It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Well as you can see by my new header, we really enjoyed watching the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. The stadium is massive and the excitement from that many fans was phenomenal. I even enjoyed the football game. We sat beside a Raiders fan so my husband had a great time with the trash talking. We laughed and had a wonderful time. I must say, it really affected my Thanksgiving by not being at my mother in law's for the meal though.

Just a few more days until Christmas vacation. Two whole weeks off. Love it!!

Here is my parents with the younger grand kids. Somehow we didn't get Sherea in the picture.



Happy Wednesday to all of you!

Wonderful Weekend

Justin and I headed out to Mesquite Friday evening to get a start on our Christmas shopping. We found some really good sales and got the biggest portion of our shopping done. I'm so relieved. I am not a shopper!


When we got home Sunday night, we went to pick up Jacob at my parent's house and then off to get my brother's kids. Greg & Mandy both had to work yesterday and today so I offered to keep the kids so they could have a break and the kids wouldn't have to get up early. We have had so much fun. I love that my brother lives in the same town and I get to be close to his kids.


Tomorrow I'm going to brave the crowds and go get groceries. I intended to do it all on our way back home Sunday night, but I was tired of shopping and tired of the crowds. Thursday we are headed to Arlington to see the Dallas Cowboys play. I'm trying to talk Justin in to taking my Dad and letting Mom & I cook and relax! Friday afternoon we are having our Thanksgiving meal here at my house. I'm making lots of food and I can't wait to spend some time with my family.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Almost made it.

First off, look at this sweet picture of my Daddy

I love this man!!

Here's one of my parents with my son and nephew on Grandparent's Day at school

I love having them working here at the school so I can see them all the time.

Two more days of school and we are off for a whole week! Woo-Hoo!!! This weekend Justin & I are going to Dallas for some Christmas shopping and to celebrate my birthday which was this past Sunday.

On Thanksgiving Day we will be in Arlington. This is where we will be:

I bought Justin tickets because he has always wanted to go see the Cowboys play. His Poppa Roy instilled a deep love for the Cowboys and I was excited to be able to do this for him. I'll be taking a lot of pictures!

Howdy

Lots going on around the Roach household. First of all I got a new car! Love it, love it, love it!


My beautiful stepdaughter is getting married in January and we had her wedding shower yesterday. It was just a small shower but she got a lot of cute things. I love her so much!


We seem to have something going all the time. Jacob had a mild case of the flu and I sprained my ankle like nobody's business at work. It is still really swollen and bruised three weeks later. Justin said to give it another week and if it's not better we will have it x-rayed again to see if there is a fracture that couldn't be seen with all the initial swelling. Here it is after one week. So gorgeous.


Have a wonderful week!

I'm Married????

That's about how I feel these days. Justin is working all the time lately. I think this is his 15th day or night in a row. He works off in the morning and then heads out to Mesquite on Tuesday morning and will be gone until Friday evening. He's working on his degree in Safety Engineering so that's added to the hectic schedule we have. We seem to greet each other in passing and that's about it.

School is still going well. We are starting to have several out with the flu. One school not far from us was out Thursday and Friday because of so any sick kids. Makes me nervous.


Here's my new hair. The rain kept it from having much body this week but I am loving the style and the color.


I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Hello

My computer has been on the fritz so I've only been keeping up with things on my blackberry. Man I am addicted to some internet! lol

Tomorrow night is homecoming here in the big old Bogata town, I've got my yearly sinus infection, and Jacob is absolutely loving 4th grade. Not much to report right now, or else the sinus infection is keeping my brain from functioning well. hahaha

The wait is over!

I had a wonderful first day today. I kept telling the ladies who work for me that I have never had a first day go so smoothly. I guess I had just been preparing myself for the worst. I was driving home talking with Jacob about his first day in fourth grade and I pulled up to the mailbox as is routine and headed for the driveway. That's when I saw it........The box on my doorstep that said Engraved Euniques. I started squealing and Jacob thought I was crazy.

Here is what I have been waiting for!




Thanks Kaye for such a wonderful job. I am already planning my Christmas and wedding gifts with you in mind. I think it's great to have things personalized.

Patience..........why do you evade me so?

Last weekend I was changing some things around in my living room and decided I really needed something new on my mantle. I sent out a little announcement on facebook and asked my friends who could crochet something with our last name on it that could be matted and framed. I got a few responses and kept that in mind. I'm just the type of person who, when I decide I want something, I want it....yesterday! hahaha I come by it honestly I promise. =) Early in the week I was checking in on my favorite blogs. I have found the Milam's blog through my high school friend Jamie. Through the blog I found this site. I looked through all her products and ordered a tile to go on our mantle. She emailed earlier and said it was shipped yesterday. I know it's silly of me to have it shipped and she actually lives 25 minutes away, but I have been so busy with back to school stuff and I didn't know when I would get to Mt. Pleasant. Everyone please go visit her site and order something. She makes such beautiful things and she is so great about donating tiles and items to various causes. She made such a cute tile for another fellow Flippin High friend of mine Kelly for Sweet Harper.

Pictures will be up as soon as it arrives. I can hardly wait to see it!! Have a wonderful weekend everybody.

I have a 4th Grader

Wow! I can't believe my baby is starting 4th grade. I was talking to Justin about it last night and he got so sad. I reminded him that had we not held Jacob back in Kindergarten after getting his ADHD/Asperger's diagnosis that he would be entering 5th grade and it would be his last year in Elementary. How in the world did my fat little baby become a tall, skinny 4th grader? I'm just not at all happy about him growing up so fast!!

Time.....Please Slow Down!

I always say I will post more often and then time gets away from me. I guess what it boils down to is that my life isn't all that interesting. haha

I started back to work last Monday. I was really dreading it because I had grown quite accustomed to staying in my pajamas if I wasn't going anywhere this summer. I must say, it was so wonderful to just get back into a routine and to see people! Thursday was my Dad's last day at the school. He got a job where my husband works making a lot more money and better benefits, but we all had a good cry (him included) because we will miss seeing him everyday. Plus he was great at his job and I know the teachers will hate to see him go too because he was always quick to get things done.

Tomorrow morning is our annual back to school breakfast. I have have to go by Aunt Mollie's later and get the fruit to take up and get all the tables set up and ready to go. I'm also going to organize and type a bunch of notes I have been jotting down all summer and things I picked up at my workshops this summer. The new elementary principal asked me to address the campus staff regarding the rules and regulations of food service. I may lose my back to school breakfast because I definitely am not a speaker and I will be a bit nervous to have all eyes on me. A fine example is when I got ready to walk down the aisle to get married. I was nervous anyway but then my brother came up to kiss me on the cheek and told me he loved me. That in itself made me emotional but when they opened the doors for me to walk down the aisle I realize everyone in there would be watching me. I panicked a little and cried all the way down the aisle. hahaha

Have a great week everyone!

Visit to Arkansas

I'm not having much luck at uploading my photos for the blog out here recently. It makes for a boring blog if I have no pictures. I will try my best.

Friday morning Mom & I left for a visit to Mountain Home, Arkansas to visit my Grandmother. I think she is the sweetest person in the world and I'm always thrilled to get to see her. It makes me so sad that she lives so far away. Jacob absolutely adores her. He went right to work and made this out of magnetix for her and her husband Earl.


Here is a blurred picture of her and Jacob.


We had a great visit and we were very sad to have to leave. I cried for a good little bit after we pulled away from her house.

Hopefully I will get some pictures of us at the beach up soon.

I'm still alive

We have been on the go so much lately and when we get a chance to be home, we are usually outside in the pool. I have lots to catch up on. We had the rodeo back in June. I went Thursday night and got sick Friday morning so I missed the other two nights. We had vacation in Gulf Shores and now I'm in Arkansas visiting my family. I will play catch up and post a lot of pictures. I check in and read my favorites but I haven't had time to update or comment. Bye for now!

Double the Fun

Late this afternoon my brother asked if I could keep my nephew tomorrow while my sister in law went shopping for her birthday. He has to work and the twins are going to daycare but Gradyn's a little too big to go. Of course I said yes and asked if Gradyn could just spend the night with us tonight. Greg brought Gradyn down and the twins were with him. We had fun giggling and taking pictures while Justin & Greg chatted. Macy was a little too busy for pictures but Madison was quite the poser tonight.

I asked them to put their arms around each other but Macy grabbed Madison's hand. Macy is sitting on the coffee table so she looks much taller.


Macy Savanna but we call her Macy Mae


Little Miss Madison Kayt otherwise known as Froney. We tend to give everyone a nickname in our family. Madison looks so much like my Mom.


Two Little Monkeys

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's, Grandpa's, and men who love kids like their own. I'm so lucky because I have such a wonderful Dad. He became a preacher when I was probably 5 or 6. I can't recall exactly. My parents were part of a gospel singing group and I'm not positive when he went from singer to preacher. We lived in Calico Rock, Arkansas when he became a pastor. His first church was in Violet Hill and then he became pastor of our hometown church. We've been many places around Arkansas since then and now we are in Texas. I am constantly touched and amazed by the comments I receive on my Facebook or Myspace from people in our past churches. There are so many who say how gentle and special my Dad is and how he touched their lives. I won't lie, it was a pretty rough road at times being a preacher's kid. Some people put us up against a higher standard, we often moved and left our home, friends, and family. Then sometimes the offering wasn't as much and we barely scraped by, but I'm so thankful for all the people I have known. I'm blessed to see what a difference God can make in lives. And, not many people can say that their Daddy walked them down the aisle, then stepped up on the platform and performed their marriage ceremony! I'm definitely a Daddy's girl and I think my Daddy is the most special guy on the planet.

Of course I'm in tears now. He always has a way to get straight to my heart! I love you Daddy!!

So Sweet!

Thank you to Rachel for this sweet award!



I love Rachel and her whole family to pieces!! I'm supposed to award this to some of my favorites and then they are supposed to do the same. So here goes!

Jessica I just think she is the cutest!
Diane Southern Hospitality and Sweetness at it's best!
Jamie Such a dear, sweet girl!
Nate and family These people have touched my life so much and I pray for them daily! Nate is wonderful and his wife & daughter are living miracles!


I read so many more, but I'm supposed to be working. These are just a few of my favorites!

Happy Summer everyone.

Comments

I just wanted to say that I've been trying to comment on a few of my favorite blogs and it won't let me. :-(

Rachel: I've tried to comment on several of yours or comment back from ones you have left me. I'm loving all the pictures. Can't believe Em's baby is so big and Doug's is already a year! I miss everyone and I love to see how everyone has changed.

New pictures tomorrow after Jacob's award program. My baby boy is growing up too fast!!

Country living at it's finest.

So I was down for a good few days due to my rib injury and by Wednesday I was really going nuts about the house and laundry. I had finished most of the laundry and decided to get Jacob's stuff ready for splash day at school the next day. On my way to get a towel to put in his bag, I found a dirty towel so I lifted the top of the hamper and glanced over in front of the dryer to find this


Justin was upstairs so I ran up and screamed about a snake. He told me to go make sure it didn't crawl off the porch so we could see what kind it was. I said goober it is in the house!!! Then he got all panicked. It climbed into a small hole in the wall and it took us a good two hours to get the thing out. We have finally come to discover it was just a rat snake, but any snake equals terror from me! I'm not cut out for this mess!!

Just now I was cutting up chicken to marinate for quesadillas and Jacob comes running in the kitchen to tell me there is a big black mouse in the floor behind the couch. As any good mother would do, I climbed up on the kitchen table and tried to lean far enough around to see it. I finally got the attention of one of my dogs and pointed her in the direction of the mouse. She sniffed it and it barely moved it's head. By now I'm realizing it's got into the poison Justin put out, so I let my dogs outside as not to eat the mouse. I called Justin at work (like he could help me from an hour away) and he said to scoop it up with a dust pan and throw it outside. I'm thinking yeah just as soon as I touch it, then it will jump up and run up my leg or something. I found a brown paper bag and tried to talk Jacob into scooping it into the bag for me. No luck! At this point my knees are like jelly and my stomach is churning. I HATE mice y'all!! I decided to go back into the kitchen to finish what I was doing and calm myself down. During this time the mouse apparently died and I just got a little bit mad because I'm tired of having to deal with strange animals, reptiles, people (haha) and Justin never being here. I turned that energy around and got a hoe and scooped it into the bag. I almost fainted when it was over. I'm sure it would make a very funny video. I'm starting to rethink the country living thing!!

Silence

Well I am completely and totally alone right now. This happens...........never! Justin's company is having an outage and so they are doing double coverage and he's working overtime nights. Jacob is at Mom's because Wednesday evening after Justin left for work we were going to put Jacob's go-cart back in the shop. I went inside to open the shop door and as I was leaned into it he decided to get closer to the door and the throttle stuck and ran into the door. Knocked me over and I have bruised (possibly fractured) ribs and it is very uncomfortable. My nephew decided to spend the night with Mom last night and he asked if Jacob could stay too. I was kind of glad because I could take some pain medicine and not worry if I fell asleep. I'm more sore today than I have been. I fell asleep on the side of the injured ribs and I'm thinking that's why. Maybe it's because I tried to do too much yesterday. I may seriously go crazy if I can't get up and do some laundry soon. I'm pretty OCD about my house. The total silence is not something I'm used to and while I'm enjoying the rest, I miss my baby boy.

Here is Jacob riding his go-cart. We have it fixed where it won't go very fast for his safety.


He was devastated that he ran into the door and hurt me. It was an accident but he kept bringing me an ice pack and made me a card. He was so precious.

Say a little prayer....

Please visit this blog and remember this family in your prayers. I'm encouraged each day as I scroll through the blog world and find people who when faced with such struggles carry the grace of God to another level.

My guys!

Here are some pictures of a few of my favorite guys!



My son Jacob and Greg's son Gradyn at track and field day



My awesome brother Greg with his family



My husband and son. How lucky am I?!


And last, but certainly not least, my precious Daddy! He is the greatest and I love him so much.

Child Labor

Being the director over our campus cafeterias is a wonderful, and often challenging, job. I choose to go in early in the mornings in case there are any kind of problems on any of the campuses. I take Jacob in with me and he will either nap in my office chair, read, or play a game on my laptop. My nephew comes in pretty early and stays with us because his Mom works in another town and has to bring him early as well. Occasionally Jacob likes to pretend he "works" at the school in the cafeteria. When he gets tired he says he just wants to become boss like me so he can stay in the office and not have to do the manual labor. Last week before school I was having coffee with the ladies that work on my elementary campus and when we look up we see my son and my nephew "working" really hard.

Jacob appears to be giving some orders. Great boss material. haha


Gradyn working hard




But then after about three minutes of work they decided they needed a lunch break so they raided the stash I have in my office and retreated to the storage room to refuel.

Good News

My sister in law's Dad came through his surgery just fine. He was up and walking today and moved to his own room. If all continues to go well, they are looking at being released on Sunday.

I've had my niece since Monday and last night about 12:30 she woke me up and proceeded to vomit all over me and anything near. She had a rough night and Justin finally got in touch with his brother (her dad) and he was just getting in from the hospital at 3:30 AM. He came by and got her because I had nothing at all to give her for the nausea and vomiting. My sister in law ended up driving in and made it home at 5:30 this morning because she didn't wanna be away from her sick baby. She said she is feeling much better today. I know they are all completely exhausted.

Have a wonderful Friday tomorrow!

Prayer Request

My sister in law's dad had a really bad heart attack this afternoon. They flew him to a larger hospital where they put in one stint and will do 5 bypasses on Wednesday. I know they will appreciate any prayers on their behalf.

Thanks so much!

12 Years

Justin and I celebrated our 12th anniversary yesterday. We had plans to go to Dallas, then changed to Texarkana, then couldn't decide for sure what we wanted to do. We decided Friday night that we would save money from a motel room and stay at the house where we could rest in our own bed. We went out to eat and piddled around town. We got up fairly early yesterday intent on heading to Allen to the outlet mall down there. We stopped in Paris to pick up my anniversary gift. After that we went to eat and I told Justin I thought we should just stay around Paris and shop. I wasn't sure why I thought we should stay around there until we talked to Mom later and found out Jacob wasn't feeling well. Guess my Mother intuition told me I needed to be close by. We wrapped up our shopping, grabbed a bite to eat, and swung by to get Jacob. He's been running fever, really pale, headache, and not eating much. When his fever is down he will play but then it comes back and he just lays around.

We had a great day yesterday and I'm so blessed to have a wonderful husband who loves me unconditionally. He's the greatest!

Here is what he bought me for my log cabin.

New Addition

Meet Duke the newest member of the Roach family!

Sleepy Boy

After staying up so late trying to be a barber, stressing about the dr. appointment, riding horses, and rummaging around in his Dad's shop where he became enamored with Justin's welding hood, Jacob was worn out. After his bath he came downstairs with his Dad and Me since he was grounded from his TV. He was laying on the couch and he got very quiet. Next thing we knew, he was sacked out. I walked over to check on him and this is what I found......

Yep, it's been a good Friday!

My family slept in this morning while I cleaned and did laundry. We had an appointment with Jacob's pediatrician at 2:00 to discuss some changes in his ADHD medication. Jacob cried because he thought he was going to get a shot. Here he is in the waiting room.
\
After the appointment (no shots by the way) we headed to IHOP for some good food.


We had to go get Jacob's haircut. My brother's son Gradyn stayed with us last night and they wanted to stay up late. I fell asleep around 11 and Justin came in from roping about 12:30. Gradyn was asleep but Jacob was still awake. This morning when I was cleaning my bathroom I found hair all in my sink. Then I realized what Jacob was still doing up so late. Yep, he gave himself a nice little haircut. It was right in the front. I didn't get a picture because I was extremely frustrated. He's been a little toot this week. I just can't figure out why he waited until he was 10 to do it. He says he was just trying to save us a trip to the barber. He is grounded from his TV indefinitely. So, since there is no TV he's been doing a lot outside this afternoon. He and his Dad rode horses when we got home.


We are going to get groceries and mess around tomorrow. Sunday we will be going to church and having a big meal and egg hunt there. It's supposed to storm all day so we may be hunting eggs in the fellowship hall! The beautiful Spring weather is a great way for God to remind us that all things are made new. I'm so thankful for the true meaning of Easter! Happy Easter Everyone!

I'm so blessed!

The Lord has truly blessed me in my life. I have an awesome husband who works so hard and gives so much for us. I'm thankful to have my parents back in Texas. It's been almost a year since they moved back and it's wonderful to have them so close again. I'm glad they both work where I do so I can see them every day. My kids are terrific and I'm lucky to have such a huge extended family. My brother is close by and he is so much fun to be around. My friends are the bomb!

Yesterday we spent the day picking up all the stuff for our new pool. We have found a very nice man who is going to come and put it up for us next month. Luckily we were able to find someone who had an almost brand new pool that was at a home a couple bought and they did not want the pool. We got the pool for free! It's a little bit bigger than the one we had and so very nice. All we have to buy is a liner. After we got everything for the pool we started cleaning out Justin's shop. Actually he piddled taking hardware and screws out of things while I cleaned but it's all good. It looks so much better now. Wonder how long it will take him to junk it back up?! We took a few loads up to the city dumpster and burned the rest. We had a wonderful day driving in his red bomb pick-up and enjoying the sunshine. We even drove over to my parents for a little visit. They were out working on flower beds and Dad was planting some squash. It was just a very peaceful day!

Here are two of my favorite things about my new place.

Driving up and seeing this and knowing it's mine!

Crawling up in this every night. Well actually I'm typing on my laptop while laying in this. Soooooo comfortable!

I'm just extremely thankful for everything I've been blessed with and the people in my life! I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Just Because

Here are two pictures of my dogs just because I love them and they are cute!

Here is Sassy taking life easy.

Here is Ginger wondering why I'm taking random pictures.


Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I can't believe they are calling for snow!

Father and Son Time

Despite the pollen we are trying to make the best of the sunny weather. It rained really hard yesterday afternoon but then the skies cleared and the sun came out in full form. Jacob has been wanting to go fishing forever but Justin has worked so much lately and he hasn't been able to take him. Now I love to fish, but I'm not about the baiting the hook or taking the fish off. Sorry, I'm just not. Yesterday was the first time Justin's really had the chance so they took to the pasture to dig for worms. They had no luck so decided to use lures instead. Jacob missed two big ones and they came on home in time for some homemade vegetable beef soup and cornbread. They are going to try again today if the weather cooperates. I thought about tagging along but I think I'll just leave them to their Father and Son bonding.

Walking through the pasture


Jacob supervising


Statue of Liberty Pose

Peaceful Sunday

We didn't make it to church today because we are apparently all getting horrible allergies and my son kept me up all night unable to breathe, tossing, turning, and whining. I'm trying to lose my voice from coughing. I looked outside this morning and Sherea's tan car was actually a light green color from all the pollen. Is it any wonder everyone is fighting allergies, runny noses, and constant coughs. I can't help it but I have my windows open because the fresh air is so therapeutic for me. I absolutely love living in the country.

We went to Tyler Zoo on Tuesday. We really enjoyed it. The weather was perfect but oh my goodness it was so crowded!


Jacob petting a fat goat.


Here is Sherea's new guy Chris and his little boy Darin. Aren't they cute?!


This is Jacob trying to be Ace Ventura!


I hope everyone had a wonderful rest of the day today and a fabulous Monday!

I'm Back.

I had originally decided to quit blogging due to the fact I had no working camera which made for not so exciting posts and because I didn't feel like I could keep up with everything. I kept up with all my regular reads but I missed being able to blog and comment. Justin bought be a new camera so I'm not taking more pictures and I should be posting on a regular basis.

This is me and the love of my life. He went of to work a shut down on his long days off from International Paper and I just about went insane. He was only gone for six days and I thought I would fall apart. I was so excited when he pulled up in the driveway. Hard to believe we will celebrate 12 years of marriage next month.


These are my two favorite guys in the whole world! I feel like a lucky woman.

Sherea has a new guy who we all adore and I may be a mother in law before the year is up! I'll try to get some pictures of them to post soon.

Have a wonderful Sunday. It's back to work on Monday after a week off for Spring Break. Boooooo!