15/52

So I obviously failed at keeping up with my 52-week kid-photo challenge, but in an effort to make up for the 21 weeks that I have missed, I will be asking the kids questions as often as I can (I can't make any promises that I'll get caught back up).

a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014, and a thoughtful response from each...

What is the best movie to date?

Kaden: The Sandlot

Kylie: Frozen

Baseball & Softball Summer

Summer consisted of a lot of ball (baseball and softball). 

Kollin's Mid-Mo Xtreme team won the 13AA World Series!!!  They had a really great year, and I'm so very proud of my brother to have such success.







Kaden's kid-pitch team went undefeated!!  12-0.  Kaden tried pitching once, but he wasn't quite comfortable with it.  He did a great job hitting and playing first base again this year.








Kylie had her first year of kid-pitch.  They were able to pitch three pitches for each batter, and if the batter didn't strike out or hit, the coach finished up the pitches.  Kylie (along with two other girls on her team) pitched, and did a great job.  It's so different watching/teaching/learning about softball pitching and rules when I've been watching Kollin and Kaden play baseball for years.






Ball definitely kept our summer schedules busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love sitting in the sun, watching the kids play a sport that they really love, and improve throughout the season.  And when they win, the feeling is grand.  I know it isn't all about winning (it's supposed to be about having fun, they say, right?) but winning is fun!

The Back-to-School

The school year starts up again.  I was ready.  The kids weren't.  I am ready for schedules, bedtimes, and learning/teaching on my part.  I am ready for fall activities and sports.

5th and 3rd grade Kaden and Kylie entered this year.  Kaden with Ms. Allen in a trailer that holds both 5th grade classes.  He is looking forward to the Oreo and Skittles science projects that this year holds.  Kylie is with Ms. Crawford and is happy to hear that she may hand out candy throughout the year.

And my brother is in 8th grade.  He will graduate from 8th grade in 9 short months, and then be a high schooler.  He was confident going to school this year, and he is so grown up, responsible, kind, and intelligent. 

I just read this quote:

“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.”
-Stacia Tauscher

It struck me.  I am quite often thinking about Kaden and Kylie and Kollin in their grown-up years and into adulthood. I want them to learn lessons today that will help them when they are on their own.  But I must not forget that they are someone today, and to embrace who they are right now, because before long, they will be grown-up, and these days will be memories.  Beautiful ones. 



Father's Day 2014

I wasn't blogging much around Father's Day as it was less than two weeks before our wedding.  I also didn't have very much money to spend on gifts (sorry, guys) so Keane got a new pair of pliers and a holster (which took two stores to find) that Kaden wanted to get him and peanut butter M&M's from Kylie, my dad got one of those new, lightweight hoses, and both of them, as well as my new father-in-law, got delicious homemade cookies.


Kylie and I made the above banner while Keane took a nap on the couch (is an uninterrupted nap considered a Father's Day gift too?) which took us about 1,563 times to get it to stick to the walls because the twine it was taped too was almost too short.  And Kaden made him this card.  I love it so, so much.  I had prepared Kylie for the huge tiny spelling error, but he caught it just as he was getting ready to deliver it to his father.  Priceless.

You know how mothers are so very special for all of the commitment and sacrifice they give for their family?  Fathers are special, so very special, in their very own way.  They are so loving and fun, they always want what is best for their kids, and they do everything in their power to make sure everyone is happy and well taken care of.  Keane and I are both so very fortunate to have the wonderful fathers we have, and Kaden and Kylie are also blessed with such a great father!

Happy Father's Day to the three fathers in my life...only 6 months late.

The Flowers and a Bible - Wedding Planning via iPhone Pics (Part V)

I bought this basket from Hobby Lobby and bought some white (and later some off-white) petals for our flower girl to toss during the wedding.

I added some light pink and orange flowers to fancy it up a bit. 

For the ring bearer, I had this idea in mind.  However, the day before the wedding, I decided to have our best man and maid of honor hold the rings, instead of them being carried by our ring bearer.

I searched for the perfect old Bible.  I first looked in a used book store, and found one, but it had a hard cover and was dark blue; it ended up not being what I wanted.  I asked Keane's mom and my mom if they had anything we could use, and my mom and dad offered the sweetest Bible we could have asked for.  It belonged to my Aunt Rhonda, my dad's sister, who passed away at the age of 27, seven years before I was born.

We wrapped it in burlap strips.  It was a smaller Bible and although McCoy said it was "too big," it he was able to tuck it under his arm and carry it perfectly.

My mom and I went to Hobby Lobby and piled up on white flowers, all different styles.  I then left it in her hands to create the beautiful bouquets for the wedding. 

She also made the boutonnieres and corsages with small white flowers and burlap bows.

I was happy using fake flowers for our wedding.  We were able to make them ahead of time, rearrange the bouquets as many times as we wanted, and take as much time as we wanted, until they were perfect.  We were able to store them in a box and not have to keep them watered.  Plus, they were still beautiful!  What do you prefer, fake or real flowers?

Our Engagement Photos

Yes, we are already married and no longer engaged, but I never got around to posting all of our beloved engagement photos.  I loved the engaged time frame in our lives, and although those six months were full of wedding planning, and hardly anything else, it is a time that I never want to forgot the feeling of.  It was a special stepping stone into our married life, and our now official family.

We had planned our engagement photos for months!  Our photographer was going to be in the area on one particular weekend -- so we planned around her schedule, and set a date and time.  The sun was shining on the February morning we had planned to take our engagement photos.  It seemed to be turning out perfectly.  We had planned to take photos by a lake, on or around hay bales, and in an open field.

My sister put on my makeup and helped me curl the back of my hair.  I tried on a few outfits and felt satisfied with some layers and heels.  I laid out my fiancés new jeans and one of my favorite shirts of his.  Let me add that all of this was happening in a hurry, because lo and behold -- the sky was looking gloomy and rain was now in the forecast... Finish reading here.