Its a great day to be alive!

That is the status of my facebook update right now; and it is oh so true!!! Not sure exactly why right now I chose to write that but I did. Each day is a blessing and we are fortunate to be alive each day! I know that I dont always have this attitude but God has really shown me in the last day or two how much more productive I can be and how my attitude can affect those around me. I chose each day what my attitude is going to be and how I am going to respond to others, I have the opportunity each day to brighten someone elses day! Or I can have just a ho-hum attitude which i feel like I have had recently and not be effective in my own life or the lives of others around me! Sometimes I think for me being a stay at home mom I have too much time on my hands to think, granted this can be a good thing but other times I think this can be not so good! :(
But what other time of year is better to start reflecting and seeing all that God has blessed me with than Thanksgiving! I have so many things to be thankful for! I had a friend challenge me back at the end of october to begin writing something that I am thankful for each day until Thanksgiving and then share that with someone. Well it was really really really easy the first few days but then as time has gone by it has gotten a little harder. I can say i believe this is where all of the thoughts of my attitude orginated. So with no futher ado here is my list thus far:
I am thankful for:
1. My husband
2. my daughter
3. my warm home
4. freedom in my country
5. being blessed to have our financial needs met
6. a hard working husband
7. a diligent husband
8. my girlfriends
9. extended family
10. the trials I have faced to make me who I am
11. Gods abundant love for me
12. Freedom to love God in my country
13. a bed to sleep in
14. sunshine
15. my honeymoon to hawaii
16. that i can see Gods creation
17. that I am healthy
18. that my family is healthy
19. That I have a beautiful daughter who shows her love to me daily
20. sonic coke
21. the ability to connect and reconnect with those all around the world.
22. the talents God has given me.

my last thought: Psalm 72:19 Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.

AMEN!! Thank you Lord for all that you have given me to be grateful for, I am blessed beyond measure! May your Glory rein forever more and may all honor be given to you...may I count everything JOYOUS in my life! AMEN!!
Count it all JOY!
~KAHLE

catching up

Catching up is an understatement...Since I last posted we had a little girl in the household turn three!! We couldn't celebrate any other way than in good princess fashion! For the 3rd birthday bash we held it at a local park as usual and adorned the table with a castle cake, the little princess with the appropriate attire and so much pink in girlie fashion! A very good friend captured the moments from our celebrate quite well. Unfortunately as you will see from the photos below our little princess was not up to par and was not feeling her usual chipper and smiley self.

We had her party about a week after her actual birthday so that family and friends that were out of town could attend. For her actual birthday we celebrated at home as a family by having her favorite meal...pasta! and for dessert we had chocolate chip cookie dough; she picked it out herself! Here are a few photos I took to capture her special day!

Yummy cookie dough ice cream

no princess is complete without her castle! Little people castle! so cute!

Well that was it for the Birthday festivities!

Alot has been happening the last few months keeping me busy and I have had plenty to write about just not the time to think through what I wanted to write about. A new season has started with my moms group at my church and so far it has been great, we are watching a video series and it has been wonderful, not to mention the time we have had to share in our small groups.

I am also involved in a women in the word class...cant really call this a bible study as the only bible time we have is a memory verse each week. But I have been so blessed to be learning under the teaching of an amazing woman, her name is Mary Duncan she has written the book Tools for Motherhood, it is basically a class teaching us as moms how to best teach our children and prepare them for Kindergarten. The teacher in me loves this class! We have learned many ways to teach our children in just 15 minutes of our day...it takes a little planning but it is so worth it and our children will thank us someday for it! right? :) This class has also reaffirmed in my mind the benefits of homeschooling and my desire to teach my child, but not sure yet if that is the direction God is leading us in. We shall pray, wait and see as He reveals His perfect plan for us! Well I have a little missy that just woke from her nap so i must go for now but hope to be back soon and finish my thoughts from the last few months!

storage, so to speak....

If you know much about me you know that I am not an avid reader, besides childrens books and during my quiet time with the Lord. We went to the library as a family the other night as I am gearing up to do some schooling with Kaihtlyn this fall. When we got home my husband said he had grabbed a couple of books for me to read. One I have not started yet but within a few days I have almost finished one of them...its called Home Staging for Dummies! I can not put this book down; got to love the Dummies books! This book has given me so many great ideas for my home on how to get organized!! Now I just have to get to work and implement it! When I think about it my closets are my biggest disasters...How do you make more closet space though...I keep telling myself we need more storage but in reality I just need to get rid of the junk in my closets! My biggest fear is that I will get rid of something and need it again and then will have to go out and buy it new...so what am I to do? This staging books talks about temporarily storing stuff else where until you move into your new space, but at this point we do not have any plans of moving. I really just need to create the storage within my given area to best utilize what I have, I will post how that goes later, once I figure out how I am going to do that :) Until then I hope you have a great weekend and enjoy the warm weather!!

random happenings

I have been meaning to get on here all week and share a few thoughts but sadly enough I just did not find the time. The last week brought many new adventures in our household. Last Saturday we all went camping together for the first time ever as a family and it was a very nice time had by all! We went to a reservoir just north of town and it is extremely nice for a camping area, your trailers are not butted right up next to one another and you have a little room to spread out unlike with most campgrounds around here. We thoroughly enjoyed our time together as a family. Just the night before we left to go on our camp out Kaihtlyn had managed to sprain her toes while playing on the slides at sonic. I felt so bad for her as it caused much pain and for a few days straight she was unable to bear any weight on her foot. After talking to the doctor on saturday she said not to worry about it unless it started swelling up, then we would need to have her seen by a doctor. Sure enough on sunday afternoon it started swelling, so we had our first trip to Minor Med, it was surprisingly a great experience. The doctor looked her over and said he thought she was fine, it might just be a minor sprain and that she should be walking on it with in the next few days. Needless to say within five minutes of being back home she was hobbling around the house again and starting to bear weight!! Which made her mama very happy!! :)



On Tuesday we got to see one of my bestest of friends as she and her family were back in town for the week! It is always great to see her, it was especially fun this time as her little girl just turned 6 months old and she is a cutie, she brought many smiles!!



We also visited Legends this week which is always fun!! It was well worth the trip, time spent with friends and some good bargains-what more could I ask for? I found a pair of tennis shoes for Kaihtlyn at the Nike store that were $7 cheaper than the shoes I looked at, at payless shoes. It was baffling to me that a name brand shoe that was made of real leather was cheaper and much cuter (if I may add) than the shoes at payless that were not real leather...Note to self for later purchases. Payless does not mean you will payless! I was very happy with my purchases that day, I was also able to get her a pair of GAP jeans for $2.50 regularly priced at $19.99! They were on sale for $10 and I had a coupon for 75% off any one item for filling out an online survey=sweet deal!!



The rest of the week has just been spent preparing for the big 3rd birthday bash! I have the invites half way completed and still waiting to finish them after our destination is determined! Until later I will leave you with a few picture of our camp out! Enjoy your week and count it all joy!!





Taking in all the beauty


too cute Kates!

wacky wednesday!!

Thats what I have felt like today; that it has just been one of those wacky kind of days!! This week has been significantly slow, I have spent the greater portion of everyday at home this week which is totally out of the ordinary for Kaihtlyn and I. I have been able to make a to do list but somehow it just manages to grow instead of making me feel like I have accomplished something or many things for that matter :) I was able to get my scrapbooking area organized last week and got a few pages done this week; that always gives me a great sense of accomplishment. Maybe thats why I like scrapping so much :) Right now I'm starting to work on a to do list for planning Kaihtlyn's 3rd birthday bash! I always look forward to planning events or parties and this one managed to sneak up on me a little bit this year! I have so much that I want to do to get ready for the big day! I can't wait to share pictures when it is all complete! The creative juices have been flowing and I feel like right now I just need time to accomplish all that I want to!

Other than that we are having some extraordinary weather for July, its been in the mid to lower 80's for several days now! Tomorrow we are planning to go to the last brown bag concert at the capitol building, granted there is no rain! These are always a nice summer activity when it isnt too hot! I remember going to these as a kid myself and dancing til my little heart was content!

With the nice weather we have managed to hit a few garage sales and pick up a few bargains here and there, nothing much to speak of though! We have also spent quite a bit of time outdoors playing in the sandtable, swinging and shooting some hoops!

Well in parting I will leave you with a photo of my little bit dressed as a cow for cow appreciation day at Chick-fil-a. One of our favorite places to eat was giving away free meals if you were dressed like a cow, this frugal hacker couldnt pass up that great deal! :)

a legacy to celebrate about

Have you ever known someone that has inspired many people in their lifetime? I most certainly can say I have known a couple of those people in my lifetime so far, they tend to be few and far between it seems. One that comes to mind today is a lady that I have the upmost respect for and love her ever so much! We got to celebrate 90 years of her life this past weekend. Who is this lady you may ask? Its my husbands grandmother, we all call her Grammy. I remember when I first met her she was introduced to me as Mrs. Hillmer, I think about after the second time of calling her that she said,"Please, Please, Call me Grammy!" It was so sweet, and that is just it. She is a wonderful lady who has the sweetest spirit about her and I just love calling her Grammy! She is a woman of great integrity and has a love for the Lord that is next to none other, that I have ever known! She has lived a life that is God honoring and has lead her family through many trials, many of which I'm sure I dont even know about! Her faith is an inspiration to me! She has faced difficult times this last year and I have seen her in some of the worst of those times but she still had her faith that God would carry her through, and as much as she wanted to be with Him instead of here, she perservered and continued to live as an example to those around her. Her strength amazes me. She is one of the most beautiful women I know both inside and out! I have never seen a 90 year old woman with such class and beauty as Grammy, not sure I have seen a younger woman with as much class and beauty as her either! Needless to say she is just an all around wonderful God-fearing woman that I respect! Happy 90th Birthday Grammy! I Love you!

just another manic monday

Howdy All! I wanted to get on and post a few things before I forget and off into the black hole of my memory they go! My daughter has officially learned her Alphabet and can sing it all the way through on her own! It floored me the day when I was driving in my car and she was just singing away in the backseat, A to Z, all by herself. And then she sang it again and again, for Dada, Nana and Papa. She is still very shy about singing it for others. I was so excited, but it also made me cry as I realize how quickly she is growing, learning and maturing, even from just day to day the differences I see. I know I have said this before but I am very blessed to be able to stay home with her each day! Thank you Lord for your provision for our family and Thank you for giving me a husband that is a hard worker and a wonderful provider!!
Summer is upon us here and I am throughly enjoying it! This week a good friend and I are starting a playgroup, just to have an opportunity to get together with other mama's and their children. I think this will be good for Kaihtlyn and I; she will have time to interact with other children that are outside of our family members and I will get to spend time with other likeminded women. I'm praying that God will bring the right women to this playgroup and that we will have cohesiveness and be able to have a time of encouragement and bonding. I hope that we can not only encourage one another in our daily lives and all that it brings but also in our walks with our Creator! I'm so blessed to have the friends that I do, God has placed many Godily women in my life to encourage me and to challenge me to grow closer to Him!!
I'm pretty exhausted tonight as my day was filled with grocery shopping after not doing so for 2 whole weeks, our cupboards were looking pretty bare. I think I wore my daughter out as she was eating lunch after we returned home she looked at me and said, "I want to get my jammies on and go nigh-night mama! (pause) Mama, I'm going to take a good nap!" And she did indeed! Maybe I should have slept too but I wanted to sleep well tonight so I resisted the urge. I did get in a good walk-run at the gym this evening, which sucked out what remaining energy I did have. Thus I better get to bed and rest up for a wonderful tuesday that is packed with "things to do and people to see!" "So to all a good night!"

back in blogosphere

Okay Blogspot Im back in your blogosphere! I decided last fall to try out a different blogging site that was private and would then take your blogs every three months and make them into books for free, but low and behold it wasnt as good as it sounded, so alast I am back here to share my thoughts and life with everyone! It was very hard to post on that site-ugh i cant believe i lasted almost 6 months there! Anyhow...so whats been happening lately, I have been doing lots of garage saling and have been loving it this year, I cant wait for the neighborhood sale tomorrow close to home! Other than that the same old same old! So far this spring has been pretty laid back and not too crazy like in the years past when it seemed like we had something to do everyday! So far this year only 3 weddings, 2 graduations and 2 birthdays to go to! Oh and so many babies being born! I think I have been to more baby showers this year than ever before! I love celebrating the gift of new life, it is truly one of God's many blessings! Actually a friend who i consider like a sister is in labor as we speak! Cant wait to meet her little bundle of joy!! eagerily awaiting the phone call!
On Mother's day we had our last Growing Kids God's Way class, we did this class on sunday mornings at our church during sunday school hour, it was pretty great but we had some great teachers- my hubby's brother and his wife helped co-lead the class with another couple! This class is a video series and book that is written by the Ezzo's also know for babywise, which is the secular version of this class. It was very informative but covered so much information, hope just certain bits and pieces are able to sink in... :) We had to miss so many classes due to either kaihtlyn being sick or myself and since i am a visual and auditory learner this often made it dificult for me to grasp all of the material but we perservered! We have officially been sick free in our home for over a month now, we might just set a record or maybe I will speak too soon! :) So glad that summer is here, this winter brought many difficult times and many of times me asking God why, but I was reminded each time by the still but quiet voice of the holy spirit, why not me? I think one of the hardest challenges I faced this last winter was seeing my daughter go through one of the worst sicknesses she has ever had, she had a febrile seizure at the beginning of March during the worst case of stomach flu I had ever seen a child go through. I already hashed all this out on my other blog but I think about it often; how God brought us through a difficult time and how I am learning to leaning on him and need to trust in Him for everything and through every situation! Will i always trust HIM? Will i keep my faith and allow Him to work through all things? These are questions I try to ask myself each day, in everything have i trusted God today? hmm...God show me your way show me how to trust you in EVERYTHING!! even the day to day when i think i have things under control, help me to rely fully on you!