Kayleigh's First Day of Kindergarten

First, today is Kayleigh's first day of kindergarten! She was so excited last night that I think she wore herself out and was having a hard time getting going this morning. She asked us if she could just lay in her bed for a little while longer, bless her heart. And for those of you who know her really well, you know this is really unlike her! She normally wakes up going 90 miles an hour!

We also went to breakfast with Nana at Harvest Cafe this morning to celebrate her big first day. She may have eaten 3 bites of her cinnamon roll! Just too worked up to eat! After that, we headed to the school. She seemed a little overwhelmed at first, there were kids and parents everywhere, but then she saw some kids that she knew and I think she got more excited. She is right at the front of the class by Mrs. Vaughan's desk, so she'll have to behave! And will not miss a thing! I think it is going to be a great year for her!

Secondly, last night she learned how to tie her shoes, all by herself! She officially learned before she was a kindergartener! So proud of that little woman! So this morning when she got dressed for school, she was able to tie her shoes, all on her own!

Papa's Birthday

We celebrated my dad's birthday last night with dinner at Venezia's and then came back to our house for some cake and silliness. Anytime Kayleigh and my dad get together you can count on there being some real silliness! Here is just a sampling of the evening's events!

As a side note, Kayleigh doesn't normally dress like a cowgirl, but she just went to a ranch for dinner and a western show with my parents in Ruidoso and therefore felt it fitting to dress like that once we got home to perform for everyone! Silly girl, as usual!

After dinner, Kayleigh was showing off her hula-hoop skills...hilarious...and then actually convinced my dad and Jeffrey to join in! The following videos and picture are of the action, sooo funny! These guys crack me up!

What you missed was Jeffrey waving money at Papa! Goober. Ok, and here is Jeffrey's turn. Oh, those boys!

'Meet the Teacher Day'

Today was Hillander School's 'Meet the Teacher Day!' Kayleigh got to meet her new teacher for kindergarten. That's right people, kindergarten! She is going to have Mrs. Vaughan this year. I'm really glad that is who she got, I hear she is an amazing teacher, she seems really sweet! She got to see where her desk is and who all else would be in her class. There are several new kids in there and some old faces as well. I really hope that there are some really sweet girls for her to play with. I am really glad, too, that there are some of the same boys from last year in her class again, I really like there moms! Anyway, her first day of school is on Monday, so I will have a full report on that, too! Stay tuned for full coverage!

A Look Back...

My grandmother, Nora Faye Leeper, my dad's mother, passed away last Monday night. It still seems surreal to me. I was with her at the doctor on Monday afternoon before she died and it just seems so strange to think about her being gone. I am thankful for the time I got to spend with her that day though. We laughed, talked...lots of talking, and talked about the Lord.

As we gathered for the burial in Ringgold, we were greeted by so much family that we haven't seen in years! It was so great to see all of them and catch up. Many hadn't seen pictures of the kids, so it was fun showing them off! Also, the cemetary that my grandparents are burried in is also where so much more of my dad's family is burried. It was really neat to walk around and hear neat stories about these people, many of whom I never met. There were some that dated back to the early 1800's! If you think about it, their parents were alive for the founding of our country! Our country isn't very old when you think about it like that. Some of the tombstones had really interesting stories on them. Stories of great-great-great-grandparents that loved eachother unceasingly until they were parted by death, of children that were lost at birth several times over, and how much some of them loved the Lord. It's fascinatating to see where I came from.

Also, while we were on the road home, we went thru Witchita Falls, where my parents lived after they married. Dad went to anesthesia school there and my mom worked on the Air Force base. The houses below are the houses that they lived in while there. The red brick house is a quad, the one they lived in immediately after marrying. The white one, a duplex, which was olive green when they lived there, is the first house they bought together. Fun to see these places we have heard about and seen pictures of growing up. Dad said he used to walk to the hospital everyday, which I had imagined was much further away. It was actually only a couple short blocks away! Funny how you form in your mind what you think things are like! I think he once told me it was uphill both ways, and was always snowing! Anyway, enjoy, its a little bit of their story!

Our Little Man

For Caanon and Daniel...
Here is your little nephew in the last few weeks. He is just a precious little guy! I'm going to try to put a few of these up off and on so you can see as he and Kayleigh grow! This is from when he was about 18 months. Jeffrey was just trying to get him to say a few of the words he knows!

I'm going to try to get one of Kayleigh on here soon. You know how she likes to perform! I'm sure she'll have lots of cute things to share!

Disney World!

This is just a small part of the pictures that we took, but you can get an idea of all that we did, everything! Kayleigh got to meet all of the princesses and ride the teacups, her one thing she wanted to do while we were there! Also, she got to go on Splash Mountain with Jeffrey (I was too scared!) and she had a great time! She didn't hold on or anything! She was a real trooper though, those parks are huge and she had more energy than me and Jeffrey combined! We hit all 4 parks, and would come in late and she was still dancing around the room at bedtime, oh to have that much energy again! We also did the dinner with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, etc. and it was great! They all come around to your table and take pictures and visit for a minute, she loved every minute!

Joel and Karen's Wedding

Joel (Jeffrey's best friend growing up) and fiance Karen got married July 18th in Waco and Jeffrey was the best man and Kayleigh was their flower girl! It was a beautiful wedding and they were a beautiful couple. Here are a few photos of the weekend. Some are from the rehearsal and some from the wedding.

Elijah's Surprise 1st Birthday Party

So, since we knew Caanon and Daniel would already be gone when Elijah had his 1st birthday, we had a little surprise party for him! As it turned out everybody it seemed came down with a terrible stomach bug and it got passed around Nana and Pawpaw's house for days. I'm so thankful that Caanon and Elijah we well and able to come to the party!

We had Luigi's for dinner and then cake, punch and presents after. I am so glad we could celebrate the littlest member of the family that day! He got to try his first bite of cake that day too! His actual birthday is August 10th, tomorrow! He'll officially be a whole 1 years old! Sweet little boy! Give him a big shuggar for us! Love you little man!

Swimming Lessons

So despite the fact that the first time I took Kayleigh to swimming lessons (at 2 years old) she screamed so much that the teacher ended up telling me that I didn't need to worry, some of her worst students later became some of her best! Ok great, so my daughter was the worst one! Ah! I couldn't believe it! Anyway, three and a half years later, she loves her swimming lessons and is doing great! She is letting her teacher show her how to float, which she can almost do on her own, puts her whole head under water, and is starting to figure out how to kick and move her arms together. This is major! I wondered if this day would ever come! Take a look at my little fishy in her pink goggles! At the end of the sessions, they got to swing on the rope out into the water, this was her favorite!

Kayleigh's Dance Recital

So Kayleigh had her dance recital the beginning of May and she was without a doubt the most beautiful child! I am so proud of her! She could've walked across the stage and done nothing at all and I would have still been proud, but she did such a great job! I couldn't believe how precious her little performances were! She had a ballet and a tap dance! Good job sweetie pie!

The Latest

So, the last time that I blogged, I was so excited to announce our fourth pregnancy. However, our precious baby never developed past 6 weeks and I miscarried on May 4, a week and a half after my last post at 10 weeks 1 day. Our hearts were completely broken. It felt like I had the breath knocked out of me. It is so hard to see how this horrible situation be anything that the Lord could use for our good, but He remains ever faithful to do just that. Since then, I have seen just how he used that situation for our good and He has allowed me to share that with another friend who had gone thru a similar situation in the last few weeks. I pray that my dear sweet friend will in time feel the same comfort from our Lord.