November came. . .and went!

To start off this thankful month, we begin with the birthday of our wonderful Aunt Nancy! She was Tony's aunt first,
but now she has become Aunt Nancy to all of us! Even my parents call her Aunt Nancy! And she just loves having her picture taken!

Lace helped put the candles on it, and was very distressed when we didn't have quite as many candles to make Aunt Nancy's age on the cake, (much to Aunt Nancy's relief) so she settled for a pattern of some sort.

Lace also decided if you help put the candles on, you must have to help blow them out!



Aunt Nancy does a great job at loving the homemade gifts she gets! She NEVER asks for anything, and that makes her very hard to shop for! So, this year she got a sweet fall decoration that included a scarecrow, a cute little potpourri thing from K, and a stepping stone from Andy that took way too much effort, and totally was very ugly...and to think she was supposed to have 1 from each!

And finally. . . Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a family filled day and had lots, and lots of food! Kish's love food, as evidenced by our enormous guts! And we actually plan what clothes we can wear that will allow us to eat the largest amount of food, and still keep our clothes on!

We also took practice family pictures in preparation for Christmas Eve. We Kish's also have a sick sense of humor...and since my mom is dying, we wanted to make sure we had a great picture of all of us before she's a goner!
Can you see why we need practice?
Beginning on the left, Khayle, Tony, Andy, Laycee (on my lap), me, my oldest nephew Adam, Gary, my oldest niece Ashley, my older sister Shelly, Judy, my brother-in-law Toby, my tallest nephew Derek, my big brother GaryLee, and Andrew, my youngest nephew, and twin to my tallest nephew. Not pictured is Brandon, my nephew in law, he claimed to be 'working'.

I know, not everyone was as lucky as I was to marry such a catch.


Hmm...did I say lucky?

Anyways, we had a great Thanksgiving and we were so blessed to get to have my mom home this year. Last year she was in the hospital. We were also so happy that Mom had hair this year, too.

On a serious note, we never know what God has in store for us, and for my mom it's stage 4 breast cancer. That means that the cancer has moved to her bones. It has eaten away 50% of a vertabrae in her neck and one in her lower back. She has to be very careful, and not lift or have many jerking experiences, as it could cause her bones to break. Mom said she is expecting a miracle, and that she may have to deal with cancer, but cancer has to deal with God. She says prayer is the best medicine, so please keep them coming! She is getting 20 minute IV treatments every month that are supposed to help rebuild her bones. It does make her tired at first, but then she really perks up, and it has helped tons with her pain, and for that we are so thankful! We hope that they do find a cure, but if they don't and her time is short, we know that separation is only temporary as we will be together again in Heaven for eternity. And we're still going to Disney World and checking that right off of her 'Bucket List'!

Stay tuned, I'm behind in blogging, but coming up soon will be the girls' brithdays, a kindergarten Christmas concert, 2 baptisms, Christmas, and Disney World!

Fall Fun...Finally

Now, that fall has come and almost gone, (and my laptop is all better, thanks Brandon, Tony, HP, and Circuit City) I thought it would be fun to show all the fun this fall brought.

First, there was the trek down to Apple Annie's in Wilcox. Yes, we drove 3 hours to get some apples and pumpkins. Seriously, how much fun for the kids to pick apples right off the tree? And to cut your pumpkin right out of a real live pumpkin patch?

Well, it wasn't so much fun when there was not even one freaking apple on the trees. I mean, really? So not cool. So my mom bought an apple pie and some fudge, and off we went to the pumpkins.

(Who ever made fudge with M&M's and that sign is a freaking genius!)

Did I mention that it was quite chilly and rather cloudy?

Andy, Khayle, Laycee, and my mom set out to find the perfect pumpkins.

Holy crap, the patch went on and on. Like a sea of pumpkins.

Oh, we learned many things. Things like there are some prickers on the vines which LOVE to prick you, that some pumpkins have pimples (awesome!), and that there is only one pumpkin out in the patch meant for you.

Khayle and Mom found theirs right away.

Not too much longer, and Andy had his magic pumpkin.

Then there is our Laycee...she searched high and low,

and looked to and fro,

and just about touched every single pumpkin in the patch,

until finally, FINALLY she found her pumpkin!

We also had fun picking food that we didn't really plan on eating.



And those clouds? Of course they opened right up and poured on us! (YAY! for muddy shoes and soaking wet clothes!)

Next year we are so going to Walmart for the pumpkins and apples! And of course fall brings the exciting pagan holiday of Halloween. For years, I was strong enough and did not give in to the peer pressure from Tony to let them participate. (I was THAT mother at school that teachers dread.) Well, a few years ago I gave up the fight and now they celebrate this evil day.

Costumes are such a waste of money, and I hate, hate, hate spending lots of money on something they wear once!

So, Andy decided to be an old fashioned ghost made out of an old white sheet.

Khayle has developed a new obsession with HoBo's, so she dressed accordingly.

Then there's Lace . . . she wants to be Jasmine, Ariel, a clown, an angel, a devil, anything that crossed her beautiful mind. We tried the clown route, but the hair was awful! Since she had her beautiful wedding dress from Ash's wedding, we decided to get one more wear out of it and let her be an angel.But Lace does not act like an angel, so I thought it would be kinda cute to have a little devil tail peeking out the back of the dress. We ended up calling her costume "The Devil In Disguise" and it matched perfectly with her multiple personalities!

And because the girls go to Hermosa Vista, which was started by Longfellow's old staff, there is the sweet Halloween Parade. (Oh Goodie!) Laycee was so excited! It was the first time I have ever been to this parade since my days at Longfellow.

We saw a cute little boy dressed up as Abu,

and then we saw her. . .

. . . The principal! Dressed as Minnie Mouse!

I kid you not! I was going to do a whole blog just on her, but instead I'll just add it in here. My first thought was "Oh My Gosh! Does anyone have a mouse trap that big?" Enough said.
(I tried to get Tony to get a better, closer picture of the rodent, but he was just too chicken!)

Finally, there was trick-or-treating. And yes, Tony was working.

His wonderful saint of an aunt came over and went with me and the girls.

This was my last time, EVER! Laycee whined the entire time! And Khayle is apparently a die hard republican, because she would not trick-or-treat at any house that had a Barack Obama sign. She made that known loud and clear, while I silently prayed that Aunt Nancy wasn't a democrat.

Grandpa,

Gramma,

and Uncle Gary had some fun with the girls, too.

My nephew Derek was asked by the Albertson's he works at to dress up as Shrek. Man, he is a GREAT Shreak! He's HUGE!

Purdy, my parents goofy dog enjoyed getting in the middle of all the Halloween excitement.

Finally, with fall time comes my best 'homemaker' skill ever!! Making my front door, that never get used, look pretty!

Even though I grumbled through most of the fall, I loved seeing the kids carve their pumpkins, dress up, and just have so much fun. It was also extra special this year because Mom has her hair back, and she got to enjoy fall too this year! Now we're praying really hard she'll be here for next fall too!

HARRIET, Oh Harr-i-ett!

Khayle has the most amazing teacher! She had them read a biography then they held a Wax Museum in their class. So, guess who K chose to be? None other than the late, great Harriet Tubman, Conductor of the Underground Railroad! How awesome is that?

So, K had to become Harriet for the museum. That's so awesome! But, have you ever seen Miss Tubman? How about my daughter? Notice anything? Yep, that's right! Khayle is just about as white as you can get! The only thing these two have in common is the brown eyes!

This is the real Harriet Tubman, and the inspiration for Khayle's costume.

How freaking awesome is that? Harriet Tubman, bleached! She did a fabulous job! The entire class did amazing! There was Elvis, Aubrey Hepburn, Lewis & Clark, the Wright Brothers, and so many others.

I love Mrs. Barcia and I totally think that she needs a raise!

All she does is ITCH, ITCH, ITCH!

So, I totally should have seen the writing on the wall. Here were the clues:

1. Tony asked Tanya at 7:00 am, "Does she feel warm to you?" And I said, "No, she's just warm from sleeping so close to me all night" and "Lace, do you feel good? Wanna go to school?" She nodded yes, so off to school she went on Thursday! (October 16)

2. "Mommy, read this book to me!" said Lace about 3:15 pm. "Oh, I love Itchy, Itchy Chichen Pox!" said me. ( I just love books that rhyme.)

3. "Selly, look at these spots on my leg. I think I'm getting what Khayle has," said Lace after supper like at 6:00ish. Khayle has excema so we tell Lace she can't catch it, must be bug bites, she's fine.

4. "Tony, have ya seen the thermometer? Lace feels warm," I said about 9:00pm. Lace then informed us that she has a head ache. And the thermometer said, "101.3." and I said, "Oh, Crap!"

So as any good mother does, I called my mom, and she said, "Send her to school if she wants to go in the morning!" Morning came, and she was under 100.o, so off she went to school on Friday.

5. "Hey mom, look at this! The bug bit my belly lots of times!" Lace said after school on Friday.

Now, she has my attention! Like where is the freaking bug? And why does it keep biting only her? Well, apparently, it was a CHICKEN bug, and it gave LayceeBug the Chicken "pops"! I looked her over and sure enough, they were popping right out! She was surprised once she discovered that Chicken Pox don't respect private places. It sounded like this," I have them in my...? OH MY GOD!" And I laughed so hard I cried, and couldn't even tell her that she needed to say "Oh my Gosh!" She was shocked!

I was now in full panic mode! Off to Walgreen's I went to buy the Calamine Lotion and the oatmeal baths.

Why the panic? Well, when Khayle had the Chicken Pox, it was soooo terrible! She had them everywhere! And they got infected, and she ended up in the hospital where they drugged her so she could sleep, and gave her fluids because she had them in her throat and wouldn't drink or eat. Oh yeah- they also brought in all these doctors and nurses and took pictures because it was the worst case Desert Sam had ever documented! (Way to go, K! You rock!)

Have you ever seen anything as sad as this? And this was after she was all scabbed over.

Please take note of the one chicken pock on Andy's leg. (And yep, I was the stupid mother letting her lay with him so she would get them and have it out of the way!! WOW-good idea-NOT!)

However, the panic was mostly unwarranted. She did so great!!! She only itched when I tried to sleep, and was very moody, like PMS moody! And since I sent her to school with them for 2 days, she only missed 2 days! How great was that?!

Yay for the pops! Now all three kids have had them, and were done! WOO HOO!

How much do you think her teacher loves us for sending her in to school with them? Especially when she gave us all the hints? Parents like us are totally the coolest!

22 reasons we love 22 year old Ash on the 22nd!

How cool is it that my niece Ash is turning 22 on the 22?! So to celebrate, here's 22 reasons we love our Ash!

We love her because:

1. she is a natural born helper, and always answers with, "yes" when sentences start with, "I have a favor. . ."

2. she is the definition of "unconditional love" and shows it to our crazy family faithfully!

3. someday she will be an amazing mom to babies who will be just as perfect as she was and never cause her any grief! (However, this will make me a great aunt which does cause me extreme grief!)

4. she's an amazing role model to my 3 kids who happen to think she walks on water!

(Andy's in the red, K's in the blue, and Lace is in the green)

5. she loves Jesus and trusts him as her Savior and will live with us in His "Big, Big House" eternally someday!

6. she loves to read! (I like to think she got this from me since we're the only 2 who do it!)

7. she has annoyingly awesome hair! (Jerk)

8. she will bring yummy cookies just when I need them most! She also can find the perfect little gift to celebrate something you never even thought of celebrating! (Again-thinking of other's first)

9. she is an amazing wife who sets a Godly example for all wives, new and old, to follow.

10. she totally kicks some "grass" while racing on the Wii!


11. she finds humor in everything and will laugh at you, but make you think she's laughing with you!
12. she has put up with ADAM for over 19 very, very, very, long years!

13. she is very obedient which can seriously frustrate mothers whose children aren't! (like me- why did my sister get perfect kids AND patience!?)


14. she can buy the ugliest and strangest dogs on the planet and make them the most lovable and cutest puppers ever!


15. she still loves ketchup! On everything! (I also like to think she got this from me!)




16. she says she looks like me which I take as a HUGE compliment! (Have you seen her? She's freaking adorable!) 17. she will touch feet to find out and fix whatever's wrong with them when some people (me) can't stand to.

18. she is stupid smart, like ELP smart, AND she still answers her phone (when she see's it me) to help with homework. (Hey- 8th, 6th, and Kindergarten aren't like they used to be!)

19. she can sew (like on a machine)! And made Rude some dog diapers (out of a maxi pad, no less) so he wont pee in the house as often! Wonder what she can devise for his back end?

20. she embraces her name and all that comes with it. There's "JackAsh", "Ashwee", and one of the favorites is when Lace says her name and it sounds like "Ass" Nothing cuter in the world than to hear Lace say, "Hi Ass!" or "Where'd my Ass go?" (You can't help but crack a smile, huh?)

21. she is totally "Julie Cruise Director" and is working her tail off to plan a trip for 12 to DisneyWorld to celebrate Gramma Judy kicking the "grass" of breast cancer!

22. she is the best daughter, sister, grandaughter, niece, cousin, wife, friend, and someday (soon I hope) mother to be in the whole world and we are totally blessed to have her in our lives!

Can we all just thank God she wasn't turning 31 on the 31st? How long would that have been?!

Anyways- as you can tell, we all love our Ash! She's given us 22 amazing and blessed years! So thanks to my incredibly perfect, but much older sister, Shell and her husband Tobe for having her! (Oh- I guess this also is a testament to what amazing parents she has, and how raising your children according to God's Word is a blessing that keeps on blessing! And they made it look so easy! UGH!)

Ash- we can't wait to see what your next 22 are like! We love you and we're so glad you are our "Asswee!"

*There are more pictures that I am going to put in this, but since I'm computer retarded, I'll have to add them soon*