Happy Birthday Pop!

Having some ice cream in celebration of your birthday! Have a great one!

Perseverance and Photoshop = Family Photo

Thanks to perseverance, patience and Photoshop, we were able to come up with an appropriate picture for our Christmas card.

Daddy's Little Helpers

While Braden and Mason were diligently helping Blake with the lights, I helped my dear friend, and neighbor, Sabrina, make this holiday wreath!

American Traditions

We had a very traditional Thanksgiving meal, with a non-traditional guest list. Arther, Wang, and his girlfriend Amy joined us for a delicious dinner of deep fried turkey, gravy, rolls, mashed potatoes, dressing and green bean casserole.

Immediately after dinner, we decorated the Christmas tree

Benson Thanksgiving

After we picked the boys up from school, Friday, we hit the road for a 5 hour drive to Poplar Bluff, MO. This put us an easy hour away from the Benson Thanksgiving in Rector, AR, on Saturday. It was a great day to see family and eat delicious catfish and hushpuppies! I think we'll all get enough turkey this week, the catfish was quite a treat! We got a lot of great pictures but looking back there were a few I wish I hadn't missed. There's a new crop of great grands, Mason is almost 2 1/2, Cameron and Ivy are 18 months and Landry celebrated her first birthday early last week. I wish we had gotten a group shot of these little ones!

Braden was kind enough to come in from playing catch with Pop for a quick shot with Grandma!

Mason on the other hand had missed his nap and decided he DIDN'T WANT to take a picture. With a little reverse psychology, tickling and Daddy holding him tight, we were able to at least prove he was there!


As we drove in on Saturday morning, we could see remnants from the latest cotton crop along the side of the road. Braden didn't quite believe us that cotton really grew out of the ground. So on the way home, Blake took us on a little detour to show Braden where Grandma used to live and the pond where he spent many summers fishing. There was a field at the end of the road and a little cotton left, so Braden picked some for show-n-tell.

Braden is trying to understand cemeteries, spirits and heaven. There's a huge cemetery we drive by almost daily, in Pittsburg, and he asked if anyone in his family had a stone there. I explained that he had great grandparents with stones in Arkansas, and when he found out we were going to Arkansas, he asked if he could see them. We were able to visit Blake's grandfather's stone, and right next to it, his great grandparents, which Braden was fascinated to learn were his great great grandparents. Not that it mattered to Braden, but while we were there a huge armadillo scurried across the field, at the same time a man came walking out of the woods with a gun. He had obviously been hunting, and not the armadillo.

Back at the hotel, the boys ate an excellent dinner, knowing that the swimming pool was waiting on them! Braden put on quite a show for the camera, with Blake launching him into the deep end. He had to evaluate each picture to see if he could top it. It's a good thing Blake works out!

Cannon ball! Looks like he's sitting on top of the water!

Not to be outdone, Mason wanted to be launched in the deep end, too, which for him meant, high in the air.

Fall Wreath from Nature

On Sunday, Braden and I took a little walk in the neighborhood to collect supplies for a fall wreath. We cut a somewhat circular shape out of a leftover pizza box. Braden insisted on riding his bike on our "hunt" and had to stop and get off every time he found a leaf or twig he wanted to use.

This was his first experience with hot glue and unfortunately had to burn his finger before he was convinced I should handle the glue gun.

The final masterpiece.

On Tuesday, his class took a walk through the neighborhood looking for fall leaves and he was able show off our creation to his teacher and class.

Mason got these great glasses in one of his Halloween goody bags, he loves them!

Making silly faces "pretending" we were sleeping. This is Mason's face when he's also trying to pretend snore.

Braden trying to pull off the sleeping face....

Making his list and checking it twice!

A few ideas for Mason......according to Braden!