Kelsey Quote

Recently, Kelsey has started learning archery.  A few days ago, she was thrilled to get an almost bull's eye! She hit the circle around the "x." She said, "I call it a 'bull's eyelash!'"

Wordless Wednesday Fishing, part 2

 The "Worst Way to Wear a Hat" competition

Kelsey Quote

"My singing isn't awful, but it's bad enough that I need to be able to concentrate on it to do it all right."

Squinkies

I entered Kelsey's room the other day to discover she had built a squinkie-town.

Pretty cute, isn't it?

I especially like the turtle with the hair :).

Kelsey Quote

"I didn't get that sign [billboard]." Proceeds to explain what the sign said.
Caitlyn, "That doesn't make any sense."
Kelsey, "I know.  That's why I didn't get it."

Fishing with Dad

The girls and Bill have a new past time lately.  They have become quite the fishermen. The four of them go fairly regularly, Kelsey and Bill most frequently.

They don't always reel in large fish, but they're pretty successful in always catching something.

I'm not sure if Caitlyn has decided whether actually catching a fish is a good or bad thing, haha.

Kelsey has been proud to frequently catch the "lunker." I am learning a whole new vocabulary :)!

Kelsey Quote

Kelsey, "Caitlyn, do you know what will rattle your brain?"
Caitlyn, "No."
Kelsey, "If you put it [the bumble ball] against your forehead and pull the string.  Like this." Many sounds of bumble ball rattling Kelsey's brain.

Just in case you needed to know :).

Hard to Say Good-bye

For the last five years....,

 

ever since Caitlyn, Keegan, and Kelsey were small...,

 

we were blessed to be involved with a wonderful theatre group that put on top-notch shows while providing a 100% positive experience for those involved. Wow.

Brigadoon, Wizard of Oz, Beauty and the Beast, The King and I, and Carnival provided us with hours of pleasure. We would often stay after the girls completed rehearsal and watch, just for fun!

We would eagerly anticipate auditions each August, and then anxiously await the posting of the cast list.

We LOVED the people at the theater. The director, Miss Marilyn, is like no one I've even known.  Puts on incredibly high quality shows in an itty-bitty town at a small college.  Has a glorious Scottish accent and a gift for making each person she talks to feel special.  She expects the children to behave well, and makes it an exceptionally fun experience at the same time!  She can correct a person and leave them beaming, as if they had received a great compliment.

The other folks were wonderful, too.  Miss Barbara, (the costume designer,) Miss Margie (seamstress and hair dresser,) Miss Angie (music director,) Miss Jennifer (office manager,) Miss Kim (choreographer,) Miss Suzanne (stage manager,) Mr. Wess, and many others became special to us. Our can-be-shy, slow-to-warm-up family felt comfortable right from the start.

Now, here it is, August again, and audition week again.  All those wonderful people are still there doing all of those wonderful things.  But we're not.

              

Several months ago we moved.  And that has been a good thing overall.  And life does go on.  So it has been surprising how hard this week has hit us. Knowing that the new show is starting up without us there has caused more than a few tears to be shed.

As a mom, I never want to see my girls hurting, whether that is a part of life or not! :) We are trying to focus on the fact that the only reason we miss it so much is that we got to know such awesome people.  Lucky us! Don't we have a lot for which to be thankful?  And we do feel that way.  Really and truly we do.

But, boy we sure do miss being there.

Even though we have a good life and fun activities now, we are grieving the ones we left behind.

We are doing well - exploring new activities and opportunities, getting to know new people, renewing old relationships...,

 

but definitely not forgetting the old.Participating in such positive, well-managed, well-done shows was a great experience for all of us.  If you were part of it, know that we love, miss, and appreciate you more than you realize.

Thank you.

Wordless Wednesday - Swimming!

Doesn't it look like fun?

Kelsey Quote

"Mommy, I love you in real life, but this is a game and I am going to try to win!"

Haircut

Before -

And after -



My daughter, the seamstress

Recently, Caitlyn has been impressing me with her sewing skills.  This is another talent I do not have, so I impressed with people who can do it.  Especially my daughter, as she receives no help from me!
Several months ago, a family friend helped Caitlyn sew a ball gown, most certainly a daunting project!  It went great and Caitlyn really enjoyed the process.
Since then, we have gotten our (been broken forever) sewing machine fixed and she has stayed busy! The top picture shows an old shirt of Bill's that she transformed into a top for Kelsey.  Thank you, Family Fun magazine, for the cute, yet simple idea! It looks adorable in person! 

The picture to the right shows the beginnings of a quilt, which is now complete except for the binding.  Wow.  Did I mention I am impressed? Now she is working on her second quilt, for a friend.  A good friend has saved lots of shirts throughout her kids' childhoods and Caitlyn is in the process of making them into a quilt.

I think reading all of those Laura Ingalls books when she was younger had an effect on her! Smile. 

I am truly impressed with what she has accomplished and can't wait to see what's next!

The Note

Kelsey and Bill are quite the fishermen lately.  Here is a note Kelsey (with a little help from Bill) left me the other morning.

Perhaps we need to work just a bit on punctuation ;0), but I thought it was awfully cute.

Have a great day!

Poster Contest!

Do we?

YES.  At this house, we definitely read more books.

If you know our family at all, you know we love our books. We also love our libraries. Free books, air conditioning, free books - what's not to love?

Recently Kelsey was a winner in a library poster contest.  Her poster will be displayed for a month.  Congratulations, Kelsey!

Watching the Olympics

As you may or may not know, we do not have a TV, so watching the Olympics meant a trip (or several) to Mamaw's, often in pajamas.

(Mamaw was here, too, even though she isn't in the picture.)

That also meant we were not free to roam off in our house, doing other things, when the coverage didn't interest us. And while every sport was interesting to a degree, the nearly endless coverage of beach volleyball didn't interest us for long. Bill liked the swimming, and the girls and I loved the gymnastics. Needless to say, we had plenty of down time waiting for our favorites. So now, at no extra charge to you, the section "How we amused ourselves during commercials and unfavorite events!"

All three girls did a lot of knitting and crocheting. 

As I do neither, this impresses me.

Kelsey, with some help from mom, worked on a cross-stitch butterfly.  She had a tangle here and there, but is moving right along.

Kelsey also did some really cute sleeping, when I didn't have my camera around.

One night as we were leaving, she just couldn't wake up.  She walked around, looking for her shoes, even though we were all showing her where they were and she was right next to them.  When we finally got her to the car, she was quite offended Keegan said she was still half-asleep, right before she closed her eyes again.  The next morning, she didn't remember any of it, and thought it was all quite funny.

Keegan and Kelsey took some Chix-o's. 

Keegan took copious notes, making lists of different countries, medal winners, athletes, etc. Ask her how many athletes Iraq had in the games and chances are good that she can tell you!

I took my trusty laptop and amused myself chatting and playing on Facebook.

Only Caitlyn would think to break in her new pointe shoes this way, haha.

  And finally, the #1 picture taking opportunity during commercial breaks... stretching!

(Don't hold this against me when you see it, Caitlyn. Everyone will just be impressed by your flexibility and work ethic. ;)