thankful

I'm tired today.  It's been a busy, busy week.

Ginger, our dog, was barking in the middle of the night at deer and woke me up. I'm a little grouchy.

 My house has been a wreck...and a neighbor saw it.  EEkk!

Kate was tardy for the first time yesterday!

I forgot an ingredient in Pioneer Woman's Marlboro Man Sandwhich and sent it home with my neighbor wondering what happened to my fail proof sandwhich.  Then I remember...worcestershire as I was super early driving Kate to school this morning.   I hope her husband forgives me when he eats his lunch today.

Things like this happen and I start comparing myself to others...how does their life seem so easy? How is their house always spotless?  How are their kids always clean?  How how are THEY always clean?  and on, and on and on.  And then I remember this AMAZING post.  And it makes me feel so so much better.  My life is mine and I'm getting through the best I can.  And I remember I have it pretty darn good...messy kids and house included.

STAR of the week

It was Kate's turn to be star of the week!  She was sooooo excited.

On Monday,  she got to take a bag full of special things...she took her baby basket with her newborn feet stamped on them, her "Kate" barbie, her musical birthday cinderella, a preemie outfit, and her Disney princess autographs.

On Tuesday she took her favorite book for her teacher to read and share with the class.

On Wednesday, we were asked to write a letter about why Kate was special for the teacher to share with the class.  When we asked her how she liked her special letters she said,  "No mom or dad has ever sent in a LOVE LETTER!"hahahaha!  Steve and I were like oh crap we screwed up again! LOL!   I wanted to blog them so she can always go back and read them.

Dear Kate,

I hope you are having a wonderful time being Star of the Week!  Daddy would like to say that I am very proud of you and I am proud to be your Dad.  You always bring a smile to my face, from the time you were a teeny tiny baby to the beautiful girl you have grown to be.

I get really sad when I have to leave for work because I want to stay home and spend all of my time with you and your brother Drew.  While I’m at work, all I have to do to get happy is look at all of your fabulous paintings and drawings that you have given me to hang on the wall in my office.  They cheer me up every time!  Do you know what the best part about being at work is?  Coming home at the end of the day because I know that you’ll come running to give me a great big hug as soon as I walk through the front door!  Your hugs are the best!

I really like when you tell me about your daily adventures.  You tell the best stories, Kate!  They always make me laugh and I often tell your stories to my friends because they are so funny!  I like reading bedtime stories to you too!  Snug House Bug House was one of our favorites and you can’t forget Llama, Llama, Red Pajama; WHOOOOOOP!  WHOOOOOOP!  WHOOOOOOP!  I also like telling you those made up stories about a little blonde girl named Kate that always begin like this…Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Kate Olivia…

Another thing I like about you Kate is your pretty singing voice.  You sing the most beautiful songs!  They make me so happy because I know you’re happy!  And you’re a great dancer too!  You’ve got some of the best dance moves I’ve ever seen!  Maybe you can teach me some of those moves!

Kate, you are very special to our family.  We love you very much!  I hope you’re having an awesome time being Star of the Week and I can’t wait to see you tonight so I can get one of those great big hugs!

Love,

Daddy

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Congratulations Kate Olivia for being Star of The Week!!!  You ROCK! Your Dad, Drew, and me, your mama, are SUPER proud of you! 

You are very special to our family!  You know why?   Because you are you and there’s only one Katerbug! 

There are many things that make you a great daughter-You listen to your mom and dad when we ask you to do something.  You pray at that dinner table.  We LOVE when you dance and love hearing you sing.  I love hearing you laugh when I tell you “I’ve got to tell you something important” and you know I’m really just going to tickle you to pieces!!!  It is so special to us that you want to be a momma when you grow up and you are going to be a GREAT ONE!

There are things you do that make you a great sister-You are protective of Drew.  When we go shopping you always let me know if he’s lagging behind or not following us.  That is smart!  Also, I love the way you include Drew when your girlfriends come over to play and you always agree to share your toys with him.  This is such a great way to show your love to Drew.

But not only are you a great daughter and a great sister but you are a great girl.  You are smart, funny, and make friends easily.  Sometimes you get in trouble and make mistakes but everyone does.  You just have to ask God to forgive you and try not to do it again.  And you are good that.

I love you Kate!  I love your hugs, your kisses, your high fives, and your precious smile!  You are in my heart and will be my Star forever!

Your mama

Today we are going to have a surprise lunch with Kate!  She'll be so excited.  She's been asking me all year to come have lunch with her!  She'll be excited to see both me and her dad there! :-)

Tomorrow her class is doing something special for her that I'm sure she will love. 

Fun, fun, fun being a star!!!

Melanie.

Happy Birthday to my sweet niece, Melanie!  I love you! 

FINALLY...I finished it.

finally...

It took one whole week.  I wanted to get through it.  I wanted to know what all the hype was about.  I wanted to read it before I saw the movie.   Did it really compare to one of my favorites To Kill A Mockingbird?

It took a lot to get it read.  I lost some of my much need 8-9 hour sleepful nights, I turned on SpongeBob more than I ever wanted to, and I missed out on a week's worth of my husband's late night funny stories.  All for The Help.  I still have a lot of things going on in my mind about it.  It really wasn't that long ago it all really happened.  And it did happen.  This book, along with To Kill a Mockingbird, let's us remember.  And we should.  We shouldn't walk around pretending it never did.  And I forget.  I do.  Until I read books like The Help.  Although it hasn't been long ago, a lot has changed.  And I am truly, very thankful it has.

The Victorius and Jeanette Cooking Show

Kate and I pretended we were on a cooking show (she loves doing this A LOT) as we rolled out our biscuits for dumplings.

The Victorius and Jeanette Cooking Show features Easy Chicken and Dumplings for Saturday dinner.

First, boil three chicken breast for six hours in your crockpot.  Next, add 1 container of Swanson chicken broth.  Then, roll out two cans of biscuits with flour and add to the crockpot in fourths.  Let cook for one hour.  Enjoy!  From Victorius and Jeanette!

katerbee.

Kate was buzzing around like a bee this morning with her MRS. V's BUMBLEBEE shirt on!  She was super excited to go to school for her bear party.  Her backpack was stuff with her BUILD-A-BEAR bear, three bear books, bear gummies, teddy grahams, and her library book.   It was also Ll show and tell and she took her La La Loopsy doll plus she had two barbies to play with in the new barbie townhouse center!  She kept saying is her loudest, smiling voice,  "Oh mom, this is crazy heavy!"  Ha!

Every morning I drop her off at school and EVERY SINGLE MORNING I still get super teary as I pull off.  I miss her so much whle she's gone.  Hoping she's ok, hoping no one is being mean to her and hoping she's taking my continual morning advice of "Be a good friend, Kate." I love spending every moment I can with her because it's all going by so fast and she'll be off to college before we know it. I hope that little girl has a great Bear Day with her kindergarten friends! :-)

bar stools

I keep debating in my head which barstools to get for our kitchen bar.  It's decisions like this that I will probably NEVER get my house decorated.  I'm always second guessing my decorating skills.  Where is Sara Richardson when I need her???  Ha!  Anyhoo, I'm pretty sure these are the ones.  They swivel and match the lighting and fixtures.  Now the big debate of how many???