Indiana Jones Birthday Party!

This year, Preston was able to have his birthday party on his actual birthday...and it was all about Indiana Jones!

After a quick pizza lunch, Preston invited a couple friends to join us at the Ft. Worth Science Museum to tour the new Indiana Jones exhibit.

The exhibit is so informative and will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Indiana Jones.  Everyone is given a tablet and headphones to use throughout the exhibit and you can go at your own pace.  Every display has a code you can punch in and you will learn some pretty interesting facts about that piece.  There were movie clips, props, and costumes as well.

There's also a pretty cool scavenger hunt and you have to collect clues.  Once you have all your clues, your name is displayed on the board.

After that exhibit, we had the rest of the museum to explore.  It's a pretty cool, hands-on place and kids always have fun.  There's even a Dino Dig to enjoy!

After spending a few hours at the museum, it was time to head back to our house for some delicious cake!!!  My mom very generously made an Indiana Jones cake for Preston.  He was very specific with what he wanted the cake to look like and my mom did it all!  The cake was chocolate with vanilla buttercream.

Preston really wanted a snake coming out of the skull!  The skull, crossbones, and hat are made of rice crispie treats and covered in fondant.

 All the other pieces are made of fondant.

For the "goody bags", each boy took home an Indiana Jones satchel (partycity.com), a compass ring, gold coins, and rubber snake.  Now they're ready for their own crusade!

Happy Birthday Preston!!!  Hope you had an awesome day!!!

Preston's Birthday Letter

Dear Preston,

Each day as we watch you, you seem to grow right before our eyes.  Not only physically, but every way possible.

You are constantly full of questions, wanting to know how things work the way they do.  You ask us questions about God and the Bible, that even we don't have answers for.  But keep asking.  Someday, you will get your answers.

You are athletic and absolutely love the game of baseball.  You and the game are one and it's amazing to see how great you've become.  Keep playing.  Someday, your great baseball dream will be achieved.

You are always eager to make us laugh and continue to do silly things.  You will make up funny words to songs or show us your new dance moves.  Your quick comebacks catch us off guard and leave our bellies aching with laughter.  Keep your sense of humor.  It's something we need...everyday.

So, as you celebrate your 8th birthday, we pray that this next year is full of even more memories, more experiences, and more joy.  Keep being you and only change for the better.

As you say to us-
We love you so much we could cry,
Mom and Dad

5 Facts About My Dads

In honor of Father's Day, I want to share 5 interesting facts about each of the important dad's in my life.

Wes-my father-in-law
1.  Father of 5 kids, Grandad of 9 grandkids, and Great-Grandad of 1
2.  Owned a prominent construction company in Carlsbad, New Mexico called WesCo
3.  Sold WesCo. to become an Assemblies of God Missionary to Mexico
4.  Owned and operated several of his own planes.  How I wish he still had them!!!
5.  Will be married for 56 years in July

The Kelley's-ThanksChristmasGiving 2013

David-my father
1. Played catcher for semi-pro baseball.
2. Was a bread deliveryman and delivered to Shirley Temple.
3.  Still works and owns his own company of 22 years, Communities Against Crime.
4.  Daddy to 10 kids, Papa to 29 grandkids, and Great Grandpa to 15 great grandkids (and 2 of them have already graduated from high school!).
5.  First car was a 1939 Dodge.  He was 16 years old and paid only $29.  His job at the time was delivering telegrams by bicycle in Portland, Oregon for $.75/hour.

The Black's-Missing 3 of the 10 kids...don't mind my closed eyes.

Craig-father of my children 
1.  Formally adopted at age 5.
2.  Has always worked in grocery retail.
3.  Began career on 19th birthday as a bagger and worked his way up to Store Manager.
4.  Dad to 2 kids.
5.  Because of our son's reflux when he was an infant, Craig use to sleep upright with the baby on his chest.

The Suburban Kelley's-Easter 2014

Happy Father's Day to the best dads I know!

Last Day of School 2014

Wow!  The school year just flew by.  Already, a week has passed since it's been over.

The end of the school year is always so bittersweet for me.  I'm excited for my kids to move on, but sad that they are growing up so quickly!

The last week of school is full of end of year activities.  This year was especially more bittersweet since it would be Kaitlyn's last year of elementary school.  Our district has K-4th grade in elementary, 5th-6th in intermediate, 7th-8th in middle, and 9th-12th in high school.  Kaitlyn and Preston won't be in the same school again until high school.  It will be interesting trying to do drop off and pick up over the next few years.

Craig and I made sure to get in one more lunch date with our 2nd and 4th graders.

The end of year parties were later that afternoon.  Since Craig was able to attend, we split our time between each class.

Preston received the "Lifesaver Award" for helping others.  They also had snacks and decorated shirts.

Kaitlyn's class had ice cream sundaes and signed shirts and yearbooks.

The very last day of school was definitely a day of reflection.  It's amazing to see how much they've grown.

First day of school 

Last day of school.  They are getting so tall!

First, we had to celebrate Preston's bday.  Since he has a summer birthday, we always bring treats during the last week of school.  He wanted donuts for the class.

Then, it was time for Kaitlyn's 4th Grade Awards.  I almost started crying when I read the program!

The entire school lined the hallways as the 4th graders walk through to give them a cheerful "send off".  Again, I teared up!

Kaitlyn wouldn't look at me! Ha!

The co-curr teachers also celebrated the 4th graders!

Kaitlyn received awards for Best Singer, Future Teacher, Most Dependable, A/B Honor Roll, and Perfect Attendance.  We're super proud of her!  Future Music Teacher perhaps?!

The graduate and her graduation gift from us.

We are super thankful for the teachers that God always places in our kids lives.  

And school is over!!!

But that wasn't the end of our day...

Craig decided it was time to take down our wooden swingset!  Tragic!!!  Now we have a big empty spot.  But many fun times were had on that swingset.

Finally, Preston had his final game for his All-Star Tournament.  We were completely blown away with how well he played during this tournament.  It makes a big difference when you are able to play with experienced ball players.  Most of the tournament was spent with us cheering and jumping to our feet.  They ended up winning the tournament!!!

We then went home and went to bed completely exhausted.  It was an emotional, yet exciting day for all of us.

Field Day 2014

The past couple weeks were full of fun things for my kids and their school, including the annual Field Day. It was a blast!!  Craig was able to attend this year and we took turns with each of the kids.  We loved watching them try the different activities.

I loved watching Preston play this water game.  His reaction at the end was hilarious!

Craig and Kaitlyn waved to me from a distant.

Field Day wouldn't be complete without embarasing your kids.  I sang along to a Taylor Swift song with Kaitlyn's friends and I danced the Macarena in front of Preston's friends.  Plus, Craig and I had to have customized lunch bags. Hehe!

This is Kaitlyn's class during Tug of War.  Craig is cheering them on!  They actually won several rounds.

But not this one!

Craig simply had to join in the fun with Preston's class.

A nice, peaceful moment of my amazing kids!

Field Day lasted the ENTIRE day.  To say we were exhausted by the end of the day is an understatement!  But we loved being together.

Positive People

People...we can't go through life without interaction from them.  However, it's the people you CHOOSE to be around that can have an even greater impact on your life.

I try to stay a positive person.  When something not so good happens, I always try to look at the positive side and have faith that everything happens for a reason.  I have my sad, frustrating, and upset moments.  But I try to quickly push those gray clouds away and let the sun shine through once again.  Yes, sometimes those clouds tend to linger just a little longer than you want.

My circle of friends has become smaller and smaller.  If I choose to spend time with someone, it's because they have had a positive impact on my life.  They are encouraging, supportive, dependable, and I can trust them.  They let me be myself and time spent with them is always full of laughter and happiness.

I don't like being around negative people.  I don't like to be around people that are constantly complaining about something.  They think making a joke at your expense all the time is funny.  And some people constantly love drama.  Save the drama for your mama because I don't want to be part of it.  It's easy to be pulled down by other people's negativity.

I've learned over and over that if you don't like something, change it yourself.  Be proactive and take the steps necessary to make things positive.  Keep yourself surrounded by people who feel the same.

#100happydays

The past month or so, we've had some issues we had to deal with.  After lots of prayer, God showed us what to do and what path to take.  Those few weeks of stress just weighed on me until God had clearly given us an answer.

And I realized, I didn't like how that felt.

Though I stayed in prayer during that time, I let the unknown get to me.  Instead of focusing on the important matters of the day, I concerned myself with the future.  I just was not happy.

I decided to take the #100happydays challenge.  It's a great challenge, encouraging people to try to be thankful for at least one thing each day.  Over 70% of people fail this challenge!!!  I don't like to fail and I am up for this challenge.

I will be posting each happy day on Instagram with some pictures posted on Facebook.  Follow me (DesireeLKelley) to see what makes me happy.  I challenge each of you to do the same!