The Kelly Klan

My Christmas decor...

2012-01-18T12:00:00.003-06:00

Well I was in the wreath making spirit this year. They are a lot of fun to do and I can't wait to make more this Christmas. I went to Design World to their after Christmas sale and got more deco mesh and they even had some Halloween colors left so I was able to grab some of that too.

This is the one that I made for Suzie.

This one was for my mom.

This one was mine, it matched my kitchen so I hung it on the inside.

And this one was made for Melia.

Wreath I made for my front door

Snowman tree in my bedroom

Top of Kensley's tree

Full size view

Christmas pictures of the kids displayed in my foyer

Village

Nativity set

Top of my refridgerator

Tree in the living room

Tree in my kitchen

Buffet setting

First day of school and Halloween.....

2012-01-17T07:30:00.000-06:00

Can't belive I'm just now posting these but I wanted to have something to look back on so I'm going to ahead and post them even though it's like 6 months later. :)

The kids up bright and early for their first day of school.

Kensley at her new desk and always ready to pose for the camera.
Konnon at his desk thinking why am I here they already have work on my desk for me to do. :)

Kensley the witch at Sweet CeCe's (they were giving out free ice cream to the first 100 kids that came in dressed up)

Konnor devouring his ice cream

Scream and The Witch

After visiting Sweet CeCe's and going by the grandparents' houses we headed over to Chad and Emily's to load the kids up on the trailor and take them around the neighborhood. They had a blast going from house to house. Thanks to Chad and Emily for hosting it.

Ashton, Kaylee & Kensley after trick or treating. They were sorting out their candy to see what all they got.

Miss Minnie Mouse (Allie)

The party host and little pumpkin

Recap from the weekend

2012-01-09T09:13:00.002-06:00

Well Friday night was spent with family eating at Logan's. We had a couple of extra kids with us so we sent them all home with Suzie so we could go by the hospital and visit some friends of ours that just had a baby. His name is Taylor and he was precious. I got up Saturday morning and headed to the grocery store about 7:30 so I would have something to cook for breakfast. I cleaned house and the rest of the day was just spent being lazy.

We went to church, it was our regular weekend and Big Cove I think out numbered us. The service was really good and lasted pretty long. We headed to Wings after church with about 20 something of us. The food was great and so was the company, we had a good time catching up and laughing even though it was about midnight before we got home and I had to get up and cook my dinner for the next morning. That's ok though it wasn't too rough. Got up Sunday and cook b'fast and the things I had to fix for church and got everyone ready to go. January is my month to work in the kitchen and the past couple of years we have either had a death and I think last year it was the snow so we haven't had to work and usually January doesn't have a very big crowd, well this year was different we had a very large crowd. We heard some great preaching and almost had one to make it. It lasted quite awhile so by the time we got home we only had about an hour before we had to head back.

Church service was good again that night and many got blessings that needed it. So thankful for that.

It's back to work today on this dreary day that I wish I was snuggled up under the covers watching tv. Getting ready to watch the BIG game tonight with family. Hope Alabama pulls through. Hope you all have a great week!

Catch Up Post!

2011-12-27T15:13:00.002-06:00

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We did! We enjoyed eating and being with family and friends during the holidays. I guess I need to play catch up since it has been almost two months since I have posted anything. I will post pictures in a different post of all the events that we have had.

We had Halloween and we went to some friends' house and the kids rode on a trailer and went from house to house, it was a lot of fun. And there were many birthdays in between then and Thanksgiving to celebrate. We usually always spend Thanksgiving with Dustin's family and most of the time my parents will join us since me an my brother are married in to the same family. :) But this year they opted to eat with my grandmother that lives in Grant. We had a big meal and did our yearly tradition of flipping through the sales papers to cut coupons and map out our journey for the night. Last year we shopped all night and it was a lot of fun, so we decided to do it again this year. Well let me just say it wasn't as fun. Everyone has caught on to the idea of shopping all night and it was packed everywhere we went. I only had one big item that I needed to get and that was at Dick's and they didn't open til 5. Well we got there about 5:30 and they had already sold out of the in ground basketball goals and only had one left of the portable ones, so I got it and stood in the enormous line to pay for it. We were back home before 8. The rest of the day was spent cleaning house and laying around doing nothing.

We've had many Christmas functions to attend. I love making Christmas candy and decorating for it. I put up 4 trees this year and had a fifth one to put up, but the stand was missing. I will post pics of them later. I think I made around 5-6 batches of peanut butter balls and about 6-7 batches of oreo balls, along with other candies and appetizers that I like to fix. It was a lot of work but at the same time it was fun. One of my favorite functions to attend is our church Christmas party that we have every year and this year was no exception, we had a blast! Me and Dustin both came away with great gifts. The kids went to the movies with Hilary and Daniel that night so they too had a lot of fun.

We have a tradition every year that on Christmas morning we cook breakfast at our house for our families to come over and eat. It's something I hope never changes. Most everyone was able to show up and we had tons of food, but it was all good. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and letting the kids play and then we headed up Marty's that afternoon for some games.

Monday we did brave the crowds and head to town to exchange and take back a couple of things. It was extremely crowded but we got some good deals. We saw some friends from Rocky Branch at Hobby Lobby and invited them over. They came along with another couple and we had a fun night of just talking and playing games and of course eating. :)

The kids are doing good. We had to go back to B'ham a couple of weeks ago to get Kensley's eyes checked again and we were expecting her to get glasses at that point. When the doctor told us he didn't think she needed them, we were pretty shocked. He said her vision is 20/40 and that she could see really good for her condition. He said he could see maybe in the future that she may be nearsighted, but he wasn't concerned with that right now. Even though she turns to the side to read, he said that was fine cause she was trying to correct it on her own. He said we could do some cosmetic surgery to raise her eyelid, but we aren't worried about that now. If it bothers her as she gets older we may look in to it, but for now we are just happy to hear that she doesn't have to have glasses. We are thankful for all the prayers that people have prayed for her, it is still working and we are looking for more improvements. We go back to see her rehab doctor in January and I'm hoping to hear good news there too.

I promise to try and get my pictures on here. Hope everyone has a good rest of the week!

October 23, 2011

2011-10-24T07:08:00.005-05:00

Well yesterday was my sweet little girl's birthday. She turned 8 years old. It's so hard to believe she is eight. I sometimes wish they were still small and you could just cuddle with them. Although Kensley still likes to cuddle, she loves giving me hugs and kisses and I take all that I can. She will still give me a kiss before she gets on the bus and I will try and give Konnor one but he dodges me and runs. :)

We didn't get to have a party cause most everyone was out of town last week for fall break so I told her we may have her something after my niece's wedding cause right now things are pretty hectic. We did however take her to Logan's Friday night with some family and friends. Crosby came over and spent the night with her Friday night and they were up about 4 the next morning playing. We started our day by going to McDonald's for some breakfast and then we headed over to Spoiled Rockin Kids to get their hair done. Kensley wanted the Princess hair style and Crosby wanted the Rock Star look. Here are some pictures of the finished project.

They had so much fun doing that. When then had to run back home to do something for Dustin and then we headed to town to go shopping. First stop Old Navy where I found some really good deals. Then it was off to the mall. We shopped a little and then went and ate and shopped a little more and then headed over to Catos and Payless. After there I could tell the girls were wearing down, so I said we would head home, but on the way I remembered this consignment shop that I wanted to check out so we ran by there a few minutes and then headed towards the house. They played a til about 5 and then we took Crosby home. Me and Kensley then headed to Wal-Mart and later met Marty and Kylee at Hobby Lobby. Picked up some Zaxby's for supper and headed to Marty's house to see what we could help with for the wedding. It was a fun day with my precious daughter and I can't wait to spend many more like it with her.

Sunday was her actual birthday and Higdon was giving Kylee and Erik a shower so we went out there for church that morning. Came back to Huntsville for church that night. They sang to Kensley after church and you won't believe how much money that girl ended up with. Bro. Rob even got the pan out for her to hold. She ended up with $72.00 just from church. She is really loved and it has shown.

A few things Kensley enjoys doing at this age are playing mom to her babies, playing school, playing church and pretending she has a boyfriend that she is getting married to. She bought a fake diamond ring at Claires Saturday and she keeps telling me she is engaged to Christopher (a little boy from school). I told her this morning that Christopher had to ask her daddy's permission to marry her and she said she was going to go tell him this morning....lol! I told her not to worry about it right now. She loves talking to everybody and finding out their life history. J/K. She does love to talk though and sometimes I worry that she is bugging people, but that is just her personality. I'm so thankful the Lord saw fit to let us keep her awhile longer. He has truly blessed her and I know He will continue.

We love you Kensley and wish you a very Happy Birthday!!!!

What would we do without the Lord.

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

Well it seems I'm always posting about the Lord watching over one of us and keeping us safe, but I don't know what we would do if we didn't have Him there with us.

As you can see from the picture above, Konnor flipped the four wheeler yesterday afternoon. He was wearing a helmet. It landed on his leg so thankfully he was able to get out from under it. He was a pretty good ways from the house and had started walking home before we found out about it. Dustin and several others rushed up there and I still didn't know until Alicia walked in that he had wrecked. I'm so thankful the Lord watched over him one more time. He has a big bruise on his leg and was pretty sore this morning, but it could have been so much worse. Thank you Lord once again for keeping my son safe. We would be lost without You.

2 years later.....

2011-10-10T16:30:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it has already been two years since our accident? Sometimes it feels just like it was yesterday and at other times it feels like it has been a long road, but one that God has been there every step of the way. I looked at the Praying for Kensley blog and she has come so far from just a year ago. She knows that the Lord spared her life and she consistently thanks Him for it. She is a praying child. She prays about everything anything. I'm so grateful that she knows the Lord can do things she asks Him to do and that she puts all her trust in Him.

I'm grateful for all of our friends and family that stuck with us while we were away. We are so blessed to have you all and still can't thank you all enough for sticking with us during the hardest time in our life.

Last night on the way home from eating out with some of our best friends, I just got to thinking about our first night out of the hospital and started crying. It's still all so real. Once me, Dustin and Konnor got released we stayed the first night at the Ronald McDonald house next to the hospital. We were all so sore from the wreck we could hardly move. We all got down to pray before we went to bed and we just couldn't even pray without sobbing. We just hugged each other and cried. We couldn't stand the thoughts of not having our little girl there with us. It still just breaks my heart thinking about it. But what a difference she is now.

I know these milestones don't seem like much to most parents, but to us they are so great! She can now open the 2 liter drink and pour it herself. She can put something in the microwave and heat it up herself. She often says to me "Mom aren't you glad that I can pour my own drink now, I'm doing so much better, aren't I?" She truly knows the Lord has helped her up til now. She often reminds me that the Lord has allowed her to walk, run, talk and that He has opened her eye. I think the Lord knows that I still struggle with it sometimes and He uses her to remind me of all the good that has happened so far. What a blessing she is. She still has some struggles to overcome, but I know the Lord can take care of those too.

Just wanted to share a little bit of how far the Lord has brought our little Angel. She is a reminder of what God can do.

On a different note, I had the honor of hosting Drea and Chad's 30th Birthday bash. It was a lot of fun and they I think they knew something was up, but just not quite sure what. We had a big crowd with lots of food, a bon fire and a hayride for the kiddos. I'm glad I got to be part of it. Drea is not so young anymore, but she'll get used to saying the "th" word eventually. :) Hope both of you had a great birthday!

God still Answers Prayers!

2011-09-19T16:30:00.001-05:00

Well after church last night we had some friends invite us to go eat at Cheddar's with them. This is somewhere we really never go, I think we have only been there once, so we decided we would go. We get there and it's about a 30-40 minute wait, but we wait it out and they were super slow with the service, but we had good company so it wasn't bad.

We head to the car and Dustin asked who left the light on, well I didn't remember turning it on and then he proceeds to get in the car. And I'm thinking wait a minute he just opened the door and I haven't even unlocked the car yet. So he gets Kensley in and I'm saying someone was in here! My console was opened and things were moved around and then we noticed Dustin's wallet was gone along with two very expensive pair of sunglasses one in which Konnor used his own money to buy. That's all we have found that is missing.

This is the second time that this has happened to us. The other time was at church about 3-4 years ago. We immediately call and cancel the debit card. I'm just sick at this point and feeling bad that it was my fault and poor little Konnor was so upset, but I think he was feeling sorry for me that he told me it was ok and the he would just take a cheap pair from Wal-Mart. He was such a sweetheart about it.

Of course a million things run through your mind that could take place in this situation. One they have your address and could come to your house. They had my husband's SSN and could take his identity, just all sorts of things. Konnor was scared and didn't want to sleep by himself and I was scared and pretty much got no rest, just done lots of praying which I needed to do anyway.

Well this morning I start making all the calls that I need to. I called Cheddar's to let them know if they found anything or if anything was turned in to please let us know. Well she said she would go look and let me know and I never heard back from her until about 2 this evening I got a call that the lawn care service had found his wallet and everything looked to be in place. I called Dustin and he went to pick it up from them. The debit card was missing, but I think we got it cancelled before they even used it cause there have been no transactions made. The sunglasses are still gone, but luckily no one was hurt and they apparently was just looking for some quick cash, which they didn't get from us cause we seem to never have cash.

So hopefully I can remember to keep my doors locked from all the crazies out there and Dustin needs to start keeping his wallet in his pocket from now own. Lesson hopefully learned on both our parts. Hope you all have had a better Monday than mine, although mine did get brighter when they said they found the wallet. So thankful the Lord still hears our prayers. Have a great rest of the day!

Wow!!!!!! Has it really been that long....

2011-09-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

.....since I have posted anything. Life has just been so busy with everything lately that I can't find the time to blog. I've still been keeping up with everyone else's but just not my own. Things are really busy around our house these days, but it keeps us going. We've had many birthday parties to attend and another one this Friday night. Church, church and more church, we have really been trying to visit a lot more and it has paid off. Singings are about to get rolling again next week. Come October I think I have a shower to attend every week if not two a week. Mostly for Kylee including one at my house, so that means I have to work on getting it decorated for the fall and clean, clean and clean some more. :)

I love the fall time, the weather, the colors it's just the perfect time of year.

The kids are doing well. Konnor of course doesn't like school, but he's doing ok with it. He still loves riding the four wheeler and wants to run fire calls as if he were an EMT. A few weeks ago there was a wreck right up from the house and he had Dustin's fire pager (Dustin was in the bed with a headache I think) and he came running in the house wanting me to take him down there like he could do something for them. Of course I told him no and he was not happy, so he took off on the four wheeler and in just a minute Dustin got up and went down there and Konnor came back to find his dad gone, well that was all she wrote, he was so upset so I finally just drove him down there. He really thinks he's a fireman and do whatever his dad and Mitch do. He loves it so much that who knows one day he may grow up to be a real fireman. He likes to play and listen to music on his ipod. He doesn't like for Kensley to come up in his room and mess with his stuff it just tears his nerves up. Konnor used to not like being outside a lot, but that has since changed, he loves to have something to do and be outside until we force him to come in and do homework. He still loves to play the drums and got to play a song at the Friends singing in Big Cove the other night. He's growing up so fast, I can hardly believe he will be 10 on his next b-day.

Kensley is doing really well. She loves school. She has the new teacher this year and I was really worried cause she does have special needs and I was afraid she wouldn't know what to do. Well her wonderful teacher from last year briefed her on everything and Kensley loves the new teacher. She is doing well in school. She has accomplished learning going up and down the stairs by herself even without rails (this is how she learned to go in Konnor's room). She can walk, run, jump, hop, skip and anything pretty much she wants to do. She is still crazy about a little boy in her class, and if you are with her any amount of time she will tell you all about him. The girl loves to shop and gets so excited when I bring something home from Justice. I took my yard sale money I made last weekend and bought her some fall clothes and when I came in last night and showed them to her you would have thought I had just given her a million dollars. It doesn't take much to excite her. She loves the little things in life and I'm thankful for that. She loves playing church and knows more than I ever thought. Just last night she asked me did I know why she wanted to go to Heaven and she said it was because everything there is pretty and if you go down to the devil there isn't anything pretty it's just fire. Our kids pay attention more than we realize. She even made a comment about Bro. David. She remembers so much, I just hope it will stay with her over the years. She still likes Justin Beiber, she loves to sing and play with her baby dolls. She is growing up way to fast, but still mommy's little girl. She still loves for me to hold and cuddle her, but Konnor on the other hand well your lucky to get a good night kiss out of him. :)

Dustin is on the mend. He has been down in his back now since Sunday. He finally went back to work today, but he is still not 100%. We are looking for the Lord to finish the job. He's still same old Dustin. He has lot on his plate right now so I just want to be there for him and help him in anyway I can.

I'm still working everyday and it's been busier than ever lately, but that's the way I like it. I'm just trying to plan for showers coming up and getting my house presentable. I had a yard sale last weekend and did really well, I almost feel like I could clean out some more and have another one though. I'm ready for fall and cooler weather, not winter just fall.

Well I guess that's it for now. Hopefully I can do better with keeping up with this blog from now on.

Beach trip 2011!!!!!!!!

2011-07-15T16:45:00.004-05:00

I'm going to try and break this down in to different post so that it's not so overwhelming when trying to read. So be sure to look at all of them. We had a great time. We arrived on Saturday and the check out day was Wednesday, but me and Dustin had already talked about staying a little longer or maybe going somewhere else. We were just gonna see what happened. Our trip consisted mostly of going to the beach and eating. Seemed like every time you turned around someone was asking what was going to eat. But that's what we were there for to enjoy the food and beach. :)

You'll read about Sunday and Monday in a different post. But Tuesday me and Dustin took all the kids to the beach, Jeremy and Melia had some errands to run. They brought us lunch back and I don't think we went back to the beach, I think we all just chilled and then got ready and headed over to the Oyster House, which was my least favorite of all, but that's ok Dustin really enjoyed it. Of course there was another t-shirt purchase that Konnor just thought he had to have and a small purchase for Kensley so she didn't feel left out. Then it was back to the room to get dressed for beach pictures. I will post them separately. We stopped and got some cookies to bake and me, Dustin and Konnor took a night stroll on the beach. It was really nice. Here are a couple of pics from that night. They aren't the greatest because they were taken with Dustin's phone.

We did some shopping on Wednesday because it was raining. We ran in to a few people we knew and talked a little and then headed over to Lambert's to eat. We had to wait awhile, but it was well worth it. It was probably our favorite meal. Then we headed back over to the outlets to finish up our shopping, where we then saw Stephanie and Stewart. We chatted for a little bit and parted. We headed back to the condo where we got ready and went back out to the beach. Oh and I forgot to mention that Jeremy and Melia headed home today and she called to see if we could have the condo for the rest of the week and the lady gave us two nights free, we were so excited. We talked them in to letting her kids stay so that our kids would have someone to play with. That night Dustin just went and grabbed us something to eat and brought it back to the condo.

Thursday the kids were wanting to go somewhere and do something so we took them to ride go carts. I don't have any pics because I was too lazy to carry my camera in. But while the boys were waiting to ride the Wild Woody, it started pouring rain, so we left and went back to Lulu's to eat and then back to let them ride. Back to the beach that afternoon and then to King Neptune's to eat supper. We had to wait forever to be seated, but I think Dustin will say that it was worth it. He had a pound of crab legs and all sorts of sides. We had been there for about 2 1/2 hours and the girls just couldn't take anymore, they laid their heads down and went to sleep.

Friday was pack-up day and head back to Huntsville. I got up early and starting cleaning up and packing things up. We headed on over to Cracker Barrell for breakfast and headed out. We probably weren't on the road 30 min and Kensley already had to make a pit stop. Once we finally got going, we were making pretty good time. We stopped in B'ham to eat some lunch and got back home around 3. Now it's back to the real world of working, cleaning and going to and fro. Have a good weekend!

Random pics from the beach!

2011-07-15T16:45:00.003-05:00

Here are just a bunch of random pics from our trip. Hope you enjoy!

This is Kensley most of the trip, she just wanted to sit and soak up the sun.

And this was Konnor most of the time, letting the waves knock him down, which consisted of the getting shells and sand all in his shorts.

The kids trying to do handstands in the ocean.

Kensley and her dad riding the waves.

Konnor is in the wave, you can barely see him.

This was the view from our house.

Family pictures on the beach.

2011-07-15T16:35:00.001-05:00

Tuesday evening we rode down and made some beach pictures. I think they turned out good. These are just in random order. Let me know what you think.

Pics from 4th of July...

2011-07-15T16:30:00.003-05:00

This is the day we were probably at the beach the longest and we got lots of sun, but all worth it in the end. :) We let Kamron talk us in to going to Jake's steakhouse for supper that night and well let's just say we didn't let Kamron make any of the food decisions anymore. We came back to the condo to watch the fireworks from our balcony. We had a great view and best of all we didn't have to fight all that traffic. Here are a few from the night.

The boys sporting their new sunglasses they just had to have.

Eating at Lulu's....

2011-07-15T16:30:00.002-05:00

The first night we ate at Shirmp Basket and it was late before we decided and so crowded that we just got it to go and went back to the condo to eat it.

Sunday consisted of getting up and going to the beach. Jeremy and Dustin headed out to scope things out to eat and do. They did a little shopping while they were out and about too. Don't let Dustin fool you, he loves to shop just as much as I do. :) We had lunch in that day and headed to Lulu's for supper.

This was one of our favorite restaurants. We had stopped by the night before to get a menu and they told us the best time to come was around 4 in evening and it wouldn't be as crowded, so that is just what we did. And we only had to wait about 15 min. So while we waited we shopped. It was probably where I bought most of my purchases. Everyone got a t-shirt and I bought me two necklaces and Kensley a necklace. We also went back a second time where I purchased yet another necklace. They had some really cute ones at a good price. I highly recommend going here if you have never been. They have lots of things for the kids to do while you wait for your table. There is also a smoothie and snow cone stand, which of course we had to purchase some of those too. :) The food is great and the atmosphere is wonderful too.

Having fun at the beach!!!!

2011-07-05T09:18:00.003-05:00

Well we have been at the beach since Saturday and had a blast. We have been sitting on the beach soakin up some sun. Yesterday was very hot and we got lots of sun. We have pretty much just enjoyed being out on the beach and eating everything in site. :) Tonight we are heading to The Oyster House. Kensley has done well. She doesn't really like getting in the ocean. Dustin got her out there yesterday and she enjoyed it, but she just doesn't like the waves knocking her down. She mostly just lays back in her chair and enjoys getting some sun. I have tons of pictures to post, but here are just a few to hold you over.

I'll be back with more pictures and updates soon! Hope you all have a good rest of the week.

Pictures from our weekend.....

2011-06-22T09:58:00.003-05:00

Us at the go cart track.

At Pancake Pantry

Eating at Fannie Farkles

Being silly.

Happy Belated Father's Day!

2011-06-21T07:58:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day. I would like to wish my dad and my husband a Happy Father's Day! My dad is a great person, he is tender hearted and would do anything for anybody. He's been sick over the past couple of years a lot and I'm thankful the Lord has kept him here with us.

I want to also wish my husband a Happy Father's Day. To me he is great and the best dad my kids could have. He is very good to them and they adore him. I mean who wouldn't....lol! He has been a prayer answered to me and I love him more today than the day we got married. I hope you had a great Father's day!

Happy Belated Birthday to Konnor!

2011-06-21T06:34:00.001-05:00

Well I'm just now having a free moment to even blog about my son's birthday. We have been so busy getting ready for a party and now we have revival this week and I'm already exhausted. Well I can't compare to the blog that Dustin wrote about Konnor, it was a tear jerker and so true. But 9 years ago I brought home a chubby baby boy weighing in at 8lbs 11oz. When I was pregnant I kept saying that I wanted a fat baby and I got one. I remember eating almost a whole pizza by myself one day and now today I am paying for that, it still hasn't went away. :)

I had no idea what to expect as far as labor went and to be honest I didn't want to feel any pain. So as soon as they offered the epidural I took it. I never felt the first contraction or any pain. Right after Konnor was born, they took him over to the other side of the room and let me hold him for only just a minute and took him to the nursery. I didn't know that wasn't normal because I had never been through this, so I just thought that was the process and later I was told that when he was born he had turned blue, he wasn't getting enough oxygen so they had to make sure he was ok. He was perfectly fine and I'm so thankful that the Lord watched over him. I had him during our revival, so we had tons of company that week, but I didn't mind.

Konnor was a very good baby, he didn't cry alot, and he was always content. He didn't like being rocked, he wanted you to lay in your lap on his belly and you bounce him to sleep. His cheeks would just hang they were so fat. He had to grow up so fast seems like. He was only 8 months old when I got pregnant with Kensley. He wasn't one of these kids that were attached and had to have me, he was pretty independent, so it helped a lot when Kensley was born because she was one that was attached.

Dustin mentioned the wreck and how Konnor was so strong during all of it. I knew Kensley was in ICU and she was being well taken care of. I worried that Konnor didn't have anyone, he was out in a room by himself several floors away from us. But I think it was Tim and Heather who stayed with him and I don't know what we would have done without them and Holly during this time. Unlike Dustin I didn't get to see him until the next morning. I was so happy to see him and he was being so brave for me and his dad. He was sore and beat up, but he wasn't going to let that affect him. He got lots of attention from everybody and became really spoiled, but that's ok, he deserved it. I'm so thankful to everyone who help take care of him when we couldn't be there for him.

Today Konnor is well Konnor. Anyone who knows him knows that he loves to entertain you and he definitely does it well. He loves playing the drums and loves running fire calls with his dad. He wants to be just like him. Dustin tells him he doesn't, but I think that would be a great compliment. I would love for him to be like his dad. He is started to enjoy playing baseball and football with the boys. He loves singings and watching fire videos on YouTube.

I just want to say Happy Birthday to my little man and I hope you have many more. We Love You!

Spur of the moment trip!

2011-06-20T08:42:00.002-05:00

Well that getaway that I was needing happened this weekend. We had revival all last week, and even though I had to miss some services staying with Dustin because his back went out again, the revival was good and the Lord blessed with the HG. Friday night we get to church and find out that Marty, Lee, Kade, Kylee, Erik, Hilary and Daniel are leaving for the Smokies afterwards. There was an extra room so me and Dustin and the kids loaded up with them. We got there around 3:30-4:00 Saturday morning. We were pretty tired, but slept for a little while and got up and went to Pancake Pantry for breakfast and walked up and down the strip in the rain.

We headed back to the room for some rest and back out that night for some Mellow Mushroom and riding go carts. By this time it was going on 11 so we went back to the room and played Apples to Apples where I dominated. And there were many good laughs. So going on 2 the boys headed out and we all went to bed.

Sunday Hilary and Kylee wanted to fix breakfast and they did an outstanding job. It was raining again so we decided to just go shopping at the outlets where we found some good deals. Went and ate at bar-b-que place and it was really good. Went back to the room to pack up and clean and one last stop at the Apple Barn for some fried pies. We got home last night about 9:30. We are exhausted this morning, but glad we made the trip. We had a really good time and now it's time to plan for the beach trip coming up. Pictures of the trip to come soon.

Waiting for the Storm to Pass....

2011-06-05T13:35:00.002-05:00

....ever been to one of those points when you just feel you need to get away for awhile. Well I feel like I'm at one of those points. I'm ready to just get away from all the worries and just try and relax and forget about what's going on down here. The world is in such a bad shape and it's so troublesome to think of everything that's going on. My mind seems to be in a whirlwind lately, just waiting for storm to pass. I bought this wall art the other day at Kirkalnds and it said "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass but about learning to dance in the storm." That saying has really helped me over the pass couple of days.

I love my family and pray that I can be there for them when they need me. I'm not much help, but I want to try. They mean the world to me and I would do anything for them. Me and Dustin have encountered some storms over the years, but it has only made uis closer.

I just wanted to say that I'm thankful for the Lord and where He has brought me and my family. I wouldn't be where I am today without Him.

Hope you all find some way to stay cool in this HOT weather! Come visit us at Huntsville for our revival coming up this next weekend.

Awards Day and last weekend

2011-05-28T12:23:00.010-05:00

Well I'm just now getting to post about the kids awards day. It was one week ago this yesterday. I took the day off from work to go see the kids receive their awards and spend the day with them. We went to McDonald's before school and then off we went. I got there early so was able to go with them to their class to make some pics. Kensley got to go say the pledge that morning. Here is a pic of her and a couple of her classmates saying the pledge.

Last year Kensley had to have someone walking with her across the gym to recieve her certificate, but this year she was all on her own and I so proud of how far she has come. She received all A honor roll this year and to think that when she went back to school after the accident her memory was pretty gone, but to think of how far she has come now is just amazing. She can remember more than I can now. We are so proud of you Kens and hope you continue to excel in all you do.

Next was Konnor and this was kind of a rough year for him. It began multiplication and divsion. He didn't make the honor roll, but he did great overall and received the attendance award and a couple of others. He has really grown up over this past year. He has become my helper, he used to fuss everytime I asked him to do something, but now he loves to help. Just last week he wanted me to teach him how to wash clothes. Not many boys would want to know how to do that, but he has become a big help to me and his dad. He loves to mow the grass, so his grandmother has started paying him to mow her grass for her. Konnor we are so proud of how you are doing and hope you too excel in all you do.

After the awards we went with Nickie, Janice, Brooke, Marty and Hayley and all the kids to El Palacio (I'm not sure that I spelled that correctly, but it's the Mexican place in Gurley) for lunch. Well the boys decided to go home with Hayley and I took Kensley and Crosby to the mall. We shopped around and then headed to Target and back home to get ready for the graduation reception at the church.

We had 7 graduates at our church this year, but only 6 were able to be there. We went for a little bit and then went to Logan's to eat with Hilary, Daniel, Scott & Josie and the kids.

Saturday we got up early to start working in the yard. We worked pretty much all day, but got a lot accomplished. Later that afternoon I went to meet Heather to get Haley to stay with Kensley.

We got ready for church and we had a lot of visitors from Nila and heard some really good testimonies. Afterwards we just ran to Burger King and crashed for the night.

We didn't go to church Sunday morning, I know shame on us! But Kyle's little girl Grayson was having a b-day party. I heard the girls in Kensley's room that morning talking and I looked at the clock and it was just a little after 4 and shortly after Kensley was hollering that they were thirsty, so I get up and fix them something to drink and go back to bed and just let them play. Later that morning I noticed that I didn't hear them and when I went back there this is what I found. They had fell asleep playing. The kids played in the sprinklers and we went to the party. Back to church that night for another good service and then back to Logan's to eat. Can you tell we like to go to Logan's??? Well we have lots more from this weekend to talk about but I will save it for another post. Hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend. Here is a pic of Haley and Kensley before we left for church.

Thankful for prayers!

2011-05-16T18:54:00.005-05:00

I just want to say thank you to everyone for all the prayers that have been prayed for Dustin over the past few days. He has suffered so much and it hurts me to see him in that much pain and not able to do anything. Several from church came over last night to pray for him and the Lord really sent him a lot of help. This morning he was doing better, but not 100%, but on the mend. I'm thankful the Lord still loves us enough to send help our way and thankful that He can visit us in our home. It means a lot to have the Lord come by in your own home. Please continue to pray for him as he recovers from this. I know he would appreciate it.

Our weekend didn't consist of much going on. Friday night we went to a singing at Gurley. Singing was crowded but good. Saturday me and Dustin had to plan to go to a yard sale we knew about, but he couldn't even get out of bed. I went and fixed breakfast and helped him get up and me and Suzie went to the sale. I got a new rug and an accent table. Came back home and cleaned house and lazed around the rest of the day. Me and Kens we to church and Konnor, Porter, Kade and Dalton stayed at the house to take care of Dustin, well I don't know how well they really took care of him. It was a good service.

Sunday Dustin still wasn't feeling well so I stayed home with him. Suzie had cooked a big dinner so we ate and rested up until everyone came to pray for Dustin.

Today was back to work and school for the kids. I thought that homework would be over with by now, but poor Konnor came home with a full week of it. Kensley said that some in her class had homework, but she didn't. I think I'm going to have to ask the teacher about that one. Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-10T05:00:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a blessed and Happy Mother's Day! I'm so thankful for my kids and that the Lord has allowed me to be their mother. We had a good mother's day. It actually started for me on Friday. I got an email from the front desk at work that I had some flowers. I got this beautiful bouquet of flowers from my husband for Mother's Day. He was scheduled to work all weekend, so he sent me an early Mother's Day. I didn't expect him to get me anything especially with everything that was going on. Others don't even have homes or even a mother to come home to. I'm so thankful the Lord spared us once again. Anyway the flowers were a nice surprise.

Saturday Kensley brought me a card she had made that morning, she's always writing me notes and things, but this was sweet that she thought to make me one for Mother's day. Sunday morning Konnor got up early (before the rest of us) which is very unusual, but he was getting him something to eat, so I decided I would get up and get a shower and head to the kitchen to make breakfast. When I got to the kitchen there was this card sitting on the table that Konnor had made. I was really shocked because that's just not Konnor. But it was the sweetest card ever. I had bought me some flowers the day before to plant and he wrote "I hope you do good on your flowers." He really put thought in to it and the whole day he would do whatever I asked him to without any lip.

We went to church that morning at Huntsville and then to Marty's to grill out and spend time with Suzie. We all had a good time and now it was time to head to the mountain to see my mom. We stayed over at Melia's for a while playing the WII and then we all decided it was time to eat again. So we took off to Cracker Barrell in Guntersville. Had a nice supper and headed home for the night.

It was a good Mother's Day and I pray that these that have lost their mother or children during the storms that they were comforted on this day and here after. I've read and heard so many touching stories and what great testimonies they have.

I'm so proud of you!

2011-05-04T19:29:00.003-05:00

I just want to take the time to say that this has been a very exhausting week for my husband. Most everyone knows that he works for the utilities and he has worked overtime since the storms hit last week. He has not complained about doing it, he knows it's his job and he is so willing to do it so that everyone gets their power back on and can get back to normal. I know he is exhausted and would love a day off from work, but he puts forth that effort everyday for all of you out there. I'm so proud to call him my husband. He will do anything to help. I've had people come to me at work and say tell your husband thank you for what he does. They didn't complain that they didn't have power, they just were glad to get it when they did. So thank you to Dustin for all the hard work you have put in the past week while the rest of us had to stay out of work due to power outages. Your the best and I love you!

After the storm....

2011-05-01T07:34:00.002-05:00

...I hope everyone is safe at home with their families. We are all safe and no damage other than no power. We are so lucky compared to other families out there that have lost loved ones and homes. We know some that have been affected by the storm and it is so heartbreaking. There is a dear sister from our church that lost everything she had, but luckily she is still alive. She is such a sweet person and has a heart as big as Texas. She is a jewel and we want to do what we can to help her and all the others.

Me and Marty have kept the roads hot going to get gas and generators. We have been to Pulaski, Hartselle and Grant. We went to Grant yesterday because they have power and I needed to wash Dustin's uniforms for work. He is having to work 6 to 6 everyday and he told me last night that they are considering put them on 16 hour days. Bless his heart he has worked so hard during all of this and I know he is so tired, but the Utility workers will do whatever they need to get everyone back up and running. He worked with one of the Florida guys yesterday that came up to help.

We are just hanging out at Suzie's house most of the time. They have their house hooked up to the generator so we are able to take warm showers.

I hope everyone is safe and ok and if anyone needs anything please do not hesitate to let us know. We will be glad to help. We love you all and are praying for those affected!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

2011-04-25T18:41:00.000-05:00

Well it has been a very eventful weekend.

Friday I took off and Dustin was already off so we shopped pretty much all day for Easter outfits. He had already gotten his and I found mine and Konnor's at the first store. I shopped all day and still didn't find Kensley anything. We headed home to get the kids from school and then on to eat at Catfish Cabin and to see the Perry's in Boaz.

Saturday we went Kohl's and I found Kensley a dress and then on to Greenbrier to eat for Aunt Bernice's birthday. Then it was home to relax and go to Wal-Mart for some last minute shopping. We went to church that night and had a good service.

Sunday started out by getting up at 6:30 to take my shower and then in to the kitchen to start my cooking. I cooked breakfast which included biscuits, bacon, bologna, chocolate gravy and eggs. And then it was on to cooking for lunch. I fixed a chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, hob nobs, and some peanut butter cookies with rice krispies and marshmellows (no sure what they are called) and fresh corn. Then it was time to get everyone all dressed up to go to church.

Headed to church a little early to get in a few pictures before time. We had a good service and I want to always remember the real reason for the season. I'm so thankful that the Lord rose again and that he gave His life for me and you. We (I) tend to always get caught up in the material things of life, but He is the reason we are all here today and for that I'm thankful. After church it's a tradition for the families to get their pictures made in front of the church. I have tons of pictures to share. Afterwards we headed over to Suzie's to eat lunch and then up to Marty's for the photo shoot. I'm sure she will have some to share with all of you soon. But for now here are some that we made earlier in the day. Hope you all had a blessed Easter!

Easter picture overload....

2011-04-25T18:17:00.008-05:00

Here are some pictures I'd like to share. There are many more and family pictures that Marty made that will be up soon.

The kids with Grandmother and Granddaddy

Now with Mawmaw and Pawpaw

Keelie and Kensley

Dust and Joe David

The Trent Gaines family (look at those beautiful outfits Heather made)

The Jerry Hill family

Darrin, Tasha and girls (and she made her girls dresses too)

The Riggins family (another beautiful dress made by Heather Riggins for Haley)

Kylee and Kens

The Kevin Philpott family all decked out in blue.

Haley and Kensley

Joe, Drea and kids

Kaylee and Kens

Me and Drea

Katie Claire and Kensley

Chelsey and Kens

Heather Gaines, Nickie, Natash, me and Drea

Update on Kensley.....

2011-04-20T07:34:00.002-05:00

Last Tuesday night we headed to Birmingham to stay the night. When I got home Tuesday I noticed Kensley was really quiet, but she said her stomach hurt which is not unusual for her so I didn't think much of it. If anyone has been around her any length of time you know she loves to talk and ask questions. Pretty much the whole car ride there she didn't say anything so I began to ask her if she felt sick or was she just nervous and she said she was nervous. I began to feel really bad for her but me and Dustin just reassured her that she wouldn't feel anything and that she was going to be fine. I think I speak for me and Dustin both that we were nervous too, we just didn't know what to expect from this and was it going to set her back any.

I sent a text to a few people to pray for her that night and the next morning she was still a little nervous but not near as bad as she had been the night before. Thank you all who said a prayer for us. She couldn't have anything to eat after midnight and only clear liquids until 6 that morning. She wouldn't eat the night before and it always bothers me when my kids won't eat. I'm constantly asking them if their hungry, what can I get you so that you will eat, but she just wouldn't. So I woke her up about 5:30 that morning to make her drink some Sprite so that she would have a little something in her. We got ready and headed to the hospital. Me and Dustin wouldn't even drink or eat anything because we knew that she couldn't and by this time she had decided that she was hungry, but she got through it.

After doing some paperwork and waiting they finally called us back. They took us to a room where they explained everything and put an IV in and she did so great with that, no tears were shed. They let us stay in there while they put her to sleep, by the way was really strange for me to watch. Then they sent us to the waiting room where we only stayed for about 5 min and they were done. I was a little nervous about the after affects, she has gotten sick in the past from the anesthesia, but she drank about a half of a cup of Sprite and part of a Hershey bar and some peach rings. Yeah I know sounds appetizing doesn't it, but that was just some snacks we had from the night before.

Here we are today a week later and she is doing great. We had therapy yesterday and they seemed impressed especially with her left arm and hand. I can tell a difference, she is so much more relaxed and not as tight. That was their main focus yesterday to get her to use it the best she could. I have to remind her to use it, I think she has gotten so used to not using it that she forgets she has a left arm, granted she has been in a cast for most of 2011, I think there has only been 3 weeks out of this year that she hasn't had a cast on. But we are on the mend and know that God is going to help us through this.

They wanted her to pick some bing bags up and throw them yesterday in the cart and she just took off doing it. She has always had a hard time once she has something in that hand to let it go, her hand just doesn't open without some hard concentration, but she did good yesterday and I'm so proud of her. We are working on trying to crawl with shifting her weight to the left side and she is working on trying to stand on her left foot for 3 or more seconds.

She is doing great in school, she just got her progress report with all A's. She still has some anger issues to work through, but they have gotten so much better and I'm so thankful for that. It's hard to see your child have to go through this, but I don't know what we would do without the Lord's help. Her personality has grown so much and speaking of grown she has gotten so tall. I noticed a picture of her and Kaylee from the Easter Egg Hunt that she is almost a full head taller than Kaylee now and it used to be that Kensley was always the little one of the bunch. Her hair has came back so thick and is longer now than it was before the accident. I have so much to be thankful for and so much to Praise Him for.

I will keep everyone updated on the progress of how she is doing.

Our weekend.....

2011-04-18T07:46:00.003-05:00

Let's see where do I begin? Friday evening we met up with Jeff and Alyson at Olive Garden to eat before we all headed over to the Gaither concert. We saw many friends there too and this had to be one of the best Gaither Homecoming concerts that we have ever been to. But by the end of the show we were exhausted. Konnor just couldn't make it through the whole thing as you can see below. Kensley stayed with MawMaw and went to the Easter play.

Once we got home I loaded my car up with yard sale stuff and finally got in bed around midnight. Got up around five and loaded a couple of more things and headed out. It was so cold and windy that we pretty much set everything up in Jerome's shop. We still had a good turn out, but not as good as past ones. Plus me and Nickie weren't able to get our annual sunning in that we normally do. I packed up around 3 and headed home for a quick nap before church.

After a good church service Saturday night we headed to Wings to eat and then went home and crashed for the night. Sunday morning we went out to Gunters Mtn. They had several preachers but only two talked, but it was still going on 2 before church was over. Went back to Huntsville that night for church and had a really good service and heard some really encouraging testimonies. We made a quick stop at Sonic on the way home.

Here we are today back at the work place. The kids are back at school. Kens got her cast off last week. I will post more about that later, I'm waiting until after therapy tomorrow to see what improvements she has made since we got botox last week. Hope everyone has a good week!

Easter Egg Hunt.....

2011-04-11T13:59:00.006-05:00

.....Saturday was our annual egg hunt at Simmons Park. Nikki passed me the responsibility of the egg hunt a few years ago and I try to pass it on this year, but no one wanted it. Although Brittney Gamble did offer to help and she was a huge help and I couldn't have done it without her. So a big shout out to Brittney for all your help.

No on to the events of the day. I got up early to clean my house due to the fact that I figured there would be some to stop by after the festivities or need to make a bathroom run. I had to run to Wal-Mart to pick up the hotdogs for Dustin to cook. Then it was over to the park to set everything up. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a blast. I think they enjoyed just getting together and running around more than actually hunting the eggs. It's sad to say that Konnor thinks he is too big to hunt eggs anymore, which means Kensley probably only has a couple of more years until she thinks she is too big for them too.

As we were ending the fun-filled day, up pulls the Excursion of Gaines kids. I felt so bad that they missed out, but hopefully next year Heather will check her email twice to know what time it starts.....lol. Next year Heather I will call you personally to let you know when, where and what time.

Here are a few highlights from our day. In no particular order.

After we cleaned up we me and Drea and the kids headed over to my house where Dustin, Joe David, Justin and Dakota were already watching the video from New Harmony singing with the Isaacs a couple of weeks ago(see good thing I cleaned my house earlier). After that we headed over to Suzie's for some late lunch.

This was our regular weekend, so I had to cook for church. We had a really good service and after church we had some of our good friends from Toney to come over and visit with us until church time. Mom decided to take my kids home with her yesterday and let them spend the night. They are on Spring Break this week so she was keeping them today anyway. After church last night we went to El Olmeca with family.

Here we are today back at the work place and getting ready for my yard sale Saturday. I hope the forecast changes and it decides to be a little warmer than what they are predicting.

Sorry for such a long post, but I just seem to have so much to catch up on. Kensley is getting her cast off today and we head to Birmingham Tuesday night to stay the night and Wednesday she will be getting her botox injections. Please remember her this week. Hopefully will get to post an update on how she is doing later this week.

Days 25-30.....

2011-04-04T17:45:00.011-05:00

Well I started this two days ago and have finally finished it, so here goes.

Day 25.....a picture of your day. That would be going to the hospital and holding my new neice. This isn't the best pic, but she was just born, so will have better ones later. Her name is Hallie, she weighed 7lbs 6oz and 19 1/2 in long. She's gorgeous.

Day 26......a picture of something that means a lot to you. I choose the host of friends I have. They were there for us during our most trying time and I don't know what I would do without them. You girls are the best. This isn't all of them, but this was the only pic I could find right now. I love you all.

Day 27.....a picture of you and a family member. This is me and Kylee having fun in the snow. She's a great person inside and out. Day 28....a picture of something you are afraid of. Losing my family. I've come close to that road once and I don't won't to have to go up it again.

Day 29....a picture that can make you smile. My silly husband, he can always put a smile on my face no matter what.

Day 30....a picture of someone you miss. I miss my grandparents. Here is one of Konnor and my mom's dad, Bro. Vester Guffey. He was a jewel. My grandmother has been dead for probably close to 20 years now and now that I'm older I would love to just sit down and talk to her. She was always so much fun, I'm so glad that I was old enough to have memories of. My other granddad died about 4-5 years ago and we would go over there as kids and stay with them. Most kids now days think it's so boring to go to grandparents houses and stay, but as kids we loved it and I wouldn't take anything for those memories.

Days 19-24.....

2011-03-30T19:15:00.007-05:00

Day 19.....a picture of you when you were little. I couldn't pick just one. Most have my brother in them also.

Here is me when I was a baby.

Here are some of me and my brother, the first two are pretty cute but the last one I had my bottle cap glasses. I had some doozies and the thing is I still have them somewhere. I think I saved them all. Thank goodness for technology, they can now make the lens thinner so that I don't have to wear bottlecaps anymore. :)

Day 20..... a picture of somewhere you would like to travel. That would be New York, I had me and Dustin a trip booked a few years ago and had to cancel it because Konnor was graduating from Kindergarten. That is way more important than any trip I can take.

Day 21.... a picture of something you wish you could forget. I used to have a really good memory, but that seemed to have somehow vanished after I had kids. I have a terrible memory now, so more than likely I have already forgotten it.

Day 22.....a picture of something you wish you were better at. Don't have a picture, but I wish I had more patience. Dustin can vouch that I don't have an abundance of it. I hope and pray that is something that I can work at and do better.

Day 23.....a picture of your favorite book. That would be The Notebook. I read this several years ago and it has by far been one of my favorites. I loved the book way more than the movie.

Day 24.... a picture of something you wish you could change. I don't have a pic of this either, but that would be my kitchen and bathroom floors along with the bathroom countertops. This is on our project list to do before revival.

Whew only 6 more days left and I'm done. Hope everyone has a good rest of the week and come see New Harmony and The Isaacs perform in Scottsboro Friday night.

Day 17-18.....

2011-03-27T09:26:00.004-05:00

Day 17.....a picture of something that has had a big impact on your life. I don't have a picture, but I would say when I received the Holy Ghost. It has helped me to choose the paths in my life to bring me to where I am today. I've made many mistakes along the way, but I'm so thankful for the Lord's mercy and that I'm still on the road today. I would be nothing without the Holy Ghost.

Day 18.....a picture of your biggest insecurity. That would be my weight and I can't seem to get the motivation to get it off. This is how I feel when I get on the scales.

Days 13-16.....

2011-03-24T07:38:00.005-05:00

......having to play catchup.

Day 13.....a picture of your favorite artist/band. I'm going to choose David Phelps. He is a one of the best gospel singers out there and I could listen to him for hours. I'm excited about seeing him on the 15th of April at the Gaithers concert at the VBC.

Day 14.....a picture of someone you can't imagine your life without. I choose my family, I know I've used them a lot in this challenge, but they truly are my life and without them I don't know what I would do.

Day 15... a picture of something you want to do before you die. I agree with Drea and Haley on this one and that is to be debt free. That would be a great since of accomplishment.

Day 16....a picture of someone who inspires you. I have thought about this one a lot and I choose Granny Gayle. I don't have a picture, but some of you will know who I'm talking about and agree that she was a great person. She was a great inspiration, I can relate to some of her testimonies that she had. She went through a lot in her life and yet she never had her head down. She always had a smile on her face. Although I wasn't around her when I was young, I began to know her when me and Dustin started dating and after we married. I loved her so much and miss her a lot. She truly was a great wife, mother and COG. I just hope I can be half the woman that she was.

Day 11 & 12......

2011-03-22T11:53:00.003-05:00

a picture of something you hate......

I don't have a picture, but I don't like drama. Enough said on that.

Day 12 a picture of something you love.....

That would be seeing my kids happy. They mean the everything to me and when they are happy, I'm happy and when they are hurting I am too. I'm thankful God allowed me to me their mom and I just hope that they are equally as happy that I am their mom. They are great kids and I'm so proud of them.

Day 10...

2011-03-20T12:40:00.002-05:00

....a picture of a person(s) you do the most messed up stuff with. I choose our family. We become goofy when we are all together and have such a good time. I love them all and they are the greatest to hang out with.

Day 9.....

2011-03-20T10:05:00.002-05:00

....a picture of the person who has gotten you through the most. I choose Alyson. We have been best of friends for years now. We have been through a lot together and she has always been there for me when I just needed to talk or a shoulder to cry on. She is a great friend and COG. I'm grateful that she is my friend.

Day 8....

2011-03-18T07:16:00.006-05:00

.....a picture that makes you laugh. Ok I cheated and chose three. This first one is of Konnor dressed up like a geek on geek day at school. He's is his daddy's child, he loves to try and make you laugh.

The next one is of Dustin, this was him trying to pretend to be exercising so he could blog about it. He does some of the craziest stuff and can always make you smile.

There's a funny story behind this, you will just have to ask Dustin about it. I couldn't even hardly take the picture for laughing. We laughed until we cried. He is such a goof ball.

Day 7....

2011-03-17T19:33:00.004-05:00

A picture of your most treasured item is my family.

I don't know what I would do without my family. You just don't realize truly how much they mean to you until you almost lose them. I'm so thankful the Lord spared us all to be able to spend many more days together. We have a large extended family and love spending time with them. I'm so blessed to have them all.

Day 6.....

2011-03-16T18:28:00.002-05:00

someone you would like to trade places with for a day!

I can't think of anyone that I would like to trade with. I might would trade with someone that got to stay at home just so that I could have a day off from work and the stress. But I'm happy with my life and wouldn't trade the ups and downs for anything.

Day 5....

2011-03-15T15:57:00.004-05:00

Photo of you favorite memory.....

First I would have to say it would be the night I received the Holy Ghost, but I don't have any pictures of that. It was July 19th, 1994 during Gunters Mountain's revival. I remember Bro. James Arthur McLain, Bro. Totchie and Bro. James Bridges all being there that night. I was the third one to receive it that night too.

But on of my most treasured is the night that I got married. It was wonderful. Dustin sang to me that night and it couldn't have been better.

My other favorites of course are when my children were born. Those were such special days. Konnor was born during Huntsville's revival so we had lots of visitors and he was such a chunk. Kensley came so fast that our parents barely made it there to be with us. My kids are only 16 months apart and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Day 4....a picture of your night

2011-03-15T06:52:00.002-05:00

I'm a little behind everyone else but that's ok I usually stay that way. My night consisited of picking up supper from Bojangles, Crosby and Kensley playing and watching some tv. It was a pretty laid back night. Dustin and Konnor went to practice so me and Kensley get to chill on those nights because most other nights Konnor thinks he has control of the remote and I'm usually cooking supper and cleaning up the kitchen instead of picking something up on the way home. And lucky for me Konnor had all of his homework done before I got home.

Day 3....picture of you favorite show

2011-03-13T20:50:00.003-05:00

I have several things I like to watch including the reality shows, but right now I love watching Cake Boss and his new show Kitchen Boss. I love to see what new creations they come up with. We all love us some TLC and believe it or not Konnor's favorite is 19 Kids and Counting.

Day 2: the person you have been the closet to the longest

2011-03-12T08:11:00.002-06:00

I pick Dustin. Because we have been together half of my life. We have been through so much together and he is the one that has always been there for me. We have grown so much closer through the trying times. We do pretty much everything together, where you see one you see the other. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him. Thanks for being my best friend.

30 Day Photo Challenge

2011-03-11T07:31:00.006-06:00

Ok here goes....15 facts about me..

1. My name is Melissa Danielle Randles Kelly
2. I've been married to Dustin for 12 wonderful years and he is my best friend.
3. I have two wonderful kids Konnor who is 8 and Kensley who is 7.
4. I love going to church and singings.
5. I have a host of friends who have been there for me when I needed them most.
6. I'm from a little town called Grant.
7. I have a wonderful job and have been here almost 6 years.
8. My nickname is Mo.
9. I have acquired a new hobby called sewing, which includes shopping which I also love to do.
10. I love to eat chicken.
11. I have one brother who can be a pest but I love him.
12. I have 4 sister in laws whom I love dearly and love spending time with.
13. I have great parents and in laws.
14. I had to have my tongue sewn back together when I was about 5 or 6 due to a motorcycle accident.
15. I have baby fever, but the husband says no. :)

Happy Birthday to my Husband!

2011-03-08T07:50:00.002-06:00

I want to wish a Happy Birthday to the most wonderful man I know. He has so many good qualities and he has to put up with me, which is a lot. He's a great husband, dad, singer, musician, friend....whatever you need him for he will be there. I'm so lucky to have him in my life. I hope you have a wonderful day and I love you! So everyone please send him a message wishing him a Happy Birthday today. His email is dustin_kelly2008@comcast.net or text him at 256-679-0302.

Doctor's Visit....

2011-02-23T15:28:00.004-06:00

.....yesterday we had to go back to B'ham for a follow up visit. Not a whole lot to discuss other than he still says that she has some tightness in her muscles and he believes that moving forward with the Botox injections will help. So we have scheduled the procedure for April 13th. I have always been sort of reserved about the procedure, but when she broke her wrist we were worked in with one of the doctors at Huntsville Pediatrics and he was telling me that his parents get the injections for an unknown reason that I didn't ask, but he said that we would see improvements right away, so that sort of changed my outlook on things.

Don't get me wrong we don't want to get in the way of the Lord healing her, but if there's something that she will benefit from then I want her to have it. As her mom I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to help her. I guess I thought doing this was pretty much telling the Lord that I didn't have the faith that He was going to heal her, but not long ago I heard someone else who has had an accident say that he wants to trust the Lord, but if they were to call him tomorrow to say that they had a cure for him to walk again that he would pack his bags and go. He said who wouldn't? So that kind of put things in to perspective for me that I want to do all I can to help her get back to the way she was before, but I also want her to know that the reason she is still here today is because of the Lord and that He is the one that has brought her this far and I know He will continue to bless her and help her along the way.

I was reading a blog the other day and her little boy has a disability and she was saying that other moms that she knew were signing their kids up for t-ball and it made her want to get discouraged, but instead she decided to look for something that her son could do. It just made all the sense to me. Kensley can pretty much do what she wants, but she has limitations and may require some assistance. I've just really had a hard time with that lately. You sit back and watch all the other kids interact and see that your child can't do that or that she just doesn't fit in the same way anymore. It hurts so bad and I seem to have had many breakdowns over it lately, but reading her blog just really helped me. So instead of feeling sorry for her that she can't do like the others, I'm going to try and start looking at what she can do.

We are loving this beautiful weather that the Lord has blessed us with the past few days. I love Spring and can't wait for it to stick around. Hope everyone has a good day!

Happy Valnetine's Day!!!!

2011-02-14T07:36:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! And to let my husband know what a great guy he is and how thankful I am to have him. I'll try not to get to mushy. :) He's my world and I couldn't live without him. I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Everyone show your special someone how much they mean to you and have a great day. Here is a pic of our Valentine card by the Bryd man and Marty.

Picture overload.....

2011-02-10T08:09:00.003-06:00

On any given day at the Kelly household you might find dirt bikes going up and down the road.

Or little boys carving in the tree or shooting their BB guns.

Or little girls singing their hearts out.

You might even run into a fire fighter.

And best of all you might get to see your little girl ride her bike she got from Santa all by herself. She did so good riding and we can't wait for it to stay warm so she ride a whole lot more.

Update....

2011-01-26T14:27:00.004-06:00

.....sorry no update before now on the last post, but it has just been so hectic. Well we ended up finally getting in to the doctor on Friday, but we had to go to Madison, and if anyone knows me very well I don't have sense of direction. After a couple of calls to Dustin to try and figure out where I was going we finally got there. They took some xrays and the doctor came in to tell us that everything looked good and they were just bruised up. Thank you Lord, didn't think I could handle any more broken bones at the moment, but she's a trooper. I told the therapist yesterday that I was so glad that she hadn't started complaining with any itching yet, but guess what happened later that night, yep you guessed it....I jinxed us. So we have been using the end of a fly swatter to scratch her arm. Not too bad so far, but we are just ready for it to come off. I'm really anxious to see how her wrist is doing after all the stretching it has been getting.

Here are a couple of pics of her with her cast with lots of signatures from friends and family.

Well here we are today and we have gotten the cast off. It was a breeze and she had already fallen asleep before the doctor came in. She had one blister on her pinky, but other than that nothing else that we could see wrong. Took more xrays and they were all good. The doctor said for her to take it easy for about a month.

We go to Bham the 22nd of this month and will have to make the decision if we will be having the botox rescheduled for the 3rd time. She is already trying to use that hand some. We start back having OT therapy next week and we are looking for great things. Will update after our next doctor's appt.

Waiting on the doctor to call.....

2011-01-21T09:29:00.003-06:00

.....well we are waiting for the doctor to call us. Kensley has fallen several times this week and it seems every time she falls on the hand with the cast. Her fingers are all swollen and really dark looking and her thumb is moving really weird. It's really gross. So we are just sitting her waiting the phone call to tell us what to do next. We know the Lord can help her through this and I just ask that each of you please say a prayer for her today if you will. Thanks!

Happy 12th Anniversary to my Husband!!!!

2011-01-15T18:06:00.004-06:00

Twelve years ago today I married the man of my dreams. He would just make my heart melt when we were together and I still have those same feelings today. I love being with him all the time. I know some people want their space, but I've just always been the type that where ever he goes, I go too if it is at all possible. I don't like being away from him. He has so many good qualities about him. He has a heart of gold. He is always willing to help anyone that needs it. I tell him often that he doesn't know the word "NO". That's why I love him! He knows how to make me feel so special. We've had our ups and downs through the 12 years but we have always made it through them. I thank God that he chose me to be this wonderful mans wife. I don't deserve someone so special, but I'm so thankful that he put us together. I'm not good with words, but I do want Dustin to know how special he is to me and how much I love him. I hope and pray that I can be the wife that he wants me to be and not ashamed to call me his wife. I love you so much and wish you a very Happy Anniversary. Love your wife!

Snow day 2011!!!!

2011-01-12T08:37:00.004-06:00

Wow....we haven't got this much snow in a long time and what a fun! Although it was sad that my hubby had to go into work. It wasn't as much fun without him, but we still had some good times. As you can see below we got about 6 inches, maybe a little more in other places.

Here is my table on my back porch.

My kids acting silly.

At Paul and Becky's having a snow ball fight.

Dustin and Konnor all bundled up to go sledding.

Konnor sledding.

Dustin falling off the sled.

Sledding by far is was the funnest thing that we did. We even climbed Steve and Brenda Mahathey's huge hill to sled down it. If any of you know where they live, you know what I mean when I say that was a work out. I was so out of breath when I got to the top that I had to sit down and take a break before I could sled down the hill, but we used a top to a storage bin and sled down the hill, it was a blast. We didn't build a snowman this time, I guess because we did last time and no one wanted to but played in the snow pretty much all day and felt like we ate every chance we got. I don't even want to know how much I've gained over these past few days. But that's ok because come February I'm doing Crusin for a Losin a work and pretty soon I will be skinny again, probably not, but I'm gonna try.

Well hope you all have had fun in the snow, but I'm ready for it to leave now and my kids to go back to school. I'm working from home today and it's time for me to start, so hope you all stay warm today.

Christmas 2010.....

2011-01-09T14:23:00.002-06:00

We had many gatherings this Christmas and wish I had time to post about them all, but I guess Christmas morning is all your gonna get. We have a tradition to have breakfast at our house for the whole family every year. We woke up early by the kids who were very anxious to open presents, but Dustin wouldn't let them come out of the room until we got ready and had all cameras in place. :) They were just beside themselves having to stand in Kensley room and wait, but he finally let them come out to see all their surprises. Konnor was surprised with a new dirt bike and Kensley a new bicycle.

Kensley has begged for a bicycle for months from Santa and we made sure that He knew what she wanted. She is bound and determined to ride it. And it wasn't until the kids starting opening gifts that we realized that it had snowed outside, what a great surprise. So she wasn't able to ride it until the snow had melted away a couple of days later, but she rode it and as it gets warmer we are expecting her to take off on it.

Here is Konnor with his new dirt bike. He's a little scared of it but he'll get used to it. He has had a dirt bike and four wheeler, but just outgrown them, so this one is a little bigger then he is used to. But before we know it he will prolly be popping willies on it.

Everyone showed up for breakfast and when we were all done, we bundled up and went out in the snow. Of course I was a little skeptical about taking Kens out in it, but she did great she was walking around in it and throwing snowballs. All of us were just hitting each other with snowballs and throwing each other on the ground, it was so much fun. My kids have never seen a snow like that and to just think they are fixing to get to enjoy another one. The only difference about this one is that me and Dustin are going to have to work. What a bummer! Anyway we got a sled and hooked it to the four wheeler and went sledding, that was a blast. But boy did I pay for it the next day, I was so sore and had no desire to do it again. There is funny video of Dustin, Lee, Kylee and Kamron puking their guts out. Dustin was pulling Kylee on the sled and she got splashed in the face with what they thought was mud, but after we told them that it was sewer they all lost it. To see the pics from the snow, because I was out playing in it I didn't get any pics so you will have to go to Marty's blog and look at all the pictures. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. This one will go down in the history books as one of the best ones ever!

Trees.....

2011-01-09T14:09:00.004-06:00

I know Christmas is over, but I wanted to post some pics of my trees. At the time I didn't really have a good camera at the time so they are some pretty rough pictures, but my wonderful gave me his Christmas money and along with mine I was able to buy a nicer camera. Now not many husbands would do that but well mine he is something else, he's great!

Below is our tree that is in our living room.

Here is Konnor's tree in his room, it is an Alabama theme:

Here is Kensley tree, I loved the feathers at the top.

Here is the tree that is in my and Dustin's room, it is probably my favorite, I love the silver and blue combination.

Hope you have enjoyed the tours of my trees. :)

Gingerbread House....

2011-01-02T15:55:00.005-06:00

This year the decorators of the downstairs at our church wanted each family to build a gingerbread house or some sort of topiary tree to put on the tables downstairs. So Marty and Kylee came over to help decorate. I put the house together and they came with the decorations. I don't have any creative bones in my body so I rely on Marty for help. The kids started out helping but then decided that they had had enough so me, Marty and Kylee finished it. I think they results were great.
Marty added a few finishing touches to it the night of the program and it turned out so good, here are the results:

Going to the mall....

2011-01-02T15:39:00.003-06:00

well to start off with it has always been a tradition that me and Dustin and whoever else decides to go will go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Well this year Dustin was on call and me and Marty had decided that we wanted to shop all night, so Dustin opted out this year. We shopped for 13-14 hours straight, it was so much fun. We got some good deals and had some good laughs. So Saturday Dustin decided he wanted to go to the mall. So we all got ready and headed out. We got our annual Christmas ornaments from the place in the mall. Konnor got an Alabama football and Kensley got a castle (only because she dropped and broke, but wasn't too bad they were able to glue it back together and best of all they gave it to me half price). The kids begged to do the Jumpy thing (lol....can't remember exactly what it's called) so we thought it might be a good thing for Kensley to do and just so happens I had my camera with me that day. Kens was a little scared at first but got the hang of it eventually. Here's a few of them jumping:

Field trip to the Tennessee Aquarium...

2011-01-02T15:18:00.004-06:00

back sometime now I went with Kensley on a field trip to the Tennessee Aquarium. The kids of course had to ride the bus, so me, Jen, Nikki and Hayley all rode together. We had fun just chatting and catching up with each other. Once we got there we were allowed to check our kids out and go at our on pace. The kids had a blast touring and being with each other. Here are a few pics from our day:

Hayley and Crosby

Kensley with her teacher Mrs. Weaver

Kens and Crosby

Me and Kens

Macy and Kensley at the Penquin exhibit

After the aquarium we headed over to Mellow Mushroom to eat some grub. Here are a couple of pics of all the girls.

Happy Belated Birthday to my Wonderful Daughter!

2010-12-28T16:01:00.000-06:00

Ok so I have had this post started for quite sometime now and was waiting on my sis-in-law to upload the pics from the party, but she's been busy and so have I so I'm just gonna go ahead and post this without the pics and maybe we can get them up soon.

Well over a month later I finally have time to post about Kensley's birthday. Last year she didn't even know that she had had a birthday. Once she was alert and able to start remembering things, it took a lot of work to get her to remember that she was six now. I had decided a a few years ago that I was only going to give my kids the big birthday parties until they were five and then after that they could just have a couple of friends over to stay the night, but since Kensley didn't get to have a party at all last year I decided we would just go all out this year. She loves cheerleading so what's better than having an Alabama cheerleading party. Dustin has a cousin that was a cheerleader for Wallace State so we invited her to come and teach the girls some cheers and the boys played football. Kylee made her an awesome cake. She got many gifts and had a great time.

Kensley has always been a loving kid. She is smart and loves to learn and is very inqusitive. She likes Justin Bieber, coloring and drawing, playing her DS and playing text twist on the computer. She loves to being with her friends. Her greatest desire is to ride a bike and I believe the Lord will grant her with that.

She can brighten my day. And just the other day I came home from work and it hadn't been such a good day and she came up to love on me and I told her just that. That she always made my day better. She still runs to the door to meet me when I get home. Always loves to see any of us when we have been gone any period of time. She loves going to spend the night with friends, but loves just as much coming home. I can't imagine life without her, she is our sunshine! I love you Kensley and hope you have many more birthdays!

Thanksgiving....

2010-11-30T07:57:00.003-06:00

hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did. First of all I will say I'm thankful for the Lord and all he has done for us and I'm thankful for my family, they mean so much to mean and I don't know what I would do without them. Thankful that we have a place to lay our heads at night, a roof above our head and food on the table and good place to work. What more could we ask for. He is so gracious to us and to Him I am thankful.

We started out the morning with my mom and dad coming down early and helped me put up my village. We then cooked and went to Suzie's house for dinner. And as a tradition after we eat, we drag out all the sales papers and begin to plan out our shopping. This year was a little different though, we decided to shop all night. Dustin loves to go just as much as I do, but he wasn't to keen on going all night so he opted to stay home. Me, Marty and Kylee braved the rain and the crowds and headed to Wal-Mart around 10. People already had buggy fulls, so we grabbed a buggy and started shopping. People were going crazy over stuff. Marty even witnessed a fight over DS games, nothing is that important to me. I ended up going to check out and got checked out somewhere around 1 I guess. Loaded my car up and headed back inside to sit with Marty as she waited in line for one of the hot items going on sale at 5. We sat and talked and talked and made new friends and even played a game while waiting. We got what they waited for and stood in line again to check out and then headed off to Huntsville. We stopped by Shoe Carnival and then headed to Madison Square Mall. Got a few good deals and then went to Catos for our last stop. I got my kids a few items but not a lot. I still have lots of shopping to do. We got home a little before noon, so we shopped almost 14 hours. I think that is the first time I have ever stayed up that long without sleep. Came back to Suzie's and watched the game, I might have dozed off for about 30-40 min. Dustin's grandmother got sick so we went up there for awhile and came home and fed the kids and then I went to bed around 8. Finished up some decorating this weekend and did some much needed cleaning to the house. Will post pics of all my trees a little later.

Part 3 of reflecting back.....

2010-11-12T07:16:00.007-06:00

Progress was being made in therapy at the hospital and when it was time for us to be discharged they were having her put pressure on her legs and trying to walk with lots of assistance. We were so ready to come home, but on the other hand hated to leave because she was getting so much help everyday. We were being discharged on Nov. 18th. Kensley had to do a half a day of therapy, so it ended up being over in the afternoon before we got to leave. Justin, Joe David and Scott came to help up pack all of our stuff and drive us home. The family had planned a Welcome Home party for us and when we pulled in the driveway we were greeted by a multitude of friends and family holding signs to welcome us home. As I sit here typing this I just get so overwhelmed at the love that was shown to us. Channel 19 was also there to capture it all for us. Everyone came inside to see Kensley and at that time she still could not even hold herself up, so it took some trial and error to figure out how to adjust to things at home, but we managed.

We began to take her to therapy at Huntsville Hospital and the group of therapist that we received were great. I was able to take a leave of absence from work and stay with her for the next 3 months. I remember going to Christmas program practice and us standing her up to walk with our assistance, but others there were just amazed at the progress. We went home that night and she started kicking her left leg, we were beside ourselves and started calling whoever would listen to tell them. Time rocked on and she begin using a walker, it was hard to keep her left hand on it correctly, but didn't seem to bother her she would just keep trying. Throughout this whole process she has been anointed several times and with each time has made some great improvements. It wasn't long after Christmas that she started taking her first steps for the second time in her life. I was work and Dustin sent me some pictures of her walking down the hall. And here she is doing just that.

We've had some obstacles to overcome, but the Lord has always been there to see us through. Which brings us to where we are today. Kensley is back in school full time and making all A's, she does pretty much anything she wants to do with some limitations. I think I'm probably some of her hold back, but the momma in me starts coming out and I get a little over protective sometimes. I'm always so afraid of her falling and hurting herself that a lot of times I won't let her do certain things, but I'm trying to work on that. :)

A couple of weeks ago we went to therapy and they were trying to work with her left hand and it was so tight that they couldn't even keep it open, they were having to force it open. We went to church on Sunday night and her Uncle Paul anointed her hand. We went back to therapy the next week and she was just so much better. The therapist was just amazed, so I told her what had happened over the weekend. Kensley was able to put her weight on her left hand and prop herself up and then she was able to crawl with both hands. And also a couple of months ago they put her on a bike, that is her greatest desire right now is to be able to ride a bike. Well they had to tie her left hand and foot to the bike for them to stay on, well this past week they put her back on it and didn't have to use anything to help her keep her hand and foot on there, I was amazed myself and trying to text Dustin while all of this was going on. We are so thankful that the Lord has brought her this far and look for Him to bring her the rest of the way.

In my first post I mentioned that I had thought about asking Dustin to pull over in the rain, but didn't realize that the Lord had a plan. I have since thought if I would have asked him to pull over until it cleared up some, we could've no doubt still had the wreck and all the people that stopped and helped us would've already passed. My point is there was a nurse driving behind us that stopped to help and had we stopped and let her go by us, who would've been there to help Kensley? I know the Lord put her there and I wish I knew who she was so that I could thank her personally, but we haven't been able to find out. There was this one guy that helped in the accident and he came to visit us in B'ham. We can never repay all those who stopped to help us that day, who sacrificed what they were doing to help us. I felt so helpless that day, and we had no one there with us, but God sent us some angels to help my family that day and I'm forever indebted to Him. Thanks to everyone that said a prayer for us and helped us in our time of need, I just hope that I can give back when it's my time to help someone else. We love each and everyone of you!

Part 2 of reflecting back.....

2010-10-24T09:22:00.004-05:00

Ok one correction I need to make from the prev. post is that we called from Okaloosa Hospital and not Pensacola, which is where we ended up. And I did start part two over the weekend but just didn't get it finished, so here goes.

It had been arranged for us to stay at the Ronald McDonald House while we were in Florida. I think it is a great place set up for families, but it just wasn't working for us. Some of the rules were that you had certain chores that you had to do everyday within the household and at that point in time it was all we could do to even walk and all we wanted to do was get up in the mornings and go to the hospital and stay til time to go to bed that night, we didn't want to have to worry about was our chores done or not. We did stay there the first night, and I remember that the three of us just sat and cried together. A few of the sisters from our church had went and gotten us some clothes and toiletries to get us by a couple of days. We didn't have anything with us, it was all still in the car. My mom and Sis. Karen Willmon went with me the next day to help me get the room cleaned and the chores done so that we could check out. We were then set up at a hotel nearby and the staff there was great to us. They even kept so many rooms set aside just for visitors to stay in when they came to visit.

The only way that we could stay with Kensley at night was if we didn't go to sleep. There is some sort of rule that if the patient is on a ventilator that the person staying can't go to sleep in case something went wrong they didn't need to be trying to work around you. So because Dustin needed my help getting ready in the mornings we would just go to the hotel each night and go back early in the mornings and stay til visiting time was up that night. But once Kensley was off the ventilator she got moved to a new room and I was able to stay at night. Me and my mom took turns staying the nights. We were told that when patients with brain injuries starting yawning that it meant the swelling was going down. We were watching for that every minute of the day. It was now time to be moved to Birmingham where she would go through rehab. There were two ladies that transported us. And on the ride up there the lady in the back with Kensley told me that she had been yawning. I knew then that things were looking up. When we arrived at B'ham, we were once again joined by family and friends. We were greeted by Dr. Law and the news that we had gotten from him wasn't what we wanted to hear, but his training is to let us know what the future might hold for us and not to get our hopes up for something that might not happen because it is a waiting game with brain injury pts. Not even doctors know what the outcome is going to be because all pts are different. But at that point in time the news was just gut wrenching, but now I look back and see where he was coming from. From that day forward she began to improve, it was hard to go to therapy with her, they would push her to her limits and it was just hard seeing her in pain, but we knew that was what was going to get her to where she is today. The therapist were great, everytime we have an appt back in B'ham we go and visit them. They were such a big part in her recovery and we want them to see how far she has come.

We were in B'ham a couple of days and Kensley's 6th b-day was here, but she was still unconscious and never even knew that she had a b-day. Gifts and cards began to pour in and it was just one of the highlights or our days to open up the cards and read the encouragement that everyone was sending us. As she was winged off of her medicine she began to wake up, she still couldn't talk, but she had full use of the right side and would give us hugs. On October 30th of last year, several had came to visit including Joe David, Drea and Kaylee. They had stayed for awhile and then left because the weather was about to get bad. Konnor was there and he began to try and play with Kensley and she started smiling. It was so amazing, we called and gave Drea 'em the news and if the weather hadn't been bad I believe they would have turned around and came back. But here is a pic of her first smile in the hospital.

Progress was being made each day, there was a patient being discharged and we were offered their room because it was a little bigger and they knew we always had a lot of visitors and could use it. The staff at the hospital was so good to us and never complained with how many visitors that we had. I think they liked it too because we kept them fed quite often. :) Kensley kept pulling out her feeding tube and you can't really blame her for it, who wants a tube stuck up their nose? We were finally able to convince them that we thought we could get enough food down her to where she didn't need and they give us that chance. Once the feeding tube was out she began to talk. I remember staying the night and I was getting ready to go to the hotel and shower and get Dustin and she told me bye. I got to the hotel and told Dustin and he didn't believe me. Before we could get back she had started talking more and more and they called and told us to hurry and get there. We were amazed, she was saying all kinds of stuff, her poor little voice was just very faint, you had to listen real close to hear what she was saying, but it didn't matter, she was talking. Her short term memory still wasn't there, but believe me when I say that isn't the issue now. She can just about tell you anything you want to know and if you are around her any length of time she will ask you when you b-day is and how old you are and she will be able to tell you the next time she sees you, just amazing. She didn't know why she was in the hospital and she couldn't even remember our Disney trip. She was so funny, she would flirt with any boy that walked in the room and loved playing with all the kids that came in.

Kensley's left eye would stay shut all the time, but we were told that over time that should heal and it has, her pupil is still dialated, but she can see fine out of it. You can tell when she gets tired that the left eye gets a little droopy. She had to go to the eye doctor in Birminham a couple of weeks ago and he said that at this point they would consider putting a patch over her good eye so that she could strengthen the bad one, but she was doing so well that he didn't think anything needed to be done. PTL!

I hate to make this a novel, but I won't to write as much as I can remember down so that I have it to look back at when my memory starts to fail me. :) I guess I'm going to have to make a part 3 cause I'm not finished and don't want to put so much in one post that no one wants to read it, so I will finish up with the next post soon.

Reflecting back part 1......

2010-10-18T18:41:00.004-05:00

On October 7, 2009 our lives changed. I still remember the day so clearly. We were driving down the road in pouring down rain and I had considered telling Dustin to pull over, but little did I know that wasn't meant and you'll see why a little later in the post. Next thing I knew we were laying upside down in the car and I couldn't find my kids, I hope no one ever has to experience that, and I couldn't keep my husband conscience. I didn't care who was around me or who heard me, I was calling out to the Lord to please spare my husband because he was lost and to please help my kids. I remember looking up at one point and seeing Dustin's phone laying there and I grabbed it and was gonna call someone but just hesitated because I didn't want them to panic on the phone with me cause I myself was already in a panic. They wouldn't tell me anything about the kids other than Konnor was ok and they were working on Kensley, but I had no idea of the extent of it. Apparently I was up against the culvert so no one could get over to that side of the car and at first they didn't even know I was in there and I was trying to scream and tell them, but it was hard to holler, I just didn't have the breath, but thank the Lord someone heard me. I helped them unbuckle Dustin so they could pull him out. Then they were able to get me out. The pain was so unbearable, it hurt to breathe or move.

I was asking for my kids, but they kept telling me that I had to go to the hospital and that they were being taken care of. They put me and Dustin in the same ambulance together and about the only thing I remember of the ride was thinking if I can just go off to sleep cause it hurt so bad to breathe. I remember holding Dustin's hand on the way and telling him I love you. We had no concept of the time frame that all of this was going on. They took Dustin to the same hospital that the kids were at and I was left by myself. The weather had gotten bad so they just decided that they would just transport me by ambulance, which was at least an hour away. I was still on the back board and still had a neck brace around me and it was all so uncomfortable.

We went through numerous x-rays and scans, but all came back good. Thank you Lord! Once we arrived at the ER at the same hospital as the kids Dustin was given a phone to call someone. He got a hold of his mom and dad, but they were so upset that she passed the phone over to Bro. Steve Mahathey, I remember talking to him briefly. At that point me and Dustin were in separate rooms but we could see each other through the window. Sis. Mindy Holman and Sis. Heather Riggins came to stay with me in the ER and the Lord came by and I'm so thankful for that. Holly and Heather were also vacationing at the beach and were able to get to my kids and stay with them. Uncle Leonard was with Dustin. They moved us to rooms and I was able to get me a shower with some help from Sis. Jenny Harkins, bless her heart, but at that point I didn't care. I had mud madded all up in my hair and all over me. They didn't allow me to go see Dustin, it was over in the morning by this time and I just had to go to my room cause both of us were sharing with other pts. Friends and family started pouring in, the support was so overwhelming. I never would have dreamed all of those people would come to see us, but they did and I don't know what we would have done without them there.

We rested for a couple of hours and the next morning they wheeled Konnor up to see us. It was such a great feeling to see him there and doing well, just a little sore. I remember just hugging him and crying. They came in and discharged me so I went over to sit with Dustin until they discharged him. I didn't want to go alone to see Kensley, we really had no idea how bad she was, most of it had been kept from us. Once Dustin was discharged we immediately went to see Kens. I can still remember the first time we saw her, it was just heartbreaking seeing her lay there with all of her hair cut off and tubes running everywhere. She was just lifeless and I was just helpless. All we could do was wait. We then headed to Konnor's room to visit and soon after he was discharged. There are so many details that I feel sometimes I could write a book. To go back a little, Konnor had some cuts that were pretty bad and they thought he might have to get some stitches, and he heard them talking about it and began to pray that he wouldn't have to and the nurse came back and said he didn't. The Lord hears their prayers and I'm so thankful he knew to pray about it. I want my kids to know that the Lord can give them whatever they need.

Here is a pic of how Kens started out. This picture doesn't do justice of how she really looked. I go back to those days so many times and am so thankful that he carried us. And I do mean he carried us, I look back and think we were upset and didn't know what to do, but I find myself struggling more over it now than I did then and I know it was the prayers and the prescence of the family and the Children of God that helped us through each day. We only went one day out of the whole eight weeks that we didn't have any visitors. What a blessing to know that we have such great family in the Lord.

I'm going to make this part 1 of my post and finish it up maybe tomorrow or before the week is up.

2010-09-29T16:37:00.001-05:00

Ok so I'm a little late to getting around to this, but I have been out of blog world for the past couple of days, so here goes:

Fall Questions...

1. Do you like Starbucks? no, I just think it smells really good :)

2. How do you decorate and prepare for Fall? I normally don't do a lot of fall decorating, I love the colors, but just have never really gotten anything much to decorate with, but now Christmas is another story.

3. Will you participate in your college's homecoming activities? never went to college

4. What is your favorite Fall clothing item or accessory? Boots and sweaters

5. What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid? I have absolutely no clue. I never remember what I dressed as. I know I went. I'm old people. Give me a break!

6. Do you like Halloween/Horror movies? No not really, most of them are so gorry that they don't even seem real, but on the other hand some are too real that I just can't watch them.

7. What is your favorite Fall activity? I love going to the Smokies this time of year and letting the kids carve pumpkins and the family gatherings.

8. What is your favorite Fall recipe? soups

Quick questions...

1. What movie coming out soon are you looking forward to seeing? I have no clue!
2. What will you miss most about Summer? not having to bundle everyone up before you leave to go somewhere.
3. When do you start your holiday shopping? usually not til the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm hoping maybe I can go ahead and start looking for some things now.
4. Favorite exercise/activity? Shopping....lol....I like this Marty so I think I will copy her answer!
5. Best book you've read lately? not read lately, but all time favorite book is The Notebook
6. Do you make your bed every day? Not everyday, but I have started trying to do better about it
7. If you could choose a personal chef or a personal shopper, which would you choose? definitely the chef!
8. Which TV show are you most excited for this Fall? Hmmm....let's see Greys Anatomy, Private Practice and The Good Wife are at the top of my list.

I am thankful.....

2010-09-21T15:41:00.002-05:00

.....going right along with everyone else's post today!

I'm thankful for my husband, who is also my very best friend.

I'm thankful for my kids who always brighten my day!

I'm thankful for my job, I have great co-workers to work with and great benefits.

I'm thankful for my home and that we have cars to drive and food to eat.

I'm thankful that the Lord spared all of our lives, things could have been so different.

I'm thankful of how far the Lord has brought Kensley and for what He is going to do for her in the future.

I'm thankful for my parents, they are always there when I call them and always willing to help me.

I'm thankful for my in laws, they are such wonderful people.

I'm thankful for my brother, he can be a pest sometimes, but I love him. And I'm thankful for all of my brother and sister in laws.

I'm thankful for my friends, they are always there to help when I need them or when I need a shoulder to cry on.

I'm thankful for my church, I couldn't ask for a better place to go.

And most of all I'm thankful for my salvation, I couldn't do anything without the Lord's help. I feel so small compared to most, but I want to do my little part.

Lastly, I want to share a picture of Kensley, she lost her front tooth yesterday at school while eating lunch, she looks so different with it gone now.

Blog giveaway

2010-09-17T11:25:00.003-05:00

....ok so I am supposed to blog about the giveaway that Shelby has on her blog for a "whimsical design" for your blog. I'm blogging about this because I have to to get qualified in the drawing. Wish me luck!

Geek Day!

2010-09-15T08:21:00.003-05:00

Today was Geek day at school and Konnor couldn't wait to dress up for it. Went to Wal-Mart last night and got him some glasses to wear and this is the outcome. He really plays the part well. I took these with my phone so they aren't that great, but Marty has some on her camera so maybe they will be better.

2010-09-11T17:09:00.002-05:00

....as everyone knows it has almost been a year since the accident and we are so thankful for how far the Lord has brought Kensley. We all want her to be completely well and sometimes I tend to have to recheck my patience on that, but I know it will come in His time. We are still so thankful for your continued prayers. But what I wanted to get on her and thank the Lord for is when our family went to the car to retrieve all of our belongings one of my worries was my camera and memory cards and they were found all in tact. But somehow in the mist of all the stuff going on somehow my initial memory card came up missing. I didn't do a lot of worry about it while we were in the hospital because that wasn't so important at the time, but after we got home and had time to settle in I began to look for it and couldn't find it anywhere. I was crushed, all the memories we had were what we could remember. I had one of my memory cards, but it only had I think the last day on there. The bin that had everything in it had been searched and searched so I just dismissed the fact that I was going to find it and put the bin in the attic. Well I had a yard sale today and decided I was going to go through my stuff in the attic and see what I could sell. I came back across that bin and thought well I will just look one more time. Well I didn't even have to look it was right there. I couldn't hardly believe my eyes. Over 300 pictures from Disney were found, I was estatic. It may seem small to some people but this was huge for me. I know the Lord had to have done that because I had tore that bin apart looking for that card, He is so gracious to us.

On another note, we had our yard sale today, and it was a hot one, my faces proves it. Needless to say I got me some sunshine today. We were selling away when I looked across the road and saw the rain coming. I told the others and we began to carry everything in the Jerome's shop. We got the most important stuff in just in time, but by the time we got the rest of it we were trenched from head to toe. We had a few more customers, but then decided to pack it all up. All in all we had a good turn out and made lots of $$$$.

We are now getting ready for church. It's 2nd weekend so hope everyone will come out and see us.

Couponing and Labor Day!

2010-09-07T18:27:00.002-05:00

....well I did my first couponing this weekend. I was so overwhelmed with trying to figure out what was on sale, what I had a coupon for and where could I get a coupon. I think I was on the phone with Melia Saturday almost 30 minutes. I started trying to make a list but it just wasn't working for me. So I loaded Kensley up and we took off to Publix. Yes my first couponing experience was with a kid in tow, she actually did really good. I got lots of BOGO items and used a few coupons. So all in all for my first experience I think I did really well. I spent $106 and saved $78. Dustin thinks they just tell you that to make you feel good. He's just jealous, maybe I should let him try the grocery shopping one day.... :)

I got home Saturday from the grocery store and several were in and out of the house all day, but we don't mind, we love company. Saturday night we went to church and then had a few over afterwards to watch the Alabama game. Although it was really tough to stay awake, I'm sure I did doze a few times, but glad they won! Roll Tide! Sunday morning I was exhausted and we stayed home that morning and then church that night. After church we went to Red Lobster with Scott and Josie and altogether we had 6 kids with us to. They did good though...dinner was good, but the price wasn't so good. But what do you expect it was Red Lobster. And can someone tell Scott that the resturants don't care whether or not your party is made up of kids or adults, they are still going to charge you the gratuity. Yeah he wasn't so happy about it, but paid it anyway. Guess where we won't be going with Scott for awhile, yep you got it Red Lobster.

Monday we got up pretty early and Dustin had some things to do the new trailor that New Harmony got and then we headed up to the mountain (Gunters) to the church where they were grilling out and the kids played. We stayed for a couple of hours and then headed down to Scott and Josie's to visit for a while and then back home. Hilary and Daniel Mahan came over and Daniel and Dustin recorded a song that Daniel had written. They did a really good job. We enjoy them coming over, Hilary is a blast and Daniel coming over gives Dustin someone to enjoy playing music with.

Today was back to the grind at work and it was a rough one. We are getting new billing software, so we have started this week getting conversion ready for us to start training on it, which means my other work gets neglected. I tried working on it some later this afternoon, but didn't get near the things done that I needed to, but it will be there tomorrow, trust me no one is going to go in and do it for me. :( Well I hope everyone has a good week and we will talk to y'all soon!

Another miracle.....

2010-08-23T18:45:00.002-05:00

.....well today another miracle happened, at least in our family's eyes. After the wreck we had to meet with the Sherriff or State Trooper's dept (I can't remember exactly which one it was) about the accident and answer a bunch of questions. They charged Dustin with driving with faulty equipment and he would have to appear in court, they said they had to charge him with something because of the TBI that Kensley sustained. Well they told us we didn't have to do it right then that we had up to a year to come back to court. He had tried to call once we got home and got settled back in, but couldn't ever get anybody, so we have just sort of dismissed it until now. It is coming up on a year real soon and we knew something had to be done about it, so he decided he would call today and he got someone on the phone, who said that the guy who had our case had dismissed it and he no longer had to appear in court. Praise the Lord for yet another miracle.

I also want to Praise the Lord for a very good day yesterday with Kensley. Most of you know that she has sudden outburst of anger, and it is very hard to control sometimes, but yesterday was so good and I was amazed within myself how good she was. Today we have had some minor spells, but not bad at all.

Tonight it is all about homework again. Monday's are always the worst. Dustin and Hayley Kelly are in there practicing for a wedding. Konnor is still working on homework and Kens is in her room playing with Grayson. And by the way thanks to everyone who sent me a comment or sent me an email about beds. Hopefully if Costco still has the one that I've been told about I will be getting it. Well hope everyone is having a good day, talk to you all soon!

Cleaning out!!!!!!!

2010-08-21T08:01:00.002-05:00

I have gotten in the mood of cleaning out. I love it when I get in those moods cause I actually get some things accomplished. Right now it is Kensley's room. I'm on the look out for a daybed with a trundle so if anyone knows where one is at a good price please let me know. Right now I have a full size bed in there, but she just doesn't have the room to play, so that means that the kids are constantly bringing the toys out of her room in to one of the other rooms in my house and that drives me crazy. I'm also so looking for some type of desk because one of her favorite things to do is play school. I remember loving playing school when i was a kid. Oh the good ole days! She had probably 50 stuffed animals from the hospital that I had in a net, but the kids love getting them down and do you know how hard it is to keep that many animals in the net and nice and neat. So last night I went and bought a big bin to store some of them in. I hate to get rid of them because they are special. We kept a few out, but most are stored now. We cleaned out the other toys in her room and the purses. I can't believe what all was in those purses, I threw away so much garbage. Now I have to tackle the closet.

I was also able to get all of her fall clothes from last year priced and out the door. I was only able to keep one skirt from last year. She has went from wearing a six last year to a ten this year. Can you believe that? She has grown so much.

Me and the kids watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid last night and it was so funny. Dustin had went to a church in Gurley to see New Ground and The Primitive Quartet. Today me and Kens are going to finish cleaning out her room and Konnor has a b-day party to attend after while. We aren't having church until tomorrow night so hopefully I can get some things accomplished. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Back to School.....

2010-08-12T20:17:00.005-05:00

....well it was back to school Monday for the kids. I was ready for it to start because I like the routine of things, a somewhat schedule, one of which we have not had this summer. It's been a summer filled with going here and yonder non-stop, I mean I think we finally cooked our first meal at home this week in I don't know when, we have been having to eat on the run and we are sick of it, so it was nice to have a home cooked meal. Ok so back to the school thing. Konnor wasn't so excited, but he has done really well so far. He has a very good teacher and several of his good friends from last year are in his class. Not looking foward to the homework this year, but I'm sure we can make it through it.

Kensley on the other hand was so excited about going back to school, but I on the other hand was a little nervous about it. I mean she requires so much attention and not knowing if she is getting everything she needs, well it worries me. We got to the school and she sat right down and started working on the sheet her teacher had for her. She was ready for us to leave, but of course I talked with her teacher about her needs and we headed off. I couldn't wait to talk to her when she got off the bus, oh yeah I am letting her ride the bus home and she loves it. She said she had a good day. Thursday morning we had to go get her stitches taken out from her surgery, which by the way went great, she didn't even cry. Anyway I had a chance to talk to her teacher when I got there and she said that Kensley was doing great, she is getting a little tired, but she understood with her situation. I was so excited to hear how good she was doing. We had considered asking for her an aide, but decided to wait to see what her teacher said about it after a few days of school, Mrs. Weaver thinks they are doing good enough without one right now so we are going to hold off on that for now.

The Kiddos getting ready to leave.

Showing off their backpacks.

Konnor with all his notebooksk, can't you tell he is so excited!

Kensley at her desk coloring and I might add she was so excited to have her own desk.

So we have our first full week of school down and many more to go. We had some friends over last night for some grilled chicken and steak. The guys worked on music stuff and us girls just watched kids and talked. We had a good time. Today has just been a lazy day catching up on some much needed rest. The rest of the weekend will be filled with going to church. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Successful Surgery!

2010-07-30T09:24:00.007-05:00

Well our day started with getting up at 5 am and getting everyone ready to head to the Surgery Center. We arrived there at 6:30 am and the staff was super nice to us. Kens was such a trooper, she wasn't a bit scared. She was just being the normal Kensley, trying to make everyone laugh. They came in and prepped her leg and then talked to us about her getting anesthesia and she could have cared less about talking to them about that, she kept trying to change the subject. They came in and took her, she never even looked back, she was so brave, I had prayed that she wouldn't be scared and I'm so thankful she wasn't. We went to the waiting room and a little bit later the doctor came out to talk to us and said that she did great, that he had gotten all the glass out along with removing some scar tissue. A little more waiting and they came and got us to go back and get her. We put her in the car and headed to Chick-Fil-A since she hadn't got to eat since last night. Well on the way there she got sick a little bit from the anesthesia, but after that she was fine. We are home now and she doesn't even act like she has had anything done.

Here she is with her new teddy bear that they gave her, which she named "Little Bear".

Here she is with her gown on and ready to head to surgery.

Well as I sit here trying to finish up this post that I started earlier today, Kensley is complaining with her belly hurting and has been for a couple of hours. I go to get a garbage can just in case, and well by the time I get back she has thrown up all over the couch (which by the way is only a couple of months old). I holler for Dustin to come and help me, well what was I thinking, he walks up with some towels and has to turn around and go to the bathroom himself. He just can't handle the smell too well. I'm hoping I got it all out of the couch and I have sprayed the room with Febreeze. I think it was still just a side affect from the anesthesia, I hope so anyway.

We thank everyone for their prayers today and throughout this whole process. We couldn't have went through all of this without everyone. Hope everyone has a great weekend and stay cool!

Free Session....

2010-07-29T11:49:00.002-05:00

......I'm so excited that I won the free session with Bryd Photography. I know my sister-in-law does pics too, but it's always nice to win something for FREE! Now just to come up with where I want to have the pics made and what to wear....send me some ideas. If anyone knows me well enough I hate making decisions, I just go with whatever everybody else wants to do. So send me some suggestions.

In case I don't get to post later tonight, please remember Kensley tomorrow. She is being put to sleep to have the glass taken out of her knee tomorrow.

Quick update.....

2010-07-27T07:02:00.002-05:00

.....we went to the Ortho doctor last week and he just wasn't comfortable with taking the glass out in the office, so we have to go to the Surgery Center Friday and have her put to sleep so that he can take the glass out. Should be a very minor procedure and she seems ok with it. She remembers being put to sleep to have her tonsils out, so it doesn't seem like a big deal to her. She is doing great and just counting the days til school starts back. We went and bought school supplies last night and it wasn't really as bad as what I thought it would be (I mean money wise of course). Konnor told me last night that he was getting a little worried about going in to 3rd grade and that he wanted me start praying for him now. He'll do fine I'm sure. Kensley has already been practicing math and she gets on my computer all the time to play text twist, so I know that she knows how to spell.

Well as far as the rest of our life goes, we have just been going to work and to church. Dustin got down in his back this weekend and we went to Rocky Branch Sunday morning, but he just wasn't able to hold out the rest of the day so we headed back home and ordered some pizza and turned in early, boy was that nice, that doesn't happen too often.

Today Kensley has to go see Dr. Thomas who is making her a new brace for her leg. She loves going to see him because his office is decorated with a mural of Thomas the train. Well that's all for now, I will let you all know how the surgery goes.

Another appt....

2010-07-19T17:44:00.002-05:00

....well I called Dr. Laue's office this morning to make an appt to see about getting this glass out of Kensley's knee that has been there since the accident. It has started hindering her in therapy and even though we were told it would probably work it's way out eventually, we need to go ahead with other options so that she can continue to progress. So anyway, they gave me an appt for today at 4 and of course had to wait for seem like forever. He was in there maybe a total of 5 minutes when he says that he is going to refer us to a surgeon. Not the words we wanted to hear, but not bad either. We were hoping he could just cut it out in the office, but he thought it was too big I guess. He said that the surgeon would probably take and X-ray and then decide whether or not it could be done in the office or not. I'm still awaiting the call as to when her appt will be. I will keep everyone informed.

Well to recap the weekend, Friday night was spent at home catching up on some sleep. Dustin was sick and didn't feel like going anywhere so me and Kens ran to Wal-Mart and then I fell asleep on the couch not long after I got back home. Saturday me and the kids ran to town and then we were lazy the rest of the day and headed to the Cove that night for church. Service was really good and we went to Bradley and Stacey afterwards. Sunday we went to Hytop, which I was really dreading the crowd, but it wasn't that bad. Sunday night it was back to Big Cove and it was packed out. Service was really good and me, Dust and the kids went to Santa Fe afterwards which I think was the majority of the church's choice to go too. We ate by ourselves which worked out really good because we got out alot sooner than they all did.

Today is my Holy Ghost birthday. Sixteen years ago on a Tuesday night I received the good Holy Ghost. The Lord has truly blessed my life in so many ways. I have a great husband and two wonderful kids. He has blessed us with a home, cars to drive, good jobs, a wonderful church to attend and a great extended family. I don't know what I would do without Him.

Well Dustin is mowing the grass right now and there are so many things that I need to be doing, but I just can't seem to get the motivation. That's all for now folks....have a good night and sleep tight....lol!

Doctor's appt....

2010-07-18T07:51:00.003-05:00

....this past Thursday we had a doctor's appt in B'ham for a follow up. The last time we were there the news just wasn't that good. They wanted to do a procedure on her called Botox injections, so we scheduled that for June. As time got closer to the procedure the more I didn't want her to have it cause the Lord had really been looking at her and she was progressing so well that I didn't want there to be any set backs, so me and Dustin talked about it and we cancelled the procedure. Well Thursday Kensley walked in to the doctor's office without her brace, he was so pleased with how far she had came. He told us that we had made the right decision by cancelling and that was ease to our minds. Everything was good news from then on. She can go back to school full time this year and we are starting to wing her off of her medicine. The Lord is so good to us. I know that in His time He will finish healing my baby, but for now we will praise Him for what He has already done for her.

It's been so busy around here going to revivals, working and just trying to catch as much sleep as possible that I haven't had time to blog. The kids have been staying with my parents this summer and getting to do some liitle things. I hope to be able to take them somewhere for a day before school starts back. I had thought about maybe the Aquarium in Chattanooga and then maybe head to Sticky Fingers because that is Konnor's favorite place to eat. Suzie did take the boys to the Long's deer farm a couple of weeks ago and they loved that. I have pictures, but I haven't uploaded them yet, so maybe soon.

I have also been trying to put up corn. Although my parents did most of the work (because they didn't have the patience to wait on me....lol) there is so much time that goes in to all of this. I can see why back in the day that they didn't work, they stayed home and canned. Well anyway I did get several bags of corn put up and yesterday I put up some okra. I still plan to put up some peaches like Dustin's grandmother does and I would still love to do more corn, but it is just finding the time to do it.

We went to Big Cove last night and it was really good, revival feeling was there. Today we are heading out to Hytop and then back to Big Cove tonight. Hope everyone has a good week. Til next time....tootles!

Revival....

2010-07-05T19:48:00.002-05:00

.....our revival was great. We had 5 new souls born and many minds renewed. I wasn't able to take off all week this year but I was able to take long lunches and enjoy the services. Our day services were just as great as the night services. I did however take off Tuesday since that was my day to cook and work in the kitchen and it was also our night to cook for the preachers. I also took off half a day on Friday. It was a great revival but also very exhausting. It is always sad when it comes to an end, but we are so thankful that the Lord looked at our family.

Konnor's B-day

2010-07-05T19:21:00.003-05:00

.....well I am really behind, so I will start out with Konnor's b-day. It was June 11th. He was born right in the middle of revival 8 years ago. I remember it so well. I went to the doctor on that Monday and I was dialated to a 3 and she said she could induce me the next day or I could wait another week. Of course this was my first child and I was too excited to wait, even though it was revival I was ready. So the next day I went in bright and early and never felt the first contraction. He was born at 11:32 am and weighed 8lbs 10oz. He was dark headed and had the fattest cheeks. I had wanted a fat baby and that is what I got. I only got to hold him for a minute and they took him away. I didn't know that was unusual, I just thought it was normal, but they didn't tell me until after the doctor got finished with me that he had quit breathing when he was first born and had turned blue, but they got him right back, but they just needed to take him to make sure everything was ok. Thank the good Lord he was fine.

He has grown to be such a wonderful kid. Although he kind of has trouble sometimes having a smart mouth on him, but other than that he is a really good kid. He is so much like his dad that it is scary. His actions are like him, he looks like him and he loves just following him and learning what ever it is that he may be doing, whether it is music, something around the house, riding four wheelers or looking on Craigslist.

I can't believe he will be going in to the 3rd grade this year. He does really well in school, we just have to push him sometimes cause he is a typical boy and doesn't want to do the homework, but all in all he does really good.

I just want to say that me and dad love you Konnor and we are so proud of you and proud to be your parents. I hope we can raise you up to be respectful and a loving person. Happy 8th Birthday Konnor! Here are some pics from his party at Roller Coasters Skating Rink. They skated and played laser tag. Some of his favorite things right now are playing music and firefighter stuff, he loves to talk to Justin and York about the fire dept which he hopes to one day work at.

It Sure Looks Like a Beautiful Day.....

2010-06-10T07:40:00.002-05:00

....."there were troubles around me and still I can say it sure looks like a Beautiful Day." I got in my car this morning and turned my cd to this song, which some of our good friends the Wright's sing and if you don't have a cd of theirs we have some if you would like to buy one, it is well worth the money. I love this song and I just got to thinking about it this morning and I do have troubles as we all do, but no matter what it's still a beautiful day. The Lord has blessed us beyond measure and I know he will see us through.

Revival starts this weekend and I'm hoping for some miracles. For his healing power and souls to be revived. Hope everyone of you have a Beautiful Day!

Another milestone.....

2010-06-08T07:59:00.002-05:00

....we have reached another milestone, well at least in my eyes we have. It maybe small to some people, but to me and Dustin this was huge. I called Dustin on my home yesterday and he was telling me that he had put Kensley on the trampoline while he did some yard work and one of her cousins was on there with her. He told her to stay on there until he got done. He saw Grayson going home and she said she was going home for a minute but she never came back to play with Kensley so in a few minutes he went to check on Kensley and there she was walking toward him. He asked her how in the world did she get off and she said by herself and he just couldn't hardly believe it and I think she knew that so she told him to put her back on there and she would show him. So sure enough she showed him, she got off all by herself. We were just amazed and then on top of that they had went inside and she said "Hey dad watch me open these chips" and she did with both hands. Her control of her left hand is not real good, but she can grab things and grip them. We are so proud of her and know that the Lord is going to continue to bless her. I know these things seem small but to us they are huge. It's so great to be a part of God's work and to see His healing power.

Revival starts next week and we hope you all can come and join us. I'm already exhausted just thinking about it, but can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us. I'm thankful that he is blessing these other revivals and hope it continues. We went to Skyline last night and got to see Bro. Mark who received the Holy Ghost Sunday night at Skyline and he was so happy. Hope we get to see many more this summer. Well that's all for now, hope everyone has a great day!

Kensley's procedure

2010-06-01T09:08:00.002-05:00

We were supposed to have Kensley's procedure done this Wednesday, but let me back track first. A couple of Sunday nights ago we went to church and I sat on the front which is very unusual and Kens was laying in my lap and meeting was going really good and I seen Dustin's Uncle Paul look over and I knew exactly what he was going to do. He got the oil and came over and anointed her and a few minutes later Bro. Rob anointed her. The whole service was pretty much towards her and I was so thankful. I got up to thank the Lord for looking at her and he poured me out a blessing. This was the best I had felt since we had gotten back home. I just felt like the Lord was going to take care of everything for Kensley, so the next day I talked to Dustin about it and told him that I just felt like we needed to cancel the procedure and he agreed so that I did. I was so hesitant about it from the beginning, but me and Dustin just didn't know what to do, but after that Sunday night there was no doubt in my mind anymore what needed to be done. The procedure could have possibly set her back and we might have even had to go back to the wheelchair, which I didn't want to have to do at all, she has made such tremendous progress and I didn't want to hinder what the Lord can do.

Back in March when we went to Birmingham, Kensley was walking with our help and they thought that was great, but still had concerns. Well I think if they saw her today they would see a big change since March. Then she wouldn't walk by herself, her memory was still really bad and her left foot would just turn sideways when she didn't have her brace on and that was concerning them. Well since then she is walking everywhere by herself (well that I let her, I get a little nervous when we are outside), her memory hasn't improved so much and now she is walking without her brace around the house and foot is no longer turning over to the side. She has come so far in such a short period of time and I'm so thankful. I'm not a very patient person, so I tend to want her healing to be instantly, but I know the Lord has a plan.

And while I'm on this subject I also want to thank the Lord for yesterday. It was our annual Memorial Day picnic at the park and I was just kind of wanting it to get rained out because I get so stressed when I have to take Kensley somewhere like that because she gets so frustrated that she's not able to play like the other kids. I prayed that it would be a good day and that she would have fun and she did. We had a couple of moments, but nothing like what it has been in the past. I'm so thankful the Lord blessed her with a good day. I will have more on Memorial Day later, but I just wanted to go ahead and share this little bit with you all.

Have a good Monday oh I mean Tuesday.....my week is already so messed up.....lol!

Graduation....

2010-05-28T14:50:00.005-05:00

....I'm so far behind on posting, I'm not sure where to begin. But most importantly last Friday we got to see our miracle walk across the floor and receive her diploma for graduating Kindergarten. I went thinking I can make it through this without getting upset, boy was I ever wrong. I didn't cry when Konnor graduated, but I just guess this was different. I was just sitting there watching her wait her turn to go up and I just kept thinking about what could have been. Things could have been so different, we could have lost her, but the Lord saw fit to let us keep her and I am so indebted to Him for that. The obstacles that we face with her on a daily basis is nothing compared to loosing her completly. I know we don't say a whole lot about Konnor, but we are so thankful that the Lord spared his life too, Konnor has been our rock, he has been a tremendous help through all of this and I'm so thankful for him. I'm glad that the Lord blessed him through 2nd grade and that he is moving on to the 3rd. Here are a few pictures from our day.

Kensley with her teacher Mrs. Steele

Konnor and his teacher Mrs. Coffey

Konnor receiving his awards

Kensley receiving her diploma

Kensley posing

Kensley and Brady

Me, Kensley and Dustin

We have a singing tonight at Huntsville, come out if you can. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

New furniture....

2010-05-25T08:36:00.002-05:00

Well we sold our van last week so I was able to talk Dustin in to letting me buy a new living room suite with the money. I can't wait to get it in. This is probably the total opposite look that I was looking for, but I fell in love with it. Here it is, let me know what you think.

The Dreaded Question.....

2010-05-14T13:28:00.002-05:00

....I received the dreaded question the other day at Wal-Mart. I was standing at the counter getting something to eat and there was this lady(someone whom I knew) beside me and I could tell she kept looking at me, but I was talking to the person behind the counter so when I got done and turned to tell her hi and she asked the dreaded question.....Are you having another baby? I said excuse me and I could see the look on her face change, knowing that she had just stuck her foot in her mouth, so she asked it again since I didn't quite understand what she asked, I guess I just wanted to make sure I heard her correctly. I proceeded to tell her that I wasn't and she apologized. I wanted to say "No I'm not pregnant, I'm just fat thanks for reminding me how much weight I've gained lately". I know it wasn't intentionally, but I sure didn't need to be reminded of how big I have gotten. I guess I have probably gained 20-251bs since the wreck. Dustin found me an elliptical and I have to say I have not used it as much as I thought I would, but I'm trying to get started back on it because I have never been this big except for the time that I was pregnant and I'm not liking it at all. Anywho I just thought I would share this funny little story with y'all.

Catch up....

2010-05-12T07:16:00.002-05:00

....well I have so much to catch up on, where do I begin. Well to start off with I had a great time at market, if you love to shop this is the place to be. We walked and walked and walked and walked some more. By the end of the first day I could barely move, they were making fun of the way I was walking, but at the time I didn't really care because I was in so much pain, but I got a good laugh the next day at Kara walking the same way. We got so much stuff and had some really good laughs. We saw several other people from our church there shopping too.

We didn't do much over the weekend. Sunday I got up to cook my food to take to my moms. Konnor and Kensley had both made me cards at school and they were so sweet. Dustin gave me a card along with a copy of the New Harmony cd to debut soon. How lucky am I? I did want a copy but just not as a gift for Mother's Day. Me and the kids went out to my moms for lunch and Dustin was laid up in the bed with his back, so we brought him a plate back and then we were just lazy for the rest of the day.

Monday night I had to go to town and find Konnor something to wear for pictures they were having Tuesday night for the New Harmony cd. He was insistent that he wear a suit, so I got him a black pin stripe suit with a black and blue tie, he looked really sharp. Tuesday night I went to take the kids along with Harley to get their pics made, oh and that was a sight to behold trying to get 10 kids to look and smile all at the same time. I wish I had a video of Drea trying to get Kaden to smile. You just had to be there. :) We made it home around 9 only to realize that I was locked out of the house. My mom had my garage door opener and Dustin hadn't gotten home from practice yet. So I had to go borrow a flash light from Kyle and get in the back door because we don't own a key to our front door. I mean who doesn't own a key to their own house???? Well that would be us! Anyway we went to church Wednesday night and then Thursday I was in a meeting until after 5 and got home and cooked some tacos and then we went out on the back deck and had watermelon, it was so good too! I had to call Melia and tell her that I had just eaten the heart out of the watermelon, that is her favorite part and we all fight over it when were together. Tonight we have a singing on the lake, which I'm sure I will get eaten up by bugs, they just love me, Dustin says it's because I need a bath, but I say it's because I'm so sweet....you all know I'm right. :P

And of course I don't have my camera with me to download my pics, but I will soon, hope everyone has a great weekend!

Market bound......

2010-05-03T10:49:00.002-05:00

....I am so excited that we are getting ready to leave for market as we speak. It is me, Alyson, Josie and Kara. There are some more that are driving down in the morning and coming back tomorrow night. Me and Josie have never been so we are not real sure what we are getting in to. I have tried the past two times to go, but it hasn't worked out. Kara has already told me that I was being to bossy for a first timer, but I've been told that Kara is not a good driver, so I chose Alyson to drive my car, so therefore she thinks I'm being a little bossy(j/k)! We are going to have a great time, I will miss my kids and husband, but it's just for two days. Not sure that I will post anything while I'm gone, but I will let you know what good deals I find when I get back.

Eventful Weekend....

2010-05-03T10:07:00.003-05:00

....well it all started off with me leaving work on Friday to go to my house and get my mom and bring her to the emergency room. She was hurting in her chest some, but it turned out to just be the flu, just glad it was nothing bad. So me, Kensley, Melia, Jeremy and Keelie spent the evening in the the ER waiting room up until around 9. Me and the kids were supposed to go to Albertville to eat supper with Dustin, but it since all that happened with mom I knew we weren't going to make and plus turned out that Dustin 'em worked til 11 that night so he couldn't have went anyways. I have gotten by without the kids sleeping with me this week since Dustin was gone, but they both begged Friday night so I give in, and boy was that a mistake, it was horrible. I kept having to get up and rearrange kids in the middle of the night just so that I wouldn't fall off the bed, but I love to snuggle with Kensley, she is a very good snuggle buddy, Konnor on the other hand is kind of a wild sleeper.

Woke up really early Saturday morning to meet Alyson and Kara at Belk for the charity sale. They asked me to meet them there at 8 well me and Kensley were there at 7:45 (I know it's just shopping but if you give me a time, I'm gonna be there on time if not early, I can't stand being late to anything), but I think the others finally made it there a little before 9. So I had done most of my shopping before they even got there. It was a mad house, but we got some good deals! We headed home cause Dustin had just gotten home and we couldn't wait to see him, when we got there he was riding the four wheeler and Kens was dying to go for a ride so we all hopped on and headed in to the mountains. Every few seconds Kens would turn around and give her daddy a kiss, she had missed him so much and plus she was super excited he was riding her too. Dustin rested the rest of the afternoon and the boys rode dirt bikes all evening and Kens had a couple of friends over to play.

Sunday we had to cook for the elderly people. We usually do this around Christmas, but the sisters voted that this time of year would be better. We had a very good church service Sunday morning with visitors from Villa Rica. Bro. Leroy anointed Kensley and I was so happy because she fell Thursday and hurt her bad leg again, it seems every time we get to where we think things are good, she gets hurt and sets herself back, but the Lord came by Sunday morning and I'm looking for her to be better this week. Sunday we were out of church before 7, WOW, that never happens. So me, Dust and the kids went and ate at Santa Fe and headed home for bed.

I have scheduled Kensley procedure for her botox on June 2nd, they told us that this could set her back a little, but we all know that the Lord can work it out just right.

That's all for now, have a good Monday!

Change of Plans.....

2010-04-28T07:49:00.003-05:00

.....well the last post said that Dustin was not going to have to stay in Albertville and work, well things have changed and he is there until possibly Friday. I know he is exhausted already and we are missing him bunches. He did get to come home Monday night but it was late when he got home and then Konnor woke up with an ear ache, so we were up with him til around 1 trying to ease his pain and praying for him, but he is all better now and we thank the Lord for it.

Last night Jeremy and Melia stopped by and wanted to go eat, so we all loaded up and went to Logan's and met Jack and Suzie there as well. We hadn't been seated long when Uncle Donnie and Aunt Josie walked in so we made room for them too. Logan's must have been the place to come last night because we ended up seeing several more people we knew including Mark, Jackie and Griffin. Let me tell you Griffin is a character, if you have never been around him you are missing out. The kid loves playing church and loves entertaining our kids. We headed home and me and the kids finished out the night with baths, homework and some tv.

I'm getting a excited that next week I am going to market to shop in Atlanta. I have never gotten to go and I cannot wait. Well I guess that's all for now. Happy Wednesday!

What a Monday!

2010-04-26T10:20:00.003-05:00

Wow....I can tell it is Monday, my day has been crazy already. Woke up this morning to get Dustin's clothes ironed for three days and him packed and ready to go to work. He was told that they were going to work in Albertville for the next couple of days and they would be spending the night so I did all of this for him to call me this morning and say that they had a change of plans, that they were going back today, but he would be able to come home tonight and he probably wouldn't have to go back, which is good because I hate it when he is away. Then I take four kids to McDonald's to eat breakfast before school, but I have to say they did very good. Then I start getting calls and emails before I can even get to work with problems that are going on. So needless to say I have been extremely busy this morning. I think I have just about gotten all of the problems resolved and hope to get started on my daily functions pretty soon.

We had a very restful weekend. We took the kids to Panoply Friday night, but we didn't get to do as much as we had liked because is started raining. And for those of you who read my husband's blog, it was him that wanted his faced painted not me....lol...j/k! The girls really wanted to get their face painted but we just didn't have the time since we were fixing to get wet, so we headed home and Dustin dropped me off at Jen's house (my sis-in-law) for her jewelry party and then headed to my other sis-in-law Marty's house for a few. Somehow I came home with 3 extra kids which makes 5 total.....what was I thinking. No they were good, the boys stayed upstairs and rearranged Konnor's room and the girls were really tired so it didn't take them long to pass out. Saturday was just a very lazy day, we stayed over at Suzie's most of the day and cooked and sewed (well Melia and Suzie sewed, I just watched) and cooked some more. Sunday we were headed to church when we had to turn around and go home because Dustin got called in to work. I'm so glad that the tornado's missed us (Konnor told me he prayed that they would, he has become terrified of storms, he must be related to Joe David), but I am sad for those that were in the path of the storm. So me and the kids headed on to church and we had a good service Sunday morning and Sunday night. Sunday night we were sitting beside Sis. Angie Philpott and something just didn't sit right with Kensley and she had one of her fits and I guess it just really embarrassed me that I just pretty much lost it and started crying, I'm not sure how to handle her when she does that. I know we have to teach her that she can't do those type of things and I know I use her injury as an excuse, but I just really don't think she has that full understanding of things back yet, so sometimes I just have to cry with her to let my frustrations out because I'm not sure what else to do. After church I ran the kids through the drive thru at Krystals and we headed home for the night.

Well now I have to go and try and get some work done, hope everyone has a good Monday!

Girls Night Out!

2010-04-21T07:22:00.003-05:00

We had a girls night out last night to celebrate Kim Brewer's b-day at Rosie's. There was about 12 or 13 of us and we had a blast. There were no kids screaming or crying or needing to go the potty right when you get your food. I love my kids dearly, but a night every once in a while with just the girls is good. I forgot my camera last night or I would have some pics to put on here of our dinner, maybe next go around I will remember.

Kensley is doing good, she went to the doctor yesterday to have her wrist x-rayed again and there is still one little spot that hasn't healed up all the way but he thought it was fine. I'm trying to schedule Kensley's procedure to have her botox injections done, but can't seem to get anyone to answer my phone calls, so I'm not real sure when that is going to take place, plus I have lots of questions I need them to answer. She has been through so much that I hate for to have to go through this too, but I know the Lord can help her and help us to see her through this if it is going to benefit her.

I couldn't wait for Spring and Summer to get here, but now that it is here I struggle with it more each day. Not because it is hot, but that my baby can't do everything she wants to be doing. She sees all the other kids outside playing, jumping, riding bikes, etc. and she wants to do those things too and how do you explain that to her. Winter time was a breeze because everyone was inside and played together and now that's its warm outside all the other kids are outside playing and a lot of times Kensley can't do the things they are doing, but they don't understand and I don't expect them to or even think for one second that they have to stay in with her, but it is just so hard sometimes to keep it together when everyone else is having so much fun and you are trying to console your daughter who just don't understand everything. Maybe we can get her a swing set or something that she can play with outside and that will help things some. Seems I have been an emotional wreck lately, just reflecting on the things that have happened and what she is having to go through. Nobody wants their kid to be the one that's different and can't participate with everyone else and I never thought I would be in this position, but now that I am I have a different perspective on things. I have questioned why us, what did we do wrong, why did it have to be Kensley and not me. All these questions have ran through my mind lately, but I know that God has a plan and in His time He will make all things right. I just need to learn to have patience and wait upon Him. I long for the day when she comes running and jumping in bed in the mornings or when she gets off the bus from school that she comes bursting through the door or when she can ride a bike again. I've always seemed to take all of those things for granted but not anymore, every little achievement Kensley makes is huge to us and we have learned to appreciate them more. I'm sorry to have been whining on all of your shoulders I just needed to let a little bit of it out today. I have learned a lot through this experience and just hope that I can be a good mother to her like she needs.

Konnor is doing well also, he spent the weekend in Tennessee with his cousin Jackson. Tomorrow he is going to work with my mom since it is take your kid to work day, but me or Dustin neither one could take him with us so my mom offered to let him go with her.

Well that's all for now, hope everyone has a good rest of the week.

Doctor's Appt....

2010-04-13T14:34:00.003-05:00

Well we went to the eye doctor yesterday.....and I will just start by saying that the eye drops they gave Kensley must have had something in them because she was just acting crazy. I was laughing so hard at her that I thought I was going to have to get up and leave the room. She would make faces at the doctors and do stuff when they turned their backs. Anyway back to the real reason I'm posting, the doctors were really impressed with how far she had come, the only thing that they are kind of concerned with is that her left peripheral vision is not fully back, but they said that she was still improving and that they would just see her in another 6 months. Wonderful news, which I didn't expect any less, I knew that the Lord had sent her help Sunday night and that everything was going to be ok. Here is a picture of her sitting there waiting on the doctor.

Today was back to the grind at work and you wouldn't think that being off for one day would make that big of a deal, but it does where I work. I have gotten a lot accomplished today so I'm feeling pretty good about things. Well gotta go for now, just wanted to update everyone on how the appt went. Have a great rest of the day!

Pictures Gallore!

2010-04-12T07:32:00.006-05:00

Well I thought I would just do a post of pictures I haven't had a chance to upload yet, so here goes.....

Here is Mr. Coolcat!

Kensley and Landon
Dustin and his besties!

Little New Harmony

Konnor and Peyton

Kensley and Kaylee, BFF's

Here are some from Sydnee's b-day party at Spoiled Rockin Kids, they had a blast!

Here is the final outcome.....

Here is one someone took from our yardsale on Saturday, we had an awesome turn out, it was non-stop for hours, you would have thought it was Wal-Mart....but all made lots of money and had a good time. I had packed all my stuff up and was leaving when I saw some Mexicans pull up so I stopped and asked them if they wanted some free stuff and I unloaded the car for them and gave them what I had left....the guy wanted to pay me something so I told him if he really wanted to he could just give me $20, I just wanted to get rid of it and not bring it back home. We even had some people coming back for the 2nd time, they said it was the best yardsale that they had been to. Got lots of sun and I'm still paying for it today, it really hurts, but oh well I needed some sun.

Now I have to wrap it up, gotta go iron Dustin's clothes. Going to B'ham, will give an update later. Hope everyone has a good Monday!

What a Great Night with the Girls!

2010-04-08T21:43:00.002-05:00

Wow....we had such fun tonight. A few family members and friends got together at Carraba's tonight to celebrate the up coming marriage of my sister-in-law. We had such a blast with each other, telling stories on one another and watching Marty opening all her gifts and the waiter peaking through the door to make sure it was ok for him to come back in. I'm glad they put up outside on the patio cause we were extremely loud, people walking by outside prolly really thought we were in there drinking as loud as we were. Marty did not want any kind of shower, but I think she really enjoyed herself.

Well I have managed to talk Dustin in to helping me load the car up for the yard sale since I won't have time to do it tomorrow night since we have a singing in Winchester. Everything is pretty much loaded and ready to go. Tomorrow I have a busy day ahead of me, I have a meeting at the school first thing in the morning, then I have interviews from 9:30-2:30 tomorrow afternoon, then I have got to run by Mullins and pick up the racks I rented for the yard sale and be home and ready to go by 4. I don't know how it is all going to happen, but somehow it will all get done. I'll prolly be a zombie at church Saturday night since I prolly won't get home from the singing until over in the morning and then back up at 5 or so to head to set up the yard sale and who knows what time I will be home from that cause then I will have to take the racks back to Mullins. It's also 2nd weekend which means we have to cook for church and it is my time to pick up the chicken. Well we have a busy weekend ahead of us and we will be heading to Birmingham to eye doctor Monday, I'm looking for him to say everything is good with her left eye. I will keep y'all updated. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-07T08:02:00.002-05:00

I know I'm behind, but I just haven't had the time to post yet. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. Started out Friday night going to Higdon's singing to see our friends from the north who were singing and man are they good! Kensley also got requested to sing, and she sang Beautiful Day all by herself and did so good! Saturday was our egg hunt with all the kids from church, but we got rained out, I know it was pretty later that day, but it was still kind of muddy and some weren't gonna get to come if we moved it later in the day. So instead me and the fam went to the mall to do some shopping. Usually Dustin is rushing me, but he did really good and let me take my time. They were sitting in front of Belk waiting on me and I had been in there quite a while and the lines were really long to, but when I walked out Kensley told she had just prayed that I would hurry and come out.....I thought that was really cute! Got up Easter morning and cooked breakfast and then fixed my stuff for dinner that day and got us all ready and was ready by 9, I was really impressed, I can't seemed to do that any other Sunday. :) We went up to Goody's (Dustin's grandmother for those of you who don't know her) and made some pics before church, this used to be a tradition of ours that we did every year and somehow has just gotten away from us. We had a wonderful service that morning and had a great dinner with the family. Here is one of the pictures of all of us, I will try to upload more a little later.

It was back to the grind Monday morning. I have been super busy at work this week and at home. I'm trying to get ready for a yard sale we are having Saturday. Who knew that one family could accumulate so many clothes.....I feel like I'm drowning in them. If you would like to come it will be down at Coleman Machine shop on Hwy 431, it is a multi family yard sale. This morning about 3:45 Kensley was needing to go to the bathroom so I got up and took her and then of course since I was already up I had to go, don't you just hate it when you have to get up in the middle of the night to go, it nearly just makes me mad, I laid there and tossed and turned and my mind was going 90 to nothing of things that I needed to get done and I couldn't go back to sleep for the life of me.....so a little before 5 I just decided to go ahead and get up. I got up and took my shower and then started working on my yard sale stuff again and got pretty much everything priced.

Kensley is doing good, she had her splint off her left hand the other night and she was grabbing Dustin's nose and honking it, and last night she was waving really good with it. I was really worried about the short term memory loss, it just didn't seem to be getting any better, but I have noticed over the past week at how much better it has gotten, she is remembering a lot. She still gets confused with what day it is, but remembering stuff that has happened throughout the day has really improved and all the thanks goes out to all the prayers that you all have been praying for her and to God for answering those prayers!

Konnor is also doing very well. He is doing great in school and last week we had to do a dinosaur project which he got an A+ on. I had gotten him a new suit for Easter as you can see in the above picture and he loved it, he loves wearing them. He told us that he was with "Legacy Five", which is a gospel group he likes to listen to. He is wanting us to get his room moved around so he can set up a studio, he is his daddy's child. All the kid studies is music and fire dept.....and speaking of fire dept, we drove by Big Cove's last night and Mitch was there so Konnor wanted to go by and we dropped him off and Mitch brought him home later, you would of thought you had just given the kid $1000, he loved being with those boys down there. And as far as the music, I hope he takes after his dad on that, he is already doing really good on the drums.

Well I have talked about how Dustin has been writing novels lately on his blog and now I have written one myself. Oh well, I hope everyone has a great rest of the week.

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

2010-03-29T10:12:00.000-05:00

The title of this post is exactly what I feel like doing. I have some good news that I would like to share with everyone. Most everyone knows that Kensley has to wear a brace on her left foot or she wouldn't be able to walk because her foot turns over sideways. Of course Sunday morning she woke up early and I went in there to tell her just to watch tv for a little bit until I got up and she said ok. I was lying in bed and I could hear someone coming down the hall and I thought it was Konnor but much to my surprise it was Kensley walking to my room WITHOUT her brace. Her foot was flat as could be, I was so amazed by this. She not only did it once, but a couple of other times too. I rejoiced all day thinking about it, she truly is a miracle.

Now to recap our weekend. We went to the singing at Stevenson Friday night and it was good, Kensley got anointed and it seems every time someone anoints her you can see a dramatic change in her. I don't care who anoints her as long as the Lord is in it, it will be proven out and so far that has be evident in Kensley. I thank the Lord for everyone that has sent a prayer up for our angel. Saturday I got up early to go look for Easter outfits and then took Kensley to Sydnee's birthday party at Spoiled Rockin Kids, and for you that don't know what that is it's a slaon for little girls and they had a blast. Kensley's hair is still really short but they made her up just like the other girls and she was so excited. Of course she picked bright blue eyeshadow, which was really hard to get off, and purple fingernail polish, which she bit all of that off before I had a chance to take it off before church, she said she didn't want Granddaddy to see her with it on. We to church last night and had a wonderful meeting. Now I'm back at work this morning, getting ready for a busy week ahead. I'm in charge of the Easter Egg Hunt, so sometime this week I have to go and buy the prizes, along with trying to finish up buying the rest of our Easter stuff for this weekend, but it'll get done, I'm a last minute person anyway most of the time. I work better under pressure.

Hope everyone has a blessed day!

If it's not one thing, it's another.....

2010-03-24T07:37:00.001-05:00

Wow....yesterday was an eventful day to say the least. I came to work thinking everything was going good. I met Dustin at lunch at the car dealership to look at a car and we were there for a couple of hours when I got the call....Kensley had fallen Monday night and she said she thought she broke her arm, but we all kept saying "Your ok, it'll be fine", but she went to therapy and the therapist said I needed to get her to the doctor, so I called and got her in and left Dustin at the dealership and met mom and Kensley at the doctor's office. They sent her for an X-Ray and we waited around for the results and sure enough her wrist was broken. They got us in at the orthopedics office and in the meantime Tasha had called me to talk to me about something else so I told her about Kensley and she said that her and Darrin would pray for her, so we headed over to TOC and got in there and was waiting on the doctor and by this time Kensley was so delirious, she was sooooo sleepy, she was cracking us up....she would just start laughing at herself and being very silly. Dustin and Suzie both asked if I had given her something to make her like that, but I hadn't she was just being silly. The doctor came in and showed us the x-rays and it wasn't bad at all, you could barely see it. I told him about her new arm brace that we were getting and they had just called that morning to let me know it was in and he seemed to think that would work just fine for the healing process. So I called and got my appt moved up and he put her in a velcro splint until we get hers today. She is doing very well with, she actually likes the splint and she hasn't been crying with pain either.

I was supposed to help cook for Darrin and Tasha last night and I didn't think I would have time since all of this happened with Kensley, but it worked out to where I was able to run home and fix my stuff and take it over there. When I got there I told Tasha that their praying had worked because Kensley's break was not bad and they didn't have to cast it. Prayer really does work and I'm so thankful that we have Him to call on. And Darrin was doing really good last night, he was moving his feet while we were there. God is so good and our church has so much to be thankful for, we've had many obstacles over the past several months and He has been right there with us all.

Oh and by the way I did get a new car....well it's not brand new, but new to me. It is a 2007 Sequoia.

Follow up appointment

2010-03-22T15:20:00.000-05:00

I had hoped to post this sooner, but it has just been hectic since Thursday. We went to the doctor in B'ham Thursday and we were looking for some good news. They were pleased with her progress, but we all know that they are there to point the bad out in things. They were pleased that she was walking, just not the way she is walking. Her left knee is bowing in when she walks and her foot is dragging when she tries and picks it up. They have increased her medicine and want us to watch and see if that helps any, but they are not confident that it will, so then they are wanting to do some botox injections, this will weaken the muscles that are stronger and help her strengthen the ones that are weaker, so we will probably go back for that in about a month. They will have to put her to sleep, but at least it is just an outpatient procedure. One of the doctors did make the statement that she is the reason he does what he does, and that made us feel pretty good that he was pleased with where she was at. Other than that there was much else discussed. She did get to go back and see her therapist and nurses, and they were amazed at how far she had come.

We headed home a little before 4 that afternoon only to get stuck in traffic due to the sink hole on 65. It took us over 3 hours to get home, for me to only have to turn around and go back to a seminar Friday. I met up with one of the girls from work in Decatur Friday and we headed down to a seminar next to the Galleria, just wished I would have had time to shop a little while I was there. We headed home around 4 and luckily the traffic was not bad at all, I think they had come up with a better solution for re-routing traffic, so it didn't take us near as long to get home. Got home and ran in and changed clothes and ran back out the door to go eat with some of Dustin's family. Then we went by to see our friends that have been in Atlanta for the past month. They were so excited to get to be home and we are so proud to have them back.

We had wonderful church services this weeked and Kensley headed back to school for the first time since the accident this morning. She was so excited to get to go. This is a picture of her clapping because she was so happy to be with her class. It was so hard for me to leave her there, I kept finding myself telling her teacher and the other teacher she would be with what to do and how to do it, not like they don't already know, but I just couldn't help myself, I just wanted to make sure they know all her needs while she is there. I emailed her teacher to see how things went today, cause Kensley is not the same Kensley, she is a motor mouth now and I was worried she would talk their heads off, but she said she did great, she read a book to her class and then took two different test and made 100's. I'm so thankful that the Lord has brought her this far and has allowed her to go back to school. She will be going on Monday's and Thursday's for half a day. My mom picked her up and said she was asleep before they even got home.

Konnor is doing good. The week before Spring Break he did have an eventful week. He had fallen at school and busted his lip and then that afternoon it was really pretty outside so he rode is dirt bike and had a wreck in the ditch full of water, needless to say he dad was not real happy about it, but at least he wasn't hurt. The next day they were playing on the playground at school and a little boy was swinging and Konnor didn't see him so his foot hit Konnor right on the side of the face and left a shoe print on his face, it was so pitiful. I know that had to hurt. We are getting ready this week to start his school project which is due next week and it is about dinosaurs.

I'm having a Celebrating Home party Thursday night @ 6:30 at my house for anyone who wants to come or you can go look at the website if you would like. Hope everyone has a good week!

2010-03-15T14:31:00.000-05:00

We have had a busy weekend.....Friday night Kensley had a birthday party to go to (which I had almost consider not going because of where it was and Kensley really not being able to participate much) and it was at Kidnastics. It started out ok and then it got to the point to where Kensley wasn't able to do the things that the other kids were so she started crying and I just couldn't handle it, so I then I broke down myself. I really hated to cry in front of everyone and I tried to be as discrete as I could about it, but I had just had all I could take at that moment. We gathered ourselves and she was able to go back in and participate some more with everyone. It's at these moments that I don't know how to explain to her that she can't fully do the things that the other kids can do. I want her to be able to do those things, but I know in her situation it is going to take some time, but there are just moments that you can't seem to take anymore and I have those breakdowns. No one can stand seeing their kid upset because they don't fit in with the other kids and how do you explain that to them? I haven't figured it out yet, I just try to comfort her and let her know that real soon she will be able to do those things again and hope and pray that God will grant these things for her, we always seem to take the small things for granted until you are put in this type of situation. I had rode with Alyson to the party so once it was over we went back to her house and let the girls play together some.

Saturday Alyson brought Sydnee over to play with Kensley some more and I was scrambling around trying to find Konnor something to wear for Easter pictures that I tried 3 different times to cancel but Marty just wouldn't let me and I'm glad I didn't because they turned out gorgeous.

The girls played that afternoon and then we had to get ready for church. Dustin got hung up at the studio, so it was just us girls going to church and Konnor of course didn't want to go if he didn't have to so he talked his Aunt Marty in to letting him stay with her until his dad got home. Church was really good and several got help.

It was second weekend so I got up and cooked my dinner along with breakfast and got everyone ready for church. We had a really good meeting Sunday morning and Sunday night.

Mom called me a little bit ago and said that Kensley walked to the bathroom all by herself and was able to pull her pants down all by herself. I know these things sound so small but to us these are big accomplishments. We head back to Birmingham Thursday for our follow up with the rehab doctor, I think that he will be really impressed at how far she has come since the last time he saw her in December. Her therapist wanted us to get a hand splint made for her left hand so she went and got fitted for that last Friday, and the doctor that saw her was not impressed at all with how she was walking, and that came as a shock to us because we thought she was doing so well, but to us we didn't know anything different. He said that her left knee should not be turning out to the side so much when she is walking and she is starting to drag her left foot some. So he is wanting to make her a new brace for her foot that will help all of this, so I am hoping that I can get the doctor to give me a prescription when we go on Wednesday. I am happy to know that there is something better for her and hope maybe that the new brace will fit better with shoes because right now I am just having a really hard time with the shoes that I have looked at and tried on her.

Hope to have some good news when we return on Thursday, I will keep everyone posted. Hope everyone has a good Spring Break!

Stumbling Blocks.....

2010-03-08T09:34:00.000-06:00

......is not something we all want to encounter, but they do happen occasionally. We have encounter a couple over the past few days, but the Lord was right there us. Wednesday night Kensley hurt her bad foot. We thought she had twisted it, but that wasn't the case. Thursday she couldn't walk on it at all and I was really wanting her to be able to walk for her singing Friday night, so I emailed a few to pray for her and Friday she started walking on it some. I took her to therapy and the therapist thought she might have stretched a tendon in her foot, which is really easy to do with all the tone that she has. It was still a little sore come Friday night, but she was able to walk on it, and I'm so thankful for that.

Now today we have encounter another stumbling block.....we have went all winter without catching any of these nasty bugs going around until today. I went in there to get her ready for her first day of school and she said the dreaded words "my belly hurts." I knew then that this was not going to be a good start to the day. We continued getting ready and walked in to the bathroom and then it was all over from there. I felt so bad that she had to miss her first back to school....she was so excited about going back, but if all goes well she will still get to go back at the end of this week.

I will try and post some pics from the Praying for Kensley concert later on.....it was a success, the singing was just outstanding. Thanks to everyone who participated, we love you all!