Wow...I can't believe it has been three months since my last blog. I'm telling you, when school starts, things get crazy. It seems like so much has happened in that 3 months. So, I will update as best I can.

Donovan finished his football season. He was on the scout team but I told him he'd better guard the sidelines with pride!! :o) He finally got to play the last game. It was actually a quarter and a half. He did a great job. He made the tackle his first play in. He's #53.

His dad was on the "chain gang" as much as he could possibly be. You can see what he actually got to do!! (He's the one with the pole on the left.)

Donovan went to the homecoming dance with his girlfriend. This picture is as close to her as he would let me get!! Gone are the days when he didn't mind me being around his friends! But, doesn't he look nice? :o)

Kaleigh didn't play a sport this fall. But, she starts basketball this week. She's excited. Following are some random pictures of things that have happened in the past three months with Kaleigh.

Kaleigh and Devin being silly.

Sandi and Kaleigh became scientists.

Kaleigh is a great reader but hates to take the time to sit down and read. She obviously found something much better to do!

Kaleigh has discovered that stuffed animals in the bed with you at night make you feel safer...how sweet is that!

As Kaleigh and I were leaving school one afternoon after a good rain, we saw a rainbow. It is kind of hard to see because my lense kept fogging up. It was so close to us though. It was way cool.

That leads us to Thanksgiving. Everyone around here went out of town. My mom and stepdad went to Florida. My mother-in-law went to Huntsville. So, that left just Keith, the kids, my uncle and me. Of course, I still cooked like I was cooking for a small army. When I told Keith what all we were having, his response was "all that for 5 people?" I said, "Of course!! These are traditional Thanksgiving foods. We have to have them all." Donovan walked in about 5 minutes later and made the mistake of asking what we were having for dinner. Of course I had to read him my "menu". His response..."all that for 5 people?" All his dad could do was laugh! :P

Here is Tom being ready for food:

I got a second refrigerator several months ago. I have been anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving so I could fill it up with all the food I knew I was going to cook. So, here is a picture of it completely full. So worth purchase...thanks Daddy Ern!!!!

Okay...you are now up to date. There are lots of things left out, but that's what happens when I don't blog as often as I should. I will do better in December. Donovan started wrestling. He has 2 pins and 1 loss. Kaleigh starts basketball. Christmas is around a very short corner. I have 2 weeks off so maybe I can keep this better updated.

You, too, can be "the talking stain"!! Go to mytalkingstain.com (no www.) Yes...I am the talking stain. How funny is that! :o)

Wow, I can't believe I haven't had an opportunity to blog since August 5th! It has been crazy around here. Lots of things happened before school got sarted and then once school started it got even busier. School started on Thursday, August 14th; I had a garage sale on Saturday; Kaleigh's birthday was on Monday; Keith's mama moved on Tuesday; Donovan had a jamboree football game on Friday; and Kaleigh had her spend the night party in Saturday. Have I lost my mind? You bet! I have some photos to share of some of the things. (I wish I had taken photos of some of the other things.) Now that school is underway, maybe I can keep up with my blog.

Syl and MamMaw came over for a visit.













Steven (Syl's son) came for a visit at MamMaw's a couple of weeks later.

















Donovan and Kaleigh got to visit with cousins Tanner and Tristian while visiting with cousin Steven. They always have great time together as you can tell.













Cousin Tristan turned 9. He had a great celebration!
















Donovan had his first scrimage. He is #54 in practice games.













Kaleigh turned 10, as you can tell! Just click on the picture to view larger.

It's hard to believe so much has happened in such a short time. It's even harder to believe that both my kids are in double digits. I was looking at a friends blog the other day. Her boys are young and she had the sweet pictures made with them in white and kakhi. It reminded me so much of when my kids were young and we made the same type pictures. But, then, of course, I immediately had the thought of how old mine are and how quickly those younger years passed. I am so proud of my kids at the ages they are now but it is so hard to believe the baby years are gone. Sometimes I just want to go back. Okay...sentimental moments can creep in at any time can't they!?!

What a busy few days we've had around here. We start school in a week so I hope things are a little slower so I can savor these last few days with my kids.

Friend Cam came to spend the night. The girls had a blast!

We had our last hoorah at the local pool with lots of friends. The pool's last day to be open was the next day.

We met friends for dinner to celebrate my birthday and frined David's birthday. You should know that my birthday was in April and his was in June. So, we celebrated a lot closer to these actual dates than when we celebrated Christmas last year (in July!!).

Donovan worked his first job. He served "free Red Diamond Tea" to patrons attending The Birmingham Zoo. Of course, I helped. Apparently, Red Diamond has become a large sponsor for the zoo and this is their way of reaching out to the zoo's patrons. It was fun greeting all the people as they entered.

Okay...just when I'm getting used to my son's deep voice, his calling me shorty because he decided to grow taller than me, and seeing hair on his upper lip, my daughter decides it is her time for a "rite of passage"!! Kaleigh is going into 5th grade this year. She has been concerned about hair on her legs (do you see where this is going?). Of course, at the pediatrician's office, this came up. He suggested that we use Nair instead of shaving (he couldn't just say "you're too young"?). He said a lot of girls wait until they are older but at her age if she is too self conscious, go ahead. She has brought it up several times in the past month (since the doctor okayed it). I guess I didn't realize how much it bothered her. Soooo, we now have a tube of Nair and she has no more hair on her legs!! She was amazed to see all the hair come off (so was I...I think I will try Nair). Okay... I know this sounds like a petty thing to be emotional over but for me it is the "beginning of the end" of my "little" girl. She will always be my baby, but now, she is my maturing baby.

I took a picture of her arm because I forgot to take a "before" photo of her leg with all the hair. Picture her leg with all this hair plus a little more and a LOT longer.

Now, the "after". She has smooth legs. Her first comment was "They don't itch any more." I guess that makes it worth it.

Today marks a special day for a memory and an new memory was created.

Memory remembered...
Three years ago today, the kids and I were baptized together. Our church picnic was at Camp Coleman. Sometime during the picnic, the pastor performs baptisms for those who so desire. The kids had already approached us about being baptized. Of course, many conversations and prayers later, Keith and I decided they were ready. I had been baptized but had never been "dunked" as our preacher calls it. So, I thought this would be a great day for me to be baptized (again) as well. So, we were all baptized. What made it so great is that the kids and I got to go into the river together with the pastor (not just one at a time) and Keith was able to get in with us as well (he was "dunked" -baptized-as a child). So, we were baptized as a family...like the family of Jesus. It was just way cool. -----On a side note...I found the biggest rock in the river, hit my toe on it, and broke my toe! God wanted to make sure I remembered THAT day! AAAND...it's ALL on video!!

A memory made...
As I stated in an earlier post, Donovan has started high school football (his first time to play EVER!). Well, today he had his first practice scrimmage. It was a "touch" practice with no Pads and such but it was still a practice. It was weird seeing my own child on the field. I'm used to watching everyone else's children! Of course I was the only mom out there with a camera! But, hey, the newness will wear off soon enough!!

Donovan is the one in the red shirt facing the camera.

In this picture Donovan is the one in the red

shirt bent over (I'm sure there is a term for this stance!) next to the guy in the white shirt.

A great day for remembering a baptism and a memory made with a pracitce game.

Which Disney Princess are you?


You Are Pocahantas!


Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?