I'm Back!!!!!!!!

I guess since joining face book I have neglected my blog. I have had so many people ask me to keep posting so I will try it again..

We have had so much going on. The kids and I were in Texas for 2 weeks! We had so much fun. I will post some pictures at the end of this post from our trip. I have decided that my kids would like to live with their Aunt J and Uncle Les. With fishing, tractors, goats, deer and wonderful cousins, everyday at their house is like a field trip. I think the only time Tyler was inside was when he was sleeping or taking a bath. He even ate outside! He got to see a mama goat deliver triplets! He said he was going to leave his binky's for the babies but no such luck - he still has them!

When we got home last Thursday, Tyler had a brand new big boy bed room!! He has been sleeping with his sissy for the past 7 or 8 months and it was time to get him in his own room. His daddy worked very hard to get everything done while we were gone. He painted, hung a tv on the wall, converted his crib to the big boy bed and had all of the new bedding on! Tyler loves it. We have not had any problems getting him to sleep in there at night - knock on wood!

This past weekend we kept one of our best friends babies. They were going to Vegas for a family members wedding and we offered to keep Wells. He was wonderful! He made me think that maybe having a third baby isn't a bad idea... We still haven't decided.

We are going to the beach this weekend for Kaylee's last competition. She says she wants to do cheerleading again next year so we will see. We have really had fun traveling with the team this year and we have made some great friends! :o)

Shane and I are just staying busy with he kids. As always, there is never a dull moment around our house! I will try to do better keeping up with the blog. I hope everyone is doing well! :o)

I couldn't get the pictures to work.... I will try again later...

I can't believe it has been a month and a half since I last posted. With cheerleading competitions and Christmas things just got crazy.

Since my last post Kaylee has turned 5, she has placed first in two more competitions, had strep throat, and has gotten a little more sassy. Tyler has become potty trained (except for night time), knocked out a tooth (Christmas morning) and gotten a black eye. There really isn't ever a dull moment.

We are in the car right now headed to Indianapolis for the 2nd largest cheerleading competition in the world!! It is supposed to be snowing and REALLY cold. We didn't bring Tyler for this trip. He is spending the first night with his Uncle K and Aunt Julie. Since they are not used to toddlers anymore, I'm sure there will be some funny stories to share. Tomorrow night he is going to stay with some of our friends who have 3 little boys. I guess when you have that much chaos, what is one more boy?!

To all of my "faithful" blog readers who have continually made comments about how long it has been since my last post, I promise to try and do better.

I hope everyone is doing well!! :o)

Gatlinburg Here We Come....

So, I am typing this as we are driving down I59 headed to Cheerleading competition. Neither of the kids feel great so this should be an interesting trip. If all goes well, we are planning on letting Kaylee compete tomorrow. Her ear doesn't seem to be near as sensitive as it has the past couple of days so hopefully she will be much, much better tomorrow.

She competes around 11:00 a.m. Saturday and we will know the result standings by 1:00 p.m. and then she competes around the same time Sunday and the awards ceremony is at 12:45. Keep your fingers crossed that we do well. I will post again Sunday or Monday with pictures and the results!!

I will end this post with what her team says at the end of every practice:

High Fly Kitty Hawks, Shake it, Work it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Elf Has Arrived................

And his name is: Bernard!! I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the "Elf on the Shelf", but Santa sent us one and he arrived here yesterday. The whole concept is absolutely precious. Santa sends him to live with your family after the Thanksgiving Holiday and he sits quietly on a shelf all day and listens / watches the kids and then travels back to the north pole every night to report to Santa whether the kids have been good or bad. He returns before the kids wake up the next morning and he is in a new spot. The kids have to try to find him every morning. The most important rule is that the elf cannot be touched or held by children because that could cause him to lose his "magic". Anyways, it is really cute and my kids are loving it so far. I am sure I will have some really cute stories to share as the days go by. If you haven't heard of this before, check the website. That is where I ordered mine. http://www.elfontheshelf.com/

Please keep Kaylee in your prayers. We found out today that her eardrum did in fact rupture. They gave her antibiotic ear drops and changed her oral antibiotic to something stronger. She had some pretty intense pain tonight. We hope she gets to feeling better soon. She doesn't want to miss her cheerleading competition in Gatlinburg this weekend, but we have told her we will just have to see.

V.I.R.U.S!!!!!!

Yes that would be stomach virus!!! Tyler and I woke up at around 4:30 a.m. Saturday with nausea, vomiting and EVERYTHING else that goes along with a stomach bug. We were spending the night with some of our out of town friends when it hit us. My poor husband had to juggle Tyler and I while gathering all of our belongings, waking Kaylee up to get her in the car and not wake up our friends 3 sleeping children!! Don't forget it is now only 5:00 a.m.!! He did a great job. He got us home around 7:00 a.m. called his mom to come get Kaylee and proceeded to do laundry and clean out the car seat that Tyler puked in on the way home!! Tyler's "bug" only lasted for about 3/4 of the day Saturday but mine lasted much longer. I was finally able to get out of bed yesterday and by today I felt like a new person!! I am so thankful he took such good care of us. What I didn't know was that I would soon be returning the favor. Yes, he ended up getting it also. My fingers are crossed as I type this. I am just hoping the 3 of us are well and back to normal tomorrow.

As for Kaylee, her Gram took her to the Doctor Sunday afternoon with an ear ache. The Dr. said it was an ear infection but the tube had just recently fallen out and left a "large" hole in her drum. He said this wasn't uncommon but to have it re-checked in 4 weeks. No problem right? WRONG!! Her ear is now pouring green stuff out of it and she screams in pain if her shirt or anything even slightly brushes up against it. I am really afraid something is really wrong. This child has had tons of ear infections and never anything draining from her ear and she has never had any kind of pain.

Needless to say, we are headed back to the Doctor tomorrow to have them check not only Kaylee's ear but also Tyler's. He told me tonight he needed a band aid for his ear. I realize he is only 2, but the other times he has said that, we have left the Doctor's office with a diagnosis of an ear infection.

Illness would never be good timing, but let me just mention we are supposed to be leaving for Gatlinburg, TN Friday. Kaylee has her first cheerleading competition this weekend!! What am I going to do?

I am learning more and more every day that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. I just feel like he thinks I can handle more than I really can. :o)

God Is Amazing!!

I returned from my Walk To Emmaus Monday evening. It was truly one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. I could sit here all day and tell you all about it, but I am hoping I will be fortunate enough to sponsor some of my firends and family to attend a walk and I don't want to ruin any of the surprises that happen during the 3 days. TK, my sister - in - law and I all went on the walk together. I am so happy I was able to share this time with them as well as about 50 others who I now consider my sisters in Christ.

To all of you who wrote letters, thank you so much. They all touched my heart more than you will ever know. I hope and pray I get to return the selfless gesture someday. My hope is for all of my friends and family who are willing to go on this 3 day walk to go and be able to experience the wonderful power of Gods love and grace. If there is anybody out there who is interested please contact me and I would be glad to get you more information.

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

1 Peter 2:9

Daddy's Blog For The Day

As many of you know Julie has been gone on an Emmaus walk this weekend and I have had the kids for 4 days. It has been awesome. We have had so much fun and the kids have been great.

Today was the "Big Day." Today was Kaylee's First Flight and I could have never been so proud of her. I must say that today my "Little One" grew up and I had to let her go. She did fantastic and smiled so big. I am going to post the video from today. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Our day started at 10:30 with her make up and hair being done. Thank God for Coach Dylan. Without her today I might have never made it. We had pictures at 11:00 (I had to make a decision on what package to get, that was not as easy as one might think) and warm up at 2:00PM and the show started at 3:00. We had another treat today as our niece Jordan also performed and she and her squad were awesome as well.

We ended the day at Red Robin with our gang, Bryan, Paige, Charles, Lindsey and all our kids. Other than a couple of kids meals at dinner, there was only one other thing missing and it was Julie. Believe it or not my little Texas tornado, better know as Tyler sat in his chair and acted like an angel.

Julie, we missed you so much this weekend but we know you had an awesome weekend as well. You are a fantastic Mom and wife. We cannot wait to see and hear all about your experience this weekend. Although I am not sure I am ready for another 4 days without you or your phone.

Thanks to all of you who have helped me this weekend especially Gram and Poppy. We never say thank you enough but THANK YOU so much.

Shane

That was just a short message from Kaylee before her routine. She just wanted her Mom to know she was thinking of her.