New Family Pictures

My wonderful blog designer Mary, at Bright Sunshine Designs updated our blog pictures! We had new family pictures made last month and I wanted to share some of my favorites! As a general rule, we only get family pictures made once a year! Although, I try to have spring pictures of just the kids made.  It is stressful to get 5 people to smile, pose and look at a camera at the same time!

I love this one, except our little stinker is making a crazy face! There is always one person not smiling...

Christopher age 8

Makayla age 10

James Henry age 4

Update on Collin

 When I was home over Thanksgiving I was able to get some snuggle time with Collin, finally! When he was born he was too sick for me to hold him. So, I had to wait until Thanksgiving when we were back in town.

This was a beautiful moment for me!

                                                  
I really didn't want to leave him and come back to Texas! However, on November 30th, his daddy's birthday when Collin was 60 days old, he went home!!!

Look at those cheeks!

He was born on his brother's birthday and went home on his daddy's! He is doing really well. We all know God bought Collin here to change the world and he will do great things! While, he will still have to overcome many hurdles, and see many doctors, we know he will be fine, he has already overcame so much!

He is an answered prayer and he is loved so much!

This picture is from last night, he loves to sleep in his swing! His mama says it produces an instant baby coma! Today he weighs 6lbs 8ozs and is  19 1/2 inches long. At 3 months old, he is the size of a newborn!! He is getting excellent reports from all his doctors.

This is so true!
 

Boys, Boys, Boys

Okay, maybe the title of this blog should be boys, boys, boys plus one girl! That is how it is in our family between my brothers and I there are 7 boys and 1 girl!
Anytime we are together it is crazy to say the least. When we were in Shreveport over Thanksgiving we tried to spoil them as much as possible! One day we went to the park, which was so beautiful!

Yes, my husband is at times the biggest kid of them all!

 

Owen is a true monkey and daredevil. He gave me several heart attacks on this day!

We went for ice cream after the park, take note: The nice people at Baskin Robbins have my motto on the wall!

 

 

We also took a trip down to Santa Land at Bass pro! It was kinds crazy but lots of fun!

They checked out the alligator

Did some wishful thinking

Played some duck hunting

and saw Santa!

How, those people got all 4 looking and smiling is amazing to me.

 

 

This is Chase, nephew #6 he celebrated James Henry's birthday with us and he is a little stinker and oh so cute!

 

 

Thanksgiving 2012

This year over the Thanksgiving holiday we traveled to our hometown of Shreveport. My guys spent alot of time in the woods on family land in Bradley, Arkansas. This place is extremely beautiful and it means so much to our family.

James and I camped out one night alone. It was so nice to unplug from the world and sit by the fire.

James killed his first two deer while he was there. He killed his first one after only being in the stand for about 20 minutes.

The biggest surprise of the week was finding out we apparently gave birth to a bonafide redneck!

my guys in the stand

 

He even asked me at one point "Mom, Do you think I am a redneck?" When I answered with a yes, he said "Yes, awesome!"

He stirred the fire, wore his camouflage, showed his little brother around camp one day when we came to visit.  He is already making plans to spend his summer in the woods! Most of all he spent bonding time with this man, his great papa.

                                                    These moments are irreplaceable.
On Thanksgiving day we spent time with the people who mean the most to us. We also played a friendly backyard game of football. I hope these are the moments my kids look back on.

Thanksgiving was also James' 31st birthday!

We had an amazing time and made some precious memories with our kids.

 

 

 

LSU Football

It's no secret that we are huge LSU fans! We love everything about LSU and LSU football! When we were in Shreveport over the Thanksgiving holiday we were able to drive down to Baton Rouge and watch the LSU vs Ole Miss game. There is so much tradition at LSU and for us it starts with the drive down...
First, right outside of Lafayette you will pass the Boudin shop, where we always stop for a snack!

Then you will drive over the swamp, literally!

This year we had dinner at Boutin's a Cajun restaurant.

 

Once you get to the campus you have to stop at Barnes and Noble where you can purchase anything imaginable with an LSU logo on it

Then we hurry and get a great spot on Victory Hill, where the magic begins!

First about 90 minutes before game time Les Miles and  the players will walk down the hill and into the locker room.

Followed by the cheerleaders

the dance line

the band, there is nothing like hearing the first sound of the fight song and everyone cheering

and every one's favorite, Mike the Tiger

After that we head into the stadium. You know they are going to play the same songs, "Callin' Baton Rouge", and "Louisiana Saturday Night" 

 

The "real" Mike The Tiger always makes his lap around Death Valley

Then, its game time! This year, we had amazing seats. They were so good I really didn't think they were the right seats!

There are no fans in the world like LSU fans! Everyone is family in there, all 90,000 people and we take our football very seriously!

This years game was intense and we came out on top for the victory.

We love going to football games, taking in all the sights and sounds and living the traditions!