Christmas Cards

We received our first Christmas card in the mail yesterday! (Thanks RIP! I love your cute country Xmas!) Can you believe Christmas is only 20 days away. Seth is really enjoying counting down the days. I have a really cute countdown decoration, but decided to let Seth help create something on the computer instead. We played around with my favorite clipart, DJ Inkers, and made a one page countdown that hangs on the frig. He crosses out a day each night before bed and we are working on patterns as he crosses off days (AB pattern of red, green). Can you tell that I'm missing my classroom today :( I think in my heart I always long for my students and how much fun we had. Will I ever have another Dakota, Brayden, or Karlee? Okay, snapping back to reality now... Hmmm... Oh yes, I was going to write about Christmas Cards. We took some pictures over the Thanksgiving break and I am anxiously waiting my cards to arrive so I can mail them out. What is it about Christmas Cards that I love - I'm not sure, but I love mailing them and I love receiving them. It's a simple gift of thoughtfulness maybe. Here are some of the pics that we took & I had such a hard time deciding which one to use on our card...

I just love the pink and blue matching Santa PJ's. I bought them last year off the clearance rack (Yeah for sales!) knowing that this might be the only year that Seth and K match since Seth is growing so fast. Check out his long legs!

Thanksmas

Thanksgiving means something different to me than most people. It means we go to THANKSMAS! Huh? What? Yes, I hear your questions of what is she talking about? Is that a typo? No it's not. For the past 30 years, my extended Blakeney family meets for something we fondly refer to as Thanksmas... a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is the only time each year that I see my extended Blakeney family. For the past several years, we have met at a state park in southeast Oklahoma. We rent 10 A-frame cabins, a bath house (with no heat), and a "mess" hall (kitchen & dining area). This camp site is used for summer camps during part of the year, but it's all Blakeney at the end of November. Each year, one of the Big 6 (my Papa Joe and his 5 siblings) rotate who will host. The host divides up the menu and mails out a food list and weekend schedule. We haul food, bedding, air mattresses, towels, games, and gifts. We have a couple of devotionals during our time together. Focusing on our Lord and Savior and making time to thank Him for his many blessings is always an important part of our time together. Of course we eat plenty (breakfast is my favorite: Granny makes homemade buttermilk biscuits with chocolate gravy) and there are way too many desserts, but we also love playing games and laughing lots! We open gifts and Santa makes an appearance! This year, we had 69 people for Thanksgiving lunch - a low year for us as far as numbers go. It's an awesome reunion of family and fun and I am renewed and uplifted every year by Thanksmas!

This is the Joe Blakeney bunch (my grandparents, aunts, uncles, & first cousins). We had the biggest group at Thanksmas this year.


Karsyn & her great-Granny Clo sing during a devo...

Santa makes a guest appearance and even takes time out of his busy schedule to take pictures! Karsyn was not all that excited to see him :( but the memory is too cute!

Kids open gifts...

Daddy, Seth, and Karsyn play outside in the leaves.

My first cousins (sadly, I am the oldest) that happen to be the best Taboo & Guesstures players in the world! Really... lots of loud laughs to be had! I can't wait for New Years when I see them again!

Wildcat Reader

I know it has been over a month since I blogged... where has time gone & what has happened. As I looked back over some pics to see what we did, I found these sweet little reading pics of Karsyn. I was going to take a picture of her in her "Proud to be a Wildcat" onesie to send in to ACU Today, but Karsyn had other plans. She was having such a good time looking at books that I just couldn't stop her to pose for a silly picture (we'll do it again later). She's ten months old in these pictures and I am so glad to see that she is learning to love books and reading so early on!

Halloween '07

The long awaited day of being tricked or treated finally came. Seth was excited to dress up and run around with friends. After school, we made roll-out cookies - always an experience! I waited too long to start them and had to recruit help from Seth and Drew to get them finished in time. We loaded 4 trays of cookies in my trunk, hopped in the car, and off we went (heading for our good friends, the Dennington's house - they throw a great Halloween bash!). After about the third NASCAR turn through our neighborhood, Drew reminded me that the cookies were in the back... oops! As we feared, the little lip of the cookie tray acted more like a ramp than a barrier and ghost cookies had hopped trays and were mingling with their little pumpkin cookie friends on the neighboring tray. Okay, so a little icing was smudged, but for the most part, they made the trip safely and they still tasted great! After the stress of finishing cookies on the fly... I was enjoying visiting with friends that were gathered, when Seth approached me with a worried face... "Mommy, I think I left my mask at home." I checked our costume bag (as we were going to get dressed there) and sure enough, no mask! So, after one more NASCAR run to the house and back, everything seemed to be going well. After a super dinner, the kids dressed up, put on their blinking pins, glow bracelets, and with bags in hand, headed out the door. Group picture time! Yeah right! Getting a picture of a dozen kids ready to run around and get sugared up is not the best time to take a group picture. We tried anyway, and then we were off. The kids had a great time and the Dennington's neighbors are the best at hosting Trick-R-Treat fun for the kids!

Mighty Darth Vadar! (His light saber glows red/blue, but it doesn't show up in the pic for some reason.)

Vadar Seth with fair maiden Katie & Knight Reuben. . .

cousin Emily, Arial (Aaris), Darth Vadar (Seth). . . Jessica & I keep saying that all these pics will make a great wedding slide show someday :)

Karsyn amazes the crowd of cameras as she stands in the middle of the room and walks to mommy. She amazed Mommy too!



Karsyn goes for the good stuff. . . candy!

K tries to carry the pumpkin pail and suckers. . .

It begins. . .

Our sweet Baby K is 10 months old now. 10 things about our little sweetie:

10. Karsyn finally has one tooth. We are hoping that a few more follow soon, but for now, she nibbles pretty good with her single pearly white.

9. Karsyn says "Mama" and "Dada," although I'm not quite sure she directs those words at us yet. She thinks they are a game in which to say the wrong name at the wrong time... for instance. When I am prompting her to say "Mama," she quickly pipes up with "Dada" and visa-versa.

8. Karsyn loves to eat! Her favorite foods are the things on my plate. She is particularly fond of bread and cheese though.

7. Karsyn continues to light up when Seth walks in the room. She will follow him around all over the house.

6. Karsyn loves peek-a-boo and the various forms of this game that we play. Her little belly laughs of excitement are a joy to me!

5. Karsyn had her first ear infection this month. It was a sad day at the doctor, but she is bouncing back pretty well.

4. Karsyn loves to go in circles around the cocktail ottoman with as many stuffed animals in her hands as she can manage to hold. She will hold them by the tails to get more in her hands and when she drops one, she very carefully picks it up and finds a place for it within the tight grasp of her little fingers.

3. Karsyn loves for people to sing to her! I'm hoping this means she will have a love of music as the rest of the Cosper Crew does.

2. Karsyn loves to wave! When we are walking Seth to and from school, she waves at almost everyone we pass. Her little finger wave has changed this month to a full "elbow-hand" swing. She has figured out that when she waves at people, she almost always gets some sort of "cute" response and at least a wave back. And she is proud of herself for gaining so much attention!

1. Karsyn has been cruising around furniture for about 4 months now. I knew that if she had the confidence and know-how, she would be running around the house. Thankfully she had not made that discovery before she turned 10 months old (mommy was not ready for it). However, at 10 months, 1 week, and 3 days old she did! That's right, Karsyn took two steps on her own tonight. We did not prompt or encourage her in any way. She was holding on to a chair and walking around it and all of a sudden let go... she took a whopping TWO steps! She did this again later in the evening... 4 times total, 2 steps each time. We have not signed her up for any marathons yet, but I can say with confidence that it has begun!

Our little Karsyn Joy is such a sweetie and we feel blessed to have her in our lives!

MAD about Trunk-R-Treat

Last year my parents and the two "babies" moved to Bertram where my dad began preaching for them full time. The church there hosted a Trunk-R-Treat for the community & they had some quite unexpected results. Over 800 people attended in 2006 and the church gave God the glory! My Cosper Crew went to help out with my parent's "trunk" and we all dressed as pirates. Needless to say, 8 pirates dressed to the hilt made quite an impression (see my blog from last year for pics) and the members of the church have been giving the Blakeneys quite a hard time for a year now, saying, "The Blakeneys may have shown us up last year, but not again!" So, the gauntlet was laid down and the pressure was on. We began planning for the 2nd Annual Trunk-R-Treat in Bertram months ago. We had many ideas for our theme, and after much deliberation we decided to run with the idea of a Mad Scientist Lab. Lots of cool colors and some funky, silly fun! As we began setting up Friday morning for the big event on Sunday, comments were made.... "Trunk-R-Treat? That's not a trunk? That's a trailer! What are ya'll building? A float!" You might say we rose to the occasion and created a Mad Lab to thrill the coming crowd! We even have plans to use the castle backdrop for our theme next year (yes, it has already been decided and plans are in progress). When Sunday came, there were trunks of all kinds... Dedicated Cowboys fans had more Cowboy stuff than I have ever seen - a tent, football jerseys & helmets, and even a Cowboy motorcycle; Texas fans had a monster big screen playing favorite shots of games; a lifesize tepee was set up with a real fire inside and fronteirsmen guarded the door; the Flinstones and cart made a showing; and a 50's soda shop was set up for some sock hop fun. Those were just a few of the trunks that guests passed. They also had the opportunity to eat a hot dog, popcorn, cotton candy, get their face painted, play games (bean bag toss, ring toss, bball, etc), ride on a train, jump in a moon walk, or even rock climb on a giant wall! With loads of fun to be had, the church in Bertram planned for a big crowd. They bought 1300 hot dogs in preparation and with smiling faces opened the gates to a LONG line of cute costumed kids & their families.


Here is Dr. B's Blakeney Bunch having some MAD fun!

Our MAD lab. . . (and as always, Mom is doing some last minute touches - she is such a hard worker)

The mastermind behind our MAD lab, my little brother (well, the older of my little bros). . .

Drew getting ready to hand out test tubes (ice pops) & sampling a few it looks like. The popsicle fun was great when we started, as the sun was shining bright and it was a beautiful day. When the sun went down, it cooled off quickly and our hands were freezing, so we started handing out glow bracelets which were also a hit!





Igor & Little Miss Frank. . . (my other little brother and sweet baby K)




Sisters being a bit dramatic. . .

My little mad scientist. . . (notice the sweet lady bug painted on his cheek - he just can't help but be cute!)

Little Miss Frank in all her cuteness. . . (also notice her new little tooth - it's her first!)

Trunk-R-Treat was a great success! I don't think there has been a final count, but from what I have heard so far, 1,913 hot dog tickets (one per person) were passed out at the front gate & this number does not include the 200 volunteers working the event. Isn't that AMAZING! Again, God has blessed the Bertram Church of Christ with great opportunities to share the Good News of God's saving grace!

Just a side note: According to a google search Drew did, the population of Bertram is 1,161. Seems the whole town and surrounding community made a showing - LOL!

FIFTEEN!

Inquiring minds surely want to know. . . our little baby K finally hit the big 15 lbs. today at the Dr. It was a long time in coming and she is still in the 3% range for her age, but hey it's a new number! WOOT!

Costumes

As it finally begins to cool off in our hot state, we get ready for a night filled with being tricked & getting treats. As the big night is quickly approaching, I thought it vitally important to actually try on the costumes that this lazy mommy BOUGHT this year. What is this world coming to, I know! My mom MADE my costume every year and up until this year, I was trying to fill her shoes. I must admit, I fell to the pressure of clingy Karsyn, and just didn't see how I would get it done. Sad, I know, but don't they look cute anyway! Many of you, I am sure had the sudden urge to either state "Luke, I am your father. . ." in your most Vadar-ish like voice, or just coo at my cute little "punkin." I used our "fitting" time well and snapped a few pics to mail to the grandparents. I thought some of you would enjoy the fun too - that and the pressure of my hubby to post some cute pics of the kids :) Hey, he doesn't carry pics in his wallet, but he does find occasion to flip open the laptop at work and show off his cuties! We miss you when you're not home honey! Anyway, enough of the ooey-gooey. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Ahoy Thar Matey!

Ahoy thar Matey!

Stop yer pillaging: lend me yer ear,

I have a message for ye to hear!

The treasure's been stolen.

It must be found. So tighten yer sashes

Skull Island bound!

Shiver me timbers, thar's a pirate on board,

drinken shark's blood and flainin his sword.

Captain Seth turned six this month! To celebrate, he had a pirate party with some swashbuckling fun! The kids (and a few adults) dressed as pirates and played pirate games and had so much fun. We started with the tale of Pirate Pete, one of Seth's current fav's, and learned that "gleaming booty" is the primary motivator for pirates. After sword fights and walking the plank, we filled our tummies with scurvy dogs (pirate lingo for hot dogs) and we even had treasure on our ice cream! Seth had lots of fun and was wiped out by bed time (always a plus for the equally exhausted mommy!).

There are just too many pictures to post, so here are a few:

Little pirates listening to the tale of Pirate Pete. . .

Seth showing off his pirate tattoos. . .



Pirate planning. . . Aarrgh!

Captain Seth getting ready to blow out candles. . .

This was not one of the planned games, but Titus found something even more fun that throwing bean bags. . . just stick your face in the hole, grin, and inevitably, cameras will start flashing. It wasn't long before all the kids joined in the fun. (I have many more pics of many children in the box at one time... sometimes a very tight fit.)