I didn't cook this week, so nothing much to report. You have already heard the big news of the week, with Mitchell getting a new baby brother or sister. Nolen & Trevor have been sick this week, but they are improving. Cande received two letters from Jeremy and he is doing good. This week was going to be a tough one on him, as he would be going out for 5 days in the field, doing full military activities. I'll be anxious to hear how he did. The other good news is Darryl & Tiffany's baby-to-be is going to be a girl. We did have a little spit of snow this week, not enough to play in but it was pretty coming down.

Bailey didn't know what to think of the snow, she kept looking up in the sky.

New Baby to be in the House

Yes, that is right. Number four grandbaby is on the way. Mitchell will have a brother or sister this fall.

Thursday Night

Nolen's beaded hanger for Grandmother

We didn't get together last week to eat because it was so cold. This week we were all back and was glad Craig could join us. He has been working at nights and on weekends with the job he is on now. We had chicken fajitas, rice, brown beans, jalepeno poppers & cornbread. Blueberry and Apple muffins for dessert. The boys all had a good time being their rowdy selves. That is pretty much the only time Buddy (PaPaw) gets to see them, so he has to get his fill in, all in a few hours. Nolen spent the night with us. I know he loves his little brother, but sometimes he just likes to have his alone time. He was up at 6:00 which is my normal time to get up anyway. If I was to sleep past 6:00, Buddy would probably call the paramedics in to see what was wrong with me. I let Nolen play on the computer for 30 minutes this morning. You wouldn't believe how good he can work on a laptop. One night when he had spent the night here, I pulled up some games on Nick, Jr. and I think he has been hooked on them ever since. After computer time he ate breakfast (Papaw's Cheerios) Then he played with his cars and watched TV. By 11:00 he was ready for lunch and shortly after took off for the bedroom and was ready for a nap. When he woke up he asked if I still had those beads. In the fall of 2007 (he wasn't quite 3) he was with me camping, I had bought some of the bigger beads for him to play with while I was doing my beading. I can't believe what a memory he has for his age. Anyway, I still had some and he strung some on wire, and said he wanted to give it to Grandmother. He then was showing me his building skills with the legos.

We are glad to hear Jeremy is doing good in his basic training in the Air Force. I talked to Cande yesterday and she said he is doing much better. Other than not getting much sleep and not being able to enjoy his meals, he is doing ok. Sometimes they only get 3-5 minutes to eat their entire meal. He loves getting his mail from everyone and I know he would love to write to everyone, but he doesn't have the time to do it, and we all understand. I keep up with him through mom and Cande. Keep up the good work Jeremy. We miss you.

Some of Nolen's houses he built.

Snow Day

There hasn't been much to report in the past few weeks. Other than it has been really cold. I didn't have my Thursday night family dinner last week, because the high for that day was 20 and the low was going to be 2. Just too cold for my mom and dad to get out and also for the kiddo's.

It hasn't been quite as cold the past couple of days. We did have a little bit of snow yesterday. I have had a fire rolling for the past week, and the wood pile is going down fast. It was a good day to stay inside. I have 3 personalized baby afghans to get finished, so after my 4 mile walk on the treadmill and cleaning out my closet, that is what I did the rest of the day.

Abby would rather just stand out in the snow than come inside. She finally did go to the basement after awhile. You can't really tell in this pic, but there were 10-12 cardinals in the trees and more on the ground. The birds have been keeping me busy filling their feeders up.

Titans Game

We were lucky enough to be able to get tickets to the playoff game today. Titans vs. Ravens. (Thanks Uncle Bobby) We have had other opportunities to go to other games, but just haven't gone. The bad thing about this game was that the only other Titans game that we have been to was in 2000 when the Titans were playing the Ravens for a playoff game, and they lost it too. So, I'm thinking we are banned from playoff games. But it is fun to go to them. We took the train from Mt. Juliet. Which is really great. It is about 4 miles from our house. Board the train, and it takes you right downtown Nashville, across from the stadium. You walk over the pedestrian bridge and you are there. No traffic to worry about and trying to find a place to park. There was so many things going on in Nashville this weekend we didn't want to fight the traffic. The seats we had at the game were great. So, better luck next year. GO TITANS!!!!

Flag being held up by 101st Airborne National Anthem sung by Martina McBride Those in the upper deck were in the clouds, we were in the middle section and 4th row up.

Going for a field goal Not a good situation to be in.

Tie game with 2 minutes to go.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. As most everyone, we are all starting off dieting. I think everyone in the family is trying to lose weight. I fixed a pretty much Weight Watcher friendly meal tonight. We had Chicken Stir Fry. Yeah, I know most of you think that is fattening, but really it isn't if you fix it at home. I still keep the chicken and veggies separate only because of John. We still haven't convinced him that they are actually good and good for you. And there were plenty of veggies in there (Broccoli, celery, carrots, asparagus, snow peas, mushrooms, onion) I just remembered that I forgot to put the red pepper in there, OOPS. Oh well. Anyway, I also had brown rice and stir fry rice, roasted red potatoes, egg rolls and salad. I also fixed cucumber and onion salad using vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and SPLENDA. I mainly fix that for DAD, he loves that stuff. I didn't even fix dessert. A few had some WW ice cream though. The only report of weight loss that I got was from John, which has lost 6 lbs. I only weigh in once a week, so will find out on Monday. We missed Craig this week. He has been having to work at nights on the job he is doing. His sweet little wife took him some leftovers. He is working on the other side of Nashville from here, so that was sweet of her to take him some dinner. He also got to see the boys for awhile. We are really missing Jeremy being here too. Mom, got a letter from him yesterday. He is doing good in boot camp, but I think it is a little harder than he thought it was going to be. I know he is going to come back a stronger and well adapted man. He doesn't have access to the computer and the only way to communicate is through mail, so I'm going to send him some pics each week.

Now on a more serious note. A dear friend of ours (Bill Wharton) was diagnosed with Acute Lymphonic Leukemia in April of 2007. He went through all the gut wrenching treatments and was on his way to recovery. He went in Tuesday for a bone marrow biopsy. They told him yesterday the leukemia is back, and gave him the choice of whether to go home or try the bone marrow transplant. He is going to go through with the transplant. They had tested his brother last year, and he is a perfect match. I'm not sure when it will all take place, but I just wanted everyone to keep him and his family in your prayers. Also, another friend of mine from church (Debbie Mathews) has a son that has just been diagnosed with MS. His name is Madison and he just graduated from college the week before Christmas. They are still doing tests on him, to see the extent of it. So I would like you to keep that family in your prayers also.

Pawpaw and Kristin after dinner. Hope they got enough to eat. This is Mr. Entertainment Papaw and his boys. Every Thursday is like Christmas to him, when he gets to play with them. Trying to get a pic with grandmother. That is a no can do when you stop them from playing. Not sure what's up with Mr. GQ here. Boy, what a pose. Jamie and John kicked back Trevor and Mitchell beating Papaw up, but he is loving it. Reading to Nolen and Mitchell