Archives for May 2009

Getaway in the hopes of some relief

May 28, 2009 by Kelli

We’re packing up to head to Nashville for the weekend where we will spend time with dear friends. I’m hoping to be refreshed during this time away.

It’s been a hard couple of days for me and my family. I won’t go into details here. All I can say is that I am desperately grateful, in times like these, that I have the knowledge and peace of God’s grace and mercy in my life. Knowing that He is ultimately in full control gives me some emotional relief.

Physically, however, I’m struggling. I feel like someone has jabbed me repeatedly with a toothpick from the base of my skull down the back of my legs. Even a half hour in the hot tub followed by the steam room yesterday did not ease the knots that have settled down the back half of my body. Perhaps a weekend away will help ease the stress – or maybe it won’t. I don’t know, but I do hope.

The kids are excited to play with their friends and Lee is excited to play in not one but two rounds of golf. And I am just excited for a change of scenery.

So I’m off. I have about 50 minutes before Lee comes home and I need to squeeze two hours worth of chores into that time frame. I’ll be back Monday…

Filed Under: Family, Life, Random

Wordless Wednesday: Puddle Jumpers

May 27, 2009 by Kelli

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For more Wordless Wednesday photos, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Filed Under: Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday’s Talking Pictures

May 26, 2009 by Kelli

“They” say that a picture is worth a thousand words. So I figure a video clip must be worth around 10,000 words. I give you two clips today. The first is a video they shot and showed at our church this past week – and it’s hilarious.

They brought in several children and set them at a table in a room with a secret camera. Joe gave the kids a cookie and told them it was their’s to eat, but if they waited and didn’t eat it, when he came back he would give them two cookies. I’ll say it again: Hilarious.

If you’ll notice, my kid did not even hesitate – he did not think about it or wait, or even seem to care…he simply ate his one cookie, then wiped all the crumbs off the table (which he then licked off his hand) and sat back content. He told me later he didn’t want two cookies. Mm-hmm.

The best, however, is Andrew, the little Chinese boy who finally succumbed to temptation. Classic. Enjoy the clip.

This second video is nothing special – just a bunch of wet-haired, jammie-bottomed kiddos singing karaoke. That was a bizarre sentence…

After watching that is it any wonder that our kids are always sick? Geesh.

Filed Under: Kids, Life, Random

From Here to There

May 22, 2009 by Kelli

I posted over at 5 Minutes for Mom today. I featured my friend Nicole’s awesome, hilarious blog. Go check it out. Also, I just posted over at the guild and would love your thoughts on the FTC’s new guidelines for endorsements.

So hop on over from here to there and enjoy the reads!

Now I’m going to try and sneak in a little nap before kids get up.

Happy Memorial Day!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Zoo Day

May 21, 2009 by Kelli

Whew – we’re home and we’re worn out. After nearly 45 minutes of wandering Forest Park looking for the blasted Zoo, I finally found the detour route that led us there. Um, could we possibly get a flippin’ sign out there folks? Kthanks…

The kids were awesome, partly because they really are just great kids and partly because I told them we’d go straight home if they started fighting with one another or me – and they knew I meant it. I wasn’t messin’ around today.

We’re still fighting the crud around here. I hoped a day in the sun would knock it out of them a bit. Tia is getting over croup, everyone’s getting over pink eye, and Landon’s nose is a constant flow of thick green mucus. Mmmmm…aren’t you glad you stopped by today?

Anyway, moving on…I’m thrilled, nay, ecstatic that cutie-pie Kris Allen won American Idol last night. In fact, I voted for the first time ever on Tuesday night. I voted five times, actually, which I thought was a lot until I read on Facebook that some lady voted 10,000 times on her cell phone. How is that even possible? How do you even keep track of that? Like, was it actually 10,000 times or was it only 9,782 and she rounded up? Baffling.

We are going to lay low this weekend – thank the good Lord. It’s been nuts around here lately. I am thrilled to have no real solid plans for now. Happy almost Memorial Day to you all. I may be back tomorrow, or I may not – because I’m not committing to anything for the next few days. Ha! That feels good…

Oh yeah, and it looks like I may have the new design up by Monday. Very exciting.

*original post as follows*

It’s beautiful out today so we’re headed to the Zoo. I’ll be back later with an update. If anyone is interested in joining us, come on out. I’ll be the crazy lady in green trying to wrangle three kids into submission. Why am I doing this again? Oh yeah, because I love my kids…

Filed Under: Kids, Life, the boob tube

Waterworks – The good kind…

May 19, 2009 by Kelli

Second to seeing the delight etched across my kid’s faces as they dash down a white, sandy beach, one of my favorite things is watching them run through a sprinkler. It’s so simple and yet they feel as though I’ve moved mountains, aligned stars and hung the moon just for them when I pull out a rusty sprinkler head, attach it to the hose and set them loose.

Evidence of this fact:

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The only one who didn’t seem to enjoy himself was Landon:

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He was all smiles by the end, though – as were the other two…

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It’s the simple things…
A few recipe’s from the tea party are published in a page on the sidebar. I’ll add to it over the next couple of days.

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life, Motherhood, summer fun Tagged With: Kids, spring fun, sprinklers

The Art of Taking Tea

May 18, 2009 by Kelli

Tea parties are a lost art. There is something so beautiful and relaxing about sitting at a beautifully decorated table and just taking your time. It is nearly as peaceful as a calm day at the beach – I said nearly…

The tea party yesterday afternoon was perfect. It was a beautiful day, the food was spectacular, the tea’s were amazing and the company was special. Instead of lasting 2 hours, it lasted 3 and it was just delightfully laid back and blissful.

Here was the final menu:

Watermelon Feta Salad

Caramelized Pear, Bleu Cheese and Walnut Quiche

Cinnamon Raison Bread with Carrot and Cream Cheese Filling

Spinach Tartletts with Cream Cheese Crust (aka-a mouth full of awesome!)

Choco-Chewy Scotch Bars

Orange Cream Scones w/ Strawberry and Lemon Curd

Lemon Cake

Fruit Salad w/ Spiced Syrup

The Tea’s:

Almond Biscotti

Pina Coloda Ginger Coconut (mm-hmm you heard me right…)

Tarragon Orange Apple Pomegranate Iced Tea

Seriously, the food was to die for. I hope my mansion in heaven is filled with three-tiered plates of those delights, ’cause I’m going to have my eternal body and I’m hoping I can eat to my heart’s content without a single repercussion – and no, I’m pretty sure that last sentence is not theologically correct.

Here is a picture of the set table – unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures of the dessert because we were too busy eating them, but it was equally as beautiful when displayed:

Don't you just want to say, "Aaaaahhhh..."

The hostesses - Lauren and Kelli the Amazon woman - seriously, I look like I'm towering over her. It was the heels.

I have amazing recipes for all of these delights and what I think I’ll do is put up a new page in the sidebar with some of my favorites. Most of them were really easy to make.

I seriously want to run a tea business when I grow up. I’m thinking when the kids are a little older, I just may get one started. In the meantime, if any of you ever want to throw one and need help or ideas, let me know.

Okay – I’m off…

Filed Under: Life, Random, tea parties

Moving Forward

May 14, 2009 by Kelli

Well, Tia’s hair still looks awful this morning. You were all so kind in your comments about her “fixed” hair, and I appreciate your sweetness, but it really does not look good. In a couple of months, when the right side has grown out a little, I think it will be a little cuter.

I have attempted little-bitty ponytails today, which require massive amounts of hairspray and barretts to hold back the super short hair on the right side of her head. I keep telling her she looks beautiful and she really is a doll, but that hair – oh my…

A friend and I are throwing a Mother’s Day (a week late) tea party on Sunday so I’m ramping up for a few days of baking. Orange Cream Scones, fresh Strawberry and Lemon Curd, Fruit Salad with Spiced Syrup, Watermelon-Feta Salad, Spinach Tartlets with Cream Cheese Crust…who’s hungry? And those are just the things I’m making – you should see my friend’s half of the menu.

I love tea parties. I love the food and the leisure, the tea’s and the accessories. I’m going today to pick out the tea’s and get the final ingredients. I’ll post some pictures when it’s all said and done…I know you can’t wait.

Today is Sloan’s last day of preschool. That’s very strange. He will never be a preschooler again. It feels right, of course. He’s so big and so mature that I’ve sometimes questioned our decision to hold him back this year. I know in the long run we’ll be glad, but for now he seems way too advanced for where he is. I hope we can keep him challenged next year in kindegarten. We’ll see.

And finally, can I just say that I love my husband? He’s a good guy. But I will tell you that the other night, when we were flipping the channels and we landed on Grease 2 and he started singing along to the songs – I was a little baffled. After nearly 9 years, I’m still learning new things about him. Grease 2? Interesting…

Filed Under: Kids, Life, Random, Tia Tagged With: grease 2, tea party

Can I Just Go Back to Bed?

May 13, 2009 by Kelli

*updated pictures below – it’s not any better.

I woke up this morning to a very quiet house. It was 7:00 and I thought, wow – today’s gonna be a good day.

I was wrong…

As I was getting dressed, Sloan came in to my room and said, “Mom, look at Tia’s hair. It’s short!”

He cut her hair off. He cut it off.

I just started crying and sent them out of the room. I know it’s just hair, but I love her hair. I love pigtails and braids. These are the things I love about having a girl. And I’m just so sad. Here are pictures for now. I’ll post more after I’ve taken her to the salon and had them do whatever they can with it. Pray for me!

Too bad the mullet is no longer in style

Why couldn't he have done this on the other side?

The bag of her hair that I'm crying over

I was hoping that blogging about it would make me feel better. But it didn’t. In fact, looking at the pictures has brought on fresh tears. *sigh* I guess I’ll find this funny someday?

Bad Dorothy Hammel haircut. Notice how the right side is significantly shorter than the left?

She's going to have to get used to head bands.

Filed Under: discipline, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Motherhood, Sloan, Tia

He broke me…

May 11, 2009 by Kelli

Sloan, who usually is required to have an hour long “rest time” in his room had a few, shall we say, attitude problems today. When it was time to come in and he threw a lovely five year old tantrum, I upped his room time to an hour and a half, which prompted a melodramatic drop to the floor and great heaving sobs. He then kicked a chair over, which led me to up his room time to 2 hours. Which prompted more wailing.

He has a penchant for drama. I don’t know where he got that from. Ahem.

As I put Tia to bed I heard his mournful cries and genuinely felt bad for him. The kid is so much like me that I know how painful isolation for two whole hours would be.

When I came out, I gave him a hug and explained to him that his attitude and actions have consequences. He nodded. “I’m sorry mom that I made that bad choice. It wasn’t wise to slam the door and kick the chair.”

After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I agreed with him and told him I forgive him. Then came the kicker…

“Mom, I really don’t want to spend 2 hours in my room. I just really wanted to come out after an hour and spend time with you because I love you and I like to be with you.”

So I lowered the room time to 1.5 hours.

I know, I know… I’m a pansy.

Filed Under: discipline, Kids, Motherhood, Sloan