Halloween 2008.....being Sarah Palin.

Halloween 2008 was unlike any halloween we had ever had in the Rees household. To begin, we didn't do the normal Trick or treating in the neighborhood. Our church, Two Rivers, held the first annual Fall Family Frenzy and I was on the committee with a fun group of men and women....or should I say "man" and women. Steve Pridmore, our pastor of Family Ministries, was the lone man in a committee of very talented women!!! and he faired pretty well. Our whole family, minus Jake, spent halloween at the church. Jake had decided early on that he would hang with his girlfriend Emi and her family for the evening. So Jason, Me, Jamesen and Christian headed to the church for some fun, fellowship, outreach and ........TONS OF CANDY!!!

Christian wanted to be REALLY SCARY this year and ended up being successful in his venture. He went from wanting to be a vampire to devil to grim reaper to .......Skulkor. Pretty scary huh? Still not sure who SKULKOR is but quite scary! He enjoyed all the activities, but the one thing he loced the most was the rock wall. I was in charge of "candy distribution"....making sure all the stations were full of candy. Everytime I walked past the Rock Wall, Christian was on it. There were tons of games, bounce houses, EXTREME face painting, cotton candy, popcorn and pony rides.

There were also some celebrities.....including ...


SARAH PALIN!!!!!

Yes......you heard me right!!!! Sarah Palin joined us Two Rivers Fall Family Frenzy!!!!! All the way from ALASKA! Well, not really. From the moment Jamesen Rees heard her name be announced, he was determined to be Sarah Palin for halloween. Takes guts huh? Not only does he admire her for her beliefs, determination, and ability to handle all she

handled during the election, but he thinks that baby of hers is quite

cute....and he believes it is hers too!!!! He makes quite a nice looking lady doesn't he? She / he can even climb the rock wall.....I'll bet the real Sarah could too! Although she and John McCain didn't win, Jamesen will never forget the Halloween of 2008....and neither will we.....they ended up with pounds and pounds of candy!!!! We will be eating on it till the 4th of July 2009!

Michael Buble' in Concert

Back in the summer while checking out the Michael Buble' fan club website, I noticed, much to my satifaction, he was going to be in Knoxville. Now, I am not a member of the fan club, I was just looking for a video he had done to show Jamesen........just to clear up any confusion. I immediately called up my husband to inform him of the dates and also that if he wanted to stay in my good graces, he would take me. He is a very good listener when he wants to be.....he got online the day they went on sale and got us tickets. This is a link to the video I wanted to show Jamesen.....it is Michael buble singing my favorite song....and yes everytime I hear it, I know he is singing it directly to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPUJIbXN0WY .....well I can think that can't I???? Jason just smiles and agrees with me. He had to admit that the concert was quite good. Michael's adult humor and potty mouth always goes over well with the male gender....he laughingly admits that the men aren't there to see him sing.....but they will "thank me in the morning" if you know what I mean.

The group he is singing with in the pic to the right

is called Naturally 7. Everything they do is accapella. It is unbelievable. They make the sounds of all the instruments as well. Here is a youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jtklE-jdQI Check them out! They will be on Michael Buble's next album with him. It was a great show. We had a great night out! Thanks Jason!!!!

Missing in Action

I can't believe how time flies!!! My last post was over a month ago and I have no idea where life went during that time. Let's see....since September 22nd, what have we been into? Jake and Christian finished up football, Jamesen earned a Bobcat badge and sold over $700 in boyscout popcorn, the diagnosis of a dear friend with breast cancer, I volunteered to help on the committee for the Fall Family Frenzy at church, Michael Buble' in concert, the passing of an unbelievable child in our church, Disney World on Fall Break, Ole Miss may be bowl bound for the first time since 2003, U of Tenn has a losing record and fans are finally eating humble pie, Halloween (dressing Sarah Palin) and the Fall Frenzy, Tina Fain's Spooky forest which I understand has been going on for years and now this was The Rees Family's first experience, and now it is November 3rd. I guess I will have to elaborate on each of these as my time permits. After our whirlwind weekend, I have LOADS of laundry to do. I do say I love it when the weather turns chilly enough for sweatshirts and jeans, but the laundry tends to quadruple in size. There was one thing I wanted to "blog" about before I forget the precious moment.



Notice the pic I have scanned in and posted. This was before I had the nerve to buy a digital camera (which got stolen while in Orlando....Disney). That precious pic is of my youngest, Christian. He was such a beautiful baby!!!! In the pic, he is taking a bath in the sink in Mungy and Sandy's bedroom at "The River". I found the picture while cleaning out a wardrobe in his room last week. I was doing the bi-annual sorting and shifting of clothes in each of the boy's rooms. This was the pic that I had placed in a "slide in" frame on the top of a baby wipe container. When I found it I immediately took it downstairs and placed it on the chalk/magnetic board in the office. When Christian arrived home that afternoon, I was at the computer doing some sort of research or email checking.



As usual, he walked in the door and yelled his usual "hello.....anybody home?"

"I am in the office Christian" I replied.

"No sticks and no warnings!" he proudly boasted.

I came back with " I am so proud of you Pee Wee!" (that's his nick name given to him by Mungy)
"I am getting better at controlling my talking and just staying quiet" he informed me. "Who is that in that picture, Jamesen....Jake?"


"No, that is my precious Pee Wee" I said in a mommy loving kind of voice.

"Where was that?" After a few guessing games and finally explanations it all ended up with how sad I was that he is all grown up now and such a big boy.

At that very moment, he grabbed me, squeezed me, and as he was patting me pretty darn hard on my back, he said in such a grown up way, "that's ok mom, I will always be your baby, I promise!"

The hugging and patting went on for quite a while, and I think he even repeated himself a few times. It was such a precious moment. He is a sweet spirited child and definitely loves his mom. I made the past month worth all the craziness. I constantly have to remind myself that Christian really is "still my baby". He is only six years old, but how easy it can be to get so wrapped up in the older kids world and forget that. Not to mention how he wants so bad to be a big boy like Jake and Jamesen. I even made the point of sending the pic to my sis to help her understand at this crazy time in her life of child rearing, how important it is to cherish the precious moments and younger years......they don't last forever!