Christmas Card Pictures

So Patty came and took some amazing pictures...and left with over 500 pictures!

Lexi and the Magnets

My Uncle John brought some magnets to Mom and Dad's one visit. They are simple magnets, a good square about 3 x 3. And really, the tell you what you should and should not eat for heart burn. The cool part is that there is like 10 or 11 of them. Kailey and Grandma used to line them up and take them off and on, for hours and hours of enjoyment. Well, history does repeat itself! Lexi loves the magnets! If you can't find her with Barney, that sings to her, or the pop-ons toy, she is at the fridge with the magnets.

He's ENGAGED!!

My brother, Jason, is ENGAGED!!! He proposed to Katie today...and she said ''YES!" We are so excited to keep Katie around. Kailey is excited to have 2 uncles and 2 aunts now. Jason, Kailey did write herself a note to remember to ask you guys when you are getting married....she's pretty excited!




Photo by our Patty :)

November 7 Thankful

Today, Kailey is thankful for her Family (and the whole world).

Yesterday, Kailey's was thankful for the trees (and the whole world).

Leaves, Fall

Our trees in the back have such beautiful fall color! Mark and I both commented that we didn't remember that from last year!
The girls had fun outside with the leaves. (Pictures were Monday.)

Thankfulness

Kailey has a calendar. It was a long craft project, but it is done and useful! She was practicing her numbers by writing them into the calendar grid. I had the A-HA to write something Kailey says she is thankful for, in each calendar grid...for each day. I think it could be fun to look back on what she says. Yesterday's thing Kailey was thankful for: the leaves, and the whole world.
Today, Kailey is thankful for AJ and the whole world. She did go back and decide she is thankful for her aunt and uncles, and Katie.

Halloween 2008

Our Halloween consisted of preschool, naps, and the in/out routine of the car. We trick-or-treated Dorothy and James, Margaret and Ronald, Gwen and Jocelyn's Nana and Papa, Dairy-B, our Papa, and our neighbors Neal and Donna.

Lincoln

Sunday we went to Lincoln because Mark had some side-work to do. We had lunch and spent the afternoon with John and Aryls. The road trip wasn't too bad. Lexi just isn't the traveler Kailey is/was! I guess this week we will continue to work on that! Kailey had a great time entertaining Uncle John outside. Kailey had her Dora bike along. Her bike has a compartment she has rock in from Dad's house. So Kailey and John traded Nebraska rocks for Missouri rocks. In a conversation about times that we pray with Aryls, Kailey decided that its a Nebraska thing to pray in the morning. In Missouri, we pray before bed and at meals. Both Kailey and Lexi enjoyed Aryls' collection of birdhouses. Kailey, the budding decorator, re-arranged all of the birdhouses for Aryls. Thank you John and Arlys for a wonderful meal. It was great to see you.

Kailey and the dentist

Kailey had her first trip to the dentist last week....Thursday. She was such a big girl! She laid in the chair very still and was fascinated by the sucking device. She got to hold the device herself while the hygienist cleaned her teeth.

Ferris Wheels and Yellow Slides

We took Kailey and Lexi to the Liberty Fall Festival, aka carnival, on Sunday afternoon. She had a blast on the different slides/obstacle courses. She got to ride the big yellow slide with Mark and insisted on riding the Ferris wheel. I hate Ferris wheels. I think I earned my cape. We are in the red car.

Kailey's Birthday

Wow! Our little princess is 4. I'm not sure if I should be relieved that we have survived her first four years of life, or our parenting only has four years of experience and worried about what is to come!

I'm a Mom, not all of us superheros wear capes

I know that I am not a supermom, nor will I ever be. One night on a trip to Michael's with Margaret, Kailey finds a Strawberry Shortcake cake mold and announces this is what kind of cake she wants for her birthday. Margaret said she can do that. I was thinking that was a great idea! UNTIL, Margaret starts bringing me things for this cake. I got the specific food coloring, icing bags, tips, etc. So Thursday, I started. I started with cupcakes and practiced my icing abilities. Kailey and I make buttercream icing. Friday, I made a Duncan Hines cake. And I decorated until 11 pm Friday night. Here's the process.

Lasting Impacts

I had a friend send a message through facebook today about Kailey's theology. She added this at the end.

"See You at the Pole is coming up this month. Every time I see it approaching, I can't help but remember your mother year after year meeting in the church parking lot to pray. I missed her last fall."

I know what kind of impact my mother had on me, and I wish she could impact me through her physical presence every day. I wondered after reading what other stories are out there of other lives touched.

Getting out of Heaven

Kailey and I have been discussing that Grandma is in the ground at the cemetery. But her spirit is in heaven, and she's in Kailey's heart. Well, yesterday as we were leaving ES (we drive by the cemetery and wave to Grandma) Kailey told me how to get out of heaven. She said that when you die your body goes in the ground and you go up to heaven. Jesus pays the bad guys, and then you get to come back. She's so smart! If only it really worked that way!

My Failures

I was feeling a little frustrated with myself tonight. I was still thinking about parenting mistakes that I made today, and vowing to be a better mom tomorrow. I really didn't have patience for rocking Lexi tonight. I didn't read Kailey stories. I did the essentials, and headed for bed. I grabbed my new computer here (great because my other laptop is only usable with a cord attached, defeating the purpose of the portability of a laptop). Logged in to my 'igoogle.com' page, and saw my verse for the day.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

WOW! While the entire verse is exactly what I needed, I found myself drawn to "I delight in weaknesses." I certainly showed my weaknesses tonight. I did the opposite of delight in them, and I even saw the weakness coming! What would happen if I delighted in my weakness? Merriam-Webster (m-w.com) gave this for their first definition of "delight" (noun) a high degree of gratification : joy ; also : extreme satisfaction. How my weakness, and my attitude that is present with my weakness, would change if their was joy in my voice! I'll have to try that tomorrow.

Life Unstructured

I think everyone needs a great photographer in their life. I was lucky enough to have a woman come into my life because of ALS. We started this in the spring because we needed a new family picture. I love Patty's philosophy of taking pictures...really it's capturing life. I will never go back (unless under some odd circumstance) to a commercial studio! Why? When Patty comes to us! Patty came on Saturday to take Kailey's pictures for her birthday. Here's the sneak peek I got and her website. We are on her website under Family Life. Thank you Patty for the beautiful pictures you capture and your wonderful artful ability.

web.mac.com/pattydover/LifeUnStructured_photography_by_Patty_Dover/Welcome.html

Walk to DeFeat ALS

Its about that time again. Time to walk. Time to raise money. Time to wish my Mom was here. Well, wait, I do that everyday. This year and especially this summer, I have wished Mom was here. I have needed to ask her several things...the first one was "how do I get the sewing machine functioning?" Then I needed preschool advice and concerned channeling her, but then I decided I knew better on both things--the decision and channeling. Our walk goal is pretty large, in money donated and walkers. Its been hard to get motivated this year to get going, while I will always have a reason and continue to get reasons.

http://web.alsa.org/goto/staceymorgan08

We've finally joined the BLOGworld!

So having a blog has been something I've wanted for a while, but have been lacking on the time factor. I'm pretty excited and hopefully can share pictures and videos (very old ones) that are due. AJ is probably pretty excited about this, but will believe it when she see's it.