The Kennedy Family

No Shave November

2011-12-02T19:24:00.014-05:00

I dread No Shave November because that means when I kiss my husband I get stabbed with a thousand little needles in my face. Joel just doesn't seem to get my pain. So, I tried to convince him to shave by refusing to shave my legs. That did NO good. All it did was make my showers shorter and give me warmer legs. He was sweet to shave a day early so that I could enjoy a date night with my smooth-faced hubby. However, I continued to plead my case in hopes of him never growing a beard again. So, this is how he found me one night...We laughed hysterically for about 30 minutes. He called me the blonde gnome. And, I forced him to kiss me. I think he's still traumatized. Maybe, he'll think twice before letting them whiskers grow again.

Other highlights of November were...

Celebrating the first birthday of the cutest twins. Ironically, Emma and Dalton turned 1 on 11.11.11. I can't believe how big they are now. They are both smiley happy babies. I'm sure they keep Joe and Steph's hands full, but they are wonderful parents and somehow manage to stay sane with all the craziness in a house with twins.
Ford turned 3! We celebrated in Columbus with grandparents. The Lord definitely blessed us with a sweet little man. He just melts my heart with everything he says and does. We are so thankful for him. He teaches me about God's tenderness and grace all the time. I love that his favorite thing to do is give us hugs. We got some quality time at Nonna and Grandaddy's...complete with great conversation, "tractor" rides, and mexican coke.

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Lexington, KY this year with Rebecca and Ethan, Bandit and Mylie (the dogs), and Grace and Zeus (the horses). We were definitely thankful that Granna got a new, bigger car so that we could all ride together. We stopped by Knoxville on the way to prove to the kids that there is another college in this world. We took them on a mini tour, showing them campus, mommie's favorite restaurant, and the tree where Joel proposed to me. The kids loved getting to ride horses...and Granna even rode too. I witnessed firsthand how hard Ethan and Rebecca work. They have a lot to balance with barn responsibilities and their jobs. I think they're hoping that the barn will become their full-time job in the future. They work hard...but they love it. Tennessee was playing at Kentucky that weekend, so I thought it'd be fun to get to go to a game (and thought that I'd actually get to see a UT win...a rare occasion lately). We got the hook-up with seats in the coach's family and friends section. Of course, it was the Kentucky coach's families, so I couldn't wear my Tennessee orange and I had to cheer under my breath, but they were great seats and it was neat to talk to a lot of the player's families. We moved to the UT section at the half so I could actually cheer out loud. That was a good move since the game had a sad outcome for the Vols. Click on this pic to see more from Thanksgiving.

This is the tree where Joel proposed to me 10 years ago.
It was a sweet memory to get to share with our kids.

And, we ended November by getting our tree stuck in the garage!

It was a great month of celebrations and time with family. I'm excited that the Advent season is here. I've been realizing more and more lately how limited my love is and how broken I am. I loved what I read in my Advent book today..."We can only stay together (in friendship, marriage, and community) when the "staying power" comes from the One who comes to stay. When we know ourselves to be deeply anchored in that divine covenant, we can build homes together. Only then can our limited and broken love reflect the unlimited and unbroken love of God." (quote from Henri Nouwen's Lifesigns)

The Fun of Fall

2011-11-01T15:43:00.006-04:00

Who said anything about the Funk of Fall? October has been the busiest month of our marriage as far as Young Life goes, but it has been incredible. It's neat to look back and see how the Lord blessed each event.

The Young Life banquet was the best yet. How could it not be when Allen Levi does it!

Clubs have been awesome!

We went to Sharp Top in the fall this year, which was incredible! The weather and the changing leaves made it a no brainer to do it in October again next year. We took over 150 kids (over 50 just from Stratford). It's so cool to see how God has grown Young Life in Macon over the past 9 years...and even cooler to see how God transforms kid's hearts over a weekend.

My cousins and I met up at my mom's house this weekend. It was fun to visit with Cortney and
Clare and watch all the kids play together. We went to the Best Nursery pumpkin patch on Friday, which was really neat because we made it on the local news. You can see more pics if you want (click on pic).

We went to Cordele on Saturday for a Day Out with Thomas. Ford loved it and hasn't stopped talking about riding the choo choo. When we got on train, they were very disappointed that the conductor did not come take their tickets, so one of the worker ladies talked a conductor into doing it for them. Mary Kate recognized her best friend from Macon there with her grandparents, so they all got a pic together. Nothing gets passed that girl. Click on Thomas to see more if you want to.

Saturday night, we had some fun looking at some old family photos and talking about Bopsy, my great grandmother. Clare has been working on our family history, so it's fun to hear about what she learns. My mom started reading a letter she found that Bopsy had written in 1974. It was about how she felt like she was coming near the end of her life and had some things to share. At the end of that letter started another letter that she wrote in 1989 about the same thing. Little did she know that she would still live another 15 years (she lived 106 years). I've always been thankful that we've lived close enough to family to share lots of memories together and I'm glad that our kids get to do that now.

Our annual Farm-O-Ween was last night. We had about 175 kids show up to smash pumpkins, sing karaoke, bob for goldfish (which were not hurt and are now living happily in a pond), and rave all night. The haunted hayride made it a huge hit this year.

I left the kids with my mom for Halloween since we were busy with Farm-O-Ween. They had a great time at Epworth's Fall Festival, although the ghost costumes didn't even make it out the door. So, they ended up just being a cowgirl and cowboy.

Thanks to awesome grandparents that make it possible for us to do this crazy ministry by taking care of our babies. And, thank you, Jesus, for making October awesome.

What I learned on Mary Kate's Field Trip

2011-10-27T21:07:00.004-04:00

Mary Kate is a boy magnet. This is not something that I'm proud of or like at all. It mostly frightens me. She had a field trip with her class today, so I got to meet her classmates and their moms. I went to introduce myself to a group of moms that happened to be the moms of 3 boys. When I started to say who's mom I was, they all said, "Oh, we know Mary Kate. We hear about her all the time." I didn't really know how to respond. You'll notice in this picture that she is surrounded by boys. "C", the one next to her apparently gets up in the morning and says "I've got to get my boots and jeans on because I'm going to see Mary Kate today." "B", the blonde, has made her two gifts that he sent home with her this week. Today's gift was in a bag with a bow on it. "D" is the one in the striped shirt. He's the one that MK talks about nonstop. Her mood when she comes home from school is usually determined by if he played with her on the playground or not. Most of our special time after school is spent talking about how her worth is found in God, not what a boy thinks of her...she's 4 people...really, should I already be talking about this? Her teacher says that all the boys wonder where she is when she's not at school. I asked her teacher if she ever plays with girls and she told me that she does, but the boys like her because she'll play with them on the playground and not be bossy to them. So, I'm thinking that Joel and I are going to have our hands FULL.

I also learned that Mary Kate is a great big sister. She was so sweet to Ford, holding his hand, introducing him to her friends, playing with him, and taking care of him. It made my heart smile.

Thankfulness

2011-10-07T11:15:00.003-04:00

I've been having some lightbulb moments the last couple of weeks. The thing about lightbulb moments is that it's usually something you've heard your whole life, read your whole life, and probably told other people about your whole life, but all of a sudden it's like a light comes on in your head and that thing you've heard your whole life instantly makes sense. It becomes a key opening up the door to a whole new perspective. I really don't like to read. In order to finally break down and read a book, I have to know that it's going to be a life-changing book. I have to have had enough people to mention it and encourage me to read it. I guess I have to know that it's going to be worth my time to read it. A couple of weeks ago, in the midst of the craziness with the kids, a friend of mine suggested reading Ann Voskamp's one thousand gifts. I've heard several other people mention how great it is so I decided to give it a chance. I hate it and I love it. Like I said, I'm not a reader, and this writer is extremely detailed and it's kind of a free writing style like from her thought process, so I just get kind of lost in all the details and scatteredness. However, the lessons gleaned from the book are life-altering. I'm only about half way through it, but here's some of the quotes that have stuck out to me...

This is actually a quote from C.S. Lewis "If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable; think of it a s a place of training and correction and it's not so bad."

"They say time is money, but that's not true. Time is life. And if I want the fullest life, I need to find fullest time."

"Hurry always empties the soul."

"I slow the torrent with the weight of me all here. I can slow the torrent by being all here. I only live the full life when I live fully in the moment."

"When I'm present, I meet I Am, the very presence of a present God. In His embrace, time loses all sense of speed and stress and space and stands so still and...holy."

"The real problem of life is never a lack of time. The real problem of life--in my life--is lack of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving creates abundance; and the miracle of multiplying happens when I give thanks--take the just one loaf, say it is enough, and give thanks--and He miraculously makes it more than enough (John 6:11)."

In reading this book and in my time with the Lord, He has continually brought me back to thankfulness. So, we're fighting the funk of fall with thankfulness.

Right now, what is making me overflow with thankfulness is ministry with my high school friends. Campaigners (having a small group of girls to talk about life and Jesus) is my favorite part of Young Life, but it's also the hardest thing for me to get going. For 2 years, I've been praying and trying and praying and trying...and finally, something's starting to happen. Thank you, Jesus.

The Funk of Fall

2011-09-28T15:36:00.004-04:00

Every year, about this time, the funk of fall starts settling in. It's like this dark cloud that comes in and just camps out over our house until around Christmas. I'm not saying that we're doom and gloom all the time, but there's just this heaviness that seems to be looming about. I don't know that I've even recognized it before as a recurring season of life, but looking back I can see how the fall is such a fragile time of the year. It's Joel's busiest time of the year, and this fall will be busier than ever with us taking kids to camp in October. It's the time of year where Joel's heart is broken over and over by his beloved Dawgs. To his defense, he has promised me that he wasn't going to care as much this year (and he's done pretty good so far). It's the time of year where we seldom get to sit down together as a family for a meal, and I rarely even have a night that I can cook a meal. Young Life is going 90 miles a minute. Finances always seem to be way out of whack. Everything in the house starts falling apart. And so on. Within all that is good, good stuff...like having close to 200 kids around Macon hear about Jesus Christ at club every Monday, harvesting a new crop of leaders, trusting the Lord for provisions, and building relationships with high school kids so that they can know life that is truly life. So, the funk of fall (or Satan) is not going to win. We're going to cling to Jesus and know that we are called by God, built by God, equipped by God, and covered by God (thanks Bill Goans).

Update...and then some

2011-09-13T14:39:00.011-04:00

Well, the good has gotten "gooder", the bad has been eaten, and the ugly isn't quite as ugly. Things are finally feeling a little more normal at home. I really feel like our rough patch over the last few weeks has been mostly just adjusting back to life after this summer. I've learned a lot of things about myself since coming home. I was amazed at how fast I turned back into an angry, controlling mom. Some of you reading this may be surprised by me saying that (I doubt my sisters are) because you don't really see that side of me. That's what has puzzled me the most. I don't think I'm a fake or two-faced or that I try to hide my "ugliness", but that ugliness seems to rear it's head mostly at home (and it's not like I'm that way all the time...but I don't like it at all). After a lot of thought, talking it through, and prayer, I think it's because at home I can (or think I can) have the control. I can control how clean my house is, when I exercise, what my kids can do, etc. Anyone with kids is probably laughing at me right now. That's exactly the problem...when my kids get in the way of any of that (which they do 90% of the time), I go crazy. I get really annoyed at them and often end up yelling at them. Then, I spend the rest of the day hating myself for getting mad at my kids for just being kids. This has been a growing pattern over the past 2 years, and it REALLY bothered me. I felt caught somewhere between knowing it's normal to get annoyed by your kids and feeling like me yelling at them is going to damage them for life. I often felt like talking to a therapist would help, but I would always talk myself out of that by saying that if I just surrendered to the Lord, things would get better (which I wholeheartedly believe...and have experienced). But, after 2 years of saying that and nothing changing, I realized there's got to be something in between me and the Lord, and I really wanted it out of the way. So, knowing we'd be on sabbatical this summer, I had my small group hold me accountable to seeing a therapist. I'm hesitant to say that on a blog (actually, I'm hesitant to say any of this on a blog) because many people see that as a negative thing and have misunderstandings about counseling. There have been many things revealed to me during those times (fear being a major thing), and maybe I'll share more later. But, concerning where my life has been these past few weeks, I feel like 2 main issues have been revealed. 1. There is a battle for control going on between the Lord and me. So, I've been learning a lot about surrendering to the Lord. This has been an ongoing battle my whole life, but I finally desire God more than I desire control. I truly want God to be Lord over all things in my life. And, 2. Why in the world do I care so much about having a clean and orderly home? This has also been a dominating issue my entire life. I have always wanted things to be clean and organized. I can't relax in my house if it's messy. If I need to pack for a trip, everything has to be in it's place before I can pack. If I have a big decision to make, I can't make it with a messy house. And, I plain just like to clean. Cleaning is soothing and comforting to me. I don't clean to impress people...I do it because I like to. So, again where did this neurosis come from? I don't think anything is wrong with having a clean home, but I do think something is wrong with bulldozing my children out of the way to achieve it. On the other hand, I don't think anything is wrong with having a messy home. I often feel more at home and cozy in my friend's homes that aren't all neat and tidy. So, why must I clean? My friend (therapist just sounds too clinical) shared something with me that made perfect sense to me and has really changed my perspective on a lot of things. Basically, I go to "cleaning" for my comfort instead of the Lord. That sounds so simple, so obvious...but, so HUGE. I haven't allowed the Lord to be my comfort (who is the God of all comfort 2 Corinthians 1:3), or my refuge (for He is my refuge Psalm 91:2) or my security (He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress Proverbs 14:26), or my Rock (the Lord is the rock eternal Isaiah 26:4). I've been trying to create my own comfort with false security on shifting sand. It doesn't work. So, does that mean that my home is a pig sty now? No, but when that compulsion comes to clean, I try to go to the Lord instead. I've also tried really hard not to clean or exercise when my kids are home and awake and Joel's not here to love on them. And, this is only one of the things that the Lord has been doing in my life lately, which is why when someone asks me how sabbatical was, it's like a loaded question because there is sooooo much to say. The main thing I kept hearing from the Lord this summer was "I'm giving you a new home," and I think I'm starting to understand what that means.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2011-08-23T21:50:00.003-04:00

I'll start with the good because if I start with the bad, I may never make it to the good parts.

The Good

Mine and Mary Kate's first mother-daughter after school tea. I've been waiting a lot of years to do this with my daughter. I read about it in a book once (I think it was Elizabeth George) and always thought it'd be so special. Since Mary Kate pretty much never takes a nap now, I figured it was a good time to start. MK started 4K this week, something I debated all summer because it would mean her being at school 4 days a week (only from 10-2). As soon as we got back to Macon, all Mary Kate could talk about was going to school, so I signed her up. She absolutely loves it. And, I love our special tea time...just the two of us. We use our fine china, which totally confused Mary Kate. She kept asking me questions about China (the country). I picked flowers. I made cookies from a special recipe from a friend of mine. I asked her about her day, and then she surprised me by asking me, "Well, Mom, what did you do today?" And replied, "Wow, that was a lot to do." We also read a short book together. It was wonderful. Today after I picked her up from school, she asked if we were going to have special time again and was ecstatic when I said yes. She was even more excited when she found out it would be everyday after school. Our two tea times have, by far, been the highlights of the last week and a half.

The Bad

Tiramisu! Lucky for me, Olive Garden was a little late on our catered lunch order for our leadership on Sunday. They apologized by giving us an entire Tiramisu cake...my favorite. I put it in the freezer to save for a Stratford team dinner we're having later this week. So, the last couple of nights, I've been chiseling out a piece of cake (literally takes about 10 minutes to get it out) to enjoy as my reward for dealing with The Ugly.

The Ugly

I thought that the end of sabbatical would bring the end of the blog, but maybe this will be my last entry (or not...can't decide). I can go out with a touch of vulnerability and reality. I know blogs usually seem a little one sided and glamorous, but I feel like I've been pretty honest about the hard days/phases we've gone through. So, I'll be honest about this as well. These past two weeks have been some of the hardest weeks Joel and I have had as parents (seriously may pass our Aswinement at Frontier). These last couple of days have especially overwhelmed me. I'm pretty sure that I've broken down and cried (like boohooed) at least 5 times a day. My poor husband had to deal with me crying in the middle of Fountain of Juice today. Basically, our children have been insufferable. And, my fear is that, to them, I have been just as insufferable. Our days have been like a broken record on repeat with lots of disobedience, disrespect, talking back (a new one), yelling, confessing, forgiving (with brief moments of joy, laughter, and peace mixed in). We've turned over enough new leaves to go through a forest of trees. Joel and I are both clueless as to what is going on and what to do about it. I wonder if our 3 months of sabbatical totally screwed them up for coming back to reality. Or, if God was using our 3 months to prepare us for whatever "this" is. Because that's the crazy thing...my time with the Lord has never been sweeter and richer. I've never been more in tune with what the Lord is saying to me. I have never focused more on the presence of the Lord. So, yes, it's obvious that the Lord is doing something in this, but I wish I'd just "get it" so we can move on from here because it's no fun. I know things will get better, and venting about it will help that. It usually makes me feel a little less fearful about things to get it out in the open. I feel like the Lord led me to Psalm 46 today...

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress . Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress."

As I'm writing this, Joel's watching The Lord of the Rings...I think he was just wanting to remember New Zealand (which I found myself longing for today). He's constantly tossing out quotes from the movie, mostly reminding me about how corrupt our humanity is. This quote from Gandalf seemed pretty applicable..."Think of the treasure at the end and forget the forest and the dragon, at any rate until tomorrow morning."

Gulf Shores 2011

2011-08-18T22:10:00.003-04:00

We had a great week at the beach with my mom's side of the family. I think we decided that we've been doing this for 26 years (except for last year when we had our staycation due to the oil spill). It's always great to be with family and enjoy the beach...and good cooking (thanks Ethan and Rebecca). For the last several years, we've stayed toward Fort Morgan, but we decided to get a different view than oil rigs this year and went closer to town on Orange Beach. We didn't have to look at oil rigs, but we did have to fight for the beach in front of our house since it was right next to a monstrous condo. Thankfully, the beach Nazi was renting the house next to ours and made sure everyone knew that they were to stay in front of the condos. She actually went to every tent and told them that they were going to have to move. This year, I actually played in the water. I thought I'd never get in the water again after the shark incident a couple of years ago, but the kids just made it too much fun...and I kept my eyes open for a fin to appear. It was great having the twins there, but they didn't make it to the beach that much so I didn't feel like I got to see them. I'll have to make a secret trip to Charleston without my kids so I can get some twin time. I love that Mary Kate and Ford got to spend a whole week playing with their cousins, Victoria and Gabriel. MK and Victoria got to share a room this year, which meant they talked and played more than they slept. It brought back a lot of memories of when we used to all share a room when we were little. Click on the pic if you want to see the album.

Sabbatical in a Nutshell

2011-08-02T21:01:00.005-04:00

Road Trip to Colorado and back.....3919 miles
Georgia to New Zealand and back.....16,944 miles
Georgia to Mississippi.....352 miles
Mississippi to Arkansas and back...848 miles
Joel from Arkansas to California.....1665 miles
Mississippi to Georgia.....352 miles
Joel from California to Colorado.....832 miles
Katherine from Georgia to Colorado and back.....2424 miles
Mary Kate and Ford from Georgia to Mississippi and back.....705 miles
Mary Kate to Charleston and back....678 miles
Joel from Colorado to Georgia.....1577 miles
Joel from Georgia to Bahamas and back.....1440 miles
Georgia to Florida and back.....687 miles

Total miles traveled by the Kennedys in Summer 2011.....32,423 miles

The Beach

2011-07-30T21:07:00.004-04:00

click on picture if you want to see the album

We just had a fabulous week at the beach with our family. It was fun to have so much time in the pool with the kids and see how good they got at swimming in just a few days. I think Ford could jump nonstop all day and never get tired of it. Mary Kate loved showing everyone how she can swim. Although, it looked a little more like swamp thing trying to swim. It was a treat to have my mom and Joel's parents join us throughout the week and get some beach time with the kids. Joel and I also celebrated our 9th anniversary. We went to eat at Barbara Jeans, where I had one of the best meals ever. We both agreed that this has been our favorite year of marriage so far. Some of the reasons we came up with are...sabbatical (of course), doing away with TV, doing direct ministry together, and praying more intentionally for each other. Can't wait to see what our 10th year has in store.

Finally got my husband back...

2011-07-20T20:54:00.003-04:00

and he's gone again. But, before he left, he finally shaved his nasty sabbatabeard. Yay!

The Nasty Sabbatabeard

The Glenn Austell

The West Coast Chopper

The Eric Kennedy

The "I forgot what I looked like"

Sabbatical Continued

2011-07-04T20:24:00.005-04:00

The past few weeks have been spent mostly missing my husband while he was in California for a class. The kids skyped with him every night to read their bedtime story and pray (while pretending to hold hands). One night, Mary Kate was upset about missing her Daddy. I tried to comfort her by saying that she just got to talk to him, see him, and hold his hand. She said, "but I want to hold his hand for real." I did too. So, I booked a flight to meet him in Colorado. He was flying there on the 1st to meet up with Macon kids to go to Crooked Creek. He was getting there a day before the kids, so that gave us some time to hang out just the two of us. It was a great weekend. I love it when I can stay in a hotel and take full advantage of it...sleep in, use the exercise room, eat hotel dining, come back to a clean room, lounge around and watch tv. It was wonderful. The best part, of course, was seeing Joel after 2 weeks. Now, we have to wait another week before we see him again. But, I'm hoping that he and all the Macon kids have an amazing time at Crooked Creek. Wish I was there.

Before going to Colorado...

We got to celebrate Rachel's birthday!

Spend some time on the lake with Papa Doc!

Painted my mom's dining room!
(which meant my mom had to entertain the kids most of the week...thanks Mom)

The kids spent the day at Callaway Gardens with Nonna and Grandaddy!

And, I got to have a 3 hour dinner with one of my favorite people, Mollie!

My mom has the kids with her in Mississippi visiting Nana and Grandaddy. So, I spent the 4th with Joel's parents. Robin made a feast for us to eat including the cookies that Anna made in New Zealand. Yay! Every time I eat them, I'll think of our time with The Lifseys in NZ. Now, I'm going to have a Brothers & Sisters marathon since my mom got me hooked on it...and eat some more of Robin's cookies.

Post New Zealand

2011-06-21T22:00:00.004-04:00

These are some pics that we took of all the kids together on the morning that we left New Zealand. Their expressions pretty much sum up our amazing time in NZ. We miss the Lifseys a whole bunch. Ford keeps going around looking for Isaiah. I can't wait to see how much all these kiddos change before they see each other next (hopefully, in November).

Jet lag is for REAL! I have never been so screwed up. Night 1 was in the airport...no sleep. Night 2...Ford woke up upset at midnight; I didn't fall asleep until 4. Night 3...no sleep again; Ford woke up again at midnight, and MK woke up at 4 and proceeded to pack up every single one of her toys. Night 4...I went to sleep at 8:00 and actually slept on and off; Ford woke up at midnight again. Night 5...we were staying at a hotel for our family reunion and there was a Scion car club convention there as well, so all I heard all night was their bass...no sleep, but the kids slept and Ford did not wake up at midnight. Night 6...changed rooms and got the first good night of sleep since New Zealand.

So, we got home last Tuesday morning, and Thursday morning we headed to Mississippi, and Friday morning we went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas for our annual family reunion. I haven't been able to go to the reunion the past few years, so it was great to see my family. This was our welcome sign to the hotel. We all got a good kick out of it, and there were many psychotic jokes throughout the weekend. FYI, the scikotics asylum is the Scion car club. Click on the pic for more reunion pictures.On our way back to Mississippi, we dropped Joel off at the Little Rock airport so that he could fly out to Pasadena for a 2 week class on the theology of C.S. Lewis. It was no fun having to say goodbye. This is the part of sabbatical that we weren't excited about, but kind of thought we'd be okay being apart after being together for so long. But, it was the opposite. Because we've spent so much time together, it made it extra hard for us to be apart. Mary Kate asks when she's going to see her Daddy again all day long, Ford screams for him at night, and I hate getting into an empty bed (and having to do the insane part of Insanity by myself. By the way, whatever I said about liking Insanity...I don't know what I was thinking.) It's going to be a long 2 (maybe 3) weeks without my man.

Monday, we got to spend some time with my cousins. We went to the zoo and grilled out for dinner. We can't wait for our annual beach trip in August. It's going to be crazy. Here's some pics from the zoo.

Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and a Night at the Airport

2011-06-14T20:34:00.018-04:00

We finally made it home..after a series of unfortunate events. We said goodbye to Anna and the boys about 8:30 Monday morning (Sunday in USA) and Dalton drove us the 2 hours to
Auckland for our 1:00 flight. When we walked up to the Qantas ticket counter, wondering why nobody else was checking in, this is the sign that we saw. Yes, that's a whiteboard informing us that all Qantas flights had been indefinitely cancelled due to volcanic ash in southern Chile. So, we gathered with the mob of people in line to find out what happens now. Then, a worker lady told us that there wasn't any point in staying in that line because they couldn't rebook our flights. She directed us to another long, slow line to get accommodations. She was wrong. We should've stayed in that line and they would have easily rebooked us onto an Air New Zealand flight. (Yes, every other airline was flying...just not ours.) In some round-about way, we ended up getting on the standby list for a 7:15 Air New Zealand flight. They were hopeful and discouraging at the same time about the chances of us getting on that flight. We had to be back at the airport by 5:30 to find out. Dalton was amazing and stuck with us all day, touring us around Auckland, taking us to eat some awesome burritos on the wharf, toting luggage and kids all over the place, and helping us sort out what to do. On the bright side, we got to see Auckland. Upon returning to the airport, our flight looked more hopeless. The seats that we thought were available were gone and the 9:30 flight was even more overbooked and there were very limited flights the following days. Joel was relentless in talking to anyone that he could to try to get us on that flight. Qantas was absolutely worthless. They could care less if we got out or not. Air New Zealand was amazing and did whatever they could to help us, but it still looked bleak. As we were about to settle for a hotel room, we got the news that the flights from Christchurch didn't come in due to the earthquake, which opened up about 60 spots on our flight. We really didn't know how to respond to getting favor from other's misfortunes, but we were definitely glad to be getting on a flight out. There were so many empty seats on the plane that we had 6 seats to spread out in. We were set to take off (7:15 pm), watched the in-flight safety video with, get this, Richard Simmons. You can watch the video here if you'd like. It's hilarious! Shortly after, they announced there'd be a slight delay due to technical difficulty. A few minutes later (7:54 pm), they announced that it can't be fixed and we'd have to return to the gate to allow a technician on board. At 8:30, they announced that "it's always the small problems that create the most difficulties." Luckily, all this time, they had the tv's going so the kids were happy in lala land. At 9:30 pm, we took off! We landed at LAX at 2:45 pm, still on Monday. There, we had to get our bags, stand in a monstrous line to go through customs, get on a shuttle (with all of our bags and a sleeping Ford on Joel's shoulder), get to the American Airlines terminal, stand in another long, slow line, for the agent to tell us that it's not their fault that we don't have a connection. She spent 15 minutes trying to explain how she has to book us on our original routing, blah, blah, blah, telling us that all of our options aren't going to work out. Thanks. Then, mentions that there is a flight NOW that she can confirm us on to Dallas and then on to Atlanta. We're like, why didn't you tell us that in the first place? So, then we have to rush through LAX. At this point, Joel has been flagged at every security point due to his sabbatabeard. This time was no different. The guy even told him that it was because of his beard and that he looked like the guy from the hangover...Joel's goal. He thinks he still has some work to do though...

We made it to DFW about 10:30. Much to our surprise, everything was closed. Our kids had to settle for cracker jacks and peanuts for dinner. Our flight wasn't leaving for ATL until 6:00 the next morning, so we set up home for the night. Mary Kate didn't sleep one wink. She played in her little "bed" all night stuck on New Zealand time (which was afternoon time). Ford slept most of the night. Joel and I were in and out. We had a great flight to ATL. MK was asleep before we even took off and Ford was content watching Toy Story for the umpteenth time of the summer. Needless to say, we were some happy people to be off a plane and out of the airport, and there was one happy Granna waiting for us at the airport. After Mary Kate refused to take a nap during naptime, this is what I walked in on after my nap...With all the craziness that happened getting home, the kids were rockstars. We're happy to be home, but really missing The Lifseys already.

Rich Times

2011-06-11T05:18:00.003-04:00

click to see album

Tomorrow (Sunday in NZ), we'll be packing up getting ready to head home. I'm having a lot of mixed emotions about leaving New Zealand. This has definitely been an exclamation point in my life. Our time with Anna, Dalton, Isaiah, and Elisha has been precious. We've never had this kind of time with them before. When they're in the states, they're pulled in a million different directions trying to get time with all of their loved ones. So, it's been such a blessing to just live life with them for nearly a month. I've loved getting to see their favorite places, eat their favorite foods, and meet their favorite people. They have an awesome New Zealand family and it's been fun to be a part of it for a few weeks. We're really going to miss seeing them and talking to them on a daily basis. We're absolutely going to miss watching our kids play together and getting to know their cousins. Although, I'm afraid that Ford has taught Isaiah a couple of bad habits. It's been great getting to spend time with Isaiah and Elisha. They are adorable. Isaiah says things in the funniest way. It's like he makes a little song while he talks. Elisha is such a smiley, laid back little man. They are blessed to grow up in such an awesome community. This really has been one of the richest times of my life...good times with family and good times with the Lord. Spending time in the prayer room has been tremendous...just rich, rich times learning how to sit at the feet of Jesus. I would definitely be a better mother if I spent 4 hours a day in the prayer room. Sabbatical, in general, has been a rich time for our family. Just the fact that we've been together as a family every day for the last month and a half has been awesome. And, for most of that time, we've eaten 3 meals a day together, which is unheard of at home. I've loved it. It's just been family and Jesus...family and Jesus. Thank you, Lord. I know that the rest of sabbatical will look a little different with Joel going to Pasadena for a class and camps and all, so I'm really thankful for this time that we've had.

Even though New Zealand has been amazing and there are parts of me that don't want to leave, I think we're all missing some of the conveniences of the states, so that will make it a little bit easier.

The last week has been pretty low key, mostly due to the rainy weather. Anna had a get-together for us to meet some of their friends here, which was a lot of fun. She made her mom's famous chocolate peanut butter chip cookies (which I'm pretty sure that Robin has never made for me in the 17 years that I've known her, so she has some making up to do ;) ). One night, Anna got some babysitters and we all went to see X-Men. I wasn't into it at first because I hadn't seen the others, but I loved it. We had fish and chips one more time for Joel. Mary Kate and I have continued searching for avocados everyday after naps. Funny story...the other day during naptime, MK started freaking out saying "stranger, stranger." She could see a guy walking around outside. Joel knew who it was and knew that he was on THOP staff and lived next door. Later, Joel told him about MK being scared of him. It turns out that he was looking for avocados and was wondering where they all were going. He thought that maybe the season was over for them. Little did he know that a 4 year old girl was taking them all. Needless to say, we will miss the abundance of avocados and guac.

Lake Taupo

2011-06-05T04:04:00.005-04:00

Click for more

We just had an awesome two-day getaway to Lake Taupo. They have awesome deals on "holiday homes" here. They call it "book a bach" (baches are houses). Dalton negotiated with an owner and got us an incredible house for a great price. It took us about two hours to get there, which were, by far, the worst 2 hours we've had in the car with the kids. I couldn't believe that we had just driven across the country and back with no problems, and now we couldn't even make it 2 hours...just constant whining and crying and begging. MK started feeling carsick because it was a very windy road through the gorges, so I gave her half a dramamine. I wasn't thinking about the fact that she'd never swallowed a pill before so she started eating it. The constant turning around was making me carsick. It was just no fun. We finally made it to the house and it was wonderful. We had incredible views of Lake Taupo, which is a lake the size of Singapore. Joel did some research and figured that Lake Taupo is about 100km bigger than Tahoe. The cool thing about Taupo is that Mt. Doom (from The Lord of the Rings) is nearby. We could see it from our living room. The first night there, the guys surprised us with a steak dinner...yummy! While they were at the grocery store, the kids and I had fun making blueberry muffins.

The next morning, we headed to Huka Falls...amazing! This is where the Waikato River (which is normally 100 meters wide) is squeezed into a 20 meter wide gorge and goes over a 20 meter drop. About 220,000 liters of water per second is pushed through the gorge (about the amount of water needed to fill 5 Olympic size pools). The water pressure is amazing. And, the color of the water is gorgeous. I've never seen water that color before. The pictures don't do it justice. We went to a playground for a picnic, and then headed back for naps. Joel and I did some Insanity while looking at Mt. Doom in the distance...pretty neat. That afternoon, we went to a hot springs water park...or so we thought. In the brochure, it had pictures of a slide, a kids water playground, and the hot pools. We assumed that it was all hot water...wrong. The only things that were hot were the pools. But, we actually did the dragon slide in the freezing cold water...even the kids. Isaiah was the stud and did is several times. It was super fun. When we were getting ready to leave, I turned around and Ford was completely naked...hilarious. The drama of the night was during bath time when Mary Kate grabbed my razor and tried to shave her face like her daddy. So, we had to deal with a bloody lip for the rest of the night. After the kids went to bed, Anna made some more guac (Mary Kate and I are going to turn into avocados before we leave) and we watched a movie while the guys read. Then, we stayed up way too late talking...well, I took several naps during the conversations.

Saturday morning, we packed up and cleaned up. We did some shopping at Kathmandu and the All Blacks store before we left. Ford and Mary Kate were both playing with some stuffed kiwi birds in the store. When I went to put them up, Mary Kate didn't have hers anymore. She said that she put it in Elisha's stroller, which Dalton had already left with. I caught him outside the store and found the kiwi bird. The people in the store just laughed at us and thanked us for our honesty. We had a peaceful trip back, although it was in the rain. It was freezing cold when we got to the house and all we had was wet wood. Joel finally got a fire going, and we huddled up on the couch and watched a movie.

Today, we got to skype with my mom, sister, and Morgan. Then, we went on an adventure and ate some Turkish food. If you know me, you know that I don't venture out much in the food department, so I was a little nervous, but the food was awesome. The kids loved it too.

I made another attempt at cooking tonight. I'm giving up on cooking over here, unless Anna gives me a recipe and takes me shopping. I made lasagna. Apparently, the tomato sauce in a can that looks just like the American tomato sauce in a can is actually ketchup. So, my lasagna had ketchup in it. It didn't taste that bad, just extra sweet, but when Joel found out what I goofed on he couldn't eat anymore of it. So, I give up.

McLaren Falls

2011-06-01T02:17:00.001-04:00

Our exciting news of the morning was the Mary Kate's nail finally fell off (from the finger smasher incident). She was so excited. We thought it had fallen off in the middle of the night so she and Daddy went on a search for the nail, but couldn't find it. When we got in the car this morning, it was sitting in her car seat...kind of gross. So, she carried it around showing everyone...as well as showing off her new nail that Jesus gave her (her words). It's really funny when she shows you her finger, as you can see in the picture.

This afternoon, we made a quick visit to McLaren Falls. Here's some fun pics. Click on this picture to go to the album.

Say Cheese!

2011-05-29T04:00:00.004-04:00

Click on pic for the album.

Here's a few highlights from the last couple of days...

We took a mini trip over to Matamata to visit the Kamai Cheese Factory. We sampled a variety of cheeses. The entertainment of the day was having the kids try the blue cheese. The faces that they made were hilarious. It really did taste awful. Joel said that it tasted like an elephant smells...ewe! Next, we headed to a playground. Matamata is also the home to Hobbiton, a tour business for the Lord of the Rings movie sets. A lot of the shire parts of the movies were filmed there. We forewent the $20 to go see it since Anna and Dalton said that it's pretty much just going to see a bunch of circles cut into hills. But, Joel still went hobbit hunting...at least, to check out the smeagol statue in the middle of town. That night, the Walshes had us all over for dinner. Aaron and Christy head up the House of Prayer in Tauranga, and they have an almost 2 year old and a 6 year old. All the kids had a fun time playing together, especially on the trampoline. Dinner was great and it was fun to hear snippets of their story. Anna and Dalton have a great New Zealand family.

Today, we headed back to The Mount/beach. Joel and I ran to the top of the Mount and back down. Rachel, I thought of you and how fun it would be for you to be here with us to do crazy stuff like that. It was hard, but awesome. The views are amazing. We'll definitely have to do that again before we leave...if my back can handle it. We played on the beach some more and had a picnic. I told Mary Kate that she needed to try really hard to always remember this.

There's a big 10K race around The Mount coming up next weekend. A couple of Anna's friends are training for it and are trying to talk us into doing it. We thought it'd be pretty cool to run a 10k in New Zealand and we figured it'd be a fun way to get a NZ t-shirt...wrong! You pay $20 to register and then if you want a shirt you pay another $35. So, not the cheapest way to get a t-shirt.

Tonight, we hung out at Anna and Dalton's and got some more New York Pizza (and coke...my luxury item of the month). We are loving being here...and loving getting time with The Lifseys. They're pretty cool people!

Another highlight...Anna's guacamole. Yummy! I love being in the land of avocados.

It's officially Keri and Britton's wedding day. So sad that we can't all celebrate together in C-town, but we're celebrating them in New Zealand. Can't wait to see pictures.

Pictures

2011-05-26T19:07:00.003-04:00

Click on the picture to see the album

A-mazing

2011-05-24T22:09:00.002-04:00

New Zealand is amazing! Definitely, the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It's like a mixture of places to me...the vineyards make me feel like I'm in Italy, the roundabouts and sheep make me feel like we're in Scotland, when you drive through the towns I feel like I'm at the beach because they have short buildings with a lot of different colors, the lush vegetation makes me feel like I'm in Hawaii. It's just beautiful. Anna and Dalton win the host and hostess of the year award. They have gone WAY out of their way to make us comfortable...like stocking our house with groceries, finding us Americans a fan to put in every room, and a heater, finding us car seats and a pack-n-play, buying our meals, toting us around (but, now we have a car), and just loving on us. I'll give a quick run-down of the last couple of days (for our moms that want to know what we're up to) and I'll try to post a slide show of pictures that I made.

Saturday: Just hung out with Anna and Dalton and the kids at their house most of the day. Had New York style pizza that night. Anna and Dalton were super excited about that because, until now, they haven't had anything like that in NZ. It was pretty good. Our kids slept much better that night.

Sunday: We went to The Mount. Kids played on the beach. We walked around the Mount (beautiful). That night, we went over to A&D's for some yummy chicken enchiladas and guacamole. Avocados are just pouring off the trees here. We can pick them in our front yard. They would cost $1 a piece at home. Who said there wasn't such thing as a money tree?

Monday: We had a very stressful trip to the grocery store. I had 3 recipes that I was trying to get together. I'd find a few ingredients and then figure out that they don't have the rest of them in NZ, so I'd have to put everything back and start over. I finally got 1 recipe together, but only because Anna had a secret stash of Parmesan cheese from the States. So, Robin, could you ask Mary to bring some more back with her :) ? Plus, everything is so much more expensive here. An 18 pack of coke was 18 NZD (about $14)!! After that, Joel got to have his first visit to the prayer room (Anna and Dalton are missionaries with the International House of Prayer). I hung out with Anna and the kids. That night, I made meat loaf (Mary Kate's request) over at our house. Granna, you're also on the hook for making her some more when we get home. Anna put the kids down here, so we got some fun hangout time with the kids asleep.

Tuesday: It was an early morning with the kids. Plus, we got up early to do Insanity so that I could make it to the House of Prayer on time. By the way, I'm loving Insanity. It's so much more fun than P90X for anybody that wants to know. I had my first visit to the prayer room. For years, I really haven't had a clue as to what Anna and Dalton actually do. Now, I know why. It's just something you have to experience. It really was neat. Just all about Jesus. I wish my life was just all about Jesus. I got to hear Anna sing and play the keyboard...absolutely gorgeous! Today, was a Mary and Bethany session, so more of a devotional time. I was there for 4 hours, so my butt kind of hurt by the end...and I totally dozed off a couple of times, but I did get some good time with Jesus. For lunch, we went to where Dalton lived during his internship. It was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Lots of lush vegetation, waterfalls, rolling hills. It was great, but a bit of a trek with little ones. One of the YWAM training centers was there and they all came out in the blue jumpsuits...I totally felt like I was on the island from Lost with the Dharma Initiative. That afternoon, we just took it easy. Isaiah's been feeling a little yucky, so they stayed home and rested.

Wednesday: Both of the kids slept to 7! Woohoo! I got to go to the prayer room again. Today was intercessory prayer day. It was very cool to hear them sing out people's prayers. One of Anna's friends brought us a little Kiwi gift bag...how cute! Joel took the kids back to the beach and got them ice cream. We're probably laying low again this afternoon because Isaiah is still not feeling good. Poor guy!

Well, for some of you, that's probably more info than you care for and for others, I'm sure it wasn't enough. Love ya'll!

Well, the slideshow wouldn't load. Might have to do that at A&D's later.

We made it across the world.

2011-05-20T22:17:00.002-04:00

I'll try to get a quick update out while we've got some internet. The flight out went great. It definitely helped that we were flying through the night, so the kids slept for the most part. Mary Kate loved the bathrooms on the plane. She came out and said, "That was a fun bathroom." I'm becoming more convinced that Ford is ADD. He watched the first 5 minutes of every kids movie on the plane at least 20 times. I got to watch some good movies too...True Grit, Country Strong, The Dilemma, and Secretariat. I know my time was all out of whack when I was eating hot tamales and watching a movie at 5 in the morning. When we got off the plane in Auckland and went into the airport, MK said, "Is this Anna's house?" We made it through customs without any problems, except for Mary Kate's gum boots. We had no idea what they were talking about. It turned out, they were talking about her rain boots. They had to check them to make sure there wasn't any major dirt on the soles. We were very excited to see Dalton at the airport. He drove us from Auckland to their house in Tauranga, which took about 2 hours. The drive was gorgeous...beautiful, green, rolling mountains everywhere. Eric, we almost stopped at your "ice cream stop"...only because we thought it'd be funny since that's what you did (nobody really wanted ice cream at 9 in the morning) It was so fun for all the cousins to see each other. I got to meet precious Elisha. He's such a happy, laid back little boy. Isaiah, MK, and Ford have been having fun running around together. It's been kind of surreal for us all to be together...and to be in New Zealand. The house we're staying in is awesome...just a little cold. The people that own it work with YWAM, and are in the states right now. They amazing to let us stay in their house. The time change has been a bit rough, especially for the kids. I had to wake them up from their nap, and they were both completely out of it. I was falling asleep mid-conversation last night. But, dinner was really good...fish and chips (Eric and Robin, wish we could bring some home for you). We ALL went to sleep by 7:30. It was a good thing, especially since Ford woke up at 2 and would not go back to sleep. MK was up at 5. I finally caved and just let them watch a movie together. Today, we're just living life with The Lifseys...so fun. Although, I'm feeling a little guilty right now blogging when I could be spending time with them, so I'll talk more later.

I've got some backtracking to do when I get my pictures loaded of our time in Columbus.

Mississippi

2011-05-14T19:51:00.004-04:00

click on pic for the album

Having friends and family along the way on our road trip has been a huge blessing. It was a treat to get to stay with Nana and Grandaddy on our last stop. I treasure any time that I get to spend with them, especially when my kids get time with them. I was also able to get some time with my cousin, Cortney, and her kids at the Mississippi Children's Museum. It was an awesome museum. The most hilarious exhibit was one about the digestive tract...it made chomping noises as you enter the mouth, you go through the intestines, it makes farting noises when you go through the last part, and then you slide into a toilet...hilarious! Victoria and Gabriel are pros at the museum so that showed us all around. Then, we met up with Nana and Grandaddy for lunch. It was a little crazy with 4 kids, but a lot of fun. We got to visit with Cortney a little more that afternoon. I missed seeing Charles, Angie and Clare, but hopefully at the reunion! Nana made us a yummy supper with my favorite...fried squash. We headed out early after a pancake breakfast to make the last leg of the trip. The only excitement on the trip was Ford digging poop out of his diaper and rubbing it all over his leg...fun! He rode the rest of the way without shorts. As we pulled into Granna's, we thanked God for a great, safe trip and fun times. We traveled 3,919 miles...whew!

A Taste of Austin

2011-05-14T15:00:00.004-04:00

Click on the picture to see the album

Tuesday, we woke up to a great day in Austin with our tour guide, Morgan Sullivan. The kids have been looking forward to their time with Morgan for months, and we were excited about it too. Ever since Morgan moved to Austin, we've been hearing about how great it is, so this was her chance to show us. Ford seemed a little more like himself today, which was great since he turned into my needy child over the past week and a half. We met up at Zilker Park and played on the playground, which is super fun but super crowded. I think there was a whole school of big kids there. We had to rescue Ford one time from almost being pounced on. We rode the Zilker Zephyr around the park and got to see tons of turtles swimming around and a crazy guy playing the harmonica and guitar. There were many times driving through Austin that I thought, "that's weird", so now I understand about Keep Austin Weird. We went to a new Burger restaurant called Hopdoddy's that was so good, especially after suffering through too many McDonald's burgers. Adele was able to join us for lunch as well since the school she works at was nearby. Mary Kate was in heaven eating her delicious cheeseburger...her favorite thing to eat. I was in heaven with my medio litro Mexican Coke...my favorite thing to drink. Next, Morgan took the kids to pick out some new cowboy boots. Ford went straight for some brown ones with bright blue tops, which I wasn't crazy about, but I wanted him to have fun picking out whatever he wanted. Luckily, he ended up with some brown with red tops, which were a little more tame. Mary Kate picked out all pink again and a cute cowgirl hat. Thanks for their treat, Morgan! After naptime, we took a tour of THE OTHER UT. Somehow, Joel snuck onto the field to see where Coach Taylor coached his TMU team (FNL fans know what I'm talking about). Morgan bought obscenities for my children, also known as University of Texas paraphernalia. Then, we headed to dinner, which took 5x as long thanks to Obama traffic. We ate dinner at Chuy's Tex Mex, but had quite the drama waiting for our table. Mary Kate's fingers got smashed in the door...really smashed. She was hysterical...way worse than when she had to get stitches. It took her a good while to calm down...then, she'd look at it again and start screaming again. She kept saying, "I just don't know who smashed my fingers." We finally had to tell her that finger smashers hang out by the door, so you've got to watch out for them. By the time the food came, she was pretty calm. Dinner was great after that. ALL DAY long, the kids kept begging for cupcakes because Morgan mentioned it to them months ago on the phone. So, they finally got the cupcake after dinner. Morgan, thanks for such an awesome day in Austin. We had so much fun! Mary Kate had a slumber party with Morgan that night and Joel and I got to stay up talking to Jay and Adele some more. The next morning, we met up with Morgan for a great breakfast, got Mary Kate, and headed to Mississippi. It was a great trip, except for eating at McDonald's AGAIN. We were a little nervous about all the flooding, but we didn't have any trouble making it to Nana and Grandaddy's.

Hello Texas

2011-05-13T21:50:00.003-04:00

We headed out early Sunday morning to head to Texas. I was so excited about going to Texas. Growing up, my dream was to marry a cowboy and live in Texas (even though I had never even been there until now). The drive out of Colorado was amazing, even though I spent most of it knocked out by Dramamine. The views I did get to see was awesome. One of the craziest things we saw was an Amish family traveling down the highway in a horse and buggy. We were surprised to find out that we'd be driving through New Mexico, so that was fun to get to add another state. We passed a sign that said, Las Vegas 111 miles. Joel said that we planned poorly because we should've added that to the list. Then, he started wondering how we could be that close to Las Vegas. He had me google it and it said Las Vegas was 11 hours away. Apparently, there's a Las Vegas, New Mexico. I did get a great Mother's Day surprise when I came back to the car after a pit stop to find a Mexican Coke waiting for me! The terrain got very flat, very fast the further away from Colorado we got. Our first night in Texas was spent in Lubbock. We had a great time catching up with The Austells (a YL staff family that we were on assignment with at Frontier...the year of the swine flu). They treated us to some great mexican food and some frozen custard...yum!

Monday, we enjoyed our continental breakfast at the hotel where they had waffles in the shape of Texas...yep! We headed to Austin. This was definitely the roughest day of travel. I think it's because we were expecting it to be such a quick, easy trip. I didn't take dramamine, and after turning around to do stuff for the kids 100 times, I definitely needed it. Also, there is ABSOLUTELY nothing between Lubbock and Austin (except for the largest windmill farm in the world). We had to use the GPS to try to find some lunch spots. We finally found a Dairy Queen, but on the way, we met a huge blockade where they were transporting some ginormous piping. So, we had to find a new lunch spot. It was a good thing, because Joel found us the cutest little spot in Ballinger, TX at the Main Street Soda Fountain. It was so nice to have a Waldorf Chicken Salad on a croissant...instead of McDonald's. Driving into Austin was really cool. We passed a lot of huge ranches along the way. I was very thankful for google along the way...every time we had a question about something we saw, we could google it. It was also fun seeing the huge houses (well, really just their rooftops) as we drove into the city. We finally arrived at The Creels. Adele is one of Joel's good friends from UGA. We got to stay with her and her husband, Jay, when we visited New York in Nov. 2006. Then, there were no children. Now, we have 3 between us. They have the cutest little boy, James (1 1/2). He was very sweet to let Ford and Mary Kate play with all of his toys. We had a great dinner with them at the Shady Grove and got to catch up a little after the kids went to bed.

Goodbye Trail West

2011-05-13T21:03:00.007-04:00

Friday, we spent a lot of time hanging out at the lodge. The kids played with a lot of the games they have there and made a colossal mess, but it was worth it because it gave me some time to spend with Jesus. Joel had some study time that afternoon and took his final exam (which I'm sure he aced). That night, we had our "assigned team" party...at least, that's what we called it...with all the Georgia folks. Saturday, we ate a yummy breakfast at the restaurant that Sarah works and headed to the river. When we showed up there, we realized that a race was going on. Joel asked how far they were running and they said 25 or 50 miles. What! I couldn't imagine running 5 miles in those mountains, much less 25 or 50. That's what I call crazy! The kids entertained themselves for about 20 minutes throwing rocks in the river.

We took this picture on these rocks in 2009...

and this one on the same rocks, 2 years later

We had a picnic lunch at the playground, ice cream from K's, and headed back to get packed up. That night, we hung out with Sarah and Nathan. The kids had a blast playing together, seeing the animals, and having a silly string fight. Ford was very frustrated with it because he couldn't make it spray by himself. Sarah and Nathan fixed a great dinner...my first time eating elk. Mary Kate was introduced to boxing when Able asked her if she wanted to play boxing. She said, "yes" and then he punched her...hilarious! I don't think she'll play boxing again. I was sad to have to say goodbye to Sarah. It was the best week getting to have time with her and just live life together.

Click on pic for more.

Outdoor Fun

2011-05-06T13:30:00.003-04:00

Click on pic for more

On Wednesday, we went to the park with Sarah and the kids. We had a picnic, played on the playground, and played in the river. Mary Kate has been all tomboy this week. It's been fun to watch her be adventurous and get really dirty. Eli and Able play rough and she loves it.

That afternoon, Joel had some time off from class, so we headed to town and all got milkshakes from K's. Then, we went over to Frontier to check out the new hot tub (just looked at it). I also got to see the new swing...that I will never ever do. I also got to see the gym finished, which is amazing. Mary Kate wanted to know why Gus Chiggins wasn't there (the old prospector from program last time we were on assignment there). It was fun for the kids to get some time with Joel. We're both having an amazing time, even though our week looks very different than the others with Joel in class and me getting time with the kids.

Thursday, we went down to Sarah's and the kids played outside for hours. We ate lunch there and then went down to the barn to check out their new pot belly pig. That night, we got a sitter for the kids and went to a new brick over pizza place in BV. A lot of the Georgia crowd came along. It was sooooo good. Sarah and I had a blast singing Chicago on the way there and back...a favorite pastime.

Getting Adjusted

2011-05-05T12:22:00.003-04:00

So, the trip out was amazing, but the first day at Trail West was horrible. This is what we woke up to.

We hadn't been to the grocery store yet, so we didn't have any food, and we didn't know how safe it was to go to the store (Sarah laughed at me about that later). So, we ate car snacks for breakfast. The kids had a blast in the snow until their hands got too cold. After 3 days of being cooped up in a car and the snow keeping them from playing outside, the first day was a little rough. Ford has been super needy and whiney since we've been here. He wants me to hold him nonstop, which is kind of difficult hiking up steps at 9,000 feet. My best friend from college, Sarah, lives in Buena Vista with her hubby and 3 kids (soon to be 4 when their adoption of T is complete). Sarah came up Sunday night after the kids were in bed and we got to talk for hours. It was bliss. We moved from our apartment to a condo after 2 days. I thought our apartment was fine until we got to our condo.

We went from this view...to this view...

Now, I kinda feel like I'm on a luxurious vacation, which is really fun. On Tuesday, we went with Sarah and her kids to Salida to swim in the indoor hot springs pool. It was so fun. They have a toddler pool that doesn't go over 3 feet, so it was perfect for the kids. I'm finding it really interesting to watch Ford around groups of kids. When it's just 1 or 2 kids, he has fun playing with them, but he tends to play by himself a lot when the crowd gets bigger. At the pool, he was perfectly content sitting on the side of the pool playing with a noodle all by himself. After about an hour, he finally got in the pool to play with everyone. That afternoon, we went to watch Eli's (Sarah's oldest) soccer game. We've been having a lot of fun at nights hanging out with all the people here from our region. There's about 9 of them out here, so we all get together when classes are done for the day.

click above pic to see more

Sabbatical has begun

2011-05-04T22:51:00.003-04:00

I've been trying ever since I got here to get started on blogging about our sabbatical, but we only have internet in one place in camp and we've been super busy. So, I'll probably keep this as short as I can just so I can get started. Going to staff conference just before sabbatical began was a huge blessing. After weeks of planning and packing and thinking, it was nice to have some recoup time before our road trip. Of course, a lot of it was spent in hiding because of all the tornadoes whirling around. Sharp Top didn't have any damage, but we did lose power and had to cut the conference short.

The drive out to Colorado couldn't have been better. My mom was Super Granna and drove the kids all the way to Lexington by herself, which gave Joel and I a whole leg of the trip without them. However, by the time we got to Knoxville, I was so car sick that I was wondering if we were making a huge mistake. Luckily, I discovered how wonderful Dramamine was and stayed doped up for 3 days. It was super fun to get to celebrate Rebecca's birthday in Kentucky. Her husband and his family were amazing and cooked a fish fry and let us all spend the night (since Rebecca was basically running a bed and breakfast for the weekend and had no room). We also got to see her horsebaby, Zeus, and the renovations that they've done to the barn for their new barn business. We headed out early Friday morning. We made the call that it would be Young Life camp in the car for the next 2 days, where the answer would always be yes. I must have changed Ford's DVD player at least 100 times (many times before the movie even started). The kids were absolutely wonderful the whole time. One of the biggest things I was worried about was MK getting car sick since she often complains of needing to throw up on a 10 minute drive. But, she never once said anything about it the whole way. Thank you, Jesus. We made a long stop at the St. Louis Arch along the way to let the kids get some energy out. We made it to Lawrence, KS that night to stay with my cousins, Bill and Sonya. They made us a great breakfast on Saturday and we headed to CO. We go to Denver about 4:00 and made a stop at REI. The kids had fun playing on their playground, but we had to leave because some punk kid kept beating up all the other kids. He seriously jerked Ford to the ground and pulled his hood back. Then, we headed to Casa Bonita...Mexicanwonderland. It took the kids a little bit to warm up to it since they thought the gunfight was for real and that the "robber girl" really fell off the cliff. Anyway, it was a fun dinner before making the last leg of the trip to Buena Vista. We got into Trail West about 8:30 that night.

Click on the picture to see pics from the trip out to Colorado.

Summer Plans

2011-04-20T20:07:00.001-04:00

If you're interested in keeping up with where we are when this summer, click on this link.

Summer 2011

Easter Fun

2011-04-18T21:51:00.004-04:00

Here's some pictures from Mary Kate's Easter egg hunt at school and our church picnic.

I love this picture of Ford. He was attacking that thing.

Road Trip

2011-03-05T17:42:00.006-05:00

So, I know that this blog has long been neglected This entry really has two purposes. One, to ask some advice. Two, to say that we're going private. First of all, in May, Joel will be starting a 3 month sabbatical. We are beyond excited about the quantity and quality time that we will have as a family and time to truly focus on the Lord without our usual daily lives getting in the way...not to say that we won't have distractions and trials! I'm a little nervous about going into a time where the focus is to rest, be renewed, and revived in the Lord because I know that the enemy will be standing point. I also know that there is no way that we're going to come back from sabbatical unchanged...and I'm not a fan of change (although, I know change from the Lord is transforming and I do want that). I am so excited about the things that we have planned while on sabbatical...the two main things being a road trip to Colorado (where Joel will be taking a class and I will get to spend a whole week with one of my most favorite people, Sarah, and we get to visit family and friends along the way) and a trip to New Zealand to visit Joel's sister, Anna, and her family (a trip that we've dreamed of for 5 years and never imagined would happen. We took a leap of faith and bought the tickets, and God has affirmed that on a daily basis.). Can't wait to meet my newest nephew. Here's where your advice comes in...Even though, I am so excited about our l-0-n-g trips via car and plane, I'm not naive to think that it won't be hard with a 4 year old and a 2 year old. So, I am welcoming any and all advice on taking long trips with little people...from games to play, to how frequent stops should be, to good travel toys, to what "drugs" might help if they're hysterical, to good car snacks, to cool kid friendly maps to show the kids where we are, to organizational tips and so on. I really don't want them to be plugged up the whole time, but I have been researching kids headphones and I found those cute animal ones by mushabelly. They got horrible reviews, but wondering if anybody has used them or what brand you would recommend.

Like I said, I'm planning on going private...not that I'm planning on blogging a whole bunch, but I do plan on using it to keep our family updated during sabbatical. So, if you go to check out the blog and you can't get on, that's why. For anyone that has kept up with this blog, thanks for checking in and caring about our family.

Things that happen when Joel's Away

2010-09-30T20:46:00.004-04:00

The bed does not get made
Dishes don't get washed
I don't make it out of my pajama's
I didn't brush my teeth or get a bra on until noon (which I only put the bra on in case someone rang my doorbell, which actually happened because my sweet husband sent me roses)
The house does not get picked up
I eat cookies and drink lots of coke
Every light in the house is on (which I know Joel just read that to the tune of Trace Adkins' song)
I watch stupid shows on the computer
I stay up way too late
I sleep on his side of the bed

August

2010-08-26T20:09:00.008-04:00

August has been a very full month. I spent the first week in Columbus with my mom while Joel went to a seminary class in Sacramento. I'm pretty sure that he had more fun than studied after going to San Fran for a day and Lake Tahoe for a day. I made a visit up to my Dad's house, where the kids had fun driving the boat and playing in the water. Click on the picture below if you want to see more from Papa Doc's house.

The next week was our Lancaster Family beach trip that was NOT at the beach. Instead, we had a staycation in Columbus. My Grandparents, cousins, and aunt came over and we had fun going to the aquarium, Butts Mill Farm, swimming with the kids, and watching old home videos from our beach trips. I love this picture of my Grandparents. By looking at it, you'd never guess that they spend most of their time nagging each other! Click on the picture to see more from our staycation.

I turned 30 this month. I don't like it for lots of reasons...1. I don't like change and going from twentysomething to thirtysomething just seems like a BIG change to me. 2. I feel like having anything 3 and above at the beginning of your age makes you a hard core adult, one that has it all figured out, one that always makes mature, wise, responsible decisions, and one that has more responsibility than fun. 3. I feel like thirtysomethings are put into a box, like we're all in the same phase of life now. Personally, I like being in box - I know my boundaries there - but it's making me feel a little claustrophobic. 4. I think what really bothers me is that I feel like whoever "I" am at this moment is who I'll be forever, like my time for "finding" myself is a lot more limited now. I don't have as much room to grow and change...and there are lots of areas that I want to grown in and lots of things that I want to see change. Okay, now for the truth...I know I'll never have it all figured out, nor do I have to. I know that there's way more fun to be had. I know I'm not in a box and I know that there's still plenty of opportunity to grow and change and become who God created me to be. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

So, I'm thankful to my mom for giving me this pink cowboy hat to remind me that I can still be a kid. As a child, I had a similar pink hat that I wore a lot. I have fond memories of wearing this hat and sitting with Miss Tiny (a family friend) singing Alabama's If You're Gonna Play in Texas. So, hats off to being 30. Joel gave me the first season of Thirtysomething...how appropriate. We've had fun watching it, laughing at the 80's fashions, but I also love how honest this show is. It's evoked some good conversations about marriage, parenthood, and friendships. There's a few more birthday pics in here.

We had a great Young Life Committee Weekend at Sharp Top Cove last weekend. Joel and I are so thankful for a loving, praying, hard-working, supportive committee. Thanks for making Young Life Macon happen.

The kids had their first day of Parent's Morning Out this week. They're going for a few hours on Tuesdays, which gives me a morning to myself and a quieter prayer time at the YL house with committee.

8 Years

2010-07-27T09:40:00.004-04:00

Happy Anniversary, Joel!

You make dancing in the

minefields worth it.

I love you.

Charleston

2010-07-21T13:51:00.003-04:00

We had a fun weekend visiting Stephanie and Joe (and the soon-to-be-twins) in Charleston. We went to the beach, saw movies, ate good food, went to the princess party, played in the fountain, and had some fun family time. Click on the pic below to see the album from the weekend.I love this picture because it reminds me that Jesus is the living water...not a meandering stream, not a stagnant pond, but He is the River of Life.

"Jesus cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says."

John 7:37-38 The Message

Post Camp

2010-07-10T09:16:00.006-04:00

I think I'm getting over my post-camp funk. I was not real excited about coming home knowing that we didn't have much going on until late July. I thought that I was going to be bored, but these have been an incredible two weeks. It's been great being home when I don't have tons of stuff going on and I can just play with the kids. We had a really fun 4th of July weekend topped off with homemade ice cream (which the kids have eaten every day) and a Braves game. The kids did great at the game, even having to wait an hour and a half for the fireworks after the game.We've had a lot of fun playing in the pool...minus the time that Ford got stuck under water. The highlight of the past two weeks has been summer campaigners. Each morning, several of the kids that went to Windy Gap would meet at our house for breakfast, worship, and to study the book of John. Speaking of Windy Gap, it was an incredible week (you can check out pictures on Facebook). We took 20 kids (thanks to the grace of God and Chris Campos' enthusiasm) and 10 kids decided to follow Jesus!

Mary Kate is finally completely potty trained. I think being at camp with her friend that didn't wear pull-ups encouraged her to go for it. She had only 2 accidents at camp and one or two the week our parents had her and none for the past 2 weeks. Even though John Rosemond would probably disagree with rewarding a child for something that they should naturally do, we used a bike to motivate her to not have accidents. Thursday, we went as a family to pick it out. She was so excited. Now, she just has to learn how to pedal forward.We became a of herd of bovines on Friday to celebrate Cow Appreciation Day. Sure, it was fun...but we all know it was for the free food. My sisters have had lots of exciting news lately. Stephanie found out that she and Joe are officially having a BOY and a GIRL!!! I can't wait to meet my niece and nephew. We're going to Charleston next weekend for MK to go to Stephanie's princess party at the museum and I can't wait to see her baby bump. Rachel just celebrated her 30th birthday! Anna's boy, Isaiah, just turned 1 and took his first steps...and will be a BIG brother around January! Maybe, we'll get the chance to visit New Zealand after this little one comes. Rebecca's horse, Grace, finally had her foal. Rebecca and Ethan slept in the barn for 10 days (and my mom for 4 days) waiting for this colt to be born. Here's a sweet picture...

PAD

2010-06-19T15:40:00.003-04:00

Wendy (a family therapist) just coined a new clinical disorder...Post Assignment Depression. We are all moping around today, dreading having to leave camp. Here's the Top Symptoms of PAD...

You are dreading having to clean and cook meals again.
Leaving 70 degree weather for 100 degree humidity.
Wondering who's going to entertain your kids all hours of the day.
Sad to be leaving such amazing fellowship.
Going back to reality where you have to spend money.
No more desserts.
No more witnessing hundreds of kids standing up to say that they decided to follow Jesus.
No more care-free parenting.

Oh, it is a sad day when you have to leave assignment, but there's plenty to look forward to at home. Joel and I are actually heading back for one more week of camp at Windy Gap. Joel's parents are meeting us at the airport to pick up the kids and then we'll drive to North Carolina. So, we do get one more week of desserts! Please, pray for us as we take Macon kids to camp. Pray that they would have the best week of their life...not just because of the amazing fun that they will have, but because that's where they will meet Jesus and decide to follow Him. Pray for Joel and I as we'll have to be away from our kids for a whole week and for Nonna and Grandaddy and Granna that will have to be in charge of camp detox.

CCR Week 3

2010-06-17T22:28:00.006-04:00

One of my most favorite people lives in Buena Vista, CO. Sarah and I went to college together, and whenever we have a Colorado assignment we try to meet up. Today, we met half way in Silverthorne and went to an amazing park surrounded by mountains and lakes that had a great playground for the kids to play. It was so much fun to catch up with her and meet her new baby, Mia, who she adopted from Ethiopia. Mary Kate had a blast playing with Eli. I think if we lived closer, they'd be best friends.

Ford, MK, Mia, Eli

(Abel got to go to work with his Daddy today so
he didn't make the trip)

It was raining and freezing for the first two days of camp this week. I felt so bad for the campers. They headed all the way up to the rodeo, did a few events, then got poured on and had to come down early. Here's a picture of redemption, and the days that have followed have been fabulous.

The mountains after the snow were gorgeous!

Mary Kate had fun indulging in some hot chocolate. The whole time that she was drinking it, I thought that she only had one cup. I didn't realize that she figured out how to pour her
own and really had about 5 cups.

Mary Kate and Joel with Michael Edwards

MK with Jordan/Sleeping Beauty/Pocahontas
MK and Ford with Blarfengar

A Great Way to Start Off Our Last Week at Camp!

2010-06-13T16:31:00.005-04:00

(click on picture for the album)

We woke up to a summer wonderland this morning with everything covered in snow. I put some boots over the kid's footies and we headed outside to play. It snowed on us for an hour or so, then quickly began to melt away. It's supposed to snow again tonight, so we'll see what tomorrow morning holds. There's also a pic of the fox that wanders around camp. The kids had fun feeding him bread, but he'd get a little too close for comfort.

We're so excited that lots of Georgia areas are heading out here this week. It'll be fun to see familiar faces and to get to be a part of their week at camp. I just hope they're not all mad at Joel for telling them that the weather is warm and not to worry about heavy jackets. They may be in for a big surprise when they get here.

CCR Week 2

2010-06-12T23:42:00.006-04:00

(For those of you that aren't sick of looking at pics of my kids, click on the pic above to see more)

We've just wrapped up an unbelievable week at Crooked Creek. This was a week with some rowdy, hard, hurt kids. It was amazing to see the number of kids that stood up at "Say-So" to say that they decided to follow Christ. Praise God!

Joel and I were able to get some time away from camp for a few hours, so we headed into Winterpark with the kids to play at the park and get some dinner. The park part was fun, but Mary Kate melted down at dinner, so we made a vow not to bring the kids next week on our night out!

We got to spend some special time with the Capernaum kids while their leaders were in a leader meeting. They are so much fun. There's a few pics in the album. Here's an awesome story...One of the capernaum kids was wheelchair bound. This week, he got to drive a ridge runner and completed the whole ropes course. A leader was telling me about it, tearing up, so thankful that this boy got to have freedom for a week. What a beautiful picture of the freedom that we can have in Christ.

The Quote of the Week: Joel was watching the kids while I worked with the Tawashi's one morning. When I came back to the cabin, he said, "It was a great morning. I just got to be a housewife today." As I'm looking around at the mess that was left and beds still unmade, I said something like "How's that?" And, he said, "Because I just got to sit around and talk to the other wives all day." Let's just say that he will never live that one down!

Rodeo Week 2

2010-06-08T01:41:00.005-04:00

(if you want to see some pics from Rodeo Week 2, click on the pic above)

We just finished Day 2 of Week 2. I don't think I've ever seen a week of camp that is so diverse...there are white kids, black kids, Hispanic kids, capernaum kids (special needs), and mostly rowdy kids. It always tugs at my heart to see how the "regular" kids love on the capernaum kids...cheering extra loud when they get put in a game or show up in the camp video, helping them out when they need it, and going out of their way to talk to them. We even had one of the bus drivers comment on the fact that he's never seen kids loved on like that before. I'm excited to see what God does in this week of camp.

Some recent highlights for family since the phone isn't very accessible...

Joel's crown chipped off of his tooth. It doesn't look too bad, but it's really sensitive to anything cold.
Mary Kate's had a fever off and on for the past couple of days.
For the first time since February, Ford is medicine-free and does NOT have a runny nose!
Mary Kate randomly picks up gum off the ground around camp and chews it...might explain why she's now sick. I guess she's taking the "make camp beautiful" talk to heart.

The Night That Never Ends, Week 1

2010-06-03T00:44:00.004-04:00

It's my favorite night of camp...the night where you get to see kids come alive, let their walls down, and be kids. Right now, they're in the midst of processing our broken relationship with God, but tomorrow they get to hear what God did to fix that broken relationship...Jesus! Mary Kate and Ford had a blast watching everything tonight. For Grandmothers that want to know what their grandkids are up to, here's some pics from tonight and the last couple of days.

Click on picture above for more pics from Tableau!

Rodeo Night...click on the pic above for more.

Going for a swim in the hot tub.

Other points of interest:

Mary Kate pooped at lunch today (after being given a stool softener) and it created a puddle on the Dining Hall floor...that was real fun!
Ford is FINALLY adjusting to the time change and sleeping past 5 in the morning!
Mary Kate has taken a nap every day that we've been here...woohoo!
We just finished our 2nd round of Real Life...keep praying for that. Today, campers gave our "high school selves" advice...that wasn't so fun.

Crooked Creek

2010-05-30T15:42:00.004-04:00

I was waiting to do an update blog until I had some pics to post, but I keep forgetting to lug the camera around so no pics yet...maybe soon. Bottom line...best assignment ever! I realize that I'm saying that after only 3 days (Day 1 with kids), but I figured I better soak it all in while I can. Oh, for those of you reading this not knowing what I'm talking about, Joel and I and the kids are on a 3 week assignment at Crooked Creek Ranch in Fraser, CO. Joel's job is Work Crew Coordinator, which means he's spending his time loving on the WC bosses, organizing WC meetings and devos, and making sure that everything "work crew" is running smoothly. So far, this job has proved to be very family friendly and Joel has done an excellent job of helping me out when he can. The trip out here went pretty well, other than Ford being a handful at times...but no major melt downs. This is our first real regional assignment, meaning most of the people on it are from our region, which is awesome to know so many people. I often leave assignments regretting not getting to know the assigned team as well as I'd like, so it's nice to have a head start. Mary Kate has met her soul mate. Rich and Wendy Crawford are here with their kids and they have a 4 year old that loves princesses as much as MK. The weather has been gorgeous so far, so the kids have been living outside...playing in the huge sandbox (really, the volleyball court), exploring the creek, playing in the gym, playing wiffle ball, and now we're anxiously awaiting for the first crew of campers to arrive. Ford seems like a new man after getting tubes and clearing out a sinus infection. He's having so much fun. This is random, but I got him his first pair of real tennis shoes (99 cent off ebay) before we headed out here, and when I put them on him, he was no longer my baby...he looks so old in them. The great thing about being at Crooked Creek is getting to see Steebo (a Macon YL leader who is here as a year-long intern). Mary Kate has been talking about going to Colorado to see Steebo for quite a while. We're looking forward to getting some hang time with him. I was telling Joel last night that I really feel like I'm experiencing a little slice of heaven...I mean, we're at camp with all of our needs being met, living in community with other believers, just getting to play all day, worshiping with people that love the Lord, and getting to see God work in the lives of high school kids. Yes, I know that there will be hard times to come, but I know that God is here.

Here's a few prayer requests for those of you that want to join in...

Overall, pray for rest, health, and time with Jesus for our assigned team.
Pray for the speaker, Springer, and program team (Chris, Allen, and Matt) as they carry a lot of the weight in being in front of kids and setting them up to meet Jesus.
Pray for the work crew and summer staff as they selflessly serve our high school friends.
Pray for Real Life, a part of the week where a few of the assigned team share their story through a series of thought tapes. It's a very powerful tool that can relate the things that Springer is talking about to your life. Joel and I will both be a part of the real life team. Joel's done it a few times before, but this will be my first. I'm a little anxious about having to relive my "high school self". Pray that God would protect us and the rest of the team from the enemy getting into our heads and making us think that we're still those people.
Pray for high school kids to "get" how much the Lord loves them and to begin a relationship with Him.
Pray for Joel, me, Mary Kate and Ford to learn more about what it looks like for our family to follow Christ.

Thanks ya'll!

Disney on Ice

2010-05-17T10:54:00.004-04:00

Granna has been anxiously awaiting the chance to take Mary Kate to Disney on Ice. We finally got to go this weekend. Mary Kate decided to go as Snow White, which is so fun that she wanted to dress up. We had incredible seats...almost right on the ice. We were all so excited to see Mary Kate's face light up when the show started, but as soon as it started I thought we'd made a huge mistake. She immediately got scared and started hiding her face. Leave it to Disney to create a whole scene of villains and scare the poor kids to death from the get go. Luckily, a bucket of nasty, stale popcorn distracted her enough to get through the scene. After we were done with the villains, Mickey's crew and the Princesses saved the day. It was a great show (more so watching Mary Kate)! Thanks, Granna!Here's MK hiding her face with her purse.

This girl loves popcorn...a girl after her daddy's heart!

When Aunt Stessi asked Mary Kate what she should name the twins, she said Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Aunt Stessi's not a huge fan of those names. When they came onto the ice, MK got all excited and said, "That's what Aunt Stessi is having!" I wonder if MK will be disappointed when the twins don't look like this.We couldn't go eat Japanese today because Mary Kate said that she was scared of the fire, however she didn't even flinch at this ring of fire.

This troll doll dancing was the most hilarious part!

Finally, some proof that Ford is my child...

2010-05-07T22:18:00.003-04:00

Yes, that's poop all over Ford's face!

Here's a similar experience that I had...the main difference being that I seemed to enjoy it.

Actually, while looking for this picture, I ran across several pictures from when I was Ford's age that we looked alike. It's the first time that I've seen any of me in him. Usually, all I see is his Daddy and Grandaddy (which isn't a bad thing, but it's nice to know that, at least, some of my genes exist in my child).

Lately

2010-05-07T21:06:00.005-04:00

I blame my lack of blogging lately on Joel's Mac. I tried 3 times to upload pictures to my blog from his computer, but it never worked. Now, I'm using my mom's possessed computer, so we'll see if I can actually finish a post. There are a couple of things to highlight from the past couple of weeks.

First of all, we made a trip to Callaway Gardens with my mom. She'd been wanting to get up there to see the azaleas, but I'm not sure how much she got to enjoy them with a 3 and 1 year old in tow. We started the day off with breakfast at the Country Store. I have fond memories as a child eating pancakes on the porch of the Country Store. Then, we took the obligatory picture in front of the scenic view across the street. We headed to the Log Cabin, another one of my favorite spots as a child. It reminds me of how simple life can be if we let it. Then, we explored the Butterfly Center. Mary Kate was so excited about seeing them, but ended up being mostly scared of the butterflies. MK and Granna visited the chapel, where she said that she wanted to marry Evan (her latest obsession). We had fun in the gardens at the Sibley Center with Ford and Mary Kate playing in the fountain and going through the mazes. Lastly, we had a picnic. Fun times. Check out the pictures below.

Since my Dad wasn't able to come to MK's princess party, he decided to throw her a little party of his own. Mary Kate had fun feeling like a princess. Morgan, notice her cute outfit that she's wearing! Here's some pics.

Last week, Joel and I headed to Staff Conference at Sharp Top Cove. It was a great time of fellowship, worship, and being refreshed. I'm so thankful that I get to be a part of such an awesome ministry. It is always so encouraging to hear stories from other staff about how God has worked in their lives and in their areas. I'm so looking forward to our assignment at Crooked Creek in a couple of weeks, but we've got a lot going on between now and then.

We've missed Joel this week since he's been at Trail West for a class, but we've had fun hanging out with Granna while he's gone. We can't wait to see him tomorrow. My lesson for the day...never take Ford to Ruby Tuesday again. Every time he goes there, he falls apart...never again!

I finally feel like an Aunt...

2010-04-23T13:22:00.003-04:00

I finally feel like an Aunt for two (really three) reasons. I actually got to see my nephew for the first time face to face and hold him in my arms last week. He is soooo precious with huge, gorgeous, blue eyes. I was amazed at how content and well adjusted he was after a super-long flight and major time change. We are so excited that Anna, Dalton, and Isaiah are visiting from New Zealand for a while. We got to have some fun family time with them in Columbus and even got to catch a movie with just the four of us...fyi, Date Night is a great, funny movie minus the extremely awkward stripper scene...just a warning for those of you that might go see it. They also made a day trip to Macon, which was so fun to hang out with them. Here's some pics of our time at Nonna and Grandaddy's.

Mary Kate showing off her New Zealand shirt.

Who knows what Mary Kate was making Dalton do...either search for Evan, teaching him about animals at church, or looking for rolly pollies (this girls imagination has taken off lately).

A proud Nonna with her grandboys in their All Blacks shirts.

Grandaddy was the hero of the weekend when he turned his riding lawnmower into a tractor and gave everyone rides. Ford absolutely loved it, which resulted in many fits when it wasn't his turn.

So, the other two reasons that I really feel like an aunt is that my sister, Stephanie, is having TWINS!!! We are so excited for her and Joe. Now, Mary Kate is going to have to learn how to share her Prince Joe.

Something to like about Athens

2010-04-16T20:34:00.005-04:00

I've never really had a good relationship with Athens. It seems like every time I visit there, something happens to give me a bad taste in my mouth. Well, I've finally found something that I can enjoy about Athens...G Day! We took a family day trip to Athens last weekend to meet up with some friends, picnic, and go to the game. It was such a great time with friends and family. I told Joel that if all games were FREE, only two hours, and with such great weather, I'd definitely go to a lot more. Oh, and I can't forget the best part of all...no matter who wins, Joel's a happy man!

I'm really starting to get a little nervous about MK's interest in boys! Here she is hanging out with Corbin and Brooks.

After reading "Hello, Hairy Dawg" umpteen times, it was fun for Mary Kate to see some of the landmarks from the book.

Corbin, Liam, Emma, and MK

Processing

2010-04-09T14:01:00.004-04:00

This picture was taken at the 2008 Georgia vs. Tennessee game. I believe that this was the Saturday before the Monday that Sweeney went in for gall bladder surgery and discovered the cancerous tumor.

There are so many thoughts running through my head about Sweeney's journey...not just with cancer, but in life. If you're not familiar with his story, click on his Caring bridge site from my blog list. There are so many nuggets of inspiration that I don't want to escape me, so I feel the need to sit down and process for a bit. Attending Sweeney's Memorial service on Wednesday was a privilege. That sounds weird to say...I'd much rather that Sweeney still be here and that there had not been such a service. However, I knew that I was experiencing something extraordinary with hundreds of other people. The presence of the Lord was there...and it was powerful. The Lord was worshiped and He was glorified. In the words of Cabell, "Sweeney was a giant of a man." To hear story after story of how Sweeney impacted high school kids, friends, Young Life committee, family, and Young Life staff, is very telling of the kind of man that he was. There were many, many things said about him, but the most common attributes were kind, humble, a great friend, extraordinary, servant, and, most of all, a man who adored, loved, and served his wife. However selfish it may be, it's difficult to attend a memorial and not wonder what people would say about you. It's even more difficult when you realize that you pale in comparison to that person. If I were not a follower of Christ, I strongly believe that feelings of jealousy and envy would be warring about in my mind. And, yes, even as a Christian, I have to fight those tendencies at times because how could I not want to be like Sweeney? How could I not want the kind of friendship that Jonesie and Sweeney shared? How could I not want to build relationships with high school kids like Sweeney did? How could I not want to bring friends to Christ like Sweeney? How could I not want a marriage like Cabell and Sweeney's? But, because I am a follower of Christ, I know that all of Sweeney's amazing attributes and relationships are a reflection of Jesus Christ. Instead of being jealous, I am humbled before my God. Instead of being bitter, I look to Jesus and long to become more like Him. Instead of giving up and thinking that I could never be that person, I surrender to my Lord and allow Him to mold me into who He created me to be. Leaving Sweeney's memorial, I had an overwhelming desire to be with the Lord, to know Him deeper, to glorify Him, and I'm thankful to Sweeney for that.

Happy Birthday, Mary Kate!

2010-04-06T07:36:00.005-04:00

I can't believe that Mary Kate is 3 years old today! I am so thankful and feel so blessed for these three years. If you've been around Mary Kate, you know that she exudes JOY. We've had a blast celebrating her 3rd birthday. It started in Columbus with a party with Grandma and Grandpa that Nonna put together. Click on the pic below to see that party.

On Saturday, we celebrated with a Royal party. Princes and Princesses came from all over the land to wish Princess Mary Kate a happy birthday. I had so much fun planning this party. Thanks to everyone that helped make it happen...I couldn't have done it without you. Click on this pic to see the album.

Today is her actual birthday, and Joel wanted to make sure that it was special as well so he made her chocolate chip pancakes. Click on the picture below to see more pics.

This is MK showing how old she is. Joel loves that she holds her 3 fingers up this way because that's what he and Michael Edwards throw up for Earnhardt.

P.S. I guess I'm not getting a shower today since I just spent all my time posting on the blog. Oh well, maybe tomorrow!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T15:47:00.003-04:00

Here are some pics to document our Easter fun over the past week (click on the picture above to see the Easter album). It started with an Easter egg hunt at Granna's church, then a visit to the Easter Bunny, then a fun weekend with all of my family at my house, a cookout after Church with our own little Easter egg hunt, and Easter baskets. It was so much fun having all of my family at my house for a few days. Thanks to my sisters for driving many hours to come celebrate Easter (and MK's birthday party...but we'll get to that in another post).

However, the true spirit of Easter was revealed in the latest post written by Cabell Sweeney, who is discovering how to live life without her beloved Mike. We are looking forward to celebrating Sweeney's life on Wednesday at his memorial service. It feels kind of weird and wrong to say that I'm looking forward to it because I'd much rather Sweeney be here and healed. However, I know it's going to be such a testimony to the love and grace of Jesus.

Last of the Cherry Blossom Fun

2010-03-28T16:41:00.004-04:00

My mom came up to enjoy some of the Cherry Blossom fun with the kids. This time, they got to ride the rides...how fun!

Your kids seem so old when they start riding fair rides! They were too cute riding Nemo together. Ford was not happy when the ride was over. The "worker girl" was getting him out and he kept pointing to it like he wanted to ride again. I asked if he could ride by himself and she let him...and he LOVED it!

Here's a pic for Aunt Rebecca! Mom kept commenting on how well she rides a horse. I said it doesn't matter how well she rides a horse, there's no way we're going down that road! (sorry Becca)

MK's first time on a roller coaster!

I spy something pink...

2010-03-26T22:50:00.005-04:00

Today, we enjoyed some more Cherry Blossom fun. While waiting in the longest line imaginable for cherry ice cream, we saw lots of interesting things in the color pink.

This is half of the line that we waited in to get free Cherry ice cream. The word "free" can bring out some cooky people.

Pink Princesses

Pink Poodle

Pink Trash Cans

Pink Potties

Pink Ladies

Pink Ice Cream

"Give me more ice cream!"

While walking back to the car, we passed a huge statue of a man that Mary Kate pointed out. She said, "His name is Joel....no, his name is Elvis." Then, we were naming her new pink piggy that someone gave her, and she decided to name him Elvis too. I think she's been spending way too much time with my mother.

Cherry Blossom Fun

2010-03-25T20:57:00.003-04:00

We finally made it down to enjoy some of the Cherry Blossom festivities. We joined some friends to watch the Sea Lion show. It was great. I'm hoping to get the kids down there for some more fun before the festival ends.

Trip to Bolton

2010-03-23T21:07:00.003-04:00

I went with my mom to visit my grandparents this weekend in Mississippi. My cousins were there with their children as well. It was so much fun watching our kids play together, doing the very same things that we did when we were their age. We visited the Agricultural Museum, where MK was fascinated with the Indians. We visited "small town Mississippi", rode the carousel, rode the train, and looked at the amazing train displays. Mary Kate went on an adventure with Granna and her cousins to see Grandaddy work in the fields and feed the calves. Of course, a trip to Bolton wouldn't be complete without a Fish Fry.Here's my little man walking. He walks like a drunk man, but he's learning.

Bouncing around on the train!

MK pushed this cart all over the place like a wild woman.

Gabriel and Ford enjoying their snack.

Victoria, Lucy, and MK having fun with their pinwheels.

All the Great Grandkids together with Nana.

Mary Kate playing the palano (as MK calls it) with Grandaddy. I don't think I've ever seen Grandaddy sit at the piano before.

Fun Pictures

2010-02-26T11:06:00.005-05:00

Mary Kate and I have had fun watching the Olympics together, especially the figure skating. She puts on a costume and pretends to figure skate with them.

We went for a family run yesterday. Mary Kate kept messing with Ford, causing much drama during the run. After a while, I noticed that it was really quiet. This is why...

This is quite a rare occurrence to catch her asleep somewhere other than her bed. Ford was enjoying the peace and quiet!

After she woke up, she laid down to do her pretend sit-ups and Ford attacked her. They were being so cute together.

The things Moms do to get a few minutes to shower!

2010-02-19T13:15:00.005-05:00

My kids love to play with tubes of toothpaste. We've had tubes mysteriously disappear and they usually look like victims of a firing squad, but whatever keeps the kids entertained so that I can have a few minutes to shower is fine with me...until they learn how to open them!

Snow Time

2010-02-13T10:12:00.007-05:00

We had a fun week last week at Granna's house while Joel was in Texas for a class. Granna treated us to Monkey Joe's, Chuck-E-Cheese's, Hollywood Connection, a movie (for me), and she even made it snow. Thanks for some fun times, Granna. Even though Nonna wasn't feeling too great, her and Grandaddy came to play with the kids for a while as well. Now, I'm glad to have Joel back home and to have a normal week this week (fingers crossed).

It was great to be at my mom's house for the snow so that we could use all of our old ski gear.

MK throwing snowballs at me

Ford was not a big fan of the snow

Our pathetic excuse of a snowman (where's Daddy when we need him?)

Bo seemed to really love the snow

attempting a snow angel

Warming up with a cup of hot chocolate

Avery Kate, Grace, and MK at Grace's Princess Party

MK killing our snowman in her princess heels.

Ford enjoyed Day 2 of fun in the snow much better.

Sharp Top Cove

2010-02-12T14:19:00.003-05:00

Last weekend, Young Life Macon took about 100 kids to Sharp Top Cove. It was a great weekend, not only because our Macon friends got to hear about Jesus, but because so many of our favorite people were there on assigned team and as adult guests. Mary Kate had a blast playing with Morgan (thanks, Morgan, you're a lifesaver), McKinley (who MK calls Kennaly), Anne, the Scoggins girls, and really everyone at camp. She's such a people person. Here are a few pics from the weekend. I don't know why they're small, but I'll blame it on my mom's possessed computer.

MK dancing with Blake (one of her favorite people)
McKinley was so sweet to let MK hang all over him.

some sweet pics of MK and Addie Lane

Right now, I'm waiting for my two babies to wake up from naps so that we can go play in the snow. Sadly, their Daddy is stuck in Dallas and can't play with us. What fun is a snow storm if you're husband is half way across the country! Hopefully, he'll be home soon!

Not Much Going On

2010-01-24T21:28:00.002-05:00

There's not much to post about, but I'm tired of looking at a picture of Lane Kiffin on my blog. So, here's a few ramblings...

I've decided that the #1 disappointment in being a stay-at-home-mom is that Saturday is just another day of the week...not much to look forward to. Sooooo different than when I was a teacher and couldn't wait for the weekend to get here. The other day, Joel said to get ready because our next 3 weeks are going to be crazy...2 weekends of camp and other stuff. I said that I was excited about it because it's something different than our everyday routine. As challenging as it is to travel with two little ones, I really do like being on the go and it's usually worth the hassle. Thankfully, our kids travel pretty well and adjust quickly. (Note - To blog stalkers that look for opportunities for people to be out of town, we do have a house guest that may foil your plans :) )

Note to any kind of "techy" person that may have the latest iPhone or Macbook Pro, stay away from my husband! He just can't handle "the next best thing" coming out and he doesn't have it. He's always coming up with these plans to trade up, saying that it's not going to cost us any money...we'll see.

The other night, I was falling asleep on the couch. I told Joel that I wanted to go to sleep so bad, but I didn't want to do what it takes to get there. That kind of parallels my relationship with the Lord right now. My selfishness just keeps getting in the way. I'm so thankful that Jesus came to save me from ME.

Tonight, we had Young Life Leadership. It was so awesome to see a whole room filled with a bunch of guys and girls who desire to go where kids are, get to know them, and show them Jesus.

Kiffin Headed to USC = Katherine can be a UT fan again

2010-01-12T21:33:00.005-05:00

When my buddies called/texted me frantically with the news that Lane Kiffin was heading to USC, Katherine ran into our bedroom, pulled out her old faithful Tennessee sweatshirt and partied like it was 1998. She wants me to take that last line off because it's cheezy, but I think that's what Lane Kiffin is all about, so I'm going to keep it. Just know that she says she is able to proudly say she's a Tennessee fan/alum again! I'm happy for her (and I'm happy that something took UGA's pathetic DC search out of the limelight for a minute...). Ahhh, SEC football. Gotta love it!

Click here if you want the scoop: Lane Kiffin to USC

p.s. Joel posted this.

Happy Birthday, Joel!

2010-01-09T10:29:00.004-05:00

Happy 31st Birthday, sweetheaaaaart (you have to say that like the mobster Italians from that restaurant in Little Italy in Boston)! I hope you have a wonderful birthday. Mary Kate and I have had fun trying to make your birthday special. I'm excited about going to the Duke Basketball game for your birthday today (thanks, Morgan, for making that possible). Joel, I love you and I'm so thankful for you.

Making Blueberry Pancakes for Daddy

MK after making chocolate cupcakes for Daddy!

Ford's One Year Photo Shoot

2010-01-07T13:37:00.003-05:00

This post is mostly for my sister, Rebecca, who's sitting in bed recuping after getting her wisdom teeth taken out. I hope you're not in too much pain. Here's some pictures for you to take your mind off of the pain.

In between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Ford had his one year photo shoot. Because of all the holiday chaos, I'm just now getting around to posting them. Thanks, Cindy, for doing an awesome job. Somehow, you're always able to capture the personalities of my babies on camera. Check out Stansberry Photography if you're interested. Click on the pic below to see the rest of the album.

Makin' the Rounds

2009-12-31T22:31:00.010-05:00

Round 1...Christmas with Dad

(click HERE to see more pics with Dad)

We had a fun time celebrating Christmas with my Dad and his family. I think I'm entering the phase of apologizing for my kids breaking something everytime we go somewhere. It started at my Dad's house when Mary Kate broke a Christmas Angel. We missed Stephanie and Prince Joe this year, but Dad was sure to call her on speaker as we sat down to eat.

Round 2...Christmas with Moma and Rebecca(click HERE to see more pics at Mom's house)

Celebrating Christmas with Mom was a little different this year. Rebecca wasn't going to be here for Christmas since she was spending it with Ethan's family. For the first time since we've gotten married, there was going to be room for us at Joel's parents to stay (sadly, that's because Anna and her family couldn't make it home from New Zealand--we missed y'all). So, that meant that it would be the first Christmas that I didn't wake up to Santa with my Mom. I was excited about spending time with Joel's family, but having a hard time dealing with change (as usual). Since Stephanie wasn't coming home either, Moma decided to go to Bolton to spend Christmas with her parents, which was a special treat for them. It all ended up fine, but took a little getting used to. Rebecca was able to come down for a few days before Christmas, so we got to celebrate with her. We all went to see lights one night. One house totally blew my mind. There's a few pictures in the album above, but they don't do it justice. We celebrated Christmas with my Mom before she left for Mississippi, which included lunch at Shogun. Mom liked the idea of not having to cook or clean up Christmas dinner. Mary Kate was super excited about her trunk filled with princess clothes. She immediately put a wedding dress on and has pretty much kept it on since.

Round 3...Christmas Day with the Kennedys

(click HERE to see the Kennedy album)

Christmas was lots of fun at the Kennedys. On Christmas Eve, MK all of a sudden "got" that Santa was coming to see her. Joel helped her get some milk and cookies ready, which seemed to disappear pretty quickly. It was fun watching them open their stockings and presents on Christmas morning. Nonna cooked us some great food while all of the guys fried the 18 pound turkey. One of my favorite Kennedy Christmas traditions is having a birthday party for Jesus. Mary Kate and Ford were happy to get some play time with their Aunt Rachel, and it was great having Grandma and Grandpa there to celebrate with us as well.

After Christmas with all of our families, we are a bit overwhelmed at how good they are to us. We certainly don't do anything to deserve such generosity, which reminds me of the gift of Jesus and the grace that He offers us.

Round 4...Time in Bolton

(click HERE to see Bolton album)

The day after Christmas, we headed to Bolton, MS to meet up with my mom and get some time with my grandparents. It was so fun watching the kids with Nana and Grandaddy. Again, we didn't leave there without something getting broken. This time, Ford knocked over a table and broke several things. Nana was real calm about it, but I felt awful. One of my Grandaddy's calves was having to be bottle-fed, so Mary Kate and Ford got to go watch. MK really didn't want anything to do with the calf, but she had fun chasing all of the cows. It was fun being out at the "Lancaster Place." It took me back to childhood memories of wiener roasts, fishing, ghost stories, and playing in the woods with my cousins. My cousin, Chad, is in the Air Force and left for a deployment in Cypress after Christmas. His family came to Mississippi to be with family while he's gone, so it was fun to see them.

Goodbye Corolla

2009-12-19T14:33:00.011-05:00

(a pic of Joel and Steebo with the Corolla on their way to see the Dawgs play)

We said goodbye to the Corolla last night. It's been a good car to us...and Joel's parents...and Joel's grandparents! There was certainly nothing cool about the Corolla...but, I got a warm, fuzzy feeling every time I looked at it because it reminded me of the huge sacrifice that Joel made so that I could stay at home when we had Mary Kate. Joel's first car at 16 was an '87 Green Chevy S10. When he got it, my house was his first stop and he took me for a ride. He continued to drive the S10 for the next 10 years. His college buddies affectionately called it the death trap. I guess, any time you let someone borrow your truck and you have to send a pair of pliers along with it, that's not a good sign. I really didn't think that truck was going to survive our engagement since it broke down 2 or 3 times burning up the road between Athens/Gwinnett and Knoxville, but it did. After my first year of teaching, and when we actually had some money in the bank (man, I wish we knew how rich we were then...before kids), Joel bought a gorgeous 4 door F150.The original owner of the S10 actually wanted it back since it was where he kissed his wife for the first time...so sweet. Joel loved his F150, but when Mary Kate came along he put it up for sale so that I could quit teaching and stay at home with our precious little girl (Thanks Joel. I love you). It took quite a while for it to sell, but a dear friend of ours from Griffin ended up buying it (I think it was more as a favor to us than because he really wanted it, but we were thankful). We actually sold our car and our house all in the same day. Joel's parents generously gave us the Corolla to have as a second car. That car was good to us, if we were good to her. We had to let her warm up for about 15 minutes every morning to get her in the right mood. Now, we hope that she'll be good to her new owners. The reason that we were able to part with her is quite a testiment of the Lord's provision. As we near the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I am humbled at the ways that God still shouts out that He loves us and delights in us.

We found Santa in Charleston

2009-12-17T22:44:00.003-05:00

We had a fun weekend in Charleston visiting Aunt Stessi and Prince Joe. It was neat seeing Charleston at Christmas time. We went to the James Island park to see the Festival of Lights. Mary Kate was so excited to ride the carousel there and see Ho Ho. Ford finally got to meet Santa and get a picture. I wish that they'd had their cute Christmas outfits on at the time, but I'll take what I can get. We had fun going through the Farmer's Market downtown and walking down King Street. Of course, we went to see the train at Charleston Place. MK loved getting time with her Prince, but didn't like it one bit if Aunt Stessi tried to hug him or kiss him.

Saaaaaanta....Where arrrrrrre Youuuu?

2009-12-09T14:47:00.005-05:00

The last three times that my mom or I have tried to take the kids to see Santa, he hasn't been there. Today, I met the Ashleys at Bass Pro to try to track down that Santa, but we didn't realize that he only came at certain times. We missed out on a picture with Santa, but the kids still had a blast playing on boats, racing race cars, watching the train, riding on four wheelers, and watching the fish. Mary Kate and Naomi had on similar outfits, which made for some cute pictures.

Nathan, Naomi, and Mary Kate

Just a funny quote

2009-12-03T14:10:00.003-05:00

So, the other day Joel was getting MK in the car in a parking lot. A car started backing up and he didn't see MK. When he got her he said, "You scared the poop out of me!" Then, she said "Where's the poop?" She continued to look for it and kept asking him where it was. I died laughing!

Thanksgiving in the Smokies

2009-11-28T21:03:00.007-05:00

We had a fun time and lots of yummy food in the mountains for Thanksgiving with my family. Both of my sisters and their husbands were able to come. I think it was the first time that we've been together as a family since Rebecca got married. Mary Kate loved soaking up all of the attention from everyone. We're still trying to undo all of the spoiling that occurred.

This is our best attempt at getting everyone in a picture.

Rebecca, Ethan, Bandit, and Mylee (Mylee was due to deliver a litter of pups while we were there, but I guess she wasn't ready yet. We were sad to miss out on the excitement)

Stephanie and Joe

Here's MK in her Santa pajamas, Sleeping Beauty dress, apron, and hat having a tea party with Ford.

This was as close to Santa that I thought MK was going to get. She has yet to sit in a "real" Santa's lap. Of course, I'd say grabbing Santa's crotch is pretty close!

Then, she surprised us all and actually sat in a Santa's lap!

Mary Kate and Granna made a Gingerbread house together. MK loved it...

especially, eating the icing!

They had a hard time getting the icing that came in the kit to work, but Ethan came in and saved the day and got it to work.

The finished product!

Birthday...Round 3

2009-11-28T14:14:00.007-05:00

We headed to the Smokey Mountains for Thanksgiving with my grandparents, mom, sisters and their husbands. Since we had all the family together, we decided to celebrate Ford's birthday...again!

Eating his fireman and holding MK's hand. Mary Kate has been so sweet to him lately and so much more gentle than usual. It's been fun to watch.

Ford dunking basketballs from Aunt Stessi and Uncle Joe.

Opening up his helicopter from Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Ethan.

Ford was not happy when we took his cake away.

Birthday...Round 2

2009-11-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

We had Ford's official birthday party on Sunday at Joel's parents house. He had a monkey cake that he absolutely loved. Instead of making a huge mess, he just ate as much cake as he could. We had to take it away from him to keep him from eating the whole thing. His belly looked like it was going to explode.

Ford with his Grandmama (Although, Robin, I'd love for them to call you Nonna/Nonni. I like that a whole lot more than Grandmama. Nonna/Nonni suits you better. So, I'm hereby declaring a name change...as long as that's okay with you, and MK goes along with it. So, which is it...Grandmama, Nonna, or Nonni...or if Isaiah has another name for you, we could keep it all the same) Sorry for the tangent...back to the party!

Ford and Grandaddy (a.k.a. his twin)

Cuttin' up with Granna

Grandma and Grandpa joined us for the celebration. Aren't they so cute!

Daddy putting together his new toys.

A funky monkey family!

Princess Day at the Georgia Aquarium

2009-11-26T22:07:00.004-05:00

To benefit frog conservation and promote The Princess and the Frog, the Georgia Aquarium joined with Walt Disney to host a princess day. Of course, Granna wasn't going to miss an opportunity to dress Mary Kate up as a princess. I had never seen so many princesses running around. Ford's frog "outfit" (really, just a frog towel) didn't last too long. He wasn't crazy about having that thing on his head. I think Mary Kate was a bit in shock at all the princesses in one place. They had the whole line up...Snow White, Jasmine, Ariel, Pocahontas, Cinderella (and Prince Charming), and Sleeping Beauty. She got to be in the princess parade and walk right behind all the Disney princesses. But, I think she was more interested in getting back to the table to eat her gingerbread man cookie.

Mary Kate had a scare coming down the slide in the play area. Granna took her up to the top and I waited at the bottom to get a picture of her coming out. All of a sudden, I saw this yellow blur coming out. She came so fast that I couldn't even get a picture. She was airborne coming out of the tunnel, landed, and rolled a couple of times before coming to a stop. Everyone around gasped, wondering if she was okay. She was a little shaken up, but she wasn't hurt. We figured that the material of her dress made her extra slick coming down. Man, if I'd only gotten that on video!

MK with Ariel and Pocahontas

MK wasn't too crazy about the touch tank.

Ford loved crawling around and looking at all the animals.

MK even got to meet Miss Georgia.

Birthday...Round 1

2009-11-26T21:33:00.004-05:00

Aunt Rachel came to visit to celebrate Ford's birthday. We had a great time, and she made his birthday extra special by celebrating with us. We had a fun time having a picnic in the park, even though the playground was closed.

Here's Ford opening his first present ever. Rachel was clever to give him a dump truck and some diapers (If you're slow like me...the diapers were for him to "take a dump.")

We headed to Monkey Joe's to jump around and have some fun.

This is a picture of Mary Kate colliding into my back. I had no idea that she was coming down behind me. My back is STILL hurting.

Ford had an absolute blast sliding down the slide. He'd slide down and Aunt Rachel would pass him back up to Joel for him to slide down again. He did it over and over, laughing hysterically each time.

Ford became a genuine Kennedy eating his first piece...or just a bite... of pizza (in lieu of cake). I don't think he was crazy about the pepperoni, but he loved gnawing on some crust.

Here's MK with her piece of dough to play with from Ingleside Village Pizza. We spend most of the time trying to keep her from eating it.

Happy 1st Birthday, Ford!

2009-11-20T01:00:00.004-05:00

So, I thought that I was trying really hard to treasure every moment of this little guy, but now that his birthday is here, I feel like it's gone by way too fast. I have this fear that I'm not going to be able to remember all of the wonderful moments that I had with him when he was just an itty bitty baby. I don't want to ever forget how his little body felt in my arms when I held him or the sweet sounds that he made or his smile that melts your heart. I want to always remember how he held out his hand to rub our faces, laughed with delight when you got him out of bed, and how he would snuggle with me (especially since MK never did that as a baby...now, I can't keep her off of me). I'm excited to see how the Lord molds his sweet, yet determined, personality. He has added so much to our family. We are so thankful to God for giving him to us a year ago. It has definitely been the craziest and probably hardest year of my life, but this year has also been filled with more fun, more love, more laughs, more smiles, and more blessings from the Lord than ever before. So, I experimented with putting together a slideshow video. However, this kind of stuff is more Joel's talent, so I have no clue if it's going to work, and I had no music to put on it. It's kind of lame without music, but I figured that family would still enjoy it. You can just imagine music playing in the background. So, here it goes. Click on the Happy Birthday link below to see the slideshow.

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

A Sweet Daddy-Daughter Date

2009-11-07T21:50:00.010-05:00

Today was a very special day. It was the first Daddy-Daughter day I got to spend with my sweet baby girl. I got this crazy idea last week that it would be fun to take Mary Kate to Athens to show her the sights and sounds. UGA was scheduled to play Tennessee Tech for homecoming, and it wasn't a game I had circled on my must see games. Based on the season thus far, I wasn't too pumped about going at all. Then I started thinking about taking my little girl to Athens. She has talked a good bit lately (thanks to my brainwashing skills) about Hairy Dawg and Uga, and she's been known to sing the fight song every now and then. I started to get really giddy about taking her. Literally, it was like waiting for Christmas morning when I realized I was really going to get to take her.

When this morning finally arrived, I wasn't sure who was more excited - me or her. She certainly hadn't stopped talking about going since we first told her she was going to get to go. But, I was definitely just as excited. We loaded the car, packed a lunch and put the magnets on and the flags up. She borrowed a UGA sweatshirt from our friends (thanks Jackson!), and we hit the road.

We got to Athens, parked the car and headed across campus toward the stadium. Then, we stopped off in Myers Quad (my typical tailgate spot) and caught up with old friends from Griffin where Mary Kate talked me into two rice krispie treats (thanks for the suggestion, Judd). Soon, we moved down to another spot to catch up with Mike and some other buddies and Mary Kate managed to score a brownie. After that, it was time to go to the game. As we waited to meet up with the guy who had MK's ticket, I could barely keep her from running through the ticket gate. She really wanted to go in!

When we made it into the stadium, we picked up some Bulldawg stickers for her cheeks and started looking for Hairy Dawg. My good buddy, Michael Edwards, had talked to a friend who played Hairy during the games and we were supposed to meet up and take a pic or two with him. As we walked down the steps, MK took a tumble and it scared me and her. It was a minor fall, but she was shaken a bit, so she managed to get a sucker from Daddy (that's three treats so far...). We couldn't find Hairy yet, so we watched the cheerleaders and headed to the other side of the stadium. We looked at the team from behind the hedges, and pointed out Coach Richt to MK. She wanted to sit down for a while, so we found some seats open on the lower level and MK quickly made friends with everyone around us. She shared some laughs with them, looked through binoculars at former Dawg players back for homecoming and Uga walking across the field, shook her shakers to the fight song, and danced to the band during halftime. Mary Kate was also able to score some of Daddy's Laffy Taffy as we sat there (snack four!).

Then we set out to find Hairy again. We stopped off to see a friend, Cook, and his dad for a few minutes and made our way to the other side. MK really wanted to see Hairy at this point, but I hadn't seen him anywhere. I spoke with mic man Jon and figured out that Hairy would head back over soon. Finally, as I was about to give up, there came Hairy. MK, who had been slumping over and showing signs of being really tired, jumped up and started pointing. Her voice was really high pitched and happy and she kept saying, "There's Hairy Dawg! There's Hairy Dawg!" We felt really special as we pushed through the crowd and met him at the gate. Hairy took her from me and I took a few pics. Then he ran off and left the crowd. It was really something else. Hairy Dawg took time out just to make sure MK got to see him. I know Mary Kate felt really special, and I was impressed by how she was taken care of by these UGA student athletes. Thanks y'all!

After that, we headed back to the car, but Mary Kate didn't want to leave Athens. She talked me into getting her some ice cream (snack five) and we stopped off at the Varsity to get each of us an F.O. and some water. As the day came to a close and we rode back to Macon, I felt really rich and full. I won't ever forget this day. I can't believe that God has given me such a special little girl! Our family is incredible - an amazing wife who is my best friend, a crazy fun little girl and an awesome little man. What a gift! I look forward to many more days like this with both of our kids. As Mary Kate said, "Ford will get to go to Athens when he's a little older."

Halloween Craziness

2009-11-02T15:00:00.013-05:00

Last week was super busy with fall festivals, a visit to Columbus, and Halloween. Here's a picture update...

We went to a fall festival for our church.

(Click on the pic below to see more pictures from the FPC fall festival)

Mary Kate and Joel carved our first pumpkin.

(Click on the pic to see more carving.)

All of the kids from the Bible Study that I'm in got together to take a picture. It was quite chaotic, but lots of fun.
We had a quick visit with my dad on our way to Columbus.
Mary Kate had a fun time at the Fall Festival at my Mom's church.
(Click on pic to see more pictures from the Fall Festival)
Our trip to the pumpkin patch and farm got rained out so we headed to Monkey Joe's, which was probably a lot more fun anyway. I was really surprised at how much Ford got into it. (Click on the pic to see more from Monkey Joe's.)

We went trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa's.

(Click on the pic to see more of Gma and Gpa.)

We went trick-or-treating in Columbus. It was nice to actually have Joel around for a Halloween since he's usually at Georgia/Florida. I'm sure he's glad that he didn't have to make the long trip home this year. We only went to a couple of houses because it was wet and cold, but MK loved it. I think she had just as much fun passing out candy with Granna.

(Click HERE to see more of their Halloween costumes--for some reason, I couldn't get the picture to hyperlink.)

Grandmama and Grandaddy, we're sad that we didn't get to see y'all this weekend, but we hope to soon!

Ford's First Pumpkin Pics

2009-10-23T20:07:00.004-04:00

On Monday night, Young Life Macon had an INCREDIBLE banquet. The best part about it is there is no doubt that the Lord was in control. Joel's stomach was churning for days before it trying to figure out what the Lord wanted him to share. I am confident that the Holy Spirit spoke through him, especially since what I heard at the banquet was quite different than what I heard him practicing. He gave a passionate talk about what God is doing through Young Life and how that can impact our city. I was so proud of him. The committee and helpers did an amazing job of putting everything together. We are so thankful for the committee, leaders, donors, and prayer warriors that support this ministry. I'm excited to see how God is going to use Young Life in people's lives this year.

On another note, we finally made it to the pumpkin lot to get some pictures and a pumpkin. Check out the pics below.

...and don't forget your booties 'cause it's coooold out there today.

2009-10-17T16:22:00.004-04:00

It's a perfect day for Ford to wear his booties from New Zealand. Well, really they were MK's booties. Thankfully, that was at least one thing that could be shared between them without Ford looking girly. I can't believe that he's about to be 11 months old. He's finally crawling on all fours, but still prefers to army crawl most of the time. He loves to cruise around the furniture and push his little car around, but he hasn't attempted any steps on his own yet (not that I'm expecting him to). He still doesn't have any teeth, but I think that his top teeth are going to pop out any time. He loves to dance, which consists of him nodding his head back and forth and side to side and rocking. He's a complete nut that makes me laugh all the time, and he melts my heart every time I look at him. I really didn't think that I was going to be the kind of mom that says sappy stuff like "melts my heart," but there just isn't any way around it. I just love this little man!

Support For Sweeney

2009-10-14T20:09:00.003-04:00

Most of you that know Mike and Cabell have been keeping up with their caringbridge site. Mike is a dear friend and fellow Young Life Staffer that is fighting cancer. He will be beginning a clinical trial involving TIL therapy as soon as he can pay for it. If you want to know how you can help him, visit this blog www.support4sweeney.blogspot.com.

Howdeeeeee!

2009-10-12T16:24:00.010-04:00

I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream this weekend of going to Nashville. Okay, I know to most of you that sounds pretty lame...but, I've wanted to go my whole life and have never been until now. Going to UT, I thought I'd make several weekend trips to Nashville, but that never happened. Marrying a fanatical UGA fan, I thought, surely, we'd make a trip to Nashville to see them play Vandy one weekend (especially with Brett, an old YL kid, playing there), but that never happened. So, after a crazy summer and about 3 years of being pregnant/nursing, I decided to reward myself. I figured that dipping into savings to go on a fun, relaxing trip with my husband was more of an investment. There is a definite need to give some shout-outs to all the people that helped make this happen: First of all, my Dad helped us in a huge way by getting us a hotel room at the Opryland Hotel and getting us tickets to the Grand Ole Opry. Next, a huge, huge thanks to Joel's parents and my mom that took excellent care of our babies while we were gone. It's comforting to know that they were in the best of hands.

Here are the highlights from the trip...

Getting uninterrupted time with my amazing husband.
Sleeping late.
Surprises from Joel throughout the weekend like roses, sparkling cider and tiramisu in the hotel room, and a fancy dinner.
Seeing a show at the Ryman Auditorium. This is where the Grand Ole Opry was before where it is now. The Ryman is where my favorites sang, like Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash.

Hearing Mandy Barnett (she played Patsy Cline in Always...Patsy Cline) sing "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy". Ever since I saw Sweet Dreams as a little girl, I've loved Patsy Cline. That's as close as I can get to hearing Patsy sing at the Opry. Gina, don't you miss me singing Patsy in the car (She used to hide the CDs so that she didn't have to hear me sing. The funny thing is that she gave those CDs to me).

Sleeping late.
Going to the Grand Ole Opry and hearing Josh Turner sing with his deep voice.

Seeing how short Little Jimmy Dickens really is.

Staying at the Opryland Hotel. It was amazing. It was filled with waterfalls, gardens, restaurants, shops, country music memorabilia, and more.
Eating dinner with one of my best friends from college, Mary Caradine, and getting to finally meet her husband, Greg. She's expecting a baby in January, so it was so fun to see tiny MC with a baby bump. (I love, love, love her house).

Eating breakfast at the Pancake Pantry...yummy!

Sleeping late.

Going to the Country Music Hall of Fame. They had an awesome Williams Family Tradition exhibit, as in Hank Sr, Jr. and III, but it was quite depressing to learn about their family.

Walking through the honkytonks.

Going on a tour of the celebrities homes with Tommy's Tours (he's great if you're ever looking for a tour of Nashville).

Eating dinner at Margo's.

Sleeping in.

Coming home to our precious babies.

Hearing MK say "Howdeeee!" just like Minnie Pearl.

(Note: Tennessee beating Georgia was not listed as a highlight of the weekend for me!)

Refiner's Fire

2009-10-06T20:42:00.002-04:00

Okay, I've been debating for the last two weeks about sharing this blog with you. There's no doubt that some of you that read this have already been changed by the life and death of Sara Sullivan. However, she is a stranger to me, yet no story has ever moved me so much. For most people, the Sullivan's journey over the past 7+ months would swallow them up into a hole of darkness. Yet, when you read their story, nothing but the GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST is evident. The entry that I read today was about the Refiner's Fire. When I look at Sara's life, all I see is the image of Christ. Her refinement process was complete. As scary and hot as the Refiner's fire is, I desire to be refined. I want Jesus to be what people see when they look at me, but I am so far away from that. God is using Sara's life and death to refine people's lives, including mine. I don't really know why I didn't share this sooner. I think it was because I didn't feel like is was my story to share. I didn't want to treat it like a train wreck that everyone stops to see. But, then God reminded me that this is HIS story and it should be shouted from the rooftops. In the words of her husband, Brady, "be different by knowing the Christ that Sara knew."

Here's the link to The Sullivan's Blog

Potty Mouth

2009-10-03T21:20:00.003-04:00

Tonight, I had one of my favorite conversations with Mary Kate...and it happened on the potty. Just as I was putting her to bed, she said that she needed to potty, so I sat there with her and we talked about the day while she took care of business. A video of it would do it much more justice because her facial expressions were awesome, but I'm not in the habit of videoing potty time. It went something like this...

MK: You have a fun day, Mommy?

K: Yes, it was a real fun day. What was your favorite part?

MK: The horsies. I like to ride the horsies. (We went to the Cotton Pickin' Fair today and she rode a pony ride...twice) And, the jumpy thing.

funny facial expression

MK: Poop. I have lots of poop. You STINK my poop, Mommy?

K: What?

MK: funny facial expression, you could tell that she was trying to figure out what she meant to say...she sniffs...You SMELL my poop?...sniff

K: Yes, I can smell it.

MK: Do you like it. It smells good.

K: No, I don't like it.

MK: Bad, poop smells bad.

funny facial expression

MK: Where's Sleeping Beauty?

K: I think she's in bed sleeping.

MK: No, I broke her head off. (several weeks ago, she broke the head off of her sleeping beauty doll...hasn't mentioned it until now)

K: Well, she had to go away since you broke her head off. We should get you some more princesses to put in your new princess purse (Granna bought her a princess purse with her name on it--which we waited for an hour and a half to get her name put on it :)--at the fair)

MK: Princesses!!! (She said this extremely excitedly, making her eyes really big, and smiling...if you've seen that face, you know what I mean)

K: Yes, do you like princesses?

MK: Yes (funny, thoughtful facial expression) Uuuh, YEP! Yep, Daddy says yep. (she has never said "yep" before)

K: Laughing...Yes, Daddy does say yep.

some conversation that I can't remember...

MK: I want to go to school. (she just started going to MMO a few hours on Tuesday morning)

K: Do you like school? Do you like learning new things?

MK: still with her excited expression...I like snack. We have snack at school.

K: Oh, what do you eat for a snack?

MK: Goldfishes. I like cups. I like Julie (one of her teachers) Tomorrow, I go to church.

K: What do you do at church?

MK: I chi. I chi for you and Daddy (as she says this, she reaches out and gently touches my face)

K: after I figure out what she's saying...Why do you cry for Mommy and Daddy?

MK: I get happy after I chi. I play on the big playground. I eat snack.

K: What do you eat for a snack?

MK: Goldfishes!

K: Really, that's funny that you eat those at school and church, but refuse to eat them at home! What do you talk about at church?

MK: Jesus! (as she cups my face) Mommy, I'm done. I'm ready to go to bed.

we take care of business and head to bed

MK: Mommy, sing Jesus to me.

K: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, There is something about that name...

MK: Mommy, sing Everyone (I have no idea what Everyone is, but she always asks us to sing it. So, we make it up)

K: Everyone, Everyone, Everyone...

MK: Daddy sings Everyone, too! I want to see Stessi at Thanksgiving.

K: Okay, sweetheart, we'll see Stessi at Thanksgiving. I love you, goodnight.

MK: Mommy, we still waiting for Thanksgiving?

K: Yes, sweetheart. Goodnight.

Okay, I know that was super long and possibly boring to many, but it was one of those priceless moments that I had to document for the sake of never forgetting it...not that I think I ever will. She was just too cute for words. Here's a few pics of our fun day at the fair.

Mary Kate after she got her princess hat. She wore this all day long.

Shopping for purses like a pro. She certainly didn't get that from me since I refuse to carry a purse.

Showing off her new purse with her name on it.

The "O" Face

2009-09-29T21:28:00.003-04:00

Mary Kate's "O" Face is absolutely priceless. She's been doing it since she was born, and has only become more expressive and fun. I didn't realize how precious it was until Ford didn't do it. Thankfully, MK's little cuz in New Zealand got the "O" face gene. You can check him out at their blog. Maybe, they'll update it sometime in the next century before their little man becomes a grown man (Anna, I say that with a smile and lots of love...I can always snoop on Joel's FB page). MK does the "O" face whenever she gets super excited about something. Lately, all you have to do is mention the word "Princess". Here's an "O" face collage of some of my favorites. My all-time favorite is when Cindy captured it when she was only 8 days old at her first photo session.

Happy Birthday, Granna!

2009-09-22T07:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday, Moma! Hope that you have a wonderful day. Ford and Mary Kate are looking forward to celebrating with you this weekend. Yes, we'll be there Friday. MK keeps saying that she wants to go to Granna's Dirthday!

We love you! Katherine, Joel, Mary Kate, and Ford

Aunt Rachel Came to Visit

2009-09-21T12:05:00.006-04:00

It's been way too long between visits with Aunt Rachel, so she was so sweet to drive down to see us this weekend. I thought I had an exciting adventure planned by going to the Georgia Children's Museum, but that was a major disappointment. To all of those in Macon that haven't gone...don't waste your time. To all of those that have been...why didn't you warn me! All I kept saying the whole time was "I'm glad that it was only $3." I know that they are victim to a lack of funds, but come on, at least have exhibits that work. Stephanie, if you want ideas of what NOT to have at your museum, come pay us a visit. It's worth the drive to Charleston just to see your exhibits. Anyway, we did have a fun time with Rachel. It was mostly a football-watching Saturday. Even though UT couldn't pull off a win against Florida, they still played better than expected. At least for Rachel and Joel's sake, Auburn and Georgia won! Thanks for coming to visit, Rachel. Next time, we'll have to come visit you so Mary Kate will finally see that you don't live with Gradmama and Grandaddy.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Stessi

2009-09-15T11:34:00.002-04:00

Steph, hope you're having an amazing birthday. Mary Kate and Ford are lucky to have you for an aunt and I'm lucky to have you for a sister. We love you, Katherine, Joel, MK, and Ford!

Ford's 9 Month Pictures

2009-09-12T20:50:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago, Cindy was doing some photo sessions at Dauset Trails. She had a cancellation, so she called to see if I wanted to bring Ford to get some 9 month pictures. She got some great shots, and I think that she took all of these pictures in less than 30 minutes. Here are a few of my favorites, but if you want to see more, click on the first picture. Cindy will be heading to Macon, and maybe Columbus, in the fall for some photo sessions, so book her fast if you're interested. Click here for her website.

Our Visit to Aunt Rebecca's House

2009-09-10T19:59:00.003-04:00

(Click on pic above to see pictures from the weekend)

Labor Day weekend, my mom and I took the kids to visit Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Ethan in Lexington. Rebecca planned a fun-filled, jam-packed weekend. We visited the Cincinnati Zoo, which is a really pretty zoo with animals that don't disappoint you. We had a picnic at the park. This was not just any park, but true to Lexington style, you could bring your horse. We had fun at the Kid's Explorium, which is an awesome kid's museum. Rebecca took MK to the barn to feed, brush, and pick Grace's and Romey's hooves. Grace is Rebecca's horse and Romey is Ethan's horse. Rebecca will soon be the proud mommy of a foal. MK also got to ride Grace for a bit. We visited the Kentucky Horse Park to see one of the horse shows, but it got rained out. Since Rebecca used to work there, she asked her friend to let MK ride one of the horses. She rode a beautiful Appaloosa named Pretty Boy Floyd. Then, we headed to Chick-fil-A sporting our college football shirts to get a free sandwich. The cashier said that I was brave to wear my Tennessee shirt there. Our last night there, we had a cookout with Ethan's family and some of Rebecca's neighbors that have a little girl Mary Kate's age. They had a fun time playing together. It was definitely an exhausting weekend, but well worth it. Rebecca and Ethan, I know it's quite a shock to have a 2 year old and a 9 month old invade your house, but y'all were awesome about it. Thanks for letting us come visit.

While Mommy's Not Looking

2009-08-26T16:23:00.001-04:00

Mary Kate covered Ford's legs with stickers while I wasn't looking. She was so proud!

Hair Cut

2009-08-25T19:38:00.005-04:00

Today, I cut MK's hair. Other than buzzing Joel's head a few times, I haven't cut hair since I was Mary Kate's age...and, I don't think my mom was too impressed with my hair cutting skills. I think they've improved a little since then. It's needed to be cut for quite some time because it's a bird's nest most of the time, but I hated to get rid of the length. I finally gave in today. It ended up being shorter than I had planned, but I had to keep cutting to make it all somewhat even. Here's some before and after pics...

Ford enjoying some blueberries.

Family Beach Trip

2009-08-17T20:29:00.006-04:00

(click on picture to see the album...After looking at the pics, I realize that I really only have pictures of the kids, so you might get bored. I rely on my mom to get pics of everyone else, so her album gives a better reflection of our week. Of course, the only people probably interested in seeing that album have already gotten it.)

We just got back from our annual trip to the beach with my mom's family. It was a great week to visit with family and get some beach time. It was sad that my sister and her new hubby couldn't make it down this year. She has rarely missed times at the beach, if ever. We missed y'all. Mary Kate had an absolute blast playing on the beach. It's so fun that my cousin has a girl and a boy MK's and Ford's ages. It was fun to watch them together. I know that next year will be crazy with the boys running around too. Now, if we could just get my cousin Chad and his family there, we'd have all the kiddos together. Mary Kate is crazy about her Uncle Joe. This week, she decided that he was her Prince and she wouldn't share him with anyone, not even Aunt Stephanie (she even got a little violent about it at times pushing Stephanie away). The first thing she'd say in the morning was, "Where is my prince?" It was hilarious. The excitement of the week was when we saw a 5 foot bull shark about 20 feet from the shore circling around. At first, I thought it was a cute dolphin that was super close. Then fear set in as I realized it was a shark. Now, I've pet sharks and swam with sharks before, but they were sweet little nurse sharks. There's a big difference when you're that close to a shark that you know can chomp down on you and rip you to shreds. Thankfully, he disappeared quickly never to be seen again.

Unfortunately, Joel didn't get to play with us on the beach because of his foot. We missed him on the beach, but he got some good bonding time with Ford in the house. And...drum roll please... Ford finally took a bottle. It only took him 9 months to get the hang of it, but FINALLY! Ford also loved the beach, and would have eaten buckets of sand if I had let him. Thanks to all my family that helped me take care of my kids all week. It was a huge blessing to not have to be "on" all the time.

Foot Update: Joel went to the doctor today and he said that everything was looking normal and should continue to heal without any problems. We were a little concerned before the appointment because it still swells up at times and didn't seem to be getting much better, but I'm thankful that the doctor had good things to say. He should be able to wear a normal shoe and walk normally soon. Thank you, Jesus!

Happy Birthday, Grandmama!

2009-08-14T14:38:00.003-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR GRANDMAMA,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

We love you and hope that you're having a wonderful birthday!

Love,

Joel, Katherine, Mary Kate and Ford