Merry Christmas

We took the boys to see Santa on Saturday after Chandler's basketball game. Hudson wouldn't go up there without Chandler. Chandler was really good about it although he really didn't want to go up there. (At least that's what he tells us :) ) Hudson told Santa he wants a Slushie maker, a Bob the Builder Movie, and a train movie. Chan just told him a play station game so he could get down quick. Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Hudson

Hudson's birthday was Monday, the 4th. He turned 4 yrs old! I can't believe it. We had his party on Saturday. It was just family and our neighbor, Sam. The kids had a fun time playing and I think the men enjoyed watching football.

This was Hudson's cake. I was so impressed
with how it turned out and it tasted great, too.
No, I didn't make it.

Here are Sam, Hudson, Shelby, Sydney, and
Chandler playing in Hudson's room.

Make a wish, Hudson!

I thought I would post a couple of old pictures
of Hudson to remind us of how he used to look.
These are when Hudson was about 7 months
old. We went to the lake with my family and
Hudson enjoyed an Oreo! The other picture
was one of the first times he held his own
bottle. He was such a cute, fat, bald, baby!

Thanksgiving

We had a good Thanksgiving. We just hung out at home and then went to my parent's house to eat around 5pm. Everyone was there and my dad's friend and his family from Germany were there, too. Food was awesome of course and we had a good time.

Chan making bunny ears on Ashley.

Me & big boy (John Evan).

Sydney & Drew playing the piano.

Hudson made these Turkey cookies at Alice's house the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Aren't they cute?

More Halloween pics

Me and the other 2 girls in my department at work were cowgirls. It was fun and everybody thought we were really cute.












This is Hudson with the David's 3 youngest at the church Trunk or Treat.













My sweet nieces and nephews came to see me at work in their costumes. I was so excited to see them and show them off.











John Evan just couldn't take the excitement anymore and fell out.

Peace Man!

Chandler and Hudson were hippies for Halloween. I thought they looked very cute! Hudson kept saying he was being "funny hair." This was very easy and inexpensive to do and they had a lot of fun with it.

Alrighty then!

I don't know how well you can see this but this was painted on the wall down the hallway where the "potty" was at the Lousiana Children's Museum that we went to. It says "All Living things eat so...everyone poops." Notice the evidence that "Everyone Poops" Funny!

Fall Break Vacation

Last Thursday and Friday, Chandler was out of school for fall break so Richard and I took off work and we went to New Orleans. We had a great time! I love New Orleans and I am already longing to go back. People in cars aren't too friendly or patient but I loved all the buildings and the history.



We went the awesome zoo there.












Chandler picked the Hard Rock Cafe to eat. I still say he just wanted to go there to get a t-shirt (and they both got one). But, it was a good experience b/c I've never been to one before.










We went to Jackson Square on Friday morning. It was beautiful. We went to Cafe Dumonde and had hot chocolate and beignets.












Here are Hudson and Chandler enjoying some beignets at the Cafe Dumonde in the Riverwalk. Yes, we had them twice.










We went to a Children's museum. They had a grocery store and several other interactive play areas and they had some exhibits similar to the McWane Center.










They also had a Dr. Suess theme going on at the museum.




























This was in front of a Voo-Doo shop we passed on the way to our hotel. Hudson was all about looking at him until Richard picked him up so they could get a closer look. I guess he thought he was going to reach out and touch him :) We had a great trip and I want to go back soon.

Punkin Patch

About 1 1/2 weeks ago, we went with my whole family to a pumpkin (or as Richard likes to say...punkin) patch in Cullman, Alabama. And when I say whole family, I mean all 19 of us! It was a beautiful day and the kids had a really good time.









They had an area with some slides and a moonwalk. I think the kids would have been happy staying in this area all day. Except for Drew...he wasn't too sure about the slides :)








They had pony rides for the kids. They also had a petting zoo and the kids let the animals eat out thier hands. One of the goats was about to climb out of his fence to get some food.













This is all the grandkids with the pumpkins they picked out. Bubba, John Evan, Baby Drew, Syd, Hud, and Shell Bell.

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, BLAST OFF!

As part of my calling in the Cub Scouts, I had to build a rocket out of cardboard boxes and duck tape for an upcoming scout day camp. I was not looking forward to this b/c as many of you know...I am not creative at all. Richard came up with the basic design but I basically did all the work myself. It look me about 4 hours. When Richard saw it (he wasn't at home when I was working on it), he was so impressed. I have to admit that it turned out better than I thought it would. I was going in it with the mentality of I don't care what it looks like, just so it gets done. But, after all the work I wanted to share.

Hudson and Chander were excited at first about helping me paint it but they quickly lost interest. This is just a small portion of the mess Hudson made.

Here are some pictures of the finished project. It had to be big enough for the boys to stand in and carry and have a control panel. It also had to have a Flag of Nation, the name of the nation, a rocket name, and troop number.

Happy Anniversary, baby...I've got you on my mind

For you non Rick & Bubba listeners, I stole that opening line from their show. Yesterday was mine & Richard's anniversary. Sorry, I don't have any old pictures of us to post. I'll have to do that one day since we've been together off an on for 14 years! Wow that's a long time. It doesn't seem that long ago that I asked him out that first time. That's right, I asked him. But I knew he was in to me and he wanted to ask me so I knew he would say yes. :) Who knew it would one day lead to all this! Thanks Richard for being a great husband and father. My parents are keeping the boys tonight so we can go out. Thanks mom & dad! Well, anyway, I haven't posted in a couple of weeks and I hate it when people don't update their blogs so I wanted to post something.

Happy Birthday, Chandler!!!

Today is Chandler's 11th birthday so I thought I would post some old pictures of him to remind us how much he's grown up. Richard says that this time next year, he'll be as tall as me! I can't believe he's so grown. He's such a good person and we are very proud of him! Happy Birthday Chandler. I love you!

Chandler Drake Morgan
September 21, 1995
12:52 pm
8 lbs 13oz 21 in

Chandler is about 1 1/2-2 in this first picture and 6 months in the second one.

Chandler is 1 in the Alabama picture and about 3 in the second one.

Thanks for being such a great son and I look forward to the many more good times we have to come. Yes...even the teenage years!

On the road again...

Over Labor Day weekend, me and the boys went to South Carolina to visit my grandparents. My Mom and Dad and niece Shelby went also. The kids traveled really well considering how long we were in the car. Thanks a lot for portable DVD players (thanks Caroline!) It was a good trip. We spent most of our time outside on the front porch or in the backyard on the swings. There really isn't much else to do up there except eat and we did plenty of that, too. I haven't really been around Shelby that much so it was nice to spend some time with her and she is a sweetheart!






This is a picture of her getting a breathing treatment that she has to take twice a day. Check out those curls and big blue eyes!









This is my dad and his parents and Chan & Shelby. Hudson wouldn't get in the picture. I was glad we were able to go and visit them!

Spend the night company

A couple of weeks ago, Hudson had his first "nonfamily" spend the night company. Sophie David spent the night with us and they were soooo good. It was so nice to have someone for Hudson to play with. Bedtime was a little tough. (They both ended up in my bed with me and Richard slept on the couch.)

I guess she needs to come over again soon before it's not okay for girls to spend the night with boys :):)

A bucket and a hose

Last Saturday while Richard was doing his manly chore of cutting the grass, Chandler decided he wanted to wash our cars. I figured he would be done after one so he and Hudson washed Richard's Jeep. They then decided to have some fun with the water and made up a game. Of course they had to take off their shirts. The game was to soak your shirt with water and then run down the sidewalk and ring the shirt out in a cup. If your cup got full first, you won. Chandler helped Hudson by putting some of his water in Hudson's cup. Such a good big brother!

For the love of the game

As many of you know, our family loves baseball. So, I thought it would be appropriate for my first post to be about baseball. Chandler played All-Stars for Kentuck this year and they had a great season with a great coach.

This is Chan playing 1st base. This is my favorite position for him to play. His coach called him "The Great Wall of Chandler" He did a great job and his coach was very complimentary of him. Although his hitting wasn't as great as it usually is, his coach wouldn't sit him out, cause he needed him at 1st.

A couple if times he played catcher or pitched. They won their District Tournament, won the State Tournament, and came in 2nd at the World Series. They went undefeated the whole season until the World Series Championship game and a team from Tallahassee beat them twice to win the tournament. The kids (and parents) were sad but we got over it quickly.

My name is Valoree and I'm addicted to blogs.

It is official...I am addicted to blogs! What is wrong with me? How sad is my life :) It's everybody else's fault cause if ya'lls lives weren't so interesting, I wouldn't be addicted :) But, since I am, I thought I would start one for my adorable family. It won't be very interesting but at least I'll feel better by contributing something to the world of blogging.