Pinewood Derby

It's time for the races! This is our 2nd year participating in the Pinewood Derby at our church. After the fun we had last year, we have all been excited about it. Last year, Kaitlyn chose a ladybug as her design. This time she wanted a carrot. Don't know why, but that's what she wanted.

Here is a close-up of the carrot. Craig put a lot of effort into this car. He wanted to make sure there were grooves in the car just like in a carrot.

You can see the carrot is lined up and ready to race. Just below it is the ladybug that Kaitlyn raced last year. This year, Preston is racing it.

Preston and Kaitlyn are eager for the racing to begin.

In Lane #2 is Preston's ladybug.

Again in Lane #2 is Kaitlyn's carrot.

After the races, the results came in. Unfortunately, our 2 cars didn't place. Kaitlyn got a trophy for participating. Preston is still too young to be an official participant to receive a trophy. Next year, he will be official when he becomes a Royal Ranger.

It was lots of fun and we'll start thinking about what designs we will have for next year.

UPDATE: Preston ended up getting a trophy. They just happen to run out of trophies for the preschoolers the night of the races. He was super excited to have his very own trophy.

Blessings to the Nash Family

Harrison Nash was born with his organs outside his body. I'm sure that's the worst thing any parent wants to hear. His mom and dad, Rebecca and Randy, knew about the situation before he was born and was prepared (as much as they can be) for it. Poor Harrison was in and out of the hospital for a year having so many surgeries and procedures.

I knew since he was in utero that I wanted to do something for this baby. Last fall I asked Rebecca what their biggest need was for the baby. I was willing to organize anything: baby shower, meals, anything. Rebecca said they could use help financially. Medical bills were piling up and the amount was astounding.

I immediately took the need to the Lord and asked for His guidance. God is so faithful and no task is too small for Him! My daughter's school had a fundraiser with Spring Creek BBQ restaurant. They gave 20% of total sales from the night of the fundraiser back to school. I asked the PTA fundraiser coordinator for more info and found out the restaurant will also do a fundraiser for churches. I got the contact info and immediately let Spring Creek know of Harrison's situation. I told them his story and asked if it was possible to do a fundraiser for just a family in the church. They quickly responded and said the story was so touching and that they would love to help out the Nash family! Praise God!!!

I got to work talking with the pastors at our church and setting it up with the help of the pastoral pastor, Claudia. We set the date, got the info out (many church members helped spread the word), and let God take over. On February 10 from 5-9 pm, Spring Creek BBQ would give 20% of TOTAL sales (including To Go orders and gift cards) back to the Nash family. All we had to do was show up and eat. I organized 16 volunteers to help pass out rolls and carry trays. We had an amazing turnout!!! 190 members from our church showed up! That doesn't count all the other customers that were dining as well. The line was going out the door and needless to say, the manager was very happy.

Here is Harrison at Spring Creek.

Here is the Nash family enjoying the BBQ.

Some of our church members dining and passing out rolls.

Even the youth helped out.

More church members enjoying the good food.

The restaurant was packed!

Yesterday, Spring Creek came to our service and presented the Nash family with a giant check. First, Rebecca gave a little bit of Harrison's testimony.

Here is the gigantic check. It's hard to see but the amount was $900!

Their were many other blessings bestowed upon the family as well and the Nash family was overwhelmed with gratitude and God's favor.

I am so humbled that God allowed me to have a part in this wonderful blessing for another family. I didn't do much, I just simply knew who to contact. I am very thankful to our wonderful church family that was willing to step up and give financially as well as prayerfully to another family in need.

Harrison has had his last surgery and is doing great! Stay tuned for what's next for the Nash family. God is not done blessing them yet.

The Kelley's V-Day

As you can tell from previous blogs, we like to celebrate holidays in a very fun way. Of course, Valentine's Day is no different. It's a great way to show our love for each other just a little differently than the other 364 days of the year.

February 14 was the last day for the kids to open up their special mailboxes and find a little gift. This time the mailboxes were sitting on the kitchen table with a special note. They each got a heart straw, box of chocolates, and a movie. Kaitlyn got a Hello Kitty movie and Preston got a Scooby Doo movie ($5 each at Target). Craig and I didn't get each other anything since we had such a nice date night on Friday.

For breakfast, I made strawberry muffins before Kaitlyn headed off to school.

Dinner was special too. Papa Murphy's Pizza makes heart-shaped pizzas for Valentine's (we get the pumpkin-shaped pizza at Halloween). I got a half cheese/half pepperoni pizza to please all the members of the family. I also made some garlic bread to go with it.

For dessert, I found a great recipe on www.bettycrocker.com called Fudge Cream Cheese Cake. It was very easy to make and looks so pretty when done.

I spread on the chocolate frosting and sprinkled on some red sprinkle hearts. Delicious!

It was a great day and we look forward to the next holiday!

Best Valentine's Date Ever!

Last night was our Valentine's date. It's been planned for awhile. I must say, it was the best Valentine's date we've ever had.

I am a HUGE fan of the musical comedy 3 Redneck Tenors. I was first introduced to them about 5 years ago by my former boss since he's a stockholder in the show. I saw it once and was hooked! It's the story of 3 rednecks that can sing and try to make it big. When I say they can sing, they can SING!!! They are all professional singers that have performed with various opera companies, traveled abroad and graduated from prestigious performing arts schools. When they first walk on stage with mullets and overalls (or cutoff shorts for one of the tenors), you don't expect such beautiful notes to come out of their mouths. It's so hilarious and beautiful all at once.

Once I saw the show was coming to our area, I told Craig we had to go. We've seen them several times, but they are just as funny each time. I also wanted to get some friends to go with us because I knew they would enjoy it as well. We were just going to invite about 8 or so friends. Then, I found out we could get a group discount if we had 20 or more. Well, we got a group of 32 people from church to see the show (shout out to Jimbo that helped gather the people)! I collected everyone's money and got the tickets for us.

My contact from the show was so appreciative of our big group, she said Craig and I could come to the Meet and Greet before hand. Yay!!! Craig and I arrived early and got to meet the entire cast and chat with them. It was so nice. They told me they were headed to Branson for a 32-week run and said we could come see the show for free. Double yay! Except, we weren't planning on going there this year (maybe that will change).

Here is the cast before the show sans costume, except for "The Colonel" on the end. The bald guy is the creator and one of the performers in the show.

We also got a free CD and our tickets were labeled "gold circle".

It was such a funny show and I never get tired of seeing them. Our entire group loved it as well. We also ran into some old friends (shout out Shirley!).

Afterwards, Craig promised me a nice dinner and I chose Outback. Another couple from church went as well and we had a very nice dinner.

We went to bed as soon as we got home after having a tiring, but wonderful day. Thank you to my friends that joined us and became fans of the show as well. BIG thanks to my wonderful husband for making Valentine's so special this year.

www.3rednecktenors.com

Eat Your Heart Out!

So what do you do when you have another snow day and Valentine's is coming up? Make cookies of course! We rolled out dough for sugar cookies, got out the cookie cutters, and made some yummy desserts.

Here are Preston and Kaitlyn rolling out their dough and cutting out shapes. Notice they are in pajamas still?

The cookies are fresh from the oven.

Now it's time to decorate the cookies.

The finished products!!!

This kept us busy for a couple hours and provided dessert for tonight. :)

Valentine's Mobile

One of the activities we decided to do for our Valentine's celebration is to make homemade Valentine's mobiles. I got the idea off www.familyfun.com. You can print off the many different heart templates onto cardstock. I then had the kids cut out the hearts.

Next, get a piece of colored yarn, string, or twine and center it one side of the heart. I taped the yarn to the heart to help keep it still. I then put glue on it. Next, you fold the other side over the heart so the string will be going right through the heart.

The kids loved making these and it was a simple craft. They really enjoy having it displayed over our dining room table.

Are the hearts cut exactly on the line? No. Do these Valentine's mobiles look perfect? Absolutely.

The Neverending Snow Day

Winter came to Texas. Every February, the temperatures drop and we get ice. However, in the 10 years that we have lived here, I've never seen an ice storm this bad. It started late Monday night with freezing rain and very cold temperatures. Craig worked a 12 hour shift because everyone waited until the last minute to do their grocery shopping. Let's just say Kroger did not hurt for business that day or all week for that matter.

When we woke on Tuesday morning, this is what we saw. The street in front of our house was covered in one gigantic sheet of ice. It was like that all over the metroplex and most of Texas.

School had already been cancelled and Craig just happened to have Tuesday off from work. So we got to relax and lounge around in our pajamas. I pulled out a puzzle and set it up in our game room (if I would've known the weather would stay the same all week, I wouldn't have picked a winterscape).

The temperatures stayed in the teens and single digits at night. The ice never melted. What does that mean? Still no school. School was canceled for Wednesday and Thursday as well. Craig went to work Wednesday afternoon and just stayed working until about 9 am Thursday morning. He wasn't going to risk driving at night on the ice.

Then, it began to snow. I looked out the window about 11:30 pm Thursday night and saw gigantic flakes continuously falling. The forecasts kept saying we were going to get a "light dusting" of snow. When we woke up Friday morning, this is what our backyard looked like.

This is how it looked out our front door. I think we got a little more than a "light dusting".

Here's another pic of the backyard. Our doggies don't like it too much.

Of course, there was no school on Friday either. Kaitlyn went to school one day this week. Preston and I didn't go to school at all on Tues and Thurs. Luckily, Craig had off Friday so it seems like we all had a mini vacation. Except we couldn't really go anywhere.

After lunch, the kids wanted to go play in the snow. They all bundled up in lots of layers and headed out.

Craig is rolling a snowball in his hand.

Notice the little grids on the pictures? That's because I stayed inside the warm house and took pictures from the window.

Most Texans I know don't own a sled. We have to improvise. Craig got out our cooler with wheels, stuck Preston in it, and pulled him around. Craig said the Suburban Kelley's turned into the Redneck Kelley's. Hey, whatever works!

I'm not a fan of snow. It's very pretty to look at. It's pretty when it falls on the mountains the day before my Christmas wedding or on actual Christmas morning if I don't have to be anywhere. However, it's not really fun to drive in. We actually got out of the house for a little bit last night to eat dinner and buy next week's groceries. The roads are VERY bad and thankfully Craig drove. Driving on ice gives me so much anxiety. More ice is expected tomorrow and Wednesday. I don't know if the kids are ever going back to school. There are big events happening for us at the end of the week, so we'll see if we get to venture out again.