It has been over a week since I blogged

Yeah, I know it has been a while, but it is a busy season, right?! We have been very busy! So much has been happening lately! Our black lab is pregnant and we hope that our late yellow lab is the father and since she is kept in a kennel we are pretty sure, but once while we were riding the horses and she was out with us she ran across the street to the neighbor's Chow - they hope he is the father! We want Kodee to be the father!!!! Then we are pretty certain that Claire is pregnant and her pony foal will be Sydnee Renee's pony! Those are some of the good things that have happened! There is so much going on that I am having a tough time putting it all together. I need to take the time nightly as I was doing to put into words. I do this more for myself than for anyone else, but to my faithful readers who email me or message me on Myspace - Thank you for reading, but please comment on here and add your name to my readers' list. Well, my hubby is not feeling well and I have a sinus infection so we are going to bed! Have a great night!

Weekend blog

Hello everyone. I hope you are all having a great weekend. I know we have had a great one! Busy as always, but nice. I got my new truck Friday night and Larry and I went out to dinner and a little shopping. I got a new camera as well!!! Loving it!!! We had a nice evening. Marlee had her old best friend - new again - over for the weekend. So when we called to check in they wanted Pizza so we brought them home Pizza and watched part of a movie and then all got too sleepy to finish it :)! Saturday we got up and went to get horse feed and run some other errands. Marlee and Lily made chocolate chip pancakes for the kids since that is Larry's job usually, but we had to get the feed early. Then Marlee rode for a little while - Mystic and Checotah. Craig and Kourtnee came over to see my truck and give the Explorer to Larry for the weekend. By the way that is another present for Larry - since I got my new truck he gets my Explorer now! That is IF he can get it from Kourtnee! lol! Anyway, Marlee, Kalee, Lily and I went to the mall and had lunch and walked around a little - Kourtnee and Craig met us there and walked around with us a little while. Marlee got the top of her ear pierced at Claire's like she has been wanting done with the agreement that she will never ask for another piercing and no hoops in that hole only studs. :) Some things you give in on to let them express themselves and it is another part of Choosing Your Battles. This one she could win. She was very happy. Then we went to Calamity Janes and got Marlee's Barrel Racing jacket - have to get a picture of that! We then took Lily home and Larry called and asked me to bring Taco Bell home and we did. We watched one of the best movies ever - The Holiday! It did have one bad word - the F word once and a few scenes that were questionable, but it was a very good movie. It left us wanting a part 2!!!!!!! Loved it!! Then today we went to church and watched the Christmas Program the children put on. After church we went with friends to Golden Corral and then on to the Christian Cowboy Christmas Rodeo! We all had a blast!!!!! Love that rodeo! The focus is on Christ and that is so awesome! It is a full rodeo - team roping, calf roping, break away roping, barrel racing, bronc riding, bull riding and trick riding between! It was great! We hope to see Marlee and Drae there soon!!! Then we came home and are chilling now! The kids are in bed - tired! They have school in the morning and are ready for Christmas break! Well, I think that about covers it! I love my truck by the way!!!! I hope you all have had a great weekend like us! I hope your week is full of blessings! I know our week will be blessed because we serve a God who loves to bless His people! I want to remember someone that the Rodeo world has lost recently - Roger Harris! He was the originator of the Mid Atlantic Rodeo Association and started the Christian Cowboy Christmas Rodeo many years ago! He will be missed! He is in heaven watching over us and I love the way they played his voice for the prayer today! He gave us tickets to the rodeo for the foster and adopted kids and this year and from now on his wife Mrs. Harris and the family are going to continue the rodeo and continue to give for the kids! They are a blessing to the rodeo world as well as the Body of Christ! God Bless you Harris family!!!!! (by the way - my truck is a Ford Explorer Sport Trac!)

ER Tonight

Well, tonight ER actually made me feel like I was watching the great show I used to love! I am so glad that Abbie admitted her problem and is going to deal with it. I love the way Sam is moving up! I loved the issue surrounding the Downs syndrome boy. It was just a really moving show tonight! I was glad that I chose to watch it instead of Without a Trace. I only hope that tonight was not Abbie's and Lucah's way of leaving the show and I fear that it was. I hope that with the writer's strike we will still get a good ending to this wonderful show.

Thankful Thursday - Larry is Thankful

I am posting for Larry today! HE got his Christmas present early! He picked it up today! I wanted to get this for him and God blessed me with the finances to do it! He got a brand new Lawn Tractor (farm talk for riding mower!)! He was beside himself when I told him. He has never had a brand new mower at all!! He picked it up today at Tractor Supply! It is a big 46 inch cut with cruise control, cup holder and all the perks! Fully loaded you might say lol! He is so happy! There will be photos soon. I will take some tomorrow and add them to this post! I am so thankful that I could do this for him! He is my whole life and I love to make him happy! He says I do that just by being his! I love this man that God gave me nearly 20 years ago!!!

Twofer Tuesday

Tuesday, the 4th of December! Wow - 3 weeks until Christmas. Aiden turned 1 today and he is in Virginia so I did not get to see him! That was a little heart breaking, but we had a great day though! Larry and I went together to Kourtnee's doctor appoinment today and Pappy got to hear Nee Nee' 's heart beat. He was thrilled to say the least and hopes to get to be there for her last ultrasound. It was nice to share that with him. It sometimes will cause me to be sad for just a millisecond that we could not share moments like that together with a baby of our own, but this is pretty incredible to share it with our daughter! and to be there together! Kourtnee is such a special person and then to have her little girl on her way into our world is even more special! That was the best thing today! There was another thing that happened that I will have to share on Friday after I pick it up and can upload pictures! I am very excited! We did (Larry and I) go to the mall and do a little Christmas shopping! Got the kids their big gift! We open gifts on Christmas Eve and then have a "big" gift on Christmas Morning under the tree. That is their "Santa gift". Even after they are old enough and find out the truth about Santa they still get their big gift on Christmas morning. I cannot wait to see their faces!!!! I lvoe it when they open their gifts!!! They are so thankful and so excited with each one! I lvoe children!!!!

Miracle Monday

Today was a great day! Something that we have been waiting for for about a year and a half came through! We were extremely happy and thankful! I am also happy because I won some great stuff on Ebay!!!! I love to win on Ebay!!! It is so exciting. I also get excited when I sell stuff on Ebay! It is so much fun to see your items sell as the bid gets higher and higher! I am making my blogs shorter and shorter I know, but seems I am so busy I only get online right before bed - late at night. Then I am so tired and sleepy! I hope everyone has a great night!

Sunday - Baptism

Today something wonderful happened! TJ and Kalee got Baptised! Their daddy did the baptism at church. It was great! The church gets cake and balloons and all that stuff and they have a Spiritual Birthday Party after service. It was a very nice day! After church we went to the parade and Marlee rode Tacoma. This was her first time to ride a horse in a parade and she did very well and had a blast! There are some not so wonderful things going on in our lives right now. Would love to have prayers from believers. God knows what the issues are so just ask HIM to help us out right now. Thanks! Have a blessed Monday, tomorrow!

Saturday - Parade!

Today we were in the parade to represent Foster Care and Adoption. This is a yearly event. Doing something every year really helps you to see how your kids are growing. When we started the parade Alex, Kourtnee and Marlee all were old enough to walk beside the float giving out brochures, but Drae, TJ and Kalee all ahd to be in the float. Well last year Kourtnee was no there to ride the float she was there to watch the parade as she was an adult. Alex, Marlee and DRAE walked, but TJ and Kalee and now Kris all had to be in the float. Well this year was teh hardest! Kourtnee was watching with her fiance', Alex was not there at all, Marlee did not want to walk because she is not a "kid" and Drae, TJ and KALEE walked! Kalee handed out CiCi's Pizza coupons that Cici's will give a dollar to Foster Care when the coupon is used. As she passed out each one she gave a bright smile and a "Merry Christmas"! She looked and sounded so grown up and was just so sweet and beautiful! I was very proud, yet sad. we all talked about the fact that our kids are growing up! The parade went well and we had a great time as always and these are times and memories we will never forget! cherish the memories of your kids and every little cute thing they do! They are grown so fast!

Missed Thankful Thursday - Fun Friday

Well, I missed last night. So I will have to write the a thankful blog next week. But everyone knows how thankful I am for my family and my life. Most of all I am thankful for my Savior - Jesus Christ!
Fun Friday was good. We rented Bridge to Terabithia - may not have spelled that right! It was not what the kids thought it was going to be but they did like it. They want us to buy it. We rarely ever rent movies, because it is a waste because we normally buy them anyway :). It made me want to go out into our woods and see what is out there! It definitely made the kid in me what to go explore!!!! I am going to bed now even though it is Friday. we have to be up early to go get ready for the parade that we are in tomorrow to represent Foster Care and Adoption! Marlee is riding in her first parade (a horse) on Sunday. I am sure we will have pics up soon! have a blessed weekend!

Wild Wednesday

It was so wild I cannot even go into it! We had a family crisis to day - with a family of our size that is not that rare, but it can get wild! I will just leave it at that! No one is physically injured or anything like that! :) Church was good tonight as usual! May have to use some of it for Spirit Sunday's blog! Kris decided to stay home with mommy, daddy and Shelby today and we had Aiden today as well - that in itself was wild - the 3 of them! They are all so cute together! Aiden is almost 1 (next week), Shelby 2 and Kris just turned 4. It was a fun day! I love having them home. I love having my husband home, too, but he really does need a job so please keep praying for him to get a job! It would be nice if we could afford for both of us to stay home! We are now "used to" each other enough that I really do not even think we would want to kill each other after a time of being together 24 /7! :) Love you baby!!!
well, anyway that is it for tonight - sleep awaits and it is calling my name tonight!!!
Good night all! Have a wonderfully blessed Thursday!!!!!

Law and Order SVU ......

Is the best show ever! I love this show! The writers never disappoint on this show!!!!!! Tonight was an awesome and emotional show. The crash brought me many emotions - my wreck was a year a half ago and I swear the sound of the crash put me right back there. Then the top being cut off and the breaking glass took me back to Kourtnee's wreck and standing outside and not being able to get to her! Then the baby part - Kourtnee being pregnant now! Wow it really hit home. It was played perfectly the actors and actresses did a fabulous job! But I am not surprised as i believe this is one of the best shows on TV!!!!!!!

Twofer Tuesday

Number one - kids say the funniest things: Tonight Larry and I went out to dinner - not a restaurant, but fast food and not alone with Shelby and Kristofer. Shelby is my 2 year old niece and of course Kristofer is our 4 year old son. Shelby said the funniest thing tonight. We were going to eat at Kentucky Fried Chicken / Taco Bell. You know the ones that have both together. Well, anyway, as we approached Shelby started yelling, "That's Chicken bell - it's chicken bell we are going to chicken bell". Larry and I were cracking up, but hey it really makes since! K.F. Chicken / Taco Bell - equals Chicken Bell! They so need to change their name!!!! Too cute!!!! Dinner was fun! Shelby is such a cute little riot!!!!
Number two - My morning was blessed with the arrival of Shelby as usual and then Keara - missed her so much over the Holiday weekend and then little miss Brianna came in. I was very happy to see her! When Stacey told me she was starting to get picked up today for school, I took it to mean that she was getting picked up by the bus at her daycare, but she meant she would be picked up here every morning! I was very happy about that. Now I get to see both girls for a while every morning and get to give a hug and kiss each morning! I truly love these girls just like they are already ours! i just pray that things work out that way!
Another nice thing - ok this is 3 I know! We had lunch with Kourtnee and Craig today! That was a nice little get together with just the 4 of us plus Shelby! All in all a nice day - weather wise, too. Oh and a big thing! we found out that a little country gas station and bait store less than 3 miles from our house sells HORSE FEED and a good feed, too, and a whole lot cheaper!!!! So we save on feed, and save tons on gas! we had been driving about 20 plus miles to get our feed!!!!! Pays to stop at little stores to get gas even if they are about 3 cents more than everyone else! :) Glad we did today and glad that Larry saw the feed sign!!! Cannot believe we have never noticed it before, but we usually just pass right by that store.
Hope you all had a great day and an wonderful night!

Miracle Monday

Well, today I experienced a miracle with my daughter that I was never able to experience myself. This is just a part of the journey that I am so enjoying with Kourtnee!!! I love her so much and her baby girl is the miracle I am blogging about today! Kourtnee had to go the hospital this morning. She was having a lot of pelvic pressure and then contractions that were 5 to 7 minutes apart. They picked me up and we went to the hospital. Things are completely fine. She was a little dehydrated (that caused the contraction like feelings) and has an urinary tract infection. They told her to drink triple the amount she is drinking. Her cervix was very high and all is well. Sydnee did not like the monitor on her belly though. When she finally found it she started kicking it really hard and with rhythm! You would be hearing the heart beat very steadily and then in a good rhythm but much slower a large thump and then thump and you could see the monitor actually pop up. It was so funny - she either found it to be like a toy or wanted it off of her!!! :) then she went swimming and the nurse had a hard time finding the heart beat again, but we were not worried because her mommy could feel her swimming around in there. She does that with the doctor's office, too. I told Kourtnee that her favorite game is going to be Hide and Seek and in the pool Marco Polo since she lies to swim and be hard to find! I, of course, do feel some pain through this experience because I see what all Larry and I have missed out on together, but Kourtnee is giving me such great joy by allowing me to experience it fully with her! I would not trade this for anything in the world! I said that Sydnee Renee' is getting anxious to see her Meme and to make sure that Aiden is not getting too much attention, but I told her to wait a couple more months! :) All is well though Thank God! I am thankful today for my miracle grand daughter and for my daughter who is allowing me to share in her joy!!! I love you Kourtnee Renee' and Little Nee Nee'!!!!

Sick - missed church :(

Well, I hate missing church but today I had to stay in bed! Larry took a couple of the kids and a few stayed here sick as well. So I am laying in bed typing this blog on my lap top! This is Sunday so I need to type something spiritual. So I want to share one of my favorite scriptures:
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
Sometimes we may not see how what we are going through can work to our good, but just rest in the peace of knowing that He is working this out for YOUR GOOD!!! It is awesome to know that He is on my side! I love My Papa God!!!
Have a blessed Night!

A change in my weekly blogs

I want to change. I want Friday to Fun and Free Friday - you choose what to blog about. I also want to change Saturday to another free choice. Sorry I have no idea what to call it. :)
Ok, anyway, now that I have taken care of that business, I have a great picture for you. Also, I get to tell the secret surprise early. We got Marlee's blessing early not tomorrow, but we got it today! She was blessed with a new quarter horse! She is an 8 year old gray mare. She is so pretty! Hey how about Surprise Saturday - for the name of the weekly blog! Surprise us with what you choose to blog about. That works for me. :)! Anyway, I am rambling because I am not feeling well and my thoughts are running together! So just check out the picture and I will tell you more about Mystic Rain later - that is the new horse's name! Marlee and I named her!
Good night all - have a great Sunday!

Fun Friday

Ok so today was technically Black Friday, but here on my blog it is Fun Friday! Today was fun for me. My mom, sister, Kourtnee, Marlee, Kalee went to lunch and a little shopping for a girl's day -BUTTTT Craig joined us! So it was all of us girls with Craig oh yeah and Aiden. Grandpa kept the boys - Drae, TJ and Kris while Robert went to visit a friend and Angel, Alex and Larry had to work. We had a good time. Then My mom, Dad, Vicky, Robert, Kourtnee, Craig and Larry and I went to The Murphy House for the Friday night seafood buffet! we had a good time. On the way there Craig asked Larry for Kourtnee Renee's hand in Marriage. Larry gave his blessing and they have picked out the rings - now we aer just waiting for the date! So all in all we had a great day. The wonderful thing that happened the other day to Marlee and all of us actually is not going to happen Sunday - instead it will be tomorrow if all goes well. So you may get the wonderful news tomorrow! I hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Thanksgiving Night - Thankful Thursday

Well today at dinner as always we held hands in a circle and went around and said what we were thankful for. Most of us said family and togetherness and for this great country we live in - the reason we celebrate this day. It was a nice day. Even the weather was nice. We were all in shorts and t-shirts! Wild for November in North Carolina. We had so much food as always! The kids did so much of the cooking this year it was great! It is nice to pass on the torch - so to speak! Even Drae got into the cooking action. I make a Corn Bread Casserole that he just loves and this year I gave him the recipe - told him we have to make more than it calls for so he has to multiply everything by 4. He did it and TJ helped a little and it turned out great!!! Kourtnee baked a turkey because Larry fries a turkey and some like it baked and some fried. So she made that and mashed potatoes - Real with the skin on! Then she made her famous Baked Squash casserole and Sweet Pot. Cass. They were awesome as always! Only this year she made all of these things at her own house and brought them over!!! Angela made banana pudding, something my mom has always made, but as of today Angela took over that tradition - everyone loved her desert! Alex baked cookies and they brought the rolls. Marlee made the Broccoli rice casserole all by herself and helped out with pretty much everything else. She and Kalee made the stuffing all alone! Even Kris was helping = he was out trash boy taking trash to the can for us as we opened packages and cans, etc. Definitely a family affair. After dinner we went outside and "played" we rode the horses and played ball and other stuff - fun, fun! I think a good time was had by all. Later after Kourtnee took Alex, Angela and Aiden home, she and Craig came back over, we ate some more food and then cleaned it all up and the kids and Grandpa, Uncle RObert and Craig watched The Incredibles, while Larry was on the computer. Vicky, Grandma, Kourtnee and I were all in my room talking and looking at stuff on the laptop - pictures and things for Sydnee. Then Kourtnee was pushing on her stomach by her ribs and I asked if Sydnee was movin ( I have not gotten to feel her move yet - she always stops) and Kourtnee said she was just up by her ribs and putting pressure on her ribs. So I put my hand on her stomach and pressed and could feel her little body! It was so awesome and then she moved!!!!! I was so excited and then Larry jumped up and came over to the bed and was feeling her belly. He could feel her, but she didn't move until he took his hand off and then we all SAW her move across Kourtnee's belly and we all laughed and "screamed" with excitement! It was very cool! It is going to be hard to wait for her these next 2 months! She is already so loved!!!! If you have Myspace and are on my friends list you will be able to see pictures soon of our day, if not email me or comment here that you wnat to see them and I will email them to you. I may put one up on here later - if I can choose one! :)
Happy Thanksgivng to you all!

Thanksgiving Eve

This will be short. I am tired and have soooo much to do tomorrow. What are your plans for Thanksgiving? I am having all my family here. My mom and dad are coming from Va., My sister and brother-in-law are already here from Va. and Alex, Angela and Aiden and Kourtnee and Craig will be coming. It will be a full house, but I would not want it any other way! We have a wonderful menu every year. That will have to be a part of tomorrow's blog. Still have that wonderful thing for Marlee that i will share on Sunday when it actually "takes place". Since this is Wild Wednesday, I want to share the wild thing for the day. I had all the kids here today and that in itself is pretty wild! They are so great though! I Love them all - when I say all - I mean mine and Stacey's girls, too. Then Aiden and his mommy came over later and the wild thing is that Aiden walked today!!!!!!! That is just so wild to me because it seems only yesterday he and his mommy moved here and in few short days he will be ONE YEAR OLD!!!! WILD!!!! He is so adorable, but the other wild thing is that I did not go grab my camera!!! I am ashamed of myself!!! I will get plenty of pictures tomorrow though! Good night all and I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Twofer Tuesday

Today was a nice day! The weather and all! I had Aiden all day so that is one of the wonderful things of today! He is such a blessing to our family! He is getting so big and is so full of laughter and joy! He is always smiling! Being a MEME is so awesome! Another great thing happened today, but I feel that I cannot really post it until it ACTUALLLY HAPPENS - it was a phone call about something happening on Sunday. SO I think I will wait until Sunday to post it. SO for my second wonderful thing today I am going to say chatting a few minutes with my neighbor today! She is so sweet and just an all around wonderful person! We are so blessed to have her and her husband as neighbors! This is a busy time of year, I know, but remember to be thankful for all the "little blessings" in your life! DO not take anything for granted! Thank God daily for your health, your family, your friends, your home, the fact that you can pray to Him. All these things are daily blessings that we all too often take for granted!
Good night!
Love to you all,
Melissa

Miracle Monday

I know that some groups here on Blog Spot have cathcy little names for the days, but I am not in those groups or even know much about any of them. SO I thought I would have my own little catch phrases for the days of the week. Miracle Monday - Miracles happen all the time and Monday is a day that we need to an uplifting story so tell me something wonderful that has happened in your life. Twofer Tuesday - I want to know 2 significant events on that day. Wild Wednesday - tell about the wild things going on in your life - this can be many things; anything YOU consider wild. I actually have to steal one from another group because I like the Thankful Thursday - what are you thankful for? Fun Friday - There have to be things that are going on that are just FUN this is the day to share those things! Savvy Saturdays - savvy means knowing when to be, where to be, why to be... and what
to do when you get there. So on Saturday share what you know, give advice, etc. Teach someone something. And Spirit Sunday - share something that you have learned through reading or experience or revelation on a spiritual level. I hope that those of you reading will either start blogging with me or at the very least comment on my blogs with your own stories. If you want to join the blog and have another idea for a day - Hey I am open!!! Ok so here is my miracle for the week. Like I said miracles happen all the time and sometimes we really do not even realize that we have been blessed with a miracle. I want to thank God for my miracle marriage. I think that in today's society divorce is so easily available. I want to thank God for commitment. Larry and I have been married for 19 years. There really has not been one easy year out of those 19! We have had a lot against us from the very beginning from an ex wife and step-children,not easy to say the least, to cancer, losing a baby, adoption and custody battles - you name it. But the one thing that we have had for us is the only thing we need - GOD - If God be FOR US who can be against us? Well, He has proven Himself to us in every situation. I will not say that God has never let me down, because let's face it - being let down means being disappointed and honestly He disappoints me a lot. That means He doesn't give me what I want all the time. But He has never FAILED me. He is always there and always working things for my good (Romans 8:28)! I may not always see it - thus the disappointment, but He is always on my side and working things to the good! Larry and I have maintained our marriage because we have kept God as the center - the glue- to hold us together. It is not your Love that holds your marriage together, but your marriage that holds your love together! You may not always LOVE your spouse - the feelings may not be love at all at times :) - but you made a commitment to be married so you marriage will hold your love together in those fleeting moments of "no love". We learned that from our Pastor in Florida - Dr. Mark Chironna and it has really stuck with us! So on this Miracle Monday, I thank God for our Miracle marriage where we have overcome so many obstacles, stayed together and are even more in Love today than we were when our journey began! What is your miracle on this Monday???? You can answer on Tuesday or wed, or Thurs..... :)!
Good night all!

Marlee's Rodeo Finals - Saturday and Sunday added!

What a day!!! It started out looking quite bleak! Dusty - Marlee's barrel horse (retired barrel horse as of today and my horse now) was not feeling well and we almost decided not to take him. But then Marlee said he was was acting fine and we watched him a little while and he was fine. So we loaded up the tack and and him and headed to the Barrel Race. Sorry I will have to finish this later! Going to sleep now!
Ok I am back to write some more. I am so sleepy though I may not make it all the way through both days. Back to yesterday (Sat.)
We went to finals and Dusty did not run well, but the timers messed up - :)!!! That gave Marlee and Dusty another run! He did a little better, but he was just not up to it. After all the barrel racers had their runs - about 2 hours of Barrel racing, the bulls took over the arena. There was bull riding and bull fighting. SO much fun and excitement. After that we had the Awards Banquet. We seriously did not expect Marlee to get anything, I mean she started the season a few months after the other girls, her horse is a Morgan - not built for speed - But she kept going and working hard. She had already won a buckle in the clinic! Then Mechelle, the director, points at the saddle that everyone had been chatting about wondering what it was for and who was getting it. The saddle was for the "exceptional youth rider". It was to go the person who has true GRIT, passion, good personality, attitude and really exemplifies what Alamo Saddlery and really anyone would expect to see in an exceptional young person. Then she called the name of the person named Exceptional Youth 2007 - This came from Alamo in Texas, so the fact that it was given here in North Carolina and in our circuit was pretty awesome! Anyway the name called was : MARLANA REEVES!!! We were so shocked and all of us in tears. Many of the other riders were in tears especially the adult women who have just fell in love with Marlee and the other girls were very happy for her as well! It was incredible!
So now for today, we went to church, to eat and then home. The weather was Beautiful! Marlee and I rode for a while. Craig and Kourtnee were here for a little while and Craig got on Dusty for a little while and then Drae rode him a little. Marlee was riding Checotah the whole afternoon. Then I played foot ball with Drae and TJ for a little while. when it started getting dark we came inside and watched borrowed movies from Craig and Kourtnee - Rise of the Silver Surfer and then after the kids went to bed Vicky, Robert, Larry , Marlee and I watched Chuck and Larry. Both movies were great! Silver Surfer was good - love the fantastic 4 and Chuck and Larry was hilarious! Well usually I would give a really good review of the movies, but sorry too sleepy tonight! Hope everyone enjoyed this beautiful weekend (if it was nice where you live), I know we did!!!!! Here is a picture of my daughter and her new saddle and Mechelle the director of EZ RUN PBR! we are so proud of her!!!

Seafood!!! Family in town

Oh yeah, sister and brother-in-law came into to visit tonight from Virginia and we went to The Murphy House. As usual the food was awesome! we had a great time! We always have fun no matter what we are doing. We wnet shopping in Wal-Mart while waiting for Alex to get off of work so that we could take him home. Kourtnee picked up Kris tonight and she and Craig are taking him to the Raleigh Christmas Parade tomorrow and then taking him to Aunt Lauries and Uncle Jeff's for the day. Then she and Craig will meet us at Marlee's rodeo finals. Kalee will be spending the day with Aunt Stacey and the girls and TJ will be with Alex, Angela and Aiden. Thus leaving us with Marlee - of course and Drae! It should be a great time and I will be sure to put up pictures as soon as possible. I may not blog or do pictures when we get home tomorrow since we will probably not be home until after 11 tomorrow night and will be leaving the house around 10 in the morning - LONG day! Well, as I said it is great to ahve Vicky and RObert here and we are looking forward to the holiday, but tomorrow is going to be super exciting! If you read this before 2 PM Saturday keep Marlee and Dusty in your thoughts and prayers! Also, I would like to send my condolences and ask for prayer for a very close friend of ours, Laura, her dad passed away last night. He was a Pastor and a terrific man. He was loved by so many including our family! Laura and Momma - I know you may not read this, but We love you and are thinking of you in this time of sorrow, but we also rejoice with you in that you now where he is and that you will be with him again one day! You know he is rejoicing with the angels and praising our Lord! We love you both and you and the entire family are in our prayers!
Good night all and have a blessed weekend!

Thursday night TV

This is one night that we watch pretty much from 8 to 11 PM. We start off with Survivor China. We have watched Survivor since it began. We do like the show. It is not something that we get upset if we miss though. We like to make our picks and see who wins! I like Eric this season, but think he might be going very soon. I am actually not a major fan of one person yet. I know it is late in the game to be picking someone, but honestly I am just not sure about anyone! Now there is CSI. Love it. Have been watching it from the beginning as well. Like the original the best. Watch CSI: New York sometimes and Miami even less. Sara is saying goodbye according to all the commercials, so I am not going to end this post until later. I am still trying to decide whether to watch ER or Without a Trace at 10! I just watched the end of CSI. I am sad to see Sara leave, but the way she left - only goodbye in a note - she will be back. I am pretty certain of that. I liked the commercial at the very end that she did - for Foster care! I am not sure that CSI will be the same without her. I hope that they knew what they were doing - the writers I mean. Or perhaps she decided to do something more. She is a great actress. Sara will be missed on CSI! so now - Without a Trace or ER. Man this is tough!!!! I may have to flip back and forth! Wouldn't you just know it - first commercial - same time!!!! I flipped over to ER and it is on commercial, too! just great - guess I will have to get a run down of ER off the web later! Well I flipped over again just in time to see Abbie run into her husband's arms!!! Great moment - too bad she cheated on him! How long will it take for him to find out? Or with the writer's strike will he EVER find out? Went back to Without a Trace and then flipped over again. I had to actually laugh out loud when Morris said to Harold, "Dude, that's a rental!" After Harold saved a boy's life in the tux Morris had rented for him. It was intense and then hilarious! Nice job there ER. Adding a little comedy like that is nice! Without a Trace - Nancy Mckeon - Jo from Facts of Life - was great on the show. I was glad to see her still acting. I loved her on the lifetime series The Division! Plus all the Lifetime Movies she has done. I miss Lifetime TV! Wow back to ER just flipped over and now Harold is in the awful blue tux! Is it not bad enough that he is one of the dorkiest guys ever now he has to wear that tux?! But hey he is a nice guy staying with the boy's dad. Morris cracks me up! I really used to hate his character thought he was just plain stupid and the show did not need him, but now I get a kick out of him and see his antics as nice comedy relief! I missed something though during my 'flipping". Abbie just told Kevin she hoped everything works out. Can someone fill me in?! Back to Without a Trace. It was good - hate to say it but very predictable - had it figured out early in the show. Missed the last of ER. So if anyone watched please fill me in.
Ok that is it for the TV review :). Personally today was a good day. WE GOT RAIN!!!! It was nice to see finally! I also have Shelby back now. She is my 2 year old niece - well she is my best friend's daughter and I have decided to start keeping her again. It is nice to have her here! She is a joy! I am sure there will be pics of her soon! She was in the picture of the birthday party. Well, my sister and brother-in-law will be here tomorrow. I can't wait to see them. They live in Virginia where my parents live as well and it is always so great to see them. we are going to our new little seafood buffet tomorrow night! I will let you know how that goes! :) The kids are all well! Kris is doing much better and loves being "4". hope everyone has a great weekend starting with tomorrow - FRIDAY!!!!

Wednesday

This will be short tonight because I am extremely tired! Today was busy but nice. Alex passed his written test today for his license! Larry was off and we had breakfast together with Aiden and then we went to Family Dollar while Alex finshed his test. I was very surprised to find their good deals on some cute little boy clothes and bought Aiden a couple of outfits and a Curious George stuffed toy. Then we checked Marlee out of school early, went by Target to see Angela and took Alex to work at Wal-Mart. Larry, Marlee, Aiden and I went to lunch at Golden Corral. It was Mexican day on the buffet. We then went to The Country Connection Western Store and Marlee was able to find the PERFECT shirt for her rodeo finals on Saturday. That was awesome because we were worried that we would have to search and search! Aiden again had to have ( Meme had to get him) a little stuffed horse that looks just like Dusty, Marlee's barrel racing horse and the favorite of our horses. Then we picked up Kris and the other kids and went to Target and picked up Angela. we went to Wendy's for dinner. We had salads! They were great. Larry and I both really like the Chicken BLT Salad and the Mandarin Chicken salad. SO we got one of each and split them! The best way to eat! I love having a husband that likes to share! :) Then it was off to Wal-Mart to get a shirt for me for church since I dropped honey mustard dressing on mine and did not want to go to church with a big spot. Good excuse for a new shirt. Marlee, Angela and I ran in to search for me a shirt and found great deals on some purses as well!!! Went in for a shirt and came out with a huge bag :)! Saw a great friend while there - Ms. Sara and her daughter - that I used to keep - Octavia. Then off to church. Had a great time love the teachings on Wed. nights. Then back to Wal - Mart to pick Alex up and we bought Aiden a couple more outfits - well this time his mommy bought them. i did buy a shirt to go with the outfit I bought him earlier! Then we all came home finished up homework and got the kids in bed. I am sitting on my bed now blogging and ready to fall asleep! So good night all!

Kris is 4 years old!

Another blog about Kristofer! Today was his birthday! He was so excited! He woke up this morning and said, "Mom am I going to school?" I said, "do you want to?" He said, "No." So I asked him if he wanted to stay home with me that I only had a few things to do and errands to run and he could go with me. He said, "No I want to go to my Birthday." I said, "well it is your birthday right now!" He said, "no mom i mean I want to go to my party!!!" I said, "Your party is tonight after school." He said, "wellllll I want to party all day!" I cracked up laughing! I thought to myself we are going to have to watch this one close - he is only 4 and wants to party all day!!! LOL. he is so cute! We went to McDonald's and the kids played and ate and played some more and then we ate cake and opened presents. Everyone took a goody bag filled with candy and party favors. Everyone seemed to have a great time. If you have a myspace you can see the pictures if you are on my friends' list. If not send a request! I hope everyone is as blessed as I am! Blogs to come with more than Kristofer :)!! He is our baby boy though! The youngest! By the way, McDonald's in Zebulon was great! They do not do birthdays, but they let us decorate the outside play area and were very helpful and friendly! It was great! Have a great night and I will be back tomorrow with more on the adventures of the Reeves Family!
Here is a birthday party picture for you:

Urgent Care

Well, tonight we had to take our little man to the urgent care. He has an infection. A little personal, but he is going to ahve to be circumsized and now that he is adopted we can have that done! He was so brave. Then he and daddy and I went to eat. He said, "Mommy, I don't want to eat at home I want to go out to eat." Ok so we spoil our kids and they love to eat out! We know all the kids eat free spots lol! With all of our kids we have to! I had a good day with my kids home from school today. Marlee had to practice for her finals on Saturday (Barrel Race). Drae did not qualify this year, but he will next year!!! Anyway Marlee gave all the kdis rides and then rode them with her bareback! It was a load of laughs. They had a great time and I loved watching them! It was a bit nippy out, but other than that very nice! I thought of my daddy alot today. I think of him often but on his birthday, vets day and other holidays - I think of him a little more. I thought of how he would have loved to see this little piece of Heaven we have here. I thought of how he would have loved my kids! I miss him so much sometimes. My dad and i were very close as I grew up , but when he and my mother divorced (I was 15) I chose to stay with her. That put a little strain on our relationship and due to many other factors I went many years without a relationship, but God graciously gave us 3 wonderful months before he died! If I have any regret it was missing out on so much time with him. I also give the advice - do not hold grudges - forgive let go and go on. Time is too short to waste being angry or just hanging on to the past!!
My dad was a good man. He taught me to fish and hunt and I can hang with the best men in fishing! :) I miss him and love him forever! On this day I also give special thought to my step dad. He is also a great man! I have been blessed! he is extremely good to my kids as well and makes my mom happy! So I thank god for him! My step son was in the service before he died, too and we miss him everyday! He was such a great little red headed boy and became such a handsome young man. His life was taken much too fast! Buddy is missed and loved with all our hearts and is in our thoughts and conversations all the time! There are so many people to thank for our freedom in this country! How would I ever list even the ones in my family and life?! To all of you who read this if you ahve served our country - THANK YOU! I honor you today and always! Thank God we live in this country and people like you CHOOSE to protect our rights and our freedom! God bless you all!
Good night!

Go Pack!

I failed to mention yesterday, that our Wolfpack defeated the Tarheels! Go Pack! I am not big on Pro Football, but I do like my NC State Wolfpack, University of Florida Gators and longest running favorites - Oklahoma University Sooners! Well, yesterday the UNC Tarheels came to NCSU and were beat by the PACK!!! A great victory!!!! To my misguided friends who are Tarheel Fans - you know who you are - I just have two words for you - GOOOOOOOOO PACKKKKKK!!! I just love VICTORY!!!!! :)
HOpe everyone had a great Sunday and an awesome weekend! Remember the Veterans tomorrow! I know I will be especially thinking of my daddy who is now in Heaven! There are several others, but I believe I will save that blog for tomorrow and go to bed for the night!
God bless you all and have a wonderful week!
Go Pack, Go Gators, Go Sooners!!!!
Good night!

November is National Adoption Month

Hello everyone, Hope your weekend is going as well as ours has thus far. We went to see a movie with our county's adoption group this morning - Ratatouille. If you have not seen it - let me say the kids and Larry really enjoyed it. I thought it was a cute movie, but not one of my favorites from Disney. It did follow the Disney pattern of a single parent :). Not sure why they do that but they do. I just had trouble seeing all the rats all over the place - cartoon or not! :) It was cute though and the kids from Kristofer (almost 4 years old) to Marlee (14 1/2 years old) all enjoyed it and came out talking about it. After the movie we went to McDonald's and had lunch and then back to the movies to see 2 more movies that we had wanted to see (these are not first run - we go to the $1.50 movie theatre). First we saw The Nanny Diaries. It was a bit slow, but it sped up a little. Aside from only a few "choice" words it was a good movie. Even the boys wanted to see it, but the talking afterward was not all enthusiastic and positive, but nothing too bad. So I would say use your own judgement on that one. I did think it was slow and Marlee did as well, but we both thought it got better as it went on and we enjoyed it but would not buy it to watch again. We do buy a lot of movies and this is not one we would purchase. The last movie we watched was No Reservations. Now this movie was a good one! Zeta-Jones was great! Love her! This was a great family movie and all the kids and Larry and I all enjoyed this one! Tear jerking scenes and laughter combined to make this movie a must see family movie! We then came home and had Spaghetti for dinner because they ate Spaghetti in the movie and Larry had to have it for dinner :)! I took a nice relaxing bubble bath with my Jacuzzi mat the kids got me a few years ago with my candles all lit and now I am sitting at the computer before heading to bed early! We have church in the morning so I like to get in bed at a decent hour. The 3 boys are in bed asleep and Marlee just finished feeding the horses their nightly feeding - she spoils her horses so much - that is for another blog though :)! Kalee is bathing and getting ready for bed. SO Larry and I are going to cuddle up in bed and stay warm and watch a "little" TV until we fall asleep in each others' arms! Too sweet right?! :)
Good night all and thank you for stopping by!

My family

Christmas 2006

Kristofer John Reeves

Well, it is official! We received the finalized decree of adoption! No more foster children in our home as of this week - they are all adopted. I told Kris the other morning after we got the decree- "Kris, you know what?" He said, "what?". I said, "You are now Kristofer John Reeves and I am your mommy and daddy is your daddy!" He looked at me like I was totally crazy and said, "yeah Mommy OK"! Larry and I just cracked up at his face. He must have been thinking "my mommy has lost her mind!" LOL. He will be 4 on Tuesday! I cannot believe it! Today was something just as cute. Larry came home early and picked him up early. He ran into my room when he got home and said, "Mommy (very excited) today is a TREAT DAY!" I said, "Well Hey bubba what are you doing home already?" and he said, "that is what I said it is a treat day! I got a lollipop and my daddy picked me up early!" It was so cute!!!! He was home with just daddy and mommy for a little while. He came running in a little while later and the look on his little face was purely priceless! He said, "Mommy, Daddy fixed Kourtnee's car - ALREADY!!!!" The already was so dramatic - I guess he thought it would take him a long time. Hmmmm what does that mean daddy??? lol maybe that he thinks you are slow??? Just playing! Kris is riot. He is such a cute kid and so full of energy and life! And as of October 31, 2007 he is legally and officially our son, Kristofer John Reeves! Adoption is Awesome!!!!
Stay tuned for more adventures of the Reeves Family! There is always something going on here!

Found a new seafood buffet!!!

Ok so we love seafood!!! My sister and brother - in - law and parents all live in Virginia and they have this little restaurant that has a seafood buffet on Friday nights. When they come here they ALWAYS say you need to find a good seafood buffet! Well, tonight Larry and I went to the Murphy House in Louisburg! It was awesome!!!!! I mean all the seafood you could want - fish, shrimp - peel and eat and fried, clam strips, fried oysters, STUFFED CRAB, and so much more. But that is not all they had Fried and Barbecued chicken, salisbury steak, NC Bar-B-Que, and tons of deserts! This was a great dinner - you can bet we will be going back quite a bit!!! I can't wait to take my family there next week because this place puts their little seafood place to shame :). It was really good! It was also nice because it was just the 2 of us - date night! We went shopping a little after dinner for Christmas - can you believe how the year has flown. Kris will turn 4 next week and Thanksgiving is JUST around the corner. Then I haev Kourtnee's shower, then all the Christmas parties and parades we are a part of - oh my goodness, I am going to be so busy from here on out!!!! I will still be here typing some of my adventure daily or maybe nightly. I am enjoying this! I hope to be getting paid soon by payperpost.com. So keep coming back and reading more and more! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!

Without A Trace

I love this show! There is a problem though - they moved it to the same time frame as ER. I would say that Without a Trace would be my pick BUT this IS Er's last season! I loved it when WAT was on Sundays after Cold Case and then there were no complications. BUt like last night I had to choose WAT because it was a continuance from CSI. I have a few shows I watch each week and they are mostly at 9 and 10 PM - AFTER the kids are settled and in bed or on the way to bed! WAT just happens to be a fave, but the real fave is Law and Order SVU!!!! Love it!!!!!! I hope that there will be more cross overs like lst night that was a very good show. I enjoyed it. And I hope that ER goes out with a bang this year and has some really great guest performances - like from people from the past - Carter, Benson, and all the others even Clooney!!!!!
SO what is your fave show and your opinions of the shows? Comment or email me and let me know!

Being a mommy

As most of you know and if you don't you will now. I was unable to have any children of my own - biologically that is. That was all I ever wanted to be was a mommy!!!! So the news that I would have a difficult time conceiving was devestating! But there was still hope because they said "difficult time conceiving"! At that point in my life I began to pray that God would send me a man that had children. I was 18 when I got married and became an instant mommy to 3 children. It was not easy to say the least, but I did love them and do the best I could. Of course I made tons of mistakes due to my age, my pride - not wanting to ask for help because everyone said I could not do it and would not be married long, that was all my fault!. But, to all those who said that about Larry and I, we celebrated 19 years in August. :)! At 29 years old I was diagnosed with cancer and had to have a full hysterectomy. There went all hope of having a biological child. I had 3 girls at the time (2 step daughters and an adopted daughter) who had filled my heart with so much joy! I also had a step son who lived with his mother. But I knew that was not it for us and my husband agreed. When we moved to North Carolina we became foster parents and now we have adopted 5 more children. We adopted a teen boy, a sibling group with 2 boys and 1 girl and our latest adoption is a 3 year old boy. we have white, black and hispanic children! We are truly a blended family!!!! We are extremely BLESSED and now I have all these wonderful children calling me mommy. The saying any woman can be a mother but it takes someone special to be a mommy has hit home with me. I have a group on My space called Heart Mommas - because my children did not grow under my heart but they did grow in it! I know these are all cliche's, but they fit! I will never stop grieving the loss of having a biological child and carrying a baby inside my womb, but I do fully know the joys - and even the sorrows - of being a mommy. I have been with 2 friends to have their babies and they both had to go to C-Sections after long labors, and I missed seeing them born, so we are praying hard that Kourtnee has Sydnee naturally and I can be with her the entire time and see my grand daughter be born. I am so excited about that. Being a MEME is so awesome!!!!!! I did not think life could get better then Aiden came into our lives our first little grand son. Now we have Sydnee Renee' coming our first grand daughter!!!!!!!!!! Life is good! We are blessed! Being a parent is so much more than biology!!! That is why I strive to be a TULA mommy every day!!! God help me to be the wife and mother that YOU want me to be!
Good night all!

Why blogging

Here is another blog in the same night! I just wanted to give a brief explaination of why I have decided to blog. Actually, I love to write and have been putting bulletins and blogs on My space since I started my account there. This is just another and different way to post things on my mind, things going on in the family, devotions, and my opinions on different things going on in general. I also read my step - daughter's blog and saw that she is getting paid to blog and thought "why not?" I have been told so many times by so many people that I should write a book. Maybe this will be a beginning to that or not? Who knows? I do know that I have a lot of great things to share. I have been through so many things and have always prayed that God would allow me to use the trials and tests to help others. I hope that you as readers will be blessed in some way as I blog and I hope that you will comment and ask questions if you feel the need. I am excited about this new opportunity! I will be back tomorrow for the latest in our adventure of family and farm life! :)

My first blog outside of My space

Well, I have done it. I have created a blog! I am excited about this new adventure. I hope that you will all enjoy sharing my life as a TULA mommy. Oh, what does that mean? It stands for - Total Unconditional Love and Acceptance- TULA. That is what I try to be with God's help. I try to totally uncondtionally love and accept all of my children and even those children who are in my life for a short time through foster care or other means. This will be the place that I share my joys, pains, advice, questions about that and many other areas in my life. I hope you enjoy and comment when you are here. That is it for the first blog of mine. You can read other blogs on Myspace. if you are not on my firend's list there already comment or email me and I will give you my url to my space. I have tons of pictures there as well! Well, here's to a new adventure! Come with me!!!