Neeley Family Blog

Fall has most definitely hit this Neeley house.  The leaves are falling in the yard, the grass is a deep shade of green again, I planted some bulbs that I am super excited to see in Spring, and decorations have joined our household.  We started decorating as soon as October began.  We have added small touches here and there, but now that we are just a week away from Halloween I think we have finished. Another sign of Fall in our house is sickness.  Yup, all of us are currently or have been sick.  The kids mainly.  They have had coughs that I cannot for the life of me get to go away, really, I think we are on week 3-4 of them coughing. :(  And wouldn't you know it since I have been taking care of them and trying to cure them of all this illness I am starting to get it now.  Hopefully it all passes soon! Back to the fun now.  I took some pictures so you could share in our Fall happiness around the house.  Festive Table decor. ...

Last weekend we ventured to the pumpkin patch.  The kids were ready and the weather was cooperative.  First on the list, picking pumpkins!  This year Brylee is big enough to pick her own.  We geared up after parking (putting on rain boots and sweatshirts) and headed over to the patch.  We grabbed a wheelbarrow, yup we are those kinda people, and started looking.  Brayden of course wanted a "BIG" one, Brock said he wanted one not too big and not too small, and Brylee picked up any that she could physically carry.  Haha, they are really like the 3 little bears if you think about it! :) Pumpkin choices and poses: Second on the list: get fresh Pumpkin DONUTs and Cider!!! We got these last year and devoured all of it before leaving that day.  They seriously are the BEST! The donuts were so in demand this day that we had to wait in a line of about 20 people to get ours fresh out of the cooker. YUM, YUM! Third up was playing and visiting...

Let me just begin by saying that everyone is OK.  No major injuries occurred thankfully. I knew a day would come where I would have to take one of the kids to the ER for some accident that happened.  Now Brad and Brock had to go to the ER when they had the car accident, but this was not our fault and I don't count it as us needing to take them to the ER.   I mean with 2 active boys, common it is bound to happen, right!?! Well, yes here we go.  On Tuesday night ( a day that was already clearly working against me and had me completely emotionally exhausted from all the activities) I headed off to an Auction Meeting at the kid's school.  It started at 7pm.  At 7:05 my cell phone rings (vibrates) two times in a row.  I answer it and walk out of the room to take the call from Brad.  I hear yelling in the background (not uncommon) and then Brad begins. "Brock jabbed Brayden in the eye with a pointer and he is bleeding out of his eye! I don't kn...

As summer was nearing an end, soccer season came to its beginning.  Brayden started soccer just a week before we left for our Disney Adventure.  So we missed one week of practice while we were gone, but he picked right back up with it the day we flew home and has been loving it.  Just two weeks ago he had a Jamboree to start the season of games.  It happen to be on a 90-something degree day, but hey what is a little heat right!?!  Here are a few pictures of his Jamboree in action: He is quite the little soccer stud! We are so proud! He just goes for it on the field.  He does listen to the coach too during all the action and follows his instructions.  There are a total of 6 kids on his team including 2 girls.  We had to gear him up at the beginning of the season with cleats, shorts, shin guards, and socks.  His first practice with the shin guards I put them on wrong and was promptly corrected by the coach! :)  I put his s...

So Walt Disney World (WDW) in August for a week, what comes to mind?  Lots of HOT, sweaty fun!!!  So why not!?! Planning and saving took months, but Brad and I together had everything ready to go by the time our August departure date arrived.  Our planning and preparation was down to a "T" this time around.  Everything was mapped out, all arrangements were scheduled and paid a couple months before leaving, money was set aside for food, souvenirs and such, and the dog/house watchers were set! BIG pat on the back to us :) !!!! We decided to stay at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort this time around.  The pool had been re-done since Brad and I visited last in 2000 and it looked fabulous for the kids.  It also was in the middle of the gigantic grounds that make up WDW.  Our days were spent at each of the 4 parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.  It was a busy vacation to say the least.  We were at the parks long ho...

Brayden is 6! Can you believe it? We can barely grasp it.  Our little boy, first baby, is now officially a school aged kid.  Brayden had school on his birthday.  At school they can get a free dress pass on their birthday, but Brayden chose to wear his uniform.  They also celebrate the last 15 minutes of class so he had me bring cupcakes to class to share with everyone and celebrate his day.  Brayden and Brock were lucky boys and got to celebrate with my side of the family over the weekend between their birthdays.  It was our annual September birthday celebration.  Brock, Brayden and my mom.  Here are some photos from our joint celebration: The yummy lemon torte cake.  Grammy with all her grand kids. The joint singing effort for Brock, Brayden and my mom: Brayden chose Chuck-E-Cheese for his birthday celebration.  We went out to dinner at Chevys (Brayden loves Mexican food).  The kids all enjoyed their time at the Chee...

Wow! Brock is 4 now.  And he is truly becoming a little man.  He started pre-school on his birthday this year.  He was nervous and excited...who wouldn't be.  On his birthday, Brock decided he wanted to go bowling and have an ice cream cake.  I got a few presents and items while he was in his first day of school.  He got to then help me pick out his cake and 10 balloons for his big day. As soon as Brad got home from work he opened his presents.  He was waiting patiently and asking every 5 minutes when dadda would be home.  Present celebration: After dinner we headed off to bowling.  We got to the ally and bum deal, they were having a league night :(.  They only had one lane for non-leaguers.  There was a couple already playing.  We waited about 15-20 minutes to see if they were going to finish, but realized it was not going to happen.  We had to leave.  We checked one other ally close by, but also a league...