Cade turns 2!

My baby is 2! I can hardly believe it. Last week we celebrated Cades birthday with family and a few friends at the fine family entertainment establishment: Chucky Cheese! It was a very thrown together party for our sweet little boy. Cade enjoyed his party in a way that no other child has ever before. It's hard to even explain it. He loved it all: the games, the mouse, the family, friends, presents, pizza, and cake. He enjoyed every bit of it. He said, "yeah" and "wow" and "OOOH" as he opened each gift and ate each bite. He thanked everyone for each present. It was beautiful. Again, like no other party we've had. Then again, Cade is like no other. He was given to us simply to bring joy to our lives. His constant smiles, giggles and "yeah's and wow's", make my Mommy heart melt. I praise the Lord for you my little man! Happy Birthday!

Mom's memories...AKA: Gram

Since Mom died we started a new tradition in the Best home of placing an additional tree with all of her ornaments on them. Mom left me 40+ Christmas boxes to sort through and decide what to do with. I couldn't keep it all, so I culled it down to about 10 boxes. (I know alot of christmas stuff!) My Mom's favorite time of the year was Christmas. She baked, and baked, and baked, and decorated, decorated, decorated, and stayed extra busy making memories at Christmas. She loved to buy ornaments. I never understood this passion of hers. However, I am so thankful for it now. Mom had ornaments that represented everything that she loved. So, when we put up her tree, our kids are learning all about her. In fact Britton believes that he remembers her. He was just turning 3 when she died. I know he does not remember her, but I love that we have kept her memory alive in such a way that he believes that he knew her. I know our yearly christmas tree decorating helps my kids to know who she was and what she was like. I never knew or understood why she bought all the car, football, barbie, and doll house ornaments. Now I know. She was buying them for her future grandkids! They love these ornaments the most and she knew that when she was buying them. Oh, such a wonderful woman. I am so thankful to have had her for 30 years!!
Some of my favorite ornaments on her tree:

The Harley ( for her favorite child, the son IN LAW)



Mr. Grinch ( because she loved to read and she read Dr.Suess to me alot)


Raggedy Ann and Andy ( this was the theme for my baby nursery)



All the ones my Aunt Denie made. They date back to the 80's. Such a beautiful reminder of a wonderful friendship!



One of my favorite part of Christmas. Seeing my kids love these trees as much as Mommy and Gram!!

Lets play ball!!

I (keith) played football and wanted to play, my Father tells me, since I was six. Not to brag but I was really good. I played until my senior year in high school and loved to play. I was not built for college, too small, so I really felt I waisted some time with this game and did not spend enough time playing baseball which I loved also but not as much as football and would have been more suited to play beyond high school. So when my first born began to love baseball I tried to steer him in that direction and keep him away from football as much as I could. Alas growing up in the south he begged to play and all his friends were going to so we chose flag football. And wouldn't you know it, he is really good also. He may even be better than me. He ran nearly all our touchdowns and even caught a few. But his ability to run with the ball is truly athletic. It is something you are born with and coming from someone who can do it, I am able to see the talent. He can feel where to run and how to cut without me telling him how to do it. We would get in a bind and Coach Eric would say "just run Britton" we would and he would score. He of course loves it and the natural ability makes him love it even more. I am so proud of him, but I am more proud of the way he plays the game. He is respectful and obedient, something that was missing in many of the teams we players and coaches we played against this year. In one game we needed a score and we called Britton to the left. (Really a complicated offensive system) He ran and got stopped and was upset and one of the other kids on the other team called him a loser and he was crying. As I fixed his flag I told him to not worry about that kid and what he said and focus on the game because we are going to need him in a minute. He dried up is tears and did what I said and kept playing. Two plays later Britton made a tremendous catch for a touchdown that helped win the game for us. He talked about how I told him what to do and how he did it and in the end it helped him overcome the adversity of the moment. That is a lesson that not all sports can teach a young man. He then began to really love all football. He watches college and pro. He knows teams and players names and collects football cards and memorizes them. ( I never loved it as much as he does) So we took him to his first Alabama football game. UA vs Chattanooga. We walked around got him a stick on UA tatoo and a cool alabama hat. We ate pizza and coke in the stadium and UA of course won. Afterwards we went to the quad and guess what Britton did. He rounded up a bunch of boys and got a football pick up game going. We left and stopped at the Original Dreamland and ate ribs. It was a great day. So it looks like he is a full fledged football addict. Looks like we have many years of football to go. I look forward I think most to be able to pass on the knowledge of the game to him but also to have opportunities to pass on more of those life lessons as we enjoy this game together.

I will always be proud of you son.

Love Dad

Peace filled day!

Wow, what a great morning! This day has been nothing special. Cold, wet, rainy, but peaceful. Today we all gathered around the table for breakfast for bible time, spent some time praying together, and then off to start school. Cade went and got his blanket out for blanket time and helped me set up his toys. Then Chesney asked if she could do crafts today, so we set her up for craft time. Britton sat up at the bar working on his school diligently. Cade in the floor playing quietly, Chesney cutting and gluing at the table, Britton doing school work at the bar, Momma singing in the kitchen. It was such a beautiful moment. Nothing miraculous, just a peace filled school day while we listened to the rain beat on the roof. I am so thankful we get to have such experiences together. I love you my dear children!

Mommy's Little Secret!!

My sweet children,

Last week Mommy's new Vitamix arrived in the mail. My supercool blender/grain grinder! Mommy is in love with this new appliance. It has changed our life in so many great ways! Mommy's friend, Lisa, has been trying to convince me to buy this machine for years, I just wouldn't fork out the money to do it. I have been praying for the past year about buying it, and the Lord has provided the money to do so. So, I found a used one on ebay and now its here!! I need to name her, because she has accomplished so much in just two weeks time. So far, you all are in love with the smoothies and icee's that I make you each day. None of you have a clue that you are eating cabbage, carrots and spinach everyday with your precious strawberries, apples and bananas. It feels so wonderful to know you are eating such things, and that you think Mommy's giving you the best treat ever!! So many of our GI ailments are beginning to remedy themselves :) It makes me such a proud Momma!! I haven't even began to do bread making with it. Oh the wonders of it all!!! I feel like Im walking on cloud nine, all of you eating 6-7 servings of fresh fruits and veggies a day. The best part is you are doing it joyfully. The gift of a lifetime for me!!! One day I'll share the secret ingredients, but not now........ :)

The Spiky Spider

One day I was in my room. Then my Dad told me to come and see this thing that me
and Mom saw. Then he took me outside. I saw a spiney bellied orb weaver spider. He
took a picture and took me inside.Then he said to me to go to bed and I did.
This is the picture we took:



posted by Britton, 8 years old!!

Baby talk

My sweet baby Cade has let the flood gates open on his personality. I just love this phase!!!! Such sweet moments. Some of your favorite phrases:

Bye, Bye, Mommy, Daddy.
Here you go.
Uh-Oh.
I get it.
one,two, free....
Yeah, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, as Daddy arrives home.
Night, night.
Love you.
Chee nee.
You love to sing Jesus loves me with us at family bible time. You know a word here or there, but you sing along through the song just as if you knew every word."Blah, la, la, me, la, blah, la, la, blah, la, la, me, so. blah, la, la, STRONG, la, la, la, la la." It something along those lines. It is the most precious singing I have ever heard. I will catch it on film sometime. You are a such a smart booger and will hold your singing tongue when I break out the video camera!

So many more, those are just our favorites for now. I especially love the way you nod your head yes to answer our questions. My baby has grown up into a big boy. Sniff,sniff!
I love you Cade man. ( The picture Im posting is of you in the bibleman cape running through the house, and Chesney's Mrs. Jackson glove. This is normally your big sisters daily attire, however you decided you wanted to be like her today, so she shared them with you. )