Tuesday, December 30, 2008

41 Years of Marriage

Tonight, Chris and I took my parents out to eat for the 41st Anniversay. It is crazy to think that they have been married for 41 years. By today's standards being married 41 years is considered almost impossible. I am so thankful that I had parents that were able to work through there marriage to be able to celebrate this milestone. I am sure like all marriage not all the years were fill with joy. We took them to a local steakhouse here in Broken Arrow, that has unbelievable food and lots of it. You always leave there so full. The girls love going there because they have an open dance floor that they love to run around on. Happy Anniversay Mom and Dad!

Katie and Bree loving on each other



Mom and Dad with Bree


Mommy and Daddy with Katie




Bree eating her favorite, Corn on the Cob



Katie all dressed up and ready to go



Bree all dressed up and ready to go



Ok, before you see this next picture I have to explain the situation. Chris ordered a mineral water to drink and asked our server to bring some lime slices with the water. Our server brought the lime slices in a shot glass. Well, Katie loved the little glass and kept pouring her drink, which was sprite into the shot glass. Well, you can see what it turned out to look like.

Happy New Year Mommy and Daddy!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas Day

The Reneau's had a great Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve we all went to chruch for a candle light service. The service was so good lots of good music. When we came home after we all sat down and read the Christmas Story. We let the girls open one gift on Christmas Eve. Once the gift was open it was time to get ready for bed so Santa didn't miss our house because we had little girls still awake. We sat out cookies and chocolate milk (Katie said Santa would like that better)that the girls made earlier on Christmas Eve. Suprisingly to us, Katie went to sleep very easily and sleep the whole night until around 6:15 Christmas morning. Once she was up then the day begun. She was so excited to see what Santa had brought her. Santa gave her a Barbie laptop, digital camera, the diamond castle barbies and a big soft cuddly bunny pillow. Bree was up shortly after Katie and even though she didn't quit understand what was going on she was thrilled to see her gifts from Santa. She got twin baby dolls, a laptop, fischer price purse, 101 dalmation remote pup that walks and barks, and a big soft cuddly doggie pillow. Bree was so funny. She focused in on her baby dolls and that was all she wrote. She didn't really want to play with anything else or even open any presents. Katie and I passed out presents and Katie couldn't open hers fast enough. Brees were just pilling up and we couldn't get her to open any. Finally we got her to open two and then the rest of the time she kept telling us no. We finally ended up opening them for her. The had a great day and were so exhausted by the end of it. They played hard all day long. My parents really enjoyed being able to be here to be able to see the girls excitement. Below are some pics from Christmas Day.

Making cookies for Santa


Open a gift on Christmas Eve


Bree open a gift a Christmas Day


Katie opening a gift on Christmas Day

Monday, December 15, 2008

Sweet Moment


I had to blog about this sweet moment that I got a picture of the other day between Katie and Bree. It was Sunday afternoon and Katie and Bree were watching a movie. Katie was sitting in her bean bag when Bree walked over and sat in Katie's lap. Normally, Katie would have asked her to move but she let Bree sit in her lap. A few minutes later Bree was laying down with her head in Katie's lap and Katie was rubbing Bree's head and playing with her hair. It was such a sweet moment. I just watch the two of them there together for the longest time. They were just happy being together and watching a movie. Some days I could pull my hair out over the fussing of toys and who is not sharing but when a moment like this happens it just makes it all worth it and so glad that they have it each other as sisters.


Saturday, December 13, 2008

What was it like for Mary

The other day I was driving and was just thinking about the reason we celebrate Christmas. Then I started to think about what it must have been like for Mary to give birth to Jesus. As a Mom I know the day I gave birth to my girls was the most amazing day. But when I think about Mary, I can only imagine the excitement and nervousement she must have had about bring God's son into this world. She knew from the begining she was going to give birth to God's son, the one who would save the world. When I found out I was pregnant I was nervouse enough about being a mom to the unknown child I was going to have. But for Mary, could you imagine what it must have felt like for her to walk around carrying the Savior in her tummy for 9 months. Feeling him move and kick. I think that she must have had so much excitement about knowing who her baby was going to be but she couldn't share it with anyone. When it was time for her to give birth she gave birth to him in a stable. I wonder if she thought this is not how the Son of God should be brought into this world or if she was just so unbelievable excited to see the face of her son. It is just amazing to me that Mary was the mother of Jesus, that whenever she kissed him or hugged him she was kissing and hugging God. She held and talked to God everyday of his life as Jesus was growing up. What an honor it must have felt like for Mary to be chosen for this responsibility. When Jesus was born it was a joyful night. Angels appreared to shepards saying "Today your Savior has been born". How it exciting that night must have been for Mary, to know she helped bring him into the world.

As we move throught the month of December with our busy lives try to take time to remember the reason we celebrate Christmas. We all, including me, get wrapped up in shopping, parties, decorating, seeing friends and family that we just coast through the month without really remembering or understanding why we have this day in the first place. As you celebrate with your family on Christmas Day maybe take the time to sit down as a family and read the story of the birth of Jesus or do something on that day to help you remember the reason. It can be a fun family tradition each year.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Christmas Party

Friday night Chris and I went to our SS classes Christmas Party. The girls were at church having their party so we had a few hours without the kids. Our class gathered together at one of our friends house and we had some good food and then we exchanged gifts. The gift are White Elaphant gifts, which if you haven't heard of this, white elaphant gifts are gifts you bring from your home. Anything you want to get rid of or just don't want around the house you wrap it up and bring. Most of the gifts are not items anyone would really want but everynow and then someone brings something worth having. Everyone draws a number and when it's your turn you can either steal a gift from someone who has already picked or you pick your own. Now every year their has been one gift that always comes back and this is the fertility root. Someone years ago started this by wrapping up a fertility root and a book about sexual techniques. Any those have picked the root in the past have always ended up pregnant shortly thereafter. When it was my turn to pick I picked this gift that was the fertility root. Of course everyone was just giving Chris and I a hard time and we said that it would be practically impossible for us to get pregnant now. I guess we will see how potentant this thing really is. Since I picked this gift I just knew that I would not have anyone steal my gift, but to my suprise there was someone there who wanted the fertitlity root. I guess they wanted a little help in expanding their family. I gladly let her have as I did not want this thing in my house. Since my gift was taken I got to chose again so I ended up with a bag of older christmas decorations, needless to say these will end up at the flea market to sell. Chris ended up with a beautiful blue sparkely purse that had a $10.00 Lonestar gift card in. Chris gave the purse to Katie and she loved it. She has been carry it around all weekend.
Below is the link to a montage I created of photos from the party.

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=78dd843ee476721d04a2ee

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Sleep Over

Last night Katie had her very first sleep over with her friend Shayli. Katie and Shayli are in the same class at church and have become good friends. Last night their class had their Christmas party and once it was over Shayli came home with us and spent the night. Shayli's parent had their anniversary last night so that was the main reason we were keeping her but no the less the girls had fun. I am quite exhausted this morning because it was after midnight before the girls went to sleep. The girls started out in bed together but we had to end up with Katie in the bed and Shayli on the couch. The girls were just too excited about sleeping in the same bed together that they just couldn't settle down enought to go to sleep. The girls were up around 7:30 this morning and were ready to go. I know by nap time they will be ready to crash or at least I hope so. They have had so much fun playing together and Bree has been having a blast playing with them also. Below are a few pictures of them.


Katie and Shayli having snack last night

All three having breakfast this morning

Playing dress up

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

One of My Favorite Things

I have favorite things I love about both of my girls but tonight I just wanted to share one of the things I truely cherish about Bree right now. She is now 21 months old and I absolutely love the fact that when it is time for her to go to bed at night or even at her nap time she loves to still be rocked for awhile before I lay her down. She is so cute about it. We go to her room and she points to all of her blankets in her crib, the girl loves blankets. I have to get all of her blankets and then she points over to the rocking chair and says rock. She sits in my lap and lays her head on my chest and cuddles with all of her blankets. As we are rocking we listen to her music. When she is ready to go to bed she sits up and points to her crib. I give her night night kisses and she lays down is off to sleep. I really enjoy this time because it just allows me the time to spend one on one with her and just love on her. When Katie turned one she was done with anyone rocking her so I am just eating up the time that I have left with Bree before she out grows this. I am so thankful that she hasn't been in a hurry to move on from this stage and I look foward to this time each night with her. So much so that if for some reason I miss being about to put her to bed I am a little sad about it. Anyway, I just wanted to share this little favorite thing of mine.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Weight Check

At Bree's 18 month check up back in August she weighed in less than what she weighed at her 15 month check. It wasn't by a bunch but it was 1/2 pound or so less. Dr. Pfanstiel wasn't too extremely concerned but thought that all of the antibotics she had been on the first part of the year could have some affect on how her body was taking in nutrients. So he wanted me to bring Bree back in 3 months just to have her weight checked again. Over the past three months we have been uping the amount of milk she drinks, have her eat more yogurt and healty fatty foods. Today we went back for the weight check and she had gained over two pounds in the past two months. I knew she had to of gained weight because she is much heavier to carry around. If they told me she didn't I was going to be floored. It looks like the weight loss back in August was nothing more than just an overactive toddler who wanted to play more than eat.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

What I Am Thankful For

Since it is Thanksgiving and a time to be thankful I thought I would list things I am thankful for:

1. Jesus Christ - I am thankful God sent his Son to die for everyone, especially me. I am more thankful that I know I will have eternal live because of Him.
2. My Husband - I am thankful for everything about him, but I appreciate so much all that he does for our family and that above all he tries his hardest to make us happy.
3. My girls - they are such a blessing to me and everyday they show me in some way why I love them so much. I am so thankful that I was chosen to be their mother and help raise them.
4. My parents - I am grateful that both of my parents are still with me and are so supportive of me and all of our moving. :)
5. My brothers - even thought I don't get to see or speak to them as often as I should or would like I know I always have two people in this world who would do anything for me.
6. My Friends - I have many friends but I only have a few friends that I would call close friends and that know me best. I realize as life goes on how nice it is to have someone who knows you, the good and bad and will be there for you. I want to same something special about those friends.
Joy - You are my best friend and have without a doubt been there for me through everything. I love the fact that we have kept our friendship so close and we can always just pick up where we left off every time we talk.
Tammy - You are without a doubt the friend that I can be my silly self with. When I think of our friendship I only think of all the laughter we have had and all of the "dirty" jokes that seem to come out of our conversations. One day I know we will be back to our evil ways in Knoxville. :)
Patricia - You are my friend with all the advice and Godly wisdom. You and I made it through the trenches together at Nova and formed a bond that really know one else would understand. I look up to you as a sister and appreciate your realness when it comes to God's word. You are never afraid to tell it like it is. I admire that and one day will hopefully have your boldness.
Cara - You are my preggo buddy. You and I went through it all together and I am so thankful I had you around to complain about all the pregnancy woes and know are children woes. You were the very first person who befriended me in Columbia and I am so thankful we hit it off as friends. Even though we don't always see eye to eye on certain things, I love the fact that we can speak what is on our minds and know it will not hurt our friendship. Oh, yeah you are my internet shopping guru. How could I live without you. :)
To all of my friends I love you all and are so grateful to have you in my live.

I am grateful for so many of the things in my life that I couldn't possible list them all but I wanted to list those that were most important to me. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving, Lights, and Sickness

This year for Thanksgiving Chris and I decided that we would stay put at our house. We invited his mom, dad and grandmother up for a visit. They flew in on Wednesday night and left this morning. We had a really great visit with them. Chris and I weren't sure if the girls would remember them because it has been almost a year since they last saw them. Katie went with Chris to the airport to pick them up and as soon as she saw her grandma she took off running to give her a hug. It made her day to get such a warm reception from Katie. The next morning Bree got to see them and of course she didn't remember them but it didn't take long for her to warm up to them. She was great grandma's sidekick all weekend. She really took to her right away and just loved her. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed our lazy day together.
Friday we got out for a few hours to try and take advantage of the black Friday deals. I was not feeling to well so we headed back to the house. By Friday afternoon I was running a 102 fever and was feeling pretty bad. No other symptoms just a fever and very achy, but by Saturday morning my fever had broken and I was feeling much better. I even ventured back out with Katie on Saturday afternoon for a little mother,daughter time together. We went and took care of some of the Christmas shopping. That evening after dinner Chris, Katie, Bree, Mom, Grandma and myself all loaded up to go see the lights at Rhema. Rhema is a HUGE church and bible college here in BA. They decorate their entire campus in lights and have Santa there also. They take donations to help out local charities. Katie and Bree were amazed by all the lights. Some of the lights were coming on and off to Christmas music. It was pretty neat. Katie actually sat on Santa's lap for the very first time every. We were so surprised. Each year she is terrified of him and will only way but would not go close to him. We were very proud of her. Now we just have to work on Bree. She would only wave but wasn't getting close to him. Maybe next year.

The girls were very sad to see their grandparents leave this morning. Even though we don't get to seem them very often it was so nice to have them here and spend some time with them.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Our Crazy Girl!!!

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to go ahead and get out some of our Christmas decoracations. While I was doing this I had Bree with me in the living room "helping" me out and I thought that Katie was just off playing. Well, I have now learned that when it gets to quit you realize that they might be up to something they don't want you to know about. I soon heard Chris just bust out laughing and he came in asked me where the camera was at. Then I saw Katie come strutting into the living room, from our bedroom. She had found her way into my closet and was trying on my shoes. Well, you can see below what she ended up coming out in. We were laughing so hard. This is our little girl at her finest.



Here is a little video of the girls enjoying one of our christmas decorations that plays music. Bree was loving it. I thought it was so sweet how she would clap along with the music. I truely love this time of year.

Monday, November 17, 2008

8 Things about Katie

8 of my favorite things:
1. Cartoons....love to watch Dora, Backyardigans, Little Einstiens, etc
2. Dressing up like a princess.
3. Reading books
4. Playing with Bree
5. Taking showers
6. Watching movies
7. Talking.....love to tell mommy and daddy all about my day.
8. Going to church

8 things that happened today:
1. Woke up to my mommy being home.
2. Watched a few movies
3. Went to church
4. Had lunch with mommy, daddy and bree
5. Laid in bed with mommy and daddy and watched movie
6. Went to a potluck dinner with mommy, daddy and Bree
7. Played with Bree
8. Ate a chocolate pudding before I went to bed.

8 things I am looking foward to:
1. Grandma, Grandpa, and Great Grandma coming to visit for Thanksgiving
2. Thanksgiving.....all that food
3. Going to the Christmas Train
4. Going to see Christmas lights at the zoo
5. Decorating for Christmas
6. Christmas party at church
7. Nana and Papaw coming to visit for Christmas
8. Spending time with my mommy, daddy and sister.

8 Things about Bree

8 of my favorite things:
1. my hand blankey....don't go anywhere without it
2. my babies, love to undress them and then cover them up with blankets
3. movies.... i love to take them off the shelve and try to put them in the dvd player
4. bath time... love to play in the tub with Katie
5. food..... you can't really tell because I am so little but when my mommy says it's time to eat I drop whatever I am doing and go.
6. cooking in my kitchen... love to make food for my mommy to eat
7. the phone...but for some reason mommy won't let me play with it much
8. sleeping..... all you have to say is lets go night night and she is off to her bed.

8 things I that happened today.
1. Woke up to my mommy being back home.
2. Ate my breakfast
3. Went to church.
4. Had lunch with mommy, daddy and bree
5. Took a good afternoon nap
6. Played with Katie and my toys
7. Went to a potluck dinner with mommy and daddy and katie
8. Ate chocolate pudding for my snack before bed. yum!

8 things I am looking foward to:
1. Grandma, Grandpa, and Great Grandma coming to visit for Thanksgiving
2. Thanksgiving.....all that food
3. Going to the Christmas Train
4. Going to see Christmas lights at the zoo
5. Decorating for Christmas
6. Christmas party at church
7. Nana and Papaw coming to visit for Christmas
8. Spending time with my mommy, daddy and sister.

Women of Faith

This past weekend I got to have a mini girls weekend with a few ladies from my church. Me and four other girls from my church left on Friday morning to go to Oklahoma City to go to the Women of Faith conference. The conference didn't start unitl Friday evening so we took advantage of our kid free time and went shopping during the day on Friday. Friday evening the conference started with a concert by Nicole C Mullins and a little comedy show. If you have not heard of Nicole C Mullins then I would encourage you to download a few of her songs. She is one of the most amazing christian singers I have every heard. She has an amazing voice and writes great songs. She puts on a great concert. She has so much energy and has a group of young kids that travel with her to help her put on her show. Another reason I love her is she is a TN girl. She currently lives in Franklin Tn. Saturday was a day of speakers and all of the women who spoke at the conference were so good. These ladies that speak are so funny and down to earth. They make you feel like the craziness that is in your life day to day, that you are not the only one that experiences. I really enjoyed my weekend with the girls. It was nice to have time away to just talk with girls, eat a complete meal without the interuptions, and of course get to be silly.
Another thing I realized this weekend is that I know I wouldn't have been able to go if I didn't have a wonderful husband that doesn't mind taking on the extra responsibilites to allow me to have some time to myself, and to make it all that much better I came back home to a clean home. :) I guess all of my years of training have paid off.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Trip to the ER

On Thursday night we a bit of a scare with Bree. Thursday night Chris is in school so it is just me and the girls. I was in the play room getting something for the girls when all of the sudden I hear a loud thump and Bree start crying, but not just any cry I knew it was a hurt cry. When I went into the room I saw her just standing there crying. Katie told me that she fell out of the recliner she was sitting and hit her head on our end table. I was holding Bree and trying to check out her head. About 10 minutes or so after she hit her head she just started zoning out on me. She wouldn't talk or try to get up and walk. She would just look around but her eyes were very glazed over. I initially thought she was just a little shook up from the fall so I took her and Katie both to give them a bath. The whole time Bree was in the bath tub she kept trying to lay down in the water and not wanting to play. I got her and Katie out of the bath tub, got them dressed and tried to get Bree to eat or drink something. Bree loves bananas and has never turned one down but that night she wanted nothing to do with it. She still had the glazed looked in her eyes was kept putting her head on my shoulder and since an hour had past since she feel I decided to call our Ped. The nurse called me back and told me to bring her straight to the ER to have them do a CT Scan. They were worried she might have hit her head hard enough for her brain to start swelling. Well, once she said that my heart went into panic mode but I knew in my mind I had to stay calm for not only me but Katie and Bree. I quickly got them in the car, texted Chris to meet up as the ER and we were off. Once we got there the doctor checked her out and said that everything so far looked good but because she is so little he wanted to do the CT Scan to be on the safe side. I wasn't looking foward to this only because I knew that would have to restrain her to do the test, but we had to do it. They took us to the room and I laid her down on the bed and she immediately started crying so hard that her face was blood red. They wrapped her up like a little burrito and then strapped her head down. It was all I could do not to cry but I didn't want her to see me crying so I just stayed by her side and kept talking to her. But thankfully when the test started the sounds of the machine and the voice of the lady talking to her over the speaker keep her interested in what was going on. She didn't cry much after the test started and it only took about 3 minutes for them to do the scan. The lady doing the test keep telling Bree she was ridding a Choo Choo Train when the bed would back and forth in the machine. I told my Mom that Bree is going to never step on another ride that is called a Choo Choo Train for the rest of her live after that experience. By the end of the night her CT Scan came back clear which we were very thankful. The doctor said that sometime hard knocks to little ones heads like that can just make them confused and they will act funny, but it is alway good to get them checked out because you never know with head injuries. It made me feel much better to know she was going to be fine. We got home around 11pm and the girls were ready for bed and so was I. By the next day Bree was back to her normal self as if nothing happened.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Volunteering

About four months ago I decided that I wanted to volunteer at our children's hopsital here in Tulsa. I had read about a program call Baby Cuddling, which has volunteers come in and rock and hold newborns who are not able to be with their mothers all the time. This program just touched my heart. I just couldn't imagine little newborns laying in the nursey not getting the love and warmth they need from their mothers. I contacted the hospital and filled out the application, got my references, and about a month ago they contacted me to come in and speak with the Director of Volunteering. Well, the Baby Cuddling program was full at the time so I had to be put on the waiting list, but in the mean time they had an open for an evening sitter, which I basically just go to rooms and give parents a break. I stay with the kids while the parents go for a walk, get something to eat or even go home for a shower. It sounded like something I wanted to do. So after getting my background check done, a TB test, and of course my lovely uniform. I was ready to start. I actually started doing this the week before Halloween. I go one night a week for about 3 hours. I get a list of all the kids that are in the Children's Hospital and I go to the rooms that have of babies first and the move up to the older ones. I have to say this is one of the most rewarding experiences I have every had. My first night I spent almost two hours rocking a little girl that was only 31 days olds. Her mom was so grateful for the break because she was on her own with no other family. As her mom got some time to herself, I got to spend two wonderful hours feeding and just rocking and cuddling this sweet little girl. The rest of my time was spent with a little boy who was almost 3 years old and he had been in the hospital for almost 2 weeks. You would think that he would just be bouncing off the walls because he has to stay in his room but he was the sweetest boy. We talked, watched some cartoons and played a game. He was such a little talker. He kept telling me all about his upcoming b-day and how it was going to all dinosaurs. It was really amazing how well these kids handle being in the hospital. I don't know... it just makes me grateful I guess. I complain when my back hurts or I have a head ache and here are the kids that are in the hospital when they should be out playing and they have a great attitude.

I looked foward to going each week. Part of me likes to see that on the list the babies or kids I saw the week before are no longer on the list.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Beauty and The Pooh

Halloween this year was so much fun for Chris and I. Katie dressed up as Belle from Beauty and The Beast and Bree went as Winnie the Pooh. Katie was really into Halloween this year and all excited about going trick or treating. Bree wasn't sure what we were getting ready to do but she was so excited to have her costume on. Katie wore this same costume when she was Bree's age but Katie never liked wearing the hat. Bree on the other had wore everything all night long. Once they were all dressed and ready to go we went out to hunt for some candy. We took our wagon because I figured Bree would get tired of walking, but she was a really trooper. She walked almost the entire neighborhood and as her bucket of candy got heavier and heavier you could hear it dragging the ground, but she wasn't about to let anyone hold it for her. I guess she thought Mommy or Daddy were going to steal some candy. There were only a few houses they were too scared to go up to by themselves, so I would take them. It was very sweet to see both of them walking together and going up to houses getting their candy.

On Saturday we were all invited to a bonfire at a friends house. We roasted hot dogs and had smores. Katie even roasted her own hot dog. After we all ate and hung out for awhile they had a mini firework display. Katie didn't like the load noise of the fireworks. Bree did okay until one of the fireworks was really big and it looked like it was coming right at us, that really scared her and it was over at the point for her. She was hanging on to me with a death grip. Luckly, they only had a few more to set off and they were done. Oh yeah, Katie thinks the idea of cooking outside is just great. She keeps asking when we are going to have a kitchen outside. :)

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.



Monday, October 27, 2008

Crazy Hair Day

The girls school this week is having a different theme each day. Today was crazy hair day. So I bought some purple hairspray color to put in their hair. Katie, surprisingly, didn't want me to spray a bunch in her hair but we got enough. Bree even got her a little purple in her hair. Below are a few pics of their somewhat crazy hair. :)
Hopefully, you can see the purple, and that is a banana in Bree's
mouth.


Still munching on the banana

Always ready to pose.

Friday, October 24, 2008

All About Bree and Katie

My friend Joy posted a blog about all the things her 15mth old is doing and she tagged me and some others to do the same for our little ones, but in all fairness I can't brag on one without bragging on the other. So you all get a double dose. :)

Bree is getting ready to turn 20mths and she becoming more and more a little toddler every day. Here are some of the things she is doing:

She no longer walks, she runs everywhere. If she does walk I alway say she walks like George Jefferson, she has that little swagger to her walk. If you don't know what I am talking about try and find a video of The Jeffersons and watch how he walks. It's cracks me up to see her do this.
She is talking much more saying pretty much anything we say to her she trys to repeat it.
She understands everything we say to her. It is so cute to ask her to throw something away and she takes it to the trash can, or tell her it is time change her diaper and she goes to her room.
She is eating well with both a fork and spoon
She loves to give kisses.
But I guess the big thing is that she wants to do everything her sister does. She thinks she is 3 years old and gets so mad when she can't.

Katie who is 3 1/2 can of course carry on full blown converstaions with you. So much so you appreciate the quit time when you have it. She learns new things every day at school. Knows her numbers and letters. She is starting to learn to write her name and she will just wow you sometimes on things she knows at 3. She loves books and her movies. She is the best big sister. She really takes care of Bree. I think she babies Bree more than Chris and I do. Katie does not like her to cry over anything. When Bree does cry Katie is the first to see what is wrong. Don't get me wrong they do have their moments but Katie has a big heart for her sister.

Besides just listing what they have learned to do by the age they are at. I thought I would list the little things that make me glad to be their mom.

I love to sit and listen to them playing together, to hear their laughter and Katie explaining how to do things to Bree. Bree looks at her like she is telling her the most fascinating stuff.
I love how Katie loves to read books to Bree.
I love how they sit together and will watch a movie.
I love when I say it is time to eat, Bree will literally drop whatever she is doing and run to her chair. The girl loves to eat.
I love that Katie has such a sweet heart and such tender emotions. She is going to be the girl who wears her heart on her sleeve.
I love how Katie just wants to sit with me and have me read her a book or just talk or even maybe do my hair. My hair is her new fasination.
I love how Bree will randomly walk up to me and just hug my leg and look up at me.
I love the little dirty looks Bree can give when she is not happy and how playful she can be when she is in a silly mood.
I love Katie's imagination. The girl can come up with some of the most outragous stores.
I love when I pick them up from school or from their SS room at church that they just run to give me a hug. There is nothing like it and it just make you feel as if you are the most special person to them. I think we all should greet the ones we love that way( a little inside thought there).

These are just a few of things I can say about them. I think I could go on for a few more pages. These are just some of the little blessing I get each day from my girls. I thank God everyday for making me their Mom and blessing me with the opportunity to raise them.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Garage Sale, Birthday Parties and Powder Puff....

We had a very hectic weekend here at our house, which is not normal for us. Weekend we try to keep very low key just so we can somewhat recovery from our normally busy week. But for some reason this weekend just had lots of stuff going on. On Saturday we had our neighborhood garage sale for the fall. I spent all day Friday organizing stuff that we need to get rid of. Lots of baby clothes Bree has out grown, toy they don't play with anymore, clothes I have out grown, etc. Chris kept saying I was wasting my time because he has always heard that garage sales in Broken Arrow don't really work because the people want everything so cheap that you practically have to give it away in order to sale it. But I was going to give it a shot. We set up at 7am on Saturday and sold until around 12:30. I made almost 200.00 bucks off of the stuff I sold. Chris couldn't believe it. I will give him this, he was right about Broken Arrow residents wanting stuff for free. I had clothes and toys very reasonable priced and most people wanted to negotiate more. I was pretty flexible on most things except the toys, becuase I knew I could sell them on Craigs list and get what I was asking. I finally sold all toys except one and pretty much all of the baby clothes. Almost half of what I had was gone, which made me happy. Plus I had 200.00 dollars more than before. Not bad for 5 and half hours.

After we closed up the shop on the garage sale it was time for naps for the girls and then it was off to the grocery store to and then Katie and I were off to a birthday party she was invited to. This was her first b-day party she has had a chance to go to so it was all a little new to her. It was a swim party at a local swim school so she was excited about being able to put on her bathing suit and go swimming with some of her friends. She kept hopping out of the pool to come and ask me when they were going to have cake. That's my girl, she knows what is important in life. CAKE!! After the swim they had pizza and cupcakes, which she didn't each much of either. Katie kind of gets overwhelmed in situtations she is not sure of so I think she was just more about sitting back and taking it all in then enjoying the food. Then it came time to open the presents and this was the part that was mosting confusing to her. She kept asking me where is her present. So for about 20 mintues I kept explaining to her that when it is someone elses b-day they are the only ones to get to open presents. The b-day girl did give out bags of candy to her friends but Katie said she wanted a toy. I was proud of her for not getting upset she just kept questioning the situation. It is so funny to me how kids see situations and just don't quit understand why things happen.
Sunday was a much slower paced day for us, but still a fun day. Sunday afternoon we went to watch the youth girls from our church play a game of powder puff football. It was the middle school vs. high school and it was quite entertaining and brought back lots of memorys of when I played in HS many, many years ago. It is so funny to watch girls, some who have no atheltic ability try to play a game, and of course the guy coaches frustrated at the girls because they don't run the right plays. Katie and Bree where on the side lines cheering and do their little dance moves when the music would come on. Even though are weekend felt like we were going 100 mph it was a fun weekend and now it is Monday and back to the same pace for the week.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Katie's Big Night

As you may remember, several weeks ago I blogged about how Katie was starting to sleep by herself in her bed. I had put together a chart that had six weeks on it and each night she went to bed by herself she would get a sticker. We told her that once she fills up the chart we would take her to Chuck E Cheese for a big celebration. As of last week she has filled up her chart. She has done extremely well with all of this, better than Chris and I even thought. We had a couple of set backs during this time but that was to be expected. So last night was mom and dad's last night here before heading by to TN, so we decided that we would take her to Chuck E Cheese so Nana and Papaw could join in on the celebration. We all loaded up and headed to her favorite place. Thankfully, it was not crowded at all so Katie and Bree, well and Chris too could play all the games they wanted. Katie was so excited about going so could barely sit still. I myself was feeling a little under the weather. I have had a cold all week so I wasn't in the best of spirits but we had a good time. I realized half way there I forgot to bring my camera, I guess that was the fogginess from the drugs I am on. We are very proud of Katie and her accomplishment.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Livesay Orchards

Today Chris and I took the girls to Livesay Orchards where the we took at hay ride out to a pumpkin patch and picked out our pumkins to carve and also picked some apples. This was the first time we have done something like this with the girls. Bree especially loved the hay ride. She had the biggest smile on her face the whole ride. Katie's favorite part was picking apples. I had to do all of the pumpkin picken because the girls were to afraid to go in the weeds to get them. Later on today I helped the girls carve their pumpkins. Bree wouldn't even touch the yucky stuff inside the pumpkins so she stood back and watch. Katie did really well at cleaning out hers and then drawing her face. Bree was very proud of her pumpkin once it was done. She kept carrying it around. Since the girls had such a good time I think this will have to become one of our family traditions. Below are some pictures from the day.


Friday, October 10, 2008

Week with Nana and Papaw

Mom and dad have been here since last Friday and over the week they have had a blast with Katie and Bree. Tuesday they took them to the zoo. Katie and Bree have only been there one other time this year, but Katie proved to remember everything about the zoo. She took the map of the zoo and was showing Nana and Papaw where everything was at. I guess she inherited my sense of direction. Last night mom and I decided to go get a pedicure so we thought it would be fun to take Katie along. She loves to get her nails painted. We went to Walmart and while mom and I were soaking our feet the lady painted Katies fingernails and toenails. She was so excited and she sat so still for the longest time so they would dry. She kept saying over and over she couldn't wait to get home and show daddy and papaw. She was in heaven. I just told her not to get used to this, that we would not be coming here every week. :) Then today, mom and dad took them to aquarium to see the fish. Katie and Bree both just love the aquarium. They are so fascinated with all the different things they see. It is a fun day trip for them. Mom and dad are heading out tomorrow to go and see Brad and Kim for a few days and then will be back with us for a few more days until they leave. It has been really nice having them here and spending time with them. Below are some pictures of Katie getting her nails painted and one of mom with the girls in front of some of our Halloween decorations.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Fireproof

This past weekend Chris and I were able to get in a few date nights since my mom and dad were in town we thought we would take advantage of the babysitting. Friday night, Chris and I went to see Jeff Dunham at the BOK Center they built in our town. Chris' boss has a suite there and he was not going to use the tickets so he gave Chris a couple and we decided to go. Jeff Dunham is a ventriloquist comedian. He has a bunch of different puppets that he uses for his show. I had seen him once before with a friend but Chris has never seen him live only on Comedy Central.

The next night on Saturday we had a double date with a couple that we go to church with. We have become good friends and deiced to have a night out. We all wanted to go and see the new movie out called Fireproof. For those who may not have heard about this movie it is a faith based movie about fireproofing your marriage. The movie was written and produced by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA. They have done two other movies before this one. And if you happen to be a Kirk Cameron fan, from the 80's he plays the lead guy in the movie. Honestly though, this movie was the best movie I had seen in a long time. It is a great love story that has drama, comedy and twists. I think Chris may have said it best. He said "when you watch Top Gun it makes you want to fly planes, when you watch Days of Thunder you want to race cars, but when you see Fireproof it makes you want to be a better spouse." That is the true. This movie has such a great message about making your marriage work and how divorce can cause great scars on a person. If you have not seen it I would encourage you to go, even you if you have the best marriage in the world you will still find this inspiring. It is not playing in every movie theater but it is playing in at least one in your town. Every show here has been sold out. We had to get our tickets a few days in advance. I really hope you all try to go and see it if not rent it when it comes out on DVD. Below is a link to a preview of the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5lSu6GkC2k

Monday, September 29, 2008

Go Cowboys!!!


As most of you may know, Chris and I are HUGE college football fans; especially, SEC football. Chris loves his Volunteers, which I still don't understand and I am love my Dawgs. We just won't talk about the very horrible beating they received from Alabama over the weekend. Anyway, Chris and I have been missing the fact that we have not been able to go to any college football games this season. This past weekend we were invited to go see Oklahoma State University play Troy. Chris is enrolled at OSU for is MBA so we have been wanting to go see a game all season but our busy weekends always seemed to get in the way. This weekend we decided to make it a point to be able to go. Chris' boss has box seats at the OSU stadium and invited us to go with him and others to this game. We gladly accepted. We were told these were suite boxes but I had absolutely know idea how nice it would be. We were given a parking pass which allowed us to park right in front of the stadium. We had to walk like ten feet and we were inside of the stadium. Then once we got upstairs to the suite area there was all the food you could imagine. Anything you wanted they had. It was so nice to watch a game in that type of luxury. You had no lines for the bathroom, no waiting in lines for food, sit in air conditioning, it was great. There were about 10 other people in our suite so we enjoyed having adult conversations with other and rooting for our Cowboys to win. The other great thing is that the suite had two flat panel TVs that we could watch other games on so I was able to watch my Dawgs play, which I wished I hadn't. My night became very sad as I saw them loose the chance to possible be number 1 in the nation. Hopefully, the rest of there season will be good. The picture is of Chris and I at the game.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Update

Not too much new stuff to report on us we are just staying extremely busy. It seems that we always have something new going on. Chris is back in school trying to finish his MBA so he is school two nights a week so it is just me and the girls tonight. As they sit staring aimlessly at the TV watching Spongebob I thought I would take a few moments to update the blog because if I watch another Spongebob episode I might go crazy. Last time I wrote I told about Katie's big accomplishment on starting to go to bed by herself. We are now on week 4 and she has been going strong each night she goes to bed, we read a few books and then we go out and she goes off to sleep. Still sleeping all night long. Chris and I are so proud of her and love the fact that we have our nights back and to say the least we are getting more sleep because she is not getting up at all to come and get us in the middle of the night. Katie is still taking her dance class each Saturday and is doing great. She follows instructions really well and all those little girls look so cute trying to follow a little routine to a Hannah Montana song. She has her first recital at the end of October so we are looking forward to that. Bree is still doing great, she is all over the place now and has become my little climber. It seems every time I turn around she has climbed up on something and I have to go and get her down. She thinks it is so funny. Every time I tell her no she just laughs. I think I will have my hands full with her when it comes to discipline.



Let's see what else, oh yeah we have become really involved in the church we have joined not to long ago. Chris and I have been working with the youth group. He helps teach 11th grade boys on Sunday mornings and I have been teaching the 9th and 10th grade girls on Sunday nights. We have really enjoyed getting back involved with the youth again. They have such a good group of kids that it is a lot of fun spending time with them. We have also made some realy good friends at the church. Chris and I are truely seeing God's purpose for being in Ok. Speaking of God's purpose I have really felt lately that He has wanted me to do something with children. It has just been something that has been on my heart for awhile and so I finally took some action. I contacted our local hospital and asked about volunteering in the Children's Hospital. I met with the volunteer director today and I will be volunterring one night a week working with babies or the kids at the hospital. I am really excited to see what God has in store for me by doing this. I am not sure what will happen with this but when it is God's plan you never know.



I think that is just about it, like I said we have been staying busy but I think that I wouldn't have it any other way, well sometimes I think I would have a different way when I am loosing my mind.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

We got a big girl in our house!!!!

Last week Chris and I started working with Katie on going to be by herself like a big girl. Now I know some of you might be gasping at the fact that she is 3 1/2 and does not sleep by herself, so let me give you a little background on the situation. When Chris and I moved back from MN to NC last year Katie decided shortly after that move she did not want to sleep in her crib anymore but she also didn't want to sleep by herself in a big bed. So Chris and I thought the moved had upset her and decided to help her out a little by laying down with her while she went to sleep. New parent lesson # 1, if at all possible never start this habit because it extremely hard to break. We tried several times over the past year to break this habit but we had a hard time because Katie got so attached to us being there. New parent lesson #2, kids know exactly how to work their parents guilt button. It is born in them. Hence the reason why it has taken over a year for us to break this habit. :) Chris and I grouped together and decided to come up with a plan that would make both us and Katie happy. We were determined not to fail this time. It was two against one how could we lose... yeah we talk big.


Over the past month Chris and I have been talking with Katie about why she does not want to sleep by herself and she always says she is scared. She is scared of the dark, of shadows, of any noise she may hear. She doesn't even like to walk down our hallway if it is dark. We have tried hard to help her understand that there is nothing to be scared of that God, Mommy and Daddy will always protect her. She loves Veggie Tale movies, so I even went so far as to buy the Veggie Tale Movie - Where is God When I am Scared, thinking it would help her. It didn't, it only made matters worse because she completely focused in on the scary parts of the movie and not the song they sing about how God is bigger than the boogie man. So my efforts there failed. But we continued to talk to her about God would not let anything happen to her when she sleeps by herself and even went as far as to tell her that Bree sleeps by herself, not that she has a choice, but we are grasping at this point.


Last week we sat Katie down and told her the plan. I made a chart that has six weeks on it. We told her that each night she went to bed on her own without mommy or daddy in bed with her she would get a sticker and for each sticker she could get a prize out of the prize box(this box has a bunch of dollar items in it but it is a jackpot to her). At the end of each week if she has all seven stickers on her week then she gets to go to the store to pick a bigger prize, within reason. If she completes all six weeks she gets a day at Chuck E Cheese with mom and dad. I know this all sounds like a little much but at this point and time if bribery works then I am all for it if it means I will get back my nights of having some down time. Katie was all excited about her possibility of earning all these great things. Katie has talked big in the past about doing this but once night time comes around it is a different story and of course this time it wasn't any different. She wasn't ready to do it, so Chris and I made one little adjustment to our plan. We told her that we would start out by one of us staying in the hallway while she went to sleep and that we would slowly work our way further and further from her door. Amazing enough she went for it.


So, as of today I am proud to say that our little girl has gone to bed for an entire week all by herself and has slept through every single one of those nights without coming in and getting mommy and daddy. We are also halfway down the hall now when she goes to bed. I know this doesn't sound like a hug achievement to most but this is huge for her and we are extremely proud of her. She has not once cried, fussed or said she didn't want to do it. So today Katie and I went to the store and got her big prize. She picked out the new Barbie movie, so this means we will watch this about a thousand times. We are on to week two and our goal by week six is that she will head on to bed knowing we our not in the hallway. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well and we don't hit any speed bump. Below is a picture of Katie by her Big Girl Chart.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Family Trip to Branson MO

Over Labor Day weekend Chris and I took the girls to Branson MO for a long weekend. Branson is like the Pigeon Forge of TN. It has lots of shows, shopping and amusement parks, plus a lot of traffic. We dedided to not see any shows because we weren't sure how well Bree would sit through anything so we took the girls on Sunday to Celebration City and they had a blast. Katie of course was ready for every ride and Bree was finally up for riding a few rides she felt comfortable with. It was really sweet to see Katie and Bree ride their very first ride together. Bree was grinning from ear to ear. Celebration City is a small park and it only open on the weekends, but for some reason the day we went we thought it would be crazy crowded but it wasn't. We were so excited that we didn't have to wait in line at all for rides so we cruzed through the park in no time. It is really a great park for smaller kids because most of the rides are made for them. They also have a big firework show at the end of each night but we didn't make it to that, by 8pm both girls were worn out. Maybe next year. On Monday we went down to an area called Branson Landing which is on the water and it is an open shopping area with lots of restaurants. We walked around and they had several things for kids that day for Labor Day. One of them was face painting so Katie got her face painted. Bree wouldn't let the lady near here so she didn't get to partake. We had two day of fun and sun and the next two days we were there were rain filled so we had two days to just hang out and rest. It was a great family trip and Chris and I realized that since we had kids this was our first trip together with just us and not going to see other family. Every vacation we have had with since we had the girls has always been with family. It was neat to just have this time with our girls. Below are a few pictures from the weekend, but I will post them all on picasa.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Pretty Ballarina

Katie had her first ballet/tap class at Miss Kristy's Dance School. She has been looking forward to this class for the past two weeks. We went two weeks ago and bought her the ballet outfit, ballet shoes and tap shoes. She has asked me everyday since then when she is going and she wants to wear her ballet outfit everyday. So this morning I told her we were FINALLY going to her class and she couldn't wait to get out the door. The class is an hour long and she paid attention the entire time and listened to her teacher. There were only two other girls in her class so she gets a lot of one on one time with the teacher. I was able to watch her through a window and every now and then she would look back at me with a big smile and wave. Here are few pictures from today.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Weekend of Animals and Paint

On Saturday we took that girls to the Tulsa Zoo. The weather was so nice on Saturday. It has been in the 100's almost everyday but on Saturday it was overcast and was in the 80's so it was a wonderful day to go to the zoo. This is the first time we have taken Katie or Bree to the zoo. Katie was very excited to get to see all of the animals. She kept running around yelling out all the animals she would see. Bree would just wave at them all and say "hey". The zoo was very nice they have a lot of their exhibits inside which is nice so you don't have to be outside the whole time. The girls loved the monkeys the best, but the most memorable moment was when we got a front row seat to a polar bear. The exhibit they have for the polar bears allows you to see him swimming in his habitat. They have a big glass wall and he kept swimming right up to us and just looking at us. Katie loved it but Bree got a little scared. He had some big ole teeth, which I think she wasn't to fond of. Overall we had a great day and enjoyed it. Below are some pictures from the day.

The other first this weekend was for Bree. She is all about doing whatever Katie is doing so this weekend I let Bree dive into the some paint. Katie loves to paint and draw so Katie was painting away when Bree started pointing and grunting so I put her in her seat and let her go. She had so much fun. By the end of the night she had herself covered in paint. Thank goodness it is all washable. :) You can see her all painted up below.

Polar Bear that scared Bree

Bree waving at the animals


Katie with the giraffe


Bree having fun with her paint

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Chris' Birthday

Yesterday was Chris' 32nd birthday. If any of you know Chris, he is not big on birthday's so it makes it hard to find things to do for his b-day that he will enjoy. The guy doesn't even like deserts so he doesn't even find enjoyment in a birthday cake. So to say the least it can be difficult. So we kept things pretty low key by just taking him out to eat to a local steakhouse called Angus Inn. The one thing that Chris does love is a steak, so I knew I couldn't go wrong with that. We had a nice dinner and then came back to the house to give Chris his gifts. The girls gave Chris a black UT hat and UT sticker for his car. The black UT hat has funny story behind it. When I was in TN with the girls Katie picked out this hat for Chris for his b-day. At the time I didn't tell her not to say anything because I just figured she would not think about it again. Since we have gotten back to OK she has mentioned this black hat to him about four times. Chris not know what she was taking about and just thought she was making up a story just blew it off. Last night when he opened their gift, or I should say when Katie and Bree opened the gift for him. He finally realized what she was talking about. She told him "see daddy, there is the black hat I bought you." It was very cute. Chris did enjoy his birthday, he was happy to just have a low key day. I told him to enjoy it because when the girls get older and want to do more on his b-day he is just going to have to go along with the activities. Here are a few pictures from the day.


Thursday, July 31, 2008

Back in Oklahoma

After a nice visit with Nana and Papaw it was time for me and the girls to get back to daddy. We are back at home now and the girls were so excited to see their daddy. They both have been his shadow for the past couple of days. Katie and Bree had to get back to real life which was going back to school during the day while Chris and I are working. Katie was ready, all of her little friends greeted her and she was off playing. Bree on the other hand was not ready to. Bree's new thing now is to shake her head no. Once we went into her room she started shaking her head no. She did cry when I left but before I was out the door I could hear that she had stopped. Katie and Bree both have seemed to changed so much over the past couple of weeks. Katie has learned to snap her fingers so we hear that about all day now. Bree's personality is getting very much present in everyday life. That 18month mark is coming up and that just seems to be the time where your little baby goes away and the toddler part starts coming out. Bree is all over the place and whatever Katie is doing she wants to do to. Luckly Katie is such a great big sis. She loves Bree so much and does anything she can to make her happy and include her. It is really quite sweet to watch them to together. They now will just randomly start hugging on each other and giving each other kisses. It really just melts your heart to seem them together. I just hope they stay that loving to each other..... ok, I know in reality there will be way to may fights to count, but let me dream right now.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Fun Fest

Fun Fest is a week long of events and activities for families to do in Kingsport. The past couple of years we have been at mom and dad's during the week of Fun Fest and each year they kick it off with a parade downtown. Last year when we went Katie loved it because most of the floats throw out candy to the kids and some give out the mardi gras beads. Bree was too little last year to really enjoy it so I wasn't sure how into the parade she would be this year. Katie was into the parade from the beginning and Bree sat on my lap for about 20 minutes and then she got the hang of what she was supposed to be doing. She started waving to all of the people on the floats and finally she was down on the ground dancing with Katie to the music. It was so cutie seeing them both waiving to the floats and grooving to the music.

Tuesday evening Mom, Dad, Katie, Bree and I all joined Brandy and Kevin for a Fun Fest Putt Putt event. This was the first time Katie has every played putt putt so when we got there and she saw everyone hitting balls, she said "Mommy, it is golf" I told her it is a lot like golf we just don't hit the ball as hard or as far. I wasn't sure how she would do or how her attention span would hold up during the game, but we were all impressed with how well Katie did. She was patient and waited her turn , she played all 18 holes and never gave up on one hole. She even got a hole in one and on a couple of hole she got the ball in the hole in 2. She was so excited everytime it would go in. On the last nine holes Katie did so good I only beat her by 5, so I don't know how sad that makes me sound but she was excited.

Well, Fun Fest is coming to an end this weekend, so I am not sure if we will get to do to much more but the girls seemed to enjoy events we took them too.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Getaway to Charlotte




During our visit to mom and dad's last week Chris and I decided to get away for a few days to Charlotte, NC. The visit for Charollotte was for two reasons, one was our 9 year wedding anniversary and the other was so Chris could cash in on his b-day gift from last year, which was a Richard Petty Driving Experience. So we headed Charlotte and last Wednesday we celebrated our anniversary by going to Carowinds Theme Park. Chris and I had the rude awaken of our age and how our are age plus fast rollercoasters don't mix anymore. By are fourth or fifth rollercoaster we were done with the rides because we both felt like our bodies had been beaten to death so we were off to the waterpark to relax the rest of the day. We finished off the day by going out to eat at a Brazillian resteraunt called Braza's. If you have never eaten at a Brazillian resteraunt I would recommend it. The dinning experience and the food are amazing. Be sure if you go to have a very empty tummy because you get a lot of food. It is hard to beleive that we have been married for 9 years, it already seems like a lifetime, just kidding. In todays world were marriages break up almost everyday I am so thankful that Chris and I have managed to keep our together. I am looking foward to the many years to come.

Now, as for the part of our trip were Chris got to live out one of his manly fantasies, well it was exciting for him but boring for me. Last year for Chris' b-day I got him a certificate that gave him the chance to go and drive an actual race car 8 laps on one of 26 raceways. Since we were going to be in Charlotte he decided to head over to Lowe's Moter Speedway and cash in his cerficiate. The whole thing lasted about 4 hours, this is where it got boring for me. I had to sit in the heat for these 4 hours. Things you do for your husband. :) He got very minial training on how to drive the car, about 30 minutes and they were suiting up and putting them in race cars. Chris was one of the first 4 up to drive. He hopped in an took off and a few minutes later it was all over. After everyone is done driving they have a closing ceremony he gets a certificate and a sheet that gives him his laps times and his average speed. His average was 123mph, which was fine with me. I didn't want him crashing into any walls trying to go 180. He said he has a new respect for race car drivers. He was about to sweat to death after being in the driving suit and inside the race car for only a few minutes. He said he couldn't see how drivers did this for 3 plus hours. I guess all the money they make helps motivate them.

All in all we had a great few days away. We were glad to get back to the girls and spend the rest of our vacation with them.





Monday, July 7, 2008

Finally on Vacation

Chris, the girls and I all left for our vacation in TN on July 4th. We weren't sure if we were going to make it out the door that day because we had a bad stomach virus making it's way through our house. Katie and Bree both had it all week long and then Chris got in on Thursday so it was up in the air if we were going to be able to leave on Friday. After lots of prayer that everyone one would get better and that I would not get the virus we were able to head out on Friday. We drove to Jackson, TN the first day, which took us about 8 1/2 hours. The it was off to Knoxville, TN on Saturday. We stayed the night with our friends Jim and Tammy. They have two boys so it was fun watching our girls hang with bigger boys. We went to church with them on Sunday and then we all went swimming at their pool Sunday afternoon. After a long afternoon of swimming it was time to leave and make the last leg of our trips to Nana and Papaw's house. Katie and Bree both slept the whole way to Kingsport and were so excited to wake up and see Nana and Papaw waiting to give them big hugs and kisses. They have spent the whole day today hanging out with them and not wanting anything to do with Mommy and Daddy, which is to be expected. :) We are looking foward to the rest of our week here.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Introduction


A friend of mine started a blog like this one and I thought it was a really great idea. That way we can keep all of our friends and families updated on what is going on with the Reneau's. I am hoping that I will find the time to update this at least weekly or a couple of times a month. Please stay tuned......