It’s Sock Hop Saturday!!

WOO HOO! It’s Saturday!! We love Saturdays around here because those are typically family days. Today is no exception. This morning Mickey has already been out for a run at the river and now we’re all hanging out at home for awhile. Okay, we’re not “just” hanging out, we’re also tidying up around home. As soon as it warms up a bit (it’s only 71 right now), we are going to take the girls to the pool for awhile. Should be a lot of fun!

This evening is a big event for Mickey and the girls. It’s the Father/Daughter dance at our church and this year it’s a Sock Hop! The girls have their poodle skirts, tees and scarves all ready to wear. Mickey is going to sport a white tee, rolled up jeans and cool sneakers. I can’t wait to see my precious family all dolled up. Our friends Dave and Christie have been working so hard to get all this done and today they are going to be going non-stop, pretty much, to make it all happen. They are awesome, y’all. Just awesome! (And we thank them so much! Hopefully they will let us bring them lunch today.) The girls are just thrilled and can’t wait for the dance. I’ll be there taking candid photos, so I’m pretty excited too. Bring on the sock hop!!

Happy Saturday, everyone!

sockhop

Praise Reports…

I am going to do better about updating my blog.
I am going to do better about updating my blog.
I am GOING to do better about updating my blog.
Seriously…I am.
I hope. ;)

In all honesty, I have every good intention of writing more here, but the days are so busy lately. Life is good, in fact I’d say its mostly GREAT, but also very busy.

I have some praises to report since my last update.

  • Macey had a wonderful week of dance camp at our church last week. Two of her friends from school attended also and they all got to be in the same group. They just loved it! Friday was their recital and it was entirely too cute for words.
  • We got to spend all day Saturday with some great friends and we absolutely had a ball. We were as tired as could be on Saturday night, but it was the good kind of tired that comes from having FUN FUN FUN all day long!
  • On Sunday evening we got a house full of company. My best friend Terri came up from South GA with her two daughters. Also, our friend Hannah came to visit us from Missouri with her three daughters. So, we had a house brimming full and it was just incredible!! The girls ranged in age from almost-six (Macey) down to seven months old (Hannah’s baby girl) and they had so much fun playing together. Terri and I get together several times a year when I am in South Georgia, but neither of us have seen Hannah in several years. So much has changed in our lives, but the friendship has remained. God sure blessed us with a wonderful time together over Sunday evening and Monday morning.
  • This week Macey is attending the afternoon VBS sessions at our church. They are doing “Camp E.D.G.E.” this term and she is having a blast! In her crew, she has four friends from school so that is also exciting. She comes home each day telling us about what they did, what she learned, etc. It’s such a blessing! And, from what I have heard, over 900 (!!!) kids are in attendance. All those seeds of faith getting planted just makes my heart sing!
  • I have joined a Wednesday morning Bible study at our church. I have been wanting to do this for quite some time and it finally worked out. I am LOVING it! Our group is so sweet and we have all ranges from moms of young ones to grand-mothers and maybe even some great-grands. It’s absolutely blessing me more than words to be there!
  • We have a great babysitter that is watching the girls this summer so I can do things like go to Bible study. Her name is Kayla and Mickey and I have known her since we were Youth volunteers at the church several years ago. Kayla is fantastic with the girls. She is so much fun and so creative. Today she did tie-dying with them. How cool is that?!
  • The weather has been beautiful and summer is officially upon us. That is always a praise in my book as I just love summer. We’re getting a bit of rain today, but that’s always needed around here.
  • We have also planned a mini-vacation for our family. We are going to Nashville, TN for a couple of days and then back down to Chattanooga, TN for a couple of days before heading home. We are SO excited about this trip! I have used some online sources like Hotwire and Expedia to score some really great hotel prices as well. Can’t wait!!
  • This coming weekend is the Father/Daughter dance at our church. That will be Saturday evening and Mickey is taking both girls. This year it’s going to be a sock hop and the girls both have their cute poodle skirts, tees and scarves ready to go. I have been asked to take candid photos, so I can’t wait to see it all!

Those are just some of the many things I have to be thankful for in my life. I just had to share.

And, if you’re reading along, please  hold me accountable to posting. I need to and want to, so I should make time for it.

Blessings,
Kelly

What’s Happening??

Wow. I have really been neglecting my poor blog lately. I don’t mean to, really, it’s just that life is so busy these days. It seems like things are GO GO GO which is good,  but doesn’t free up a lot of blogging time.

So, what have we been up to? Here’s the abridged version. ;)

  • On May 14th, our sweet Mariana turned three. THREE! Eep! Our baby girl is three. It’s surreal. This is a milestone age in some ways because it’s around the age that Macey was when Mariana was born. Whenever Mariana was an eensy baby and Macey turned three, we’d just marvel at how “big” Macey was at the time. And, now Macey is going to turn six in a few weeks and Mariana is three and – woah – it just flies by, doesn’t it?!
  • Mariana’s last day of preschool was Friday, May 15th. I helped with the end-of-the-year picnic and party which was really fun. I thought I would cry, but I didn’t. I was nostalgic about Macey’s last day with the same teachers just three years ago. Macey’s preschool ended on Friday, May 12th that year and I was HUGELY pregnant with Mariana and delivered her two days later. Again I say, time flies.
  • We had Mariana’s birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s on Saturday, May 16th. Let me just say this, if you are EVER going to have a Saturday party at CEC, do yourself a huge favor and book the 10am slot. Seriously. I booked online and we received some extra tokens for that. Then, we got DOUBLE tokens for each child for booking the 10am slot on a Saturday. Score!! It was great because it wasn’t crowded and the kids had a ball. They played until around 10:45-ish and then ate pizza. Played a bit more, then had cake. It was perfect. Mariana said it was the best party ever. She really loved it all.
  • Macey wrapped up Kindergarten in May. It was a fun month for school. She got to sing at a PTA meeting, we had a Mommy & Me tea in her classroom and they had field day. Also, on the last week of school we got to go to an ice cream social in her room PLUS we had a picnic lunch the day before school ended. It was so sweet and we enjoyed it all. Poor Macey did NOT want school to end. She loved Kindergarten so much. She had the best teachers in the world and the best class too. She had so many friends, learned so much and just really loved it! Poor girl got off the bus in tears on the last day. She was so sad. So, I did what I could do to remedy that sadness. I packed the girls up and we went south to Nana’s (my mom’s) for the weekend. That was a fun start to summer.
  • At Nana’s, the girls got to paint, play with bubbles, go shopping with Aunt Liz and splash in mud puddles with Nana. Plus we went to the zoo one morning too. It was great and they had a ball!! When we were heading home, we stopped to have lunch with my Grandparents and they loved that too. (That Macey can tear up some turnip greens, let me tell y’all!!) So, it was a really great trip and got Macey back to being happy about summer.
  • I turned the big three-five on May 26th. Halfway through my thirties already. TIME FLIES, PEOPLE!! ;)
  • This week Macey is participating in dance camp in the afternoons at our church and is having the BEST time. It’s a great camp. When they get there, they are fed lunch and then they do warm-ups as a group. After that, the girls are broken up into age/grade groups for ballet and jazz. They also do crafts. It’s great and we love sending her because Macey loves it all!
  • We’ve been spending time with friends too and always love that. So far we have been to paint pottery and have lunch and also been to the zoo with friends. (Mariana and I went to the Georgia Aquarium with friends too while Macey was still in school.) We are planning on many play dates and pool outings this summer.
  • Speaking of the pool, ours is open and in full swing. It took Macey about 10 minutes (if that) to rediscover her swimming skills. She’s a regular fish again. She loves to jump in, cannonball, practice diving, swim underwater, get dive sticks, swim on her back and more. The girl just loves the water. We are hoping to get Mariana some private swim lessons, but for now she’s getting more confident in the water with her life vest and arm bands.

I guess that is a good overview of the basics from here. I’ll try to do better about maintaining updating my blog. If anyone is still reading.

Blessings,
Kelly

Hi…

  • Yikes! It’s been way too long since I updated my blog. I didn’t mean to let time get away from me, but somehow it did. I did so well updating daily over Lent, but since Easter has passed I have missed several days. I need to get back into the good swing of posting more regularly. I’ll do my best. :)
  • I’m still floating on a cloud from our trip to Nashville last week. I just can’t say how much it meant to me that Mickey planned that all as a huge surprise for me.  He worked it all out just perfectly and we had a wonderful WONDERFUL time!! On Saturday we got up and went over to meet up with my mom and the girls and that was fun too. The girls had a blast with Nana, of course. We spent all of Saturday in TN and then came home on Sunday. It was a beautiful weekend all around.
  • This week we’ve been reconnecting to the “real” world. It was hard to come back to reality after such a great travel weekend, but at least reality is a nice place to be too. (wink)
  • The girls are both in their last weeks of school which is REALLY hard to believe. Macey has 17 more school days left in her Kindergarten year. How crazy is that?! Mariana has 8 school days of preschool left counting today. That just boggles the mind too. I have heard it said that when kids are growing up the days can be long, but the years are short. I wholeheartedly agree!! I can’t believe how quickly it all goes and I just want to savor every moment that we possibly can in these amazing years.
  • I have a couple of book reviews that I need to post, so hopefully I can get to those later today. I ordered several books lately, so it’s nice to have a stack of them to work through when I have chances.
  • The weather has been just SOOO gorgeous here lately. Finally we are having  nice warm spring days. Love temps in the 80s, they are my favorite kind of days.
  • Guess I should go so that I can get Mickey, Mariana and me ready for today. (Macey’s already at school)

Have a beautiful day,
Kelly

Fun Run Morning

Mickey and Macey have gone to her school’s Fun Run this morning. This is an annual event by Macey’s elementary school that raises money for the P.E. department. The children walk/run a mile and each child receives a ribbon. There are three races – 4th/5th grade, 2nd/3rd grade and K/1st grade. Macey, of course, is in the last race. Mickey’s planning on running the mile with her. However, she gets to cross the finish line by herself. I think it is really cool that Macey wanted to do this, first of all, and that her wonderful daddy is sharing this experience with her. I can’t wait to see them in their matching race t-shirts. :)

Play Date In Full Effect

Macey and her friends got off the schoolbus about 45 minutes ago. There has been non-stop chatter and excitement in the house since they got here. Bless Mariana, she’s napping right through it all. Not sure HOW, especially when the squeals and giggles escalate, but she’ s managing to snooze through it all. Play dates are so much fun. Hopefully this summer we can have even more. Definitely a FUN day!

Play Date Day

Today is a “Play Date Day” in our house. Macey will be bringing two friends home from school with her this afternoon. Oh, she is SO excited! To tell the truth, I’m excited too. I’m excited for her because I know how much she’s looking forward to it. Sure, this means I have to really get on the ball and clean the house today, but there shouldn’t have to be an excuse for that anyway, right? This house ought to be pretty lively this afternoon with four little girls here. How exciting! :)

Ready for a beautiful day…

  • Good morning from South Georgia!!
  • We had supper with my brother Charlie and his family last night. That was so nice!! We haven’t gotten to see them much lately, so we were all glad to catch up. Jackson (nephew) is getting so big and is completely adorable! We’re excited to see the three cousins play together soon.
  • The girls “rewarded” us by sleeping ’til almost 8 this morning. Ahhh! Of course, calling 8am “sleeping in” is a definite indicator that we’re parents of younger kids, right?!
  • We’re hoping to get together with my friend Terri and her girls today. Our daughters are close in age and get along great. It’ll be so much fun to see them together. And, of course, it will be wonderful to spend time with Terri. Can’t wait!
  • I also have to go to the eye doctor while I’m here. Lately I haven’t been able to wear my contacts because my eyes are so red and irritated. So, since I am on record at the eye doctor here, I’ll take this opportunity to go. Hope they have my RX for contacts in stock. I like my glasses alright, but I much prefer my contacts.
  • We only brought one Boz dvd and Mariana has watched it twice already this morning. Well, she doesn’t just sit glued to it, but it’s on the tv. I’m about over it already. LOL!!
  • Off to get ready for a great day!

Blessings,
Kelly

Winding Down…

  • We are winding down here after a busy weekend.
  • Yesterday, of course, was a “honey do” day with Mickey and me working on home improvement projects.
  • Mickey worked SO hard in our kitchen getting the popcorn ceiling down and then having to sand and scrap the texture that was left. That was the dustiest job I have ever seen. Seriously. I cleaned up last night and there is still dust today. But, at least the hardest part is done. We hope. ;) The ceiling still needs to be repainted, but that little project can wait for now. We may have to re-sand part of the ceiling and we are just not ready to tackle that again yet.
  • I worked in our half-bath downstairs yesterday. That bathroom had been just one of those rooms that I really didn’t like, but didn’t deal yet. The walls were this off-white/yellowish color and just look dingy to me. So, we did away with that. We repainted a nice chocolate brown on the walls and even on the ceiling. The trim is all white.  The vanity has double doors in the front and I painted the inside panel of each door brown and left the rest white. We took down the huge wall-mounted mirror over the vanity as well as the outdated light fixture and towel ring. We replaced all of the older fixtures with brushed nickle fixtures and they look SOOO good with the chocolate colored paint. Yay! I forgot to take “before” photos, but I’ll try to remember to take “afters” once we finish up the little details like touching up the paint in places it’s needed.
  • The girls spend the day with Papa & MiMi  (my dad and step-mom) at their house yesterday and had a ball. They have talked and talked about it since they got home.
  • Today hasn’t been all that busy, but it was busy enough.
  • I knocked out a Wal-Mart run with Mariana’s help. Mickey worked on mowing the lawn and Macey was here with him. Those were our biggest home accomplishments today. And, that’s enough.
  • Wait. I did try to remove some paint that I splattered on the carpet. So far most of it isn’t coming out, but I’m making progress. Does anyone know how to get latex paint (dried) out of carpet? Ideally, I’d just say let’s ripe out the carpet and put down new flooring, but…well, not right now. LOL!!
  • It was a gorgeous weekend here, weather-wise. That is changing rapidly though. It’s been rainy all around us today, but we have missed most of the rain in our direct area. However, the temps are taking a nosedive. We were in the 70s yesterday and today, but tomorrow the high is supposed to be 40-ish. And, it’s supposed to be windy. Brrr. Come back, Spring!
  • Well, it’s almost time to put the girlies to bed. Mickey and I are going to just chill out and watch a movie tonight. I recorded Baby Mama on our DVR, so we are going to watch that since there is no Amazing Race tonight.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend,
Kelly

Gotta Love Payless Shoes!

I had a 20% coupon for Payless ShoeSource, so I decided to use it today for the girls and me.

First, for the girls, I got each of them a pair of these DARLING shoes!
citrus_flower_sandals

Those shoes are more vibrant and even cuter in person! Mariana has already taken off the sparkly tennis shoes she had on today in favor of wearing these cuties around the house. I may just have to talk myself (and Mickey – lol) into getting these in the next half size up because they go with SO many of the girls’ spring and summer outfits. Don’t want to chance them not fitting all summer. ;)

For me, I got three pair of adorable shoes. I am so excited to have some CUTE new shoes!

Mickey often jokes that all of my shoes look alike to him. Well, he cannot say that about these hot little numbers:
champagne_hoffman

These are even cuter in person and are really lightweight too. I can’t wait to wear them. I think they are so fun and versatile. I don’t have anything even remotely like them in my closet and I am eager to put them to lots of good wearing!

Now, admittedly, these are pretty standard for me as shoes go. Black and versatile. But, SOOOOO cute too!

sabrina_slides

and

ramona_wedge

Love all my new shoes and the ones for the girls. I am so excited about SPRING and getting back into sandals and slides again. Gotta love Payless and new shoes!