The Kentucky Crew!

Growing Up at Bass Pro Shop

2011-07-11T10:49:00.003-06:00

Every year when we are in Destin, we manage to make a trip to Bass Pro Shop at Destin Commons and take a picture of the girls in the viewing hole of the huge fish tank. Its something the girls expect and ask to do! I knew I had taken many pics, so I thought I'd see what they look like through the years....

2005

2008

2009

2010

2011

oops...missed a few milestones!

2011-05-25T09:19:00.007-06:00

Oops- it appears I didn't do a SARAH KATHERINE is FIVE post! Sorry! Well...regardless, she turned 5 on April 20th! Since then, we've had all the end of the school year activities and summer break has officially started! The girls plan to have a great summer, full of being lazy, overnight and day-camps, VBS, and much more! They are both at home with a babysitter for the summer and we are officially 100% DONE with daycare forever- woo hoo!!! OH - and we got a new puppy! His name is Barkley - he is a yellow lab. He is now 3 1/2 months old and a complete handful. He's lucky he's so dang cute!

Below are some pictures of Sarah's birthday and a few other things!

Sarah as a Cheetah in her class circus on 3-31-11:

Sarah's "Special Day" at school - they all came to our house to hunt Easter Eggs:

Sarah's 5th Birthday party:

Sarah's LAST DAY OF NURSERY SCHOOL on 5-19-11. She is now officially a Kindergartner:

Sarah's end of the school program at Nursery School:

Spring Break in a VERY CROWDED DESTIN!!

And Beth got BRAVE and did the zipline at Sandestin's Baytowne:

Barkley came to our home on April 10th - all 14 lbs of his 8-week of self! ONE BIG PUP! He is now 15 weeks old (3 1/2 months) and is pushing 30 lbs!

This one was taken last week - 14 weeks:

Beth was a "flower" in their end-of-the year program, Alice in Wonderland. She had a very injured toe that night and my camera doesn't take great pics in the dark...so this is as good as it gets!

And Beth's last day of school picture 5-20-11. She is officially a 3rd Grader!

Beth is EIGHT!!

2011-03-15T09:43:00.005-06:00

I cannot believe I have an 8 year old! ACK! Has it really been 8 years!

Beth is growing up...big time. Just recently I've started noticing an "attitude" change...friendlier, more patient with her little sister, and more helpful. Its nice. She is having her first slumber party for her birthday...this weekend. Lord help us! :-)

Good grief- how is it that we've already gone from this...

to this...

Happy 8th Birthday Beth!!

I'm so, so sorry!

2011-03-14T08:47:00.004-06:00

I haven't blogged since January! ACK! I'm so sorry...if anybody cares...if anybody reads this blog anymore. Facebook has really taken over now, as my source of providing info to others. Again, I apologize...

But honestly, there hasn't been much to update everyone one. I'm not sure I've even taken more than 10 pictures since Christmas.

We've had a crazy 3 weeks. Kids Closet week (my LAST Kids Closet) was Feb. 27-March 6 and it was an insane week, aside from KC. I didn't post my usual pictures of my awesome "finds" due to the craziness that ensued that week, but I did pretty darn good!!

On Tuesday night, March 1, we discovered a water leak in our cold water line under our house and had to shut off the water until a plumber could get to us...

Our beloved 11 year old Bailey girl (our yellow lab) got very sick on Wednesday morning, March 2nd, and we had to put her down. Ugh.......

The "sickness" ruined our flooring in the house, so we were having to deal with carpet/flooring quotes on Friday, March 4th and making a snap decision on those quotes. It was NOT a planned remodel....but regardless, it was going to to have to happen ASAP.

The hardwood started going in last Friday. They SHOULD be done with the wood (and carpet in the bedrooms) by this Thursday/Friday. The girls bathroom is also getting retiled, because the current flooring in there is 1/2 nasty old carpet and 1/2 nasty old green tile. We are vacating the house for the week so the flooring guys can work as late as they want to at night. We've had to clean out all closets' floors and under all the beds...we've had to move all small objects out of their normal resting places...I had to unload the china cabinet...I had to paint 253 feet of shoe molding. Fun times....

On top of THAT, we were in the middle of a PLANNED exterior remodel and Bob sanded and repainted our front door and he hung new shutters this weekend. I will paint the ugly ironwork to match the door/shutters next weekend. We were originally going to replace the ironwork with colums, but alas, a rather large unplanned for reflooring project arose, and our budget went down the drain! So, a repainting they will get... I will post before/after pictures when everything is done.

The girls and I were able to escape for a bit yesterday to the Adventure Science Museum (Bob dared not leave home as UK played UF for the SEC championship at noon!). It was then girls' combined birthday present from my parents. Then we dropped off Grammy at the airport to meet my dad in Destin for the week...hence while we'll be at their house this week! It was a fun day and I think the girls enjoyed it!

3 weeks till spring break...we need a vacation pretty badly!

Nerves

2011-01-25T10:56:00.002-06:00

I really have nothing exciting to report. Beth was sick all last week...blah. Just a nasty cold virus that wouldn't loosen its grip on her, so she got 3 sick days and a snow day - yeah!

Why did I title the post NERVES? Well....here's why....

I WAS nervous regarding Sarah's school choice for next year. Last fall I made the decision to go ahead and move her to full-day Kindergarten at the same private school where Beth is now for the 2011-12 school year. We will be moving her out of her preschool/kindergarten program she has been in for 2 years. Beth STAYED there for Kindy, so this will my first Kindy experience at this school, however, its the SAME teacher Beth had when she was in church Kindy, so I'm psyched about that! SO, basically, after 5 years and 2 kids, we are leaving our Church school. I wish I could say I was sad, but I feel and I know its time to move. I need the move for me. I need the girls to be at the same school. I need to remove myself from being so intertwined in the Church school. I am the Board Chairman. I am 1 of 4 Kids Closet Coordinators. I am resigning both those jobs in May. I need to pull Sarah out of Church Daycare. She will leave there in May, as well. Honestly, I need a separation between Church and school and daycare because the lines get crossed and fuzzy sometimes. I need my church to be MY CHURCH and nothing more. And that is all I will say about that without going into crazy details that don't need to be on the internet.

SO ANYWAY- I just found out out that Sarah will definitely make the cut for Kindergarten next year. She is on THE list and NOT the "WAITING" LIST!! Now I can RELAX!!

Bob has gone back to school to finish his masters degree in Occupational Safety & Health- 2 nights a week. Yeah -that makes me a little nervous, too. Not that he is going back to school- but gone two nights a week on top of his already busy schedule. HOPEFULLY he'll be all done by next Christmas!

Bob also got a great new potential client...I say "potential" because the contract isn't signed yet and we know better than anyone, that things can change and happen before anyone signs on the dotted line and that makes me nervous. Rates and dollar signs haven't been discussed yet, so...again...I'm nervous that it all works out okay because it really is a great opportunity!

On a different note- Beth had 3 tests yesterday and made A's on all of them -yeah!!

Holidays

2011-01-03T11:28:00.010-06:00

Whew! What just happened!?!?

Did December come and go already? Holy cow! The holidays really flew by this year!

We obviously stayed busy, hence no blog updates for a month! Sorry!

Here are some of the best pictures:

Before Christmas Dinner at my mom and dad's house

Our family:

My parents and brother and sister-in-law:

Bob and Sarah Katherine:

me and Sarah Katherine:

Sarah's excitement over a gift! love the expression!

Christmas Eve morning at my mom and dad's house...girls going through their stockings:

Sarah finally got her Jasmine crown!

Bob can finally stop packing in luggage with MY monogram! :-)

Barbies from Dandaddy...

In Murray on a snowy Christmas Eve - Sarah w/ Aunt Becky and Beth w/Aunt Becky:

More fun in Murray:

Traditional reading of The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve before bedtime:

SANTA CAME!!!

For Sarah Katherine:

For Beth:

A WHITE CHRISTMAS!

The girls checking out their stocking gifts!

There is a back story to this next picture. Sarah is holding a bag of Pistachio nuts Santa left in her stocking. She obviously isn't nearly as thrilled about them as she is the lipgloss in the picture above.... She LOVES Pistachio nuts and will eat them by the bowl full. I teased her that Santa was going to leave her a bag of them and she did NOT think that was a neat idea for some reason! Well...Santa brought them anyway!!

Beth opening the gift from Sarah Katherine- MORE Rainbow Magic Fairy books!

...and the sister hug that came after!

I think I took this right after Beth gave Bob the gift she picked out and paid for by herself at her school's Santa Shop!

Bob gave Sarah a Zhu Zhu princess Castle. That darn thing was hard to find! It didn't come out in stores till Dec. 10th or so and I couldn't find it anywhere. I lost COUNTLESS auctions on Ebay for it and finally won one...only to discover it a few days later at Walmart for 1/2 of what I paid for it on Ebay! Errr...........Oh well...her expression made all that totally worth it!!

And Beth's big gift from mom and dad was an IPOD Touch....think she likes it?

I gave Sarah a new "round chair" as her old Dora chair was literally falling apart. She was unimpressed that it wasn't a toy, but got over it pretty fast!

And the day was topped off with snowman building in the back yard!!

Back to reality now!!

Regular Life

2010-11-17T09:25:00.006-06:00

Life is moving along at such a fast pace it seems. How is it already Thanksgiving time? Holy cow!! I'm hosting Thanksgiving next week for lots of intown and out-of-town relatives and then I've GOT to get on to Christmas shopping. I have a few things for the girls...but I've barely even started. I need more ideas for Sarah Katherine...anyone got a great gift idea of a 4-year old. Her list is SHORT and Beth's is LONG....

Not too much to report on since Halloween. Bob's been hunting a lot. I'm trying to get a jump start on cleaning the house to get it ready for the holidays...doing a little bit every day. Yesterday I finally got around to hanging the girls' portraits (this is Sarah's....I have yet to take a picture of Beth's! oops)...

...and finally got all the hairbow-making junk out of my dining room! Carpets in the entire house get cleaned Monday...thank goodness!! I desperately need my upholstery cleaned too...but that will have to wait, along with all the other things like new shutters, new back door, new windows....oh the joys of home ownership. I'd really just like a NEW HOUSE....

We've made the decision to move Sarah to a new school for Kindergarten next year. While I've loved the program at our Church (3's, 4's and Kindergarten) and while Beth DID go to Kindy here, I feel its time to move on. I need both girls at the same place for logistics sake and my own sanity. I desperately need a separation of my Church and my kid's school, because sometimes those waters get very muddy. And I see no reason paying full-price for aftercare (daycare) when she'll only be in daycare from 12-3 each day, which is basically to eat and nap, which is no fun. We've told Sarah she is moving next year to be with Beth and she is excited. I feel better now that I've made my decision and honestly, a little relieved. I am trying to tell myself that although SK won't get to experience what Beth did in Kindergarten, that she will get to experience NEW things at her new school and that is great. They don't each have to do the same thing. Church is a 1/2 day Kindy program....new school is a full day Kindy program, which I think Sarah needs. Church daycare requires of all their 3's, 4's and Kindy kids and Sarah Katherine already doesn't need that 2 hours. Its playing havoc with our bedtime routine. She was up till after 9:00 last night (and her bedtime is 7:30!). I think I'll be a happier person, too....

Beth continues to do great in 2nd grade and got straight A's the first 9 weeks grading period. At mid-term of this 2nd 9 week grading period, she continues to maintain straight A's! yeah! She is an AVID reader and can read books so fast. She loves science...isn't a huge fan of math though, but she is doing well. (I wasn't a math fan either...still not!) She is an "elf" in her upcoming Christmas show and has sung me many of the songs and is quite proud of herself! :-)

That's about it folks...not much going on here other than regular life!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T10:05:00.004-06:00

Halloween 2010 has come and gone (yeah!)..... Sarah went as three different characters...Princess Jasmine (class photo is the only proof I have that she actually dressed up like this, and I didn't even take it - pretty bad, huh?), a ballerina princess, and Tinkerbell...she's pretty indecisive sometimes! Beth chose a medieval princess, ironically the same costume I wore to a party last year.

Thursday- SK's Nursery School girls.... before they went trick-or-treating!

Friday night trick-or-treating downtown:

Saturday night for neighborhood trick-or-treating...

Day 5- Last Day and Cinderella Dinner

2010-10-21T11:55:00.008-06:00

Last full day at Disney - time to do everything again that we wanted to! (Pirates of the Carribean pictured here)

...And....meet a few new characters! Beth FINALLY got to meet the fairies (longest wait of anything we did at Disney - 95 minutes!!) Pictured are Rosetta (in pink), Tinkerbell and Vidia (the "fast flying" fairy...and also the "mean" one!)

And we caught a little bit of the afternoon parade and saw characters we hadn't seen all week, so that was fun, too! That is Sarah on Bob's shoulders in some of these pictures:

The newest Disney Princess- Tiana and Prince Navene from The Princess & The Frog:

I think Sarah Katherine was a little tired on the boat ride back!

Then it was time for a little pool and waterslide before getting dressed and heading over to the Grand Floridian for the Cinderella dinner at 1900 Park Fare.

And Sarah FINALLY got to wear her princess dress!

Beth and I topped the night off with a quick trip back to the park to ride Big Thunder Mountian, Pirates and Jungle Cruise in the dark! Bob and SK played on the beach at Wilderness Lodge and the playground.

Day 4 - SEAWORLD

2010-10-21T11:25:00.007-06:00

After a long commute via Orlando City bus to Seaworld...and then a long walk across their HUGE parking lot, we finally made it to the front gates...only to have to stand in line for 20+ minutes just to get through the turnstiles...something that takes 90 seconds at Disney. It was frustrating. By that time, we were hungry and grumpy and didn't know where to start. We ended up checking out the Dolphin Nursery first...

...then headed to lunch. After lunch,we did the penguins...

...sealions....

....then the manatees.....

...then the dolphin show....

....feeding dolphins....

....shark exhibit and then the Shamu Show...and I'm pretty sure Shamu was not there. We got to see the 4-day old baby Orka Whale though!

Then, the kids played in the kids zone, then the "artic" animals- whales, polar bear (sleeping) and walruses.

And off to Downtown Disney we headed! We ate at Wolfgang Puck Express (counter service and it did count on the Disney Dining Plan). It was SUPER YUMMY!! I highly recommend it. After a quick trip to the giant Disney store and the Lego store (for Beth to get her picture made in front of the "Paris" lego window...you can tell how thrilled Sarah Katherine is to be in that picture, can't you!?), and one stop for Sarah to get her picture made with Buzz...we headed home to hit the hay!

Day 3 - EPCOT!

2010-10-20T12:56:00.008-06:00

Day three we started with a swim (with the ducks in the pool and which I have NO pictures) and that was fun...then it was off to Epoct to meet the Princesses for lunch! We just BARELY made it there on time...we were sprinting through the first half of Epcot to get to Arkerhaus Restaurant in Norway! Whew!! This was not the BEST meal we had...and a little weird, but it was good.

After lunch, we did a few favorites- The Seas with Nemo, TestTrack, Spaceship Earth..and then we headed to the countries. We started with a beer for Bob and continued on through France, to America, to Germany and passed lots others. The girls were tired, I was hungry...and it was SOOOO VERY CROWDED!! Epcot had the Food & Wine Festival going on AND it was Extra-magic night hours which added to the crowd.

NEMO:

Sarah on Test Track:

Meeting Chip & Dale:

France/Beauty & The Beast Topiaries (LOVE THEM!!) Beth FINALLY got to visit France! We watched the 20 minute France video and she bought a miniature Eiffel Tower and a France Flag Micky head pin for her lanyard! Not sure where her obsession with Paris and France comes from...maybe Fancy Nancy? :-)

And finally...at the end of the night...after the newness of the glow-in-the-dark items had worn off...and the meltdowns had started...

...Sarah Katherine FINALLY got to meet Mickey, Donald, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy!! She was sooo excited to meet them and kept telling me how soft Donald Duck was! :-) Beth thought she was too big for her britches to meet Mickey and crew this time! Geez! Hence....why she is absent from these pictures.

Spirit of Aloha Dinner - Disney Night 2

2010-10-20T10:05:00.004-06:00

The Spirit of the Aloha dinner was at the Polynesian Resort...a resort we had yet to visit. I'm glad we got to see it, and it WAS beautiful, but I still much prefer Wilderness Lodge! We all enjoyed the dinner of yummy pineapple-coconut bread, fresh pineapple, salad w/ poppyseed dressing, ribs and chicken, potatoes and more...and a yummy chocolate moouse dessert! The show and the dancers were fun and entertaining and everone enjoyed it!! I took lots of video of the dances and will try to upload that, as well! (edited to add- video uploading is not working today --- will try again tomorrow!)

Disney Trip Report - Day 1 and Day 2

2010-10-20T09:22:00.005-06:00

Day 1 - got up EARLY to head the Panama City Beach Airport from Destin. We finally told Sarah that she was going to Disney World once we arrived at the airport! I think she was almost more excited about going on the airplane!!

Panama City Beach Airport (brand-spanking new) is very nice and super easy to navigate! We were up and away and in Orlando by 11:00. A quick ride on the Magical Express and we arrived at Wilderness Lodge, checked in, headed to the room, put away the Garden Grocery items and then headed back down to eat lunch and then we were off to Magic Kingdom!!

Crowds were LOW LOW this day, so we were able to catch the tail end of the stage show at the castle, do lots of rides in FantasyLand, TomorrowLand and AdventureLand (Beth and SK's first ride on the Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain). We hopped back on the boat and had a super yummy dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge- a must do again!! Downtime in the room and bedtime by 9:30!

Tuesday - up and out the door by 9:30...I think, but not before enjoying coffee and breakfast on our balcony overlooking the Courtyard at Wilderness Lodge.

We finished up Magic Kingdom and did everything we wanted to do - included Jungle Cruise, meeting a few characters, Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain and Haunted Mansion AGAIN and a few other things. I also finally got my pineapple float from the Dole Pineapple stand! YUM!!!!

Tuesday night -we headed to The Spirit of Aloha dinner show. I was low expectations going in, but it was really fabulous! We all enjoyed the show and the food! See next post for pictures!

Disney!

2010-08-25T11:36:00.004-06:00

WE'RE GOING BACK!!!! Its been a LONG 2 years and 9 months...but we are finally going back and taking Sarah this time!! She's finally tall enough to ride 98% of the rides!

We're changing things up this time after our so-so stay at Pop Century last time. We visited Wilderness Lodge while there in Jan. '08 and fell in love! Its in the Magic Kingdom area and while NOT on the monorail loop, it is only a very cool boat ride away! That beats a crowded hot bus anyday!! We plan to probably only do Magic Kingdom and Epcot this trip. (and a day at Seaworld, too, but shhh....even Beth doesn't know this yet!) We got a bunkbed room in hopes that the girls will be able to settle down better at night sleeping separate, as sleeping side-by-side in hotels tends to do nothing but delay sleep for hours and get them in trouble! :-) We HAVE told Beth, but we plan to not tell Sarah until a day or two before we go! The plan is to drive to Destin -hang out at the beach for a few days, then fly from Panama City Beach to Orlando! (I found AWESOME rates of $49 each if we fly from Panama City Beach instead of our "home" airport and I think part of the Disney experience is the flight and the airport and the Magical Express bus taking you to your resort!!) Plus this will allow some "down" down before and after the week at Disney - which will be needed!!

This is Wilderness Lodge - isn't it awesome! Beth is super excited about the pool! (So am I!) I am excited about spending more "down" time this trip - hanging at the pool!

Only 47 days!!!

The Calm Before The Storm

2010-07-30T08:24:00.002-06:00

The last three weeks have been calm and completely uneventful. No news is good news, right? Its HOT (not sure we've had a day undre 94 degrees since like July 8th). Heat pretty much sucks the motivation right out of everyone, so we've done nothing but hang out at home, only occasionally venturing out to the pool or farmer's market or outside after 7:30 at night, when it might finally dip under 90 degrees. Ugh!

School starts August 10. Next week is our "last" week of summer, and although I wish it was going to be a nice, calm week, it won't be, I'm sure. All school supplies have been bought, so we can check that off our list. However, we have dance registration next week, 2nd grade open house, haircuts and a few other misc. things. I'm also going to start Beth back on her alarm clock in the morning, gradually moving it a few minutes earlier each morning to prepare her for 6:30 the following week. And we have to get back into the routine of bedtimes, although the last few nights both girls were IN bed by 7:30 (albeit not asleep till much later). I think both girls are bored and getting tired of each other. The sibling rivalry has REALLY picked up in the last two weeks, with me or Bob constantly playing interference or breaking up fights or squabbles that end in hitting or kicking each other. Ahhh...sisterly love.

So, the chaos will begin soon.....hectic mornings, packing lunches, doing homework, carpooling to different activities, etc....oh well...bring it on!

Destin...again...

2010-07-13T08:48:00.006-06:00

So, we headed back to Destin for our annual 4th of July trip to the beach! Its so fun! There are fireworks right on our beach and a big cook-out. This year, 4 of the owners did a rib cook-off, including Bob. He didn't win...but it was good effort! We had a bum judge who didn't like "smoked" anything...so she didn't like his ribs. bummer. Oh well...we had fun!!

The Rib Cook-Off:

Sarah Katherine's 4th of July swimsuit...so cute!

Patriotic Sisters

Goofing off at the cook-off

The whole fam...

The girls with Aunt Erin before fireworks

Some fun at the beach....

Beth and I at The Ocean Club:

And some fun taking white dress pictures at sunset...

And this one is getting blown up and going on my mantel:

Father's Day

2010-06-22T13:50:00.005-06:00

We spent Father's Day on KY Lake with dinner at Bob's favorite catfish restaurant, Cypress Inn and Marina, which is right on the lake, so we usually partner a trip to Cypress with a day on the lake, then just dock the boat for dinner! Its always a fun trip back home b/c its usually around sunset on the lake and a beautiful boat ride! The girls love the lake and the boat....here are some fun pictures of the day, the evening and the silliness that occurred on the way home!

Spammers- please don't make me do it...

2010-06-17T14:35:00.002-06:00

EEERRRRRRRRRRRRRR...................
I'm sick of having to delete random spam comments to my posts. If you do not know me, don't leave a comment randomly asking me to look at your blog. Anymore random comments and I'll be making this a private blog to my family and friends who actually might care. Its super annoying to have to police my own blog.

Blame Facebook

2010-06-14T09:33:00.005-06:00

You can blame Facebook for my lack of keeping up with my blog. Sorry. All photos, updates, etc, go straight to Facebook b/c it is just so much easier. It will probably continue to be this way, so if you read this blog and we AREN'T Facebook friends and you want to be, leave me a comment or find me on Facebook!!

Just a quick update:

Beth:

She just finished 1st grade and had a great year. She says her favorite subjects were lunch and recess, however, she loved science and reading! She is also a great little writer! Writing was always my strong point, so maybe she'll follow in my footsteps. She has a rather extension summer reading list for 2nd grade that she has already made it about 1/3 way through! She loves to read and I'm so thankful of that. She has not been impressed with the 2nd grade reading list, as she says the books on it are way too easy! She is reading chapter books like they are going out of style. I'm guessing her test scores will say she is reading at a 3rd grade level, but who knows! She is enjoying a busy summer already! We've already been to Destin once, in anticipation that we might not get to go our usual 4th of July week b/c of the oil. (The jury is still out on that, though. We watch the oil maps like hawks!)

Her summer babysitter is keeping her busy with the library, pool, parks and more! She is going to her first "REAL" camp this week -Church camp. Just a 1-night camp, but she knows NO ONE there and is actually very excited!

Sarah :

She will be in 4-year old Nursery School (preschool) next year. She is super excited! She is also staying busy this summer and finding her confidence to be my little fish in the water again!

She loves to swim, go to water-play-day at daycare on Tues/Thurs and play outside. She is getting ready to go to LadyBug camp at mom's this week and is SO excited about that, too! Its her first year and Beth has her all hyped up about it!

Bob continues to stay busy with his company. He is booked solid through the first part of October, so that is very awesome!!

I continue to stay busy with work, Church stuff and mom stuff! Always running and always busy! Story of my life, but I love every minute of it!

Sarah's Last Day of 3-Year Old Nursery School

2010-05-13T10:30:00.004-06:00

I can't believe its already time for my customary "last day of school" front porch picture...for Sarah at least!! She lost her babyface this year!!!!

FIRST DAY - SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

LAST DAY- MAY 13, 2010

Dance Recital

2010-05-10T08:44:00.004-06:00

Okay- my turn to brag a little on my girls! They both did AWESOME at their dance recital. SO CUTE!! AND they had to do the whole thing twice - Friday night and Sunday afternoon, plus dress rehearsal on Thursday. I think Beth was more excited about getting flowers after the recital than she was to actually dance. Beth is built like a ballerina- all legs. I hope she continues to dance and the passion grows in her because I honestly think she could be fantastic. There were several seniors dancing their last recital before graduation and OH MY! They were AWESOME! I was in awe watching some of these "big" girls dance- truly beautiful. My girls' teacher, Ms. Elissa, was one of them. BEAUTIFUL ballerina and dancer. There is a picture of her below with Sarah's class - she's just beautiful! So - enjoy these pictures! Ballet is over (except for a small 2-day camp in June) till mid-August!

Beth:

Sarah:

Water

2010-05-03T08:05:00.002-06:00

Yeah...water....lots of it!
I can't begin to tell you all how lucky I feel this morning. UNBELIEVABLY lucky. Some of you may remember that in the aftermaths of Katrina on August 29, 2005, our house flooded. While it wasn't terrible and only portions of house got water, it was still enough to send our lives into a tailspin for a little bit. The feeling I get in the pit of my stomach anytime a lot of rain is predicted is a feeling I wouldn't want my worst enemy to feel. I had that feeling ALL WEEKEND. We just watched and waited for the 10+ inches to hit us....We got lucky. We got 6 1/2 inches. It wasn't enough to flood anyone out of their home in our area. Nashville and middle-Tenessee- about 75 miles to our southeast - weren't so lucky. They got 18 (EIGHTEEN!!!) inches of rain in two days. That is 25% of their YEARLY AVERAGE...in TWO DAYS!! I'm hoping that those of you who aren't "local" are seeing images on your news of this flooding. Its unprecedented. Its never happened like this before, and probably never will again in most people's lifetime. The Opryland Hotel and OpryMills mall is flooded! Parts of historic downtown Nashville are flooded.The rivers are STILL rising, some won't even crest till late today. Its crazy! Several major interstates (I-24 and I-65) flooded BADLY on Saturday, with people having to evacuate and abandon their vehicles. Craziness, I tell you...insanity!! Here is a crazy video from the I-24 flooding:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5gYhLKwSp4&feature=player_embedded

Other videos/photos/stories:
http://www.wsmv.com/index.html
http://www.newschannel5.com/

And the oil spill in the Gulf is making me nuts too!! Our precious Destin beach is in jeopardy. Not cool....not cool at all!!! It makes me sick to my stomach.
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/

Happy Birthday Sarah Bear!

2010-04-20T13:18:00.005-06:00

My Sarah Bear is 4 years old today!!!

4 years of birthdays:

4-20-06 just born:

4-20-07 1st Birthday

4-20-08 2nd Birthday

4-20-09 3rd Birthday

2010 - 4th Birthday!

Life Update, Easter, Keeneland....

2010-04-16T09:32:00.005-06:00

OH MY! I didn't realize it been almost 3 weeks since an update! That goes to show you 2 things:

1) LIFE IS HECTIC right now, and

2) I rely more and more on Facebook to spread news about Family stuff, pictures, etc....sorry blog readers!

Since my last update, we've had lots of soccer practices, games, cheer practices, games, ballet recital practice, choir rehearsal, spring break, a week of Bob being out of town and more! Last night was the first time in 11 days that our family sat down to eat together! Oops! Bob was in Arkansas April 5-12 (he left the day after Easter) and its hard to pin the girls down to dinner at the table when he is out of town and also during that time, plus this week, it never fails that someone's practice/game falls at dinner time! I feel like I've been eating on the go for weeks now! Its frustrating and not helping my waistline! :-) We also did a quick run to Lexington last week - to Keeneland - and just to get out the house for a a few days.

Below are Easter pictures and Keeneland pictures! Enjoy! And I promise I'll try not to go 3 weeks before updating again. If we aren't friends on Facebook - find me - Katie Thomas Peebles!

Easter April 4, 2010:

Keeneland onApril 14, 2010

A horse of a different kind - that night at PF Changs for dinner:

This picture of Sarah was taken after dinner, when I finally just scooped her up and took her outside, after she knocked half the contents of the table onto the floor and broke all the sauce bottles....fun times!

Youth sports

2010-03-30T07:55:00.003-06:00

Through the years, we've tried lots of things with the girls. Beth tried soccer when she was 4 years old and wasn't a fan...not at all...and she has no desire whatsoever to try it again. She tried Gymnastics later that year. The year started great with only 3 people in her class so she got plenty of time with the teacher and plenty of times on the beam, bars, mats, etc...but by March, there were 15 kids in the class and her impatience grew into major frustration and a fight just to go to class each week. We were done by that point. She is doing ballet this year and just hasn't enjoyed it and begs me to let her try Gymnastics again. Problem is....well...the only two remainign gyms in town both have some majorly competitive cheer squads. The cheer squads are basically the next step up from tumble classes and the tumble classes are where they basically "groom" their next cheerleaders. First let me say- I don't have a problem with Beth being on a cheer squard if she is good enough to make the team. HOWEVER, I DO have a problem with all the traveling they do to go to competitions and the $500 that families probably pay out each weekend they have to go to Chicago, Memphis, St.Louis, Nashville or wherever for a competition. OUCH!!!! So, I'm stuck between a rock and a hardplace. Do I let Beth take a tumble class at one of these places next year, knowing full well what the outcome "could" be?? I can tell you - I'm not a "cheer mom." :-) And I can tell you, if Beth is anything like me (I never "got" gymnastics- I just couldn't do all that tumbling and flipping and stuff)...she may not do well at gymnastics either. I'd really like to see her stick with dance, but she is driving me bananas wanting to do gymnastics again. And in all honesty, she really did LOVE it when her class was small and she got to do all the activities and not sit on the mat and wait her turn like it was at the end of the year.

Okay - all that brings me to my original reason for posting - Beth is a YMCA cheerleader this spring. Her squad is made up of girls 7-10 years old that cheer for the YMCA U-11 Flag Football teams. This is the first time we've done YMCA cheer...and probably our last. While I think its awesome and it gives everyone who wants to be a cheerleader the chance to try it, I think it teaches absolutely ZERO fundamentals. NONE. They even had to go to a 2 hour "cheer clinic" where they learned cheers and a dance, problem is no one bothered to correct any of the girls if they were doing something wrong and show them HOW TO DO IT. I completely understand that YMCA sports are all about fun and being a team, but I'd like for her to learn SOMETHING!!! Its frustrating to watch......

Sarah Katherine, on the other hand, is my athlete and wants to do it all! She is currently in ballet and loves it. She played YMCA U-5 soccer last fall and is playing this spring, too. While she LOVES soccer, she isn't learning a thing this spring. We have a rather disappointing coach who knows nothing about soccer and doesn't really care. Again...frustrating to watch. However, Sarah could care less and just loves to be out there running around kicking the ball. She is getting faster as she grows and can totally get in there and play with the boys! I have no new pics from this spring soccer season yet, but she is on the same team as last fall....

Beth's party...

2010-03-25T08:39:00.003-06:00

I had somewhat of a "social experiment" with Beth's birthday "not-so-slumber PJ party", I guess you could say. She wanted to invited ALL of the girls in her class + 3-4 others from her FUMC Kindy class last year. Since the party was at our house and I wasn't necessarily paying "per person" for the party, I went with it, thinking that at least I would FINALLY get to know the little 1st grade girls she was always talking about. I'm so glad I did it, but I'll never do it again! It was a lot of different personalities and it wasn't necessarily a great blend...but again, it really helped me get to know the girls that I did not know. I already told Beth that next year, when she wants to have her "real" slumber party, that we will have no more than 3-5 girls at the most and we would keep it an EVEN number people! :-) I didn't get many good pictures because 1) it was chaos, and 2) I was also using the video camera option of my phone for most of the "big" moments like blowing out the candles on her cookie cake! Oh well!

Beth and her "BFF" Maggie:

Eating pizza and actually sitting still for 10 minutes!

Eating cookie cake!

Impromptu Limbo game...

Happy 7th Birthday to my Beth!!

2010-03-16T08:27:00.002-06:00

Today she turns 7.....SEVEN!!!! EEK! Happy Birthday Beth!

Kids Closet time again!

2010-03-03T13:04:00.004-06:00

Sorry about the lack of posting much of anything in February! We've been busy....or sick!

Its Kids Closet week! While it IS a super busy week, its also fun. I got to do my shopping last night. The committee gets to shop very early, since we end up working the other shopping nights. Its also a way to say thank you to the committee members for putting in 25+ hours...sometimes 50+ hours this week alone!

I went through both girls closets last week...and the ample supply of spring/summer clothing I already have in storage for Sarah. Beth, as usual, needed the most clothing....and as usual, it was slim pickins' in her size. And even for Sarah, I didn't go nuts, either. So, here is the breakdown:

For Beth, I spent $60. For that $60, she got: 3 dresses (1 Garnett Hill NEW never worn dress!, 1 Limited Too dress and 1 FlapHappy dress), 2 pair of Old Navy capries (1 pair still new w/ tags), 1 3pc purple PJ set (not pictured b/c she wore it to bed!), 4 bathing suits (all 4 totalled $15), 1 pair Old Navy pink shorts, and 4 Tshirts (2 Circo, 1 ON, and 1 Gymboree).

Garnett Hill dress (new- never worn!)

For Sarah, I spent $70.50. For that, she got: 1 pair Keds maryjanes, 1 pair pink flipflops,1 hand-made woven pink/white headband, 3 bathing suits (all 3 totalling $8.50 - 1 Circo, 1 Gymboree and 1 LeTop), 1 Carters nightgown, 1 Disney PJ set, 3 "play" dresses (one Kid Crew green gingham, 1 floral Carters, 1 J.Khaki flipflop dress), 1 Jumping Beans capri 2pc outfit, 1 Children's Place 2pc shirt/skit butterfly outfit, 1 Mis-Tee-V-Us pink/white dog 2c outfit, 1 brand new 3pc Kids Headquarters white top/plaid shorts/headband, 1 Healthtex pink/green ladybug capri outfit, Old Navy blue jean shorts, 3 pairs of Gymboree bike shorts in varying shades of pink (all 3 for $2! - will be great to wear under dresses!), and one Gymboree Strawberry fields blue/white top.

I'm sure that won't be ALL, as I always pick up a few more things one Saturday hits and things go 1/2 price. Also, Sarah picked out a SwanLake Barbie and pegasus for her toy ($3!!) and Beth saved up her money and bought a Hannah Montana tour bus w/ 3 dolls, a Hannah Montana stage w/ 1 doll and 1 additional Barbie - all for $17. She was PUMPED!!

Lovey Bunny

2010-02-24T11:18:00.002-06:00

Lovey Bunny came home with Sarah Katherine last week. Its a unit the 3-year old class does. Each child gets to take Lovey Bunny home for the night, then they chronicle Lovey Bunny's journey and experiences into a story told by each child. At the end, we (parents) will all get a book that documents each child's story of their individual experience with Lovey Bunny. They are usually hilarious!

Lovey Bunny was relatively calm at our house, although he spilled the milk at dinner. oops! Other than that, according to SK, he slept the whole time!

Here is SK and Lovey Bunny enjoying milk and bologna for dinner!

Twinkle Toes and more snow....

2010-02-10T10:22:00.004-06:00

These pictures of Sarah were from last week sometime. She put on her tutu, without removing the red socks and black shoes, then added the bumblebee wings, a tiara and wand. It was quite comical! She put on a little ballet show for me.....

We also got another 5 inches of heavy wet snow on Monday night. It was enough for Beth and Sarah Katherine's schools to cancel class, which is RARE for both girls to have a snow day. I think both girls had their fill with the snow the last go-round, but they enjoyed a little outside time with Grammie yesterday, anyway.

WOW! Another "big" snow!

2010-02-01T10:03:00.003-06:00

We got 6" of snow last Friday! That is A LOT for "round these parts!" We went sledding and had so much fun this weekend!

Sledding with some of our friends!

snowball fight!

Life continues...

2010-01-28T10:34:00.005-06:00

There hasn't been anything of much importance to write about lately. I went on a mommies only girl trip to Destin with 5 of my mom friends. We had a great time shopping, gabbing, eating, playing games, drinking wine, etc. It was some much needed R&R time. All our husbands survived just fine with our kids back here in KY. There were no SOS calls or any emergencies and it was nice to return to those wonderful big bear hugs from our kids and hubbies. I think all mommies need to escape for a few days every now and then. Its good for our mental health! I took two pictures the whole time I was there and neither were of people, so I don't really have much to share other than this pretty beach picture:

The gulf was REALLY churned up with we were there, so no pretty days like we had while I was there in December. Oh well.....

This one is from one the other girl's cameras - we were at Baytowne Wharf Village in Sandestin. I've taken my girls' picture and our family picture in this same giant beach chair before. Such a cute photo op!

We are expecting snow tonight/tomorrow - they say anywhere from 4-12 inches, which is a HUGE range. I guess we'll know tomorrow! I suppose we'll probably go sledding and make snow angels and all that jazz....I'll try to grab some cute pictures!

Snow Fun

2010-01-11T09:49:00.004-06:00

Believe it or not, its pretty rare for us to get snow here in Western KY. No, we aren't in the deep south...or really the "south" at all. Kentucky is just kinda stuck in the middle- not really the mid-west, not really the south.....we are just here. Most of the snow goes just barely to our north during the winter, and we usually get stuck with the icky, no-fun-at-all ICE. However, a few times a month - Dec-March, we can get an inch or two of snow that shuts down our town! Bread and milk disappear from the grocery shelves and schools are closed for days on end if more than an inch of snow falls.

The snow that fell last week was light, fluffy snow...not really that great for snowballs or snowmen...but great for sledding. Dandaddy took the girls sledding on their drive-way...they had a ball! But, when the temp is 12 degrees, the fun just doesn't last long

They also had a little fun in our own yard!

A few of my Christmas favorites...

2010-01-06T09:55:00.006-06:00

Because I still have all my Christmas decorations up, I think its okay to still post Christmas pictures, right! That is what happens when you leave 2 days after Christmas for a whole week. I always take my decorations down on New Years Day...but alas, it hasn't been done yet and probably won't get done until this weekend! OH WELL! In the meantime....here are some of my Christmas favorites.

Christmas Eve Dinner:

Our Family:

Beth Christmas 2009:

Sarah Katherine Christmas 2009:

Sisters Christmas 2009:

My family, my parents, my brother & his wife:

The girls in the family on my mom's side:

Opening presents:

Christmas Morning:

Happy New Year

2010-01-04T15:23:00.002-06:00

We had a nice little vacation in Destin the week after Christmas - some much needed R&R!

Christmas Programs

2009-12-18T10:49:00.004-06:00

Both girls had their Christmas programs on Wednesday! Sarah was a sheep in the 3-year-old's class Nativy program and she was a very energetic sheep! Beth's entire lower school (K-5) did a joint Christmas program! It was super cute, too! Not many good pic's of her program. I have a video I'm playing around with & trying to upload, but its taking too dang long to upload today!

Sarah Katherine's Nursery school Nativity program and carolling afterwards...

Beth's Christmas program:

Crazy time of year

2009-12-15T14:06:00.006-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS YA'LL!

I'm getting TERRIBLE at posting updates- so sorry. This time of year is crazy for everyone. I feel like my to-do list never gets done. I'm really not complaining. I love this time of year. If I wasn't busy, I'd be complaining. Christmas doesn't really stress me out! I love everything that goes with it - the shopping (of which about 80% got done online!), cooking, baking, wrapping, decorating...love it all!

We started a new tradition last Christmas called Elf on the Shelf. Many of you are already familar with this little guy. He is an elf from the north pole that shows up right after T'Giving. He is here to watch over the girls and report back to Santa each night. So, each morning, he shows up in a new place in the house. The only rules are that the girls can't touch him (or else they rub off his magic that he needs to fly back to the North Pole each night) and he can't talk, but he can listen. The first few days, the girls were in a frenzy to write him notes and letters to take to Santa, then they started drawing him pictures...now, not so much. Although they still are curious each day of where they will find him, the "newness" has worn off...which makes my job harder! Our elf is playful this year and likes to try out the girls' toys, read their books, color in their coloring books, etc...We found him this morning checking out our fireplace, assumedly to make sure its safe for Santa next week! :-) Here are some pictures of our pesky little elf:

And here are a few other pictures of the girls that we've taken lately....

Before Church on 12/13 (Beth was sick, so she wasn't dressed for pictures):

At B'fast with Santa on 12/5:

New Pictures...

2009-11-30T15:16:00.002-06:00

I was a bad blogger in November-sorry. I think only 4 posts in one month is my record low. We've been BUSY...Thanksgiving prep!

Last week was Sarah Katherine's Nursery School Thanksgiving program. My camera takes horrible pics in the big room at our church. Maybe its my camera setting...this is as good as it gets, sorry! Here's my little "native american:"

Then on Saturday we went to the Opryland Hotel to see the lights and meet up with family. I did get some good shots, there....just not of the girls TOGETHER! Oh well!

nothing

2009-11-13T10:57:00.002-06:00

Yes, I realize I haven't posted anthing in 10+ days. Sorry. Not much of anything to report! We're just doing normal everyday stuff that keeps us busy...ballet, homework, dinner, bath, bedtime...and other days we throw in birthday parties, cherub choir or whatever needs to be done! Yesterday, Beth spent the better part of 2 hours working diligently on a poster of "living things" for extra credit! Sarah worked beside her decorating her own "turkey feather" which goes to decorate a huge turkey at the Kindergarten/Nursery School thankgiving program. All the kids make one feather..its quite a colorful turkey by the time is all said and done, but oh so cute!

Other than that...nothing new. We're ready for Thanksgiving at our house and the girls are actively working on Christmas lists, too....whew!

Jumping in Fall Leaves

2009-11-02T10:53:00.003-06:00

Bob and Beth went to a fishing tournament event yesterday, so Sarah Katherine and I hung out and we (she) played in the leaves! I got some great pictures.....

Halloween 2009 - Part 2

2009-11-02T10:38:00.003-06:00

Beth decided to be a UK Cheerleader for trick-or-treating and Sarah was Princess Belle. But I think the one thing they were both the most excited about was the spray glitter in their hair!

Bundled up and ready to hit the trick-or-treat trail with daddy in the golf cart!

The traditional jack-o-lantern pizzas for Halloween night dinner!

The girls sporting wax lips that Grammie and Dandaddy gave them in their halloween treat bags. Sarah was confused and kept trying to eat hers! (and I just noticed that her lips are upside down!)

Bob and I went to a halloween party on Friday night. He was Jeff Fisher (Titan's coach who wore a Colt's Peyton Manning jersey to a charity event to "feel like a winner") and I went as a randon medieval princess.

Happy Halloween Part 1

2009-10-30T07:42:00.005-06:00

Last night we carved the pumpkin....no, wait....we GUTTED the pumpkin! We ran out of time to carve the face, so that will be the project at hand tomorrow morning while it rains! Beth is an old pro, but I don't think Sarah remembers doing it from last year. She was thoroughly grossed out and ran to the bathroom to wash her hands each and every time she took a handful of "gunk" out of the pumpkin. Beth basically gutted the whole thing by herself...then we made roasted pumpkin seeds.....yummy!

Notice the "grossed out" face on Sarah Katherine:

What's gonna work? TEAMWORK!

I finally got the two of them somewhat coordinated in Halloween attire, so we took a few photos on the front porch this morning!

photo taken by Sarah:

photo taken by Beth:

On On U of K...

2009-10-26T08:42:00.005-06:00

Bob and I went to our annual UK game. The last two years we have picked late season games and both games have been freezing! Next year I'm opting for early September! :-)

Pregame we were entertained by an Armed Forces Jump Team from high above! There were three jumpers and two of them carried flags. It was neat to watch them guide their chutes in whatever direction or at whatever speed they desired. The last one to land was the guy with the US flag. The other two met him on the ground and grabbed the flag before it touched the ground- very cool!

Then it was On, On U of K, My Old Kentucky Home and the Star Spangled Banner.

This happened to be e the game where UK invited all the troops from Fort Knox. (well, not ALL of them). We suspected they were all in basic training, but after a closer look at their uniforms, Bob wasn't so sure. It was cool to see them all there. The Cats even greeted them on the field after their "big" win!

Sarah's trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-22T14:38:00.006-06:00

Today Sarah Katherine went to the pumpkin patch with her Nursery School class. Because she went last Saturday, she felt the need to be everyone's tour guide.... :-)

She played hard and was EXHAUSTED when we left! I'm glad I finally got some pictures of her at the pumpkin patch in pumpkin clothes!

Grinding up corn to feed to calf:

Yee-Haw!

2009-10-21T11:58:00.001-06:00

Today was Sarah's hoedown at Nursery School! She had a lot of fun!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-19T12:54:00.003-06:00

It was very chilly on Saturday, but the sun was out, so off we went to the pumpkin patch! I always look forward to dressing the girls in their cutest halloween outfits and getting cute pictures of them among the pumpkins, but we have YET to go when it wasn't cold and/or wet and coats are needed....Sarah has a trip with her class on Thursday. Its supposed to be 70 degrees, so MAYBE I'll get my picture then! In the meantime....enjoy these!

Happy Fall!

I think I wore them out! Both were asleep in record time that night!!

Been busy...

2009-10-08T12:58:00.002-06:00

We've had Fall Fest at Beth's school...

Our 10th Wedding anniversary....

and Birthday parties....

Brides

2009-09-28T07:36:00.003-06:00

So the name of the game last night at Grammie and Dandaddy's house was "Beautiful Brides" where each girl took her turn being either the bride, flowergirl or veil carrier. Complete with the petticoat from MY wedding dress, my mother's veil and flower petals from my brother's wedding (I think). However, I wasn't exactly ready for these sweet pictures when mom emailed them to me this morning. ***Sniff...sniff***

Quick Kids Closet update

2009-09-21T10:57:00.001-06:00

The Sale grossed over $54,000 - 30% goes back to our Kindergarten/Nursery School program- which is roughtly $16,500. WOWZA!

Also, I didn't even sell HALF of my hairbows, however, the ones I DID sell where the expensive multi-packs, go figure! I did sell enough to cover the cost of what I spent though! And I will still get a check for 70% of all the other clothing/toys/baby items I sold! YEAH!!

Kids Closet Time!

2009-09-16T08:38:00.007-06:00

Its Kids Closet week, which means bargains!!! I traditionally post pictures of my finds for the girls, so here we go!

For Beth, I spent a total of $59. As she gets older and into larger sizes (a 7/8 now!! 8's on the bottoms! ACK!!), the choices get slimmer and slimmer. I'm very particular about her clothing. I don't think at age 6 1/2 she needs to look like a teenager, which is what the MAJORITY of the clothing in sizes 7+ are these days. So, as you can imagine, the majority of her clothes still come from Gymboree, Osh Kosh, Hartstrings, etc.

So, she got a new halloween shirt and some candy corn pants to go with a candy corn shirt she already has; Two new dresses- both Kelly's Kids. One has a horse on it (and she's really into horses right now) and the other is pink with black polka dots. I need to pick up some black leggings for that dress, though; a black shirt with a reindeer on it.; a purple Mini Boden shirt that has a horse on it; a blue turtle neck from Children's Place; a red/white shirt from Justice; a brown "Love" shirt from OshKosh; a blue shirt with snowflakes (which she LOVES!) from Limited Too; and Giraffe PJ's from Gymboree. There is also a pair of brown shoes...which can double as dress shoes/gym shoes! Oh - and some purple striped gloves!

With Sarah Katherine, I spent more than I needed to - $130.EEK! However, Beth basically "skipped" size 3T in winter clothes, so I had VERY few "hand-me-downs" from Beth for Sarah. I'm not overly excited about anything, but I do think a few of the outfits are very cute. Not pictured is a TinkerBell costume she picked out for Halloween. I love dressing both girls in "holiday" specific clothing for Halloween and Christmas, so I always load up on those outfits at Kids Closet, where they are cheaper and I don't feel guilty buying items that they will only wear 1 month! Sarah Katherine actually helped me shop for her a little bit. She picked out the majority of these outfits!! Probably too much, but with a VERY picky 3-year old, I guess one can never have too many choices!

So - Halloween Jack-o-Lantern 2-piece outfit by Cottontails; Gymboree pumpkin shirt; Flaphappy 2-pc ballerina outfit - in a size 4T. She'll eventually wear it and I LOVE that brand; khakki and pink dress (matches shoes we bought, too); Gymboree horse 2-pc outfit; a few other 2-outfits, mostly OshKosh, Childresn's Place and off-brands; a green and pink Osk Kosh dress; a purple fleece snowman outfit; several 2-pc Christmas outfits; a candy cane dress w/ matching shirt; several Christmas shirts (pink!); 1 nightgown; Gymboree striped shirt with flower; Old Navy pink cordoroy "light weight" coat; 2 pairs of jeans; 2 pairs shoes; 1 pink snow boots; 1 bag of tights; and pink soccer cleats with pink soccer socks.

Not pictured are several things I picked up for Christmas gifts- a few DVD's, Books and games.

Total amount spent to date: $209.

(Total amount of bows I made to sell: $510, plus all the clothing and stuff I consigned. SO, even if I only sell 1/2 of what I took, I'll still get a check! As a consigner, I make 70% of what sells. What I buy comes out of what I sell...make sense? Usually its an even swap, but last year I got a check for over $100. Selling all those hairbows really pays off!!) Here's a picture of all my bows on the rack:

And here are close-ups of come of those bows...let me know if something catches your eye!

One more Sarah Katherine picture

2009-09-14T08:38:00.002-06:00

Sarah Katherine's first soccer game

2009-09-14T08:21:00.004-06:00

Saturday Sarah Katherine played her first YMCA soccer game! SOO CUTE! She did so well for 3 years old! She smiled the whole time and she had a great time!!!

Gramma came to see her play!

Posing with Beth:

Stretching!!

Getting ready for Kick-off - still smiling!

Coach let her do the first Kick-off! She was so excited! (and even actually made a pretty good kick!)

Running and Smiling!

Still running and smiling!

Playing hard!

...and getting the giggles!

Lunch Packing

2009-09-09T10:01:00.003-06:00

Is it weird that I'm obsessed with packing Beth's lunch for school? :-)

I knew we were in for a rough year because one of her classmates is allergic to Peanut Butter, Beth's FAVORITE food and a major staple in our home. Ugh. A few years ago I ran across a website blog/picture site where I lady took a picture of her son's lunch everyday. What made this interesting to me was they have the same problem we do - no peanut anything allowed, so all her photos were of lunches that were "safe." Ever since seeing her great lunch ideas, I've been on a roll. I wrote many of her lunch items down and have a "master list" of "safe items" on my kitchen cabinet that I can refer to nightly, if needed.

I learned that what I'm doing is basically called "Bento." Its a Japanese technique of packing lunches - lots of little containers - lots of choices. I've since discovered other blogs that I read on occasion to get fresh ideas. Many people say the more choices you give a child at lunch, in small portion, the more they will eat. So far, true with Beth! Its VERY rare she comes home with ANYTHING left in her lunch box. Her favorites are hard-boiled eggs and yogurt, ham & cheese cubes on a stick, string cheese wrapped in ham, bologna cut into triangles, chicken legs and on days when I'm lazy - Lunchables. I limit Lunchables to 1x a week. Her favorite drinks are Minute Maid Fruit Punch juicebox, chocolate milk, small bottles of water, Berry Gatorade and CapriSun Roaring Waters. She hasn't been impressed with the small bottles of apple juice, though...never has been an apple juice fan!

I also have a stock-pile of snack items and special treats. Its hidden so everyday there is surprise treat. Most include mini chocolate chip cookies or mini-Oreos sprinkled in the lunch, Oreo sticks, Fruit-by-the-Foot, PopTarts, Mini strawberry Fig Newtons, mini Muffins, Cheetos, Bug Bites cookies and more! I also buy cool napkins and other things when I see them - so far, I have butterflies, Tinkerbell, pink, pumpkins and turkeys (for fall), Disney Princess ziplock baggies, Halloween baggies and pink utensils. I also make sure to include a note everyday!!

Most of my lunches pretty well mimic the lunches here (website mentioned above), minus the "wraps" and other weird things she won't eat. We have the same container- LOVE IT!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mslil65/sets/72157601755804789/

I also get ideas from:
http://www.laptoplunches.com/lunchmenus.html
http://lunchfitforakid.blogspot.com/

So, am I obsessive? :-)

Because its fun to remember - Beth

2009-09-04T08:16:00.007-06:00

Here are some old pictures of Beth when she was an "only child"!

Prego with Beth 6 1/2 years ago:

When Beth was born- March 16, 03

Beth - 3 months

Beth - 4 months

Beth- 5 months - check out those cheeks!

10 months:

12 months:

14 months - just getting the hang of walking!

First time on the boat - 15 months? Summer of '04

18 months - October 2004:

Halloween 2004:

First time fishing - Summer 2005

Fall 2005:

Christmas 2005:

And these two were taken on Easter 2006- 4 days before she became a BIG SISTER!

I'll do Sarah's sometime later this month...if I have time! :-) Isn't it always that way with the 2nd kid, though?

Sarah Katherine's First day of 3-year old Nursery School

2009-09-02T08:19:00.003-06:00

Today was FINALLY Sarah's first day of 3-year old Nursery School!! Bless her heart, she's been asking about it for a month now, especially since her backpack came in the mail! She knew from watching Beth that I take pictures of Beth with her backpack on the first day of school and she's be asking a lot if it was time for HER picture with HER "packpack?"

I tried to talk her into a different outfit this morning, but she would have none of that - she HAD to wear her pink butterfly dress and pink butterfly crocs! Oh well - it matches her backpack!

So, FINALLY, here are Sarah Katherine's FIRST "first day of school front porch" pictures!! Yeah!!!

These two aren't great, but they show her personality right now- total Miss Priss and camera ham!

Standing in front of her cubby in the class. After this picture, she said "you can leave now, mommy." **sigh**

Sarah's trip

2009-08-31T14:14:00.004-06:00

Sarah just got back from her "3-year-old" trip to Destin with my mom and dad. She did many of the same things Beth got to do on her 3-year-old trip in '06. They went to Build-A-Bear and made "Aurora" the bear, who proudly wears a Sleeping Beauty dress, shoes and a gold crown! She went to the Gulfarium and was about half as impressed with it as Beth was. Mom said "she blew through it" and was almost as impressed with feeding the pigeons as seeing the dolphins! They did fancy dinners, hot dog parties, new restaurants and old favorites (Dewey Destins and Baytowne) soccer shopping, feeding seagulls, and more! But the best thing was the Gulf was CALM...so calm that there were basically NO WAVES for almost 4 full days. She swam her heart out, so I hear. I'm glad she was able to do that, because both times we've been this year in May and July, the waves were scary!!! Here are some pictures from her big 'ole trip! But, I'm sure glad she's home, even if she did wake up with horrible Kentucky allergies this morning!

Outside a family favorite restaurant- Captain Daves:

Feeding seagulls:

At Build-A-Bear making "Aurora"

At another family favorite- Dewey Destins! LOVE IT!

Having a hot dog party on the deck with cousins David & Sherry. Notice Aurora attended, too!

Notice how calm the Gulf is! Looks like the Carribean!

At the Gulfarium:

The QUIET and MOVIE REVIEWS

2009-08-25T09:39:00.002-06:00

Last Friday, Beth went to Murray for the weekend, Sarah went to Florida for the week, and Bob and I stayed home to be complete vegetables and revel in the silence! Friday night, we ate Chinese take-out and watched a great movie, 17 Again. SO CUTE! I highly recommend it. While it was cheesy in some parts, it was great! I'm sure every parent of a teenager wishes they could do what is done in this movie. It has a lot of great funny one-liners, too! No terrible language, either. Plus, Zach Efron (sp?) is a cutie...and I totally feel weird saying that about a 18-something guy when I'm 33.

After 17 Again was over, we popped in KNOWING. TERRIBLY STUPID MOVIE! Don't waste your money renting this one- it has the stupidest alien ending - so awful.

Saturday I did my normal morning routine of Farmer's Market then YMCA. I also got a little shopping in at a local boutique that had a huge sale - unfortunately, I got there too late to score anything I really wanted. I also spent some time with an old friend and go to FINALLY hold one of her adorable twin boys! Saturday night - leftover Chinese takeout and the movie BEDTIME STORIES. I bought this movie a LONG time ago and put it away for a movie night with Beth, but she saw it at school one day, and neither Bob nor I had seen it. I thought it was such a sweet feelgood movie. It made me laugh. Appropriate for all ages, in my opinion.

Sunday - Church by myself, then off to Murray to get Beth. She spent the rest of the day a complete vegetable on the couch watching Scooby Doo. I didn't mind too much, this time. I knew she was worn out from the weekend and needed to "rest."

Its so weird not having Sarah aroung. Quiet & Easy, but weird. She's having a great time, though! I can't wait to see pictures!

Anticipation and "Turtle bay"

2009-08-18T08:01:00.005-06:00

The girls start(ed) ballet yesterday and today. However, they just HAD to try-on their ballet outfits on Sunday! They are SO EXCITED! In fact, Sarah cried and cried yesterday when it was time for her class to be over. I hope Beth has a fun time today, too! I'm excited for them to dance! I LOVED dance as a kid.

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon and evening on Kentucky Lake. We did a LITTLE bit of swimming, but had to cut that short in order to make it to Cypress Springs Resort to eat some catfish with Bob's mom and stepdad - or affectionately known to the girls as Gramma and Papaw. It was about a 40 minute boat ride from where we put in, so it was a beautiful trip back to the ramp after dinner- at sunset on the lake- see below post. Anyway, Cypress has a MASSIVE amount of turtles that live under the walk-over from their marina to the restuarant. They LOVE leftover hushpuppies and frenchfries and beg for food! They were like ducks - once one realized there was someone feeding them, 100 more swam as fast as they could to get some food, too! And whoever said turtles are slow didn't see these suckers move for the food! And there were teeny tiny baby turtles in the mix, too, just getting kicked around. We tried so hard to make sure they got some food, but if it wasn't the big turtles stealing their food, it was the big fish from underneath! It was amazing to watch!!

Why I love the area where I live

2009-08-18T07:58:00.001-06:00

There isn't anything prettier than the sunset on Kentucky Lake:

Four First Days

2009-08-10T08:40:00.003-06:00

Beth has had 4 "first" days of school now - let's see how she's grown!

3 year old 2006:

4 year old 2007:

Kindergarten 2008:

This year- 1st grade 2009:

"Last" day of Summer and"First" day of 1st Grade

2009-08-10T08:28:00.004-06:00

A few pictures from our last "summer" weekend at the YMCA pool!

Beth & Bob:

Beth going down the big slide:

Sarah & Bob:

Sarah jumping in the "deep" water!

...and here are some of our "traditional first day front porch" pictures of Beth's first day of 1st Grade! She was a tad nervous, but all went well!! I hope all our mornigs are as smooth as this morning!!

Yes, I realize I'm a slacker!

2009-08-04T09:53:00.002-06:00

I'm sorry I haven't updated the blog in a while. Lots going on!

Bob finally got home from North Carolina and then the girls went to Chatanooga for the weekend with mom and dad = nice, calm weekend for Bob and me. I had meetings galore last week and this weekend....so we've been busy!

School starts in a week for Beth. Open House is this Thursday. I'm sure hoping that helps her get over the nerves a little bit. She's not excited at all, except maybe she's a little excited about her backpack!

I have no new pictures to share - sorry! I promise to get back in the swing of things soon -sorry!

One step closer to school!

2009-07-23T14:05:00.003-06:00

I can officially say, that besides the unexpected things, ALL school supplies have been bought, organized and are ready to go to their new homes!

Last Friday, I took Beth to go school supply shopping, hoping it would help her feel better about her new school. It KINDA worked. We made a stop at Toys-R-Us because I had a $10 off $50 coupon...but it was a complete bust, EXCEPT for Beth finding her "dream backpack." I had talked about avoiding characters, but this backpack literally made her stop in her tracks. Its our beloved Fancy Nancy. It was unavoidable and HAD to be bought. Luckily the lunchbox was free. However, the lunchbox is too small and doesn't have the features I wanted, so I bought a different lunchbox to use, as well.

And note to moms - don't go school supply shopping at Toys-R-Us. HORRIBLE selection and high prices.

We then went to Target where she picked out folders, crayons, pencils, glue, etc..... Target or Walmart would be my suggestions...HUGE selection - low prices!

Sarah Katherine picked out this backpack for her first year in Nursery School. I'm going to have her full name monogrammed on it. (and I got the matching lunchbox for Beth!)

So, I'm done! 1st grade and 3-year-old Nursery school, here we come!

Nothing of interest

2009-07-21T08:51:00.002-06:00

Nothing much to report. Bob is in North Carolina for his business trip to Cherry Pointe Marine Base. We have no idea when he'll be home - 4 days or 14. Its a "wait and see" project!

The girls are being good. So far. But, then again, I've kept them busy! The weather has been BEAUTIFUL, so I've had them outside a lot. We also went to see the new Ice Age movie- cute - just like the last two.

Beth is off to a birthday party all day and will be back around 8-8:30. Sarah is spending the night with my parents, so I'll get a LITTLE bit of quiet time this evening...except I'll be dealing with carpet cleaners at the house between 4-6p. Ugh. Bailey (the dog) is on a medication that is messing with her tummy....and that mess ended up on my living room floor last night. So, after surveying the damage and realizing it was one mess too many for me to clean, I just called Stanley Steamer. Bailey will be sleeping outside tonight..and tomorrow night....and maybe longer. It was gross, that is all I'll say. Yeah- I know -TMI.

Beth starts 1st grade in THREE weeks. Where did the summer go??? She is a little scared and nervous. New school...new friends....new teacher. I think she'll have a great year, though. She perked up a little after our school supply shopping trip when she picked out a Fancy Nancy backpack. I was SOO hoping we could bypass all character stuff this year, and with the exception of the backpack, we did! And she couldn't have been more thrilled then when she found the dolphin spiral notebook! She is pretty excited about that notebook!!

Sarah starts 3-year old Nursery School September 2. She also moves "upstairs" at daycare to the big kid room, which is ages 3-6 all in one room. I've never been thrilled with that situation, but Beth seemed to do okay. I have no way to anticipate how I think Sarah will do up there. I'll have to wait and see. I'm a tad nervous about it. I just haven't been impressed with our daycare lately, which is a big reason why the girls are at home this summer, except for 2 mornings a week. I guess I'm jumping to conclusions and I just need to wait and see how Sarah does in the big kid class..... I liked it better when she was in the baby nursery!

So, we're just here...hanging out...doing nothing! :-)

Crammin' it all in....

2009-07-13T09:23:00.006-06:00

The last day of vacation is typically the day we realize what we HAVEN'T done what we wanted to do while we were there. Its the last day to run to the outlet mall, the last day to go the restaurant we want to go to...etc.....

So, we started with a beach morning and Beth got BRAVE and agreed to go "far out" with my dad. Its by far the furthest away from the beach (in the water) she has ever been. All my pictures were pretty fuzzy...this is the best I got. Sarah was content just making sandcastles!

That afternoon, the girls wanted to go to the Leaping Fountains at Destin Commons. Beth had a blast...Sarah wasn't so sure. She was so pleased with herself anytime she set foot near the fountains though...

It was off to Sandestin's Baytowne Village for dinner at the New Orleans Creole Cooker (YUM!), then some playtime, icecream, dancing...and home by 9:30! I had some pretty wiped out little girls!! I love Baytowne Village - we ALWAYS have fun there!

We left Saturday morning and ended up making an unplanned stop for the night in Birmingham. Its nice to have family at the 1/2 way point! Thanks Bryan & Erin (and Roxy, too!). Its nice to be home, though....

a few more Florida pics...

2009-07-08T11:45:00.004-06:00

Sarah on Sunday night...

Drawing Happy Faces in the sand...

At Dewey Destins for dinner on Monday night...

Destin - July 08

2009-07-06T07:41:00.005-06:00

We've been in Destin since Saturday and until today- beautiful (hot) weather! So, while it rains, I'll post a few pictures from the last few days.

At our favorite stopping spot on the trip down - Peach Park in Clanton, AL.

Annual 4th of July Party at Costa Del Sol in Destin!

At the beach on Sunday:

Mommy, which way is Ferda?

2009-06-29T08:15:00.002-06:00

EVERYTIME Sarah gets in van and we get moving, she says, "Mommy, which way is Ferda?" (for those of you without toddlers/preschoolers who cannot pronouce "L's" yet - Ferda is FLORIDA) Its so dang cute! And each time I try to point south and say "that way" and she says something like "are we going NOW?" or "only 2 more minutes?" or "5 more days mommy?" She has ZERO concept of time, which is normal for this age. She knows we are getting ready to go back because we've been talking about it and she has been so chatty about it! Today she asked "are the big waves in Ferda?" I said maybe (because really...we never know!). She said "can I jump in the big waves?" I said "of course!" She said "can I wide (ie: ride) in the big waves?" I said "of course" and she says with a huge giggle "that will be so fun!" and then a big pause and very seriously...."but mommy, the water taste yucky when I get it in my mouth." I told her to just spit it out when it gets in her mouth and she promptly says "but mommy, you don't let me spit!"
And I'm back to trying to explain the difference in "intentional" spitting, which is NOT allowed, and spitting yucky water out of her mouth....again....concept completely lost! She continued to chat on and on about the sand and waves and crabs and seagulls...she's excited! So am I!!

The proof is in the pictures- she's swimming!!

2009-06-24T08:47:00.004-06:00

Beth decided to swim! Just like that! Maybe it was peer pressure in the pool and watching all her friends go off without her..or maybe something just finally clicked! Who knows! Regardless, she is going under the water, attempting to swim (arms and legs flailing!) and NOT SCREAMING IN TERROR!! It makes me feel so much better about having her at the pool - a lot less stressful!

Here are a few pictures from yesterday's swim lesson. They aren't great a I was standing far away and there were a lot of people in the pool.

Oh- Sarah is also taking lessons, but so far, she has only mastered kicking while holding on to the side of the pool and putting her face in the water. Progress for a 3-year old!!

Tiger Lilly Girls

2009-06-19T09:05:00.004-06:00

We have two big "batches" of Tiger Lillies in our backyard and they are blooming like crazy! Last night the girls wanted to pick some for their hair! Silly things!

Waiting Game.

2009-06-18T07:54:00.004-06:00

Sometimes it seems that all I (we) do is wait. Waiting for vacation to get here (2 weeks!). Waiting for the rain to stop! Waiting for nap time. Waiting for payday. Waiting for whatever.....

Bob is waiting to find out IF he got a pretty big job in Cherry Pointe, NC - a marine base. It would mean that he would be gone for three (3) weeks! AUGH! We know they are checking his references and they have called for his tax ID #. We know "they" met to review bids on Tuesday. Yet...we are still waiting for "the" call of YES or NO. Its frustrating.

AND, yesterday he got a call regarding a job in southern Mississippi - Keesler Airforce base (we think). THAT job would require him being gone at least a week, he thinks. We are hoping that this job works out, too, because its with a company he works with a lot here in town (but they have projects all over the US) and their business has really slacked off with Bob lately. This would be a nice boost.

So..............we wait. Wait to find out if he is headed to North Carolina for 3 weeks. Wait to find out if he is headed to Mississippi for a week....waiting. I hate waiting.....

UPDATE - He got the Cherry Pointe job! Yeah! EEK! Now we're trying to figure it all out....

The Minivan saga is finally over!! NEW VAN!!

2009-06-08T09:13:00.005-06:00

YEAH!! I finally got a "new-to-me" minivan! After almost 2-years of going back and forth on whether to get one, then deciding yes, then figure out which ONE I wanted....to trying to find THAT particular van....I finally got one. I just didn't get "THAT" van. After a 5th very frustrating week with Toyota of our town and working with them to try to find the perfect Sienna for me, it just wasn't working. I was tired of looking on autotrader.com and ebaymotors.com every day...and talking with Toyota 2-3 times a week, SOOO....on Saturday, I starting browsing Honda dealers' websites in our area for an Odyssey. Within an hour, I found pretty much exactly what I wanted. It was a year "older" than what I originally was looking for, however, it was several thousand dollars cheaper...win-win! After doing some scrambling for childcare and getting to Nashville in record time, we test drove it, then started the horrible process of price negotiation. All-in-all, we "won" the negotiations and now I'm wondering if perhaps we couldn't have talked them even lower, but what is done is done.

Its a "slate" (dark gray/dark blue) color 2005 Honda Odyssey EX-L with tan leather interior, DVD and Navigation. The girls are totally in love with it! Its going to be SO nice. I'm sure I'll get sticker shock the first time at the gas pump. The gas tank is almost 20 gallons, whereas my Sebring only had 12 gallon tank!

SO, I'm now a minivan mom and I'm 100% excited about it!! Now, I just need a "my kids on the honor roll" bumper sticker and I'm all set! :-)

Edited to add: my Insurance went DOWN $14 per month! The Odyssey has a higher "safety" rating than my Sebring did. YEAH!!

Teacher woes.

2009-06-04T08:37:00.004-06:00

Monday afternoon, the Director of the Kindergarten/Nursery School where Beth went to last year...and Sarah will begin next year...and where I am Chairman of the Advisory Council called me. The Kindergarten teacher (Beth's teacher last year) had just resigned to take a full-time job at a private school where her son would be attending next year (and where Beth will be going next year, too). I was very surprised, but not shocked. I would have probably done the same thing - she will be getting "free" tuition for her children, which is awesome! SO, I will be spending the summer searching for and sitting in on interviews with new Kindergarten teacher prospects. Yeah! I'm pretty sure whoever we hire won't hold a candle to the one that just resigned. If she stays at this private school for at least 3 more years...we will probably send Sarah there for Kindergarten. But, we'll just have to wait and see...

So, in the midth of all this hoopla, I found out yesterday that Beth's first grade teacher she was supposed to have next year, resigned. Ugh. I was devastated. Beth was devastated. She was incredible. Beth loved her already after only meeting her 2 times. They have already hired someone to replace her, but I have not a clue who she is. I guess we'll meet her at the open house before school starts. Its not a comforting feeling not knowing the person who will be teaching you child next year. I feel a tad stressed!

Party weekend!

2009-06-01T09:35:00.003-06:00

A friend of the family got remarried this weekend and it was just a 48-hour party. Friday night we had a "tailgate" party at mom and dad's house (and I forgot my camera!) and it was a LATE night for the girls (9:30 bedtime, I think) and Saturday morning everyone slept late, I went for a jog, did laundry and then the girls and I went to play with our friends! (and again, I forgot my camera!) The wedding and reception were that evening and I did get an okay picture of all of us - not wonderful, but it will do! The evening went till 8:30 for the girls, 10:30 for me. I'm told the "young crowd" was there till 1 a.m. - I just cannot do that anymore! We are all tired and ready for a NORMAL WEEK!!

Destin Days 4 & 5

2009-06-01T09:14:00.005-06:00

Days 4 and 5 were pretty...and long days, so I never got the chance to blog from the beach. Tuesday was beautiful and our last full day there. The girls continued to have fun on the beach and it was date night for Bob and me. We went to dinner and then to see Angels & Demons, which we enjoyed! We also made a quick stop at Books-A-Million to get a cool workbook called "Summer Bridge K-1" for Beth for this summer - to keep her sharp! :-)

Tuesday:

Sarah & Bob on middle deck. She was sick of the beach after about 30 minutes!

After nap, they were both sick of the water and opted for building sandcastles with Dandaddy.

Tuesday night - date night!

Wednesday we decided to go ahead and leave a little earlier than originally planned (Thursday moning). The girls were tired and Beth flat out refused to go to the beach. After a full morning on the beach with Sarah and packing, the girls were exhausted. We packed up and left after naps and drove over 1/2 way home and finished the trip home on Thursday morning. It was a nice trip! When we go back in July, I think we need to come up with something other than the beach for the girls to do about Tues/Wednesday, which is when they both seemed to get bored with the beach. OH - we also saw a dolphin on Wednesday morning - VERY close to us! Sarah even saw it because it was so close to us and she was SO thrilled!!

Destin Day 3

2009-05-25T19:58:00.004-06:00

It was a beautiful beach day today! The girls spent all morning out...and just as they were getting the hang of "riding the waves" with their intertubes, it was time to come in for lunch/nap. But, this afternoon was spent with a lot more wave riding. Each girl got braver with each wave! I predict tomorrow they will do it all over again! Each day the waves get a tad smaller and easier for them to navigate. I'm hoping tomorrow will be just perfect!

Morning:

Afternoon:

And Sarah running full throttle screaming at the top of her lungs to jump into the waves:

Tonight at Dewey Destins:

Destin - day 2

2009-05-24T20:26:00.004-06:00

This morning was icky! Rainy and icky! The girls spent at least an hour pillow jumping in their bedroom, but both took great naps! While they napped,Bob and I went shopping for HIM for a change and got a new suit and 3 new outfits. Yeah! After naps, the sun came out and we did the beach for about an hour or so. Then it was off to Baytown Wharf Village for dinner at Poppy's and playtime on their pier and playgrond!

Destin Day 1 - not QUITE a wash out...

2009-05-23T20:34:00.004-06:00

A "Tropical Low" hit the Destin area this morning. Might as well been a Tropical storm with as bad as the wind and rain got. It washed away LOTS of our sand - about 10 feet out - 5 feet tall. This boardwalk was UNDER sand yesterday...

We did BassPro Shop this a.m. during the storms. The girls enjoy going to see the big fish in the big tank!

But by about 3:00, the sun came out for about 2 hours and the girls were able to play for a while, which was great. We grabbed some things from Fresh Market and just stayed in for dinner tonight. Smart decision- TONS of people arrived today and traffic is bad! The girls had a ball running up and down the boardwalk and just being "free!"

Last Day of Kindergarten (and how much she's grown!)

2009-05-21T07:53:00.003-06:00

Today is Beth's last day of Kindergarten and in keeping with tradition, we did our "last day of school" pictures this morning! I LOVE to be able to go back and compare the 1st day vs. the last day of school to see how much she has grown/matured in those 9 months or so. I REALLY see a change in her face this year - maturity maybe - or just the four missing teeth! :-)

TODAY - Last Day of School 5-21-09

First Day of School 9-2-08

Graduation is tonight and then we are leaving directly from there to head to Destin. I'll try to post pictures sometime this weekend if I take my laptop, otherwise it will be late next week! Toodles!!

My Graduate & My Insane week!

2009-05-18T12:59:00.005-06:00

Beth is a Kindergarten Graduate....yeah! Not the best picture in the world, but oh well. I hope to get a few good shots on Thursday night.

Today, after a night of fitfull sleep, I took Sarah Katherine to the doctor...again. Double ear infection and sinus infection. Grreeeaatt..... Hopefully she'll feel better soon!

Tonight I have Weight Watchers 5;15-6:00 because I can't go tomorrow. I HATE weighing-in at night. Its week #2 completed of "Maintenance." Then I hope to either hit the gym or go for a mile run.

Tomorrow is Beth's School's Family Picnic 11-12:30. And I really need to pack tomorrow night and work-out... Maybe a family walk around the neighborhood. Its supposed to be GORGEOUS weather tomorrow!

Wednesday is my LAST Lunch "date" with Beth. 3 years of lunch dates and this is the last one. Not sure where we are going yet...I'll let her decide as usual. Wednesday at 4:00- haircut for the girls (hallelujah!), 5:00 Cherub Choir Recognition and 5:30 Church Dinner. Whew....

Thursday...finish packing....Beth's Kindergarten Graduation at 6:30, "Its a Jungle Out There" Program 7-7:30 and leave for Destin at 8:00 p.m.! Hoping to drive as far as Athens or Cullman, Alabama....

And HOPEFULLY....sometime this week...the Toyota Dealership will find a van for me. I finally called him today and told him I'd "expand" my color options and would be okay with a blue, green, white or black van. But it still has to have the "must-haves" I NEED! Leather seats and a built-in DVD player! :-) Beth calls it a "Movie-Van" (not a mini-van!)

Whew....

Just some stuff...

2009-05-12T08:14:00.003-06:00

Not too much exciting going on right now...

I'm still patiently waiting for my "new-to-me" minivan. We THOUGHT we had the perfect one coming last weekend, but before our dealership could contact that dealership in Alabama, the Alabama dealership sold it. I was kinda bummed.... So, the search continues. I've been patient for 2 years...what's another few weeks or a month or however long it takes to find it. I'm picky, yes, but I deserve to be.

Beth "graduates" from Kindergarten in 9 days. YEAH! I'm so ready for summer break. I'm so tired of fighting both of them each and every morning to be out the door by 7:50. This summer, I'll only be fighting two mornings a week and we won't have to be out the door till 8:20 which makes all the difference in the world! The other 3 days, they will be at home with a babysitter...just trying something different this summer...shaking things up!

We "might" be going to Destin next Friday. Not sure yet who the "we" is, either! It might be me, the girls and my parents...or it might be me, Bob and the girls. Bob is taking THIS week off for his annual fishing tournament at KY Lake, so he isn't sure if he can get away for a any more time this month. We'll see. Either way, its going to be a "quick" trip. Going down on Friday, May 22, and coming back probably Thursday the 28th. I'm not a fan of tips to Destin that are less than 7 full days, but we (I) NEED this vacation! I'm SO hoping we can find a minivan by then.... If not, oh well...we're going back in July and HOPEFULLY we will for sure have one by then!

As mentioned above, I'm going to be a "single" mom from Wednesday-Sunday this week. Bob is doing one of his boys' fishing trips. I told the girls we'd do a movie night one night. And if the weather holds (and it doesn't look promising), I might take them on a picnic one night for dinner. Other than that - I have no plans. Its going to be a long week...

Runnin' to my Goal

2009-05-04T09:20:00.006-06:00

EDITED ON TUESDAY AFTER WW WEIGH-IN TO ADD: I HIT MY GOAL!!!!! Now I'm officially on Maintenance for 6 weeks!!

I've been going to the gym (YMCA) since early March - about 3 times a week for an hour each time. I concentrate on stretching and some toning, then cardio for 30 minutes, then more weight-training and toning. Is it helping? Yes! I have lots more energy. I have all but reached my WW goal, and I RAN A MILE around our neighborhood the other night with NO PROBLEMS!

I had 15 minutes to kill on Thursday night and I knew I was in for a weekend out of town, which USUALLY means no exercising and not-great eating. I told Bob I was going to take a quick walk around the block. At the end of our road, I decided to pick up the pace to a jog and I ended up jogging all the way around our "big" loop and back to our house in about 15-20 minutes. I drove it yesterday - 1.1 miles! I had NO IDEA!! I thought it was MAYBE 1/2 mile as I was running it! I felt great and very proud of myself! Knowing I can do that gives me yet another option of exercise that I can at home in our own neighborhood when the weather is awesome.

I weigh-in tomorrow at Weight Watchers. Not sure if I've hit my goal, but if I haven't, its VERY CLOSE. I've been "fighting" the same 2 lbs since March 30, so I'm hoping it will be GONE this week...but after a weekend out of town, I'm not sure it will be. I tracked points the entire weekend, and I DID NOT use all my "extra" points, so I'm hoping all will be okay. I plan to either hit the gym or my road this evening for one last fat-burn before weigh-in! I REALLY hope I'm CLOSE to my goal of 134.2. That would make it an even 20 lbs I've lost since Jan. 6th. When I do hit goal, I'll go on a 6-week "maintenance" plan to help me learn what I can eat and not lose/gain any weight - to always stay within 2 lbs (either way) of my goal weight. Once I maintain consistently for 6 weeks, I become LIFETIME (and don't have to pay anymore!). I'd REALLY like to be Lifetime by the time we go to Destin the first week of July...which means I need to hit my goal no later than May 12.

I'll update tomorrow after weigh-in!

Minivan

2009-04-27T13:37:00.005-06:00

Soon...very soon...I'm taking the leap from 4-door Sedan to Minivan, and I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am! BUT, I cannot make up my mind which one I want. I'm undecided between the Honda Odyssey and the Toyota Sienna. I find myself really leaning towards the Toyota...maybe because I like the way it looks externally...or maybe because its a TAD cheaper? Not sure...

Or maybe because it comes in the same color as my green eyes:

I don't see many of the green ones around here....the light blue and gold ones are EVERYWHERE! In fact, at our Toyota dealership, ALL 8 of the Siennas in stock are GOLD. ALL OF THEM!!! At least I would know this one was MINE! :-)

So what is your thought on the Toyota green? Terrible or kinda cool? Its honestly almost the exact color of my eyes...and green is one of my favorite colors. I wear A LOT of green and I'm now sporting a great green purse!

I'm also thinking about dark blue..... but I'm thinking the green might hide dirt better! The van I want has leather seats (heated front seats) and a DVD system, as well as power sliding doors. Its not a bad price because its an LE, but was upgraded with leather/DVD. It has about 25,000 miles on it. We'd have to drive to Dayton, OH, to look at it though...ugh!

I don't know why I'm getting excited...probably won't happen...

Edited to Add: I want a minivan to just plain make my life easier! Push a button and the side doors open- WOW! A built in DVD player so we don't have to lug ours everywhere! Extra seating so we can actually get more than the girls, Bob and me in the car...it would be nice to be able to carpool or take friends places or let my parents ride with us places. And eventually, the girls will want to start taking friends to Florida, which really is fine with me....but I need a place for that friend to sit! And if the girls and I decide to go to Florida with my mom and dad and Bob stays home to work, the minivan would allow us to go COMFORTABLY in one vehicle! Yeah!

Baby bunnies and Rainbows....

2009-04-21T08:00:00.003-06:00

No, REALLY....baby bunnies and rainbows!! Its not just "fluffy" talk!

The girls found a nest of baby bunnies inside their playhouse! Smart mama bunny - keeps the babies safe from our dog...and the rain! We originally saw 5....at last check, we can only find 2....hum.....

And on the way to McDonald's for Sarah's big birthday dinner last night, we say this awesome sight:

It was a double rainbow with colors so incredibly vivid! It was SO PRETTY! The girls thought it was the coolest thing! I'm just glad I had my camera with me!

Birthday Princess

2009-04-20T07:57:00.008-06:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Sarah Katherine!!

Today, Sarah Katherine turns 3 years old! Last night we had a small family gathering, which she THOROUGHLY enjoyed! You should have seen her face light up when everyone was singing Happy Birthday (the picture above pretty much captured it!) And then, she FINALLY got to eat of of those pink cupcakes -the only thing she asked for for her birthday!

Where did the time go? Three years gone already!

She had grown and changed SO MUCH over the years. She's consistently been a tiny little firecracker, though! She's still small - about 26 lbs and 36 inches tall, as of a week or so ago! Still very much in size 2T's (for the second summer in a row!) and still tiny size 6 1/2 feet! She's just petite. Probably will always be- her greatgrandmother was only 4'10"! Here's a little photo timeline of her 3 years thus far, starting from her newborn portrait (well, actually, she was 3 weeks old!)

Happy Birthday Princess Sarah!

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T14:14:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures from our active Easter morning yesterday!

Checking out Easter Baskets:

Hunting Eggs in the backyard:

Checking out the loot IN the Easter Eggs!

Before Church:

Easter Egg Hunt at Church on April 1st:

Sarah Katherine before going out to dinner on Saturday night - she just looked so darn cute!

Spring Break

2009-04-06T09:10:00.003-06:00

This week is spring break! Yeah! That means we all get to sleep late all week. Okay...well, maybe only to 7:15 for me, but hey- that's later than 6:45 on my usual mornings! Beth slept till 7:45 this a.m. and Sarah till well after 8:00! I guess Gramma wore them out this weekend! Mornings of sleeping late and not rushing around makes for happier girls. We were out the door by 8:45 and on the way to daycare. Mommy doesn't get a spring break...I still had to go to work! It will be a very relaxed week at daycare for the girls and full of fun stuff, so I'm told.

No big plans at all this week....we don't usually go do Destin this week cause the townhouse has always been rented during spring break. Plus, its still not great beach/swimming weather down there, either. We are headed down there in July, for sure, and MAYBE in May, too...not sure yet. We had HOPED to go during Fall break, but the school system moved fall break to a week earlier than ever, and the townhouse is rented that week....bummer......

When spring break is over, Beth will only have 6 more weeks of Kindergarten! AUGH! Then she will officially be a FIRST GRADER!! (which reminds me, her other front tooth is going to fall out anyday now!! Then she will REALLY look old!)
UPDATE - Tuesday, April 7th- yep, other top tooth came out tonight! She looks so old!!

Going it Alone

2009-04-02T07:53:00.003-06:00

Bob is on one of his guy fishing trips till late Saturday afternoon. Which means...I'm a single mom for a while...but not long. The girls are headed out of town to Gramma's house tomorrow afternoon! WHICH MEANS - I will have the house to myself for almost 24 hours!! OH MY GOSH!

What on earth am I going to do with myself?

I think I might go to the gym Friday nights. Sounds like a rockin' Friday night, huh? Maybe after I'll watch a chick flick? Seen any good ones lately?

I'm definitely going to to Nashville on Saturday - OpryMills to be exact. Beth desperately needs more spring clothes- shorts and capris to be exact. I need to hit my favorite place for those things- Osh Kosh outlet and Gymboree outlet. Two of my favorite places on earth! And if I have time to go to the Hartstrings, Carters, Strasburg and Keds outlet, I'm going to be exstatic! I love OpryMills....I may actually hit a few places for ME, too! There isn't much I like for ME in OpryMills, though...I wonder if there is an Ann Taylor Loft there? I need to do some research.

Yeah - ME TIME!!!

Weekend Report

2009-03-30T09:22:00.005-06:00

Saturday afternoon was beautiful, thankfully! The girls enjoyed some outside playing before the ROUGH weather rolled in about dinner time! As promised a while back - here are pictures of Beth riding her new bike with no training wheels! And Sarah played on her bike, too, and in her beloved Cozy Coupe and on her favorite jungle gym...out Dogwood tree. One of these days,that branch is going to snap right off!

About 5:00, the storm hit and it hailed for a good 15 minutes straight! We were lucky that none of the tornadoes touched down near us and that Bob's truck was not damaged by the hail. I read somewhere on a weather website that Western KY is now part of the "new" tornado alley. Oh fabulous.....

This is what was left of the hail after the storm. It was about penny/nickel size.

And another big event at our house this weekend - Beth lost her first TOP TOOTH! I was in the 1st Grade when I lost my first top tooth - I remember it! She looks so old! (and snaggletoothed!)

Retraction....

2009-03-26T13:53:00.002-06:00

Oh boy...do I feel like the worlds worst mommy after writing yesterday that Beth had basically been acting like a demon! There was a reason....
Beth was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon for dehydration. I was shocked. We went for a 10-day recheck to make sure her bladder infection was gone and ended up in the hospital for DEHYDRATION? HUH??? The doctor said she was on the verge of being "severely" dehydrated and wanted her on I-V fluid all night. So, we spent the night there. Beth watched more cartoons than should be humanly allowed, played with her bed and was a great little trooper. Hated getting the I-V in and out, though, but who does?

Honestly, she never seemed dehydrated at all. She seemed to be drinking just fine. Eating was another story alltogether, but she had been drinking! She didn't LOOK dehydrated. Her skin looked healthy, she was crying "real" tears.....she was peeing ALL the time. She hadn't had a stomach virus at all...its all still a mystery to me.

But nonetheless...all is well now. She's home. We are tired. Maybe now she'll return to NORMAL!

Angels and Demons

2009-03-25T08:05:00.005-06:00

And no, I'm not talking about the new movie coming out soon! I'm talking about my kids.

I've been through the terrible two's...but are there "terrible six's" too??

Beth has been down right terrible these last 3-4 weeks. She's really testing boundaries. She's talking back with a very smart mouth. She is completely NOT listening to us any more or doing much of anything asked of her - just basically uncooperative. Her "drama-queenness" has escalated, too! She's been awful to Sarah. I could go on. Maybe it was the bladder infection? Maybe it was the lack of sleep due to the bladder infection? Maybe its the antibiotic? Maybe its spring fever? I have no idea what it is and I'm exhausted at trying to figure it out. My patience grows EXTERMELY thin......

Sarah on the other hand has been a dream child lately! Maybe that is God's way of keeping me sane. When one child is about to put me over the top, the other one's good behavior compensates for that and makes me realize that I DO love my kids! :-) This morning, upon waking up, she snuggled up to me and after being very quiet and just "being" there...she looked up at me and said "good morning momma! I love you!" Aahhhh....... She then chatted on about how it rained and the flowers were happy that they had a drink of water and oh, wow...look at all the puddles...and look mommy at the squirrel! Upon picking out her clothes, she was so excited to wear a certian butterfly shirt that she hugged the shirt, then hugged me and told me she "I love it!" and then said "I love you, too, mommy!" Two "I love you's" before Breakfast...wow! She got her hair down nicely....ate breakfast nicely....she was a little angel this morning....

I remember my mom saying that "three" was one of her favorite ages when I was little. Well...with Beth...3 was ANYTHING BUT great. Three was Beth's terrible two's. She skipped the terrible two's. She had TERRIBLE THREE'S! Sarah, however, did have the terrible two's...but more at the beginning of two. She will be 3 in less than a month. I'm kinda looking forward to it!

We've been busy around here- sorry for the lack of posting lately! Meetings....late nights.....the gym....spring's arrival.....

WELCOME SPRING!

2009-03-20T09:30:00.004-06:00

Its the first day of spring! YEAH! We welcome you whole-heartedly!!

I know its still March...and it IS Kentucky...and we've been known to have hard freezes as late as mid April, so we are by no means "in the clear" for nice warm weather. However, its been a great week! The girls have been outside everyday after school until at least 6:30 p.m., with short breaks for dinner. Riding bikes & scooters, helping Bob clean the boat, jumping on the trampoline, collecting things from the yard in their buckets....I've not had to listen to Wow! Wow! Wuzbie! or any other Noggin TV show, for that matter, ALL WEEK! They SHOULD be completely worn out....They SHOULD go to sleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow -right? Ugh...Beth has only fallen asleep before 9:30 p.m. one time this week. The other nights have been extreme battles...the first few nights because of her bladder infection...and that was understandable...but now she's been on antibiotics since Monday, so that shouldn't be an issue anymore, yet she is milking it to death...and in the meantime, she's killed every bit of patience that Bob and I have left!!

Anybody have any ideas of helping her go to sleep? Besides medicating...we've tried...didn't really help a lot! Yes - I'm one of THOSE moms! I'm not at all above medicating to help them get the sleep they NEED if they are flat-out refusing to sleep.

We're looking forward to another pretty weekend! I'm hoping to get the yard cleaned up - all the yucky dead stuff leftover from fall/winter needs to be gone! A lot of yard toys didn't survive the winter and they need to be gone too, so I can assess what new things we "need" for outside...which are always great Easter basket things! (buckets, shovels, sidewalk chalk, bug houses, etc.) I'd LIKE to head over to Target, too. I need Easter basket stuff....and I need to look for clothes for Beth - shorts and capris only. She has like 35 short-sleeve shirts in her closet, yet no bottoms! She needs at least 1 more swimsuit, too.

I'm starting to try to make some hard decisions about this summer. I'm thinking about taking the girls out of daycare this summer completely, or part-time. I'm considering a teenager or young adult that could keep them about 3 1/2 days a week because I'm thinking of letting them go to their daycare 2 mornings a week for socialization purposes only. I think they need some sort of social interaction with their long-time friends. I'm considering taking Friday afternoons off this summer, too....not sure yet...I'm still trying to figure it all out. Money-wise, this route isn't going to be any cheaper, just something different for the girls, plus Beth HAS to give up her nap prior to First Grade...a habit they DO NOT break at daycare. They are made to rest from 1-3p each afternoon....which is completley ridiculous for the kids getting ready to start First Grade.

It will all work out!

Happy 6th Birthday Beth!

2009-03-17T13:06:00.008-06:00

Yesterday was a little nutso with all the different appointments Beth had and then her family dinner party. I didn't get a chance to blog her birthday!

At 6:36 p.m. on Sunday, March 16, 2003, Beth was born via C-section because she was as breach as breach can be! I remember the SEC tounament was in New Orleans that year...and Kentucky DID win!! I remember timing my contractions during the first half of the championship game...and finally making the call around halftime that it was time to head to the hospital! 5 1/2 hours later...

And before we knew it...she was sitting up and crawling, which she was more than content to do until she was 14 1/2 months old.

Then, after a week at the beach of persistence, she walked! (I've always loved this picture for some reason!)

At 2 1/2 we moved to Kentucky and lived with mom & dad for a while. She LOVED playing dress-up with Grammie's things...

At 3 she started Nursery School.....

At 4 she got her first "bike" with training wells...

At 5 she thought she was hot stuff cause I let her have her first Barbie!

And now she's 6!

And she finally got to get her "big girl" bed! She is the 7th generation to sleep in this bed- SEVENTH! The first person who slept in it was born in 1789!! She'll get to pass it down to her daughter (hopefully) someday! I still need to order new bedding for it. And that would be Beth & Sarah playing under the bed...

She got an even bigger bike for her birthday...with no training wheels (which I've still not gotten a picture of!). And she's doing great on it! We have Kindergarten graduation to look forward to, the start of First grade and making new friends...and "officially" giving up her nap (which I'm not looking to!).

Six years have FLOWN by! Happy Birthday Elizabeth Lynne!

A few pictures from Beth's Fancy Nancy 6th Birthday Party

2009-03-16T10:37:00.004-06:00

Beth's "Fancy Nancy" 6th Birthday party was yesterday - whew! 6 little girls is always fun, but exhausting! I think everyone had fun! Here are a few pictures from the party - Fancy mom with the Birthday girl, Parfait with a candle on top, Birthday girl, Party Girls, and a picture of Fancy Nancy, just in case you have no clue what I'm talking about!

Spring Snow

2009-03-13T07:50:00.004-06:00

I know, its not "technically" spring until next Friday, but once it hits at least 75 degrees multiple days in a row, its spring in my mind! And the tulip trees and Bradford Pear trees are all in big beautiful pink and white bloom and the daffodils are popping open everywhere...its spring!

Or at least it WAS until yesterday.

We got about 2 inches of snow last night...about half of which had already melted by this morning. I'm not a fan of snow. Its messy, its cold, its inconvenient.....BUT the girls love it, so as we were rushing off to school, they noticed all the icecycles hanging off Bob's boat and decided to taste test (ick!).

Neither had gloves on, so after about 5 seconds, each of them let go of their beloved ice as they screamed "ITS COLD!". Well, duh!

Its ICE you silly girls!! I hope its all gone by this afternoon. Bring back the 70 degree weather!!!

Back to "Normal"

2009-03-09T08:25:00.002-06:00

I'm not even sure what "Normal" is anymore!

Anyway -Kids Closet is over...for the most part. I know I will have at least 2 more meetings....a final wrap meeting and a tag sorting/check signing meeting. But other than that...we are relatively DONE until August when preparations begin for the Fall/Winter Sale September 18/19. We grossed approximately $45,000...and about $14-15,000 of that will go to the Kindergarten/Nursery School program. Not a bad fundraiser, huh!?! And we do it twice per school year, too! (The Fall/Sale grossed over $50K last October).

This week should be NORMAL! I should be home every night to cook dinner! I should be home almost every night for bath/bedtime! I don't have to get up at 6:15 on Saturday! YEAH! But, I do confess that Kids Closet is kinda fun and I will miss the social aspect of it, but we are all so worn out right now.

Also- my kids never got sick last week!! Thats a Kids Closet week FIRST!!! Everyone else's kids got sick...but luckily, mine escaped the funk!

Its been beautiful weather here since last Friday! Beth got her birthday present a week early - a new "big girl" bike - blue with pink polka dots...and NO training wheels...and she's getting pretty good at riding it, too!! I'm excited for her, too, but a little part of me was sad that she's already that big! I didn't even think about capturing the moment on camera when she was learning on Saturday. Bad mommy! I'll try to snap some pictures today of her on it. Sarah is THRILLED that Beth's old bike (with training" wheels) is now her bike, even though she's been riding it since last fall! But...she can now call it her own! I'm guessing she'll be riding without training wheels by the time she's 4 or 4 1/2 (or maybe even sooner- we'll have to see!).

I can't believe Beth will be 6 in one week....ugh!!!

Kids Closet Bargains

2009-03-05T08:56:00.009-06:00

As always, I post pictures of my good deals from Kids Closet! And as I mentioned in the last post, both my girls are obsessed with butterflies, so that is why you will see so many! I figure why fight it! I spent a total of $169 on everything (so far.)

EDITED TO ADD: I went back and read the post last fall where I posted pictures of the stuff I got during the Fall/Winter Sale. I thought this was quite interesting...and I quote:
"So, I did all my Kids Closet shopping tonight. My total (to date) is $169."
I couldn't do that again if I TRIED! $169 is such an ODD NUMBER to hit two sales in a row! WEIRD!!!

I spent $63 on Beth, $78 if you include the 3 Leapster Games I got to go in her Easter basket. I also saw a UK cheerleader outfit in a size 8, so I went ahead and got that for her, too....for only $5. I also bought her a white dress for Kindy graduation, and another pink dressy-dress, too. But, honestly, I didn't do so well with her on clothing. As she gets bigger, the clothes get less and less cute! I didn't have a lot of choices! I got a few Gymboree things, but most of the shirts/shorts are just play clothes. Thankfully, I hit an awesome Osh Kosh sale and Gymboree Sale in January, so she DOES have spring/summer clothes in her closet that are new. Here's Beth's haul:

I spent $91 on Sarah...probably way more than I needed to. MOST of that was spent on 11 little sundresses- play dresses...and 1 for 4th of July at the beach. Based on her recent behavior, I think the only thing she is going to want to wear this summer will be dresses, so I'm getting prepared! MOST of them are size 3T, which I'm hoping she'll be able to wear by summer. The pants and shorts I stuck with a size 2T. I also got her 4 pairs of shoes, an adorable Florence Eiseman swimsuit and a Disney Princess nightgown, so I'm happy with those purchases, too. I also got two VERY CUTE LeTop outfits that I'm very excited about! One is brand new and the other looks practically unworn. I was lucky that I also found 3-4 Gymboree outfits/dresses still in excellent shape! (Hey Teresa - I think I bought one of Riley's dresses!) So, here is Sarah's haul:

Updates

2009-03-04T15:33:00.004-06:00

As of Today - Wednesday-no one has been sick yet! WOW! Everyone else's kids are getting it, though....maybe the curse of Kids Closet will miss my kids this time?

I shopped this morning -I'll post pictures of my scores tomorrow! I did well with Sarah -I got her approximately 10 dresses...I figure that will be all she will want to wear this summer. I got a few 2-piece LeTop outfits and some shoes....and some adorable purple maryjane Crocs.
Beth...not so great. She's just getting into the big girls sizes and there is less and less cute stuff! She's obsessed with butterflies, so about 75% of the things she got have butterflies on them (and honestly, so do Sarah's!) I also got Beth some new Leapster games that will fit beautifully into Easter eggs! The only toy she picked out was a hot pink boa! YEAH! NO junky toys this time! I had hoped to find some bedding for her...but there was NO full-sized bedding for girls. bummer.....

On a completely unrelated note - after all the terrible ice/wind storms we have had these last few weeks- our roof didn't fare well.....well...after filing an insurance claim, we found out today that the insurance company will pay our claim and we are getting a new roof! YEAAH!!

Waiting on illness...

2009-02-26T11:20:00.004-06:00

Sunday starts Kids Closet week. One of my girls (or me) always gets sick Kids Closet week....last 5 sales in a row! So...I wonder who it will be? Sarah's daycare teacher told me that one little girl in Sarah's class was diagnosed with Strep yesterday.....oh goodie.

I might as well go ahead and make sure I'm fully stocked with childen's tylenol, motrin and all the other ailment medicines/foods/drinks.....

Oh - and its 68 today...gonna be 38 on Sunday, so I'm going to get sick again, too. These big temperature changes play havok on my sinuses.

A cautionary tale...

2009-02-23T09:07:00.003-06:00

If you use the same password for all your different online accounts...don't. Change them. Now.

I used the same password for all my accounts, until about 3 weeks ago when my Paypal and Ebay account were "compromised". $825 stolen from my Paypal account...which was linked to my checking account. I was able to get the money back, but it was a PAIN! A friend has had her yahoo.com account severly compromised, which has pretty much led to identity theft. She had the same password for 10+ years.

Moral of the story - use SEVERAL different passwords on all your different accounts. Make your Paypal one different from your Ebay password and a whole different one for your email, too. If you bank online, make sure that password is different from your email password, too.

Ugh....its just such a frustrating situation!