Change Is Coming...

Well, it looks as if there are some issues with this website. Not sure what happened, or to whom I owe the "thanks"... seriously!?!

Stay tuned... adding a new and improved family blogger site!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

We started our day super early... 4:30am! The ladder fell in our garage, scaring us awake, so we made the most of the quietness and enjoyed cups of coffee together before the day's fun. 

I found a really awesome Cinnamon Struesel Cake mix, which turned out perfectly!

We were very thankful to have Thanksgiving celebrations with our good friends again this year. Love all the delicious food, comfy atmosphere, and family-like friends to enjoy such an important day. 

Kaylie with Kris and Johnathan

William and Makenzie with Allyssa

Me and Dannen with William

This season is a time to give thanks... I'm ever so thankful for many things this year... I love my husband and children more than anything and couldn't be happier with our decision to get back home to Tennessee. I'm thankful for strength to hold my head up high and know my faith will guide me toward being a better person, making better decisions for myself and family.

ER & Hospital Stay

I had some serious belly pain a few Friday nights ago. Over the course of that night, pain radiated down to my lower right belly. Freaking out over how uncomfortable I was (worse than child birth!) our good friend and nurse checked on me Saturday @1pm saying she was taking me to the ER. William kept our 3 kids, "E", and her 4 kids at home while we made a beeline to the hospital. 

Poking, prodding, CT scans, blood work, etc... Insane pain! I got admitted with possible Appendicitis. The doctor, whom I might add was a real @$$ (grrrr), didn't think it was my appendix, thinking I had a bladder infection, though my appendix was enlarged. I had to stay through Monday afternoon, getting blood drawn every 4 hours, BP checked, poked... ugh! Still not 100% on his diagnoses, as if I did have an infection, my blood work would have shown it but he claimed it was "prefect", I got to leave with minimal pain. The morphine I got twice just about killed me, causing extreme pressure in my chest, down to my elbows and up the left side of my neck. The second pain medicine almost crushed my chest! I was in tears, crying about how I felt my chest was collapsing :( Crazy nurse was too into being funny and chatting to William and Donna. Trial and error lead to 1,000mg of Tylenol every 4 hours... whew! I could breathe and my headaches started going away :)

Sitting in my room was boring, but I did get to rest a lot in between nurses/doctors checking on me. 

Here are a few pics I snapped... my phone charger didn't reach, so I had minimal battery life throughout the day lol

IV fun...

My wall board... 

 The hospital gave me a quiet kit, full of cute items, lotions, chap stick (very appreciated since I wasn't even showed ice chips), ear plugs, eye mask, etc...

Selfie lol

 This IV drove me nuts!

Glad I kept my Appendix and the pain went away. Very thankful for my husband for being Mommy and Daddy, making sure our kids were happy and calm. Thankful for the prayers and well wishes from family and friends... means more than anything that I can count on people to support me :)

Halloween

Why not mix it up for another holiday? Our traditions have flown out the window lately, but we've had some good fun! 

Halloween night was spent at our friend's house, co-hosting a Youth party. With only 4 girls showing up, it was entertaining to say the least lol This was the first year Kaylie trick or treated without me, running around in the horrible rain with her girlfriends. (Didn't even get a pic!)

I had "E" that day, so Dannen, "E" and I trick or treated together... Super heros! 

 Halfway through the neighborhood, the sky opened up, BAD!!!! I was running down the street, hugging a giggling "E" tightly and holding Dannen's hands for dear life in the sleet! Talk about soaked lol

 

 Makenzie got to spend the evening and night at her bff's house, visiting The Island in Pigeon Forge. She braved the haunted house and had lots of fun. (First year without my baby with me!)

She was a beautiful pirate gypsy...

We missed carving pumpkins last year. And this year we waited until the day after lol

 

Love the craziness! 

Wonder Works

One of the perks of William working at Dixie Stampede was getting into local attractions for free. While Kaylie spent the night at her bff's house, we took Makenzie and Dannen to Wonder Works...

Dannen rock climbed! 

 Basketball with Daddy! 

 Makenzie found THE BIGGEST light bright I've ever seen! 

 And who can't pass up the opportunity to dance on a piano? 

 Fun night for sure! 

We followed the fun up with Steak 'n Shake milk shakes... Yum! 

Two More Teeth Gone for Makenzie!

Can't believe how fast Makenzie loses teeth! She's always had strong bones and even had a full set of teeth by 1 year old :)

With a little help from Daddy, tooth #17 came right out! 

 Tooth #18 was possibly the fastest to leave her mouth... She said it was wiggly and bugging her... left the room and came back within 2 minutes! I seriously thought she was handing me a piece of candy lol

Almost out of baby teeth!

Happy 9th Birthday!

 

 Happy 9th Birthday, Makenzie! 

Oh, this pretty little lady is such a delight :) Makenzie is always full of sunshine, has a huge caring heart, loves reading, enjoys playing sports, and has the biggest love for life! So thankful for her every day! 

With her birthday falling on a soccer Saturday, we started the fun with a bright and early game. She was anxious to share the cupcakes with her teammates. After her game and team pictures, someone started feeling REALLY sick...

We quickly left William, Kaylie & Dannen, making it to the McD's drive through for Sprite before she got sick :(

Once home, she wanted nothing more than to have quietness, cuddle, and sleep (in between getting sick)...

She got her hide away pet birthday present early to help calm her down.

Thankfully, after an hour, whatever bugged her was gone, and she was back to her super happy self! 

We had a party to get ready for... soooo glad she felt better! 

 

We had 22 kids total in our house... helped not having much furniture at the time lol Kids got comfy to watch a movie after playing outside together. 

Makenzie had her 2 bff's stay overnight. William was the Kitchen Manager at Dixie Stampede at that time, so I took our 3 plus her friends to enjoy great food and entertainment...

 

Soooo much fun for such a beautiful little lady :) Guess they were tired, because once we got home, they all packed into her room and passed out lol

Glad she was able to spend her birthday with friends, making awesome memories! 

We love you, Makenzie Danielle!!!

Homecoming Fundraiser Candidate

Middle School has been awesome for Kaylie! Besides getting really good grades, doing extra credit projects, and making new friends, she was nominated as a Homecoming Fundraiser Candidate!

She sold candy bars like crazy, earning a great amount for her school.

During the Homecoming football game, she got to walk onto the field, getting announced "Kaylie LaVella, daughter of William and Kristy LaVella"... I got instant goosebumps!

She looked beautiful and did such a great job :)

 Getting her picture taken mid-field...

 Beautiful rose for a beautiful young lady :)

Love my Job

Opportunity knocked on our door, literally, back in August. We live in the middle of nowhere, so when a woman came to our door asking if we watched kids our ears perked up quickly!

The little house at the end of our dead end road was to be occupied by a single mom and her 2 year old son. This woman at the door heard about my skills with kids and came to chat, hoping to set up a babysitter. William and I were floored and of course excited to meet "L" and her little guy "E".

They moved in the first week of September. To say he's cute is an understatement! What a doll and definitely full of energy lol

I started babysitting him early September, 3 days one week, 4 the next. Since we're such a busy family and always have "extra" kids here throughout the week, having little "E" here has been pretty easy. I will say, I am EXTREMELY thankful for the wonderful three children we have... guess you don't realize how great you have it until compared to others :)

Dannen took a while to adjust to not being the youngest in the house... learning I had to give "E" my full attention was rough, since I couldn't give 100% of my time just to my own kids. Sharing toys, getting his booster seat moved in the van, etc. was and still is sometimes interesting lol

Kaylie likes to take on a "I'm in charge" roll when he's around, doing "big girl" things since I do have to focus more on younger activities. She's been great keeping Dannen entertained and spending quality time together.

Makenzie is "E's" best buddy... he loves her and lets her mommy him... she always asks to hold him, play, sit by, you name it! Pretty funny to see her actions toward him and think of how sweet she was/is to her own little brother.

I'm so glad to have a job that pays well doing what I do best... caring for kids :) I can still be a mommy to my three loves while keeping him safe, loved and enjoying new experiences!

 

It's been fun adding "E" to our daily activities! I also watch a 5th grader with Aspergers 2 days/week after school for 2 hours, pick up and watch a 4th grader once a week for an hour after school, and during soccer season, pick up 1-2 kids for practices... LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to spend time with kids :)

First Day of School

 Saying we have a 6th grader, 4th grader and now Kindergartner brings lots of grey hairs... In a good way :) Our kids are troopers, having been through so much this past year. We were beyond thankful to be back in the Seymour school district, ready for another rewarding school year.

Kaylie started Middle School... holy crap! I can easily remember those days, filled with friends, homework, new experiences, etc. Fun year in store!

Makenzie started 4th grade, the middle of Intermediate school... friends, new classes, and being the only LaVella in the school!

 Dannen started THE BIG KINDERGARTEN! Both emotional and exciting, having our youngest start school was pretty epic. To say he was more than ready is an understatement!

Lunch bag newness...

 Dannen got to ride the bus to our friend's house for the very first time and had the BIGGEST smile on his face coming home. Proud of my girls for keeping his safe!

 Love getting to see my little guy on the playground! (He's in the black shirt.) 

Great schools and great kiddos... fun times ahead!

Fall Soccer

One of the most anticipated things our kids looked forward to when returning to Tennessee was playing Soccer again... our kids have played for 3 years and LOVE it!

This season, Dannen played on the Jellyfish Kindergarten team. William and I coached both girls, Makenzie on the Cheetahs and Kaylie on the Boa Constrictors. It was definitely the most fun season so far :)

The only bummer about coaching so much is not getting to take pictures. Three kids meant one of our girls was ALWAYS playing at the same time as Dannen. (Minus one day~ woohoo!) We made a deal with our girls that they'd get $1 for cheering/watching over Dannen while we coached the other. Though it was a bummer to watch him from afar, we got our girl team to celebrate when his team was introduced and even got to wave from across the soccer fields. It was always awesome seeing his smiling face running toward us when he won and even scored... which he did... 6 times this season!

Makenzie played with two of her best friends, which made for lots of giggles and smiling faces. She enjoyed playing Defense mostly this season, which was great since those long legs come on very handy for booting the ball down the field and away from her goal. She was such a great sport and definitely showed fantastic sportsmanship, helping keep spirits up and encouraging a few team mates to play harder :)

Kaylie's team was HUGE with 16 players! It was majorly a 2-coach team. William and I got to work together, helping a team filled with some seasoned and some brand-new players. It was the hardest team we've coached with all different skill levels, but the most rewarding with how much they learned and grew as players and good kids. Kaylie was truly awesome, running all over the field. Her best position was mid... getting to run when needed and defend... her size was very handy in weaving around some big players this season!

Here are a few pics we captured and got from friends... 

Makenzie's the tall one

 Dannen 

 William and I coaching Makenzie's team

 Dannen!

 My little defender 

 Prepping...

 And kick!

So thankful for a great organization... love seeing our kids play sports!!!

Sanctus Real & Baseball

Shortly after returning home to TN, the youth group at our church attended a Smokies baseball game. It was the first baseball game for our kids. Yummy popcorn, dippin' dots, nachos... gotta enjoy the game!

The best part of the day was getting to see Sanctus Real perform LIVE!!! What a great band... beautiful music and wonderful messages :)

Love spending quality time together!