shoes

I miss these little shoes from last summer!  

Thank you again, Debi, for giving them to us.  

But then again, these little boots that I got free at a garage sale in Sitka this summer are pretty stinkin' cute on my boy too if I do say so myself.  


Speaking of shoes, I think I've just got to finally give in and admit that my feet grew in my pregnancy with David.  I don't notice it in open-toed shoes and I wear a lot of those.  I don't think I've bought any close-toed shoes since I had him and the ones I've had probably have stretched some although I've noticed snugness a bit, but I tried to order some hiking boots for our Alaska trip before we went and ordered an 8.5 and they flat out were *too* small!  


I wear a size 9.  There, I said, it, time to embrace and move on and find some cute hiking shoes I like!  Any suggestions? 


Kelly

two friends

You know what?

I'd like to ask you for something today.

I'd like to ask you to consider something.

January 12th marked the second anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti.

I'll be honest, I don't think about Haiti a whole lot.

I am so thankful for a couple of my blogging friends who keep me on my toes and open up my eyes.

When I began reading blogs on the 12th late (really late) in the evening. I was excited to see this fundraiser that The Adventure Project is doing.

It's called You+Me.

It's all about the ripple effect.

"We want to turn the second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake into a day of record-breaking impact.

It's a simple idea. We are each finding 2 friends. Two friends who will recognize the anniversary by sponsoring a $20 charcoal-efficient stove for a family in Haiti. And the movement begins when those two friends reach out to their 2 friends.

These stoves are revolutionary, allowing families to breathe easier, cook faster, and increase their income by saving on fuel costs. The money saved is money used to send their kids to school, start small businesses, and eat more nutritious food. The stoves are produced locally in Port au Prince and sold by women entrepreneurs. It's a sustainable business model providing a life-saving product.



So we are marking this anniversary with a ripple movement of friends.
2 years, 2 friends, 2 stoves.

Buy your stove. And find your two friends."

So back to what I'd like to ask you.

Will you please consider finding $20 this month to use to buy a stove for a family in Haiti?

I would really appreciate it.

I have already bought my stove by being one of another fundraisers "two friends".

I really believe in these stoves. They are saving the lives of babies who will not be dying from the toxic smoke of the fires that are their other cooking alternative.

I would love for you to check out this post that really explains a lot about the stoves from Jody who has seen them in use with her own two eyes.

Technically the goal is to each find two friends so I'll be REALLY happy if I have two friends who take the challenge.

I set my sights kind of high though.

Last week 164 of you visited my blog. 70% of you were returning visitors - my friends, either in real life or just here in this space.

If just 50 of you will buy a stove for Haiti then I will reach my goal.

(told you I set my sights high)

But 70% of 164 visitors in a week is 114 people, 114 stoves . . . I think we can reach 50, don't you?!

You can make your donation for a stove for Haiti through the Adventure Project by clicking HERE

This is exciting! We are going to change lives!

THANK YOU!!!

Kelly

happy 2012

I started this post about 10 p.m. on the 31st but things have been moving along over here and I am just now getting it finished.

We had our party and it was a lot of fun!

We ended up "counting down" at about 6:55 our time. We were trying for 7:00 to celebrate when it turned midnight in Rio de Janiero but the kids were ready so we just went ahead!

More pics from the party to come but I wanted to mention a couple things for the new year before too much more time gets away.

I'm going to try out this decluttering calendar for the new year. Anyone want to do it with me? Nothing formal and I'm not gonna promise to do every day but a little is better than nothing, right? Leave me a comment or e-mail me if you want to do it together. It would be more fun that way for sure.

Also, last year at the wonderful encouragement of a dear friend, I intentionally memorized scripture for the first time in years. This is such a good thing for me but I had not exhibited the discipline to do it in so long.

We did it along with Beth Moore and thousands of other women through the Living Proof Ministries blog.

It was really good and I am so glad that I bit the bullet and did it. At the same time though, my year has been full, my brain has been full and while I am so thankful that I kept it up I still don't feel like I have those 20 some odd verses really truly rolling off the tongue of my mind/heart.

Rather than trying to memorize new ones right now I am going to work on really solidifying those so that I can say them anytime, anywhere to myself, to my family, to friends or strangers to bring a word of encouragement or peace.

I think the thing to do will be to put the verse reference and the first word or two of each scripture on a list on my mirror and just work on them from there. Do you think that will work?

Are any of you memorizing scripture? Do you have any ideas of things that are helpful to really have these truths of God's word written on your heart and mind?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on scripture, decluttering, what you ate for lunch . . . oh just anything.

Happy Tuesday!

Kelly

three

Happy October 3rd and happy eve of our 3rd anniversary to us.

{photo taken of a university elevator floor number on a recent visit}

I looked back and realized that I never posted about our "rehearsal dinner" for our wedding so I thought I'd do that now. (I'm also retro-publishing part of this post back in it's chronological order as well.)

The venue where we got married had a lot of different events all the time so you didn't get to book it for an entire weekend or anything. Basically we got it for the day of our wedding and that's it. I think there was a high school homecoming dance there the night before our wedding.

We didn't have attendants and since our family members who took part in our wedding doing music, readings, etc. are all polished speakers, performers, etc. and our preacher is very accomplished at doing weddings and we certainly weren't his first, we decided that a formal "rehearsal" in the space was not important to us.

(Sidenote: our wedding ended up starting about an hour late because the deejay we hired did not have all the equipment he needed unfortunately. I guess if we'd done a rehearsal with him then the delay wouldn't have happened but it just wasn't practical given all of the logistics in play and it was fine in the end.)

So back to the night before the wedding . . .

We decided that we what was really important to us was actually getting to spend time with all of the wonderful friends and family who were coming to our wedding, particularly the many, many people who came from out of town and who we don't get to see just every day.

My old youth minister, Greg, once said that there are two times in your life when everyone you know and love is going to gather in one place. One of those is your wedding and the other is your funeral. Obviously, you only get to enjoy those people at one of those events. His point was to soak up that time with the people you love and who love you at your wedding rather than getting overly focused on details and things.

So . . .

we went a different route than the norm and had a big social at a park and invited everyone who was invited to the wedding to come the night before and hang out.

We made it simple by getting sandwiches, chips, soft drinks, etc., nothing fancy, and everything was just serve yourself.

That meant we got to enjoy

family

old and new friends

big hugs from people we hadn't seen in a while

beginning to be hospitable together as a couple

sweet conversations

watching our friends and family from both sides join together and pitch in to set out food, etc.

This was actually one of my favorite parts just watching all of the people that we love individually meeting each other, smiling, laughing, talking, working, eating and playing alongside each other. It was neat.

We talked and caught up on each other's lives.

People came from Alaska, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, other parts of Texas and even overseas. I may even be missing a place or two.

It was so very special to us!

We had simple decorations.

Many handmade by friends.

There was laughter,

football

hugs

and smiles!

I think it was absolutely perfect for us and I'm so glad we did it.

What a wonderful night that in some ways seems like so many more than three years ago.

Kelly

ten on ten - March 2011 the reverse of last month

You may remember that on the tenth of last month I was traveling back from Houston to home.

Well, this month it just so happens that on the tenth I traveled from home to Houston!

(For some reason blogger is making all of my text underlined and on the road I'm tired of trying to fix it so underlines it is. Also, when you get a great nap in the afternoon and a massage you miss some hours for ten on ten so I used extra photos from the morning that I liked.)

My favorite "taxi driver" ever

Thankful for the HOV lane

one of my very favorite airports

ready to go

obey the rules

happy to see Nana!

happy to see Sweetie!

massage

welcome back, Mama & Sweetie!

see more from Ten on Ten here

9 months old!

So much has happened this month, Little Man!

You added three more states to your list, New Mexico, Missouri and Oklahoma and had your first long road trip. We split it up into two parts each way and our wonderful friends in Tulsa let us stay at their house and you got to sleep in a crib and everything!

You got to spend lots of cousin time.

Houston cousins:

You enjoyed so much playing with your nativity that Nana and Ducca gave you for Christmas last year. You especially seemed partial to the cow and baby Jesus.

You really seemed to get the hang of opening presents.

And you discovered that often boxes are the most fun toy of all.

You got your first guitar and your face lights up when I hand it to you.

You enjoyed your first stocking from Mama and Daddy.

You got rhythm and sounds busy balls and you have been crawling all over after them. You got your first little blue toothbrush and you like to brush your two little toothies while Mama is brushing her teeth. Often this is while sitting in your doorway bouncer because that's where you sit while Mama is taking a shower and getting ready now that you are into exploring everything. You are really good at putting the bristle end of the toothbrush in your mouth.

In addition to the busy balls, wooden teethers and toothbrush in your stocking, you also got bubbles!

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas in New Mexico and you got to meet your great-grandma!

You have now met all of your great-grandparents.

You began crawling everywhere and getting faster and faster! It is so much fun and now you can go wherever you want instead of crying when someone leaves the room.

We enjoyed some great hikes while we were in New Mexico. We hiked in some snowy patches with the whole family on Christmas day and we hiked with Grandad, Uncle Edmund and Daddy on Boxing Day. You were asleep in the backpack and leaning way out to the side. A nice man from France who we saw a few times on the loop had an idea for how we could secure a couple of the straps to help you stay more upright and it worked.

You got to stay up late and attend your first Boxing Day party. You were a hit with the guests.

You also liked Great-Grandma's tree.

You are good at helping with paper work.

You pulled up to standing for the first time outside of your crib (and you've only stood in your crib once). Daddy was sitting at his computer and you went over to him and pulled up to get closer.

You learned to wave "hi" and "bye bye"!

You say "dada" and we're pretty sure you know what it means now.

This reindeer that Mama made in fourth grade hung on your door all during the Christmas season. From the time I put it up you noticed it and seemed to like it. As time went on your smiles got broader when you would see it and when you learned to wave you began to wave "hi" to it when I would get you up from a nap or in the morning. It was sooo cute!

We continued to practice "one finger" and you got it!!!

Your little duck book is the first thing you touched by yourself with one finger. We're so proud of you, big boy!

Along with "one finger" you began learning to stop and listen to Mama or Daddy when we asked you to and not to go near the fireplace. You got your first couple of spankings (not hard) but you learned really quickly and we're so proud of you for the way you're listening and obeying.

You really enjoy playing with other little kids and after a long drive to Missouri in your new big boy carseat you were quite happy to get out at our friends' house and play with their two little boys and all their toys!

more cousin time! You got to meet your Missouri cousins!

You ate country ham and eggs for the first time but Mama and Daddy didn't share the breakfast that they were introduced to on the farm, waffle ice cream sandwiches!

You love playing with your mirror.

It turns out laundry baskets are a great place for you to play right now (as long as they're in the clear of anything that you could fall over on and hurt yourself) and they give Mama and Daddy a break from following you all over the house.

We had to call poison control for the first time when you were scooping up potting soil out of the track of the sliding patio door. Thankfully they said you would be fine!

We ordered a meal just for you for the first time at a restaurant.

You and I went to meet Daddy for lunch at Freebirds and we ordered a single soft taco for you. You loved it!

We had a GREAT visit with Nana! You and she became fast friends!

Nana played peek-a-boo with you and "sack of potatoes". We went shopping in McKinney and at Target and you were an angel boy! You guys had a couple of fun play dates while Mama went to get her haircut and to Wal-mart and then again while Mama and Daddy went on a breakfast date!

You got some good hang out time with Mama and Daddy.

We love you so much, Buddy!