Weekend Update...

It was a busy weekend, but we got a lot accomplished! Morgan's ballgame was rained out Friday night, so it was nice to have a relaxing night in. We had homemade tacos for dinner (yum) and all went to bed early!

Up Saturday to get my hair did...I'll post a pic later...but I LOVE LOVE LOVE my hair! Thank you, Leah! It's a great job, as usual. Caleb had a scrimmage game, so Wade took him to that. He pitched a few, and got a couple of hits! It was good practice.

Then we were off to view some houses with Nonnie, and run errands. STILL couldn't get our phones at the AT&T store, but everyone was very nice there. It was a beautiful day - windy and cold - but beautiful blue skies. Gotta love it!

Morgan was off with a friend to go bowling and spend the night, so Wade and I headed back to Lowe's for the evening - pricing some things we'll need on the "honey-do" list for the house. Picked up a few groceries and headed home to hang out and watch TV.

Red Envelope Day!

I have done some volunteer work for a local non-profit here called the Pregnancy H.E.L.P. Center - my wonderful friend, Paula, is the director. Helping people know about and get the facts about abortion and the alternatives available is very close to my heart. Babies are SO wonderful - and we all know God created us every one. Even babies who don't make it to "birth" are still a creation of our all-knowing and loving God. So to see young (or older) women struggle with that decision is heartbreaking - and knowing what they will go through if they choose the wrong option - is even MORE heart-wrenching. Almost anyone who knows me knows that is a choice I had to make at 19 - and thank GOD I chose to give life. I knew it was the right thing to do then, but now that my Meggan is 19, and has a baby of her own - I can't imagine life without them.

I am so thankful that there are organizations out there and people like Paula who have a true passion and calling to get this information and help out there - in a loving way, to women who are in crisis or hurting, and who need the help.

I had never heard of "Red Envelope Day" - but I saw this over on Shannon's blog at Bless Our Nest (one of many wonderful blogs I follow)... check out this link that tells about it - get your own red envelope, and join in the day to bring awareness - that these are pre-born people who have no voice without us:

http://thedavisfamilynwa.blogspot.com/2009/03/red-envelopes.html

Sunday we went to church at CrossRoads, then out to lunch with Grandpa & Pat. Then it was home to work in the yard - it looks GREAT, if I do say so! The flowers are blooming, spring is definitely almost here. I will even have pics soon...

Meggan & Jacob are excited about coming to Texas. We are NOT excited about Jacob having to leave, but I'm glad they are coming. Emalyn is getting so big!!!! They will be here while the Angelina County Rodeo is going on, and for Jacob's birthday. Hopefully we'll have more visitors, as Nonnie has a surgery coming up.

Here's the pic of the weekend:

Crazy week...

It's been a crazy week - SO TGIF!!!

See my new button - this little baby and his family need your prayers!

Here at home, we are so thankful that our friend Megan is doing better. She had an accident on Monday, and if you don't believe God watches over us...let me just tell you...HE DOES!!! There were so many ways it could've ended badly, but in the end, His hand was watching over her & her kiddos. SO PRAISE for that!!! Wade saw it happen, and was able to be right there to help her - thank God for that as well. It was a blessing to him to be able to help. Everyone is doing better, and hopefully all will be back to normal for them in no time.


The rest of the week has just been busy, busy...ballgames, practices, thunderstorms, errands... you name it!


Morgan is on JV now for the Hudson Lady Hornets, but I suspect our game tonight will be cancelled due to the weather.


Well, I just have to face it...Michael Sarver is going home. I'm so sad for him. I have to agree that his song choices the last two weeks were not the best for him, but there are MUCH WORSE performers this season. I voted for you, Michael!!!! I'm sure his family will be glad to have him home, and since he got into the TOP 10 he gets to do the tour!! So CONGRATULATIONS MICHAEL! I know he'll have a recording contract soon anyway, and I for one am looking forward to it. I may even head over to Jasper one weekend to hear him sing LOL!!!


I spent an hour in the AT&T store last night agonizing over which phone to get (I want an IPHONE BADLY but can't bring myself to drop $199 on it!). Not to mention, trying to choose for the kids as well. Finally, FINALLY, made up our minds, only for him to check and find out THEY DON'T HAVE ANY OF THE PHONES WE PICKED!!! AAAAAGGGHHHH!! I get so frustrated anyway dealing with them. They messed up our plan last year, and started our contracts over without giving us the upgrade option. We finally got it all straightened out, but due to the messup, we can't upgrade online, where there are more options available at better prices. SO I'm not very happy with them right now.

On the home front, it appears that our quest to purchase Nonnie's house is moving ahead. PRAY FOR US as we work through all the paperwork to get this deal closed. It will be very nice to have our own home! I'll tell you more about that later...plus I'll have to post up some pics.


Meggan & Jacob are doing well - Emalyn is feeling MUCH better. Meggan not so much, but she found out yesterday her ear infection is in the outer ear, so was not being treated correctly. She's got antibiotic ear drops now, and all will be well in a few days hopefully. They are enjoying Jacob being home for a little while. Keep our military in your prayers people - Afghanistan and Iraq are not fun places to be these days!! They will be here in a couple of weeks when Jacob gets time off for pre-deployment leave - I CAN'T WAIT!!! Meggan said Emalyn's new thing is she has to have a blanket by her, and covers her face with it to fall asleep. She's so cute!!!

Trip to Houston...

...was a great getaway! We had a ball hanging out at Marion's. Morgan and I got in Friday night, and after some visiting, of course, Max slept with us! He loves to spoon in the middle of the guest bed. So funny...and he snores. Penny slees with her mom, so no worries there, and Lacy won't have anything to do with us.

Saturday we got up and lazed around for awhile, then headed over to IKEA (after stopping at Sonic for morning caffeine). I LOVE the IKEA catalog, but had never been in the store before. OH MY GOODNESS! It was crazy! A little bit overwhelming, actually. But the room setups are great, and I figured out I can buy a lot of the furnishings we need there for cheap! They have a great pattern, in lime greens with just a touch of red - called Blad multicolor. If it's not too weird for hubby, I'll probably use it as an inspiration for my living room. Wicker chairs are only $50! The hammock is so cute and only $60 - it's my new favorite place!

Then we headed to Cheesecake Factory in the Galleria, and had a wonderful chicken salad sandwich and creamy chicken soup that was awesome, finished off with a chocolate mousse cheesecake. OH MY - the three of us split it, and a couple of bites was more than enough. While we were there, Morgan & I cruised through Saks - boy, if I won the lottery, I could do some shopping!

Then we headed down Westheimer to my ALL TIME FAVE PLACE - POTTERY BARN! Can you tell I was excited? I actually have a gift card still to use there, but they didn't have the quilt I wanted in the size I needed. No big deal - it was just cool to be in my fave store and check out all the new stuff. Restoration Hardware and Williams Sonoma were all right there - it was almost more than I could handle LOL!! My small town self is showing through about right now! But I got some great ideas for the house. Once we get it all bought and done I'll start making decisions - I have a hard time because I love so many different things. I have to settle down and pick one and go from there.

When we got back to Pearland, we all stopped and had pedicures. It felt SOOOO good - I really was overdue! Then on the way to Marion's we stopped at Blockbuster and picked up Twilight and The Secret Life of Bees. We watched movies and ate take out Chinese - I LOVE me some General Tso chicken!!

Sunday we got up and watched Joel Osteen for church. He is SO good - everything he said was SPOT ON talking to me that morning! Made me think...God is really so, so good. When things aren't going so good, you can be guaranteed He is allowing you to be tested, just to prove to you that He'll never leave you! OR that we are being disobedient in some way. Much to think about!
We watched a movie called the Changeling before we left - that was disturbing! I've got to research and see if this was based on true happenings - I hope not!! But Angelina Jolie is a great actress, I have to admit.

Then we headed home. I'm always happy to be home, but it's always a letdown to go back to "normal" life! Wade had started our laundry, though, and fixed some dinner for us. We had to do a quick run for some basic groceries, then everyone went to bed early to get ready for the first day back after Spring Break!


Jacob got to come home on Saturday, so Meggan was doing better. She has an ear infection now on top of everything else, but Emalyn is better, and Jacob is there to help! Thank Goodness! Here's the picture of the day!

Randomness yet again...

I haven't much time, but I just had to say...American Idol on Tuesday was SO SO wrong! Other than Danny and Matt... WTH? What was going on? Michael Sarver - I LOVE YOU - but PLEASE don't ever scare me like that again!! Garth Brooks? That song? NO NO NO! Do MUCH better next week. Adam - WTH? I can't even comment on that performance it was so weird.
I DO think the wrong person went home...hopefully next week will be MUCH better!
Off to Houston for the weekend, the boys will be camping, and Nonnie will be thankful for much needed peace and quiet!

Random thoughts

It's a beautiful day in East Texas!!! The sun has finally come out - hallelujah! Two days in a row...it may be here to stay!

Caleb has another ballgame tonight. We won last night - 12 to 6 - and Caleb had a couple of great hits! After tonight we'll see... We've played the last 2 nights but it's been fun, hanging out with the other parents and watching all the games played in this tournament. Nonnie came out and joined us last night!

Spring Break has been pretty much noneventful (other than the baseball tournament) so we're all just enjoying no school, the kids sleeping in, me not having to RUN to pick them up after work... We may hit Houston this weekend for some gift card shopping (the best kind!) Caleb & Wade have some outdoor time planned.

Meg & Em have been under the weather in NC this week...we're praying they get over this virus and GET WELL SOON! Here's today's pic:

You can't tell she's been driving Meg crazy crying for 3 days, can you? LOL Do I remember those days! Hopefully they are on the mend. Jacob is still out in the field, so Meggan is doing it alone. Her friends have been helping as much as they can, though - I'm thankful she has good friends there. (Lindsey, Gayla, Karla, Brittaney!)

I missed American Idol last night, so I'll have to catch up on the DVR tomorrow - DON'T TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED YET!!!!! I'll check in later...

Weekend Update...

Happy Spring Break! I'm so happy the kids are out of school this week...we needed a break!

The weekend was rainy and blah weather. It rained ALL DAY Friday and on and off Saturday.

Friday night Caleb had a basketball game - we lost to Diboll, but only by 12 points! It was a good game - we got 3rd place in the tournament! Congratulations to the Hudson All-Stars! I was told the Diboll coach works at the Boys & Girls Club, and those boys play together all the time. They were a good team, but they could ALL learn a thing or two about sportsmanship. At one point, the Diboll coach yelled "Put it to 'em" and the parents from that team got pretty loud as well. It's a shame really - these are 9 and 10 year old boys. Oh well, our boys had class even though they lost ~ I am very proud of them!

Friday and Saturday were rainy, rainy days and the cold came back. I'm ready for Spring to be here and stay!!! Saturday was baseball practice and grocery shopping, but I started up with a bad sore throat so slept most of Sunday. The clouds haven't cleared up yet, but I've heard it will be 77 degrees today. We can hope!

The Lufkin Baseball Tournament starts tonight - we play at 7:45 pm. Caleb is on the RedSox team. He will be trying pitching this year - should be interesting!!!

Here's the latest picture of Em with her new bow that Meggan sent...

Various...

So, what did you think about AI last night? GO MICHAEL! Loved him, Adam, Lil ~ I even loved Anoop Dogg (I don't care WHAT the judges say!). You had to be there when the original "tape" came out (Thriller 1983) to really appreciate it. So I can't wait to see who's gone tonight...and I hope none of you reached the "13" number by accident, if you know what I mean ;)

Nonnie arrived home safely yesterday. She brought home gifts from Washington D.C. and some great pictures from my grandparents' collection. Some of these I had never seen, so I have to share a few...

This is my Grannie holding me when I was just a tiny baby (well, technically I was never tiny after weighing in at 10 lbs 10 oz, but we're relatively speaking here...)

This is my Daddy holding me outside our home on Humason Street - how handsome is he? how cute am I?

Obviously my first birthday...again, how cute am I?
Here I am (not sure the age) again looking adorable! (is there a theme to this?)Here I am with my Daddy and my sister - must be my 7th birthday. What is up with the pink rat by my cake?????And...last but not least...my favorite picture of Emalyn from today...how sweet is this child???? I love her SO MUCH!

Weekend Update...

It was a beautiful weekend here in East Texas... almost like Spring was actually here for good! I got out Saturday morning and worked in the flower beds - they needed mucho help. I sat down to weed around the asparagus ferns, but after I discovered a little chicken snake was hanging out under there, I got the hoe out! We got quite a bit done, and after the last cold spell (reportedly coming this way for the end of our week) I will get new plantings in and mulch it all. I did put out my best bargain find of the season - a blue glass garden ball I got at Hobby Lobby for only $5!!
Then we were off to the 2nd round of Caleb's All-Star Tournament. The other team had to forfeit, as they did not have enough players show up, so it was all good, but then we all decided to let them play since we were there. All I can say is, it's a good thing we already had the win, because they stomped us! Come to find out, we were up against a select team that practices together pretty much year round, while our little 9 and 10-year old boys had maybe 4 practices together as a team. Oh well - now we know what to expect if we play them again! Next game is Wednesday night.
Sunday was pretty much church and getting the house ready for another crazy week. It was a nice day, and I LOVE getting the extra daylight, but I sure hate losing that hour of sleep! Of course, we forgot to change our clocks on Saturday night, but we still got up and made it to church!
Yesterday was back to school as normal. Morgan had a checkup from her pneumonia a couple of weeks ago, and all is clear. The pollen is out though - every car in town is YELLOW from the stuff - so Dr. put her on Singulair until allergy season is over.
Last night the Lady Hornets Sophomore team hosted Huntington's Soph team. We won 3-2! It was a good game. Morgan didn't get a hit, but she had a great catch at 1st. Next play is this weekend at the Nacogdoches Tournament.
Nonnie comes home today, so I'm hoping things will soon feel "normal" again. I guess they really won't be...it's really weird when you lose a grandparent who's always been there. I don't think it's really sunk in for me yet. I was pretty close to my Grannie all these years, and I haven't really wrapped my head around her not being around any longer. I know it's harder on my Mom & her siblings - they have now lost both parents. I can't imagine...and don't want to! I know God will carry us all through, but it is hard at times.

Meggan took Emalyn in for her 2 month checkup today ~ she's almost 12 pounds now! She got her shots, too. Meggan said that was not so much fun :( I sure do miss that little girl!!!!
I'll let you know how the games go...

Last night...

I know I haven't posted my all-important American Idol opinion lately.

Last week we were gone every evening, and I finally caught up on the episodes I missed on the DVR. Kind of an ordinary week on AI, but I must brag on myself - I did pick the Top 3!

This week, Tuesday night was a must-see, as Kendall Beard was performing, and she is from right here in little ol' Lufkin, Texas! She didn't make it through :( but at least Michael Sarver is in the Top 12!!!! (Caution: Spoiler - Oops I mean Top 13!) Again, I picked the Top 3!!!

Then, when they announced the wild card contestants - I thought, TATIANA? WHAT? Are you MAD? Again, she appeared to be drugged! And last night, where did that HEAVY accent come from? What a drama queen! THANK GOODNESS they did not put her through.

The first week, my only dilemma was that I thought Anoop was so great - but if it was him or Michael...sorry, I have to go with the Texas boy! So I was SO SO HAPPY last night when the judges decided that 13 could go - because Anoop really can sing! And he is totally likeable. It should be a great competition and I am SO ready for the REAL competition to get started.

On to family news...

Caleb's basketball team won their game last night in the first round of the All-Star Tournament! He is #1 (no really, it's on his jersey!) and a post. I am very proud of them - they did great! Next game is Saturday. Morgan's just waiting for gametime Monday.

Meggan called yesterday and has strep throat again - but Jacob was not in the bus crash, thank goodness. Emalyn is doing great - more pics to come! Nonnie will be home on Tuesday. One more week and it will be Spring Break - I am so ready!!!

One more week until Spring Break and I AM READY!!!

Later in the week...

OK - my last post was heavy on the bad news. We actually HAVE had some good news this week as well!


Caleb made the Hudson All-Star basketball team for 9-10 year olds. They are getting ready for the first game of the All-Star Tournament tonight! It's been fun - he really loves basketball. Baseball will be getting started soon, so we're ready for that too!

Morgan's slowly getting over a slight case of pneumonia. They had no ball games this week, but Monday should be a good one against Huntington. She went to Bull Bash last weekend and saw

Luke Bryan in concert - she said he was really good!
Both kids took Reading TAKS on Monday and they both said it went well - we'll see when the scores come out!


Meggan, Jacob & Emalyn got some snow in North Carolina. Meg is getting over strep throat. Yesterday, Jacob left again for training for most of March, getting ready to deploy this spring. There was a bus accident today as they were carrying more 22nd MEU guys to Virginia, so keep them in your prayers. It appears no one was seriously hurt, but that's a scary thing all the same.
Meggan sent me quite a few pictures this week - this is one of my favorites!!!
Meme sure does miss Emalyn!!!!

We are missing Nonnie too - and ready for her to come home next week. We'll let you know how the Tournament comes out!

Weekend Update...

Well, I know it's been a little while since we posted. Last week was a really, really tough one to get through.

First of all, Caleb was assigned to DAEP (Alternative School) last Friday, to begin on Monday, so that had him pretty worried, which in turn worried us. Do you know what it's like to have a 10-year old who is worrying like that?

Then we were at a softball tournament ALL weekend long, so nothing got done around the house. The softball was fun though!

Worst of all, Nonnie headed to Atlanta on Saturday and then she & her sis were going to check on their mom, my Grannie, but got the call that they needed to come "Now!" on Sunday. Lucky for Mom she was that far along in her trip. They hurried up to Tennessee, where their 2 brothers met them.
My Grannie (Berniece Lois Duggan Acuff) never regained consciousness after becoming "unresponsive" that weekend. She passed away early in the morning on Tuesday, February 24. She was 83 years old. The obit and the memorial were really neat - some great pictures of my Grannie, who was a beautiful woman!
But none of that tells what she really was... a poet and an artist, a world-class baker, a woman who reveled in making a beautiful home and taking care of her family. My grandparents always made visiting us "grands" a priority, and we saw them 2 or 3 times a year. When we were little kids, Grannie would record herself reading books to us and mail them so we'd hear her voice. I remember her filing my fingernails as we drove over the Mississippi Bridge because she knew I hated being up so high. We'd go pick peaches and strawberries in the summer, and Grandpa would make the world's best strawberry jam to go on my Grannie's homemade bread.
They were so excited to be Great-Grandparents (Nannie & Bawpaw), and we took our kids many years to their home and visited our family's heritage up in the Smoky Mountains. Grandpa was a member of the Acuff family - and loved to "pick" and sing. Grannie's family had lived in the Smokies when she was a girl, and moved out when it became a national park. They loved to share family history, and Grandpa was ALWAYS taking pictures and showing "slide shows" with his famous popcorn.

Grannie prayed for us and loved us all - and now she's back with my Grandpa, from whom she never wanted to be apart, and my Dad, who they thought of as their own son. And I know I'll see them again someday. In the meantime, I miss them so very, very much...

So I'll write more later and post some pictures, but for now my heart is just too heavy.