Happy 8th Birthday, Makenzie!

Happy 8th Birthday to our sweet Makenzie! What an absolute delight to have in our lives :) Makenzie is always full of love, happiness, free-spirited energy, and tons of compassion. She's loving school, singing in the school chorus, playing hand chimes & singing at the church choir, and rockin' on the soccer field!!! We couldn't be happier to be her Mommy and Daddy :)

Student of the Month

What a great way to start your birthday week... Makenzie was chosen as Student of the Month for showing excellent citizenship skills! THAT'S MY GIRL :)

We're so proud of her hard work so far this year. She absolutely loves school and her teacher... couldn't ask for anything more!

Funny Face

"Mommy, can I play on your phone?"

This is what I get when Dannen asked to play a game on my phone... sneaky! No electronic device is safe around my little guy lol

LOVE how blue his eyes are!!!

Strep Hits Kaylie

Mark down 1-Strep, 0- Kaylie... Our little one came home Thursday complaining of a sore throat. With no fever Friday, I opted to still send her to school, even with a sore throat. She's a trooper, and I knew that if she was really uncomfy, she would head to the nurse. Thankfully, her nurse gave her ice chips to suck on all day. That night she was pretty quiet and didn't want to do much of anything. Thankfully, the weather was horrible enough to cancel soccer on Saturday, which meant no rush to try and prepare while not feeling 100%. After super sad faces, lots of wanting to sleep, and wincing while swallowing, Kaylie and I headed up to the Walgreens Care Clinic. (The night before William had a lock-in with the Youth at church, so he was tired. All three kids spent the night at our friend's house since I had to work late, too.) William, Makenzie and Dannen all passed out @11:30am, so it was perfect timing to head to the doctor. After a very long wait, the strep test came back positive... KEFLEX, please! Glad the doctor trip happened on a Saturday... no church or Sunday school, but able to go to school :) We'll be chatting with her usual doctor to discuss possible plans for a tonsillectomy in the near future...

SOCCER!

We LOOOOVVEEEE soccer! Never would have thought our family would watch, let alone play soccer. With the new fall season upon us, lots of practices and fun times are to be had:

William with his buddy's Nick and Roy. Nick joined the military last Spring, so seeing him was an absolute delight!!!

Kaylie and Dannen were cuddling to stay warm! Since Dannen and Makenzie played at the same time, Kaylie stayed with him through halftime, then switched places with me to cheer for Makenzie. Kaylie helps during his practice :)

 Makenzie looked GREAT on the field! Always smiling, Makenzie was the best defensive player we had with a 6-0 win :) So excited to watch her grow this season! 

 Dannen loves playing defender... so being the tallest has it's benefits lol Even though he's only 4 1/2, Dannen gets to play up on the Kindergarten team. Great job scoring a goal, buddy!

 If great things come in small packages, then it'd have Kaylie's picture on it! She was so fast all over the field, hustling like a pro :) Now that she plays on the 5th/6th grade team, she uses the HUGE fields... lots of running this season :)

So thankful for the beautiful weather, great location and super talent of our kids... proud Mommy and Daddy!!!

Baby BELL

Leave it to Kaylie to find an injured *tiny* bird... After our kids were brought home from a friend's house Friday afternoon, I was chatting with her and heard Kaylie shouting to meet me by our backyard's fence. She found a little Hummingbird, injured, fluttering just about an inch off the ground, under a bush. How she found it is beyond me, but she was instantly emotional, freaking out! Thankfully, William pulled up in the driveway moments later and helped rescue the bird. Between all three kids trying to see and MANY concerned tears from Kaylie, William brought the bird into the house (OMG, my mom would have died on the spot lol). We had a nice sized plastic tote that the kids quickly filled with grass, branches, flowers, rocks and a towel folded into a nest shape. Our newest "patient" was named "BELL" :) She could barely fly, as you could see one of her wings wasn't working properly. Kaylie and I made a quick trip to Walmart to get some Hummingbird nectar... always wanted a Hummingbird feeder (my Grandma Haynes' favorite bird), so this was the time! We got home and made the mixture, holding the container up to it's beak. It was awesome watching it's super tiny tongue poking out the end, drinking the nectar!!! We kept "BELL" safe, well ventilated, and away from the kittens/noise. Sunday after church, Kaylie moved the lid to the side to check on "BELL" and what do you know, she flew! And HIGH! And FAST! lol It took a few minutes, but after carefully coaxing her onto a branch, she was taken outside to fly away. Our kids were both sad and happy... sad that their little patient was gone, but happy that because of their care and love, "BELL" was still alive and healthy.

Our Hummingbird feeder is hung right outside our kitchen window, where we constantly watch to see if "BELL" comes to visit :)

Kaylie's 10th Tooth

Not to be outdone, Kaylie pulled out her 10th tooth!!! I think she'll be a dentist some day... no fear! Very proud of her and her determination :) Tooth Fairy brought her (2) quarters, just like Makenzie got, as a great job on # 10 lol

Moore Friends

One of the very first friends we made here in TN was the Moore family... they greeted us at church, and the rest was history :)

Here's a look a what a difference a year can be...

September 2012

Boys being boys

Makenzie & William

Kris, Kaylie & Allyssa

Dannen & Johnathan

December 2012 

Play date together

September 2013

McDonald's trip for ice cream!

We've been happy to have the Moore kiddos at our house this school year. They ride the bus home with our girls and stay until @6 each weekday. Definitely makes for a house-full LOL

Back-to-School Belly Bugs

With each new school year beginning, you can bet the germs are spread... 2/3 of my kids got hit with something this year.

Poor Makenzie woke up one Saturday morning feeling VERY green. When she asks for "the bowl", you better bet we know know what's coming :( Her body was on fire, and since I ran out of liquid Tylenol, I had her take an adult pill... but someone didn't want to swallow it, chewing it to death. Oh yeah, that made the sickness 10 times worse... every 10 minutes for 2 hours meant she and "the bowl" met one another again...

 A bath with our "baking soda" magic finally helped her belly calm down...

 SOOO glad the smiles came back!

 Dannen started with the sniffles and chest congestion a few days later... poor little guy didn't know what to do with himself! After getting down some chicken noodle soup, which he does not like except for when he's sick, he begged me to make a "tent" under our coffee table. Sure enough, when it came time for a nap, he crawled underneath and passed out...

So glad we're passed the yuck phase... hope it stays away as long as possible!