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A Praise Report

Last week was book fair time at Mariana’s preschool. She didn’t actually go to the book fair, but Mickey and I went and did some fun shopping for her. She got some really fun books like Clifford the Champion, Katie Loves the Kittens and Dinner with Olivia. Mariana loves books and loves to “read.” She rarely lets us read to her these days. Instead, she prefers to take the books and “read” them herself which means that she makes up the stories as she turns each page. The cutest part is when she turns the page around to show her “kids” just the way her preschool teachers do. Love it!! It’s really cool to see her have such an interest in books and to see her creativity and imagination in bloom.

Macey’s book fair is this week. Today we get to go have lunch with Macey and then visit the book fair as a family. This is something we do twice a year at her school and we all look forward to it each time. Last week her class got to go to a preview of the book fair and the children got to create their wish lists at that time. Macey’s list includes the following – Library Mouse – A Friend’s Tale, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick and Pinkalicious. This time, there aren’t any chapter books on her list, but that could be because she has a ton of them already. She loves reading all sorts of books. Macey loves reading and enjoys reading to us too. She especially loves when she checks out AR (Accelerated Reader) books from the library each week because she likes to see which grade level she read each time.  It’s really amazing to me to see both of our girls blooming in their love of reading!

I’m just as excited as the girls about the book fair. Yes, we already have a library full of books at home. We have plans to donate some of them. Our friend Annie is serving as a missionary over in Kenya and she has requested books for the orphanage where she is serving. So, we are going to go through our books shortly and find a way to get them over to the orphanage in Kenya. It’ll be a great opportunity for me to go through the books with the girls and determine which ones to send.

We also donate at least one book to the classroom each time. The teachers fill out wish lists and we choose at least one book from the list for the classrooms. The teachers are always appreciative and it feels good to give back. So, book fair really IS a fun time for the whole family. I can’t wait to go again today!

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It’s Book Fair Time!

Here they are putting the finishing touches on the snowman:

Love this one – can you see Macey? She discovered that I had come out with the camera:

Posing with their TALL snowman:

Mickey shows just how tall their snowman really IS:

Snowman huggers:

An adorable Miss Macey having fun in the snow:

You might wonder where Mariana was during all the snow fun. She was inside. Somewhat surprisingly, she wasn’t interested in going out to play in the snow today. She’s a little like her mama that way. We already played in it once this season, after all.

Macey and Mickey had a ball building this big snow guy. When Macey came inside as I was uploading photos, I asked her the snowman’s name. She didn’t hesitate before she said “Ed.” So, he’s Ed…the tall snow guy. Hopefully he’ll still be standing tall in our front yard in the morning. I’ll keep y’all posted.

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Meet Ed, the Snow Guy

I am not normally so “weather fixated”, but it’s been a cold winter by Georgia standards and this Southern girl is more than ready for some good ole sunshine. Today it’s cold (again) and we have rain and snow mixed. Mickey is bummed because our forecast originally called for up to 4″ of snow, but now we are maybe going to get a dusting or possibly an inch of snow. That’s nothing as far as he is concerned. As far as I am concerned, it’s more than enough. Brrrr. I just may hibernate today. It sounds so appealing, actually. I woke up at 1am and was awake for at least two and a half hours last night, so I’m tired and crawling back in bed to hibernate this cold day away sounds pretty good right about now. I won’t do that, but I just may sneak in a nap sometime today.

In other news, it’s “spring” picture day at Macey’s school. Oh, the irony of this crazy weather. Spring pictures in long sleeves – go figure. She looks adorable, I must admit.

I have to give a shout-out to Southern Savers because after hearing Jenny speak the other night, I’ve been back on the coupon wagon. I saved a LOT at Publix yesterday, so I am geeked up on coupon love again. Woo hoo!!

Off to do something productive around here. I think.

Happy Tuesday,
Kelly

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Countdown to Spring…

As usual, things are frequently clicking at a fast pace around here, but we are all doing well in our family. Here’s a mini update:

Macey is really enjoying first grade. She is doing so well and absolutely loves school. She’s having a great time taking tap/jazz once a week at a local dance school as well. And, just recently she started taking gymnastics at the Y and that’s a great thrill for her. She turned six and a half on New Year’s Day and is very proud of that “and a half”, thank you very much.

Mariana continues to think that preschool is the best thing EVER. She goes three mornings per week and always looks forward to school. She had been taking dance at the same studio as Macey, but we recently decided to let her stay after preschool one day per week to take dance there. She stays another day for a princess party. Both of her extended day activities are BIG deals to Miss Mariana. She is having a blast!

Mickey is working for himself full time now and his business is really doing well. We are so thankful for the opportunity for him to finally work from home. God has really shown us that this is the right move and the business is truly blessed. He gets “Husband of the Year” because he planned an awesome surprise for me as part of my Christmas. He is taking me to NYC for a weekend in February. I am SO excited! Giddy, actually! We are going to see “Wicked” on Broadway while we are there and I just cannot wait. Yay!!

I am doing exceptionally well these days. I had been slacking on more than just blogging and had not been in a regular work-out routine over the holidays. Well, that is no more. I’m going back to the Y to work-out a few times a week and I love it! I’m still busy with various things, but couldn’t be happier.

Hope everyone has a blessed Tuesday!!

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Yikes!

This coming weekend, my good friend Christie and I are going to the small town of Gay,Georgia to the Cotton Pickin’ Fair. The CP Fair is a huge craft fair that is held twice a year and is so much fun! Christie and I are going to leave early on Saturday morning and head on down to the CPF. Can’t wait!!

Mickey is running in our church’s annual road race that benefits Habitat for Humanity this weekend. He’s going to do the 5K race and then he and Macey are going to participate in the 1 mile fun run. I’m sure they’ll have a blast!!

In BIG Mariana news, she has finally given up the pacifier. Yes, she turned three in May, but she was still taking the paci at sleep times. Well, she’s been talking lately about giving it up, so we followed her cues and, sure enough, she’s all done with the pacifier. WOO HOO!! It’s been almost a week and she’s been such a champ about it all. GO MARIANA GO!!

Last week, Macey participated in the Boosterthon Fun Run and Roll at her school. It’s a great fundraiser in which the students collect pledges and then run laps around the “Boosterthon Speedway” to collect money for the school. The track is about 1/16 of a mile and they cap the laps at 35. So, Macey’s goal this year was to do 35 laps. And…she did it! She also did a couple of cool down laps. She was SOOOO proud of herself! Her pledges are still coming in and are due at school tomorrow. She’s thrilled that she not only set her goal, but met and exceeded it!

Mickey is doing well with transitioning to working at home full time. It’s really been a blessing to have him here. We’re gradually figuring how how flexible his hours can be, etc. It’s a process, but it’s all going beautifully thus far.

I should get going so I can get myself and Mariana ready to head out this morning. I’m going to work out at the Y while she plays with her BFF William.

Happy Thursday!

This is a photo I took in North Georgia last Autumn. We were on a hayride at the time.

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Happy October!!

Macey started first grade on Monday. She absolutely loves it! She has great teachers and is already enjoying first grade very much!

Macey also loves riding the bus home in the afternoons. Our county cut bus stops to save money and so our stop is now half-way up our street which is a longer walk than usual. It has actually turned out to be a very nice stop because now us parents get there a little bit early and we get to chat and catch up with one another. We have such nice neighbors and it’s always fun visiting in the afternoons.

I baked our favorite chocolate chip cookies for the girls on the first day of school. Cookies and milk for snack – now, how cool is that?!

On Tuesday, I took the girls to a “Sprayground” in a town nearby. It’s basically a splash pad area for kids to play in water. The girls had the best time out there! It has gotten HOT here again lately, so it was nice to go cool off at the Sprayground. The only drawback was that there was no shaded area anywhere. They had benches for parents (or caregivers) to sit, but nothing for shade. Maybe that’s in the works. I hope so!

On Wednesday, Mariana and I met up with our friend Christie and her foster daughter at Chuck E. Cheese’s for lunch. Macey is NOT a fan of CEC, but Mariana loves it, so it was a good time for us to go. That girl had the BEST time!

Today Mariana and I took a trip to the book store. That is ALWAYS fun. I love books and reading! The last couple of books I read were just “eh” to me, so I’m excited to have great new reads.

So, it’s been a fun week thus far. We are looking forward to a great weekend too!

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Our Week So Far…

Today we got to meet her wonderful teachers. Macey tends to be a bit reserved in new situations, but she was definitely happy to meet her teachers today. She’ll warm up in no time once the routine of school gets going, I’m sure. Her teachers are wonderful. So positive and sweet! We are all excited about the coming school year with them.

What do y’all remember about first grade? I have pretty fond memories of first grade. My teacher was Mrs. Lee. She had long (REALLY long) red hair and was just as sweet as could be. I had to miss a couple of weeks of school due to being hospitalized for pneumonia that year and I remember that she drove out to visit me at my grandparents’ house. That was the year that I had my birthday party at the zoo. My mom came and picked up all the girls in my class and we rode the 20+  miles to the zoo all piled into the back of a pick-up truck. (Yes, these were the early 80s.) My friend Robin B. moved away that year. I was sad that she left, but I remember being happy that I got her Social Studies book. (Those books were distributed when I was in the hospital and I didn’t have one when I returned.) That same year, a girl in my class named Stacy forgot to wear her shoes to school one day. She had to stay inside and not go to recess, so I stayed inside with her. She remembered that even into high school. It was a good year. I admit that I don’t remember many little details, but I know we had fun.  I’m sure Macey will have fun too. I love that she is still at the age and stage where she gets genuinely excited about school and looks forward to it so much. I actually hope that continues for her.

This is such a milestone. It’s a “number” grade and they learn so much more than we used to at this age. Macey’s ready. She’ll do awesome. And, I am looking forward to every little bit of it.

So, here’s to first grade…in four days.
Kelly

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Four Days ’til First Grade…

So, what have you all been up to lately? That is, if anyone is still out there checking this poor neglected blog. (Sorry about that!) Here are some recent happenings with our family:

• Macey turned six on July 1st. I posted about it on her birthday.
• We spend the weekend of the 4th of July with family. On the 4th, we went to my Uncle and Aunt’s place with my mom’s side of the family and spent the whole day swimming, eating, playing games, swimming more, eating more, having a hayride and watching fireworks. It was a WONDERFUL day!
• Both girls attended our church’s second session of VBS called “Crocodile Dock” in July while I worked doing “Logistics” for elmentary. We all had a great time! VBS was a huge success.
• About a week after her birthday, Macey got her ears pierced. Our original plan had been to wait until she was older, but we have no regrets. Macey had been talking about it for ages, but never really wanted to go through with it just yet. So, the week after her birthday she revisited the subject, we talked about it in depth (how it would hurt a bit but short-term and how she’d have to take care of them, etc) and she was ready. She was SO brave! She held my hands and squeezed her eyes closed tight when they did both ears at the same time. Never shed a tear. She now has beautiful pink rhinestone flower earrings and is so proud of them.
• I posted about camp in July too. Mickey and I were so blessed by being able to work at camp this year. It was just so incredible. Words fail to express how awesome it was! I cried and cried on the last morning when the kids left – it was just so emotional! The adults made a “prayer tunnel” to pray over the kids as they were leaving and that was SO powerful, beautiful and emotional. We really loved it and can’t wait to go back!!
• We joined our local YMCA a couple of weeks ago. We’re going to love it – I can already tell! So much to do as a family there. We went to our first “family swim” today since it was rainy outside and we couldn’t go to our neighborhood pool. We had a ball!
• PePaw (aka – Scott, Mickey’s dad) is coming to stay with us for about a week. He’ll arrive on Tuesday and we’re all excited. One thing he is going to do while he is here is build a “playhouse bed” for Macey. Basically it will be a playhouse underneath and a bed on top. Macey is so excited! It’s going to be so cool! I’ll have to post pictures of the before/after of her room.
• Macey starts first grade one week from tomorrow. On Thursday of this week we have our “meet and greet” with her teacher. She is OH SO EXCITED about school! I’m serving as a committee chair for PTA this year, so that’s exciting too.
• Mariana is excited about starting preschool in late August too. We hope she is in the same class with her sweet best friend, William.

All is well with us. Busy as can be, but great. I hesitate to say that I will update my blog more because that seems to backfire on me. So, I won’t say that, but I’ll hope it and try harder. Thanks for bearing with me.

Blessings,
Kelly

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Well…Hello, August!

I’ll never forget seeing that precious baby girl for the first time. I noticed that she had a head full of hair which I suspected all throughout my pregnancy. (Hello, heartburn!) I noticed that she had round full cheeks. And, in those few short seconds I waited to hear her cry so I’d know she was strong and healthy. She cried and my heart sang.  Seeing the love and emotion that washed over Mickey as he took in the sight of his new daughter was incredibly amazing too. I got to hold Macey skin-to-skin once she was cleaned up and that was just awesome. To hold our daughter, to cradle her to me and to just be with her was beautiful. I was a mommy, at last, and we were a family of three. We could not have been more grateful and we continue to give thanks for our girls every day.

The first few days and weeks were admittedly tiring and trying, but we made it. Looking back now, it seems like the blink of an eye. Who would have thought that six years could pass so quickly? Macey has gone from a beautiful, helpless, chubby, happy and charming baby to a lean, beautiful, sweet, imaginative and caring little girl. She is officially a “first grader” although school won’t resume until August. She can read, write, add, subtract and begin to tell time. She loves to draw, create and cook. She is a big fan of music and always has fun singing and dancing. She is a joy. A delight.  She’s our sunshine.

Having these two girls has blessed our lives immeasurably. There are times, sure, when things are less than perfect, but the sum of our life as a family could not be more perfect. And, to think, this all started with Macey’s birth six short years ago. How blessed we are! I have heard it said before that with parenting the days are long, but the years are short. I could not agree more. I am thankful for every moment with our precious family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MACEY!! We love you more than words could ever express and we always will!!

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Six Years…