Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving is certainly a time for all of us to take a step back and realize how much we are all truly blessed! I'm not saying some of us haven't had a bad year, or that we haven't had some real lows, but my--we are so blessed!

Thanksgiving this year was spent with our families. We went by my Dad's house to see my brother, his wife, and my nieces. We didn't eat there, but got to ride the Ranger, watch my niece inject the turkey, and have some adult socialization!

After my brother's house, it was time for our tradition with the in-laws at their river house on the Suwannee. Only in Florida can you SWIM on Thanksgiving day. The boys had fun catching minnows!


Lots of love and hugs to go around from the boys' great-grandmother.......what a sweet picture!
And of course, no Thanksgiving would be complete without us trying to get a family picture. Merciful heavens, I don't know why I do this to myself, but I do. This MAY or MAY NOT be the one we use on our Christmas card. You'll have to wait and see. We only took about 30! HA!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of love and tradition!

~CB~

The last home Gator game....

By now, y'all know the drill. Get to the campus at the break of dawn, tailgate til the cows come home, watch the ball game, then head home. This past weekend however, we switched things up a bit. We decided to do our own tailgate!

It was nice and relaxing and we had a great time! The boys were able to go to this game because it was at noon, so they enjoyed it very much!


We ate, socialized, ate some more, and the boys played football!
After all the FUN, we hit the stadium to see if the Gators would actually win.....they did--and they did it well, but I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't worried going in to the game!

Because the stadium wasn't full, and people were leaving early in the 4th quarter, we called down the troops to sit by us.

I love that picture of Cecil and the boys and look forward to many more years of them enjoying FLORIDA GATOR football!

~CB~

Gator Games (catch-up)

I'm about a week behind in blogging about our tailgates and traditions, but I've been overwhelmed lately with a sick little boy (who is getting better every day), a birthday party, and planning the decorations for our church banquet, not to mention mounds of laundry, emails, etc. Oh, and WORK!

Last Saturday (when the Gators played South Carolina), we had 2 extra tickets and my cousin happened to call me one morning and ask if she could use them. It happens to be that these two beautiful ladies are not only my friends, but we're all cousins too! You can't tell can you? Ha-ha-ha

As always, before the game, we tailgate something fierce! I LOVE IT! I would sometimes rather tailgate than go to the game. Especially when it turns out like the FL/SC game did! HA!

A dear, dear friend of mine, Lauren, from Atlanta, was down for the game and she stopped by our tailgate for a bit so we could catch-up on each others comings and goings.

Lauren and I had a great time catching up and seeing each other!

Overall, it was a great day with great friends! I'm not going to say too much about the game except that it was plum embarrassing!!!

~CB~

A sick little boy.

Y'all. Let's just face it. When our kids are sick, it is NOT good. Seems like my boys' health goes in "waves". They will be perfectly fine for months and then all of a sudden, it's a string of illnesses.

Here's a prime example. Carter ran a fever off and on for about a week and a half. I assumed it was a virus and refused to pay the Dr. $20 just to tell me that. "This ain't my first rodeo" with the whole "it's just a virus" thing.

C's cough just got worse and worse though. Again, I assumed it was because it's 40 degrees in the mornings and 80 by noon and his body was just adjusting, and it was part of the virus wreaking havoc on his body.

I had noticed however, that his cough had worsened over the last few days and was not improving, so I made the decision that I would THINK about taking him to the Dr. if he stayed that bad (coughing). Sunday before church he was coughing so bad that I made the decision to take him to the after-hours doctor that afternoon. Boy am I glad I did.

He's got PNEUMONIA. I know, I know. Bad mother of the year award. It probably did start as a virus, and just got worse, says the doctor (that I thought I might have to poke her eyes out). Nice doctor, bless her heart, but she did have the gumption to tell me that I should have brought him in last week and I should have kept a log of his fevers, etc. After I calmly and rationally explained that I knew exactly which days he had a fever, and this wasn't my first and only child, she did relent a little bit.

The Dr. did put Carter on an immediate breathing treatment right there on the spot, I'll give that to her. She didn't like the sound of his lungs before the treatment and she certainly didn't like the sound after the treatment.

A side note and funny story--Carter has had multiple surgeries on his ears, so he's an "old pro" when it comes to the masks they administer anesthesia in. That silly Dr. tried to show him how to do it and he grabbed it from her, and said "I know how to use this. You do it like this (and showed her how to hold it) and it's supposed to smell like bubble gum, but it doesn't. It stinks." I about fell off the chair laughing at him!! Bless his heart, he's so used to the anesthesia being stinky and such! Even though we had a stoic doctor, she did manage a small laugh!



He's on TWO antibiotics now and we play the waiting game to see if his pneumonia will subside any. We covet your prayers so that we don't have to go on another antibiotic!

~CB~

a COLD, DISNEY day!

Cecil was going to be working all day last Saturday, trying to get ready to go hunting for a week, so I took the kids to Disney. It was our "it's nice, cold, weather, let's head to Disney" treat!

We were in no rush on Saturday when we woke up--I just wanted to get there, have a good time, then make it back home, with no meltdowns. That was my goal for the day! For those wondering, yes, I was by myself. It's no big deal, really. I've done it a few times before, and the kids know that when I go by myself, they MUST behave and obey!

Not only did we have NO meltdowns, but we had a GREAT TIME! The boys were very obedient (thank you Jesus) and the lines weren't bad at all!



Of course, Disney was all dressed in her holiday finest! I love to see Disney decorated for the holidays--if you've never been during the holiday season, PLEASE put that on your list of things to do!




As soon as we walked in, guess who we saw? PINOCCHIO!! I love Pinocchio! As many times as we have been to Disney, you'd think we'd have seen him by now, but we had NEVER! The boys were eager to have their picture made with him!


The first order of business was to take Carter to Tom Sawyer Island. Nolan discovered this a few weeks ago on another trip to Disney and he wanted to show Carter so bad! I thought that was so sweet. (yes, my boys do have sweet moments once a century). Carter really enjoyed riding the raft to the island, and discovering the hidden nooks and crannies. The BEST part about the island is a bridge suspended on barrels that you have to cross. The kids LOVE it. I'm always afraid I'm going to get soaked in my shoes, but so far so good!


There is also a cute playground on the island and since we were on no timetable, I let the kids play for a few minutes......
After Tom Sawyer Island, we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean, where they watched Captain Jack Sparrow in a stage show. When we got to our stroller after the show, we could NOT believe our eyes! Someone at Disney had COVERED our stroller in Mickey Mouse stickers, a pirate flag, and left jewels on the seats, and a telescope, eye patch, hook, etc. The boys (and I) were AMAZED! This had NEVER happened before! It was so DISNEY!! We were beyond excited! I wish you could have seen us--we thought it was a mistake and we kept looking for "our" stroller! Too funny!



The kids wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear, so we headed to Tomorrowland and while there, decided to ride the PeopleMover. This is one of MY favorite rides. I don't know why--it's kind of "boring" but it's a neat thing to do. The kids like it too, don't let them fool ya! We rode it twice!


After all this excitement, lunch, and a few other rides, it was PARADE time! I love a good parade y'all! Check out the neat characters we saw--they were so close to us too! A few of them even came over to the boys and touched their head or high-fived them! It was precious!



Overall, it was a PERFECT DISNEY day! The boys had a blast, I had a good time, no meltdowns, and a safe trip!

~CB~

A lunch date

I had lunch with my brother and sister-in-law last Friday! It was just a quick lunch, but the best part? They bought mine!! We looked funny with him in his FSU gear and me in my Gator gear!

Nichole & Jamie

Me & Jamie

Thanks Jamie & Nic for a great lunch!

~CB~

Florida-Georgia. THE EVENT.

In my title, you see "THE EVENT", because y'all the Florida-Georgia game is an EVENT to our family! It starts VERY EARLY in the morning on the day of the game! Hubs drives to Gainesville at 1am (yes, am) to meet up with the people we tailgate with, and the 2 guys drive to Jacksonville to reserve our spot (because it just wouldn't be right if we didn't get the same spot every year).

Around 8am, myself and my in-laws drive to Jacksonville. Let's just say I'm not all about the 1am thing. ha!

Our tailgate at the FL/GA game is INSANE! It's insane FUN too!!! Lots of food, lots of people, loud music, games, the WORKS!

Becky Burleigh (UF Women's Soccer Coach) was running the games.....and oh my! They were hysterical! I don't know how much time and effort she put into coming up with these "minute to win it" games, but they were SO FUN to watch!



Even with all the excitement, we managed to get our annual family picture done! If you like to play games...."which one of these is not like the others?" is what you should be asking......see that girl in RED? That's Edward's (Cecil's brother) girlfriend, Jenni. She's a Dawg (Georgia Bulldog, that is). God love her, she was a good sport!

After some fun, food, and friends, it was time to head into the stadium to see THE EVENT. I'm a Gator through and through, but our band is....well....they leave a little something to be desired, okay? This band, however, is AWESOME! I'm a big enough person to admit when a band is better than ours, and this one sure is!

After the opening ceremonies and whatnot, we got settled in and ready to watch the big game!
Wiley, our friend, and the same crazy one that Cecil rides to Jax with! He's in deep concentration here helping the Gators out!

By now, you know the outcome of the game was VICTORY for the GATORS, but oh my--it was a heart-stopping, screaming, stressful, game!

~CB~