Look, Mom, no training wheels!

Here is a very amateur video shot from my cell phone. This is Kendall riding her bike without training wheels. Some of you have heard that I went to the grocery store and left Kendall with Tim. When I returned (about 45 minutes later), she was waiting to show off. With nearly no effort at all, she took off on her own and started pedaling. She pedalled all the way across the cul-de-sac before stopping, picking her bike up and turning it around to go the other direction. This is from Sunday; now she is much faster and able to turn without getting off the bike and turning it. Such a year of firsts for her!!

Voting Day

Today I feel like a new person. I am so very proud to be a voting American woman ... we are very fortunate to live here where we get to make such decisions on our own ... if you are in line today, just remember ... it's worth the wait!!

Just found this and had to share ...

Found this in a book ... and it has made me start really praying about going back to work and what I want to do when I'm there. I had forgotten about my dad writing this before I graduated from college. As you can see, my dad was a great man. I have written it just as he did, lowercase i's and all. He always beleived he was smaller than "Him," therefor he always used lowercase i's when referring to himself. Just something to think about. I hope you can appreciate what he days; I think it applies to all walks of life ...

Keisha - Punkin -
Well, here it is - that "last Christmas" as ONLY my little girl. It's bittersweet for sure. When you were born and i held you for the first time, this day was not even a thought. Yet, it is with great anticipation i look toward your graduation and then marriage. God has been so good and faithful to me and i have been so inappropriate toward Him. i praise Him for His long suffering and patience and now i see the reason for children -- it's to "grow you" into these areas -- long suffering and patience. There were so many other guys i picked for you, but THANK GOD, you didn't pick any of them. At first, i would say - well she could have picked others alot worse than Tim - But now - in all honesty - i say you could not have picked better than Tim. i really, really, really love Tim and some of my less than enthusiastic reactions have been because i feel like this is our last Christmas as just you and us -- from now on and rightly so - your second allegiance is to be to your husband (the first being God). But every time i point my finger at yours and Tim's selfishness, there are 3 pointing back at me. So, yes, Lord i see, i am not showing the real Jesus through my actions and attitudes. i'm sorry, please help me to do better. And He does.

"Teacher" - "Teach" - it sounds good on you. My daughter, the teacher. Am i proud? Am i thankful? Am i amazed? Yep, you bet. This little girl who quit dance and cheerleading once due to having to stand in front of a crowd is now going to stand before God's gifts and mold and shape their belief systems and their futures. Keisha, always keep that in mind. How some of these folks will relate to their futures is going to be based on the influence you exercise in their lives today. Please, seek first God and what He wants. Put Him first always; weigh everything in your life in view of how God sees it. What does He say about it? He says, yes, enjoy. He says, wait, go slow. He says, NO, drop and run, regardless of what you must leave behind. If this society we live in should ever demand you to teach something contrary to what God teaches, it is my daily prayer that God will cause you to run for the hills and don't look back. Please, Mom and I can now be mentors to you, not parents. Mentors simply come along side and show you your options and consequences. You make the choices. We're here, 24/7.

Love always, Pops

PS - At the Family Christian Store , a little book, "Butterfly Kisses"? And one request. Can we dance to that song at your wedding? I'll let you lead!

More "treats" than "tricks"

Well, the Halloween season has officially come to a close. Well, almost, once the candy is eaten. Which shouldn't be long judging how much the kids downed (with the help of Mom and Dad) last night before bed. The kids had lots of fun going from house to house to get candy. They got more than they could ever possibly eat on their own (which is why I'll be avoiding the scale for a while) and they looked precious in their costumes. Excuse me, Kendall looked "beautiful" as Snow White, and Tanner looked "strong and scary" as Batman. (I'm not supposed to say "precious.")

We walked with the kids in the neighborhood most of the time, and then Kendall caught up with one of our pool friends from the summer. She is Kendall's age, so we let the older kids travel ahead of us (how many 10-year-olds do you know who want to wait on a 4-year-old?) and Kendall and Katie walked together. Tanner rode in his Batmobile costumed as a stroller (clever, I know) and he hopped out at almost every house. This year was such a change from last year because Kendall went to the doors on her own, said "trick or treat" on her own, and said "thank you" on her own. Super cute! Tanner had a hard time understanding why I wouldn't open the candy as it was poured into his bucket, but once I opened a sucker or two, he was content. By the time we reached the end of the houses, Kendall was tired and I had to carry her. Of course, trick-or-treating was not the only excitement of our day yesterday!

We started our morning with a trip to Learning Express. This store always wears Kendall and Tanner out because there is so much to do. The workers allow the kids to play with the toys that are on the floor, and Tanner immediately hits the choo-choo while Kendall finds the dollhouses (hence, our choices for Christmas gifts this year). I went with the sole purpose of buying an Elf on the Shelf. If you've never heard of it, Google it. So now we have our elf who will roam around our house until Christmas, taking notes on the kids and their behavior in order to report back to Santa. Fun, right?!

Our second trip to the pumpkin patch followed. Mom needed a big punkin, so we hit the same place the kids and I went to Thursday. They jumped in the hay some more. They picked out more small pumpkins (my house is being overrun with baby pumpkins.). I took more pictures. Fun times.

Third trip was to dance. Kendall's class got to wear the Halloween costumes to dance, and they played games and practiced all at the same time. Her Snow White dress especially looked cute with tap shoes!! I honestly thought she would lie down to take a nap once dance was over, but no. She was too excited about getting in her time on the computer since she SLEPT ALL NIGHT IN HER BED THE NIGHT BEFORE!!!!

I know, it just keeps getting better!

So then it was dinner time and time to get dressed up again. Yes, a rushed and busy day ... but so worth it to see their faces when that first handful of chocolate was dumped in their buckets!!

So now off for another exciting day dressed up ---- IN RED AND BLACK!!

Gooooooooooooooo, Dawgs!! Sic 'em!!!!