Opryland Pictures

These sunglasses were a big hit all weekend. She wanted to wear them inside, outside, daytime, night time... all the time! This was on our trip to Nashville... and also the only time my flash worked. :(

She always loves a ride on the Merry-Go-Round!

Okay... her lips are so pink in this pic because of horrible lighting. This was also right after her tango with the pavement so that bottom lip is rather fat. We were practicing for our Santa picture and I was really afraid that this is what we were going to get. Her lip felt funny so she was smiling oddly. Thankfully she got over it for the real thing.

This picture is illegal. I got in trouble for taking a picture inside the little area. She looks like she was trying to get away but she wasn't. She was just getting up in his lap.

This pic was extremely dark from not having a flash. Shocker! But it was the only family shot we got all weekend... so it will have to do!

Opryland

Most of you know that we go to Opryland Hotel every year during the Christmas season. We do this with Allen's parents and his aunt and uncle. It is one of my favorite trips because I can get most of my Christmas shopping done in one weekend... in theory. It is starting to shape up as more of a fiasco each year. I still do love going and look forward to it. My poor daughter is going to have nightmares about the place! Here's the story:

We get there on Saturday and head straight for the Louise Mandrel Dinner Show. It was really nice. Calm and pleasant. We head for our rooms and get some shut eye. The next day we get up, do breakfast and head to the mall. I got lots of shopping done during this time but my feet and legs were absolutely killing me by the end (2:30ish). So we head for our trek back to the hotel (we walk back and forth between the mall and the hotel because parking is a nightmare otherwise). Kaylen is sooo tired and we are going to see Santa at the hotel so I don't want her to fall asleep. We held her for a while and then let her walk. She was skipping and dancing to some music... started going a little too fast... and you guessed it... ate concrete. This is her third year to go to Opryland and her third bloody lip! And do you remember the part where we were headed for Santa pictures? Oh well... memories! :)

I must say that incident didn't deter her from enjoying Santa. We went to the room, got cleaned up and changed into our Santa attire and went to the "North Pole". She happened to be the only one visiting him at 4 on Sunday (what we were hoping for). So she went up to see him and she was soooo excited. She told him that she wanted a big playhouse for outside (she is actually getting one... we have been feeding her ideas for weeks). Santa said he would have to take it apart to fit it on the sleigh and put it together at her house. She said, "Otay". Then she told him she wanted a princess library. Anyway, she was in awe. She hugged him and at the end she said, "I wud u, Fanta" Melt my heart!!! He said, " I love you too, Cinderella". He had been calling her that because he told her she looked like a princess. Anyway, I got a little misty-eyed. She even smiled so pretty for the shot and we got a good one, despite the fat lip! I have to say that was the definite highlight of the trip for me.

We went to dinner that night and then Allen and I stayed at the mall to do a little last minute shopping. Kaylen spends one night with us and one with Jeff and Aline. This was their night. Apparently, she had caught a little virus at some point because she woke up at 3 am puking. Then she woke up again in the morning, with the same misfortune. So then Allen went and bathed her and brought her over to me and we got her ready and went to breakfast. She couldn't hang with us so Allen took her back to the room and we brought his food to him. We packed up and checked out. While we were in the lobby trying to get some bill issues settled, she threw up again... all over the floor in the lobby. There was a guy sitting right beside us and I told him how sorry I was and how I wouldn't blame him if he wanted to move. He didn't. I would have! Anyway, she slept the majority of the way home (with a brief stop at Build-A-Bear... even a sickness couldn't keep her away and she made a Hello Kitty).

Okay...so Muggsley got his yearly shots while being boarded at the vet. He has never had any problems with having his rabies and distempo parvo (or whatever they call that) shots together. This time was different... we got him home, a little while later we let him outside and we didn't notice he looked any different. When he came back inside... it was like Hitch. His face was all swollen and splotchy as was the rest of his body. His mouth looked like hooch. I wish I would have taken pictures. It was nuts! So we had to take him to the vet again and they gave him a few shots to help with the swelling and discomfort. Poor guy! He is better now.

I am personally exhausted because I have an issue with not being able to fall asleep until everyone is in bed. I know, my problem. I can't help it. I really don't think about the fact that Allen is still awake but I can not, no matter how hard I try, fall asleep until he is in the bed. And even then, it takes a while. Anyway, his bedtime last night... 12:40!!!!!!! What in the world?!?!? So then I was so mad at him for being so unthoughtful that I couldn't sleep... I saw 1:30 last night. Of course he was sound asleep when I left the house. I did make him get up for a bit but he was back snoozing before you knew it! So if I am cranky today... it is because I am severely sleep deprived!

Pictures to come tomorrow but with a warning... my flash is messed up on my camera... don't know what the problem is but I am sooo sad!

My Doctor's Visit

Yesterday I went for my 4 month check up and it was a little odd to me. I laid down to listen to the baby's heartbeat and the tech had an extremely hard time finding a heartbeat at all. I mean at least 5 minutes. She started searching, couldn't find anything. Got more jelly, searched some more... still nothing. Finally decided to switch machines, still nothing. By this time I was beginning to accept the fact that I had lost the baby. She got more jelly and continued to search. She finally found the heartbeat... any guesses where? Right on my right hip bone. So am i literally carrying my baby in my butt?!?!?! Only kidding but is that not an odd placement for a baby? I guess a baby can be anywhere but that can't be normal. Here is the heartbeat progression(8weeks, 12 weeks, 15 weeks): 164, 155, 141. What are the predictions for my little hide-n-seeker? Speaking of that, I scheduled my anatomy scan for Jan. 5 at 11am! One month away!! My sister will be in town so she will get to come with us. If you think about it, I have been really nervous that something isn't right with this baby... don't know why... but just pray that I will have peace.

Christmassey Kaylen

Kaylen is really getting into the Christmas Season. She is so excited about hearing about baby Jesus, Santa Clause and all of the Christmas songs. It has really been fun. The only thing she isn't excited about is Christmas decorations. I haven't had her say she likes them yet. Any time I ask if any of the decorations are pretty she says no! Oh well. I absolutely love her Christmas dress this year. She looks so grown up! Thanks to her Aunt Christy (she gets her a Christmas dress every year)for her beautiful dress this year!
Oh, and she would not look at the camera or smile for any of the pics this year... for our Christmas card family pic we took about 100 shots before we got one that worked! And these individuals were about the same for her. UGH! Most of the time she wants a pic of her taken and she smiles perfectly but not that day! I thought Allen was going to come unglued! He was getting so mad at her and then he would yell at her and say things like, "If you don't look at the camera and smile I am going to spank you!" Then she would start crying and we would have to stop everything and comfort her into a happy mood again. It was a rollercoaster! I just kept laughing because he was getting so frustrated and the more upset he got, the worse she got. It really was quite classic. Anyway, I am not posting my card pic... you will have to wait until they come in the mail!! :)

Christmas Decor

I am nowhere near done decorating my house for Christmas. It has been a crazy week and I caught a bug yesterday that kept me in the bed so sick all day yesterday. Anyway, here is where we are right now:

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We have so much to be thankful for this year (and every year). It has been a busy year full of change (again, that seems to be a recurring theme for us). This year I completed my Master's and I am extremely thankful that it is DONE! Everyone that knows me, knows that I whined and complained each and every step of the way but I am very glad to have accomplished that goal. I guess my graduation is in a few weeks. I wont be attending but will be eagerly awaiting the diploma in the mail.

This year we were able to decorate the house indoors and out. Last year we had just moved in and the outside of our house was so ugly that I didn't feel like lighting it up and drawing attention to it! I will be posting pictures of it soon. Kaylen doesn't seem all that impressed. Every time I ask her if she likes the lights and decorations she says no! I don't know why she doesn't but she says they aren't pretty. Burst my bubble, why don't ya?!?!

I am also thankful for this time in Kaylen's life. I love spending time with here these days. She says the cutest things all the time and her little singing voice is beautiful! I need to be videoing more seriously because I know there will be a time when that voice is gone and grown. tear. She talks nonstop these days. I never thought there would be times that I wanted her to take a talking break but those days have come. She is really constant and when she doesn't have anything to actually say, she starts making up words.

Allen and I have been able to get really involved with our youth group at church and we are both leading a small group of kids. I have 11th grade girls and he has 10th grade boys. We have both received so many blessings from these kids. It has been a major highlight in our year and I finally feel at home in a church. I love my girls and we have a lots of fun together. Allen's guys have started a brotherhood. They have a creed and they have all these "notches" for their paddles that they have to earn like memorizing scripture, community service projects, etc. His guys are so into it. They came up with their creed together and they have a name (Animal House - insert eye roll here) and they have a "gang" sign that they flash up all the time and now they are coming up with their logo as well. I have to say that I have never seen young boys so eager to get involved with something. It is on the obnoxious side to say the least but also an incredible way to get young guys involved in the church and give them a place as well. We are doing a coats and cans drive for the Care Center right now and it ends next Sunday (so if you are reading this and are wanting to donate to the Care Center anyway - please donate to my girls group because we have 6 girls to his 12 guys). The losing group will be serving the winning group dinner at our Christmas party on the 21st. My girls did go door-to-door collecting and I am seriously exhausted from our excursions but we had good success. All of these kids are so serious about winning that I think it will be a toss up until next Sunday.

This post is getting long and I have two more things to say. We are also extremely thankful for baby #2 on the way. I am 14 weeks along and this pregnancy has been completely different than Kaylen! I haven't been nearly as sick (again something I am EXTREMELY thankful for). I have had headaches and have been very nauseous. The biggest thing is my attitude. I am really thinking that it has been a hormonal thing but I have been in a bad mood this entire pregnancy. I am publicly admitting it because I really do want to snap out of it. I just can't picture an actual baby joining our family quite yet. It might be a small fear from my previous miscarriage and now I am guarding myself from getting too attached to quickly... I don't know.




Lastly... it is snowing right now... here in Huntsville, Alabama... on DECEMBER 1!!!

Okay... I was tagged to do my top 5 fav. movies... I am horrible at this... but here goes in no particular order:
1. Notebook
2. Hope Floats
3. In leiu of Christmas: It's a Wonderful Life
4. The Matrix Series
5. The Lord of the Rings Series

I tag no one!!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving Week

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I have been rather busy as of late. This past weekend I went to Nashville with Allen to the National Youth Workers Convention. There were many good things about it. I can liken it to a Republican finding themselves in the middle of a Democratic rally but there were some really great speakers and musicians. Obviously I didn't agree whole-heartedly with all that was said but it forced me to think and really examine my stances on issues. I can't say that I changed my ways of thinking on anything but I feel more grounded in my reasons why I believe the way I do. Anyway, moving on...

I saw Twilight on Sunday when I got back from the conference. I had not been all that excited with Robert Pattinson as Edward but after watching the movie... he was the best part! I really liked the movie but I wonder what I would have thought had I not read the books. I think they skimmed the book and left out some really important parts. I think Edwards faces that he made when Bella walked in to Bio class the first time would have been comical and not made sense had I not read the book. So I can see why there are mixed reviews. I honestly think they should have used some of Midnight Sun in the movie as well. A little more into what Edward was thinking or "hearing" would have been nice. Okay... those are my thoughts on the much anticipated Twilight".

A few more cute things I haven't mentioned that Kaylen has been saying. She will get her baby dolls and bring them to me and say, "Tell her lots of fangs, mommy" (fangs = things). Merely speaking a few sentences to her baby wont do. She wants long and drawn out conversations. Actually I have never had a long enough conversation for her. She always asks for more.
She is also really in to "matching" these days. Last night she fell asleep in her clothes extremely early. So Allen just put on some PJ pants with her shirt from the day. She woke up and said, "I don't match!" She had on an orange shirt with pink pants and that just wont do!
She really likes to eat cereal in the mornings and when you ask her which cereal she wants to eat she will reply by saying, "The delicious one." I have to pick her up and let her get it, since I have no idea which one happens to be delicious today.
Kaylen's friend, Jonah, gave her a cd of scripture songs for kids. She loves it! Her favorite song to sing (and my favorite song to hear because she sings the actual notes - I am so glad she hears them!) is as follows:
This is how we know
This is how we know
What love is
Jesus Christ
Laid down his life
For us

One more song for fun. It goes to the tune of Brother John. She sings this a lot and it is appropriate for Thanksgiving so I will leave you with it:
Mr. Turkey
Mr. Turkey
Big and Fat
Big and Fat
Soon I'm gonna eat you
Soon I'm gonna eat you
Just like that
Just like that

Thanksgiving Program

Here are some pics of Kaylen in her little dress that she wore before and after the program. She did such a great job being a pilgrim. She sang the songs, did the motions, still picked her nose a little, lost her hat, tried to put it back on but just put it over her face, and smiled from ear to ear. I have the cutest video but it will take me a while to get smaller clips to put on here. I am bad with figuring out video for this thing. Right now it is a 20 min video... not acceptable! :) Enjoy the pics and have a great weekend!

A BIIIIGGGG Bubble Bath!!!!

I haven't updated in a few days and I only have pictures from when Rylie came to play not too long ago. So I thought I would talk about these two girls again. They crack me up because they both get sooo super excited to get to see each other. They play pretty well together. Of course they are bossy and more bossy (Kaylen leaning toward the latter of the two). I think girls are just born with that gene. During this play event they started out "tooking dinner" in Kaylen's kitchen. They said they made chicken. It looked like bread and lettuce in a bowl to me but I guess things are different for a toddler with a much better imagination than me. The funny thing about that is that Rylie was ready to come downstairs and show us her creations and Kaylen wanted to stay in her room and continue to cook. So we could hear, "Ryedee, get back in my room!" and then Rylie would scream, "NO!" So they ended up downstairs in the bathtub. We knew they were playing but didn't know what they were doing. So we went into the bathroom and they had the glass doors shut and were sitting in the bathtub. They said they were having a BIIIIIGG bubble bath. Thankfully they were content with no water at all. Look how much fun they are having just by sitting in a bathtub?!?! Who needs toys, right?


This last one is a visual example of my little bossy one! Trying to force her friend to stay in the tub with her. Thankfully they both are pretty good at standing up for themselves. I really don't worry when the two of them are together.


Later Kaylen had to play the Cyndie Lopper Song for Rylie. (Girl's just want to have fun - it's her favorite right now)Rylie was more interested in rocking a bear in the swing than dancing but Kaylen can't get enough of the dance sessions. This has become something we do quite regularly in our house. She has started doing this booty shake that is so stinking cute! I gotta get it on film and get it on here!

In other unrelated news, I have started this thing called e-mealz. If you haven't heard of it... give it a try! I just finished my first week and have loved the meals. What is it? Well, it is a website tailors meals to your personal needs and couples that with where you shop and what sales they are having that week. So I chose the 2 person, low-fat meals for 5 days from Wal-Mart. They check out what is on discount that week at Wal-Mart and they comprise weekly meals that are easy and delish! Then the second page is the grocery list for the week. So it is all printed and organized for me! I really like it a lot. Oh, and for 5 meals... $47!!!! Does it get any better?!?! Anyway, the website is www.e-mealz.com.

Have a good week!!!

Supper Club - November

Every other month the Carlisles, Foxes and Wilsons get together for a rather informal dinner so that we can all catch up. Otherwise we might go forever without getting together. Times are busy!!! Anyway, our kids always get excited about this. They have finally gotten to the age that they can all play together without us having to supervise too closely. I have to say that I was impressed with them this time. It truly sounded like they were throwing things through the walls upstairs but when I went to clean the mess the next day... it was seriously minimal! I was shocked at how little there was to do! What great kids! Oh and one thing I am learning about my sweet daughter is that she keeps score with a vengeance. I am going to have a little tattler on my hands. I am really trying to squelch that in her but it is definitely her tendency. The other night (and Emily... I haven't even told you about this yet but I think it is funny so here goes) we are getting out of the car and she randomly says that Rylie hit her 4 times (I love how she gives it a number of 4... but she consistently says that). So I say that it is okay because Rylie is her friend and she has to forgive her friends. She says... "Rylie not my friend right now... she hit me". This girl is relentless! We had Andrew over a looong time ago and she still is talking about when he came over and jumped on her on the couch and then stole her juice box. Oh and she doesn't leave Jonah out... he smashed her fingers in the door. Never mind that she is the one that had her fingers in the door that he was shutting! Of course it isn't her fault at all. See what I am saying? Big old tattle tale! My question is... how many things has my little darling done that her sweet friends aren't spilling!?!?! Tons I am sure! Kids are funny!

Halloween Night

This post is a few days behind because I kept forgetting to bring my camera in. On Halloween night we went to Willowbrook and participated in the festivities there. Kaylen really likes the moon bounce stuff. She also had fun this year with the trunk or treat. Of course we always like the cotton candy!!! We had to be there at 5:30 but at about 4:30 I decided that Kaylen needed a mask. So I set out to make her one. It turned out cute and she really liked wearing it.

All of the pictures of Allen and Kaylen have been turning out so cute lately. (At least to me ;)

Me and Kaylen has been more difficult to capture! Wiggle worm! :)


In this picture Kaylen is going through an obstacle course. At one point I thought I was going to have to go in after her. She was not in a hurry to bust through things. She preferred the more gentle approach. So she took her time but enjoyed every second of it!

I looove this picture of K looking up at Allen - she has gotten so sweet lately. She will just tell you that she loves you randomly. It means so much more when she was just thinking that on her own rather than being prompted by me first. I love this age!

Kaylen and Allen flying down the slide. I think it was more fun with her daddy because she went even faster!


A few things that Kaylen is doing right now that I don't want to forget:

She will say that she wants to tell you a "feecret" (secret - all of her s sounds are f's) So you bend over and she will say something random like puppies. Then she will giggle.

When she toots she will say, "I hear a wittle tooter monfter and I think he came from mommy." (or insert whoever else happens to be near by)

She loves her baby dolls and her favorite thing to do is to punish them. She will tell me that Shelly hit her and has to go to time out. Then she will ask her if she is ready to tell mommy that she is sorry. We play this game lots and the crimes are always different but this tells me that she really does understand right and wrong.

Last night she didn't eat dinner at all. I am resting on the couch and she comes in with a half-eaten cookie and says, "I have a tookie, mom?" I told her no because she hasn't eaten one bite of dinner. But that "tookie" is gone. So a few minutes later I come out of the office and she is running from the kitchen and I grab her little hand (complete with brand new cookie) and she said, "hello". Just as sweet as she could. So I took the cookie away and told her she had to eat dinner first. She cried and then she looked up at me and squinted her eyes in a glare! She was angry at me! I can't believe my little two year old can glare like that! Anyway... they learn quick!

Kaylen's Halloween Party at School

Today Kaylen had a little party at school. They did a performance where they sang songs and did motions. I couldn't get there until a little later so I missed that part but Allen showed me a video they took. Let me just say that the year and a half of music classes has not paid off for my sweet darling. We have the child who is completely oblivious that she is supposed to be doing what everyone else is doing. She is the one playing with her nose and even eating boogers while everyone else does the motions. Don't think that those videos wont be some serious blackmail when she gets older! I keep trying to tell her not to pick her nose and she just wont listen to me. Ha! After the program she got to go trick-or-treating around the building. Then they had a little snack party. She is going to be on sugar overload and there will be lots more where that came from tonight! I will say that I didn't think that I would be able to go and my planning period just so happened to allow me to catch part of it and I am so thankful! She is so stinking cute! On a sad note... I have looked absolutely everywhere for those darn owl glasses she had and I just can't find them. She is still cute but I loved those glasses. I will update our evening next week! Happy Halloween!!!!

Advanced Art Halloween Party

Okay so I really did a bad job of getting pictures from the night but we did have a great time. We had pizza and snacks, a smoldering cauldron of fruit punch, and a pinata full of candy (that we forgot to bust open). We carved pumpkins... I don't have one picture of the awesome creations :( We had a pie eating contest... the only thing I got pics of... they were fishing for worms with their mouthes. It was a mess! Then we just played games and basketball. It was lots of fun!

Blissfully Unaware

No Picture Update

With a title like that... why even read the rest?!?!

I haven't been taking too many pictures lately but I have had a lot going on! This past weekend we went camping with the Carlisles and the Foxes. They both have campers and the Carlisles camper is big enough for us to join them. It was really a good time. Kaylen's favorite part was the playground! The playground! we have that in our backyard! That night she kept saying she was ready to go home... she didn't quite understand that we were sleeping there. She finally understood and had the best time. It was really cold in the morning and the kids played constantly the entire time we were there. We didn't stay Saturday night because we had to go to our church and then we had Disney on Ice...

This was quite the adventure. For me, it was rather enjoyable. For Allen... well, let me just tell you what happened. We get there right on time and our old neighbors Erin and Ben Boles were there with their kids right behind us. So it was great to see them. (For those of you who don't live around here... she is one of our local news anchors). Well, soon after the event began Kaylen had to go potty. Allen said he would take her and so he grabbed her bag and left. When he came back he wasn't happy at all. Apparently her diaper had shifted or something and she didn't make it to the bathroom. He said it was like someone poured a large glass of water (but substitute that with urine) all down his leg. He was absolutely drenched. So he comes back and sits down with her and she ended up falling asleep. He asked me why he paid so much money to sit in the VBC doused in pee while holding his sleeping child. I will say she did wake up and saw the rest of the show and loved it. She is still talking about it. I think her favorite part was Tinkerbell. She is really crazy about her right now.

The last thing I wanted to say is that I am having my Advanced Art Halloween Party at my house tomorrow. I hope it goes well. My cleaning ladies have bailed on me and it has been a month since they last came. I thought I had a lot to do even with them coming... now I am totally swamped! On top of that... Allen and I have to dress up for our youth group's Halloween gathering this Sunday.

What should I be? I want to be comfortable, I need an easy idea... I don't want to do any sewing... I want to be funny... help!!

Sponge Rollers

Did anyone else out there spend many a night sleeping in sponge rollers? I know I sure did! And boy do those things curl your hair! I have been wanting to curl Kaylen's hair and I finally found some rollers at Wal Mart the other day. Last night after Kaylen's bath we set to putting the rollers in her hair. Now I hate to admit this but as a kid we always put panties on our head to keep from getting our curlers snaged while we slept. They were always clean... so don't go too far with that concept in your mind. For Kaylen, I had plenty a pair that had never been used so she really lucked out. Anyway, this was the scene after I took them down this morning: I must say that she cried the first three times she looked at herself in the mirror. I couldn't stop laughing. Mean old Mommy!




I tried to fix it a bit but her bangs were straight... ugh! That wasn't exactly what I was looking for but I had to be at work in 10 minutes and I am not using a hot curling iron on my wiggley 2 year old! Next time I will have to be sure her bangs are in rollers too... and I think I will use a bigger roller. What do you think?!?!

The best part about my birthday this year

There is nothing more precious than your 2 year old singing happy birthday to you. This was the highlight of my day:




Here is another outtake that ended in a trip to change the ole diaper. It cracks me up how she hides her face. So funny!

This is the Day!

If this isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen...

More Swimming!!! (Get ready for a lot of this.... I just can't help myself!!!)

This first pic is a Halloween preview. Can anyone guess what she is going to be? She absolutely loves wearing these glasses. I can't wait for her outfit (that I won on ebay for sooo cheap!!!) to come in!

The next two pictures are of Kaylen and her daddy. I had to run in the Care Center's 5K on Sat. morning so I got there a little late. Kaylen swam without a float belt (a.k.a. "backpack")! She replaced it for a noodle. She just keeps surprising me!

Okay... so she is seriously a monkey...

Last night Kaylen and I were at Emily's house since Allen was out of town. Well, the guys were all outside (Skip and Skylar were over there too) hanging out. The girls had been playing in Rylie's room and Emily and I were working on resizing some photo's so that she could email them out. Anyway, we go to check on the girls after we are done and this is where I find Kaylen:






















She has a banana in her hand (which she got off the counter on her way to the seat)and she is sitting in that seat. The only thing is that she had to of climbed up the stools and onto the counter on her own... then she climbed off the side of the counter and into the seat... so dangerous and she didn't even bat an eye! She was just sitting there happily munchin on a stolen banana!

I am so blessed!

I have been feeling extremely thankful lately. I truly have some of the best friends on the planet! Since moving to Huntsville, I have become so close to a lot of incredible people. I would consider many of these people as close as family. For example, Allen isn't out of town much but when he is, I have never gone without a meal at a friend's house. When I lived at my old house I always was invited over to chef Russ and Katherine's house. I desperately miss living next door to them. I hate that I am missing watching their new son grow up. (we were easily replaced by the new owners of our old house... boo!) But just because I moved doesn't mean that I am missing out on meals completely. This is because my army of amazing friends runs deep. The Foxes have always been right there having me over for dinner - even when I lived on the other side of the mountain. They are so good to me. And dinner isn't the only thing they have helped me immensly with. When we took on this project of renovating an older home, we really were not up for the challenge. We dont know all that much about rennovations. The Foxes are both very tallented in their fields that both lend itself to home beautification. When I was working on the inside I would call Emily and she would come to where ever I was... Lowes, the house, anywhere... and she would help me. She is a color queen. And have you seen my kitchen?!?! She did it! Amazingly talented! So then we get to my landscaping... I always hesitate to ask Stewart for help because that is the way he makes his living and he handles estates... he doesn't design beds for people who have a budget, if you know what I mean. He is a very busy man and I didn't want to take his time. But he said he would help me... Just look for yourself what he did! It is beautiful! I can't believe the difference it has made to my house. These plants aren't in the ground in these pics... we have a guy working on it today and then I will be finishing up what he doesn't get to this weekend. So I will post updates but I wanted you to see it so far. I came home and Stewart had these plants sitting in their spots. I am crazy about it! Georgous! The only thing I did last night is plant the junipers in the raised planter that runs along the front porch. Anyway, I am so excited about how great it looks. Here is a sneak preview:

PS. I have many more great friends than the ones mentioned in this email... So many of you are blessings to me and I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world! I know I could call many of you at any time and you would be there for me... even if it is just to say hi. I want you all to know that I am very thankful for your friendship and I am praying for all of my friends... especially today.