Roosevelt as Minnie Mouse

We entered a pet halloween costume contest for a local radio station. Our very mellow cat let us dress him up as minnie mouse. It was too cute not to share. Happy Halloween!!

Buckets of Fun!!!

A friend of mine made one of these for me last year. I thought I would "copy" the idea and give them as gifts to the teachers at school. It was fun! You use a plastic paint bucket, fabric, and modge podge. I thought they turned out cute! Love to you all! Dawn

Yellow Belt

Emma has been taking Taekwondo this year and she just earned her yellow belt. She has had so much fun and is really talented in it! Who knew?? She wants to someday be a black belt. I think she secretly likes the yelling part! She takes all of her frustration out that she has with her little sister!! Keep kicking Emma!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Every year we visit the pumpkin patch as a family. Every one had fun picking out their pumpkin, bringing it home, carving it(Chad's job), and eating the seeds that we toasted after. THey turned out very Halloweeny!! I love Halloween! It is the beginning of great weather and fun times!! Love to you all, Dawn

You are Beautiful!!!!

I had something really funny happen today that I had to share. I have been feeling really low lately about my weight and how I look. Today, Mary Rose and I were walking into a store and this little 4 or 5 year old boy pointed at me and said, "mommy, that lady is REALLY beautiful!! She has a really pretty necklace too. The mom and I started laughing and I told him he really made my day. For all those who think they are not beautiful, someone thinks you are!! love to you all, Dawn

My Emma Lou

                                                       Keep Rocking EMMA!!!
                                                  She has always been a goof!!!
                            This was the day we brought her home from the hospital
                                                  This is Emma at about 6 months

My Emma is turning 7. I can not believe how grown up she is. I am so proud of her. She is a beautiful, confident young girl who knows who she is and where she is going. She loves to be her and I love to watch her grow and become who she is. As soon as she was put in my arms, I knew Heavenly Father gave her to me as a precious gift and I have been so grateful for her every day. She makes me laugh and she touches me a great deal with the kindness that is in her heart. She says she is going to buy a house next door to me and live with me forever. I wish that comes true with all of my heart! One of my favorite quotes I have heard is, "Having a child is making the decision to have your heart go walking around outside of your body." That is my EMMA.  We had her birthday party today. It got a little crowded at the end, but I think it went well. She had a great time and LOVED all of her presents. Especially her guitar. She has wanted one for quite awhile.  Dave Sparkman got a lot more pictures than we did. I always forget to take pictures at parties, because I get so busy. When he gives them to us, I will post them. Thank you Dave!!!We love you EMMA LOU!!!!!

My Little Brother's Birthday

Every year, we try to do something positive on my brother's birthday to honor him and the joy he brought to all of our lives. This year, his birthday(Oct.9th) happened to coincide with the girls' fall break. My mom and I took the girls to Lamberts. It is a restaraunt in Sikeston, Missouri. Derrick loved to take dates there and he loved the food. The girls love to catch the rolls. We found a huge park there too for the kids to run around in. We had a little mishap that caused a 5 hour trip to be a 10 hour trip, but I am not confessing to it for the sake of Marital harmony. I am positive Chad gets really tired of the dumb things I do, so this time, I told him I just would leave that part out of it and not tell him what I did. (He reads the blog). We did have a great time. Friday, Chad took the day off and we took the kids to Graceland. I have lived here my whole life and have never been there. Derricks nickname was always Elvis. He looked freakishly like him. We thought it fitting. The girls thought it was really cool Especially the plane. I had them go around the parking lot and look at all the license plates to see how many people from all over the world come and see Graceland. Emma said he must have been really rich and had at least 1000$. I still miss my brother every day, but it helps to do something positive where we laugh and have a good time. I am sure he would want it that way. We took the pictures of Graceland on a disposable camera because we forgot ours. I can't figure out how to download them so use your imagination. It was great! love to you all, Dawn