Such a WONDERFUL Christmas!

We celebrated Christmas with my family the weekend before we left for Pennsylvania. So much fun! We played a round of Scrabble while Rich and gram watched the end of the Colts game.

Kalee couldn't wait to open presents, of course!

And the present of the day (well, all of Christmas actually) was Silly Time (a silly band watch), from Grammie. Kalee was THRILLED when she opened the present and jumped up to give Grammie a hug.

Gram carefully opened her presents, so as not to disrupt Daisy. Daisy certainly has the life...I got my momma a new cardigan that I really wanted to keep!We all chipped in and gave my Dad a new set of golf clubs. He was shocked and very excited! :)

And of course, we had our DELICIOUS Lasagne for dinner. It was so good!

We left for Pennsylvania the Wednesday before Christmas. Crystal, Kelly and Charley also drove up and we went straight to Mike and Liisa's so I could snuggle my new nephew!!! Oh, and see Mike, Liisa and Aaron, too! :)

On Thursday, Rich's Uncle Dale took us on a hay ride to pick out our Christmas tree. It was COLD, but Kalee and Charley had an abolute blast on the ride.Our plan was to go pick a nice, small 5 foot tree...but then we found this beautiful 9 ft tree. It was meant to be - it fit perfectly!The kiddo's watching Grammie T pop popcorn on the wood stove...and then we strung it to decorate the tree! That was an experience! When I was little, we spent a Christmas at my Great-Grandma's farm in West Virginia. I don't remember much, but I do remember cutting down a real tree and stringing popcorn for decoration. I wanted Kalee to have some of those memories and we definitely had fun making them! Kalee, loving on Colton.and making snowflake decorations for the tree. This is another memory of mine - I think she enjoyed making the snowflakes! (What I definitely DID NOT realize is how much work goes into making memories...stringing the popcorn was a chore and prepping the snowflakes for glitter was work, too! Oh well, it was worth it!)Our finished tree! It was special, for sure. We all got tired of stringing popcorn and decided that whatever we had completed is what was going to make it on the tree! Good times!Santa Claus, aka Uncle Dale, stopped by on Christmas eve. Kalee thought it was great, but Charley and Aaron weren't so sure!I had gotten matching pajamas for Kalee and Charley - and they were so stinkin' cute! Aaron and Colton's pajamas were similar and sure made for an adorable picture! Opening presents on Christmas day was so enjoyable - I loved watching the kids! Aunt Liisa gave Kalee a super cute ornament with her name on it. Uncle Richie and Daddy (Mikie) setting up Aaron's new train set. I hope it is hours of fun for Aaron and helps Liisa get little breaks! :)Kalee and Aaron in their sweaters from Aunt Betsy and Uncle Stevie. Kalee, trying out her new roller blades! It was so cold, so we took turns going outside with her for a few minutes at a time! I don't think she felt the cold at all...

We didn't have a white Christmas, but it finally made its way to us the night after Christmas. Kalee made a few quick trips outside to play in it, after dark.

Rich's mom lives in his great-grandparents house, which is a 1920s Sears kit home. There is no insulation in the walls and it isn't sealed up too well, in general! The evening and day of the snowstorm the wind was gusting around 50 miles per hour...which meant the snow found it's way through the storm window and the regular window...and floated onto Rich's head throughout the night! He was a little grouchy when he woke up that morning! :)

It was sooooooo cold the day after the snow storm but the girls could not wait to go out and play in the snow. Crystal figured that Charley wouldn't make it 2 minutes out in the wind and she was right!

She was right! Kalee, on the other hand, stayed outside for HOURS! Thank goodness for snow pants and boots! It helped that Daddy and Uncle Mike were outside, too, and that there was a SNOWMOBILE! Kalee thought that was great!

So COLD!!!!!

A pic of the house.

Crystal finally agreed to leave the warmth of the house to take a ride on the snowmobile!

Kalee had a blast playing on the frozen pond. It made mommy a little nervous, but Rich assured me that the ice was at least 7-10 inches thick and that all was ok!

Uncle Kelly had brought up walkie talkies that we used while we were driving up from Georgia. He sent one with Kalee when we went back to the pond and she had a blast updating him with her every move. She was dancing on the ice, rolling on the ice, slipping on the ice, etc...and he got a blow by blow update!

Teresa was going to surprise us all with a dog sledding tour, but the snow messed up her plan! When there is no snow they run the sleds on wheels...but there was too much snow to use the wheels (wouldn't be able to brake) and there wasn't enough snow to run the sleds on ski's. So...we got to meet the dogs, instead!

Kalee thought the dogs were great...and they liked her, too. So much so, that one of them peed on her while she was petting him! EEEEEK! She took it like a champ, though! Again, thank goodness for the waterproof snowsuit!

Such beautiful dogs...

I love being around my sister-in-law's!

Kalee enjoyed being outside MUCH more on this day. The wind was finally gone and she was plenty warm!

The whole gang... It was such a wonderful trip and I am so glad that we got to spend time together. We had lots of discussions trying to convince Mike and Liisa to move south...we'll see what happens!

Halloween fun!

The last few years Kalee has wanted to be a Genie for Halloween. But, being the stellar mom that I am, I always put off shopping for a costume until the week of halloween! This year I was WAY ahead of the game...I think we bought her costume as soon as walmart put it on the shelf! She loved it and looked super cute - as usual!

Kalee's school fall festival was a couple weeks ago - the weather was beautiful and she had a blast with the activities. Best of all, for me, the Hanley's were in town, so Shellie, Cierra and Rachel got to go with us!

Rachel even got in on some of the fun!

I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving! This year has flown by so fast. We are going to PA for Christmas and I am counting down the days...We are going to have a new nephew by the time we get there, and I am looking forward to snuggling a newborn!

Andrew comes for a visit!!!

Steve, Betsy and Andrew came up for a week around the end of August and we had such a great time! The week flew by way too quick for Rich, Kalee and I and we were defintely sad to see them leave. Crystal and Charley came over for a couple days and joined in on the fun. In the pic below the boys had gone out so us girls decided to attack them with a water gun and the hose when they came back. Our plan to get both guys out of the car didn't work out so well, but at least we got Rich!

Until he stole the water gun from Kalee!

Kalee and Andrew - aren't they beautiful?!

Uncle Stevie and daddy had lunch with Kalee at school one afternoon - she was thrilled!

Betsy and Andrew playing in the ball pit - fun times!

We went kayaking one afternoon - and got to ride in a limo bus to the drop off point...Kalee thought that was awesome and would have LOVED to ride around town all afternoon - forget kayaking!Andrew enjoying the river...

Charley and Crystal had a little spill and fell out of their kayak and Charley had 'enough' after that! She was so tired, too, and started nodding off near the end of the trip. She was so adorable - her life jacket was the perfect head support! :)

Charley and Andrew had fun watching...

RC car races! Boys and their toys...Steve put the smack down on his bro! Poor Richie - I think he did finally win a race or 2.

Hopefully this video will play - so sweet!

Labor Day weekend in Destin!

Kalee and I took a quick trip to Destin over Labor Day weekend - we had so much fun! We stayed with my childhood best friend, Carmen, and her family. On Saturday we kayaked in the Bay to a sandbar known as Crab Island and searched for hermit crabs. The water was so beautiful...and Kalee and I both LOVE to be out on the water, so it was a perfect day! Kalee and Carmen had fun finding all these hermit crabs.

They have food and drink barges in the middle of the sandbar...and then Kalee spotted the "ice cream boat"...so OF COURSE we had to have a cool snack!

Saturday evening we decided to hit the beach. Carmen had heard that the seaweed was really coming in, but we figured the girls wouldn't mind...and they didn't until it was time to leave. I figured it would be clumps of seaweed (like at Cocoa Beach), but no...this was like pureed seaweed...little tiny pieces EVERYWHERE. I had to wash Kalee's hair 3 times to get it all out - so gross!

Waiting for our turn to go...PARASAILING!Flying through the sky! Kalee LOVED it!

Sunday night we went to ride go-karts...at the end of the 3 minutes Kalee looked at me and said "this was the best part of my day"!

While we were parasailing we scouted out the parts of the shore that seemed to be seaweed free - and enjoyed a BEAUTIFUL morning at the beach on Monday, before we hit the road.

We could have stayed at the beach all day! I can't wait for our next Destin trip!

First Day of School!

Well, Kalee's first day of school was a success! She didn't get the teacher that she wanted (thank the LORD!!! because momma did NOT want that teacher!), so she was a little disappointed on 'meet the teacher' day. She has since decided that her teacher is pretty awesome, so now she is happy!

I can't believe Kalee is in 3rd grade. Time is just passing by so quickly - I really don't like it! 3rd grade seems to be the year where you get to join different clubs and become more involved in different activities, so it should be interesting! I feel like I do a poor job of keeping up with daily life...throw in some extra's and I will really be in trouble!

Kalee is going to play Soccer this year. She opted for soccer in place of cheerleading - not sure she is going to be happy with that decision (especially when all the running starts!), but I gave her plenty of chances to change her mind! This will be her first time playing soccer since she was 5 - and the rules of the game are completely different than she remembers - but I'm sure she will be awesome! She had a lot of fun at soccer camp over the summer - and didn't complain once about having to run around in the heat for 3 hours, so I think she is cut out for it. Sure takes after her daddy!

Uncle Joe and Aunt Cindy - thanks for your message - I felt the hug! I hardly remember a time without Jade, too. Seems crazy that 10 years went by so fast.

Stacey - thanks for your message too!

Jasper is doing great - settling right in. He really is a perfect puppy - and we've only had 2 accidents in the house - one that was more out of spite than an accident! He had been chasing Midnight for about 10 minutes, back and forth across the living room. She had a bone that he wanted. Normally she has been giving in to him and letting him take whatever he wants, but that night she decided not to share. SO, after 10 minutes he walked over to HER bed and peed in it! He got in trouble, but I couldn't stop laughing!!

Goodbye to my Sweet Jade...

My sweet Jade, as a puppy... One of my favorite pics...Jade loved to climb up into Kalee's chair and sun herself during the cold winter months!

All 3 of our dogs...Jade approved of the new puppy and got a kick out of barking at him and Midnight as they tousled.

I spent my evenings this week giving Jade extra love...don't know if it made her feel any better, but it helped me :)

I don't know how I talked Rich into it (actually, I didn't...I just e-mailed him a pic of the dog and asked if I could have him!), but we decided to get a puppy.

We rescued this boy from Animal Control. We found him right on time, as he had already been there longer than they usually allow. Kalee named him Jasper - we wanted to pick a 'J' name, for Jade, and Kalee came up with it all by herself! He is the perfect puppy...no crying at night, no accidents in the crate (or the house, for that matter), sits on command (most of the time) and is just downright lovable. Midnight is having fun playing with him...I think she would have been really lonely without Jade.

I am so going to miss my Jade...miss her greeting me at the door EVERY time I walked through it...miss her following me EVERYwhere I went...miss hearing her settling into her bed at night. She was such a sweet dog.

Summer fun with Charley

Grammie T and Charley spent a few days at our house this week - we had so much fun. Charley is such a delight and has so much personality!

I had to work, but Rich and Grammie T took the girls swimming one afternoon. Kalee is one lucky kiddo - her daddy has taken her to the pool at least 3 days a week this summer. She's got a "Florida" tan going on!The girls entertained us with their dancing skills. The first night Charley was at our house she and Kalee danced for almost 30 minutes. It was such a silly time!

Playing in the sprinkler!

Signs of Summer

Kalee really wants to camp out with Rich, but it has been H-O-T here, so she was thrilled when she saw the tent that daddy made for her in the living room!

Playing in the sprinkler...a summer favorite!