The Lanham Boys

Dad and the boys at the Bowling Green Hot Rods game!

2010-08-05T11:27:00.002-05:00

2010-07-30T14:10:00.000-05:00

SNOW!

2010-02-11T09:01:00.000-06:00

We woke up this morning to a blanket of beautiful snow! Jake was NOT happy that school wasn't cancelled! It's still snowing and I can't believe they had to go. I'm expecting to hear they are getting out early at any time.

The end of January

2010-01-31T14:07:00.002-06:00

Well, today is the last day of January. It really flew by! As usual!
What have I done this month? ...besides not write on this blog...:)

We spent Christmas in KY and had a great time! I know, that's December, but I felt it was worth a mention at least!

January 8th was a big day for me. The Humane Society of Young County (which I am currently president of) shut down a puppy mill right here in our own community. The week that followed was emotionally and physically draining. I spent a lot of time out at the shelter trying to make sure all 72 dogs that we took in that day were able to stay warm in the FREEZING conditions.

That Saturday, Jake and Hunter started their basketball seasons. They have both done SO well and I'm so proud of them. They got a basketball goal for Christmas and have been putting it to good use.

Jake's sport of choice though, continues to be football. Every chance he gets, he calls all of the neighborhood boys to meet him for a game in our across-the-street-neighbor's yard. It's 31 degrees as I type this and they are out there playing!

Riley prefers sitting by the fire :) He was sick all week last week, but seems to be feeling better now. I'm ok with him staying inside....until he starts bossing me around like he is now. He has cookie sprinkles out and he wants me to bake him some cookies. He's telling me "there's no waiting" I ask, "what are we going to do?". He won't tell me though. I know what he wants, he wants me to play video games with him. But it's a no win situation playing video games with him. He gets mad if he loses. I'm not saying I'm that great, but I am a little better than he is. He assures me that he will teach me how to do it like he does.

Hunter has talked Kelly into buying him new tennis shoes, even though he just got new ones for Christmas. About a week ago he told me he didn't really like them. Amazingly, over the last couple of days, they have started hurting his foot to the point that he can't walk with them on. Crazy how that happened.

I think Riley just called China. He's beating me down to go play Mario Kart. I'm about to cave so I will wrap this up.

Sorry it was so long between blogs last time!
Happy Sunday!

2009-10-22T08:45:00.001-05:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Some pictures from our 4th of July weekend

2009-07-08T10:40:00.007-05:00

The boys posing before the fireworks

This looks safe...

Hunter enjoying the boat ride.

Riley...just chillin' in the hot tub. lol

Getting ready to toob again after a stop at Sandy Beach.

Anyone know a good orthodontist?? :)

Riley REALLY enjoyed toobing this year! He didn't want to get off!

We had a blast! The boys are lake rats!!

Our 1st Run!

2009-05-16T13:31:00.001-05:00

Jake, Hunter & I (Christy) ran in a 1K fun run this morning. Jake came in 1st place!! He did great. I didn't have my camera with me (& Hunter & I were a few minutes behind anyway!) but I will hopefully get some pictures from friends soon!

Hunter's Home Run

2009-05-10T16:00:00.002-05:00

Baseball begins another season!

2009-04-14T13:38:00.004-05:00

Riley looking on as his silly brothers...wonder what he was thinking???

...maybe... "where's my uniform??"

Easter pictures

2009-04-14T13:34:00.001-05:00

Jake's basketball tournament

2009-04-04T16:22:00.001-05:00

They lost the first game at 8am this morning...played Peaster. Then won the 2nd game against our other Graham team by 1 point!
We play again at 7 tonight!
I have about a $80 concession stand tab I'm going to have to settle up tonight!! I don't think they realize that just because I'm working in there doesn't mean I don't have to pay!

God is really making me laugh today!

2009-04-03T10:41:00.001-05:00

Anyone who says that God doesn't have a sense of humor is wrong!
First thing...Jake reminded me at 7:30 this morning (10 minutes before we were supposed to leave for school) that he was supposed to take his 12 plastic eggs to school today for their Easter egg hunt. I found a bag of Easter stuff I had stored in Kelly's closet...and found 13 plastic eggs. Luckily I already had the candy, so Jake, Hunter & I stuffed them quickly and I got Jake to school 1 minute early!
Next thing...I had to print labels for the Humane Society Easter mailing. I got them all printed, looked over at the printer, and I had 1 sheet of labels left after they were finished printing!!

Acts 20:34
Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.

Hopefully I will keep laughing today!!
Happy Friday :)
Christy

Tag, I'm it!

2009-03-29T15:19:00.003-05:00

I think this was on "the quest for the perfect birth announcement picture"!!

You can just see the love in the big brothers' eyes!!! haha

And Riley going...oh my, what is going on here??

Here were the instructions:
1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3) Explain the picture.
4) Tag 4 people to do the same.~No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.)
I tag: Pat, Beverly, Ann & Ruth

My thoughts today...:)

2009-03-29T15:08:00.003-05:00

Every spring I get so excited at the first glimpse of spring. When we have a warm day, I just get the itch to start planting things! Knowing full well however, as it happens every year that it’s going to get cold again before it warms up for the summer. Though it’s a beautiful day today, yesterday was cold and windy! The weatherman even said we were going to be doing “the wave” this week because the temperatures are going to be so up and down.

So anyway, I just went outside to check on my plants. I hadn’t thought that it got below freezing last night, but apparently it did. The first plants I checked on were fine, they had been under the cover of the porch. As soon as I went around the corner though, I found several plants with black and wilted leaves. Then I went out to the greenhouse I have to play with all of my little “gardening projects”. This year I have waited to plant anything out in the garden. My tomatoes and strawberry plants are all tucked safe and warm in the greenhouse.

But the plants that had their timing a bit off and thought spring was here and had started putting out new leaves are now suffering from the freeze last night. All my little seedlings that had sprouted are all seriously damaged and they may not make it. A whole season of growing, so much opportunity for beauty, all lost in one brief cold spell. If they had only known to wait just another week before they sprouted, they would have remained unscathed and ready for a long summer of growing.

It makes me think of how important timing is. There are so many quotes about timing…
“time in the market, not timing the stock market”…Dad
"Selling a house is all about timing"…Pat
“you’re timing is way off…”…me!!

But it’s hard to wait! Our society now has engrained this into us without us even thinking twice about it. We don’t want to take the time to look in the phone book for a phone number, we call 411. We don’t want to use an encyclopedia (who even has them anymore??) just look it up on the internet, the answer is only a click away. Why should we have to pay for a doctor’s visit, we can type in our symptoms, hit search, and BAM! we’ve got our diagnosis from the internet. My kids watch commercials on tv, they see something they want, next thing I know they’re begging me to take them to Wal-Mart to get it…now! You hear a song you like on the radio, you don’t have to wait to go buy the CD…you can download it immediately! You don’t even have to wait for it to come on the radio anymore, you have an IPod, you can listen to it anytime you want! And then there’s that terrible commercial that my kids love to quote…”it’s my money and I need it now!!” UGH!!!

Our impatience makes us want all of our problems solved immediately and easily and tied up in a pretty little package and NOW!! But that’s not God’s view of things. His timing is much different than ours. As I’ve learned in the past week at our revival, every single bad thing that happens to us is happening to us for a reason. We are to learn from it so we can be able to minister to someone else going to go through a similar situation at some point…to minister to someone in need and be able to tell them how God has helped us through it.

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” (Psalm 119:71)
“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance products character, and character produces hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

So our time we spend in our problems we’re facing is supposed to be teaching us something. When the time is right…in God’s time, and through God’s will and God’s grace, we will get through it. The only thing we can do is pray about it, trust that God is faithful and that He loves us and that He will answer our prayers. They may not be the answers we wanted or expected, but He will answer.
We can find rest in Him and just like my little plants that were tucked away in the greenhouse, safe and sound, we can tuck ourselves away in God’s arms and be safe until the time is right.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. (Psalm 62:4-6)

All of our burdens we are carrying right now, all of the unanswered prayers, the turmoil…they will all be taken care of…in God’s time. When the time is right, the issues will be dealt with and the truth will come to light.

What a Day that will be! No more cold nights—in fact, no more nights! The Day is coming—the timing is God's—when it will be continuous day. Every evening will be a fresh morning. (Zechariah 14:5-7)

I hope you all have a blessed day!!

Christy

Hunter makes the newspaper!

2009-03-04T18:20:00.002-06:00

http://www.grahamleader.com/news/get-news.asp?id=15078&catid=3&cpg=get-news.asp

Sorry!

2009-02-17T09:38:00.006-06:00

I know I've been a TERRIBLE blogger. Please forgive me!

Let's see, where to even begin...

Since November was my last post, I guess I should go back to December. We spent Christmas in Kentucky, as most of you know. We had a great time and the boys loved playing with their cousins. I think they succeeded in wearing everyone out! :)

January, well, where did it go?? Not sure. Jake started playing basketball and had games all through January. He did great for his first year playing. The regular season has ended, but he's playing on a tournament team and we have our 2nd tournament this weekend.

This is a great bunch of boys and is almost the same kids that were on the baseball tournament team...which we have already started practicing for!! no rest...

February has been a fun month. We went snowskiing i Breckenridge Colorado last week for Winter Break. We dropped Riley off with Grand Jo & Papa Bruce in Amarillo about 1:30 am early, early Wednesday morning. So he got to stay with them while the rest of us went on to Colorado.

We put Jake & Hunter in ski lessons the 1st day. Jake is a natural, he picked it up so quickly that he was skiing blue/blacks by the 2nd day. Hunter did great too. We skied together all day Friday. I'm ok with staying on the greens... I figure by the time Riley is ready for the blues and blacks, I will be too...hopefully :)

Jake had a b-day yesterday. I can't believe he's 9. What's even harder to believe is that Hunter will be 7 in 3 months! My babies are growing up!

I would like to ask for prayers for a little boy in our area who was burned terribly last weekend. They live out in the country and were burning some trash when a gas can apparently exploded on this child. He's the youngest of 3 boys and only 5 years old. He will probably lose both hands and both ears. The other 2 boys had minor burns and their mother has pretty bad burns on her hands.

Here is a link to a blog that his aunt is doing to keep people updated. I don't know them personally, but I just can't imagine what this family is going through.

http://claydavidfite.blogspot.com/

Anyway, hope everyone is well. I'll try to do better!

What's going on these days...

2008-11-23T15:46:00.002-06:00

As I write, Kelly is building a pitching mound to go along the the batting cage. Apparently he thinks Jake has some potential as a pitcher next year when he moves up to kid-pitch.

There are 3 men driving their truck in my front yard probably busting every sprinkler head out there. They are planting 4 new trees. I'm sure Kelly got a "great deal" on them. The "great deal" is that he didn't have to plant them...

At last count there were 8 kids in Jake's room but I think one more just arrived.

So, there's a lot going on the Lanhams' today.

This was a very busy week, for me at least! I was invited to attend a grant-writing workshop that lasted all week. I was in class from 8:30 - 5 every day. It made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to be a stay at home mom. I don't know how moms can work and still get everything done. The class was great and I learned so much. It usually costs $900 to attend, but a local foundation paid for me to go. Then I walked away on Friday with $1000 check from them for the shelter. It was so worth it! I also have a grant written that is almost ready to be sent off and has been reviewed by the lady who taught our class. I am working on getting $300,000 to build an expansion. Now I just have to get my board on-board!

The boys are doing well. Jake got all A's again on his report card. He scored the highest score in his class on one of the reading practice tests for the TAKS test (their yearly tests). He has been reading Hank the Cowdog books and seems to enjoy them. I'm so glad he enjoys reading.

Hunter, well, Hunter is Hunter. What can I say? Kelly told me that people who don't even know our boys will walk into his office and see a picture of the boys and point Hunter out and say "that's the one you're going to have to watch!" He got all D's on his report card. Don't worry D is for "developed" in kindergarten. It's a good thing.

Riley is great. He had an exciting week. With me being in school, he got to visit lots of new places. Monday he spent the day with my friend Jennifer. Tuesday he had school, then went home with a friend until I finished my class. Wednesday he spent the day with my friend Angie. Thursday he had school then afterwards went to work with Kelly for the rest of the afternoon. Friday was a short day and he spent the morning with Grand Jo and Mama Jo. He kept everyone entertained I'm sure. I'm just thankful that he was cooperative and didn't have a problem with being passed around so much. My friend Angie fell in love with him and said she was sad when he left. As long as he has his blanket and his chocolate milk, he is good to go.

Yesterday Ihelped host a baby shower here for a girl who used to work at the shelter so I had to frantically clean the house since it was a complete disaster after being gone all day every day this week.

Last night some friends of ours got married. Kelly, Hunter, Riley & I went to the wedding, then I went to the reception by myself while Kelly & the boys went to watch the ou/tech game.

Now I guess I need to start thinking about Thanksgiving. Bruce, JoBeth, Casey & Lindsay are coming in. I think I'm going to have to break down and go to the dr. Still can't get over my congestion & cough. We all have it.

Well, that's about all I know for now. It got really quiet, so I guess I need to check on all of those boys!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Jake's First Deer

2008-11-02T19:37:00.001-06:00

Jake got his first deer this morning. I don't know anything about it, but it's an 8 point. Kelly will have to tell more later.

Halloween pics

2008-11-01T10:07:00.005-05:00

Don't have many pics, Hunter wasn't cooperating, so this is the only one I have of him!

He was a scary ghost. Riley was a shark and Jake was a football player.

I wish I knew what Riley was thinking....

This one cracks me up!

Of course they have been going through their candy all morning. They had fun trick or treating last night. Jake went with his 2 friends and Kelly took Hunter & Riley on a hayride with some friends around town hitting all the stops, including the nursing home!

I helped my friend Jennifer hand out the 500 candy bars she had bought. She lives on the busiest street and her husband was out of town. We ran out of candy about 8:30 and had to turn off the lights. It was madness--I didn't know that many people lived in Graham! haha

Kelly is hunting this morning, it's opening day of deer season. Hunter & Jake have soccer games at 11, so I guess I need to get ready for that. Jake isn't even here, he spent the night with his friend. He is getting to the age where he doesn't much like us any more :(

Hunter is bargaining with Riley, making promises he can't keep. For example, "Riley, I'll get you a Lightning McQueen backpack if you give me that toy/candy/whatever he wants at the time" and of course Riley falls for it every time.

I made about 100 Halloween cookies for the boys' school parties. Finally got my kitchen cleaned up this morning. From past experience, I know that my kids are the only ones in their class that DON'T eat the cookies. Why do I bother???

Follow this link and watch the video and you can catch a quick glimpse of me in the courtroom for our animal cruelty case! We won custody of 4 horses, 2 dogs and a pot belly pig. The boys are enjoying having them at our house. haha!! Just kidding. They aren't at our house. I promise!

http://texomashomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=21141

Riley

2008-10-29T13:12:00.002-05:00

I took this picture this morning and thought it was so cute. Thought I'd share...

October 26th update

2008-10-26T19:44:00.003-05:00

Today we went to the deer lease. Jake & Kelly went back tonight so Jake could hunt. It's youth weekend to hunt. He shot at one, but missed him. I'm ok with that!

Jake & Hunter both had soccer games this weekend. Jake's team won, Hunter's lost, but they both played well.
Riley and his friend from school watching big brothers play soccer.

We had a good weekend. Papaw Jack came to visit. Jake, Kelly & Jack hung out at the deer lease yesterday afternoon. Hunter had a bday party to attend and got to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Riley and I drove to meet a lady who had adopted one of the puppies I had fostered back in June. We decided we would just keep him because he was the one we had wanted all along. We took it as a sign that we were supposed to have him. So Sparky is back!!

Kelly and I had 2 Halloween parties last night so we got to go out while Jack watched the boys. We dressed up as a cheerleader and a coach. It was pretty funny. Kelly found some of the old school bike coaching shorts and an old hat and shirt.

Kelly has been staying very busy with work. He's been to California every week for at least the past 5 weeks and is going again this week.

I'm staying busy with Humane Society stuff. I took over as president of the board this month. We had a cruelty investigation last week and are going to court on Friday. We will be having a pet Halloween costume contest on Friday, too. The birthday party Hunter went to on Saturday was for some friends who asked for donations for the shelter instead of presents. I think it is so sweet when kids do that. I know my kids don't need any more toys, so we try to do that too, and it is even their idea!

I have finished working on another website, this one was for my dentist. I think I'm about to start another one too for another non-profit. I have also been doing some baking-- cakes, cinnamon rolls and cookies. I already have orders for Thanksgiving & Christmas!

The boys got all A's for their 1st 6 weeks. Even in conduct!! wow...:)

Hope everyone is doing well!

A few pics

2008-10-20T14:10:00.003-05:00

Jake & Mason before school.

At a friend's Halloween party after school on Friday.

Riley w/ a friend's puppy at Jake's football game.

Jake caught the pass to score an extra point. His team went undefeated in the 8 year old flag football league.

Austin, Jake & Hunter

The Birthday Boy!!

2008-09-06T08:35:00.001-05:00

1st Day of School

2008-08-26T08:19:00.002-05:00

Notice the size of those "Turner feet"! Jake- size 4, Hunter- size 3 1/2, Riley- 13
Jake & Hunter had a great 1st day of school. Hunter ran right in and sat down with his class. One of the teachers commented that if all of the kids did that, they'd be in good shape.

Riley's 1st day of Mother's Day out is today, he's already got his backpack on and we don't need to leave until about 30 minutes!

Pictures of the Boys

2008-08-21T16:55:00.003-05:00

Troy

2008-08-20T20:48:00.004-05:00

Troy died peacefully tonight. Just wanted to let you all know.

Troyboy Lanham (Dec. 18, 1995 - Aug. 20, 2008)

Jackie Sherrill

2008-08-14T23:27:00.003-05:00

Kelly & I got to meet Jackie Sherrill tonight at the Young County A&M Club meeting.

Possum Kingdom Lake

2008-08-12T09:13:00.003-05:00

Here are some pics from a trip to PK Lake earlier in the summer....

These boys are lake rats. They keep begging their daddy for a boat.

2008-08-12T08:40:00.002-05:00

As I was looking again at that picture of Riley, it reminded me of another picture I had....

They were probably about the same age!

Trip to the deer lease

2008-08-12T08:31:00.001-05:00

The boys took a trip to the deer lease on Saturday. Riley was very excited about putting his Wranglers and boots on!

Momma Dog got to go too...

Picture Explanaions....

2008-07-10T16:26:00.002-05:00

Explanations of the pictures...
OK, the men we're pictured with are singers. We went to a concert & fireworks show on the 3rd & got to see some of our favorite singers. The one with the curly black hair is Johnny Cooper. http://www.johnnycooper.com/

The one with the longer blond hair is Brandon Rhyder.
http://www.brandonrhyder.com/index_new.php

We also got to see Jason Boland, but he was sick and we couldn't get pics w/ him. But he did sign the boys' baseball caps!
http://www.thestragglers.com/

The other pics are from when we went to Stephenville to see the Aycocks', our friends from Mo. City.

New Pictures!

2008-07-10T11:59:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from our 4th of July weekend.....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23325457@N06/sets/72157606087234874/#

Baseball, baseball & more baseball!!

2008-06-28T19:59:00.006-05:00

Wow! We've been so busy with baseball this week!

We had games at 8:00pm in Bowie (which is an hour away) on Thursday night and Friday night. Saturday we had a game there at noon and 4, but the one at 4 got rained out. We sat in the car until 5 and finally just left. We were supposed to play at 8am this morning, got there & it was raining, and the tournament got cancelled. So we got up at 5:30 and drove 2 hours for nothing! Not a big deal since diesel is so cheap right now! ha ha

The boys have done great! We won our 1st game 10-7, won the 2nd one 27-12, then Saturday lost to our old nemesis the Burke Blaze 21-18. It was such a heartbreaker!! That's the 4th time they've beat us and we get closer every time. We were ahead most of the game. They have won 6 tournaments this summer and have yet to be beat.

Jake cracked his bat somehow and has been using a big barrel bat the past 2 games. He went 3 for 3 against the Blaze and scored runs all three times! They are such a good group of boys and we're having so much fun with them.

Here's a picture of half of the team in my car watching a movie while we were waiting to see if we'd play our game Saturday afternoon.

Here's a video of a couple of Jake's hits:

Pics from this morning :(

June 20 Update

2008-06-20T08:25:00.004-05:00

Sorry it's been so long! We have been busy!

Jake has been playing baseball. He had a tournament this week...1 game on Tues (won), 2 games on Wed (lost 1, won 1) and a game last night for the championship, which we lost to the same team that beat us last time! But they played them great last night. We're going to beat them next time!! We'll see them again I'm sure.

Hunter has started going to Mother's Day Out for 6 weeks. He is enjoying playing with a lot of his buddies who also go. They went to the Old Post Office Museum yesterday and had water day too.

Riley is also going to MDO and has enjoyed it. He's been enjoying Jake's games too.

Last weekend we went to Brownsville so the boys could go fishing with PaPaw. They had a blast. We stayed at Jack & Diana's friends' house and the boys got to swim. Kelly & I took them to Padre Island one afternoon so they could play at the beach. And they got to go fishing too. It was a very long drive, but it was fun.

Here's a link to some of the pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23325457@N06/sets/72157605719344435/

We still have the 5 puppies and their momma. They are all adopted though! YEAH!!! They had their 1st puppy shots yesterday, so they will have another set in 2 weeks and then they'll go to their new homes. We have adopters coming from over 2 hours away to get these guys. They are so worth it...they are so sweet!!

The boys have had so much fun with them. We're all going to miss them.

2008-04-09T10:08:00.002-05:00

Not a whole lot going one here! Last Friday, Jake had a field trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo. So we all loaded up and went along. It was a great day, we had a lot of fun. Kelly even went!
Kelly & I got to see Brady & his band Saturday night. They were fabulous as usual & we had a blast dancing.
Sunday we got our above ground pool for the summer! The boys are so excited.

2008-04-01T11:48:00.001-05:00

Riley had school pictures taken last Thursday...here are his "practice shots" before school!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T16:42:00.003-05:00

The boys got a visit from the Easter Bunny! Just what we needed... more candy!

Our new kitten...PS2. (short for Princess the 2nd)

She has a great sense of humor....

Happy Birthday DenDen!!

2008-03-22T12:19:00.003-05:00

It's always an adventure! Hope you have a great day, Dad. Wish we were there to celebrate with you!

Brady McCool & the Young Guns!!!

2008-03-15T09:49:00.004-05:00

I AM SO PROUD!!!! This is Brady, Kelly's cousin Lisa's son.......

From the Graham Leader

http://www.grahamleader.com/news/get-news.asp?id=12503&catid=1&cpg=get-news.asp

Gunning for successFriday, March 14, 2008David Rupkalvis
Brady McCool and the Young Guns
Put four friends and music lovers together, add a lot of creativity and what do you get? In Graham, the answer is one of the best young Texas country music bands in the state.In just a matter of weeks, Brady McCool and the Young Guns have grown from a band with a loyal following in Graham and Possum Kingdom Lake to one that is on the verge of being known statewide.With a little bit of luck on their side, the band was invited to compete in the Texas Music Showdown sponsored by The Ranch radio station. Winning was the furthest thing from their mind when McCool, Corbin Bailey, Spenser Freeman and Tucker Dalton learned they were going to compete.
Getting in the competition required a little bit of luck. First, the competition required all band members be 18 or older, and all four members of the Young Guns are high school students looking up at 18. That rule was waived for the group, but that wasn’t the only lucky break.Getting an invitation started when Dalton competed with a second band he was a member of then.“I got one of my CDs from us and when I walked out of there, I snuck the guy a CD,” Dalton said.A few days later, a band scheduled to compete dropped out, and organizers knew who to call.“He gave them that CD, and the guy from The Ranch called Ty Fisher and asked if we could do it,” McCool said. “Ty told them, ‘If you get them in there, they’ll be in the finals.’”
But even then, the band was not sure. With final first round competition scheduled Feb. 26, band members waited.“We didn’t get the call until 9 a.m. Tuesday morning telling us we could do it,” Freeman said. That night, the Young Guns walked in the White Elephant Saloon in Fort Worth ready for their shot at fame. The drew the long straw and got to play last, giving them an opportunity to listen to the three bands they would be competing against.“I was intimidated when I walked in,” McCool said. “Me, Spence and Corbin had never been there before.”As they listed to the other bands, one stood out.“The second band was really good,” McCool said. “We went into playing that night thinking we were playing for second place.”“Those guys were really, really good, and they had great stage presence, too,” Bailey said.But when McCool and the Young Guns took the stage, they put on the performance of their lives and earned the judges’ nod as the winners.“I’ve never hugged a guy like I did Spencer that night, not even my dad,” Dalton said. “I was freaking out.”The win put the group of teens into the semifinals against the Ben Austin Smith Band. On Tuesday, they went back to Fort Worth and again got to play last. While listening to the other band, the Young Guns learned they had a tough challenge.“What people listen for in country music is the twang of a 57 telecaster, and they had it,” Dalton said. “If they had been somebody down here, I probably would have gone and seen them.”But rather than be intimidated, the Young Guns took the stage and again put on quite a show.“I was confident in our music,” McCool said. “I don’t see how other people get up there and play without moving.”This time, the judges had an easy decision, picking McCool and the Young Guns to play in the finals scheduled at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the White Elephant Saloon.“I cried, I cried like a little American Idol baby,” Freeman said.Playing in the finals of one of the biggest battle of the band competitions in the state is a huge step for a band that didn’t exist eight months ago. Back then, the members played in different bands and McCool was performing a solo act.That changed when Ty Fisher called McCool and asked if he could get a band together for the Young County Music Fest. With two weeks to get a band together, McCool went to his friends.“We only had a couple of friends, so I just grabbed a couple of guys I felt comfortable with,” McCool said. “Tucker and I have been playing in a band a long time.”McCool is the lead singer and plays rhythm guitar while Dalton plays bass guitar. Freeman rounds out the guitar trio at lead guitar and Bailey handles the drums.At first, the mixture wasn’t magic, just ask McCool’s neighbors. When the band first got together and practiced at McCool’s home, the result was a loud mix of sound ... music.“When we first started playing in that room, we’d rattle things off the walls,” McCool said.But it worked out, and the band played in the music fest. At the time, there were no plans for repeat performances.“We just thought it would be that one show,” Freeman said. “We’d all been in bands like that before.”But this one persevered and played in a few benefit concerts. Eventually, the music improved, and the group was invited to play at some business at Possum Kingdom Lake.“The first time we got paid, it was awesome,” McCool said. “It’s like being a kid who loves drawing with crayons and gets paid. It’s icing on the cake.”Getting paid only served to inspire the boys more. Far from being musicians only, they also write some of the songs they sing.“I write the lyrics, these guys do all the magic you hear,” McCool said. “We have eight original songs, and we started off with two. Anybody can play cover songs, but it’s having your own music that gets you out there.”The band also has fun on stage. With each member living a dream, it is easy to enjoy performing. But they work hard to make sure the music is good and the performance is entertaining.“One thing that separated us, the judge told me he liked our stage presence,” McCool said. “Those people want to be entertained. It’s so awesome to be on stage and look out and see people smiling and having a good time. That’s our goal.”Spending time together practicing and on stage have also made the Young Guns better — one step at a time.“You want the band to sound like one sound,” McCool said. “We’re finally getting to the point where I can tell what Spencer’s going to do, and Tucker can tell what Corbin’s going to do.”And for Brady McCool and the Young Guns, the fun is just beginning.“We can go as far as we want,” Dalton said. “If we stay together 10 years, we can be in the top 10 in Texas country music. In this business, even with as much as we’ve learned, there’s so much more to learn.”Right now, the goal is to put forth one more winning performance Tuesday. A win in the finals would not only give the band bragging rights and a lot of attention, they would also win a valuable package that includes $2,000 at Guitar Center, a photo shoot, new wardrobes from Panhandle Slims and 10 hours of recording time at Roughwood Studios.“Since we made the finals, our name will be out there,” Freeman said. Once the name is out, the band can begin chasing bigger dreams. Like most teens, the group is thinking of the future and envisions a time they can make a living as musicians.“That’s the ultimate goal,” Dalton said. “It’s playing at Billy Bob’s and then making a living.”“Playing music for a living would be something a lot of people dream about and very few get to do,” McCool said. “It’s something you dream about doing.”But for now, there is one other priority the boys cannot forget about.“We’ve finally got our priorities in line,” McCool said. “We’re not doing this for a living. We’re doing this for fun and to entertain people, but school is No. 1 right now. It has to be.”To hear some of the music from Brady McCool and the Young Guns, visit www.myspace.com/bcoolyoungunz.

Here's something Jake did for school last year...he loves these guys!

SNOW???

2008-03-06T15:13:00.002-06:00

I must admit, I laughed to myself when I heard the weather forecast. But it started about 9 am and it just stopped. The boys got out of school early and have had a blast playing in it. Well, Jake has had a blast, Hunter has too, but .....

Riley isn't much of a fan!
Blue & Clarice have enjoyed playing in it!

It was a fun, unexpected surprise. One last glimpse of winter --

We're still here!

2008-02-26T08:01:00.001-06:00

Thanks for your prayers. We're fine! I don't know if it's still burning or not. We can still smell smoke though.

Urgent Prayer Request!!

2008-02-25T21:30:00.006-06:00

We have a raging wildfire less than 12 miles away from us and we can smell the smoke from it at our house. It's in Jean, TX and they are evacuating it as we speak.
Please pray that they will be able to put it out. The winds are unbelievable right now, please pray for them to calm so that the fires won't spread any further.
Thanks!

We had a fun weekend!

2008-02-25T17:34:00.005-06:00

We went to Seguin to Jack's surprise birthday party. He turned the big 60 on the 19th and Diana arranged for everyone to come in & surprise him! We went out to eat, then the boys went back to Jack's house to stay with a babysitter while Kelly & I and the other adults went to Gruene Hall. We had a blast. We got home about 1 am and JAKE & HUNTER were STILL UP! Jack & Diana got home about 12 am and the babysitter just kind of walked out in a daze and just said, "I need to go home". There were 2 other kids there too, Diana's daughters son (6) and daughter (2). (They were both up too) Riley was the only one who crashed...thank goodness! She might have just left before anybody got home if he had added his grumpy-ness into the mix!

We saw Josh Grider and Walt Wilkins at Gruene Hall on Sat. night. They were both great. But I think anyone would be great if you're in Gruene Hall, just to be there is enough to make it worthwhile.

The boys in front of Gruene Hall (on Sunday morning).

Hunter Juncton is a store in Gruene.

Gruene has to be one of my most favorite places in the world! It is great. If you've never been, I highly recommend it! It has the cutest little shops and The Grist Mill is a really fun restaurant to go to and the ribs are fabulous. My guys downed a whole rack in less than 5 minutes.

Hunter found Hunter Road!

The Guadalupe River! What great memories I have of this place!! :)

Only my BFF's will remember this, but was it '04 when Kim & I almost died on the first set of rapids? In the 20 degree water at 9 am? And we ruined our cute hats that we'd shopped for weeks for? And we didn't move for about 2 hours later in the day and got separated from everyone else? That's when we became true BFF's, right? Can we please do that again this summer?? :) :) Wow, those were the good old days....I miss you guys :(

God is Good!!

2008-02-21T09:53:00.003-06:00

Riley has had a few extremely difficult days. He was up and down all night Tuesday night and barely ate or drank anything all day yesterday. He's been throwing drinks at me and kicking me. I have been calling him "bi-polar" because he has been such a grouch!

Last night, Riley and I prayed together and I told him what to say. He said "Dear God, please help me feel better. Amen!"

Today he's like a different child. He slept all night (we both fell asleep in my bed about 8:30) and drank all of his chocolate milk this morning! HOPEFULLY, we're over the hardest part now.
Thank you, Jesus!!!

What we've been up to...

2008-02-18T14:54:00.002-06:00

Riley had his surgery last Thursday. Everything went fine. He's been pretty cranky, but that's to be expected I guess. Here's a pic of his "impressive tonsils".
He ate 3 popsicles before we left the SurgiCenter.
Jake had a good birthday. Can't believe he's 8!

Riley is getting his tonsils out!

2008-02-08T08:30:00.000-06:00

We went to the ENT yesterday and Riley has "impressive" tonsils. So, we have him scheduled for surgery on Valentine's Day. At first it didn't seem like the Dr. wanted to take them out because he's so young, but once he saw them, he decided it would be best as long as I could get him to drink a lot after the surgery. As long as we have chocolate milk, I don't think that'll be a problem.

While we were there, Riley & Hunter got weighed in. Riley was 42 pounds (the weight of an average 5 year old--30 lbs is normal for a 2 1/2 year old) and Hunter was 58 pounds (the weight of an average 8 year old--45 is normal for an almost 6 year old). They aren't fat, they are just SOLID! Riley is 39 inches tall, which is the height of an average 3 1/2 year old. The height predictor calculation is to take their height at 2 1/2 and double it. If that's true, he'd be 6' 6"! Even though they look like their daddy, there must be some Turner genes in there somewhere!!

2008-02-04T22:08:00.000-06:00

It was a great birthday. Larissa and Ashtyn watched the boys while Kelly & I went to eat. They made me this awesome cake!!

They even helped Jake & Hunter pull those loose teeth!

Jake's Birthday Party!!

2008-02-04T10:24:00.000-06:00

We had some houseguests this weekend. A mommy dog and her 3 puppies stayed with us. They are a border collie mix. The boys have named them Sally, McQueen, Fluffy and Buddy. They are all very sweet dogs. If anyone is interested in adopting them, let me know!!

Princess was NOT impressed! The puppies were bigger than her and really wanted to play.

We had Jake's birthday party a little early so we could have it at the Monster Truck Show this past weekend. We had a great time! We sat so close to the action that we had dirt and mud slung all over us. And we were a little hard of hearing by the end of the night.

Jake's birthday cake!

The boys taking a ride on "Sudden Impact"!
The Equalizer

Here's a video of the action! click to watch

2008-02-04T09:39:00.000-06:00

I'm starting off with an e-mail that my mom sent me. It's one of those that's been forwarded and forwarded and it doesn't say where it came from or who wrote it, but I recognized it from the first sentence. It's an exerpt from a book called, "The Invisible Woman, when only God sees" by Nicole Johnson. I have the book and read it a few years ago, but it's just what I needed to hear today!

I'm invisible.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please." I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going - she's going - she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean.My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she' d given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: * No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record oftheir names. * These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never seefinished. * They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees."I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It wasalmost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become." At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not adisease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of myown self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. as one of the people who show up a t a job that they w ill never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes aturkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Lauren's Wedding!

2008-01-29T11:05:00.000-06:00

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

We had SO much fun this past weekend in Houston. We started off by seeing our Godson, Anderson! He and Riley had the best time playing and it was so great to see Jill & Cody. The boys had a blast playing and we got to see Reese Kathryn for the 1st time! She is so sweet!

Friday morning we had breakfast with the family at Aunt Ruth's in celebration of Lauren and Wade's wedding.

the grandkids (minus 12)

the great-grandkids

Kyle....stylin... freestyle...

The rehersal dinner was so yummy with food from Pappasitos!

Jake couldn't wait to try on his tux!!

The ONLY time Riley put down his Cars movie all weekend....

a little wedding dentistry

Jake, the dancing machine

The wedding was beautiful and just perfect. We loved every second and it went by way too fast. To the Bates, you all did a wonderful job planning and coordinating. Thank you so much for all of the hard work you put into making our visit so special.

Picture of the Day

2008-01-16T11:38:00.000-06:00

Jake's teacher just sent me this picture of Hunter from his Christmas Program. As you can see, he had a blast!

2008-01-13T20:32:00.000-06:00

WOW!! Look at these beauties! My nieces saw Taylor Swift in concert & got pics with her!! We love Taylor Swift here, the boys know every word to every song!

Kristen & Taylor
Katelyn & Taylor

2008-01-13T20:18:00.000-06:00

I added this picture of Hunter to the Jones Soda label contest. I guess Riley wasn't chosen:( Whatever!! They don't know what they're missing...

I also added some pics from my trip to the San Diego Zoo. They are very random, but it seems to be what they like. http://www.jonessoda.com/

go to Gallery and search "Christy Graham" and all of mine will pop up

2007-12-27T08:24:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We had a good one. The boys were excited that Santa brought them a new trampoline. We hadn't had one since Hurricane Rita bent our last one up when we were in Houston.

Riley got lots of Cars and Hot Wheels stuff. Hunter loaded up on Power Rangers. Jake got a new book that he loves, The Dangerous Book For Boys and some Jugs equipment for the batting cage Kelly is getting ready to start on. He carries that book with him everywhere, if you've never heard of the book, here's a link to the website --click on "View the trailer" http://www.dangerousbookforboys.com/. Jake really wants to build a treehouse, but we don't have any trees!! They got a Playstation2 from the Taylors and the Newmans and I don't know who's enjoying it more, them or me!! I sneak it into my room after they go to bed :)

ok, I'm a loser....

2007-12-27T08:07:00.000-06:00

I am uploading pics to the website right now....after I get my coffee....

I'm Sorry!!

2007-11-21T07:44:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post. I guess I'll just try to think of what has happened since then...

We had a wonderful visit with Beverly & Keith a couple weekends ago! I feel so blessed to have been able to spend that time with them! We had a blast.

Jake made the Soccer All-Star team, I don't think they have any games or anything though.

Last Sunday morning, the boys were fighting over who would be first to get their hair washed before church. Jake was leaning over the tub and Hunter piled on top of him. Jake said, "I'm first, but it hurts to be first!" I guess you had to be there, it was so funny at the time.

Everyone is wild this morning, maybe because of the weather, maybe because they don't have school. A big cold front came in (it was 83 yesterday and today the high is supposed to be 50) and even the dogs are feeling their oats.

I was so proud of my boys yesterday! When I picked Hunter up from school, there was a big sheet on their door with all of the kids' responses to what they are most thankful for. Hunter's response was God and Jesus. When I picked Riley up, his teacher told me that he was the only one who said God when she asked them what they were most thankful for. I'm going to just believe that's what he said, but more than likely he really said chocolate milk.

We are expecting a houseful for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Kelly's family will be coming over. Casey and Lindsay will be here tonight, along with Bruce and JoBeth. Thankfully Lisa is doing the turkey & dressing. I made 8 batches of rolls on Monday! I sold 6 pans and the rest are in the freezer.

It amazes me how easy it is to fill up 3 fridges and 1 deep freeze. And I could use another one! By the time I have 3 teen age boys, I'm sure I'll need a couple more!

All of the boys are up now. Hunter just woke up! I love "no school" days!

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving! I am most thankful for God and Jesus, of course, and my boys (including my wonderful husband)! I'm thankful for our family and friends. I'm thankful to be living in a country where we are free!! I'm thankful for our home and our animals! :) There is so much I'm thankful for, I could go on and on, but I need to get busy!!

I try to save lives, Kelly takes them....

2007-11-04T15:42:00.000-06:00

Just kidding, it's really not as bad as it sounds. Kelly shot a big 8 point buck on opening day of deer season!!! YEAH!!! I'm SO happy for us :) This is extremely good news as I will not be a hunting widow for deer season this year.

It weighed 148 pounds field dressed and without its head. Isn't that a lovely description? So everyone is getting deer meat as Christmas gifts this year! haha.

Jake was concerned when he found out that his Daddy had shot a deer. He said that he didn't want Kelly to hold him up to see it in the back of the truck, he wanted to climb up there himself so he could "have some control" over seeing it. Hunter, on the other hand, was petting it.

Jake & Hunter had their last soccer games yesterday. Hunter scored 2 goals!! Their team ended the season with no losses. Jake's team lost to the Tarantulas for the 2nd time, their only losses for the season. There is an All-Star team and I think he might have a chance to make it, we'll see!

The boys had fun on Halloween. We started off the night on the square at the Humane Society pet costume contest. We had a great turn-out, I was so happy. Then we went to our friends' house and went trick-or-treating with them. The boys were pretty tired, so we really didn't stay out too long. But we certainly got plenty of candy.

2007-10-30T20:39:00.000-05:00

OK, I've been a bad blogger. But I've put some pictures on the website!

http://www.thelanhamboys.com/

We had a great time in Florida. The boys met Shrek & Scooby Doo. Riley wasn't very impressed, but the big boys were. Our flight there wasn't too eventful, they didn't even ask for the birth certificates...of course. We ate the best pizza when we got to the hotel and then headed for Universal Studios. The boys played and Riley saw Barney, who didn't impress him much either. Peter had his big b-day bash Friday night and Shrek was the celebrity guest. Saturday, the boys slept until 10:00! They were exhausted. We headed over to Islands of Adventure and the boys loved the Jurassic Park Section. They had REAL dinosaurs....they still think they were real. They even showed one hatching from an egg, it was pretty cool I must admit--very realistic. We got poured on about 4:00 so we decided to head back to the hotel. Not before a stop at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville though! We showered and headed back out that night & ate at Margaritaville and then went to Pat O'Brien's (no kids of course). Sunday morning after breakfast, I packed up while Kelly took the boys swimming. Then we came home! It went by really fast, but it was really fun.

Sorry I'm not more in-detail! I'm sure Kelly will have more details if I can get him to write something.

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! Who is this guy a carbon copy of???

Our Rachael Ray pumpkin

Princess is dressing up like a bag of groceries for Halloween...

Recap--Wednesday through Thursday night

2007-10-29T12:35:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since the last post. Last week was a pretty busy one. Can't remember what happened the 1st part of the week, but starting about Wednesday it got kind of hectic! For those of you who didn't know, we spent the weekend in Orlando celebrating the birthday of Kelly's boss' son. We left for Dallas on Thursday night and spent the night there because our flight out was at 9:15 Friday morning. Good thing we did too, because we didn't even have time to eat breakfast before we boarded the flight. We are always running late! I need to back up to Wednesday night to fill in all of the details, because they all add up to be kind of funny....now that I look back on them. They weren't funny at all at the time!
Wednesday night: I took a bite of a caramel and there was something hard in it. I pulled it out and found something white & really hard. I was disgusted for a minute until I figured out it was part of my tooth...jagged filling is sticking out and I find myself sticking my tongue over there constantly.
Thursday: Boys are at school luckily, so I try to get all packed up and everything organized so we can leave after school. Kelly's going to come home at lunch to pack so we can pick him up on the way out. 12:30 Kelly doesn't come home for lunch, but I had already made it for him--just thought I'd throw that in--says he'll be home in a little while, save it for him. Around this time I realize that Hunter, with his fetish for keys, has lost the keys to our lock box, which is where I keep birth certificates--might need those for the airport! So I start calling locksmiths. No answer at the 1st place. The 2nd place, the guy is working and won't be done till about 5:15. I think, oh that'll be too late, we'll be gone by then. 2:30 start picking up boys! Hunter and his friend Austin are 1st. After I pick them up, I decide I can't make it through the weekend with the broken tooth. My tongue is almost bleeding from the sharp metal. We go sit in the dr. office and wait. I realize I'm not going to get it done in time to go get Riley at 3:00. I call Kelly to see if he can pick up Riley and Jake, but he can't, still working and can't leave. Luckily one of the ladies he works with has a daughter at Riley's school and she offers to pick him up. So she takes Riley to Kelly. I finally have to leave to get Jake at 3:10. We get back and wait for just a few minutes and I get all fixed up. They smoothed the filling off for me. One problem solved.
So we get home and I try to finish up with all of the "leaving home preparation details" that have been entirely left up to me!!
About 5:00, as I'm pulling out to go meet the locksmith, Kelly gets home. So I go to the local trailer park and a guy working out of the back of his van gets the lock box open in less than a minute. So I think to myself, why do I even have these important papers locked up?? On my way back home, Kelly tells me that the cats are NOT staying in the house. So we move all the cats and cat accessories to the garage. Well, the cats catch on pretty quickly and one escapes. So we spend the next 30 minutes searching for her. While I'm searching, I step in another hole and twist my same ankle again! What luck...I'm beginning to think I'm not supposed to go on this trip. We finally leave the house after 6:00. After about a 4 hour drive to Dallas by the time all is said and done, we get to the hotel. Of course Riley falls asleep 15 min. before we get there! All 3 boys sleep in the same bed--at all different angles. No one got much sleep that night!
TO BE CONTINUED....got to go do some laundry!

Our weekend

2007-10-22T09:44:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We had a pretty good one. Jake's football team did great, but unfortunately lost the championship game. By 1 point!! But they had a great season and hopefully had fun.

We had a houseguest this weekend! Rosie the dog stayed with us for the weekend. She is from the Humane Society & wanted a little time away from being caged up. So she went with us around town this weekend looking for someone to adopt her! We have some great prospects, so hopefully one will work out for her. We had a great time visiting with her and she loved playing with Blue. She's a sweet girl and we wish her the best!

Here's a picture of Riley at the football game. He's such a ham. Everytime he sees me pull the camera out, he says "cheese!".

Hunter had a great soccer game. Not sure exactly what the score was, but they won!

Yesterday my boys gave new meaning to the "pearl snap shirt" fashion...

I missed the best photo opportunities yesterday because I didn't have my camera with me. We went to Wichita Falls after church and drove the truck. Riley sits in the middle, with his loving big brothers on either side. Riley likes to grab them both by their hair and slam their heads together. He does this quite a bit, so I'm sure I'll get another opportunity to catch it on film.

Riley was exhausted by the time we were headed back and was falling asleep. His brothers just couldn't stand it and were being so mean to the poor baby! They just kept messing with him. We stopped by the deer lease on the way home and as soon as we pulled in, Riley's eyes popped open and he was trying to get to the bed of the truck as fast as he could so he could ride back there with his brothers. We cooked out at the deer lease with our friends, the Sullivents, as the big cold front blew in! It was rather chilly, and Jake was kind of scared of what the weather was going to do.

I really wish that I had my camera at the deer lease. I can't even begin to recall all of the things that happened...but everything can pretty much be started off with "You might be a redneck...."

Hunter's favorite part was going out on the "deer lease truck". I don't think I can give this truck the credit it deserves by describing it with words. I can just say that you just have to see it. I promise I will take my camera next time. It is an old Nissan that has been pretty much stripped of everything on the inside except the gear shift and the pedals. That's not even the best part though...as Kelly said so eloquently last night (after I asked him if we could ride on it in the Christmas Parade)...it's not exactly "street legal". It has been modified to seat more people than it did originally. There have been seats from another vehicle welded on to the top of the bed...up way high so you can see everything! It's kind of scary at first. Kelly and Dallas were nice enough to let Melissa and I sit back there with all the kids! So in the back of the truck, we had Melissa & me, Taylor and Delaney--their daughters, Jake, Hunter, Riley and Sugar--their dog. And 300 lbs. of deer corn. That's pretty impressive for the little truck! I'm sure we weren't a rollover hazard AT ALL...

We found Uncle Casey's deer stand toppled over, so we had to get it up-righted. It sounds a lot easier than it was done. There was one particular mesquite tree that was wounded in the process. But the good news is that it now has a lovely deer stand a top it and it is lovely...it was personally spray painted by a teen-aged Kelly Lanham.

It was starting to get dark and very cold & windy...and the truck had been on empty for a couple of hours, but when I questioned Kelly about it, he said, "Oh, I don't even know if the fuel gauge even works..." Great!

So we make it back to camp...thank you, God!!...and we start up the fire. Oops, Dallas forgot to bring any utensils to cook with! No problem...in case you're ever in this situation, a nail pulling tool doubles great as a burger flipper, and pliers....why didn't I ever think of this....are perfect for turning bratwurst!!! I learned so much last night. :)

Anyway, it was a good weekend and we had fun. Thanks for reading about our life! Have a great week!

Add me to the injured list....

2007-10-19T08:39:00.000-05:00

Well, you try to do something good & look what happens. Kelly and I decided to get up and walk together yesterday morning...at 5 am...it was still very dark. There was no moon, but the stars were bright. I commented on how dark it was when we left, but he said, "Oh, it's not dark!". We had made it over half way when a car came and I stepped off the pavement and twisted my ankle. I really thought it was broken! I didn't get ANY sympathy at all!! Kelly told me to get up and walk. He wasn't even going to carry me home! Anyway, it's swollen up pretty nicely now. Hunter waited on me last night & brought me an ice pack. At least I have ONE compassionate guy in the bunch! :)

Wow, it's really cold here this morning, 42! Of course it's supposed to get up in the 80's as the high. So it won't last long. Beautiful day though, not a cloud in the sky. It's a great day for a walk....oh wait, I forgot...it's too bright out there, I might actually be able to see where I'm going!

So with me being crippled and all, you might be asking yourself, "Well, what are the boys doing?" Well, I'll show you...

Riley is making a big sticky mess with the grape juice that Jake left within his reach.....

It's very tasty off the table....

Hunter is watching some fine quality television.....

Here's a picture of the fine quality television he's watching....Power Rangers....ugh!

So anyway, that's what is going on here! Hopefully I'll be able to get something done today. Jake has a football game and Hunter has a soccer game tomorrow. Both teams are undefeated, so hopefully we can stay that way!

2007-10-17T09:24:00.000-05:00

Not a whole lot going on at the Lanham household. Looks like it may start raining any second. We've enjoyed much cooler weather the past couple of days. Jake had a soccer game last night and it was actually cool! (They are usually on Saturdays at 1:00 and it's usually very hot.) They won 2-1...it was a nail-biter! It was 0-0 at halftime. Jake did great and had some outstanding plays! He had some great kicks and used his whole body to block a ball being thrown in-bounds toward the other team's goal. It is so fun to watch him play soccer when he is "into" it!

Oh my gosh, I forgot to remind everyone! Yesterday was National Feral Cat Day!!

2007-10-15T22:02:00.000-05:00

The Lanham Boys wasn't our first choice for a name; Three Thugs & Three wise guys were already taken so we had to settle. The boys have been very vocal this fall about the need for Bill Byrne to fire TAMU football coach Dennis Franchione. Poor boys have never experienced a victory in Lubbock since they were born. on the upside Riley is 1-1 against Texas. They are anxiously awaiting basketaball & baseball season. They are pretty excited to have two cousins playing college baseball. They have all enjoyed going to watch the Graham Steers home football games. The Steers are undefeated and the quarterback is the brother of University of Texas - Colt McCoy. Riley got so excited at the last game that he threw up on Christy in the stands - or was it because he was choking on a cracker, hard to tell. We are all excited about deer season and look forward to getting Jake on the stand for the first time, he is still too young to shoot something so we will save that until next year. The boys really love animals and its a good thing since Christy has turned our house into "Humane Society West" (the humane society is on the East side of Graham). Jake has had some really good runs in football and is becoming suprisingly more aggresive on defense. He has had a great year in soccer. Hunter is doing well when Hunter wants to. The problem is he doesn't always want to. The one thing I have noticed about Hunter though is that when he makes his mind up he is very determined. We were all suprised to see him in the back yard tackling much older boys really hard the other day when he was playing football. When he decides to go after someone - look out. Jake made straight A's for the first six weeks and continues to do well. Hunter continues to suprise me with how smart he is, he will answer some of Jakes homework questions before Jake can. Riley is spoiled rotten and a complete Momma's boy, but they all were at one time or the other. I dont think he has any other option but to be tough. He thinks Jake & Hunter are the coolest guys in town except when they take things away from him. I drank a bottle of water I found on the counter last Sunday after working in the yard. The water tasted horrible, I asked Christy to take a drink to see if it was just me. She smelled it and said it smelled like pee. She asked the boys if they had peed in any bottles and they just started laughing uncontrollably and said yes. I don't believe them or rather chose not to believe them but in any case I am not drinking anything around the house anymore that is not sealed. I pulled a sticker out of Hunters foot today in the drive way. He kept covering it up and wouldn't let me touch it so I grabbed his foot and he started wiggling all over, rared back and hit his head on the concrete, poked my hand with the sticker and then it fell out. He then looked at me and said "well that was the easy way to do that". He is one funny little guy when he wants to be.

2007-10-15T21:17:00.000-05:00

OK, guess I'll be a nerd too! Lauren has inspired me to try this. Hopefully I can keep up with it...we'll see!

I've been really bad about sending pictures lately, I know! Here are a few I took tonight....

Jake is staying busy with school, football and soccer. He is on the Red Raiders flag football team and they are undefeated. Their game on Saturday will decide the season champs. His soccer team lost their 1st game on Saturday. He has done really well and I think that was the 1st game he hadn't scored a goal.

Hunter is also playing soccer. His team, the Cars, is also undefeated! He scored one goal a couple of weeks ago!

Riley is not playing any sports yet, but is an avid supporter of his brothers. He's not missed a game yet. He wants to do everything they do and he doesn't realize he's not as old as they are. If I want him to do something and he won't, I often ask one of his brothers to tell him to do it and he does it immediately. I'm sure that's a great parenting technique, but whatever works, right?

I am keeping busy with all of my animals! Troy and Blue are doing fine. Troy is pretty much blind as a bat, but as long as we don't move stuff around or he doesn't run in to a cat, he's ok. Blue is making lots of friends with neighbors who walk by. He runs at them as fast as he can and barks at them as loud as he can.

We have 6 cats now! Tigger, Tiger, Rachael Ray, Midnight, Princess, and Oscar/Shamu/MooMoo/Moose...we can't decide what to call him. He's about as big as Troy and is the sweetest thing. Someday I'll write the story about those last 2. They have just been with us about a month.

I am running the website for our local Humane Society-- http://www.humanesociety-yc.org/
Check it out every once in a while! See if there are any animals you're interested in!! :)

Kelly stays busy at work! He coaches Jake's football team and Hunter's soccer team in his spare time. He doesn't enjoy watching the Aggie football team this year, but he does it anyway..some sort of torture I guess. Deer season starts Nov. 3rd, so we'll look forward to seeing him again sometime after Christmas :)

2007-10-15T17:06:00.000-05:00

More to come soon!