Devin's football tourney

One of our local coaches put together a group of kids to play in a couple of tournaments. One was the weekend before Thanksgiving in Knoxville, TN. We got "spanked" as Chad put it, in the Knoxville tourney. The Owensboro tourney, lets just say, we more than made up for it. We won the whole thing, which was a statewide tournament. The best part about it, was that we beat the team that knocked us out of the Knoxville tourney. Our boys were so proud, as you can see from the team pic below. It was freezing cold and rained off and on. Devin is # 2 of course...on the front row and Chad is in the front left of the picture. Look close, you can see how muddy they were by looking at their pants.

the day after

The day after Thanksgiving was Mom's bday. We all got together for a group picture because Traci and her family were leaving the next morning. You should have seen how fast Traci was able to make it back to the group before the timer on the camera ran out. :) Wish I had a picture of that. Doesnt Granny look so little? and so cute?

the whole gang

me, mom and traci
aunt jan and uncle dan


traci and jay

me, mom, jeff and traci

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day was one of the best days I have had in a while! I was surrounded by family and lots of food! What more could a girl ask for? We started off the day with dinner at Granny's house. She was 85 yrs old on Thanksgiving Day, which made it even more special.

granny in all her glory

After dinner at Granny's, we went to Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Spencer's house for desert with Dad's side of the family. Most of the family was there. Lots of kids for the boys to play with and lots of space to run around. It was just a really good day.

mammie taking a ride up

devin and tyler

aunt carolyn and uncle spencer

aka the hosts

me and the hubby

our family

Chad's sister Renne and her daughter Jordan flew in from MA to be with us. They fit right in with our crazy family. :)

chad and renee







dad, ann, traci and family, and our family

renee

A visit to Hardinsburg

Gabe and Lindsey
Traci, Lindsey, Ann, Dad and me

Sisters

My sister Traci flew in from Idaho last night. After church this morning, we headed north to Hardinsburg for a Thanksgiving Dinner/ Birthday Dinner for my Dad. He turns 60 tomorrow! As usual, Ann pulled off a wonderful dinner...she is such a hostess. Had a little help from Lindsey this year, who I didnt realize is quite the cook as well! Chad and Devin were MIA...they were in Knoxville at a football tourney. Traci's hubby Jay, and her oldest daughter Tyler arent flying in until Wednesday because she had basketball obligations.

gone fishing...

Devin went fishing today at a paylake in Brownsville with Josh Alexander and his mom, Stacey. Ryan and Seth really got a kick out of seeing and touching all the fish they brought back.
Josh and Devin have been friends since kindergarten. They have gone to different schools since the 4th grade, but have remained buddies.
This one was Devin's "big catch". He was so proud after he caught it that he called home to tell us about it. I love it's whiskers; too bad Stacey is gonna fry him up and eat him.

let's pump some iron

We have all been teasing Devin for some time now that he needs a little more junk in his trunk. So, he started using free weights in a friend's garage and LOVED it. We decided to get him his own bench to use. So, being the frugal person that I am, I decided to hunt down a used bench. Well, that wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I looked thru classifieds and searched at consignment stores, but nothing worth buying. My dad knew of my quest so he joined in on the search. This past Saturday, he found one at a yard sale. He and Ann live an hour and a half north of here, so Devin had to wait until he came to Bowling Green today to get it. He is SOOO happy. Thanks DaddyBob and Ann!

A visit from Boston

Jordan and Seth laying in Devin's bed watching Spongebob. She was playing with his hair and he nearly fell asleep. How cute is that?
We played a game of dice on Friday night. Or was that Thursday night? It was fun for a little while, but we quit WAY before anyone got near 10,000.

On Friday, Chad and I took the day off and we all went to Jackson's Orchard with Renee and the kids. It was a fun and relaxing day. The kids had fun on the hay bales and the petting zoo. The caramel apples were to die for.

On our way home, Chad and Renee went to the grocery store because they had a menu planned out for the night. Myself, I just hung out with the kids because I am not a planner and I could care less about the menu. However, I did enjoy the meal Chad prepared for us. Good thing I married a cook. :) Back to my story, on our way home from Jackson's Orchard, I stopped at the new park across from the Chamber and let the kids play in the fountain. They had alot of fun, but I got pretty uptight because they were so wet. And why did I stop at a fountain if I didnt want the kids to get wet? hmm.
This is the iron bridge on Garvin Lane. When you drive across it slowly, it makes this creepy sound, so people call it the haunted bridge. The kids got a kick out of it. It is really high up and stretches across Green River. I am scared of heights, so we were only on foot long enough to say we did it. Check out Ryan and Jordan....it is amazing how cousins resemble so closely....they could pass for twins!

A Night Out

This past Saturday, we attended our friends Les and Stacey's wedding and reception. It was alot of fun getting to go out for a night without the boys. Mom and Jeff had Ryan and Seth for the night, and Devin spent the night with a friend.

We got to double date with Mark and Lisa, our friends and neighbors.



We also got to hang out with Craig and Stacey...some friends of ours that we havent seen in awhile. The reception was at the Topper Club. It is at the top of the new football stadium at Western. It was really nice. The bride and groom actually took some of their portraits on the football field. How cool is that? They both work for the WKU Athletic Dept.

Football, football and more football....

Ryan and Seth are about three games into their season. They are both doing really good. Ryan has the muscle, and Seth has the speed. Actually, we see alot of Devin in Seth, he has more of a drive than Ryan. Ryan has more junk in his trunk than Devin or Seth will ever have and he knows it, so he doesnt "fight" as hard to prove himself. Last Saturday, the very first play of the game, Seth got his "clock cleaned.' And I mean HARD. That kid threw him back about 5 yards before he landed on his back. He laid there for a second in shock, then got up and ran up the field after the rest of the players. It was a moment when you hate yourself for not taking the video camera.
Devin has a game tonight, I will give feedback later.

Something to be thankful for....

Okay, last night at bedtime the neighbor knocks on my door and proceeds to tell me that his dog attacked my cat and he is pretty sure it was bad enough to kill the cat. No way to know for sure because the cat took off running into another neighbors yard once the dog let go of his neck. The dog needed stitches because my cat sliced him up pretty bad. So, needless to say, after searching for him till about 11:30 and then giving up, I cried myself to sleep. Repeated the process before work, and then again when I came home for lunch. Tonight, just in case , I was putting food and water on the front porch for him. I asked Chad to open the door for me because my hands were full. As soon as he opened the door, there sat the cat on the front porch. Not one single scratch on him. Can you believe that? So, needless to say, the Rainvilles are celebrating tonight and the snuggles with Rusty are much, much sweeter than they were before.

A Little Sunday Afternoon Fun

Mom and Jeff were in town Sunday so they came to church with us, then came over afterward for a back yard cook out. We had alot of fun just hanging out. The boys didnt like having to "shew flies" off their food constantly though.

Happy Birthday Chad

Yesterday was Chad's 35th birthday. He left the house before any of us woke up, and he didnt get home until the kids had went to bed. Poor Seth had even set the table for the cake and ice cream. Chad felt so bad that he agreed to get them up out of bed. Only, Ryan had a different plan.....to stay in bed. So, Seth and Devin and I sang happy birthday to him...and that kept Seth pacified till this morning. We had chocolate birthday cake at 6:30 this morning; sang to him and made him blow out the candles too. :) We got him this i phone for his birthday. I ordered it a little early not wanting to take any chances, so he has had it a week or so.
Tonight, Drakes Creek played against Glasgow. We lost 30 - 8. It was pitiful, or should I say rediculous. Devin didnt do very well either. He managed to make a really good tackle, but he let a couple get away from him. He is struggling with his heel hurting and you could tell cause he was alot slower out on the field tonight. The muscle that runs under his heel; I think the doc called it his achilles. I always forget the muscle names. Anyway, Dr. Kelly told him he wasnt stretching enough. Hopefully we can redeem ourselves on Tuesday against Franklin-Simpson.

Look who stopped by for a visit

Mindy and Steve were in town visiting her parents and decided to take their bikes on a ride. They found themselves in our driveway. This was her first "real" ride since they bought her bike. They looked so cute pulling out of the driveway on his Harley and her Honda? I think it is. Steve is going to buy her a Harley too once she masters riding on the smaller bike.

"The Young Man"

Devin was the youth speaker in church today. He gave me so much grief over it and was even vowing to not do it on the way to church. So, I was mentally preparing myself to give his talk, when at the last minute he said he would do it. He did SOOOO good. If he was nervous, you couldnt tell it. His talk was on charity. After church, I had to capture the moment with a picture. This was the only smile I could muster out of him. It will do.

Drakes Creek vs Warren East

We won our first football game this past Thursday night. We went into overtime and it all came down to us getting the extra point when they didnt. So, we won 16 to 14. Devin did SO WELL. He was a BEAST out on the field. He plays Cornerback and he brought down their runningback and / or receiver SEVEN TIMES! My camera blurred all of the action shots for some reason. It has too many buttons; I still need to learn how to use it. I promise to take better pictures of next week's game against Glasgow.

The Birthday Boy

The first day of school just happened to be Seth's birthday too! Poor kid. He handled it very well, especially considering they spent 2 hours on the busride home. ( new driver, new route, and a long, hot story...it happened to reach 99 degrees that day.) He forgot all about it when he saw his new "big boy" bike. His first take off on the new bike.......
My Granny with Seth...

Back To School

Summer flew by so fast! I feel like it was just yesterday that we were arranging summer camps and practicing for baseball! Devin started at Drakes Creek Middle School. He was excited even though you cannot tell from the lack of expression on his face. (this is the macho look...no smile). He opted to ride the bus from day one...cant be having Mom and Dad take you to school the first morning when you are in 7th grade. He is playing football for Drakes, of course. Conditioning started a week or so before school, so that kinda broke the ice for him. Seth is in 1st grade and Ryan in 2nd, attending Natcher Elementary. They both did really good the first day of school. We are now a couple of weeks into school, and no disciplinary action taken yet. hint....I am not referring to Ryan.

Big Buffalo Crossing Canoe Trip

We drove up to Munfordville the weekend before school started to spend one last fun day together. We coasted down the Green River for about 3 hours. Chad and Devin had been once already this summer and Devin was dying to go back. We all had alot of fun. The boys caught ALOT of frogs, we spotted a snake, swam a little, and most importantly...didnt tip the canoe over.