New pictures of Alyssa

ALyssa's permit wasn't easy to get. First, we picked her up from school the day after her birthday to go get the permit. When we got to the place they stop doing testing at 3 o'clock. So, Monday morning she and Kory went to get it and then came home with a sheet that had to be filled out by a eye doctor. She passed the test, which was what we were worried about, but failed the vision test! So, we had to make an appointment with the eye doctor a few days later. It was almost 2 weeks after her birthday that she finally got her permit.

The day she got her new glasses with transition lenes. She loves them.

Alyssa's 15th Birthday

It is really hard for me to see Alyssa turn 15 years old, I just can't believe it!

She got her drivers permit,

we moved her room down to the extra basement bedroom,

she started wearing her hair curly again

and went back to wearing glasses instead of her contacts

all in a matter of two weeks!

She took the money over party option this year. So when we went shopping with her

birthday money, she picked out grown up outfits.

Inspirational....

This family is Kory and I's Sunday school teachers...

they are a deer family no different then you and I.

Their blog will make you laugh, cry and inspirer you.

To God be the glory!

http://harpertimes.blogspot.com/

Thank you Greg and Lisa for sharing Jackman's story!

Cheerleading update!

Sara is still LOVING cheerleading!

Don't know where she gets that big mouth from!

Sara's 6th birthday!

It is hard for me to believe Sara is 6 years old!

Birthday girl...Aug. 27th before school.

Becase of our busy schedules, we went out to eat and took her shopping for her presents a few days before. She wanted a fish, and some littlest pet shop. Well, we went to the fish store and she looked for over an hour at all the fish and came home with a blue and red betta. We took all the girls out to eat then ended up at Build a bear.

On Thursday her birthday she came home to find presents, and cupcakes.

I can't believe my little girl is not so little anymore!

Sara's first cheering

Sara is cheering this year for the first time in the area youth football league. She is LOVEING it. There first game was Saturday, they didn't wear their uniforms, so I'll have to take some more photos next Saturday.

A get away!!

Last Sunday Kory and I left for a get away just us. No kids for 4 days. It was the first time in 8 years that we have left the kids for a "just us" vacation.

I guess it was a late anniversary trip,

we celabrated our 8th anniversary on Aug. 11th.

We went to Gatlinburg, and loved it. I had forgotten what it was like to be just us, we chose where we were going to eat, not wondering if there would be something the kids liked to eat...what we were going to do without wondering if the kids would be able to do it.

We reconnected, I paid attention to him, listened to him and not one of the kids, and he did the same.

It was SO nice, but I was ready to get back to the girls.

First day of school

Man, I can't believe the summer is gone! With the possible move all we could think about for the last two months, school sliped back up on us. It was a crazy summer not knowing where we would be when school started, but it all worked out. We will be in Calera for atleast a few more years!

Alyssa is a "freshman" and Sara is in the first grade.

After we droped them both off at school we went to Wal-Mart to pick up cookies and a few other things. When we were leaving,

Emma said, "ok, NOW can we go pick Sara up?"

She will miss Sara not being home to play with her.

Where has the summer gone...

I can't believe it is only 4 weeks till school starts back up for the girls!

Since we got back from vacation the only thing we have really done is VBS and being bums.

VBS was alot of fun. The girls really enjoyed it.

Alyssa was in the skit they had during opening worship. She loves being a put of VBS every year. She even got to help with the 4 year old class and she has a new outlook on her sister's after that.

This was Emma's first year to really get to participate, and she was in heaven. She would ask me everyday "When are we going?"

She can sing the songs and do the motions, she would even help Sara remember the motions. It happened at a good time. The few weeks before we had started VBS she had started potty training. I would tell her if she wanted to go to school like Sara she would have to be potty trained. Well, then we started VBS and it was like school to her, so she wouldn't want me to bring her diaper bag with us with a change of clothes in it. She would tell me, "I'm a big girl now, no more diapers." I would tell her I didn't have diapers in it, I had a change of clothes in it. She would again tell me she didn't need it! "I'm a big girl now!" She has really done great with potty training, she does better then the other girls at night.

She loves to tell everyone that will listen,

"I'm a big girl now, no more diapers!"

Summer Vacation

So, after my niece's high school graduation we went to Pensacola Beach, FL. It was so nice to get away. We took some family pictures...

The girls....

my niece, Jessica, my oldest sister, Cindy, Emma, Kory, Sara, Me and ALyssa

(my middle sister couldn't come with us on this trip).

Potty Training is never dull!

So, I know that I have other things to blog about, but something happened last night that I just have to try and tell you about. I was laughing so hard I nearly went to the bathroom in the bed myself.

Ok, I hope I can explain it well enough for you to get the picture.

Backround info...we have been potty training Emma and it has been a long process over months of working with her, but the last 3 days she has gotten the hang of it. Yesterday, she didn't have one accident all day.

She went to bed with no problems, about 10:30 she got up and ran to our room proclaiming she needed to go "pee pee in the potty". So, I got up and went with her to the bathroom. Successfull again! We make a big deal out of it. (No wonder my children are drama queens) We sing a "Pee Pee in the Potty" song and she has to tell EVERYONE in the house. l let her wake up Kory and wake up Alyssa. (but not Sara) We all sing and I get her back into her bed. Not five minutes later, she is back in our room proclaiming...you get the picture. After about two hours of this, I tell Kory it's his turn to get up with her.

So, it's like 12:45 at night and she is back PROCLAIMING LOUDly that she needs to go "Pee Pee". I hit Kory and say it's your turn. He reluctantly gets up and I remind him to be postive about this. Emma gets up on the potty and starts talking, Kory is in no mood to talk, but he says "really!". So, I start to listen to their conversation. Emma tells him that she is mad at him because he took all her friends home. (We have no clue what she is talking about) Kory asks her about going to the potty and she tells him she can't cause she is mad at him. Kory says "well, make it come out so we can go back to bed", she says "I'm sqeezing my toes and it's not coming out, I'm still mad!" They continue this for a good ten more minutes. Then I hear Kory say, "Kaylin... KAYlin... KAYLIN, it's your turn!" I get to to find she has done number #2 in the potty, and Kory won't clean that up. I take care of her and get her back in bed. About five minutes later she is back proclaiming she needs to go to the "potty". Kory again gets up with her and we repeat the same routine again. Finally about 1:30 she is back in her bed and doesn't wake us up again till this morning. It was a long night, but what do you when every time she proclaims to have to go to the potty, she is successfull, even if it is at midnight?

This was her at MIDNIGHT in front of her sticker chart.

We left here two weeks ago...

We left home Tuesday, May 26th and headed to my dad's in Alba, TX for a few days. Kory droped me off, and he and the girls went to see his family in Jacksonville, TX. It was nice, I got to get away from being a mom and got to spend some time with my dad and MJ.

Kory and the girls came back on Wednesday. He, my dad and Mr. Louis went fishing nearly every morning or evening. Kory was loving that.

We even mowed the grass.

and the kids played hard outside everyday! Bedtime was never trouble.

Sara's Kindergarten Graduation

Sara had her graduation last week. She got to check out of school after the program go eat lunch out with her friend, then go over to her friend house to play for awhile. She was in heaven.

Extreme Rock Racing

Kory's uncles drive "buggies" and go rock crawling. Well this past weekend they had a race in North Birmingham and we decided to go see them and the race. We had never been to one of these. It was fun, wet and muddy but fun! I was surprised that I would enjoy it, maybe it was because we knew someone raceing.

Emma loved Uncle Buddy's helmet!

Uncle Buddy and Uncle Jody watching other teams.

Rock Hard Racing (Buddy and Jody) on the trail.

Kory and the girls loved it! I was glad we went. Sara and Emma were full of dirt head to toe, and Emma fell asleep about 10 seconds after she got in her carseat, we hadn't even left the park.

Sara's first Field Day!

Sara had her "first field day" today. She loved it! They had jumpers, relay races and potatoe sack races. It was an action packed morning filled with fun and alot of sun!

I'm sure she will sleep good tonight!

It was a very warm April morning...high today is suppose to be 88, what happened to spring?

Sara's career day

This week at school was "Career Day" for Sara. This week she wants

to be a teacher.

After school Kory and I were talking to her about what she had learned. She was telling us about a firemen, and a police man that had come to school to talk to them. Kory said "Oh, so I could have gone to talk to your class?" Sara said "No daddy, you have to be a worker!"

Easter 2009

Kory worked so it was just me and the girls easter weekend. We didn't do much at all. We played outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Emma, Sara and Alyssa with their Easter baskets.

The girls and I headed out to church.

AND LOTS OF HIDING EGGS all day long!

Climbing Trees

Sara wanted to learn how to climb a tree, so with a ton of trees in our back yard but none having branches low enough, so decided to get creative. She has this ladder that we took off her swing set that she moves around the yard. She took the ladder and put in up against the littlest tree in our backyard and started to climb. She got scared and came down. Emma decided she wanted to get up there, so she did!

Sara was not too happy... so off she went!

Never a dull moment

Yesterday afternoon it was rainy and cool, so the girls were cooped up inside the house. Emma has gotten very vocal lately and has started singing all the time now. Well, yesterday I noticed she had gotten up on the "stage" and was getting after it.

I took this with my phone, so it's not the greatest.

Things that make you realize you are right where you are suppose to be!

Today when we came home from church, we all went up stairs to change clothes. Sara and Emma were the first two back downstairs. When I came back downstairs this is what I saw!

Sara was teaching Emma to bow down with the palm leaves to praise Jesus. It was SO cute! It really made we realize we are right where we are suppose to be!

Thanks God for the writing in the sky!