Weekend Happenings

Lily and Levi got violin lessons on Friday afternoon. It was Levi's first, and he was beside himself with excitement! Lily is doing really well with her lessons, although she has a hard time just playing on one string at a time. :)

Jacob taught some private lessons Friday afternoon. Whenever Asher hears the violins start playing, he speed crawls to the door and peeks under. It's so funny! Last week he started banging on the door, so I've had to move him back to the living room to play. 

Asher managed to find the newspaper, which kept him occupied for awhile.

We got a quick supper at 5 Guys and then ran to Target to let the kids pick out something from the dollar section. We aren't paying them to do their chores - because there are just some things you do because you live here and you're part of the family. But we are paying them a little to do extra jobs. They are learning about giving money to the Lord and saving some and having some to spend.

Lily chose to get CandyLand band-aids. She used all 10 of them within 10 minutes...on one doll. :) 

This cheesy boy has got to get a haircut. My word! his hair is out of control!

The most amazing thing happened to me on Saturday. Now, for those of you reading, this is not to get sympathy or make you feel bad for my family. I've rarely talked about our financial struggles on here for those reasons, and the fact that God always provides, but I have to share this, because I saw God answer a specific prayer and I never want to forget it.

It was raining on Saturday afternoon, so as soon as Jacob got home from rehearsal, I headed to the grocery store by myself. I prayed on my way there that God would provide for me to get everything we needed on my list - I wasn't praying for someone to give me money, but that there would be unexpected sales, that I would find manager's specials, and that I would use our money wisely. 

{I know it may seem silly to some to pray over a little thing like this, but God cares even about the sparrows, and I know He cares for even our smallest needs. Side note: My Dad planted the church where I grew up and still go. He worked a secular job on top of being a pastor so he could provide for our family. I remember going shopping every week and my mom praying that God would stretch the money to cover the needs.}

This was my facebook status later in the day: 

    My heart is overwhelmed by the faithfulness of God! Today as I was getting ready to check out at the grocery store, a group of high-school age guys came up to me and said they had some money left over after getting what they needed and they wanted to give it to me to help pay for my groceries. All I could do was blubber out "thank you" through many tears. 

Never underestimate the power of prayer even in "small" things.

Saturday night while I was putting the boys to bed, Lily said she needed to go potty. She got a little chair so she could turn on the light, then all was quiet and I assumed she was doing her business. After I put Asher in bed I went to check on her and this is how I found her. She "did her eyebrows." LOL What I didn't find out until I was doing her hair Sunday morning was that she had also cut her hair with my little scissors! Thankfully it's not in a really noticeable place! She is a mess!

Levi insisted on wearing a tie to church because Uncle Joseph does. He didn't care that I didn't really go with his outfit. ha!

Playing at Grammie's house after Sunday dinner.

I made homemade pizza rolls for a fellowship after church Sunday night. They were soo good!

Sweetie just after waking up from her nap. 

Here's another story about Lily - she had trouble settling down for her nap so she got out of her bed (which she's not supposed to do and she normally doesn't) and closed her door (which I didn't hear because I was in the kitchen) and had a big time playing with her baby dolls. She eventually fell asleep on the floor which is where I found her when she woke up. Like I said, she's a mess!

Reading a bedtime story with Daddy.

What a Weekend!

This past weekend was just crazy busy! It felt like we ran non-stop all weekend. This morning I was just beat! 

Friday - Jacob taught all day, had a wedding rehearsal in the evening. The kids and I ran some errands in the morning and then played at home the rest of the day.

Saturday - Jacob had the prayer breakfast at church and then he was going to go help a family in our church move. The plans got changed and he didn't actually help them move until the afternoon. I loaded up the kids around 9 and headed to get groceries. 

The only picture I got all weekend - Sweet Levi fell asleep half way through shopping. I love how he's holding his toe! Ha.

Since the moving plans changed, we decided to go out for lunch with my sister and her family. We got bar-b-que! It was delicious!

After lunch the guys headed to help unload the moving truck and I got the kids down for naps. Both Lily and Levi are teething and haven't been taking very good naps - so I didn't get much accomplished while they were down. Jacob had the wedding in the evening and the kids and I just played at home.

Sunday - If you read my last post, you know how Sundays go around here. . .well this one started out no differently. Levi, who normally sleeps until 6:30 or 7 in the morning, woke up at 4am and didn't go back to sleep until 6:15. Ugh! As if that wasn't bad enough, I get him down, then go to get a shower. I'm rinsing out my hair and happen to glance up and see a large spider crawling down the shower curtain! Ack! Thankfully my flipflop was within reach, and I killed it, but it took three hard hits to get that tough guy dead! At that point I was just ready to go back to bed and forget that it was Sunday. . .but I didn't.

Even with the rough start, we made it out the door to church with time to spare, lots of time actually, like we got to church 40 minutes early! Miraculous, I tell you!

The rest of Sunday was spent at Jacob's parent's for lunch, home for naps, back to church, then to my parent's for supper.

Despite the busyness, I was thankful to be in the House of the Lord, thankful to fellowship with church family, and thankful for the refreshment for my weary soul.

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; 

and his truth endureth to all generations.

Psalm 100:5

Before and After Video

Jacob put together this video of our precious boy. Hope you enjoy!


We are home and doing well! Levi has been much happier today! We are thankful he is feeling better and healing quickly.

Wide Smiles and Prayer Requests

Someone who had a child with a cleft lip gave me some words of wisdom that I hadn't thought of before - "Enjoy the wide smiles, you will miss them." After Levi's lip is "fixed" he will be able to smile big, but not the wide spread out smiles that he does now. I've been busy catching those sweet smiles on camera, because I think I will miss them!

We are headed to Birmingham tonight since we have to be at Children's at 6 in the morning. Here are several things I would love for you to pray for -

• Safety in traveling (us, family, and friends who will be coming for the surgery)
• Good sleep tonight - Levi can't have any milk after 12am or clear liquids after 4. I'm debating on whether I should wake him up and feed him before 12, or not.
• That Lily would do well staying with Jacob's family. I know she can sense that something is going on, and I just hope she will be a happy girl while we are gone.
• Wisdom beyond themselves for the doctors and nurses who care for our little man.
• That surgery and recovery would go smoothly and Levi would heal quickly.
• For Mama and Daddy as they give their baby over to others to remember that he is in God's Hands. The One who made him will care for him better than we ever can.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouragement! You mean the world to me! I will try to update here tonight and tomorrow, but I will for sure be updating my Kelly Joy Boutique facebook page frequently.

B-I-B-L-E

The B-I-B-L-E

Yes, that's the Book for me!

I stand alone on the Word of God,

The B-I-B-L-E!

Lily was singing/reading to Levi - all I could understand was "Bible" :-)

Protection is of the Lord

I'm sure you've heard about the horrible devastation in Alabama from the massive tornadoes that came through on Wednesday. We are safe and our family and friends are safe, but our hearts are broken, just broken for all who have lost loved ones and/or everything they own. 

We were without power for about 30 hours, but our internet just came back on today. All of our family and church family just got power back last night and today so we have been busy helping them.

This destruction is about 6 miles from where we live. 

God was so merciful to us!

I will be posting more pictures and memories over the next few days since this blog is like our family journal. Would you all please keep our state in your prayers?

Thankful

These pictures were taken on a recent family getaway at a state park. Enjoy!

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise:

Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good: His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

God has truly blessed me beyond measure. My cup runneth over!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Weekend Fun

On Friday, Lily and I met our friend Sarah for lunch at Panera. We had fun chatting and Lily was in a great mood! She kept trying to grab our food and drinks- silly girl.

We had my family over for supper on Friday night. Jacob grilled some yummy hamburgers. I'm ashamed to admit that it was the first time we've entertained since Lily was born- except for several nights a few guys came over to watch a movie, but that doesn't count. Now that it's summertime and Jacob isn't too busy in the evenings, we plan to have friends and family over much more. I love how Dad and Mom both have a grandbaby in the picture. So sweet!

Papaw and Ridley played outside after supper. Ridley loves pulling leaves off the tree!

Lily had fun watching them from her bouncer. She loves being outside!

On Saturday morning we met Jacob's family for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Joseph's girlfriend was in town visiting, so it was fun to spend some time with them. It was fun for PawPaw to be able to come too!

We spent all Saturday afternoon at a youth orchestra concert. It was fun, but oh so long and hot! There was no air conditioning or fans in the gym! I felt so bad for the conductors. Jacob got to conduct a full orchestra of about 80 kids! It was awesome. They only had a week to prepare the pieces because it was like a music camp, but they did so well!

On Saturday evening, we went out to my Memaw's house and visited with some cousins that were in town. This is my cousin Mandy who blogs at Pennies and Blessings.

Everyone had a fun time playing with Lily. She was good even though it was so so hot outside!

Sunday was a great day of being in God's house and fellowshipping with family and friends! Lily kind of had a rough day though- she didn't sleep well the night before and she was so fussy all of Sunday morning. Thankfully she took two great naps Sunday afternoon and was better behaved on Sunday night.

Btw, isn't Lily's dress adorable?! Aunt Myra got it at a yard sale for her. I love it!

We all went to Myra and Ernie's for supper after church. Lily played for a little while in the pack and play with Ridley. They were so cute!

Jacob's family came over for supper last night. Jacob smoked a boston butt- oh it was so yummy! No, Jacob doesn't always cook, but in the summertime he loves grilling and smoking. I definitely don't complain! ha!

I got laid off from my part-time administrative assistant job over the weekend. The company's headquarters are in Florida and they decided to move my position to the home office. I had to pack up my office yesterday and my boss stopped by to get everything. It was hard.

I was planning to quit by the fall, but since Jacob doesn't have a full-time job through the summer, we really needed the money I was making. I know that God's ways are perfect and He will provide for all of our needs. Please keep us in your prayers if you think of it. My Etsy shop is doing really well so we are praying that it will continue to grow. If you know anyone looking for hairbows or pins I would love for you to send them my way! Thanks!

Hope you have a great day!

We Are SO Blessed!

Our weekend started with the celebration of my bro-in-law's birthday. We headed to a catfish restaurant for supper with all the family and then to my in-law's for cake and ice cream.

It was a fun evening. We were especially happy that Jacob's PawPaw could join us for supper. He has really weakened physically since Nanny's passing in December.

Lily spent a lot of time exercising and becoming more mobile. Yes, she started out on the play mat and about 10 minutes later she had scooted herself that far off! Crazy girl. She's going to be running around before I know it!

I'm most of you probably heard about {or experienced} the horrible storms in the south this weekend. It was really rough in Mississippi with many homes destroyed and make lives taken. The same tornadoes were headed straight for where we live in Alabama. I have never been fond of tornadic weather, but ever since I've had Lily, I feel so much responsibility to keep her safe! Myra shared some about that in her post yesterday.

Anyway, our house doesn't have a basement or a safe room, so we always head to our church when there are bad tornados. My Mom, Myra, and I were all on our computers watching to see if we were going to be hit. Praise the Lord, most of the bad stuff went north and south of us. We did have some pretty strong wind and rain, but thankfully no damage! We are so thankful for the Lord's protection!

I made this delicious cheesecake on Saturday night! Mmm, was it so good! For the last 3 or so weeks, I have been off sugar during the week, but allowing myself sweets on the weekends. This little change in my diet has worked wonders on the scale! I'm down 1lb less than my pre-pregnancy weight with Lily!! Woot!! Of course I've been exercising too, but I know sugar was playing a big role in why I wasn't losing the last 7ish lbs!

We ate Sunday dinner with Jacob's family. They also invited my family over as well. This is my sister-in-law, Katie having fun with Lily.

Luke and Joseph were still at home this weekend too. It was so nice to spend some more time with them before they head out to work away from home for several weeks!

I found this precious little dress in a bag of old clothes this past week. It turns out that my Mom smocked it and Myra and I wore it when we were little girls! It was so special to have Lily wear it yesterday.

We ate supper at my parent's after Sunday night church. Lily is very intrigued with her Papaw! He makes all kind of funny animal noises, so all little kids love him!

It was a great weekend! I've been thinking about how blessed we are, with wonderful family nearby, an amazing church, great friends, and safety and protection. God is so good!

Hope ya'll had a wonderful weekend! Happy Monday!