Tressa takes a sleigh ride

First snowfall of the season and Dad went and bought some new sleds. Each daughter got a turn to take a ride out in the field, but I only got a video of T-bird taking a ride. It was a lot of fun for me as well as her. Thanks Dad for being so good to us!

Christmas with the Chicks

The chicks took their families downtown to see the lights and eat at the Spaghetti Factory. Another great night in Indy perfect weather to see the large tree on the circle and finish up at Starbucks. The kids and husbands were well behaved which is such a relief, you never know when the husbands will act up! Love these ladies and appreciate all of their prayers and support as I journey through motherhood.

Winter Solstice

It's the most wonderful time of the year! No, not the Winter Solstice, but close...Christmas! The girls and I love this time of the year. Last week Grandpa Karl drove us to the IMA for the celebration of the Winter Solstice at the Lilly House. The weather was perfect and we were able to see reindeer, owls and take a tour of the Lilly House decorated for Christmas. We ended the evening with a drink at Starbucks.

Birthdays

Its that time of year again where half of the Messmore family celebrates their birthdays. Ashton turned 30 this year which is hard to believe. I can't believe it was 30 years ago that I was in 7th grade when I was told to come to the office for a message that I have a nephew, it took me awhile to figure out that a nephew meant it was a boy.

Tressa turned 13 the day after Ash and I celebrated ours, we celebrated with a couple of parties and finalized it with a slumber party and a trip to laser tag. She had a great time and is growing up to be a wonderful daughter who gets in trouble for teasing her sister.

We are preparing for Thanksgiving and celebrating with family, thank you God for a great year!

Tressa the Model

Tressa and I found a great place to take pictures and this is one of our favorites! She is growing up so fast and looks great in the neighbors dresses, thanks gals!

I love to read in the trunk.

A couple of weeks ago Kennedy and I cleaned out her room. Along with the many toys and clothes given away, a box of books were supposed to go to Goodwill too. However, early the next morning Kennedy remembered that Dad had put them in his trunk and decided to open the trunk and read while mom and dad weren't looking. She can "focus" when she wants to. We love ya K!

Bigger Loser II

Team Tugboat won the Biggest Loser this time. Hunt was the biggest loser shedding 32 pounds! Great Job!! I personally just love getting together on Sunday evenings for the food, yummy!

Photography award

Tressa and I entered pictures in the Riley Days Photography contest. Tress won the Hollenbaugh Award for her picture taken of K and Uncle Lon (see previous blog) and a first and second prize in another category. We are very proud of her. She also received a $500 grant for her school.

Boiler Up!

For the Labor Day weekend took the girls to Dads Alma Mater, Purdue, to see them beat Toledo. It was very hot, but we survived and enjoyed the day. We also took the "fan experience" tour and went down on the field before the game. Tressa loved watching the band, as does Mom. That is her watching them in the top photo. Kennedy enjoyed being the "ham" in our picture as I gave up and let her steal the show. Thanks girls for being so good and letting us treat you to more memories with Mom and Dad. Oh, how could I forget, Mark also proposed to Lindsay and she said "Yes!". I was the first person to inform Jack about the engagement, he was very happy!

Kennedy riding the horse video

2009-2010 First Day of School.

The first day of school for the 2nd grader and 7th grader.
Kennedy is ready for 2nd Grade, Mrs Bynums class. Peace Baby! The T-bird rocks!


Dad and his pride and joy! I really think Tressa looks like she is going to cry, because she has to leave Mom.

Weekend at the lake

A big "thank you" goes out to Helen and Dick for their wonderful home to enjoy friends and family. We had great weather to go swimming and boating. Kennedy said her favorite part was swimming with Uncle Lon, but "he should wear his life jacket." I know "K," he never listened to me so don't expect him to listen to you. In the above picture Uncle Lon and Kennedy do one of their many jumps of the pier. The funny for the day was when Uncle Lon and Kennedy swam far out from the pier and Tressa went down to check on them, when Kennedy saw her she told Uncle Lon, "don't worry we are too far out she won't jump in and swim out here, " and she was right.

Smokey Mountains

Isn't he cute? This is one of the three cubs and their Mom that we saw in one tree on our trip through the Smokey Mountains, Cades Cove. I took this picture of him as I was standing out the sunroof and we were right under him. Kennedy was right beside me and he stopped eating his leaves and looked right at us! Tressa had taken the day to go with Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt Julie to the Biltmore Mansion in Ashville, NC. We had a great time, relaxing and beautiful views. Other then the raccoons that got in the trash every night we were so blessed. The girls loved the pool and the steep road to get to our cabin. I loved the view from the Newfound Gap (TN & NC state line) other than T-Bird pouting the whole time that we had taken a wrong turn and we had not reached our swimming hole yet. Oh well, the memories are dear and we hope all will enjoy another time soon.

Mody and Me

Last week we were finally able to get up to Modys house to enjoy the pond, sun and her wonderful food! Had a great time visiting and seeing Nancy and Aunt Lisa. What a gorgeous day, perfect weather for laying out in the sun and tubing. The girls were worn out on the way home!

We had just finished a long walk with Lindsay and Shannon which consisted of some back woods hiking and walking down the creek, which the dogs loved! The girls came home and needed to clean their feet and K thought why not kill two birds with one stone, potty and have my sister clean my feet!

And I shaved my legs for this?

Tressa was invited by the "block gals" to see the new Harry Potter movie. Alas, this moment called for the first shave of the legs! A couple of days before this she wanted me to check her hair because it had been itching, don't tell her, but I could not really check it unless I stood on my toes and I wasn't going to do that. I would not hear the end of how I am getting taller then you! She is growing up and there are many days when I wish she was that little baby and listened to every word I said and did not question why, but they all grow up. Oh well, I still have little sis who thinks mom is awesome.

4 H Fair 2009

Tressa and her favorite pig, Long John. We had a great year and I am very proud of her! All blue ribbons on projects, photography and biscuits recieved honors. It is a good bonding week for her and Dad and Mom enjoys the food. A big "thank you" to Pam and Andon in helping her with showmanship, she did much better and we look forward to next year!

Kennedy showing a pig for Mini 4H, she enjoys it and I enjoy watching her. Her cousins were a big help this year in instructing her how not to wack the pig. She did much better and I really appreciate the help from the judge, Brock L.

Wes and Shannon Wedding

Well it's offical, Shannon is now the best looking wife on the south side of 900 N. We were privalaged to be part of their beautiful wedding on July 4th. What a wonderful "block" to be married on and live on! We enjoyed the day so much being with neighbors and friends. It was the best "block" party we have had so far.

Tressa enjoyed taking pictures and keeping tabs on Lili and Kennedy. Kennedy enjoyed dancing with the bride and Lindsay, but let us not forget that here favorite part was having dinner with Joe.

We ended the night by watching Dad and the crew of Hunt boys, Conner and Tressa light off the display of fireworks!

What a mom won't do for 4H Photography

It is "panic week" at the home, 4H projects due by Tuesday! Last minute color photos being taken and I get picked to be in the shot! The strain on my face shows what I will go through to get a good shot. Love that Tressa, she does a great job...

They really do get along, its a miracle! We did our summer photo shoot last night at the Harlan Church. Wesley and Shannon will be getting married there on July 4th, we look forward to that joyous time. We followed up the photo shoot with a swim at the pond, which we all enjoyed the warm water, while watching Kennedy and Joe jump off the pier! We have wonderful neighbors!!! Still watching our hair making sure it has not turned "blue."

Andon & Pams Wedding

"Honey" and "Sweetie" tied the knot over the weekend! What a beautiful time we had. As you can see the girls looked beautiful (Ash did too) and enjoyed the duties of guestbook and program director. Andon has grown to be such a wonderful guy, with a beautiful wife. We enjoy them so much! We have enjoyed the week after the wedding because Nanny came to stay with Sunny, the dog. We have her over once a night to do our chores. We have also enjoyed our ice coffee trips!

Kennedy turns 8!

Kennedy turned 8 and Dad turned 42! We celebrated for 3 days and recovered on the 4th day. As you can see we enjoyed Aunt Lisas birthday glasses. We also celebrated at Chuckie Cheese on the 15th with Raina and Lili Ann. Ryley and Tressa joined also and loved singing with Chuckie. Kennedy rounded out the night by staying all night with Grandma and Papa Janes which is her favorite thing to do. Kennedy had a great time all around and wants to go back to Chuckies soon. A big thank you to our family in giving her money to continue horse riding lessons. She is enjoying it so much and looks forward to seeing Shay every week.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for the girls, time flys by! Kennedy will be in 2nd grade and Tressa in 7th! Just a year ago I started the blog and I can't keep up like I want to, but I hope the girls will look back on it and enjoy our times together.

Kennedy starts horse riding lessons

Kennedy has started horse riding lessons and she loves it. She is only the second student to walk under the horse! Hey, they don't scare me! This is Shay the horse that she is riding and he is 17 years old. Before Shay "retired" he was an indurance racer and has traveled all over the world to race. Her favorite part was trotting, "her hinney went up and down." She did a great job riding and cleaning Shay after the session. After we were done Shay was rewarded with an apple along with her friends. After the lesson we traveled back to school to see her art project in the County Art Fair, she did a lovely painting made by dipping the paint in balloons. Busy day, but so worth it!

Aunt Mary turns 100!

Just returned from South Dakota to celebrate Great Aunt Marys 100th Birthday. As soon as I can get Lisa to download pictures I will add them. She is in great shape physically and mentally. She was a school teacher and started teaching at the Cates school which was on my Great Grandparents (James and Leah Cates) farm that was on the Missouri River south of Jefferson. This one room school house was also the school that my Grandpa Lilly taught and eventually met my Grandma Lilly (Thressa) Marys sister. The rest is history as they say. The weather was not great, but the good Lord brought us home.

Recently went to the Woodhouse Spa in Fort Wayne with Mody. Loved it! We had a great time being pampered, relaxing, laughing and reminiscing. I love the pictures!

Once again the Janes family is getting ready for 4H. Chris has the master plan in place for the pig pens this year and we will also be adding Gavin Mengs pigs to our herd. Everyone is excited and can't wait for the pigs to arrive. Tressa is also starting soccer this week which she loves! The weather is very cold so we hope it improves over the next few days or I will be watching from the car. Kennedy is enjoying school and is averaging 21 books per month that she has passed. We have seen great improvement over the year.

Pam and Andon have become homeowners just 20 minutes from our house. Beautiful home with acreage for the cows. It is nice having both boys the same distance away. Andon and Pam are preparing for the wedding on June 13th and then we get ready for Wes and Shannons wedding on July 4th! Oh, forgot to mention that Chris and I won the biggest loser contest! It was a great start for us and we home to maintain the weight loss.