I Love This Guy...

Yes, it's hard to believe I have known this guy below for 16 years as of this past June!! Wow!! Blows my mind when I think about it. Seeing as how my beloved is turning the BIG #38 this week, I just wanted to put this little picture tribute out there to start things off...

We fell in love in 1998 - the year we got back together after a 6 year hiatus and well, most who read my blog know the unfortunate reason for that!! Here he is in Jan. 1999 - makes my heart go pitter patter just lookin' at him.

The Big Day!! April 1999 - One of our happiest days EVER!! We have said many times that our small wedding went off without a hitch and was EXACTLY what we wanted. It was the BEST!!It's also hard to believe we will be celebrating our 10th Anniversary next April. I absolutely LOVE how James looks in this picture...

Ahhh...now here he is in a much more current picture...I call this, "the grinning monkey" look...

And here he is just yesterday morning right before we left to go celebrate for the day (more posts to come about that)...you can't tell but I also shaved his head Saturday morning and it looks really GOOD!! But he knows I like him wearing caps backwards so he's hiding my newly shaven masterpiece. I think he's thinking to himself..."my wife has the camera AGAIN!" And I'm thinking...."Hey bud, you only have 4 more days to be 37 and then you're older than me AGAIN!" Hee Hee!!

All I can say about this one is....."CLASSIC"!! For some strange reason it also reminds me of some of Thomas' self portraits.

I took this at one of the places we went to yesterday...I bet it gives you a little clue...and there's kind of that grinning monkey look again. I'm beginning to think he does it on purpose. Ya think??

And look...somebody else loves him too!!! We like to spread the love around here.

HAPPY "EARLY" BIRTHDAY BABY!!!!!!!
You don't look a day over 29!!! :-)
I LOVE YOU!! You are the only one for me - always have been and always will be!

How to Play Hide & Seek with a Great Dane...

Just like James has his own game he plays with Trinity (chase or tag), this is one of Shelby's favorite games to play with her: Hide & Seek! And it's hilarious to watch!!

Shelby usually sneaks under our bed...

Then Trinity spots her and she ducks back under...

When she pops back out, she's usually giggling uncontrollably and this is about the moment where Trinity hops off the bed to get her...

La Musica & Nail Guns!

I don't know why but I find this extremely humorous and had to share...this is a clip of what's going on right outside my back door currently. I was on the back patio trying to get Trinity to go outside (she is deathly afraid of the home construction workers) so it's hard to get her little tail out there to do anything while they are around. So, without them noticing me I took this short film so you can see what we get to listen to ALL day long until it gets dark!! I don't know what makes your day but if mine doesn't include loud noises, machinery, nail guns, and very LOUD and annoying Mexican music, then my day is just ruined I tell ya!! :-)

Turn your volume up before watching this to get the full effect:

Don't ya wish you were here to enjoy this? I've been wondering why I have Mexican tunes running through my head lately?? Wishing you all a wonderful Saturday!!

Fireproof - Coming Soon!

Wanted to get this out there! There is a new Christian movie coming out on September 26th starring Kirk Cameron. It is from the Creators of "Facing the Giants". This movie looks like something great for every married couple to see. I know James and I will be going to see it for sure!! I've already looked and it will be showing at one of the theaters we go to here. Click on the link below to watch the trailer and there's also a lot of other information to check out about the movie and you can look to see what theaters near you will be showing it. We all need to support this movie! Check it out and Enjoy!!

http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

Hathorn Tidbits

1. Well, our first week of school is already coming to a close....it's going GREAT so far for both kiddos!! No homework yet so they are really happy!! That will change soon though. They are also riding the bus in the morning and afternoon now and other than being a little overcrowded it's going really well and they seem to like it. There are a dozen kids just on our street that go to their school and ride the bus!! We have a lot of kids here!!! :)

2. My Yearly Mammogram - Wednesday morning, for those who don't know, I had to do the fun task of having my annual mammogram done and since I just moved up to Spring, it was my first time going to my new clinic, which is actually part of the Tomball General Hospital. I have to say as compared to the other four mammograms I had done while in Pearland, this was the easiest, quickest and least painful mammogram I have EVER had!!! I was in and out within 30 minutes! Done with that for another year hopefully - I'll find out my results by the end of next week.

3. Thomas' 7 year checkup - Thomas went to the pediatrician yesterday right after school for his well check-up. He had a great report!! He weighed in at 62 pounds and is almost 49" tall now - not bad for just turning 7!! The only thing he was NOT happy about was getting his 2nd round of a chicken pox booster - I didn't even realize he was going to get that. When Thomas realized what was about to happen, I don't think I've seen eyes get that big...but I held his hand and he did GREAT!

4. New storm - Gustav - Looks like our eyes will be on the Gulf once again over these next few days to see just where this bad boy is gonna go. I hate it for Louisiana (the most likely target), but I surely don't want it to hit Galveston/Houston because that would mean it would be coming right up our back door. Let's pray that wherever this storm hits, that it won't be anything like Katrina or Rita!!

5. James has a couple of things to be in prayer for over these coming weeks. Beginning September 7th, he is going to be leading our Small Group from church which currently has about 20 adult members with at least another 20 kids. It's a BIG group. James substituted in the Spring once but this will be his first time to ever lead a group for several weeks in a row. I know he'll do a great job!! Our small group meets on Sunday nights. In addition, he is still very much involved in the High School youth and his D-Group (Discipleship Group), of boys will begin meeting up every Wednesday night too. James always could use the prayers and encouragement when it comes to leading and mentoring high school boys!!

6. Holiday Weekend / Birthday Celebrating - We are looking forward to this coming weekend since the kids and James will be off Monday, as pretty much everyone else will be, in honor of Labor Day! We plan to sleep late, go swimming, and have a cookout on Monday!! We will also be celebrating James' upcoming 38th birthday (which is Sept. 3rd) over the weekend so I'll have some posts coming up of that and we also have a birthday party on Sunday. I'm sure I'll have some cute pictures from that as well.
Mmmm...I can already start to smell the burgers now!!!

HAPPY LABOR DAY from ALL OF US to ALL OF YOU!!

Somebody's Tired...

Well...after the first two full days of school, this is how Thomas is doing:

I found him like this Tuesday evening...

Poor baby...2nd grade is wearing him out so far...

NOW...
As for why "Miss Thing" here needs a nap...well, that remains a mystery because she has done nothin' ALL day long...

GOOD GRIEF!!

Rare Sighting...

I'm excited to share these two photos!! It's a rare sighting for us to even see this, let alone that I happened to have my camera with me!! Monday morning when James and I were coming back to the house after taking the kids to school...I spotted what I thought was a mother deer and a baby...but then the big one popped it's head up from eating and I saw antlers!!

We rarely see any of the male deer out and about like this, especially after 8AM. So we thought this was really cool. We saw no females in sight - of course they could have been within a few feet of them and we just couldn't see them...but this baby was just walking along with "Big Boy" eating some grass. I only had time to take two shots because we moved along when the big guy started looking nervously at us.

Click to enlarge so you can see them better, especially the baby!

New Recipe: Cheese Muffins

I just made this new recipe last night with our supper. The family loved 'em!! It is super easy, super quick and super good!!!! Sorry, didn't have time to photograph the entire process but here's what these delicious muffins look like when they come out of the oven:


CHEESE MUFFINS


1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups shredded colby-jack cheese (can get low fat cheese)
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 egg
1/4 cup (or 1/2 stick) melted butter
___________________________________________

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.
Stir in shredded cheese.
In separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, and melted butter.
Pour milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well.
Bake in greased muffin tins for 20-25 minutes until slightly golden on top.

Serve warm.

Makes 12 delicious muffins that can be good with salads, big dinners, or just a snack!

Try these and enjoy every scrumptious bite!

Back To School - 2008/09

These were some pics I took of the kids Monday morning on the first day of school...hard to believe they are in 2nd and 3rd grade already. Seems like yesterday they were going to a preschool program.

Shelby eating breakfast...


Thomas with his new camo book bag...


Shelby with her new Hannah Montana book bag...


Ready to go...


First day of 2nd grade for Master Thomas...


First day of 3rd grade for Princess Shelby...

Shelby with all her new supplies and she has a desk in a good area, close to the door...Thomas on the other hand is seated about two feet from the teacher...hmmm... HA! They both had a great first day!!

Snaggle Tooth!

It FINALLY came out!! On the Eve before school started, Shelby's top tooth that has been loose for a few weeks finally came out when she let James pull it.

She looks so different already but very pretty and she talks with a cute little lisp right now. She's growing up!!




WE LOVE YOU BELLE!!!!

Retry - Signing of the Steel

Signing of the Walls, actually...

Sunday night, at the church property, we all gathered and finally were able to coat the walls with Bible verses, prayers and poems. It was really cool and a lot of people showed up!!

Here's some shots of us writing our favorites:















It was A LOT OF FUN!!!!

Birthday Gift Cards...

Sunday afternoon we took Thomas to Target because his 4 gift cards he received as birthday gifts were already burning a hole in his pocket and since school was starting he just couldn't wait until next weekend to go shopping. His gift cards and cash combined totaled about $70 bucks and to our surprise, he picked out just one item...something that he's been wanting for a really long time and finally, not only is he old enough to operate it but it has come down in price A LOT!

Introducing the Roboraptor...I remember about 4 years ago...this was one of the hottest Christmas toys on the market and were well over $100 smackaroos...and Thomas was only 3 at the time! Now they are $50 at Target!! He was looking at a lot of Legos but when he saw the raptor...he was zeroed in and forgot all about the Legos..."What Legos?"

Here's Thomas when we got home and could hardly wait for Daddy to open the box!!


Thomas has already given this guy a name...Stripes!


Here he is using the remote control on Stripes! The Raptor can move alot and apparently has his own personality...kind of like a real pet.


Last night, Thomas even made a bed in his room for Stripes and covered him up with a blankie! Awwwwe...


Notice I said Thomas had $70 but the Raptor was only $50??? Well, our boy surprised even more when he looked at Shelby's sad face in Target and says, "Shelby you can have the rest and pick you out something!" Me and James were like, "SAY WHAT?" Yes, Thomas passed up an opportunity to get another toy and gave the money instead to his sister.

Here's Belle with her very girlie Spa Collection Set....it comes complete with a pair of slippers, some lavender, a bowl and packet to make a real facial (with Moma's help), and a towel to wrap around her head. She told me she would need to do this after the first day of school for some "relaxing". So, we'll either do it tonight or tomorrow night. She's excited by the look on that face!


Back to RoboRaptor....I mean Stripes..............well, someone in the house didn't appreciate a newcomer that moved and made noise. Yes, Miss Trinity was not thrilled (rolling my eyes)!!!


Apparently, Stripes needed a good sniff-over...


Listen to this bark:

TJ's 7th Birthday Party!!

Okay, I finally was able to sort through all the pictures and here are the best of the best from Thomas' 7th birthday party at SK8 Town skating rink.

First, here's a shot of what his cake looked like. It was half chocolate and half white cake and it was a football cake. You might notice in some pics that Thomas was wearing a Cowboys T-shirt - he did that intentionally. :-) Everyone LOVED his cake!!

Here he is about to start opening his presents from his friends. He received several more really nice things, including FOUR gift cards to Target!!! More to come about that in a later post.

You might also notice this little kid here in the white shirt is in a lot of pics with Thomas. This is Devin and Devin is Thomas' BFF from school. When we went to school on Friday to meet their teachers, they were a little upset that they won't have the same homeroom teacher again like last year, BUT....they were okay with it because their homeroom teachers were actually Shelby's teachers last year and they co-teach all the kids together! So even though Thomas has Mrs. Shaklee and Devin has Mrs. Thomas, they sit across the room from each other and they will see each other ALL THE TIME...so like I said, they were cool with it. Devin is a cutie and a sweetie, just like Thomas.

Opening presents...Thomas had to keep this one away from his Daddy yesterday!!! STAR WARS!!!

Look at all the BOYS.....We had 12 kiddos show up for his party (14 including him and Shelby of course)...out of the 12, there were 8 boys!!

Eating some pizza...I love this picture of Thomas!!!! It's one of my favorites from the whole day. He was grinning from ear to ear just like this the entire day!!!

Group shot - that's Devin's mom on the right and my neighbor Meredith on the left helping me out with all the drinks and food. Grandma H. helped a lot too.

A group shot of the other side of the table!

Full table shot:

And there's our Belle....we like to save the best for last....HA!! That's little Dane on the end there by Shelby. He is the son of our Sr. High youth minister, Brandon, and he just loves Thomas!!


Kind of dark...sorry...of Thomas opening a present!!

The party couldn't have gone better!!! Thomas has thanked us and told us how much fun he had several times and some of the kids even said how much fun they had. One of our neighbors told Thomas last night..."That was the best birthday party I've ever been to Thomas!" Another year is gone...sad but exciting all at the same time to me!! After all, he is my baby.