February's FLYIN' By!

Where has this month gone? With basketball & other activities...it's just flown by. It was warm & now it's cold again. I'm excited for spring & some good times outside.

We have been missing Max every single day. Life is just not the same without him ~ and we are trying to keep Barkley from being alone. Bless his heart. He is so calm & comes inside & just lays down. Kenlee & Logan are doing such a great job helping him heal from losing his buddy. They love on him & he is so gentle. What a blessing he is.




Basketball has been so much fun. I'm so proud of the progress Logan has made. He's really good at defense & is really enjoying this sport. It's been so much fun to watch & I can't wait for him to play next year. He will be 10 & have braces by that time!! We scheduled his braces for late May ~ our orthodontist said it should take about 2 years. That will mean he's growing up! He has all of his adult teeth now! He's officially no longer a little kid.


Last weekend we spent with some friends & had the best time. We danced & just enjoyed each other's company & I loved every minute of it. Life is precious, and it's good to spend it with people we love! Allie - Kenlee had a blast with you! Logan will join us next time. He got to go to his first Jacksonville State University game with Nana & Papa & his favorite part was the cheerleaders performing. Uh no :) He liked the mascot, too.

March is full of activities for the kids...including Logan's first chess tournament! :) This should be fun to watch. It's a good thing he is smarter than his Mom!!


Kenlee is into these funny faces. She's just like her Daddy & last week she said so many funny things, I should have written them down. She said "Awe Man" & shrugged her shoulders when we told her it was time for bed the other night & she tells her Biggy that he's "So Crazy" when he makes her laugh. She's been talking about a little boy in her MDO class & Josh has already told her she didn't need to mess with him :) HA! It already starts at two!





My Mom goes back to the Dr. next month about her artery & I'm praying for it to be clear. She & my Dad are in St. Augustine visiting my brother & his family. I'm missing my family & also hope to head to Gulf Shores soon to see my sister & Katie. I have more pictures to download & I'll save those for the next post. I hope everyone is going to have a great weekend!

Silly Black Dog

The only animal that I've had that has died was Murphy Brown, we had him for probably 15 years. He was a shephard mix & a part of our family. I've not really been able to put words together for a post, but this past week our bloodhound, Max, passed away. He died of gastric torsion & we found him one afternoon in the back yard curled up ~ it was such a shock because he was only 6 1/2 ~ but as we've done research & talked to several people that have had bloodhounds, this kills 35% of the breed & their lifespan is usually just 8 years old. Our emotions come & go & it seems the afternoons & evenings are the saddest times for us. Last year we had adopted a mix breed "Barkley" that was the perfect match for Max ~ they were such good buddies. It just makes us so sad to not see his big lanky body running around, Josh & Logan not loving on him every night like they did, and I just can't imagine our lives without him in it. He's a great boy - as wild as he was, just gave us unconditional love & always loved his hips rubbed or a good wrestle from his friend, Barkley. I wish we could have him here with us as long as we live :)
So now we are a family with one dog, wishing we had two again ~ but our plan isn't ours...and we are giving Barkley lots of TLC & making sure he knows we will fill the void of not having his buddy, Max, around. When we move, we'll get another one, I'm sure.
So Maxwell Bleu Hudspeth - we love you & always will...wishing you were here with us, "Mackey Boy" as Kenlee called you. As a gift to Logan to remember his silly black dog, I'm having his teacher paint a picture of them together for him as a surprise. Logan has been so brave & sweet about all of this...I'm just thankful for all of the memories.

Saturday with LOVE!!

Today was non stop - but a good day. Logan had his next to last basketball game & played SOOO good! I think it's such a fun sport & I love how he gets into it. I would love for him to play this as he gets older...
I left my Lovie with my little Lovie's & headed to Mt. Laurel to massage a special couple that have been with me for a while & they are celebrating 33 years of marriage! I went to the cutest little store, Simplicity, where I picked up all 3 of my Valentine's something & loved every minute of being in that store. The owner was so sweet & down to earth & I will go back - they have Melissa & Doug toys for Kenlee & also a lot of KLUTZ toys for Logan. I know where I'm going from now on for gifts. There was still some snow in Mt. Laurel which was just beautiful. I miss working there & going there on a daily basis.
To top it off...my husband had mopped & done laundry & the kitchen was CLEAN when I got home. That is the best Valentine's gift I could ever receive...other than all of his love!!! HA!And I didn't even ask!!! LOVE IT!
Here are a few pictures from the big Alabama snow. It was BEAUTIFUL & I'm thankful the kids got to see it.


My Mom said she looks like she was about to ski here :)


Had to try it out. Good thing it wasn't yellow. :)



Too bright to look, Mom!


I joined facebook & have neglected the blog. I have to get back to posting a lot because I want the kids to look back & read this one day :)

Little Miss Thing made this for her Dad & I for Valentine's day. I love it.


And Logan made his first Valentine's card for his little girlfriend. She is in his gifted class with him & his regular class. I'm going to have to check her out :)

A Monday Post...

I haven't updated much lately, so I downloaded some pictures for the sake of some blog memories! We've all been under the weather, so I'm hoping we can pep it up this week. Kenlee is snoozing right now & it's 9:30 am - which is not her norm!! None of us can breathe good, we're all stuffy - I'm thinking it's the virus Logan had last week & some junk we ate over the football weekend. :)
Logan's been doing good & having fun in basketball. I'm so proud of him. We went to Ballantrae this weekend & there is a HUGE picture canvas of some great little golfers down the hall in the pro shop - I wish I had my camera to take a picture. It was an ad this photographer did last summer during their kids clinic for golf & it's a big canvas of Logan, about 3 other kids, & the pro, Hal. My parents were looking at houses there over the weekend...I'm trying to get them closer to all of the fun!! This week we're doing a pizza party for his class to celebrate Valentine's Day..I can't believe it's Valentine's already!


Here the boys are saying a prayer for a safe week after the game on Saturday.


He got so red & hot from coughing - bless his heart!


Having fun with the guys after the game.

Here are a few random pic's I took last week. Logan was home for 3 days with croup, so we took it easy. He's still coughing, but he's on the mend! Miss Thing started coughing yesterday, but I've been giving her some Dr. Jessica stuff & she isn't croupy - I'm hoping we caught it before it got bad. I have been stuffing her with some raw broccoli, peas, carrots, turkey & just good for you foods to get her well. I've learned that junk just doesn't agree with her little system :)


Having some chicken & carrots sticks. I don't know how she loves these,but she just does.


Kenlee fell asleep while watching her favorite, Stuart Little one afternoon.


She's quite the little photographer!


Josh & Logan playing Chess. Logan tried to teach me & it wasn't a success. Josh is mad that I took this picture & wants to know what I did with his hair. :)

I'm not a football fan, but we did watch the Super Bowl last night. I rooted for Indiana since that's where we Brown's were all hatched. :) Josh tried to teach me what they were doing...I'm not good with most sports (except basketball & baseball) How embarrassing though..I had to watch a million games for danceline & just cheered when everyone else did for Saks. I shouldn't even say that. :)

Have a good week!

Happy Birthday ~ Allie!!

This smiling face has been a part of our lives for a while now & we adore her, especially Kenlee. Allie is a good friend, protector of Kenlee, fashionista, designer in the making, good Mario battler, fast softball player, little diva in the making. We are happy you are now double digits, Allie & can't wait to celebrate with you!! Love you!

Ooooh! Simple Pleasures!!

Kelly from Kelly's Korner did a McLinky post on some simple pleasures. I don't like any complicated links b/c my brain doesn't do well (It's probably not even complicated), but I'm going to list a few of my favorite simple pleasures & maybe you will want to comment with yours!!
~Having the windows open with a slight breeze & smelling fresh air!! (Like today!)
~Going to bed early!
~Feeding my kids a good meal & the hubby.
~Having a good stress free visit with my family.
~Getting my hair done (long overdue now, though)
~Giving Josh a massage & him falling asleep
~Having a pedicure
~Eating @ Taziki's!!
~Taking a nap after church with my family
~Talking to my parents & they both sound like they feel good & all is well with their world!
~Hearing a song @ church & it moves me to cry!! ~ makes me feel His spirit!
~Having friends over & just relaxing
~When my car is clean on the inside & outside.


These are probably silly ~ but those are my simple pleasures.

Chili without a packet mix :)

I ventured out today. I made chili that didn't come from a Chili'O packet!
Here's the recipe...it is good!

2 lbs. ground sirloin
onion (use flakes if you don't love onion chunks:) )
2- 16 oz. cans of whole tomatoes
1- 16 oz. can chili beans
3 or 4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 c. brown sugar (I used dark, it's what we had)
salt & pep to taste
garlic powder


Brown hamburger with onions in a large saucepan stirring until crumbly. Drain. Add tomatoes, chili beans, chili powder, brown sugar and rest of ingredients to taste & mix well. Simmer for 1.5 hours on low/med. heat, stirring often.
Enjoy!