It's TKD TESTING Thursday!

So today was the test at Tae Kwon Do for our yellow belt! This is only our 2nd month taking TKD at the church, and we were NERVOUS to test today!

However, we studied lots, and practiced all the time.... YEAAAAA we got our yellow belts!

White belts?? Who needs white belts? NOT US!! We have fancy YELLOW ones to wear now!!

Look at this crazy monkey!! OMG!

Look at our son, what a crazy he is! He's got mommy's shades on!

6 months today...

Elyse and Uncle Marcus

I apologize!

I'm so sorry I have not been updating this the way that I should! I HAVE been taking pics, and trying to upload them as quickly as I can while working on several other things... such as, Kayne's FIRST BIRTHDAY INVITES and PARTY!!!! OMG! Our baby is turning ONE!



We are having a 'real heroes' birthday party for Kayne featuring Soldiers, firefighters, and policeman. We will be putting together a Thanksgiving care package for deployed troops at the party with donations from the people attending the party! Also, the guests will be making their own fabric square for a 'first birthday quilt' for Kayne to keep. Instead of a guest book, we will feature a picture of Kayne with a wide matting that people will sign. This way he will have several reminders of his party and keepsakes to keep forever.
:-)
I promise to write more later !

Happy Friday!

Soooooo upset that I have to fix the recliner by myself! It gave me SUCH a hard time! Booooo!

Yeaaaa!! I fixed it! So proud of myself!

Lysee and Kayne before bedtime. She is like his 2nd Mommy, not his big sister.

Sometimes it's hard to remember that she is just a kid, too. But she is SUCH a cute one!

I LOVE HER!

My mini-Bry with his PT's on and all :-) He's SO stinking cute too!

Pics from the zoo

Sorry I haven't had the chance to comment much on the pictures that I posted last night... I will try and get to it tomorrow, when I upload some more. Here are some pics from the Lowry Park Zoo... we went today with a few people we know from around here. Kayne had a GREAT time, and I will be uploading video soon, too! Sorry to keep you guys in the dark with these pics, but I promised Bry I would post some, and am too tired to explain it all... we were gone ALL day! More tomorrow...

Pics from the Pumpkin Patch...more to follow!

REAL Superheroes!

* Wednesday *

Superman, Spiderman, Batman... all portrayed as 'heroes' to little boys, who are supposed to idolize them. However, we know different! Soldiers, policemen and firefighters are REAL heroes. So, in honor of them, Kayne will have a birthday party with a theme of "REAL Superheroes." It will feature pictures of Kayne as a firefighter, policeman and soldier. We will also be asking guests to each bring ONE item for a Thanksgiving care package for the soldiers!

Today a friend of mine let us come to the firehouse where she works and photograph Kayne on the fire engine! Rae was amazing with him... letting him sit in the drivers seat, play with her gear, and even gave us a grand tour of the station. Then, to top it off--she called the police station and had a car come down and Kayne got his picture taken in that as well! The pictures came out great, and we all (me, Kayne and Jules) had a great time. A BIG thank you to Rae and the firestation for letting us come--they even had a call while we were there so we got to watch them load up and go!

* Tuesday *

We had a crazy and stressful day today (as usual). I was woken up this morning by Elyse who said "Mommy, I went to get the syrup from the cupboard, and there are ants EVERYWHERE!" So, I spent all day emptying entire cupboards and cleaning and organizing them (while singing Jack Hartmann pre-k songs with Kayne and making words on the fridge with his alpha-magnets).

At the end of the day, I was exhausted--so I canceled an appointment that Elyse had for yesterday afternoon and we stayed home and ate dinner together. We are running around EVERY night, so it was certainly a nice break to not have to do that. Elyse was excited about not having to have a sandwich in the car for dinner :-) I made chicken parmesean, and invited my Dad and Jules over because my Mom had a late meeting and was not going to be home to make dinner. Kayne had his FIRST SPAGHETTI and also got his FIRST TATTOO!! Aunt Jules went to Miami last week and brought him a sheet of baby tattoos. Yea! He looks so cute wearing his Mom tatt on his arm! LOL! I am including pics of Tuesday's 'festivities'--I need a VACATION!

Cabinet (above stove...BEFORE)

Cabinet (after)

Yummmmmy, Spaghetti!

Our BEAUTIFUL Elyse... posing for Mommy!

Our baby LOVES babies!

~Saturday~

awwww...Mommy look at my baby! She's so cute!


The fact that Kayne and Elyse are 7 1/2 years apart is one that people have brought up LOTS and LOTS. I've gotten all types of comments, questions and advice about having children that are so far apart. However, it has worked out for us VERY well--and I wouldn't change a thing! Elyse is such an amazing big sister, and Kayne is simply in love with her. Everything that she does makes him smile and laugh, and she has the COOLEST toys too! He prefers some of her toys over others now, though. He has come to really love her baby dolls!! I think he likes the fact that they are small like him and look like REAL babies. There is one little brown one in particular that he just adores... and I got a few pictures of him today in the swing, holding her close and taking care of her.

So, we are officially 47 days away from Bryan being gone an entire YEAR. At the beginning of this deployment, I couldn't let myself think about the amount of time he would actually be gone. I had to concentrate on one day at a time... and there are still days that I have to do that. You would think that I would be excited about being this far into the deployment, but I really feel defeated. It's so weird, but I get sad thinking about the remaining time that we have...it just seems like a LONG time away until he gets here. I know, it's weird! Everyone else says YEA! They're almost home! And I'm like--it's still going to be 4 WHOLE MONTHS!! I just need a REALLLLLY long nap! I just want Bryan back in my arms, and beside me while we raise our kids together... We are getting together some trick or treat bags for Bryan and his friends--and will send those out soon so that they can be there for Halloween! Elyse was pretty insistent that the guys have something to look forward to. And, she said, Daddy can hand out candy in case someone knocks on his door and trick-or-treats...

Our latest picture-I LOVE THAT MAN!!

Hey, Mom! Can I help with Daddy's Box?

Suuuure does look yummy!

Miss Independent

THURSDAY AND FRIDAY

~NEW Windshield Wipers!~

Our Fall Decorations!


I was a single Mommy for 6 years before I married the love of my life. In that time, I was pretty independent and really only counted on my Dad and Mom for help. However, when I married Bry and let him take over most of the "manly" duties--I got pretty comfortable NOT doing such things as taking out the trash, washing the vehicles, cutting the hedges, or fixing things around the house. This being said, I have needed to change my windshield wipers for MONTHS now, and have not wanted to do it! The car hasn't even been washed since Bryan did it in May when he was home... YIKES!! I broke down last Sunday and washed the love bugs off the car, and that gave me the inspiration to buy windshield wipers! I finally replaced them on Thursday, after getting a little bit of help from my cousin, Bryant--and I am SUPER proud of myself for finally doing it! The truck also got it's front washed, but it's too stinkin' BIG to do the whole thing~LOL!

Just a day :-)

mmmmmmm.... Ramen Noodles and Veggies! Yummy!

I took Kayne to get bloodwork done for his allergy testing today. It stunk :-( 4 HUGE tubes of blood, and 2 small ones. Geeez! It took like 10 minutes to get it all, but he only cried like 10 seconds out of the whole time. He just didn't like being held down! On the way home, he started choking in his carseat while I was on the phone with Bryan--at first I thought he was joking around (he does that a lot... he thinks its cute!), and just played along. After a second I looked in the rear view and he had something white at the back of his throat, so I dropped the phone instantly and pulled off of the highway. I swept his mouth out and saw that he had ripped off his band aid from the bloodwork, and had taken the cotton ball and started chewing on it. I was like "What are you doing??!!!" I never thought in a million years that he would do something like that! After picking up the phone and telling Bry--we both started laughing... KIDS!!






We started reading a book tonight called What Happens When I Talk to God by Stormie O'Martian. It is a kids view of praying, and why it's important. Elyse has really been getting into praying lately, and thinks its really cool that God wants to hear from HER! I have been consciously trying to infiltrate God into every part of our day by listening to Christian music in the house and in the car, and reading the Bible and other books together at night. I'm excited about her growing into a confident, beautiful young lady and knowing EXACTLY who she is and what she stands for. It is an awesome responsibility that God gives us in our children. We are responsible for the foundation that they have, and we have such a short time to influence their lives. I can't wait until Bryan gets home and we get to do it together. But it is amazing that, even from Iraq, Bryan has found a way to be the Daddy that Elyse has desired for so long. He lets her know how much he loves her everyday, and even surprises her with gifts and letters occasionally. He is setting the bar for every other man in her life--so she will not settle for any less than the best!

I'm so in love with our babies!

Trying to get a pic... but Kayne WONT look!

Kissies for my baby girl!

Making a list...Checking it off !!

So yesterday at Tae Kwon Do the Bible lesson was about making sure to stay focused to achieve tasks that need to get done. I'm sure Master Mills was talking about me when she said that most people start the day knowing that they have to get certain things done, but end up getting sidetracked by different things that come up!! YES! That happens almost every day! So, she said to remedy that we should make a list every morning of things that need to get done that day. As the day progresses and we complete the tasks, we get to mark them off. Having the list in front of me keeps me on track, and focused--it even helps me get more done by making me mindful of time and getting things done quickly. So, today I did exactly that.

My list of things to do today:
*Mop kitchen and entry way
*Vacuum living room and hallway
*Finish homework
*Take recycling to the recycling center
*Put clean clothes away and start cleaning my disaster-of-a-room from last week!

I actually even got in the car to go get Elyse, and forgot the recycling and I was thinking "I will just do it tomorrow, I don't have time to go back for it." But, I MADE myself go back and get the bag, because it was on MY LIST. It was very important that I finish the list! So, I am happy to say that I DID IT!!!!!!!! I even got my homework done a day early--which SOOOO isn't like me! I am proud of the changes that I am making. I really feel like I am transforming myself into the best stay-at-home-mom that I can be, by making myself more efficient and disciplined. I am excited for Bryan to reap the benefits of the "new me" when he gets home to a clean, more organized, and very well-run household. Out with the chaos, in with the order and organization!!

I am including some pics that we took today with the NEW FOUND CAMERA!! Also, check out the videos on the sidebar because I added 2 new ones! Kayne playing basketball, and Elyse's starblock from TKD.

Me, Bry and Lysee tonight before bedtime!

Kayne and his new Batman jammies (Thanks TiTi Lori!!)

Lysee and Daddy

Kayne looking like Mr. Magoo!

Ha, ha Mommy!! You are so FUNNY!