To protect the innocent......

You know the show where they say that they are changing the names to protect the innocent? I can't remember the name of it, but it makes perfect sense. I have made a decision that I would edit all of my previous posts, and would change the names of my children on this blog. I will no longer be referring to them by their real names, but nicknames that we call them at home.

So that there is no confusion, I will explain,

*Our oldest daughter, her "blog name" will be Beatrice. She is 11 years old and going into the 6th grade.
*Our second daughter will be called Gertie. She is 7 years old and will be in the 2nd grade this year.
*Our son will simply go by "Mr. Man". I have called him that since birth, and it is fitting since everyone always says that he is a little man. He is 2 years old.

I am sure that all of you Moms out there understand my fear. I do not want anyone to harm my children in any way, and feel that I need to protect them. I am reminded that although I have SEVERAL irrational fears, that I must follow my instinct on this one.

I have already changed their names throughout the entire blog, so for those of you who are new, there should be no confusion. For those who know us personally, you will catch on quickly!

Thank you for your understanding!

Blessings,
Kim

In control.......

You might want to get a snack and a coke for this one....


Whew....times have certainly changed. I remember being in elementary school and coming home after a long day. The only thing that I thought of was playing! I didn't want to do homework or straighten my room (some things never change), I just wanted to go outside and play. Remember how we would throw our books down and run for the nearest door? I would be gone until dark-thirty for sure! My Mom would just KNOW that I was okay and didn't bother me.....the feeling was mutual, cause I knew that if I bothered her I would have to do work! So, off we would go...around the neighborhood-around the crazy neighbor who would always try to talk to you (don't ask-I still have nightmares) and we would just play. Not a care in the world.....

Fast forward a FEW years.....(at least in my mind)


My kids are what you would call inside folk.

They like to play outside, but not like we did. It makes me feel sad for them. They don't have neighborhood kids to play with. They do have each other, and that was more than I had. Being the only child was often not fun.........but I am okay with it....
Really.......(sniff-sniff). I am well adjusted!! LOL!! (Just kidding Momma)

Anyway, back on topic. Follow me here, I promise this will make sense. So, I realized that part of the reason that my kids don't play outside is me!! I am a crazy, paranoid Momma! When they go outside, I worry...
I worry that a snake will come from the lake and sniff them out and bite their little heads off.

I worry that the mosquitoes that are biting them will certainly give them west nile virus.

I worry that someone will come into the yard and snatch them (although they would most certainly beg to return them!).

I worry that someone will fall, break a limb, and I won't hear them.

See?

It is my fear that keeps them from the childhood that they deserve (example: the candy...........if you don't understand-you will have to go back and read previous posts)

What in the world did our parents do? I mean, if we were gone too long, they would come out and look for us, but I do not ever remember hearing "Did you put some bug repellent on? Don't talk to strangers, remember, STRANGER DANGER! "

And I can assure you that I never, not once heard "Watch out for snakes, cause they will bite your head off".

Where in life do you get the fear? Is it when your child is born and God says "Here is your beautiful child that I have allowed you to borrow....oh, yeah and here is your own personal helping of fear!"

I don't think so.........

I think that we have become a world that is riddled with fear. We cannot turn on the news without hearing about how some poor child has been taken-or worse. I cringe at the thought of something happening to my precious babies.

As we speak, my eldest child is at Mission Impact 08'. She is in Orlando....without me....for the first time.

It was hard to let her go, but I knew that I had to. She was more than ready and wanted the opportunity to share her faith with others. I have talked to her several times and she is having a blast! I am glad that I let her go, but I miss her terribly! She called on Sunday to let us know that they went and prayed for the little girl that has been missing for 2 months in Orlando. She said that the press was everywhere. She got really upset and realized that it was a little to close for her. See, her brother is 2, and she said that she couldn't imagine what the family must be feeling. Wow, that was a hard parenting moment. She was not here for me to comfort, so I just reminded her who is in control.

As I remind her, I need to remind myself. God is in control of every situation.

Every.

Situation.

So, I will allow them to play outside with the mutant mosquitoes, man-eating snakes, and the people that could possibly lurk in the bushes. All the while I will remember that I turned out fine....and I played outside everyday.

Blessings,
Kim

ABC's of Me........

A. Attached or single? Happily attached
B. Best friend? I am blessed with several...Jennifer, Charnelle, Lori, Christy and Tracey
C. Cake or Pie? Hmmm........depends-I love key lime pie and I love the volcano cake at The Chart House
D. Day of choice? Sunday
E. Essential items? My Bible, cleaning products, lotion (current fav. is Enchanted Orchid)
F. Favorite color(s)? Sage and yellow
G. Gummy bears or worms? Worms
H. Hometown? Starke, Florida
I. Favorite indulgence? I love birthday cake ice cream and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
J. January or July? January...I love the cold!
K. Kids? 3 blessings....2 girls and 1 boy
L. Life isn't complete without? Jesus
M. Marriage date? May 25, 1996
N. Number of brothers and sisters? None....I am the only :0(
O. Oranges or apples? Oranges
P. Phobias? I really don't like clowns or spiders
Q. Quotes- No matter how bad it is, it ain't that bad! I really have too many to put here...I love quotes!
R. Reasons to smile? I am bought and paid for by my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ :0), my hubby loves me, my children love me, I have wonderful family and friends, I have a roof over my head and food on the table, my kids are healthy, God has given me numerous blessings that I do not deserve!!
S. Season of choice? Winter......around the holidays (although in Florida we don't get alot of true winters!)
T. Times I've gotten a ticket? 4 or 5??? I can't remember!
U. Unknown fact about me? I would love to be in a broadway show
V. Vacation of choice? I love New York and California...if money were no object, I would go on a cruise around the world.
W. Worst habit? Procrastination and being a perfectionist (I know, it doesn't make sense)
X. X-ray or ultrasound? X-ray (ultrasounds aren't fun when there is no baby to look at).
Y. Your favorite food? Mexican or Korean....the hotter the better!
Z. Zodiac sign? Aquarius.....but I don't really pay attention to any of that.

I thought that I would do something fun for this post, and maybe it would give you some insight to what makes me tick. I hope that you are having a blessed day!
Blessings,
Kim

And they're off.............

We entered into that stage of childhood/teenage development last year (sometime in October) where we try to straighten what has become crooked about their smile. Beatrice was very excited to get braces, and thought that it was neat.......for a while. I have always felt strongly about my children getting braces. If they needed them, I would find a way to make it happen. Fortunately, some family members were a few steps ahead of us, and helped us find a good doctor. We love our doctor....... Dr. Timothy Wheeler He is great with Beatrice, and is very good at explaining everything that he is doing. He is at the University of Florida School of Orthodontics.

Before she got the braces on, we wanted to take pics of her teeth

This pic was actually a while before, but you get the idea...

She has had her braces for months and we were gonna see how all of the teeth were coming in (or out) and decide what to do next. Two visits ago, Dr. Wheeler decided that she could have them taken off, and would fit her for a retainer.

The day we went to have them off

I know that it probably seems weird, but I was kinda sad to see them go! I think that she looked cute with them, and made me feel like she was still a little girl.

So, after he took them off, she said that they felt slick and weird! She is trying to adjust to the retainer, and has a hard time saying some words, but is getting used to the different feeling.

She has lost another tooth since Tuesday, so she has 2 big gaps now! We have told her that we could put a chicklet in the space to fill it.......she is not too keen on that!

This is with the retainer..........

This is without the retainer.......

So, now all we have to do is allow some teeth to come in. She may have to get braces again, but we will have to wait and see.

She had these taken off on Tuesday and boy, was that a day!!!! I will explain in a later post. Here's a hint: 3 sick kids, a hospital visit and a spanning of 3 counties!!

Blessings,

Kim

New Look.........What do you think?

So, since I started blogging in April, I have not liked the look of my blog. I have tried 2 or 3 different templates, and just got tired of them after a while. So I found a website of someone who has several free templates (free is always good :0) ! ) so I thought that I would take advantage of her hospitality. I downloaded this template.....what do you think? I kinda like it, and it is a good change from what I had before. I will keep it until something else catches my eye. Check out Amy's website at Split Decisionz . She has some really neat ideas for blogging. I also checked her "about me" and see what a neat person she is! She is a mother to 3 boys (bless her!) and she writes or contributes to several blogs. I also invite you to check out another of her blogs, In Pursuit of Proverbs 31 This sweet lady loves the Lord and is sharing her talent to shine Jesus to others. Please check out her sites, she is truly a blessing.
I hope that you are having a wonderful day!
Blessings,
Kim

Sour face!

What is it about lemons that kids find fascinating? It seems as though no child can resist that yellow ball of pure sour. Well, I have given Mr. Man a taste of lemon before, but he hasn't asked for a while to have another one. On Saturday night, I was cutting some and he kept saying "Mommie I want some". I figured that he would take one lick and throw it away, but he was persistant in trying to conquer over that lemon. I had to grab my camera to try to capture this quest.........

Blessings,

Kim

Summer Fun...........

Okay, so since we have decided that we are not going on any type of vacation, the family made a purchase that would benefit all of us and make the summer a little more bearable. The girls got gift cards from Wal-Mart for their birthdays, and made the decision to buy a "family" item. With a little help from other family members, we were able to buy a pool. Sounds simple, right? Well, lets just say.................NOT!! Did I mention that we live on a hill? Poses a little problem, right? NO...a huge problem!!! So, after all of the work ( I will spare you on all of the horrific details) and the filling and dumping of the water 2 times, we finally have our pool filled!! YEAH!! The kids are really enjoying it-which was the desired affect! So I wanted to post some pics of them swimming..........

Blessings,

Kim

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe that it has been 17 days since I last blogged. Alot has been going on!! For starters, we had our Vacation Bible School at church last week. That in itself is enough to make anyone exhausted!! I love VBS, and look forward to helping every year. This year's theme was Power Lab. We had alot of science experiments and the stage was set up to look like a lab. We are very blessed to have the best children's pastor, ever!! Bro. Jeff Summers and his wife Carol Ann do a wonderful job of bringing God's Word down to the kids level. This year is very special to me, because Gertie asked Jesus into her heart on Friday. I found out from another leader and ran upstairs to see what was going on. She was talking with Mrs. Gina and when I asked her what she was doing, she said "Asking Jesus into my heart." Of course, if you know me, that was all it took.....I was boo-hooing all over the place. I made sure that she understood everything, and then we went downstairs to tell a few special people about her decision. While we were walking around she said "Mommie, I can't stop crying!!" I told her not to worry, because I couldn't either! So, Friday was very special for us. She is a special little girl and I am glad to know that my two daughters are going to be with me in Heaven! Gertie will be baptized on Sunday night. But for now, we will continue to pray for Mr. Man........God will certainly have His work cut out for Him there!! lol!!
We have also been doing some work in the yard. No, not the normal kind-we have been putting up an above ground pool. Let me say this.......we live on the lake...on a HILL!! Yeah, I know, not the most convenient place to put a pool, but we thought that it should be easy enough to dig into the ground to make it level.........after 3 tries we still don't have it level!! So, needless to say, this has been aggrevating!! The girls had some gift certificates from their birthday and other holidays and wanted to use them to buy the pool. With our situation and with gas prices, we thought that it would be a good idea for some built in summer fun. I think that it will be as soon as it is level!! So, we will be swimming in a pool that is leaning to one side-at least for a couple of days. We have told the kids every day that they had to wait....I can't bear to make them wait anymore! Mr. Man keeps saying that he wants to go "simming, Mommie". Sometimes you have to laugh so you won't cry!! When we actually get IN the pool I will post some pics, but until then, say a prayer that we can actually get in it!
Blessings,
Kim