a special lady!

You may remember a fairly recent post of mine about a dear coworker of mine,  Angelia Gandy, who was in a terrible automobile accident (resulting in the death of one of her sons).  

Well...

GOOD NEWS: She has been undergoing rehabilitation to recover from severe injuries sustained in the wreck and is making a remarkable recovery.

In an effort to offset her staggering medical costs, some of the teachers at my school are donating items at a public garage sale.

When: Saturday, October 8, 2011; 8-11:30

Where: Starkville Sportsplex

The community garage sale includes home items, school uniforms, children's clothes and much, much more!

There will also be a silent auction, raffle, bake sale, coke products, sno-cones, pizza, and jumpers.

It will be such a FUN way for people like YOU to help!

If you're wondering what else YOU can help this precious lady, please contact Brittney Rye (brittrye@bellsouth.net ) or Cheryl Lipsey (cheryllipsey@ms.metrocast.net).

So...if you're in the area next Saturday and looking for something fun to do with your family, please consider attending this event!

Angelia is planning to return to work part time starting Monday! 

God is good!

so....

I know I'm a crazy aunt. 

I talk about my niece and nephews like they're my own.  I know, I know. 

I just can't help it really.

  Since my sisters are my 2 favorite people, it's hard not to be obsessed with their precious children.

I just had to post this one tonight.

Henry with his sweet baby sister.

You just can't tell me that's not the sweetest.

Now...considering that the past several posts have been about nothing other than those 2 cute little boys and that sweet baby girl, I promise will try to come up with a different topic for my next post.

On a completely different topic, it's season premiere week in TV! 

What shows are you most excited about this season?

photoshoot.

Ever tried to get a 4 and a half year old, 1 and a half year old, and newborn all to cooperate for a picture?

I think this was my first time to witness such an event.  It's exhausting.

Fortunately, if you catch Henry in the right mood, he'll sit still for a few minutes for a picture or two (he's my sister's child, after all!). Also,  Noelle is obviously immobile, so she's pretty easy too (unless she's eating, sleeping, or pooping!  Her 3 favorite things!).

Now...Jones is another story.  He's a toddler, and though I'm not a parent, I would think that the toddler years would be the most challenging.  Jones is a sweet, SWEET boy, but he's so active and into everything!  Heather wasn't sure how Jones would react to meeting Noelle for the first time.  We all actually thought that he would really care nothing about her at this point.  After all, he's got more important things on his mind, like food and balls!

We were wrong though.

He wants to touch her constantly, and says "awww!!!!" when he sees her.  

  It really is the sweetest thing! 

Getting him still for a picture is another story though. 

He's not really quite at the age where he understands to pause and smile when there's a camera present. 

And again, he really just cares about food and balls.

Anyway....here are just a few of the attempts of the 3 of them together (please note that Kristen, Heather, and I were all using our cameras at one time, hoping to capture just one of Jones being still!)

Attempt 1:

Blurry, but hilarious.  Henry is shielding Jones' smiling face from his baby sister!

Attempt #2:



We're pretty sure Jones is trying to climb into the chair with her.



#3

I love this one, but neither boy was really interested in actually looking at the camera.



And my favorite one of all! 

And it only took approximately 50 shots to try to get them all to cooperate.

My 3 loves.

friends, babies, and photography...

Those of you who know me, know that I can be trusted.  I can and will keep a secret, but I really REALLY don't like to!

That's why I was so excited when my dear friend Katey let the cat out of the bag and announced that baby Overstreet #3 is on its way!

This is how she announced it via facebook:

Those boys are just so stinking cute.  I guess the odds are that baby #3 will be a boy, but I'm predicting GIRL!  Noelle Adams will need a friend after all! :)

...and speaking of that beautiful sweet niece of mine, here are some more pictures from her first week of life!

Mom and Dad (aka "Lita" and "Grandaddy") aren't excited at ALL about having a grandaughter.  Can't you tell?  

Honey.

My cousin Jake and his sweet girlfriend Mary Kate got to meet N.A.!



He loves her.

 Now, check out some of these pictures taken by the very talented Jana Berkery!

Now....is it Friday yet???

Is it bad that I'm already ready for another weekend??

Grindin' for our State...

Despite the outcome of last night's game, we State fans still had a blast and we'll continue to GRIND FOR OUR STATE!!!

The weather was, in my opinion, perfect football game weather, which makes tailgating even more fun!

Me and HEGS.  I wonder how many pictures we have of the 2 of us in this exact location!

So happy to run into my sweet "teacher friend" Stacy!



My pretty sister.



HARPER!  We were childhood friends and KDs together at State.  So fun to see her.



My buddy,  Jones. 

Another sweet buddy of mine, Thomas Brodie!

I didn't get to see Henry and Rob before the game, but I loved their pictures...

Henry and Rob ready to rock and roll!



He loves his bulldogs almost as much as his LaLa!



Kristen took Noelle Adams to the tailgate only long enough to get a picture of them.  Love.

Oh...you want more of Henry and that sweet baby sister of his? 

Ok.  Here you go...

One of my favorites yet.

Now.  It's been a long week.  I'm tired and can't WAIT to get in my bed. 

Sad and pathetic on a Friday night? 

Maybe, but I'm OK with that.

Looking forward to a lazy day watching football on TV tomorrow! 

I LOVE FOOTBALL SEASON.

definitely related...

 I haven't really thought that newborn Noelle looked much like her big brother Henry until I saw this picture of her...



coming home from the hospital on Sunday...



And compared it to this picture of Henry..



coming home from the hospital in 2006...



Agree?

Oh...and don't act even a little shocked that the past few posts have been about my nephews and/or niece.  Don't you get me by now?

fit for a princess!

Noelle's nursery.....

Precious.

more of sweet Noelle Adams...

She's a precious little thing, don't you think?

I just can't get enough of this little face...

big brother...

To say that Henry is a proud big brother would be an understatement!

See for yourself...

He absolutely can't get enough of her, and frankly, I can't get enough of them together. 

So stinking cute!

Now...the next goal is to try to get busy-body Jones to join them for a cousin picture! 

My 3 hearts.

I'm still not quite convinced that there's anything better than being an aunt. 

10 years...

If you're like me, you stop what you're doing every year on September 11, and think about the events that occurred 10 years ago (obviously never being fully able to really comprehend the magnitude of it). 

10 YEARS. 

Wow.

I always think about where I was and what I was doing on that day in 2001.

I'm generally glued to my TV every 9/11 rewatching video footage I've seen a hundred times.  Again--still being unable to truly comprehend how and why something like that really happened.  The bravery of the citizens in this country still amazes me.

It's unbelievable to think that my 2nd graders this year weren't even born when the events of 9/11 occurred.  While I didn't want to scare my students, I did want them to know and have somewhat of an understanding about this historical event.  I spent some time thinking about how I could introduce this topic to my students.

Fortunately, my school is having our annual book fair, and while browsing (& trying to refrain from spending $200 on children's books!), I came across this book:

"September 12th: We Knew Everything Would Be All Right"

I took it off the shelf, read it, and teared up immediately.   It was written and illustrated by 1st graders, so it's written in a way that my 7 & 8 year olds can understand.  It's such a fabulous book, and if you're a teacher or a parent, I highly recommend you purchasing it!  It 's a perfect way to explain to children what happened on that fateful day, and explaining to them that unfortunately bad things do happen sometimes, tomorrow always brings a new day!  (A children's book with adult-like lessons!).

One of my favorite radio stations, KLove, is encouraging listeners to make a promise to bless and love others today to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11/01. 

I'm in.  Are you?

"Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend–even a friend whose name it never knew."

-George W. Bush

God bless this great country!