New Blog

My friend, Suzanne, has created a new blog highlighting her flip flops she designs! Check her out and pass the word!

Brand New Smile

Over the past few days Laura Beth has lost 2 teeth. This morning she was quick to show everyone her brand new smile!

NAIA Banquet

Monday night Damon and I were able to go to the NAIA banquet in Jackson. We went with our wonderful friends Wayne, Kim, Katy and Daniel Scott, Ryan Hodges and our fabulous Lady Lion basketball team. We had a great time eating and recognizing the teams from all over the nation. We had a great surprise when our own Lady Lion Jana Cross was selected as the Player of the Year! Great job, Jana! We can't wait to see you play in the national tournament.

Carter, the Bat Boy

Carter was asked last week to be FHU's Lion Baseball Team's bat boy. He has been asking daily when it was time and today was the day! He was up early, dressed in baseball gear and began the countdown to game time at 9:30 this morning (the game began at 1). Carter loved being with the big guys and they were all so good to him. Carter got to stand next to Adam and D-Willy, two of our college guys, while the games went on. Throughout the game, other favorites came by to stand by him or give him words of baseball knowledge. He stuck the double header out - staying in the dugout for 13 innings!!! At first he was a bit shy, but by the end of the 9th inning, he was the first one out of the dugout giving high 5's to the guys coming in off the field and patting them on the behind, just like the big guys did. Between games, he went out to congratulate the team on the win and helped get the pitching mound ready. He was also told it was okay to go see his parents (the big guys did that, too) but did not spend too much time outside the dugout. Thanks, guys, for making this little kid's dreams come true. He can't wait till the next game!

A Night with the Youngs

We have missed spending time with some of our closest friends, the Youngs. Last night after church, they came over for pizza and fun. We enjoyed spending time with them. We caught up, laughed over things that happened in college and things the kids were doing. We are so blessed with so many friends and were so glad to be able to spend time with this special family last night.

Laura Beth in Wonderland

Last night Gran and Grandad Willis took all of us to see CCHS's production of Alice in Wonderland. Some of our favorites were in the play and the kids loved seeing the characters come to life the way they did. Everyone did a great job with this super hard play. Congrats especially to Anna Catherine, Jared, Becky, Meghan, Houston, and Jon Michael! We thought you all shined!

Laura Beth and Alice (aka Anna Catherine) Laura Beth and the Flower Girl (aka Houston)

Carter did go, but did not want near any of the people dressed up. We are still working on that.

Our Mr. FHU

Wednesday we were privileged to see one of our HAH sons, Tyler Hughes, be nominated for Mr. FHU. His parents were not able to make the trip so he asked us to be there for the ceremony and the banquet to follow. We are so proud of Tyler and his beautiful fiance', Ashley. Another one of our PKA ladies, Laura Newberry, was a nominee for Miss FHU. We are so proud of them both. Thank you, Tyler, for asking us to be your family for the day. We love you and are proud of you!

A Time to ReCharge!

We enjoyed spending time with our college kids in Paragould, AR, for the annual ReCharge event. Phi Kappa does not "retreat" of any kind we "Charge" in the fall and "ReCharge" in the spring. We had the most beautiful weather. The kids played outside all weekend long - either basketball, baseball or just walking the trails. Of course, they loved being with the college kids the most and would float back and forth between them all. Thanks, PKA, for letting us go with you! You are just an encouragement to us. The PKA ReCharge crew
Our Home Away from Home Family

Shots from the Weekend

(The bottom pics are with Foshee - a former HAH kid who lives near Paragould. The kids were so excited to spend time with him)

The kids enjoyed throwing rocks at bats to see them dive, checking out lizards and tree frogs, putting college kids in sleeping bags and just hanging out.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!!!

We love children's books at our house and Dr. Seuss is one of our favorites! We celebrated all week long. We went to the library for our normal story time on Tuesday where we had a birthday party for Dr. Seuss. Laura Beth got to go because of snow and they all took turns wearing our Cat in the Hat hat. Wednesday when Laura Beth went back to school, she wore red and white; Thursday, crazy socks; Friday, favorite Dr. Seuss character. She choose to dress liek the Cat in the Hat. It was a Seussical-ful week!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

Monday was my dad's birthday and we celebrated by going to Olive Garden!!! One of our favorite places to go. We all enjoyed being together and the yummy food! I got a couple of shots with Laura Beth and Grandad! We love you, Dad/Grandad! Crazy faces as always!

Snow Day in March?

I am beginning to think the end of February first of March is snow season in West Tennessee. We had a good snow this time last year and again this year! This is what we woke up to on Sunday morning. This is our backyard!! Isn't it beauitul! In some parts we had close to a foot of snow!

This is our across the street neighbors. The whole area was just beautiful!

We went to church and then to Mom and Dad's for lunch. We walked over in the snow just enjoying the view!The kids made a small snowman at Mom and Dad's after lunch. Carter did not stay out long since he was getting over the stomach bug but he did enjoy being out for a little bit.The snow was still there on Monday for us to play in some more. We all enjoyed getting out one more time. Cecily even enjoyed it. It was still so deep she had trouble walking in it but loved being out in the snow! What a wonderful surprise and gift we received!

Laura Beth's National Monument Report

Some of you may remember last year when my Kindergartener had to do her first research report on lions. We had been told the standards had changed and now all children were required to do a research report beginning in Kindergarten. This year was no different. Laura Beth has actually had to do two research projects. One was on a community helper. She chose a teacher and I went to the class to talk to them about being a teacher. No, I did not blog about that because I did not have pictures of it and I don't like being on my blog!!! Her second research project was on one of our nation's monuments. She chose the war memorials but focused on the WWII memorial. She gave her facts about the memorial and then brought her Great Papa Whittle to class to talk about WWII and his visit to the memorial in September. She also brought the scrapbook I had made Papa to show pictures of the memorial to the class. She did a great job and Papa was wonderful telling the children about the war, the memorial and his visit to our nation's capital. What a great team they made!

We Helped Bounce out Pediatric Brain Tumors

A few weeks ago, we helped the Lady Lion basketball team raise money for pediatric brain tumors. A little boy named Gunner who had become a friend of the Lady Lions lost his battle with a brain tumor in October. The team, under the amazing direction of Nicole, raise over $2,000 for this cause. They sold t-shirts, had a bake sale and a silent auction for cakes. It was a great day and I am so glad we were able to help them!

The New House - The Den

This room has seen the most change of any of the rooms. We had some wonderful friends, Rick and Larry, who came and did the work for this room. This is the den - where we spend most of our time. We have really enjoyed it and can't wait to get the fireplace working!

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The New House - The Dining Room

Here is the dining room. We painted and took up the carpet in this room. We really have enjoyed having this area and it has been made even more special to us with my Nana Willis' dining set and china cabinet.

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The New House - The Kitchen

One of my favorite rooms in the house is the kitchen. We did not do much to the kitchen - just a fresh coat of paint. I have always loved Coca Cola things. I am not a huge Coke fan as far as drinking it is concerned. I have my weekly or monthly Cherry Coke but that is it. My Grandmama Whittle, though, was a HUGE Coke fan. She would keep the 8 oz. Coke bottles at the house and would have one a day. Having the Coke things also allows me to keep some of our sports memorabilia in the house. Without further adeu, here is the kitchen.

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My friend, Sandy, made this tile for me. I love looking at it while I cook.

Attention Alabama Readers

HELLO, all my ALABAMA readers!!!

I want you all to be on the lookout for Alabama Bride magazine. My brother and sister-in-law are on the cover with a 2 page spread inside. Being in Tennessee, I cannot get this and have not seen it. I am DYING to see it!!! Please someone, find it and tell me all about it!

To the rest of my readers, I will be back on Thursday with a TON of updates!! Having no internet at home is coming close to killing me!! Say lots of prayers, too. Damon is going to a job fair Thursday. Please pray that SOMETHING will open up very soon.

See you Thursday!