He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. And so I walk in the Lord's presence as I live here on earth! ... I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord."

Psalm 116:5-9, 17

Amen to that. Hope everyone has had a great weekend.