This past month has kind of flown by. We've been pretty busy with school year-end events, preparations for camp, and the kickoff of Crossings 2010. Not the least of such events was Kilee's end-of-the-year dance recital. It was so stinkin' cute I can hardly type about it without chuckling just a little. Of course pictures of this epic milestone are posted below!
We're officially in camp season now and Crossings 2010 is going extremely well! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful staff. They're the best! Kilee and Josiah are enjoying camp life although they have been sick ever since we got here (as have Mommy and Daddy). After we've all been to the doctor, it has been concluded that we have 4 upper respiratory infections, 3 sinus infections, 2 ear infections and one case of bronchitis among the four of us. The list may continue to grow before all is said and done, but we are all on drugs now and hopefully things will continue to improve. The kids are loving being outside all the time and have already been in the pool. They also enjoy snagging a golf cart ride with Daddy whenever they can.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in the beautiful wedding of my dear childhood friend Ainsley and her new husband Emil. It was so much fun to reconnect with old friends and catch up on life! The kiddos spent 3 days with Mamaw and Great-Grandmother (Gigi) and loved every minute of it. Then, this past week the sickness got worse with all of us and my mom (Nana) came to visit for 4 days. We had such a great time and it was so nice to have the extra help and company! On another fun note, my mom is also a brand new teacher retiree and so we are so excited about the prospect of many more fun times with retired Nana! Congrats, Mom! You were the best teacher ever!
Enjoy the following pics and we'll post more soon. :)
Cute pic of the Kilee bug
Our "summer home". Ha! It totally belongs to the camp. We are merely tenants. :)
Tickling the ivories with Daddy.
Kilee and her incredibly cute dance friends in their tap getup for their performance of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." I can't even convey to you how cute this was.
And our little ballerina in her lovely costume for her performance to "Reflection" from Mulan.
A fun breakfast with some of my best friends through the years, Katie Mudd (in purple and expecting Mudd #3) and Liz with her darling daughter Penny.
Gazing at the lovely bride
Celebrating with Ainsley and Emil. May God truly bless your marriage!
The bridesmaid getup.
Standing with some lovely ladies. From left, Felice (Bride's sister-in-law), Mel (Ainsley's friend from CO), Brooklyn (Ainsley's college roomate), Me, and Katie (another childhood friend of ours)
Kilee caught her first lightning bug at camp this week!
Chasing one of the random stray cats around camp.
Cute pic of Josiah at Cracker Barrel
Family Pic after we came to pick the kids up at Nana and Papaw's after an adoption conference.
My dad sent this in an email to me and I thought it was a good thing to post. In my mom's group at church, some of the wise moms that come in to speak share with us the importance of modeling Christlikeness to our kids. This poem is a good way to reflect on the importance of the example we set for our children. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I knew that I could always talk to God, and I learned to trust in Him.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing, and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don't.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn' t feel good, and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.
When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a wise and productive person when I grow up.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked at you and wanted to say,'Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.' Little eyes see a lot.
Another month of 2010 has flown by! This past month has been loaded with activities, preparations for Crossings 2010 and other fun stuff. I decided to just post a bunch of pictures with captions (as is my usual) and just let the pictures say the thousand words instead of me.
Kilee's recent "Year-End Celebration" at her Mother's Day Out program
Little Man continues to keep us super busy chasing him. There is nowhere, and I repeat NOWHERE that he cannot go now!
I mean, really. Have you ever seen such a cute little boy? Just sayin'.
Kilee and I recently attempted to fly her Ariel kite on a windy day. We had a blast even if the kite spent most of the time dragging the ground. :)
This was SO funny! Kilee decided to try out her little baby doll pack n' play herself. I can't believe she could even fit in there and her little head sticking out from under the blanket makes it even funnier!
Josiah and Daddy playing the piano
Cute pic of the kiddos together
We recently took an evening in the busyness of the spring to run out to Cedarmore and have a family night. We fished, roasted hot dogs and rode the four-wheeler. Major fun!
If he's having this much fun now, wait til' we give him a fishing pole!
Kilee talking with Scott about the bluegill she caught. She's not about to touch that thing!
New favorite afternoon activity: Painting on the patio
So, I'm always interested in how other moms are scheduling their days with their children. I'm just always wondering what I could be doing better or more efficiently. I think I first became interested when Kilee was a newborn and I heard an experienced mom at my church's Mom 2 Mom group say, "You need to consider your role as a wife and mother your job, and you need to strive to become an expert in your field." Since then, I've really tried to continually evaluate my mothering in light of the Word of God and try to educate myself as much as I can. And before I start to sound too lofty, let me just tell you -- on the days that I "get it right" it's only because the Lord ran my day, and the days I get it wrong it's because I tried to do everything myself.
So, in an effort to walk alongside other moms as we raise our kids together, I've decided to document our day today in text and pictures. To be honest, this is really convicting for me in many ways because it is an example of how I waste time in some instances, and it's really healthy for me to view how our day went. Plus, it's just stinkin' fun to take pics of my kids doing stuff and blog about them. So here we go . . .
6:00 am - Josiah wakes up, Scott and I wake up too. I feed Josiah quietly so as not to wake up Kilee. Kilee wakes up anyway. Scott leaves for work as I put Josiah back to sleep. Kilee climbs in bed with me to "rest". We have candles hanging over our bed in a decorative display. At one point during our "resting" Kilee is standing over me and drops two of the candles on my head. :) Time to get up!
7:00 am -Josiah's awake for the morning now. I put my feet on the floor, take a deep breath and ask God to direct my day. Make breakfast for Kilee, turn on Disney channel. Josiah plays underneath Kilee's feet while I check email. He pulls up on Kilee's table and knocks her yogurt on the carpet. :) After Kilee finishes breakfast, they go play in Josiah's room.
8:00 am - Get kids dressed. Kilee puts on her ballet outfit to get ready for ballet class later. While she plays in her room, I decide this is a golden opportunity for my shower. I bring Josiah's high chair into the bathroom and give him some puffs to eat for a morning snack while I take a quick shower. Before I was a mother, I was told that moms never get to be in the bathroom alone with little ones in the house. This is so true! But hey, I've got to be able to see/hear the kid while he's eating in case he chokes, right?
8:30 am - Josiah goes down for his morning nap. I get ready for the day. Kilee helps me with my makeup.
9:00 am - Kilee helps me pick up her room and I also throw in some laundry. We straighten the house a bit and get our diaper bag ready for ballet class. 10:00 am - On the road to ballet! We have a meeting after ballet class to discuss Kilee's upcoming recital as well. So much fun! I feed Josiah another bottle while we watch sister dance.
Noon - Back home for lunch. Kilee has a turkey dog and some pickles (not exactly the most nutritious meal ever), and Josiah eats pears and rice cereal. Then, we play "Hi Ho Cherry O" and Kilee wins both times.
1:00 pm - Kilee and Josiah play blocks in Kilee's room. Kilee builds, Josiah knocks down. Kilee is getting frustrated! I decide to take Josiah out of her room for some goofy time with me before Kilee throws him out herself.
1:30 pm - Turn on our naptime movie. (Usually 30 min of a movie to get the kiddos wound down for naptime.) Today's flick: Milo and Otis. Kilee's eyes start to get heavy 20 minutes in and we turn it off and go read a library book before nap. Josiah is gated-in in the living room while we're away.
2:00 pm - One kid napping, one to go. Josiah takes his naptime bottle, gets a quick diaper change and a naptime book and he's off to dreamland. Which means . . . . MOMMY TIME!
2:00-4:00 pm- Work on paying bills, making grocery list, printing/clipping coupons, watering flowers outside. So nice to have time to do this! We play "The Grocery Game" when shopping for our groceries. Basically it's a service that tracks sales trends for you so that you are buying items when they are at their "rock bottom" price and stockpiling them for future needs. It has worked very well for us and has saved us a lot of money, but it takes SO much time to plan for.
4:00 pm - Josiah wakes up and takes another bottle. He's a growing boy! In the meantime, Scott calls and lets me know he has to work late. This is more common as we get closer to camp season -- no big deal. We decide to scrap the home dinner plan for the evening in favor of me taking the kids to McDonald's. Sounds good to me!
4:30 pm - Kilee wakes up and is thrilled to hear of our dinner plans. Since Daddy will be a little later coming in, I will end up doing the grocery run with the kids in tow. This is gonna be interesting . . .
5:00 pm - Mickey D's here we come! When we go to McDonald's I always let Kilee play in the Playplace after we eat. I've found that it's much easier to get our food in the Drive-Thru and then park and bring it in rather than handle both kids while waiting in line to order with tons of other people. We get settled in Playland and Kilee eats and then makes some new friends. Josiah eats some butternut squash while we're there. After everyone's finished, I psych myself up for a trip to Kroger. I recall my Lamaze skills -- cleansing breath in . . .and out. . . :o) Ok, let's go.
6:30 pm - Out of Kroger with just a shred of sanity remaining. The kids did great, just naturally got a little tired at the end. Mama got tired too! Now we're headed home to see Daddy! Whew, I'm exhausted.
7:00 pm - Home sweet home. We unload groceries and go inside. Josiah's hungry again so I fix another bottle. Kilee says that she's hungry too. I put away the perishable groceries. Scott calls and says he's five minutes away. Yay!
7:15-8:00 - Playtime with Daddy and then bedtime. Scott and I hang out for awhile, we both have our quiet time with God, and then we go to bed too. Gotta get some good sleep -- tomorrow is another day!
This past month has been a busy one in our house! Every day is fun and challenging with these two kiddos, but it's the best job ever! Enjoy a glimpse into life with Kilee and Josiah.
One of the biggest developments: Josiah is crawling! He goes all over the house!
Kilee loves going to her ballet class. Here she is in her leotard and jumpsuit, hair in a bun . . . and obviously excited.
If you haven't heard the " I tried to wash my hair" story, it's a classic. After lunch the other day, I told her to go wash her hands while I fed Josiah. She used the soap on her hands, and also on her hair claiming she "had green beans in her hair." After trying to control my laughter as I looked at her matted-down soapy locks, I told her not to do that anymore. Then, I told her I wanted a picture of her. She replied, "Why? Is it adorable?"
If this isn't one of the cutest pictures you've ever seen of a kid . . .
Drawing/coloring/ making a bridge out of our crayons. All activities are done in full princess garb.
Going to the zoo with some sweet friends. Not sure who made the first move here, but Kilee and Cooper held hands all through the zoo!
Here are some new pics of our little bike-rider! She got the bike for Christmas and has been waiting for good weather to ride it. It's so exciting, and it also makes her look so old!
Cute pic of the Kilee bug
Our "summer home". Ha! It totally belongs to the camp. We are merely tenants. :)
Tickling the ivories with Daddy.
Kilee and her incredibly cute dance friends in their tap getup for their performance of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." I can't even convey to you how cute this was.
And our little ballerina in her lovely costume for her performance to "Reflection" from Mulan.
Gazing at the lovely bride
Celebrating with Ainsley and Emil. May God truly bless your marriage!
The bridesmaid getup.
Standing with some lovely ladies. From left, Felice (Bride's sister-in-law), Mel (Ainsley's friend from CO), Brooklyn (Ainsley's college roomate), Me, and Katie (another childhood friend of ours)
Kilee caught her first lightning bug at camp this week!
Chasing one of the random stray cats around camp.
Cute pic of Josiah at Cracker Barrel
Family Pic after we came to pick the kids up at Nana and Papaw's after an adoption conference.
Fun games with Nana
Love this one.
