Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend! ;)

Katie Grace has been driving me crazy for about a year to get her ears pierced so as her treat for being so brave about her surgery we let her get them done. Now truth be told I really wanted to wait but I thought ears for ears was a cute and fun idea and right up this prissy girls alley! We went to Claire's at Dogwood in Flowood and they were very nice and did a great job. Here are some pics :) I LOVE these! She did great and is very proud of her "diamonds"!

(The last picture of sweet un-pierced ears!)

One very happy little girl!

Let's Play Ball!

Myles went to his first baseball practice of the year today! I love baseball and I love to see my favorite boy play!

Myles' First Deer!

Myles turned 10 in August and boy has it been an exciting year for him! I think he would say the highlight being his first deer and boy it sure was a nice one! The first day of the season he gets a 5 point! This was also the first time he shot his new rifle. Lan went with him and I don't know which one was more excited. My friend Chad set him up on a stand on his land that's right beside ours and just before sunset this deer walks right out in a field and Myles got him! I'm so proud of this sweet boy... he is such a blessing :)

Follow Up!

Katie Grace made it through surgery with flying colors! She was great through the whole experience and we couldn't have asked for more. God is so good and her attitude helped us feel better too! Thank you all so much for your prayers, texts, phone calls! We felt them all! God has RICHLY blessed us and I pray that we can show others His love.

We went back to Jackson a little over a week ago for he follow up appointment. The doctor says everything looks good and we will go back April 8 for her first hearing test since surgery. I feel that her hearing will return and I can't wait to share this great news with all of you! Whatever the outcome is though we are still thankful!

Katie Grace and I did enjoy a yummy lunch and I just have to share my new find with you! A friend suggested we go to the Mississippi Museum of Art for lunch at The Pallet Cafe' by Viking and it was DELISH! I'll try to add the links for you but please try it out the next time you're in Jackson and want to try something great and a little different. The big plus for me was all in the presentation! They served our food on my very favorite McCarty Pottery!!

(The Plantation Sandwich- Smoked turkey and asparagus between cornbread topped with hollandaise sauce and crumbled bacon with a side of yummy mac and cheese!)

Oscar Night!

Oscar night at our house is a tradition... Every year Lan treats that night like it's the Super Bowl and wants to eat like it's game night! This year I didn't go all out but I did fix his favorite (rotel). I have to say I love the tradition myself :) We're not huge fans of the Oscars but I'm in it for the fashion. So here is my version of the hits and the misses and boy were there some misses this year!

HITS!

Sandra was STUNNING!

Jennifer's dress was beautiful!

I know I know I can't believe I like it but I just do!

Cameron looked prettier than I have seen her look in many years! She usually is to messy looking and I just hate it but she's redeemed herself!

This is just sleek and pretty!

Misses!!!

I can't even begin! With all of her money and people at her disposal couldn't someone help!

She's so beautiful and this dress is just... BAD!

The Queen of Fashion has fallen!!!

Faith! What were you thinking?!

Some might protest but I hate this! It is two different dresses! Both would have been great separately but not together!!

There you have it.. My two cents for what they're worth ;)

Please pray for our Katie Grace

Recently we discovered that Katie Grace has lost hearing in her right ear. The fact is that it is amazing because we don't know when, why or how and she has no other issues that go along with hearing loss. I took her to UMC yesterday to see Dr. Eby and she is now scheduled for surgery March 4 at UMC. God is so good and as it turns out a sweet friend is Dr. Eby's nurse. This really helped my feelings about the whole situation, funny how a familiar face can be such comfort. The surgery is exploratory with a possible stapedectomy. He feels like it is caused by a problem with one of the tiny bones behind her ear drum but won't know for sure until they get in there and see. The GREAT news is that there is a 90% success rate with this procedure! Please just pray for her to keep her upbeat spirit and for the doctor and nurses surrounding the surgery. Katie Grace has been wonderful and really taken this as something new and different about herself. Gotta love her!!

Back to Blogging!!!

After a very long time away I'm making a COME BACK!! I can't believe I've been such a slacker... I thought with the purchase of a new fun computer I would do better but NO! I've been nothing more than a blog stalker for the past year :) I promise to try to do much better and be much more interesting.... Stay tuned!

Slowly but surely!

I am so upset with myself for falling this far behind in posting!  We have been really busy with school, activities and then came tax season....  Needless to say the blog has suffered and now hopefully I can get caught up!  

One of the major setbacks included our computer being attack by a virus!  We had had a hard time with it and finally broke down and bought a new computer.  Not just because of the virus but our Dell had also seen better days : )  We did lots of research and ended up with our new iMac!  I LOVE this computer!!!  I am having a little trouble learning how to use it but WOW is it amazing!  

Thank you to Lan for working so hard during tax season!  We missed you and are VERY glad to have you home and see you more than an hour or two a day!  

Way Behind.....

I am so far behind on my blogging I wonder if I will ever catch up! I PROMISE (to those of you who really follow our blog) that I will work on it ASAP. WOW, November and December have been busy. We seem to be busier this year than any other and I'm so ready for things to slow down. I want to be able to sit down with Lan and the kids, watch Christmas movies and know that everything is finished.

Hot Pineapple and Cheese Caserole

By request I am posting this wonderful recipe! This casserole is on my menu every Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is my mother and brother-in-laws favorite!

Hot Pineapple and Cheese

3 (20 oz.) cans of pineapple tidbits, drain and reserve juice

1 1/2 cups of sugar

9 Tablespoons of all-purpose flour

4 cups of shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Topping:

1/4 cup butter

1 sleeve of Ritz crackers

1/4 cup of sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Combine 9 Tablespoons of pineapple juice, sugar and flour. Add cheese and pineapple chunks. Mix well. Pour into a lightly buttered 9x13 baking dish. In a small bowl melt butter and add crushed crackers and sugar. Place on top of pineapple mixture. Bake uncovered 45 minutes.

Blessings...

Tonight at church we celebrated with a Blessings Banquet. We all brought a covered dish or dessert (gotta love the south) and shared some really great food! After we ate the children went upstairs for lots of fun in the gym and we gathered around to hear testimony about some blessing of members of our church this past year. Amazing! We are all so very different, each with a different story but such a great love of our church and our church family. I am so thankful for my FBC family!!!

Our favorite tree...

Lan and I have lived in our house for a little over 9 years now and every year in the Fall we get so much joy out of this one tree in our yard. For a few weeks it gives us this amazing display of color! We live in the house his dad grew up in and his grandparents had a great love of nature and we still get to enjoy the treasures they left behind...

Pinewood Derby!

The RA's at church held their annual Pinewood Derby race this past Wednesday night. Lan helped Myles build his car and painted it like Ironman. He always looks so forward to this race! Every year they do a different theme and he and Lan works really hard to make it look just the way Myles wants it to. I think the dad's get into it just as much as the boys! Myles didn't place this year but made us so proud because he really is a great sport about loosing. He cheered for everyone. I told him sometimes it's better to be a good looser than a winner. I am so proud to be this little boys mother!

High School Musical 3

Katie Grace and I had a movie date and went to see High School Musical 3! We loved it! I'm so glad that there are still good movies being made for our children in a time when so JUNK is out there. I loved musicals growing up and I'm so happy to have a little one that watch them with me! At least my little man and I do share a love of Harry Potter!

Trick-or-Treat!

We had SO much fun Halloween night!!! The weather was cool and the children were both so happy and excited! In years past we have gone to Eagle Point in Meridian trick-or-treating but this year we decided to change things up and go to a neighborhood very close to our street. Great decision! We ended up running into Matt and Meredith with Molly Katherine and Wes which turned out to be so fun for all of us! I can't tell you how many houses we went to but it was GREAT and they all loaded up on plenty of sugar!

Happy Halloween!!!

We started off the night loading up on candy at G and Duddie's! We always make it our first stop and the kids load up on their favorites since they are the only trick-or-treaters that they see!

Before you look at these pics and begin to wonder if we've lost our minds, let me explain! Lan's grandfather Leland was born on Halloween and LOVED to celebrate the holiday! Every year since he passed away we take a pumpkin out to the cemetery for him. This year the kids found these things (I forget what there called but grew up loving to blow on them). The cemetery was covered in them and they ran around grabbing as many as they could find! I know it sounds crazy but Leland would have loved it!!!

Halloween with the Maloney's!

The Moloney's hosted a great party the Tuesday before Halloween! The kids had a wonderful time and so did the adults!

(Myles and Katie Grace)

(Seth and Myles)

(Katie Grace and Baker)