Spring Break in Kentucky

We had a wonderful time on Spring Break visiting family in Kentucky. We stayed with Nana and had a great week doing many fun things. On Saturday, we went to Asbury College where

Glenn and I went to school. The kids had so much fun seeing "college"! We found my room I lived in for 3 years. We spent time walking around seeing classrooms, the cafeteria, the gym where Glenn played basketball, and the library. We also drove to High Bridge while out near Asbury. The scenery was gorgeous! Glenn and I were reminded of "dating days" and all the "dating activities" that happened at High Bridge. 8-) It was a great day!

On Sunday, we enjoyed church and then Glenn and I got to go to Louisville to visit with some friends we haven't seen in a while. We had an awesome time Shawn, Davis, Lauren & Stacy!

Monday we made our traditional Kentucky trip to the bowling alley. The kids always insist on this Kentucky outing! It's a tradition to go to the bowling alley where Glenn bowled growing up. It's fun watching him get strike after strike after strike as he reminisces of his "glory days" being the Jr. National Champion for the U.S. It's amazing that he's still "got it" after 20 years!

On Tuesday, our "daily activity" (you can tell we have to do something each day) was a trip to the Lexington Children's Museum. There's so much to do there and the kids loved it! From dressing as jockeys and sitting on the horses to playing doctor to experimenting in the bubble room to walking on the moon to riding in the space ship to dressing as a miner. Fun, Fun, Fun!





Wednesday was our day for the Kentucky Horse Park and riding ponies. The kids had a great time on the ponies and were all smiles as they picked their pony to ride.

We had an awesome week in Kentucky with Nana, Pop, Uncle Mike & Aunt Julie! It was a fun Spring Break and the kids were great! It was our best trip EVER in the car....it was actually "PLEASANT" for the 8 hours there and 8 hours back. I can't believe I just typed that! I think I've died and gone to heaven...to be able to say that a car ride with 3 kids was pleasant! 8-)

Philippians 2:14 (according to the Kelleys)

We've decided to memorize a "Family Verse" but we had to make it "The Kelley Version". I really think God needed to add "huffing, crying, and rolling your eyes" but I'll just take that up with Him when I get there! 8-)

Thankful Thursday

Here's a few things from my list today.....

**early mornings by myself with a cup of coffee

**my Monday Night Accountability group - couldn't live without those 10 girls!

**Paul - for his inquisitive mind

**Addie - for her carefree style

**Emma - she's just plain funny

**my TIVO (I won't list what I watch!) 8-)

**Super Suppers - having meals ready is the greatest and it's so fun making them with my friends!

**Covenant Academy - such a great place!

**Glenn - great dad and husband

**Weight Watchers - program I am really enjoying (19 down...16 to go!)

**Gobby & GoGoDaddy, Nana, Pop - grandparents that my kids love and adore

**The Bradshaws - our forever friends

**Pot of coffee ready throughout the day

**March Madness - (as long as KY is in it and winning...will make a happy husband...and in our house the saying changes...."IF DADDY AIN'T HAPPY...AIN'T NOBODY HAPPY!")

**Baseball season at the Little League Park - love my sunflower seeds!

**Chocolate Frosty at Wendy's

What are you thankful for???? Have a great Thursday!

Emma's Easter Story

EVERYONE knows who the Easter story is about, right???? Emma says it is all about Noah. OH MY! I've always laughed that at "church"....all you ever needed to answer was "Jesus" and you'd always be right. Of course, my kid would be the one to think it's all about NOAH!

It's that KRAZY KELLEY KLAN again!



I'll just let the videos speak for themselves....It was Hip-Hop Night at the Kelley house....It proves the fact...WHITE PEOPLE CAN'T DANCE!



"Our Little Stripper"

"Is that Glenn and the babysitter???"

"Kids bust a move to 'Shorty Got Low, Low, Low, Low'"

Emma's Valentine Playdate

Emma had a great time on Valentine's Day with her friends at our house. We had Evie, Athena, Avery, & Brynn over for playgroup. They played together, baked heart shaped cakes to decorate and eat, and made a Valentine craft while they sang songs! I'm not sure if they'll be a singing group one day or not....see for yourself!

Daddy's Little Girl

Addie and Glenn went to their 1st Father/ Daughter Dinner at church last night. It was quite an occasion and one that Addie was SO EXCITED about! She had talked all week about her dress, shoes, and her "date" with her daddy! They had such a wonderful time....she came home all smiles and couldn't quit talking about her evening. The pictures say it all...PRICELESS!

"I've Been Tagged!"

Something new to me just showed up in "Blog Land"....Tagging.

When you tag someone with a set of questions or a list or a game, they respond in their blog, etc.

Here are the rules for this one:
Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more (no cheating!)
Find page 123
Find the first five sentences
Post the next three sentences
Tag five people

Sitting next to me at my computer is "Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. My Monday night Bible Study group is just starting this so I had just begun reading.

...I am saying I can do my work, keep my home, handle my relationships, and deal with my circumstances without Him. That independent, self-sufficient spirit is an expression of pride. The Scripture teaches, "God resists the proud" (James 4:6) and so if I walk in pride, I must be prepared for God to resist me and my efforts.

I can already tell this is going to be an awesome book! There are so many "lies" that we buy into and build our life around. I'm learning the value and importance of spending time alone with God. My prayer for myself right now is that it can become a more and more consistent pattern in my life...not just something I do hit or miss.

Now, I'll tag...Meri Khoury, Lanier Pearson, Laurie DeMint, Brad Smart, and Amy Reddick. Whatcha reading?

"My Kids Don't Do That!"

Over Christmas, we were at my Aunt Peggy's house celebrating our family Christmas. My brother, Will, was there with his family, too. Hudson is my nephew, Will's 2-year old son. At one point during the evening Will motioned for me to come with him. He took me back to my Aunt Peggy's guest bedroom and showed me where Hudson and Emma had been playing. There on the wall was a beautiful "drawing" in SHARPIE marker on her yellow walls!! As Will and I debated about which kid did it...I kept saying, "I'm not blaming Hudson but MY KIDS DON'T DO THAT. They don't draw on walls."

Just when pride begins to creep in....you can easily be reminded to get rid of pride!

This morning, I woke up and went to get Paul and Addie up. They had obviously been awake for awhile because I walked into their rooms and found something on their walls! Paul's paragraph is poster-size!

Paul's "Masterpiece"....

Addie's "Masterpiece"....

But remember...."MY KIDS DON'T DO THAT!"

Can you believe our baby is 3!!

It's hard to believe that Emma has reached the age of 3...no more baby years! We had a great time for Emma's birthday...we spent Saturday evening with our best friends, Michael & Laurie & Max....complete with presents, cake and ice cream.

On Sunday, we had Emma's "DORA" party! When I say "DORA", I mean "DORA"! We had EVERYTHING DORA! She picked out Dora plates, napkins, cups, tablecloths, balloons, a Dora cake, and almost EVERY PRESENT she received was DORA! She was so excited.

Emma was my unplanned surprise...not in my plan. But isn't it amazing how lacking our plans can be! God has shown me in so many ways that His plans are SO MUCH BETTER than I could have ever imagined. I wonder why I don't trust His ways more often??? Probably because I'm very stubborn and prideful about "my ways"...something I'm working on in 2008...this is also something I see very strongly in Emma....LIKE MOTHER LIKE DAUGHTER! Hopefully, God can teach her earlier than I learned how much better His ways are! Emma's a mess...but one we love and adore. Happy Birthday Emma!

My Favorite Christmas Moments!

Christmas this year was perfect! We had a great time doing so many fun things. There are a few highlights that stand out in my mind...Some of my best memories of this Christmas are...

**Having our first Christmas with Max! Our best friends Michael and Laurie adopted Max in July after years of waiting and then a really rough year with adoption. Max is their miracle and ours too! Max was truly our best gift of the season (after Jesus, of course!) 8-)

**Paul and Addie spent much of the holidays laughing and playing. They have so much fun together. They really enjoy each other!

**Paul was on the verge of not believing in Santa this year (due to kids in his class telling him Santa isn't real). He told me one day "Mom, I'm having a hard time believing in the flying reindeer"! We weren't ready for the awe and excitement of Santa to be over so we found "Elf of the Shelf" at a store in town and began it as a Christmas tradition in our house. Paul got into it 100% and fell back in to the magic and awe of Santa. It was so much fun!

**Singing carols at my parents house with all the grandkids. That was a fun evening!

**Paul reading "The Night Before Christmas" to the entire family for the first time. He has just learned to read in 1st grade and it's amazing to see him read and be excited realizing he's actually reading!

**Emma this year really got into one of the songs from the Christmas program we did at our house..."Go Tell It on the Mountain". She stood alone at each family gathering and belted out her version..."DON'T tell it on the mountain, over the hills and every way, DON'T tell it on the mountain, over the hills and every way" (that part repeats endlessly..."that Jesus Christ is born"...never comes unless you cue her)! I'm going to try to blog the video of it if I can figure it out.

**Christmas Eve was so much fun....watching their faces getting the cookies, milk, and picture Paul had drawn for Santa ready. They could hardly go to sleep. The excitement continued when they woke up and Paul raced to the living room!

Christmas was a wonderful time this year! Being with all of our family and friends made it so special for all of us. We are truly blessed in so many ways. The gift of His Son is our greatest blessing and having Jesus helps us to enjoy all the other blessings we have.

Oh, What a Night!

Last Sunday, December 16th, we hosted our 1st Annual Kelley Christmas Program. We had such a special evening with all of our friends. A month or so ago, we invited 20 families from our Sunday School class and Small Group that have kids the ages of Paul, Addie, & Emma to be a part of our Christmas program. The plan was for the parents to drop their kids off on Saturday morning the 15th for a couple of hours to "practice" and then come back to our house on Sunday evening with the entire family for the program and dinner. We ended up with about 30 kids participating and about 46 adults returned on Sunday night to see the program. We did the traditional Christmas pageant complete with speaking parts, costumes, and music. It was quite an evening....nothing was "perfected" but everything was precious!

Well, it's Christmas time at the Kelleys and we've had lots of activities going on....school parties, church parties, play dates with friends, excitement around the house (wrapping, cooking, decorating)...it's been so fun! These are great ages for the excitement of Christmas...7, 5 1/2, and almost 3...perfect ages!

We've taken lots of pictures of the kids dressed in their Christmas outfits so "clean and put together"...but we've also captured more "everyday" shots from around the Kelley household. Just come and take a glimse! Never a dull moment!

When You Get the Chance....TAKE IT!

Emma and I were heading to the mall to do some Christmas shopping. She is almost completely potty-trained but for this trip I told her she was wearing a pull-up. I am lazy at the mall and don't want to have to run on spur of the moment to the bathroom. She's in the kitchen ready and asked if she could have a cookie..."Yes, just one Emma." She took one cookie off the counter. I turned around to grab my purse and coupons. When I turned back around...EMMA IS STUFFING 3 COOKIES DOWN HER PULL-UP! Unbelievable! She saw a chance to stash a few cookies for later....AND TOOK IT! 8-) How can someone that cute be that bad???

Addie's Theology

Oh how I wish I could figure out how to put a cassette recording on this blog! If you know how...please email me how because this blog will not be the same without it!

Addie was home from school on Monday. She normally "plays school" in the sunporch and teaches her "kids" or reads them some books. Today she was teaching them from the Bible and I just had this gut-feeling it was gonna be good! I grabbed my cassette recorder and hid in the living room with it recording.

Addie was sitting in the chair...legs crossed (very ladylike)...teaching from the Bible...in just the sweetest, most loving voice I'd ever heard her use. She was quoting Psalm 100 to "Lizzie" and then I heard her say...

"Lizzie, if you don't believe you will go to Hell and burn forever and never come down. That's what's in the Bible. If you believe, you will be with gold and glass forever...but the glass will probably break."

OH MY! I guess she's got a pretty good grasp of how it works!

My Bible study group is studying Galatians and as we looked at Chapter 3 this week, it focuses on "believing" vs. "works". The key to salvation is "belief and faith in Christ"...NOTHING to do with our works.

Addie got this theology lesson right...(not so sure about the glass breaking part)!

"It Doesn't Take Much!"

Last week, our leaves in the yard had started falling. While the kids were at school, I raked a few big piles of leaves. On the way home from school, Paul asked (as he does each day)..."Mom, what are we doing today?" My normal answer is "Nothing, Paul....just going home, doing homework, playing, eating supper." To which he replies, "Aww! I want to do something fun." On this day I had a different answer...."We are going to jump in leaves." They got excited in the car and had a wonderful time all afternoon...jumping, playing, rake the leaves back up, start all over. It was fun...and reminded me that it doesn't take much to excite them!

Thankful Thursday

Thought I'd share 10 things I'm thankful for today....(not in order!)

1. Early mornings before anyone wakes up
2. Three healthy children
3. Candles burning
4. TIVO
5. My friends and their families
6. Covenant Academy...Paul & Addie's school
7. Peppermint Mocha from the gas station (1/3 the cost of Starbucks!)
8. So many things about Glenn
9. Gobby, GoGoDaddy, & Nana....who make my kids' faces light up
10. Extra cash found in pockets so I can get a Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks