woooo hoooooo

Way to go Skins!!!!! They beat the Eagles last night 10-3, couldn't ask for a better ending to a game. I didn't go to this game, Ashleigh went with Rusty and judging from how cold they still were when they got home last night I was perfectly happy to watch the game from my couch. They were bundled up and had taken 2 blankets with them but you just can't keep that wind out. Ashleigh took a bunch of pictures which I will try to post this evening, I am really behind on blogging but I will try to catch up.
Oh by the way, sorry Anniesue, did you watch the game?
Have a great day!!!!

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DENISE!!

Happy Birthday Denise! We have alot of December birthdays between Rusty's side of the family and mine and then Steven married Denise and she has a December birthday also. That was how we knew she was the right one for him. ha ha Denise, I hope you have a great day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUSTY!!

I will be back later today to post more but I wanted to wish Rusty a happy birthday first thing this morning.

Black Friday

It's 4:05 am, yes am, and we are headed out to hit the stores for Black Friday. Do you Black Friday shop? Have a great day!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving with lots of good food and great times with family and friends. We had 19 people at Mom's and it was wonderful. We always go around the table and everyone tells what they are thankful for during that year. My brother started us doing that a couple years ago and we have really enjoyed it.
What kind of traditions do you have with your family?

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK ALOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!!

Normally, I don't start decorating for Christmas until the weekend after Thanksgiving but this year we will be at my Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving and I didn't want to wait for the next weekend. I love Christmas and I love to decorate for it. We have 5 totes full of just tree ornaments. The kids swear the tree is going to fall over. We really need another tree or two but I just don't have room for them right now. I love ornaments and the more the better.

When Rusty and I first got married we had to combine our Christmas traditions. That sounds easy but sometimes not. Growing up we always had Christmas stockings. They weren't full of expensive things just a new toothbrush, toothpaste, razors, little toys when we were kids, shampoo, things like that, and none of it was wrapped. Rusty's family had presents in theirs, I've gotten diamond earrings, perfume, movies, you get the picture. AND EVERYTHING WAS WRAPPED! Do you know how long it takes to wrap chapstick, shampoo and crayons?! As kids our big presents were always unwrapped, put together and sitting in front of the tree for the awe factor when you walked into the room on Christmas morning. Rusty likes everything to be wrapped, so you have more to open. I haven't had alot of different stockings in my lifetime but I do have all of them, still.

This is my first stocking, my Mom has always referred to it as my "hot pants". I can still remember being a little girl and using this on Christmas. This stocking was bought for me by my great grandmother.

This was the next stocking I used. My Mawmaw made this for me. Steven has one just like it with his name on it. I used this stocking for a long time and it was just in the last couple years that my Mom parted with them and gave them to us. She still displayed them every Christmas.

This is the one I can remember using the most and still use to this day. My Mawmaw also made this one. Everyone in my family has one that she made. Using them on Christmas is like having a piece her with us still.


This is the one Mawmaw made for Rusty.

And these are the kids stockings.

This is the stocking Rusty bought me our first Christmas married. Yes, it really is that big and yes it was completely stuffed. Rusty is like a little kid at Christmas. He absolutely loves Christmas. He loves to buy presents for people and he loves to search the house from top to bottom looking for his gifts. That is something he has done since he was a little boy. He stayed home sick from school one day and found a Redskins shirt that he had really wanted, when his Mom came home he was wearing it. lol He is not opposed to unwrapping and rewrapping gifts either. Gotta love him. I refuse to let anyone tell me what they are giving him because he will annoy the hell out of me trying to find out what it is. He will always be that little boy waiting for Santa.

Until you get married you never realize how different other peoples Christmas morning can be, you just assume that everyone does it the same way you do. We always had a light breakfast with a big Christmas dinner later normally around 2:00 or 3:00. Rusty's family has this huge wonderful breakfast with more food than any of us could ever eat in a 2 days. My mother in law in up at the crack of dawn starting breakfast and has it waiting for everyone when they arrive. When you get to my Mom's you can smell the turkey that has been cooking and your mouth starts to water when you walk in the door. Both mornings are different from the other but they are both so wonderful. Houses full of family and love, what more could a person ask for?

What kind of Christmas tradition does your family does your family do every year? Do you do stockings and do you wrap every damn thing in it?

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

It is so pretty around here today. You can't even see the mountains for all the snow. It's not going to stick around but we are enjoying it while we can.

The Rest of the Pictures

As promised I have the rest of the pictures, the ones of Rusty getting drenched by the parents and coaches. He was completely soaked and loving every minute of it.

Can you guess what happened?

Well, can you guess? You got it, they won!!!! Rusty's junior midget football team went 9-0! They were so excited, I think they would have all floated away.


This is what Rusty saw on his right side behind him. What he didn't realize was, while he was watching the 2 jugs of water on that side someone else was sneaking up on him on the left with another jug. Great diversion, he never saw the other one coming. Oh, they also poured these on him also. He was soaked but so happy.

Rusty is a man of his word and he told the kids if they went undefeated he would let them shave his head. Do you see a little apprehension on his face. They wanted to know if they could shave his face also. He told them sure, he didn't care, but he did draw the line when they wanted to shave his eyebrows also. bwahhaha I can promise you if he didn't veto that I would have stepped up at that point. I can live with him not having hair or the goatee but eyebrows, no I don't think so. All of the kids lined up and took their turn. Rusty said he didn't think it would cause that much interest but all of the parents stood around to watch it happen also.

Blake getting a swipe at his Dad's hair.



Cody hurt his knee during the game so he was sitting in a chair but Rusty leaned over to accomodate him.




This is Tim, one of Rusty's assistant coaches, fixing Rusty's hair after 36 kids had a chance to shave part of his head. Tim, thank God, is a retired Marine and knows how to cut a high and tight.


It all turned out pretty good in the end and the kids loved doing it. He has had his hair cut like this on purpose before so I've seen him with no hair in the past.


This is another one of Rusty's assistant coaches Vann, after Rusty told the kids about shaving his head he offered to get in on the deal with the kids. Another man of his word, took the chair and let the kids take the clippers to his hair. This is his youngest son Josh taking the first swipe at his Dad.



This was his finished product. Not too bad either. He is my best friend Sharon's husband.

It was a great day and a wonderful way to end our season. The other 4 teams have 1 more game, this coming Saturday. The each have a game that was rained out and they are making it up. Football is almost over and I really will miss it, we have a fun time. It does take alot of time and while my season is ending, the midget football board is a year round job so Rusty's job will continue on just not every night of the week. I will have more pictures to post of Rusty getting drenched by the water, I just couldn't get a picture while it was happening but the league photographer did get quite a few of them and she said she would email them to me. So this is.....
to be continued......

We Did it, Did you?

We got up bright and early and headed out to vote. When I say early, I do mean early, well early for not having any sleep. We went to the Redskins/Steelers game last night (I hate night games and may be banning them from now on) and didn't get home until almost 3:30 this morning! ACCKKK If you saw the game or even saw the score you will understand why I don't have anything else to say on that subject.

Rusty and I got up, got ready and then I went and asked Blake if he still wanted to go and vote with us. He was right up and out of bed. Blake loves to vote and is very interested in the whole process, actually very interested for a 10 year old. He has voted in every election possible since he started school. They gave the students voter registration cards at school so he grabbed his and out the door we went. Rusty and I voted first and I love our small town, we are still voting with a pen and paper, filling in the little circles. They have one electronic voting station but you normally have to wait for that so we grabbed our pens and paper and got busy. After we finished, which didn't take but maybe 10 minutes, we took Blake to his station to vote. He is very serious about the whole thing.

Finally, just a picture of one of the trees in our yard. I love the yellows and oranges of the leaves, it is so pretty. If you look beyond the tree to the left you can see our McCain/Palin yard sign.

Have a great day and keep praying that the right candidate gets voted in.

THEY DID IT!!!

Yes, Blake's midget football team beat their biggest rival yesterday.....in overtime. It was the most nail biting game I think I have ever seen in midget football. We have 1 more game, next Saturday, and if we beat them Rusty will soon after the game being getting a VERY CLOSE HAIR CUT. The kids are very exciting about it. The chances of us winning that game are very good, we played them 1 other time already and we beat them 50-0. Rusty hates to have a score like that, he is all about the kids and doesn't want to humiliate them. After our score had gotten up pretty high he was putting kids in positions they had never played before, had offense playing defense and vice versa. He did everything but make our kids stand on the field and not move and we still continued to score. They are going to add the "red flag" to the rules next year just for games like that. It's like a slauder rule in baseball. I think it's a really good idea. The kids are supposed to be having fun and losing like that doesn't do anything but cause bad feelings. But on the upside we are now the champions no matter what happens next week, but Rusty and the kids really want an undefeated season. It will be the first time in Strasburg Midget Football history that a junior team has been undefeated and they are very excited about that. Rusty has a great group of coaches with him and they are just seem to click together. It has been really exciting to watch it all come together this year. Rusty is my husband but he really is an incredible coach and a wonderful person with the kids. While they are warming up (both junior teams warm up together) he goes down each line and shakes the hand of each kid and calls them by name. We have a little boy on Rusty's team who's Dad has a brain tumor. The Dad came to Rusty at practice one night and told him his son was going to be going through some hard times and asked Rusty if he could be there for him when the times were tough. Rusty had a hard time not crying. That's an important thing to ask someone to do for you and Rusty was very honored that they would think of him. But that is how the parents feels about him. He treats their children with respect and cares about each one them. He wants to teach them about football but he wants them to enjoy it and love the game also.

Way to go team, 1 more to win!

I've Won a Major Award!!!

Thank you so much for the award, Rebel. That was really sweet.

"This blog invests and believes, in 'proximity' [meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' - being close through proxy] They are all charming blogs, and the majority of them aim to show the marvels of friendship; there are persons who are not interested when we give them a prize, and then they help to cut these bows; do we want that they are cut, or that they propagate?"

Now I have to give it to 8 other bloggers. Melissa, Emily,Anniesue and Dy. If anyone else would like to claim it, please do.

Have a great night.

Ghosts, ghouls and Happy Halloween

We had a fun time trick or treating this year. My friend Sharon brought 2 of her boys over and went with me and Blake. Rusty stayed back at the house making his world famous chili and Wayne handed out candy to the 1000's of kids that came by the house. It seems like there were alot of kids out tonight but not alot of people giving out candy. I think this was the worse year for candy. Blake had a good time though and that is all that matters. He was a zombie this year and it was pretty scary. Wayne went outside to get set up for the trick or treaters and all of a sudden he came flying back in the house yelling for me to come outside, the headless horseman was riding up our road on a coal black horse. Of course I ran outside without my camera. It was the neatest thing I have seen in a long time. He had a pumpkin tucked under his arm and the horse wasn't at a full out gallop but a pretty good trot.

Ashleigh has come home for the weekend, I think she is a little homesick. It is really good to see her. She will be going to Blake's football game with us tomorrow. He only has 2 left and they are undefeated. Tomorrow's game is a tough one. We have already played Luray once and beat them but they are a tough team. Rusty has a ritual he does before every game (well other than wearing the same clothes every game down to his underwear), he prays with the kids.

They don't have to participate in the prayer but he hasn't had anyone tell him they didn't want to be included. He prays for both teams to do well, for no injuries and to have a good clean game. He ends it with the Lord's prayer. I think it is really neat that he does that.

Rusty has coached for a while but this is the first year that he's been a head coach. He was so nervous the first game, he wanted to do good and he wanted the team to do good. He had gotten himself so worked up before the game that one of his assistant coaches told him he thought that Rusty needed him to pray with him. They walked away from everyone and Tim prayed with him. That has also now become a ritual before every game. Tim is one of those people with a very calming nature about him. He always seems to be able to calm Rusty down, well as much as Rusty can be calmed before a game. It's nice to have a friend like that, with the same Christian faith who feels confident enough in himself to pray with you in public.

On Tuesday at practice Rusty told the kids if they win the next 2 games and go undefeated he will let them shave his head on the field after the last game. He wanted to give them something to pump them up and get excited about. Oh, let me tell you, they are very excited. Tim told Rusty he would fix his hair in a high and tight after the kids get done with him. He's a retired Marine so he's had alot of experience with that hair cut. ha ha Wish us luck tomorrow, it is going to be a hard game but I know the kids are up for it and are ready to play.

Happy Halloween and good night.

October 8th?

Has it really been that long since I've blogged?! Wow, October 8th, where has the month gone? I will try to finish posting about Steven and Denise's wedding and post the rest of the pictures. It was a beautiful wedding and the weather was absolutely perfect.

My Dad and I went and picked up Rusty from the airport. This was a picture of him right after he got off the plane. He was calling his Mom to let her know he hadn't died and was on the ground again.

My Dad lying on Steven's bed at the beach house. He was working up his energy for the wedding.

Denise, the beautiful bride. Her friend made her dress and it was perfect. They did an autumn theme and her friend put the orange panel in the dress to go along with the wedding colors.

My Dad and Mom both walked Steven down the aisle to give him away. ha ha I've been waiting to give him away for years. Just kidding Steven, just kidding. Actually, I could not have ever asked for a better brother. He has always been there for me. He was the kind of brother who would spend his last penny on me instead of himself. He is always thinking about other people and wanting to help them.

Denise and her Daddy, he was so proud.

I love the bare feet in the sand. Denise in the top picture and Blake in the bottom with his bucket. He carried Denise's wedding ring in it.

One of Denise's favorite things in the world is cupcakes, well next to Steven it's her favorite so they had a cupcake wedding cake. It was so incredibly neat. I had never seen anything like it. To the right is a sandcastle that Denise made of brown sugar and the shells that are on the table are all chocolate. Oh, they were so good.

Steven and Denise's first dance together. It was like they were the only ones in the world. It brought tears to your eyes and just made you burst with happiness that these 2 people had found each other.

Denise and her Dad with my Mom and Steven in the background.

The following are pictures of everyone just having a great time at the reception.

Denise learning to do the Electric slide, she got it down but oh was it funny in the process. Love ya Denise, remember, laughing with you not at you.

Actually, some had more fun than others. Have you ever seen a keg stand? I had never even HEARD of a keg stand. But of course after seeing Steven's friend do one Rusty had to do it. You do a hand stand on the keg and the other idiots, oh sorry "guys" hold your legs up in the air while your other "friend" holds the keg tap in your mouth until you can't take anymore. He broke their record. I am just so proud.

This is Steven's friend showing Rusty how to do it. They aren't supposed to have his legs that high in the air so they had to lower him some. I guess gravity messes with the beer, whatever.

Steven removing the garter.

I loved what Denise did with the bouquet. Instead of throwing it to the single girls, they had the married couples come out on the dance floor and eliminated everyone until they go to the couple that had been married the longest and that was my parents. They will be married 42 years in January. Steven and Denise wanted to celebrate longevity in marriage and love instead of just throwing it to a single girl. I loved that. I told you, there is something incredibly special about them.

Ashleigh and her Uncle Steve. Steven was just 18 when she was born and even as a teenager and a boy at that he always has been really close to her. They have had their rough times but they are getting back to being close again. Love you Steven, you are my favorite brother. Well, you're my only brother but you are still my favorite.