Cookies for Santa

The kids baked and decorated cookies to leave out for Santa on Tuesday. I sat back and let them decorate all on their own, which took a lot of will power on my part. The cookies turned out...let's just say interesting, and I survived not being in total control of the decorating. Jackson decorated a cookie and then ate it immediately, while Madison and Cason's stash of cookies slowly dwindled to nothing by this evening. So, we had to sneak some home from my Mom's house to leave for Santa!

More Pitts Basketball Action

Madison & Jackson both played basketball again last Saturday. Jackson scored 5 baskets this game, and Madison scored 6 baskets. Madison's crick in her neck from the 1st game was healed, so she played full force. Both of the kids' teams won their games-yea!!! I got in trouble for not posting a video of Madison playing last week, so here is some video of her playing for your viewing pleasure. I did not get any shots of her making a basket, but you can see her dribbling skills in all their glory!

Remember When

I found some discs in my classroom yesterday that were labeled Pictures, so I decided to take a looksy. On the discs were pictures of the kids from 2004 to about 2006. Cason was born in 2004, so he just a baby, Jackson was too for that matter, and Madison hadn't started school yet. I turned the slide show feature on so I could watch a movie of my babies. As I watched I found tears rolling down my cheeks. Actually, they are still rolling as I'm writing this. I can't believe my babies aren't babies anymore. The time went so fast! Those of you who have babies now, or are going to have babies soon, give them all the hugs and kisses you can, snuggle with them as much as possible, and savor every moment because they won't be babies before you know it.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from those discs.

Action Jackson

Jackson had his first basketball game on Saturday. He L-O-V-E-S basketball! He would play all day and night if I would let him. We even have a nerf basketball goal in our house! In the first video he has a fast break & goes in for the lay-up but misses:( In the second video he makes the 1st of his 6 baskets! It was so much fun watching him play because he loves it so much!
I'm not sure what the final score of the game was because they don't keep score, but I know our team won. Go Bears!!! (He is number 2)

Madison also had her first basketball game on Saturday. She woke up with a crick in her neck on Saturday morning, so she didn't play to her full potential. She did score 2 baskets and played hard. Her team only lost by 2 points!

Cason-isms

I have decided to start posting quotes from none-other-than the C-man himself. I like to call these quotes Cason-isms. The latest thing that he said that had Corey and I rolling goes like this: We had just begun our journey home from my mom's last Wednesday, and I was freezing-surprise, surprise. I had a hoodie on, so I put my hood on my head. Cason looks at me and says that I am "under the news." Corey and I look at each other, and then ask him what that means. He ever so non-chalantly says "you know, she doesn't feel good." We both crack up when we realize he meant "under the weather." Gotta love you some Cason!

All About Jackson

Jackson celebrated his 6th Birthday on November 26th. We had 2 different family parties for him, one on Tuesday night and one on Wednesday night. Tuesday night after dinner he started running fever and still had fever on Wednesday morning. So, Jackson had to spend his real birthday in the doctor's office. Dr. Martindale told us he had a bug and sent us on our merry way. Luckily, we got him an artist's easel for his birthday so he just sat around and drew all day.

The next Tony Romo finished his first season of Little Leopard Football. Jackson was the "star" quarter back for the Dallas Cowboys. Although, he never actually threw a touchdown pass, he looked just as cute as Tony Romo in his uniform! We have now moved on to basketball and he will play in his first game on Saturday!

Half Way to Eighteen

Tuesday, the 18th, was Madison's 9th birthday! I can't believe I have a 9 year old! It seems that even our children's birthdays revolve around eating out. Saturday evening we took Madison to Olive Garden for her birthday. Then, Tuesday we ate with my family at Bubba's for her birthday, and then last night we ate at La Fiesta with Corey's family for her birthday. While we were at La Fiesta, an Elvis impersonator was setting up his performing equipment. As he was warming up, we told him that he needed to sing "Happy Birthday" to Madison. So before he started his show, he sang to her. She was pretty excited that The King was the one singing Happy Birthday, not just her ol' fam! I think she had a good birthday. I'm so happy that we have such great family surrounding our children-birthdays and every day!

Our Veteran

Last Friday, Lorena Elementary had a Veteran's Appreciation Program to honor all the Veterans in our community. The students were allowed to invite a Veteran to sit with them during the program. My grandfather, Papa Bob, mentioned that he was going to speak at Bruceville-Eddy's Veteran's Day Program. I asked him if he would speak at our program too, and he said he would love to. So, he came to our program decked out in his Marine coat and hat, and ready to speak to our school. He did a great job speaking, and was so excited that he had 4 generations in that gym with him (Papa Bob, my mom, me, and Madison). It was not only a special day for our Veterans but for our family, one we will remember forever!

Cason Strikes Again!!!

My Papa Bob's 85th birthday was this past Tuesday, November 4th. Every Wednesday my family eats together at Bubba's, the local (okay only) cafe in Lorena. When we eat on Wednesday, we also celebrate any birthdays that have happened within the week. My mom usually brings some kind of dessert for the birthday celebration. Being the nice person that I am, I decided that I would bring the dessert for Papa Bob's birthday. After much pondering, and advice from my mom, I decided I would fix Sopapilla Cheesecake. So Wednesday afternoon I got home from school & immediately started preparing the cheesecake. I set the oven to 350 degrees, like the recipe calls for, and got it all together. I put it in the oven, set the timer, and began doing all the things I normally do on any given afternoon, i.e. help with homework, throw a load of laundry in, get clothes ready for the next day, etc. Twenty minutes later, I heard the timer go off, and started smelling a really burnt smell. When I opened the oven, I realized that something had gone terribly wrong. The Sopapilla Cheesecake was burnt to a crisp! I looked at the oven trying to figure out what went wrong; and then it all became perfectly clear. As I was running around getting things done, and possibly watching a few minutes of Oprah, Cason decided he needed a snack. The bucket of Halloween candy was on the counter right next to the stove. When Cason climbed on the counter to get to the Halloween candy, he turned the knob to the oven up to 500 degrees! I quickly put the pan out in the garage, so the whole house wouldn't smell like burnt cream cheese, and then started looking for something else to fix for my Papa's 85th birthday celebration. Of course, I had nothing else to fix! So, on the way to dinner we stopped at good ole' Brookshire's and picked up a store bought cake. I give up on cooking/baking! Every time I try, something goes wrong, and most of the time Cason is involved!!!

The Hulk, A Cat, & A Screamer...Oh My!!

Well, we survived another Halloween. The kids actually wore their costumes the entire time they were trick-or-treating. Every year since we started trick-or-treating, with kids, someone did not wear their costume. This year Jackson donned the Scream mask & cape, Cason was none other than the Incredible Hulk, and Madison was, after much searching, a Purr-ty Kitty. The kids got a ton of candy and had lots of fun!

A Whole New Image for Rainbow Brite

Corey & I attended a costume party last weekend. We thought long & hard about what we wanted to "be" for Halloween, but could never really make any decisions. Finally, a decision was made, for me anyway. A friend let me borrow her Rainbow Brite costume. I thought, "This will be great! My costume will be so cute & 80'sish." Well, it was really cute, but gave Rainbow Brite a whole new image. This was not the Rainbow Brite that I remember as a child! Corey had a little harder time making his decision on a costume because of his size. All the costumes say "one size fits most;" however, Corey is larger than most. After finding a suit for $4.99 at The Salvation Army, he finally decided to go as a Secret Service Agent. He was in charge of protecting Barak Obama a.k.a. Tom Crenshaw. We had a great time at the party, and saw some really creative costumes!