She'll always be our baby

When this 8lb 6oz. 22" long ray of sunshine entered the world it was ironically a very rainy day. She was born in the afternoon in what she tells people a," bathtub in Arkansas". That is the truth but this little girl was something special from the very beginning. She was a great sleeper when she fell asleep but would cry VERY hard to get there. The first thing I thought when I saw her was she has dimples and looked just like my husband. She had a beautiful round head and big blue eyes. That bundle grew and grew and has grown into a beautiful, smart, articulate young girl. She fills our house with giggles, imagination and endless possibilities. She's sees the good and makes it great! Her smile lights up every room she walks into and her welcoming spirit draws people to her. Just like the day she was born she brings sunshine to rainy places. Not only is she beautiful but she is God's precious gift. She is a treasure and He gave her to us, how blessed we are as parents to call this child ours. My darling Khloe Daddy and I love you. Always and forever you will be our baby girl! Today is all yours!

Khloe turns 6!!!!

beautiful baby from the outside in
Our baby girl
Khloe and Daddy the day she was born
Happy 6th Birthday our darling girl!!
Khloe at 6 SAME pj's maybe they will be a tradition, Thanks Mimi!
Khloe at 5, notice the pj's again
Khloe at 4 notice the pj's thanks Mimi
My princess
The smile that melts all hearts
baby girl

You know by now I am BIG on tradition. I think it's because it helps me remember. How do you learn and remember...by doing things over and over, that's tradition to me. Doing things the same over and over so you can remember.

I got the idea from a friend when Khloe was 4. She gave her son a cupcake for breakfast every morning of his birthday. I of course took this one step more and started taking pictures every birthday with their cupcake. Never to late to start I began doing this when Khloe was 4. My husband and I even include our selves in this new found tradition, even though he also gets eggs benny in bed because that is his favorite breakfast(also a tradition). He says mine taste just like Aunt Jane's...maybe better ;) he can be a bit of a suck up, but that's beside the point and yes it works!

Tradition is so important to me because it helps me remember, gives us all something to look forward to, a constant, a little something predictable in an unpredictable world. I hope my kids and husband look back at the little things that make up our traditions, take a few like I did from my family and here and there and build on them and make them their own. The memories of these traditions will stick with them and maybe even in some ways mold them, not to be ruled by them but guided. I know its working because my daughter and son have already told me today's my birthday I get the special plate. Mommy did you get my breakfast cupcake, I am picking what we do and where we eat. These may sound like small inconspicuous things but believe me they remember and hopefully always will with a smile and a fuzzy feeling inside! Cheers for Tradition!

Some of our birthday traditions from here and there

birthday cupcake- Amy Long

special plate, a plate you eat off of only when its YOUR birthday- Devlin family

eggs benny for Daddy-Jane Monrean Christmas breakfast

birthday prayer-Mable Monrean

getting to plan the day from what you do to what you eat-Devlin and Brown families

God's promise to Noah

We were visiting my husbands parents when we got a phone call from his sister. She had just left the house and said look outside there is a beautiful rainbow across the sky. We ran outside to see before it could disappear as quickly as it appeared. I managed to get these few pictures with my phone. It was really a sight. The colorful band stretched across the whole sky. I don't think I have ever seen a rainbow that big, brilliant and colorful. It was a sight, a beautiful sight.

The places We've lived

House #6
House #5
House #4
house #3
I tried to count how many times my husband and I have moved and it literally gave me a headache. Since we have been married we have moved 6 times in 6 1/2 years. Some moves were for new jobs, new towns, bigger houses, bigger towns, smaller houses, smaller towns, better deals. For one reason or another the girl who wanted to get married and have babies, grand babies and great grand babies all under the same roof has moved more in 6 years than most do in a lifetime.

I have written about our houses before so no need to rehash. I in all the chaos have some how managed to get a photo of every house. I will continue to do so because we are by no means done moving! I am missing house number 1 and 2 because I can't figure out how to work my scanner, may add them later. Number 1 was a white sided duplex, garage in the front, front door on the side. Believe me you are not missing much! Number 2 was our first house a 1500 sqft. ranch straight out of a 70's nightmare. Ceilings so low my 6'9" husband was nearly decapitated by our living room ceiling fan, that is until I put a coffee table directly under it so he always had to walk around...smart I know :).Carpet in the bathrooms and wallpaper EVERYWHERE again not missing much. I plan to one day have a framed collage of all the houses my family and I have lived in, to laugh and to always remember the houses that made us, us.

Friends, family, late nights and longer weekends

Khloe asleep on a road trip with Bearby, Duchess and pink pillow
CJ asleep on the floor after getting home from friends at 2AM
Another place to lay my head (Thanks B)
Catching Z's when and wherever we can!
Cousins playing splashball at Nana's house
Where am I?
friends and sisters hangin' by the pool
Meeting more friends for water fun!
S and S besties meeting for the first time! Born 1 day apart
CJ and S playing the Wii staying cool inside
B and S XO great times visiting friends
K at the splash pad
My darling boy staying cool

This summer was supposed to be relaxing, nothing going on. Hanging out grilling and chilling. SUPPOSED to be. So far I have traveled to visit my parents which also involves traveling to visit extended family while there, kind of like a 2 for 1, but with lot's of flying and driving. We have visited my husbands parents and family twice and several friends out of town. We MOVED again and are getting ready for the Grand Finale, The BEACH! It may not seem like a lot but considering all of this has happened in a 5 week period ITS A LOT! I have such great little troopers and a husband that is so willing to travel, willing to go with the flow and likewise me with him. I have had a great summer the only thing that makes me sad is that summer is more over than not.

I find time again zooming by and me running after it trying to hang on, slow down and soak in. Kind of like chasing a kite. Summer days, summer nights, friends, family, late nights and longer weekends, the song of summer 2010. We have had a blast filling our days with traveling, packing, unpacking, some planes NO trains and lot's of automobiles! My usually over scheduled children and I have learned to roll with it. Stay up late, get up early, live out of a suitcase, sleep in unfamiliar places. It's all good though because we have had some amazing times with our family, friends and each other. Sharing with you some more snap shots of summer!

Better imagined than done

A real smile
The buffet of toppings
The swirling tube of ice cream
Mama putting in peanut butter instead of vanilla
The ideas in my head are not always better than what actually manifests but in some cases as in a family date to Peachwave I can let my imagination and hope get the best of me. My husband suggested a new hot spot for frozen ice cream. Naturally the kids and I were very excited. We ate dinner got loaded in the car and off we went to PEACHWAVE! My favorite ice cream shops are still the old fashion ones. Line up tell them what flavor, cone or dish and hand over your dollar...the good ol' days! Not so any more.

Walking in you no longer see a freezer full of flavors with a Dapper Dan behind the counter ready to scoop up your treat. There are now machine mounted on a wall with a lever that when pushed down squeezes out a perfectly swirled tube for lack of a better word swirling tower of frozen ice cream or yogurt whats the difference?!

On the other side is a buffet of toppings, it used to just be carmel, fudge and nuts, whip cream and cherries if you were lucky. Now it is literally the kitchen sink. I had thoughts of me and my family unloading pleasantly from the car, waltzing into the ice cream parlor handing over our quarters, sitting together at a picnic table and neatly eating our ice cream, laughing and enjoying an evening together to much to ask I think so.

What I got instead was as follows. We unloaded the car I couldn't get the carseat into the stroller, broke a sweat in this heat trying to cram it in, woke up the baby in the process. Other kids and hubby dying in the heat, baby crying. Oh and blocking the entrance in and out of the store. Walk in to find people every where no one quite sure what to do. Grab a dish still not sure what to do. Demanding my husband take pictures so we can remember our wonderful night together. Didn't read the signs put in peanut butter instead of vanilla...it was the same color who knew?! Took both kids over to the buffet of toppings, still sweating, more now because I have two indecisive children holding up the line attempting to sample toppings. Yelling at husband take pictures, smile kids act like you are having fun! get to the end after scrambling to self serve. Put the dish, no cones on a SCALE...WHAT to be weighed in and priced! Holy smokes I felt like a ran a marathon or was weighing in for fight night. I didn't need ice cream I needed a drink! Then the grand total 3 dishes of frozen yogurt, random toppings and a headache for 20$!

Ok, ok I am making it sound a little worse than it was. There really were moments of real smiles and laughing. I have PICTURES to prove it, HA! Though my ideas of grandeur didn't turn out the way I had imagined in the end we were all smiling with our sweet tooth filled! You ask, would I go back to Peachwave ABSOLUTELY!! Sure why not?!