May 20, 2013 By 4 Comments

Random-to-the-Ness

Let’s see, let’s see.  Lots of randomness for this Monday because that’s just how today is rolling.

This is probably his favorite spot in the whole house.  He spends far too much time perched in this window sill.  I like him.

Key fob order I finished up a few weeks ago.  I’m done with all my April orders…hahahahaha…it only took me over a month to complete.  It was sad.  Life was crazy.  Now I’m gearing up for some Saturday Sales…I hope you’re as excited as I am.

Delaney and Amon’s first date.  I’m totally not against arranged marriages.

A sick kid on his last day of MDO when they are having a popsicle and pizza party is really sad.  I hated it for him, but a nap in the middle of the morning = legit sick.

Smile/Cry.

Sol got more xrays taken last Friday.  I wasn’t really thinking and let Huddy take his play western six shooter into the hospital.  No one said anything…except Sol’s doctor.  Hmmmmm.  And Sol’s 5 broken bones are now all growing new, nice and strong, so off with the boot.

Huddy: “So I guess Amon’s not a baby anymore?”

Me:  “Why do you say that?”

Huddy:  “Well now he’s a toddler.”

Me:  “You shut your mouth Huddy Kelley…you shut it right now.”

So I didn’t really say that last part, but I wanted to.  How dare he point out that Amon…baby Kelley…itty bitty baby Kelley…isn’t a baby anymore.  How did this happen?

Third time seeing the Avett Brothers.  Great show.  Every.Single.Time.  They don’t disappoint.  They have certainly arrived.

She’s big now too.  What is happening to my small Kelleys?  Time makes me want to use curse words…lots and lots of curse words.  How did she get so big?

I told you today was Random-to-the-Ness.  Always.  Hope you’ve had a great day.  Hope the start to your week has been shockingly good.

Happy Monday!

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May 13, 2013 By 3 Comments

It’s Going To Be A Good Week

What a weekend.  It was actually pretty darn great minus a few major cryfests…nothing too uncommon though.  I wish I could tell Mom she totally turned me into this emotional wreck, cry at the drop of a hat type of person.  She would have loved it because she was a crier too.  Me, not so much…but that was the old me.  Sigh.

I did my best to soak up the joy of Mother’s Day because I really do have so much to celebrate.  Josh Kelley knows exactly how to make me feel special.  He knows I don’t need fancy flowers or jewelry or lots of gifts.  He hit a home run with a card and completing my coffee table project for me…caster wheels, some poly, cleaning the inside and taking care of all the pesky nails that were sticking out everywhere.  I love it.

And I also get an entire day to myself this week.  Like were talking AN ENTIRE DAY…alone…in our house.  I don’t know about you, but getting out by myself isn’t too hard.  The hard one is being alone in our house.  There are always these little wee Kelleys hanging around.  And an entire day having the house to myself, well I could weep.  Needless to say I’m super excited.  Oh the possibilities.

And the kids loved that I chose ice cream for dinner.  Hey, it was Mother’s Day.

This week is one of those that is absolutely full to the brim, but with all these really fun, amazing things.  I’m rarely thrilled for a crazy busy week, but I am actually totally beside myself with anticipation for this week.  Every single day holds something really great.  Today was Harper’s field day.  Too much fun.  The rest of the week is full of K-5 graduation and the last day of MDO for the boys and my day off and baseball and Avett Brothers and just lots of other fun things.  Bring on the week.

We loved being at Harper’s school today for field day.  I wish you could meet Harper.  She is such a happy kid.  We always say, “She’s just happy to be here.”  Because she is.  She’s just along for the ride and thrilled to be.  Field day was crazy fun for her and crazy fun for us to watch.

She won the 50 yard dash and absolutely grinned ear to ear while she was running.  My mind is always wondering and looking for little clues as to what she will be like as she gets older.  I wonder if she will carry this love of running on with her as she grows.  Either way…we’re crazy proud of her and her attitude.

When we were driving home from school she asked to see her ribbon.  I passed it back to her and she exclaimed, “Whaaaaat?  I won 1st place?  Like I was the fastest runner?”  And that’s my girl.  Love, love, triple love her.

Here’s to a grandly fun week.  Hope it’s outstanding for everyone.  Thanks for stopping by and reading.  See you tomorrow.

Happy Monday.

PS:  Thank you to whoever left the kind goodies in our mailbox.  You are too sweet and I am so grateful.

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May 6, 2013 By 4 Comments

4 Things

The weekend was very rainy, but good.  It rained the entire time and I got in zero running mileage.  I’m thinking 75 was a really bad choice :)   But there were movies and cheesecake…oh the cheesecake…and time with friends and birthday parties and cosmic bowling and a date with Solomon and heavy hearted discussions and tears and Bible study and Cinco de Mayo food and doughnuts and creating and just looking around and realizing that small things totally matter and God affirming in me that small things matter to Him too.

4 of my favorite things from the weekend were:

1) These 4.  And grocery shopping with these 4.  They’re so crazy…and Sol still hates the boot.  I made him ride in the cart to slow him down some.  He is clearly not pleased, but hey, what momma says, goes.

2)  Watching Harper paint a canvas.  She loves to do this and honestly, she doesn’t paint on canvases much, but she has been begging me to and she deserved some special creating time.  I love her paint loven’ heart.

3)  A date with Solomon.  Everyone else headed to our nephew’s gymnastic birthday party, so me and Sol had a little daytime date.  I adore individual time with the wee Kelleys.  He was so fun too.  We played games at Chuck E Cheese…he shot a crap load of aliens on this army/shooting game.  It was pretty intense…and awesome.  Oh and the best part was when I happened upon a ski ball game that someone had apparently loaded up with tokens…6 free games of ski ball in a row.  At this point I had no idea where Solomon was…I was in my ski ball zone.

And 4)  Doughnuts.  We usually have your typical breakfast, but then there are those days that are just begging to be started off with a sprinkle doughnut…Sunday was one of them.

How was your weekend?  I hope it was really good.  Here’s to a stellar good week…may it be grand beyond grand.

Happy Monday!

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May 3, 2013 By 2 Comments

Crazy Friday.

Today has been nutso…yesterday too…and how about we just count the whole week as crazy.  Life just never seems to slow down…or I don’t let it.  Grocery shopping and Mother’s Day shopping.  Teacher appreciation week prepping and working on lots of orders.  Soccer, soccer and more soccer.  Broken bones and falls into thorn bushes on bikes and bleeding foreheads.  Almost every meal on the go.  I only cooked twice this week…and by cook I mean we had a chicken noodle soup mix one night with a can of chicken and tonight I’m doing tacos.  The rest of the week we snacked for dinner or grabbed something at the ballpark.  We have been all over the place.  And some of it was documented on my beloved Instagram.

Legos.  They’re all pretty passionate about legos.  I love that they have finally let go a bit and ventured into building without the booklet.  They still follow step by step booklet instructions, but now they will build at will too and with confidence.

Have you heard of MighteeKids?  They’re amazing.  I love everything they stand for.  Last month’s tee supported autism awareness…this month’s tee is helping send soccer balls and build soccer fields in Africa.  Check it out and let your kiddos rock some supportive and way cool tees.

These two.  Sigh.

Finished up my 50 miles this week.  Decided to go for 75 this month.  I’m already doubting myself, but we’ll give it a go and see what happens.

They have this crazy infectious love for each other.  I absolutely adore watching their relationship grow and take shape.

Sol still hates the boot, but decided to keep it classy one day.

For those of you wondering…the 6:45 bedtime did happen.  It was magic.  Like rainbows and unicorns kind of magic.  Harper and I “peacing out” as she headed off to bed.

A custom key fob order.  And a whole lot of truth that I needed to write over and over and over again.

Key fobs for days.

Confession time…mini red velvet cheesecakes…last night…10:30pm…homemade whip cream…good golly…it was lovely…and glorious…and I had to make sure they weren’t poisonous.

Realized today I need to pick up another #6…not grooving on the satanic vibe we’re rockin’ right now in our dining room :)

And while waiting for our oil to be changed on the van today I took this picture of the boys.  Sol asked to see it and upon seeing the photo he said, “Huddy looks gorgeous.”  He’s a keeper and a possible shoe in for funniest superlative of his future high school.

I’m pitterpatterart on Instagram if you want to follow along during the week.  Hope your weekend is crazy grand.

Happy Friday!

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May 1, 2013 By 3 Comments

Let’s See…

…have you ever had to hot glue a boot?  Well, I have.  Pretty sure this 4-year-old is going to drive this boot into the ground.  And…the hatred continues.  Several tear moments today because A) He hates the boot B) He couldn’t jump over a diaper box Huddy had set up with added obstacles on top for extra height and cool points when he actually made it over the jumping obstacle C) He hates the boot D) He has to miss his cousin’s gymnastics birthday party this weekend and E) He hates the boot.  I get it…I really do.  I hate the boot for him.

16.  The number of days before summer break.  I can hardly contain myself.  Bring on sleeping in late and a tan and trips to the wave pool and baseball games and swimming for days.  I’m ready.  Josh Kelley is ready.  The wee Kelleys are ready.

Speaking of the end of the school year.  This looks stalkerish, but it isn’t…I promise.  We love Harper’s teacher Mrs. Tanner.  Like big love.  Like when I think about Harper not being in her class anymore I get all teary eyed.  It’s sad.  I’m hoping I can pay her off in baked goods and canvases and key fobs and she’ll just move on up to 1st grade.  Yes, that would do just fine.

Cheese is his favorite.  Every. Single. Day.  Cheese, cheese and more cheese.  And shockingly, he still poops.

A movie night is very much appropriate on a Wednesday night when Josh is coming home late and the wee Kelleys are a little out of their minds.  And how about a bedtime goal of 6:45…boom.  You do what you gotta do to survive.

This is a very good sign.  Cheesecake is soooooo on my radar.  I’m coming for you baby, I’m coming for you.

Helicopters are Sol’s favorite.  He collects, fills his bug container with them and fills his pockets to the tippy top with them.  Every where we go, he spots them.  Oh, and he gives them to me as gifts.  I like him.  BTW:  Good catch on my part when I discovered said pockets full of helicopters before starting the washing machine.

That’s all I’ve got.  Now I’m off to get 4 crazy cool Kelleys to bed.  I’ve got just about 30 minutes to make my goal of 6:45pm.  I can do it.  I can totally do it.

Happy Wednesday.

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April 30, 2013 By 8 Comments

Thoughts On A Tuesday

You guys are cracking me up.  So “glad” there are more parents out there who let their kids go days with unattended broken bones.  We should start a club.

And your words are too sweet.  I hope you know I don’t really think we’re like terrible, terrible parents.  I tell these real life stories of parenting because they’re too funny not to share and I know there has to be someone else out there who can relate.  I hope you know I’m not fishing for “you’re a good parent” comments, but they are too kind :) …that’s for sure.

So Sol is not a fan of the boot.  His exact words this morning as we were leaving for school, “I hate this boot like I hate the devil.”  I love this kid.  There is never any wondering as to how he’s feeling…except when he breaks a bone.  He’s quite bummed about the no running and jumping.  It’s fair to say we can add “the boot” to Sol’s list of things he loathes…like having his hair picked out and bread crust.

Today happiness was walking through Target eating popcorn and not having to share.  Amon even slept through the first part of my happy Target time, but then woke up.  And I did give him a few teeny tiny morsels of popcorn, one of which just got stuck to his lip.

The Mother’s Day card section at Target may have almost sent me over the edge.  I did tear up as I looked through all the cards trying to find the perfect one for Mom.  Yes, I am the person who buys their dead mom cards and leaves them on her grave like in a sappy made-for-TV movie, only to really know that after a few weeks or even just days one of the cemetery grounds crew people are just going to throw it away.  I just can’t help myself.

Finished up my 50 miles for April, plus a bit of overage.  Still trying to decide what May’s goal will be…I’m thinking of going high to see if I can really push it.  I can’t decide if this is wise or just stupid.

Hobby Lobby fabrics + cute baby = cute overload.  Hobby Lobby is one of my happy places.

I’ve decided to make cheesecake for the weekend and mini red velvet cheesecakes.  Already have my baking shopping list ready to go.  And yes, it was just Monday when I came to this decision.  Breaking up with sweets during the week has taken a tole on my mental state.  THIS cheesecake recipe is the best.  Seriously.  Make it now.  Or this weekend.  It’s amazing.

He is the best lunch date.  Gobbles down food like nobody’s business.  He is turning into a food thrower though.  And he’s got quite the arm.  Geesh.

I’m trying to plan out some up and coming posts.  I’ve had a few requests to see quilts we have and lots of questions about how to support a newly adopting family.  I’m working on those and a few others.  Anything else you want to read about?  I always could use some ideas.

Hope your day is amazing.  Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Tuesday!

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April 22, 2013 By 3 Comments

Babies, Bikes & Baked Goods

The weekend could easily be summed up in three words:  Babies, Bikes & Baked Goods.  The end.

I was at the hospital a grand total of 4 times this weekend to hang with baby Delaney and my niece baby Hollis.  It was pretty great and I sooooo forgot how tiny a newborn is.  They were just so little.

Then there were the bikes.  Our kids have been needing bigger bikes and we decided this weekend it was time to hook everyone up.  Josh loves to mountain bike and I know he really wants, at least our boys to ride with him one day…sooner than later.  As soon as they are riding well with no training wheels, I know he will take the boys.  Josh Kelley has no fear when it comes to things like that.  I’ll just turn my head and pretend not to notice.

They literally rode their bikes through the store, to the register, out of the store and to the car.  It was quite adorable.  And have been riding them ever since.

And lastly…baked goods.  You know how I feel about baked goods…they can totally change the world.  Since my no-sweets-during-the-week started, I haven’t been baking as much, but I recently found this Salted Caramel Snickers Rice Krispie Bars recipe.  I grew up on rice krispy treats.  They were one of my mom’s favorite and she rarely smashed them into a 9×13 pan.  Instead she divided them right out of the bowl into smaller bowls and we ate them with a spoon.  I adore memories like that.  So when I saw that this recipe was several things I so loved smashing into one, I was game.

These are crazy good.  You know I would tell you if they sucked, but it’s true…I wanted to eat the entire pan.  I actually doubled the recipe and used a 9×13 pan.  So so good.  I’m actually sad they are all gone.

I wanted to share with some sweet people in my life…some people that needed to know I like them and appreciate them.  In the words of Beth Moore, I have been missing the feeling and the knowing in my heart of “natural family” and belonging…outside our little family of 6.  With the loss of Mom, that regular, real sense of family left too…it’s just not easy.  And then certain crazy kind people in my life make me feel as if I belong and give me that “natural family” feeling all over again and it takes my breath away.  And to those people, well they totally deserve Salted Caramel Snickers Rice Krispie Bars.

photo source

You should probably make some baked goods today and share.  It’s little and easy and it’s a way to say, “Hey, I think you’re pretty rad.”  Baked goods can change the world…and start someone’s Monday off much better.

So how was your weekend…did yours have a letter B theme too?  Ha.  Well I hope it was really grand whatever it contained.  Happy Monday!

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April 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A Great Insta Friday

Insta Fridaying it up late tonight.  I’m pitterpatterart if you want to follow along.  This week was a good one, but today was the best.

Things I love about this picture:  A)  That there were Combos in Harper’s class treasure box, B)  That Harper picked Combos out of her class treasure box and C)  Harper was thrilled with her choice and could not wait to eat the Combos from her class treasure box :)

He can be so incredibly serious…studying and dissecting everything and with a flip of a switch he becomes the silliest boy in the house.

Target shopping, Mom/Anchor tattoo wearing, smiley boy.  I’m lucky.  He’s mine.

Their brotherness is the best.

Huddy so sweetly left flowers for me in the car…they were just for me.

Who wouldn’t dig him creepin’ on you in the car rider line?!?!

They are going to be really good old men together.  I can’t tell you how hard I pray for their brotherhood and bond…that they would always remain thick as thieves and best friends.  That they would always love each other fiercely.

Noonday Collection arm party.  It was a good day.

Boston running love with Jami and Betsy.  Jesus just has to be enough.

Baby sweat pants are the bomb.

Josh had to work last night, so he got to go into work late.  We pulled a double run day.  I especially like that it was so bright I cut Josh and Amon out of the picture.  I’m clearly very vain.

And the best part of this Insta Friday…hands down…Baby Delaney.  Courtney rocked child birth and Delaney arrived today.  She’s beautiful and incredible.  I am so proud of Courtney.  One day I’ll tell Delaney about the joy and hope she brought with her.

So here’s to a super grand weekend.  I hope you have a great one.

Happy Friday night!

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