Christmas

Our family hopes you had a very Merry Christmas! We did. L and A were very good at answering my repeated question of, "Why do we celebrate Christmas?" They get the answer right almost every time and it sounds so good in their sweet voices, "It's Jesus' birthday!" I pray they know it in their hearts.





We went to my in laws the weekend before Christmas and had a great time in their new house. They gave L and A mini trampolines, which has been a big hit. It is so nice to tell them, "Go jump for 10 minutes," especially right before bed time! L was loved opening presents. Her response to everything she opened was, "It's just what I've always wanted!!" That was so much more gracious than the other quote, "What else did I get?"

A digs her new jumperoo!

We then headed home and my mom and her husband came. They gave L and A a Barbie jeep. At first is was a huge hit, but now they are both scared of driving it. I'm sure we'll only hope for that at age 16, but right now we wish they would loosen up.

We made cookies for Santa. This always hilarious trying to keep them from licking the dough. Only 6 of 24 got some licking this year. We'll call that a victory. Santa brought L and A a dollhouse, which they love. He even brought them a minivan, just like the one mommy drives! They did really well with another unigift from Santa.

B got a playwall that looks very familiar to one Lucy had when she was this age. hmmm. Santa is banking on the fact that B doesn't know she's been given a hand-me-down this year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

December

Whew! December got here fast and kept going! During Thanksgiving I thought up all these grand plans for my December. I wanted to have friends over to play, enjoy fun things with my girls, etc, etc. God had a very different plan for me. When we got back from Thanksgiving, it was already December and there was already not enough time. This led to some stress. Then we've had 2 weeks of illnesses around here amongst our girls. So, no friends got to come over to play and there were fewer fun things going on over here. Knowing that God had an eternal lesson in this for me, I prayed I wouldn't miss it. I think I know what it was - slow down! This week has been so freeing, b/c we couldn't go anywhere due to being sick. I had to say "no" and "i can't do that." I know He's been tugging at my heart to let some things go. This December, He made me do it. I'm grateful.

That said, here are some of our fun moments from a very fast December. . . .

We had a fun family outing shopping for our tree. Lucy and Annie got even more into it this year. They were very excited to help me put the ornaments on the tree. I kept handing them all the unbreakable ones that they put them on the tree. I looked up from the box to find this. I laughed. These are the things I will miss.

Bonnie started crawling when we got home from Thanksgiving. I had put her in the middle of the floor in her room and she made it over to her box of toys. She looks pretty proud of herself!

One day Lucy and Annie sat in their chairs at lunch "putting their heads together." They giggled and giggled.

Both of them had their class Christmas parties. Lucy held hands with one boy while they discussed whose house they were going to play at. Then, at the end of the party she planted a big kiss on another boy! We could be in for it during the teenage years! Can she really start this early?

Annie's party was fun with 7 two year olds. Hilarious trying to get a group photo!

And Lucy had a party with her dance class, too. Everytime I watch her dance I'm convinced she's a ghetto ballerina. She really enjoys it and had a great time showing off.

Fun Moments

Santa, can I have an Ipod for Christmas?!?

Pajama Time!

Bonnie's Dedication

"Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good. Sing praise to His name for it is lovely." Psa 135:3

Wes and I had the blessing of dedicating our 3rd little girl a few weeks ago. This one really hit me hard as we are now really trying to teach the Word to Lucy and Annie. It was such a special day. Bonnie wore the same dress that Lucy and Annie wore when they were dedicated. Wes and I got to write/read a letter to Bonnie as we dedicated her to the Lord. Our families came and had brunch with us at our house. Another great memory. Please hold us accountable to teaching these girls the Truth.





Lucy and Annie loved having their cousins Ruthie, Wilson and Woodruff to pal around with.

Fall at the Kelley's

We have an oak tree in our front yard that we truly love, except in October and November. We still love it then, but it gives us alot of work to do that time of year. The leaves are gorgeous laid like a blanket over the yard. If it wasn't bad for the grass, we would leave them there. But, I guess you can't have leaves and grass, so we opt for grass and bag up 10 large bags of leaves 2 or 3 times each fall. This year Lucy was very in to helping Wes with this task.

And she was very excited to play in the leaves. The last two years, we've had lots of fun running and jumping in the piles we rake up.

Annie gives the best hugs!

Halloween 2008

Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail had a great Halloween. Trick or Treating gets more and more fun with them. Lucy and Annie had a great week after Halloween, because they got to eat one piece of Halloween candy each day after Halloween. Mom and Dad helped them eat some of it, too, of course!

Time is flying. I feel as though I have blinked and Halloween is around the corner. I've been a terrible blogger, and don't feel like I have much to show for it. I'm not sure what has kept me from blogging!

Bonnie is now 7 months old. Here is one of her 6 month pictures. She continues to be joy and very easygoing. Although I'm afraid she may be my busiest child. I feel as though I am not getting enough of her as she is getting older. We had a trip to Callaway Gardens this weekend with Wes' company. It is the 3rd annual trip and so much fun. We get to be around some wonderful families there. Here is a picture of Lucy and Annie with Benjamin Barfield. I'm begging his parents to arrange a marriage with Lucy. It was very sweet to watch them play together along with his brother Caleb and sister Anne Kathryn.

A preview of Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail.

Flopsy did great on the parade in the wagon. I think this carrot is as big as she is.

Mopsy did good, too. She is wilder than ever, though. We've got to get her attention before it's too late. She's going to give us a run for our money.
Cottontail is no longer a baby. Everytime Wes and I look at her we comment on this. It's hard to explain the feeling. It's wonderful to see her grow up, but I do ache for that "baby-ness" in her. But, the older she gets the more fun we are having with her.


More pics to follow - I hope!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch on Friday for a birthday party. It was so much fun and a great birthday party idea. Also just a fun place to visit. It's called Berry Patch Farms. In the summer, you can go pick blueberries, which is also a good time. The girls loved being there and all the activities.

I have to get excited about small victories like this one. We actually have a decent picture of the girls and I! Thanks, Austin, for taking it.
How would you ever know she was the "master of disaster" from this face?

Even the "masters of disasters" need their rest!

Fireproof

Have to blog about Fireproof. Please see this movie if you haven't seen it. It is truly wonderful. It is made by the same guys who made Facing the Giants. The story is about marriage, relationships and how God designed them to be. These guys have made these movies out of a church here in Georgia with timelss messages for walking with the Lord. Check out the website at www.fireproofmymarriage.com and be sure to check out www.lovedarebook.com.

September

Well, I'm officially a bad blogger! September has been crazy for us, as it always is with birthdays and life in general. I'm happy to get this post under the gun of September ending. I know I would have been sad when I printed this into a scrapbook if there was no September 2008.

September is a month of Birthdays for our family. Our niece Anna Beth turned 1. Isn't she cute?
I turned 30 this month - yikes! 30 is definitely different. Things are aching and sagging. It's rough.

Wes turned 31 this month, too. He said 31 sounded alot older than 30. I'll let him think that until next year when I turn 31! He built a cornhole game which he is very excited about. I see many cornhole afternoons in our future.
We made a fast trip to Auburn for the LSU game. It was a fun day and we did make it to Toomer's for lemonade, but not to the game.
Bonnie turned 6 months old and is sitting up pretty good now. I hope to freeze her here for a while. It goes by too fast.
We had two great visits with my mom, Muddie. One when she was here for my big 3-0, and we just returned from her house yesterday. It was so nice to be back there, as I had not been since Thanksgiving of last year. I miss my family so much and cried when I had to drop Mom off at the airport. It's getting harder to be so far away. I wouldn't change Marietta, but I wish it was closer to Louisiana. Speaking of Mom, can I give her props for flying out to Atlanta, getting in the car with me and driving to Louisiana, all in the same day. Then, driving back to Atlanta with me, and flying back home to Louisiana all in the same day! She's the best and hung the moon as far as I'm concerned.
We got to visit with my brother Frank, his wife Sabrina and his daugher Taylor while we were in Louisiana. His motto is "Uncle Frank will spank!" Although, I don't think he would ever follow through with it. Lucy was her cousin Taylor's shadow for 24 hours. Little girls love bigger girls, I guess.




Unfortunately, while we there, my children were wilder than ever. Poison control was called for Annie, spankings were levied for multiple messes. It was unusual for them. Here is Annie on the phone with Wes having to explain what happened. Luckily, Muddie did say we could come back.

All the calls to poison control and messes cleaned up are worth for moments like this. I love capturing these girls doing something together. Pretty soon Bonnie will be in the mix, too. I should mention, though, that this was taken shortly before I found these two smearing Muddie's fire engine red lipstick all over Annie's face and dress. When it came time for punishment, Lucy stated that, "Annie was the only one that did it," thinking that this would excuse her from punishment. What she doesn't understand is that as I came upon them, I heard, "Do it, Annie, do it!!" I haven't figured out who the mastermind is yet, but we certainly have one who carries out the actions and a cheerleader, too.

Hope you had a great September, too! We're looking forward to a great October!

School Days

Lucy and Annie started preschool this week! It was really fun and they both love it. Of course, I was trying to take pictures before school on Tuesday, but, as usual, they were not interested. (can anyone give me tricks on getting them to look at me and smile - while i'm holding camera!).

They were way more interested in the rolly polly's on the ground. Lucy did give me a little to work with, though. After naps we went to our favorite ice cream shop for a "First Day" treat.