wrong link

I had the link wrong it is www.cbc.mywirelessnews.com or you can click here! Sorry for the confusion!! Check it out!! :)

LOVE YOU ALL

Mama and Daddy....

So... I know I need to post pictures from my gpa's 80th birthday.. my goal is to do that today... and "Breaking Dawn" comes out tomorrow at midnight.. so I am on cloud nine... and maybe I should talk about that too... OR... I got to hang out with my great friends Shana and Amy yesterday and their kids and we had a ball.. I also got to see some Mid City (my Gpa's car dealership) folk. All of this is super exciting and I promise to give them each a blog they deserve... but right now all I can think about it a phone call I just got from my mom. They have started a new business and are so excited about it. They have a website (I think you can click on the word website and it should take you right too it.. I've never inserted a link before, so I hope that it works) :)

I am so happy for them. They want everyone to know about it and participate if they want to. So, click on the link... tell your friends!! If you have any questions.. email my mom @ cdcoady@aol.com. She would LOVE to hear from you...

Always make sure you have your phone when you leave TARGET!

So... Kev and I went into target today.. and I was talking on my phone trying to set up somethings for my grandparents party on sat. I finished my call... we got what we needed... and left Target.... and it seems my cellphone didn't. Target is not helpful. So.. I have to get a new phone. It will arrive tomorrow morning. BUT it won't have all my phone numbers in it. :(

And it also seems that I don't have the memory I once did. Could you please email me (Lysslawther@yahoo.com) your number? I wouldn't ask you to post it for everyone to see...

My number will be the same... so if you want.. you can call me tomorrow in the afternoon and then I'll have your number to save again.

I hate this.. I couldn't even call my cousin.

Thanks guys! I love you all!! Pray for me.. I've already gone 12 hours without my phone and only cried once. I hope it stays that way!

10 Things people who really know me, already know...

1. I make a mean crepe. 2. I am the authority on everything Harry Potter. 3. Random-lady is my middle name. 4. I love to abbrev. saying/words.. ie: go fig! (go figure) no big! (no big deal) 5. Kevin and I have been together for over 10 years. 6. I go back and forth on the idea of having kids. 7. I have this ability to make people laugh... I've learned to embrace it 8. I have no filter between my brain and my mouth... so most of the things I say are sarcastic and not all what I meant to say. 9. I love it when people just get me... I'm really hard to explain. 10. If I die tomorrow, I would have no regrets.. I know who I am and where I am going and that is all I need.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

My Grandpa turned 80 years old today! We are having a party for him on saturday.. but tonight was just a small dinner of his kids and grandkids. Only 22 of us tonight... and we were missing 7 people. :( We missed you! This is a picture of my grandpa... looks pretty good for 80 huh? Looks pretty good, period, I think! :)

My Aunt Vicki and Uncle Jay always look so cute!

My cousin Nicole and her boyfriend, Robert. He called everyone of us by name as he was leaving.. very impressive.

My cousin Stev-0 and her bf Justin.. they are always laughing. I love it when my family is happy.

My cousin Josh is very photogenic. I think this pic is facebook worthy.

Justin and Josh... normally when those names go together it's a different Justin, my cousin Justin... Josh's brother... but he had football tonight and couldn't make it... are you keeping up? It can be very confusing to the outside world. WE understand PERFECTLY.

My cousins Emily and Stevie have never seen a camera before and they didn't know to smile.. they are quick learners though...

See... much better.

My men.. Kev and my brother, Jeff. He's all old now. and ubber proud of it. :)

My cousin/sister, Ember and her BF Josh... who we call ALT or Boyfriend Josh because of the afore mentioned Josh who is also her brother. We got a thing for J names in my family. Believe it or not.. this picture was posed.

I love this picture. They are so cute together. They really get one another and it just makes me happy that they have found one another.

My cousin-in-law April and her step-daughter, my 2nd cousin, Ashley. Ashley is about to be a teenager and is sooo excited about it. She's super cute!

My parents! Sometimes, I think that they coordinate their outfits... because they always seem to compliment one another. Maybe it's just years of togetherness. I can't see my Dad going along with that. :)

My grandparents!! These two have been together for 65 years!! Like I said in a previous post, they met and started dating when they were 15. I get to spend most of my time with these two and they really are an inspiration. I love it when they steal kisses and take moments to tell the other one how much they appreciate and love them. It's not all sunshine and daisies.. but after 65 years... they are still so in love! I'm really going to miss them when I start teaching...

My cousin Kenny and his wife, April.... Kenny says he doesn't take good pictures.. but I disagree!

My Big Lil' brother after too many camera flashes...

M.L.E. shows off her new sunglasses... right after this she told me.. "I'm gonna toot in the bathroom"... or so I thought she said... she actually said.. "I'm going to the bathroom." But I like mine better. I followed her in there and made a tooting noise. GOD I love my family!

My g-parents LOVE their dog, Missie. That seems like an understatement... but I can't think of any way else to word it. Gma cooks Missie's meals from a doggie cookbook... anyway.. this is Gpa's gift from Gma. And it's perfect!

He also got a cookie jar for Missie... Gpa has everything he could ever want and is hard to shop for... I am digging the idea of giving him things for Missie.. because he just lights up. :) Good job guys!

My 2nd cousin Makenzie... who has started calling me, Aunt Alyssa. Gotta say I love that. She's adorable but she's also a handful. (that's an understatement too) :)

ALT liked Emmy's glasses soooo much that he had to try them on...

Kev-o and me... I think we're pretty cute in love too. :)

We baked a 80th birthday worthy cake.. I say we... but I had nothing to do with it... for Saturday... tonight we ate cream puffs. SOO GOOD!

And Gpa blew out his candles! He missed one as I came rushing to get a picture and was waiting for me to get the camera ready to blow out the last candle. Gma can't hear very well and she blew it out right before I pressed the button... so we staged this one. Wanted to tell the story in case it looks funny.

It was a great night. I am so lucky to have such a large close knit family. We really enjoy each other and that's what it's all about.
Happy Birthday Grandpa! Here's to 80 more!!

Musical Bar-B-Q

So I am loving the Juke box function on this thing. I added it to myspace and it's so fun to find songs and put them on there. I love to make playlists on itunes... I have a sleepy one, getting ready... wake up.... ya know, fun stuff... but this is so cool. AND it's free! If you don't have one of these.. jump on it. :) go get ya one... http://www.playlist.com/

In other Lawther news... we bought a smoker last week and have put it to good use. We made brisket last week and the BEST ribs I have ever had tonight. They fell off the bone! There is something to be said for first timers.

Kevo rubs mustard on the meat to make the rub stick....



With his bare hands!!



We used hickory wood for the brisket and apple wood for the ribs...



Kevo putting the brisket in the smoker...



I didn't get a picture of the done brisket... but it was soo good. We still have left overs! And our next adventure was ribs.



Yes I even helped. I made the foil packet full of apple wood... see, I can get my hands dirty too. Although my part was MUCH less messy.

Into the smoker they go!!

Murphy could smell them.. We made the neighborhood smell great.

Can you see the smoke? Not really... but in person it looked like our house was on fire!

And our masterpiece!! Yummy!!


sleep now.

MOVIES

The new Twilight Trailer came out today! Thanks Katie for sending me the link. I am so excited for the movie... but I am even more excited for "Breaking Dawn" the final book in the series and it arrives on my cousin Ember's Birthday!!

Ember and I spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa baking and hanging out. I feel like Grandpa's 80th birthday party is under control and that makes me happy. I have barely over a week.. and I was worried that there would be too many "cooks in the kitchen" so to speak... and it's hard to make everyone happy.. but I feel like it's all coming together nicely. And all the "cooks" are working well together... myself included. :)

After a day at Grandma's... Ember took me to see a new piece of furniture that she is buying for her new apartment. It was so comfortable. I loved it! She's going to get many years of use out of it and I am happy for her. Buying furniture is kind of intimidating!

We saw "Mamma Mia" tonight. It was so good. I have all the songs rolling through my head. Plan to go see "The Dark Knight" tomorrow. It's just a weekend of movies. :) And I can't wait!

Parent's Anniversary

I gotta tell you my parents amaze me. They met when they were 15 and 16 years old. And I just learned to tonight how they actually met...

My mom had a boyfriend in 8th grade named Mike. Mike was friends with my Dad. My dad spent the first two and half years of High school at Nolan in Fort Worth. He transferred to the high school that my mom was at half way through sophomore year. Mom says that Mike called her out of the blue one day and they got to talking and she told him that his friend Buzz Coady was in her homeroom class. Mike asked Mom if Buzz was causing any trouble. Mom said no, and he said to go to tell him Mike says Hi and to start causing trouble. And that's exactly what my mom did. She walked up to him at his locker and the rest is history. :)

They had dinner with Mike tonight. Their 36th wedding anniversary was yesterday... and the 41st anniversary of their first date is in December.. and they still celebrate it.. by the way.

For those of you who don't know... My grandparents started dating when they were 15 and 16... as did my parents... as did Kevin and I. Must be something in the water. :)

So... happy anniversary Mama and Daddy! You are an inspiration and a testament to what true love can be.

I LOVE YOU FOR TRUE! (one of those weird saying from the 70s that Mom and Dad still write on every card they give one another)

Aren't they cute??

hmmm....

Kev and I had our first AISD sanctioned training today. Boys Town. I found it very interesting actually. Positive Reinforcement is part of my teaching philosophy and that seems to be the basis of Boys Town. Everyone is bouncing ideas around and its all very educational. Tomorrow we are role playing. Very up my Theater Arts/Speech alley. Kev-o's... not so much. And I am assuming a lot of the people in that room aren't excited either. But she's teaching EXACTLY as I am planning to teach my kids. She gives us the information... we talk about it... and then we get up and implement it. She's talking all about nonverbal communication and it just gets me excited. She was right on with the statics of 93% of communication is nonverbal. I'm so proud when people know that.

I guess I'm just a big nerd.

Oh and get this... Kev and I thinking about buying our first house... (take a breath, cuz I had to! Such a big deal!) :) probably next summer, if not sooner. But there is a government program that gives grants to first time home buyers. Kev and I were all excited to get the governments help. But... it seems with both our salaries.. WE MAKE TOO MUCH!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Ridiculous. We aren't making THAT much. Grrr.... Kev says that we still qualify for an FHA loan... but that's money we have to pay back.

But we are so confused by the whole thing. We want to talk to someone to understand all we need to do.. how much we need for a down payment... how much are closing cost?? We aren't really looking to buy tomorrow... we just want to make sure all the ducks are in a row when we are ready.

anybody got friends in the real estate business looking for a LONG term customer?? haha

There is a house we are in love with in lake arlington... good schools, gated community... and it's a foreclosure. I'd really like to see inside it. This is when I wish I was a wizard. All I would have to do it apperate on in there and "luminos" my wand and no one would ever be the wiser. It's too bad that when my 11th birthday came along... there was no owl bringing me a letter from Hogwarts. Guess I'll have to settle for Muggle life. As you see, I am adjusting quite nicely.

But I digress....

Our Last Day and Drive home

Yesterday, we started the day early and met up with Brad's boss, Henry and his family. We had the best time. We drove to Pensacola Beach and rented a Pontoon boat and headed out in the Bay. The boat didn't go very fast.. but that was fine with me. The view was amazing.




Henry drove the boat over to a deserted part of the bay and we beached the boat. A storm was coming in and blowing jelly fish into shore. So we spent time looking for critters and sea life that couldn't sting us.


We found a hermit crab! I wanted him to find another shell because this one was soo cool... but he wasn't budging. So I settled for a picture.


So.. Brad is a marine biologist... and explained to us that there are 2 types of jelly fish and one type doesn't sting. So he picked that one up immediately and handed it to Jordan. It was so slimy! I love that Baby Jack made his way into this picture. :) (He'll be here in less than a month!!)

We walked across the "desert" over to the ocean side and just missed 2 sharks feeding on a school of fish. But we did get to see the sharks stalking some more prey but they didn't jump out of the water again. The beach and water were gorgeous. Some of the prettiest I have ever seen.




After our beach extravaganza, we headed back to the more populated area to watch the Blue Angels fly. It was amazing. We hung out in the ocean as we watched so I didn't get any pictures. Below is a picture of the acrobatic flying team that opened the show. We stayed in the water for a few hours and found about 50 sand dollars. We had a huge bucket full of star fish and sand dollars. So cool.


This morning I took a picture of Baby Jack's pack n' play (our surprise gift I talked about in an earlier blog) I LOVE the colors and we were talking about how great it is that they picked gender neutral colors because they can use it again if they have a girl someday.

We kissed the Boykins good bye and got out on the road early and there were 2 pictures I was determined to take... and they are below.



We made it home! And Murphy was so happy to see us. Josh came over and we watched Kyle Bucsh win the Nascar race... although the boys weren't so happy about that.

Jordan and Brad- Wow! What a week. Thank you so much for showing us such a great time. I miss you both already and can't wait to hold Baby Jack for the first time. Kiss him for his Uncle Kev and Aunt Lyss. I wish more than anything I could be there when he's born... ahh... stupid becoming teachers! :) We love you and will see you soon! *MUAH*