Sick.

Well, it's official...cold season is here! JT and Sarah started back to mommy and me class the other week and with all the little kids around there, JT started coming down with a cough a few days later, by Monday and Tuesday he was all sick, and a trip to the Dr's confirmed it...2 ear infections a chest congestion issue and the runny nose....lots of rest and meds were the Rx. By Thursday, Melissa was feeling the beginnig of the scratchy throat, and by Friday both Scott and Melissa were in full-blown illness mode. Scott stayed home from work on Friday, Melissa barely got out of bed, and Joe stayed away so as not to get sick, and JT was getting better...and poor Sarah, she had to take care of the baby, the house, pitiful Scott, and she was kind enough to take care of Melissa too! It was a lot for one person to undertake with no help, and to make matters worse, since the baby didn't feel well, he didn't sleep much, which meant Sarah didn't sleep much either! By the end of the weekend the worst of it had passed, the baby still has a small cough, and Scott went back to work today, and Melissa...well, she feels okay, but she clogged up her left ear while blowing her nose, and now she still can't hear out of it, and it's starting to hurt, so she's off to the Dr's office tomorrow, but other than that we're great, Joe didn't catch a thing since he stayed away...oh, and Sarah didn't get sick either...all that illness around her and she's fine, minus a few good night's rest---AMAZING!! Well, I hope this isn't the beginning of a terrible cold and flu season...The Huckeba's have had their fill, we don't want anything else! Hope the rest of you out there are feeling fine, and if you do get sick, drink lots of fluids, eat lots of soup, and get lots of rest...and if you're a mom, well, don't get sick, the rest of us can't do without you guys!!!

Happy Birthday!!

Just wanted to wish Robert,aka, Uncle Robert a very happy 27th birthday!

We hope that all you wish for in life will come true!

We love you!!

King Family Baby Update

Just talked to Kelly today and she and the family are super excited to announce that the newest addition to their family will be a boy!!! Congrats guys! Soon the King family will have 3 little boys and one big boy(Rich), so poor Kelly and Cassidy are way out-numbered! Just wanted to send our congratulations and best wishes to the whole family...we love you guys!

SLEEPOVER!! (by Melissa)

Some of you know that I teach a class at my church for high school girls, it's called Girls Only, and I love it! The class takes place on Wednesday night. The best part of this class is that it's youth group, but only for girls, hence the name of the class...regular high-school youth group meets on Tuesday nights, and it's co-ed. I love this class and it gives me a chance to get to know the girls one-on-one and to bond, and have a lot of fun, as well as be there to help them thru the high-school years which can be daunting at times. Anyhow, the Girls Only class is a part of a larger group called, Missionettes, a program for girls K-12, at our church. Well, this past Friday and Saturday all the Missionettes programs in the U.S. held sleepovers in their various districts. We belong to the CA Foothill Division and our sleepover was held @ Covina Assembly of God.

It was so great to see all these girls come together to have fun and to share in fellowship with one another. We had 66 girls in grades 3-12 participate. The theme was, Race of a Lifetime, we had a wonderful speaker Rhonda Van Beber come and speak about the educational outreach program the she's a part of in South Central L.A., and the girls all brought books and gift cards for her to get books for the outreach program. We played lots of games and ate some yummy pizza and made crafts. We had the cutest fashion show and just hung out and acted silly...it was great. I am posting a few pics from the sleepover, most of the time my camera was in my purse, so I don't have a ton of pics, but it was super fun. I forgot just how much energy you have at this age, and most of the adults were pretty wiped out the next day...I was okay, I am younger than some of the adults that were there, but they tell me that as I get older I will take longer to re-coop from this knd of thing! All in all it was a great time, and the girls were great fun..can't wait until the next one!!

(below) the girls lay out the sleeping bags
Miss Bonnie, Ivana and Janea rest on the air mattress!




(below) Hoku, Janea and Ivana play foosball.
Kealani and Diana play basketball.



(below) the room we slept and played in.
Miss Bonnie and Miss Eddy hang out before bedtime!!

This weeks menu!

Monday: BBQ Chicken, rice, carrots and salad( we didn't get to have it last week, even though it was on the menu...the best laid plans...)

Tuesday: Sarah and JT- @ Grammie's house

Scott-Potatoes Stroganoff

Melissa-Baked potato and salad

Joe-Vegetarian dinner

Wednesday:Spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread

Thursday:Chicken Tacos-yummy!

Friday:open

Saturday:open

Sunday:Elephant Bar Restaurant for Sarah's birthday dinner!

This week is a bit of a Hodge-podge since we are having some of the same things from last weeks menu, but we really strayed from the menu last week so we'll try again this week....anyhow, that's what's cookin' here, what's cookin' in your kitchen?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!!!

Yesterday was Sarah's 28th birthday!!! We are all very excited to celebrate with her. Since her birthday fell on a Saturday this year it is much easier to celebrate since most people didn't have to work. The day started out with the traditional Happy Birthday banner placed in the dining room and the many phone calls from family and friends. Then Scott, Sarah and JT went to go have a birthday lunch with her Dad, her step-mom, her Gma Vanderpool, and her Aunt Janet, and cousin, Jeff, at BJ's in Brea. Saturday nite, Scott and Sarah headed for Friday's in Brea to celebrate with a bunch of friends--good times! Sunday, still worn out from all the fun on Sat nite, we had a yummy breakfast from Timeout, and then Sarah and JT went with her mom, Kathy to go shopping for her birthday(although JT seemed to end up with the most stuff!). Then instead of the big Sunday meal in honor of her birthday, Sarah opted for a family fave--pizza and breadsticks! We also celebrated with a cheesecake, her fave, and only one candle so we wouldn't have to call the fire dept! Her birthday week, will conclude on Sunday the 21st with a family bday dinner with Scott, JT, Melissa and Joe at Elephant Bar, we couldn't get to it this weekend! Happy Birthday Sarah, hope your wishes come true!!

***We will post the bday pics from Friday's in a bit, but for now here are some shots from other bday celebrations this weekend!***

(below) family pic on her bday(9-13-08)

Her birthday cheesecake!

(below) Sarah and her cake......birthday dinner...PIZZA!

New car for Miss Tiffany

Family friend, Tiffany, just got her new car today, and she came over to show it to JT, Sarah, and Melissa. She got the new car because she was in an accident a few weeks back, luckily the only damage was to her car! She purchased a new 2008, Ford Escape, with all the bells and whistles.....congrats Tiff, we can't wait to go for a ride in it!!

(below) Sarah, JT and Tiffany with her new car

Tiffany gives JT a tour of the car!

(below)The front of the car.....inside the trunk!

September 11th...remembered

Today marks the 7th anniversary of a day that is seared into the minds of all Americans..the day when America was attacked...September 11th. 7 years ago 2 planes flew into the Twin Towers in New York, causing the towers to fall and killing 1000's , follwed by a plane crashing into the Pentagon's E-ring, causing severe damage and loss of life, as well as a plane hijacked and destined for D.C., who's passengers decided to take control and sacrifice their lives to save others, which ended in a quiet field in Pennsylvania. Today is a day that we'll never forget. So, on this day in particular we remember all those who lost their lives, especially those who gave their lives in service to others, whether service personnel or those 40 brave heroes who decided to keep that plane away from the Capitol and the White House, and to sacrifice themselves, with the parting words, "Let's Roll"! To all of the families, friends, and co-workers, we wish you peace, we pray for your continued survival and recovery, and we honor your loved ones' sacrifice, and their lives; may we never forget!Below is a link to the CNN memorial to the victims of 9/11, with a bio and pic of the victims, it's a great site, and I encourage you to take a look at it. We sometimes get caught up in our lives, and what happened on this day is pushed out of our minds, but for the families and friends of the victims it is all too real everyday, so today we honor those who passed in the most tragic attack in our country's history.

www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-name/index.html

What's for dinner this week?

Monday: BBQ Chicken, broccoli & cheddar rice, green beans, salad!

Tuesday:Scott and Melissa-Potatoes stroganoff, salad

Sarah and JT -@ Grammie's house

Joe-Tuna noodles casserole

Wednesday:Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots, and salad!

Thursday: Taco Thursday--ole!

Friday:open

Saturday: Happy Birthday Sarah!! Family lunch @ restaurant of Sarah's choice

Birthday get-together @ Friday's w/ friends in the evening.

Sunday: Chicken Fajitas w/ grilled veggies, rice, beans and salad!

Well, that's what's on our menu...what's on yours???

JT's 1st Birthday Party!!!!

***We finally got all the pics of JT's party uploaded in to a collage, so here it is just a few weeks past the actually party--whoops, anyhow, hope you enjoy it!!

Okay, so today was JT's very 1st birthday party ever!!! It was so much fun and he seemed to really love all the attention! We had the party at Nana and Papa's, (Park and Syl) pool house and cabana. We had great weather, good company and yummy food! Thank you, to everyone who helped with the party and the prep, and also to all of you who came to share this very special day with JT, it meant so much! So, for those of you who were unable to attend...fear not...Auntie Mel managed to take a ton of pictures...it's almost like being there, oh and there's a video too..(if you really want to see the whole thing!)let us know if you want to see it! So, without further ado, we present, JT Huckeba's, 1st birthday party- picture retrospective!

***Thought it might be easier to do all the photos collage style---if you click on the collage it will make it bigger, so that you can view it more easily!**

Republican Nat'l Convention

So, the convention was supposed to start on Monday, but Hurricane Gustav put the kibosh on that, so the real stuff at the convention started today. I am watching the convention to get a better sense of what the Republicans have to offer, as opposed to the Dems. Some exciting news on the Republican front, Sen. Mc Cain, announced on Friday that his running mate would be, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. I always think it's great to have a female on the ticket, and lets not forget that the Dems have had a woman on their ticket...anyone remember Geraldine Ferraro??

In any case, Gov. Palin seems to be what the Republicans really needed to energize their base.

Not many folks knew that much about Sarah Palin, and I'll admit, the most I knew about her was that she had 5 kids, the youngest of which was diagnosed in-utero with down syndrome, and that she and her husband had opted not to terminate the pregnancy--all info courtesy of celebrity baby blog....in any case that's about all I knew of her. We are now learning a lot more, and some of the info is not all that flattering, but I 'd like to say this...how many of us could stand to have a microscope put on our lives, to have everything analyzed, every conversation parsed...none of us would withstand that fire either, so I say, let's wait to pass judgement. This week we learned that her 17 year old daughter, is 5 months pregnant, and not married....okay, not the greatest situation to be in, but that's life, people don't always make the wisest choices, least of all teenagers! But, how about we focus on the fact that the daughter is keeping her child, taking responsibility, and also marrying ths father. What about the fact that, her family is rallying around her and offering unconditional love and support...I think that's great! And let's also remember this, the daughter is NOT running for V.P., her mom is...let's leave the children out of it, leave them some semblance of privacy, and the ability to not have to be scrutinized...they have their whole lives to deal with that!

Okay, so back to the convention....we saw the always eloquent First Lady, Laura Bush, speak tonight, and introduce her hubby, The Pres. of the United States, George W. Bush.

We saw the always delightful Mrs. Cindy Mc Cain in the audience, and we saw great speeches by both Sen. Joe Lieberman--Dem/Independent from Connecticut, and Fred Thompson, who also ran for President this election season, and formerly of Law and Order fame.

Also, tonight had a moving tribute to one of the most beloved Presidents of our time, Ronald Reagan...very touching!

So, whether you are dem, or repub, keep watching the conventions, it's so great to see all the people, young and old alike so determined, invested, and passionate about their candidates and their ideas! I'll be watching in the days to come, to learn more about those on the opposing ticket and to keep my mind open to all points of view...happy watching!

***Still to come this week: speeches by both Palin and Mc Cain!!***