Nut Fest Weekend

It's officially fall! The festivals of all local festivals was held in Whitesboro this weekend and for the Reed family means that pumpkins, scarecrows and all things autumn are in full swing. Since we've moved back to Texoma, the Whitesboro Peanut Festival has been a tradition. David grew up in the "boro" so this annual adventure is like Homecoming. It's remarkable how every year there is someone new to meet that had some connection to his past. Of course, we always hook up with David's good friend Jason and his wife Angela. We were excited to find out that they've moved closer, so hopefully we'll take the time to get together more often.

We generally get to the "Nut Fest" early enough to enjoy the parade but with Flag Football this year, we didn't get there until 11:00, but there was still plenty of fun to be had. We enjoyed a lunch of corn dogs & funnel cake (what's more traditional than those delicacies?) and walked around to view the hundreds of booths. This year we took in the car show. With Preston's love of vehicles, we thought this would be a good addition. In general most of these car enthusiasts only want you to look (and certainly NOT touch), but we met one very kind couple that encouraged both boys to climb in. They also got to see the Oscar Mayer Weiner-mobile and a local fire truck.

David & I attended our first Widow's Banquet at church on Saturday night. As a deacon, David has the blessing of ministering to 2 women that have lost their husbands. One of his ladies wasn't able to attend but the other did...and I can already tell that we are going to be blessed by the bucket-load to know this dear, sweet lady. Her husband only passed away in July, so this was a new experience for her too. Please remember to pray for her.

And lastly, apparently it was "Creative Sunday" for the Reed boys. We hadn't been home from church long when Preston comes in wearing this...

Part rapper, part preacher?? He was so excited by our reaction to this outfit that he later came out with this...

And adding to the creativity was Peyton with these airplanes...

He had a substitute teacher this week that made airplanes in class...yes, I know what you're thinking, I thought the same thing...but Peyton has been quite interested ever since and came up with these today. Notice the flag on the big one? It's a flag/capital P...pretty clever boy.

At last...

This weekend was my brother Matt's wedding...and it was perfect. Because I am 9 years older than Matt, he's probably often felt like he had more than one Mom (in addition to our sister Nicole who is 8 years older). I can honestly say Matt's new bride Katy is a gift from God. I've prayed for a long time that Matt would find that special someone...that someone that would make him feel as loved as I do by my blessing, David. And how awesome that she is from a family of believers. Over and over this weekend we heard stories about how Matt's & Katy's faith has been admired by those around them. As a big sister, that is a joy that is indescribable!

Mrs. & Mr. Matt Link

Of course the Reed boys were just precious! Preston was quite the scene-stealer several times throughout the rehearsal and at the rehearsal dinner. He and his cousin Ellie Grace were the ringbearer and flower girl. During their first march down the aisle, he pumped out his chest and walked with his arms at his side...it was a priceless sight! Later that night at dinner as the sweet maid-of-honor was attempting to give a speech, Preston shouts out, "Oh Man!" as he joyfully opened the dump truck that the bride & groom gave him as gift. After the laughter died down, Brittany finally got to finish her story.

Peyton and his cousin Emma were the banner bearers for the wedding. Katy's very talented mother created these elaborate banners for the kids to carry during the processional and recessional. The first said, "Here comes the Bride" and the last said, "And they lived happily ever after". Our "big" kids looked so grown up. I was so proud.

Are these not the two most handsome boys ever? I love them all dressed up!!

Peyton took this pic of David & I after the reception. Didn't I have a handsome date? ;)

The latest

It's been several weeks since I've posted, so here's what we've been up to...

Probably the most "eventful" was a little surgery that I had back on Sept. 23rd. After about 10 years of dieting (and not!), I finally decided that it was time to have Lap-Band Surgery. Yes, I realize that it's a pretty drastic option, but after lots of prayer and research, and talking to others at TMC that have it, it seemed like a really good idea. I have to say that it has been SO easy. Other than a certain CRNA having trouble finding an entry for my IV, surgery day was "textbook" as my surgeon said. David took a "before" pic. I'm not quite ready to post it :(-, but maybe after I lose a substantial amount. We've decided that he's going to snap a pic on the 23rd of each month.

Until yesterday, I've been on an all-liquid diet and have lost 13lbs in 2 weeks...not a bad start. Now it's on to "soft-solids"...Jell-O, pudding, mashed potatoes (it's more about helping the band heal, than weight loss). I did have a little salmon with the boys for dinner tonight and I seem to have tolerated it well. Ok, enough about that!


Here's a sweet pic of the Reed boys that I snapped tonight. Check out the new haircuts! They both have important roles in Uncle Matt & Katy's wedding next Saturday, so we decided that they better get cleaned up. I'm not a fan of that "fresh from the chair" haircut look, so I'm hoping that after a week, both cuts will grow out some and look natural. They're pretty handsome though, aren't they? Wait till I post pics of each of them in the tuxes...PRECIOUS!



After a day full of Upward Flag Football, Voting, and napping & watching college ball (POOR Bears had to play the #1 OU Sooners!), I can say it was a good day. I'm looking forward to an even better Sunday!

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25

Rainy Saturday

We thought Ike might keep us from Upward Flag Football this morning, but the games went on as scheduled. Once again Peyton scored the first touchdown of the game running the same route as last week. Coach Dad gave him the Best Effort sticker to add to Best Defense from last week. My cheerleaders seemed to be less tired than they were last weekend and were pretty cute doing their cheers...rah rah!!

After the game, we met up with Grammy, Granddaddy, Uncle Matt and our soon-to-be Aunt Katy. Matt & Katy were in town picking up their wedding bands and brought us Peyton's tux. The countdown is at just 4 weeks and we can't wait til Katy is an official member of the family. We love her! Of course Preston being Preston came into G&G's house, went right up to her and asked...where's the DOG? He's quite smitten with her dog Izzy. What a greeting, huh?

Afterwards the 8 of us went to Panera for lunch. Here's a pic of the boys with the bride- and groom-to-be:

Tonight was Fellowship Night at church. Every couple of months Parkside encourages the adult SS classes to get together and they have the kids up at the church for pizza and games. Our boys LOVE these nights. This was our first fellowship with our new class. We did Mexican stack-ups and then did what is expected...guys in the living room to flip between a couple of football games and the girls were in the dining room-mostly talking about our kids and school. Hearing some of them with older boys talk really made me smile. Although I often feel like I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to parenting the P's, it sure sounds like it gets even more nutty when they're older.

I'm off to my bed to enjoy the sound of the rain outside and start my last book in the Jan Karon Mitford series...Life is good.

Weekend of firsts

Both boys (and Mom & Dad) had a weekend of firsts. On Friday, Preston had his first class get together with the kiddos in Mrs. Nehib's class. We met at the Hawn Park Splash Pad. The kids ran through the water and enjoyed ice cream and brownies. It was fun to meet the families of the sweeties that Preston spends his day with. Everyone was excited because even Wendy made an appearance...in her swimsuit of course!
Peyton's first Upward Flag Football game was on Saturday. His team is the Dolphins and dear ol' Dad is the coach. Peyton scored the first touchdown on the first play of the game and had an interception later in the game. Mom is helping with a cheerleading squad and that's a lot of fun...sweet, sweet girls. Of course it's FOOTBALL time in America so you know where the rest of Saturday went. The Big 12 did pretty well including our Baylor Bears. Now we're off to church and the Cowboys tonight.

School Days

Today was the first day of school and both Reed boys had a terrific time. Peyton is now in 2nd grade. This is his teacher's first year to teach and we're looking forward to a fun year with lots of enthusiasm. At this age, it gets harder and harder to get anything out of them when you ask what they did, but he did manage to tell me that Ms. Albert is going to let them choose some of the consequences for bad behavior...hmm...it's interesting that that was what stuck!

Preston started Pre-K 3 at Texoma Christian School. It's great because he's next door to Mrs. Link (Grammy) and will get see her everyday! He was very excited about Mrs. Nehib's bird Zoe and a dolly named Wendy that has "cute tennis shoes" but was missing an earring...apparently the lost jewelry happened during Mrs. Nehib's missionary trip to Mexico this summer.

Fun at the Flags

We took a 2-day trip to Arlington this week. We spent Thursday at Six Flags and despite the 100 degrees temps we had a great time. Dad & Peyton got to ride the new Tony Hawk rollercoaster that spins as you go up and down the hills...they loved it! Preston and Mom did quite a bit of time at Looney Toon land. We definitely have another coaster enthusiast in the family. He loved being up in the air riding the "hot air" balloons (like a caged-ferris wheel) and the airplane rides that went up in the air when you pulled back on the joy stick. He rode that one at least 5 times! Mom and Dad took turns riding the super big rides and were both blown away by the Titan. Being that high up and going sideways doesn't seem like a good idea when you're up there.

We spent the night and had dinner at Boston's pizza. The next morning we got up and headed to Hurrican Harbor. It was nice to be in the water but getting from ride to ride was BRUTAL! The concrete sidewalks burned our feet and we (along with the masses) were hopping from water puddle to water puddle. Sadly, the hottest concrete was outside the kiddy park. We still had a water-filled day of fun. As a family, we rode the Bubba-tub. Mom was a little skeptical about Pres riding it, but he cleared the 3ft. requirement. Once the ride started he flew up in the air...thankfully Mom & Dad each had an arm. He was a little shocked, but said he wanted to go again. We opted for more fun on the pirate ship. Thankfully we still have Saturday and Sunday to recover from our family fun in the sun!