And Their Off...

Lap 1...note whose in the lead

Lap 2...leader change

Defensive driving at its best

determined to regain his lead

Yes she is yelling at him to not bump into her!

The Thrill of Victory...

The Agony of Defeat...

If you ask him what happened, how could his sister beat him...his answer would probably be

"I lost control of my go-cart just for a minute..."

BUT we know...she beat him fair and square!!

Rocky Start...

3 kids with little to no sleep = some problems

** Jack cut his finger while digging in the sand with a plastic shovel...how, who knows? and constantly complained how the salt water hurt his hands

**Avery's swimmies + sand = raw underarms

**Elle-Catherine decided it would be a swell idea to collect sand...in her bathing suit! Which brought on lots of complaining and constant attempts to dig it out!

**Jack busted his nose on his new skim board causing it to bleed everywhere and a huge gust of wind came and blew the blood all over Terry

**The kids begged to go to the pool where it was at least 110 degrees

Yes, all this and much more happened on our very first day!

Soul Searching....and a good friend!

Continuing on my journey to knowing who God wants me to be I come to the weekend I help my friend re-do her hair salon. Now, when you get married you expet to "inherit" certain things from your spouse--great in-laws (which I have), cool brother and sister-in-laws (got those too), and if your really blessed great nieces and nephews (have those!) but what I really never thought about aquiring was a good friend, who also happens to be the best hair styliest I've ever been too. But that's what I got. I got Michelle. Terry and Michelle enjoyed one of those very rare boy-girl friendships in high school that continue still today; in fact it is so funny to watch them interact because they are more like brother and sister in how they bicker. When Michelle decided to go out on her own with her own salon a year or so ago, Terry and I where there to help her in deorating her new space. Then this year she looked at me and said I need a change, so, I gave her one! I think I made her happy...I hope! Here's the results!

Joyful Friday's....Part 5

18. buying school supplies
19. knowing fall is just around the corner
20. hearing my little boy read...(even when he doesn't want to)
21. the joy on their faces when they "get it" during school

Soul Searching and Sweet Baby Lydia's Party...Part 1

This summer I've been doing some soul searching (scary I know), to see what and who I should be. The obvious answer, of course, is who God wants me to be but I mean more than that, or maybe what does that really mean. I'm not a doctor (the mere thought of blood makes me sick...yuck)...I'm not a scientist who will discover the cure for a major disease (again, the blood issue)...I'm not a financier to solve the country's money problems (hate math!)...so, what am I? This is a question for some reason that has plagued me this summer. I wonder, am I the only one who asks themselves this sort of crazy question? Well, like He often does, God has answered this for me over this past month; He has answered it in a way that I never expected. The answer revolved around four consecutive weekends full of fun work for different things. I discovered that I like to make people happy; corny I know, sappy yes, but also none the less true. I like to make people smile by making things pretty. God, I believe, has gifted me with the strange ability to look at something find some way to make that something pretty and at the same time make someone happy (I hope) with it. How did I come to this realization, you ask? Well it all started with baby Lydia's first party!

Our sweet dear friends, the Kelley's, are expecting their first bundle of Joy, a baby girl named Lydia. It was my pleasure to plan Amy's baby shower that our church gave to her. It was so much fun as I thought about how much Amy's new mommy's heart would be touched and excited as she experienced this first shower. So, I poured my heart and soul into making it pretty, fun and memorable to Amy. That's when I knew, if work like this, that will benefit someone else still makes me happy, it has to be God's calling for my life. I know it's not like solving the worlds problems, it's not feeding the hungry, it's not saving lives, but if I can put one smile on some one's face and bring them joy isn't this a good thing? I hope so!

So, with the help of some vintage china from my Mom (thanks Mom), we set out to create a beautiful non-traditional Tea Party baby shower...I think she liked it!!

Merry Berry's Coconut Wave Cake...it defies  description how great it was!

Tea at a Tea Party is a must!

My great-grandmother's shoes!



The non-traditional corsage for our non-traditional shower!

The Food! Now, I didn't make all this. Cooking I'm still working on!

Joyful Friday...Part 4

14. Fourteen great years with my sweet husband
15. All 10 of my sweet nieces and nephews and the privilage of watching them grow up
16. The look of absolute excitement and delight on the faces of our children when they found out about our upcoming beach trip
17. The smell of Pine Sol

Not Our Normal Anniversary...

Usually around this time of year Terry and I are making plans for a little weekend get-away to celebrate our marriage with a little alone time. I think it's important to keep your marriage new and fresh, with kids it's easy to forget that in the end they will leave and it will be just you and your mate. So, Terry and I work hard on our marriage, and as a result it's a great one. However, this year is a little different, we have a bit of a surprise in store for our little family. I can't tell yet because our kids don't know and Elle-Catherine reads this blog...but more to come one this topic. Happy 14th Anniversary...oh by the way...T and I have this little game going to see who wins each year at saying "Happy Anniversary" first...I won this year!!!

Joyful Fridays...Part 3

It's Monday Kirstie...Yes, I know, but the reason why I'm late posting this is a joyful one. I was joyfully helping a good friend with her hair salon redo over the weekend (I'll post about that later!), and I couldn't post on Friday.

         14. I'm proud and excited when I get to use the gifts God has given me to help out a dear friend!