Way Back WHEN-esday

Dateline: December, 2004

Kaylyn's Age: 3 years old

This pic was taken at my grandmother's house in Georgia on Christmas night. Kaylyn's favorite song at that time was "Redneck Woman." Don't ask me why, but she loved it and sang EVERY word. In this pic, she's singing the chorus as loud as she possibly can. Why do kids always pick the songs they really don't need to be singing? I remember ignoring the words she was singing at that time, hoping if I didn't make a big deal out of it, the phase would pass. When the phase didn't pass, I decided to get some photographic evidence.... She eventually moved on from this song, but did her song choice get better....noooooo....her next favorite song was "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy." There's nothing like hearing your (then) 4 year old break out into the chorus of these songs in a crowded store...talk about embarrassing! Oh well, at least she's moved on and now chooses more age appropriate material to sing. Her fav's are Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus and High School Musical Sound Tracks. Oh, and who can forget Kid's Bop? We own them all....

"It's My Beauty Pageant Day!!!".....

....were the words I awoke to this morning at 6:00. Yes, today was the big day. Kaylyn was so excited. She loves doing her school beauty pageant every year. Y'all know what a social butterfly Kaylyn is, so getting on stage in a pretty dress with hair and make-up done is right up her alley. I'm so proud of her for having the courage to be on stage with a crowd staring at her, with 3 people judging her every move, AND loving doing it....more than I can say for myself at 8 years old, or even now for that matter! She's a very brave little girl, and she's beautiful inside and out!

Way Back WHEN-esday

Luke's first haircut!

Dateline: September, 2005
Luke's Age: 14 1/2 months

So we made it over 14 months without a haircut. I just couldn't bear to cut away those sweet ringlet curls before then, but his kickin' baby mullet had gotten out of control, so I bit the bullet and took him to get his hair cut. As you can see from the bottom right pic, he was not happy about her cutting his curls away either!

This pic was taken just a few days before his first haircut. Notice the righteous baby mullet? BTW this is a pic of him waiting to go to the OR for tubes. That's why he's wearing the yellow gown. That's another Way Back WHEN-esday for another day....

Kaylyn's Birthday Party

Okay, so I've been a slacker about posting Kaylyn's birthday party pics, I have no excuses... Anyway, we had Kaylyn's birthday party last Thursday, just a small family party at Nana and Pop's house.

This year she wanted a High School Musical cake. I wasn't too impressed with it, in fact it's pretty ugly, but it's what she wanted.... Gotta love red cake icing...

Chloe and Luke enjoying the party

Playing with Pop's new baby, a Britney Spaniel named Samantha, "Sam"

Present Time!

She finally got her Ninteno DS. She has been wanting this for a while and was so totally surprised because I had told her we weren't getting her any more presents because we were redecorating her room. I let her stay up a few extra minutes that night since it was just about bedtime when she was opening presents. (Even I'm not mean enough to make her go to bed after just opening birthday presents.) So, after she got to play it for a while, off to bed she went. The next morning at 6:00 I woke up to the sounds of the DS coming from her bedroom. (Keep in mind, this child does not rise a minute earlier than she has to and it's a fight to get her up every morning.) The following conversation went like this:

Me: Why are you awake so early?

Kaylyn: I couldn't sleep. (Eyes intently focused on game, fingers moving at lightning speed.)

Me: What time did you wake up?

Kaylyn: (Never taking her eyes off the game) 4 o'clock...

Of course she had to get some Hannah Montana and High School Musical Games to go with the new DS.

Notice the name of this game? There's a story behind it....Kaylyn LOVES to watch cooking shows. Paula Dean and Rachel Ray are her favs; seriously, she'll watch them for hours. This game is perfect for her.

Luke's Class Valentine's Day Party

Friday I went to Luke's class Valentine's Party. All the kids were so cute giving out their Valentine's and were all proud of their mailboxes they had been making in class last week.

Waiting patiently for his turn to hand out his Valentine's. Notice he's SMILING? He's been doing that a lot for pics lately....I don't know what has gotten into him!! He's always been my child who hates the camera and refuses to look at it. Could we have another camera hog in the making?

Giving his Valentine's

And everyone's favorite....Time to eat!

So, What Have We Been Up To?.....

Okay, first let me apologize for not posting anything remotely interesting for the past...oh, how long has it been...months? We have been so busy! The kids are doing great. Just going about their usual busy lives.


Kaylyn is finally getting back into the swing of school after her Christmas break. We tend to have a problem with that. After being out for nearly 3 weeks, it's hard for her to get back into the routine of school and homework, but we're finally getting back on schedule. She's still doing the dance thing every week and getting ready for our first competition the weekend of April 16 in Panama City. I'm excited about this one because it means a beach trip, YEAH! (Even though the majority of the trip will be spent doing the dance thing - hair, make-up, numerous costume changes.) Oh well, we'll still get one day of beach time. Her school beauty pageant is coming up this Saturday so she's excited about that. It's another one of those days that I'll be glad when it's over. So much time and work for approximately 90 seconds on stage. She had a good birthday, even though Chris had to leave to go back to Mobile unexpectedly on her birthday and had to miss her party. Speaking of her party, I have pics to post, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll get them on here tomorrow. Our redecorating her room project should be finished this weekend and then the new furniture should be delivered next week, so I'll get some pics of that when we finally get it all together. Let's just say it's interesting!



Luke has just been hanging out and enjoying going to school. He's been quite the little pest lately. I hate to say that about my own child, but no one but a mother can be honest about their children. His new favorite hobby has become to aggravate anyone he's around, especially girls, mainly his sister. I hear "MaaaaaMAAAAA" at least 20 times a day from Kaylyn and it's usually Luke just being obnoxious. Seriously, I hear it in my sleep! I'm thinking of investing in a good pair of ear plugs! He's also at the "age of 10,000 questions", asking "why" about EVERYTHING or "what are you doing?" or my personal fav, "where are you?" when your in the same room he is in. Curiosity is a good thing, but I think it's just become habit for him lately and I'll be glad when this phase passes. He's also become a little charmer lately. His new saying is "Girls are pretty, boys are handsome. Mama, you are pretty and I am handsome," then he'll give me his sweet and innocent grin that he has perfected to get himself out of trouble. We signed up for T-ball this past weekend and will be starting all of that business soon. I can't wait! I love the T-ball age, they are so funny. I think he's going to have lots of fun playing ball. He's been talking about it for a while and he will be on his buddy Sam's team, so we should have big fun.


Like I said earlier, Chris is back in Mobile for a while after a short few weeks at home. Hopefully he won't be gone for too long this time. He's been told he should only be there for a week this time and shouldn't have to go back for long periods of time anymore. We've got our fingers crossed!

I've just been working and doing the school thing, along with keeping up with the kids. School is killing me this semester. I have 2 very busy classes this time which are not really hard, just time consuming. I'll be so glad when school is over...Come on Fall '09! Our Disney trip is quickly approaching, just over 3 months and counting. We are all super excited and ready for May 22 to get here.

Well, I guess that just about catches everyone up. Sorry this post is so long and all over the place. Lots of things to tell.

Happy Birthday Kaylyn!!!

My Baby Girl is 8 years old today! (at 1:53 p.m. to be exact) That means she is 1/2 way to driving...EEEKKK! It seems like yesterday we were anxiously awaiting her arrival, and now 8 years later, I can't believe how fast time is flying by. Can someone please tell me how to keep her from growing up so fast?

We will be having a small family party tonight, so I'll have lots of new pics to post later. For her birthday, we are redecorating her room and she is getting new furniture. It's a work in progress, in other words, it's a big mess right now! I'll post pics when we finally get it finished, hopefully sometime before her 9th birthday!

Way Back WHEN-esday

Dateline: February 12, 2001

Kaylyn's Age: Just minutes old

Since Kaylyn's birthday is tomorrow, I thought this Way Back WHEN-esday would be devoted to the day that changed our lives. I can't believe she will be 8 years old tomorrow!

Picture of the Year Contest

Kim Sharit, who took those amazing pics on my side bar and header is holding a photo contest. She somehow managed to pick 10 of her fav's from the year and a pic of Kaylyn was one of her picks. Go to http://www.sharitphotos.blogspot.com/ to check it out and vote for your fav.

Way Back When-esday

Dateline: May, 2002

Kaylyn's Age: 15 months old

Running wild at the Botanical Garden's. I love the look on her face, she looks like she's up to no good. Even as young as 15 months old she was still full of mischief....she hasn't outgrown it yet!