TEXAS

Well, Saturday I had a baby shower and a Kellys Kids Clothes party to attend and when I got home around 4:30, Ben was kinda restless. He wanted to go do something, go somewhere and he mentioned Dave & Busters. I said, "Let's go!" The nearest Dave & Busters is in Arlington, TX, so he hopped on the computer and booked us a room, we threw some clothes in a bag and off we went!! It took us about three hours, so we go there around 8:45. We stayed at the Courtyard Mariott and it was sooooo nice!! It was one of the brand new ones, so no pink & green flower tapestries in this place! The kids went swimming and then to bed. Sunday, they woke up at 8:00, we went to Waffle House, they swam at the pool again, then we checked out and headed to Six Flags! This was there very first time to go and Ben & I hadn't been since 2002! They had a BLAST! I was suprised at how much they rode! The weather was AWESOME b/c it was breezy and most of the park is in shade! Good planning Six Flags! Also, I don't know if this weekend was special or if a Sunday during the school year is always slow, but we waited in line ZERO times!! Yup! Even when Ben rode The Titan and The Batman ride!The boys rode EVERYTHING that they could and Carson even wanted to go on the Shockwave (loopty loop) with Ben but he was just a half inch shy....secretly, I was relieved!! We stayed until the park closed at six and headed straight to Dave & Busters. The food there was OK, kinda salty, but the kids had a great time and so did Ben!

Gymnastics & GNO

Well, gymnastics went great yesterday and I have must say they stepped it up this year. She was running laps and doing pushups right off the bat! Kailyn loves gymnastics, but I'm not sure that she has "natural ability". She's tall and thin as a rail (think ballet) but she never enjoyed dancing. Gymnastics is alot about explosive power and I'm not sure that's her strong suit. And if I must be honest, I have a hard time with it. I LOVED gymnastics growing up (she does too) and was very good. But I also have some mamma jamma thighs! LOL! It honestly doesn't seem to bother Kailyn, she just enjoys being there, so I'm struggling really hard to just get over it! LOL Let me clarify that I am in no way disappointed or not proud, but I guess my biggest fear is that it will eventually bother her to be just OK, b/c that's how I would've felt. Don't judge, I'm just being honest, but I really will get over it and I WILL NOT be one of "those" parents!!

Anyways, Kailyn is actually very artistic and I think will SHINE in that arena, but in all reality the only thing I want to shine is her love for Jesus....these are just silly fleshy desires that creep up their ugly head now and again! But Ben was pointing out that we should nurture the areas that God obviously gifted her in which are creativity and artistic"ness" (?)! And one more thing, let me tell you that is THE SWEETEST MOST TENDERHEARTED girl you WILL EVER meet!! She is always thinking of others! I love my Kailyn Girl!!

I also had some really good 1 on 1 with Carson yesterday too. Ethan was disobeying (and after me just having surgery and not being able to pick him up or chase him, disobeying is a one way ticket to staying home with Daddy) so just Carson tagged along to gymnastics and he was HILARIOUS! OK, for those of you in my family don't laugh, but he was like Mouth of the South! LOL (that was my nickname as a child) And talk about flight of ideas!!! It started off with him yelling at Kailyn "Great Job!! You're doing so good!!" ---while she was stretching :), then moved to "why is there a American flag here?! I don't wanna get dead on the cross when I'm Jesus age.(well it's a good thing He did it for us and that is why it is so important to love, worship, and obey Him) Is Jesus still dead (no, where is he?) Oh in Heaven, so He can't be dead in Heaven. He's an angel (no, He's God) I really wish I could do gymnastics and climb that rope, but I don't want girls in my class! I just want a boy class! HMMPPHH! Can I sing in your phone (yes) Can I watch Youtube (NO!) Then I turn around to him telling some lady that he has a three year old brother Ethan. And so it went for the ENTIRE hour!! It was so much fun!!

I ended up getting distracted by watching and forgot to take any pics, so next week I guess!

Tonight, I had some girl time with my good friend Treva...sushi and The Switch....which was so cute & funny but then just laced with trash! UGGH! Frustrating. I just need to stop going to movies. We watched the end of the Saints game--- 2 "takeaways not turnovers per Greg Williams" in 2 plays! Pretty Cool! Tomorrow morning I have a baby shower and then a Kelly Kids party to go to, then hanging out around the house! Hopefully, we can get some good pics of all the kids!

On a different note:

Just recently, I've been hurt from the sin of others (ie divorce, unwed "relations") and was having a really rough day yesterday. So Ben & I were talking about how people in the moment think that obeying God's commands require so much sacrifice of fun and pleasure. They want what their flesh wants when they want it. But then don't understand why "bad things" happen. Think about how much more we sacrifice when we disobey God's word! We sacrifice LIFE (sin-anger which leads to murder) We sacrifice the freedom to see some of our family anytime we want (sin-divorce which leads to custody issues or not having grandparents together at same time) We sacrifice PEACE (sin-lying, unkind words, gossip which leads to drama in our lives). And these are just a few! I am sooooooo not perfect and definitely struggle with patience and unkind words (along with a lot more I'm sure!), so I don't want anyone to think I'm judging others. Merely pointing out that if everyone obeyed God's word, we wouldn't have murder, divorce, drama, etc. God gave us those commandments to PROTECT us not INHIBIT us. Just something that's been heavy on my heart lately!!

Thanks so much for stopping in!!! I'm off to bed!

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK!!

Sleep

Look at me three for three on posting!! LOL! It is naptime and is blissfully quiet around here. Carson & Kailyn started sleeping through the night by six weeks and Ethan shortly after that. Now, at 3 & 4 years old, Carson & Ethan are up ALL night long!! It's crazzzzzzzyyy!!! Carson might go a couple of nights in between waking up and once we settle him down or let him sleep on our floor, he's good for the rest of the night. Ethan, however, wakes up EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! And I just don't know why!! Last night was heavenly b/c he only woke up once around midnight and Ben put him back to sleep! I'm having enough trouble trying to sleep after surgery but throw him in the loop and I was getting soooo exhausted!! Does anyone else deal with this?? I try putting him back in his bed and then he just keeps waking up so usually by the third time, I just let him sleep on my floor. But recently he has been even waking up from there and wanting to get in our bed---and we have a queen, so NO DEAL!!! Suggestions welcome!!
We are very strict about obedience (you obey immediately without complaint), but since he's half asleep I've never considered it an obedience isssue. Don't know if telling him before bed not to get out of bed if he wakes up would help?? Kailyn starts gymnastics tonight, so I'll try to snap some pics, but for now off to the showers I go!!

Slideshow of Ethan's 3rd Birthday (by Ben)

OK, so somehow on here, it looks like horrible quality, but it's also up on FB so you can check it out there.

Back to Preschool!!

Today was open house at our church preschool for Carson & Ethan. They both attended last year and had the same teachers so they are pretty excited about it! It was cute to see them with their friends and teachers. One of the most awesome parts was being able to see some twins that I took care of when they were born around 28 weeks. They weighed just under 2 lbs and now they were two year olds walking and playing and weighing over 20 lbs!! It's so amazing to see the difference and to think that even though I hate leaving my family to go to work, I maybe made a difference in someone's life!

So yeah, I forgot to take pictures at open house and I'm on Ben's new MacBook which doesn't really have any pictures stored, so hopefully after naptime I'll get a chance to post some pics. If you would, please pray for our family. I can't really go into details (but noone is sick) but would covet your prayers anyways---God knows what we need. Specifically for guidance and wisdom. Thank you soo much!

OK, so I did add one pic....the one at the top of the post. We were driving out of Target parking lot when Carson said, "Oooohhhh, that is a fancy car!" I look over to see......this truck, a bug truck....but b/c it has stars painted on it, it's fancy!! LOL! Ben said he feels pretty confident we won't break the bank over his first car!!

It's been awhile!

August 25

Yeah, I've been horrible about blogging....facebook was just kinda easier, but I think all my friends on FB are prolly tired of my blog style posts that are geared for the grandparents!!! Back to bloggerland I go! I will post some pics tomorrow and try to update regularly after that. We just started homeschooling with Kailyn for first grade, she starts gymnastics on Thursday. The boys will both be back at Brookwood Preschool this year and play YMCA soccer on a team that Ben is coaching. They will start PreK and Kindergarten homeschooling next year. We've joined Christian Family Educators and will also be participating in Bible Study Fellowship every week. Ben is back in school working on his Masters in OT and I'm still working weekends. We are putting our house on the market in the spring, and downsizing so that I can stay at home full time by next year. Big hopes for moving back to West Monroe also! We're excited about our vacation coming up to New Orleans to stay with Mimi & PawPaw. We'll be visiting the zoo, aquarium, insectarium, and attending the NFL season opener @ the Dome!! So, that's what's been going on in a nutshell!!!