I LOVE mckmama

I LOVE mckmama... and I don't even know her! What an amazing woman! I read her blog on a regular basis and it's obvious she does not sweat the small stuff, she lives life to the fullest and she enjoys every single moment with her children. If you don't follow her blog, I encourage you to do so at www.mycharmingkids.net. I'm convinced you will love her too!

Career Change

I survived day three of my new job! I started working for the Montgomery County District Attorney's office on Feb 17th. The past three days have been eventful and fun! I have already been in the courtroom, the crime scene lab (for my employee photo), met the county auditors and the HR reps. It's a very laid back environment, there is lots of conversation going on (which I thoroughly enjoy) and has been interesting. I realize after a few days I will have the opportunity to learn some new things and for the first time may not feel like I work for a financial institution (for which I'm glad). Melisa who I will work closely with has made be feel very welcome. Brett - District Attorney and Phil - 1st Assistant District Attorney have too. I look forward to another day!

Sweet Kelly??

We've had new beginnings here in Montgomery. Everyone would be proud to know that the girls have all slept in their own beds from the very first day in our new house. Yea!! We do have one problem though.... Kelly and Brooke are sharing a room and a queen size bed and they can't agree on who sleeps by the bedroom door. They both want to sleep by the door because according to Kelly that person is closest to Mommy and Daddy. In an effort to compromise they decided to switch sides every other night which seemed to be working very well until this past Thursday. It was Brooke's night, but Kelly insisted on having two nights in a row. When Kelly realized she wasn't getting her way she picked up a furniture wheel (not yet put away from the move) and hit Brooke over the head. Brooke ran out of the room screaming and crying. I went straight to Kelly to discipline her first. Before I could finish Hailey is screaming and crying... "Brooke is bleeding!" I turn around to discover Brooke's blond hair and hands are red from blood. I cried and screamed for Steve to come help! It took us awhile to determine if she needed stitches or not, but we were able to get the bleeding to stop and decided she would be fine. She ended up with a one inch cut on her head and she was more scared than anything. Kelly was very upset and cried with the rest of us! After realizing what happened she was genuinely sorry and kissed us all and said "I'm sorry" over and over again. There were lots of tears, but I'm so thankful Brooke is fine!

Help... The Boxes Won't Go Away!

I am sick to death of boxes! I honestly thought it would take me one week to unpack and then I would have a week to do what I wanted before starting my new job. No such luck! I didn't accomplish much yesterday, but prior to that have stayed busy unpacking. It's amazing how much we accumulate over time and how many things we actually have that we don't need. Due to our house here being smaller I've really had to downsize and organize before finding a place for my things. As I go through all of our things I'm reminded of something my Dad has said to me more than once..."you've never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul..." That being said, I've made the decision to give away a load of stuff and I plan to donate everything to Boys and Girls Country... a children's home where my sister Cheryl is employed. My donation will be put to good use and I feel good about that!

Friends, Friends and more Friends

Here is a quick update on the girls... they all got off to a smooth start at school. There was no whimpering, whining or crying when I left them on the first day and they were all ready for day two when it rolled around.

Hailey met three friends on day one... Cheyenne, Rachel and Leah. Some dear friends of ours know Cheyenne through church, Rachel happens to be a distant cousin on my side and I'm still trying to get some additional information on Leah. I've been told these are all sweet girls and a good group for Hailey to be running with. This makes me happy!

Brooke came home talking about Kylie, Rylie and Kaylie. Sounds like a tongue twister to me. I visited with Brooke's teacher on the second day of school and she had already tested her reading level, said she read beautifully and was pleased to say she was able to plug her in right were the other students were in class. Brooke likes to agitate (as we all know), but she's serious when it comes to her school work! Keep up the good work Brooke!

Kelly made friends with a little girl named Lily. Kelly has always limited her friends to a small close group. It seems the smaller the better for her. She came home smiling as usual and reported the following... "Mommy, Lily is just like me! She's happy all the time and smiles all the time, just like me!" Then she went on to say that her teacher, Ms. Elizabeth wears beautiful lipstick. Let me just say, Ms. Elizabeth loves makeup!

I'm not so sure this was a quick update, but this is it for now.

Thirteen Years Later

In March 1996 Steve and I left Montgomery (TX, not Alabama - my home town) as a couple and moved to Austin. Thirteen years later we are returning to Montgomery, but this time as a family of five. Over the years we have visited my parents and the girls - Hailey, Brooke and Kelly all love spending time with Paw Paw and Maw Maw in the "country". According to Hailey, "the country" is the 50 acres that my parents call home. I feel like I have personally been around the world in the last 13 years...let me tell you why. We were in Austin for 6 months and left there for a job opportunity for Steve and landed in Mineral Wells (aka Miserable Wells). Jennifer (a friend of mine at work) keeps referring to Montgomery as "the sticks". Jennifer.... Mineral Wells is "the sticks". I have never been so miserable in all my life! By April of 1997 we had moved to Weatherford and were expecting a baby girl in September 1997. Hailey was born 9/6 missing her Dad's birthday by 3 days... he was disappointed. We were there for a couple of years before moving to Arlington in the summer of 2000. We FINALLY settled in Arlington close to Steve's family (aahhh) and had two more sweet baby girls (Brooke born in 2002 and Kelly Grace born in 2003). I thought Arlington was it, but God had other plans for us. We're moving AGAIN... and Steve and I are both excited about the opportunity for the girls to experience the "country" life on a regular basis, to be raised in a much smaller town and to attend a much smaller school district. Montgomery... here we come!

Guardian Angel

This past weekend we visited with my Uncle Charles and Aunt Aleen while in Montgomery. They had just come from church and had bought each of the girls a new book from the church gift shop. Kelly's book was about Guardian Angels. Aleen and Kelly sat on the couch and read her book. Kelly told me when we went to sleep that night that Guardian Angels did not have skin and that you could not see them. She went on to say they were with you all the time and that they sat on your right shoulder. The next day I was laying on the bed and Kelly jumped on the bed beside me and sat on my right shoulder. I wasn't thinking about our conversation the night before. All I knew was she was hurting me. I asked her to get off and she looked at me with a big smile and said "Mommy, I'm your guardian angel."