Kiss Me...

I don't know why I got up today with this song in my head and thought I would post.  This song was a hit back in 1999 and it was one of mine and James' wedding songs.  In fact, me and my best friends were dancing to this song in the bridal prep room at the church just before we had to walk out.  This song always reminds me of James, of our wedding day, and him kissing me.  xxxoooxxx  I will always LOVE this song.  Still can't believe it's already been 11 1/2 years...(deep sigh)

I love you James!

T's first NFL Game!!

Here's some highlights that I was finally able to post from T-man's first ever NFL game on 10/10/10...

James took Thomas to Reliant really early that morning so he could explore and check out everything...

A nice man took this picture of my boys!!! Love it!!

Thomas took a lot of these pictures and films himself with my camera (with Daddy's supervision of course!). I think he did a great job.  He took several pictures of Eli Manning, the QB for the NY Giants.  Thomas has always liked the Giants because that was his Flag Football team.

Thomas also took a few pictures of #80...Andre Johnson and also one of his sister's favorite Texans and also the jersey Thomas was wearing that day.

Thank you son for taking lots of pictures of #56!!!  My favorite Texan player - Brian Cushing!!  This game was his first game to be back after a silly suspension.

Cush has his game face on!!!  Great photo!!

The coin toss...Cushing was a captain that day! Very cool...

He took several action shots like this one...

Another cool shot of my boys...as you can see James' company has awesome season ticket seats at the 40 yard line and on the end of a row!!!  They have 4 seats all together but each employee can only snag two for one game.  So, one of his co-workers was sitting in the two seats next to them and took this picture of them.

Players prayer circle at the end of the game...Thomas thought this was cool.  Unfortunately, the Texans were beat badly by the Giants on this day but overall, we are still having a great season so far.  GO TEXANS!!!!

Below is a couple of clips Thomas/James took of the Texans Introductions...

Especially this introduction, of #56 coming out.  He was greeted with loud cheering fans for his first game back.

James and Thomas had a blast together that day!!  Miss Belle gets to go with Daddy next year and sit in those awesome seats.  In a couple of years, we are hoping to get two season ticket seats ourselves!! =)

New Jerseys!!

Last Sunday morning on 10/10/10, we surprised the kids with an early Christmas present...brand new NFL jerseys!!  We decided to go ahead and give them because James was taking Thomas to his first NFL game (Texans vs. Giants) last Sunday.  They were so surprised and excited.

We intentionally got a Drew Brees jersey (one of T's favorites) and an Andre Johnson jersey (one of Belle's favorites)!! The deal was for last Sunday that they switch so that Thomas could wear the Texans jersey to the game.  Shelby was all fine with that and she would not take the Saints jersey off - she ended up wearing it to church that morning!!  And I heard later that she got a lot of attention from the boys at church!! Hee Hee!! =)

Here's a clip I took of them as they opened their gifts up...Grandma Hathorn is who you hear talking the most since she was with us last weekend.  Also, my son cracks me up how he is constantly looking to see what Shelby is opening and then he rechecks the bag to see if he missed something else. BOYS!!

James and I LOVE pulling surprises like this...it's so fun to watch their reaction!! =)

Weekend Rewind!

Just a quick recap of our weekend...Friday night was family night which meant dinner at home, some playing outside for a while, watching an episode of The Clone Wars and then off to bed early!! We had to get up at 6am Saturday morning for this...Football Game #7 against the Klein Jets!!

Our boys lining up at 8am getting ready to be weighed in.  Yep, they have to weigh in before every game.

Of course being boys, they get bored quickly and start goofing off...HA!

Thomas is closest to the ref...getting ready for a kick-off return...

Thomas on tight end (offense) and looking over at us!!  Thomas played great and was in for almost the entire game on defense and offense.  We beat the Jets 33-12!!  He was just disappointed he didn't get to make more tackles this game.  This team was just not very tough for our boys so not very challenging.

We did have one player ejected from the game.  One particular player, the one trying to get Thomas in the clip below, played a little "dirty".   He had punched one of our boys several times and when he had finally had enough, he punched back and was ejected.  Our boy that was ejected was SO UPSET - I felt sorry for him.  That kid is #77 and if you watch closely you can see that Thomas said something to him.  After that, #77 didn't mess with Thomas or our other boys anymore!!

We were glad that game was over!  Unfortunately, we will probably have to play this team again in the playoffs in a couple of weeks.  They have been my least favorite team to play against so far.  Well, at least we beat them!! 

After the game, we headed up to Shreveport to see my Papa who is very ill from lung cancer.  It was a quick trip as we spent a little time with them Saturday evening, spent the night with my parents, then back over to spend time with my grandparents Sunday morning for 2 1/2 hours, before heading out at 1pm.  We are SO, SO glad we made the trip.  We made some precious memories!!!  And even though it was very tiring, emotional and hard saying good-bye yesterday, it was worth every second of going!!

We got back home around 5:30pm yesterday evening.  And now it's back to the grind today!! Back to work, back to school, back to doing bills, laundry, cleaning and going to football practice.  Oh, and also picking up one goofy mutt at the pet resort!!  We miss and love you Pop!!!  We will see you soon, no matter what!!!

Love,

Karen 

Bengals vs. Redcats - Game 6 - Homecoming!

Sorry for the delay. It's been a very busy week for us and whenever I would try to post all these, Blogger was messing up and not letting the clips load properly.  These are the best clips of Thomas in the homecoming game. Just keep an eye on #80.  James is announcing the game too!! We had an awesome Homecoming game and we beat the Redcats 26-12!!  Tomorrow, we play Game 7 away at the Klein Jets field. The Jets are currently behind us in 2nd place so should be a good game. Wish us luck!!! I will post a few Homecoming pics next.  Enjoy!!

Thomas taking a Redcat down - James' spotter could not see who all tackled but I could. =)

Thomas was in on this tackle too along with several others!

Thomas and two others preventing a Redcat touchdown...our defense held them all the way!!

Thomas helping prevent another touchdown!! Our Defense is why they only scored 2 touchdowns on us!

This pileup happened right after one of their touchdown's. Thomas and his defense did NOT let them get an extra point after either of their TD's!! Watch Thomas at the end, he was VERY pleased with that!!! =)

Thomas was also part of this tackle but again, the spotter could not see him. No biggie.

Another great tackle by our Bengals Defense!

Thomas ran #21 down all by himself here.  James did call his name again on this tackle but I had cut my film off. DOH!!

Homecoming Parade 2010

Friday night, we had our Bengals Homecoming Parade!!  Here's Thomas with some of his football buds and sporting his orange and black hairspray!!

Thomas was not mad or upset here...just squinting from the bright sunshine!!

Here's our Freshman Trailer that the boys all rode in and threw beads and candy at onlookers...

Here's James standing by one of our police escort.  It was driven by our friend, Vince, who is a detective.  We also had two other constables helping out.  James got to ride in this one with Vince and since he's our announcer, he was able to be on the speaker mic as they drove through the neighborhood.  He had a blast doing this.  This is a real cop car used in Montgomery County...it's painted like a taxi on the back so people cannot tell that it's actually a sheriff's car. 

Thomas and the boys are loaded up on the trailer as we were getting ready to roll out.  The parade took about 1 hour and 45 minutes which was not bad.  We heard that last year it took three hours!!!

Jocelyn, one of our mom's on the team is our mascot...

The boys LOVED it!!! She did a great job!!

The parade was lots of fun!! When it was finished we served our Bengals cake to everyone!!

Up next, pics and films from Homecoming game.

10-10-10

Today, on this 10th day of the 10th month in the year 2010, my daddy is...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PAWPAW!!!

PawPaw and Thomas mowing the grass and riding on the John Deere back in the summer - one of T's favorite things to do!!

To celebrate this momentous birthday, he and Gramms took a little trip to...

this great State...Branson to be exact!!  We hope they are having a blast!!  I know they are golfing and seeing some neat shows!!

 We love you PawPaw and hope you really enjoy this special birthday.  You don't look a day over 50!! We will see you soon!!  Love, James, Karen, Belle and T.J.

Meanwhile, this is where my two boys will be this Sunday, on PawPaw's birthday!!  Yep, Thomas will be attending his first ever NFL football game to see the Texans play the NY Giants!! These are the tickets that James gets once a year through work and since they are $120 each, plus free parking pass, only two of us can go.  I went last year so now it's the football player's turn and he will take Shelby next year.  These are wonderful seats and I can't wait to see what Thomas thinks of everything.  He is SO EXCITED!!!  So, while us girls, along with Grandma Hathorn, are sitting in church praising the Lord Sunday morning, our boys will be heading to Reliant Stadium, and I'm sure they will be praising the Lord in Spirit.  =)

GO TEXANS!!!! WHOOP! WHOOP!! We need a win for Thomas!!!

Next couple of posts, I will share pics and films from the Homecoming parade and from Thomas' game.

Homecoming Cake...

Well, tonight is our big Homecoming Parade for the boys!! Complete with pulled open trailers, hay bales to sit on, honking, police escort, and lots of candy and beads to throw!! Afterwards, the boys get to dive into this and I hope plenty of them will stay and eat because I really don't need to take a 1/2 sheet cake home with me!!! =)

Here it is...

I think it turned out great!! It's a marble cake with buttercream icing and chocolate sprinkles!! YUM!!!

I also have a mess of balloons - orange stars, black stars and of course footballs.  These will also be taken to the field in the morning for decorations!!

GO! FIGHT! WIN!!

GO FRESHMAN BENGALS!

HOMECOMING 2010!!

More pics coming tomorrow from the parade and the big game!!

Moma's Homecoming Mum

Today, I wanted to show what my Homecoming mum/corsage thingy looks like!! It's pretty cool.  I will be wearing this on Saturday for Homecoming and as we walk out on the field escorting Thomas!!

The lady that makes these for all the Bengal mom's does a great job - just cracks me up how big and heavy this thing is...I bought the one that has a picture button in the middle!!

Lucy also puts these cute little dangly things shown here...next year for a small fee she can just refresh this one for me and change out Freshman to Sophomore, etc...

To get a better idea of how big it really is, this is how it will look hanging from my shirt...HA!

HATHORN #80 - such a great keepsake and I will be a proud Moma wearing it on Saturday!!! I love it!!

GO BENGALS!!!!

Preppin' for Homecoming...

This is a BUSY week for us...yes, even busier than normal for my little clan.  We are getting ready for our Homecoming game this weekend.  Not only that, but I have PTO duties coming out my ears right now, church responsibilities, preparing for my mother-in-law to come in for the weekend, not to mention, the normal every day household chores plus two little rugrats, one husband and one goofy dog to take care of!!! Honestly, I will be somewhat glad when this week is over. =)  Every night this week through Saturday except for Tuesday night (last night - small group) is dedicated to our football team.  The insane part is that we are LOVIN' every second of it and we'll be sad when it's over until next July.  Good thing is, Belle's softball is around the corner for us!!  For now, I leave you with a few shots from our practice on Monday night...I have to snap quick because it gets dark so early now!!

Thomas told us Monday night that the coaches made up a "new" Orange Offense on the team.  On the old Orange Offense, Thomas was listed as a tight end and the last few weeks has rarely even been put on Offense.  He's ALWAYS on Defense. BUT...

on the new Offense, he is an Offensive Lineman, more specifically, a Left Guard...here he is making a block!! Our Homecoming game on Saturday is against a team that is improving themselves every week - the Tomball Redcats.  So, this won't be easy cheesy.  And I think our coaches are going to play boys like Thomas a lot on both Offense and Defense.  He will remain on what's called Black Defense - starting defense - as the middle linebacker but will play Orange Offense - secondary - as well.  He's also on the kick return team. We are trying to go for our 5th straight win on Saturday which will make our regular season record 5-1!

Talking to his friend, Jayden, who is sitting in the chair.  Jayden had been sick and was at practice to watch but not workout.

My boy and his awesome 3-point stance!! Go get 'em T.J.!!

"I am Thomas The Hitman Hathorn!"  Thomas definitely lives up to his football nickname. He has been called a "leader" and a "beast" by his defensive coach!  And his Head Coach has told James he loves how aggressive, strong and fast Thomas is. Yep, I think Thomas will go a LONG way in this game if he keeps playing it.  Thomas is really looking forward to stomping some Redcats in the ground on Saturday morning!  Whoop! Whoop!!
GO BENGALS!!!
GO! FIGHT! WIN!!
HOMECOMING 2010!!
I will have lots more Homecoming mayhem posts coming your way soon, including pictures of my Homecoming corsage, pictures of a cake I'm getting for the team for Friday night and pics of our Homecoming parade which is also Friday night, so stay tuned...

NCC Praise Band!

I love this picture collage of our Praise Band, taken by one of our church members who happens to be a photographer. These columns line our front driveway as your enter the church parking lot. In the bottom left picture is my sweet friend, Victoria!!  Not only is she the most awesome drummer around, she is also a cop!! =)  Victoria is one of the coolest people I know and we get to hang out a lot because our sons' are on the same football team!!  GO BENGALS!!!!  Love you Victoria!!! =) 

Click pic to enlarge!
Love our Praise Band!! They ROCK!!

Painting with a Twist...

Yesterday afternoon, Shelby went to her friend, Gabby's, birthday party.  Gabby is one of her softball buddies.  The party was held at this new place called Painting with a Twist!  I knew this would be right up Belle's alley as much as she loves art!!! 

BUT, I have to say, I was still amazed and astonished when James brought her home and she walks in the door with this masterpiece...

YES!!!!  My baby girl painted this horse picture at the party ALL BY HERSELF!!!!  About 12 girls were at the party and they all got their own canvas and had an instructor telling them what to do as they painted this cute horse picture...which by the way, there's nothing Shelby loves more than horses except maybe her family and softball...Hmmm...sounds a lot like someone else I know!! =)

Of course, she immediately wanted her daddy to hang it up in her room and she found the perfect spot for it!! Then she just laid on her bed gazing up at it. 

I have a feeling this won't be her last masterpiece either...tomorrow she starts her STARTIST Art group after school with the art teacher!! She is so excited.

GREAT JOB BELLE...my little artist!!! Although T-Man doesn't draw too shabby either.  My kids are so smart, athletic and talented!!!! Love my babies!!! =)