It's that time again...the most wonderful time of the year.

We are enjoying being back in the full swing of Christmas.  Such a fun time of year.  So much to see and do. Our community center had the annual tree lighting and then Polar Express movie on the lawn.  We had a blast.  There were carolers, smores and hot cocoa.  Jimmy even got to see Santa.  Great night.

We went and got our tree this weekend too.  Fake trees are for fake Christmas's.  LOL  If you are going to do it do it right! 

This little man likes to wake up early with his Mommy and watch Looney Tunes and have hot cocoa.  I can handle that.  :)

Now we are just getting back to party planning and celebrations.  Busy but fun!

Time to make the meatballs.

"Juicy Joes" meatballs have NOTHING on these babies.  My Mom has been making these meatballs for as long as I can remember.  Very simple but delicious recipe. A true basic staple around here.  SO SO yummy.   One of Tommy's favorites.

Sweet girls

We ran up to Nashville this weekend to give the girls their 1st Birthday presents.  Oh my goodness they were so sweet with their Fur Real Doggy and Kitty.  Just adorable!  Tommy, Dylan and Jimmy are always so funny together.  Quick but great weekend with family.

Boo!

Halloween 2013 was chill this year.  Tommy and I were NOT feeling well at all.  It was all we could do to walk around the hood for a little bit.  The boys were a ninja, and a crazy clown.  I don't ask questions.  They have reached that age of dressing themselves.  Gone are the days of cute Mickey Mouse and Winnie The Pooh.  Sad Momma.  LOL  Marc was the salt to my pepper.  Can you imagine how happy he was about that?  HA HA HA I love that man!!!

Camp Rainey

Our little boy scout was so excited to go on the annual family camping trip to Camp Rainey this year.  Mommy, Daddy and Tommy on the other hand took one for the team.  GOOD LORD it was cold.  So cold in fact, he actually earned the Polar Bear badge for cold weather camping.  I have never in my life been so cold for so long.  IT WAS 25 DEGREES at night.  We woke up and the tent was completely frozen.  That being said, we had a blast.  It was a beautiful place and we had so much fun together completing all the activities for "our" badges.  We did archery, shooting, obstacle course, disc golf, hiking, crafts, games and a ton more.  Great memories for the kiddos.  For my part I will never forget looking over Jimmy at Marc in the tent at 2 in the morning while laughing and crying at the same time.  Nor will I forget packing up the car in 10 minutes flat to get off that mountain and to a Waffle House.  Hilarious!

What we're reading

Marc is a reader.  He is continually learning and absorbing through books.  Totally feel sorry for him having to learn so much about Obama Care.  Ugh, no Survival Guide will ever make me understand all the changes coming our way.  All I can say is that people better start to understand one thing.  You may not like it BUT it is happening, with or without your approval.  UNDERSTAND IT.

I have a complete Goodwill addiction.  I totally own it and embrace it.  The book section is my favorite part!

I found this for Marc the other day.  My heart breaks for him watching him try to deal with his Mother and Brother.  Sometimes learning that some people are just unhealthy in your life is necessary.  Such a hard fact to face, but so so necessary.  Facing things in life are sometimes half the battle.  So proud of him. 

Yep, it's baseball season.  Gotta love it.  

Fall ball

It's that time again.  Time for Fall ball.  We usually don't play in the spring because we have too much going on.  The boys are just coming out of basketball and need a break.  Is there really anything better than baseball in the fall though.  Gotta love the breezy days at the ball park.  This year Tommy is an Angel and Jimmy is a Texas Ranger. We got great coaches and are so ready for a fun season.

Tommy is playing amazing after his clinic this summer.  Totally worth it.  I am amazed at all he learned. I am also amazed that he is in a size 10 pair of cleats.  He is making Jimmy look so little lately.  I know it's still August but it totally even feels like fall around here in Wetlanta this year.  Bring it on!

 Jimmy's Big Minecraft 8'th Birthday Bash!  I was not joking about Jimmy being obsessed with Minecraft.  We had the party at Laser City, one of his favorite places.  Had to have a few key "Minecraft" goodies.

Twizzlers for the TNT, Rolos for the gold or butter, and the Minecraft cookies.  It's all very weird to me but Jimmy was THRILLED to help everyone make their goody bags.  

Jimmy and his sweet friend Charlotte.  Love this sweet girl.  Oh my, she keeps me laughing.

"Steve" made an appearance at the party. Something about this picture cracks me up!  

Jimmy and his favorite friends.  Oh, and "Steve".  LOL

I loved how his cake turned out.  We had sparklers in it for the candles but they went so quick I couldn't get a picture.  

Gotta love these two.  LOL  Like mother like son.  

Our family, and Charlotte...who is like family!  HA HA  

We had SOOOOOOOO much fun!!  I will be honest.  The whole Minecraft thing is over my head.  But my boy sure loves it so I did the best I could.  It was all worth it to hear him say it was the  BEST PARTY EVER!  Happy Mom right here!

Minecraft Birthday Shirt

Sometimes I do actually feel a wee little bit sorry for Marc.  I am the one who finds the ideas, he is the one who gets stuck executing them.  It's not all my fault.  He tends to dive right in.  

It's pretty obvious that Jimmy is OBSESSED with Minecraft at the moment.  I have decided to just go with it.  It's his "thing".  We all have one at one point in our lives I guess.  LOL  He is having a big Minecraft 8'th Birthday Bash.

I think they did a pretty awesome job.  This is about as crafty as the Cochrans get.  

Next up, the big Birthday BASH!  

We have a middle schooler AND a second grader!

 And like that he is in middle school.  My oh my.  They were both actually pretty excited this morning.  Jimmy was pretty much like yeah whatever.  Tommy on the other hand was like a fly on a hot griddle.  He had not asked me one question about it all summer.  That all changed on the 2 minute drive between Harmony and Jones.  Wow, it was like question after question.  Bless his heart.  He was excited though and ran right in.  Such an amazing life of adventures ahead for this kid.

My second grader!  No teacher can resist this kid.  Trust me.  He is just too adorable.  Not to mention he now has no front teeth.  He will be unstoppable.  He likes all the kids in his class INCLUDING little Miss. Charlotte.  Our "friend".  My favorite story from the day was about lunch.  He took one bite of his hamburger and "almost" had to spit it out.  According to him, "it was NO Steak N Shake".  HAHA  I feel ya buddy.  

 Had to do a Walmart run after pickup.  Picked up a few more school supplies and some snacks.  Side note:  I am addicted to the apple snaps at Subway.  So yummy and healthy.  In bed and ready for another go at it tomorrow.  OH OH OH, I almost forgot the new "girl" in sixth grade.  She has long blonde hair and is "not ugly".  Fingers crossed for my boy!  LOL

Becky

I'mmmmmmmmmmm back!

I know, I know.  It has been forever!  So much has changed yet so much has stayed the same.  One thing remains the same.  Life with my three Cochran boys is always a wild ride.  Although summer was amazing it absolutely flew by this time.  Unbelievably fast really.   The first half rained like crazy.  Second half we are staying on the lake and in the pool.  Enjoying it while we can.  

The boys start 2'nd and 6'th grade tomorrow.  Honestly I should probably be sad about how fast time is going but I am enjoying them too much.  Every single stage is better than the last.  They are such a handful but my heart honestly beats every beat for them and their father.   

 The night before school starts every year we get our annual "night before" school picture.  Let's just say this is what happens when I ask for just one picture.  

My loves!  What gets me the most looking at this picture is just how much separation in age I am seeing.  Tommy starts middle school tomorrow.  He is SO STINKING EXCITED.  Literally could not be happier with both of the boys schools and teachers this year.  Cochrans are going to own this year!

Becky

My boy is turning 11 big ones this Tuesday!  So we took him and his friend Tyler Rock Climbing on Saturday.  They had a BLAST.  I knew Tommy would love it but I was surprised how much Jimmy loved it too.  

 Tyler gave Tommy the neatest little present.  A ton of money (right up his alley), rolled up in a bag with a tag that said pull here.  It just kept coming out!   LOL He loved it.  Such a sweet friend.  After they played HARD we had Mellow Mushroom pizza and cookie cake.  Pretty perfect day for some crazy boys.  Or so I was told.

Excited to celebrate his actual birthday with him tomorrow.  I love him so stinking much!!!!  He is just an awesome kid.  Seriously, he rocks.  Love you buddy!

First of all I have to tell you that I am addicted to the PicFrame app.  I seriously PicFrame everything.  I have no idea why but for some reason I felt like making a big old fashioned meal for dinner.  I made garlic roast, mashed potatoes, candied carrots and gravy.  I had to finally use my peaches that I got over the summer so I made a peach cobbler.  Thank goodness my resolution was to only have 1 small serving at dinner.  Tommy and Marc did not have that same resolution.  LOL  Jimmy didn't even eat.  Oh well, it was really yummy!  

I had been wanting to try this recipe for Garlic pot roast.  Instead of following the recipe I just kinda looked at it and made it my own.  I basically used 3 cloves of garlic instead of 10 (could you imagine).  Cut some slits in the meat and placed the garlic down in them.  Then I browned it on both sides in some oil and butter.  After that I put it in the crock pot and poured the drippings over it.  Let it stay on low for 4 hours and high for 4 hours.   It was AMAZING.  I loved it.  I think it is the new way I will be making all my roasts.  Yum!!