Scott and Missy

Hello to all. I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. It has been rather busy as you all probably know by now. I am posting some pics from this past weekend at mom and dad's. Garett, Elaina and I made a gingerbread house and then mom and Elaina worked on Christmas cookies. Also, I retrieved some pics off of mom's camera of her trip to see Chris, Tammy and the other 4 kiddos.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I am posting some pics from the weekend before Thanksgiving when the children were all at Gran and Big Daddy's. I didn't get to have Garett and Elaina for Thanksgiving or my birthday so I was bummed. Mom, dad, Tammy, Chris, and the kids all came over for the weekend and we had a good visit. Now on to finish Christmas shopping.

Well I have been trying to get ready for the upcoming holidays. Usually decorating for Christmas is great fun so I have already started that and finished this weekend most of it. I have 3 trees up along with the knick knacks but still can't get into the holiday spirit to much. I miss my kids! I wanted to post some most recent pics. Before and after and you can see a drastic change in Garett especially. Please keep him in your prayers. I worry about them both so much. Brandon will be coming next Wednesday so I am looking forward to visiting with him.

I am just a little upset these days. Since June Garett has gained 85 lbs. He is now making C's and D's for the first time in his life. Elaina is very hyper and can't seem to calm down. I fail to see how this is in the best interest of my children. Especially after what all they tell me they are feeling on my visits with them. It hurts so much to see your babies hurting and there is nothing in the world you can do about it because you are controlled by other people who "know" what is best for your children. I also fail to see how it is that unless I have medicaid or some public service I can not get appointments for my children with health providers. Since Scott and I do work and do have insurance we are actually punished for this. AAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! I am hoping this blogging thing helps my efforts in venting. In the meantime please keep my travel to Texarkana, Hope and back tomorrow in your prayers. I will be meeting with the guardian ad litem "attorney for the children" and then picking them up to bring them back for another appt. in Helena. Mom and dad will be taking them back Wed. Also, keep Tammy and Chris is mind. They are on pins and needles for the finalization of the adoption of the 4 little ones. I am hoping that it works out for them.

Can you believe I can actually get on here and blog twice in one week? LOL. I wanted to post some new pics of our new addition to the family, FeFe. Scott got her for me I am sure to try to cheer me up a little. We just love her. An update on the children's situation is that now our court date has been delayed once again. This time possibly until Janurary. So please keep on remembering us during all this time. I hope everyone is looking forward to the upcoming holidays.

Hey guys. Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. In between the drama with the kids, my hospitilization, pageant, and then early this morning Scott's grandmother passed away it is has been full throttle around here. I am posting some pics from last nights pageant. Rachel looked so pretty and did so good for her first on stage presence pageant. I hope you enjoy. Please keep Scott and his family in your prayers. It was a very long weekend watching his grandmother suffer so.

I am finally back in God's country. The trip was fun but I have to say I am glad to be back to my routine. We did see a great deal of the Boston area by foot, plane, subway, and train. We went to Rhode Island and visited with Scott's cousin Scarlett and that was fun as well. Such pretty sites but need a very deep pocketbook for most places. Unfortunatly when we left for Kingston RI on Friday night the ticket clerk gave us tickets for the Kingston MA train not Kingson RI. SO we spent about 3 hours on the trip getting back and forth until we got to the right place. How frustrating. Then the conductor said that it happens just about every week in the summer. HELLLLOOOO, please give people the correct information before selling them a ticket. Scott was antsy for the last two days to get back. His OCD kicked in big time so I was ready to get back home before I lost it with him, LOL. By the end of the week we had figured out where everything was located in town. All I need to add to that is why do men never ask for directions????? Or admit when they are lost??? We took a train over to Salem and that was quite different indeed. It only rained one of the 8 days we were there so that was pretty awesome. In fact, it was raining in Memphis when we landed yesterday. I suppose we broght it home with us. If we did that is great because our yard and flowers need the water badly. Now I am back home and back in the routine. I am pretty caught up on laundry and waiting now on the kids to return so we can prepare for school. I can't believe it starts next week.

I am just now getting around to posting a few pics from the trip to Bradford. Scott and I are in Boston this week for his NALC convention. All I can say is that I am not in Mississippi anymore, LOL. I do miss the southern hospitality I know that. The sites are great and we have walked for miles and miles which is pretty good for me! I still have a great deal of things planned to do but am not sure we will make it all or not. We plan on heading to Rhode Island one day this week to see his cousin Scarlet. Stacy will be joining us later in the week. So far the weather hasn't been to bad and this motel is really nice. Right now I am waiting on Scott to finish with his assembly today so we can head out for more sight seeing. I just completed my class for the week online. I was glad to hear mom got to meet with Uncle Norman for dinner last night. Sorry I didn't get to my email in time to give you the cell number. Since I am allergic to seafood it has been interesting for me to find different things to eat around here. I do appreciate the way the big cities are split up into divisions and am extremely fond of the little Italy north end. My goodness, I love italian. There are so many Irish pubs here which is not really my thing. I was telling Elaina about the whale watching tours here similar to the dolphin tours of Florida. Remember the ordeal with Garett and the shark? When I told Elaina about the whales she said, "dang, how far did you swim out there?" Gotta love that kid! Garett is waiting on his red sox jersey and Rachel is blowing up the cell with all kinds of plans of going here and there for the next couple of weeks until school starts. She has quite the social calendar. I remember those days :) MOM HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Meme and Papaw Happy Anniversary, Samuel Congratulations, and I am not exactly what to say to The Georgia Norman's on the departure of Sara and Ryan and the kids. Best of luck to all! Mom and dad have an upcoming anniversary too! Papaw, even though you thought I was 40 years old, and I am NOT they will be married 40 years next month. See, I still have a couple more years to go, geeZ! I will try to post some more pictures soon of the historical landmarks we have visited as well as the tour we will be going on of Fenway parka nd the garden where the celtics play ball. The NY Yankees are coming here this weekend so we really need to get in most of what we want to do between now and then. I know it is going to be hectic around here this weekend. Take care and love to all.

Again, I have waited a while to post. I can't seem to get enough time to slow down these days. We'll Garett, Elaina, and I went to Bradford the weekend of the fourth and it was great. Mom and dad came up that Saturday to join us. Meme was battling an infection but I think she got to feeling a little better. Papaw was very proud of his plaque of his honors and it was great to hear him talk about the different awards he has recieved. I took my camera to get some pictures of just land marks around town that are special to me when I reflect on my childhood. I took a picture of the Locust Grove church. It always reminded me of the Little House on the Prarie church. I got some pictures of Mama Cora's, Aunt Vera's, and Uncle Billy Bob's houses as well as the now overgrown field of grass that once housed meme and papaw's home. I missed getting a snapshot of the doodle soup capital of the world sign. I will have to get that next visit. The kids enjoyed the time there I believe. Elaina played Trouble and Garett brought his Are you smarter than a 5th grader game. Unfortunatly, I had to leave to go back to work. The kids spent the week with mom and dad. I am sure they are now enjoying the quiet time again. They left for Jeff's yesterday for the next two weeks. So, I am in withdrawal from my kids again. Rachel will be home tomorrow. She is having some difficulty right now and I would appreciate your prayers for her. It is so tough being a teenager. In fact, I think it gets harder every year for teenagers in this world. Scott and I will be leaving for Boston on Friday night. I am anxious to go on the trip but am not looking forward to having to study so much while I am gone. Mom's house looks great. We went this last weekend over to see Garett and Elaina off. She is getting her floors today and I am sure she is happy about that. The house looks so different. They did a good job on it. We'll take care everyone.

I know it has been a while since I updated. Busy, busy, busy! Garett and Elaina are on their way back to this part of the world finally. I have missed them so much. Granny Glo was so kind and sent me some pics of Elaina in her cheering/gymnastics class. Elaina had a blast with these classes so far. Right now they are with mom and dad at Chris and Tammy's. Isaiah had his tonsils out this past week so the troops are there to cheer him on. LOL! I have been busy with school and work as usual. Scott has hurt his back AGAIN! He would get better if he would quit trying to work around the yard and in the house still. He never gives it time to heal. Rachel is awaiting church camp next week. I plan on going to meme's with Garett and Elaina this upcoming weekend. I can't wait to see them. It has been so long. We are all so busy all the time. I am constantly having to water the flowers, shrubs, and grass. It is so hot and everything is trying to dry up with no rain for so long. Scott and I also have had to work on our rental home and clean it up. The people that just vacated had a dog in the house. Maybe 10-15 from the look and smell of things. It took us a while but we got it up and going again after many many shampoos and bleach wipe downs of everything. This past weekend I went to Southaven/Horn Lake and met up with my friends Darla and Audra for shopping, movies, and dining. It was nice to have a night out to chill out a little bit. I found a really cool purse too. Scott of course probably isn't so thrilled. At least I didn't buy any shoes :) Enjoy the pics and I will try to update again real soon.

Boy this week has really gotten off to a bad start. I failed to remember to post on one of my discussion boards by Sunday night. Also, I had a quiz due yesterday that I would have not taken had one of my classmates not reminded me. I am losing it people! Bad, Bad day at work as well. Some of the people I work with AAHHHHH! It reminds me why ignorant people should not breed! Okay, I have vented some now. I have posted some more pics from vacation. That is probably gonna be it until my next adventure. On a positive note, I have managed to grow some plants and flowers without killing them. I have actually got some gardenia blooms and my roses are doing nicely too. Yippee!

We'll today starts the second summer session. It appears to be a difficult road ahead for me too. So please praY! I am missing Garett and Elaina already. They are in Arkansas and I am sure they are having a good time. I just miss them being here. My buddies Connie and Teresa are planning to come spend this weekend with me for a girls night out. I am so looking forward to this. Keep up the faith everyone.

I have posted some pics of vacation. I also have a few in there from Elaina's field day at school and Springfest. I hope you guys enjoy. I will post some more later when I get them downloaded.

I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers Day. I did! With the exception of the thunderstorm Saturday night that left us without electricity until around 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning. We managed to all get ready for church on time. Then I was treated out to lunch at Mi Pueblo. This has become our usual place to eat for special occasions. It is a favorite for everyone. The kids made me some beautiful cards and Scott gave me some p.j.s and nightgown and robe. I had requested the p.j.s for the upcoming vacation. He wanted to add in the cutie nightgown and robe for himself :)' . He is a mess. At least that is what he told the sales person. I guess I should feel flattered considering he bought it two sizes to small. Hey, if he thinks I am still that little he may need an eye exam! After lunch we came back home and picked up the limbs that had fell off in the yard during the storm. Then we went mud riding on the 4 wheelers. The kids love this big time! By the time we got back in and cleaned up and fed it was back to the same ole routine. They are getting anxious with the approaching end of school parties coming up and all. I got to speak to mom for a little bit. She had been at Meme's. I was glad to hear meme was doing well and even felt like cooking a little bit. However; I sure wish I had been there to enjoy it!!!! I am counting down the days until my vacation, yippee!! Only 2 more weeks. I am so glad, I need a break!

I am now trying to recover from the weekend. I left work early Friday to go get everything for the slumber party and make sure I was there when the children started arriving. I had Scott stop after work and pick up pizza. I figured that was probably the best bet for all of these kids! When the kids got off the bus they were so happy. Sara came home with Elaina from school. Shortly after I got a call from one of the mothers of a girl that Elaina had invited I didn't know about. She is 11 and I didn't think she would want to come due to the age difference, WRONG! She wanted to and of course I told her mom she could come. Then of course her best friend Lindsey is the big sister to Cora who will get homesick without her. I phoned Cora's mom to tell her to bring Lindsey as well and reached her voice mail. It didn't matter because she called shortly after to ask if Lindsey could come. Then Kayla from up the road came down. Tori arrived as soon as her mom could bring her. Now all I had to do was wait for Sydney and Aubriana to come after their softball game. They played outside until dark, yippee. My husband the speed racer was mowing the yard at the speed of light. We'll the kids came in to devour the pizza. Unfortunatly Garett and Scott were still doing yard work and the pizza was on zip! I had to run up the road to the little store to get another one. We waited for Syndey and Aurbriana to arrive before doing the cake and presents. Scott was kind enough to allow the kids to watch Alving and the Chipmunks on his plasma with the surround sound. They loved this big time. I set the pallets up all over the place and it was a pretty good night. As I lay down I heard the distant noise of thunder and thought oh no, I bet I end up taking a kid home. Well it worked out well. That is until the break of dawn when one or two of them decided to get up!!! It didn't take long for the others to wake up and we had breakfast. Then they were able to play outside for a little while. The children were all delivered back to moms by noon. I came home and wanted to crash but had to get on homework as usual. I am doing my last two finals this week. I am so happy to get a week before summer school begins. The rain set in for Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday I had to take Elaina to the dentist. Good report at least no cavities. Only braces are in the future. I tried to do some shopping which is impossible with Elaina. I know that will change in time. I hope everyone is having a good day.

This past week has been rather busy. Elaina's birthday was yesterday. She is now 8 and proud of it. She was a bit sassy all day. Since we are having the slumber party Friday night for her, we will be doing the big party then. Last night I got her a cake shaped like a poodle that she has been eyeing for sometime. So we all split this little cute cake last night. Scott's parents and brother came down to give her gifts and she enjoyed opening her cards from the mail as well. Scott and I have been working in the yard. I am going to try to put these pictures on here. I realize my flowers and plants have a long way to go. I have enjoyed putting them out anyway. Also, last night we were involved in a science project for Rachel's class. Next, we have a history one for her and for Garett. Fun, Fun, Fun! Softball season has kicked off also. Rachel had 2 games this past Saturday. They won one and lost one. I want to thank my parents for coming last weekend and staying with the kids. Scott had a meeting in Vicksburg and I in Jackson. So I joined him after Friday for the weekend. The kids were so spoiled while I was gone. I think they are disappointed that Gran had to go back home. Elaina especially since she gets to crawl in the bed with Gran and Big Daddy when they have her. She also spoiled them with treats from the store so they were pretty happy about that as well. This week I have been trying to wrap up some of my cases with the local schools. I have to get these complete by the end of May. This can be hard to juggle with college going on too. Finals are next week then I get to start again with two more classes.

Since the tornado in February the workplace is rather hectic. I have to share one office and one desk with 2 other counselors. Needless to say, it is getting pretty tense. Today we were able to go to our new temporary worksite, the old Walmart. It is not the ideal place, but I am glad I get my own desk again. I was also happy to see some of the items that were saved from the building before they demolised the remains. We started trying to get together all our belongings and get our stations in order the best we could. I came across the CD of our vacation last summer. The monkey pictures got me tickled all over again. I thought I would share them with you guys. I was on the phone a long time with Brandon last night. Needless to say, he is a little on the angry side, so keep him in your prayers please. It is hard to hear this in his voice and not be there face to face to try to help him through this time. Also, my mom, you know how she worries!!!!


I hope that this afternoon the weather will be nice. I am so excited about getting my yard all landscaped. I didn't know I would enjoy it that much. It is actually pretty good therapy.

I suppose I must lead a pretty dull life. After reading other blogs my life seems fairly uninteresting. I did get a snapshot of Elaina being Elaina. Please someone tell me what is up with the smoochie faces these kids are doing????? I am hoping by taking this picture I can someday remind Elaina how silly she looked when she was younger.
This past weekend while the kids were gone Scott and I got to go on our date night. Yippee! A complete night out to eat and then to Lowe's for plants, shrubs and flowers. We were busy all afternoon Saturday putting some azaleas, begonia's, ferns, and some groundcover. Now today it is like 30 something degrees outside. I will just die if all of this dies!!! We have been working so hard in the yard trying to get it all in tip top shape. I am so ready for some warmer weather. I have about 2 more weeks before ending this spring semester of classes. I am so happy! Now I will be down to the two summer sessions and then the fall. Also, we are all counting the days down until summer vacation to Destin. Anyone know of any good eating places???? I get to go this weekend with Scott on one of his business trips to Vicksburg. Actually I have to work in south Mississippi Friday and then will join him that night. Mom and dad are going to keep the kids. So keep them in your prayers, LOL. I will be spending most of the time catching up on the papers I have to write while Scott is in his meetings. I guess it isn't much of a weekend getaway huh? I will try to blog some more later. Hopefully I will get some good pics of our yard. Then next week we will be getting Elaina's birthday gathering planned. She wants to have some girls over to spend the night. We are going to have a Hannah Montana party of course. Now that she has informed me that all the Dora stuff she has is for kids. Dora has now been booted and replaced by Hannah.

Happy Birthday Papaw! I know it was yesterday. So sorry I am just getting to posting it now. I got wrapped up in the TN game last night and didn't get back online. I hope you had a wonderful day.
I Love You,
Missy

We celebrated Garett's 11th birthday yesterday. I think he had a really good time. We had planned to do some things outside but it rained. We did the best we could inside. Gran and Big Daddy came over for the party. Garett's buddies Jonathan and Emily came so I am sure that he loved this even more. He was surprised with his Fantastic Four figures. He had already got some clothes earlier so he didn't know he was getting additional things. Elaina is next, I can't believe she will be 8 next month. I am going to post what little pictures I have from Easter on here as well. I am not a great picture taker as you can probably see. Somehow, in our house the pictures come out so weird with either really bright backgrounds or dark. The kids had a good time upstairs in the kids room playing the WII. ALso, daddy seems to be improving so that is great.

I thought I might share some pictures of Garett and Elaina. They went Spring Break to Arkansas. They even got to go fishing with their papaw Harrell and Granny Glo. These are pics from the trip. Gloria emailed me the pics. Thanks Granny Glo! Elaina caught 10 and Garett caught 7. At least that is what they told me anyway. I will post some Easter pictures soon I hope.