Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas!

Santa came, and brought Emily a fully furnished Doll House with and SUV. She had a stocking stuffed with goodies and lots of presents. She got a new guitar & keyboard. The two noisy butts in the picture below received a stocking full of bones and two new stuffed pigs. They were only interested in Emily's presents. She had a big Christmas, and ate some of Grandma's spaghetti. ( For those of you who are not aware, Jill makes the best spaghetti that I have ever eaten in my entire life!) Unfortunately I did not get to eat with them because we had just left my moms house and I had to go and cook a casserole for my grandmothers house. Emily wanted to eat at Grandma's and who can blame her.





Emily got lots of things that she is very proud of. She has been checking everything out from Laney and Lilley running to me typing with her Hot Wheel Radar Gun that her Granddaddy gave her.





She also got new puppy named Patch that she is taking care of. Her Grandma gave Patch to her and she has been very good about feeding him.

I videoed her playing her guitar and she has requested that I not place the video on the website. But she was having fun! We finished our night by reading the first two chapters of Charlotte's Web. She received the book from our neighbors Harry & Carol last weekend. She and I wanted to keep reading but it was getting late so we had to stop reading. So far Wilbur (the pig) was born a runt and Fern has taken him in and raised him. He had to be sold to the Zuckerman's, Fern's aunt and uncle down the street.

Well we are starving and going to get something to eat. We all slept in until 10am or later today. So we are getting a late start.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas & We Love You!

PRESENTS!

Early presents, man they are GREAT! This was one of Emily's early Christmas presents a Doodle Dino that she name Scalemon. He is really fun and has been lots of places with us. He joined us today for some Mexican at La Hacienda in town. We then went to my Gramps' and my Mom and Dads. My mom wrote I love you on his back, I put some lips on his cheek, some bugars hanging from his nose, and Chance drew him a six pack of abs. Emily has painted his toes and fingers, given him a heart, and colored his teeth. I am sure that Scaley will be joining us for a lot more outings, so be on the lookout, you may meet a new friend.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Santa's Helper's

Laney Belle

Lilley Blossom

Laney & Lilley are ready for Christmas. Since I have been working at Bemis the girls have been GREAT. We have been able to allow both of them to have the run of the house while I was at work, coming home at lunch to let them out daily. Well, in the last couple of days Lilley has decided that she would help out by opening and destroying everyone's presents for them. At first she was only tearing into mine and Brian's. She has since gotten Chance's, Jordan's, Emily's, and my Daddy's.

So far she has gotten into a total of six presents and we have had to replace two of them. She knows she is doing wrong because she ducks her head and her ears go back and she cannot get outside fast enough when I arrive at the house. We thought at first that she was trying to get her basket of treats that are wrapped under the tree but strangely enough she has never touched them. Obviously she knows they are hers and wants something to open on Christmas morning. So rather than get into her own she has decided to help everyone else with theirs.

Brian thanked her as he ended up getting all three Matrix DVD's early. Chance on the other hand would be furious if he only knew what she destroyed, but hopefully the replacement will be here before Christmas. We gave them these HUGE bones in hopes that they would be pacified, unfortunately we have had to resort to putting Lilley back in the cage while we are at work. I hate to do it, but like I said she knows that she is in the wrong, and we can't afford to replace all the Christmas presents under the tree because she wants to be so helpful to everyone.

Three more days!!! I cannot wait!!!

Love you all!

"I have regained my throne!"

Brian's comment tonight after finishing the game. "And I have regained my throne!" Three nights in a row we have played. When I got home we had supper and then I said go get the puzzle. He informs me that he has already counted out the Monopoly money because he just figured that I would want to play. Obviously he just could not stand the fact that I was the Champ two games in a row last night.

I love it!!

I am the Monopoly Princess!!!!

Just wanted to make a note that I am now the Monopoly Princess. All the money, houses, and hotels on the board are MINE. Brian is OUT!!! Not only did this happen once tonight but TWICE!!! So this is for Emily, I beat him two times and he was the one left with no money!!! The second game I had all hotels and Brian had to buy back all his houses and hotels to pay me for landing on one of my spaces with a hotel. OH YEAH, I AM A ROCKSTAR - BABY!

Puzzled??

Well, in case you were wondering how we spent our weekend, this is it. Emily asked Friday night if we could get a 3D puzzle from Wal-Mart. We bought the puzzle after we finished eating Chinese. We started working Saturday morning and here we are. The puzzle is really pretty and Brian and I found shortly after that we were the only ones working on it. Emily did a really good job and got a lot of things put together and then of course Brian did the rest. I call myself the finisher, because I would look and look and then I would find the LAST piece to complete a fish and I would finish them up. HAHAHA! Where would Brian be without me.

We let Emily have one of her presents early on Saturday because it is tradition in my house to open one present early. Emily got Monopoly from Laney and Lilley. So we started playing not realizing how long the game was. So our entire weekend was spend playing Monopoly and working on the puzzle it seemed. We all had a ball and just so everyone knows Brian is the KING OF MONOPOLY!

Emily liked Monopoly in the beginning and bought all the properties that she could. She did a really good job and was learning about money. I don't believe that we ever finished one game because it seemed to go on forever and she and I would get bored with it.

The weather is so warm that I am having a hard time getting into the Holiday Spirit. I am praying for a cold front to rush through and possibly some snow. Can't wait to see everyone!

Love you all.

Laney Belle

Laney Belle after one of many nightly Belly Checks to see how much she has broken out that day to report back to the vet.

Well, as most of you know we have had MAJOR problems with Ms. Laney and her allergies. There is no telling how much money we have spent on medicine, hypo-allergenic foods, and treats for her. We have been in and out of the vet for more than a a year and received prescription after prescription. We are going to bite the bullet in January and have her allergy tested, so that we can determine exactly what she is allergic to.

They will take her blood and send it off to a lab and they will test for everything, I have been told. We are very excited to finally find out what it is. They really hate to start her on allergy shots at her young age but if it will keep her comfortable and from scratching and chewing on her paws I am all for it. For the past 3 months she has been on predezone shots, and hopefully we will get lucky and determine what she is allergic to without having to start her on monthly allergy shots. They have told me that if we have to start her so young she will have to change her medicine over and over. The more we change the meds the more expensive they get.

She has been doing really well since we have gotten Lilley and now goes outside and plays for a while. In the past she would go outside and handle her business and dart for the door to come back inside. She spends the majority of her time chewing and scratching. She even misses out on play time with her Daddy. She does not seem to be nearly as uncomfortable as she used to be but if we can get her to a point where there is not itching and breaking out I will be so happy and I am sure she will be as well.

It's a Girl!

*IT'S A GIRL*

Robyn and Kerry are having a GIRL! So Aunt Misty will have a new niece in April! We are all very excited about Robyn being pregnant and even more excited now that we know the babies gender. We have all begun buying things for this little girl. I believe that she already has some PINK Air Jordan's! (Of course, that is for her Daddy the SHOE FREAK!)

*HERE SHE IS*

I cannot wait to start planning the shower, I am going to let the holidays pass before I start the party planning. I am really gonna miss Robyn's participation in the New Year's Eve drinking game that she and I always manage to have. No matter when I start I am always playing catch up to her. We try to keep up with one another, that way one of us always knows how many drinks we have had. This year however, she should have no problem keeping count of my drinks as she will have a sober mind.

Love you all & you too, Baby Girl Pennington

Comments II

Just thought I would let everyone know that I was messing with Mrs. Pasalakis who got on to me for not adding any recent posts! I knew she would get a good laugh out of this.

I was just messing with her! I hope no one takes this personally, I figured she would be my first and only comment. I love it! Thanks for checking in on us.

Love you ALL!

Comments

Who knew that anyone was still checking this Blog. I just decided I would add things every now and then for my own personal memories, considering no one ever leaves me any comments!

:O)

New Friends

Emily & Anna

Emily and Anna met Friday night after Emily finished the Tullahoma parade. Anna is my friend Brenna's step-daughter and she spent the weekend with us. They have had a great time. We went to the parade to watch Emily on Friday night and after that the fun began. They wanted to pull out the couch bed and sleep in the living room. As Brian was pulling out the beds these two nutheads started climbing and posing on top of all the pillows and cushions.

We celebrated Lilley Blossom's 1st Birthday on Saturday. She and Laney got dresses, sweaters, bones, and toys. (Because you know they both get gifts!) I will ad pictures when I get them developed. We went to Wal-Mart to pick out the gifts and a lot of people were asking if Emily and Anna were twins or if they were identical. No one could believe it when we told them that they were not even related. The girls thought it was hilarious!

The girls put up the Christmas Tree in Emily's room and they did an awesome job. This is the first year that Emily has had a tree in her room. We have it decorated in hot pink, turquoise, green, and white.

When they finished the decorating they played a little longer and then got ready for the Shelbyville Parade. Emily is very lucky to have wonderful grandparents that participate in so many fun things. Emily, Anna, Micky, and Jill rode in Micky's Impala through the parade Saturday night. They had a lot of candy and somehow manged to about run out of candy before they made it to us. We sat at Tropical Island with Robyn and her family and some family friends. I had a GREAT time. I have not gotten to spend a lot of time with Robyn in a while because I was in Smyrna and she has been very tired. Robyn is about 18 weeks pregnant and I think we are ALL VERY EXCITED! She will find out on Thursday whether she will be having a boy or a girl. Once we find that out, let the shopping begin!! I guess that is all for now.

Love you all!

Learning, Learning, Learning

Well, I have made it through my first few days with Bemis and there is A LOT to learn. I will be training with the lady that I am replacing until the 5th of January. I am spending the majority of my day watching and taking notes, but I am usually being shadowed in the afternoons. I haven't screwed anything up yet, so I am doing pretty good! Everyone seems to be really nice and most of them have been with the company for over 10 years. The majority of the staff is from Murfreesboro because the company moved to the 'Ville from the 'Boro a few years ago. They are all very envious of the fact that I can go home on my lunch, some have even asked to join me. I have my first lunch date with Amanda tomorrow. (I am very excited to get to send more time with friends that I have not gotten to see in a while because of my old work schedule.)


Laney and Lilley are loving every minute of it. Lilley is still spending her days in the giant cage because she turns into a WILD CHILD when we are gone. She really enjoys getting to go outside in the middle of the day and stretch her legs. We are going to have to get Ms. Laney back to the vet, yet again, because she is breaking out everywhere. Dr. Wilhelm had hoped that we would not have to start her on allergy shots at her age, but it looks like that my be our on hope of ensuring Laney has a comfortable and enjoyable day. You know me, I will do whatever it takes to make sure my babies are happy.

We made it through the Thanksgiving Holiday and Shopping Spree! Stuffed and broke but other than that I cannot complain. Here are a few pictures of Brian and I at Thanksgiving.

Compliments of Eric "Paparrazzi" Pasalakis.













Thanksgiving was not the same this year without my Granny, but I know Christmas will be 100 times harder for me. I just Thank God that I was given last year with her. My sister and I hosted the Dirty Santa at The Barton Christmas gathering at the Wheel Community Center last Christmas Eve and there was a Santa face door hanger that EVERYONE wanted. Well my Granny ended up with it and being the wonderful Granny that she always will be she made sure that I left with it. I cannot tell you how much it meant to me to see that Santa when I opened the many totes I have filled with Christmas decorations. I swear to you I will never cherish anything like I cherish it. I found that I had a river of tears that would not stop as I lifted it from the tote. I do not believe that I will ever have a day that I do not think of her and miss her. I am so fortunate to have been given the time I was given with her. She could have been here for a million years and I can assure you that to me, I would not have been satisfied because that would not have been nearly enough time with her either. I will cherish her memory the rest of my life and always remind myself that life is short. That is one good thing I can say about the way I was raised, I have never doubted the love my family and friends have for me nor do I think that they have ever doubted mine. We have always made sure to say I love you, no matter the circumstance. So if I have not told you lately, I love you and am so thankful for every second I have with you in my life!

Love you all!

Goodbye!

Today is the day! After 3 years with Staffmark this is my last day. I find that I have torn emotions today. I am very excited to take the next step on my path of life, but will also be leaving another behind me. I have been very fortunate in my career with Staffmark to encounter some amazing people. I have gained knowledge both professionally and personally that I know will be with me the rest of my life. I have made many wonderful friends over the years. Friends that I know my life would not be the same without, friends that I know will be with me forever.(You know who you are!) I have seen many people come and go over my career with Staffmark and have somehow managed to maintain contact with most of them. I am hopeful that my leaving will not be the end for me.

I am reminded of a saying "We are blessed by each person that enters our lives, and because of that person our lives will never be the same."

This holds true for me today because I have met some fabulous people along the way and am truly blessed for being given this opportunity. So thanks for everything.

Love you all!

A Weekend with Emily & The Girl's

Just wanted to share what we found hiding under our bed after Emily left on Sunday night. As most of you know my dogs are my babies and they have a lot of toys! Well, Emily usually spends more time on the weekends playing with Laney, Lilley, and their toys than she does her own. (Of course they don't mind because they LOVE, LOVE, LOVE every second they get with her!) Well Emily had taken most of the toys from their toy box and moved them under our bed. She figured out this weekend that she can climb under the bed and hide. She normally picks them all up before she leaves but this weekend she left them under the bed. Brian and Emily had been gone only minutes when out comes Laney and Lilley with Oli the Octopus. As you can see Oli has one toy tied to EVERY single tentacle. So the girls were both bringing Oli out from the bedroom. They were trying so hard to get the toys away from the Octopus but couldn't. I walk over to help them and pick up Oli only to find out exactly why my babies were having such a hard time. So you see, even when she has headed back home there is never a dull moment with Ms. Emily Reese! Brian and I just cracked up, because of course I left all the toys on there until he got back home. Hope this makes you smile. We did!


*Please note that Brian cannot take his eye's off of Party Poker long enough for me to take a picture*

Love Ya & Clam down Jennifer, just clam down.

Emily

Emily's school pictures are here and boy are they GREAT! We did not get a lot of them but we will share as many as we can. Brian ordered them before I looked at them and I was furious because they were expensive! I had no idea how good they were.

I learned my lesson! I kept complaining that he spent to much money because I can go to Wal-Mart and get a massive amount of pictures for $5.88. I agree though, these were totally worth every penny. Everyday I am more and more amazed at how much she has grown and how smart she is. Just the other day she was writing a letter to her Granddaddy about Veterans Day. She literally wrote almost every word herself and knew exactly where to put ever period, comma, and capitalization. I know I was not learning things like that in the 1st grade. I was probably more worried about stickers, stamps, or eating glue! Brian and I could not be prouder of her, just last week she received an award for being a good student. She was also awarded a certificate and $5.00 for a Blue Turkey that she and Helen made for a project. Helen said she would not share the $5.00 prize with her even when she explained to her that they could not have made the Turkey without the supplies that she purchased. Emily did not care, she wasn't coming off her money. She apparently hides it all somewhere at her Mommies house! The awesome thing is that she saves it to buy things for other people, not herself. She has just cleaned out her closet and is giving all her old things away to children less fortunate than she is to make room for her new Christmas items. She is wonderful!

The sleepover went well, Emily had a wonderful time. Brian headed over to his parent's house to get her on Saturday with a lot of laundry because our dryer broke. Thank God for family! We should have the part today. Hopefully we got the right thing, if not we are stuck with it. Of course he had no problem hanging out with the laundry considering Molly was there. He was telling me that Jennifer was in the other room and he had Molly laughing so hard that Jennifer thought she was crying. I hated I missed that but I was SHOPPING!

Just a few more days at Staffmark and then I am moving on. I am not sure what I am more excited about Thanksgiving Food or my New Job!

Love You All!

Mr. & Mrs. Reese

Mr. & Mrs. Reese

October 22, 2005

Brian and I have just celebrated our one year Anniversary!

Well, here we go! We are joining the rest of the family by starting our very own spot. Make sure to check in on us every now and then, you never know what you may find out! Ms. Molly is here and we are spending all the time we can with her and Jennifer before they have to leave. We wished E-Dawg could be here but he will be here soon.

Emily will be spending the night with Micky, Jill, Jennifer, and Molly tonight. She seemed very excited when we talked to her over the phone last night. She has lost two teeth so far and is racking up on the cash. I just cannot imagine what my life would be like without her in it, she makes everything so much more special. I am truly blessed!

I am starting a new job on the 27th!! Finally no more driving to and from Smyrna daily FOR ME, but Brian will still be making that glorious drive daily. I am going to work for Bemis in Shelbyville and I am very excited about it. I went for my drug screen yesterday and lucky for me it was a hair follicle test. So, needless to say I have a bald spot in my head from the massive amount of hair that was taken. Jennifer and my friend Brenna about freaked when they realized how much hair was taken, but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. It did make me realize just how lucky I am to be healthy and to not have the reality of possibly losing all my hair. I tell you it would be a huge adjustment.

Chance is on his way to Gatlinburg for a youth retreat this weekend. He is such an awesome kid. Lindy is teaching kindergarten at Southside and boy she was made for that job. She is a wonderful teacher. She left them with me for 2 minutes the other day and when she returned they were everywhere, all she had to do was clear her throat and they scurried like rats to their seats!

Below you will see just a few of the 320 pictures I took of our 1 Year Anniversay trip to Gatlinburg, TN. The pictures below are my favorites. I'm telling you it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I loved every minute of it. We had a great time and look forward to returning next year. I told everyone I was going to be a photographer when I got there, and I think I did a pretty good job.

That's all for now! Love you all!