Archives for June 2011

 Our anniversary date was great.  I had a little pre-date melt down about wanting to see our new little boy’s face…getting our referral.  I am not a big crier…I’m good at keeping it together usually.  Not sure what the deal was, but had quite the mini cry fest that afternoon.

And I am completely and totally aware that there are a million other moms and dads out there waiting for their kiddo(s) to come home as well and tons of them have been waiting much longer than we have…BUT…I’ve decided that waiting for your child to come home sucks at any stage in the adoption process.  It’s just that simple.  No one wants to wait any period of time to have their child home with them.  Our family is missing someone right now and therefore our family is not complete.  And maybe I just hit a wall…I just want my son home, so I cried.  I’m allowed to do that sometimes right?

I’m glad God understands human emotion and feelings and gets why I would be sad and can handle any little fit I throw.  I told Josh that I couldn’t wait to be on the other side of all this and to be able to look back and see how God orchestrated everything just right because I know that’s what He’s busy doing….and I like that.  I know that His timing is perfect.  So I had my cry spell and then let it go…what more could I do, plus I had a date with a baseball hat full of ice cream and a hot guy.

And then I was enormously a tad disappointed that the ballpark had NO ice cream…seriously, what ballpark does not have ice cream and served in a plastic baseball hat too?  I handled my disappointment well…kinda well…maybe said a choice a word.

They had one lonely Dippin’ Dots vendor (but his line was a mile long) and that was suppose to suffice my ice cream craving, but I did not take the bait.  I didn’t feel like chewing my ice cream that evening.  Are those little dot things even really, real ice cream?

I decided to swing for the funnel cake instead…again they only had one funnel cake vendor and I waited in line WAY.TOO.LONG.  Finally after missing too many innings waiting for that dang funnel cake, I decided to ditch the funnel cake.  I was working on keeping score and was missing too much of the game.

I finally ended up with a coke Icee, a bag of pink cotton candy and peanuts.  Not the delicious Oreo ice cream in a mini plastic Oakland As baseball hat I had dreamed of, but I made do.

Notice all those empty seats behind us and we were very close to the field and behind home plate.  We’re afraid it’s nearing the end for our Sounds…all you locals head out and see a game while you still can 🙂  or maybe it was just a slow night.

I have finished up several more orders.  This first 10×10 canvas is headed to Jill in Illinois.  She needed a special friendship canvas for a dear friend.  Thanks so much Jill and hope your friend loves it.

This 8×8 His Eye Is On The Sparrow canvas was ordered by Cari in Tennessee.  Thanks so much Cari and hope your sweet mom loves it.

This 8×10 canvas was ordered by Sarah in Tennessee as well.  Hope your mom loves her canvas as well.  Thanks so much Sarah.

This 10×10 canvas was ordered by Kody in Arkansas, but is headed to her mom also in Guam.  Not sure what is up with everybody ordering things for their mommas, but I think it is super sweet!  Hope your mom loves her special piece as well Kody.  Thanks a ton.

And lastly these key fobs are headed to Erika and Autumn both from Tennessee.  I do love Tennessee orders 🙂

Thanks so much ladies.

Thank you again for all the orders…truly, I feel blessed.  I will re-open for new orders mid-August.  Happy Thursday!

PS:  I like these 3!

Today is our (Josh Kelley + me) 8th anniversary!  Hands down the best day of my life…period!  Kelley Fun Fact:  Josh and I started dating when we were 15, way back in 1998, and that was it…end of story…I knew he was the one for me and turns out he thought I was pretty cute too!  We got married way young…20…not even old enough to drink, but it worked and it was right and we never looked back.

I like him a lot, like a whole lot.  Hands down the hottest thing about him is his heart and that he still tells me I’m pretty.  It also doesn’t hurt that he totally humors me in all the weird, not so normal endeavours I lure him into.  Happy 8th Josh…love, love, triple love you…and here’s to like a million more.

And how about 2 Kelley Fun Facts in one post….whaaattt?  #2 We have seen every Pirates of the Caribbean movie in the theaters and own them as well minus the current 4th.  Jack Sparrow is by far my favorite character in any movie E.V.E.R.

We lured Jen (Josh’s sister) and our niece and nephew, Coop and Campbell, into the Pirates movie by lending them the 1st three and they took the bait.  Campbell was really addicted.  She loved them, which made me proud!  Last night we headed out to see the newest one and it did not disappoint and neither did the costumes, thanks to Jen.

The concessions guys asked “What movie?” and Jen responded with, “Do you really have to ask?”  I loved it.  Super fun night and definitely a great movie, even for the 4th.  Josh and I decided that it is probably called a quadrilogy…is this correct?

If you are not a Pirates or Jack Sparrow fan, you need to become one now…we love them.

In crafty news, I picked up some new fabric recently.  These are now added to my fabric inventory.

And I have several camera straps that are headed out this week to Sara in North Carolina, Tina in Maine, Ruthanne in Illinois and Grace in Tennessee.  Thanks so much ladies for your business.

I am officially closed for new orders, but will reopen again mid August.  I’m working on all current orders just as quickly as I can, but tonight I will be celebrating 8 years with a handsome fellow over P.F. Changs, a Sounds baseball game and more than likely, a plastic baseball hat full of ice cream.  Happy Tuesday.

We have been having one fun summer.  And I have also officially closed for new orders.  I am headed to Swaziland at the beginning of August, so to ensure all current orders that have been placed are completed and shipped before I leave, I will be taking no new orders until August.

Some new orders headed out recently.  This cute little puppy tee was ordered by Ashley in Kentucky.  She needed a special 1 year birthday gift.  I really love this shirt and enjoy making it every time.  Thanks so much Ashley.

These two Africa tees headed to Lori in Florida and Elizabeth in Virginia.  Thank you ladies so much…totally appreciate it.

And this 11×14 canvas was ordered by Dwan in Kentucky.  She wanted lots of blues and browns and Ephesians 1:4-5.  Thanks so much for your business Dwan.

Wednesday we had our 2nd craft night with my Bible study.  We are taking a break and just crafting and baking each week for the summer.  This week we made chicken wire frames.  I found the idea here.

We made the project a little easier by just spray painting the frames (everyone bought there’s from Goodwill), stapling chicken wire to the back and then we added little clips here and there to hang up pictures, notes, etc.  We just needed something that was a little quicker for our time, so we dropped a few steps from the super cute original.

I had a little mishap with the yellow glossy spray paint and no paint thinner on hand.  So what’s a girl to do…

…well of course, have your friend Alissa douse your hands in gasoline.  Worked like a charm.  Josh, my environmental scientist husband, later gave me a lecture on how you should never put your hands in a carcinogen (vocab lesson for you).

Everyone’s frames were awesome.  I cannot wait until next week.

And yesterday, to start the weekend off right, we headed to Wave Country.

My wonderful friend Ashley (the stunning lady with the hot pink frame above) works there during the summer as an administrator.  She always asks begs us to come out and see her, so of course Wave Country is on our agenda each summer.

Some people thought I was a little nutty taking 3 kids 4 and under to the wave pool, but it really was awesome.  And every single kid (and adult, for that matter) had a great time.  Harper is at that great age where she likes doing things on her own.  This applies to the pool and apparently water slides as well.  She literally rode the water slide about one bajillion times…over and over and over and over…and so on and so on and so on.

Campbell stayed with her the whole time and there are tons of life guards everywhere, so I had no worries.  Harper rode the water slides non-stop, so I only saw her when the waves would go off in the big pool and she and Campbell would come over to the big pool to swim with us.  They made a deal:  Water slides when the waves were on, Swimming in the big pool when the waves were off.

The boys went down the slides a few times, but absolutely loved the big pool, but only the shallow end, which was perfect.  And the big tubes just made their day.  They would run and jump and splash and just have an all out crazy fun time.

We took lunch with us and stayed for nearly 5 hours or until someone got stung on the foot by a bee (cough, cough…Campbell).

We may even make this a weekly tradition, if Ms. Ashely will still have us 🙂

So for all you locals, I totally recommend going.  We went on a Friday and it wasn’t busy at all.  The staff and lifeguards were great.  The EMT on hand took care of Campbell’s bee sting.  The bathrooms were clean…that is until Huddy peed on the floor…still unsure how he got a stream that high to shoot out of the toilet, hit me in the leg and flood the floor.  There was plenty to do for kids of all ages.  They even have this super cute kiddie pool with mushrooms and dumping buckets.  They have Icees, which was just a bonus to the kids and other good concessions.  And it completely wore my kids out.  Bedtime came at 5:30 and that left the rest of Friday evening for Josh and I to enjoy…quietly and alone.  Happy Friday to us!

Have a great weekend.

Here is a glimpse of dinner time at our house.  I liked my SIL Jen’s comment the best:

“After watching it- I am ready to head back to bed- and I may need some aspirin!”

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ5-KhSVOJI]

Kelley ramblings:

We celebrated Father’s Day with Zaxbys at the park.  Have you ever had it?  Ummm, it’s completely delicious and I was more than happy Josh chose it for his Father’s Day lunch.  And they have Sonic ice, which = greatness.

I may have spoken too soon about the albino polar bears being rare.  Apparently our long drive to a new doctor for Huddy is making this happen more and more often.  It is semi-crazy being able to hear myself think while driving.

And so what if Sol feel asleep with a mouth full of carrot…that’s not dangerous at all…right?

I really don’t like finding my smelly, dirty dog on a pile of clean clothes, but am okay with it enough to not re-wash a thing.

In fact, I added that basket full to this pile.  Laundry will forever be my arch-nemesis.

Josh is our yard guy/gardener…not me.  I wish I enjoyed it more, but I do like seeing all of these cone flowers pop up like wild fire in our yard.  We have so many it is somewhat beautifully ridiculous.

We found gum on the bottom of our little plastic pool.  Huddy then tried pulling it off and what he got off he stuck right in his mouth.  I have now outlawed chewing gum in our plastic pool.

I really…like really, like her!

I have finished up a few more orders.  This first order was placed by Sue in New York.  She wanted a 18×18 canvas with Jeremiah 29:12-13 and a pirate 4th birthday tee.  She also mailed in some important momentos for me to use on her canvas.

  Sue was really great to work with and I have since decided she should just live at my house and encourage me everyday when I wake up.  Seriously, this lady is one encourager and we don’t know each other at all except through email.  She was amazingly kind to work with.  Thank you so much Sue…it was a complete pleasure.

This little 8×10 canvas was ordered by Mary in Tennessee.  Browns and pinks and a sweet little name.  Thanks so much Mary.

And these key fobs are being shipped out to Brittney and Claudia both in Texas.  Thanks so much ladies.

I am going to be closing orders soon.  I was suppose to head to Swaziland at the end of May, but we moved the trip to the beginning of August so we could visit some missionaries in another area of Swaziland while we are there…so crazy excited.  To make sure I get all orders completed and shipped before I head out, this Friday, June 24th will be the last day to order until  sometime in August.  I am currently drowning in orders and as always THANK YOU!  I cannot, cannot say that enough.

Happy Tuesday!

Well first off, thanks so much to everyone who entered our 7 Months Waiting Giveaway and for helping us spread the word.  You guys rock.  The winner of the 12×12 canvas is…

Comment #143 Diana.  Super congrats Diana and check your email for a message from me.

I have been burning some midnight oil for sure this past week and this weekend.  Lots of orders went out and are being packaged to head out this week.

Camera straps were in full demand…that is for sure.  These are headed to Aimee in Michigan, Jill in Tennessee, Cindi in Texas, Heather in California, Marla in Tennessee, Leigh in New Jersey and Becca in Texas.  I know…a lot of camera straps.  Thank you ladies so very, very much.

Leigh also wanted a set of key fobs to go with her 2 camera straps…thanks Leigh.

And Becca wanted a 22×28 Adoption canvas to go with her camera strap 🙂  I am in love with the vinatgey looking map for the background….was super pleased with how it turned out.  Becca, I hope you love this piece for years to come.  Thanks so much.

I also made this 8×24 fish canvas for my father-in-law’s birthday.  He is an avid fisherman and thought this would be a perfect gift for him.  Hope he digs it.

And Happy Father’s Day.  We sent Josh off early Friday morning for a fly fishing weekend on the Caney Fork.

He just arrived back home this morning and I think he had a great time.  At least the pictures say he did.

COULD.NOT. be any more thankful for him.  What an amazing dad and husband we have.  Completely hit the jack pot.  Love you Josh.

Happy Sunday!

It’s that time yet again.  I like doing these giveaway pieces…I like documenting each month in a fun way, but no offense, I cannot wait to be done with this…done with the waiting and see the face of our little guy.  That will be a great day!  We our officially in the top 10 which is awesome and most of those ahead us are specifically asking for an infant, so I just keep thinking any day now, any day.  We shall see.

But until then we will keep celebrating each month with an art giveaway.  For this months piece I used a 12×12 canvas…went a little larger in size…and I used Revelations 1:15-18:

“His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of rushing water.  In his right hand he held seven stars and coming out of his mouth was a sharp double edged sword.  His face like the sun shining in all its brilliance…  Then he placed his right hand on me and said:  “Do not be afraid.  I am the first and the last.  I am the living one…”

I remember studying this verse in one of my past Bible studies and always loved this description of God…How incredibly amazing it was and how reassuring that such an amazing God cared so much for me, little ole’ crappy, sinful me.  Simply amazing.

As always there are lots of ways to enter to win this piece.

PLEASE leave a separate comment for each entry.

-Leave a comment about something you are currently excited about

-Blog about the giveaway

-Share the giveaway on your Facebook

–Share the giveaway on your Twitter

–Become a fan on Facebook HERE

–Follow on Twitter HERE

-Subscribe to receive PPA updates by email in the right side bar

Giveaway will end this Saturday, June 18th at midnight.  I will post the winner on Sunday.

I am so greatly appreciative of all the orders that have been placed.  I really cannot say thank you enough.  I promise I am working as quickly as I can to get orders completed and shipped out.

In other news I have been mad at work on another larger art piece, tons of camera straps and these little lovely key fobs.

In Kelley news, the kids and I discovered this amazing mirrored door this week.  What you aren’t as stoked as we were?  They loved it.

We also re-discovered tents.  We haven’t made one in a while, but I tied one up today and it was as if they had forgotten the million other times we have done this.

And lastly, my Bible study had our first official craft night tonight.  We decided to take the summer off and just make a new craft each week.  It was SO much fun.  I taught art lessons after school when I was a kindergarten teacher, so I was super excited to teach some sort of artsy something again.  This week I showed everyone how to make fabric flowers.  The ladies totally rocked.

I even got to hold sweet little Scarlett while assisting.  Scarlett got a new head band as well.  She totally needed one!

Lots and lots of sweet little goodies to take home for everyone.  I had a total blast and can’t wait for next week.

Happy Late, Late Wednesday Night!

I take a lot of pictures.  And I mean a lot.  Tons actually.  My current camera is broken and has been since Christmas, so while trying to decide on which camera to buy in it’s place I am making do with the broken one.  If you have any camera recommendations I would love to hear them.  I am looking into another point & shoot.  I would love to one day be the owner of a DSLR, but would really like to learn how to work one on manual and not just automatic and I know time is a major issue for me now, so for now, I think I am going to stick with the good ole’ point & shoot.

Of all the pictures I took this weekend this one is my favorite.  I actually teared up a bit while taking it.  My sweet niece McKinley said, “Are we still just waiting for our new cousin?” I told her we were.  She then said, “You know, I had to wait a real long time for my new blankie to come in the mail.”  That made me smile and the picture simply melts my heart.

The weekend was good, like real good.  Friday started off with this.  I am kind of in love with the strawberry lemonade from McDonalds…let the judgment begin 🙂

Josh brought home a plastic pool and the kids screamed with delight.  Harper was beside herself.  I always forget how perfect those cheap little plastic pools are.

A trampoline + water + wild little boys = great fun.  Aunt Jen didn’t have a chance.

A date night with my best friend Ashley…and our husbands…was like magic.  I really wish she didn’t live in Florida…come home Ashley, have some babies and we can have play dates everyday.

Josh asked me, “Do you ever think people think you were just booked and fingerprinted?”

Speaking of Josh, I think he’s got some mad chalk drawing skillz.

I wish I had called the Guinness Book of World Records people.  Harper decided she would try and hold her “I love you” hand for the entire time while brushing her teeth.  She signed, she brushed and she conquered.

And this little man makes me feel good about myself.  He thinks I’m funny and he is just so perfectly squishy.

I also completed several art pieces.  These first two were personal projects.  I made this one for Harper’s room.  The main part I painted with watercolor a few weeks ago while the kids watercolored too.  Harper specifically asked if she could have it, so I held onto the paper and made this little 10×10 for her.

This little 5×7 I made for a gift…just a special little something for a great person in my life.

This 12×12 canvas headed out to Tamara in Murfreesboro, Tn.  She needed a special gift for a friend and I was thrilled to make this piece again.  Thanks so much Tamara.

This next piece was ordered by Cimbrey in Louisiana.  I used 4 12×12 canvases = 12×48 total.  She wanted a special piece for her little boy.  I can’t say how honored I am to make things for such personal reasons.  It was a pleasure Cimbrey…thanks again so much.

And lastly this 8×10 canvas was ordered by Lindsey in Texas.  Thanks so much Lindsey and hope your mom loves it.

This week we will be celebrating 7 months being on the wait list for our next little man.  Is it really that time again?  Time is literally flying.  We will be having another art giveaway this Thursday, the 16th, so check back then and help us celebrate being another month closer to meeting our boy.

Happy End-of-the-Weekend!