The Miracle of Love

Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas!

2011-12-29T13:58:00.002-06:00

What a wonderful, peaceful Christmas we had this year. This year, we chose to stay home on Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day. The only place we went was Christmas Eve service at church which is always a favorite of ours. We met up with our families a few days before Christmas and celebrated. It was so nice to not rush around and worry about being late somewhere or not spending enough time with someone. The usual hustle and bustle was avoided this year and I think our kids reaped the benefit.
Christmas morning is usually hectic and rushed but not this time. Below are pictures of our first relaxed Christmas. Ahhhhh!

We always let the kids open up one gift on Christmas Eve. They were so excited about the gifts they bought for each other and that is what they chose to open. It is always so much taking them shopping to pick out that special gift. They get so anxious about it and I think we hear 50 million times leading up to Christmas Eve, "Brady you are SO going to love what I got you!" and "Kelsey, I so excited to give you your present!" It really is sweet. Just as we knew, they both LOVE LOVE LOVED what the other got them.

We always have family movie night on Christmas Eve wearing our Christmas jammers after we sprinkle reindeer food in the backyard. :) We love to watch all the kids Christmas shows as well as the classics! Kelsey actually watched the entire "White Christmas" movie with me this year.

This year, Santa Claus left Kelsey and Brady a note. Here is Kelsey reading it out loud Christmas morning!

The Christmas spread. That big table in the picture is an awesome lego table that MawMaw and PawPaw got the kids for Christmas. They love it!

Look at what Kelsey found in her stocking...tickets to the CIRCUS along with the usual toothbrush, dvd and chapstick!!! YAY!

We had one last major surprise for them.
We asked the kids, "do you see the pictures on the fireplace mantel?"
Kids: "Yes!"
Us: "What are they of?"
Kids: "Pictures from Disney"
Us: "Where do you think we are going to go on vacation next year?"
Kids: "DISNEY????"
Us: (silence) we just smiled and they exploded into jumping, dancing and cheering!!!

We spent the entire day at home playing with all of our new toys, playing games and watching more Christmas movies. We had a lovely Christmas lunch that I prepared and just really enjoyed being together as our little family on Christmas...in our jammies ALL DAY! :)

They did ask about Shalley the Elf and sadly, Santa Claus took her back to the North Pole. Until next year...

Brady's new haircut --sad face!

2011-12-23T10:35:00.000-06:00

Brady gave himself a new haircut yesterday. :(

I was in the bedroom wrapping Christmas presents while he did the damage. I walked into the living room to see him sitting behind Kelsey twirling her school scissors around his fingers. My first thought was he cut her hair but then he bent his head down. I saw it. The skinned bald spots on his head. I gasped loudly and he took off running to his room in tears. He knew what he did was wrong.

I took him to the bathroom so he could see it. He said "it'll grow back, Mommy!" I made him run errands with me with his hair looking like that so he'd feel a little embarrassment. I don't think it worked. He thought it was funny. Sigh.

When Daddy came home, he shaved it off. He looks real ashamed, doesn't he? lol

My poor baby's hair. I miss his little faux hawk. :(

I love this shot of Kelsey holding his hand. He started getting ansy.

He said, "I look just like Daddy!" lol After his bath, he told me wants his hair back. I said, yeah me too! He said, "I'm sorry, Mommy. Will you forgive me? I won't do it again." Sweet face.

Shalley the Elf wasn't too happy about it either. They both had a rough day yesterday as far as behavior went. Shalley gave them a gentle reminder. :)

Elf on the Shelf & School Christmas Parties

2011-12-20T16:57:00.001-06:00

I'll start this LONG post with an update on our elf. She sure is sneaky and the kids love it.
Here she is with her donuts...

She even got a roll of toilet paper and rolled down the stairs with it. Another night, she took a bubble bath with marshmallows in our sink.

This time she was actually super helpful and did something I've been meaning to do for quite some time! Thanks, Shalley! Usually she just makes messes for me to clean up.

My friend, Stacy and I put together Brady's (and Will's) classroom Christmas party.

We started out by doing a craft with all the kids. Stacy found this cute reindeer hand print craft on pinterest. I'm so glad we did this. I just love keepsakes the kids make that I can put on our tree. They all really enjoyed making it, too!

Next up, we provided pizza for lunch.

I made some "Reindeer Trail Mix" and the kids gobbled it up.

Stacy made some cute reindeer themed desserts out of marshmallows<----such a hit! I wish I had a picture of those.
Here is everyone enjoying lunch!

After that we did a gift exchange! We thought it would be fun for the kids to exchange books so we asked the parents to send in a gender neutral book. We swapped books to music. Whoever had the book when the music stopped-- opened it! They loved it.

Everyone was so happy!

This was our attempt at a class picture. lol This cracks me up!

Brady gave all of his friends "Reindeer Noses." He was very excited about these. The brown noses are whoppers. He especially loved the red sour ball for Rudolph's nose. What is it with kids and sour candy? lol

The very next day was Kelsey's 1st grade class party!

They started out with a fun sticker craft. Little brother got to make one, too! I don't know who was more excited that Brady came to Kelsey's class party: Brady or Kelsey. In true big sister form, she loves showing Brady everything in her class. She also loves showing him off to her classmates. Truly makes my heart swell!

Ornament decorating!

Kelsey's class had their own book exchange--so fun!

During the book exchange, Brady colored more!

Kelsey gave all of her classmates "snowman soup" for Christmas. She loved putting these together with me and passing them out after the party. Her friends were so happy which made her feel extra good. :) I found these cute free printables here!

I found the most perfect containers at Target in their dollar bin. Inside is hot cocoa, marshmallows with chocolate chips, candy cane Hershey's kisses and topped with a candy cane to stir!

Now that school is finally out for Christmas break, we decided to celebrate with our annual tradition of driving around looking at Christmas lights in our jammies with hot cocoa and cookies!

We are truly enjoying all of the wonderful festivities this special time of year brings! The countdown till Christmas has officially begun in our household! Can't wait!!! :)

p.s. Can I just say how much I am enjoying being home with my kids??? I love that I can really look forward to my kids getting out of school so I can spend every waking minute with them! I am super thankful...STILL! :)

Elf on the Shelf Ideas...

2011-12-14T14:46:00.004-06:00

Our little mischievous elf has really been entertaining this year. I thought it would be fun to show you all the fun the kids have had with Shalley (yes, we changed her name back)..or should I say the fun Shalley has had with the kids.

A favorite was when the kids woke up with their very own Rudolph noses. Yes, Brady fell asleep in his shirt without wearing his jammies. It happens. :)

This was hilarious! The kids had the best reaction! Brady said all day long "Hey Elf! Go back to the North Pole! This is OUR home!" He would just giggle and giggle.

Kelsey imagined different scenarios that happened in the middle of the night between the toy people versus Shalley the Elf. I think Toy Story came to life for her with this stunt.

Here is a collage showing you everything this little elf of ours has been up to for the past couple of weeks.

I wonder what she'll get into tonight?!?! They love waking up {early} to see who can find the elf first. I love waking up {even if it is early} to the sound of my babies giggling and talking about what that crazy elf did this time!

linking: tatertots and jello, too much time on my hands

Elf on the Shelf Breakfast

2011-11-25T09:03:00.001-06:00

Last night, we watched the movie Elf. You know, the one with Will Ferrell. It's hilarious and so cute. The kids were asking last night when our elf was going to leave the North Pole.

So, Kelsey and Brady were SO excited to wake up and find our elf, Shalley, arrived. They were so excited they woke us up at 4am to let us know Shalley was HERE!

Not only did she show up the day after Thanksgiving but she brought them a special breakfast from the North Pole!

They couldn't believe all of the goodies she brought them from the North Pole.

This is how their place settings looked.

Brady couldn't believe that elf put Kelsey's barbies in his batmobile.

Can't you just hear them saying "look! wow! look!"???

Brady thought his socks had a dog on them. Kelsey quickly explained it was a reindeer on his socks.

Marshmallows were everywhere! They quickly ate them up.

Kelsey couldn't wait to call MawMaw and PawPaw to tell them what our silly elf did this time.

I love that sugary smile!

I'm thinking this Elf may have started a new tradition. :) Oh, Kelsey explained to me that when she named her elf a couple years ago, she meant to name her "Shelly" but accidentally said "Shalley". She would like to change her name to Shelly the Elf. HA! :)

linking up: tatertots and jello, blissful and domestic, funky polka dot giraffe, home stories a to z, skip to my lou

Fall Family Pictures

2011-11-18T21:51:00.001-06:00

We had our annual family pictures taken at Crockett Park by the talented Laurel Pankratz with Eilas Photography. I have so many favorites that I am SO thankful I don't have to choose. I get to keep them all. YAY!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Patch, Hoedown & Halloween FUN!

2011-11-09T16:16:00.001-06:00

This was the most fun Halloween EVER because it was the first year I haven't been stuck in an office. I am SOOOO thankful I was able to actually enjoy every little event with both of my children this year.

All of the fun started off with Brady's first field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was also my first time being able to go on the field trip --YAY! The not so fun part was the weather. Oh my gracious, it was FREEZING! We didn't let a little chilliness get in the way of our fun.

We went on a hay ride and then Brady picked out his pumpkin. He didn't understand why he couldn't grab an extra pumpkin for Kelsey. So sweet!

We got to pet and feed all of the cute farm animals. They had some of the prettiest cows. As you can see, all the kiddos loved brushing the goats hair. :)

Mr. Cute Stuff!

All of the kids immediately gravitate to the TWO huge slides. Brady patiently waited in line but he sure did look like he enjoyed himself.

so many activities for the kids!

Lunch time with my buddies!

Here they are! Love this picture.

Next up is Brady's Halloween Party treats for his buddies at school.
He got the biggest kick out of these Monster Eyes and had so much fun with them.

I wanted to use Reese's peanut butter cups because they are my favorite but his classroom is peanut free so we went with Rolos.

We bought some adhesive googly eyes and stuck them on. Put them in a snack size baggie and stapled the topper. Easy peasy.

Kelsey's treats were next! This girl LOVES some candy corn so when I came across this idea, I knew she would love it. I was at her class party and she was so proud of them. All the kids loved their rotten pumpkin teeth. :)

Our final project was booing our neighbors. Ever heard of it? It's very simple. There are many 'You've Been Boo'd' signs all over blogland. I printed it off, filled a basket with treats, dropped it off on someone's door step, ring the doorbell and RUN!

The other side of the sign says "We've Been Boo'd" and they are supposed to hang it on their front door for everyone to see then they are supposed to pass it on.

The kids had the best time putting this together and they loved being sneaky, lol. The neatest part was seeing the signs on the front doors of our neighbors. Even more neat was on Halloween night, we saw a different neighbor with the sign on their door. How cool to see it catch on!

We carved pumpkins for the first time. I was surprised to learn that it was also Jay's first time carving pumpkins. I roasted the pumpkin seeds and the kids gobbled them up!

This is from Brady's Halloween Party at school. He dressed up as Iron Man.

So cute! I love that they only have six kids in his class.

This is the night of the Hoedown at our wonderful church. Wonder Woman shed quite a few tears because she didn't want to wear a long sleeved shirt. :) There was also the dilemma of who to be for Halloween. Kelsey wanted to be Ariel and begged Brady to dress up as her Prince Charming. He was set on being Iron Man (and later changed to Capt. America) so Kelsey gave in and decided to dress up as Wonder Woman (mommy's favorite). I guess Kelsey decided matching her brother was more important. CUTE! :)

Mucho slides and bouncies at the Hoedown.

Brady's buddy, Emma. They are so cute together.

Kelsey found out Yancy was going to sing and my girl got front row for her favorite super star!

More bounce house fun with friends.

Group shot: Hope, Will, Brady and Kelsey (well done, Jay!)

This cracks me up. So, I guess they had a little too much fun at the Hoedown. :)

The next day was Halloween and we had so much fun planned!

Brady's friend from school, Jack, invited everyone over to decorate cookies. I wish I had a picture because there were 3 Captain Americas at Jack's house. Will, Brady and Jack! Funny.

Then, we went home to meet more friends at our house for dinner and trick or treat together.

Captain America and Ariel are ready to get some candy!

It was such a FUN night. We just love Halloween and all the fun activities that go along with it.

Making Lemonade Out of Lemons

2011-11-06T08:31:00.000-06:00

After the recent events to our house, we decided to get away for a few days and take an extra long weekend vacation to Orange Beach, Alabama. We were skeptical about leaving one hotel and going to another hotel but the change of scenery definitely made a difference. It was a very real vacation and a much needed one at that.

Jay and I decided to wake up at 3:30am and get a head start on the drive while the kids slept. Jay was so excited that he woke me up an hour earlier than planned and we hit the road! The kids did great and slept quite a bit. Here they are once they woke up in the car:

We stayed at the newly opened, beach front Hampton Inn. Our view was spectacular! The temps were perfect and many times we left our back door open listening to the waves.

We brought some kites with us (birthday gifts from Aunt Shelly) and they loved it. At one point, Jay and I just sat back and watched them. It couldn't have been any better. Look at that sky! AHHH!!!

We saw many, many jelly fish towards the end of the day. The kids loved poking them with sticks.

Daddy loves his babies! Nothing better than this.

Kelsey loved jumping the waves! So fun!

This is one of my favorite pictures. Kelsey dragging Brady on the beach in true big sister form.

I like this one, too. We soaked up every waking minute we had on the beach.

Brady spent hours (not minutes but hours) throwing sand. It was pretty funny how entertaining something so simple was to him.

Doing a little gymnastics on the beach...isn't that what everyone does at the beach?

They had to cover Mommy with sand. :)

Sand angels.

Cargile Family Fall Break 2011 :)

I love her!

She loved writing in the sand, too!

More throwing sand, lol.

Our hotel had a pretty awesome pool. Part of it was covered and then there was the hot tub. We really enjoyed spending our entire days going to the pool*beach*pool*beach. We couldn't ask for more!

I love my boy!

It wasn't long before we made friends. Jeff, Ginger and their son, Daniel, hung out with us. It was pretty fun watching our kids play together. Here is Jay and Jeff playing with the kids in the pool. Oh and Brady was notorious for finding older boys to pull him around the pool. This kid made friends with every single older boy at our hotel. It was cute. They were all so kind to Brady and loved playing "big brother" to him.

Brady with another buddy he made in the pool. :) It was so cute. They started talking super heroes and the boys found a friend for life. lol Before long they were giving him footballs to play with and keep, chasing each other on the beach and pulling him around the pool. lol

More beach time! We never got tired of this. From sun up to sun down: this was our day.

I thought this picture was sweet of Jay and Brady.

If there was a dog on the beach, my kids would find it! lol

fun, fun and more FUN!

Our favorite restaurant was Calypso Joe's! We loved it so much we went back a second time.

Our last night, we went out to dinner with our new friends to Rotolo's Pizza Restaurant. It was within walking distance to our hotel. The pizza was excellent and we enjoyed a last night out with our new buddies.

Kelsey, Daniel and Brady saying goodbyes (sad face).

We loved getting away from everything going on at home and I really think it was *just* what we all needed. We can't wait to go back one day. :) We found our new favorite time of the year to go to the beach. The weather was absolutely PERFECT. It wasn't too hot or too cold. It was warm enough with a constant breeze without the humidity. Loved it!

{Our Unplanned Family Adventure}

2011-10-24T10:57:00.008-05:00

In my previous post, I referred to something we have been going through lately. This is the post that documents it all!

Here we go...

Our beautiful home turned into a disaster a couple of months ago.

I woke up around 3:30AM to the sound of my daughter crying. You have to understand, I NEVER wake up. Jay always wakes up and tells me about it all the next day. This time was different. I woke up and thought to myself "oh if she needs me, she'll come get me." I also thought "man! it sure is pouring down rain outside!" Then I heard Kelsey's cries again so I got up out of bed to check it out. I walked out of our bedrooms and stepped into water.

I walk across the house through the kitchen to see water spewing out underneath my kitchen sink but I kept walking to Kelsey's room. She was sound asleep. I firmly believe she never cried, it was God waking me up.

I ran back to our bedroom and woke up Jay. We have very hard water where we live so we had a water filter attached under our sink (and another on our fridge). The water filter burst. Jay turned off the water and we started cleaning up.

We grabbed every towel in our house to soak up the water (hoping to minimize the damage). We used every single towel in our house and it was *just enough* to soak up the water.

Our entire downstairs is hardwood and my floors began buckling. We called our insurance company to report the damage and the mitigation company came out the same day to set up dehumidifiers everywhere. Next step was to cut out the drywall in the breakfast room, dining room and living room.

What a mess, right?

More dehumidifiers everywhere...at this point, we were trying to save the sub floor and obviously, prevent mold.

The dragon worked to dry out underneath the house.

Once the sub floor was dry, our new flooring was delivered. The hardwood was laid down and then had to acclimate for over a week. Then, they sanded and refinished all the flooring and stained it all. The water never reached our bedrooms but because their isn't a transition in the flooring, they had to sand and stain the entire house which meant we had to move everything out of our home!

Since they had to tear out the drywall and some of it was above our baseboards, we needed to paint. YAY for new paint colors!

During this challenge, my parents kept our sweet poodle, Lucy, for us. It wasn't much later, we got the dreaded phone call that Lucy's brother, Odie, passed away.

It is always devastating to lose a pet but Odie was much more than just a pet. He was the sweetest, most gentle, ball loving, playful dog. The kids loved playing with him and I loved looking at that sweet face of his.

Lucy and Odie would fight just like brother and sister. I'll never forget the day I got Lucy, 11 years ago. I made my parents go with me in case she was sick and I wouldn't have the heart to walk away. We go pick up Lucy and her brother was the last one there. My parents couldn't bare to leave him so they took him (without the papers).

We brought them to my parents house to see them together and watch them interact. They TORE into each other. We were so scared they would hurt each other and thought we'd have to keep them separated forever. Looking back, it's funny because they would always tear into each other but rarely ever get hurt.

Lucy lost her brother and my parents lost a best friend. We love you, Odie. Tell Waffles and Rosie that we love them and miss them, too!
(back to the house)

We couldn't live at home during all of this so we stayed at the nicest hotel in Murfreesboro, Embassy Suites. The staff at this hotel is just as amazing as the hotel itself. Everyone was so nice to us and made us feel welcome at our 'home away from home.'

The kids loved the pool and hot tub (Jay and I did, too). It was fun to have a new, exciting place for play dates with friends.

We also loved the delicious breakfast every morning. Made to order omelets were a favorite. I believe I was the only one that grew tired of the breakfast though!

The omelet ladies were so nice and loved talking to the kids every morning. One of them even told us that Brady's face popped into her head during her prayer time and so she prayed for him.

The valet guys were all known as "Brady's buddies" --so funny! I think he thought they were our own personal greeters as we entered and exited the hotel. He loved showing them his various superhero shirts, toys, new shoes and just loved chatting with them. High fives all around! These guys were so kind to our kids and we'll never forget them!

We had to eat out every meal and one night in particular, we tried a new place for dinner. Our "buddies" asked us where we went and what we thought when we returned. We told them our meal was terrible and overpriced. Next thing we know, they delivered two gift certificates to our room for their restaurant. How nice is that?

Kelsey spent her 6th birthday at the hotel and they gave the kids toys and giant cookies to celebrate. Jay and I celebrated our anniversary (the day after Kelsey's birthday) and they delivered a beautiful fruit and cheese plate with wine to our room.

It was pretty difficult living in a hotel for five weeks because it just isn't home but it's also hard to complain when we stayed somewhere that was so great. The staff really made it enjoyable.

We really tried hard to make this like a big family adventure and the kids really did enjoy it. It was challenging but we had wonderful family and friends that helped us out in different ways. I really do think it taught our kids a valuable lesson about how to deal with life's obstacles and make the best of it.

My friend, Jennifer, said "how neat is it that years from now your kids will look back on this time and say 'remember that time we lived in a hotel.'" I never thought of it like that but I think we'll all look back on it and smile because we really made some wonderful memories and new buddies.

All of that being said, it has never felt SO good to be home! We definitely don't take anything for granted and have a renewed appreciation for all of our blessings. Everything could have been so much worse and we are so thankful that the Lord took care of us better than we could have ever imagined.

Kelsey & Brady's Birthday Bash!

2011-10-11T09:06:00.009-05:00

Kelsey and Brady had a joint birthday party this year at a local gymnastics place. We celebrated it a little early for Brady (will be 4 yrs old) and a little late for Kelsey (6 yrs old). It wasn't exactly what I had originally planned but things happen and for a last minute party: it was perfect!

The kids were kept pretty busy the entire time so it was pretty entertaining to watch!I loved being able to sit back and enjoy watching all the kids have so much fun together! No whining or crying here!The birthday boy and girl were pulled up really high TWICE and, let me tell you, this was the highlight for just about everyone! Even before the party began, Kelsey and Brady knew they would get an extra turn on this and couldn't stop talking about it. No fear! It was neat to see all the kids get excited about this activity.

Birthday Party Group Shot:

Silly Faces:

Off to the party room for some pizza...

Precious little Sophie cracked me up! Yum Yum! :)

This year both kiddos wanted me to bake each their own chocolate birthday cake. Unfortunately, things happen (more on that in a later blog post) and I couldn't do that (broke my heart) but they both loved picking out their own chocolate birthday cake at the store. We couldn't forget the princess and Spiderman candles either. :)

Meanwhile, all our friends chowed down on some mini cupcake pops! Remember ice cream push pops as a kid? So FUN with cupcakes and anything mini just tastes better--haha!

Yep, the birthday boy and girl had to have one, too!

Even though the party wasn't exactly what was planned, I still had to throw in some special touches. Kelsey and Brady had watched me design and create the cupcake pop labels and putting them together the night before just made them even more excited. I think they turned out great and they were so proud of them (love that)!

Instead of using water bottle labels this year, I just covered them with decorative tape. So easy and such an inexpensive way to dress them up!

Kelsey and Brady were also VERY anxious about their party favors. They helped me pick them out and assemble them (they just love being involved). We created a Make Your Own Play Dough favor. We tried out the recipe earlier in the summer with kool-aid and the kids really had a great time making it so I thought why not make it a favor. I had seen other play dough recipes but loved this one with kool-aid. The kool-aid makes it smell yummy and colors it without using food coloring. So neat! Besides, what kid doesn't love play dough?

My goal with this party was simple: make my son and daughter feel special. Even though our world has been turned upside down lately, I feel like I was able to accomplish my goal. They had the best time with their family and friends at the party and I wouldn't change a thing.

Linking up:

Kelsey's Favorite Song

2011-09-29T10:17:00.004-05:00

I got some really sad news today and it made me think about this song. It is Kelsey's favorite song of the moment.
There is nothing like turning around to see Kelsey's hands up in the air praising Him and singing her little heart out to this song.
Her tiny voice with her hands in the air make everything all better. If you could just picture her doing it especially around the 2:45 mark--she really gets into it. :)

Kelsey's School Work

2011-09-20T17:52:00.003-05:00

We have had so much going on in our lives for the past month, it has been challenging to say the least.
However, this little piece of paper in Kelsey's backpack was just what I needed to warm my heart. Kids are so funny like that, aren't they?
Translation:
I have a little bruther. I love him. He is so keyoot. I love my mommy.

How KEYOOT is that? Is that a southern accent being enunciated? HAHAHA!
I just love this so much.

Brady's 1st day of Preschool

2011-08-29T08:06:00.003-05:00

Brady started preschool at a Mother's Day Out program. It's hard to believe but I was a little emotional over this day. I say that it is hard to believe because you would think I would have been used to him being gone all day. After all, he was going to daycare for ten hours everyday while I worked full-time. After being home with my babies all summer, I got used to having him with me all day, everyday.
It was bittersweet for me. I know how much fun he'll have at preschool with his friends and I get to use my time away from him to get some things done and even volunteer at Kelsey's school. All in all, I know preschool is going to be wonderful for all of us.

One thing that helped me not be too emotional on his first day was how EXCITED he was to start school! Everyday we take Kelsey to school and he asks "do I get to go to school today?" or "is today lunchbox day for me, too?"

Brady and big sis on his first day!Kelsey is very excited for her little bro!
Poor thing, the sun was in his eyes!
We're about to go inside!
Brady and his new teacher, Mrs. Becky!
The first day was a success! He is really enjoying himself and getting adjusted. One thing I love so much about his preschool is that there are only six other kids in his class! There were 18 in his old daycare class. What a wonderful change this is going to be for him.

I am so excited for this upcoming school year and I am so thankful that I get to enjoy it with my kids.

Kelsey's first day of 1st grade

2011-08-15T09:18:00.004-05:00

My little girl has begun FIRST GRADE. I can't get over how fast everything seems to be happening. It helps that she is so excited about school and she is so happy with her teacher.

This picture is from registration day and we met her new teacher for the first time.

This is her very first day of school. Doesn't she look a little sleepy? We have been spoiled this summer with sleeping in and getting ready at our leisure.

She picked out her 'first day of school outfit' all by herself. She was so excited!Little bro had to jump in the picture, too! I had to take their picture again at school (just like last year). This one is probably my favorite. As we walked into the school, a group of teachers stopped us and said I couldn't take her to class. WHAT?!?! I told them I thought we could walk them to class the first week of school. They said only in Kindergarten. I said, "you mean I can't take her to class on the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL?" They said, no. I could feel my face turning red and just in time, Kelsey's Kindergarten teacher spoke up and said "I saw they let two other parents walk by. I think it will be fine for today." I saw the other teachers give her some looks but I quickly thanked her and we walked on to class. :) WHEW!

Sure enough, I get to Kelsey's class and there are at least 4 or 5 other parents in her class. It was pretty chaotic with all the new supplies and figuring out where to put everything. I was glad to have been there to help out.

More importantly, it meant the world to Kelsey. Here is a silly picture of my babies at Kelsey's new desk.

We have been picking out her clothes the night before which has helped tremendously when a certain sleepy head doesn't want to get out of bed. :)

In the middle of the week, Kelsey decided she would make a list to help me when I make her lunch. She is so funny! She needed some help with some of the words, of course, but the idea was all hers. Oh and teddy meant teddy grahams. :) I just love her.

She kept asking if Brady and I could have lunch with her so we finally decided to surprise her at school. Brady was VERY excited about it. He walked around the house with his lunchbox all morning!!! As we sat on the bench waiting for her class, Brady told everyone that passed "I eat lunch with my sister. Her name is Kelsey Grace and my name is Brady and this is my mommy." It was the cutest thing!

As soon as we saw her class coming down the hall, Kelsey saw us and her face LIT UP! Brady was waving his arm and Kelsey couldn't have walked any faster.

I am so thankful that I was able to eat lunch with her especially after seeing just how much it meant to both of them!

Her first week of 1st grade was a success! She loves her teacher and her class so far. We've already had homework and we are getting into a good routine of getting it done as soon as we get home so she can play with her brother the rest of the day.

Brady has missed his sister. He loves going to pick her up in the afternoon.

What a special bond they have--there really is nothing better!

Summer Break Comes to an End!

2011-08-01T09:29:00.005-05:00

Most of you know that I decided to quit my full-time job and stay home with my kids. {applause} It was a decision we prayed about for years. We really buckled down and planned for it. Our prayers were answered when my last day at work was Kelsey's last day of school. I am doing some work from home and I am so thankful to have worked out an incredible arrangement with my employers. It really is the best of both worlds. With that being said, we were all really and truly able to enjoy our summer break. I am so sad it is quickly coming to an end but I find mucho comfort in knowing this has been the BEST SUMMER E.V.E.R. :)

Our summer has been filled with lots (and I mean, LOTS) of fun play dates with friends. We have been to the Discovery Center, friend's houses, Movies Under the Stars, movie theaters, cookouts galore, farmers market, sleepovers, park, POOL, POOL and POOL!

This is a collage when we saw a magician at the library. It was super fun!

That isn't even all of it. Just about everyday we have been out of the house doing something fun with the kids. <----LOVE IT!

A local blog created a huge list of all sorts of free, fun activities and we were able to take advantage of them! A favorite was Dairy Day--we had no idea what to expect but it was a huge hit! They had all sorts of fun crafts and games for the kids. They gave away free milk and ice cream. We even took a fun hay ride at the end. We'll definitely go back next year. :)

You may be wondering, well if you had so much fun then where are all the pictures? {since I seem to document everything with pictures} Well, our super fun Fourth of July weekend getaway to Lake Winnie with dear friends ended with losing our camera. We lost pictures of our kiddos having a blast on roller coasters--so sad!

We also had so much fun doing the Butterfly Garden and I took some amazing pictures of the caterpillars emerging as butterflies. {sorry for the bad camera phone pic}Gone. :( It's alright though...I ~~needed~~ wanted a new camera anyways. haha!

One of my favorite moments this summer was watching Kelsey progress in the pool. I really felt like she was so behind and I blamed myself for that. We started our summer having to wear arm floaties and a belly float. She was so fearful. Now she takes off without any floaties and is doing flips in the pool. She still isn't swimming but her confidence is finally there and I know, it will happen when she's ready. We love going to the pool!

I can't believe that my sweet daughter is starting 1st grade on Wednesday. You know what that means...new blog post coming very soon. *tear*

Family Vacation: Parte Cuatro {Playa del Carmen}

2011-07-11T11:34:00.005-05:00

As you can tell, we played hard! We played so hard that often times dinner time was like a date night for us. Our table would look like this... sweet babies. This post may seem like random pictures but I just have to post them so I don't forget any of these special little moments we shared on our trip.

This was one of them! I looked outside the window one morning to check on Griffin and Kelsey. I found them having their own little conversation about the fish in the water and all the neat sounds they heard (birds chirping). They were so cute together and I'm so glad I captured one of those sweet moments.

We spent our days at the pool and the beach and the pool and the beach. It was pure paradise. This resort had a several pools but we found ourselves in the beautiful infinity pool mostly.

We really enjoyed the cabanas they had poolside. Two of the fair-skinned people on the trip needed a little break from the sun on occasion. Our breaks didn't last long as we couldn't wait to have more fun in the sun!

Another very important milestone happened while we were in Mexico: Kelsey lost her first top tooth! It had been wiggly for some time and it was pretty much just hanging there until she decided to pull it out. She wasn't sure if the tooth fairy would come all the way to Mexico so she was very happy to find two pesos the next morning! LOL! :)

I love her new smile.

A cute bonus we found in our new suites were mini robes and house slippers for the kids. You know we had to take a picture of them all dressed up! They were happy to take the house slippers home with them. Cute stuff. :)

One of our last dinners together was at a nice restaurant overlooking the beach. We really enjoyed this one. Sitting at the table with my beautiful family and friends while listening to the relaxing sound of the ocean overlooking our tropical paradise. It was a wonderful way to end our memorable vacation.

I love these pictures of Kelsey and Griffin. They were the best of buds and really all three of the kids got along so well. This was definitely a trip we will look back on for years and years to come. It goes down in our book as our favorite vacation of all time.Anne, Brad & Mamaw: Thank you for showing us around this beautiful city. We loved experiencing your favorite place to get a mojito and your favorite restaurant, ETC. We will never forget the memories we made and are so thankful we were able to share those with you all. Mucho laughs, smiles and hugs the entire trip.

Daddy ~ Daughter picture!

I have to include this hilarious video of Brady. He is showing us his mad karate skills! HAHA! :)

Here we are on the flight home! One last note that I have to share: there was something I heard from the kids throughout the entire trip-- "This is the BEST vacation EVER!" We said, "even better than last year's vacation to Disney World?" The kids replied "YES!!! Best vacation ever! We love Mexico!"

You know what I have to say to that? Yep, those are definitely my kids! Love love LOVE MEXICO!

Hasta la próxima vez. (until next time)

{that's all folks! no more vacation pictures} haha!

Family Vacation: Parte Tres {Playa del Carmen}

2011-07-04T19:40:00.007-05:00

On Thursday of our vacation week, we were transferred to our new resort. We were all very excited to check it out. It did not disappoint!

We arrived to our new suite by boat -- ooh la la! haha! :)

We get off the boat and we're immediately greeted by our own personal butler. Goodness gracious! We felt like celebrities.
Our suite was absolutely beautiful! Check it out:

We loved having our own plunge pool again but a new favorite was the outdoor shower. I LOVED taking a private shower outside. It was breathtaking to be able to shower in a tropical paradise.

We had loads of fun on the beach. Love this picture of my sassy girl!
These pictures make me so happy! You can see the sand all over his face which I love so much because the boy had sand all over him the entire week. He would sit on the beach and just throw sand at himself...and his sister. :) He was so cute to watch on the beach.

I also love this picture because a nice lady at the resort had told him he looked like a breaded pork chop! I called him 'my little breaded pork chop' the rest of the trip!
Brady kisses for Momma!
Kelsey and Griffin loved building sand castles behind the beach beds until Brady would knock them down. oops.
Love this girl.

THIS IS THE LIFE! :)

Brady and Daddy...I am one lucky gal!
My little snaggle-tooth princess having a ball!

My handsome husband and I! We felt like we were in a dream. :)
I love them.

Yep, there is more. :)

Family Vacation: Parte Dos {Playa del Carmen}

2011-06-27T15:15:00.009-05:00

We had loads of fun in our private pool but we also had a whole lot of fun at the hotel's pools and beaches. They had one in particular the kids (and adults) really enjoyed because it had an awesome water slide. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of it but that's okay. I doubt we'll forget it because the kids are still talking about it!

When we checked into our resort, I told them Jay's birthday was on 5/31. They offered to make him a cake and have it delivered to our room. They asked if he would prefer white or chocolate. Anne said, "ooooh! what about tres leches?" Tres Leches cakes (three milk cake) are the cakes of Mexico. Um, yes, Jay would really prefer tres leches if you can. wink wink!

We all really enjoyed it for breakfast! :) If only I could get that recipe. Perfecto!
Our resort offered complimentary boat tours around the property. It was so neat to see all the different animals and even an alligator or two.

We went into town that night for a nice dinner and celebrated Jay's birthday.
After dinner, Mamaw (Anne's sweet mother) paid a mariachi band to sing Feliz Cumpleaños to Jay! *excuse the blurriness*

We also did a little shopping! Brady and Griffin flipped out over these Batman masks with attached cape.

Kelsey just had to get Lanie a sombrero. Cute stuff!
As for the adults, we all got a huge deal for massages. Wayyyy cheaper than the resort and back home! I think it was $40 for 2 people and it was 1 hour long. NICE!

Yeah, I think Jay had a pretty spectacular birthday, right? :)

We really loved our stay at the Fairmont but we were pretty excited to see what the Rosewood had in store for us.

Adios, Fairmont.

Next up: Rosewood Mayakoba

Family Vacation: Parte Uno {Playa del Carmen}

2011-06-20T08:50:00.012-05:00

We decided to take the family to Mexico for our family vacation this year. We went with friends who were very familiar with the area and couldn't wait to show us around Playa del Carmen. My friend, Anne, was so familiar with our resort because she actually worked for the architecture firm that designed it. So neat! I think they said they've been to Playa five or six times (and now I understand why!). :)

I was a little worried about the plane ride with the kids. Our last flight together was when we went on the Disney Cruise in 2009 and it wasn't too fun flying with little kiddos. We planned it out to have a layover in Dallas so we could fly the second leg with our friends. The kids were so excited to meet up with them and thankfully, they were fantastic to fly with this year. Whew! :)

When we arrived in Cancun, we took a short drive to our resort: Fairmont Mayakoba. We were greeted by the manager and he wanted to chat with us. He explained to us that a huge convention would be arriving on Thursday and they wanted to make sure we were well taken care of. Uh ok, great???
Then, he let us know they would upgrade our room to a Beach Area Casita Suite. *twirls*

Finally, he dropped the bomb on us.

They want to move us to a different resort in the area on Thursday so they could ensure we were getting the level of service we deserved. WHAT?!?! Are you kidding???
Immediately, I could feel myself getting angry until he name dropped moving us to the Rosewood. Anne's company did the architecture for the Rosewood as well and when I saw her face light up, I knew it was a good thing. Then, she whispered to me "OMG that is where Katie Holmes stayed and the cheapest room is like $600 per night." For FREE? Um, YES PLEASE! :)

So, we take a golf cart to our new suite and let me tell you, this place blew our mind! Take a look at this!!!

Yes, we were ooohing and ahhhing over the inside of this place then we go outside to take a look at the relaxing lagoon area but when we notice the stairs and BAM!!! our own private pool? Seriously, can this vacation get any better? The answer is YES YES and YES!

The kids were elated when we found the pool and sundeck upstairs! I think the exact words out of Kelsey AND Brady's mouths were "BEST VACATION EVER!" :)

Shortly, after we finish wiping the drool off our faces, we hear a knock on the door.

Oh, it was just our own private butler delivering a bottle of wine for our (early) anniversary. NICE!

Our friends had the suite (or should I say house) next to ours and I love this picture of Anne. It was when we went upstairs to find we each had a pool. This picture pretty much sums up exactly how we all felt this entire vacation. We may or may not have done a little happy dance. :)

Another end of the school year post...

2011-06-09T09:03:00.001-05:00

I was reading about her very first day of Kindergarten and thought it would be neat to do a little picture comparison.

Goodness, she has grown so much!

Here are some with little brother on her first and last day.

Kindergarten Memories

2011-06-02T08:55:00.001-05:00

I can't believe my baby girl has completed her first year of elementary school. She was so blessed to have such a wonderful, caring, Christian teacher. I couldn't have asked for anyone better for Kelsey. Kelsey absolutely adores her, too! She already tells me that she is going to go visit her when she's in first grade. I think I might visit her myself, lol.

Her fantastic teacher made a little scrapbook for everyone in her class. I decided to scan it so I could show our family and post it here. It really is so touching and I am so thankful that I have it to look back on.

Kelsey's Dance Pictures

2011-05-27T08:39:00.001-05:00

It is almost time for another dance recital but first you have to get pictures made in your costume. Recitals take a lot of prep work. We ordered the costumes before Christmas, received them about 3 months later, take pictures the end of April and the recital is in June!

Kelsey doesn't seem nearly as excited about this upcoming recital as she has been in the past. Some days she wants to go to dance and other days it is a struggle. I think it is hard for her because her class is on Saturdays and some days she would rather stay home and play with Brady. Hopefully, in the future, she can have dance class during the week and that should alleviate some of her reluctance.

This is Kelsey's ballet costume. Soooo pretty!

She looks so sweet and precious in this picture.

This is her tap costume. It's cute but not my favorite costume. I just think it makes her look too grown-up. I want to keep her looking her age for as long as possible.

I sure do love that sweet smile of hers! I can't wait to watch her dance on that big stage in a few weeks.

Brady's 1st Bicycle

2011-05-19T15:19:00.007-05:00

Yep, that's right! Brady got his very first bike. We were planning to buy one for his birthday but his sweet friend, William, offered to pass this one down to him. When he saw it was a SPIDERMAN bike, he pretty much went nuts.
Don't worry, he's just "trying it on" before he put his helmet on. I think he likes it. :) My little superhero fanatic.

That sweet face. He can have whatever he wants! hahaha!

It took a few pushes at first so he could get the hang of it.

Riding bikes with big sister is the best!

He kept pedalling backwards at first (pushing the brakes).

There he goes!!!! He's getting it.

Here is a short little video of Brady riding his new bike:

Do you like the new look? Jen Gets Fancy gave my blog a little facelift. I'm loving the results! She is super easy to work with and a real sweetheart. Thanks, Jen!

Garbage Monster

2011-05-11T16:58:00.001-05:00

I can not believe that Kindergarten is quickly coming to an end but not without another project to do for class. This one was centered around Earth Day.

She had to create a garbage monster made out of well, garbage. :)

I was kind of dreading this one because I figured it would be more work for me than her but we actually had a good time with it. Kelsey just needed a little push to get going and she took off.

The body is a juice box, the arms are straws, the eyes are water bottle tops, the hair is a beaded necklace that had broke and was going in the trash. The legs were made out of junk mail. I cut into strips of paper and folded them criss cross. I did one leg and Kelsey did the other.

Oh and Kelsey's favorite part: her high heels were an Easter egg. She was very adamant that it had to be a girl with eyelashes, wearing a dress and high heels. She really wanted to incorporate the necklace somehow so in order to make it stay, it became the "hair" and she cut out and colored the dress.

I am so proud of her creation. She really impresses me with some of her art projects. Sometimes I forget how much she can really do on her own. We really had a good time with this project.

I love more than anything how proud she looks in this picture!

{Excuse the messy hair and pjs--it was a lazy weekend morning activity for us}

Daddy ~ Daughter Day: Bowling!

2011-05-06T15:49:00.005-05:00

One thing we have noticed that happens on a regular basis when you go to elementary school: monthly teacher in-service days or just random abbreviated days at school. I swear, we hardly had them when I was in school but Kelsey definitely has them at least once per month.

This past early day, Jay was fortunate enough to take off work so he could spend it with Kelsey. She absolutely adores having special daddy~daughter time (and mommy~daughter time, too). I had purchased a groupon at a local bowling alley so I suggested they go bowling!

Kelsey had never been before so this was a super special outing! Of course, I armed Jay with his camera and made him promise to take pictures of every single thing. :)

Yes, I was a little bummed. I hate to miss out on any firsts but I knew this one would be perfect for a daddy~daughter day.

Here's my sweet girl looking excited to bowl for the first time!

Yes, she's not too thrilled with the ugly bowling shoes. I'm sure she was upset they weren't pink or purple with sparkles. :)
Loving the pose!
Jay said they had fun with this nifty little thing that helped her bowl straighter.
I love the silly shots!!! Love this little girl to pieces!!!
She called me afterwards and sounded so very proud. When I saw this picture, I knew just how much this special day meant to her.
Another silly face <---- I can't get enough of her. She is so fun! Makes you want to spoil her rotten!!!
Daddy let her play a couple of video games and she actually won a necklace and "real" earrings. Now, she's been asking to pierce her ears so she can wear her new earrings. Oh boy!
Days like these are days she is going to look back on with the fondest memories. I know when I look back at my childhood, I always think about the special times my daddy and I had together. I'm so thankful that Kelsey has that, too.

I have to thank my husband for taking so many great pictures for me. The camera is usually my job and he knows how I like to document every little thing so thank you babe!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-28T14:19:00.006-05:00

This year for Easter, I ended up getting sick. We were supposed to go to church with friends on Saturday night but ended up calling it off because of my fever.
Kelsey and Brady were really disappointed that we couldn't go. Kelsey told me, "Momma, I figured out a way for our friends to still be able to come." I said, "Okay, how?" She said, "you can just sit somewhere else." HA!
I felt so bad for disappointing them that I drugged myself up and we went to church anyways.

Here they are before we left...

Brady trying to show me his eye trick, lol. Aren't they beautiful?

Family picture minus myself (I looked as bad as a I felt so no pictures of me this time):
Notice Jay's new haircut! I really like it on him. So handsome.

These little faces are my world!

Silly faces!

They were pumped to see Yancy during and after service.

Miss Patty Cake is also someone they look forward to seeing every year, too!

Easter morning, the kids found their baskets full of goodies. One of the things that has been the biggest hit so far, they both got a harmonica. They love it all!

Easter morning reactions...

Every Easter, we go to our Aunt Carol's house for a big egg hunt with family. It is so much fun for everyone. Unfortunately, I had to miss it. I stayed in bed all day. Thankfully, Jay took some pictures for me.

Brady and cousin Morgan. She is all Kelsey ever talks about! They love getting to play with Morgan. She's so good with them.

I felt so terrible for missing all the fun with the kids and putting a damper on our Easter plans that I hid some eggs in the backyard so they were ready when they got home. It worked out perfectly. Jay told me that Kelsey asked him on the way home "why don't we ever have an Easter egg hunt in our backyard?"

They quickly found all the eggs! All things considered, it was still a wonderful Easter.

Brady's newest trick

2011-04-18T15:41:00.003-05:00

is raising 1 eyebrow at a time. The best part about his new trick is that he does it to mostly girls and he also does it with a big smile! I've mentioned before how much of a flirt he is but goodness gracious does he know exactly what to do to get a laugh or smile out of you! Enjoy!!!!

Kelsey is an ORANGE belt!

2011-04-14T10:05:00.004-05:00

My sweet girl had her orange belt testing in February (okay, so I'm a little behind in posting). I love watching her...isn't she the CUTEST? Oh and what was little brother doing while Kelsey was testing?

FLIRTING, of course. This boy is something else. Look at my girl concentrating. I just look at her and smile so big. That smile of hers lights up the whole room. She did so great and she knows it! Here she is getting her prized orange belt! Brady was happy because that is his favorite color. lol Kelsey's friend, Jamee was there to watch her older brother test and Kelsey, too (of course,lol). Kelsey was super excited her friend was watching! We are beaming with pride! Kelsey has improved so much and it is so fun to watch her. Brady is dying to get out there and show everyone what he's got! hahaaha! :)

My beautiful little reader!

2011-04-08T09:49:00.003-05:00

This momma is SO PROUD! I never ever ever get tired of listening to her read. I love that she loves to read. I know I've said it before but this child amazes me on a daily basis. I am so impressed with her and I love that her teacher is, too!

I just had to record this special moment of Kelsey reading a book to me. I love listening to her sound out her words. I love helping her when she gets frustrated because I know she can do it.

I wish I would have recorded her this morning. I walked into Brady's bedroom and they were sitting on his bed while Kelsey was reading "Five Little Monkeys" to him. It was the absolute SWEETEST thing ever E.V.E.R.

I had bought Kelsey a set of Starfall books and a set of these Bob books, too. They have helped her so much. The video below is from several weeks ago, now she can read them much faster which also boosts her confidence. Between these awesome phonics books and all of her homework from school, we knew it was only a matter of time before she started reading. YAY!

Here you go!

Did you hear her asking to get on the internet? Can you believe computer time is actually part of her homework assignments? Kindergarten has changed so much since I was in school! lol :)

Brady: Our Little Comedian

2011-04-01T10:14:00.003-05:00

Doesn't he look so stinkin' cute?!?! Brady is so funny! He is constantly making everyone around him laugh and he loves it! I have to post about his latest funnies so I won't ever forget them!

I posted on facebook the other night about this one. I came home from work and he told me he had a good day at school. Oh thank goodness, we never know with Brady. Some days he comes home on yellow and other days he is on green. Very rarely is he on red. So, I'm always relieved when I find out he's on green. Then he tells me, "I didn't hit my friends today and I didn't spit on my teachers today!" I couldn't help but laugh and tell him "good job, buddy!"

As we left home and headed to church that night, Kelsey tells us, "Hudson told me if someone says you're hot that means you're pretty." Brady immediately turns to Kelsey saying, "Kelsey, you're hot!" She politely replies, "thank you, Brady!" Jay and I just died laughing!!!

After church, we were chatting with friends and Brady walks over to his friend, Emma (who is also standing next to her daddy) and said "Emma, you're hot!" Jeremy (Emma's daddy) turned to me and said "what did he just say?" I said, "yeah my son told your daughter she was hot." He cracked UP! Brady is such a little mess!!!

So, Thursday morning, I was telling his teachers about his new little saying and they said he's been telling them they were HOT STUFF. "Miss Keri-Ann, you're hot stuff!" All this time, we thought he was just repeating what Kelsey said before church. Little did we know, he's been telling his teachers. lol

His teacher, Miss Keri-Ann, gave him a pair of silly glasses. He had been talking about some silly glasses but I had no idea what in the world he was talking about until I saw them yesterday morning!!! She spoils him rotten because he reminds her of her son when he was Brady's age. So sweet. :) Oh and one more funny before I forget!

Last month, I dropped Brady off at daycare and another mom stopped me as I was walking out to my car. She said, "my daughter came home last night telling me that Brady has TWO names." I'm thinking, oh my goodness...I have no idea what she is going to say. I said, "oh really? Brayden and Brady?" She said, "no. My daughter said, Brady and Bradylicious!" We both cracked up!!!! I said, "OH! One of my girlfriends nicknamed him that." She thought it was so funny! Apparently, Brady is going around school telling his friends that his name is Bradylicious.

He really is our little comedian. The cutest comedian EVER. :)

1 Month Challenge: No Eating Out

2011-03-24T09:49:00.004-05:00

Jay and I have been Dave Ramsey-fied. We found a weakness of ours and decided it was time to tackle it: eating out!

We eat out on the weekends. It is just what we did as a family or as part of our socializing with friends. If I'm being completely honest, there were times we would eat out for lunch on Saturday then dinner after church with friends. Sunday, we would eat out for lunch and I may or may not cook dinner Sunday night--sometimes we would eat out Sunday night, too! I'm not saying we ate out a big fancy meal or anything but even Mexican adds up! $25 a pop adds up real quick. If I had a bad day at work, I would go out to eat lunch with co-workers or meet friends for a lunch date. Out of control. Seriously.

Could we do it? After all, that means we would have to tell our friends about our challenge or shall we say weakness when they ask us to meet them at a restaurant. It would also require more planning on my part. Recently, I looked at a past bank statement and saw where I was doing great with my grocery budget but yet, we were sabotaging our overall budget by eating out all the time. What about our kids? They LOVE eating chips and salsa (code for Mexican). Oh boy!

Jay and I had a budget meeting and looked at everything together. We both agreed that we needed to make a change. Our last meal at a restaurant was on Valentine's Day. We flew home from Chicago, picked up our babies and went out to eat 'chips and salsa.'

Obviously, it's been over a month and I can tell you that WE DID IT!!!! This was a HUGE accomplishment for us.

Was it hard to stick with it? Surprisingly, no. I did my meal planning for 7 meals in advance. I had the food so might as well cook it, right? We did have to tell our friends about our challenge when they invited us out to eat. Everyone was super supportive of us!

A couple of things that we noticed during the challenge:
We ate healthier and saved lots of money! It changed the way we look at eating out. It became habit for us and just something to do with the kids. Now, it is a treat and since we are doing the envelope method, we really have to decide if we want to take this money out right now. We are definitely spending our money more wisely.

One of the biggest surprises: our kids never asked if we could go out to eat. NOT ONCE! We did get together with friends at their house and I told them, our kids are happier because of it. It isn't any fun for our kids to sit at a restaurant while we try to have a conversation with friends. They would much rather eat at home and get to play with their friends at the house.

We met our goal ten days ago and we still haven't ate out together as a family. We didn't intentionally decide not to but we just haven't wanted to. I believe this is a true way to know that our little month challenge worked in so many more ways than we intended. It has carried over into all aspects of our budget and has completely changed the way we view spending money. We weren't miserable and we didn't feel deprived at all. What an achievement for us. :)

In doing all of this meal planning for our family, I decided to try e-mealz.

They do the meal planning for you, all based off the sales ad at your favorite shopping place. We are doing the Publix Weight Watcher plan. Every Thursday, I get a new meal plan with 7 meals: main dish + side that is based off the new Publix sales ad that week. The recipes are simple and quick plus they include the WW points per serving. They even send you a categorized grocery shopping list and how much it will cost. All of my couponers know that most of what is on sale, we have coupons for so I usually get my total down even lower! SCORE!
Speaking of coupons, there is a coupon code for e-mealz: dave
You can get 3 months for $12.50 (regular $15). Yep, even Dave Ramsey endorses it.
Oh and if you don't want to do the WW plan, they have about 33 meal plan options: regular, low fat, vegetarian, gluten free, low carb, ETC! There truly is something for everyone. They have sample menu plans on their site.

I really love this service. Every week before I went to the store, I would dread making my meal plans. I was always trying to find something different to try, scouring the recipe blogs plus matching it up to sales ads + pulling coupons. It was too time consuming for me and this service puts the fun back into it! Totally gets me out of my rut. This week our family ate Honey Pecan Chicken, Smothered Steak over Brown Rice, Penne Florentine--just to give you an idea.

Biggest bonus: we are trying new things! I don't like a lot of veggies but I also don't want to pass on my dislikes to my children. This totally helps us ALL try new things. :)

Try it out for 3 months! Worst case, you'll have 75 new recipes at the end of your three months.

Just Dance Kids for the Wii

2011-03-17T15:28:00.001-05:00

If you don't have this game for your kids, you must get it! So fun!

A Day in the Life of a Full-Time Working Momma

2011-03-10T10:43:00.008-06:00

Some of my stay at home mom friends have said to me numerous times before "I don't know how you do it" and "how do you have time for that?" I even had my sweet friend, Heather, ask me for a play by play of a typical day for us. I am always quick to explain that Jay does just as much as I do. We are definitely a team when it comes to our day to day routine and I am so thankful to him. I couldn't do it alone! I thought it would be neat for me to take my camera with me for an entire day so I could blog about a typical day in our household. I also thought it would be fun to document it because I know my life will not always be like this. :)

I totally understand the interest because I find myself very interested in how SAHM's do it. I'm most interested in learning more about the schedule and time management. I'm forced to make the most of my time so I often wonder what it would be like if I were a SAHM.

Here we go!

6:19am: Jay wakes me up with a cup of coffee on my nightstand. Isn't that sweet of him? It is the perfect way for me to wake up in the mornings. By this time, Jay has already showered and got dressed for work. He has to be at work at 7am so I know he's leaving in ten minutes.

He wakes up the kids (if they aren't already up), gets Brady dressed for school and gives the kids breakfast and their daily dose of Claritin.

Meanwhile, I get dressed. He usually tells me the weather...another rainy day so rain boots it is!

The kids are only allowed to eat breakfast on the couch. It's usually dry cereal or a peanut butter sandwich--their picks. If they want milk in their cereal, they know it must be eaten at the table. They relax on the couch and take turns watching cartoons while I finish getting dressed for work.

Now, it's time for Kelsey to get dressed for school. Today is Wednesday so she can wear whatever she wants to school. I know that Tuesdays and Thursday are gym class and she has to wear tennis shoes to school. I pick out her outfit and she gets herself dressed while I put dinner in the crock pot (aka my saving grace).

Hoppin' John Stew for dinner tonight (total bust, it wasn't very good)...

Time to brush our teeth. Kelsey can brush them herself without any help. Brady is not quite there yet!

Last call for potty breaks and put on B's shoes.

It is Kelsey's day to bring in snack for the entire class (once per month) so 19 bags of Ritz Bits Cheese Crackers are ready to go, initial her agenda daily and pack her lunch. She refuses to eat cafeteria food. She usually has a turkey sandwich, yogurt, milk or juice, crackers or fruit and a dessert.

Kelsey takes her breathing treatment every morning and night.

Brady always wants to take a morning snack, Kelsey's things are ready and Momma needs another cup of coffee for the road (and banana for breakfast).

Kids are loaded up in the car and off to Kelsey's school we go....

We wait in the carpool line to drop her off, she has to give Brady a hug and a kiss before she gets out or he cries! I get one, too!

Next stop is Brady's school and now I'm finally on my way to work. I commute to work every morning. It is a 34 mile drive from home to work which usually takes me an hour with traffic....

I get to sit in a lot of traffic along the way (don't worry I'm not taking pictures while I'm driving. I'm at a stand still). Not sure how but I made it to work on time at 830am!

A lot of people ask me when I have to time to clip/organize my coupons, make a meal plan or create a grocery list and update my blog. I usually do bits and pieces of it on my lunch break at my desk...

Jay gets off work at 5pm and he goes to pick up Kelsey from a karate after school program. He calls me with a daily report of how she did at school. Then, he goes to pick up Brady at daycare. He calls me again around 530pm to tell me how B's day went and he'll usually ask me what we're having for dinner. It has to be something easy for him to throw together or nearly done when he walks in the door especially on Wednesdays because we have church. I tell him dinner is in the crock pot and he's good to go! Jay and the kids eat dinner together at the table and then get ready for church.

I end up leaving work a few minutes late. I get off at 530pm but didn't end up leaving until 544pm. Well, what do you know! I get stuck in terrible traffic and end up having to meet Jay and the kids at church. No dinner for me tonight until after church!

We are taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace with our small group at church. It's such an amazing and eye opening class. :)

Class is usually from 7-830pm and we ended up chatting with friends at church until close to 9pm.

On our way home, we saw so many red flashing lights and got close enough to see that a big wreck just occurred. The road was closed!

At first, we were a little irritated because it was late, we were tired and I was hungry! Remember, I didn't get to eat dinner. Then, I realized how selfish I was being. I need to stop and pray for these people that were injured in this big car accident.

Jay and I were calling each other as we figured out a back way to get home. We both agreed how lucky we were that we didn't leave church on time. The wreck happened at the time we normally would have been driving by it. God was totally watching out for us and our babies so we weren't put in harm's way. We found out later that someone had to be life flighted to the hospital. Wreck info is here. I keep waiting to find out if everyone survived. Heart-breaking!

We made it home a little after 930pm and my little monkey was pooped!

Most of the time when we get home around 9pm, the kids are bouncing off the walls because they feel like they just got home from school as if it were 6pm. It normally takes about 30 minutes to settle down before bedtime. Tonight was clearly the exception.

Kelsey was still awake so I popped popcorn, poured me a glass of wine (I needed it after today WHEW!) and we all cuddled on the couch while we watched American Idol before bedtime.

It didn't take long for Kelsey to fall asleep. Jay and I enjoyed a little relaxation before we went to bed.

American Idol ended and I went to give my babies a final kiss goodnight while they were sleeping.

11:09: bedtime!

There you have it! With the exception of the tragic wreck on the way home, this was a typical Wednesday for our family.

Maybe one day I will be a SAHM and I'll get to do this again. I look forward to the day I get to document just how different my life will be!

Chicago Weekend Vacay

2011-03-04T10:51:00.012-06:00

Jay and I went on an extended weekend getaway to Chicago with friends. None of us had ever been to Chicago before so we were excited to explore the Windy City.

Shortly after flying in early Friday morning, we checked into our hotel. Luckily, our rooms were ready. We stayed at the Affinia Hotel.

It was a nice, affordable boutique hotel literally next door to Gino's East (pizza).

My friend, Kati, used to live near Chicago and she gave me a food crawl, lol. It was all of her "must-eats" around Chicago. She firmly believes Gino's East has the best Chicago pizza. However, at check-in we heard all the locals talking about how Giordano's was sooo much better. We decided to try it out first and later compare the two. lol

Here we are after waiting an hour for our pizza at Giordano's. It is so thick that it takes that long to cook it. They warned us prior to ordering so we expected it.
Look at this deliciousness! The best way I can describe it is the crust tasted just like a pie crust so imagine a pie crust and layer after layer of MUCHO cheese + toppings then pizza sauce is poured on top (not on the bottom of the crust like we are used to).

pie crust + cheese + toppings + cheese + toppings + pizza sauce It was pretty tasty but one slice is all we could eat...except for Emily who gobbled down two slices. Skinny little thing put us all to shame!

We walked around Chicago and shopped and shopped and shopped. The kids got home from school and I couldn't get back to our hotel fast enough so I could skype with them. Thank GOD for skype!!! Nothing like seeing my sweet babies and video chatting with them to relieve my nerves so we could relax and enjoy ourselves!

Later that evening, we had dinner at the Elephant & Castle Pub. If my husband can find a pub then it is just a given that we're going. Bonus: it was on Kati's food crawl list for us.

Saturday morning, we ventured out to the Navy Pier. While we were out, I got a sweet text pic of my babies getting ready for Kelsey's dance class and later of Brady drawing while K was at dance...We arrive at the Navy Pier and see all of these amazing snow sculptures. The last one is of Belle which I had to send to Kelsey. :)

Jay and Robbie and then myself and Emily at the Navy Pier

We went to Portillo's for lunch. You have to try a Chicago hot dog when you are in Chicago, right? Everyone loooooved it!

The guys really wanted to go to the United Center to see the Michael Jordan sculpture...

Then they were dying to go to the infamous Chicago Auto Show (us girls played along) where they waited in a crazy long line to test drive a new Jeep.

Look at this new minivan coming out with wraparound seating like a limo (not on my wish list, just thought it was neat)...

All three of us girls ended up leaving the boys at the Auto Show to go shopping and stopped to eat some table side make-your-own s'mores at Cosi and you know, girl talk. :)

Meanwhile, I get another sweet text pic of my babies playing outside... and later that evening, having a Wii dance party and playing in the house...

Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the Corner Bakery. It was on my list to try but we weren't too excited to try it because it looked like just another Panera. Boy, were we wrong! I had the most amazing banana honey crunch oatmeal and Robbie had drool-worthy fresh hot cinnamon rolls. Everything was delicious!

After breakfast, we decide to walk around more and shop! We found great gifts for the kids. We told them that we would bring them back a special surprise from Chicago. They were pretty pumped about it too!

I get another text pic of the kids playing before they head out to the Discovery Center.

All of that shopping and we were ready to try the other pizza place in Chicago for lunch. Gino's East! This was soooo yummy! The crust was like cake and the pizza sauce blew our minds! Gino's East won in our little taste test. We all agreed it was our fave.

I get another sweet little text pic from my babies hanging out with Curious George at the Discovery Center. They were so excited to meet him!

Emily, Esther and I decided to go shopping while the guys took a nap to sleep off that pizza! Girls are so different--we would rather walk it off (our excuse to shop) but we ended up getting mani/pedis instead. HA! :)

Before heading to dinner, we skyped one last time with the kids. Did I mention that they barely even wanted to talk to us or skype with us this weekend? They kept asking to skype with Uncle Robbie and Aunt Emily. In fact, they skyped longer with them than us! I guess that's how you know they are really enjoying themselves. :) ...definitely eased my mind!

Our last night in Chicago and we saved the best for last. We had dinner reservations at a nice Italian restaurant named Rosebud's. This was on my food list, several locals told us about it and Emily's mom highly recommended it.

Our group of six...

We pretty much decided to eat our dinner family style because we all wanted to try everything that everyone had ordered. I had the best chicken marsala and Jay loved his lasagna. Robbie's risotto was spectacular. We all agreed that everything was nothing short of amazing. So amazing that we wanted to meet the chef, lol.

Here is Robbie and myself with the chef. HA! I'm a dork, I know.

We also celebrated Aaron's birthday. Here is Esther and Aaron with his birthday cake...

Robbie is a NUT! He's going to kill me for posting this but it cracks me UP! Oh and that's Emily's cake--yes, she ate it all! lol

Leaving the best Italian restaurant I've ever been to in my life...

Back to the Elephant & Castle Pub one last time before we turned in for the night (love this picture of the guys)...

Robbie and Jay LOVED this sign hanging up in the pub. Robbie asked if he could take it home. No go so a picture of it will have to do!

We had such a great time in Chicago!

Monday morning, Valentine's Day, we flew home. After we landed, I received one last text pic of my sweeties. Kelsey dressed up for her Valentine's Day party at school and Brady had to dress up for 50's Day at school. Aren't they precious?

We picked them up early from school (but not too early so they could enjoy their class parties) and spent the rest of the day catching up with my beautiful children. We missed them SOOO much!

It was nice to get away from all the day to day craziness of our lives. This trip was meaningful to us all in different ways. We loved Chicago and all it had to offer but we were glad to come home and reunite with our babies.

100th Day of School Projects

2011-02-21T13:01:00.005-06:00

Kelsey was given two assignments relating to the 100th day of school for her Kindergarten class. Um, since when did you get homework and projects in Kindergarten? I remember it being like daycare, just fun and art all day with nap time. My oh my, how times have changed but I digress. :)

The first assignment was to bring in 100 small items of her choice to place on a number graph in class. It couldn't be larger than a penny. We looked around the house and thought of jelly beans. She was happy to count out 100 jelly beans only because she could eat some along the way. lol.

She told me she was done counting them out and this is what I see...

Are you kidding? She really color coordinated them while she was counting?!?! This kid is too much! Then she tells me, "look mommy, it's a pattern." I heart her so.

Her next assignment was a project that she had to make herself. She was supposed to make something using 100 items.

Off to the craft store we went and the hunt began! Surrounded by so much Valentine's stuff, Kelsey picked out a heart shaped box and 100 buttons to glue on it. She loves crafts so she was pretty pumped to create her new masterpiece. She counted 100 buttons and glued them on!

Look at my pretty girl with her new masterpiece...

Those darn buttons kept popping off days later so I ended up going over it with some crazy glue. I wasn't about to give the five year old crazy glue!!!

She didn't want to cover up the XOXO, did she? :)

Kelsey's BIG GIRL Haircut

2011-02-16T11:11:00.003-06:00

Kelsey's beautiful long locks are now a thing of the past! The tangles were out of control and I decided I wanted her to get an actual hairstyle instead of always pulling it back.

I made an appointment with my amazing friend and hairstylist, Heather.

Kelsey was very excited to get a hair 'do at mommy's salon but she wasn't acting like herself. More quiet than usual and her excitement disappeared quickly.

Little did I know, she had a pretty bad ear infection. So, if she looks a little subdued in the pictures, she wasn't feeling her best. Bless her.

My girl with Heather...
Look at all of that hair GONE.
She was so quiet that Heather was afraid she didn't like it. Doesn't it look so much better? At the same time, it kinda makes me a little sad. She doesn't look like a little girl anymore. My baby is growing up!

Loving her BIG GIRL BOB!

She totally loves it and I am SO happy that we no longer have to fuss with tangles anymore!

Under The Big Top: CIRCUS TIME!

2011-02-08T15:46:00.005-06:00

We took the kids to the circus with three other families: 15 tickets total! All of the kids were so excited to see their friends at the circus and sit with them!

This was our third year in a row at the circus and we love it just as much every year we go! We went on a Friday night because the tickets were HALF PRICE! Can't beat that! :)

Kelsey and Abigail getting tattoos... Picture time with the announcer, lol. They were excited and that's what matters, right? :)

Our girls: Kelsey, Abigail and Hope

They were watching the elephant at the pre-show.

The Goolsby Family...

Kiddos! Look at Hope loving on her sweet brother, Will!

Group shot (missing the Goolsby Fam)! There were SO many people, it was hard to find everyone. Good thing, we all sat together. :)

So much excitement when they all came out!

The elephants are always a hit!

We had so much fun with our friends. Till next year! :)

Valentine's Day Ideas

2011-02-03T10:10:00.005-06:00

Kelsey is VERY excited about her Valentines this year. I've said before that she loves arts and crafts but she also loves to play games! When I came across this adorable tic tac toe game, I just had to show it to her to see what she thought. Let's just say that I know my daughter well. I think she literally squealed out of excitement.

I printed them out and cut out the hearts. Kelsey punched the game pieces out and wrote her name on the back of each heart.

She put them inside a ziploc baggie and we stapled the bag topper to it. Easy peasy and the best part: FREE! (I already had the card stock, ziploc baggies and hole punch).
I couldn't believe it but she never mentioned anything about candy. Love it. :) The only thing she asked was "do I get to make one for myself?" :)

Now for Brady's...

He didn't pick them out or anything but he loves them, too! I saw this idea and thought it would be perfect for my little man. As I was taking his picture, I told him to pretend to punch my camera. Totally got that smile! We definitely had fun with this one.

I wrote text on the picture and had them printed online. I cut a slit at the top and bottom of his fist and put the tootsie pop in it. Taped it on the back and D-O-N-E, done! Simple and cheap.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day! I know my kiddos are especially looking forward to it now! :)

2010 Collage

2011-01-28T20:46:00.003-06:00

Looking back through all of these pictures and all I could do was SMILE so big. What an amazing year we had as a family! Most importantly, it was a FUN year. So incredibly blessed and super thankful.

Christmas!!!

2011-01-20T16:35:00.009-06:00

FINALLY: The Christmas Post!

I know I say this every year and I'll probably say it next year but this year was the BEST Christmas! Kelsey was SO much fun this year because she REALLY understood everything. The anticipation and sheer excitement over it all was SO FUN. I can only imagine how it will feel when Brady REALLY understands it, too. All of the fun Christmas events at church and in our community just add to all the hype. Our Elf on the Shelf was super mischievous this year. Also, this was the 4th year that we have drove around the city to see all the best Christmas lights in our pajamas with hot (warm) chocolate in sippycups. We also met up with some friends to see Santa in the Neighborhood. I just love it all!

Last year for the first time, we took the kids shopping and let them pick out one gift for the other. They really enjoyed picking out something they thought the other would love and we loved watching them get so excited! We did it again this year. On Christmas Eve, we let them exchange their gift.
Kelsey bought Brady a big, talking Woody doll. She knew he would LOVE it and couldn't wait to give it to him. I think she asked us every day since the day we brought it home.

Brady bought Kelsey the Tangled game for her new v-reader that MawMaw and PawPaw gave her. It is hilarious to hear Brady say "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let your hair down."

Brady's BIG Christmas gift from Santa was a new train table! I'm sad to report that he has no interest in it. He has hardly touched it. Total bust for Santa! Poor guy, I know it had to take him forever to put this thing together. Luckily, Brady was completely enthralled with his BatCave and IronMan.

Kelsey's BIG gift from Santa was something she has been talking about for months and months!!! Literally, it is the ONLY thing she asked for this Christmas. Jay and I went round and round about buying her such a crazy expensive doll. Luckily for us, Santa came through and Kelsey *squealed* in excitement (in the video below).

I am happy to report that Kelsey takes Lanie everywhere with her. MawMaw and PawPaw bought them matching pajamas and extra outfits for Lanie. Kelsey is always changing her clothes and getting her ready for something. It really is precious. She asks us all the time, "I'm taking good care of Lanie, right Mommy?"

Here she is opening up some of Lanie's clothes from MawMaw and PawPaw.

You can see the joy and excitement written all over her face!

Here is the video I captured on Christmas morning! Does Santa leave a mess of boxes in your house? Santa can be so messy sometimes but I guess he is on a tight schedule that night so I'll let it slide.

Brady as Mr. Grinch!

2011-01-11T08:43:00.005-06:00

Brady's daycare teachers asked us if Brady could be the Grinch in their Christmas program. I don't know who was more excited: me, Jay or Brady OR Kelsey for her little brother??? It was the cutest thing to hear him walk around saying "You're a Mean One, Mr. Ginch!" He omitted the "r" in Grinch. Cute stuff!!!

I'm not sure why he was asked to be the Grinch?!?! It's not like he had a special part or anything but nonetheless, he ate up all the attention!

What you don't see in the video: Brady kept grabbing the microphone on stage. He's such a little show-off!

Oh and Jay sprayed his hair green for his "part" and OMG--he LOOOOVED it. It was so funny! His bff, Harrison, had to have his hair sprayed green, too!

I gotta show-off my girl, too! I just love her smile and infectious laugh!

My old roomie from college and sorority sister, Sarah, made her this adorable outfit for Christmas. She loved the twirly skirt!!! You can find her on facebook by searching for Made by Mommy. She's just starting out so I thought I'd give her a little plug. I was surprised by how well everything fit Kelsey. I couldn't have asked for the skirt to fit any better. Well done, Sarah!

Extra Special Family Pictures!

2011-01-09T16:03:00.004-06:00

After we had our Fall family pictures taken, I realized that I don't have any recent pictures of my parents, just the two of them or with the kids. My parents just really don't like getting their picture taken. The last time they had their pictures taken professionally was at our wedding.

I talked to my parents about having Laurel come out to their house to get pictures made with Kelsey and Brady. I couldn't believe they agreed to do it. :)

I thought they turned out so great and now we have some amazing pictures that we will all cherish forever.
Edited to "keep it real:" What you don't see in the pictures was one of the most hectic shoots in a long time. Why? Oh just because the kids had found some Christmas presents from Maw Maw and Paw Paw--literally the same time Laurel rang the doorbell. Brady kept running back to the house to his Christmas present throughout the entire photoshoot. Laurel was there probably 30 minutes at most and I felt like the shoot was a total bust because all I did the whole time was chase Brady. I was shocked that she actually caught some great shots. Kudos to Laurel for actually pulling this off! lol I think my parents are going to find some better hiding places next Christmas. :)

Veggie Tales Live!

2011-01-03T20:39:00.005-06:00

Oh how I love our church! What I would have given to go to a church like ours when I was growing up. I'm just so thankful we found it seven years ago.

Veggie Tales Live! came to our church. The kids were super excited to see Bob, Larry and friends.

Show me your tickets!!! We brought our friend, William, with us and let me tell you...the boy can cut a rug!!!

I'm loving the rock star pose!
They are standing in front of a banner for the first ever girls Veggie Tale's movie: Sweetpea Beauty: A Girl After God's Own Heart. They didn't see the movie that night or anything, they were just promoting it.

I love it so much because my favorite female Christian music singer, Nichole Nordeman, has a new song in it called Beautiful for Me and it is AMAZING. She has the most thought provoking lyrics. My friend, Jennifer Trew posted the video on facebook and I totally cried.

The song was written from God's perspective which I find so intriguing. The lyrics made me pray that Kelsey always knows how beautiful He thinks she is-- no matter how the tv or magazines choose to define beauty on any given day. I love how on point the lyrics are to the things we see in the media. I take comfort in knowing it is my job to tell her everyday just how beautiful she is because she was created by His vision. She will not go one day without hearing it from Jay and I.

BEAUTIFUL FOR ME Lyrics
by Nichole Nordeman

Every girl young and old has to face her own reflection
Twirl around, stare it down
What’s the mirror gonna say
With some luck, you’ll measure up
But you might not hold a candle to the rest
“Is that your best?” says the mirror to the mess

But there’s a whisper in the noise
Can you hear a little voice
and He says

Has anybody told you you’re beautiful?
You might agree if you could see what I see
Oh
‘Cause everything about you is incredible
You should have seen me smile the day that I made you beautiful for me

If it’s true beauty lies in the eye of the beholder
What my life and what’s inside to give him something to behold
I want a heart that’s captivating
I wanna hear my Father say

Has anybody told you you’re beautiful?
You might agree if you could see what I see
Oh
‘Cause everything about you is incredible
You should have seen me smile the day that I made you beautiful for me

Close your eyes
Look inside
Let me see the you that you’ve been trying to hide
Long ago, I made you so very beautiful
So I ought to know you’re beautiful

Has anybody told you you’re beautiful?
You might agree if you could see what I see
Yeah
‘Cause everything about you is incredible
You should have seen me smile the day that I made you beautiful
You’re so beautiful
Beautiful for me
So beautiful for me
Has anybody told you?

Abigail's Birthday Party

2011-01-02T10:28:00.005-06:00

Anyone that knows my daughter well has heard the name Abigail come from her mouth. Abigail is Kelsey's best friend. They have been best friends since they were three years old which is "forever" according to Kelsey. With all of that being said, it seemed only fitting to feature her best friend's birthday party on the blog. :)

I think in years to come it will be so fun to reflect on their sweet friendship.

Abigail's 5th birthday party was a Pinkalicious theme at a local putt-putt golf park. This was Kelsey's first time playing putt-putt (and Brady's, too!) and as you can tell from the pictures to come, everyone had a wonderful time.
In true Pinkalicious form, we enjoyed pink cupcakes! Our girls are at the age where they love love LOVE crafts so everyone had a fun craft to make. :)
The sweet Lee Family!

Best Friends all around! Abigail and Kelsey AND Brady and Harrison (double trouble!!!!)

Making her birthday wish (the frosting wasn't an oversight, she doesn't like frosting on her cupcakes :))...

Cutie-pie Will! I love to see Brady and Will run around together because they look like twins!

Birthday hugs on the golf course! All the girls could dress up!

The fabulous three! Abigail, Hope and Kelsey = they love each other!

Pretty girls

Great friends: Kelsey, Jack, Hudson and Abigail
They all went off to separate schools this year but when you get this group together, they just pick up right where they left off. Laughs and lots of silliness!

Kelsey and Jack. One day she would come home and tell us that she is going to marry Jack (Abigail would marry Hudson) and the next day she was going to marry Hudson (Abigail would marry Jack). Abigail and Kelsey would alternate the boys between their future plans. LOL.

Silly faces! Happy 5th Birthday, Abigail. We had so much fun!

Harvest Hoedown

2011-01-01T09:29:00.005-06:00

Every year our church has a massive Fall carnival type event open to our community free of charge. It is amazing to go and see thousands of people so happy and having fun!

Here are my kids ready to go!

SO excited to get the festivities started!!!!
Kelsey was thrilled to run into one of her best buddies, Hope! It was a nice surprise for them.

B wanted to bounce and climb and bounce and climb...

They climbed this a few times and it wore me out just watching them! Trust me, they slept so good that night. :) I think every family needs one of these. HA!

They loved decorating the cookies...

...and eating them, too!

Silly faces in the mirror

Then we came home and went trick or treating around our neighborhood! Brady and I ended up coming back to the house early to pass out candy to everyone while Jay and Kelsey made their rounds around the neighborhood. It's always so fun for the kids when the doorbell rings and they get to greet everyone with handfuls of candy! Lots of smiles and laughs on such a fun night.

Finally, that is a wrap on Halloween 2010! :)

Star's Halloween Party

2010-12-30T10:22:00.004-06:00

Jay's work has a Halloween get together every year for all of the families. We always really enjoy going because it is something fun they do for the kids which I think is pretty cool.

We always have to stop by the pony rides first!

I think Kelsey and Brady could have rode them all day long.

Mommy and Brady on the hayride!

They always love painting pumpkins, too!

We roasted lots of hot dogs and marshmallows. :)

Daddy and his babies!

Brady's 1st Black Eyes

2010-12-29T06:45:00.003-06:00

Yep, it finally happened. Brady is so clumsy that we knew it was only a matter of time before he got his first black eye but we never thought he would do it to both eyes!

The first black eye happened at church. Jay and I were sitting in service and B's number flashed above the monitors. We see him laughing and smiling showing us his new shiner.
He was chasing a ball and didn't duck to go underneath the table to get it. Yep, he got into a fight with a table.

The second shiner happened at home. He was wrestling with Jay and fell off our bed. Silly boy!

It sure didn't slow him down.

Here is his dramatic face..see it???

I'm just glad it happened after our family pictures were taken!! Most of all, I'm thankful he was okay and it was just a small cut and bruises, nothing too serious. Love that sweet face and I loved all the extra cuddles I got from him. :)

Fall Festival at Daycare

2010-12-27T09:46:00.004-06:00

I'm playing catch-up now.

Let's start with Halloween! Brady's daycare had a Fall Festival and the kids were so excited to wear their Halloween costumes for the first time.

Brady got really big into superheroes over the summer with the Toy Story 3 craze. First it was Buzz and then came the rest: Batman, Ironman, Superman and Spiderman. He had to be Spiderman for Halloween and Kelsey wanted to be Spidergirl. I really pushed for Wonder Woman because the costume is so funny but she wasn't having it. I loved that they wanted to have matching costumes. I wonder how many years we'll get to do that? :)

Striking a pose!
Brady ran into one of his buddies at the festival...

This kid cracks me up!

Kelsey loved it, too!

The growing Hill Family! Isn't Chelsea's baby bump so cute? Sweet Reagan is such a doll.

Kelsey riding a pony. She got so tickled because another pony wanted to follow them around. She wanted to take them home with us. :)

You know that Spiderman enjoyed it! He kept saying "YEE HAW! Giddy up horsey!"

We're Back!...Brady's 3rd Birthday

2010-12-21T13:13:00.008-06:00

After a long break from from blogging, I'm back and ready to finish up Brady's birthday. :)

For his special day, I made him Oreo Cupcakes. Don't these look heavenly?
Recipe HERE!

They were definitely a hit for the birthday boy!

I can't believe my precious son is THREE already. He is a blessing beyond belief. Every year at his birthday, I can't help but replay a dr's appt that I had (shortly after we had Kelsey) when Jay and I were told we may not be able to have another child. When we were finally told to "hurry up and conceive," it happened so quickly. Jay and I knew it was completely and totally a gift from God. All of the problems I had during my pregnancy with him and being born one month early...WHEW! God totally blessed us with a healthy, smart, HILARIOUS, and SO stinkin' adorable son. I can't believe he has been in our lives for three years. Kelsey was born to be a big sister to him and the love they have for one another is so apparent it makes me cry just thinking about it. My heart is so full of love for my children that it could BURST.

I took Brady in for his three year check up:

31.6 lbs and 37.75 inches tall

Kelsey @ 3 years: 34.1 lbs and 39 inches tall.

Interesting!

One of the perks about blogging is going back and reading about Kelsey's 3 year dr's appt. I could never remember any of it and it is neat to read all of the details...even if I mainly wrote about getting Kelsey to pee in a cup. HA!

Shortly after his 3 year check up, he went to his very first dentist appt. I was feeling pretty anxious about it because Kelsey's 1st was such a disaster. Brady sure did surprise me. He did very well! Best part: NO CAVITIES! I was anxious about this part, too, because B loooooves sweets (total opposite of Kelsey).

Here is he, hammin' it up at the dentist:

He loved the tree house!

What is Brady up to?!?!?

- He is really into the superhero thing (if you couldn't tell from his bday party)

- He loves to eat peanut butter. He could totally eat it out of the jar, too!

- He is still the most affectionate child I have ever met in my life. EVER.

- He is doing okay with potty training. Some days are better than others. Every time he tinkles in the potty, he says "Mommy, you so happy? You so happy, Mommy?" It's so sweet! Seriously, I don't think I have to even bribe him, he just loves to know I am sooo happy. :)

- He loves to entertain. Loves making people laugh and smile.

-He is such a little flirt. He has all the girls at the daycare wrapped around his little finger.

-He is my juice drinker (K is still on the milk train). Luckily, he doesn't mind that it's mostly water in his cup.

-He is also a snacker. Loves to eat constantly. Give him some peanut butter crackers and juice, you've got a friend for life.

-He loves to color. He could color for hours.

-His favorite shows are Scooby Doo, Spiderman, Batman. Backyardigans are slowly becoming a thing of the past.

-He always tells me "Mommy, you're my best friend." It's funny how he always knows how to say the right thing at just the right time.

-Hugs and kisses are constantly coming from him and I love every bit of it because I know it won't last forever.

-He loves music and to dance. Anything Yancy! His favorite Yancy song is "Hosanna". I hear this constantly: "Mommy, I want to listen to Honanna"

-He also loves his books. He will carry them around everywhere and even sleep with them!

-He loves to play dress-up! He got several costumes for his birthday and gets the biggest kick out of his costumes. It is fun to see his little imagination run wild.

This picture makes me SMILE!

Brady's FIRETRUCK birthday party!

2010-11-10T10:18:00.011-06:00

Brady and his friend, William, are October babies...only one year apart. In fact, we missed William's 1 year birthday party because I was in the hospital giving birth to my sweet son. We have a similar circle of friends so it just seemed fitting to throw a joint birthday bash for our special birthday boys (and split the cost in half is a big bonus--YAY!). I think our friends were appreciative they didn't have separate parties to attend during an already busy month. :)

William's mom, Emily, and I threw out several different themes but when the planning process began, we ended up coming back to the same theme as last year. Our boys were happiest with that idea so we just went with it. The planning was much easier this time around because we already knew what to expect.

We reserved a local park and the firetruck arrived shortly after the party start time ...you know, to make a GRAND ENTRANCE. :)

I just love this picture collage of Brady & William's initial reaction when the firetruck arrived:

Here is the party firetruck...

Brady couldn't wait for his first ride in the firetruck!

They put up a bounce house so the kids could get their jump on while they started the rides on the firetruck!

Kelsey and Brady did NOT have fun bouncing, did they? HAHAHA!

I can't believe William is FOUR!

What about these cupcakes? So, you see the flame, fire hydrant, yellow water hose, fireman hat cupcake toppers which obviously go with the theme... but our boys L-O-V-E their favorite superheroes so we had to incorporate them somehow, right? I'm not much into the whole character themed birthday party but I think a little splash here and there can be tasteful. :)

We had to make Brady and William's cupcakes stand out from the rest...
Oh yeah! William totally loved his special Batman cupcake topper. He's so cute!

Singing "Happy Birthday" to our boys...

After B ate his cupcake, he started to dig in on the actual candle! EW! Poor thing, all this edible fondant and he was probably confused. HA! :)

A little family photo op...

Our sweet friends, The Goolsby Family:

William was all set to take a ride on the firetruck until Brady pulled the horn! It took a while but Emily finally got William on the firetruck. I felt so bad for him. He probably rode the entire way with his hands over his ears.

Brady had some fun with the water hose!

Don't forget big sister, Kelsey! She was so happy for her brother to finally have his party. It was really sweet! My gracious, isn't she BEAUTIFUL?

William really enjoyed the water hose, too!

I had to include these pictures! Samson was cracking me up. I think he enjoyed it a little, too!

Precious Madison and CUTE baby Mark got in on the water hose action <----love them!

All of our friends left with a YUMMY firetruck themed cookie favor and silly band. I found some cute emergency vehicle silly bands that I just couldn't resist. My sweet friend, Stacy, gave me the idea. :)

Thank you to everyone that came to the party! You all made our boys feel SO special and as a mom, there is no greater compliment than to see others make your child smile. There were lots of laughs and precious memories were made that beautiful day. We have some amazing friends and family in our lives. Blessed beyond belief.

Sassy Baby Designs created all of the cute printables. SBD really outdid themselves this time. They were the perfect finishing touch to everything! Thank you!

Nick Bumgardner Photography helped me document this special day and I am forever grateful!

Sneak Peek!

2010-10-30T11:00:00.001-05:00

My son's birthday party is TODAY and he is MUCHO excited. Here is your sneak peek!
(I deleted the personal info for obvious reasons)

All paper products designed by my wonderful friend, Anne at Sassy Baby Designs.

You know I'll post an update soon. I can't believe I have a THREE year old now.

Kelsey lost her FIRST tooth!

2010-10-27T22:13:00.000-05:00

My sweet girl started telling me how loose her tooth was shortly after she started Kindergarten. I touched it and it wasn't loose at all. I figured it had to do with her being around older kids in Kindergarten and watching them lose teeth. Every now and then she would tell me how her tooth was getting ready to fall out. I noticed we were talking about more and more so I decided to see for myself and I couldn't believe it. It was VERY loose.
I told Jay, "isn't she too young to lose a tooth?" I was so concerned that I called my mom about it to ask her how old I was when I lost my first tooth. My mom said to me, "well, hold on and let me go check." She came back and told me she kept ALL of my baby teeth that I lost. {what? you actually kept all my teeth?} hahaha, well at that moment I was kinda glad she did because we went through how old I was when I lost this and that...and so on. :)
So, I was 5 years old --almost 6 when I lost my first tooth. Not that it means anything but it is neat to compare. :)
At that time, I began scrambling...I posted on facebook asking what the going rate was for teeth? I think the tooth fairy left me some quarters or a dollar bill. Kelsey's dear friend, Hope, had someone in her Kindergarten class get $100 from the tooth fairy--that's just crazy, IMO. Some people said $5 and others said the tooth fairy pays more money for the very first tooth because it's more special. I can't even begin to explain the logic behind that to a four year old "now this tooth isn't as special as that tooth?" Seriously? That makes no sense to me. Jay and I talked about it and decided what we felt would be right for Kelsey.
Then, I had a couple of friends suggest these super cute tooth pillows made by a local mom. She's called Jitterberries on facebook. I went ahead and placed my order and just prayed we would get it in time. Eek! She told me she had a two week wait.
It was on a Sunday night and Carey from Jitterberries emailed me to let me know the pillow would be ready on Tuesday. I told her that would be great because her tooth is still hanging in there.
Can you believe that right after I hit 'send' on that email, Kelsey came running to me screaming that she lost her tooth?!?!?! Sigh!
I couldn't believe my eyes, it really did come out so I asked her where the tooth was and she opened her hand but it was gone.
We re-traced her steps and looked all over the place but still couldn't find it.
I was pretty much in tears at this point. I mean, not only does the tooth fairy not have a tooth to pick up but now I can't even keep her very first baby tooth much less see it?!?!?!
Kelsey had been so excited about the whole event that we had been reading numerous tooth fairy-esque books so she totally understood that the tooth fairy was supposed to pick up her tooth. UGH.
I gave Jay the flash light and the search continued! I couldn't search for it anymore because she had blood coming out of her mouth and I had to teach her how to swish the blood out of her mouth. lol
Here she is SO PROUD...I thought the blood would have scared her <-----NO WAY! Mid-spit shot....NICE. :)

I just love her new grin. Adorable!

FINALLY, Jay found it! Somehow it was underneath our bed?!?! WHEW! So relieved.

Kelsey decided she wanted to write a little note to the Tooth Fairy...you know, so she knew who's tooth it was, lol. :)

So, we didn't have the new tooth fairy pillow but it worked out just fine. She put it under her pillow and the next morning she woke up filled with pure excitement!!!

The tooth fairy left her a certificate and two $1 bills under her pillow.

Just goes to show you, five dollars or two dollars...it really doesn't matter at all to them, it is really the pure excitement of losing the tooth and just the fact that the tooth fairy came at all made her SO happy!

I did get the cute little tooth pillow for next time. Kelsey saw it and she can't wait to use it.
...which I'm afraid will happen sooner rather than later. Yes, she already has her 2nd loose tooth. What is up with all of these big girl things happening to my baby? I sure wish this growing up thing didn't happen so fast.

Fall Pictures

2010-10-19T22:12:00.002-05:00

Laurel from Eilas Photography is a ROCK STAR. She is proof that not just anyone can pick up an SLR camera and take excellent pictures. It takes a talented photographer to do what she does! Love her.

She's a Yellow Belt!

2010-10-12T09:39:00.005-05:00

Kelsey began taking TaeKwonDo through a local after-school program during the week. One of her best friends, Hudson, takes it with her. They attend different elementary schools now but look forward to seeing each other everyday at TaeKwonDo.

I can't say that Kelsey LOVES it, in fact, she complains about going all the time. Most of her complaints revolve around being a bus rider and she prefers to be a car rider, lol. Plus, the program is pretty structured and I think she would rather play and do what she wants to, when she wants to. It's good for her though and she's learning a lot! :) She has surprised us at home by randomly counting in Chinese and I think it is the cutest thing watching her doing the different positions she's learning! :)

They recently had belt testing and Kelsey, along with Hudson, were able to test for a yellow belt.
Not sure why but she just had to wear a Christmas bow in her hair. You have to pick your battles, right? :)
Here she is doing some of her moves. I think the middle pic is adorable with her in stance. They spent the 1st half of the program exercising. I worked up a sweat just watching them. They don't play--they put them to work! --no wonder she isn't very enthusiastic about going everyday. :)
Here is Hudson getting his yellow belt!

Daddy and Brady were watching Kelsey do her moves! Proud daddy!!!

Here is Kelsey getting her yellow belt!

While every other child was presented with their belt, Brady and Harrison decided to play outside on the see-saw. They always have fun together no matter where they are!

Kelsey and Hudson sporting their new yellow belts!

Dirty Teeth

2010-10-07T15:15:00.003-05:00

I came home from work one night and Brady whispered/mumbled to me (like he had a secret) "do you wanna see my dirty teeth?" I said, "WHAT?" He said, "do you wanna see my dirty teeth?" I said, "your dirty teeth?" He nodded and pulled out "bubba teeth" from his pocket then put them in his mouth.
I kinda flipped out and said "Brady get that out of your mouth right now!! Where did you get those? Whose are they?" Jay came in the kitchen and said to calm down because they are his teeth.
You see, I used to lovingly call Brady "my little clepto" because he would stick random things in his pockets from daycare and bring them home...vice versa. His teachers told me that he would do the same thing at school, try to bring his favorite toys outside on the playground. Naturally, I just assumed that these teeth belonged to someone else and my mind started racing about all of the germs, etc.
Apparently, his daycare teachers were teaching his class the importance of brushing their teeth and they sent each child home with "dirty teeth"....they told them "this is what your teeth will look like if you don't brush them."
Brady, being the little jokester that he is, thinks his new "dirty teeth" are HILARIOUS! He giggles every time he puts them in.
Isn't he a little doll?

8 Years Ago...

2010-09-30T09:46:00.005-05:00

...Jay and I were married.
September 14, 2002 was a day I will never forget.
It was like a real dream. Looking back on our marriage together, we have created so many wonderful memories and created two amazing people. I look forward to many, many more years together. I know this sounds cheesy but every time I hear this song, I can't help but think of how much I love my husband and our family so I just had to share it. It gets me every time and it is one of those that I can listen to over and over again.

I love you, baby.

LYRICS:
I’ve been a walking heartache
I’ve made a mess of me
The person that I’ve been lately
Ain’t who I wanna be

But you stay here right beside me
Watch as the storm goes through
And I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
*If* There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you

There’s more here than what were seeing
A divine conspiracy
That you, an angel lovely
Could somehow fall for me
You’ll always be love’s great martyr
Ill be the flattered fool
and I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
*If* There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you

On my own I’m only
Half of what I could be
I can’t do without you
We are stitched together
And what love has tethered
I pray we never undo

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
*If* There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you, gave me you.
Gave me you.

Kelsey's 5th Birthday & Check-Up: September 13th

2010-09-27T15:22:00.003-05:00

Kelsey's actual birthday fell on a Monday which was also Kelsey's snack day at school. Everyone in the class brings in snack for the class once a month. If the child has a birthday that month, the teacher tries to schedule them on that day or close to it.

Kelsey opted to bring in cookies for everyone instead of cupcakes. :)
She had to try one to make sure they tasted good, you know.
She requested that I make her a triple chocolate fudge birthday cake to have that night. This is what she picked out...sprinkles and all!

My pretty girl as we sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

Do you see the chocolate icing on her mouth? LOL I let her lick the spoon after I finished icing it that night. :)

We also let her choose whatever she wanted to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Breakfast: pancakes with sprinkles and whipped cream (no syrup--she doesn't like it!)

Lunch: lunchable

Dinner: pizza and birthday cake, of course!

The cutest thing ever was when Brady started singing "Happy Birthday to Kelsey Grace"...I only caught the last part but still oh SO cute!

Kelsey had her five year check-up the beginning of August. They did it super early because she was starting school. She weighed 48 lbs and was 44.5 inches tall.

What is Kelsey up to these days:

*Kindergarten

*TaeKwonDo (more to come on this in a future post!)

*ballet/tap

*wear a size 6 in clothes

*you talk ALL the time! you are also very inquisitive and extremely perceptive!!! Jay and I have to spell things that we don't want you to hear because you hear EVERYTHING!

*you still love to dress-up and role play (doctor, teacher, ballet teacher...hmm...everything is a leader type position.)

*hence, you love to boss your little brother around

*your fave tv show is Scooby Doo and a little Max & Ruby (thankfully, you don't watch it as often)

*you still prefer to eat "baby pancakes" for breakfast every morning

*you refuse to eat a cafeteria lunch at school. I make your lunch every day which consists of a turkey or ham plain sandwich, yogurt, carrots or applesauce and a small dessert.

*you love it when I write little notes in your lunchbox even though you can't read yet. ;)

*you can tie your shoes

*you prefer taking showers now as opposed to a bath

*you really love arts & crafts and coloring!

*you love to sing, dance and listen to music (esp Yancy, of course)

*you have your first loose tooth!!!

*and the last major thing that has made Jay and I soooo very happy: we can tell you that we have something planned for later in the day but we need to take a nap beforehand and you'll just say "okay" and take a nap right then!!! it is AMAZING! My beautiful daughter who grew up fighting naps at home now takes them on command--what?!?! I am convinced that this is a miracle from God!!! :) Thank you Lord!

Dearest Kelsey Grace,

You say and do some of the most sweetest things. You have such a generous and kind heart. I say this all of the time but you constantly amaze your father and I. I never knew in my wildest dreams that being a mother to you and your brother would be so incredible. The amount of love I feel for you two is so overwhelming that words can not even come close to describing it. I pray for you, think of you, daydream about you non-stop. I still can not believe that God chose me to be your mommy. You are a perfect daughter, sister and friend. Your smile and laugh are so infectious, they light up the world! As I look back at your baby pictures, I get teary-eyed realizing just how quickly these past five years have gone by. Oh how I wish I could hold you in my arms forever and ever. We love you so very much.

Love,

Mommy

Kelsey's Birthday Mini-Vacay...

2010-09-20T12:54:00.008-05:00

My friend, Merritt, and I had planned a short girl's trip to the American Girl store in Atlanta for Kelsey's birthday. Merritt's daughter, Madison, is one of Kelsey's best friends and they love spending time together. Their little friendship is so sweet. :) Merritt and I were so giddy about the trip because our girls knew absolutely nothing about it.

In fact, the morning that we left, they thought we were just meeting up for breakfast. We did meet up for breakfast but we had Matthew (Madison's daddy) tell our girls about the special surprise we had planned. I love that I actually caught their reaction on camera, I just wish you could hear the cheering, dancing and screaming they did! lol

After our little road trip to the ATL, our first stop was the American Girl Bistro where we had lunch reservations. Our girls were so excited to be able to share this fun experience with their bitty babies.

As soon as we walked in, our table was already set up complete with 2 highchairs and tea sets for Bitty. Cheers! :)

Kelsey wasn't excited was she?

Mommy and my beautiful birthday girl on her special trip! I love that precious face of hers!

Our girls sitting at the bistro bar where they serve milkshakes!They were so excited to go shopping that when the server asked them whether they wanted ice cream or a warm cookie for dessert, Kelsey replied "no, thank you." Of course, Madison said the same thing. LOL! We took it to go!

We had a strategy going into this mega store. We started out at the back of the store with all the American Girl dolls and clothes and let the girls "oooh! and ahhh!" over everything. As we worked our way up to the front of the store, the girls were anxious to pick out something to buy with their birthday money. It worked out because all the Bitty Baby clothes were up front.

So, Kelsey was looking around, she turned a corner and SCREAMED! Another mom just looked at me and said, "well, I guess that is 'the one.'"

Here it is...

Kelsey about died when she saw this ballerina dress! She got one for Bitty and matching nightgowns for herself and Bitty. Thank you, Maw Maw and Paw Paw for my awesome birthday gifts! :)

Our friends: Shelly, Steve, Samantha and Sophie gave Kelsey an American Girl gift card for her birthday and she was able to get this really neat doctor's kit to "make sure bitty stays healthy." The cute stethoscope even makes heartbeat sounds.

I love having special time with my little girl!

Kelsey and I with Merritt and Madison

Next up was check-in at our hotel! They rolled out the pink carpet and the girls felt so special! They loved the pink check-in with their bitty babies. This hotel went all out and they ate it up!

They had a very affordable American Girl package at the Marriott so we saw lots and lots of pink that weekend! hahaha! :)

As soon as we got in our pink room, it was time for Bitty to take a short little nap in her bed (that the Marriott provided for them). The girls loved that it was something they could keep! After Bitty's nap, it was time to get dressed in her new dress.

Merritt and Madison wanted to treat all of us to mani/pedis. <---THANK YOU!

We all really enjoyed getting pampered...

We had to stop and get a little fro yo at Yogli Mogli. :)

Later that evening, someone knocked on our hotel door and what do you know? Fresh milk and cookies were delivered for the girls and their bitty babies. They thought this was SO cool.

Our girls in matching nightgowns after tucking their babies in bed. Slumber party time!

This mini-vacay was every little girl's dream! We all had so much fun. One of my favorite parts was when the girls were checking-in to the hotel as they were giggling and chatting with the front desk lady, Merritt and I just stood back and we looked at each other with tears in our eyes. We knew at that moment just how special and meaningful this short trip was to our girls...and ourselves. I don't think we will ever forget the excitement, beautiful smiles and wonderful laughter we had that weekend.

Kelsey's 5th Birthday Tea Party!

2010-09-14T14:34:00.014-05:00

This year, Kelsey's birthday party was at a local park. I was trying to think of way to make a tea party a little less girly since Kelsey is still at the age where she wants ALL of her friends at her party. The Wilderness Station seemed like a perfect fit.

This is where the tea party took place.
When all of our friends arrived, they chose an animal mask to put on...

I had also brought Mad Hatter-esque hats for the boys to wear and ties...

I also had tiaras, fairy wings, necklaces and rings for the girls to wear even though most of the boys (not just Brady-ha!) put them on, too!

Our leader read the kids a short story about a tea party then they sang "I'm a Little Teapot"

Love this picture...

Next up was the craft! Kelsey is really into arts and crafts right now. Everyone made a tea pot shaped picture frame.

We tried to get the chinchilla, Buttercup, to join the party but she was too scared. :(

Next, we took a short nature walk outside. It was a BEAUTIFUL day for it. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. I, on the other hand, was anxious to get back to the Wilderness Station because I knew a very special surprise guest was making an appearance any second! Eek!

Perfect timing, too! As soon as we walked in, our special guest had arrived and this was Kelsey's initial reaction!!! LOVE.IT!

YANCY!!!! EEK!!! Her talent is RIDICULOUS!

Yancy is our #1 in the Cargile household! We heart her so much it's kinda scary. haha! She is a super talented singer/songwriter. She travels all over the country sharing her amazing talent all while touching the hearts of many with her fantastic message.
If you listen to Christian music at all then you've probably heard Avalon's song "I Don't Want to Go"...well, Yancy co-wrote it. Yeah, she's awesome! :)

Yancy so kindly agreed to make an appearance at Kelsey's party and sing a few of her favorite songs!

I love this picture...it looks like she's thinking "I love my life!" You see what a little Yancy can do for you? hehehehe

If you have kids in your house, RUN (don't walk) and buy our favorites! Little Praise Party and Rock-N-Happy Heart!!! We can NOT wait for her new cd to come out either:
Stars, Guitars & Megaphone Dreams! Only two more months!

Do you think Kelsey was happy? *twirls*

All of the kids (young and old) enjoyed it!

My little FIVE year old was on Cloud 9! YAYAYAYAY!

Thank you, Yancy! You made my daughter's birthday party so memorable and special. Kelsey is sure to be talking about it for a very, very long time. We are so blessed to have your awesome talent at our church. You have impacted so many. :)

After our mini concert, we had cupcakes for everyone and a small smash cake for the birthday girl! I keep looking at Kelsey's sweet face as we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She looks like she feels SO special. Mission Accomplished!!! :)

You can't have cake without ice cream, um...I mean, a "make your own ice cream sundae bar" :)

Complete with all of your favorite toppings. I think all of the kids really enjoyed making their own! Kelsey tickled me. She was making hers and then told me that she made it for Yancy. lol How sweet is that? Poor Yancy, it was mostly marshmallows and gummy bears. haha!

Yancy and her biggest cheerleader!

We tried to get a group picture but some had already left ...

We also had a food table filled with all of Kelsey's favorite snacks: chicken nuggets, pizza rolls, chips, hummus and carrots, and a fruit tray.

I made a cherry limeade that was delicious! Those pink and white straws just made me happy! lol

Kelsey's Sweet Shoppe...

Everyone filled up a treat bag full of their favorite candy as they left. Don't forget your toothbrush! A friend of mine said, "of course you would give everyone a toothbrush along with the candy." lol

I think Brady was the happiest of all that we had a candy bar. That little stinker ate candy and cookies the entire party! He is a CANDY MONSTER! :) Little brother was so funny, I think he thought it was his birthday party. He loved it all!

Mommy and her beautiful princess!

I love this shot of her with the polka dot balloons holding onto Alice. :) Up, up and away...

Special thanks to Nick Bumgardner Photography! I wouldn't have any pictures of this special day if it weren't for you! Thank you! :)

One last note, I got so excited when I recently ran into another mom that was at the party. She teaches Sunday School at her church and she told me that she & her daughter loved Yancy so much that she went to her Sunday School director at her church and told her that they had to get Yancy's music in their church. She told me she went and ordered her music for her church that week. YAY! Get Yancy to come to your church HERE!

**Edited to add a picture of this gorgeous banner that my dear friend, Kati, made for Kelsey's party: Yes, I totally took a picture of it hanging up in her room. If you had this gorgeous banner handmade, you would too! :) Thank you, Kati!

Oh and the birthday fun doesn't end here, nope! Just wait till you see the special trip we took for her special day!

Kelsey's 1st Day Kindergarten!

2010-09-08T12:40:00.005-05:00

Kelsey had so many changes happen all at once recently. Her favorite teacher, Ms. Stacey, left her daycare to go teach at a local school.

Kelsey had her last day of daycare. Here she is with Ms. Jocelyn, director, on her last day. Kelsey was counting down the days of daycare. She loved her teachers and friends but was very much looking forward to her last day.

We had been talking about her new school and after-school program for quite some time with her. So many changes all at once, we wanted to make sure she was prepared as much as possible.

My friend, Merritt (who is also a 1st grade teacher) recommended we read "The Kissing Hand" book to Kelsey. OH MY GOODNESS how she LOOOOOVES this book. It is the sweetest story and we read it all the time. While we are waiting in the drop off line at school, she will kiss the inside of my hand and I do the same. It's like our little special thing that we do. Very sweet moment and she gets the biggest smile on her face. A week before school started, we went to the library and checked out a ton of books about Kindergarten. I think it really helped her feel more confident on her first day. Big girl school is a whole lot more intimidating than our little daycare. I mean think about it, at daycare they eat lunch in their classroom everyday. Kelsey didn't even know what a cafeteria was much less how it worked!

She had a phase-in day one week before school started. She only went for a few hours and was there with 5 or 6 other students in her class. Here she is on her (almost) first day...

She wasn't excited was she? Such a poser!

Here she is with her teacher whom we already love! On the phase-in day, they took a tour of the school, had lunch with their teacher, practiced going through the cafeteria.

This is her REAL 1st day walking hand in hand with daddy and Brady!

They had a fundraiser the 1st day of school (who does that?) and they had to run laps. Otherwise, she never would have worn shorts and tennis shoes willingly. lol

I think Brady thought it was his 1st day because he was SOOOO excited to walk big sister to her class.

My big girl with her daddy!

She had to get more hugs before going in her classroom.

I totally wasn't going to take pictures on her 2nd day of school but she was begging me to since she could finally wear a dress to school. Hilarious!

Brady had to get in on the picture fun, too!

She has had great start and is already doing very well. It totally made my day when I ran into the guidance counselor one morning and she told me her teacher was bragging on her. Kelsey just grinned from ear to ear! We are so proud of our big girl and how well she is adjusting to all the big changes. She loves to tell us what she learned at school everyday, who her friends are, who got in trouble, etc.!

The school only wanted the parents to walk them to class the first week. So, just dropping her off at the door has been a tough transition for ME! She was scared to do it at first but now she just walks right on in with a pep in her step.

I think this has been more difficult on me than my little kindergartner!

Sneak Peek!

2010-09-04T13:00:00.000-05:00

EEK! So excited! :) Oh and no that isn't dirt on the invite, I purposely blurred/smudged out some of the personal info.

Fun at the Fair with Friends

2010-08-30T07:39:00.000-05:00

We met up with the lovely Johnson Family at the Wilson County Fair. This was our first time going and I had no idea how LARGE this fair is every year.

The weather was so HOT but it didn't stop us from having a good time!!! Look at Kelsey and Samantha sitting in the backseat together. So cute!

Kelsey had no fear. She wanted to ride this big boat and it swung her around...ALL BY HERSELF. LOL--no one else was tall enough to ride it with her. She could've cared less. haha!

The little ones rode the little boats...

I kept trying to tell Brady to sit on his bottom...apparently, he had no fear either! :)

This is the favorite...look at those mouths wide open! Kelsey and Brady are on the end.

Kelsey loved it so much, she rode it twice.

We saw some baby piglets and I thought we were going to have to take one home. They were SO stinkin' cute!!! hahaha!

Love this. Our sweet girls.

*I've been playing around with some photo software. Excuse all of the different tones...just having fun. :)

Toy Story 3 Madness!

2010-08-25T13:43:00.003-05:00

Kelsey and Brady are obsessed with all things Toy Story! We just *had* to go see it opening weekend and they both loved every minute of it (well, except for the fire scene).

MawMaw and PawPaw gave Brady his Buzz and he carries him everywhere! He calls it "My Beyond" because if you push the button, he says "to infinity and beyondddddd!" Sometimes he calls him "My Buzz"...so cute!
Kelsey just had to have Jesse and Bullseye, too! Prissy.

So, when Kelsey was invited to go see it again with her friend, Hudson, I knew that we couldn't resist. :)

Here is a picture of Aubrey, Hudson and Kelsey at the movies:

She was just as excited to see it again as she was the first time! All three of them sat together by themselves and they were so good! Keri and I sat in front of them (only because there weren't enough seats all together). Aren't they adorable?

Atlanta Visit

2010-08-19T15:36:00.001-05:00

We went to Atlanta a few weeks ago to visit our good friends, The Holgerson Family. Our kids always have so much fun playing that we try to get together at least once a year. We always hope it is more often but our busy schedules tend to get in the way!

You can just look at this silly picture of Kelsey and tell she had a great time. Look at that 'do!

Kelsey and Elise always play dress-up and Brady showed us all that boys can too!
This kid cracks us up. I know I say that all the time but I really mean it! I can't help but laugh when I see these pictures. I can just hear him growling right now!

The Batman costume brought out the wild man in Brady!

Look at sweet baby Daniel!!! He is such a happy, easy going baby. You just want to snuggle with him!

Somehow the kids always want to wrestle with Jay. Mason versus Jay!

Dinner time!!! While Bryan was grilling, Meghan made the most delicious strawberry piña coladas. They were so good but we were all so full that we couldn't eat dinner. The kiddos had plenty of food to choose from!

Meghan busted out her little vacuum cleaner to clean up the kitchen but the boys took over for us. Nice trick, Meghan! :) She told me that all she has to do is turn it on and the boys come running to vacuum. **side note: I tried it at home and neither of my kids come running to clean. :( Figures! Maybe it was the Batman costume?!?!

Kelsey and Elise had so much fun together. It took Kelsey a little bit longer to warm up to Elise this time but once she did...

Kelsey had her very first sleepover. She slept in Elise's bed and did really great!!! They stayed up until midnight chatting away! They were having so much fun that we really hated to break it up and make them go to sleep. Elise was so good with Kelsey and very sweet to her. Kelsey just idolizes her.

Oh and I loved giving Daniel his bedtime bottle. He's SO sweet!

Holgerson Family: Thanks so much for having us over! We had a blast as usual and we can't wait to do it again! Brady still tells me "I want to go to Collin's house!" Kelsey wants to wear the jammers Elise gave her every.single.night!!!! Love you guys!

4th of July

2010-08-13T10:32:00.004-05:00

We had a weekend full of cook-outs with friends and family. It was exactly how I had hoped we would spend our wonderful long weekend.

We started off having a nice cook-out with the Lee Family and the Clark Family. We have such dear, sweet friends in them. I truly value our friendship and our kids just love each other. So heartwarming! The only picture I took that day was of Jay and Brady playing baseball.

Their neighbors put on a jaw-dropping fireworks show! It just kept going and going! Brady loved it at first. He kept saying "1, 2, 3, BLAST OFF"...Kelsey, on the other hand, was scared. She said the noise hurt her ears so I stayed inside with her. After about 30 minutes, Brady was tired of all the noise and it started hurting his ears, too.

I wish I would've took pictures of Brady & Will together--they look like brothers. I always tell Stacy that I just want to pick up Will and cover him in kisses because he reminds me so much of B! I could just kick myself for not getting pictures of Kelsey and her BFF, Abigail. These two girls HEART each other something fierce! They talk about each other constantly, draw pictures for each other, PRAY for each other...I could go on and on. It really is such a sweet friendship they share.

The next day, we went over to my cousin's house and had a big family cook-out/pool party. Kelsey and Savannah are about 9 months apart so I was pretty excited to get them together. They really don't know each other so it took them a minute to warm up to each other. My cousin, Katrina (Vannah's mom), is in between them in this picture.

They quickly became friends. I loved watching them together!

What did little brother do the whole time? Besides eat, he was playing with a "rope" that he found. He had so much fun lowering and trying to hook his "rope" onto anything he could find...this little man cracked everyone up that day! He was very serious about it, too.

One more picture of the girls having a blast together. Lots of laughs that day!!!

This is how we found the kids after we unloaded the truck that day...

Summer Dance Camp

2010-08-05T10:21:00.003-05:00

Kelsey loved dance class so much this year that we decided to give the dance camp a shot. It was a week long and included swimming lessons everyday for no extra charge. Before signing her up, I asked Kelsey if she was interested and she pretty much squealed in excitement.

Here is a picture of the entire dance camp:

Her favorite dance teacher was Miss Kelley. She came home every day talking about how much she loved Miss Kelley. Kelsey loves watching last year's dance recital on dvd and she told me that Kelley is a rock star. Very cute.

Another one of her teachers...

The last day of camp, they had a recital. Kelsey had four performances.