Friends, Family and More

We had a special service one Sunday night where the adult, youth and children's choir all sang together.  Look who got to sit by me...

Made my night.  He may not have been as thrilled as me, but I think he had a good time.  (I took these pictures during our rehearsal time just in case someone might think I was doing anything but listening while my sweet husband was preaching.)

That morning at church we did a tribute to our Veterans.  Some of the boys of our church carried the flag of the five branches of service.  Clayton held one flag.  With each flag all the veterans in attendance stood around their branch of service flag.  It was precious..both my child participating and the veterans walking proudly to their branch of service.  I didn't see much of it b/c tears were blocking my view.

The weekend before Veteran's Day we had several of the boys friends from Paris here at the house.  My friend has a video of Jack and B seeing each other for the first time.  To view it, click here.  They were pretty excited to see each other to say the least.  I think it's been four months...or at least that's what Jack calculated.
While those sweet boys were here I didn't get many pictures.  They played outside and upstairs.  I called them three times a day for meals, but for the most part they just played and played and played.  I did make these homemade pumpkin spice donuts.  Yummers.  For the recipe click here.  They really aren't that bad for you...unless you eat five.  I'm not saying I did that...I'm just saying that 5 would not be a good idea.
Speaking of five donuts...several of our Sunday morning classes have donuts each morning.  When they have leftovers they bring them to a certain spot in the church so they can share with others.  Guess who found this place?!?  Yes, one young Jack Shackelford.  This particular Sunday it was reported to me that he ate three donuts.  Three.  After a long conversation with him where I explained total calorie consumption and the effects of that much sugar on your body (he was taking notes...ha!!) it was decided that he is not allowed to partake in the donut excess that church any more.  Bummer.

 Here's the only picture I got.  Taking a picture of five boys and a dog that likes to photo bomb is difficult to say the least.  We did finally get a good one though.

Jack's teacher sent me this sweet picture of him reading to his class.  Is that not the sweetest thing?!?

Mimi came to town to be the mystery reader in Jack's class.  She really enjoyed her time with him.  His teacher sent him to the door and he said, "Hey, my grandmother is at the door!"  I think his sweet teacher told him to let her in...ha!  She even took lunch for Jack.  He was thrilled with lunch and the mystery reader!

After reading to Jack's class Mimi went with us to the mall.  No trip to the mall is complete without a train ride, right?!?  Mimi was more than happy to ride along.  

 Then miracle of all miracles Santa was at the mall and Andrew wanted to talk to him.  Have mercy.  They asked if I wanted to buy a picture package.  I asked what the cheapest "package" was.  When they told me $19.95 I politely declined.  $20 for some Santa pictures?!?  No thanks.  Someone in our party took this picture without reading the sign that pictures on cell phones were not allowed.  Whoops.

When we picked up the boys Friday afternoon they went to Mimi and Tee's house for a fun weekend!  I think her kitchen counter tops were lined with junk food.  I got a text that Jack ate cinnamon toast crunch cereal with chocolate milk over it for breakfast.  Gross.  Clayton went to a Lego Robotics camp and Jack and Andrew went to Fun Zone.  They ate pizza, watched ball games and had a blast!  Mimi even sent them home with clean laundry.  Bonus for the laundry keeper at this house.
They stayed in Jackson because I had a sweet friend from college getting married in Nashville on Saturday.  I've looked forward to this weekend.  Guess who got some kind of cold/sinus/cough thing almost as soon as the boys left the house?!?  This girl.  Miserable.  The wedding was so beautiful.  My friend was stunning.  All I could do was stifle "ugly" coughs so as to not ruin the wedding for everyone in attendance.  The man sitting beside me looked at Fred when the wedding was over and said, "Get that girl some bourbon and send her to bed."  Too funny!  Nothing says romantic weekend like coughing until you vomit.  Yuck.  Thank goodness Fred loves me.  That's all I can say.

Earlier that week (this would make more sense if I had done these in order...oh well...another day) Fred and I had the privilege of attending our state denominational meeting.  It was a really good time.  Not only did we get to sit in great meetings, I got the honor of meeting this sweet friend at a luncheon.  Good times.  We even got to go to Taco Tuesday at a favorite place with the Cains in Brentwood too.

 Wednesday morning we awoke early and dined at Puffy Muffin (a sentimental favorite of mine) before attending the last sessions.  It was beyond delicious...as always.   If you are ever in Brentwood don't miss out on this jewel.  It's a keeper.  Call me up.  If I'm free I'll meet you.

I cannot believe Thanksgiving is next week.  Several weeks ago I asked Fred about the possibility of making Thanksgiving a little healthier.  He looked at me like my head was attached to the ground.  So...I guess we'll be dining of the usual fare of carbs, sugar and more carbs mixed up with cream of mushroom soup and baked at 350 in a 9 by 13 casserole dish.  Not that I'm complaining...except for green bean casserole...that stuff is just gross.  Seriously gross.  Bring on Thanksgiving!  Only five more Fridays until Christmas...yikes!