Dancin' In The Rain

Hope you're blessed on this dreary day. And....if you're having a bad day, try dancin' in the rain!

Smiles,

Casey

Elmo & The Bull & Just Everyday Blessings

Oh the fun we've had the past couple of weeks!

Meme and I took Colby, Braden and Eli to see Sesame Street Live. The boys thought it was "ok," although they were more interested in the $15 dollar JUNK toy and the $10 balloons! Ugh! We won't talk about whether we bought these outrageously priced souvenirs or not!

The first 20 minutes or so Eli was just jumping and clapping and soooo excited! I'm pretty sure Sesame Street Live is the most stimulation he's ever had! :-) It was soooo loud!

At intermission the boys were saying they were tired and ready to go home soooo we left, regardless of the prices we paid for these wonderful tickets.

Needless to say, I think it will be a while before we do anything like that again.

Well, on second thought, just about two months because we already have tickets for Disney on Ice in April...BUT I'm thinking that will be ALOT better! Hope so!

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My sleeping babies once again...I'm not quite sure why I've been taking so many pictures of sleeping kids. Maybe because a little bit of quiet time is a precious commodity although I enjoy every minute of the sounds of my kiddos! I just thought it was so sweet that they were sleeping so close together and they just look so peaceful!

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Just a couple of random pictures that I took on different mornings right after the boys woke up. There are only a FEW things better than waking up to my precious boys!

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Eli in his new jumperoo that Meme and Poppy got him for Christmas! He loves it!

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Last weekend we went to Bull Bash. It really was a TON of fun!

Attempting to get a decent picture of my cowboys before we left.

I just thought this was the CUTEST picture!! The Merriman family sat with us so those lovely pink boots belong to Miss Hallie! She and Colby are just a couple of months apart in age.

There was this CRAZY Mexican Bull that came out into the arena....the guy on the horse tried to rope it, several times without success...so the bull fighters were playing with it and throwing hats at it trying to get it to go out. They even let another bull in there to try to get him out and that didn't work either. My story-telling skills aren't all that great but just trust me when I say that it was GREAT entertainment....it went on for about 15 minutes and finally for the last couple of minutes I thought to get my camera out and video it. You GOTTA watch this video! As you will hear in the video, Shad's vote was to shoot the bull...literally! And you will see that I got a little scared and one point and almost dropped the camera. I guess I thought the bull could climb bleachers! Haha!

I hope you all have a blessed weekend! We will be celebrating Shad's 35th birthday!

----Casey----

P.S. My surgery went great and all seems very well, thanks to a prayer answering God.

One more thing...my mom got a new dog named Lucy yesterday and I just got off the phone with her and she and Colby have taken the dog into Walmart with them! She has officially gone crazy!!! I don't think pets are allowed in Walmart and considering she weighs about 3 pounds, I don't think she would classify as a seeing eye dog!

Fire...Sleep...Surgery

I bet that title made you curious! Haha!

A few weeks ago, Shad and I took Colby to the fire station in Center. He absolutely LOVED it thanks to the very friendly fireman that showed us around. Now everytime we pass the fire station, which is just about everyday, Colby says "there's the fire station!" as if it's the very first time he has ever seen it! Haha!


And night before last, I got out of the bathtub to find everyone in bed....asleep. Surprising huh? So instead of crawling in bed beside them, I find the camera and take pictures. Believe it or not, they ALL slept throught the multiple flashes! Then I removed the two boys and put them in their beds and crawled into bed myself...just to be awakened a few hours later by Eli. He will sleep ALL NIGHT in his car seat but only a couple of hours in his bed - go figure!

Aren't they all just so precious and innocent looking when they are asleep...even Shad! Haha!

And now on to surgery...a few weeks ago I had a bad report from an annual checkup. After biopsies, my doctor wanted to wait three months and check again. But the initial report was scary enough that I wanted to get a second opinion. So....instead of just a second opinion, I got a third, a fourth, and a fifth! Yeah, I would say that's a little much. But I really didn't go to FIVE different doctors. My aunt Kim, who is a nurse took my reports to three of the doctors that she works with and they ALL said the same thing. So I went to Shreveport to the doctor that delivered Colby and he agreed with the other three sooooooo I had four against one. So on Friday, February 27, I will go in and have a couple of minor day surgeries. If everything goes as planned I should be home that night. With that said, I would really appreciate your prayers. Specifically that after these surgeries, everything will be back to normal and that will be the end of it.

I hope you all have a blessed weekend! Shad and Colby are gonna be at the camphouse on the river with Papa or as Colby calls it, "the Deer Camp." And I will be scrapbooking! I am so excited about that considering Eli only has two pages in his scrapbook! But all of that is about to change, hopefully, if I am as productive as I plan on being!

Love you all,

Casey

P.S. A few of us ladies are about to start a Bible Study on Esther in March. Email me - bizzeebeigh@yahoo.com - if you're interested in joining us! It's gonna be great!

Eli's 3 Month Pictures

Mom & I took Eli to Sears on Monday to have his 3-month pictures made. He did so good! I can't believe he is already three months old!

I hope you all are having an awesome week.

Please allow me to be selfish for a moment and ask you to please pray for Shad, the boys and me over the next few days. We would really appreciate it!

Love,
Casey

Place Your Bid! Haha!

Well...the bidding starts NOW on the infamous quarter!!!

It's out and Colby did great at the hospital. Thanks to everyone who prayed for him today - we really appreciate it. Here are a few pictures from today.

Good Morning from Christus Schumpert Medical Center

Colby & Clifford the big red dog

He was pretty intrigued by the IV. He was asleep before they put the IV in so he didn't have to feel that pain - thank goodness! But...when he woke up he was ready for it to come out!
This was after the surgery. Last time he had this done, he woke up screaming and I prayed that it wouldn't be like that this time. God answers prayers! He was so calm, just laying there in the bed, when they brought him back to us.

He was showing his IV to Eli and he wanted him to lay right beside him.
Colby is such a sweet big brother!



God is so good to us. I'm so thankful that He watched over our little boy today.
I will try to give y'all a break now from the updates! Y'all are probably tired of me posting everyday! Have a great weekend!

Casey

An Expensive Quarter!

Well it all started on Saturday night - Colby decided that his tummy might make a pretty good piggy bank. He was being rewarded with quarters for going to the potty and he thought he would invest his money in the tummy. Soooooo....I called the Pediatrician to let them know that Colby had swallowed a quarter and he said "Wow, that's the 2nd in an hour, the first was a dime!" He told us that more than likely it would pass but if it hadn't passed by Tuesday to bring him into the office for x-rays. Nothing about my child is "likely!" Sooooo.....we headed to Shreveport this morning (Wednesday) for our appointment at 8:30. They took xrays and there was definitely a quarter still in there. They said the chances of him passing it on his own were one in a million. It is lodged at the "drain" of the stomach and the opening of the intestines so they told us we needed to have an endoscopy done to remove it. So.........we are scheduled for him to have an endoscopy at 6:30 in the morning at Schumpert in Shreveport. He has had this procedure done before back when he was almost two and having tummy troubles. He was a little younger and didn't really understand as much as he does now. I'm a little worried that he might be a little nervous in the morning. But everything went fine that time and I'm trusting it will all be fine this time too.

While we were there, Eli got his 3 month check up and they said he was a healthy boy. He weighs 12 pounds, 2 ounces and he is 22 inches long. He is really smiling and "talking" these days....such a precious boy!

Well please keep us in your prayers in the morning. And, by the way, after tomorrow, the quarter is up for grabs....to the highest bidder!!!!

Some Recent Pictures!

Hope you all are having a wonderful Tuesday! Here are some pictures of the last few weeks.

One Sunday Morning all dressed up for church! It was freezing outside but I had to get a picture of them all matching.

Daddy And His Boys!

My Little Cowboy!

On New Year's Eve we went to Wichita Falls and spent a few days with the family! Brandon and Presley even came for a couple days. It was so fun being all together.

Colby & Paul

Can't keep boys from wrestling! They have so much fun all together.

And this is what Sisters are good for!!! This picture will haunt him in a few years!

Levi with a headband!

Claire & Presley


Brent thought he needed to have his picture taken with EVERYONE!
He must think he's pretty handsome!


Brent & Jennifer aka My Role Model
Maybe one day I can be like her! I'm trying!

Brent & Mom

Brent, Brandon, & Daddy

Brent, Eli & Daddy

Brent & Mikah

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Here's a little story that I got via email today and it inspired me...maybe you'll like it too!

A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in Target. She must have been 6 years old, a beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Target. We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the World. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day. The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in "Mom, let's run through the rain," she said."What?" Mom asked."Let's run through the rain!" She repeated."No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied. This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom, let's run through the rain,""We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said."No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm."This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?""Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!" Now the entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith. "Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said. Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing. Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories.

So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. I can't wait until it rains again...you can bet Colby and I will be running in the rain and splashing along the way! I can't wait!

Have a "memory-making" week!

Love, Casey

A Glimpse of our Holidays....

Hey everyone! I hope you all are wonderful! We had a fabulous Christmas with our boys and of course our families....here a few pictures from the holidays!

Breakfast with Santa at the Methodist Church

An attempt to get a family picture for the Christmas Card - it was unsuccessful.

Maybe we'll try again next year!

CHRISTMAS AT MEME & POPPY'S

Aren't these just the most precious kids you've ever seen?!?! I could just eat 'em up!

Levi Brent

Claire Grace & Presley Daniele

Mikah Ashton
Meme & Eli Jack
Colby Monroe, Paul Abram & Braden Thomas

BUSH CHRISTMAS

The most beautiful sisters in the world!

Aunt Kim, Aunt Tammy, Aunt Sandra, My Precious Momma

The girls and Braden

Shawna with Gavin and Eli

Gavin & Eli - they are four months apart!

During the holidays Shad was off for about two weeks and I closed my shop between Christmas and New Years. Although this was NOT good for the pocketbooks, it was GREAT for our family! We had sooo much fun being together - we are so blessed.
During the time off, Colby got to go squirrel hunting with his wonderful Daddy. He woke him up at 6 am and you think he would be grouchy but as soon as we told him he was gonna go squirrel hunting, he ran to his room to get ready. And of course, momma had to get up to take some pictures!

I promise I will be back soon with more from the beginning of our year! Stay tuned!

~Casey~