Merry Christmas to all

Our family in real life...

Catching up

I was so blessed to fly out to NM and

be at my grandmother's funeral.

The service was beautiful.

Seeing so much family was great!

This is my whole family.

Nine kids and two wonderful parents!

My brothers requested that they be allowed to help

bury grandma. It was nice to see all of the grandsons

grab a shovel and get to work.

Grandma would have loved it!

Here I am with two of the best role models

a girl could ever have!

Mom and Aunt Jo.

(my mother was so kind to let me wear some of her tourquoise!)

My Sweet Grandma

My sweet Grandma Irvin passed away peacefully Monday, December 7th.

I will miss her so much.

She was kind, gentle, and full of love.

Her whole life was about family.

She lived a long, good life.

God be with you till we meet again!

This picture was taken during the summer of 2008 at the cemetery where my grandpa is buried.

Grandpa died when I was only 6 weeks old.

That was a lttle over 40 years ago.

I'm sure that my grandparents are having a sweet reunion.

Spiritual Thoughts

I read this quote the other day as I was preparing to go visit a friend. I've been thinking about it ever since. It has changed my perspective about my own wants and desires.

“Disciples of Christ throughout all ages of the world have been distinguished by their compassion. … In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance. Let us open our eyes and see the heavy hearts, notice the loneliness and despair; let us feel the silent prayers of others around us, and let us be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to answer those prayers”

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Finally a picture of Lauren!

Brock was nice enough to pose with her.

This was taken at her 7th grade chorus concert the other night.

It was a lot of fun. Her chorus class is huge!

The girls sang beautifully, and the boys all sang in monotone.

Why can't 7th grade boys carry a tune?

I found myself feeling grateful that I am not a

middle school choir director.

I would much prefer high school!

Thanksgiving

Our feast!

We counted our blessings

and named them one by one.
The best potato peeler in the house!

I love this kind of help.

Me and the boys getting ready

for our family picture experience.

A rare moment...

She let me take some pictures of her.

About the whole taking family pictures experience...it was awful. It rates right up there with jeans and bra shopping.

It was very frustrating to say the least.

Next year...I'm hiring a professional photographer!

No Dogs Allowed

Many of you know that I am not a dog lover. I don't mean them any harm, I just don't want one in my house or yard. My kids beg for a dog all of the time, especially Matthew. I do feel a little guilty, but not enough to give in. I have so much to take care of already.

The other night Lauren was searching for a poem to memorize for her language class. She came across this one, and thought it sounded just like I wrote it. Enjoy!

Help!

It's that time of year again! Our yard has been covered in a thick blanket of leaves. We were blessed by good friends on Saturday. They showed up with rakes and a leaf blower. We all worked hard and stuffed 17 large bags with leaves. It was so much fun for all of the kids. We love our friends! HELP!

It's Autumn Time!

I just love this tree in our backyard! The leaves turn yellow on the bottom and red on the top. It looks like fire. If you look really closely, you will see my little tree monkey.

Aunty Ollie $100 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

What a fun giveaway! Cute, cute stuff! I'm in...
Aunty Ollie $100 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Fun in Florida!

Benjamin learned some great surfing moves while we were at the beach.This sign really does say, "Please poke eyes before disposing of fish carcass."

Our waitress told us why the fish butchers have to poke the eyes of the fish:

So the carcass will sink. Gross, yet interesting.

Jessica and Lauren in front of the Tiki Bar.

I loved the grass roof.

My favorite surfer dudes in wet suits.

Cool shades!

Ron Jon Surf Shop

Sunrise! 7:20 a.m.

Totally worth getting up for.

The boys playin' in the pool!

Halloween has interupted the rest of my Florida pictures...

I'll post them soon.

Here are the "Stoners." A real hip family from the 70's.I couldn't stop laughing at Brock. All I could see was

"Danny Partridge"

Our little punks. A real groovy pose.




Love. Peace. Be happy.


Happy Halloween!

The Best of our Florida Trip...

Our trip to Florida last week was such a great break for our family. We stayed in a company owned home right across the street from the beach. I love company perks! Here is a list of some great things about our trip.

1. We watched all three Lord of the Rings Movies on our way there.

(It was a 12 hour drive)

2. Our kids are great travelers!

3. The house we stayed at had everything we needed. Even a washer and dryer. When your dealing with sand and wet clothes, this is a necessity!

4. Brock and I got to sleep in a King sized bed. It was heaven. I slept so well. One day we will have one of our own.

5. The beach itself was absolutely perfect! Playing in the waves was so much fun. I even got out there on a body board and rode in on the waves.

6. We went to Ron Jon's Surf Shop! Lots of fun stuff! I took pics of the boys in wet suits with some boards. They felt pretty cool.

7. Dinner at Grills Seafood on the Port was AMAZING! The restaurant was right on the water. They literally caught the fish, prepared it, and served it to us. I told the kids that they were not allowed to order chicken fingers and fries. This was going to be a very special seafood dinner. We had scallops wrapped up in bacon, yum!

Brock and the boys ordered fresh Tuna. I had Mahi for the first time. Delicious!Jess and Lauren had kabobs with shrimp, steak, and chicken.

8. We went to Dairy Queen for dessert. This was a real treat since we don't have a Dairy Queen in Knoxville.

9. On our way home we hung out for awhile in Jacksonville.

What a cool city!

10. We stopped at a big apple barn in North Carolina. We bought a type of apple that I had never heard of before: Red Winesap. They were very tart!

Watch for "The Worst of our Florida Trip..." Coming soon...

We just got home yesterday from doing this....

And seeing this...

More pictures of our trip to Florida coming soon...

Innocent Question

Matthew (10 yrs old): Mom, what is Hooters?

Me: It's a restaurant.

Thankfully, there were no follow-up questions. I was saved from a full on explanation of why a restaurant would have that name. Whew! That was a close one. My son will remain innocent for just a little while longer...

Birthday Boy Benjamin!

You will always be my baby! First birthday!
Three years old!
Holy Cow! Benjamin is 7!
This was my attempt at a Lego cake. You can kind of see it. Can't you?
I failed miserably, but Ben didn't care.
He only wanted to eat the leftover frosting!

Birthday Girl!

Once upon a time, Lauren was a little baby girl.

Then, she grew into a teenager overnight!

Happy 13th Birthday Lauren!

Birthday Boy Brock

Happy Birthday Brock!

What a sweet little boy!Don't you just want to sqeeze his little cheeks!

I love his dippity doo side burns!

Just so everyone is clear on this...

Brock will only be in his thirty's for one more year.

"To Do List" Song

You must go watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewmy_8AKkZw.

I sat and laughed out loud. You will too! All of us are in different chapters of our lives, but we can all relate to this funny song by Hillary Weeks. She is a great LDS artist. I love her music and have two of her CDs. I came across this video really late last night. There are a couple of other videos of her on youtube too. I hope this makes you laugh. Let me know if it does!

The blonde wig

And now...

the moment you've all been waiting for!

Me.

In an absolutely hideous blonde wig!

It just wouldn't be right

if I didn't show you my wardrobe too!

Once upon a time these shorts were really in style.

Meet Diane Fleming.

The woman I portrayed for the latest "Snapped" episode.She is now serving time in prison for poisoning her husband. I think she could be innocent. You can google her and decide for yourself.

Snapped!

I'm so excited today because I have a job on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. From time to time I get calls from an agency here called Talent Trek. They need people to come participate in small acting jobs, photo shoots, commercials, etc.

Last May I shot an episode for a show called "Snapped" on the Oxygen Network. I played a woman who murdered her husband. I was only silhouetted and the shots were still. It was disturbing to me to pretend to shoot my pretend husband in bed. Anyway, it was interesting and good money for 5 hours of work. I'm not sure when the episode will be on t.v. Sometime this Fall.

Anyway, I'm going to play another murdering wife for "Snapped" on Wednesday and Thursday. Except this time, I get to wear a blonde wig. Ugh! I am not a blonde. My eyebrows are very dark. Whatever, I'll just do what they tell me. I can't wait to find out what my murder weapon is this time.

I start teaching piano lessons this week too. I'm very excited for that. I've got some great students!

Pizza!

We have been having fun making pizza lately. I have finally found a great pizza dough recipe. (see recipe at www.mcgeegirlscafe.blogspot.com.) It is chewy on the inside, and crispy on the outside. I also bought this great pan at Target. It has these tiny holes in the pan that keep the pizza from getting soggy. I never really had a problem with soggy pizza, but the pan sure works great. Matthew and Ben are really excited to eat this pizza!
I made this fruit pizza for our "recipe group" that was meeting at my house. I can't take credit for the fruit design, Jessica decorated this beautiful cookie. The theme for our recipe group this month was homemade pizza. Everyone brought a pizza, and some calzones. It was so fun to sit around and try everyones pizza.

My sisters and some of my nieces have put together a recipe blog. If you want to try some new yummy recipes go to http://www.mcgeegirlscafe.blogspot.com/.

1964 The Tribute

A few weeks ago, our family went to see a "Beatles" concert. It was so much fun! The concert was at the beautiful Tennessee Theater in downtown Knoxville. Before we left for the concert, we talked about what songs we really wanted to hear.

Jessica Yellow Submarine
Benjamin Can't Buy Me Love
Matthew Elenor Rigby
Lauren all of them
Julie Yesterday
Brock Hard Days Night

This great group of look-alike Beatles delivered all of these songs but one. Matthew didn't get to here Elenor Rigby. Darn! I loved that one too. I don't think they had a strings section for that one.

My kids danced and sang right along with all of the songs. I'm so glad that we "splurged" and bought tickets for this concert. The group acted just like the original Beatles. The guy who played "Paul" had all of his mannerisms down perfectly. When he sang Yesterday, I was singing right along with him. One of my favorites of the night was Day Tripper.

What's one of your favorite Beatles songs?

Happy 17th Anniversary to Us!

We have made it through 17 years of marriage. A part of me can't believe that Brock and I have been married this long, and another part of me feels like we have been married for much longer. I love this man fiercely. He is my knight in shining armor. I am a damsel who needs a lot of saving. I wouldn't change a thing. I would marry him again and again. Thanks for 17 years Brock. The best is yet to be!
We came home from dinner and a movie to this: a cake made by Lauren, a card made by Jessica, a married couple made out of legos by Benjamin, and a lovely wooden craft made by Matthew. We had a great anniversary. I love my kids for helping us celebrate!

I Am Stuck Here!

I am stuck at Precision Tune Auto Care for about 3 hours today. Here I sit in this waiting room, smelling tires, gas, oil, and dirty working man (I know they can't help but stink. I would stink too if I were working under the hood of a car all day).

My drive here was a little wild and scary. You see, I'm driving Mr. Stoner's car today. His brake pads and rotors are in desperate need of replacement. Let me repeat, DESPERATE. The car was making the worst metal on metal sound I have ever heard. And it wasn't only noisy when I was using the brakes. The car sounded like a helicopter. I thought I might die! I actually prayed the whole way across town. I had to drive in that car for nearly 25 minutes to get here. Let me also mention, I got lost. I had to call Mr. Stoner and have him get me turned around. Ugh! At least I've got my computer, and the vending machine is about 10 feet from me.

Abstract Painting

Ben's palettes alone were incredibly artful.

Working hard...

"Slime" by Ben

"Red and Blue" by Matthew

"New Dream" by Jessica