HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JOSHUA KYLE

Today was incredible! I started off with the most enthusiastic wake up call complete with "Celebration" on the brain! It was time to round the troops at 6:30 a.m. to wake "daddy" up with our personal rendition of Happy Birthday. The singing balloon and mushy card summed up my feelings for him. Sweet 33!

Good news is age 33 is more than half way to retirement! Wonderful thought when I think about all the strategic planning we have been doing on our retiree activities.. RV'ing around the U.S.A sounds heavenly. :)

Tonight we went to dinner with the family to Pappasitos.. it was more than I could handle and couldn't quite finish, but precious to be with my sweet groom, our kids and family.

God is great!
xoxoxo

My Valentine's Day Post

Boy,21, meets girl, 18...

Girl falls in love...
Undoubtedly the most romantic man she had ever met. I mean, he had to be! Shiny boots, shining blue eyes and that grin..that not just a "mama could love." I was head over heels the very first time that I saw him.. Who wouldn't be right?
I was laughing with him here, not at him. We had just gotten caught playing in the paint. We were tasked with painting the two restrooms at the command post we were stationed at together. As you can see by my hat, he had the last laugh. :)

Some of my readers know how the rest of the story goes..This was 1998..We dated here for 1 year, became engaged, dated long distance for a year and ran off to Vegas to tie the long awaited knot. From day one, we were meant to be Mr. and Mrs. Kennington.

However, I still have a few pics from memory lane..

Let's fast forward now that you have seen a few of our most memorable years together. Lots of love has surrounded us throughout our lives. Not every second was easy, and I am not going to lie, it was difficult at times as life changes took us from fancy free to being married-to traveling through our military careers and adjusting to change-to a new phase of parenthood with newborns and now with toddlers. It is amazing though that my love today for Josh and our precious children as we grow together is immeasurable and I am so thankful that God has given me one more day....


In closing, it has been 12 Valentine's days since I got the pleasure of spending it with my love. What an incredible journey..I wouldn't take a cent of it back if I was offered the chance. I am happy and I am still so in love with him.

I want to share a quote that I found on a picture frame ... long story short.. I bought the picture frame and display it to remind myself:

"Never get so busy making a living, that you forget to make a life"

IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE!

xoxo

Christmas Catch Up

It is a New Year, and I am so blessed to look at my left and see my sweet husband and look to my right and see my sweet children. 2009 posed some challenges for us as a family, but I am focused on 2010, a new beginning for many things.

I do know one thing is for sure after this Christmas that I will be embarking on handmade projects through out the year to give next Christmas. It was such a joy to let out my creative side full fledge and see the faces of my family and friends as I donned them with one of my treasures. :) I have however decided I must start very early!

One of my favorite projects was the patchwork quilt that I made from our outgrown clothes. The idea came from many years ago my mom made one for me. I gathered bags of clothes with her from a local thrift store and we spent hours cutting squares and she sewed them...that blanket is long gone and I thought she may treasure one of the kids clothes this year. I thought I had enough clothes, but soon found out that I could only get a max of 2 squares out of the kids clothes, so I added some of Josh's jeans and my clothes as well. I had enough squares then to make one for my mom and give it to her before she left and one for Sarah for Christmas..(I am still working on that one. :))

In any case, it was my favorite..

What else.. I start back to school tomorrow and looks like I am taking a couple Communications classes on effective essay writing and research as well as a critical thinking class. Should keep me nice and busy this block. Before I know it though, I will have them under my belt and it will be one semester closer to college graduation! (Ok, I know its like 3 years away..I can be excited now!)

This weekend, I believe we will be getting out those trusty paint brushes and embark on some freshening up of the bathrooms and bedrooms. We have gotten so busy over the last few months that our home projects fell to the wayside..

Other than that, all is well. I really, really, really need to stop procrastinating on getting my Kodak SD card so that I can get some photographs of what we have been getting into lately..

Have a very blessed week, will catch up again soon.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Merry Christmas! Buon Natale!

It has been such a wonderful start to our holiday time off. My mom and Jim surprised Caleb and Ella this year by slipping in around midnight on Tuesday night. Since I knew the kids were staying home from school and Tuesday was their last day of the week, I convinced Caleb that it would be really fun to have a sleep over with Ella and he conveniently could fit inside Ella's ice cream truck playhouse to sleep. They fell for it hook line and sinker!! :)

So.. let me back track a minute.. this year we received an "Elf" from Santa and his job is to report back to Santa on how the kids are acting.. you know the whole.. naughty/nice..making a list and checking it twice thing! :) Ok, so this little "Elf" is placed up high and doesn't talk to anyone. We are welcome to talk to him though. It was fun to watch Caleb convince him of his great behavior. In addition to that, the "Elf" moves from one place to another all through the holiday period from Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve at which point Santa picks him up on his way out after dropping goodies for the kids under the tree.

So, back to Nona and Papa Jim..I told Caleb that Santa was dropping off 2 presents as big as mommy and daddy because the Elf was giving such wonderful reports. I then proceeded to pull out the trundle bed and get the big bed ready for Nona and Papa Jim. Caleb of course was questioning why I was cleaning up his room and pulling the 2nd bed out. Naturally, I told him it was for Santa just in case he got tired and wanted to take a small nap while he passed through.

The next morning Caleb woke up and ran to me and with such animation said, "MOMMA, Santa is sleeping in my BED!" Of course I played it up for about 30 seconds before Nona couldn't contain herself anymore and revealed that her and Papa Jim were the surprise!

The kids were so excited!

The time went by so quickly, but it was a blessing to be be able to spend Christmas morning with my mom and Jim there...

After I dropped my parents off at the airport, I came home to get a couple more winks.. we were headed to San Antonio that morning to see the Kenningtons. One of my favorite parts about the quick trip was that I got to see Nicki and Mathis and the 4 of us went out to the movies. I think we have started a quick tradition, because we did that another time as well. Josh and I don't get to enjoy the movies out, so it is quite a treat and convenient. Grandma keeps the kids, we go play.. :)

Also, I got to take Hope and Hannah shopping which is ALWAYS fun .. :) I know that the time is getting away from us and it seems like there is almost not enough of it, so we have worked really hard to make sure that we all stay connected.. it will be nice when we are 15 minutes away and can just pop up whenever we want..

Now, I am back to work for the next week and going to finish up some last minute gift making/shopping and get our bags packed again for Tuma Christmas. A fun tradition with all the Tumas up in Rockdale! :) I love to hang out with them and look forward to the gathering every year.

Well, I better sign off here. I will post more this week now that I am stationary in one place for a bit of time, and will try and catch up on all those funny stories Caleb had over the last couple of weeks!

xoxox

Give Thanks

It has been a GREAT day! I ran across this picture of Caleb hanging on the fence last year in Rockdale with his brand new hat on staring at that horse. He is so torn as to whether he wants to be a cowboy or a rodeo clown. I think if he could paint his face and be a cowboy, he would be happy. :) Sweet Caleb came home yesterday and told daddy and I that he needed to work on his vocabulary words for school because Ms. Mary wanted him to learn 3 words out of the ten. He began a little shaky and grasped the concept quickly of sounding out letters and was so impressed with himself he sat for two hours and woke up this morning staring at his list. I know that this is the beginning stages of reading and Caleb is so charged to be ahead of the game all the time.. it's like some sort of instinct I guess. I continue to tell Josh that wish I could pop inside his head for a few minutes to see what is happening up there. :) I am so blessed to have such a smart little man. Today, I spoke to a man who has a son that is 7 years old and is now up to speaking 16 words. He and his son have been through so much with his Autism diagnosis and I want to lift that little boy up in my prayers and yours. I look at it a little differently now though as I type and probably because I do not have severely disabled children. But, God.. God knew what he was doing when he gave that little boy to that family and if there is anything that I know after working with this man for the last year on medical claims, is that simply.. "his cup runneth over"
More love comes from that father and son than I have ever witnessed and not a mournful love or a feel sorry for you love, a real love. It's amazing. God IS GREAT!
xoxox

OH the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...it is raining outside tonight, so much so, we (Josh) had to raise the sewer lid in our backyard because it was flooding. This typically happens to the back part of our yard, so it was no surprise.. but the chilly air gets me ready to decorate for Christmas. We have boxes of decor in our garage that were pulled out in the last day or two so that I can begin accessorizing our home for the holidays! This year, Josh and I and the kids are going to make homemade garland out of popcorn and cranberries and I have enlisted the 3 of them in some homemade ornaments (kiddie style) made out of various things in our house to give our tree this year a simple feel. Josh and I have collected ornaments over the years from the places we have visited and lived. Each year him and I pick one out for each of us and since the kids came along we have picked one out for each of them as well. We have even gone as far as picking one out for our pets. :) I think that it is fun to have these, although some years we have not included them in on our tree because it got too overrun (our trees were smaller some years). But none the less it is a special tradition that we have kept up with in our 11 years together. I realized tonight that Christmas is 24 days away! This weekend we will go to see Santa and pick out our tree from the Houston Garden Center. I was so relieved last year to find that a 6 or 7 foot full tree was only $30. So, I am hoping to find the same great deal this year when we return to the Houston Garden Center. Other than Santa, we will also partake in a BBQ celebration at Running Cougar Ranch. Once a year, the crew at Discover have an appreciation gathering complete with horse shoes, volleyball, card games, relays, and of course yummy food. This year, we have been invited and signed up for horse shoes and volleyball.. :) Should be a great time with the kids.. can't get enough! *HEART BODY SOUL, YES* Life is good.

xoxoox

Creative Candy Ornaments

The majority of my Sunday was spent making these "Creative Candy Ornaments" and it was so fun and really inexpensive, that I thought I would share one of my many "homemade" ideas I have been recently blogging about. This idea was not my own original, but was found after searching many blog posts from other fellow bloggers on inexpensive Christmas gifts. I have a few up my sleeve, but this one will go to my co-workers as a thoughtful expression of Christmas on our "Employee Fun Day"/Christmas Party that Jean and I have volunteered to host this year.

The entire project including the candy, ribbons, bags, toothpicks, and styrofoam balls cost less than $100. If you would like to make these I have posted a make-shift how to tutorial below..

A small styrofoam ball, actually this is the medium of the 2 size smalls they had at Hobby Lobby. A package of 6 was about $4. The spool of thread is used to make a holder for the ornament ribbon shown below. In the original tutorial, they used green wire, but this is a lightweight option that is VERY easy to cover with the candy once you get started and the purpose of it is to just keep the ribbon attached without seeing it... Next, you will see how I criss crossed the thread to tie in the ribbon I wanted to use as a hanger.

Once the ribbon was connected, I tied a knot at the top. This also helps as you begin to add the candy, the ornament gets a little heavier than what you would think so stabilizing it with this anchor really helps. It is the most tedious part of the project, but well worth the extra 5 minutes.
The fun part is adding the candy. I bought tooth picks to anchor the candies and found it easier to cut the tooth picks in half and stabbing them into the end of each one with the pointed end out. This also takes some time but well worth it. Two kinds of candy you can use are the small spice drops that are sugar coated and in the shape of bells. For some reason I was not able to find these anywhere but Walmart and they only had 3 tubs. Each tub only covered 3 styrofoam balls and with 40 ornaments to make that wasn't cutting it, so I chose multi colored jelly beans to pick up the rest of my project. A regular size bag covered 2 1/2 ornaments. At $1 a bag, you can't beat it!
I surrounded the ribbon first, before proceeding to cover the rest. The finished project looks like this. One is shown with spice drops and one is shown with jelly beans. When I finished, I placed each ornament in a clear cellophane bag and tied with a pretty bow.

I hope you enjoy making your homemade projects this year for Christmas!

xoxoox

Thanksgiving Week Catch Up

I had to open this with a Happy Thanksgiving and a pic of the turkey I made for our office party made of cheese and fruit! :) Gobble till you Wobble was the theme and that we did!

Now...

It's anything but a typical Friday night here as we get settled back in to what we will do over our weekend. But, before I go into that (realistically I will write about that next Wednesday! LOL) Anyways, we spent the last couple of days with our loving family in Kingwood. Dad and Sarah and the girls came from San Antonio, Mema and Papa from Longview and our sweet cousins from all around ... :) It was a feast of food, ping pong, rest, *little shopping trips, great conversation and KK's song by the fire (Let it Snow) place to celebrate a lovely "Christmas Presentation" for Mema and Papa. In addition to that we celebrated my sweet sister's birthday. Hannah enjoyed setting up her Ipod Touch today with Dad.. :) Happy Birthday sweet sister! I love you!

With all of that said, I am finally beginning to feel the creep of Christmas coming on and am looking forward to putting up our Christmas lights and getting a tree from the Houston Garden Center for our living room.

One thing I will miss this year is my parents and my brother and Bea, but maybe in February they can come and visit ...

Anyways, some other things I will accomplish over the next couple of days is putting together a project for 40 people (my first homeade Christmas presents) :) These will be shown sometime between now and Christmas.. I have't decided if I will reveal the finished project here or not, in case you get one!! :)

Other than that I better finish Josh's blanket I started last year when I taught myself to crochet.. the weather is beginning to really cool off and if Mema taught me anything about crocheting, it is to never start one in the summer, it's too hot!!

Unfortunately, we are not experiencing any snow flurries like Nicki and Mathis, but who knows that could happen too! It did one year before we moved to Texas and I think it made the news!!

A couple of sweet pics to share of our treasured moments over the last couple of days.. I have thought so much about us living in San Antonio again this past weekend and thank God for the journey he has given us today as he knows the desires of our hearts. Next year, I just may make it to 4;00 a.m. Black Friday shopping with some of the most important women in my life on 281 and still have time to make it back before Chico's gets picked over! xoxox *wink*

This past Saturday, Caleb had a "Green Week" on his chart and got to pick a treasure from my box, he chose face paint! I thought that I might be a little annoyed to do this every weekend, but he loves it and so does Ella.. and I absoulutely love doing it! Caleb wanted to be a rodeo clown and went to Gander Mountain with daddy just like this!

Ella was a kitty... who was ecstatic to get the front of her crib taken off.. now that she is potty trained, she can get in and out on her own and LOVES it! As a matter of fact, I have to say how proud I am of her at KK's, she slept on the big couch, Caleb slept on the little couch and they both did awesome! I love that they are getting bigger and able to be more self sufficient, I however am not ready for them to be grown and am trying to treasure each and ever second I have at this age..

Ella love that her Bubba can share too.. :) The two of them really are the best of friends.. I hope this lasts forever!



And lastly, I wanted to share this sweet picture of Ella and Papa. She spent a long time reading stories to him. She had a sweet connection with him on this trip to KK's and I thank God for precious moments like these.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We love you.

xoxo

Happy Veteran's Day

A day more near and dear to my heart since being honorably discharged in 2006. I can hardly believe that it is almost 2010!

Today we were blessed to have the day off, our office was closed and La Petite Academy was open.. this never happens! Josh and I got to spend the whole day relaxing and playing at home and really had the chance to catch up..

I know some of you are probably giggling right now, saying, "you two work together" how could today be any different?? It is because when we are working together, we are in different time zones. :) Anyways, we spent our morning in Town Center enjoying a Starbucks treat and the beautiful morning sunshine. When we got back home, I made a few phone calls, to include Papa Kennington to thank him for his time in service and then I went to Hobby Lobby.

I had the best of intentions on buying some "project materials" and ended up to overwhelmed with ideas and left with my 80% off Halloween decor instead! LOL I bought a few decorations that I couldn't pass up! I then made a mental note to organize my trip a little better next time with a specific list of needed items.. I need to get moving on these, as with all the other irons I have burning through the holidays, I will need that extra time. :)

Great news though, I get winter break from college! Woo hoo! I had some pre-conceived idea that since I am going to college online that I don't get the benefits of traditional campus.. like no school around the holidays! I was wrong however and get to partake in winter break with NO obligations 12/21-1/3..This of course works nicely for our Christmas plans to be in San Antonio and Rockdale for Tuma Christmas over the New Year.

I hope that you had a fantastic Wednesday!!

xoxoxo

W.A.Y.F.O? Homeade Christmas Presents!

I am completely taken with all of the Homemade gifters-crafters-etsy-inspired individuals making a living doing what they love! I have spent a good majority of my free time today and into this evening skipping from one blog to the next retrieving ideas for my Christmas gifts this year. The Tuma family has taken a different approach with our "White Elephant" approach that is tradition. We drew names just like normal only this year, we are making homemade gifts and writing a Christmas blessing .. I personally thought this was a fantastic idea and took the initiative to start researching for my recipient today.. In fact, I have had a pretty good idea of what I might do if this became the concrete plan, but now I am not sure, because there are soooo many really great inexpensive ideas out there that are sure to be remembered.

Just doing the research today makes me want to run out to Hobby Lobby and start buying up one of everything to get started.. :)

In any case, this was my focus besides my paper due for school, which I completed and made Josh's favorite dish, cordon bleu since I know he was wiped from his hunting trip this weekend. :)

Before I sign off, I wanted to say I had a very warm conversation with my mom this morning at 6:30 a.m. and if you read this, I love and treasure you always. :)

Make it a great week!

xoxoxo

A "SPOOKTACULAR" Day at the Office

So, I am pretty certain that Spooktacular means a little Spooky and a little "Spectacular" *smile* Well, it was a GREAT DAY and indeed I am so thankful to be alive!! I am a costume junkie and love to play dress up when holiday appropriate.. the only one I can really think of right now is Halloween :) Since last year at the office when 3 ladies (one of which is my sister in law ;) ) put in place a party complete with games, prizes and of course COSTUMES.. I was really looking forward to seeing what they had in store for us this year..

They were Ghostbusters and we had a great turnout and mixture of a little of this and a little of that.. I personally rocked out an 80's Madonna (Desperately Seeking Susan) and won 1st prize! A Starbucks gift card!

After work, I had to rush home for my pre-walk/orientation to my first day of school, which is Monday, November 2nd. I am really excited about this opportunity, I know that I have already blogged about this a time or two, but wanted to say it again.. I am sooo blessed!! My first year is finishing up my General Education to get my Associates and then just under 24 months more for my BA in Business Management. I am ready to really take this bull by the horns and have the best after 30 life ever known!!

Well, since it is only 10:15, and the house is quiet, my belly is full and the kids are in dreamland.. I am going to go to sleep!! Happy Halloween Ya'll!!

xxoxoxoxo

Fall Festivities

Right about this time last year we were rounding up the kids for holiday festivities which as I have mentioned in earlier posts usually start in the month of October. This is birthday time, anniversary time, Halloween, the beginning of fall time, and then right around the corner of course is Thanksgiving and so on.. I am sure you get the idea! Anyways, Caleb and Ella were not a burger and fries last year, this was a costume that Caleb got for his birthday. The other night in fact Ella re-visited the french fry costume again after we found it in her closet and although she filled it out much better this year, she was stuck like a mermaid and fell face first on the garage floor and broke her top lip open.. it was HORRIBLE! Josh had nightmares about her sweet face for 2 days.. We thought she broke her front teeth, but thank the Lord, she didn't.. at the same time that happened our door bell rang, and Cindy from next door popped up with some banana flavored popsicles!! What great timing. We got Ella calmed down enough to say .. "Ella fall down" owwwww.."Ella face hurt" and she proceeded to eat I think a total of 4 pops. :) I have NEVER seen a child put ice directly on an open wound.. but she would not have it any other way. Like I said though, thank the LORD she did not break her teeth..

Needless to say the fry costume became part of our garage sale toys and the hamburger is not far behind. Although it has not caused many casualties, it is getting too small to zip up on the side.

SOOoooooo Caleb is going to be a red power ranger and Ella a Gnome. ;) We are going to our church's trunk or treat on Saturday night and plan to coherse.. I mean encourage the kids to hit up the "chocolate lovers" trunks first.. Momma *HEARTS* chocolate :)

Shhh don't spill the beans..Other than that, our weekend is filled with none other than a bunch of real relaxation. I have actually considered keeping the kids awake until like midnight on Friday just so I can sleep in on Saturday.. It just sounds like pure joy... :)

Well, thank ya'll for stopping by! I will post pics of Halloween Time this weekend...

xoxoxo

Independence Day..Let Freedom Ring

A provoking thought to end a beautiful day...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,that all men are created equal,that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"

Then, I watched Caleb spring to his feet and steadily sing the Star Spangled Banner in a crackling giggly voice, those of you who know Caleb, know exactly what I am referring to. :) There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God for what he has provided for us...

Never forget the many military men and women who sacrifice thier lives for our freedoms..