The start of a new decade...seriously???

Ok so I completely just was not thinking when I realized this is the end of a WHOLE decade and beginning of another one... SERIOUSLY people??? That just blows my mind... 10 years ago, WOW I was a spoiled brat and had NO idea what the future held.



2000... Sophomore in high school, driving, babysitting after school everyday and working at West St. Diner in Germantown as a hostess and Ultra Tan briefly. My Mom had 2 ruptured brain aneurysms this year and that completely rocked our world! I was so close to losing my Mom and the doctors even made us say our goodbyes, we thought she was gone, but God had better plans! I had been dating my high school sweetheart for 2 years now and was just enjoying life!


2001... Junior in high school, still working at West St. Diner, driving, still babysitting, enjoying life with my high school sweetheart, hanging out with friends and enjoying life. I can't remember anything major happening this year!


2002... THIS is a big year :) Senior in high school, still working at West St. Diner, went to Spring Break in Destin with friends, broke up with my high school sweetheart, graduated from high school, started college, lost my Grandfather, meet my soon to be hubby, moved out thinking I was "something else" but quickly moved back home, enjoyed life knowing that one day I would marry this man God brought into my life.


2003... this gets a little hairy :) still in college, still working at West St. Diner, moved out with my boyfriend (against my parents approval might I add), got engaged, became pregnant with Will and this completely rocked my world again. Started hair school to then drop out b/c I was so young and really didn't know what I wanted in life, had Will in November of 2003 and the rest is history. I realized then that I was put on this earth to be a mother and wife and really didn't care about what else happened in life! Found out my Grandmother had brain cancer...


2004... enjoying Will's 1st year of life, still in college, still working at West St. Diner, started working at Office Depot, then started working a real job in the mortgage business. Stopped college, thinking I would be better off working at the mortgage company and being a mommy and wife instead of going to school too (oh how ignorant I was, but nobody could tell me differently b/c I'm too freaking hard headed) got married (not the way I dreamed, but still the best day of my life), bought a house and lost my Grandmother which rocked my Dad's families world... still something we struggle with because she was the rock of our family.


2005... having too much fun with Will, still working at the mortgage company, my step Dad decides to leave my Mom for another woman who is ahem... just one year older than me, come on let's all say it together.. EEEWWWW! He was like my other father so it did rock my world, but I'm a tough cookie, so it's all good now. Just so you know... he ended up getting her pregnant, they got married and she later left him. I truly believe in KARMA and it's not pretty. My Mom is a better woman without him and I have never been more proud of her as I am right now! She's a strong woman too :) Will turned 2 and I got pregnant with Luke.


2006... still working at the mortgage company but decided to switch to another company, we had Luke in July, we decided my hubby needs to leave the company he has been with for 8 years and start our own small business. It is in the mortgage business and this is when times start getting challenging!


2007... enjoying both of our blessings that God has blessed us with, still working at the new mortgage company, hubby is there too and we have great visions of us making our family dreams come true. Things get bad and towards the end of that year, we start living off of savings and praying things will turn around!


2008... both boys are growing like weeds, hubby starts a new job at the same company he is still with today, I start a new job at a local radio station in sales and now I work with all of these people my Mom worked with back in the day, we now have debt that we never had before, it gets overwhelming and this is probably the worst year as a couple we have endeared!


2009... things start looking up, we both are blessed to have great jobs, we are controlling everything and trying to pay debt off as fast and easily as we can. We start going to a church that makes us feel blessed to call our church home! We have met many new wonderful people this year, our life has been looking so far up it makes me want to jump up and down and start screaming (of excitement of course)


So my favorite peeps, this is why I am SO looking forward to 2010! What other wonderful things could come in 2010?? I'm excited, I'm ready and more than anything I'm looking forward to a new decade with my friends and family (and yes that includes my cyber friends too)

I pray for you all to have a blessed and happy New Year!


God Bless my friends!

Welcome 2010!!!

I am SO looking forward to ringing in the New Year!! 2009 has been a pretty descent year for us, but I have no doubt that 2010 is going to be a GREAT year!!!


There's several things that are in the works, things I can't quite share at this time, but I pray for our family and yours, that this year will be another great year!! There is something about the New Year that I love, I told John last night that it makes me feel like it's a new beginning. It's a new beginning for my family, my marriage, my kids, my job and more importantly my walk with my Lord and Savior!


I have many New Year's resolutions that I will post on New Year's day, but get yours together, everyone should have goals, resolutions, something to give you hope and to look forward too!

Here are things that I'm looking forward too in 2010:

* My bday in February :)
*my 6th wedding anniversary with my best friend
* John bday, Luke's 4th bday in July
*Will starting 1st grade
*Luke starting pre~k
*Will's 7th bday
*my house to be fixed the way I want it
*me to have more patience...ha (can you tell after 6 days off it's getting to me :)
*me to have the best year I've ever had in my career
*make more time for the one's I love!
*my walk with Christ to be stronger than it ever has been!!!

* and maybe, just maybe get preggers with another Clements before the end of 2010! :0



So, come on, tell me what you are looking forward to in 2010, I seriously want to here!!!

It's the BEST time of the year!!!

Here's the boys Christmas night... I thought this was the cutest pic of how wonderful their day has been!

Christmas morning, after opening their gifts :)

My table display (it's nothing major, but I forgot to post pics before Christmas of my decoration, and I still need to take pics of my house outside)

Our mantle

Our tree, I don't even think the lights are on here.... ha... their white :)



We had a WONDERFUL, magical day! We enjoyed each other, we celebrated JESUS' birthday and most importantly spent the day with the ones we love!!! WE all got what we wanted and everyone was BEYOND good to us! Today we even got new cellphones... I'm super excited about that!!! I'm off Monday and Tuesday, so we plan to get the house back in order and spend more quality time together as a fam... this is by far, the best time of the year! I am even looking forward to 2010 coming up... it's a fresh start and I know many blessings are to come!


Y'all have a wonderful Monday, I will post more pictures soon!

Love,

~Katie~

Only 2 more days...

Please forgive the camera that is a dinosaur, these pictures turned out horrible and so blurry, but in this picture above, you can see Will on the top row, he did the handbells for the Christmas Family night at church.... he did a great job and he took it very serious :) That's my Will!!!


These are from Luke's school program.. they got to wear their pj's for the program, I personally thought it was silly, but oh well, the kids did great and Luke looked adorable doing all of his songs :) He's on the front row on the left :)

Tonight I am finishing my wrapping, I'm almost done, just have to do "Santa" wrapping now. I do this really fancy santa wrapping for them, so they will think it really came from Santa (write their name is cursive and all) :) The other day, Will said this to me as we were headed to our "DeeDee's" (my Mom's). "Mom, there are kids in my class that do not believe in Santa, Can you believe that Mom?" he was DEAD serious too, I said " Well what do you tell them?" I wanted to know what he really thought and believed, because I would be DEVESTATED if he didn't believe anymore, he's just WAY TOO young for all of that, so he said "I told them that it is sad they don't believe because then Santa would not bring any gifts"... That's right Will, you must believe!! I even have to still believe and I'm 26, my Mom doesn't give gifts unless we believe.

Tomorrow I am working half a day and then I'm off until next Wednesday. I'm so excited to be spending time with my 3 boys. John and I both are off next week together, so we get to spend so much more time together and we both are looking forward to it! We have a small list of things we plan to get done in the house and I pray we all can stay well! Luke has a cough right now, I'm terrified he is getting sick, but I've been praying for a healing hand to watch over him!

Christmas this year for BOTH families and friends is at our house. I will be a busy bee tomorrow and Friday so if I do not get a chance to tell you all... Merry Christmas!!! I pray you all have a magical and blessed Christmas with your loved ones and I know I am looking forward to saying goodbye to 2009 and HELLO 2010! I know there are many blessings in store for our family for 2010. I say BRING IT ON!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS!!!

Traditions

Ok ladies, so what is YOUR family traditions at Christmas time??? I'm curious, we have set our own traditions in our family, we have combined several things from both my childhood and John's childhood, but I heard of a new tradition this year that we are going to try and give me some more ideas, what are y'alls traditions?????? :)



As a adult with children of my own, I now realized just how important "traditions" really are to them. As a child, I could care less what we did, but it's so important now! On Christmas Eve, we always go to Christmas Eve Service and then ride around looking at Chirstmas lights, then we get home, open up 1 present (it's only the Christmas pajamas) and then we sit around (in our new pj's) and watch "It's a Wonderful Life". The Christmas service, looking at lights and opening 1 present was always something I did as a child. Watching "Its A Wonderful Life" is something that John always did as a child. So we just compromised and we enjoy doing them both!


The "new" tradition that I want to do every year is making baby Jesus a birthday cake. I let the boys at the store this past weekend pick out which kind of cake they wanted and so we will make it Christmas Eve and eat it with the family on Christmas Day!!! It's such a great way to incorporate what the TRUE meaning of Christmas really is all about and I hope they understand :)



So, let me know what your traditions you do with your family... I LOVE new ideas! So come on.... let me know!


~Katie~

It's Christmas Week

Yes, I can't believe it, Christmas is just a few days away!! I all of the sudden have a little panic feeling just hoping I have enough presents and I think I'm all done shopping. BUT I keep telling myself, well maybe I should go back and get this and that.... I just need to be done! :)



The boys and John are done, I'm just hoping I have enough stuff for my Mom and for his parents... then I need to go to the store to get some food. This year Christmas is at OUR house all day. We have John's family coming at noon for lunch, then my Mom will come that night for dinner and I think she's coming that morning to watch the kids open gifts. I am excited that we don't have to rush around and go places on Christmas, but it still stresses me out because I want to have enough food for everyone.



I've got to head out and finish everything, y'all have a blessed Monday!


I have a post coming up about traditions.. what are some of y'alls traditions????

I just love this time of the year...

We have not decided on the trampoline yet, I will let y'all know what we end up doing on that.... I have some takers that might get that for the boys for Christmas, so my little brats will still get everything they want PLUS the trampoline :) Were blessed with a great family!!!!

Last night I went to Mom's Nite out with some ladies from church, I'm not sure if I have shared this or not, but I LOVE our church. We have only been going there for about 6 months now, but it is everything we have ever wanted in a church and more!!! I have also been blessed with wonderful ladies that are there for me whenever I need them and they are such a inspiration to my personal walk with Christ and such encouragements!!! Anywho, we all got together last night and worshiped, laughed, ATE and played the "dirty santa" game to the Christmas Story book. It was hilarious and so much fun! I ended up with a cinnamon popourri set. I look forward to our Mom's Nites out each month!!!!

Today, I should not be blogging because I have so much stuff to finish up with the boys schools. Today is Luke's Christmas program (during the day, weird to me!) and then his Christmas party, I have to go finish up the goody bags I promised I would make for his party, along with the goody bags for Will's party on Friday. Then tonight my little angels are singing int he Christmas service tonight at Church. I'm so proud of my little monkey's, they probably don't know what in the world to sing, but that's ok... they will look so adorable and Will is doing the hand bells. Which he says they are "very heavy Mom and it makes my hands hurt really bad" so he's going to tuff it out and be the best hand beller out there :)

Enjoy this picture from Christmas 3 years ago, there were so many emotions when I saw this last night. Will looks like a little angel with that grin on his face, so sweet and innocent (what happened?) and then Luke is the chubbiest little thing, I think I forgot how much of a butterball he was, I could of just eaten him up! I did cry my eyes out after seeing these and then I ran across a video we took of Luke talking to his Daddy, it had to of been around this same time, y'all I just lost it! They grow up WAY too fast and I miss my babies!!! Now they are talking back and just little people, we all carry on conversations and there's no more baby talk in our house...

Y'all have a blessed Wednesday!!

~Katie~

Weekend recap and suggestions...

Hey Ladies... We had a nice, relaxing weekend. John was not feeling well all weekend and actually is still sick :( Friday night we just went to dinner with friends, then Saturday Momma and I finished up some shopping. Yesterday I tried to organize my house and I still have tons of work to do!!!

BUT, Will has decided that the ONLY thing he wants for Christmas is a trampoline. Well, what I don't think he realizes is that Santa's shopping is DONE! It's been DONE!!! So, the $$ is spent, there is no more money just laying around for me to go get a trampoline for him, even though I think it's a GREAT idea and would be SO much fun for him and his brother! I don't know what to do??!!?? My only option is to take back gifts that I have already got him and keep a few, but also get him a trampoline... what would y'all do???

I hope you all are having a blessed Monday. Please just say a little prayer for John, I hope he feels better soon, poor thing :( He has a really bad chest cold!

Thanks girls!

Katie

What do you wanna know about me???

I got this super cute questionare on Go East Memphis Mama's site

Here's a little bit more information about our Holiday traditions!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? - wrap as much as I can... I am major OCD about the way my gifts look under the tree

2. Real tree or artificial? - Artificial.. I grew up with a real tree, but since I have been married, we use to get real trees, now with kids, it is much easier to have artificial, plus I can put it up early with no problems of it dying off...

3. When do you put up the tree? - Day after Thanksgiving

4. Do you like eggnog? -not really

5. Favorite gift received as a child? - my baby dolls or anything to do with baby dolls, I was obsessed!!

6. Do you have a nativity scene? - Actually no, this year that was on my list of things to get after Christmas sales

7. Hardest person to buy for? - my Dad or my hubby's parents

8. Easiest person to buy for? - myself, my Mom and the boys... super easy!!!

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? - MAIL. Don't email me your Christmas card please. I like to display them all.

10. Favorite Christmas movie? - It's a Wonderful Life

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? - I usually start in November

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? - Ugh everything...but mainly dressing and cranberry sauce

13. Clear lights or colored lights on the tree? - I am a HUGE fan of only white lights, my hubby grew up with colored lights and this year Will cried so hard b/c I would not get colored lights to put on the tree... I let him put them on his tree in his room though :) Some years I do red and green and white lights... this year we just did white lights!

14. Favorite Christmas song?- well I can't remember the name of it but it is about this old couple who meet in the grocery store, then they sit in her car for awhile and drink a 6 pack to catch up... it's the best song in the world!!!!!!!!!! I wish I knew the name of it! :)

15. Travel or stay home at Christmas? - We stay home each year for Christmas so Santa will know where to bring the presents :)

16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? - Yes but I'm not typing them all here

17. Angel on tree top or star? - Usually an angel but this year I did a pretty bow

18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Morning? - One present at night and all the rest in the morning

19. The most annoying thing about this time of year? - traffic and coordinating dates and times of when each family is going to get together

20. What I love most about Christmas? - Giving gifts, Christmas lights, spending time with my family, Christmas songs and movies, FOOD, and making more traditions for my boys to grow to enjoy each year!!!

i am THAT mom...

* who forgets to make the boys brush their teeth everynight...

*who refuses to let my boys get cable TV in their room. The only purpose of their TV is to watch DVD's, they should be happy to have that!

*who feeds my boys MUCH healthier food than myself and hubby!

*who reads one Bible story each night to my boys and I'm not afraid to say that I learn a lot each night by doing so...

*who is driving while putting on makeup in the morning, talking on the phone, sipping my water and singing to my favorite tunes... the morning drive to work is my most favorite time of the day!

*who trys to have control over way too many situations... I need to make my boys help out more, life would be easier for us all!

*who lays out my kids clothes everynight, even though they really want too... I just can not let them look like orphans!

*who is completely, 100% in love with my life! And looking forward to our future!!!

Got my inspiration from Brittany

Too much fun!!

~Katie~

Intervention and venting!

Have y'all ever seen that show called Intervention???


Well first let me start out by telling y'all a funny, sweet story and then you might understand why the Intervention show tore me up last night and I uncontrollably cried for 10 minutes to my hubby last night before going to bed.


My oldest son Will, he is such a special kid. Both my boys are so special to me in different ways, but Will, is so caring and concerned for everyone's well being. If Momma and Daddy are happy, then his little world is perfect! He has these pj's (that I have tried to throw away but he refuses) that are footed, they are the biggest, kid size footed fleece pj's I could find :) He LOVES them, they are so tight on him though and I swear they can't be comfortable, but he promises me they are his most comfortable pj's he owns. Well last night, I was just so busy doing everything that we do at night time and I told the boys to go get their pj's on... Will comes out with those on, I can't help but BUST out laughing b/c they do just look hilarious on his skinny little body. I said "Will are you sure you want to wear those to bed, they look mighty tight" (you never know with Will that if laughing at him could cause him to get upset b/c your laughing or make him laugh too) He said "Oh no Mom, I love these pj's" I said why did you pick those out, he said "because I knew it would put a smile on your face"


I mean seriously people.... I broke down last night and could not believe my child was trying to do something to put a smile on my face, then I realized, I guess I haven't been smiling tonight, I was so busy do this and that, and I didn't take time for them and laugh or smile with the boys. Sometimes it is so important to just loosen up and have fun with them and enjoy these small moments!!!


So back to Intervention, it was so sad. This mother of two was addicted to percocet... she could not do any daily functions with her children, nor take care of any household needs, childrens needs or her husband's needs.... it was just devestating. Then they tried to intervene and she accepted, she went to a 90 day treatment facility, did great and came home on the 90th day!!


(this is what chocked me up) On her first day back, she went to pick her kids up after school, her son came running up to her (he reminded me of Will) and said "Mommy, I haven't seen you smile this big in so long, I hope it never goes away, ever, ever!" I broke down at that moment, I was praying at that moment that the Lord was protecting them, they probably had been neglected in away that we would never want our children to feel. Then at the end of the show, just when I thought this woman finally woke up and realized what she needed to be doing. They said that she had left her husband and children 5 weeks after being home and the kids are in theropy.


Good Grief people, what in the world is wrong with this picture??? I was devestated, devestated that ANY child has to go through such a thing! Thank goodness their father was wonderful to them and wanted nothing but good for them and I'm sure their mother does as well, but she needs some serious help and this is a serious illness! I could not stop crying, I cried to John and said that it makes me want to open a adoption house and just love all of these kids that don't feel loved. It is a vicious cycle that needs to stop. No child, I don't care who you are, deserves to be treated in this way!!! I still can't stop thinking about them today and I have never prayed so hard for a family that I have never come in contact with before in my life! Please just say a special prayer for them and every child out there that is neglected and does not feel the love of both parents!


One more prayer request, my Aunt Shelley has been in the foster parent/ adoption process of "their" little girl Mia. The state of Georgia is giving them problem after problem to fix before they are approved to adopt her, just pray for understanding! This is a amazing family that loves this little 16 month old little girl (who they have had since she was 3 days old) as much as their biological child, Peyton (which he is one of Will's best buds). MyAunt and Uncle are doing everything they are asking, we just hope the adoption process is approved before the end of the year, so every aspect of their life will stop being magnified!!! They just want to legally keep their child, please pray!


Thank you ladies!


Please send me any prayer request you might have... I love that we all are here to pray for one another and get great advice and feed back from each other.


Have a blessed day!

~Katie~

Ok so once again I am not loading my pictures right, so I can not right above this picture.... I'm doing something wrong :)


Anywoo, these are the cards, I hope y'all can see them, it is really light for some reason. And my top one, the picture is blurry... but these are our cards for this year... TA DA :) A few of you will be getting them in the mail, if you didn't please don't get your feelings hurt, I wish I had the money to send them to everyone I have ever met... I just love Christmas cards :) They are starting to roll in everyday, I get so excited opening them, now that I have kids (and a silly husband) I have to share :)

So, these are the cards. I had to pick two of them because there were only 50 of one and I needed much more than that, so I got two of them... they are lime green and red, for some reason this year those colors are really hot (or I have noticed is a lot) so that's why I picked these.


I hope you all are having a blessed Monday. I have a very busy week ahead and pictures for you all. We are all well now or seem to be, so PRAISE God for that!!! I will post the pics hopefully tomorrow.

~Katie~

holidays, holidays, holidays

This is by far the absolute best time of the year!!!


I'm home today with Will, he's not feeling well at all! Poor guy! He's running a really high fever and looks absolutely pitiful!! Hopefully he will get to feeling better soon!


I've got to run, but I am headed to go pick up my Christmas Cards :):):) They are cute and I know you all will like it!


I also will be posting pics coming up tonight of our decor for Christmas... I hope you all are having a wonderful Friday!


~Katie~

which picture do you like???

Ok, I can't figure out how in the world to write this above the pictures, for some reason it is not letting me, but I wanted to post these pictures... which do y'all like the best for our Christmas card??? Do you like the black in white best or the colored best? I haven't made up my mind, I like both the pictures...


I thought I would wait til I pick out my final choice on my card to decide if I want it in black in white or not? I'm going to a boutique tomorrow to look at some of their cards, I know the owner and I talked with her today, she said to come by and look at hers before I make my final choice. So, I might just go with the one on the internet I found, it's reasonable in price and it looks ok, but we will see tomorrow how it goes, they will be ordered by tomorrow night for sure!! :)

So, let me know what you think :)

Blessings!

Thanksgiving update!

Ladies, so sorry to just now be blogging. It has been quite a busy weekend!

We spent Thanksgiving here with the hubs family! We had such a wonderful time and finally got our Christmas picture done for our cards.. it was very challenging, and this is our first year to do the pictures together. Normally I just do the boys, but this year we decided to do all 4 of us!! To find a good picture of all of us was so challenging and I think by the time the final picture was taken that I was happy with, it was a yell and screaming match, then take the picture... so the boys faces are not the best, but oh well! It's the best we can do :)

Friday morning I got up for the first time ever and got together with all of the crazies to FINISH my Christmas shopping. The boys are completely done and I'm stunned that I got it done so fast! I just need to finish John and my Mom, then I should be done!!!

I also got all of my decorations out, the tree up and all of the lights up outside! (this year y'all I'm on top of it for some reason)

Friday night, my best friend, Ashley and I with her Mom went to see the Rockettes. It was such an amazing show, we had a blast and then we stayed downtown for awhile. We went to have dinner and drinks at the Peabody, it was one of the best girlie night's I've had in some time!!

The rest of the weekend I spend trying to fight a virus I think... Ole Miss lost Saturday which was a complete shock! Thank goodness no one at my house was too upset, just use to it! Leave it to OleMiss to beat the #8 team the week before, but then when rival week comes we can't even beat State... it's just typical Ole Miss to me :) But we still had a great season this year!!!

I will post pictures when I can, I'm at work now and I think our home computer has a virus, so if I can load pictures I will, if not we will have to wait until it's fixed, which hopefully will be this week!

Y'all have a blessed Tuesday!

~Katie~

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

To all of my bloggy friends


For blessing me in ways you could never imagine!!


Today is a day that we all are so very thankful for... I'm abundantly blessed in my life and I am just thankful for everything, even the bad things in my life. They all have taught me good and bad things, I'm more thankful for a merciful and gracious Lord who forgives when I mess up! (which is a lot) And He still continues to love and protect me, He continues to bless me when times I feel I am not worthy of His love!!!


Today is the one day of the year that we all celebrate, no matter what you come from or who you are, we all celebrate Thanksgiving!!! That is a blessing and I hope you all can count how blessed you are today!


I've got to get to my cooking, everyone hug and love on your family!!! You never know when they will not be around!


God Bless you all and have a wonderful day!!!

~Katie~

thank you and thankfulness....

Thank you all for giving me a little advice about the whole Thanksgiving decision. I know I'm such a baby to not be able to make decisions on my own, but I did decide to stay home with my family. I could not even fathom the thought of being away from my hubby and making him be away from his wife and boys on Thanksgiving. It just did not settle right with me, so we are staying in the Bluff City and will enjoy every minute of it!!

I will be doing lots of cooking for his family and we will be out at his parents for most of the day on Thursday. They have lots of land and there will be plenty of people around, so it will be lots of fun! Then the remainder of the weekend, we will enjoy being together and not having much to do but do some shopping and get ALL of our Christmas decorations out. It has taken all I have this weekend to not go ahead and break it out, but I know it is a full day ordeal just to do the inside, so I will save that for next weekend when we will have time on our hands!

I pray you all had a blessed weekend. I know we did! I helped this morning in Luke's class at church, they are such fun to be around! I finished some of my shopping and I am almost done! I can not believe it, but I only have a little bit to do then it's DONE!

This week I have thought about all of you! I thank you so much for blessing my life and I'm so very thankful for you all! I'm thankful for you all to be along on our journey!

Enjoy your Monday my friends, remember only 3 more days til Turkey Day!!! :)

~Katie~

I need your advice...

Ok, Thanksgiving is 1 week away, I'm already so stressed and I am in a prediciment! (not sure if I spelled that correctly or not)

So, we always stay here for Thanksgiving. Since my Mom lives here, my brother lives in Denver and my Dad lives in Florida. We just mainly stay here and spend it with my hubs family and my Momma. This year, my brother is going to Georgia to spend it with my extended family and so my Mom (naturally) said she would meet him there as well. So, I don't know what to do?!?! My hubs is saying that the boys and I should go be with my family this year (since we never do it) and leave him here. BUT, I honestly think we should not be apart on Thanksgiving and I will just chill here and it's not that big of a deal. My brother on the other hand is flipping out that we would not make the effort to come. It is causing so much stress on me!!!!!!

My question for you is... would you pack you and your kids up and head to spend Thanksgiving with your family and leave your husband home?? Or would you stay here with your husband and his family because I know I will have just as much fun here as I would there!

What do you feel I should do?

Oh and let me remind you that we just went to Georgia in October to see my family, my brother was not there... do not know what to do! Either way, I will upset somebody!!!

Is it possible???

IS IT POSSIBLE???

to love "too much" the children I gave life too

to think that Luke calling a penny a "minny" is just too precious

to be completely, 100% honest on this blog

to think that marriage at times is the hardest thing I have EVER accomplished and still accomplishing

to say whatever I'm thinking on this blog, because you know it is my blog and I can say whatever I want and if you don't like, well then don't read :)

to have too much trust in some people

to think that the Lord and His words make me feel so comforting

to already be stressed about the upcoming holiday season

to think that my oldest son waving and blowing me kisses the whole way into school, makes me think he is by far the COOLEST kid I've EVER met, he makes my day

to think that my hubby bringing me home some cookies makes me pretty darn happy right now

to think that life has been hard lately, but I know with God and my family on my side, it's gonna be OK!

weekend recap

As most of you know and kindly left a sweet comment, saying Happy Birthday to my birthday boy, Will, it was Will's bday weekend!!

We choose to not do a big birthday party for him this year. He really said he didn't want one, so we decided to invite his bestie over Friday night for pizza and cake, then he spent the night with Will. They both enjoyed it so much and actually Will got to spend the night (for the first time away) with him last week, so they enjoyed seeing each other!

It was cute seeing Luke interact with them. I had to explain to Will that Luke is little and doesn't understand about not being able to play, so they just need to be the nice "big kids" and play with him as well! It all worked out and every played happily!


Saturday we enjoyed the Ole Miss victory over UT. It was such a wonderful game and I was so happy for my hubby! He is a big "talker" he talks a lot of crap to everyone about football, so I was a little worried for him to get payback about the game if Ole Miss lost, but we won, so I feel sorry for all of his coworkers, I know he is probably talking some more crap today :) But is was a great win and it all fun times!!!


I did get out yesterday with one of my girlfriends to get some Christmas shopping done. John's family is almost done and he is almost done, all I have to do is finish the boys, our parents and him, then we will be done!!! This is my first year to start early on the shopping and I'm so happy we are doing it early! It feels so much better to not rush around, but I can promise you that I will still forget things and wait til the last minute :) that's usually what happens!


I have been down lately about some of my health issues. Nothing major is going on, just some set backs on the baby making machine. I knew some symptoms would start and they sure have. I'm in lots of pain lately and things just don't seem so promising for another little one to be roaming our house again. All of you know that if it were up to me, I would have as many children as God would allow (and I seriously mean that) but I'm showing signs of that not being possible, plus I'm sure my hubby would not want that either. I just really, really want just ONE more, I know I should be grateful for the 2 that have already blessed our lives, but I really want 1 more and pray that God will Bless us with that in His time! He knows when the right time will be and He is the only person at this point to allow a miracle to happy and my problems to go away! Miracles do happen and I pray every night for one to happen! So much going on in my life right now and I feel like not much time, but I need to learn patience, right?? Patience is the key here!

Y'all have a Happy Monday!

~Katie~

Happy Birthday Will

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL!!

You were my first born, such a surprise to us and even a surprise at birth!!! My life would be miserable without you in it Will! You are the sweetest child, so kind and caring! You LOVE the Lord and I'm so proud of you! You are so smart, we can talk now about everything and you get me! (you even saved me a seat at lunch today, I mean what 6 year old thinks about that?!?!) We are so much alike and I love how you always call me out when I'm talking to myself. :)

You are the BEST big brother anyone could ask for, you are so strong WILLed, you know what you want when you want it and I believe that will get you far in life!

I love you more than life itself, you are my angel eyes and I love you more and more each day!

6 years ago today... I was given the best blessing God could of ever given me!!!

My little santa :)

Such a happy big brother!

And such my little man now!

Nashvegas...

So sorry it's been a few days since y'all last heard from me, I know you all were having withdrawls, right!?!?

I just got back tonight from a wonderful business trip to Nashville. I was dreading this trip, but it ended up being so much FUN!!! When I got there, my husband's best friend, J and I meet up. He is seriously like my brother and I know I was bossing him around all night just like I do John... poor thing, it's just habit now and he and John are SO much alike :) I told his wife, Ashley, (who is also my best friend) that he was probably praying for our night to hurry up and end.

Anywho, we hooked up with some friends, had dinner, then headed to Broadway St. right accross from the Summet Center, where the CMA Awards were convientely being held. It was just something to see for sure, black limos lined up the street for miles! (I just have never experienced something like this)... so we waiting until everyone came out. I got to talk with James Otto and his wife, she and I really hit it off and talked for awhile! I will have to post our picture when I download it) They were super sweet, we also saw Darius Rucker just walk right past us! It was just crazy to me! We had MORE than enough fun and then headed back home to call it a night!

Today I had a FULL day of appointments, had a WONDERFUL lunch with LA and even got a little bit of shopping done. (BUT that's a little bit of a secret, so don't tell,K?) It was just so much fun, I really enjoyed being in the car alone for 3 hours yesterday and today! It was so thearpeutic, I came home tonight a little on edge just from driving but so, so thrilled to see all 3 of my babies!!!

OK, now ladies, I DID get a chance to go by my favorite cupcake place and a OH so wonderful idea!! GiGi's Cupcake's is unbelieveable!!!! AND I just found out that they are coming to town, yes to Memphis, the beginning of next year! I can not wait!!!!! It's such a great idea and so adorable and also fantastically deliscious!!!!!

copy cat...

I'm going to completely be a copy cat and do exactly what my friend LA did over on her blog and let y'all know what I would like to have this Christmas. We have decided this year to really just get things we need for Christmas and for the boys get what they are wanting. But these are things in my head that I think I really need.

This is a vera bradley bible cover. It covers your bible and also gives you room for papers and pens. My bible looks so silly with all of the paper poking out and my pen and highlighter hanging on in the front. So, this would be greatly needed and just too cute!!! (I don't think I would pick out that particular pattern, but one similar is cute!)

I would also like to have these in the 3 windows in my kitchen. Like I told y'all before, I got some curtains made for my living room and these would be the finishing touch. I need my hubby to paint my living room, foyer and hallways, hang my curtains, put these up for me and then my house will almost be complete, exactly how I want it to look!!! All I will have to do then is get new bedding for my bedroom, but that has been put on the back burner!

There's so many more things that I want, but if I got these two then I will be a happy camper :) I also have a wish list of the bedding that I want, it's such a hard decision for me, but I think my Momma is going to get us that :)

I hope y'all have a Terrific Tuesday!!!

~Katie~

Praying hard

for baby Stellan who has not been doing good the past 24 hours! From what MckMama is saying, they are going in now for surgery to do the ablation. Please pray hard for this family! If you have not heard about this family, head over here to check out their blog...

Praying hard for you baby Stellan, there's lots of people all over the world praying for you! Stay strong!!!

~Katie~

lovely weekend...

We had such a great weekend! We didn't do too much, but what we did do was spend some much needed family time together and enjoyed each other's company!

Friday night, we went to the little place about 30 minutes from our house called Wolf River Cafe. It is so much fun, it's so good and John mentioned us going on Friday and I thought he was kidding. The last time we went was when Will was a baby (and he's about to turn 6). So, we got all in from work, loaded up and went to pick up my Momma! I had the one fish filet dinner which was to die for!!! I'm not a big catfish person, but this was just so yummy! I also got a piece of strawberry cake... OMG it is my FAVORITE!!! It was the best thing I have put in my mouth in a long time!!!

More importantly, we just had so much fun together. Momma was with us and we just laughed the whole way there and on the way back. We talked and got caught up on things we just aren't always able to talk about! It was a perfect night!!!

Saturday we just chilled around the house that morning and I got caught up on some cleaning. We then had to go run some errands so we went to El Porton for lunch then went to Home Depot to pick up somethings we needed for the house. The kids wanted to walk around Home Depot, so that is exactly what we did, we looked at all of their Christmas decorations and just had fun!

Yesterday Luke and I woke up just not feeling well. So I went to Kroger to get a roast and I did pot roast in the crock pot all day! It was my first time and it was so good!! I was SO proud of myself!!!

I know our weekend sounds boring, but it was so much fun to us! Just hanging around the house and getting out is exactly how we like spending our weekends! We needed to settle down and just do things as a family, the boys had fun and Mommy and Daddy had fun too!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend as well and Happy Monday!!

~Katie~

decisions, decisions, decisions....

Ok.. ladies, y'all need to know that this is one of my favorite things to do and it takes up so much of my time. Each year I always try to pick out the best card and picture for my Christmas cards.

Yes I know, my husband thinks I'm crazy too :)

This year there are SO many cute ones... I found these on the same girls page that I bought my cards from last year Beth Hart's Design. She did such a wonderful job last year and I feel like I need to order from her again because it went so smoothly... which one do y'all like best??? (of course these are not my families pictures, but it will be of my family)

I love this one and especially that chubster right there... but I thought this one was cute, but just cute... I'm not crazy about that!

This one is cute to me too, I'm not crazy about the colors, I'm more into green or red for Christmas, so I'm not sure about this one...

And this one I think is ADORABLE!! I really like how the family is laying on the ground too... I think that's adorable! I will have to be creative to get all 3 of my boys to act that good :)

So, tell me what you think, which one do you like???

And go check out her website, there's super cute cards, it was so hard to make a decision between just one :)

Hope y'all are having a terrrific Thursday!

~Katie~

I wish I could re-live....

I WISH I could re~live the birth of my boys! (surprise, surprise)

My labor with Will's was good, I just never dialated, so after 12 hours of labor they did a c~section. Y'all, I thought I was going to DIE!!! I did not recover well at all and for 2 weeks I was so sick! When Will was delivered, we thought he was a girl the whole time I was preggo, so when he came out and it was a boy; that is probably one of the craziest, wildest moments I have ever experienced!

With Luke, it was totally different, it was a repeat c~section, I was NOT in labor so I had a mini panic attack because I just could not have a 2 year old at home and be in bed for 2 weeks. So during my c~section, due to my nerves, it was scary, but it all worked out perfectly and I had NO pain after having him, I never took one pain pill so my recovery was as perfect as you could imagine! God sure took care of us!!

Here's me being wheeled back for Luke's c~section, scared out of my mind, livid that John kept taking pictures of me!!!

Here's my little Luke right after he was born, such a beautiful angel! And you completely forget everything you ever went through!!

Sleeping so peacefully!!!

There's just something about having a newborn. They are so small, so sweet, so perfect!!! I just love everything about it, even all of the horrible, nasty stuff that us Mom's have to go through that people just some how "forget" to tell you about until you get in the hospital. It's all so worth it! I also LOVE breastfeeding, it came so naturally for me and both boys. Those days and moments are memories I will cherish the rest of my life!

Ahhh.....thank's for letting me share!!

Head on over to Seattle Smith's to play along!!!

~Katie~

bye bye October, hello November!

October was a joyful, busy and hectic month. Therefore, I look forward to the joys November will bring our way! Holidays, traveling, spending time with family and most importantly; my first born, Will, his birthday is coming up this month! He will be the big 6 and it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it! I remember 6 years ago, thinking when would I EVER get this angel out of my belly... the minute my baby boy was placed in my arms, I've never felt my heart melt as much as it did at that moment! So, I will be celebrating such a wonderful day on the 13th!

Below is Luke in his transformer outfit... I think he was "mega tron" or something like that, he didn't even know the name....ha!

Here's my Will... he was "bumblebee" transformer...

We had a blast (despite the Ole Miss loss)... we had friends and family over and it was such a wonderful time! I LOVE to entertain, so I was right in my happy place!

Y'all have a happy Monday, I'm sitting here at my desk listening to David Crowder Band's "all that I can say" oh my ladies, it is a must get c.d... I PROMISE you will love it!!! It's my favorite song right now!!!!

~Katie~

Wishful Wednesday

I WISH... I was 6 years old again and going trick or treating, I would be "Dorothy:From the Wizards of Oz"....

First off this little girl is the cutest and I hope one day I will have a dorothy of my own :) (no pressure honey) But besides that, the Wizard of Oz is by far my favorite movie of all time!! It's just wonderful and this year I wanted to make the boys like the lion and tin man, but then we wouldn't have a dorothy so it wouldn't look right... SO, hopefully one year we will have a dorothy and it will all look so darn adorable!!!

Y'all have a wonderful Wednesday!

our little superman...

My little superman can be many things...

He's my youngest believer and even tells me "Jesus loves me Mommy"

"Oh yes son, He sure does and it's hard to believe He loves you more than Mommy could ever love you and he made you, He knows how many hairs are on your head and He gave me the honor to be your Mommy!!" Oh how thankful I am for that blessing!

My little superman knocked out on my shoulder last Friday. This is so special to me, he is my only baby right now and he thinks he is a big boy now. These moments never come anymore so I made Daddy take a picture of him on me.... oh so sweet!!!

Oh how I LOVE my little brown eyed, brown haired boy that got that from his Daddy... I'm so thankful for you!!

These chubby arms are starting to get thinner, he is starting to lose that baby fat :(

My little man wearing his superman shirt... this shirt was Will's shirt when he was little and now Luke is almost outgrown this shirt too... Oh how I will miss these days, but feel so grateful to be making memories with my little family that I love so dearly!!!

I hope y'all are having a good week!

Loves!

~Katie~

Fall Fun!

Well we had a very good weekend over here at Clementsville!!

Friday night we had "family fun night", we decided to stay home that night, due to us just being exhausted from our busy week. The boys got to stay up late and we watched a movie, it was fun! We had "DeeDee" (my Mom) over for dinner and I got to go to Target by myself with no kids or hubby.... it was the highlight of my night :)

I got a few fall decor out, I'm not done with the outside yet, so I have not taken pics, but here's our mantle, I love the wheat things that I put a cute fall bow on them to give them the fallish look.

my kitchen table that I plan on refinishing soon!

Okay, so today we took the boys to a cotton field. They are everywhere around here, and I think they make such cute adorable fallish pictures!!! Here's Lukie cheesin it up for me :)

I just love this picture, they were running in the fields and what a great picture that shows just how much of a wonderful life they have ahead of them... We are so blessed!

Me and my boys~

I hope y'all have a wonderful Monday!

~Katie~

Sixty Seven months ago...

Sixty Seven month ago... I was so young, I was so scared and we both knew all we had was love. Sixty seven months ago we had NO idea what lies ahead, what road God would lead us down, we just knew we were in this together and oh how nieve we were :) Life has thrown us curves, but it seems we grow and love each other through ever single challenge that comes our way. I married the man God made just for me... Sixty Seven months ago!!!

Here's Sixty Seven reasons why I know Sixty Seven months ago I made one of the best decisions of my life:

1. He's tall, has dark hair & handsome... this is what (for some reason) I have always been attracted too

2. He said he was going to marry me before I ever met him

3. He's a family man with wonderful values

4. He loves me for me

5. He gave me the most beautiful babies in the world

6. He's so proud of his boys

7. He wants to try for baby #3 in hopes that it's my girl that I have always wanted, I thank him for this!

8. He dances with me in the living room when a song I like comes on!

9. He LOVES music and I think he has a great voice

10. He's a praying man who was raised to LOVE the Lord with all your might

11. He will sit and talk about God to whoever will listen

12. He's a dedicated Ole Miss fan

13. He looks and acts just like his father (this is a good thing)

14. He helps with homework

15. He takes Will to school each morning and says that is his favorite part of each day

16. He talks to his Momma everyday

17. He listens to my dreams as I listen to his, we pray over them

18. He understands our life right now is just a "season" and he has bigger plans for our family

19. He's thoughtful, trustworthy & respectful

20. He LOVES to laugh

21. He can laugh at himself (along with me)

22. He's a son, brother & friend

23. He calls me "mommy" and I call him my 1st baby

24. He's not embarrassed to tell me he's proud of the faithful mother and wife I am becoming

25. He loves that I am a southern girl from Georgia

26. He likes it when I cut his hair

27. He always lets me win

28. He's not afraid to cry

29. He doesn't give up

30. He loves my family as if they were his own

31. He can be stressed, but always is concerned about how my day was

32. He enjoys the simple things in life

33. He reads my blog

34. He is always home with the boys and I (I call him a home body)

35. He's not afraid to tell me his faults and allows me to pray for him, what an honor!

36. did I mention he's hot

37. He's a social butterfly when you get him out

38. He knows I can be shy and always makes me feel more at ease

39. He can be romantic

40. Not a day goes by when he tells me I'm beautiful

41. He enjoys date nights

42. He LOVES our new church

43. He loves italian food

44. He has OCD about cleanliness in the kitchen, thank God!

45. He has never, ever said a word about any housework that I might of neglected

46. He loves eating good food around the Holidays

47. He loves the mountains and nature

48. Bart the bear use to be something he talked a lot about (and I bet if you brought him up, he would talk for hours about him :) )

49. He is my weather man

50. He's so smart financially

51. He's so supportive of me and believes in me more than I do myself

52. He allows me to share my heart with him

53. He drives a paid off "clunker" and never complains, while the boys and I are driving around in a safe, nicer vehicle

54. He is serious about protecting his family

55. He plays with his boys and it melts my heart

56. We ALL laugh at home all the time thanks to his humor

57. He still gives me butterflies

58. He allows me to get upset and be moody, he just tells me it will pass :)

59.He has shown me a love I never dreamed was possible

60. He is my shoulder to cry on

61. He's mine & so darn adorable

62. He uses really big words a lot & I call him my nerd

63. He has always said it's better to have a few good friends than a lot of friends

64. He comes from some amazing roots!

65. I admire his work ethics

66. He love the country and we dream about having lots of land one day of our own

67. He is someone I could NOT imagine my life without... God has been so good to me!

** 68. He so could not do this in 30 minutes like I did :)

*** 69. and to show how humbling he is, he read this tonight and said he did not deserve for me to say these wonderful things about him!

Cary, oh yes you do baby! I love you more now, than I did this morning and it amazes me that our love has grown into something so amazing!

Ladies, do this for your man... I got this off a girl's page that I went to high school with and it got me thinking that I better start this now before the # of months got much higher hahahaha, the more I sat down and thought about these, the more these just started coming to me! This helped me connect back to my hubby where I needed to be!

~Katie~

Wishful Wednesday...

I wish I could go on vacation tomorrow to a place that would bring back SO many childhood memories and it might bring me to my knees.....

The Cayman Islands...

This was my families yearly vacation spot each summer growing up... we went for I know atleast 9 years in a row, before my parents got divorced. It is a hoot to look at old pictures of me on the beach, brown as a gingerbread girl with cotton top hair! I want my boys to experience this like I did... Now, we went way before it ever got really big, now it seems people go all the time. So, from what I remember as a child, it is paradise to me!!! Anywhere down in the Carribean is just stunningly beautiful! I am actually trying to plan a "secret" trip to take my hubby here one day, it would be so romantic and such a dream of mine to share so many wonderful memories with him there as well as my own children!!!

I mean what person would not want to be laying out on this sand right here just enjoying this earth that God created for us.... He is so amazing!!!

And this picture is what I did just about every afternoon underneath the beaming Carribean sun... soaking in God's creations!!!

My dreams for my family of my own sure are high, but I just pray that I can give my own kids just a percentage of the adventures that my parents gave me growing up. Yes, my Dad has worked for Northwest Airlines for almost 40 years now, so our adventures happened all the time, I was a very fortunate little girl! I LOVE to travel, traveling is in my blood, and now having kids of my own, I look forward to showing them adventures of this earth and seeing their faces enjoying every minute of it!!! Such great family memories that remind me of my roots!!!

Y'all have a great Wednesday night!!!

~Katie~