Anna Kate 18 Months

Anna Kate is just a little past 18 months old now! She's growing into a mostly sweet toddler. She tries so hard to tell us what she wants/needs, and sometimes there's a clear word in the mix of gibberish!

She says ice cream in this video along with a few animal sounds.

Here are some pics from the past few months:

watching for Gracie and Caroline to get home from school

making a silly face when she noticed I was taking her picture

I love this grin! 

favorite owl hat!!! She wore this hat for an hour in the house because she loves it!

watching The Lion King, eating a cinnamon roll, sitting in her baby doll's stroller...

Our favorite movies are the Lion King and The Little Mermaid right now. She has developed her own form of sign language to let us know which one she wants to watch!

Anna Kate truly keeps us laughing all of the time! 

Praise His Name [song]

Praise His Name 

by Jeff and Sherri Easter

When you're up against a wall 

And your mountain seems so tall 

And you realize that life's not always fair 

You can run away and hide 

Let the old man decide 

Or you can change your circumstances with a prayer 

When everything falls apart 

Praise his name 

When you have a broken heart 

Raise your hands and say 

Lord, you're all I need 

You're everything to me 

And he'll take the pain away 

When it seem your all alone 

Praise his name 

When you feel you can't go on 

Just Raise your hands and say 

Greater is he that is within me 

And you can praise the hurt away 

If you'll just praise his name 

Ohhh, 

You can overcome 

By the blood of the lamb 

And by the word of your testimony 

You'll see the darkness go 

As your faith begins to grow 

You're not alone, so how can you be lonely

I couldn't find a link to the actual song, but this song is on my mind this morning.  Our choir at church sings it and I love it! I have some friends and family who are going through some hard times now, and I know what that's like because I've been through my own share of hard times {and I know there will be more}. The words to this song are exactly true though! Praise Him and He WILL take the hurt away! You're not alone, so how can you be lonely?!?! 

I love all of my friends and family. Sometimes it seems like no one cares about you or your circumstance, but most times that's just in your head and not true at all. If you want to feel God's love, just ask Him to show it to you. He can carry the hurt/pain for you and give you relief, but you have to give it to him! 

Thankful

I have been reading my friends' thankful posts on Facebook for a couple weeks now. I started to join the fun, but I know myself and my current circumstances would simply not allow me to be successful... I am extremely thankful this year though! I'm a list person so here goes:

This year I am thankful for:

1. God - continuous mercy, healing, grace, and salvation! Provider of all of my needs (see list below). AMAZING to know Him and to know His true Hebrew name, YHWH YHWSH. 

2. Josh - I will be thankful for Josh and the time we had together for all of my life. Great husband, great example, great father. 

3. Jon - my sweet husband. I'm so thankful that God allowed me to find a second wonderful husband! He's a great dad too! 

4. Gracie - daughter 1. She's an "old soul" - easy to talk to, fun to be around, entering the teenage years OH MY! Loves basketball. Smart and Silly. 

5. Caroline - daughter 2. I think she may always be a kid at heart. Loves art and crafty things. Great babysitter to Anna Kate. Funny and Kind. 

6. Anna Kate - daughter 3. Whew! Sweet baby girl. Loves animals, movies, and food. Wears shoes ALL the time (possibly changing them 3-4 times per day). Makes me smile and laugh daily. Sassy and Sweet. 

7. Family - lots of you fit here! I'm thankful for each one and the ties that bind us together.

8. Home - Not necessarily the actual 4 walls that surround me (although that's important), but the happiness and peace that is found within.  

9. My job - "stay at home mom"- so much falls in this category - time to focus on being a wife and mom, opportunity to cook and clean for my family, a chance to help others by volunteering to work, etc.  

10. Health - This has been a big part of my prayer list this year. I'm so thankful to be healthy and have a healthy husband and kids.  

11. Dayspring Academy - an above average safe learning environment for my children. Teachers who care about them and their well-being. A parent group who cares as well. 

12. Friends - people I can enjoy being with, count on in my time of need, help in their time of need, have honest relationships with.

I'm sure as soon as I click "publish" there will be so many more things that pop in my mind to add to this list - maybe I'll start another one...

I want to be clear about something though - I have not earned all the wonderful blessings I have been given.  YHWH has blessed me beyond measure with these things. I don't want to ever take them for granted. I am thankful to HIM for these wonderful blessings in my life. I'm so humbled when I think of how good God has been to me.

The many Faces of Anna Kate

Anna Kate has been attending Mother's Day Out for a few weeks now. She seems to like it pretty well. Of course she doesn't like when I leave her, but she ends up having a good day and even taking a nap while she's there. I had no idea how much I needed a break every once in a while - The 5 hours when she is away have been put to good use though! 

They took class pictures a couple weeks ago, and even though I don't love school pics as a general rule, these stole my heart:

Look at that sweet dimple!

This is her mischievous face

What a cutie pie!!! 

I don't know what they did to make her smile and laugh so much, but it worked! I could just squeeze her! 

She is getting so big! Walking Running, talking, counting to 3, playing with her toys. I just don't know where the time goes! Right now, her favorite thing to do is play with her baby doll. She wraps it up [or has one of us do it], and then sways back and forth like she's rocking it. She has been making us laugh so much when she throws the baby down in the floor, picks the blanket up, and brings it back to wrap the baby up again. The next cutest thing is when she steps up on the stool in her room to turn the lights on and off. Playing peek-a-boo has become a fun time too. When we tell her to cover her eyes, she covers her nose and mouth with her hands and then pulls the away quickly and says "Doo" - the "b's" sound like "d's" right now. 

I am enjoying spending my days with "Punkin" so much right now. :)

I made this!

I have been reading a few blogs that have some tutorial crafts on them. Today I decided to try some of them out. The first one was turning a Large T-shirt into a tunic. I am so excited to have tried this! It turned out great an I plan to wear it tomorrow night :) I didn't snap a pic of this one but its really simple. I basically trimmed the edges down using a tunic I wear often as a guide. Then I sewed up the sides. The arms are long since the shirt was so big to begin with so I just trimmed them down to size and voila! New shirt!

The next one which I am super proud of is a scarf! There's a pic of it somewhere in this post but I can't tell where because I'm posting from my phone... Anyway, don't be surprised if you are a member of my family and you receive one of these as a gift sometime :) I love the way it turned out! Since I like to give credit where credit is due - Here's a link to the tutorial I used.

I'm enjoying my new sewing machine so much!

Gracie liked my new shirt so much she had me "fix" one of hers too! She told me she's glad I can sew but she's glad I don't sew too many things and make her wear them ;)

Peach-BBQ chicken LOVE!

I have taken a great recipe from Pioneer Woman and simplified it because I can't remember to buy certain items at the store. I'm sure her version is better than mine, but I just don't buy whiskey and I can't remember to buy it to try with this recipe. If you decide to try Pioneer Woman's version, please tell me about it!

I love to record our favorite recipes on the blog - hopefully this will make cooking easier on the girls one day! This particular one has become a family favorite very quickly. The best part - it's easy!

You will need:

chicken thighs (I usually get one pack of about 6-7, but I 'm going to start getting two packs from now on)
1 bottle of original BBQ sauce
1 jar peach preserves
onions - chopped or sliced
garlic salt

First brown the thighs (both sides) in a little oil. I usually cover them in garlic salt and throw in the onions at this point too. It takes about 5-6 mins per side.

Next, because the crock pot is our best friend, I pour the whole pan of chicken with all the yummy juices into the crock pot, cover it in the BBQ sauce and the whole jar of peach preserves! Let that cook for no longer than 4-6 hours and enjoy!

I serve this yummy goodness with mashed potatoes.

You can cook it in the oven if you prefer (it is faster, but I only have certain windows of opportunity for cooking these days and the crock pot works best for me.)

Prissy Apples

My BFF, Jen, and I have started a little crafty "FUNdraising" business for our kids' school, Dayspring Academy. We have decided to call it "Prissy Apples". The story behind the name is simple, yet personal for the two of us. She is nicknamed "priss pot" by our good friend,Sandi. With a house full of Apple products, I am the computer geek in this relationship.

With a little help from our friends, we built our inventory a week or so ago, and we are now open for business. Here are a few examples of our work. Let the buying begin!



If you are local you can contact us via kellye2008@gmail.com

Prices~ newborn-Size 6 Tutu only $15

          ~Shirt with applique $10

All profit goes to benefit Dayspring Academy. This is the school where our kids attend and they need bleachers for the gym.

Broken Bones and Disappointments

Although it isn't a really happy memory, it has to be recorded that Caroline was the first to break a bone in our family! She fell at a friend's house and broke the top part of her humorous completely off right at the growth plate!

She was a trooper through the entire experience including two days in the hospital, two attempts to manipulate it back into place, and finally two pins inserted in her arm. 

She specifically asked that I not post any pictures of her on my Facebook account through the process, but I do have a few that I would like to share here on our blog:

All smiles before surgery

All smiles after surgery - mostly because they gave her food!

Caroline's friend copied down an extra set of church notes for her since she was in the hospital - too sweet!

friends signed her sling

So, the good news/bad news is that when you break your shoulder you don't get a cast. It was a disappointment for Caroline that she wouldn't get a cast, but we let everyone sign her sling and it seemed to satisfy her.

Two weeks after surgery, I took Caroline back to the doctor so they could change the dressing on her arm. I was so worried that she was going to get sick from looking at the pins sticking out of her arm! I kept warning her and telling her to look away, but in the end, I was the one who ended up needing medical attention! I almost passed out! I won't share the picture of the pins here since it's just a little gross!!!

We have a few more weeks until the pins are removed and it looks like she will have made a full recovery! Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers through this! 

early morning smiles

Each day Anna Kate and I take the girls to school. I usually just pick her up out of her bed and take her straight to the car where I have her milk cup and a little snack (usually a muffin) waiting. She sure does love muffins! This week the weather was just beautiful, so I let her go outside when we got back home. 

I'm not sure what was so funny, but it just doesn't get much cuter than this sweet smile...

For the love of Animals

I thought I was doing so much better at keeping my blog up to date. I was at least posting something every week or so until it happened. Exactly what "it" is, I really don't know, but whew! "It" has been an interesting few months. To catch up, I'll start way back in September....

Labor Day - I opted out of an all girls trip with some of my closest friends on Labor Day because I needed to spend some time with my family. Anna Kate started watching Finding Nemo around September, so what better time to take her to The Tennessee Aquarium? We made a day trip out of it and it was great!

playing in the mini river before going inside. 

posing for a pic with the big girls

The most entertaining part of the TN Aquarium when you've been there a few times...

Gracie loves the butterfly exhibit

SHARKS!

As I mentioned earlier, Finding Nemo was the first movie Anna Kate really sat down and watched with us! She would just curl up in our lap and watch the movie for a good 30 mins or so! This is major if you know this kid! She doesn't stop for much. We have since found that she loves the movie Madagascar Escape to Africa, The Lion King, and the mice on Cinderella (It 's the sweetest little belly laugh you've ever heard when she watches the mice). Does anyone see a pattern here? She absolutely loves animals! Which is why we decided to buy a zoo membership this year.

We took her to the zoo a few weeks after the trip to the aquarium. She was so excited to see the elephants and giraffes! Gracie and Caroline were good tour guides for her. They scoped out the exhibits and let us know where the best views would be.

Southern Belle Gracie

Southern Belle Caroline

This is the reaction you get when you ask Anna Kate where something is...

She spotted the elephants! 

We took the kids back to the zoo again a few weeks ago. I didn't take as many pictures, but we visited the Lorikeet exhibit and they really loved Jon! Anna Kate just watched them as the landed all over his shirt and tried to eat his buttons...

She was not scared of them at all!

Happy Fall Y'all

Smiley

Anna Kate and I are really enjoying the nice weather this week!

Babies and Dogs

Self explanatory I believe...

Anna Kate 14 months

Anna Kate loves playing with puzzles - especially if they have animals on them. She brings us the pieces one by one to tell her what they are and make the animal sound. We've had to improvise with a few of them [such as octopus] since they don't really make noises. This is probably her favorite thing to do right now! I hope we can take her to the zoo soon!

Oh! The Places You'll Go...

Jon and I have a small list of places we would like to visit - some with kids and some without. We have tried to take a yearly trip (without the kids) to one of them since we've been married, but since we had the baby, we have put those plans on hold. I'm not big on leaving them when they're babies. Hopefully we will get back on track soon though!

We both enjoy history, so we have the obvious places on the list like D.C., Boston, etc. Most of them are big cities which is great for us as we don't mind taking public transportation or walking while we sight see, etc.

So today I wonder if there are some hidden jewels that anyone knows about - I mean is there somewhere you have been that you were unexpectedly amazed at?

6th and 4th grade - Day 1

I'm going to jump on the bandwagon for a minute - The girls started school TODAY!?!?!?! - July 30th - It just seems so weird sending them to school in July! The 8 weeks of summer passed by so fast! When I was a kid [a long, long time ago], we didn't start back to school until sometime in August - like the 15th or so...

[jumping off the wagon]
I'm actually okay with them starting school today - it's just so hot outside! They don't even want to swim because of the heat right now. I'm not sure what the rules were when I was in school (during the dark ages as far as the girls are concerned), but they have 180 days of school these days. These 180 days are scheduled around numerous week long breaks which allow us to enjoy the cooler fall, winter and spring weather and several holidays with the family. That beings said, I like it!

Jon left the girls a little treat this morning:

The coolest school bus picked Gracie and Caroline up this morning - I love Instagram today! 

The girls with cousin Andy before getting in the Monte Carlo

Grandad with the kids and Andy driving them in their Daddy's car

You have to admit this picture looks way cooler with that aged effect 

I'm looking forward to a great year!

It won't be like this for long

Today, I took Gracie to her first day of middle school! As we were riding to the school, I was thinking of how fast we've gotten to this point- wasn't she just born? Didn't we just finish kindergarten? Ugh! Then, the song by Darius Rucker called"It won't be like this for long" came on the radio and my eyes started tearing up. I stopped it before I became a sappy mess since I had to actually go into the school and help the PTO, but it hurt my heart...she's so big!

I stood way off to the side as the principal handed out schedules and the kids talked with each other. It was difficult refraining from going over to check Gracie's schedule out and making sure she knew where to go and when. I did feel the urge but I also felt the need to let her be. I think I would have gotten at least an eye roll if I had attempted to approach the area.

The day went great and I think middle school is going to be so much fun!

Growing Pains

The past two weeks have been just short of a whirlwind around our house! Gracie spent 4 days at basketball camp and Caroline spent 3 days with a friend the first week. The second week has just begun and my big kids just returned home from three more days of fun away from home. I'm finding it tough to adjust to their busy lives. Part of me wants to keep them home where I know they're safe and I don't have to worry about them, but the other part of me that remembers being their age wants to let them soak it all in while they're young. 

Today, Anna Kate and I reached boredom! We are not accustomed to being home alone for such an extended period of time. The weird thing is that even though it's easier to go out with just one kid, I feel a need to stay home when the big girls are away - just in case. I'm asking myself "just in case of what exactly?" and I really don't have an answer... Is it possible to worry without knowing you worry? I think I do that...

I had one of those moments today when I thought about the future and what will I do when the kids are gone - it made me sad. Currently, I am a full-time mom. Yes, I have the job that thousands of moms dream of having and thousands more don't want. My sole responsibility in this job is taking care of my family - cook food, clean dishes, do laundry, give kisses, clean house, and repeat. Today, I realized that part of that is letting the kids go, and I see myself struggling with it in the future as the definition of "letting them go" changes.

Looking back, I can see how my job as full-time mom has changed over the past 10 years, and how it will be changing again within the next 10...I'm praying for wisdom for this next stretch.

Too bad they can't just stay little...time really flies!

January 2009

help a friend out

If you read my looooooooong post yesterday, you learned that I will be helping with computer class at the girls' school this year. Our theme will be "Traveling the World Wide Web" and we are studying about the continents and countries as we learn how to use the computer.

I am looking for items from around the world to aid in class. If you happen to have traveled to any other country and have any souvenirs that would be helpful, I would love to borrow them for a portion of the school year! Please let me know!