The McCoy Tribe

Maybe I am obsessing....

2011-09-19T13:15:00.000-05:00

Ok...maybe I am obsessing too much...but NetFlix...really? Come on! I have been a member of NetFlix for over a year, they looked like a great company to get the best of both worlds from...I could get my DVD's by mail, which I got previously from BlockBuster...but now I could get my streaming from one source and manage them all from one site! I love the ease of getting multiple things from one store...which is why I use companies like WalMart and Amazon.com. Now they announce that they are splitting the company into two unique sites...one for streaming and one for DVD by mail...Really? This to me is like WalMart saying..."Oh, we have decided to split our stores into multiple smaller stores so we can provide better service to all....and your costs will go up. Sorry!" So, I lose the convenience of having everything at one spot, I lose the ability to have one checkout point. The whole point is convenience to the customer. I tolerated the price increase...I was okay with that because ultimately, if they didn't have the movie I wanted available on streaming, I could get it on my DVD queue...with one click. So now I am considering canceling my entire subscription, because if I have to go to WalMart and find out that Ziploc bags aren't considered a Grocery item...I now have to go to WalMart for Dry Goods instead...which is across the parking lot and you have to wait in line there too...Give me a friggin break!

Enough of that rant!

One Day I will update my Blog!

2010-05-09T15:43:00.000-05:00

My Word! I can't believe it has been 5 months since I last posted a blog update. Be on the lookout in the near future for an actual update...I think having a new baby is keeping me from posting...but she is just about to the age we can think about communicating with the outside world again!

2009 Christmas Tree...Emme's First

2009-12-20T20:57:00.000-06:00

Emme will have her first Christmas this year!

Today we setup our Christmas Tree. Due to weather conditions the past two weekends we decided that an artificial tree would be our option if we wanted to have a tree this year. It isn't my preferred type of tree...but it works. This one is quite nice, it used to be the one I put in my office, but due to re-arranging the office over the summer, I didn't have room to put it this year. I should have thought about that while I was setting up the office, but oh well!

Andy helped us decorate the tree. This one isn't big enough for all of our ornaments, so we selected those that were most special to us this year. Included are Andy and Emme's "My First Christmas" ornaments, our "We're Expecting" ornaments given while we were expecting Andy, a selection of hand crocheted ornaments from Grandma Jarrell's, paper garland and ornaments made by Andy this year with the help of Meme and Nana Spiers, as well as a few hand made ornaments that were made by Brandy and I when we were just a family of two.

In typical two year old fashion, many ornaments got placed in a cluster...we had to help him spread them around....

Overall I think we ended up with a lovely tree! Don't you?

Blue Light Special

2009-12-05T20:43:00.000-06:00

After her 6th day on Earth, Brandy and I noticed that Emme was quite jaundiced so we called her pediatrician who instructed us to take her to the hospital to have her Bilirubin counts tested. We took her in and results came back with a count of 17. Normal is under 10, and a High count starts at 14. They hospitalize at 18....so the pediatrician's office ordered a Bili Light to be delivered immediately to our house for Emme to stay under. She was under it for three days and we went back in to test and her levels were down to 12, one more day and it was 10 and she was able to come off the light. Yay! We are so glad to have our little blue light special to be healthy again. She is much more lively now.

Let it Snow!

2009-12-04T19:56:00.015-06:00

It Snowed in Carriere on December 3 2009. It was a sight to see. All day everyone at work had been saying that it was supposed to snow that day, I looked on the Weather Channel and saw that if it was going to snow that it should start around 8 PM. Around Noon, I got a text from my Sis in Houston saying that it was snowing there...so at 8 PM I went outside and low and behold it was still raining. Oh well. No snow. The radar on Weather channel was then showing that everything looked like it would totally miss us and snow just to our north, but not here. Then around 9 PM when we were about to put Andy to bed I noticed larger softer rain falling outside.

Brandy went outside to check and sure enough it was snowing. So bedtime got delayed to have some fun in the snow. Andy, Momma, and Mimi went out and played for about an hour. Daddy stayed inside and watched the littlest member of our family since she couldn't go out to play.

Not a whole lot of snow, but here are a few pictures.

Our McCoy Tribe header for the blog was also made by Brandy and Andy out of our SnowMen that morning. Enjoy!

Home!

2009-11-27T11:15:00.000-06:00

Well folks,

We made it home yesterday afternoon. All of our normal doctors were enjoying their holidays, and I think all of the On-Call doctors wanted to empty the hospital in their stead. When we were getting processed to leave, 5 of the 8 new sets of parents at the hospital were also getting their discharge papers. The poor nurses were running trying to get everyone who was going home gone and still take care of the ones left behind. As with our first visit in Slidell Memorial when Andy was born, this visit to SMH was great! The nurses in the Labor/Delivery, Nursery and Post-Partum departments were very kind, attentive, and went above and beyond expectations of care! Thank you so much to all of those wonderful ladies for taking care of my two ladies!

Our first night back home was adventuresome. It was amazing that Brandy and I both woke up this morning...so the night must not have been as bad as it seemed it would be at times during the night. Little Emme was not a happy camper adjusting to her new environment. We couldn't seem to get her fed, and comfy at the same time so she would sleep at all. Finally about 3 AM she went to sleep in her sleeper and Mom and I were able to get a couple hours of sleep before the 5:30 feeding (followed by 7, and 9). I have forgotten what it was like to have a new baby in the house. Remembering that babies in the hospital get used to it being daylight all night long, and total darkness is something they haven't had since they joined this world.

I hope to get a big picture post on the site soon with many of the rest of the pictures we took yesterday. Currently, am having trouble locating the camera cable for this computer, and our wireless is not working to hook up the other computer that doesn't need a cable. Go figure!

Andy visits Emme.

2009-11-24T21:48:00.000-06:00

This afternoon after Brandy got out of recovery, my Mom (aka. Nonna), who was keeping Andy today, brought him to see his new little sister. Here are a few pictures from the visit.

Andy even got to hold her...what he has wanted to do since we started talking about a Little Sister

Then we visited with Mom a little while

He even got a special "Emme's Birthday" Present from Nonna and Papa

Emme Meets the World!

2009-11-24T15:28:00.000-06:00

Today my second child was born. Her name is Emme. Which is long for M.E., which is short for Mary Elizabeth. Mary is named for my Mom's Mom, Mary Hadden, and the Elizabeth is from Brandy's Mom's Mom's Mom, Elizabeth Christy. Emme was born on Brandy's Birthday. So Mom and Daughter will share a birthday. Here are a few pictures until we get some more.

One Week!

2009-11-17T16:56:00.002-06:00

Well folks...this is it...the home stretch. In one week we will be welcoming little Miss Emme to the world! I can't wait...so nervous, excited, scared and thrilled all at the same time. After we missed having everything perfect for Andy when he was born, I thought certainly we would get everything done at the house before the next one arrived....9 months ago, I thought...certainly this can be done....now....why treat the second kid different than the first. The house still isn't ready, but oh well. It will be what it is. At least it is a LOT cleaner today than it was last week this time. Brandy and I spent the weekend attempting to clean house. Got a lot done, but hopefully after this weekend we will have it finished...

Egg-Saws-Ted (aka. Exhausted!)

2009-10-24T21:16:00.004-05:00

Today was the Annual Lee Family Reunion....which is held each year at our Caesar property (The Center of the Lee Family Land). This Reunion is Brandy's Grandma Betty's Brothers and Sisters and all of their families. A good time was had by all....but I and the rest of the McCoy Tribe are slap worn out. I now know how Mom and Dad McCoy feel after throwing their big get togethers that we used to have. Today, we started at 7 AM with a super fast Breakfast of Cereal...no time to cook....then headed to Caesar to start getting ready. After a trip all over town to locate propane for the grill (which we ended up not even needing after all that!), I finally made it to the property around 10 AM!!!!! So that meant flight of the bumblebee to the extreme. By the time I got there, Brandy had already gotten all of the lawn equipment relocated from under the shed, which was a HUGE help. So that meant getting the tables and chairs out of storage, setting them up and then starting to cook all within an hour! It actually happened!!!

Grandma Betty, the coordinator of the reunion decided that we would make this year's reunion easier on everyone by just doing Grilled meats, and everyone would bring a side dish....so we grilled Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Chicken, and a Brisket.

There is always too much food at our reunions and it is all soooooo good. I stuffed myself as usual! It was good seeing everyone again!

Andy had a great time playing with his cousins (Blake was Andy's best friend by the end of the day).

Aunt Melanie brought us a gift for M.E., a box stuffed with about 10 pair of cute girlie baby shoes! They are precious! Thanks so much Melanie!

The thing I love most about this family reunion is how everyone sits around and talks. Listening to Brandy's family tell some of their stories is better than going to Improv! Between Kenny and Denson, they had the whole group laughing to no end! A good time was had by all, and once we finished the clean up, Brandy, Andy, Mimi, and I came home to Veg for a few hours before calling it a day. Night Everyone!

Happy Anniversary Jules and Matt

2009-10-21T22:04:00.002-05:00

Can't believe I missed my Sister and Brother In Law's Anniversary! It has been one heck of a week...preparing for this weekend's Family Reunion...I totally forgot! Ack! Love you guys! Happy 9th! Here's to many many more!

You've Fell Victim to one of the classic blunders....

2009-10-20T22:06:00.002-05:00

one of which is "Never get into a land war in Asia"....the other...don't try to go tit for tat on how to have a bad week or two!

We went to see my Sis over the Columbus Day Weekend....that weekend, someone who was SUPPOSED to be her Best friend in Houston stabbed her in the back by quitting her job with a 2 day notice the week before she was supposed to cover for another therapist that was going to be out for the week (I don't much care for people like that...the whole "You don't want to meet me in a dark alley" comes to mind. F' with my Sister and I am gunnin for you!). So we get back to work on Tuesday, and one of my workers falls off a ladder and gets a compression fracture in his spine (out for at least 6 weeks)...so I thought I had WON the Bad week contest...but my week got worse...a crashed server...oh yeah...I had this one in the bag! But little did I know that my Big Sis's week was going down the tubes too! The continued fallout at her work place was (hopefully) finished off with a Triple Ticket from Houston's Finest! Okay Okay Sis...I get the point! You win!

Never go in against a McCoy when bad luck is on the line! (If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all! --My theme song from HeeHaw)

I love you Jules! I do hope things start going a little better for you soon!

Brave Aunt Ginny!

2009-10-11T22:44:00.004-05:00

My Sister is SO Brave and I will tell you why. When we were thinking about coming to Houston, Jules asked me if I thought Andy would like making cookies. Here I am thinking Prefab Rolls of cookies thrown in the oven...sure he would love that! We get to Houston and after the Pumpkin trip on Saturday, Julie makes some sugar cookie dough (From Scratch). Her intention is to roll and use cookie cutters to create shapes, and then decorate these cookies with a 2 year old! Wow! This should be interesting I think to myself...but once again, my little man amazed me with his interest, and devotion to the task at hand (Cooking with Aunt JuJu). He dons an apron and off they go.

Aunt Ginny had a step ladder to bring him to cabinet height and explains the process to him.

Then they select the cutters they will be using...of course all that Aunt JuJu had MUST be used.

Rolling the Dough (They made a mess!)

The Cookies going in the oven!

The patience it took to wait until the cookies cooked finally paid off! A finished project....can you pick out the ones Andy Decorated?

Someone was VERY happy to make cookies with his Aunt JuJu!!!

Lunch with Spot!

2009-10-11T11:08:00.000-05:00

After getting back from the Pumpkin Patch little man was crashed in the back seat. So, Aunt Ginny volunteered to watch him while Brandy and I went to have lunch with my long time friend Spot! We had lunch at a wonderful place called BJ's! It was delicious! Always good to spend a little quality time with old friends!

A weekend trip to Aunt Ginny's

2009-10-10T22:32:00.003-05:00

The McCoy Tribe had a long weekend from work, so we decided to take one last trip before M.E. is born to visit Aunt Ginny and Uncle Matt in Houston! We drove in on Friday night and then woke up Saturday morning to go to the Pumpkin Farm! Andy had a blast!

We searched for pumpkins

This one was too Heavy!

Then we went to play on the Giant Inflatable Slide! (3 slides for a ticket...2 year old's can't count!)

We finally found the perfect Pumpkin for our little man and brought it home! Thanks Aunt Ginny for taking us to the Pumpkin Farm! It was FUN!

Terrible Twos!

2009-07-17T21:14:00.003-05:00

In the past week, our little man has been up to a little mischief! Check it out!

Lessons Learned: 1) Wash your hands when you finish in the bathroom. 2) If you can't reach the sink, use an assistive device!

You can never have enough powder.

300 Q-Tip Pickup!

4th Of July Fun!

2009-07-04T21:24:00.003-05:00

We had a great July 4th this year. Aunt Ginny and Uncle Matt came home for the weekend to enjoy the holiday. We started the morning watching the annual fourth of July parade provided by the area fire departments. This has been a treat each year since it began over 20 years ago! This year, Andy got some beads from one of the trucks! Thank you for all you do Volunteer Firemen!
After a day of swimming, ice cream eating, and hot dogs, Andy got to experience his first sparklers (Under close adult supervision)!

Andy's First Beach Visit

2009-07-03T21:35:00.001-05:00

This holiday pre-weekend, while Dad was helping Papa tear down a house in Pass Christian. Mom and Andy brought the workers lunch, and afterword....Andy got to make his first visit to the Beach!

Andy played in the sand!

We even saw a hermit crab!

These new critters must be investigated!

We Swam!

and frolicked in the waters of the Mississippi Gulf Coast! It was FUN!

A Visit with Great Grandma Hadden!

2009-05-10T22:23:00.004-05:00

This Mother's Day, the McCoy Tribe went with Nonna to see Great Grandma Hadden in St. Francisville. Dad worked on Grandma's computer, and I got to play with Great Grandma's Riding Toy!

Dad and I went walking down the hill after lunch to keep me occupied!

Then Nonna and Great Grandma and I went walking in the yard...Great Grandma gave me a ride!

I think Great Grandma Hadden had as much fun as I!

It was a great day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers in our family!

Mom, Nonna, Great Grandma Hadden, Mimi, Great-Grandma Betty, Great-Great Grandma Jarrell, and Great-Great Grandma Christi!

Officially Entering the Terrible Twos!

2009-05-03T21:50:00.004-05:00

So....Best intentions of Mice and Men...We had great pictures ready for our blog from little man's Second Birthday! Much to our dismay, recently, someone accidentally deleted the pictures of his birthday and everything that happened during the next month. The dangers of digital cameras...can be formated just as easily as film cameras could...

Fortunately, we had several papparazzi on site to provide many pictures of the fun!

We had many guests....

There was Jenna

And Lilli

and Raegan

and Aunt Ginny and Uncle Matt...

And Papa, Nonna, Mimi, PawPaw, Great Grandma Betty, Aunt Verla, Tonya, Aunt Shirley, Cousin Heather, Nate, Gavin and Nana!
It was a Cowboy Themed Birthday! ~YeeHaw~
After I Blew out the candles, we had Ice Cream and Cake! Yum!

Cousin Nates Birthday!

2009-04-26T19:54:00.004-05:00

This weekend Andy had an invitation to his cousin Nate's 3rd Birthday Party. The event was held at Pump-it-Up in Mobile, AL. They have a huge room for private birthday parties filled with an inflated obstacle course, slide, basketball court, and a king of the hill!

Little man had a blast!

Mom and Dad even joined in the fun when we read that the weight limit on the inflatables was 800 pounds! The kids all had fun beating us up in the King of the Hill!

Mimi even joined in the fun!

Afterwards we went to the party room for Cake, Drinks and Chips! It was so much fun! Happy Birthday Nate!

P.S. Sorry for the blurry pictures! Action shots are kinda hard to get!

Mayhaws...

2009-04-20T19:46:00.003-05:00

Today we went Mayhaw Picking with Grandma Betty and Grandpa Stan. They have several mayhaw trees at their hunting camp in Poplarville. Little man enjoyed picking the fruits. Most of which were already on the ground. We attempted to shake the trees into sheets and plastic....we got a good number....but need to go back to get some more before they are all gone!

The Bad Haircut!!!! (A nice cap to a week from ...)

2009-04-17T16:38:00.005-05:00

Today I got a franic call while closing out my day at work...my loving wife...in tears....Andy got a BAD haircut....Very short! But he is still cute anyway! Have a look for yourself!

Looking forward to this weekend! It has been one H-E- double L of a week. Work was crazy...nothing went right...hopefully next week will be better! Had a pipe break at the Caesar property...gonna have to fix that this weekend...we tried during the week to get it fixed, but I (who have never had the pleasure of living in a trailer) found out that trailer plumbing isn't "standard" after tearing off half the siding on the trailer looking for the leak (geyser)...and quickly became frustrated with it and think I am going to re-plumb the entire building so I won't have to worry with stupid cheap plumbing ever again! Grrrr.....

2 Months and Spring Break!

2009-04-11T10:31:00.008-05:00

Wow! Has it really been two whole months since our last post!!!! Well...here is a summary of our life since the last Tribal Meeting....

February and March...We had loads of fun working our tails to the bone, but we got our fruit trees that we bought in November planted! Yay!

We also finally finished the Grape Arbor and got the grape vines planted as well! Double Yay! March also marked the 6th Anniversary of this Tribes founding. The founding members left the young with Nonna while we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Young's Restaurant in Slidell. If you want a great steak...that is the place! It was wonderful!

Bring in April! Our Spring Break started with a visit from Aunt Ginny and Uncle Matt. They were coming home to get Matt's Truck...which I will let Aunt Ginny explain why it didn't make it back to Houston...another frustration for those who don't need anything else added to their plate! That weekend was also the Anniversary of Nonna and Papa, and PawPaw's Birthday....for the Anniversary Nonna and Papa treated the whole family (JBAJMN and P) to a delicious dinner at Mandina's Restaurant. Everyone had a seafood platter except little man, he had chicken tenders....it was wonderfully delicious!

Begin the rest of the week.... Monday, the Tribal elders attempted to kill themselves by moving 5 truckloads of bark from our bark pile to our proposed garden site....since our bark delivery service takes over a month to deliver a load of bark (we are still waiting on something ordered in early March :( for the garden that we were going to have dumped directly on the garden...grrr...) Shortly there after our next project was delivered on time....

....a dumpster to clean up a garbage site on our property. Make Pearl River County Beautiful! So Tuesday while little man was taking his nap, we moved the vast majority of the trash in the pile....

to the dumpster...
We then spent the rest of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday tilling...

...throwing up rows...

and planting the garden...

...Little man even helped to plant the corn!

...we finally finished the garden!

In a few months we will have corn, okra, tomatoes, purple hull peas, peanuts, and watermelons! Yummy! Nonna is planting the rest of the veggies in her garden, peppers, eggplant, green beans, cucumber, squash, zucchini, etc. Should be a good combo to have for the entire tribe!

We also finished loading the dumpster in preparation for it to be hauled off on Monday! Goodbye Trash!

Mom and Dad are tired little puppies! We will be glad to go back to work so we can get some rest!!!

The New Grill...and an X. Earl Moment!

2009-02-09T20:19:00.004-06:00

This weekend the McCoy Tribe had to invest in a new grill. So we started by visiting Lowes to pick out the perfect grill for our style of function! We found a wonderful model that has two sides, one that cooks with gas and the other with charcoal! It is so very cool, with plenty of real estate for cooking. Sunday morning the family went out to Caesar to put the grill together. The instructions say that you need two people to put it together, so little man helped Dad in the assembly.
Had to check the tires to make sure it could support the load!
Then the McCoy Tribe Elders had what we will refer to as an X. Earl moment. For those who know the family this is all the explaining that is needed.
For the rest of you...it goes like this....My Dad has been known to find the coolest toys (when Jeff and Aunt Ginny were kids) and household stuff (Now that we are adults)...in the most unlikely of places. I remember the story of one of Aunt Ginny's dolls that was pulled out of someone's household dump (in the days before landfills)...Well, Jeff and Brandy were scouting out the Caesar property's wooded area when we came upon some discarded items from one of the local households....in there was this riding horse, and a purple riding Dino...a swingset (the swing seats and slide are still useable)
...so we hauled it up the hill...and before we could clean it off, little man had found himself a good time! Current plans are to get the sun-bleached horse a new paint job...and the dino a new set of handles and they will be good as new!

Tonight, we inaugurated the new grill with a Nerd gathering...A friend and sales rep for one of the computer companies we do business with is down for the Mississippi Computing Association's annual meeting. Mike comes down for a visit with us each year, this year we decided on cooking burgers and dogs and making it a family gathering with all my tech's families in attendance. Good fun was had by all...

Backbreaking work!

2009-02-06T19:30:00.003-06:00

Going into this weekend, Dad is still recovering from last week's marathon post setting spree...Ended up missing 3 days of work this week trying to recover. I totally pulled my back out doing what we did last weekend. It still hurts (Yes, Aunt Ginny, I did cold for the first 24 hours...then Hot/Cold for the next 24 and then hot since....combined with Doan's and Ibuprofen)...and it still hurts. Was doing better today until work had me and my team of dedicated workers tromping all over St. Michael's Farm to test out the network out there. For those who don't know already, PRC recently purchased the property to use as an Alternative school starting next school year. It is going to be a challenge to get everything ready....but fortunately for Technology...the existing network is basically in tact! Yay!

The tribe will be getting ready for a special visitor from North Dakota on Monday....so no rest for the weary!

Have a great weekend!

Work Work Work...

2009-01-31T18:44:00.004-06:00

Today the McCoy Tribe spent the day working at our Caesar place. Starting to plant our fruit orchard! Yay! In typical McCoy fashion, we bit off a little more than we could do in a day. Supposed to be raining tomorrow, so the Tribe will be traveling to Hurley to see PawPaw after his leg surgery.

We started the day with a visit to Paul Bounds to pick up 12 - 6 inch posts from which to strand our wire for our grape vines. On the way to Caesar from Picayune, the little man fell alsleep as it was time for his nap! But as you can see, when he woke up he was plenty of help packing the dirt back around the posts.

Mom and Dad were both exhausted from the day's work....we only got 5 of the 12 posts in the ground....A lot more work than any of us originally predicted.

I certainly think that everyone who passed by had to have gotten a good laugh out of the two of us out there digging wholes in the ground! I now know why farmers aren't fat! Maybe we won't have too much rain this weekend and we can get the rest of them finished next weekend! And then in a few years we will have some good ole Muscadine grapes to munch on!

My Word! Time is Flying By!

2009-01-27T21:34:00.004-06:00

We will do our best to get a post out soon! Doesn't seem like three months plus could have possibly passed since our last post. We have plenty of pictures to post....just have to get them posted!

Just added a three month update or two or three! Hope everyone has fun getting caught up on what has been going on in the McCoy's life! Sorry again for taking so long to post!

Potty Training begins as the Terrible Twos have arrived EARLY!

2009-01-24T20:55:00.000-06:00

The time has come for little man to start learning how to use a big man's potty! This week we purchased a "Prince's Throne" and we are starting to learn how to use it! The first attempt with pants down ended up with the floor wetter than the potty...but such is the task as we are told by those who have been there before us!
Recently little man figured out that if he pulled a chair into the kitchen from the dining room that he could climb on it and "help" Mom and Dad with dishes and cooking...he hasn't quite figured out that once the dishes are in the strainer to dry that they don't go back into the dish water...but that is okay!
The next day after breakfast, we noticed that quite a bit of time had passed and it was very quiet in the house. Deciding that we should check and see what our little bundle of energy was up to we ventured into the kitchen and found this... This was a muffin...we must have needed a few muffin crumbs for something, I suppose!

Catching everyone up! January and December - Minus Christmas!

2009-01-24T18:55:00.002-06:00

Our tool supply is growing! You might think that the McCoy Tribe is planning on doing a lot of yard work this year. Last year we bought our trusty Craftman lawn mower with our Economic Incentive Check...lets just call it a parting gift from our former President! Thank you GW! We are getting a lot of use out of it!
Last Christmas (2007), my late Aunt's BFF Mary Alice sent us a wonderful gift certificate to Lowes...we spent part of it on some attachments for the lawn mower! They have come in big handy spreading ant bait around the property and hauling loads of bark around to fill in some of the holes and low spots around the property. This year so far with that same gift certificate, we bought ourselves a weed eater to help trim around the trees after we mow!

Our goal for the day was to get our new weedeater assembled as well as the wonderful wheel barrow Nonna and Papa gave the Tribe for Christmas. Mission accomplished! Now the fun begins!

Papa and Nonna came out the the Caesar property before an adventurous trip to the Big Easy to look at an Organ Papa purchased and plan its safe voyage to Carriere where it will find its new home! Papa helped the decision challenged McCoy Tribe elders to find a home for the fruit trees and grape vines we purchased from Pine Hill Nursery back in Early December!

The decision has been made! Now the work will really begin! Planting the trees and vines. We currently have two apple trees, two pear trees, one fig, four blue berries, four Muscadine vines, and a Japanese magnolia (a gift to the Tribe from Brandy's work mates in memory of PawPaw James who passed away in Early December).
This should be real fun getting all of these plants planted. I think we are going to need to buy a few more now that we have our space picked out...this property is larger than I first imagined.

Christmas at the McCoy's House

2008-12-25T20:25:00.000-06:00

Santa Clause visited the McCoy household. Unfortunately, the Tribal Elders forgot to take many pictures. Papa loaned the family his camera so we could take pictures and post them on the tribal website...but alas, here is what we did remember to take!
Santa delivered Andy a Craftsman "My First Toolbench". Many hours were spent Christmas morning hammering and constructing with the tools and accessories that came with the bench. I think Santa made Andy happy with his choice of presents! By the end of the day there were little wooden nuts and bolts all over the living room floor.

That smile certainly makes all of Santa's work on Christmas Eve assembling the bench worth it doesn't it!

We spent lots of time with Aunt Ginny, Uncle Matt, Nonna, PaPa, Mimi, PawPaw, and the Stanford clan during the break. All of the presents were well appreciated! Thanks to everyone!!! See Aunt Ginny's blog to see what the papparazi took....at least someone doesn't forget to take pictures on such an important day in a little man's life!

TurkeyDay Insanity!

2008-11-30T20:37:00.001-06:00

During a visit with Aunt Ginny the weekend before Thanksgiving, the McCoy Tribe Elders had a moment of temporary insanity! About a year ago, Dad decided that we should purchase a turkey around Thanksgiving to grind because that is when turkey is at its cheapest in the US....skip a year to this visit when we found out that the Houston grocers had a much better price on these big birds than Picayune does....so we bought two! Tipping the scales at about 50 pounds for both...we lugged them home from Houston and made it our mission to get them in the freezer! Mom used her dexterous skills with the knife to good use! Years of training from Mimi on how to properly butcher anything came in great handy as Brandy quickly fileted both birds.

Dad's job became moral support and processing the meat through the grinder attachment on our KitchenAid Mixer!

The mission proved successful as we got a little over 20 pounds of ground turkey and 12 quarts of fresh turkey stock and only spent about $18 on both turkeys. Since the stuff in a tube in the store costs over $1.50 per pound this was a worthy investment.

A trip to Ginny's House

2008-10-14T20:28:00.005-05:00

The whole McCoy tribe visited Aunt Ginny's house in Houston during our Fall Break at PRC. The youngest member of the tribe immediately made best friends with Aunt Ginny's puppy, O.D. We had anticipated a trip to the tribal elder's favorite fall Houstonian Hangout, the Texas Renaissance Festival, but Friday night found our gracious host getting called into work. Slightly disappointed at first, we ended up going to Dewberry Farms out from Katy. Turns out, it was an absolute blast! The McCoy gene that Aunt Ginny recieved can always make a great day happen even when you don't get what you expect!

Little man was completely wiped after a day of feeding goats, investigating the living styles of our furry farm friends, climbing pumpkins, riding tractors and sliding on slides...Mom, Dad, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Matt were pretty tired too from chasing after an energetic 17 month old! That night he slept an AMAZING 13 hours!

Poor fella was wiped!

Pictures were provided by the Ginny Papparatzi! Thank you Aunt Ginny for making us a copy of them! We really appreciate it since Mom and Dad don't have a camera of their own!

The reason why....

2008-09-04T07:18:00.002-05:00

... In-Door Ice and Water is a BAD idea when one has toddlers that like getting wet!

Hurricane Gustav

2008-09-04T07:09:00.002-05:00

Well, the Tribe faired well during the "Storm of the Century"(So named by the mayor of the Chocolate City). We had torential rain fall, lost cable and Internet services and lost power for about a minute and a half. The Elders were without power for about two hours at their domicile. Dad stayed on the coast to help weather the storm there, lost about half of the shingles on one roof at the coast, sounds to me like some Mexican wasn't doing their job on the nail down for that one. While going out to secure the property in Caesar, B and Maw-in-law took a couple shots of the contraflow from NO. Thought those who weren't there might want to see a little about it.

We got TP'd!

2008-07-26T21:25:00.004-05:00

It appears that someone decided that our extra supply of TP was in the wrong place so it has been relocated from the bathroom to underneath our bedroom aquarium stand.

After that, the day progressed....and we thought someone was being a bit too silent. It seems that he is really liking to play with the TP these days...
Then he decided to pose for the camera!
Eyes closed, but this fella loves getting his picture taken! As soon as he hears the beep he has to come get in front of the camera and smile...too bad usually the camera is still saving the picture it beeped for when the smile happens. Daddy has finally figured out that if you half press the button it beeps...he smiles...and then finish pressing the button to capture those beautiful pearly whites!

I had to include this one! When what to our wondering eyes should appear but a tiny reindeer!

Thinking about Life...

2008-07-22T20:40:00.003-05:00

Been a while since I had a real thinking about life moment...Tonight we watched a great movie called "The Bucket List". Nothing like a good death movie to start you thinking about how great your life is, and how simple "real" requirements are to make a happy life. I think we all get so caught up in the material world that we forget about what we really NEED in life to make us happy. While those material things are fun, I can't stop thinking about the two questions that the movie said were asked upon arrival in Heaven...Did you have joy in your life? My answer, is a definite and resounding YES! Everything that brings me joy is constantly around me. My wife, my son, my Mom and Dad, My Sister and the remainder of my family, and all of my friends bring me more joy than I could ever express. Second Question: Did my life bring Joy to others? I certainly hope so.

I know at times we are all ready to strangle those around us when they do something that doesn't mesh perfectly with our pre-defined ideals of how something should work...So take every opportunity to tell those around you what they mean to you, and how much you love them!

On a lighter note! Officially went to the county planning office today and applied for our 911 address at the Caesar property! Yeah! Also started the process while I was there to get our location approved for our metal building to be erected! Stuck three white flags on the property to mark our driveway and the future location of the "Shed"...hopefully tomorrow we will talk to some building companies about how much this endeavor will cost. At least the building permits won't break the bank...shouldn't be more than $100 for the permits! Yeah!

First Haircut!

2008-07-15T21:08:00.002-05:00

Today was the day when our little baby became a little man. Here is his very last picture of the baby curls. After a short drive to Fantastic SAMs the haircut begins. Little man was a big boy and sat all by himself in the barber's chair.
You can see the transformation! The lady that did his haircut was VERY good with him, I would have ended up having to just shave it all off...he was interested in looking at everything in the store! Himself in the mirror, his hair as it fell...he even tasted a bit of it (he didn't like that too much!).
All done! Mr. Man got an orange sucker for being a good boy! The sucker ended up all over Mom and Baby! Think we got most of the sticky off. :)
Our mischievous boy back at tormenting D and T! He looks so grown up! We will miss the curls, but I am sure he will find this haircut much cooler for this summer heat!

Happy Birthday Nona!

2008-07-12T20:23:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Nona! Hope you had a great day! Nona and Papa spend Nona's Birthday mowing and then went out to eat at an old family favorite that was relocated thanks to Hurricane Katrina (I do so wish they would rebuild the old Rat's Nest). They closed down the joint, and had a great time (despite the bones in Nona's Flounder)! Sunday, The McCoy Tribe went for a visit to celebrate! I attempted to bake Granny McCoy's Famous Pound Cake...needless to say I need about 30 more year's practice to get it as perfect as Granny used to be able to make it (Nothing is the same without her special touch...but I am going to get it close one day!). Papa cooked Shrimp Etouffee (Brandy peeled the Shrimp), and Green beans...Nona and Brandy made Pineapple salads...it was delicious!

Andy gets his 1 Year Pictures taken

2008-07-10T21:23:00.005-05:00

Tired as we were this afternoon after having been fussed and cussed today at work (Student registration is this week and some of these parents are just down right rude! Do you think any of us at the schools are any more excited about entering data for 3200 students every year than parents are of having to fill out that data for 1 or 2 students?...enough of my rant...sorry for that diversion), we took our little man for his one year old photo shoot at Sears Portrait Studio...we are only about 2 months late getting them done, but it has been a bit busy. So with much ado, here are a few of the shots that we had done. Enjoy! We will be picking up the prints we ordered from Sears on July 22...

And yes, we do have permission from Sears to Reproduce.

Other than that, nothing much else happened today....We had the worst experience ever possible at South Seas Chinese in Slidell...I left our Sub par service waitress a 1 cent tip. And I must say that was a first for me to do...three stikes and she just kept on trying to get more.

After that, the family brought up our spirits by going to Lowes and started to spend our Christmas Gift from M.A. (Thank you so much M.A. we can't thank you enough!) We bought some replacement mower blades for our new lawn mower (Taking a lesson in history from Aunt Harriett and M.A. by keeping an extra set of blades already sharpened.), and a nice dump cart to pull behind the tractor so we can start filling the holes in the yard and picking up limbs. Hopefully that will be some of our projects for the weekend! Looking forward to this weekend...I will be glad to have student registration behind me at the work place!

More to come tomorrow from our little corner of South Mississippi!

Sentenced to Death!

2008-07-09T19:10:00.004-05:00

When Dad was cleaning out his office upon retirement from MGCCC, he gave Brandy and I four beautiful African Violets that had been growing and thriving under his grow bulbs in the classroom. Reluctantly, we accepted, knowing that these poor plants had just been sentenced to death as our track record for keeping plants alive isn't too good. To be the children of plant lovers/horticulturists, we are horrible at growing anything! Well...it has been over a month, and this is what Dad's African Violets look like now...

Can you believe that they are all alive! And blooming! Yes, all four plants have started blooming a new set of blooms since we have been in possession of these beauties! I am impressed, so far, it seems that they have a stay of execution. The secret: Keep them in a sunny southern window where you can remember to actually water them (They are in our kitchen window! Works to keep them near the sink so we can remember to water them.)

Our New Playtoy!

2008-07-09T17:02:00.004-05:00

WooHoo! I have a new job! I can officially MOW my lawn now! Thanks to the wonderful tax refund from ole Uncle Sam, Brandy and I purchased a new riding lawn mower from Sears to help us keep up with our place in Caesar. And can you believe...it was delivered ON TIME! Yes, Sears called us Monday night to tell us that it would be delivered between 1:15 and 3:15 on Tuesday...expecting the same puntuality as the cable or phone company...Brandy went to the Caesar place while I was still at work, both of us expecting to still be waiting well after 3:15...well, Sears actually makes their appointments, they were arriving at the house at exactly 1:15, and in 10 minutes had the mower off the truck and were back on the road! Props to Sears!

Yesterday, I did a first cut of the nearly 4 foot tall weeds that hadn't been mowed since April when Dad, Brandy and I mowed about 3/4 of the front yard...needless to say, we got more done in three hours of mowing than in two days with a push mower! Yippie! I am so glad to have this new mower...it already needs a blade sharpening! Big Surprise there huh? I will have to post a couple of pictures of the mower as soon as I remember to bring a camera with me out there.

While mowing, I must have either upset an avian friend or either uncovered some good dinner for him...I had a hawk that was making repeated swoops down over the field as I was mowing it and at one point some part of him impacted my head! Didn't know if he was after me or the mice that were running out of the grass (I think I am a little big for him to have for dinner, so I am guessing I was just in the way of his dinner date). Again, wish I had pictures!

Due to a shortage in our last order from Fluker Farms to feed the Geckos we are baby sitting for Brad and Jen while they are in Germany, Brandy and Andy caught crickets out of the hay that I left behind while mowing yesterday. I think that D and T prefer "Wild American Crickets" than the store bought variety...they really scarfed them down!

Little Man caught in action!

2008-07-07T20:06:00.004-05:00

Had to have a little fun with PhotoShop and Picnik today. Have been playing with the blog all afternoon! Brandy is probably about ready to hang me spending so much time on this crazy computer! We went to Nona's today to have dinner! Leftovers are just as delicious the second time around! Yummy!

Tomorrow will be fun! Have a special delivery coming from our favorite Chicago based catalog store...can't wait! Daddy needs a new play toy!

Jeff's Work Update: Tomorrow begins preparations at work for student registration! FUN! Today was spent on the phone with 54 million different people, trying to make sure everything was on GO for student registration. Ugh... Hopefully everything will be a little smoother this year than last...how do I let myself get roped into these things!

Sunday Blastoff!

2008-07-06T21:44:00.000-05:00

Big Sister has suggested that I start a blog to keep everyone up to date on the progress and status of our little division of the McCoy Tribe...so here goes! Big Sis just returned to Houston today...we had a marvelous 4 day 4th of July with Jules at home! The paparazzi took tons of pictures of our little man. Hopefully she will post them to our picture site (Hint! Hint!) at Walgreens so we can print pictures for those in the family that are technologically challenged. We spent the fourth cooking, clearing the patio (haven't seen that since Katrina! It is looking great!), swimming, and visiting with the family in a typical McCoy fashion. One of these days I will get a camera of my very own that I can take pictures to post to this blog on a regular basis! My little boy child has just pushed his rolling hippo toy up to the TV cabinet so he can get a better look at the movie that we are watching tonight. He is SOOOOOOooooo bad! Call his name and tell him to get down and he puts one foot down, smiles at me and waits for me to turn my head to stand back up on the toy....R O T T E N! Can tell this sweet little angel is going to test the very limits of patience....just like his Mom, Dad and Aunt did to their parents!