Christmas Program #2

Our church has a big family Christmas program every year. The choir sings, the children sing, we have a brass band, the audience participates in 12 Days of Christmas, and more. Pastor David Walker (shout out!) does such a great job putting it all together. Although I don't get to sing with the choir on Sunday mornings due to my Children's Ministries duties, I am always so excited to participate in special programs.

Here I am dressed in all black on the front row singing my heart out.

I direct all of the children's portions of the program. Here are all the preschoolers singing their three songs: "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Wasn't That A Mighty Day?", "Jesus, Oh, What A Wonderful Child". They did a great job and were very cute.

Preston is the 5th child from the left in the blue shirt.

I'm singing my solo in the song "I'll Be Home For Christmas". I'll admit, I don't know how well I did. In all my years of training, we were taught to sing without a microphone and monitors. So, this was very different for me. I was told I sounded good. :)

I was very excited about the Elementary children's portion of the program. Pastor David told me which song the children would be singing with the adult choir and left the details up to me. The song was done with black lights and white gloves and looked AWESOME!!!! We had about 30 kids participate which is the most I've had in a program. I think the kids were just as excited about the song. They had to wear all black (that's why I did too) and we passed out white gloves. Pastor John Cruz (shout out!), the Children's Pastor, and his wife Christi were so supportive and let me take time during Sunday service to practice with the kids.

Kaitlyn did a great job performing.

So cool!

Love it!

This was the end of the song and the lyrics say "to God". I had all the kids lift their hands up to God and shimmer. It was still dark in the sanctuary, but Craig was able to get the picture to come out like this.

I heard so many great things about this song. One child came up to me afterwards and said he felt like a superstar! I am so glad they enjoyed themselves.

I have a Children's Performing Arts ministry called Enhance that has been meeting every Wednesday before evening activities at church. This ministry is to teach kids there are many ways to worship God such as sign language, drama, human video, singing, puppets, etc. It also prepares them for Children's Fine Arts, which is a big program in Assemblies of God. I currently have 11 kids in the program. Our rehearsal time is changing in January and I will have more kids joining then. Pastor John has been my biggest supporter for this program.

There is a beautiful song that the adult choir sang called "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day". I asked Pastor David if Enhance could do sign language to this and of course he said yes. This was Enhance's first performance and they did such a great job!

It was a great night and I am so extremely proud of all the kiddos. As soon as the program was over and I started to walk off stage, exhaustion hit me. Having a big program like this end is always bittersweet for me. I am thankful for the gifts God has given me to share with others. I am extremely thankful to have such supportive pastors that allow me to use my gifts. Now, what to plan for next year?

Pajama Par-tay!!!

Kaitlyn is turning 7. Yes, it's hard to believe that I am old enough to have a child that age (lol). We are the type of family that plans in advance. Waaayyyy in advance. We actually planned her party towards the end of summer. Kaitlyn decided to have a non-sleepover pajama party at home. The kids made a craft, had a waffle bar for dinner, watched a movie, and ate cupcakes for dessert. Very easy and doable.

Craig cooks all the breakfasts in our house. I can make breakfast casseroles and such, but Craig really enjoys cooking breakfast for us when he is able to. Here is his breakfast station all set up. He made plain waffles, chocolate chip waffles, bacon and sausage. For toppings there were strawberries, bananas, blueberries, butter, and syrup. Then we served lemonade to drink.




The craft is ready to go in the center of the table. The girls made 3 hair tyes. I cut different colored ribbon in 12" lengths. Then you just double knot 5 ribbons onto each black hair tye and you're done!

Our dining room was transformed into a party room. My good friend Janelle (shout out!) had her daughter's birthday party a week ago. All the decorations were in the same color scheme that I was going to use. Janelle very graciously offered to let me use the decorations for Kaitlyn's party. The tablecover is actually a flat sheet. The flowers on the table are made from tissue paper. The balls hanging from the chandelier are clear Christmas ornaments with colored netting. I actually had a lot of streamers left over from my birthday party in August and Kaitlyn wanted to use them. Everything turned out super cute. Thanks Janelle!

Here are the girls working on their hair tyes. They had some really cute color combinations.

The girls are lined up and ready to eat. They LOVED the waffles. These girls could give teenage boys a run for their money when it comes to eating!!!

Here they are enjoying their food.

Preston was the only little boy at the party. He had to eat his food in the kitchen and was a little sad. Don't worry, his grandparents were sitting on the other side of the table so he wasn't alone.

Our great friends Robert and Cathy (shout out!) had a movie projector that they let us borrow. We have a game room upstairs with a large white wall (because we never painted it and now there's a reason) that is perfect for watching movies. I bought Veggie Tales Sweetpea Beauty just for the party.

The girls lined up with their blankets and pillows to watch. You can barely see the movie on the wall in this picture. It was actually completely dark in this room, but this is how the picture came out.

Kaitlyn repeatedly told me she wanted cupcakes and not a cake for her birthday. She was very specific and wanted strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Not a problem. I made these myself and sprinkled some green sprinkles on the top. It's hard to see in the picture, but the bottom tiers had pink and green ribbon draped along the sides.

Kaitlyn is blowing out her candle.

Next, we opened presents. Girls are always so eager to see what gifts the birthday girl received. Kaitlyn got a lot of great things.

Here is the party crew!

Before the party, I didn't know if I was crazy or just loved Kaitlyn to be able to have a party like this. After the party, I realized I'm just plain crazy! Kaitlyn had so much fun and so did all her friends. They all went home with full tummies, and hot cocoa goody bags and hopefully slept really well.

Kaitlyn already told me what kind of party she wants next year (I said we plan way in advance) and I'm just glad it won't be at home. ;)

Christmas Program #1

Last night was the Christmas program for the Mother's Day Out where I teach music. The school director tells me what she wants, then I pick out the music, make up the choreography, and teach it to the kids. It sounds simple, but it's not. I listen to TONS of songs and pick out the ones I think the kids will easily learn and enjoy. Then I make up the choreography, keeping their ages in mind, making sure they will be able to quickly catch on.

This year, the kids told the real Christmas story through their songs. It started with songs about the Wise Men, then the birth of Jesus, and finally the world rejoicing. We started rehearsing Christmas songs in October and I'm sure the kids are glad to finally show their parents what they've learned.

Here I am with my favorite student (Preston is in Pre-K) in front of our white Christmas tree before the program.

Here is Preston and his class singing "The First Noel".

I didn't know Craig got a picture of me directing. I always sit on the floor in front of the kids and do all the motions and mouth the words. I was directing the Pre-K class in "Jesus, Oh, What A Wonderful Child".

For our big finale all the classes came on stage together to sing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". The children's ages were from 2 yrs old through 6 yrs old. It took some work during the dress rehearsal, but the teachers did a great job getting all the kids where they needed to be.

It was a great success. The kids were adorable and all the parents loved it. They really knew how to ham it up for their parents and all the cameras.

That's one program down and only three more to go! Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday Craig

R. Craig Kelley (what the R stands for is not important) was born ?? years ago in Chandler, AZ. Through many God-ordained events, Craig came into my life when I was ony 12 years old in El Paso, TX. No, I didn't start dating him then, but we became good friends. He has gone through many things in his life, but has always maintained a very positive attitude. He never wants a big deal made about his birthday, but he needs to know how special he is.

Here is the birthday boy at 2 mos old. Isn't he cute?


Craig LOVES his family and works so hard to provide for us. As long as we've been married (almost 11 yrs), he has always worked 50+ hours a week. After work, he wants to spend every moment with his family. Kaitlyn and Preston absolutely adore him too!

This was a few years ago on Thanksgiving. Preston and Kaitlyn had terrible ear infections. Craig is cuddling with two sick kiddos.

Craig is still a big kid at heart. He loves video games and really gets into them. This picture was taken this past Thanksgiving. He was dancing to "Womanizer" on the Wii with his niece.

Craig has always been 100% supportive of every thing I do. I wanted a big 80's themed party for my 30th birthday. On his own accord, Craig let his hair grow out and picked out the outfit he wanted. He was a hit at the party. What a good sport!

We are a close, loving, supportive family with an awesome man of God as the head of the household. Happy Birthday Craig! We love you and look forward to so many more fun times to come. Thank you for all you do and sacrifice for our family!!!

Parade of Lights

It's December and we are off and running. December is by far our busiest month of the year. Craig is always busy working long hours at Kroger since everyone is baking. I'm usually directing some type of Christmas program. Well, this year I'm directing 3 different programs and singing in 2 other programs. It's also Craig's birthday on the 6th, Kaitlyn's birthday on the 15th with a party on the 10th, our 11 yr anniversary on the 25th as well as the birth of our Savior. There's also all the Christmas parties and events going on too. Phew! I'm tired just thinking about it all!

To start the month, our church choir participated in Grapevine, TX's Parade of Lights for the second year in a row. Last year, we nearly froze standing and trying to sing on the float. This year, it was almost 30 degrees warmer and so much more enjoyable! I decided to bring along my camera and take pictures while on the float.

Here are a bunch of the choir members packed like sardines in the church van headed to the parade line up. Family members of the choir were allowed to ride on the float as well.

At the back of our float are Mary and Joseph with Baby Jesus. No, that is not a real baby.

Here is one of the elementary school floats. It was being pulled by a semi-truck and looked like a paddleboat.

Here is the big tree all lit up on Main Street.

There were so many people watching the parade this year. I think the weather was a huge factor. This is how both sides of the street looked. In the middle of the picture is a large group of kids from our Youth group with their parents. They gave a big cheer as we came by.

At this point, our float had driven down the length of the parade and I got off the float to join Craig and the kids that were watching. My in-laws were kind enough to join them for the parade as well. Here is Santa at the end, officially marking the arrival of Christmas.

It is always fun being in parades and seeing people you know as you ride by on the float. I think the bystanders enjoy it too when they recognize someone they know. We had some great music playing from our upcoming Christmas program and all the kids watching would start dancing as we came by. As much as the choir has being in the parade, it's also a great outreach too. Perhaps one heart was touched by seeing our choir, singing about Jesus. That would make the whole thing worth it, no matter what the weather was like.

Thanks-Christmas-Giving

Two holidays in one. That's the way the Kelley's do it. Every Thanksgiving, all the Kelley's gather at Mom and Dad Kelley's house. Kim (#1 Kelley) and her kids come from California and 3 of the Kelley boys (#2, #3, and #4) make the drive from somewhere in the metroplex. David (#5 Kelley) and Cindy live in Killeen so they don't have to drive very far either.

At Christmas, we all go our separate ways and spend time with the other sides of the family. It saves us from any arguments about where to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since we are together for just this one holiday, we do all our Christmas gifts at the same time. Thus, Thanks-Christmas-Giving is born!

When we arrived, there were little craft projects awaiting the younger kids.


Somehow Craig (#4) got talked into carving the turkey.

The Kelley's have a fondness for unique items on their heads. On the left is Paul (#3) wearing reindeer antlers with a turkey sitting in the middle. Kim (#1) has light-up antlers. Then there is Warren (#2) and his daughter Ashley with their elf hats. Their incredible annoying and LOUD elf hats! The hats played music and danced around while on their heads. It was cute at first.

Then, they let Preston wear one who thought it was the best thing ever! He kept playing it over and over until we had to take it away.

The desserts-yummy! We had different types of Amish Friendship Bread, sweet potato pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, pumpkin cheesecake, and fudge.

Kim (#1) made this cute sign next to a bowl of Tums. It says "For those who have indulged (or plan to...), Tums is there!"

It's Thanksgiving!

Time for dessert.

No, I don't see the candy canes hanging from the giant holes in your ears!

This year we decided to do a White Elephant Gift Exchange. All gifts needed to be items we already had in our home (ahem, Ashley!). There were some funny gifts: leftover graduation announcements, lantern, sock monkey, Olive Garden bread basket (don't ask), the book Hamlet. It was a lot of fun.

Dad is checking out his white elephant gift. He got 3 boxes of outdoor christmas lights.

Then, it was time to do our Christmas gift exchange. Craig (aka #4 aka Santa) passed out all the gifts and we took turns opening them. Preston is buried in his gifts.

Dad and Tyler are patiently waiting for their turns.

Now, it's Dad's turn!

Cindy, David (#5) and the kids got the older kids Snuggies and the little kids hooded towels. Cindy stitched all their names on the bottom. They looked great!

As the evening started to wind down, the adults played games and Craig played Just Dance 2 on the Wii with Hayley. He was getting his groove on to "Womanizer".

It was a very fun day. We were missing our soldier David (#5) who is still overseas. We hope we can all be together next year.

(By the way, this year I labeled our names on the gift tags as #4 Kelley's. Since 4 out of 5 kids and their families have the last name of Kelley, I just used the birth order number to label everything. That's why all the Kelley kids have a number next to their name. I think I'll use it from now on.)

Get Caught Reading

Our family loves to read. Kaitlyn has really accelerated in reading since starting 1st grade. Right now, she really loves chapter books. She just finished a Magic Tree House book and is currently reading Charlotte's Web. She reads to herself and does a great job with the vocabulary.

So, I decided to let her make her own special bookmark. She was super excited about it. I let her pick out the cardstock and scrapbook paper. She also picked out letter stickers and the ribbon. It turned out so cute and she loves to mark her place in her books now.

Kaitlyn is applying the glue on the cardstock.




Kaitlyn is deciding on what letter stickers she wants to use to spell out her name.

Here is one side of the bookmark with her name.

Here is the other side. Simple, but cute.

Kaitlyn is trying to read with our dog Princess in her lap. Princess is trying to get her attention.