The Post-Thanksgiving Report

Wow - what a great Thanksgiving!!

While it had some fun and interesting parts, it had all of the classics that make it Thanksgiving - lots of family, lots of food, and lots of good times!!

Along with the regulars - Mom and Dad, Ryan, Shannon and the girls, BigPa and Grandma, George and Edith, and Shannon's parents - we had a new member join in the turkey fun! This is Cali - Meagan and Lexie's new puppy -


This is one of the cutest puppies EVER - she's only 7 weeks old and VERY calm at this point in her young life. Anyone who kind of knows Landry knows that he is "stared" (scared) of pretty much all of God's creations in the animal department. And dogs are at the top of his list! So when Cali joined in the fun, I was a little worried about how Landry would react (even though she stayed out in the garage for most of the day - accompanied by her heater, of course!!) But he really warmed up to her - I was very pleasantly surprised! Here are some cute pics of them!

This is of Landry's hand actually touching her back - very impressive! Way to go, Landry!!

And this picture shows just how far Landry came in one short day - to have a look with any kind of excitement on it at all shows huge progress!!

Onto the food report -

The turkey was great, the dressing amazing, and the pumpkin pie awesome! This, however, shows what a big girl I'm growing up to be:

My mom made this Paula Deen recipe for Broccoli Slaw. Now, I have to admit, when I heard "broccoli slaw" I thought that that didn't even make sense. That would be like having green bean cobbler or grilled spaghetti or something equally as odd. And when I saw it, I was 100% sure that that would not be passing through my lips. It was made for the over-40 crowd and my mom certainly didn't expect me to eat any!! But when I smelled it, it really smelled pretty good. So, being the big girl that I am, after both Ryan and Shannon tried it and didn't pass out from gross-ness, I tried it and I, surprisingly, liked it! It was good!! I'm not sure I would make it for the boys, but it was good. Interesting, but good!! (this picture was in the leftover bowl - I didn't think to take a picture of it beforehand, because I didn't plan on eating any!!

And from the crazy Thanksgiving file, it started to snow late afternoon!! What makes that so crazy is that it has been so warm for like the last, well, since last spring!! To put it in perspective, on Tuesday, I was cutting the grass, riding around the yard in my shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops while my neighbors were putting up their Christmas lights!! (funny picture!) On Thursday, it was snowing! That is insane!! Let us work into the cold weather, for goodness sake!! Here's the proof:

I know, it doesn't look like much - but it was enough!! Of course, the ground was plenty warm from our summer-like conditions so it didn't stick much.

And, as always, a highlight of the Thanksgiving weekend is the Friday after. The post-thanksgiving day sales always beckon me and I must go! My normal shopping partner, Jenny, couldn't go this year because she is at home on her left side, growing a very special baby in that high blood pressured body of hers!!

So, my good friend, Emily agreed to be my partner and meet me at Walmart before 5:00 AM!! Now, anyone who knows Emily know that her spiritual gift is NOT getting up early!! In fact, the night before, I could sense a little back-pedaling in her commitment to find the best deals on earth. (for example, she said - If you don't see me there when you get there, just go ahead and go in - I'll find you! uh-huh - sure you will!) But she actually beat me there and already knew the lay of the land when I got there. We shopped from before 5:00 until about 2:00 and had some crazy-good times. Lots of interesting people and shopping going on on a day like that! The good news is that I got many people marked off of my list and Emily ... well, you'll just have to ask her how it turned out for her!

One last picture from a great couple of days:

Thanks

Sometimes, in the big picture of life, even "thanks" doesn't seem like enough. For the God of the universe to choose me to have such a charmed life is really unbelievable at times.

Why am I here and not living in Mexico in a small hut with a dirt floor with meager possessions?

Why have I had the opportunity to hear of God's love more times than I can count when others on this planet have never heard even once??

Why does God continually bless my life in ways beyond my imagination on a daily basis??

The only answer is because of His grace. He has allowed me to live a life that many on this planet will never even dream of. Though I know it is not deserved, I am so grateful. His grace is so abundant in my life - his mercies ARE new every morning!

He has blessed me with a family that is amazing and unique! He has gifted me with a group of friends, some new and some old, that make my journey a little easier when I find it's getting harder. He has opened my eyes this year to new insights about Him and I have relied on Him like no other time in my life.

Most of all, He gives me His grace. That, coupled with His unconditional love, is more than enough!!

And for that, I am thankful!!

Dancing with the boys

Ever since Emmitt Smith made it all the way, we have been big Dancing with the Stars watchers. Especially this year with such an interesting selection of "stars." As with every season, there are always the predictable losers and the unpredictable twists and turns of the drama.

All that to say, I'm in it for Helio - go all the way, BABY!!! He and his cute little partner, Julianne, are just so stinkin' cute!!

I haven't actually voted for him, or anyone else yet, but I think it might be time! If Marie Osmond beats him, I just might be done with DWTS!!

OK - this is really the point of this rambling post -

After we watched it on Monday, Parker decided to bust some moves and recruited Luke to help him! After several costume changes and different dance moves, I snapped this picture to remember their fun!

Parker is wearing my Nike hooded sweatshirt and pants and Luke is wearing the lining of Scott's winter coat over his pj's!! At one point, Parker was wearing some pants, no shirt and a tie!! Crazy!!

This picture was obviously a lift (much drama has been made this season over the lift) and I was very impressed with Luke's form - from head to toe, he's definitely a natural!!

Actually, I cracked up when I saw this picture!! Good times!!

Thanksgiving Break - Day 1

Today is Monday and we have the whole week ahead of us!

That's scary and exciting, all at the same time!!

We had to make a quick Walmart run this morning so I called Grandma to see if we could stop by for a bit. We ended up taking McDonalds over and enjoying a little Fall fun while we were there! We don't have many leaves around our neck of the woods, but Grandma and BigPa had plenty and the boys had a blast playing in them.

BigPa got out his leaf blower and the boys tried to make a pile of leaves to jump into.

Here they are taking their turn jumping in -

Here's Landry running toward the leaves until, at the last minute, he spots the dog in the yard next door and comes to an abrupt stop!! "I stared of da dod" = I scared of the dog!!

Here's the leafy fun!!

Happy Fall!!

TCU Game

By Alex:

Tonight, I saw TCU play UNLV. I went with my friends, Jacob and Joseph, and their dad, Mr. Gary. We got to stand by where TCU runs out and we got to see all of the players. I saw Brian Bonner, Aaron Brown, Joseph Turner, Donald Massey, and best of all, Tommy Blake. Tommy Blake is a really good corner for TCU. When they ran out, I got to hit their shoulder pads and I hit Tommy Blake on the shoulder and arm. It was fun - we got Dippin' Dots - and TCU won!
When we left, there were tons of fireworks.

Who's yo MAMA???!!?

I saw this little thingy on another blog and thought I would give it try.
I always get mixed reviews when asked if the boys look like Scott or myself.
So, here's who the "state-of-the-art face recognition technology" something or other says the boys look like:










DRUMROLL PLEASE ...........



YESSSSSSSSSSS!! My genes are repesented!!

I personally think the "looks like both of us equally" is a rip-off!!

Interesting enough, I hear more often that the boys look like Scott - except Landry. He's the one that most people will say looks like me. I don't know if they're just feeling sorry for me or what, but that's the story!!

Now we know the REAL truth - because I saw it on the internet - and you know it doesn't lie!!

Ho Ho Ho!!

For all of you "I-can't-believe-the-Christmas-decorations-are-out-at-Walmart" people, here's a good one for you!!

We are at the mall this afternoon, killing a little time, when Luke sees Santa's House far off in the distance. He immediately becomes a little giddy - Is Santa here? Can we see Santa?? Please, please Mommy??

I say - Oh no, baby, Santa's not here yet. It's a little too early - maybe next week!

So we keep walking and I see a calendar posted by the entrance to the big guy's house. I tell Luke - let me look and see when he's coming - then we'll come back and chat with him.

So, imagine my surprise when I look at the calendar and see that Jolly Old St. Nick arrived LAST Friday - on the 9th of November!! Can you believe it?? November 9th??? That is almost the whole month of November plus all of December. Amazing!!

Lucky for us, we really weren't prepared to sit and discuss the possibilities for Christmas just yet. Upon seeing the real-life, in the flesh Santa, Landry immediately hunkers down and begins chanting - I no lite Santa - I no lite Santa - No I talt to Santa - No I lite Santa!!

This Christmas should be easy for him!!

So, my advice to anyone who has small children that need to visit with Santa - go ahead and get it out of the way because I predict Santa's going to be pretty grumpy come December. He's not used to working this long!!

Randomness

Not so much new stuff going on here at the homefront.

The biggest thing that has happened in the neighborhood is the burying of the BLUE PIPES. If you have been to our house anytime in about the last 10-11 months, you have seen the BLUE PIPES. They were deposited along the border of our subdivision with the promise to be buried by June. The higher-ups on the Water Board took out many trees that used to border our neighborhood and replaced them with the ugly, huge BLUE PIPES to transfer water from one lake to another (as I understand it - could be totally wrong about that.) So, while the obvious barrier to our houses has been nice in a way, most subdivisions don't use large BLUE PIPES as their barriers for many reasons.

All that to say, they have finally began to dig with large machinery and drop those babies into the ground. These pictures were taken from my driveway!

Here's what we are used to seeing:

And here are the good men in action:

On to other news . . .

Luke has been narrowing down his list of possible career choices recently.

First and foremost, he will be a football player. All other occupations must be compatible with this. Second, he will work at McDonalds, but only when he doesn't have a football game. Thirdly, he decided that he would like to be a doctor. This too, will only work when he is not busy on the football field. He's not sure he wants to be in school for a very long time so this option just might change.

Then, this afternoon, a very painful reality hit Luke as he was riding along in the car. While we were discussing his plans of both doctoring and football playing simultaneously, he says very matter-of-factly -When I grow up, I'll really need to be a big ________ (African-American) guy!!!

I'm like - EXCUSE ME??

He repeats exactly what he said the first time.

I think I might know where he's headed with this, but I'm not sure, so I ask him why exactly he would need to morph into something that he was not already?? (not those words of course!)

He reasonably replies that he would be a better football player - of course!!

I let this all sink in and after a minute of quiet - he says - I'm always going to be white, aren't I?? (big disappointment in his voice!!)

Ummmmm - that would be a yes!!!

And that is how we've been spending our time!!

Big news in the diaper department

A long-held dream has kind of come true at our house - the baby is completely diaper-free!! He has slept for many nights - so many I can't remember when he started - without wetting his diaper, so I decided to leave it off last night. While he emphatically told me "I NEED DI-PER!!" he got distracted and went to bed without one. He woke up dry and that is the end of that!! Yay for Landry!

Now, his nearly five year old brother is a different story! I would like the see both of their bladders to compare their size. I suspect one is the size of a peanut and one is the size of a grapefruit! He says to me tonight as I'm putting his diaper on for bed, "Mom, when I'm old like Alex and Parker, then I won't wear a diaper!!" Great - that's just 3 to 5 more years!!

Though his bladder is small, he makes up for it with a big heart!! When I picked him up from his friend's house today, he had drawn me this:

He learned how to draw a heart and if you look carefully, the envelope says "MOM BAGG" two times!! He loves to draw things, fold them up, and put them in an envelope to give to someone!!

So, back to the diapers - 3 down, 1 to go!!

A new cousin!!

Introducing . . . . our first BOY cousin!!!

We have many girl cousins - 7 to be exact - but this is the first boy to be born to anyone besides Scott and I on either side of the family!! Way to go, David and Kathy!!

Elijah David Bagg was born on October 16th and weighed in at 8 pounds 4 ounces, he was 20" long and is super cute!!

Elijah David Bagg

Family

I'm having a little (ok - a lot) of trouble figuring out how to get a picture off of kodakgallery. This is the best I can do at this point, so if you want to see the baby, click on the links and hopefully, they will work!!

Congratulations David, Kathy, Kelsey, Lauren, and Ella!!

Halloween Fun

Another Halloween has come and gone.

We had Mickey Mouse.

We had Batman.

We had a ninja.

We had a kid who couldn't really decide whether or not to dress up so he went in TCU purple!!

We have enough candy to keep us hyper for many weeks to come!

So, if Halloween success is measured in candy, we were extremely successful!!

Here are the candy collectors:

Luke and Landry at the beginning of the night

Batman, Mickey, and Nana

Landry having fun on an inflatable

Reagan and Luke

Bret and Alex

Luke and his good buddy, John Wesley (the Ninja Turtle with the cute smile!)

And a good time was had by all!!