last christmas with meemaw

her 3 daughters: barbara, brenda, and bettie

her grand-daughters: christy, denise, sybil, and melanie

her great-grandkids: cooper, courtney, cameron, kenny, taegan, ella, lydian, and kyla,

r.i.p. meemaw

meemaw passed away this evening a few short hours ago. luckily i was with mom and dad at her bedside when she took her final breaths. of course it was sad, but we were all crying more that she was finally at peace. she was a strong lady and gave this terrible disease a hard fight. i know she's happy to be with her mama and papa and my papaw.

my meemaw

i'm thinking about my grandmother, who i call "meemaw", today. she's 95, i think, and lives with my mom and dad. she's suffering from alzheimer's. just in the the last few weeks she's taken a turn for the worst. hospice is saying she may not make it through christmas. while i realize that passing is really what's best for her...and my parents who care for her day in and day out, i can't help but feel sad.

this photo is how i hope to remember her. it was taken back in late september. taegan and manuel had tacky day at school, so we raided my mother's house. when my grandma saw the hat manny was going to wear she started giggling. when i realized how funny she thought it was, i put it on her head. she laughed until she cried...it was good to see her so happy.

my heart goes out to my mom and dad. i know it must be hard for them to watch her suffer. i have the utmost respect for the sacrifices they make to care for meemaw. they are the world's BEST parents.

snowflake ball

last night was a night that taegan and manuel will NEVER forget...their 1st school dance!! i didn't chaperone so i don't have any action shots but i will post some as soon as i get them. i can't believe i have children old enough for all this...they both looked so grown up!!

buffalo wild wings and a lost tooth

we had dinner saturday night with mom and dad at buffalo wild wings. they've been going through a lot lately with meemaw's alzheimer's getting worse, so we wanted to get them out of the house. plus, mom's birthday was thursday so it was a perfect evening. while we were there cooper showed off his loose tooth...and of course my parents did what any good grandparents do..."i'll give you five dollars if you pull that tooth!" so the mission began. we cracked up laughing for almost thirty minutes watching cooper work the tooth. finally he let chris pull it. cooper was beyond excited to get the five dollar bills boppy had laying out on the table...plus, the thought of the tooth fairy visiting. we had a great time!

all i want for christmas is my two front teeth

cooper finally lost both of his front teeth. he's been refusing to let us pull them. it's like he thinks they're a limb of his body. as you can see from the picture the new teeth were already coming in, so we were all anxious for him to lose them.

he lost one on the top last week at church...right as we were walking in to the service. there was blood dripping everywhere and chris spilled his coffee. it was quite a sight. we were all laughing because were so thrilled he lost one. we had to put the tooth in one of the donation envelopes...careful not to accidentally put it in the collection plate.

the second fell out yesterday during manuel's game. carlo's little sister, anna, accidentally hit coop in the mouth with a soccer ball. as you can see, it was exactly what he needed to do the trick! he was so excited!

mrs. linda

happy halloween!

learning to play ice hockey

on sunday we went to the desoto civic center to give ice hockey a try. we really had no idea what to expect. coach shawn's kids (gwen and evan) play on a league. they invited us to check it out.

neither of the kids have ever skated on ice before, but they were both excited to try. we were surprised to see how many pads and layers must be worn to play hockey. it took a full hour to get the kids dressed to play.

because the kids were so focused on the stick and puck, the ice skating part came fairly simple, especially for taegan. she took off. cooper was a little slower, but did an amazing job learning to balance. some of the smaller kids pushed chairs around the ice to balance, but cooper totally skipped it. he just went out there and figured it out. yeah, he fell a lot at first. i felt so helpless watching him. i couldn't run out there and pick him up or ask if he was hurt. he would just get up and keep trying. you can see in the pictures that he did a great job. i was so proud of both my kids.

wish manuel could have been there. he was at home with his parents.

Paint-a-Piece

today after soccer practice, callie came home with us. we had lunch with all the allens at humdingers and then went to paint-a-piece for a "girl's day out". as you can see fromt the pictures below, they had a good time...especially the toothbrush splatter painting.

City Museum in St. Louis

manny had a tournament in st. louis. we took advantage of the opportunity by going to the city museum. if you've never been, you've gotta go. it's amazing...for children and adults.

Manuel's Fall Tournaments

we've been so busy this fall with soccer tournaments for both taegan and manuel. almost every weekend has been filled by tournaments, both in and out of town. chris and i love watching both of them play. below are some pictures of manuel's tournament moments. he too has a fabulous team of families. we are so blessed!

Capital City Cup in Little Rock, AR

taegan's team played in a tournament in little rock. between games we had a picnic. the families had a great time. we didn't "place" in the tournament but the comraderie was out of this world! we ended our evening at an italian restaurant. the girls all get along so well! we love all the families and coach candice.