Polar Express 2011

Last year we decided to check out the Polar Express in Calera, which is a real train ride down to the "north pole" where Santa then gets on the train to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Well, last year Sarah Katherine wasn't really feeling it, in fact she climbed on my shoulders to get away from Santa. I prayed and prayed this year would be better, and it was GREAT! We went with Heather and Kyle Davis, Jennifer and Brett Shinick, and one of Jennifer's friends - oh and a slew of kids with each. :) Everyone loved the train itself, what kid doesn't love a choo choo?! We sang Christmas carols, talked to elves, saw the north pole, ate cookies and milk, got treats directly from the north pole, and of course the grand finale - saw Mr. and Mrs. Claus. It only took 3 years, but finally my little lady saw Santa and screamed in a good way. She loved him and hugged him and really loved Mrs. Claus. We had such a great time and will definitely be going back next year! Maybe next year I'll get the tickets in July instead of August and there will be room on the two story car. :)

Connell Christmas Celebration!

The annual Connell family Chistmas party rolled in this weekend, and SK got to go again this year. She LOVES hanging with her buddy Daniley and from the looks of Danica's post they had a blast. It was a spend the night party this year, so David and I got to drop Sarah Katherine off and then went out on a date - a special treat for us since we don't have family in town to keep little miss from time to time. Thanks so much to the Connell's for being great friends and for being super fun too!!!

Here are a few pic's I swiped from Danica and the link to where the whole party was described.

http://dananddanica.blogspot.com/

Oh my gracious these girls are so stinkin' cute!

When SK first saw Santa - minor meltdown, to.....

Santa is my favorite! My daughter can turn on a dime, love it!!!

Baby Coram #3! :)

I have made it public on facebook, but I haven't posted to the blog yet - we are going to have another little one next spring! God has blessed us with a little bit that is growing and doing just great so far in it's little 15 week life. No complications and no reason to expect any, but my wonderful doctors are taking great care of me and giving us lots of great ultrasounds to reassure all it going well. I have no idea how or why, but I'm not freaking out nearly as much with this pregnancy as with the others. I guess once you learn God is truly in control and will carry you through anything life brings, it causes a foundational change in your outlook of things. This is not to say I don't have the "crazies" pop up once in a while, but I hear that voice in my head saying stop it - God's got this! We are so blessed with love and support in our lives and I know this child is feeling that as well. Thank you to everyone that has been there for us as we grieved the loss of Elizabeth Anne and all the way to the celebration of this miracle. Please keep us in your prayers - specifically peace, health, and strength of this little one (and really us too!).

6 Weeks:

8 Weeks:

12 Weeks:

15 Weeks:

Family Reunion in Anniston

Last weekend SK, Mom, and I saddled up and headed over to Anniston for a family get together. My grandmother's brother and his wife were in town, which was a big occassion because he had been sick and hasn't been able to come up from Florida for about two years. Such VIP's in town calls for a celebration, so my Aunt Kathy made a ham, turkey, and all sorts of fixings - yummy! My aunt and uncle also came over from Atlanta and they brought their two youngest granddaughters, and the three girls had so much fun playing outside. I LOVE family get togethers, I just wish we could have them more often.

Jail and Bail for MDA

This year David stumbled across and opportunity for us to go to jail for a GREAT cause! We did jail and bail for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. We got put in "the clink" at Joe's Crab Shack and were even "arrested" by a real Sherriff. Between the two of us we were able to raise over $1,300 which will really help make a difference for some very special kids. It was even enough to sponsor a kid to go to summer camp at Camp ASCA where these special needs children are able to do things they may not ever otherwise be able to do. My brother, Brian, go to go when he was younger and he had a BLAST! Thank you so much to anyone reading this that supported us. All in all the Shelby County chapter's jail and bail raised over $39,000! I get chills thinking about the amazing things that can be done with that money. Hopefully this will become an annual thing for us to do. I feel like we are taking up where my grandfather isn't able to raise money anymore. Of course, I have some huge shoes to fill - the lady up here in Birmingham with MDA knew right off who my graddaddy was from his celebrity within the MDA community. He's a fundraising rockstar!

More Halloween...

I snatched a couple of pictures from Danica's site and thought I would post them here. These girls are so stinkin' cute!!!

Happy Halloween!

This year SK was SUPER pumped about Halloween. She has truly figured out the joys of sugary goodness that is candy. So, she had a full several days of fun! On Sunday night we went to our church's fall festival where they had games, all sorts of inflatables, hot dogs, and yes - candy. Then on Monday (Halloween - day) her school did trick or treating around each class and she came home with even more of a candy stash. Finally that night we went to our friend Danica's mom's house, who is the Queen of Halloween! She decks her whole house, has all sorts of candy, and lives in a great neighborhood for trick or treating. SK was a little skiddish of the decked out house, but was super into trick or treating. She sang the whole way up and down the streets. On a fun note - her princess dress had LED lights sewn into the slip, so she literally sparkled. That was not only pretty, but super practical for trick or treating - no flashlight needed!Here is one part of the house all decked out - imagine this level of cuteness everywhere!

Mentone, AL - Who Knew?!

Last weekend David saw that the running and running of the previous weekends meant we needed some down town. Know me like he does, if we stayed at home I would just be organizing out a closet or cleaning something, so he found a deal in Mentone, AL for a two bedroom cabin for a much need family trip. I had heard a few people talk about Mentone but had never been before. It was so cute! The cabin was really nice, the weather was PERFECT (in the 30's at night!), several cute restaurants, and right next to DeSoto state park so we had stuff to do. While it is no Gatlinberg, it is just an hour and a half away from home so for weekend trips - Mentone has two big thumbs up from us! I took a lot of pic's this weekend and posted them below...

It's like his and hers waterfalls! There were two beautiful falls just minutes from the cabin!!!

A pumpkin patch was open in a neighboring town, so SK got to go and play! She loved the slide and louging in the tub of corn (below), but the train ride was OUT - the girl does not like loud diesel engines. Maybe that means I won't have to worry about some yucky boy in a souped up truck in about 13 years!
Sarah Katherine's very own little pumpkin - the girl went straight for it, it was meant to be!

Swimming with Daddy on the back porch. She LOVED it, can we get one?!

In honor of the first cool weekend of the year and our family outing, Sarah Katherine got to try two new "firsts" - hot chocolate and roastin marshmallows. Is there anything better to kids that sugary goodness when they know it should be bed time?!

Consignment Loot!

I have been working the consignment season this fall! Not only does SK's birthday fall at the perfect time to get a great fall / winter wardrobe, but I am also and buying Christmas for my nieces and nephew (finally actually buying before December rather than just saying I should!). So, I am thrilled to say Sarah Katherine got an amazing girlie wardrobe from her birthday money and my nieces and nephew will get some great stuff from their bargain hunting aunt!

Before you think she is COMPLETELY rotton, I got all this for under $100! Love it, and note that SK has LOTS of pink to choose from. :)

One Last 3 Year Old Milestone Post...

Ok, last SK birthday related post. This is the least fun part - the 3 year old well child visit to the doctor. We thought it was going to be a shot-free day, but sadly she did have to get one shot and the flu mist. Not too horrible for the doctor's office though. Here are her stats (mostly for my own posterity)...

Height - 38-3/4" (90%)
Weight - 34 lbs (75%)

My tough girl did great and ended up walking out with princess stickers AND a Little Mermaid book. Not too shabby of a haul for one shot!

Pic's from the Big Par-tay!

Here are some pictures from the big jump-jump party courtesy of my great photographer dad! As you can tell, Sarah Katherine had an absolute BLAST. To anyone wondering where to have a party - Jump Zone was a great experience! Nothing like paying a fee (with coupon, of course), bring some cake and drinks, and then sit back and watch the kids play (not a whole lot of stress - it's all inflatable so serious injurires aren't probable). Can we party here every year?!

Happy Birthday Sarah Katherine - PARTY Edition

So the big third birthday culminated with a party at Jump Zone for Sarah Katherine and ALL her friends and family to go crazy! We invited about 30 kids and all but maybe 4 or 5 came. It was so much fun having Sarah Katherine's favorite people in one place - family, church friends, and school friends! Our little social butterfly had a blast running around playing with everyone and jump-jumping everywhere.

After about an hour and half of jumping excitement, the staff called us up to the party room to have PINK princess cake, drinks, and presents! Sarah Katherine's cake had a crown on it, so she of course wore that for the rest of the day, as she was the birthday princess. She got so many nice things, we are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives! Thank you to everyone that made my baby girl's day so special!!!!

My dad was able to come and took lots of pictures and video of the big event. Below is a link to the footage compiled to a Jones family favorite - They Say it's your Birthday by the Beatles. Every May 7th at 7am that was blared at me, and I fully expect the same tradition to go on with my kiddo!

(I tried to get the video to embed in the post, but I am apparently not skilled enough for that, below is the link to the you tube site - enjoy! I'll pull photo's in the next few days and post later.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3wZDByMpR8

Happy Birthday Sarah Katherine - Home Edition

After school got out SK and I went home to wait for daddy to get off work, then it was time for more celebration! We opened her presents and cards as soon as daddy got home, and apparently this is the year of not looking at the camera EVER. :) Oh well, the memories are captured somewhat! She got some books, a princess castle with 3 princesses, and a kid's digital camera that takes real pictures. As I expected, the camera is her very favorite thing and she has been snapping pic's of most anything! I think she will take after her G'daddy and be a great photographer.

For dinner we asked what she wanted to eat and we would go wherever she wanted. I fully expected "french fries" and was prepared for Chick-Fil-A, but my girl surprised me. For her birthday dinner wish she requested chips - yes chips! So, we loaded up and went to a Mexican restaurant where they keep those chips a-comin'. We had yummy food and then the whole server team came over and sang happy birthday and Sarah Katherine experienced fried ice cream for the first time (she is definitely a fan!).

After we stopped by a friend of David's for a house warming party and it happened to be his wife's birthday too. They were nice enough to sing to both SK and his wife. So this girl got quite the heaping helping of special on her day! It was so much fun because this year she really got "it" and loved her special day.

Happy Birthday Sarah Katherine - School Edition

On September 9th my "baby" girl turned 3 years old! This of course calls for multiple celebrations, so here is post 1 of 3 birthday bashes. :) First stop was for mommy to bring PINK cupcakes to school. Yes, they must be pink because that was all Sarah Katherine talked about! So, I was super pumped to get off work a bit early, go grab some super healthy cupcakes :), and head over to her school. We had lots of fun singing happy birthday, eating some wonderful Publix cupcakes that were hot pink and lime green, and then putting stick on tatoos on all her friends (sorry mom's and dad's, but it was fun!). In her class of 12 there are 4 other kids with birthday's within 10 days of each other, so next year we have plans to get our acts together and combine some of these festivities. Can you say SUPER PARTY?! Oh the party planner in me cannot wait until next year already, but the momma in me says let's take this super slow - I am loving my little 3 year old!

Happy Birthday David!

You are going to see a "happy birthday" trend over the next few posts. August and September are some hopping months when some great people were born! One of those is my fabulous husband who turned 35 this year! I think this year freaked him out a bit, but he handled it gracefully (mostly!). We usually go places rather than give presents, and this year was no exception. We packed up and headed down to the beach for Labor Day weekend. We usually go down around this time every year and I guess it was finally our turn to hit the yucky weather weekend. It rained the whole time we were down there, but we still had a blast! A couple families we are friends with came with their kiddos, so there was always something going on. SK and I were able to sneak about 20 minutes of sand time in before it started sprinkling and my friend was able to get it on film before we had to dash back inside. :) Happy birthday honey - can't wait for the birthdays to come!

Happy Birthday to Daniley!

My friend and I had babies within two weeks of each other and these gals have been able to grow up together, get into all sorts of fun stuff together, and pull on our hearstrings together! This year for Daniley's 3rd birthday she got two fun parties! The first was during the day when her grandmother (who is also a photographer) hosted a fancy tea party for a few girls where she also took pictures. This was such a wonderful idea, and you know my prissy girl had a BLAST with that! Below are some pictures from the shin dig, can you tell SK is eating up every sassy minute?!

Then, that night Daniley had a party at her house where we got to watch Tangled outside. It was a beautiful night and Sarah Katherine had an especially fun time tromping around in her new shoes that light up! I didn't think about that when we were getting ready, but for future reference a drive-in or any outdoor movie is not the best time to let your kid wear the Sketchers sparkly shoes. :) I learn a new lesson every day!

Thanks so much do our friends the Connells for letting us take part in the festivities! We love you!!!