Coffee with Kel

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New Clothes!!

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I got to do a little bit of clothes shopping this morning. I had a dress to return for a store credit at Marshalls and then I had a 15% off discount card for Kohl’s. PLUS, I had a little bit of birthday money leftover, so I was on a mission!

Marshalls’ website seems to be down right now, so I can’t even try to find what I got there. Boo. I got a couple of CUTE things including a long sundress that has funky patterns of pink and brown. Love it! Also got some madras plaid shorts that I adore because I just love madras!

I have been wanting a “maxi dress” for quite awhile now. Today, I finally got one! I got this Knot Front Maxi Dress in the “gypsy rust” color. I just love it!! I have discovered that I can wear it tied like they have in the photo OR I can take the straps and loop them around in the front and tie it back for a strapless look.

gypsy_rust

I also got this cute denim skort at Kohl’s:
denim_skort

I also got some CUTE khaki capris, a pink tee, a swimsuit for Mariana and some really cool clearance jewelry. And, guess what?! Per my receipt, I “saved” more than I spent. Sweet!!

My dollars went a long way today and gave my wardrobe a nice little lift. Yay!

Seeking Motivation

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Ugh. I need my motivation back because it’s missing. Motivation for weight-loss, that is. A couple of summers ago, I finally got my act together, did Weight Watchers and lost over 25 pounds. I was so proud of myself. I felt great in so many ways. Well, gradually, most of that weight has found its way back to my body. I haven’t gained it all back, but I have put on probably 15 pounds of it. YUCK! Several weeks ago, I started using Spark People to track my calories each day. That was working beautifully for me. I went out of town, got off rhythm and now I’m in a not-so-good rut again. Tonight I had to try on swim suits at TJ Maxx and absolutely know that I must get my motivation back and get this weight off. I really MUST!! I can’t stand having wiggly-jiggly body parts and it just pains me go up in sizes. So, I believe that tomorrow morning I’ll get back to counting my calories with Spark People for a start. My friend Terri and I are talking about doing the Couch to 5k program, so hopefully we can start that very soon too. I can admit that part of why I want to lose weight is a vanity issue. But, seriously, a really large part of it is that I want to set a good healthy example for my girls. I don’t ever want them to think that yo-yo dieting is the way to go. I’d rather all of us develop and maintain healthy habits for life. So, here I go. Yes, I’m starting again and that’s sort of like a yo-yo, but maybe this bathing suit season will remind me enough that it’s worth it to maintain and not let it go. Please…wish me luck.

Praise Reports…

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I am going to do better about updating my blog.
I am going to do better about updating my blog.
I am GOING to do better about updating my blog.
Seriously…I am.
I hope. 😉

In all honesty, I have every good intention of writing more here, but the days are so busy lately. Life is good, in fact I’d say its mostly GREAT, but also very busy.

I have some praises to report since my last update.

  • Macey had a wonderful week of dance camp at our church last week. Two of her friends from school attended also and they all got to be in the same group. They just loved it! Friday was their recital and it was entirely too cute for words.
  • We got to spend all day Saturday with some great friends and we absolutely had a ball. We were as tired as could be on Saturday night, but it was the good kind of tired that comes from having FUN FUN FUN all day long!
  • On Sunday evening we got a house full of company. My best friend Terri came up from South GA with her two daughters. Also, our friend Hannah came to visit us from Missouri with her three daughters. So, we had a house brimming full and it was just incredible!! The girls ranged in age from almost-six (Macey) down to seven months old (Hannah’s baby girl) and they had so much fun playing together. Terri and I get together several times a year when I am in South Georgia, but neither of us have seen Hannah in several years. So much has changed in our lives, but the friendship has remained. God sure blessed us with a wonderful time together over Sunday evening and Monday morning.
  • This week Macey is attending the afternoon VBS sessions at our church. They are doing “Camp E.D.G.E.” this term and she is having a blast! In her crew, she has four friends from school so that is also exciting. She comes home each day telling us about what they did, what she learned, etc. It’s such a blessing! And, from what I have heard, over 900 (!!!) kids are in attendance. All those seeds of faith getting planted just makes my heart sing!
  • I have joined a Wednesday morning Bible study at our church. I have been wanting to do this for quite some time and it finally worked out. I am LOVING it! Our group is so sweet and we have all ranges from moms of young ones to grand-mothers and maybe even some great-grands. It’s absolutely blessing me more than words to be there!
  • We have a great babysitter that is watching the girls this summer so I can do things like go to Bible study. Her name is Kayla and Mickey and I have known her since we were Youth volunteers at the church several years ago. Kayla is fantastic with the girls. She is so much fun and so creative. Today she did tie-dying with them. How cool is that?!
  • The weather has been beautiful and summer is officially upon us. That is always a praise in my book as I just love summer. We’re getting a bit of rain today, but that’s always needed around here.
  • We have also planned a mini-vacation for our family. We are going to Nashville, TN for a couple of days and then back down to Chattanooga, TN for a couple of days before heading home. We are SO excited about this trip! I have used some online sources like Hotwire and Expedia to score some really great hotel prices as well. Can’t wait!!
  • This coming weekend is the Father/Daughter dance at our church. That will be Saturday evening and Mickey is taking both girls. This year it’s going to be a sock hop and the girls both have their cute poodle skirts, tees and scarves ready to go. I have been asked to take candid photos, so I can’t wait to see it all!

Those are just some of the many things I have to be thankful for in my life. I just had to share.

And, if you’re reading along, please  hold me accountable to posting. I need to and want to, so I should make time for it.

Blessings,
Kelly

What’s Happening??

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Wow. I have really been neglecting my poor blog lately. I don’t mean to, really, it’s just that life is so busy these days. It seems like things are GO GO GO which is good,  but doesn’t free up a lot of blogging time.

So, what have we been up to? Here’s the abridged version. 😉

  • On May 14th, our sweet Mariana turned three. THREE! Eep! Our baby girl is three. It’s surreal. This is a milestone age in some ways because it’s around the age that Macey was when Mariana was born. Whenever Mariana was an eensy baby and Macey turned three, we’d just marvel at how “big” Macey was at the time. And, now Macey is going to turn six in a few weeks and Mariana is three and – woah – it just flies by, doesn’t it?!
  • Mariana’s last day of preschool was Friday, May 15th. I helped with the end-of-the-year picnic and party which was really fun. I thought I would cry, but I didn’t. I was nostalgic about Macey’s last day with the same teachers just three years ago. Macey’s preschool ended on Friday, May 12th that year and I was HUGELY pregnant with Mariana and delivered her two days later. Again I say, time flies.
  • We had Mariana’s birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s on Saturday, May 16th. Let me just say this, if you are EVER going to have a Saturday party at CEC, do yourself a huge favor and book the 10am slot. Seriously. I booked online and we received some extra tokens for that. Then, we got DOUBLE tokens for each child for booking the 10am slot on a Saturday. Score!! It was great because it wasn’t crowded and the kids had a ball. They played until around 10:45-ish and then ate pizza. Played a bit more, then had cake. It was perfect. Mariana said it was the best party ever. She really loved it all.
  • Macey wrapped up Kindergarten in May. It was a fun month for school. She got to sing at a PTA meeting, we had a Mommy & Me tea in her classroom and they had field day. Also, on the last week of school we got to go to an ice cream social in her room PLUS we had a picnic lunch the day before school ended. It was so sweet and we enjoyed it all. Poor Macey did NOT want school to end. She loved Kindergarten so much. She had the best teachers in the world and the best class too. She had so many friends, learned so much and just really loved it! Poor girl got off the bus in tears on the last day. She was so sad. So, I did what I could do to remedy that sadness. I packed the girls up and we went south to Nana’s (my mom’s) for the weekend. That was a fun start to summer.
  • At Nana’s, the girls got to paint, play with bubbles, go shopping with Aunt Liz and splash in mud puddles with Nana. Plus we went to the zoo one morning too. It was great and they had a ball!! When we were heading home, we stopped to have lunch with my Grandparents and they loved that too. (That Macey can tear up some turnip greens, let me tell y’all!!) So, it was a really great trip and got Macey back to being happy about summer.
  • I turned the big three-five on May 26th. Halfway through my thirties already. TIME FLIES, PEOPLE!! 😉
  • This week Macey is participating in dance camp in the afternoons at our church and is having the BEST time. It’s a great camp. When they get there, they are fed lunch and then they do warm-ups as a group. After that, the girls are broken up into age/grade groups for ballet and jazz. They also do crafts. It’s great and we love sending her because Macey loves it all!
  • We’ve been spending time with friends too and always love that. So far we have been to paint pottery and have lunch and also been to the zoo with friends. (Mariana and I went to the Georgia Aquarium with friends too while Macey was still in school.) We are planning on many play dates and pool outings this summer.
  • Speaking of the pool, ours is open and in full swing. It took Macey about 10 minutes (if that) to rediscover her swimming skills. She’s a regular fish again. She loves to jump in, cannonball, practice diving, swim underwater, get dive sticks, swim on her back and more. The girl just loves the water. We are hoping to get Mariana some private swim lessons, but for now she’s getting more confident in the water with her life vest and arm bands.

I guess that is a good overview of the basics from here. I’ll try to do better about maintaining updating my blog. If anyone is still reading.

Blessings,
Kelly

Not Me! Monday

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A few weeks ago, MckMama brought back the famous Not Me! Monday. I have been a blog slacker of late (anyone notice?! :p) and I haven’t gotten back on track with Not Me! Monday since MckMama did, but I’m here today and it’s time for another installment.

notmemonday1

  • I am not a children’s clothes hoarder. It simply cannot be ME that won’t get rid of itty bitty baby clothes that the girls have both long outgrown. It can’t be me that won’t part with those tiny gowns, onesies, dresses outfits. Because, really, I am the one that likes to consign after the second child has gotten their wear out of clothes. So, how could it possibly be me that has stored more than three bins of tiny baby clothes in our attic?!  (I won’t mention how many bins of various other sizes are up there or soon to be up there. NOT ME!!)
  • Speaking of clothing, I did not trash our guest room this morning in the name of organizing said clothes, right? Because how can you junk up a room and call it organizational?! That couldn’t have been what I did.
  • I wasn’t a touch disappointed this morning when I weighed-in for Spark People. For goodness sakes, the scale moved down 2.8lbs from last Monday, so how could I have been disappointed about THAT?! I am one that believes in progress being good, so surely I didn’t get just a touch of disappointment this morning even though I am making progress.
  • Last week when our girls were having their portraits taken, I did not dance and shake my booty like a fool to get them to smile for the camera. Because my girls don’t cheese up for cameras, do they?! I didn’t have to act like a complete goofball to get their real smiles to come out, did  I?! Noooo…NOT ME!
  • I didn’t forget to pack a lunch for Mickey to take to work today. Because I said I would pack him a lunch AND send in some healthy snacks for him too. So, I couldn’t possibly have gotten busy this morning and let THAT slip my mind, right??
  • I didn’t have to eat one of the cupcakes that I made for Macey’s un-birthday celebration at school. They were looked so good and were so tempting, but I know I didn’t eat one, did I?!

That’s it for this week. I probably have more that I didn’t do, but my brain is pondering too many things right now – like the end of Kindergarten (on Friday) and summer activities.

Hope y’all have a great week,
Kelly