Ry's First Recital

Ryan has been doing "Kinderdance" on Tuesdays at her preschool for some time now, and this week they had their Christmas program! What a treat--hilarious, cute, and so fun! Here are a few of the pictures. What a doll! Jingling the bells (above) was the easy part....you can see below, some of the kids were a little more into it than others. Ryan of course, as usual, LOVED the attention and tried to do her best!

This is by far my favorite shot of the day! It was the grand finale, and Ry nailed it! I think she may become a performer in her future life since as a 3 year old, she already has this whole "ham it up" thing down to perfection! Truly, she loves the dance class and even talked some of her friends into being in the class--her good friends Ashley and Haley were in the class too--I think Ashley's mom is going to send a copy of the video. If so, I'll see if I can't get it on the blog! : )

We're dreaming of a White Christmas...

Who says we don't have seasons in Texas?? Pretty much from the time we woke up until the afternoon it has snowed off and on...and now that the day is ending and the temp is dropping, there is more accumulation! Hello!! Can you say AWESOME!! (especially to a three year old who thinks it is the greatest thing to ever happen!--at least for today!). Check out the pics:

I don't know why these pictures won't turn the right way! Don't pull a neck muscle trying to see them, but wanted to put them on anyway! : )

This little snowman reminds me of the one Kimber and I made when it snowed in second grade! I bet most kids who grew up in Texas have a picture like this one! : )

Life Lessons

(I read the following on another website (http://www.alexthegirl.com/). I think I needed to read this today and hope it will inspire you too. Some of the lines were especially poignant with my birthday last week, with work being challenging at times, with sometimes feeling too far away from loved ones, with sometimes being frustrated by others, and being so busy that I sometimes feel like time slips by and I don't know where it went. I guess I'm the type who loves a pep talk! Hope you enjoy it as well. Have a great week! Love, Kelly) (talk about fresh corn on the cob!--on our Iowa trip in Sept)

Ok, here it is:

Please go out there and do. Live. Don’t be the same as yesterday. Don’t use language that has no meaning or talk ideas you don’t really live. Don’t hide. Don’t copy others or live their ideas or life. Don’t fear doing your thing. Don’t fear doing. Instead of reading a decorating magazine, paint that room. Instead of thinking of baking, do up a cake. Run, walk, bike. Put that self help book down and pick up yourself.

Let go of the snark, your worries, your anger and fear and give into possibility, action, joy and life. Do. Do some more. Stop thinking about you. There’s a world out there to connect to, really connect to. Being of use is more important than being popular. Think about the lady down the street, the person at the drive through, the man fallen in the street, about politics, the environment, healthcare, another country and then do something about it. Never stop at thinking.

Dream big, work harder. Have lots of fun, lift a finger, do something for someone else. Cheer your friends on. Cheer yourself up. Celebrate as much as possible. Enjoy everything. Right now. It’s OK to want more and do more but be present with where you are or who you are with. Don’t rush the situation - even if it’s bad. Move on when you can. Don’t settle. Try everything you can and get over everything holding you back.

Go outside. Go outside yourself. Make a difference, make some change. Don’t complain about someone unless you’re talking to that someone. Don’t complain about a situation you’re not willing to make better. They don’t have it better and you don’t have it worse. Don’t make excuses. You’ll never see possibility if you do. And you’re smart and worth more than settling for a life of complaining and limitation.

Hope. Hope more. Give someone else hope. Get healthy and contribute to a healthy environment. Think about everything you do, you buy, you say. Only be lazy on Sunday and even then, be conscious. Rest is useful, giving up is not.

Play. Remember what it’s like to be seven. Remember to listen to a seven year old because you just have more words and life experience, not necessarily more wisdom. Have more questions than answers and don’t put everything into words. Sometimes just feel things and be. Be quiet more often, listen harder, talk exactly as you mean to.

Strive for your best and not what you think someone elses’ best is. Follow through. Don’t let others’ down. Don’t let yourself down. You are better than your circumstances. Ask for what you’re worth. Make magic happen don’t wish for it. Don’t envy others’ lives, envy yours. Live it fully. Teach by example how to live well, how to be treated, how to be kind, how to be alive.
Do. I can’t stress that one enough. Take action on your life. Make the change. No more sulking, waiting, thinking, reading, talking about. It’s time. You’re ready.

THREE!

Look out, world--She's THREE!! Check out the reaction when she first saw the GINORMOUS Princess "Bouncy" Castle! Priceless!!
Jumping with friends!
Make a wish, sweetheart!!
For some reason, the kids thought it was a hilarious and fun "game" to pretend to sleep on Ryan's bed during the party! Ahhh...to be three again!
All in all, a great birthday! Omie came up early to celebrate and Ryan got great gifts from her aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course, Omie and Happy too! We got her a bunch of "dress up" stuff to play with and her friends gave fun toys and games and clothes as well. Thanks so much to everyone who helped celebrate--it was truly a wish come true for our little girl!

Stink-a-roo

Have you ever been awakened by your husband wearing nothing but a towel and...wait for it...skunk smell?? That's right ladies--you may commence drooling. I cannot describe really what that is like--I'm not sure what hit me first...the stench or the insistent "Kelly, Kelly" of Chris as he tried hard not to touch anything but still wake me up after being sprayed by a skunk on his run this morning. He apparently scared the little fella while on the cart path of the nearby golf course running his legs off (it was supposed to be a 16 mile run in preparation for the November marathon in San Antonio--it became a 2 mile short stinker).

So I did what any good wife would do--looked on the internet for a solution, literally, that would take away the obnoxiousness. Turns out, you need three things...baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and liquid dish soap. Things that should be around the house. Of course, I only had the dish soap and not enough baking soda, so I then had to make a trip to Kroger (the convenient store was not so conveniently closed at 6am!) to pick up "the remedy" looking lovely myself I might add. Thankfully, it worked and we even made it to church sans smell--all I can say is: Thank goodness for the internet.

Iowa

Grandma's House

The first week in September Mom and I headed up to Iowa to work on the monumental task of cleaning out Grandma Memmelaar's house. She was, to put it mildly, a pack rat. She never threw out a single note written on a scrap of paper (found the one she wrote to herself about when Elvis died in 1977!) let alone the junk mail, clothes bought...you name it, she kept it. Here is a little review to show the work done (and there is still much left to do with the garage and basement virtually untouched when we left!) This is the upstairs bedroom "before"...

And after....Before.... And after...Many of the boxes held traveling "stuff"--every pamphlet and scrap from every trip taken was still in the house. She also had many boxes labeled "Countertop" and a year, filled with all the things from her kitchen countertop that she didn't go through, but kept, separated each week by a piece of newspaper as her filing system! She was also METICULOUS about labeling everything--from each outfit (what to wear it with or which jewelry matched) to which quilt belonged to great-grandma Meyer for her wedding, EVERYTHING had a little hand written note attached! Above is my Aunt Betty, cousin Jessie, and me and Mom--it was a long hard week of work, but I'm so thankful we were there together (mom's sister Ruth is snapping the photo)! Without them, this truly would have been impossible!

Here is the barn--it looks good inside and out! The grapes in the forefront of the picture were ripe and sweet--just DELICIOUS right off the vine!

Check out these celings in the barn! Someday I want to build a house and have ceilings that look like this!!

So all in all, it was a good bonding trip with Mom--hard to be away from Chris and Ry for so long, but the job needed to be done. We got to choose some items to take with us too, which was really special. I also learned just how important it is to be organized, hang on to those things that are truly important and toss the rest, and to pass down the important memories. I am so thankful for a great family and the chance to have a little closure from Grandma's passing--it was a difficult week at times, but worth it in the end.

My new little niece...

My sister Kimber had her third kiddo on September 5th, just about the time Mom and I got back from working on my grandmother's house in Iowa. We landed, Dad picked us up, and we went straight to the hospital where (after needing both breadcrumbs and GPS) we finally found them and met Sydney:

She was a little early, but both Kimber and Sydney are doing well and our family is so proud to welcome her to the family!