Let the countdown begin!!!

I know I'm doing this a day early, but don't know if I'll get a chance tomorrow. If you have read the blurb in the "About Me" section, you will see that I'm turning 40 this year!!! And on Thanksgiving, no less!!! WOW, that is what I really want to give thanks for---getting older. Just joking! I'm very thankful to have had 40 years on this earth. I'm thankful for my family members, those who have gone on (Dad, both of my grandmothers & grandfathers and Aunt Evelyn) and those who are still here--Mike, Matt, Lauren, Megan, Mom, Cheryl, Cara, Smitty, Carl, Pansy, ALL of my Brother-in-laws & Sister-in-laws, nieces, nephews, GREAT-nieces & GREAT-nephew, my aunt and uncles, cousins and many, many friends!!!

I remember as a kid, 30 was SO-O-O old, and now here I am, knocking on 40's door. I do have a few more creeks and aches. I'm now a semi-blonde thanks to the white hair that has decided to invade my head!!! So, this month, I'm going to celebrate my 40 years. I'm going to try to post different memorable pictures with stories, of course, from my life.

Only 21 shopping days til my birthday!!!

Toodles,
Chelley

Halloween Preview

Megan's school allowed the kids to dress as their favorite storybook character for Halloween. Megan went as the Little Kitten who lost her Mittens!! Today they spent the day reading books and having special guests come in to read to them. I got to read a book to Megan's class. Tonight we're going trick-or-treating for a little while, then off to the church for fun and games!!! She will be dressed as a black cat---a little different from today. She has actually put her costume on, but we haven't done her makeup, yet. I'll post pictures later. Below is the picture of Megan before school.

Here is Megan dressed ready to go trick-or-treating. Lauren is trying to get in on the action!! I took Megan through the neighborhood then to the church for the Harvestfest. There were lots of people and Megan had a blast. When we got home Lauren took Megan trick-or-treating again. I think there were alterior motives for doing it, but I'll chalk it up to being a good sister.

Toodles for now,

Chelley

H-E-L-L-L-L-L-L-O-O-O-O-O WIN COLUMN!!!

The girls beat Trinity tonight 3-1!!!!!! They fought for three hard games!! Unfortunately, Lauren didn't get in the game tonight. She did warm up and was going in to serve, but didn't get to :( . The girls will play Flower Mound Marcus on Friday. The coaches will negotiate the details tomorrow. I'll let you know when and where as soon as we know!!!

The girls are PUMPED!!!!! Hopefully, they will carry this through Friday!!

Toodles,
Chelley

PLAYOFFS, BABY!!!!

The girls play their first playoff game tomorrow night (Tuesday). They will be playing Euless Trinity at Arlington Sam Houston. We got cool looking t-shirts and the principal is going to let the girls wear their playoff shirts tomorrow at school(over a collared shirt, of course)!! Lauren decided she wanted blue streaks in her hair for playoffs. Don't worry, it is a rinse and will wash out soon, unlike the blonde!!! Hopefully, we will have GREAT news tomorrow night!!!



Toodles,
Chelley

Pumpkin Carving

Mike and Megan had their annual pumpkin carving today. Megan made a funny-faced pumpkin and a scary pumpkin. You can see them carving them and the after in the dark. Thankfully, Megan has grown out of the phase of carving pumpkins naked!!!

Toodles,

Chelley

Tink

With the weather getting cold, Tink has decided he wants to come in the house. He has been staying away because of Itchi. Tink hisses at Itchi when she gets near him. Tonight he let out this low growl, it was kind of creepy. Itchi was following Tink and he turned around and bopped her. Here are some picture of Tink with Lauren.

Toodles,

Chelley

They WON!!!

The girls played good last night. The beat Cedar Hill in three sets!! I believe they are the 4th place team in our district. Playoffs will begin on Mon. or Tues. of next week. More than likely, they will be playing Euless Trinity or LD Bell. Sorry, no pictures this time.

Toodles,
Chelley

Itchi Suzanne Johnson & Megan

For some reason Itchi loves watching Animal Cops on Animal Planet. She will sit there and paw at the animals and just watch them. Megan has given Itchi the full name of Itchi Suzanne Johnson!! It is funny when Itchi gets into something she's not supposed to, just like a mommy, Megan bellows "Itchi Suzanne Johnson!!". It is funny!!







Yes, it is love for both of them!!!

Toodles,
Chelley

They Won!!! One more Game

The girls took Bowie in three games!!! They did great! Lauren had some great serves and digs on the back row. If (WHEN) the girls when Tuesday night, they will be in the playoffs. So, if you are local and want to see a GREAT volleyball game, come to Cedar Hill High School Tuesday night at 6:30 pm!!

Friday night was Senior night. They recognized the 6 seniors. Each under classman had a senior they were to recognize. Lauren had Sherreese. They give them fun gifts that represent the senior's personality and habits. It was funny to see what the girls came up with.

Here are some pictures from Friday night's game . The first picture is of the girls doing their pregame "Rumble" They do this cheer before every game!!

Toodles,

Chelley

Video from Tuesday's game.

Here's the video I promised. The first one is of Lauren in the game--she is the one serving and playing at the back of the court. The second one is of Megan before the game--make sure your speakers are on so you can hear the music.

Toodles

Chelley

We won!

The girls played DeSoto tonight. They won in three straight sets. Lauren got more playing time tonight and did great. I can't believe that there are only two more games left in the season!!! WOW, this season has just flown by!!! I've tried to attach video, but I'm having a problem uploading it. It's late, so i'll try it again tomorrow.

Toodles,

Chelley

OK, Daddy's gonna have to get the shotgun out!!!

He's gonna need it to keep the guys away!!! I might be biased, but WOW!! Mike hasn't seen these yet, I know he's gonna be in total disbelief!!! I tried a new park and am not impressed with it, so I won't be going there anymore!! It was dirty and we even saw a dead rat!!

If you want to see more, go to http://cjphotography.dotphoto.com/

Have a great week!!!

Toodles,
Chelley

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

These poor girls!!! They FOUGHT HARD AND LONG. Then the referee made two calls that ended the game in a loss for us. The girls took Arlington to the 5th game. We were at game point for us and he made a REALLY BAD call, that tied us. Then we are at game point for Arlington and he makes ANOTHER BAD call!!! Why do these referees think they have the right to make this interpretational call and end the game???!!! He had not made that call ALL night, so why NOW??!!! Let the girls play, let their play determine the outcome, not the referee!!! This is two games where a referee has determined the outcome of the game!!! Both of the other coaches told us that the referees made bad calls. Even the Arlington parents said that they were bad calls and they felt bad about their win!!! Our principal had to escort the referee to his car. Our principal said that if it were his team, he would have punched him in the nose!! That is the way all of the parents, girls and coaches felt.

Well, this is a lesson learned. The girls are a good team when they work together. The number one team in our league is beatable!! So, hopefully, we will have better results tomorrow night against Martin (who is tied with Arlington for 1st in our league). We are still in the running for the playoffs, but it is crunch time! They must be successful in at least three of the last 4 games! Ok, Rant over!! Congratulations for making it this far!

So, it's been a fairly quiet week. Matt has bought his plane ticket to go to San Diego at the end of the month with the Bracks to see Jacob graduate from Marine boot camp. I guess he is excited....it's hard to tell with him!! Megan has had choir practice this afternoon for the All-City Choir, so we're excited for the concert in November. She is in the backyard right now practicing for volleyball. I've signed her up to play for the YMCA volleyball league this fall. The coaches are meeting on Sunday, and practices could start as early as next Monday. So, I'm putting you on notice, there will be volleyball pictures of her soon!!!

I saw today that The Gap is doing a casting call. They are actually looking for kids Megan's age. I'm trying to decide if I want to get some pictures of her to send in??? That would be kind of cool. I haven't mentioned it to her yet.

Ooooooh, do you hear that??? It is my laundry calling me from the other room. I better get off the computer and go take care of it! YUK!!! I'm ok with the clothes, but I CANNOT STAND FOLDING SOCKS!!!!! I put two socks in the wash, and only one come out??? What's up with that??? I think socks should be disposable. You wear them once and then throw them away!!! I don't think I would know what to do with myself if I didn't have to fold socks!!!

Toodles,

Chelley

New Photos!!!

I got my hands on that itty-bitty Izzy yesterday!! She is so-o-o tiny and petite. Even her sneeze is so dainty. I was able to get some pictures of Izzy, Anthony, Alexa, Jacob & Catarina yesterday. Catarina was a little toot! The faces and attitude she gave her mom were AMAZING!!! Cheryl is going to have her hands full when the new baby gets here in the spring!! This baby and teenie together will ROCK her world!! Of course, being the loving sister I am, I'm sitting back and LAUGING MY HEAD OFF!!!!! Cara and I are enjoying this--to it's fullest!!!!

Here are a couple of the pictures I got yesterday. If you want to see the rest you can go to my photo hosting site....here's the link http://cjphotography.dotphoto.com/

Her favorite time of the day!

Megan loves the evening after her shower, after she has gotten everything ready for the next day, she gets to lay down and snuggle her baby. She will lay there and Itchi will just snuggle into her. You can hear the purring and see her relaxing in her "mommy's" arms.

Chelley

WOW!!!!! Will the aliens who took the volleyball team, please return them??!!!

WOW is the only response all of the parents had after last night's game. This is not a good WOW, either. Unfortunately, our girls did not play to their potential. They played down to Sam Houston and were not making the plays, then when they did make the plays, they were knocked down by the ref and one bad call after another and another and another AND another and another. The best thing I can say about him is he made the SAME bad call consistentatly through out the game!!! Poor coach, she didn't know what to say!! The worthless ref actually RED CARDED one of our players for reaching under the net to get the ball so we could serve!!!!!! Coach is reporting him to the ref board and so on, so hopefully, HE WON'T be the deciding factor of a volleyball game. As bad as we played, we would have beat him if it wasn't for the bad calls!!!

Oh well, last night was homecoming and DHS was victorius!!!! 48-24 was the final score! Megan and I went after the volleyball game and we had a great time! I sat at the top with my Bunco group and we talked most of the time! Megan had fun running around with her mum on saying hi to everyone she knew.

I'm off to make the baked potatoes to go with the AMAZING BBQ ribs Mike is making tonight!!

Megan with her mum.

This is our band after their halftime show. The always make the Duncanville "D" then march off the field. It is so fun to watch them scramble from around the field to make it. If you have a chance to go see them, you need to--this year's show is AMAZING!!!!

Toodles,
Chelley

Homecoming Friday!!!

Well, today, the halls are full of mums and even some boys wearing garters. All of the bells, colors, trinkets, panthers & glitter are so cool. Mrs. B and I just sat in my office watching the kids walk through the hallways. I know for those of you in the north, you don't know what I'm talking about, but I Love this Homecoming tradition!!!! It is very cool!!! I remember my years at Lancaster High wearing my mum on Friday, go to a peprally, then line up for the homecoming parade that when from the high school to the stadium. It was so much fun!! Unfortunately, DHS doesn't get a parade....the city charges us too much money for the police to shut down the streets on the parade route!! (fun suckers!!) The football game tonight will be crazy and packed, but I can't wait to go. Because of volleyball, we probably won't get there until halftime. Hopefully, we can make it before halftime so I can see the show! We have one of the BEST bands in the state, if not the nation!

Volleyball - The girls are feeling good about the game tonight. Tuesday's loss was bittersweet! The fact that they played the ABSOLUTELY best game they have ever played is over shadowed by the fact that it was a loss. Coach said that at Wednesday's practice the girls were down, but they have had two great practices getting ready for tonight!

Here is Lauren in my office with her mum.


This is Lauren and Sarah B. Her best bud since 3rd grade!

Lauren with Jazzy (L) and Taylor (Middle). These are a couple of her volleyball buddies. Taylor is also Lauren's partner in crime!!! You can't have a Thelma without a Louise!!


Megan couldn't wear her mum to school, so I'll get pictures of her before we leave tonight and post them later.

Toodles,
Chelley

Throwback Thursday!!

This week is homecoming week, so we have special themed days all week. Monday was College spirit, so you could wear your favorite college shirt.
Tuesday was Tropical Tuesday, so anything tropical
Wednesday was Shades day, so the kids wore sunglasses (which wasn't a big deal because they do it all the time anyway!)
Today is Throwback Thursday - 70's & 80's attire. I rag rolled Lauren's hair last night. She looks like she has a perm!! One girl thought it was a wig! No one was recognizing her at first. We found my old glasses and popped the lenses out and she found blue eyeshadow and pink blush and lipstick. We couldn't find any legwarmers, so we found soccer socks and cut the toes out and made legwarmers. We were limited to what we could do because of all the fun suckers sucking the fun out of the day with dresscode rules!!! Must have a collared shirt and no denim!! Fun Suckers, I say!!! So, not a lot of the kids dressed up, but those who did were great! We have some Steve Urkells and a Michael Jackson. There are also LOTS of giant afros.


We also had Billy Ray Cyrus & a Run DMC.


Toodles
chelley

Volleyball!!!

They played tonight and unfortunately, didn't win. They did FIGHT and it was a VERY CLOSE game!!!! All of the parents had headaches, stomach aches and sore throats from yelling and cheering!!! Lauren did great. She got in and made some great serves. It is really funny, when we go to Lamar, they play really mellow, OLD music while we are warming up and when Lamar gets on the court, they pump up the volume and get a beat going. So, tonight was PAYBACK!!! Our DJ Rob, played mellow, easy listening, LOVE music while Lamar was warming up. As soon as our girls took the court, the music went up and started jumpin!!! They girls were pumped and we could tell during the first game with all of their hustle! As you can see, Megan got into the action!! OH well, we play Sam Houston on Friday Night, they will come back and fight for a win then!!!

Chelley