Many Splendid Days

Kelly's Korner

2009-10-16T04:27:00.000-07:00

I have posted several images today to participate in the "Show me What you Make" Friday on Kelly's Corner. I am a stay at home Mom of 3 girls that started making magnetic bottle caps about a year ago to give my daughter's cute custom caps to wear with their necklaces purchased in a kids boutique. Since then, I have been blessed to begin a business selling these caps all over Arkansas and Oklahoma. These are carried in local businesses only and I have never sold any on line until now.

2009-10-16T04:13:00.001-07:00

Caps

2009-10-16T03:57:00.000-07:00

2009-10-16T03:55:00.001-07:00

Custom Caps and Scrabble Tiles

2009-10-16T03:34:00.000-07:00

I make custom scrabble tiles with anything on them that will fit. I have done local schools, businesses, crosses, peace signs, etc... My biggest market however, is the magnetic bottle cap to go on the magnetic chokers sold in many shops. My caps are different because they can be painted any color to match your school/ favorite team or just have your child's name on them. They are fun to add to your interchangeable necklaces. The possibilities are endless!

History is Made

2009-01-21T02:14:00.000-08:00

Regardless of your political views, history was made today as Barack Obama became the 44th President of the U.S. I am amazed at all of the negative comments that have been said over his being "black". WHO CARES???? Does the color of his skin change who is is or the job that he can do? I am certain that God made us all and that we all are perfect in his eyes. I am hopeful that he can lead our country in the right direction. Regardless of your feelings about his skin color or whether you voted for him or not, he is now your president, so why not give him a chance? I am not the biggest Obama supporter, but he will get my support as my new president. Won't you join me? We live in the greatest country on earth and are very fortunate to have the freedoms that we do.

In addition to that, Garth Brooks is one of my favorite singers ever and I love hearing him sing anything.

My baby is 12!!!!!

2009-01-21T01:58:00.000-08:00

My Sweet Hannah,
Happy Birthday!!!
There could be no Mom on earth luckier than I to have a daughter like you. You are so much more to me than any words can describe. My joy has begun to deepen more as we go through this transition of caretaker to you being my friend. We can talk about so many things and do so many things now that you are growing up, but do not think for a minute that I would not go back and start over with the first day if I could. You are becoming so much more than I ever dreamed that you would be. You make my dreams come true and my days worth living. Thank you for being the best daughter that any Mom could ask for. I hope you have a great day today and forever. May all your wishes come true.
Love,
Mom

Pointer Pride?

2008-12-31T21:30:00.000-08:00

Well, the girls decided to take pictures in their pointer shirts, which is still hard for someone that is not a fan. However, I will say that this is a good place to raise a family and I have made many good friends here, and I will support the pointers b/c my babies go to school here, but I am still a rebel at heart. This photo was taken downtown and I had to ask the guy inside if I could take a picture of his door and dock. He was really nice and gave us a history lesson on the building also.

My facebook card

2008-12-31T21:23:00.000-08:00

Also, here is one that I had posted on facebook. Still didn't get it sent, but I had fun making it.

Photo time

2008-12-31T20:53:00.000-08:00

Did not get a Christmas card out AGAIN this year...in case many of you were wondering if you were off my friends list. Here is the one that I was going to have printed.... How can you have the card done, but never get it printed? Well, last year my aunt took the picture, had them printed, placed them in my hand and Jan's Mom made me cute labels and guess what???? Never sent them, but I found them in June! They were cute, I promise.

2008-12-31T20:45:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2008-12-31T19:36:00.000-08:00

Favorite Christmas Photo (Todd in Santa suit with Tara's friends)

New Year's Resolutions

2008-12-31T18:52:00.000-08:00

Because many of you have asked, emailed and called me to ask the question "Where have you been?", I thought it was high time to provide an answer. I have known for a while that my life had become complete chaos, but chose to muddle through it all and convince myself that I was doing the right thing. Until recently, I realized that I was not doing much of anything, except running in circles. Todd and I are both very laid back, unorganized, messy and fly-by-the-seat of your pants type people. While this may seem fun, it sure does make it hard to run a household and raise kids. Anyone that knows me can tell you that I really do try to keep it all together, but somehow I have over scheduled everyone and we get caught under a tornado of swirling debris. I listened when my pastor spoke on listing the 5 most important things in your life on one side of the paper and listing the 5 things that take your time on the left side... strangely enough these sides should match. Mine did not, nor do they now, but I am getting closer. Many times in the past 5 years, I am reminded of what is important in life. I know that there are no do-overs in this parenting journey, so I need to get it right this time.
So.... I quit! Yes, I quit everything that I did not HAVE to do. It was hard and I have had many comments from people, but I did it! The girls have begun to cut out things and we have re-arranged our schedules to work a little better. Life is more calm in the Young household. I am beginning to see what a gift my family is and realize that I need to take care of them FIRST and not way down the line. Life is precious and short and I know that I will never erase all regret, but I can do better.
Well, this happened 2 months ago and while life still gets crazy, I am a happier Mom and my family is in a good place. I am not trying to be rude if I do not answer calls or emails as quickly, but I am trying to devote my energy to Todd and the girls while they are here. There is seldom a time that a phone call could be more important than a shared memory between my kids. They grow up too quickly. Today is a gift and tomorrow is uncertain. Hopefully if I die tomorrow, I will be content knowing that I did the best that I could do.
My New Year's resolutions are to honor God, cherish my family and get organized (I know that most of you are dying laughing about now). Both Todd and I have missed our workouts for the past months, but it was one of the things that had to go for then. However, now is the time to get back in the gym...my last resolution. What are your resolutions?

2008-10-18T05:48:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My Van is Tired

2008-10-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

Well, my van is tired, because for the past 2 months, it has run up and down the road to every conceivable location for one girl or another. My girls are so over-scheduled right now that we are having to shuffle everything weekly just to get it all in. Hannah is doing quiz bowl, piano, band and choir. Kayla is in girl scouts, piano and gymnastics. Tara is doing gymnastics and dance. Can you see the problem here???? I have 3 girls with very different tastes and therefore, I run all over the place every day of the week to get it all in. Come to think of it, maybe I am the one that's tired!!

Fun Saturday

2008-10-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend, as usual. The girls went with Nene and Ga to the falll festival at Neumier's and then we all went to Catfish Hole in Alma to celebrate Ga's bday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GA!!!! Then Kayla wanted to get her picture made on Uncle Rob's Harley. Pa and Re took the girls on Sunday afternoon to the fall festival in Van Buren and to get their Halloween costumes. This year we will have Sharpay, Wilma Flinstone and a Groovy rocker. Can you guess who is what?????

Girly Girls

2008-09-22T02:43:00.000-07:00

Put me in the outdoors and I can hang with the best of them. If God had given me boys, I was also known as the queen of kickball, can throw a pretty good forward pass, love to fish (if Todd gets the fish off for me), can totally do the khaki/jeans as attire and generally am ok at most boy things. BUT>>>>>> God, in his great wisdom, decided to take a perfectly fine boy Mom (me) and the testosterone charged Dad (Todd) and place 3 little angels in their care. Believe me...I question this decision often. My girls are short-changed, to say the least, in getting me for their Mom and Todd does not have a girly bone in his body. So, I was Mom Extraordinairre last Friday when I did the "girl" thing as best that I could. We went to a make-up store (who knew they had one in Fort Smith), got Tara's ears pierced, and Nene took them to the nail salon to get their nails done. I bought everyone glitter make-up and tried to act like I knew what to do with it. Hannah said "What's up with you Mom?" several times. I fixed my hair and dressed up for the luncheon and wore heels without taking them off for the whole 3 hours! Man, being a girl is a lot of work!!!

Labor Day Fun

2008-09-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend at the lake house in Hot Springs with Papa, Re, Dan and Sara and Cortney got to come along too. The girls had so much fun swimming, paddle boating, tubing, going to eat pizza by boat on the lake and then there was the nightly poker games. They all decided to play and wore their sunglasses to make it look really professional. Of course Kayla beat them all, but Cortney had a good bluff on them many times.

Amazing Book

2008-08-27T03:34:00.001-07:00

Big surprise, but today I am not blogging about my kiddos for a change. I just finished a book called The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I finished it over a week ago and I can not quit thinking about it. This book is the last lecture that a computer science professor gave to his class at Carnegie Mellon before he died. Because he died recently, I wanted to read the book. His lecture is on the net, but I would urge any of you to read this book...he had so many great things to say. One of my favorite is "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." I am reminded of what is important in my life and what can wait.

Cupcakes

2008-08-19T04:19:00.000-07:00

So I make a cake every year for the first day of school. Decided that cupcakes would be easier this year, but it wasn't. I did all the prep work and made the icing and baked the cupcakes before Tara got out of preschool, so she could "help" me. The conversation went like this

Tara:"Mom, why is there a cookie on the cupcake?"

ME:"Tara, that is the chalkboard."

Her:"Ours is white at school"

Me:"Well, they used to be black in my day"

Tara:"What is that white thing?"

Me: "That is supposed to be chalk?"

Tara: "How will it show up on the white chalkboard?"

ME: "It won't"

Tara: I bet that teacher will be mad"

Tara:"Is is candy? Can I eat it?"

Me: "You can try it, but it is licorice and I do not know if you like it"

After a bite Tara says "That is gross"

So the conversation goes on and on and on like this until we are done many days/weeks later and we take them to her friends.

I told the girls that they may not like the licorice, but they should try it and all as we are delivering cupcakes. We get to Bekah's house and all 4 kids chow down on their cupcakes and not one child even asks what anything is on it!!! They all ate the licorice...no complaining while mine are dissecting the entire cupcake to see what each item is...even the writing on the "Chalkboard". Then we get home and my kids want a plain cupcake if it's ok. Do I have any? Of course. I knew, because I am their Mom. Next year it is plain cupcakes.

School Days

2008-08-19T03:50:00.001-07:00

All the girls enjoyed their first day and when I asked them about their day, I actually got more than the standard "fine" answer. We got up on time, got to school on time, had fun and made it home safely and are ready to go again tomorrow....what more can a Mom ask for. I kept myself busy making dinner and cupcakes so that they would have a treat when they got home. I have always made some sort of cake for the first day of school since Hannah started. Well, since most of the easy ideas have been used here before, we moved on to cupcakes this year. They got to take some to all of their friends though, so that made it great! We got to hear about Jadee's first day and visit with the other kids too. Tara was a a little nervous, Kayla was going to miss her Mommy and Hannah could not get out of the car fast enough to get to her friends/locker...a normal day. It was quiet with out my precious babies.

Happy Anniversary Baby!

2008-08-19T03:44:00.000-07:00

Today is mine and Todd's 13th anniversary! Yahoo! With our families track records, I think neither of us thought that we would make it to here. It has been an adventurous 13 years to say the least. I am so thankful to be blessed with a great husband to complete our family.
Todd,
Thanks for the first 13 and for putting up with me and the girls. Our life is so much better with you in it. You are such a great man and I am so lucky that God chose you for me. I hope the next 13 are even better! I Love you!

2008-08-07T05:03:00.001-07:00

Tara's Birthday

2008-08-06T04:29:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I finally have a princess in my house after 2 sisters that were not girly at all. Tara had a family bday back in July, but we got to celebrate with her friends yesterday at The Little Wedding Chapel. It was the perfect day for her and when I asked her what was her favorite part, she said "all of it, Mom." She had all of her buddies there....Rebecca, Makena, Lily, Savannah, Chloe, Caroline, Jadee, Kylie and cousin Reese.

Swim Season is Done!

2008-08-05T05:55:00.000-07:00

After vacation, we came home to a swim meet in Alma. Stephanie N. and I were timers together and thank goodness we had 2 stop watches, because I kept forgetting to set mine (otherwise known as too busy talking.... hard to imagine, right?) Both girls did great, which was surprising after a week away and not enough sleep. Kayla swam her first IM which is 1 lap of each stroke and came in 3rd overall, so she was thrilled to get a medal. The first 3 swimmers overall get a medal and the next 3 get a ribbon. The number of swimmers can range from 6 to 40 or more. We swim with the Alma Gators and swim against Waldron, Russelleville, Clarksville, Paris, Ozark and Mena. This is a great program and I would recommend it to anyone wanting a low key swim team experience. The coaches and managers are great and the kids have a lot of fun. My girls love it and get up early 3 mornings a week in the summer just to practice. The following pic is of Kayla and Coach Matthew and Erin and then Hannah swimming freestyle in the top of the third picture. Kayla got first place overall in the backstroke in Clarksville this past weekend, which is something Hannah has never done, so she was extra proud. Hannah did get 2nd in Butterfly, so she was not far behind. Both girls have enjoyed this season alot!

"The Best Day Ever"

2008-08-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hannah has always wanted to swim with dolphins. She finally got her wish. Her dream is to become a marine biologist and work with dolphins or orcas. We traveled to a water park called Xel-Ha about an hour away and swam with the dolphins right after we got there. Hannah, Kayla, Doug, Jill and I all swam with them. It was my first time also, so I really enjoyed these sweet animals. Todd and Randy took a ton of pics and video. At the end of the hour long session, the dolphins push you up on your feet out of the water. It was cool, but a strange feeling. Kayla had to work through some fear of the smaller fish swimming all around under us while the dolphins were near, but she did it and finished just like the rest of us. Hannah said at bedtime that night..."Mom, this was the best day ever." It was all worth it for that alone. We also snorkeled and rode tubes/swam down a lazy river. Tara held some big birds, but I have to scan that picture later.

Water, Water Everywhere

2008-08-04T04:34:00.000-07:00

The rest of the crew went speed boat riding and 4 wheeling in the jungle, so we had most of the day to ourselves with Papa and Re. We swam and played on the beach the whole day. We had sand everywhere! It was a low key day and the girls enjoyed it a lot. That evening we took all of our pics and then went to dinner.

Day 3

2008-07-29T04:02:00.000-07:00

Our Monday started out with disappointment. The girls were supposed to swim w/dolphins, but the Tropical storm/hurricane Dolly changed our plans and we moved it to Wed. However, I wanted to get the girls shopping done, so we headed out to 5th Avenue in Playa del Carmen. This is about a 30 block area of shops with Mexican crafts and tourist type stuff. We took a taxi w/the family and did fine for a few hot hours until....the RAIN came. Man, did it rain. We tried to fight it, but gave up after an hour or so and got a taxi back to the hotel. Todd did not enjoy the day at all, but he was a trooper to put up with us. We were trying to get to Senor Frogs to meet up with the rest of the crew, but the rain was so intense that we just gave up and moved on. It finally let up later on and we took a few beach pics...the wind was still a mess to deal with.

Finally on the beach!

2008-07-28T04:19:00.000-07:00

We got out on the beach on Sunday. It was a beautiful beach and the water was great. The girls had so much fun and we stayed out there until it began to rain in the afternoon. They had a bunch of hammocks set up in the shade whenever we got tired of the sun.

That night we went out to a "fancy" (Tara's word) dinner at a brazilian restaurant. It was really good. They brought all different kinds of meat cooked on these long skewers and cut them off right on your plate. Interesting presentation for the girls. Hannah's salad consisted of chips, pickles and pecans... her response to me was "I got something green." Kayla then responded "You mean pickles count, oh man...." Priceless. After dinner, we went out into the courtyard and they were playing music, so Doug, Jill and Randy danced with the girls for a while. Then we all crashed in our "fancy" room (Tara again).

Travel

2008-07-28T03:47:00.001-07:00

Don't you hate the days that it takes to get to the vacation destination? I do. I am not a good travel companion, but my girls and Todd did fine on the way to Mexico. We drove to Dallas and spent the night at the Hyatt the night before our flight. We got to eat dinner with some friends (Pam and Ron) and their babies Avery and Rachel. It was worth the drive for that. Todd hated Dallas and kept growling at the highways/people/etc... He is definately not a city boy. Here are some pics of us on the travel day. We got to Cancun and there was some sort of malfunction going through their passport area, so we waited 2 hours to get into Mexico. I mean really...what could we bring in that isn't already being sold on the street there? Our matching t-shirts were a hit and many people stopped and asked us about them.

Life is A Beach

2008-07-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

We are back and I am in the process of washing a mountain of laundry and editing 915 photos from our trip. Here is one of the whole family. Stay tuned for the rest when I get them done.

Happy Birthday America!

2008-07-07T05:48:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend my girls had at the lake with the family. They got to go early with Papa and Re, then Jill, Randy, Todd and I, Doug, Dan and Sara all joined them. We swam, searched for shells, went tubing, rode the wave runners and ate too much. It was a fun filled few days! The photo of Kayla is after she swam the "triathalon" that Doug had devised... it was he and Kayla against Randy and Hannah. The football retrieval kept them behind a little. Tara decided that she had to dress up at the lake and somehow snuck a dress in her bag... I had already explained the logistics of "lake attire" to her and had packed nothing fancy, but somehow she managed to pull this out and dress up while the rest of us are lounging around and smelling like fishy water.

Swimming

2008-07-02T04:59:00.000-07:00

Seems like my girls favorite times are swimming... I do not know if anything makes them happier. Tara is a little fish this year and a little too brave for me, but I love watching them have fun! We had a ball swiming with the Watkins clan (pic is of Hannah and Madi) and at Darlene's. The last pic is of Hannah and Logan...sure they are "discussing" something. They tend to fight more like brother/sister...too funny. I was watching them play the other day and Hannah was giving Logan an ear full, he was ignoring her and Trevor was rolling his eyes. So much for the backyard softball game, huh?

Swim Team

2008-07-02T04:34:00.000-07:00

The girls have been practicing so hard at their swim practices and their first 2 meets. Kayla's first year this year, but as usual she is doing great and Hannah moved up an age group but continues to do well. Kayla only got to swim 2 races before the rains came to Paris last weekend and the meet was cancelled, so she was a little bummed. She won her heat in both and got a blue ribbon, so all is well. The first and third pictures are of Hannah swimming and the second of Kayla and last of Kay and friends "waiting" for their team mates to finish.

Slip "N Slide

2008-06-20T06:25:00.000-07:00

After Kayla came home from softball camp with skinned knees from sliding and Hannah got tagged out at home plate b/c she did not slide, we went to WalMart and got a slip n slide to teach the sliding technique before we break another bone. The big joke on Hannah's team is the Coach yelling "you're up" or "you're down" depending on whether they need the girl to slide to beat the tag....well, Hannah is ALWAYS up. She is not going to slide. Period. A few other girls are the same way. Then there are some that love to slide and do it every time. Funny. Tara had a ball trying to slide also.

New Camera

2008-06-20T05:04:00.000-07:00

OK, my dear husband suprised me with a new camera...so here's some pics from the past few days. Thanks Todd!!! Hannah swimming butterfly in practice (her favorite stroke)....Kayla swimming back stroke.... Pic of Tara during the 2 hour practice.

SUMMER!!!!

2008-06-15T04:56:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for friends with pools! My girls have been asked to swim the past week with friends and it has made their days...thanks to Bekah, Darlene and Debbie for the invites...you made their week.

Softball Stars

2008-06-15T04:21:00.000-07:00

As most of you know...we live at the softball field. All 3 girls played this year, which has us at the field about 4 days a week. Many nights are double headers and some tournament days last for 12 or more hours. To say that this is a commitment is an understatement. However, my girls LOVE to play and we normally have a cheering section of NeNe, Papa, Uncle Dougie, Re (Rita), Jill, Randy, Aunt Ga, Uncle Rob, cousin Reese and any neighbors/friends that have come to watch as well. Todd stepped back from coaching this past year to help improve the Diamond Center fields, so both girls play for other coaches, but have had great years! The girls on these teams become closer to each other than any other sport and the parents are all great friends by the end of the season. I can not stress how proud I am of these girls and their sportsmanship and joy in playing. Thank goodness they are better than their Mom at softball!
Kayla is a natural player that just knows what to do and where to go with the ball. This team went from being the oldest coach-pitched slow pitch team to the youngest fast pitch team where a machine sends the ball at 35 mph. It was a big step and these girls have done awesome! They have only lost 1 league game and will win their league title even though it is their first year in the age division. Kayla and a few teammates were also picked up to play in the state tournament in Russelleville next weekend, so stay tuned.

Hannah's on a new team called the Stingers this year. Both she and Mackenzie were asked to play on this team after district tournament last year. It has been a very easygoing year for these girls. They have lost a few games, but continue to play like the serious ball players that they are. This team has some phenomenal players on it and Hannah has fit in great! She usually plays 3rd base and has really come back with a vengeance after she broke her hand in opening season tournament. The girls lost the opening season tournament by 1 run after 7 innings to the Greenwood Fastdogs. They beat this team the other night though by several runs....they were so pumped up! Hannah had 2 runners on base late in the game and hit an awesome home run on the last pitch to up the lead some more. I asked her if she could not wait till the last pitch next time, as I was too old for this stress! She was laughing as she rounded second, so I asked her why and she said,"Mom, I knew it was a home run and I was so happy." Priceless.

Dan and Sara's wedding

2008-06-10T04:15:00.000-07:00

We traveled to Conway on Sat. to watch Todd's step-brother Dan get married to his sweetie Sara. The girls loved "helping" hand out programs and bubbles. What a beautiful day! I did not get a good pic of Dan and Sara....hopefully I can post one later.

Sock Hop AGAIN

2008-06-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

Kayla got in the car Thursday afternoon and informed me that she wanted to go to the school's sock hop that evening. Thankfully, Steph saved me and brought poodle skirts over. She had fun and spent most of the evening running from Braden when he ran up and touched her. He is a doll and I have told her that they can get married someday...to which she just replies "MOM!"

Graduation, Recital and the end of T-ball

2008-06-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

Tara "graduated" from preschool last week. It was such a sweet time for her, but she will miss Mrs. Theresa terribly after having her for 2 years. She also had her dance recital and was mezmerized by it all. Finally, we played our last Tball game and had a party at the Outback. Fun times!

A Princess

2008-05-22T03:51:00.000-07:00

Tara dresses herself most days. While she may have a fur coat on in the spring or flip flops in the summer, it is just easier to let her. I keep thinking that this is a small battle and she enjoys it so much. She told me recently to sell all of her toys in the garage sale, because then she could buy more clothes with the money. She is shown here on a day this week that my aunt and Hannah fixed her up and took pics. The dress is from Re and Papa b/c even though it was outrageously expensive.... she actually giggled as she tried it on. It was a done deal when Rita saw how happy she was with it on. No toy has ever made her so happy. The shoes are the same story, just a different wallet... aunt Ga caved in on them. She said to me yesterday "Mom, I know that no one has shoes as pretty as this" and then I caught her talking to the shoes later!!!! I am unsure how to proceed at this point with this little pagaent queen.

Bike Day

2008-05-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Tara had bike day at preschool last week and the kids had a ball! They all brought their bikes and had races in the church parking lot. Tara was a little scared of it all, but she still had so much fun!

T-ball Princess

2008-05-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

Tara is in full swing of her first t-ball season and man is it fun! She is my girlie girl, so I think if her friends were not there, she would veto the whole deal. It is very low key at this age, so she fits in well. Last week she asked if she could wear a dress and high heels to the game. She said her uniform was just not pretty enough. Todd and I keep asking who switched babies w/us because no one else in the house is girlie at all. Only 3 more games to go... Mrs. Landi Brown has got the most patience of any coach I've ever seen.

Eight is Enough

2008-04-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

Kayla finally got to celebrate her 8th bday on Sat. night. She had 8 friends for a sleepover. They ate pizza, screamed, squealed, karaoke'd, screamed, crafted bracelets, squealed more, put lipstick on Todd when he fell asleep, screamed yet more, ding-dong-ditched the neighborhood, squealed some more,toilet-papered each other when they fell asleep, ate cake, yelled, and watched some of the Waterhorse before falling asleep at 3:00 a.m. They had donuts and juice then went home to crash, I'm told. All in all my baby had a great day!

Broken Dreams

2008-04-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Hannah played in her first tournament of the softball season. Her team, the Stingers, got 2nd after a loss of 1 run to Greenwood. The bad news is that she has a broken hand from a girl sliding into her. She went down to tag the girl sliding into 3rd base and her hand popped backwards and swelled up huge! No doctors were around, so we had Dr. Ford (the vet) take a look and he thought she might be ok, so we sent her back out to play and she played great! However, the hand was still huge on Monday, so I took her to the orthopaedic doc and sure enough it was a clean break. She is in a splint and will return to the doc in 3 weeks. He has said that he MAY let her play w/a splint after that. We'll see......

Twins!

2008-03-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

One cold night in Feb., me and the girls decided to stay home and send Todd and Kayla to her basketball game. Hannah wanted to know if she could take care of Tara...of course I said yes! She showered her, lotioned her and dressed her to match herself. Many of you that knew Hannah when she was little say that she and Tara look like twins. I always respond that I have twins 6 years apart.

Valentine's Day for Tara

2008-03-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

Todd and I visited Tara's preschool class for their Valentine party. It was very cute, because all of the kids wanted to sit on Todd when Tara went over there to sit w/him. They had a snack, played Valentine bingo and exchanged their Valentine's....what a fun day!

Sweet 11th Birthday

2008-03-17T06:26:00.001-07:00

My sweet daughter turned 11 in January, but we waited for a good weekend in Feb. to celebrate! We took Hannah and 3 friends to Tulsa for the day to eat at P.F.Chang's, see Spiderwick on the IMAX screen and shopping. It was a full day and we had a great time. Thanks to Jaden, Tristan and Maddie for making it a great day!

Gone but not Forgottten

2008-02-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, Todd's Mom passed away 3 years ago Christmas. Well, her husband Bill Beckman passed away and was buried last week also. He still lived in their house here in Barling and died after complications from surgery. Please keep our family in your prayers, as well as his family in Denver. Another life that was lost too soon.

Fantastic Teachers

2008-01-22T08:21:00.000-08:00

I have been blessed beyond measure with the girls teachers this school year. Tara has Mrs. Theresa this year in preschool (also had her last year). she loves to go to school and it has been another wonderful year.
Kayla has had a really great year, and is learning so much! Second grade has been a big learning year for her and she has really bonded with her teacher, Mrs. Blaylock.

Since Hannah is in middle school, she splits her day between 2 teachers. Mrs. Wagnon is her homeroom teacher at the beginning of the day. She teaches math/science, so Hannah loves it! She has already finished her math for the year, so her teacher has continued to challenge her by moving her on to 6th grade work! This has been great for her. Mrs. Wintory brings so much to the Social Studies/English area, that my non-reader has begun to enjoy reading more and has expanded her deeper level thinking with harder books and more insight. Her is a pic with their study of Germany and Gingerbread houses over christmas.

Basketball Divas

2008-01-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

Both Hannah and Kayla are playing basketball this year. They are both enjoying it alot. While Hannah's team has not won much this year, they have a great coach and are having a fun year...she has really grown as a player.
Kayla's team is undefeated and she loves it....again she has an awesome coach.

How did we get here so quickly?

2008-01-22T07:32:00.000-08:00

Hannah turned 11 on Monday. She got glasses a few weeks ago also. We had a small family party on Monday night with her favorite foods, including a Red Velvet cake and lots of presents. She is not having a big party this year, but we will do something w/ a few friends later. She woke up to her room decorated for her bday and 36 3 Musketeers candy bars all over her bed (she has just discovered that she likes candy bars and is a fanatic about these). Her sisters made homemade soft pretzels for breakfast for her also...they were yummy!

It is such a bittersweet time for me with her growing up. While I enjoy having a companion that I can talk to, I do miss having all 11 years of her life go by so quickly! Todd and I decided last night that we wish we could go back and have her from day 1 again...knowing what we do now about her. Man, that would make life so much easier and the memories so much sweeter. She ended the day with presents from everyone...mostly cash and a camera from Rita and Papa.

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!

2007-12-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

After the excitement of Santa had worn down and the presents were opened, we took a minute to celebrate the real reason for the season, the birth of our savior. Nothing fancy, but we placed candles in a cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to baby Jesus. This was fun and could be done w/any type of cake, cupcake,etc... Pictured with my girls is Reese, their cousin.

An Early Christmas Present

2007-12-26T05:44:00.000-08:00

After looking at a million dogs online and some in person, we finally have the newest addition to our family. The girls have been w/o a dog since we moved in to this house, so this was a huge present for them. We picked her up a few days before Christmas and have had an exciting time with her since. Last night was the first night that she did not cry all night. Her name is Isabelle and the girls are calling her Izzy. She is the sweetest schnauzer!

Angels Among Us

2007-12-18T03:45:00.000-08:00

The girls all have a separate Christmas party every year with their friends. In the past, we have done crafts, decorated cookies and made an ornament. Well, this year I wanted to do something different. My friend Kim gave me the idea. I went to the counselors at each of the girls schools in early Nov. and asked them to pick an "angel" child for us to buy for. Then I had each girl bring a gift for that child. At the party, we all sat in a circle and showed what we brought and then each girl wrapped her own gift. These gifts were delivered to the counselors this week to forward to these families. I do not know these girls, but am sure they will have a great Christmas now.
Kayla's party was WILD!!!! These girls have too much energy after being inside still all day! They were SOOOO sweet though when they talked about the girl and I was deeply touched by their questions and reaction to my story about this child. It is sometimes easy to forget the true reason that we celebrate and I believe that these girls have remembered, if only for a moment.

Hannah's party was the one that truly touched my heart though. All of these girls are 10-11 years old and are becoming young ladies. The insight and compassion they showed amazed me! I felt like I was in a room of adults with them. They were quiet also....big bonus after the wild party of 7 year olds. These girls brought SOOOO much stuff for this child. When I delivered this yesterday, the counselor was suprised at the first batch of 5-6 presents that I carried in, but I then told her that there were 4 more loads at least and she was very grateful. These girls also "scrapbooked" their own cards and the messages were very touching to this "angel." We had a little Christmas karaoke and most of the parents got here before we were done.

My Crazy Christmas Tree

2007-12-11T04:39:00.000-08:00

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In what may be a record for me, my tree was put up the day after Thanksgiving. The girls wanted to do it earlier, but I believe that one holiday should be enjoyed and celebrated before another one starts. Every year, I change my tree.... I know it's a pain, but we love to do it. Well, we usually try to express our family and what we enjoy with our tree, so this year we did an "ocean/fish" theme. In years past, we have done red white and blue (after 9/11), a pink Barbie Tree and a nature tree (camo, pine cones, birds nests, etc... Had to make it up to Todd from the previous pink tree). Well, it has been quite hard to find anything to do with the ocean theme...I wonder why??? Todd's Stepmom was in a little store in Magnolia and found Caribbean lights that came in shades of green/blue.... how perfect is that? Tara re-arranges the tree everyday, so I gave up on making it look pretty and "in order" days ago.

The Magic Elf

2007-12-11T04:27:00.001-08:00

Early in December, my girls wrote letters to Santa asking if he could spare an elf to visit us through the holidays. A few days after Santa picked up the letters, a magic elf appeared. She is named Tamara and gets to stay with us until Christmas when Santa must take her back with him to make the toys for next year. Sometimes our elf is nice, but sometimes she's not...as in the pic below. While we were all sleeping, she toilet papered the living room and destroyed Hannah's backpack, but she has become an avid Harry Potter reader! After the kids are out of school this year, many of us are having a "Magic Elf" party before all of our elves go home. I can not tell you what a joy this all is to these families.... these kids talk about their elves everyday and we all laugh at them making a mess of our homes.

Devil's Den

2007-12-11T04:17:00.001-08:00

Todd and I took the girls to Devil's Den on a recent warm weekend for a hike. We were worried that Tara would have to be carried on the 2 hour hike, but she made it like a trooper! The caves were busy, so we didn't spend a lot of time there, but it was still a fun day for the family.

Halloween

2007-12-11T03:49:00.000-08:00

Going to get caught up on this blog thing today. Here are a few Halloween pics of the girls. Hannah is Hermione from Harry Potter, Kayla is Hannah Montana and Tara is a butterfly fairy.

Slime and Crayons

2007-09-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

The girls were out of school today, so we made slime/silly putty and melted crayons down into new shapes. They had their friend Emily over for the fun. Between these projects, and playing school, the girls are ready to head back again tomorrow.

First Day of School Blues

2007-08-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

Thought both of my girls should wear blue today, because mom is blue that they have gone away. Tara missed them terribly, but also loved having Mom here to herself. She will start school next week. Both girls are exactly where they need to be in terms of teachers and such, so I am content in their schooling. My camera fogged up, which you can tell by the pictures taken in the humidity here.

Kittens, Swimming and High School Musical

2007-08-21T14:57:00.001-07:00

As we were swimming last night, a few of the wild kittens under Papa's house came out and let me take a few pictures! Tara finally learned to swim under water!!! We had been trying all summer, then Re (Rita) took her to the Alma Water Park and she learned to swim...no floaties at all anymore. Now I am scared because she is a little too confident. We went to a party to see the premiere of High School Musical 2 and I took this cookie cake along. It was so much fun!

So many new pets here

2007-08-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

My girls have been addicted to Webkinz since last December. As you can see, they keep multiplying, and I believe we have 40 between all the girls! Ridiculous, I know. It's the Beanie Baby craze all over again. For those of you that do not know about Webkinz, please google it and see what my daughters are so crazy about!

A Trip To Kansas

2007-08-11T05:24:00.001-07:00

I took my girls on a surprise trip to meet friends in McPherson, Kansas. They thought we were going to a PTA convention..hahaha. Boy, were they surprised when we pulled up at the hotel next to their friends from Iowa! We became great friends with the Wagg family about 6 years ago and have kept in touch through their move to Iowa. Their twins, Olivia and Katie, had no idea what was going on either, so everyone had the great smiles of Christmas morning. It was great! The girls swam (a lot), we went out to dinner, got new Webkinz charms, ate space food, played games in our room and down the hall (OOPS!), and went to the Kansas Cosmosphere Museum...which was awesome! We spent the whole day there and our girls really enjoyed the IMAX production of Hurricane Katrina...I would suggest you see this if you get a chance...it opened my eyes about this issue. My girls miss the Wagg family already, and are planning a trip to Iowa.

Sleep-over Friends

2007-08-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

The girls had friends over and we made rainbow cookie dough. They shaped them into aliens, butterflies and more. Thanks for coming Ashlyn and Alex!

Tara's Birthday

2007-08-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful day at Chuck E. Cheese. Thanks everyone for coming!!

Hannah's Room

2007-08-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

Looks like a typical 10 year old room...Hannah is loving it!!

Kayla's Room

2007-08-06T06:58:00.000-07:00

The 7 year old is loving her bedroom. She is in there right now listening to her Ipod.

Tara's Room

2007-08-06T06:47:00.000-07:00

One thing that I do not enjoy doing is decorating...ugggghhh. Thanks to my friends Jan and Stephanie, my girls rooms are organized and decorated. Here is Tara's room...she is 4 now!

Many Splendid Days

Kelly's Korner

More

Caps

Custom Caps and Scrabble Tiles

History is Made

My baby is 12!!!!!

Pointer Pride?

My facebook card

Photo time

New Year's Resolutions

My Van is Tired

Fun Saturday

Girly Girls

Labor Day Fun

Amazing Book

Cupcakes

School Days

Happy Anniversary Baby!

Tara's Birthday

Swim Season is Done!

"The Best Day Ever"

Water, Water Everywhere

Day 3

Finally on the beach!

Travel

Life is A Beach

Happy Birthday America!

Swimming

Swim Team

Slip "N Slide

New Camera

SUMMER!!!!

Softball Stars

Dan and Sara's wedding

Sock Hop AGAIN

Graduation, Recital and the end of T-ball

A Princess

Bike Day

T-ball Princess

Eight is Enough

Broken Dreams

Twins!

Valentine's Day for Tara

Sweet 11th Birthday

Gone but not Forgottten

Fantastic Teachers

Basketball Divas

How did we get here so quickly?

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!

An Early Christmas Present

Angels Among Us

My Crazy Christmas Tree

The Magic Elf

Devil's Den

Halloween

Slime and Crayons

First Day of School Blues

Kittens, Swimming and High School Musical

So many new pets here

A Trip To Kansas

Sleep-over Friends

Tara's Birthday

Hannah's Room

Kayla's Room

Tara's Room