Is someone else shaving???

Yes!!! Alyssa is now shaving.

Alyssa shaves her legs for the 1st time on June 5, 2007!!!

Notice the concentration!

An assist from her big sister, Amber!

Everyone is growing up so fast!!

Easter Pictures

Here are some of our Easter pictures...

Alyssa

Alyssa sporting her special jewelry

Amber

Amber and her mature jewelry

All of us.

(Just between us - I don't think that yellow is my color, but Amber picked the dress.)

We had lots of candy from the Easter Bunny (this year we were visited by Mama Cottontail).

Update on school grades for the girls...

The girls have been doing a really great job this year in school (as usual).

Amber has maintained all A's & B's so far this year.

Alyssa has maintained straight A's so far this year.

The girls have 20 more days of school (if I counted right). CRCT (end of grade testing) has been completed. Amber is the only one this year that MUST pass. Alyssa took them this year, but they really don't count against you or for you.

Amber is...

• 12 years old
• growing up
• becoming a woman
• trying to have big feet like her mom and dad
• trying to be as tall (even though I am short) as me

She had a birthday - this is her last year before she is a TEEN!

March 9, 2007 - New Puppies!!!

We had more puppies. Proud mother, Salsa, gave birth to 3 puppies on March 9, 2007. One puppy was still-born (born dead). The other 2 puppies seem fine. The black puppy, Blackie, died at 3 days old. The brown/white puppy, Socks (due to his white paws), is a very plump 1 month old puppy.

We plan to sell Socks as soon as he is old enough to leave his mother. We also plan to sell Salsa, Missy and Pepi. Salsa and Missy are getting old and are ready to settle into a nice retirement (not having anymore puppies). And Pepi is wanting a home where he is the main attraction.

"Socks"

"Race to Win” is a Winner!!

February 11, 2007
“Race to Win” is a Winner!

The children's choir performed an exciting musical called Race to Win. The musical which also starred Dale Waltrip via satellite (really it was pre-recorded by Lifeway for performances). The performance was a hit.

The musical was about 2 NASCAR drivers, one was a christian and the other was not. The christian driver gave an engine to the non-christian driver (for free) so he could finish the race. The non-christian driver could not understand why someone would give him an engine for free. The christian driver explains by explaining how God did the same thing for us. God sent His Son to die on the cross to save us from our sins – this is a free gift from God. All we have to do is accept it.

The musical shined with the help of Alyssa, even though she was just in the choir – the musical would not have been the same without her. The musical had the crowd on the edge of their seats with the superb singing, acting and the NASCAR crash clips. This is definitely what one can call “a hard act to follow”.

I am back...

I apologize for the major delay. Life has just gotten in the way of the blog. Things have finally settled down a bit, so here I am again...back on my blog.

I will be posting several entries over the next few days or so - in order to catch everything up.

I hope you enjoy.

Amber earned her BLACK BELT!!!

Congratulations are in order!!!!

Today Amber earned her brown and black belts in recorder karate at school. (Recorder - That little clarinet looking plastic instrument that has holes on it.) She has completed the recorder karate program. Amber now has to practice her recorder club pieces at music class. She is the 1st person in her class to finish. I believe the next closest person still needs 3-4 belts.

I am very proud of her musical talent!!

Congratulations

Amber and Alyssa have 3 new siblings, well step-siblings.

We would like to congratulate Brian and Alex on their marriage.

Amber and Alyssa now have a step-sister, Brittany, and 2 step-brothers, Chris and Anthony.

Amber's Living Christmas Tree performance

Amber and the student (youth) choir did a great job on the living Christmas Tree on December 10th. Amber was on the 6th row up from the bottom and a little left of center. Her cousin, Chris, was also in the performance. He was on the 2nd row from the bottom and to the right of the tree. Here are some pictures from the performance.

Amber

Chris

Amber singing

Amber in lights

There to see this amazing performance were: Me (of course) and...

Alyssa

Papaw

Nana

Brian, Alex, & Brittany,

Grandma, Grandpa and (of course) Uncle Ken and

Aunt Donna
(What's up with that? No one really knows!!!!)

We Have A NEW PUPPY!!!!!!!

WOW. What EXCITEMENT!!! A PUPPY!!!!!

Amber went out this afternoon to bring in Salsa when out of the blue she hears tiny yelps. She searches for the culprit and finds Missy in the igloo (doghouse) with a tiny puppy. Amber was so excited. Alyssa is excited because this will be her puppy.

In honor of the fact that it is Christmas...the puppy (a girl) has been named:

Merry Felize

(It is either Merry or Mary).

Here is a picture of Merry Felize with her mother, Missy.

PS: The puppy was born on Grandma's birthday.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!!!!!

OFFICIAL APOLOGY to Donna

I owe Donna an apology. She states that she emailed the Halloween pictures to me. For some reason I never got the email.

So, Donna, I know your reading this...

Donna,

Please forgive me...and resend the pictures to me.

Apologetically,

Kim

***CHRISTMAS BELIEVERS BEWARE***

******DISCLAIMER: CHRISTMAS BELIEVERS BEWARE********

We are officially, unofficially a non-believing Christmas house. Alyssa asked the big Christmas question the other day..."Is Santa real?"

Now, bear in mind, that Alyssa asked this question about 2 years ago. When she asked me then, I asked her if she really, really wanted to know (asked about 20 times). She said, "YES." So, I told her the truth. She was devastated by this news -- so I did what any mom would have done, I told her I was kidding...everyone knows Santa is real. Well, Alyssa doesn't remember this happening (which helped her to continue to believe). So here we are in the present...

"Is Santa real?" This time I wanted to make sure she really wanted to know. I asked her, "Do you really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really want to know?" Of course, she said, "YES." So, we had 'THE TALK'. I came clean about Santa. She didn't cry, so far so good! I figure, let's take it a little further...

I asked her if she wanted to know about any other people. She wasn't sure what I meant. So I said, "You know, Cupid, the Boogey Man, Mother Nature, Father Time..." She asked, "Are they real?" I again asked her, "Do you really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really want to know?" Of course, she said, "YES." So, we had another talk. I came clean about Cupid, the Boogey Man, Mother Nature, Father Time, Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny. She looked at me and asked, "So, is the Sand Man real?" I came clean again.

Alyssa has handled the news well. She shamelessly announces her gift requests as loudly as possible. I think she was ready this time. She even wrote about "the Santa truth" in her journal at school.

As I said in the beginnning we are officially, unofficially a non-believing Christmas house. This means, we still go through the motions...JUST IN CASE...someone gave us the wrong information!!

A little bird told me...Santa wants Oatmeal Raisin cookies from Subway and a cold coke under the tree.

MY BABY IS GROWING UP!!!!!

1 Quarter of Nursing COMPLETED!!!!

I have finished my 1st quarter of nursing school. I took my final on December 6th. (I have unofficially PASSED the class.) The 2nd quarter starts on January 4th. I get to learn how to give injections on the 1st day of class. I am now 1/6th of the way done. Only 5 more quarters, 1 externship, and an NCLEX (nursing boards) to go!!!!!

November 2006

Mid November - The divorce is final. I want to wish Brian the best. He will always have a special place in my heart.

Thanksgiving - The girls had a great time visiting with Nana & Papa, Uncle Chuck, Uncle Mark, Aunt Laura, Mayson, Luke, Claire, John Mark, and their dad (of course). I will post some of Amber's pictures in the next few days.

I celebrated a very quiet Thanksgiving with my parents. We chose to skip the traditional big meal (since it was just us 3) and had filet mignon, baked potato, and salad for our dinner.

We have much to be thankful for...our freedom, a loving God, our lives, our families, our friends, forgiveness, and so much more.

November 27th - My cast was removed. The wrist is still not completely healed, but they felt mobility was more important at this time. I wear a splint for most activities. Putting any weight on the wrist is still very painful. It also hurts after strenuous use. The nice thing about the splint...I can wash my arm and hands properly. I am supposed to wear the splint for the next 5 weeks.

Sorry for the delay...

Life has been hectic these last 2 months. I will now try to update everyone on what has been going on. Once Donna sends me the Halloween pictures I will post pictures of the girls in their Halloween grubbies.

Health Update!!!!

Amber has lost 4 more teeth...with the help of the dentist. Yesterday she had her oral surgery. She states "I have a very religious mouth because it is so holy! It is Baptist too!" One of the teeth removed had almost no roots on it, but the others had some roots. The cuspids had some extremely long roots.

I have my cast on. I broke my wrist in 2 places. I broke the center wrist bone and another bone near the thumb. My cast is boring white! I have promised the girls that they can color all over it 4 days before it comes off. That way it will still look professional for clinicals. I am supposed to get it off the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Injuries

Last week it was Christopher getting hit in the temple by a football. Today it is me...I broke my right wrist this evening. I hope that this is not the "1 injury a week" month for the families. I am typing this with my left hand, so bear with me. Yes, I am right handed. I am wondering how this will effect me at school, but I can't imagine it causing me too much problems. I am keeping this short because my left shoulder is starting to hurt (from typing by itself) and my pain pill hasn't taken effect yet. I hope everyone has a blessed rest of the month. By the way, I have a splint at the moment, but am supposed to get a cast on Monday.

Nursing School...

Nursing school is going good so far. It requires a lot of reading. Lab time is pretty fun because we just do a lot of role playing. Clinicals will be starting in 1 week. We will start clinicals at a Senior Center and then move to a hospital. I am still nervous about applying what I actually am learning and already know.

We still haven't recieved the rest of our uniforms (school shirts & "Crocodile Hunter" vest) that we have to wear with white pants. I have my first test tomorrow. I also have to take my Drug Calculation test on October 18th - I have to make a 100% on this test. I am a little nervous. We took a Drug Calculation Quiz yesterday, I made a 100% (after she removed the apothecary question). Apothecary calculations are out-of-date, they are being phased out.

A Poem by Amber

Amber has written the following poem. It is a "cinquain" style poem.

Teachers, Losers, and Amber

Teachers
Schoolmaster, schoolmistress
Teaching, helping, tutoring
I want to be a
Teacher

Losers
Sufferer, victim
Geek, weird, ugly
I don't want to be a
Loser

Amber
Beautiful, smart
Helpful, cool, popular
I will always be an
Amber