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.

My Little All Star

Most of you know that Kaylee is in competitive cheerleading. Well this Sunday is her "First Flight" which is an exhibition for friends and family before the competition season actually begins. I am so sad to say that I am going to miss her first event!!!! I will be on an Emmaus Walk Thursday - Sunday in Texas. Although I'm excited about my upcoming spiritual journey I am so sad that I am going to miss Kaylee's performance.

She had practice tonight so I took some pictures to share. These are just of practice so she isn't in her uniform or anything. As soon as the season gets started in December I'm sure I will be filling this blog up with all kinds of High Fly stuff. Her daddy and I are so proud of her. Although she is only 4 she seems to understand the concept of being part of a team. Tonight they dropped her out of one of her stunts and she cried for just a second and just kept going. She knew she couldn't just stop because she had other people depending on her.

She doesn't have her make-up on in these pictures but I want to go ahead and let all of you know that their hair and make-up is very intense. But Kaylee digs it. She thinks it is so cute. So, just don't be shocked the first time you see a picture of her with her make-up on.

Wow - It's been a while.....

So much has happened since my last post. Most importantly I am now 30!!!!!!!!!!!! Although I'm not excited about my "new" age I have to say it was the best birthday ever. My husband planned a very fun night out in Nashville last Saturday. It was supposed to be a surprise but one of my bff's is not too good at keeping a secret. It was fine that I found out - it actually gave me 4 days to look forward to it and I got to pick out a new "hot" outfit (complete with cowboy boots). I had all of my closest friends (from Alabama) and one of my favorite couples from Knoxville in attendance. The night consisted of dinner, a hypnotist and lots of drinking, dancing and laughing. We all had brunch together Sunday and then headed back to B'ham.

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday so special. I love you all!!