Coffee with Kel

Building relationships, encouraging hope

kelly

Well…Hello, August!

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My goodness! August has arrived already. Does this seem surreal to anyone else? I seriously feel that summer has just flown by. It doesn’t seem real to me that school has been out for two months already and is VERY close to starting back again. Wow. We have had an incredible summer and have had so much fun – maybe that’s why it’s flying. Still, it does baffle my poor brain that it’s August. Already. Woah.

So, what have you all been up to lately? That is, if anyone is still out there checking this poor neglected blog. (Sorry about that!) Here are some recent happenings with our family:

  • Macey turned six on July 1st. I posted about it on her birthday.
  • We spend the weekend of the 4th of July with family. On the 4th, we went to my Uncle and Aunt’s place with my mom’s side of the family and spent the whole day swimming, eating, playing games, swimming more, eating more, having a hayride and watching fireworks. It was a WONDERFUL day!
  • Both girls attended our church’s second session of VBS called “Crocodile Dock” in July while I worked doing “Logistics” for elmentary. We all had a great time! VBS was a huge success.
  • About a week after her birthday, Macey got her ears pierced. Our original plan had been to wait until she was older, but we have no regrets. Macey had been talking about it for ages, but never really wanted to go through with it just yet. So, the week after her birthday she revisited the subject, we talked about it in depth (how it would hurt a bit but short-term and how she’d have to take care of them, etc) and she was ready. She was SO brave! She held my hands and squeezed her eyes closed tight when they did both ears at the same time. Never shed a tear. She now has beautiful pink rhinestone flower earrings and is so proud of them.
  • I posted about camp in July too. Mickey and I were so blessed by being able to work at camp this year. It was just so incredible. Words fail to express how awesome it was! I cried and cried on the last morning when the kids left – it was just so emotional! The adults made a “prayer tunnel” to pray over the kids as they were leaving and that was SO powerful, beautiful and emotional. We really loved it and can’t wait to go back!!
  • We joined our local YMCA a couple of weeks ago. We’re going to love it – I can already tell! So much to do as a family there. We went to our first “family swim” today since it was rainy outside and we couldn’t go to our neighborhood pool. We had a ball!
  • PePaw (aka – Scott, Mickey’s dad) is coming to stay with us for about a week. He’ll arrive on Tuesday and we’re all excited. One thing he is going to do while he is here is build a “playhouse bed” for Macey. Basically it will be a playhouse underneath and a bed on top. Macey is so excited! It’s going to be so cool! I’ll have to post pictures of the before/after of her room.
  • Macey starts first grade one week from tomorrow. On Thursday of this week we have our “meet and greet” with her teacher. She is OH SO EXCITED about school! I’m serving as a committee chair for PTA this year, so that’s exciting too.
  • Mariana is excited about starting preschool in late August too. We hope she is in the same class with her sweet best friend, William.

All is well with us. Busy as can be, but great. I hesitate to say that I will update my blog more because that seems to backfire on me. So, I won’t say that, but I’ll hope it and try harder. 🙂 Thanks for bearing with me.

Blessings,
Kelly

Checking in from camp…

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I had hoped to check in daily from camp, but that obviously hasn’t happened. I have been pretty busy, but it’s been just incredible. This camp is just amazing. I have the really cool opportunity to be camp photographer, so I get to see the kids in their elements and get to capture their joy on camera. I love this!!

I have to say that I am really missing our girls. I haven’t been away from them this long before, but I know that they are very well cared for with their Nana (my mom) and they are having a ball. It’ll be a sweet homecoming on Friday, but in the meantime I am just blessed beyond words to have this opportunity to serve here at camp. I am so thankful for this camp and this time!

Kelly

Camp Blog – Post One

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I haven’t updated in awhile again. Sorry about that. It’s just been a very busy summer. We had Macey’s birthday, the 4th of July and then VBS. Whew! I actually didn’t think that I’d be able to blog this week, but…here I am. Mickey and I are spending the week at a camp for children whose parent(s) is incarcerated. This is an opportunity we found out about through our church several years ago. Mickey came last year and was excited for me to join him this year. So, here I am! His job at camp this week is doing “I.T.” and “tech” stuff while my job is photography. I will have the opportunity to walk around camp all week and take pictures of the wonderful events taking place. I’m so excited to see where God leads and how He reveals Himself through every person here this week. I will do my best to check in daily here as I am able.

This morning, I got up and had quiet time while my roommate was getting ready. I didn’t have any particular devotion book to read or passage in mind when I sat down. The one thing I had was a sheet I had gotten from my summer Bible study that listed passages that correspond with various topics. I found myself drawn to Psalm 27 today and once I started reading, I knew that it was just what God had for me today. This week at camp, the theme is talking to the campers about weathering the storms of life through faith. These children have trials in their lives that most of us cannot even start to imagine and for them to have this week at camp and the affirmation of Christ is just crucial. When I read Psalm 27 (NIV) this morning, these are the passages that stood out the most to me:

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.

11 Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.

13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

I just feel so in awe that God lead me to that passage this morning. Those verses, in particular, blessed my heart and really reaffirmed to me exactly why we are here this week. As we all do, these precious campers need Christ. They need His salvation, protection and HOPE. It’s all about the hope. And, I can’t wait to see how God reveals Himself this week. Already He has shown me how His word prevails forever across all of time and every circumstance. I know He has such big things this week and I feel blessed to be a very small part of an amazing event!

Stay tuned and please keep camp in your prayers. Thanks!!

Six Years…

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Six years ago today, a lifelong dream of mine came true. I became a mommy. All my life I had dreamed about becoming a mommy. I prayed to be a mom and always knew it was the calling of my heart. On July 1, 2003 that prayer was fulfilled when Macey was born.

I’ll never forget seeing that precious baby girl for the first time. I noticed that she had a head full of hair which I suspected all throughout my pregnancy. (Hello, heartburn!) I noticed that she had round full cheeks. And, in those few short seconds I waited to hear her cry so I’d know she was strong and healthy. She cried and my heart sang.  Seeing the love and emotion that washed over Mickey as he took in the sight of his new daughter was incredibly amazing too. I got to hold Macey skin-to-skin once she was cleaned up and that was just awesome. To hold our daughter, to cradle her to me and to just be with her was beautiful. I was a mommy, at last, and we were a family of three. We could not have been more grateful and we continue to give thanks for our girls every day.

The first few days and weeks were admittedly tiring and trying, but we made it. Looking back now, it seems like the blink of an eye. Who would have thought that six years could pass so quickly? Macey has gone from a beautiful, helpless, chubby, happy and charming baby to a lean, beautiful, sweet, imaginative and caring little girl. She is officially a “first grader” although school won’t resume until August. She can read, write, add, subtract and begin to tell time. She loves to draw, create and cook. She is a big fan of music and always has fun singing and dancing. She is a joy. A delight.  She’s our sunshine.

Having these two girls has blessed our lives immeasurably. There are times, sure, when things are less than perfect, but the sum of our life as a family could not be more perfect. And, to think, this all started with Macey’s birth six short years ago. How blessed we are! I have heard it said before that with parenting the days are long, but the years are short. I could not agree more. I am thankful for every moment with our precious family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MACEY!! We love you more than words could ever express and we always will!!

Summer Mini-Vacation Photo Recap Part 1 – Nashville

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Be prepared for photo overload. That’s all I’m sayin’. 😉 These are some of the highlight photos from our trip to Nashville, TN. We went up on Thursday, June 18th and stayed in Nashville until Saturday, June 20th. We had a wonderful time. Nashville is GREAT!! Love it there!!

Our first adventure was dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Here are Mickey and the girls heading in:
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Here are the girls in front of the sign:

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The girls LOVED Rainforest Cafe. They loved all the animals and decor of the restaurant. It was a lot of fun!! After dinner we hit Build-a-Bear Workshop and each girl got to create a stuffed animal. Macey chose a frog which she named Freddy. Mariana chose a HSM bear which she named Gabriella. We walked around Opry Mills a bit and then called it a night. Our first evening in Nashville was quite fun!

On Friday we got ready to head out to the Nashville Zoo . We stopped at a Shoney’s near our hotel and had their breakfast buffet and then went right out to the zoo so we could be there when they opened. That was a wise plan because it was already HOT first thing in the morning.

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We really enjoyed the Nashville Zoo. It was beautifully laid out and had so much to see and do! Here are some highlights from our visit:

Hyacinth Macaws:

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Mariana looking cool in the play area:

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Macey in the snake tunnel:

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Macey talked her sister into coming into the snake tunnel too:

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How cool is this play structure?!
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There were flowers and plants all over the place. So pretty!
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There was also beautiful scenery such as this wagon near the old plantation home and barn:
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We got to see so many animals. I won’t post pictures of all of them, but here are a few.

We all thought the girafffes were cool and, of course, we thought of Grammie (Mickey’s mom) when we saw them. She loves giraffes!
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The elephants were so pretty too:
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Alligator Cove had quite a few gators in a pond. The girls were very fascinated with them.

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I thought this stump was pretty cool looking:
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Macey pointing up at the gator that was floating “above her head”

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The girls got a souvenir cup with fun straws. What is better than a cool drink on a hot day?!
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Loved the lamps in the Asian section of the zoo:
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The photos don’t cover nearly all of what we saw and did at the zoo. Our visit there was SO much fun and I’d highly recommend the Nashville Zoo to anyone visiting or living in that area. We would love to go back and may visit again in the fall when it’s a touch cooler.

On Saturday evening, we went to Aquarium for dinner. Another hit with them – they loved it!! The atmosphere there is what really makes it. The food is okay (somewhat spendy), but it’s a lot of fun to see all the fish, etc. My camera battery went kaput when we got there, so these are the best photos I have from my phone.

The view from our table:023

The girls thought it was VERY cool when the SCUBA diver swam by our table:
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Here are Mickey and the girls as we were getting ready to leave after dinner:
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After dinner, we went to Stingray Reef to feed the stingrays and ride the carousel. The girls weren’t altogether too sure about feeding stingrays, but they liked it when other people did it. The stingrays literally come right up to the edge of the tank to be fed shrimp. It’s cool to see! The carousel was a hit with the girls too – they always love carousels. Our second night in Nashville was a lot of fun!!

On Saturday morning we went to breakfast at the “famous” Pancake Pantry in Nashville. Our friend Christie had recommended it and said that we’d probably have to wait in line, but that it was worth it. So, we tried to get there early in an attempt to beat the crowd. I have to say that we did NOT beat the crowd, but we only had to wait about 10 minutes and we did beat the “big” rush. The lines was super long just after we got there and was even longer when we left. The food was fantastic! I asked our waitress about the sweet potato pancakes and she recommended them highly, so I got those with some traditional buttermilk pancakes too. DELISH!!

Here is my plate before:
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And…after:
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What can I say?! Those were some DELICIOUS pancakes! If you’re ever in Nashville for breakfast, definitely give the Pancake Pantry a try. Get there early, but still expect a line. 🙂

After breakfast, we went back to the hotel for a bit. Mickey took the girls to the pool while I got us packed up to leave. Our next stop was Chattanooga. And, that will be tomorrow’s update.

In case it wasn’t clear by the pictures, we had a ball in Nashville. There is so much to see and do there. We hope to go back in the fall, as I said above. Great city!!

Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow…