MarcomsMadness

We're So Proud!

2009-04-22T11:32:00.006-04:00

We're so proud of Chase & Bradley. They both did really good in the President's Fitness test in P.E. and got their names on the board! What makes this funny though is what Chase said about it. One day I was driving them to school and Chase said, "Mom, I really want to be the big winnner of the WHOLE President's Fitness Test!" I said, "yeah Chase, that would be great!" Then he said, "Mom, the winner gets a SIGNED certificiate from President Obama!" I didn't really know what to say, because I was thinking big whoop! So, I just said, "Oh really? That's cool." Then it all made sense to me, he then said, "If I win, I'm just gonna tell the P.E. teacher NOT to put my name on the certificate then I'm gonna SELL that certificate on Ebay and make a bunch of money! It's his real signature Mom, think of how much money I could make!" Oh, you gotta love Chase. Always thinking of how to make a buck! Chase did the most sit-ups for a boy in 4th grade...56! Go Chase!

Bradley did the best in 2 categories for a boy. He did 47 push-ups and he tied with another boy for 60 sit-ups! Go Bradley!

Do You Laugh or Cry???

2009-04-16T15:51:00.005-04:00

So, Bradley & Chase were playing baseball with some kids in the neighborhood the other day. Chase was up to bat. Bradley decides to THROW a rock at Chase to try & get him to miss the ball! He didn't throw it out of anger, just STUPIDITY! He SAID he was aiming for Chase's legs, but instead hit Chase in the FACE with the rock. So, of course Chase starts crying and comes in the house. Chase had a big smear of red dirt on his face. I get him calmed down and wipe off his cheek and see there's a big red scrape on his face. So, I go get Bradley (who was hiding from me) and start yelling at him. I give him the whole "wait until your Dad gets home" line and send him to take a bath. He comes downstairs after taking his bath and he has his pj's on and says to me, "Mom, I know Dad's gonna either spank me or slap me, so I put like 6 pairs of underwear on." I can't figure out if he's just saying that or if he really did it, so I look. SURE ENOUGH, he had 5 layers on. Look below!!! Do I laugh or cry? Kids...there is NEVER a dull moment! Needless to say, me & Jared laughed so hard that we couldn't even bear to punish him. Jared just gave him a stern "talkin' to".

2 pairs of underwear, 2 boxer shorts & 1 pj pants!!!

How can you spank a kid that looks like this????

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T17:49:00.010-04:00

We had a great Easter Sunday. Jared's parents & my sister and her husband came over that day. We all went to church together, then came back to our house for a big Easter dinner. After dinner, Uncle Greg & Brooke hid Easter eggs and Chase & Bradley went and looked, or should I say RACED to find them! It was a great day and we're glad we got to spend the day with family.
Chase & Bradley fighting over an egg.

We lost count on how many times Chase would trip & drop his basket. If you KNOW Chase you know how funny this is. He would start laughing & couldn't even pick up the eggs! Really funny!

Bradley bear

Brooke & Nana working on her "John Deere" quilt!!! Yes, it's true, Brooke WANTED a John Deere quilt. I think we need to get her out of the "country"! (Brooke hates this picture & says she looks "evil"! Get over it Brooke, it's the only picture I have of you that day!)

Uncle Greg and little Jacob. Little, cute, squishable, ADORABLE, little Jacob. Have I told you I'm his FAVORITE aunt?!? :)

Chase hunting for some eggs.

This was the best picture I found, out of about 30 Pictures taken! We just couldn't keep everyone still, so this is IT!!!

Queen of Diamonds

2009-03-11T08:15:00.009-04:00

I think it's official...our little Brookie is growing up! She entered the Queen of Diamonds beauty pageant this past weekend and had a great time! She wanted to do it last year, but chickened out. She decided she was really going to do it this year and finally did it! She was nervous, but she did a GREAT job. We are so proud of her. She won 2 awards! She won prettiest eyes...which is SO funny...she told me she looked like a drag queen after I did her eye make-up! Funny huh?!? Maybe mommy knows something about putting make-up on! She really does have beautiful eyes though, she gets them from her DADDY! The big award she won was the Sportswear Queen! They gave 2 big awards that night, one was the Queen of Diamonds and the other was the Sportswear Queen. We teased her that since she didn't have to really talk, she might have a chance! :) Guess we were right! Good job Brookie! We love you!!!

Her sportswear costume, she was a golfer. She had a pink golf club, cute huh?!?

When is Chase going to quit being goofy in pictures?!?

Our Mini-Moon!!!

2009-03-03T12:43:00.015-05:00

Me and Jared just got back from a FABULOUS little "mini-moon"! We had so much fun being together just the two of us. We have taken several trips with friends over the past few years in February, but decided to go alone this year. We had a blast just being together with no distractions. We didn't even get sick of each other! Shocking! :) We left on Saturday the 21st and drove to Jacksonville, Florida where we stayed the night on Jacksonville Beach. We went to dinner and met up with some good friends of Jared's, Jim & Stephanie. It was really great to see them and catch up on all that they've been up to. On Sunday we drove to Daytona Beach and met up with Jared's mom & dad (they were in Orlando on business). We had a really nice time walking around and had lunch there. Then we drove down to Fort Lauderdale and stayed the night there. We went out for dinner to a really cool place in downtown and had a great time just walking around all the neat little shops. The next day (Monday) we got up and headed over to the cruise ship port. We got checked in and explored the ship. We couldn't get over how BIG and COOL the ship was. It was a Royal Carribean ship, the Navigator of the Seas. We've been on Princess and Norwegian, but this ship was much bigger. We couldn't even feel the ship moving, it was great!!! The ship had so much to do...a rock wall, an ice skating rink, inline skate course, mini-golf course, golf simulator, basketball court, 2 pools, several hot tubs, Johnny Rockets, Ben & Jerry's ice cream! It was a great ship. We were at sea all day on Tuesday. We slept in ate a huge breakfast and laid by the pool. They had a really cool contest by the pool that day, a sexy leg contest...MEN ONLY! HILARIOUS! You should have seen some of these men! That night we went to dinner and met the people we were assigned to have dinner with. We had never dined like that on other ships and we were nervous to see who we were going to be eating with for the next 5 nights, but it worked out great. We were at a table with 4 other couples that were all really cool and fun to be with. We actually ended up hanging out with them several nights. On Wednesday we went to Cozumel. We went into town and shopped and had lunch there. "Little Miss Piggie" got some great souvenirs! JEWELRY! Jared is SUCH a generous husband, what can I say?!? He's the BEST! Thursday we went to Belize. We took a snorkeling & beach expedition on a Catamaran. We got to see some beautiful fish while we were snorkeling. After that we went to a BEAUTIFUL island in the middle of the Ocean and laid out and enjoyed the sunshine. Friday we were at sea all day and the boat got into Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday morning. We drove all the way back to Atlanta, about a 10 hour drive! We had a really nice time just talking and being together without the kids. We really missed the kids all week though. The kids are DYING to take a cruise and we really want to take them too. We are trying to find a good deal on one and take them this summer as our family vacation. We'll see!!!
Some of the people we met on the ship and hung out with.

Laying by the pool on the upper deck of the ship.

The little island in Belize that we hung out on for a few hours.

Another picture of the island in Belize.

This picture was taken in the middle of the ship, this was called the Promenade. It was really cool, it had little shops and restaurants in it.

This was in Cozumel.

Jared and the Mariachi band that played "Cielito Lindo" while we ate lunch. Aye, ya, ya, ya!

Me and my honey.

Me and Jared at dinner one night.

Me & Jared in Daytona Beach.

Diet Update

2009-02-03T09:14:00.003-05:00

Ok...I said I would report to my blog 1/2 way through and give my progress, so here it is! I'm DOWN 6 pounds and UP 2 new dresses and 2 new bathing suits! :) Jared is doing even better than me! He joined the GYM for the FIRST time in his LIFE about 2 weeks ago. It is going great! I THINK he has really caught "the fever"! It is sooooo cute to see him in his "work-out" clothes!!!! I just love saying, "my husband is at the gym"!!! He is such a hot dude anyway! So we have about 3 weeks left and I am DETERMINED to loose another 6 pounds! I'm going to the gym for the next 2 weeks at Jared's gym so we can work-out TOGETHER, which has always been a dream of mine! I'll let ya know how it goes!

Day of Reckoning

2009-01-11T19:25:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is the day that I step on the scale and start the diet!!! Holy cow, I think I need a friend to come over and hold my hand before look and see just HOW much weight I have put on! It's ridiculous! I'm pretty sure this is the fatest I've been except for when I've had babies. The zipper on the skirt I wore to church today was ACTUALLY crying! You could hear the metal tangs screaming as I zipped her up!!! Me & Jared booked a cruise the other day and I have 6 weeks to loose as much weight as I possibly can. What do y'all think?!? How much can I loose, is 15 possible! I saw this picture of Jenny McCarthy walking on the beach in a bikini and she looked absolutely amazing! I'm positive that HER body is the body I would pick if I came across a LAMP with a GENIE in it and was granted 3 wishes! So, I'm going to start starving myself in the morning (along with looking for that lamp!) and reporting back in 3 weeks as to my progress. I figure if I have to put in on my facebook my progress I'm bound to do better! Wish me luck and remember...NOTHING taste better than SKINNY! :)

Our Family Slideshow

2009-01-07T11:16:00.001-05:00

New Years Eve

2009-01-05T10:03:00.003-05:00

We had a lot of fun on New Years! We have spent New Years Eve with our good friends the Kirks just about every year for 8 years now! We are so sad, but they are moving when school gets out for their girls. So...we spent one last New Years with them. The Fishers, Allens & Pederson's also came. We all have soooo much fun together it should be illegal! We missed the Haymore's though! We started out at McKendrick's Steakhouse and had a fabulous meal! We all stuffed ourselves to death, but it was SOO good! We went back to the Kirk's house and played Rockband and ate dessert! It was a great time and we are really going to miss the Kirk's next year!
So, now to plan my New Year's resolutions...I know I need to loose weight, be a nicer person, better mother, better wife! Where to start! I guess one day at a time. I do know one thing, I hope 2009 is better than 2008! 2008 started out GREAT and then went down hill fast!!!

Christmas "08

2009-01-04T18:14:00.007-05:00

I know that I am late getting these pictures up, but hey better late than never, right?!? We had a great Christmas this year! It was a relatively quiet one...for us that is! We stayed at home all by ourselves! No crazy Disney World or cabin in Gatlinburg and 50 other people! We had Christmas Eve together, just us! It was kind of wierd, but actually really nice! Jared has been begging me for YEARS to just be at home by ourselves and this year we finally did it. The kids were SO good and they really enjoyed it just being us. I'm sure the UNDIVIDED attention probably helped. We had Christmas morning together, then Jared's parents came later that morning and stayed all day. Jared's Uncle and fiance' (I DON'T know how to spell that!!!) came later that afternoon. We had a great time with everyone! We fried a turkey AND a ham, although the ham didn't quite turn out! :( We played American Idol ALL night long!!! I'm pretty sure me & Jared enjoyed that gift more than the kids!!! :) The day after Christmas we did go up to Tennesse to see my family. We stayed for a couple of days and had a really great time. We ate, went bowling, played "PIT", ate, hung out and talked and ATE!!! Holly cow, did I mention we ATE!!! My mom had her usual chocolates all made. Jared was eating fudge by the HANDFULLS! He said he was trying to GAIN weight so that when he looses some weight it will be more impressive! Sounds like him, huh?!?

Brooke (with evil eyes!) TRYING to bowl!
Brooke getting what she wanted...MONEY! She said she "didn't trust Mrs. Clause to pick out clothes for her"! Jared's response, "Hey, watch it, I hear Santa is REALLY protective of Mrs. Clause!" So we gave her a box of "sweaty cash".

Chase with his new IPOD! He hasn't taken them out of his ears yet!!!

Bradley getting "the only thing he really wanted" this year...inline skates! He now says he doesn't want to be a plastic surgeon anymore, he wanted to be a professional SKATER! I feel sorry for his wife!

Jared with all the kids

Our Anniversary Weekend

2008-12-15T10:03:00.012-05:00

For our entire marriage we have always gone away for our anniversary. This year we went to the Blue Ridge Mountains with my sister Adriane and her husband Bryan. We got a cabin high in the Mountains with a gorgeous view! We had a blast! We left on Thursday and came home Sunday. We slept in, watched movies on the big screen in the basement, played pool, relaxed in the hot tub and ATE! We went into town on Friday and went through the cute little shops in downtown and ate lunch at a Bed & Breakfast. It was really good and we had a very entertaining waiter! After being outside all day we went back to the cabin and grilled out steaks that Bryan got, let me just say they were HUGE! Then we got in the hot tub and watched 2 movies. We slept in on Saturday fixed a great big breakfast...scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, biscuits and gravy!!! yum! yum! At 5:30 on Saturday we went on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad which took us up to Copper Hill, Tennessee. It's really cool there. It's right on the boarder of Tennessee and Georgia, they actually have a dividing line where you can take your picture being in 2 states at the same time. We had dinner there and walked around the Christmas Village where they had a live manager and lots of Christmas lights. We had SOOO much fun and relaxed all at the same time. It's fun being with my sister and her husband because we are like 2 peas in a pod, if I'm not saying something stupid, she is! It's great, I don't feel so alone! :) It's so fun being with Jared away from the kids because it always reminds us how much we not only love each other, but genuinely like each other! We are truly "best friends". It's been the best 15 years of my life and I know we have many more to come! I love you honey! :)

Me & Jared on the Train

Me & Adriane in 2 states at the same time!

At the Christmas Village in Copper Hill, TN.

The hot tub where we spent many hours every night!

Jared doing what he does best!

Adriane & Bryan doing the breakfast dishes.

We built fires in this fireplace while we sat in the hot tub every night. That's the life!

Adriane & Bryan in downtown Blueridge.

This was taken from the deck of the cabin, can you believe the view!!!

Me and my honey!

2008-12-10T19:43:00.001-05:00

Decorating for Christmas

2008-12-03T14:58:00.007-05:00

The family "homemade" tree

The "pretty" tree! :)

Brooke's tree

I can't believe it's that time of year already! I got all our Chrismas decorations out and it only took me 2 days to put it all out! It's ridiculous! Jared's parents gave us an extra artificial tree they had so I got to make a "pretty" tree. Ya know, one without any Oriental Trading ornaments, construction paper rings, or beaded pipe cleaner candy canes. Oh don't get me wrong, we have one of those trees, BUT it's in the family room. I really do love the "homemade" tree with all the ornaments that the kids made, ornaments I bought me & Jared's 1st Christmas, ornaments people have given us. I even have ornaments that I made when I was 6 years old on it! It may not be pretty to OTHER people, but I THINK it's beautiful. Brooke wanted a new tree this year to "match" her room. She WANTED a white feather tree, but when we got to Michael's they told us they don't sell them anymore! She was really disappointed but she found a SILVER TINSEL tree so she HAD to have it. I know, I know! SILVER TINSEL, but it's actually really cute and it's DEFINITELY Brooke! Now that I'm done DECORATING...the real fun begins with trying to buy that PERFECT gift for those you love and teachers you're trying to "brown nose"! :)

What I am Thankful For

2008-11-24T14:47:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I sat in sacrament meeting and listened to a talk on gratitude. The speaker challenged us to give more prayers of "thanks" instead of asking for this or that. She said something that really hit home with me. She said that Heavenly Father already knows the wants and needs that we have so we should give thanks to show our appreciation to Him. I just sat and thought how true I knew that to be and how I know I need to do that more often! So at this Thanksgiving season I would like to write about all the many things that I am thankful for.

I am thankful for this beautiful country I live in. I am grateful for the soldiers that leave their families to stand up and fight for my freedom. I grateful that their families support them in this. I am grateful for eternal families. I am grateful to know that even though we are not together much, we love each other and are ALWAYS there for each other. I am grateful for my amazing husband and SOUL MATE! I am so glad that he is my best friend and he loves me with all of my good qualities and BAD qualities! I am grateful to know that we will be together FOREVER. I am grateful for our 3 BEAUTIFUL children. I am grateful that they are all strong, smart, sensitive and they are just all around GOOD KIDS! I am grateful to know that I have "true" friends! Friends that know I have ADD and love me anyway! :) I am grateful that I have FUN friends that are just plain 'ole "good people"! I am grateful for my healthy body. I am grateful for a roof over my head and food on my table EVERY day! (even though I could stand to skip a few meals!) I am grateful for good music. I am grateful for funny movies. I am grateful for the opportunities that I have had to travel to beautiful places with WARM sunny beaches! I am grateful for a reliable car to drive me anywhere I would like to go. I am grateful my husband knows how much I love to shop and "somewhat" supports my "habit"! ;) I am grateful for memories of good times and loved ones to share them with. I am grateful that I have been able to be a stay at home mom for 13 years and be home when my kids get home from school.

Most importantly I am thankful for my testimony of the Gospel. No matter how simple and elementary it may be, I know that I have a true testimony. I am grateful that I am one of the lucky people that know about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and that I believe it is TRUE. I am grateful that I am not one of the lost souls wondering around trying to figure out what my life is missing. I am grateful for my trials that knock me down and build me up. I am grateful for a calling that makes me want to pull my hair out and helps me grow spiritually all at the same time. I am grateful that I know that Heavenly Father know my name and loves me.

These are a few of the things I am grateful for at this Holiday Season. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

My trip to see Kizzy in Pheonix!

2008-11-19T08:52:00.004-05:00

It only took me 2 YEARS to go see Kristina in Pheonix, but I finally did it! Kristina is "like" my best friend...no really she is my best friend! 2 years ago she and Jeremy decided to move back to Pheonix where all their family is. They have been out here a few times since then, but me and Jared haven't made the trip out there yet. Jared really couldn't take the time off work so he told me to go by myself. It was the 1st time I flew by myself!!! Can you believe it! 38 and never flown alone. It went really good though. I didn't even get lost or confused in the airport NOT ONCE! (that's like amazing for me!) I was really proud of myself. :) We had SOOOO much fun! We shopped a ton! She took me to get "authentic" mexican(Totally the best!). I went to IN & OUT BURGER for my 1st time! Totally yummy, Jared was SO jealous! They took me to see the house Kristina grew up in and the house Jeremy lived in. I met some of her friends and we just basically hung out. Pheonix was really pretty. The sunsets are AMAZING and the warm weather is the BOMB! I could totally get used to living out there where it's warm ALL year! I miss Kristina so much, but I know they made the right decision to move back. Maybe ONE day, they'll be able to move back to Georgia! :)
Jeremy being Jeremy!

Two little hotties ready to go out!

3 little hotties!

Kiley and Tylar after their volleyball game. They have grown up so much! I can't even believe that they're not little girls anymore, they're big girls now! They are just the sweetest and cutest ever! I didn't get a picture of Brielle because she wouldn't let me! But, you can't believe how CUTE she is and FUNNY! She says the most grown up things and she just itty bitty, it's a trip! Jeremy & Kristina have done a great job on them!

Family Day in the Blue Ridge Mtns.

2008-11-19T08:37:00.004-05:00

We took the kids to the Blue Ridge Mountains a couple of weeks ago for a "family day". We love to go up there and get away. It's just about an hour north, but when you get up there it feels much further away. We got some mexican spiced hot chocolate, which is the best ever! Mom, it's ALMOST as good as your homemade recipe! :) We walked around the cute little shops and got lunch. It was a great day with the kids. They're really growing up and it's actaully FUN to go and do things like this with them. No diaper bags and chasing kids around. I think we're at a really great "stage" in life. Maybe it's the calm before the storm though!

The kids in front of the train that you can ride up to Tennesee and back on.

I took these pictures from our back yard. I know everyone says we practically moved to TENNESEE, but I love it out here in Canton. It's just beautiful! You know what they say, "you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl".

"Mean Girls"

2008-11-19T08:22:00.002-05:00

Brooke has been having a hard time at school this year with friends. She has a girl that she has been good friends with off and on and it's finally "off"! I say off and on because the other girl can't "decide" if she wants to be Brooke's friend or not! It's so ridiculous. It's a long story and I won't bore anyone with details, but long story short she said mean and untrue things about Brooke at school. Brooke came home the other day from school and had it out with this girl on the phone and she was REALLY mean to Brooke. I haven't seen Brooke cry like that in a long time. (And for Brooke that's saying A LOT! : ) It's been a tough year for her trying to find a "best friend". Brooke is just different from the other girls at school. She (believe it or not!) isn't into boys and getting into trouble. She's just a sweet girl who isn't mean and CADDY! So, she gets left out. She's the girl at school trying to convert people by giving out Book of Mormon's to her teachers and bus drivers!!! So...needless to say this doesn't make her "cool" with the other kids. So, I found this ADORABLE Betsey Johnson bag and bought it to cheer her up. Listen, I AM NOT in denial, I know that's shallow and superficial, but anyone who denies getting something NEW doesn't make them feel good is a liar! :) She absolutely loved it and flipped over it. It was just nice to see her SMILE again. Kennedy Curtis...she MISSES U SO MUCH!!! I am so proud of Brooke I KNOW that she will go far in life standing for what is right!

COLDPLAY IN CONCERT!!!

2008-11-10T15:15:00.004-05:00

Me and Jared went to see Coldplay last Wednesday night. I'm pretty sure they are my MOST favorite group! I love pretty much every song they sing! Jared, being the most awesome hubby that he is surprised me and got tickets. He really doesn't care for them that much, so it was a big deal that he went with me! He kept telling me to invite someone else, but I really wanted to just go with him. We had a great time! By the time he went online to get the tickets all that were left were tickets in the "nose bleed" section! We had never sat that high up before, but they actually turned out to be really great seats! We had a perfect birds eye view. We ate at Ruth's Chris steakhouse (right by Phillips Arena) before the concert, which is ALWAYS good! Then we walked up to Phillips for the concert. Coldplay put on a great show. The set was really cool and they sang every song that I wanted to hear AND they didn't change them or sing them weird! We couldn't bring our camera in so we had the take pictures with my PHONE! So, excuse the low quality pictures.

Here's the set when they performed Viva la Vida.

Me and my "honey" inside Phillips. Aww...what a cute couple!

Way to go GATORS!!!

2008-11-03T13:32:00.002-05:00

Jared & Reed Ellsworth, Brooke, Bradley & Chase showing their Gator spirit!

Jared, Reed, Bradley & Chase

I had to post this on our blog because I think this is so funny! We went to the Ellsworth's house on Saturday to watch the Florida & Georgia game. I painted the boys faces in the gator colors and they all looked so funny! It was really cute how they got into the spirit of it all. They went outside and played football while the adults actually watched the game. I just hope my parents don't see Brooke the "traitor" though! She's always been such a HUGE Tennesse fan that I don't think Papa Talley is ever going to let her live it down when he sees her face painted in the Florida colors! She really just did it for the fun of it though, so don't get too upset Papa! Her blood still runs orange just like MINE! Good job Florida though! Jared is trying to get some tickets to the SEC on Dec. 6, so if anyone knows a way for him to get some, LET US KNOW!

My 1/2 Marathon!!!

2008-10-26T20:16:00.005-04:00

So I DID IT!!! I ran my first 1/2 marathon on Saturday, October 25 and it was GREAT! I can't tell you how good it feels to have accomplished this goal. I started training for this 3 months ago and worked really hard to get my endurance level up. There were some weeks me and Katy ran 10 to 15 miles in a week. It was hard work, but TOTALLY worth it. I "hit the wall" at about 10.5 miles and thought, "I can't do this, I can't run anymore, this whole race has been up hill!" I stared up this hill that looked like it went on FOREVER! I swear I couldn't see the top, so I decided to walk. I walked for about 1 min and just prayed to Heavenly Father to give me the strength to see my goal to the end. Something inside of me clicked and I started running again and just thought "you can do this, you've come this far don't you DARE give up NOW!" So I just ran and walked the last couple of miles. It slowed my time down, but I still feel really good about my finish time. My goal was to finish the 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 10 mins. I crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 15 minutes! Next time I want to finish in 2 hours!!! Yes, the next 1/2 marathon in is Jacksonville, Florida on Feb. 15! I can't wait!!!

Kathleen, Katy, Stephanie & Me with our t-shirts and medals.

Here we are at 7:00 in the dark and COLD!!! Don't we look excited

Jared and the kids cheered me on as I crossed the finish line. I can NOT tell you what it means to know they are waiting for you and when you get to where you can see them, it's the greatest feeling. This is what family is all about, supporting each other and being there for each other!

The last Marcom to be baptized!!!

2008-10-21T18:42:00.013-04:00

I just can't believe that our little Bradley bear is already 8 years old! It literally seems like yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital! I can still remember what he looked like when he was a baby. All the little rolls on his legs and his little "screwed on hands and feet" with all the wrinkles. His soft little blonde hair that just combed to the side of his head so cute and

perfect. I remember hugging him and how moldable and squishy he was! Now, he's 8 years old and baptized! He is such a good little boy and we are SO proud of him. I KNOW he was really touched by the spirit and will ALWAYS remember his special day! Daddy and Bradley Bear...

Ok, this is the funniest! These kids lined up for the food. You should have seen how patient and polite they all stood there waiting to start until an adult told them to dig in. Then it was every man for himself!

Nana Marcom, Melanie, Munni and Nana Talley talking it up!

Me and all my sistas and Mama!

Andrew, Kevin, Jared and Josh. I don't want to EVEN know what they were talking about, can't be good! :)

Get a load of Chase sneeking into this picture at the LAST minute! What a hoot, it's just soooo Chase!!!

Bradley and Ryan Haymore. His "BEST FRIEND" in the whole world. I'm pretty sure he has a man crush on Ryan. Ok, this is sad, they are the same age...Ryan is like a whole head taller than little Bradley!!!

Bradley with his "future wife". He's only had a crush on Ashley for about 4 years! He is CONVINCED they are getting married. He knows she has a boyfriend HER AGE, but he says he's ok with it because "they trust each other"!!! I really think she is the only person he wanted at his baptism. It's going to be a sad day for Bradley when Ashley gets scooped up by another MAN!!!

Monster Mini-Golf

2008-10-21T18:23:00.009-04:00

After Bradley's baptism we went with all the family to play Monster mini-golf. All the kids had a blast! It was really cool with black lights and neon monsters. Bradley had a great day with all of his cousins, aunts, uncles and nana's & papa's.

All the Talley girls AND little Brookie getting our groove on! We did play some golf, in between dancing of course. I don't know WHAT that face is I'm making!

The twins cheesing for the camera!

Some of the "crazy cousins" that played! Ok, there goes Chase again makin' a scene in the picture! He's the funniest guy he knows!

Me and "hottie", I mean Jared, modeling in front of the glow in the dark frankenstein?!? I don't know what the heck that monster is.

2008-10-02T11:23:00.006-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRADLEY BEAR!!!

He set his candles up in "tepee" style. That's what he wanted. (Don't you love the mess behind him in this picture! Chase's science project behind him.)

The "bear is now 8 years old!!!

Bradley on his new bike. He also wants a rail to add to their skate board ramps. We'll have to get it this weekend.

Eating dinner at Shane's Rib Shack. This is his FAVORITE place to eat. Don't you just love the Disney birthday hat he's wearing. It's our little family tradition to make the kids wear it the day of their birthday. The candles on the top of the hat actually light up and blink! I love it and the kids LOVE wearing it. They stop traffic with it on. :)

Bradley and his class. I went and had lunch with him and passed out the cupcakes. After that I checked him out and he spent the rest of the day with me. The kids loved the cupcakes because they had gummy finger puppets on top of them. They didn't care about the cupcakes, but the finger puppets were a BIG hit! Next time I'll save myself the work!

I forgot like a ding-dong to take pictures of Bradley doing his most favorite thing in the whole world...skateboarding! When Chase got home from school I took the boys to Progressive Skate Park for 2 hours of non-stop skateboarding. That's what Bradley wanted to do on his Birthday. It's a GREAT indoor skate park here in Canton. I'll have to post pictures next time.

Brooke and Daddy's BIG night out!!!

2008-09-29T14:26:00.003-04:00

So, Brooke & Jared went out for a big night on the town last Friday night! They went to see Les Miserables at the Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta. They got all dressed up and looked SO nice! Jared took her to the Cheesecake Factory to eat and Brooke thought she had died and gone to heaven! Especially when they got a piece of Godiva chocolate cheesecake! :) She told Jared that "the Fox is ALMOST as nice as the Cheesecake Factory!" What a hoot! She was so excited and kept telling her friends at school all week where they were going, but NO ONE knew what she was talking about. They had never heard of Les Mis OR the Fox! I told her it was because it wasn't in CANTON! She was so frustrated, but finally asked one of her teachers if she had heard of it and she was so impressed and excited for Brooke! Brooke was so relieved and didn't feel crazy anymore! So, anyone who knows Jared knows HOW hard it is to get him to take pictures. I convinced him to take the camera with him, he gets down there then realizes the card isn't in the camera!!! So, he takes the card out of his PHONE and puts it in the camera and takes a couple of pictures. All because he knew how bad I wanted pictures of their BIG night. Isn't he a "fart smeller"?!?

2008-09-18T11:47:00.009-04:00

Our last day on the beach, boo-hoo!

We love our little blondies!

Chase riding his board, totally awesome dude!

Bradley on his skim board. What a cool dude!

The whole gang one night out for dinner at a Ship restaurant.

We just got back from Panama City Beach, Florida last night. We had a GREAT time! We went with another family, the Ellsworths's. They have 3 kids the same age as Brooke, Chase & Bradley. Our kids get along SO good, not one ounce of complaining OR fighting! Can you believe it?!? We just had a GREAT time with them. The weather was absolutely beautiful the WHOLE time! The really cool part was the HUGE waves we had for 3 days because of hurricane Ike. The kids loved playing in the ocean and riding boogie boards. We got the boys skim boards and they really got the "hang" of it and had a great time. I keep asking Jared when we're moving to Florida because our family was born to LIVE on the beach!

2008-09-08T16:45:00.001-04:00

Welcome to our family blog! I hope you enjoy reading about our family and all the crazy things going on in our lives.

Marcom's Madness

2008-09-08T15:36:00.001-04:00

jared & the boys in our boat

2008-09-08T13:05:00.005-04:00

Bradley showing us how it's done on the wakeboard!

Chase doing his thing!

So it's been a great summer on the lake! With tears in our eyes we spent our last Saturday on the lake and pulled the boat out of the water for the season. Jared wants to clean the boat that he spent ALL winter fixing up and SELL it now!!! He says now that we know we use a boat a lot he wants a BETTER boat that we can fit more people in...hope he gets a good BONUS at Christmas!

MY BFF!!

2008-09-05T18:55:00.001-04:00

My BEST FRIEND Kizzy is the BOMB! She created this blog for me. I can't believe I have not been out to AZ to visit her yet. I really should get my act together and get out there to see her and those sassy little girls. I don't know what I would do without her in my life. She is the BEST!