"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

Happy Halloween!

We had a great day! Paul and Addie both had a big day at school celebrating "Reformation Day"...I was in charge of their parties...pizza, ice cream sandwiches, and relay races set up outside for their classes. Emma had "PJ Day" at school and went in her comfortable pajamas and we took cupcakes. Tonight was our Fall Festival at our church...full of tons of fun! It was just a busy day all the way around. As we were leaving the church tonight at 8:30...(after a very full day of entertaining kids, let me remind you)....Paul asks me, "So Mom, what are we doing tomorrow?" I was quite upset leaving the Fall Festival!

I've been thinking about that comment since I got them home and in bed...how often do I do that with God? He gives me so much...is so patient with me...blesses me in ways I don't deserve....AND STILL I KEEP SAYING..."God, what can you do for me now?"

Don't you love how God uses your kids to knock you down a little...teach you something...make you smile...and push you closer to Him??? 8-)

It's fun to see both girls as the rabbit 3 years apart!

2004
2005
2006
2007

Tradition!

As I was making plans to go to the Pumpkin Patch today, I started wondering..."Do I really need to go? Do I need to dress the kids for pictures and head to the Pumpkin Patch just because I've been every other year? So what if I miss a year of pictures in the Pumpkin Patch, right?"

Well, I decided to go. NO! It isn't a "must"....NO! It doesn't matter if I have a picture of them each year in the Pumpkin Patch...but YES! I'm glad I went....glad I went to the trouble because now I have my pictures and I had such a good time tonight going back and looking over the past 4 years of our Pumpkin Patch pictures. I smiled and laughed at how they've grown and changed. It was worth it....there are some traditions I want to continue.