Just because...

I love this man! Shane, thank you for ALL the help you have given me and for being such a great dad and husband! The children and I are blessed beyond measure in so many ways...but you are one of our greatest blessings! I could not do this without you and I am so thankful you are willing to take on whatever comes our way! Love you so much! Thank you for loving all of us so much!

Are you ready for some football?

First, let me say....WOW!  Sorry it has been so long since I posted!  Time just flies by around here these days!

I know this is a few days late and that I actually should have posted this last Saturday...but better late than never.  College football season is here and I can't tell you how happy that makes our family!  Shane's countdown to the first Alabama football game of the 2008-09 season began back February....I think  :) 

I will admit that growing up I was never a sports nut...did not care too much for any sport...however, Shane has converted me to a Crimson Tide fan.  There are a few other teams that I root for....like Marshall University and I love me some Indiana Hoosiers basketball! 

So for the Labor Day weekend we were in Huntington, WV...which is normally where we travel on the Labor Day weekend each year for a little family get together....my aunt has season tickets to the Marshall football games....and everyone was going....so we decided to give it a try this time.  Normally, Shane goes with my aunt and all the family and I stay behind with the kiddos.  We decided that this year all of the kids were old enough and could handle it...so we were going to give it a try. 

Daddy's little man!

The girls with their cousin Koral.

This was the first college football game that my kiddos have attended and despite the heat and all the walking....they did GREAT!

I love this boy!!!

Kennedy did not get in the above picture because she was too busy crying because she could not stand by Koral.  So I got a picture of just the two of them...and that seemed to make her happy! 

We had a BLAST!  Especially Parker....who has now learned how to say TOUCHDOWN and  FOOTBALL! 

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to share from the BAMA games yet.  We are hoping to get to travel to Tuscaloosa for a couple this season and you can bet if we do I will have lots of pictures to share with you.  However,  if you are a CRIMSON TIDE FAN...you will want to  visit Cheryl's Blog .... which is all about ALABAMA FOOTBALL!

Thursday Thirteen

I read several different blogs and I have seen something similar to this done each week.  I thought to myself what an easy way to highlight some things that are going on with our family and share a few pictures.   So, here it goes....the first installation of Thursday Thirteen!  These are very random...but you get the idea.

 

1. I finally got a picture of Kennedy with her banjo!  Her Gram and Pap had this made for her the last time we were up there!  And she gets teased about it all the time....but a girl can't go to Alabama without a banjo on her knee.....can she?  (I will post more about the banjo at a later date....very cute story)
2. Mallory is officially out of school!  Yesterday was award's day and I am so proud of her!  She received A Honor roll award for maintaining an "A" average in every subject all year long!  Go Mallory!
3. Shane and Gaga (his dad) are out installing a new water heater as I type this.  Ours sprung a leak and it was finally time to upgrade.
4. I have 27 items listed on my "To Do List"....oh and sure....I am gonna to get them all accomplished by bedtime tonight.  :)
5. My brother is getting married next Saturday and I can hardly believe that he is finally going to tie the knot! 
6. Our soccer season (for two kiddos) is over until fall and Kennedy's dance recital will be June 13th and then we will take a break from that also until fall.
7. We are going to Poughkeepsie, NY in less than a month and we are so excited about it....now I just hope that I can get everything accomplished by time to leave. 
8. Finally have my hummingbird feeders hanging and my flowers all done out front.  LOVE this time of the year!  I will try to remember to take a picture and share.  The flowers are beautiful right now.
9. Kennedy will start kindergarten in a little over two months!  Wow!  Where has the time gone?
10. We are going to visit with family next week and I can't wait!  My parents and my sister are flying in for the wedding and that is going to be a lot of fun!  Britt (my sister) has never even seen my two younger kiddos and my parents have not seen Parker since he was about 6 months old.....so it should be a BLAST!  Plus we will get to spend time with my Gram and Pap! 
11. Kennedy got a shiner under her eye a few days ago and it is starting to heal....but boy does she look like she got in a fight!  (she didn't get in a fight, but ran into the back of one of her little buddies)   I felt so bad for her when it happened, but she has been pretty tough about it all.
12. Shane had to "blow away" my laptop a few days ago and start from scratch to repair some things....so I have been doing a little make-over and re-installing some software.....and editing my blog a little.  Have added a few new things.
13. Parker should be about ready to get up from his nap....however, I am trying to savor the quiet for a little while longer.

Have a great day everyone!

Grab a coke and dive on in!

Ok...so this post is going to be somewhat random and knowing me it will probably be lengthy too....I have so many things to catch up on around this house and with my blog and my blogging buddies.  I am sorry that I STILL have not got around to commenting much...but hopefully I will get to soon...maybe this evening...maybe by the end of the week.

What have we got going on right now?   WHEW!!!

• In the process of getting a fence built around our back yard...and I am beginning to wonder if that is going to happen.  Hopefully, we will hear today or tomorrow what day they are coming out to start the construction of the fence.  I am so ready to have the fence up!
• Shane is still putting the new swingset together...that had like 500 pieces and 99 steps in the instruction booklet

 

• In the middle still of redoing the girls room...have made a good start on it....but still have a little way to go....of course more pictures later when I am finished.  BTW, this is a totally different bedding than what I showed you a few months ago...we went a different direction with the decorating.

• Previously, as you can see, the room was themed in ladybugs...red, white and black...so these are some pictures from now and in the middle of changing things out....the red is going and going to change the colors up to pinks, purple, teal, pale yellow, and lavender....when I get it all finished I will post the final product!  :)
• Have finally cleaned out and purged a bunch of clothes and shoes in various closets around the house.  Feel good about that....and glad I am DONE!!!
• Parker is walking and a busy little boy....which in turn makes Mama a busy Mama!  Nuff said!  :)
• Had a great birthday on Friday the 13th....no bad luck here...just a nice evening celebrating with my family. Thank you to all who sent cards and well wishes.  It was so nice to have so many people thinking of me!  :) Sweet Amy sent me the coolest card....so nice of her to think of me!  I try to keep birthdays low key because I like the idea of stopping at 29 and not celebrating after that...LOL....but THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone that wished me a Happy Birthday!  You all are too sweet!

• Have recently gotten several new scrapping items and I can't wait to use them all.  I need some help though from all you die hard scrappers.  I have PLENTY of supplies, have pretty cool ideas, love to scrapbook and alter things...no problems there...but how do you do it?  I always have such good intentions, but never seem to get any work done....and I just keep COLLECTING supplies and cool stuff....BUT????  Help me out and give me some suggestions....I thought about making a monthly calendar and identifying specific days to work on specific things...but not sure it that is practical??  I just want to be productive and get some pages done....but just can't seem to get it all together! I'll share more pictures of this in a later post.

• These little babies are so cool and were so cheap at Michael's...thanks to Telah and Leah for giving me the head's up on these!

 

• Have two birthdays coming up in the next few weeks...and I am trying to plan for those.  Mallory will be seven and Parker will be ONE!  Doesn't seem possible!  Makes me kind of sad that my little man is growing up so fast....well for that matter, all of them are....and I don't like it at all!  They are supposed to stay babies forever....aren't they?  :)

• and lastly, I am going to work on tidying up my blog a little and giving it a facelift...I need to update pictures and change some things around....obviously, I have not done a good job at taking a photo a day....so I am going to change that around too....so check back and take a look over the next little bit and let me know what you think about the changes.

That's enough for now...more later!  Have a great rest of the evening!

And the winner is....???

Ok...this will be a super short post and I will be back later to update on some more things that are happening....but I have some people that have been already messaging (bugging) me this morning wanting to know who the winner of my RAK from the other day is....let me just say that I put all the names in the bag last night and let Mallory draw out the winner (and no Jamie...I didn't put your name in twice...:)  )

Mallory was so excited and couldn't wait to do the drawing...we even took pictures of course...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How about that face?  Too funny!

 

 

 

 

So she drew a name out and I said read it...and she did...and I just started laughing!  The winner is .... TELAH!!!! 

Now, for those of you who don't already know...Telah is more than just one of my bloggin' buddies.  She lives about an hour from me....but we are good friends in "real life" too!  That is why I found it so funny!  Nope, this wasn't rigged....but I thought how funny and Mallory kept asking what was so funny and after I told her, she kept saying I can't believe Mrs. Telah won!  She was even saying that this morning as she walked out the door to school.

Well, after she went to bed last night...I was sitting here thinking....and decided that I would have Shane draw another name and give out two prizes.  I didn't want any of my loving blog friends to think it strange that some how Telah won...LOL...plus I was feeling generous I guess.

So the second winner will win this.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to my little box and tried to pick out some stuff that would be equivalent to the other prize....and the winner of that drawing was .... APRIL!!!

Congrats to both winners!  Thanks to everyone who left comments....I will do another RAK later in the weeks...but this one will require a little more thinking...so be watching!

More later!!!  Have a great day!

Ten on the tenth! (warning!!! lots of quick lists...long and jam packed with lots of information and links to click on)...

Edited* - Ok, Ok....I know that this didn't get posted till the 11th....oh well....but still was meant for the 10th...LOL

Can you believe we are already 10 (well, actually now it is 11...but it was ten when I was writing this....HA!)  days into 2007?  2006 flew by and I guess they all seem to do that the older I get...I know especially since I have had children they have flown by very quickly!  I intended for this post to come on New Year's Eve and that is how I originally starting developing it...but plans changed and I didn't get the post ready in time....so I thought tonight I can still do this...and just make 10 lists of our top ten things....so here you go....10 different lists with the top 10 in each category.  Shane and the girls helped me out on the post by coming up with their list...plus I asked Shane to give me some ideas....so that it isn't just from the female perspective....plus I want him to use this site too to update and communicate with family and friends...but so far no luck!  :)

So a little Top Ten  post to help bring in the new year...remember these are in no particular order and just the top ten for each of us this year....I helped the girls a little with their lists...but they did most of it on their own!  I was proud of them for that!  Shane and I struggled with our lists a little bit....but it was good.  It made us stop and think about some things!!!  I kept trying to explain to Shane that it doesn't have to be a list of top ten things.....

I explained to him that it can be an event, a person, a website, a new toy, a bargain, a game, a funny email or story...ANYTHING...just something that was significant to you in 2006....Enjoy!  And this is for everyone...feel free to take this idea and run with...consider yourself tagged and give us your Top Ten of Most Memorable for 2006.

Shane's Top Ten of 2006:

10) Sunday nights after church with dinner and watching Extreme Home Makeover.

9) Mike Shula was fired as the head football coach of Alabama and the fiasco of a coaching search. Come on coach Saban! Come to Bama!   (Edited** - Yes, we got him!!!  Woo Hoo! )

8) Was clued into the computer game World of Warcraft and have been playing every since.

7) Finally got to go out with my wife for several hours and no kids on our anniversary. We hardly ever get time to ourselves, so that was a big deal.

6) After changing job positions to get back into programming, I managed to get my old job back when the funding for the new job ran out unexpectedly. Also, I survived funding cuts in September and December on my new/old job. It has been an interesting year at work.

5) Watching Mallory’s soccer games and practices.

4) Getting to know and try to understand the diva in Kennedy. Here is a memorable quote from Kennedy…”Daddy, you’re an idiot.”

3) Got to watch, in person, my high school football alma mater win the state 5A championship with my daughter, Mallory. Go Golden Eagles! Now all I have to do is watch my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers win the Super Bowl  and I’ll have seen my three favorite football teams win it all in person!!! (Athens – 2006, Alabama – 1992, Pittsburgh - ????)

2) Got to see several of the kids that I teach/have taught in the 5^th and 6^th grade bible class at West Hobbs Street Church of Christ be baptized and added to the Church. It is always a thrill to get to see that.

1) Parker Shane Jewell was born!

Heather's Top Ten of 2006:

1. Our family grew by two feet this year...Parker Shane joined us in May!  It has been a pure joy having him here and watching him grow and change.
2. Started my blog this year and have learned many things about code, weblogs, linking, etc....that I didn't know before.  It has been so much fun keeping it current and meeting so many new friends because of my blog! Cheryl, Amy, Traci, Lindey, Jolene, Jamie....and these are just a few!!!  (of course I could mention Telah and Leah, but I already knew them...LOL)
3. Still coping with some very hard losses this year...losing someone you love and grieving with your dearest friends teaches you a lot about life and the brevity of life.  Two losses this year that will impact our family for many years to come...Mrs. Zelma and Sydney Kathleen...(love you Danny and Tandy and we are still praying for you) ....and I am grateful for what we have learned and how we have grown as a family!
4. Mallory's soccer games on Saturdays and dance class every Monday with Kennedy, Jolie, and Jessie! 

How fun!  The girls have had a blast!  Here is Kennedy with her dance teacher.  This is her first year to take and she really looks forward to it every Monday!  We have a little tradition of going to McDonald's and getting lunch before we go to dance class and she likes doing that...I like it to!  It is something that just she and I get to do together and it is special for her...I know, I know, McDonald's is not my dream restaurant...but it is for Kennedy!  :)

5.  Gatlinburg Trip with my "Sisters"...staying in a beautiful cabin...sleeping, eating, and scrapbooking...and a little shopping.  Ahhh...it was so nice!

6.  Reconnecting with some friends from my college days...Joey and Jennifer, Danny and Jennifer, Jay and April, Crystal, David and Erin, Tony and Laura....and some others are out there...I have missed so, so much for such a long time and this past year I felt like I made some reconnections with long time friends...(I don't know how many of you will see this or even visit this blog....but if you do leave us a comment, email us and let us know how you are doing.) 

7.  Taking my first photography class...or at least attempting to attend with my buddy Melissa...I want to take more and learn a lot more about photography and editing programs.

8.  Camp Ney-A-Ti Mini Camp with Mallory for the first time...we had a blast and it was great to spend time with my girl!!!!

9.  Parker's stay in the hospital at 6 weeks old...very scary to me and still very memorable to me.  Thankfully everything turned out ok...and he certainly is a strong, healthy, hearty baby boy!  :)

10.  Painting and decorating the nursery for Parker.  It was so much fun and I learned that  I was a lot more crafty than I ever knew I was....I really enjoyed painting the farm animals and doing the artwork for his nursery.  It was fun finally getting to decorate for a little boy!  :)

Mallory's Top Ten for 2006:

1. I got a digital camera for Christmas!
2. I got a new baby brother for my birthday!
3. My favorite movie that I saw was Princess Stories DVD.
4. I got to go to Club Libby Lu for my birthday party with my friends Jenny and Alli.

 

 

 

 

 

5.   My favorite game was Trouble.  (I was shocked by this considering how much she begged for Operation...but oh well...I wanted this to be her list not mine)

6.  One of my favorite trips was going to Build A Bear Workshop and making a cheerleader bear that I named Bama.

7.  My favorite book is the Bible. (So proud of this kiddo....this answer was with no prompting from us and I just loved the answer)

8.  I love the color pink! 

9.  My favorite place to eat was Rainforest Cafe.

10.  I lost my first and second tooth! 

Kennedy's Top Ten for 2006:

1. My favorite thing to eat is fruit! (I like bananas, oranges, strawberries, and apples.
2. My favorite movie that I watched was Dora Easter Egg Hunt.
3. I love the color purple!
4. My favorite game to play is Disney Scene It.
5. My favorite place to was McDonald's...big shock there!  NOT!
6. My favorite book was Dora's Easter Basket.
7. My favorite place to go was the Disney Store in the mall and to the skating rink.
8. I started taking ballet and tap dancing classes and I love going to class with my buddies Jolie and Jessie.
9. My favorite toy is my pink Leapster.

10.  I got to celebrate my birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.

Top Ten Favorite New Toys from 2006:

I thought that you might like to see some of the cool finds (or at least I think they are cool) that my kids received this year either for birthday or Christmas...from us or someone else in the family....

1. Mega Mask
2. Air Hockey and Pinball portable game
3. Fisher Price Digital Camera
4. Fridgi Gears
5. Magnetix Blocks
6. Betty Spaghetti
7. Leapster and game cartridges
8. Knock It Down Block Town (Domino set)
9. Buckaroo Game
10. Chutes and Ladders

Top Ten Favorite Reading Materials:

1. Scrapbooing Magazines ( BHG Scrapbooks, SS, CK,)
2. My Bible
3. Tom Clancy novels
4. J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Online news
6. Marianne Richmond Books
7. Junie B. Jones
8. Beverly Lewis Series
9. Blogs
10. Taste of Home Magazine

Top Ten Favorite Websites we have found and/or like to visit daily:

1. We 8 There (restaurant reviews) 
2. Humor with/clean jokes
3. Two Peas In A Bucket
4. VideoCure
5. The 9
6. Polka Dot Potato
7. ESPN
8. Christian Answers (movie reviews)
9. Birthday Alarm
10. Fact Monster

Top Ten Favorite Songs and Videos:

1. My Wish - Rascal Flatts
2. Par Avion - Mike and the Mechanics
3. In My Daughter's Eyes - Martina McBride
4. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
5. Waiting On The World To Change - John Mayer
6. Everybody's Fool - Evanescence
7. I Hope You Dance - LeAnne Womack
8. Spoken For - MercyMe
9. Something's Always Wrong - Toad the Wet Sprocket
10. Dream Big - Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband

Top Ten Sporting Event and teams:

1. I.U. Basketball
2. Alabama Football
3. Marshall Football
4. Firing Coach Shula hiring Coach Saban
5. Firing Coach Davis and hiring Coach Sampson
6. Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl '06
7. Athens Golden Eagles winning State 5A Championship
8. Rutgers unbelievable season in football
9. Atlanta Braves Baseball
10. Alabama Basketball (Too bad they got thumped by Arkansas in their first SEC game)

Top Ten Restaurants and foods:

1. Macaroni Grill (yum, yum, yum)
2. P.F.Changs (the first time we at this restaurant was in Palm Springs, California....since then we try to find one whenever we are traveling...we have been to this restaurant in Nashville, Houston, Washington DC, and I hear there is one in B'ham....also I think Huntsville is getting one in the new mall.....)
3. Outback (gotta love those bloomin' onions....or at least Shane does.  But they don't love him...)
4. Red Lobster
5. Olive Garden
6. Sarge's Shack (yummy rice)
7. Fast Food- Wendy's and Burger King
8. Dominos Pizza
9. Steak Out
10. All Steak (Cullman, Alabama)

Whew!  I know this is a long post....but I wanted something to get my husband and children involved...plus...this was a great tool to help journal some for my Year in Review scrapbook...and I wanted to share some things with you that maybe reveal a little more about us!  Plus, there are some good links here and I always am excited when I find something new or a cool website to visit. 

More later...:)

Jam packed, fast paced and exciting days....

Let me just start by saying, yes it is crunch time, and yes we are probably stressed and running around like crazy people this last week before Christmas.... I am one of those people...however, I am NOT going to worry about it too much!  I guess I work better under pressure.  I don't know...but I seem to get all the gifts wrapped, all the shopping done, all the candies and cookies made, etc...and still be ready by the time Christmas Eve rolls around.  Every year it is this way...everything seems to happen these last 10 days or so before Christmas...and it all seems to pile on...so tonight I told myself...just step back...take a deep breath and it will all be just fine!  And it will be!!!  It's all good!  :)

This week has been busy and sooo fun!  Maybe I can give you a quick recap and nutshell it all for you in a minimal amount of words.  I haven't posted in forever!!!  And my good friend Telah reminded me tonight in such a loving way that I needed to update my blog....:)  What are friends for???

Last Friday night was a date night for me and my husband...we dropped off the kiddos at the grandparents and drove to Cullman...a town about 45 minutes from here and ate at one of my newest favorite places to eat...All Steak.  It was a very quiet dinner and a nice time.  It seemed a little strange not to be ordering chicken fingers and chocolate milk and not to have kids crying and fighting over who was going to sit where???? But it was nice to get away for a couple of hours. We were having a little night out to celebrate our anniversary....which was Tuesday.  We have been married 8 years on Dec. 19th.  Since our anniversary is so close to Christmas many times we find it difficult to get a night away....but this year we managed to at least sneak away and have a quiet dinner. 

We came back home, picked up Parker, and the girls stayed the night with the grandparents.  Thanks Nannie and Gaga!  They had a blast!  (This has become one of my all time favorite pix of us together now....I even printed it and put it up in a frame the other day)

Got up Saturday and hit some early bird specials...since I didn't have to drag but one child out into each store....it was pretty easy and not too frustrating.  Then we met the family at Cracker Barrel for breakfast!  Yum! 

It was good and nice to spend time with everyone! Plus, CB was having 40% off all their Christmas items....so I picked up a few things....they had some really cute stocking stuffer items and then just some home decor items for the Christmas season that turned out to be a really good deal with the 40% off....if you have a chance you might want to go by and check it out....I am sure the discount will only get better the closer to Christmas and afterwards.

Mallory and her Nannie....we are sooo lucky to live close to Shane's parents and the girls are blessed to have two wonderful grandparents that love them very much right here in Athens!!!!

 of course Kennedy had to be in the picture....sitting here waiting on her pancakes....lol

 

 

 

Parker is hungry too....where's mine mama???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the weekend flew by....we made gingerbread Christmas trees, stamped treat bags for a church Christmas party, made some crafts, etc....  The girls loved making this tree and I did too...it turned out pretty cute....considering this the the first time we have made one.....here are some pictures as a recap to the weekend....

 

 

 

 

 

Mallory enjoyed this tree making experience....and I think Kennedy did too....but we did it late on Saturday, so they were beginning to get tired and it shows ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More a little later on the Christmas party and some more happenings....I am off to try and be productive while my kiddos are still asleep...Have a great day!  Just 4 more days till Santa comes!!!!

In Honor of my husband...

Can I just say ROLL TIDE????  Can't wait till tomorrow!  It is hard to believe that eight years ago I had no desire to watch football, didn't care anything about it, didn't know anything about it....nor did I want to....now....well let's just say...Shane has converted me!  I really enjoy watching and going to the games with him.  Hopefully tomorrow will be another win for BAMA!

Roll Tide Baby!!!