Thankful for Friends

We have been thankful to have our lifetime friends from Georgia visiting us this week!  It has been a wonderful week visiting with our friends, shopping, eating, and following Thanksgiving traditions begun more than 20 years ago!

Mary Frances tests for Yellow Belt

Mary Frances and Chase both started Tae Kwon Do this summer, but Chase had to stop once football started.  So, Mary Frances is ahead of both boys and was able to test for her yellow belt a week or so ago.  She's the third one from the right on the back.

 And she's pretty good, too!

 The first test was lower key with only Mary Frances and Chase testing, but this test was a big deal.  There were about 15 students testing for either their orange or yellow belt!

 Check out that kick!  Don't mess with her!

 I love these action shots with her hair swinging behind her!

 Counting to 10 in Korean while doing push ups...

She did a great job and earned her belt! Yay, Mary Frances!

Dewberry Farms

Jessica and I took some of the teenagers to Dewberry Farms last week to run through the corn maze and act like teenagers.

 We had a great time, but we did cheat in the corn maze!  Some of the boys figured it out, but the rest of us were just wondering around!

 Sweet girls!  We have a great group of girls!

 Madi is fun no matter what she's doing!  

 Had to snap this silly picture of Tabor and Ashley.  Tabor was making fun of the girls.  Now whose laughing? :)

 Jessica and I had fun rolling the kids around in this tube.  They were all over the place!

Happy Birthday, Honey!

We celebrated mama's birthday at Pappadeaux!  It is a fabulous New Orleans - style seafood restaurant!  It has been so much fun to celebrate with our family in person.  We are so bad about birthdays from a distance, but when everyone works together, it has been fun to get together and go out!  Papa went with us too, but every picture we took of the group was BAD!  We had a lot of lighting problems and bad photographers! :)

Jessica and Daddy ate frog legs.  The thought of slimy frogs was a little too disgusting for my taste buds, and then, to top it off, they brought these huge legs.  Where do they get frogs that big?  

Wanna Spar?

Mary Frances has started sparring in Tae Kwon Do.  She was so excited to get her equipment a few weeks ago! Now we need to get it for Thomas, too!

Handsome Clothes

 Chase loves to wear a tie! He looks pretty good in it, too!

Volunteering

Mary Frances was very excited to be helping with this year's Judy Dierker Holiday Market at church.  It is our annual "Craft fair" and holiday market at Foundry that raises thousands of dollars for missions. Cy-Hope greatly profits from the funds, and Mary Frances was thrilled to be a part of it.  So, she volunteered to make Sugar Cookies and Pecan Pie!  The pies we made were gorgeous, too!  

Then, she signed up for a shift working the Treat Shoppe at the market.  So, while she volunteered, I shopped....which also benefited missions! :)

I love her servant's heart!

Need a Pencil?

If my students borrow a pencil from my bucket, they are required to leave their shoe at my desk...just so they remember to return the pencil! 

So, crazy at it sounds, I love it when I walk to the front of the classroom after the bell rings to find shoes piled up at my desk!  It makes me feel like I'm at home!

This was a test day!  After the first few days of doing this, usually there are only one or two shoes!  It's amazing how resourceful you can be when the consequence for not being prepared is unpleasant!

Thomas Tests for Orange Belt

Thomas just started Tae Kwon Do (TKD) in September.  He tested for his orange belt a few weeks ago!  We were so proud to watch him test and accomplish his goal!

 He did a great job under pressure!

 White Belt pattern.

 Slide and diagonal kick

 Step behind side kick

 10 push-ups -- counting in Korean

He did it!!!  

He even broke the board!!  Yay, Thomas!!!

Halloween 2012

Introducing 

Halloween 2012 

starring

Lego Batman Villains:

 Chase Hughes as The Riddler

 Thomas Hughes as Two Face

and Mary Frances as Catwoman

We had fun with costumes this year!  Mary Frances and Chase's costumes were pretty easy, but we couldn't find a Two-Face costume that Thomas liked.  So, this year, I made one!  We went to Goodwill and picked out 2 shirts and 2 pairs of pants, and I made his costume...even the tie!  It was a lot of fun to see the finished product!  My dad made Chase's riddler cane, too!

 We had candy for all the kids, but we also set out apple slices, peanuts, and sprinkles with caramel AND hot chocolate!  Ray C. cranked up some party music, and we had a really great night. 

 Honey, Grandaddy, Papa G. and Jessie all came over too!  Jessie even joined the Batman fun and dressed up as Poison Ivey!  She's such a great Aunt!  

And, before everyone left, Thomas wanted to give a little concert of the new things he has been learning!  He did a great job, but it was funny to watch with his outfit still on and half of his head shaved!

On the 12th day of school....

...my husband gave to me:

12 roses for the 12th day of school!  Just because he loves me!  I'm a lucky girl to have such a wonderful man!  

Dating Rules

Seem a little early for a post like this?  It is!  These are actually the dating rules by parents had for me...in my dad's handwriting!  I love them, and I remember every one of them vividly!

My mom and sister found these when they were cleaning out the house before moving last year!

Viking Fooball

We are playing our first year of tackle football.  Well, Chase is actually the one playing.  It's been a little difficult on the moms, but we're hanging in there! :)

Go #27!!!

The boys are doing great!  It must be difficult to try and learn all these different rules!  I'm not sure I'll ever get it!  I have realized that you have to know numbers (like be good at math) in order to understand the plays.  Otherwise, they make NO sense!  Ray C. and Chase were having fun explaining their plays to me last week!  I'm just glad I don't have to figure out what they mean!

"Wing Left, 33 Lead"

"Go Vikings" 

Chase loves "his" cheerleaders!

 Mommy's not so sure that she loves them, though!  They are super cute, but I don't like the way the 7 year olds watch them!  Aren't they too young to be acting that way?  I mean, I'm glad he likes girls, but it makes me uncomfortable to watch him watching them cheer!

 "Yes Sir"

Break it down...Huh!

 We may not be the Superbowl Champs this year, but we have a lot of heart!  

Big and Bad...

Don't Mess With Me

Princess Lea showing off her beard!

Squirm...the Musical

Chase and Mary Frances performed in a musical at church tonight.  Miss Whitney and all the the other volunteers did a wonderful job directing and preparing for it!

The kids were great, too!  I think every child had a part.

 

 The kids in gray were bats.  The ones in green were snakes, and the pink were earthworms!

 Look at my little earthworm!  Pretty cute, huh!?!

• 

My bat is pretty cute, too!  

"Mom stays in the picture!"