kelly

Wake Up, Blog!!

September 22, 2009 By kelly Leave a Comment

My poor blog. If it had feelings, I’m sure it would feel abandoned. And, for good reason, right? I know I haven’t posted in ages. I don’t mean to NOT post, but days just get so busy lately. Between school(s), PTA, gym, church, etc. I am on the go a lot. It’s just crazy busy. Things are good here, just busy.

Things around our area are not so good lately. We had massive amounts of rain in Metro Atlanta over the last week and there is flooding in many areas. Our home and neighborhood haven’t been affected, but we have several friends with water in their basements and/or yards. Some areas have been really hard hit. It’s really tragic for so many. So, please lift up this area in prayer. We are supposed to get MORE rain soon, but it’s sunny here today at long last (first time in over a week), so we’ll take the sun while we can get it.

In happier news, some of our recent happenings are:

Mickey is now working full time for himself. He left his job at the church to run his own business. This is both scary and exciting, but we have every trust that it’s the absolute best move for him and our family. He has worked SO hard doing two jobs the last few years (church and his own stuff) and has really wanted to do his own thing full time. He has finally been able to do that and started this week. GO MICKEY GO!
Macey is absolutely loving first grade. She has already gotten into the “220 Club” which means that she has correctly read all 220 of this year’s sight words to her teacher. WOO HOO!! She really loves reading, so this was a big honor for her. She is now working on her challenge words for the year.
Mariana is in preschool three mornings per week and absolutely has the time of her life! She especially loves going to Spanish on Wednesdays. Everywhere we go, she counts out things in Spanish. So cute!!
As for me, like I said – BUSY. But, doing great on the whole. I am doing better about working out and watching what I eat and I’m loving the results!

Hope all is well with everyone…

Kelly

Our Week So Far…

August 13, 2009 By kelly 1 Comment

I really need to update properly – meaning WITH PICTURES – very soon. In the meantime, I will stick to bullet points to tell about our great week so far.

Macey started first grade on Monday. She absolutely loves it! She has great teachers and is already enjoying first grade very much!

Macey also loves riding the bus home in the afternoons. Our county cut bus stops to save money and so our stop is now half-way up our street which is a longer walk than usual. It has actually turned out to be a very nice stop because now us parents get there a little bit early and we get to chat and catch up with one another. We have such nice neighbors and it’s always fun visiting in the afternoons.

I baked our favorite chocolate chip cookies for the girls on the first day of school. Cookies and milk for snack – now, how cool is that?!

On Tuesday, I took the girls to a “Sprayground” in a town nearby. It’s basically a splash pad area for kids to play in water. The girls had the best time out there! It has gotten HOT here again lately, so it was nice to go cool off at the Sprayground. The only drawback was that there was no shaded area anywhere. They had benches for parents (or caregivers) to sit, but nothing for shade. Maybe that’s in the works. I hope so!

On Wednesday, Mariana and I met up with our friend Christie and her foster daughter at Chuck E. Cheese’s for lunch. Macey is NOT a fan of CEC, but Mariana loves it, so it was a good time for us to go. That girl had the BEST time!

Today Mariana and I took a trip to the book store. That is ALWAYS fun. I love books and reading! The last couple of books I read were just “eh” to me, so I’m excited to have great new reads.

So, it’s been a fun week thus far. We are looking forward to a great weekend too!

Four Days ’til First Grade…

August 6, 2009 By kelly 1 Comment

Macey starts first grade in four days. Well, technically, less than four days now since the day is almost over. The big day will be here before we know it. Wow!

Today we got to meet her wonderful teachers. Macey tends to be a bit reserved in new situations, but she was definitely happy to meet her teachers today. She’ll warm up in no time once the routine of school gets going, I’m sure. Her teachers are wonderful. So positive and sweet! We are all excited about the coming school year with them.

What do y’all remember about first grade? I have pretty fond memories of first grade. My teacher was Mrs. Lee. She had long (REALLY long) red hair and was just as sweet as could be. I had to miss a couple of weeks of school due to being hospitalized for pneumonia that year and I remember that she drove out to visit me at my grandparents’ house. That was the year that I had my birthday party at the zoo. My mom came and picked up all the girls in my class and we rode the 20+ miles to the zoo all piled into the back of a pick-up truck. (Yes, these were the early 80s.) My friend Robin B. moved away that year. I was sad that she left, but I remember being happy that I got her Social Studies book. (Those books were distributed when I was in the hospital and I didn’t have one when I returned.) That same year, a girl in my class named Stacy forgot to wear her shoes to school one day. She had to stay inside and not go to recess, so I stayed inside with her. She remembered that even into high school. It was a good year. I admit that I don’t remember many little details, but I know we had fun. I’m sure Macey will have fun too. I love that she is still at the age and stage where she gets genuinely excited about school and looks forward to it so much. I actually hope that continues for her.

This is such a milestone. It’s a “number” grade and they learn so much more than we used to at this age. Macey’s ready. She’ll do awesome. And, I am looking forward to every little bit of it.

So, here’s to first grade…in four days. 😉
Kelly

Great Deal at Chili’s

August 4, 2009 By kelly Leave a Comment

Chili’s has a great deal going on right now. Two people get three courses for $20! The selections are great and have a nice variety. I don’t eat red meat and my husband is a carnivore from the word “go” and we can still find combos to suit us both. Here’s what we got most recently…

Skillet Queso – yes, this has meat in it, but it comes with chips and salsa on the side. Perfect!

chilis_queso Mickey’s entree was an Old Timer Burger:
chilis_oldtimer

My entree was a fire-grilled chicken fajita quesadilla:
chilis_quesadillas

And, our dessert was the famous molten chocolate cake:
chilis_molten

Can you say YUM?! I can! And, for $20 I’ll say it twice – YUM YUM!! (The cost of drinks is extra, but the deal is still fantastic.) The food was great and we really enjoyed it. You just can’t beat that for $20. So, if you have a Chili’s near by, I’d highly recommend checking out this offer while it lasts!

Busy Monday…

August 3, 2009 By kelly 2 Comments

It’s been a busy Monday here at our house so far. Nothing out of the ordinary, really, but just staying busy around home. I feel like I’m perpetually in “tidy up” mode around here and nothing every gets clean and stays clean, so that adds to the busy factor. But, hey, it’s better to be busy than bored, right? That’s what I keep telling myself anyway.

We’re getting ready for PePaw’s arrival tomorrow. He’ll be leaving Michigan early tomorrow morning and driving all day to get here. It’s about a 13-hour drive. Whew! We are all excited about him coming to spend the week with us. The girls can hardly wait! One of the things I’m working on today is preparing the guest room so he’ll have a nice place to sleep. I have a BAD habit of making our guest room a “collection” room for clothes, photos, etc. So, I have to declutter a bit for him to have the room to himself. It needs to be done anyway, of course, so this visit is just the motivation I’ve been needing.

Today I get to help one last time with driving a Kidz 2 Leaders intern home from work. K2L is the organization that runs the camp we went to a few weeks ago. They help children who have an incarcerated parent (or parents). These kids get to start the program in third grade and K2L is there for them all the way through college, etc. The intern I am picking up today is about to be a senior in high school. She wants to go to college to become a registered nurse and I know she’ll make a great one. I look forward to our visit in the car today.

I know this is a random tidbit to throw in about my day, but I had tomato sandwiches (yes, plural – two of them!) for lunch and they were SOOOOO good!! Oh, I do love a tomato sandwich. I love them on white bread (I use White Wheat) with low-fat mayo. I use fresh tomatoes and sprinkle them with salt and black pepper. Perfectly delicious!! YUM! And, I justified two because they aren’t high in calories or fat either. Gotta love that.

Guess I should get back to cleaning, decluttering and organizing. Wish me luck!