Wee....

One of the benefits of mature trees is fall leaves -- something we don't see in our neighborhood! The kids were so excited that Grandaddy raked a huge pile of leaves for them to jump in off of the swing!
I love this picture of Thomas jumping!

Cooking With Jessie

The kids always have so much fun with Jessie!

She let them decorate each cookie as much as they wanted....

and Chase did not hold back.

The Georgia Mountains

For my dad's 60th birthday last week, we rented a cabin in Blairsville, Ga! The kids and I met up with my parents and sister for the weekend before coming back to Athens with them! It was such a fun weekend! We even got some snow. It wasn't much, but it was more than we get in Houston!

The water flowing from the stream was a beautiful backdrop to our weekend!


We even hiked a mile on the Appalachian trail in the snow! It was so nice to get out and enjoy nature, but it was cold!!!

My sister, Jessica, loves hiking!!
Mary Frances poses for a snapshot.

I'm pretty proud of this cool pic I was able to snap.


The kids love their Jessie!

Honey and Grandaddy!

Pumpkin Hiney

We pass this funny sight several times a day, and it has given us GREAT joy and laughter this fall. So, I wanted to share it with you all and document it for later in life! Just before we get to it, one person yells "pumpkin hiney," and everyone else stops their conversations (or arguing) to check it out for another laugh!!

Isn't it hilarious?

Mother/Daughter Tea Party

Mary Frances and I had our annual tea party last week and everyone had a wonderful "girlie" time!
Look at all those pretty girls!
Mary Frances was so excited to use her own china tea cup.
I got to use my great-grandmother's china, too!
I had a good time preparing for the tea party, but I was tired of cooking when it was over!!

The "D" Word

We have a new bad word in our family -- DESERVE!! After a long conversation with Mary Frances about why she does not "deserve" anything for obeying at school, I have declared "deserve" a bad word in the Hughes' home!

I can't think of one thing that we "deserve" that we would actually ask for! I can think of a lot of things I deserve, but I am grateful that I don't get them! I think that's called Mercy, right?

I just can't get her to understand the concept. I explained that we can earn things, but that we don't deserve good things just because we worked hard at something. I explained that it is really a selfish word.

I told them that sometimes people will say, "You deserve ....", and that sounds nice, but we still don't deserve it. Any thoughts?

Santa's Wonderland

Ray C. called me a few days ago and said, "I want to be spontaneous. Can you just trust me, and let me surprise you guys?" After asking if it was really a good idea, if I would actually like it, and making sure the kids would not get in bed too late, I still reluctantly agreed to go along with him. So, he came home, and we left. He said it would take us an hour and a half to get where we were going, and I again pressed him on how we would be back in time for the kids to get in bed. He promised, so I gave in!
Only about an hour later, we arrived at Santa's Wonderland, close to College Station. The lights were amazing!
Look at all of this! We drove through, watching reindeer "jump" over arches, frogs leaping in the water, and a dragonfly landing on a flower.
I can't believe all the time someone spends on this!
I was so excited to see that Jesus was the finale of the light show!

Christmas Giving Party

Last night, our Life Group came over to wrap gifts for a family we "adopted" for Christmas! Emily and Brooke were blind when they left after all the cameras that were flashing in their faces! :)
Ricky taught Ashley a new song on the piano -- "Twinkle, Twinkle..."
The kids played upstairs (and ate plenty of cookies) while we wrapped gifts, but they were more than willing to pack them all in the car when we were finished! It was so exciting to see all the gifts and realize what a fun Christmas it will be for this family!
My thrifty shopping came in handy for a fun gift for the grandmother that takes care of the family! I think she'll be excited to see all the personal care items!

Santa's REAL elves...
Joe and Ali cracked me up! They were making all kinds of crazy faces and noises trying to get Brooke to smile! We are so excited this year has brought them a baby to go "gaga" for! One more week and it will be official! We are SO EXCITED!!
Kaden loved all the balls! What a cutie!
Kaleb trying to be cool...well, he doesn't have to try too hard!
Max was so sweet to put a puzzle together with Ashley!

What a fun time with our life group!

My Precious Babies...

Wonderful Wednesday of Thanksgiving

Today is one of my favorite days of the year...the day BEFORE Thanksgiving! It's the day family and friends begin to gather to celebrate Thanksgiving! I have so many incredible memories from Thanksgiving. I know I share it every year, but there is just something warm and cozy that creeps in every year to remind me how much I love this holiday!

Today, I am thankful for my mom who taught me how to cook! I've been cooking some of my all-time holiday favorites. I've already made my absolute favorite - Strawberry Butter! I've also completed my grandmother's recipe for Dressing (or stuffing) as some call it!! I also made her Cream Party Salad, or what Ray C. calls "the green stuff". The turkey is thawing in the fridge!

Today, I'm making Pumpkin Pie and my great-grandmother's Pecan Pie! The only things not made from scratch will be Cranberry Sauce in a jar and Sister Schubert's Rolls! Hers are good enough for me!

Anyway, I love that my mom taught me how to bake! I love it so much that if cooking was a love language, it would definitely be mine! I love to cook good food for my family, and more than anything, I love making baked goods for (and with) my kids! I LOVE baking cookies for them just before they get off the bus and inviting over the neighbors to share them! That is straight from my mom! In fact, she just recently told me that the way to keep the kids at my house and not someone else's is to have the best food! After all, I can keep a much better watch on them when they are all playing over here, right?

I'm so grateful for so many things my mom taught me and modeled to me over the years. Being a good mom means building your child's character and the base for who they are and how they behave. The difficult part about that is how hard it is to pick out specific things my mom has done for me. My mom was just always there - doing everything, but little that is considered glamorous! Now that I'm a mom, I understand this dilemma!

So, I am thankful to my mom for molding me into the person I have become. That may seem much more simple than a list of incredible feats, but, really, it's the most impressive thing a person can do!

Thankful on Tuesday...

Today I am thankful that my children love each other so much. They seem to consider themselves as one unit. If one goes to the doctor and gets a sticker, they ask for two more and actually save them for later. If one gets a lollipop at the bank, they ask for two more for the others. This happens ALL the time! It is very rare for them to not consider the others.

One of my favorite memories, that I have blogged about before, is when Mary Frances went to stay with my parents for a week while she was two. Wherever we went that week, Thomas would tell everyone, "There are three kids in our family. Mary Frances is visiting our Honey and Grandaddy." It seemed like he did not want anyone to forget her!

Today, I took Chase with me to the grocery store. As we were checking out, Chase ran over to some pink roses and said he wanted to buy them for Mary Frances. It melted my heart that he thought of her when he saw the pink flowers. We decided on some purplish flowers that were a little less expensive, and he held on to them all afternoon until it was time to pick the kids up from the bus stop! He took the flowers with him, and gave them to her when she got off! He was so excited to tell me that she said they were beautiful!

Not only do they think of each other when they are apart, but they thank each other for doing so! Mary Frances will often say, "You are the best brothers in the whole world!" They certainly have sibling arguments, but I love how closely they are bonded together!

Thankful on Monday

I think I'll make a week out of Thanksgiving! Chase is home for the week from school. So, we were playing Old Maid earlier, and I realized someone I am really thankful for!

This picture shows how much easier playing cards is when we use my mother-in-law's idea! We cut slits into the bottom of egg cartons to hold the cards so the kids don't have to fumble with them! It makes cards much more fun with and for the kids!

So, today (and countless other days) I am thankful for my mother-in-law! She was such an inspiration to me. She was a fantastic cook. She was a great kindergarten teacher who loved seeing her students all grown up when we were out shopping! She was very creative - always able to figure out how to make things work for us! One thing I loved about her was her willingness to do ANYTHING and to do it right now! If someone needed a seam or hole patched, she got up and did it right away!

She had a lovely attitude and a funny sense of humor. I really miss her corny jokes and her New Jersey accent when she said them!

But what I miss most about her is how much she would have loved my children exactly the way they are - crazy and full of endless energy.

I am thankful for the values she and my father-in-law instilled in my husband. I am thankful that she cared so much about her children. I feel like she is a big part of who they are even without them getting to know her!

One thing I will never forget is how she used to always tell me, "I never cared if my house was clean! I just played with the kids! I knew I could clean it later!"

Thank you, Mom, for inspiring me to be a better mom! We miss you SO MUCH!!!

Baseball Fun

Fall Baseball is over! It was fun, but our schedule was crazy! I don't know how we will do this as they get older! I try to limit what they do, but with three kids, we are all over the place!! Here are some pictures from Chase's last game!

Although it looks like a fight, this is a victory dance! After the game, they asked "Coach Ray" if they won. Although no one wins in t-ball because of the rules of the game, Ray C, told them they did because they did great! So, this is what their excitement looked like!

One last team picture! Actually, this team will stick together! We are forming a Friendship Team with this group. We're really looking forward to seeing them grow and get better together! They are so sweet, and their parents are very pleasant!! We have a pretty good coach, too!