Lazy Saturday

This is my girl who loves water but HATES the sprinkler.




The kids had fun playing in the sprinkler.




My sweet girls.





Christopher was so proud of the frog that he caught. They FREAK me out...don't tell them.


As I am typing this, I am laying on the couch watching basketball with Chris. This has been such a fun day. We have enjoyed just being at home...not having any plans. Chris mowed, the boys & Chris got haircuts, the kids played in the sprinkler, we went to Sam's & cooked burgers on the grill. The kids had a great time & I LOVED being outside with them & watching them.

I have a feeling this is going to be a busy week. Hopefully my sister-in-law will have her baby (any day). I have been doing some serious nesting the past couple of days. I'm so excited about holding sweet Jackson it is ridiculous. He is going to have some great parents & I am looking forward especially to seeing my brother with a baby of his own.

This weekend my in-laws are coming into town. I always want to TRY to have everything perfect for when they will be here. I used to stress out alot about it & now I just stress out a little...haha!!!!! I just want things to look nice & be nice. The kids are so excited & are counting down the days to see PaPa & Grana.

I am LOVING summer so far. The beautiful weather, the relaxing & the fun we have doing things together...zoo, parks, picnics, swimming (pretty soon), etc.

Hope everyone is doing well. These are a few pictures of our day.

Our Little Gymnast

Last night was Kaibryn's end of the year gymnastics program. She has done gymnastics for a little less than a year. When she first started she was nervous about anything new. She did not like walking on the high beam, she was afraid of falling off the bars & she could not do a cartwheel or a bridge. Well, now if you ask her she LOVES the bars (she has the strongest arms of any little girl I have ever seen...she is cut). She gets up on the highest beam and can spin around on her toes, she can do a cartwheel, she can get up in a bridge & can kick back out of it (w/a little help). She has made some friends and absolutely LOVES her teacher Miss Rebecca. Miss Rebecca has been so encouraging to her this year.

We are taking the summer off but she'll start back in August. She is already looking forward to it.

Thankful Thursday

This has been one of those weeks when I have just felt "blah". Nothing is really going on...nothing bad is happening...I just feel "blah." Today has been pretty bad. I did not feel like doing anything & would have loved to have just sat on the couch and veg out. However, when my perspective starting changing to that of thankfulness I have a new attitude & a better outlook on the day.

So...here is my thankful list...

1. I am thankful for a home that keeps us cool.

2. I am thankful for my kids that (at times) play together quite well.

3. I am thankful that by putting up a blanket behind the girls blinds in their room Kaityn Mae has slept later than 5:30 or 6:00.

4. I am thankful that I actually LOVE running & look forward to getting up in the morning to do that.

5. I am thankful that I am able to stay at home. I know of several girls who have kids that work & would love to stay at home.

6. I am thankful for our health.

7. I am thankful that even though the Dr. bills are coming in from my CAT scan that God will provide the money we need to pay for those.

8. I am thankful that we are going to get to go on a vacation in September to FL & possibly to the "D.W." I am NOT ABOUT TO TELL THE KIDS THAT NOW. They would drive me bonkers.

9. I am thankful that VERY SOON I am going to get to see sweet Jackson's face & love on him. I can't wait to be an Aunt.

10. I am thankful for God's provision of "silly" things that I desire like landscaping rocks for the front of our house. We had the PERFECT EXACT ammount we needed.

11. I am thankful for my husband who is so encouraging to me. We will celebrate our 9th anniversary here in a couple of weeks...WOW!!!!!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Memorial Weekend

What a fun weekend we had. It has been a long time since we have really not had anything planned & we were able to relax a little.

Here are some little snipits of what we did...

FRIDAY NIGHT

My parents got back in from Seattle & they came over for a cookout complete with homemade ice-cream. After they left Chris set up the tent so the kids (& Chris) could "camp out." They had so much fun.

SATURDAY

I got up & ran 4 miles
Went to Target & got some "running clothes". I felt like I was running in flannel pj's it was so hot.
Came home for naps...for EVERYONE
Went to Lowe's to get some mulch & got POURED on.
Made food for Sunday - homemade potato salad & Strawberry swirl cake

SUNDAY

Went to church
Had a cookout at my parents house...steak, chicken, burgers & all the fixin's
Home
Had my brother Michael & sister-in-law Lindsay with baby Jackson & our friends James & Crystal over to watch the basketball
game.
Kids slept in the tent again...which means I did not sleep Sunday night.

MONDAY

I ended up going to sleep around 3:15 (I can't sleep when Chris is not here) & then Kaityn got up at 5:33!!!!!!!!!
Other kids got up at 6
I went for a run
Breakfast
Took kids to a movie
Ate dinner again at my parents b/c I took a nap...remember 2 1/2 hrs. of sleep. I have not been that tired in a long time.
Home
Baths
Bed

****All during these days there was lots of laughing, playing, jumping on the trampoline, eating. We had a GREAT time just being together with family. It is now Tuesday & WOW do I have alot of laundry to do. Hoping the rain will stay away. The kids today are up, happy & playing. We are so blessed.

Our Grandad

Grandad & Nana have been out of town & came home tonight. They came over for a cookout & played with the kids on the trampoline.

The video will give you a good laugh. My Dad was cracking us up. What a fun Grandad.

Thankful Thursday

Christopher is thankful for:

1. Dark clouds.
2. Our trampoline.
3. That I have Mommy & Daddy.


Kaibryn is thankful for:

1. Animals.
2. Jesus.
3. My brothers & sister.
4. My friends at church.


Cooper is thankful for:

1. Playing.
2. Food.
3. Cars so we can drive in them.


Kaityn is thankful for:

1. "Melmo" - Elma
2. "Beeba" - Kaibryn
3. "Baby" - Any baby doll she has

Today is "Thankful Thursday". I am thankful ...

1. That God has blessed me with 35 yrs. of life. I can see His hand on every part of my life & the path He has set for me.

2. For my children who make me laugh, cry, & PRAY!!!!

3. For my husband who has such a servant's heart. He is always asking what he can do for me & what he can do to help.

4. That tomorrow we will be finished with school.

5. For friends to laugh with.

6. For the rain...but also thankful that it is coming to an end. I know in July & August we will miss it.

7. That my leg is feeling better. Hope to start running again tomorrow or Saturday. For those of you who don't know...since I turned 35 (**gulp**) yesterday I decided that next year I am going to run the 1/2 marathon in April. I am really excited & have enjoyed walking/running the few mornings that it has not been raining.

8. That my laundry is all caught up.

9. That in a few short weeks I'm going to get to meet my nephew Jackson. I already love that little guy!!!!! He's going to love his "Auntie Keli" and cousin Kaibryn, christopher, Cooper & Kaityn.

10. For my daughter Kaibryn who is sitting right here next to me. She is a sweet heart & a helper to her Mommy.

Happy Thursday!!!!! What are you thankful for?

AWANA Cubbies Award Night

Tonight was the last night for Cooper in AWANA's. He received an award for finishing his book & doing the extra stuff in the book. He LOVED AWANAS. It was not uncommon for us to pick him up & his leader would tell us he changed his name to "Luke Skywalker" or "Wolverine" or "Batman". Cooper is quite the character.

He is friends with everyone & loves everyone except a friend of ours who always shows Cooper the Longhorn sign. The other night Cooper & I were talking about how we are to love everyone. He said, "I love everyone...(Pause)...except for Mr. Johnny he is a 'poo poo head' fan. He always tries to get me to do this (the longhorn sign). I don't like him." It was very funny. Yesterday at lunch Chris brought home pizza for lunch for my BD & the kids were asking if they could go see "Night at the Museum" 2. Chris said, "I'll have to pray about it." Cooper looked as if he were praying & looked up at the ceiling and said, "What did you say?" He then said, "Daddy, He said, yes." We laughed so hard.

Hard to believe that this boy entered the world at 3 lbs., 6 oz. What a joy he is. I am so grateful that he LOVES church. His little heart is so sweet.

What's For Dinner?

Every day around 3:00 this is the question I hear at least 100 times. Today when my kids started asking I told them what we were having & their response was "that sounds yummy." This is not what they usually say so I know they must be STARVING (& they have had a snack so no worries. They will make it to dinner).

So...this is what we are having for dinner...

HONEY-BAKED CHICKEN (my sister-in-law Lindsay's recipe)

Split chicken breasts (or boneless, skinless breasts)
Butter, melted
Garlic powder
Black pepper
Paprika
Lawry's Seasoning Salt
Honey

Place chicken breasts in baking dish and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle lightly with garlic powder, black pepper and paprika. Sprinkle generously with Lawry's Seasoning salt. Seal tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and generously top chicken breasts with honey. Bake uncovered until golden brown. The broth can be used as a delicious dipping sauce.


GREEN BEAN BUNDLES (Paula Deene)

2 or 3 cans whole green beans
bacon slices
1stick butter
1C. brown sugar
1t. Garlic Salt

Place green beans in a bowl & salt them a little w/regular salt or Cavender's (my favorite)
Wrap handful of green beans in 1/2 slice of bacon.
Melt stick of butter and stir in 1 C. Brown sugar
Add 1 t. Garlic Salt
Pour over bundles

Bake 350 for 30 minutes


HERBED MONKEY BREAD (Paula Deene)
**We were going to have this but don't have all the stuff...boo hoo!!!**

1 stick butter, melted plus 1/4 C. melted, plus more for pan
1 C. grated parmesan cheese plus more for sprinkling
2t. Dried Italian seasoning
2 pkgs. biscuits

Pre-heat oven to 350. Lightly butter bundt pan; set aside.
In small bowl combine cheese & It. seasoning. Roll each biscuit into ball & dip in 1 stick melted butter, then coat with cheese mixture. Place into prepared pan. Bake 30-35 min. Cover with foil the last 10 min. of bkng. to prevent excessive browning if needed. Let cool in pan 10 min. Invert onto serving plate. Drizzle with remaning 1/4 C. melted butter & sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

I'M STARVING!!!! What are you having for dinner?

Rainy Day...Again!!!

I know we are supposed to be joyful in all things but we are going on I think 10 days straight of rain. I'm struggling with rejoicing. Normally I LOVE rain during the day because they seem to be relaxing to me for some reason. But today, YUCK!!! I was not motivated to do ANYTHING except to maybe COOK!!!!! That is not always good.

Usually when I feel like this it is something sweet & then I eat most of it before the end of the day. I am trying to lose some weight so instead of fixing sweets I was fixing dinner...at 10:30 this morning. I'm excited about it though. We are having Paula Deene's Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf, baked potatoes, green beans, bread & then the kids & I made a dessert.

I had some pretzel sticks, white chocolate & sprinkles so after lunch today which was at 10:45 because my kids were starving because I cannot get them to eat ANY kind of breakfast they made dessert. It was MESSY but it was so much fun. They were excited & did not want to eat any so Daddy could see all of them when he got home.

They are growing up so fast. I love to watch them. They make my heart happy on this gloomy day.