Another Day in Paradise

I'm still alive just overwhelmed with the thought of typing about my life at the moment. HA...I'm not sure you can handle it. I know I can't. I think I have one nerve left and it's not a good one.

That hot hunk of meat I call my husband has bronchitis. You know how it is when your husband gets sick. You can be puking your guts up with 110 degree fever, but it's never worse than when they have a splinter. Bronchitis REALLY is bad. The weird thing about Jeff, when he gets sick, he gets quiet. Those of you that know us know this is NOT the norm. I spend most days wondering if he is ever going to shut up. Today, I just want him to talk to me. I just dosed him up with the "GOOD" cough syrup. He'll be horny in a few minutes. He doesn't drink....it doesn't take much.

Dalton broke the breakfast room window out yesterday. He came home from school and decided to practice his golf swing in the side yard. He sliced one right into the breakfast room. I guess that's a Rite of Passage for a little boy. Of course we had major thunderstorms last night....What do you call that? Murphy's Law. He had a basketball game last night, too. They won again!! They are doing awesome. Dalton busted their big guys lip. I know I shouldn't be proud, but I am. We've been working on his aggression. He also tested and moved up to his White Yellow Belt in Taekwondo. I was very proud of him during his testing. He got up in front of about 40 other kids and all of the parents and did his pattern and sparring. GREAT JOB D.A.

Savannah started soccer. Spring soccer is co-ed. That's a little different, but she LOVES it. The game that is. I'm pretty sure she loves boys, too but she's not going to admit it at this age. If you ask her she turns bright red and then starts screaming about how she HATES boys. Whatev, SavyG!! She's also decided to totally disgust me by kissing on the mouth. Savannah takes after me in that she has always had a very large personal space bubble. She told her Grandmother once that she was sorry, but she didn't kiss on the mouth. I think she was 6 when she did that. Well all of a sudden she wants to have this long drawn out moment of passion before she goes to bed. I told her I don't kiss on the mouth. (You saw that mouth...Would you kiss it?) Anyway, she kept on.....I finally knocked her in the head and she went to bed. Now I'm grossed out and my husbands on the couch drunk.

Jeff sold my truck. We pulled a 78 Convertible Volkswagon Bug out of storage. Yep, that's my new ride. MTV is not currently taking applications for Pimp My Ride, but trust me, as soon as they do we will be entering the car. I'll get some pics of it this weekend on here. Tomorrow is the first time I actually get to drive it. It's been in storage for about 4 years so it had a few kinks to get worked out before Jeff felt like it was safe enough for me to drive. It is now tagged, insured, has a new battery and brakes. We'll see what happens. I think it will be fun. My daily trip to work is about 3 miles round trip. I think I can handle it. It brings back memories of my first set of wheels. I had a black 68 Bug. This one is more fun. It's a convertible.

Oh, I almost forgot Valentine's Day. I know many of you just look forward to hearing about all of the wonderful gifts my husband gives me. After the $25 Kroger card he gave me for our 12th Anniversary, he said he was struggling with the right thing to do for Valentine's Day. SO, I got a card and he took me to dinner. He took me to the Waffle House in Olive Branch and even ordered my hashbrowns for me scattered smothered and covered. Do I know how to pick them or what? Now, I know why some women order their own flowers. I love him though. I got him a new belt and told him to just keep his pants on. I wasn't feeling mushy after the Waffle House.

That's about all the news. The full court press is on at work. If anyone needs insurance, call me!!!!!!!! Tell your friends and neighbors too. The Acree kids need to be fed. I'm loving American Idol and TiVo. That's the only way I get to watch it. My ass is as big as ever and food never tasted better.

I'll take some new pictures of my gang this weekend and hit you back then.
Peace,
Kacy

P.S. My favorite color has been pink for years, but I think I'm ready to change it. Is that allowed? Can you just change your favorite color any time you want to? Help me with that one.

BALLS TO THE WALL

So yesterday I started the starvation diet. I don't want to hear how unhealthy that is. I just don't know any other way to do this. Dimples on your cheeks are cute, just not your butt cheeks. It's either the entire box of Hamburger Helper or Nothing. Right now, I'm opting for nothing. I didn't even have a Coke today. That is MAJOR.

Looks like we found an attorney today that Jeff actually likes. Now we just have to give him precisely one half of our emergency fund, and he'll start looking at our case. How do you spell hives? My grandmother calls this a Nervous Nelly Rash. I call it an "I'm Freaking the Hell Out" Rash. Oh, and by the way, nothing makes it go away. Oh well, this too shall pass. It has to, one day I'll be dead. HA!

So, on to more fun topics. Dalton had a basketball game last night and THEY WON. It was an awesome game and Dalton had some really good shots and played AGGRESSIVELY. I'm really liking the Taekwondo. He tests next week for his yellow belt. I am way proud of him and more importantly, he is proud of himself. I think I'm gonna have to start looking for a part time job to keep paying for it, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Check out my boys UPS!

That's Dalton in the White taking down his best friend Jacob in the Yellow. He beat his best friends team!! Jacob is a killer player and I got lots of great shots of him but I'll leave that bragging up to his parents.

Go Team!

Savannah and I started getting bored during the second half which is pretty typical. We found other things to take pictures of....we started here.

BigD, SavyG and I all went to the orthodontist yesterday. Savy got a tooth yanked. They should have pulled that booger out of her nose too, but I guess that's not their job. I won't even talk about the yellow funk on those bucky beaver front teeth. Her daddy saw this picture and went and bought her an electric toothbrush. I told him it was a waste. She'd actually have to turn it on and then put it in her mouth to do any good. Considering I have to smell these kids private parts to ensure they bathed, I'm pretty sure the toothbrush thing is asking a little too much. The books tell me they will grow out of this. It can't come soon enough. Between you and me, I'm sick of sniffing dirty balls.

That picture led to a photo shoot of our orthodontic devices.


That contraption is called a space maintainer. Before that she had a distilizer. We had to turn it every night with a key to expand her palate. OUCH. Poor kid got my HUGE chiclets and her Daddy's little mouth.

Yes, that is my booger free nose. I pick mine regularly...usually in the car. I get my braces off on March 2. Let the countdown begin.

Dalton gets his braces in August. He has to have some teeth pulled first because he, too, has my HUGE teeth. At least his palate didn't have to spread.

Well, know that you know all about the Acree family's dental hygiene, I'll give you a break.

Peace Out,

Kacy

Well, I bit the bullet. I've had way too many people lately tell me I needed to get on Facebook. I never did MySpace and didn't want to do Facebook. BUT, then friends started sending me links to photos they had posted on Facebook and I couldn't look at them unless I had an "account". Is that what you call it? Anyway, I did it, and now people from all over and a long time ago are coming from everywhere!! Wow! It's kinda cool. I still don't understand how to do everything, but it is cool.

Interesting week at work....we have a new agent in town that hired one of my past employees. To say that pissed me off would be putting it mildly. I'll keep the rest of those thoughts to myself. We had a really busy week. Given the current economy, that was a very good thing. I am currently looking at moving to one of the downstairs bays in my center. I should finalize that decision in the next week or so. To throw another wrench in things, I have to replace all of my computer equipment and network by the first of March. What great timing....Sure, I have a few extra thousand dollars to throw at this project right now. It's a good thing I planted that money tree last year. HA...NOT.

We have had some ups and downs with the ole Aunt J situation. We got rid of our attorney and have been trying to just work it out with her. Some days that seems like its working and then other days its not. Dementia........that word means ALOT.

I went to Walgreens in my PJ's tonight. That's an all time low. No make up and my PJ's and I didn't even care. I was going to get my hormone patch. Trust me..it had to be done. My best friend in the world, Jenifer, called me Friday and told me she was officially in Menopause. She said that before when I told her I could chew the tires off of Jeff''s truck she thought I was just over exaggerating. Now she realizes that I really meant it. At least hers occurred naturally and not overnight like mine.

Why, yes, those are the PJ's I wore to Walgreens. I did put a hat on instead of sporting the Bird of Paradise hair do. All the kids in the neighborhood have been laughing at my hair today. HA HA HA. I'll get them back. I'll post pictures like this...

Yep, those are SavyG's blue jeans and panties lying in the middle of the den floor. She leaves her clothes laying around all the time and the dogs just love dirty underwear. That would be enough to make me sure I kept mine picked up but NO not Savannah. Tonight, when I came home from the store, I found another pair in the garage with her shorts. She's spending the night down the street so I called her and asked her why they were there. She said they went mudding today, so she stripped in the garage. I don't think it's a good thing when she already leaves her underwear in strange places at 9.

We had a snow day Wednesday! I cleaned house all day because the realtor came to list the house on Thursday. The kids had a blast though. If you know anyone looking for a steal on a 7000 square foot house, send them my way!!! We want outta here. We really don't, we just want to end the drama with Aunt J. : (

This is my newest way of keeping up with things. I forgot last time I went to the rheumatologist to tell him the meds were messing with my memory. I tried the Franklin Covey thing....that only works if you remember to take your book everywhere you go. I tried Jeff's method with the cell phone appointments and reminders. I HATE the cell phone. I don't even answer it if it rings. Why would I check reminders? That didn't work. So far, this works.

Probably not the most professional thing in the world, but frankly I don't care. I was human before I was a professional. I went to that bead show by the way. It was last weekend. It was cool, but it was overwhelming. I LOVE jewelry, but I don't know about making it. My hands don't work with those little projects anymore anyway. I'm gonna have to think on that one some more, but I did love the show. I sketched a dress I wanted to make last summer, but could never find the beads for it last year. They had what I needed there. Of course, I didn't have my sketch with me and I hadn't looked at it in a year. Maybe I'll pull that back out.

Here's a cute picture of my favorite dog in the world.

Izzy Rocks!!

OMG, speaking of that, we haven't even talked about American Idol. I'm feeling the new judge. I think the show needed something. So far, I'm hot for one guy, but of course, I don't remember his name. No clear faves yet. I LOVE THAT SHOW!! I also LOVE So You Think You Can Dance. I think that comes back on in the Spring. I'll try to go back and find the hot guys name. Maybe if I write it on my hand, I'll remember it long enough to post about it.

Dalton is loving Taekwondo and was just showing me his new pattern. Jeff was inspired and we are now watching the Karate Kid. I better go, the boys are getting a little too into this.

Peace Out,
Kacy

TRYING AGAIN

If at first you don't succeed, TRY AGAIN. I sat down to blog last night and got one sentence into it and realized it just wasn't going to happen. Yesterday, was just a BAD day! I try to stay positive, but yesterday kicked my ass. That pretty much happens every time you are required to sit in an attorneys office for hours and defend yourself against horrible accusations. That is pretty much what the situation with Jeff's Great Aunt has turned into. It is just a huge MESS. I can say it is a mess that we will never get into again. I guess the positive is the education on caring for the elderly that we are receiving.

I started to blog yesterday and I didn't know where to start. I was starting with Savannah because she was standing next to me arguing with me about going to get in the shower. That's a normal argument these days. What made that particular argument interesting is that I could SMELL her and it was not a pleasant smell. I can't figure these kids out. I'd say about half the time, they get out of the shower smelling worse than they did when they got in. That's what happens when you sprinkle water on a hot mess. They just really stink. Puberty?

I'm no longer tracking my diet. Yep, that worked for a week. I actually lost 4 pounds. I'm told that's good. I didn't think so. I'm more of an instant gratification kind of girl. I've had a head cold this week. If I take an Alka-Seltzer Cold, I can breathe in about 30 minutes. A whole week for 4 little pounds that you couldn't see just didn't do it for me. I know it should, but it didn't.

Right now, all of my focus has been shifted. My MTX has me screwed up. I take that shot now on Thursdays. It makes me sick at my stomach and gives me a horrible taste in my mouth. The worst part about it is my short term memory. Well, I think that's the worst part. I guess it depends on who you talk to about it. Yesterday, Jeff was yelling mean things at me and made me cry. I got up and walked out of the room, knowing that he was frustrated about the whole day, not necessarily at me. When I got back in the room to tell him how that made me feel, I couldn't remember what he said. All I could remember was that it was mean. It's pretty freaky. I know that little story is funny, but most of the time it is frustrating.

I actually watched some of Oprah yesterday. I don't like Oprah. I stopped liking her years ago and have refused to watch her since. Yesterday, I couldn't remember WHY I quit watching her all those years ago so I paid attention. They were talking about bioidentical hormones. I have had a lot of trouble with my hormones and found this particular topic very interesting. I even wrote it down so I could remember to do my research. I had a hysterectomy, but I don't remember when....several years ago....I'm thinking five years ago. My hormones, which seem to be the driving factor behing everything, are NUTS and they make me nuts. I've gotten to where I recognize when they are really bad, but the everyday little fluctations usually get swept under the rug until the rug jumps up and levitates across the room at someones throat. Dude, I hate those days. Right now, I don't know if the rug is about to levitate or if I'm just so stressed out it's normal to feel this way. HUMMM...Oh and I think I quit watching Oprah when she said that Hurricane Katrina was a racist act of God. That's it. All last night when I was trying to figure it out, I kept thinking it had to do with 9/11. It wasn't. It was Katrina. Now, I can't watch her again. See how this memory thing is. It's WEIRD. Yesterday, I was so frustrated and felt so bad, I was thinking about just quitting the medicine altogether. I just want my old life back. I think it's gone now. I didn't enjoy it enough when I had it.

Dalton has a basketball game in the morning. I promise to take pictures. It's another one of those 8 a.m. games. We videoed the last game and I'm not savvy enough to figure out the video blogging yet. If I find the free time I seem to have misplaced, I'll work on that.

I have to pay another visit to the attorneys office and pick up paperwork we need for next week and then I'm off to the office.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Peace,
Kacy

HELLO HELLO

What's up Peeps? It's been a week. I actually sat down one night to blog but Dalton wasn't feeling good. I exchanged the computer for my baby boy who fell asleep in my lap. Do you know how long it has been since that happened? I don't even remember the last time. It felt so good. I have to admit though, he's kinda heavy. We had a busy week. Dalton had two basketball games. He scored the first two points of the season for his team. He had a great game and they won the first one. They had a game at 8 this morning. They didn't do so great today. ANYWAY, who schedules kids basketball games at 8 on a Saturday morning. WE are NOT morning people. Dalton also started Taekwondo this week. We went and met the owner one night. I had met him before at a school health fair. Dalton liked him so we scheduled a one on one with him. Dalt LOVED it. He goes back Monday. I hope it will help with his self confidence and such. He's at that really awkward stage. Anybody out there with boys this age, give me some pointers. They are just a different breed. He's so sweet and so tender hearted. He stinks, too. What's up with boys not wanting to shower? This kid would cut off his right arm if it meant he didn't have to bathe. I just don't get that.

Both kids got report cards this week and both had principals list again. I've been really lucky in that realm. I also just don't accept bad grades. Luckily, neither of them buck the system on that one.

I conned Jeff into cooking dinner tonight. I cleaned the kitchen so he's cooking. I started Weight Watchers this week. Stop laughing. It's really not funny. I weighed in at 153 pounds. Let me just say, POINTS SUCK. I started Wednesday. I've done good. I've stayed under my points the last two days and haven't used any of my weekly bonus points. Today hasn't been so great. I've used all of my points and haven't had dinner. I don't like this plan because it makes you constantly think about food. Thursday I got the official word to come off the roids. Thank you Jesus. They increased my Methotrexate and now I have to give myself shots. Hopefully, trying to watch what I eat and not taking steroids, I can drop this weight. It is NO good. Jeff is doing it, too. He gets so many points he can't even eat enough to use them all. That just stinks.

We have to go to court this week with Jeff's great aunt to let them decide what to do with this stupid house. I'm so ready to just get it done. I honestly hope we move. This place is ridiculously big and I feel like we are detached from the kids. Tonight we were over at Rohn's new house and I couldn't help but wish our house was that size. I would love to have everyone so close together. Call me weird, but I've had it both ways and I like that better. Plus, there isn't so much to clean!!!

Jeff and the kids gave the dogs baths today. Can you believe it? That was the first time ever and I didn't even ask him to. He must be sick! The kids thought it was great because Ethel shat in the bathtub!! OOPS!

I think Jeff was scared. He was out riding 4 wheelers with the kids today and the neighbors flipped theirs. They are okay but it scared everyone. I think it scared Jeff. He's grounded now. I can't believe the neighbors even let their kids play with ours. Last night, they went to the casino and their kids had a babysitter. Savannah was over there playing and Jeff blocked his number and called Savannah's cell phone. Katie answered and Jeff whispered into the phone, "Do you know where your parents are?" Katie said, "Who is this?" and Jeff said, "I'm in the closet." The kids all FREAKED out and called their parents. The Brownlee's called and told Jeff they were on their way home, could we check on the kids because they called crying. OH NO!!! So, they probably don't like us anymore. He said they'd get us back. They left this evening to go hunting. It's sad....I guess they think going out to play with guns in the woods is safer than playing with the neighbors.

Have a great week. I'm trying to get back on a schedule and remember to take pictures. We are off to church in the morning and I have mounds of laundry. These kids going mudding everyday is a pain.

Peace Out,
Kacy

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year to EVERYONE. The kids went back to school today and the pieces seem to be falling back into line. All of my good shows are starting back up on TV and we are finding a routine.

Dalton had his first basketball game last night. He scored the first 2 points of the season for his team. That put a HUGE smile on his mama's face. He scored again a little later in the game too. I was so proud of him. What made me the proudest was the smile on his face. He's 10 now and struggling with his self confidence. He is so tender hearted and always has been. He's bigger than most of the kids his age and kids are just mean. He gets his feelings hurt and then just withdraws. He's done that a lot lately. As a mother, that's really hard. I just want to go beat those kids butts. Instead, I told Dalton to. He won't though. He said he wouldn't want to hurt anyone the way he was hurt and then he cried. I am showing a great deal of constraint in not eating some little kids for lunch right now. That brings out every feeling of guilt I could possibly have in my body. As a mom, I just want to fix it. We've had several talks and spent a lot of time together over the break. Tonight, I took him and enrolled him in a two week trial at Desoto Taekwondo. I met the owner a couple of months ago at an open house at the school. I really liked him and talked to him about what the program had to offer. He told me that a lot of the children at Dalton's age are enrolled for self confidence and also respect. We are going to give it a shot. He has a one on one tomorrow night. His next basketball game is Saturday morning at 8. I wonder whose bright idea that was.

Izzy is all curled up down here at my feet right now. She is my VERY best friend in the whole wide world. She is so sweet and such a good dog. I just love her and really can't imagine not having her.

I'm going to get in bed and cuddle up with her. Have a great one. Hug your babies and share all of your love.

Cya,

Kacy

Oh My Goodness! I worked ALL day today. That felt sort of strange. These crazy weeks with Holidays in the middle of them really throw me for a loop.

Once again, we are all piled up in the den with a fire and Jeff and the kids are in the floor playing Texas Hold 'Em. I'm exhausted. I think it's gonna be an early night for me. Can you believe I had a day without anything major exciting happening? The kids spent the day with Mom and are going to again tomorrow. I'm going to work in the morning, but hope to be out of there a little early. It's time to get the tree down and the Christmas decorations back in the attic. This year, I'm going to put the tree in the attic and even write myself a note and put it in a special place so I can't forget where it is. That just means I'll forget where all of it is and next year I will be haphazard with my tree again. Maybe sometime in 2011 I'll find the note. HA.

I didn't watch The Dark Knight last night. I just couldn't get into it. Jeff says I have to stay up tonight to watch the Memphis game. Pretty soon, he'll be talking to my eyelids.

I've got a lot of interesting things going on at work. I have a lot of decisions to make and haven't sat down to face them all just yet. Jeff and I need to do a little more talking about it and I'll get it all wrapped up. I hate feeling in LIMBO. Hopefully, soon, I can talk about all of it and have it all resolved. The economy stinks! I hate feeling it like I do. I think the worst is yet to come. A crystal ball sure would come in handy right now. Anybody got one?

I found my pictures of the kids the day they got out of school for Christmas.

That's Dalton and Miss Farris. She will be a Mrs. soon. She actually got engaged in her classroom the day I took this picture. Dalton said it was very sweet. All of the kids gave her a rose. Her fiance went to great lengths to get it all set up and apparently got down on one knee in the classroom in front of all the kids. Dalton said it was the most romantic thing that ever happened at that school. (I wonder what he knows about that.)

Savannah had a "Despereaux" party. She was the princess in the story. It was cute.

That's Savannah's teacher Miss Campbell. She said she's going to stay a Miss. I think SavyG had a chicken nugget in her hand. That's my baby girl.

My mother is telling me I HAVE to put a ponytail in Stella's hair, so I guess I better go. You do realize that is a priority. Actually, she really needs it. Mom was nice enough to sit down and brush her. She played in the rain last week and was a total wreck. She looks MUCH better. Thanks Mom. I'll put her ponytail in. Whoa, MOM is actually trying to do it. I've really got to go now. Stella looks like a unicorn.

Have a great night and hug your babies.

Cya,
Kacy

JUST A FEW THOUGHTS

We had an interesting day around here. Emily and Jackson moved out. They got an apartment in Southaven. Emily is starting back to school in January and I guess this was part of her growing up. We didn't find out until about 6 last night. I'm not real sure about all of the circumstances around it. You would think that since she lived here, I would, but I still don't. To each their own. I was told earlier last week that education comes at a price. Well, I'm broke and just don't want to learn any more. HA.

I've missed my blog. Time has been really hard to come by lately. It usually is during the holidays, but this year has been really bad. If you throw pneumonia in the holiday mix, things get a little rough. I'm beginning to see the light though. I rented The Dark Knight today. I've been wanting to see it, but have had trouble getting into it tonight. I say that, because Savannah is yelling at the television and I've just tuned it out.

I really wanted to take my Christmas tree down today. I've heard in the past, it's bad luck to take it down before the New Year. I've about decided that you make your own luck. If it wouldn't have sent me completely over the top today to be taking down my tree while my front doors were propped wide open and people that I hardly know carrying things out of my house, I would have done it. Now, I guess it will be there a few more days. I've enjoyed it. Jeff's Santa suit is still in his truck, I think. He played Santa alot this year. He has an AWESOME Santa suit and he dresses up every year for the family and the neighbors and work and school.

I'm not ready to take all of the Christmas Cards off the fridge. I love having everyone's picture up there.

And this is one of my favorites I'm not ready to put up yet. This was SavyG's first Christmas and Dalton's second.

Gosh, they grow up way too fast.

I'm trying to decide about New Year's Resolutions. The last few years I've made them but didn't write them down or share them with anybody. I HATE to be a failure. I've also found, however, that if you don't write your goals down and commit to them, they just don't work out. Humm, I've got some more thinking to do on that one.

It's off to work in the morning for another short week.

And to all a Good Night.

Cya,
Kacy

ASHLEY ASHLEY ASHLEY

Ok. Ashley wins the prank war for sure, but I'm not ready to stop. Now that Christmas is behind us, I think I can come up with some spare time to create more prank ideas. Let me share some of Christmas at my Grandmothers.

It was so great to have kids everywhere. We went through a time where there were no kids and then it was only mine for years. Now, we are busting at the seams with babies. These are all of my Grandmothers Great Grandchildren.

That's Rhett, Nash, SavyG, Mallory, Dalton, Georgia, Ty and Judd. Mallory wasn't too happy about getting her picture made. Actually, the problem was being on the couch with all of those other kids. She got over it though. Aren't they too cute? It was also Baby Georgia's first birthday. Well, it was 2 days after her birthday, but we celebrated a little bit.

We didn't have candles so we had to make due with what we could find. I don't think she really cared. She just wanted to grab it anyway.

Ashley and my kiddos.

Rhett is just too cute!

This is Judd Man. He is so sweet. Check out those RED curls.

Somebody gave Rhett and Nash their own bags of little marshmallows for Christmas. I can't imagine who would do something like that but they sure were a hit. I know Ashley and Shane really appreciated that. HA.

Ashley gave me a gift for Christmas. It made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt. Jeff was taking pictures the whole time.

I made her a scrapbook of pictures of her boys I have taken over the past year. She made me a book, too. Let me show you what she did.

I still laugh every time I think about it!

Cya,

Kacy

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We are finally starting to settle down around here. We have once again visited everyone for the holidays, ate way too much good food and have way too many gifts laying around just begging to be put away. That's not gonna happen today. I don't think one more day will hurt anyone. That's the good thing about having too much room in your house. You can just move to a different room. HA.

I have about 220 new pictures. How do you spell O V E R L O A D? I have a few I left out previously, too. I'm going to attempt to catch up now.

We got a new family member. I came home from work one day and found him on the kitchen counter. How lovely!

Everyone, meet Rascal the guinea pig. He is super sweet, but the dogs want to eat him so he has to live upstairs. The dogs aren't allowed upstairs. Since he lives up there, I don't get to see him very often. Santa brought him a big ball to roll around in on the floor. I don't know if that is more torturous for Rascal or the dogs. Ethel is our mouser. She just can't stand it that we choose to have a rodent living in the house.
Oh well. She's been finding all sorts of creative ways to get upstairs. I like to call her the BAD dog. She has also had a thing for my Christmas ribbon. She eats it or takes it out into the back yard. We've had a couple of knock down drag outs over that the past couple of weeks. This morning, she had a grown up bird in the den that she had obviously had all over the house during the night. When I got up this morning, there were bird feathers everywhere. They were all the way down the hallway. When I got to the den, there was a naked bird laying on the rug in the middle of the room. Thanks Ethel.

Switching subjects....Both of my babies ran in the St. Jude 5K this year. They have unofficially run the past two years as well, but this year, they ran all by themselves and had their own numbers. I was so proud of them and so glad that they WANTED to do this and understand WHY they are doing it and who and how it helps. Those are the kinds of things that warm a mothers heart.

It was SO cold that day! The kids never complained.

The first thing they did after the race was ask for tissue.
They took us back to this sign afterwards. They liked it. THANK YOU JAKE'S FAMILY.

We recruited our friend, Rohn, to run this year, too. He ran the Half Marathon in great time without even training.

Thank you Rohn.

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. The kids are completely out of control. They are absolutely rotten to the core. Dalton got drums. They are loud!! Savannah's "stuff" wasn't so loud, but she is. The nuts got up at 3:30 Christmas morning and couldn't understand why we didn't want to get up then. I was not to thrilled considering I didn't get to bed until about 1.

Here are some of the drums. I just realized, I haven't gotten a picture of them after being all set up.

Both kids said Santa did a good job this year. I just love Santa.

We had a great time. I'm waiting on the Christmas fairy to come clean everything up now.

I'll share my gift from Ashley next time. She's a nut!

Merry Christmas.
Kacy