Has It Really Been 11 Years?

Yep, it sure has. Eleven years ago exactly to the day I met my darling husband at The Chili Pepper in Buckhead. Wow! that's hard to believe. I actually have to pinch myself when I think about it. I'm sure neither one of us could have imagined we would get married and have two beautiful daughters to show. God has blessed us and continues to bless us every day. I'm so thankful for what a wonderful man I have and I have to say "thank you to Heather, Lorna, Robby, Jimmy and Hillary" because had it not been for them I might be here. Thanks you guys! I love you all.

My Biggest Fans

Today was the last day of my pastels class,and I have enjoyed it immensely. It was definitely the catalyst I needed to get my creative juices flowing again. Our girls are my biggest supporters and have been cheering me own during these past four weeks as I took baby steps back toward the familiar. Every Friday when I would pick them up from school they would get all excited asking me "Mommy, what did you draw today?" We could barely get in the door before Lacey was digging through my bag searching for my "art." It warms my heart that they get all excited over fruit, flowers, landscapes, and now the toys blocks I have drawn. I have started sketching again and I find it so funny when Lela goes "Wow Mom, you can draw a ?" I just laugh because it's so funny to me because that's what I went to college to study was art. I try and explain that to her, but I'm not sure she quite understands that yet. My only hope is that they continue to get excited not just about my art but others as well.

Lunch

Today I got to do one of my favorite things, which is have lunch with a friend!!! At none other than one of my favorite places in Newnan...Redneck Gourmet. If you ever come to visit I highly recommend "the Redneck." It's a great local establishment and a very popular place among us "locals." For months my friend Joy and I have been trying to get together for lunch and we finally made it happen. It was nice just sitting and catching up. We both even brought our kids and they even seemed to have a good time. It's days like these I can really see how my girls are getting bigger. I can remember a time not so long ago that trying to do something as minor as having lunch was a major ordeal. Eat, run and no talking. Well, it is finally appearing that we are heading into a new phase of our lives, yet again.

Here's a picture of Lela, Lacey and Sam enjoying some cookies and moon pies at the Redneck.

Watching the rain fall outside.

I'm Behind...I Know

and I feel so bad that when I started this blog I promised myself that I would keep it updated on a regular basis and it's been a week since I've written anything. YIKES!!! So, let me catch everyone up to speed.

Last Monday, we attended the Georgia Gymnastics Pink Out. The meet was in support of breast cancer research and everyone was encouraged to wear pink. It was the GymDogs vs. Utah which was very exciting because Georgia and Utah are like the two top teams in NCAA gymnastics. It was a close meet and that made it very nail biting. Of course, Georgia came out on top but not by much. The girls loved it because all the girls were wearing pink, pink balloons, pink pom poms, etc. I think you get the idea.

Then on Friday at preschool the 4 year old and Kindergarten classes got to go and celebrate the Chinese New Year at a Chinese restaurant. I unfortunately couldn't go because I had my art class that morning, so Daddy stepped in to save the day. From what I heard everything went great! And everyone got to eat sweet and sour chicken. Yummy!

In my art class we were working on flowers in water. I'm still trying to work on mine, but here is a preview of what it is starting to look like. I had totally forgotten how much I enjoy seeing the reflections in water, it's amazing all the shapes that appear. I still have a lot to do on this piece, but I thought you might enjoy seeing it in progress. It is actually some hydrangeas in a vase.



Well, I think I'm caught back up. Next time I'll do better and won't be such a slacker.....sorry.

Cirque Du Soleil

Last night Kevin and I celebrated an early Valentine's Day. We went to see the new Cirque show called Kooza and out to dinner afterwards. My dear mother in law kept the girls for us (thank you, Jan.) Like most it's always a treat for Kevin and I spend time together and last was no exception.

Going to Cirque is really special to us because it is something that we have done since before we got married in 2000. We have seen many shows both here and around the country. In all the time that we have been together there has been only one show that we missed and that was due to the early and unexpected birth of Lela, which was in 2003. Other than that we have seen many. We both really enjoy going! The music is always awesome, the show is incredible and the clowns are hysterical.

Out of 18 shows throughout the world, we have seen 8 of them. My favorite still has to be La Nouba in Orlando. There was just something about that show that still sticks in my mind. I can't quite put my finger on what it was but I loved it! Here is what we have seen:

1. Quidam


2. Corteo


3. La Nouba


4. "O"


5. Alegria


6. Dralion


7. Vareki


8. Kooza

Study Of A Pear

I have started taking a pastels art class on Fridays. This is a drawing of pear I did in class. I absolutely can not remember the last time I used pastels, that is one reason I decided to take the class. I'm really enjoying it and it makes me realize how much I miss "my art." I'm really hoping that this year will bring some changes to this part of my life.

Donuts With Dad

One of my favorite times of the year at school is Donuts With Dad. The girls really seem to enjoy it as well as their daddy. Yesterday, Lela had her Donuts With Dad and Lacey's is today. I heard that everything went well and in fact I had both Miss Patty and Miss Josie tell me how funny Kevin was about everything that they did. He is such a trooper. The thing I love the most about this day is the questionnaire the kids are given and their responses.

Here is Lela's List:
ALL ABOUT MY DAD.

My dad's name is Kevin.
I call him Daddy.
He is 37 years old.
His favorite color is Blue.
He likes to play the Wii.
He likes to wear his perfume & smell like mama's boyfriend.
He gets upset with me when I hit Lacey.
His favorite food to eat is my food! (When he finishes his food.)
The thing I like most about my dad is he kisses me before he goes to work.
My dad has a cool computer.

And here's Lacey's List:

ALL ABOUT MY DAD.
My dad's name is Kevin.

I call him Da Da.

He is 20 years old.

His favorite color is Green.

He likes to go to work.

He likes to wear his work clothes.

He gets upset with me when I knocked over the lamp.

His favorite food to eat is corn & coffee.

The thing I like most about my dad is he gives me piggy back rides & we take trips.

My dad has a cool clothes.

Paris Hilton And The Easy Bake Oven

The other day the girls decided they wanted to get the Easy Bake Oven out and bake a cake. I've always been fascinated with the idea of baking with a light bulb. How and who came up with that idea is beyond me? Well, here is a picture of Lela icing her "cake." Lacey in the mean time decided to change her clothes and return dressed like Paris Hilton - crown and all. I ran and grabbed the camera because it was just too cute to pass up.

2009 New Year's Resolutions

One thing I love about the New Year is it is a time for reflection and a time for looking ahead. A time to look at our past accomplishments and realize where we have been and hopefully see where we are going. I've really not been big on resolutions but I'm finding that the older I get I like to see what I've done. So, this year I have decided that I will make some.

1. Organize all my recipes. (This something that has been needed to do for a long time and it just seems to keep getting worse by the day.)

2. Straighten up all my fabric, quilting & sewing stuff. (I'm hoping that by having all my fabric and sewing stuff organized I will be able to be more creative.)

3. Put Proverbs 3:5-6 to action. (This is a pretty straight forward one, if you ask me.)

4. Paint Lela's room. (Last year I bought fabric to make Lela a duvet cover. I had planned on redoing her room, since I had this new fabric...so I need to start somewhere.)

5. Step outside my comfort zone. (I feel as if I need to start experiencing more and trying new things. I signed up for a pastels art class, my first class was last week. I really enjoyed it.)

6. Start a creative blog. (I have found some amazing creative stuff "out there" and this would be a good place to keep them. Plus, I feel it might be a good creative outlet for me as well.)

7. Clean up my desk and area around it.

8. Lose 6 more lbs. (I've already lost 14 lbs, which I started the day after Halloween. So, just to make it an even number I thought 6 lbs. more would be good.)

9. Clean & straighten out all kitchen cabinets. (I've already been working on this one. All I have left is the cabinet under the sink and the one above the fridge. Yeah!)

Best Friends

Lela's best friend, Katharine will be turning six on Tuesday. Last night to celebrate Katharine's birthday, we (Wendy - Katharine's mom, me, Katharine and Lela) went to have dinner at The Sundial and to the ballet to see Cinderella. The girls had a blast at the restaurant that "turns in circles." They just thought that was the neatest thing.

Wendy ordered both the girls Shirley Temples to drink. That was a first for Lela. So, as we were "turning in circles," we pass by the bar. All the bottles are sitting out behind the bar and Lela says "Oh look Katharine, I gotta figure out what else I'm drinking." I thought I was gonna die laughing.

Athens And The GymDogs

On Friday night, we took the girls to see the GymDogs in their first meet of the season against West Virginia. Lela and Lacey were both so excited about going. They love watching the girls tumble and flip. My favorite thing that I find so funny is they can name just about everybody on the team - Kathryn, Courtney, Grace, Hillary, so and so forth. (I guess it's the important things in life, uh?)

Off And Running

Yesterday was the girls first day back at school after being out for Christmas Break. Talk about rough. It has actually been nice not really having a schedule, but it seemed to go by so fast. Wow! Where did the time go? I think what made everything feel so crazy was it not only the first day of school, but also choir and my bible study. Talk about jumping back in? Can't we just ease into? Oh well....

Starting Off On The Wrong Foot

I have decided that if yesterday is any indication of what the new year has in store for us then I want to start over. Early yesterday afternoon while Daddy had gone to Home Depot, Lacey decided to kiss the foot board of her bed with her forehead. Ouch! Needless to say it left a nice little indentation. We ended up taking her to get four stitches - two on the inside and two on the outside. I got to be lucky one to hold her while she was getting the stitches. Why, me? I grabbed her hand in an effort to comfort her and I didn't realize how hard I was squeezing it because she said, "Mommy, let go! You hurting my hand!" Oops. I guess it was me who needed some comforting.

Nacogdoches And The New Year

Well, we got to Nacogdoches late Wednesday afternoon. It was so good getting see the rest of the family. It had been six years since we had been out there to visit. In fact I was pregnant with Lela and it was Thanksgiving. So, it was definitely time for us to go out there again.

Lela and Lacey has a blast that night getting to play with their cousins Britt(4) and Luke(8). They were so excited running up and down the hallway with the boys. They were a little disappointed, though, that they didn't get to see Bryce(12) that night but that quickly went away.

Thursday was spent having our New Year's Day dinner of ham, cabbage and green beans with Aunt Carolyn, Uncle Tommy, Cousins Carol, Bryce and Luke. Later that day we packed up and went to see Carol and George's new house that they are building and head out to the farm to ride four wheelers, build a bonfire, cook hot dogs and shoot fireworks. It was so much fun just hanging out.

Friday came and we got up early to head on back home. It was so good to see the family and get to visit with everyone. Thank you all for your hospitality. We love you and can't wait to see you again. Here are some pictures from our trip to the farm: