A Favorite New Years Eve Memory..

Let's see - I was probably eight or nine years old at the time. Grandma Irene was our babysitter (as usual) and the Carey kids would be joining us at her house as well. She had a tiny house in Everman, but we didn't care because if we were at Grandma's it was a guaranteed GOOD TIME! Since it was New Years Eve, I feel certain her aluminum Christmas tree (with color wheel) was still up. There was also plenty of homemade popcorn balls and other goodies. Although I was never of fan of those because they were so sticky - yes, I'm a very 'selective' eater. I believe it started with just the 5 of us kids. But as soon as the sun went down, obviously word spread around town that THE BEST BABYSITTER EVER was available - then her front door became a virtual revolving door :)

With the help of my sister, Cindi, who has a much better PEOPLE memory than I do, she gave me the names of more drop-ins that night: Keith & Kevin Nowell, one of the Burns kids (our preacher at the time), and Lynn Hickox (she thinks). So I'm really surprised we didn't have any of the Crouch, Pittman or Shurbet clan there. My main memory is lots and lots of kids and noise. I'm sure it seemed that way because of the tiny, tiny house. What I DON'T recall is any chaos or crying among any of us. Grandma somehow made it fun for ALL of us: from the 4 yr olds to the 10 yr olds. We also had a little brown electric organ there at the time. Fortunate for us we also had the songbook with it to show us how to play AULD LANG SYNE. It was a good time for all of us kids.

I'm sure Grandma was worn out for days. But that is a New Years Eve that each of us "kids" can probably still recall as a favorite. Not only was she our Grandma, but "Miss Irene" was also loved by many other kids as well :)

A Flip Book: Gramps & Truett vs. Santa PJs

Yeah, I don't REALLY have a flip book, but truly wish I did....the pics I took of Gramps putting on Truett's Santa PJs the other night would look SO MUCH better in the form of a FLIP BOOK - you know one of those little paper books that you just hold on at one corner and flip, flip, flip very quickly. All the pictures look like they are animated, moving. I'm sure the pictures would be hilarious that way; although they are pretty funny just the way they are. At least it was very funny when I was taking them. Both Gramps and Truett both glanced my direction more than once looking a little more than desperate, but Granny was much more interested in getting the whole ordeal in picture form than in helping. I know I should have just switched to video, but I had already started shooting pics.

Of course, part of the issue is the fact that Truett is growing so big and strong that he had already outgrown the PJs that mommy had given Gramps to use. Try dressing a squirming 4 month old - who is already distracted with a dog running around, and squeeze him into some very tight-fitting PJs and, well, Gramps really DID have his hands FULL! He persevered, we got MORE pics, then Mommy came through with more comfy PJs for the boy. Gramps even lost his hat and sweater after the struggle changing of clothes.

My first post - yikes!

This is really just a practice post. I don't have any of my pics edited & ready to post yet. I'm waiting for my camera cable for my iPad to arrive. So excited! Get ready though. Lots to show.

Yes my iPad. That is a story in and of itself. Nolen walks in the house around midnight Fri with a large boulder-looking gift. It was large, round and covered in brown paper. The kids had gone in together for our gifts getting separate gifts for Brady and me this year. So when I start to open this gift the next day, Nolen gets his camera ready to record what he was certain would be an amazing reaction. I get the brown paper off only to be faced with what is surely an entire roll of bubble wrap. REALLY! Again I have NO CLUE what is inside this package. Nolen is very crafty, and I truly thought it would be a homemade creation of his. I finally get to the end of the mile-long bubble wrap and there is a white box. I look on the end of it and it says iPad on it. I know he got a "deer in the headlights" picture at the moment. At the same time I'm saying
"is this what it says it is!?!" And turning to Brady saying, "Did you know?" He assures me he did not.

So, yes it WAS as the box said, including an adapter & a smart cover, too. Of course, this mom could not hold back; my hands go up to my face as I gasp, and the tears begin to flow (I tried to be mindful we still had family photos to take, but it was no use: the waterworks did NOT have an emergency turn-off valve!); then my hands go over my heart as I keep saying over & over, "I just can't believe y'all did this". Nolen tells me "it's not brand new; it was mine, but I did wipe it clean for you." The tears flow even harder as I tell him, "that makes it even more special!" Then I look over at him and he's not recording my reaction any more as he, too, is wiping tears from his face. I look across the room at Troy - doing the same. Samantha & Chris on the couch with the same reaction with Sam saying, "awww". I look at Brady and even he has tears. This continued for quite some time. When I finally recovered, the kids were laughing and discussing what they THOUGHT my reaction was going to be: not what it was - that's for sure! That's okay - the gift was not what I expected either :)