Playgroup Birthday

One of the playgroups I am in does a monthly birthday celebration at a local place called Monkey N' Around. It is an indoor play center with lots of toys, slides, tunnels, etc. Every month the birthday kids have a celebration there and everyone comes to join in the fun. The Moms bring snacks, the kids play and of course the birthday cuties celebrate and everyone sings HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAILEY!

Birthday Cuties!

Kailey's actual birthday...

I am WAY behind on updating this... Kailey's birthday was January 3rd. She turned TWO! Well, we didn't have her birthday party with friends until the 10th, but on her actual birthday we asked her what she wanted to do and she said "CHUCK E CHEESE" over and over until we said we would take her there. CEC is her favorite place to go, she loves the pizza and she is really good at some of the games. Here are some pictures from our time there...

I can't believe my baby is two!

Daniel

This week my Monday night group finished our Beth Moore study. We were studying Daniel. It was EXCELLENT! I had never studied Daniel before so I was especially interested. It was a 12 week study and was broken into two 6 week sessions. The first 6 weeks was mostly about Daniel's life and how he faced similar pressures and temptations as we face in today's world. We learned by Daniel's modeling how to keep integrity in today's crazy world. The second 6 weeks was my favorite as it was about the prophecies from the time of Daniel through the second coming of Christ. It was thrilling and so rewarding. I love to read God's word and I really love when I grasp an understanding of it all.

Below is a brief blurb of the study:

Beth Moore's study, Daniel: Lives of Integrity, Words of Prophecy shows how individuals can live with integrity in today's self-absorbed society. Join Beth in a faith-building study of prophecy and learn how to shine for Christ in our modern culture. Just as the prophet Daniel faced unbelievable pressures—to compromise his faith, to live in a hostile culture, and to confront temptations and threats—today's believers face many of the same trials.

Now that we have completed this study we are deciding on which one to do next, I will keep you posted!

Just Hanging Around...

Just hanging around...

Greg and Kailey are quite the silly pair. Kailey knows that when she hears Daddy's truck that the silliness is about to begin. I LOVE it when Greg gets home because Kailey gets SOOOO excited to see him! She starts with the air kisses the second she hears his truck, she runs to the door, screams with excitment and this is all before he even walks in. Once he is inside she grabs his legs and squeals with glee. Greg usually needs a few minutes to decompress after work and then the silly games begin. They start the tickle game, hide and seek, they run races, play with the dogs, and the latest favorite is the upside down hanging game you can see pictured above. KAILEY LOVES IT! She giggles like crazy when she is "hanging" upside down and then wants "more, more, more" when she is right side up. It is really funny, but boy does it make me nervous:)

Happy New Year 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The guys...

The girls...

We spent our New Year's Eve with some wonderful friends. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, desserts and of course games and great conversations. This was a kid-friendly night so Kailey had fun staying up late and partying with her buds. We celebrated at 11 instead of midnight so we could be off the road before the drunks we out:) We are excited to see what 2009 brings. 2008 was a WONDERFUL year for the Blanchard family so we are excited to see what the New Year will bring.

Kailey and her horn!

Kailey and Hayley

Daddy, Kailey and Mommy

Christmas 2008 Recap

Christmas 2008 was really wonderful. This was THE BEST Christmas! All of my family was together and that is what made it so wonderful. The yummy food, fun conversations, games, The Christmas Program, the carriage ride, dinners out and of course Santa coming made this Christmas so memorable and special. Kailey was SOOO in to Christmas this year, she loved tearing the presents open. Santa left some presents unwrapped and the kids really liked that. Both Timmy and Kailey had a wonderful time and had HUGE smiles all morning long. The adults got some great gifts too, but I think our favorite part was watching Kailey and Timmy open all of their presents. Kailey got TONS of awesome gifts, but I think a couple of her favorites were her dollhouse, MORE babies, her shopping cart and the highchair and cradle for her babies. She was really fun to watch this year as she really understood the idea of opening presents. She was so sweet, after she would open a present she would go and tell the person who gave it to her "thank you" and would give them a BIG hug, she is truly a sweet child.

YAY! Daddy's new toy!

stealing Mommy's new purse!

Twenty-Seven

I can't believe I am 27 years old... Where in the world has the time gone??? I turned 27 on December 23rd and I must say that this year was one of my most favorite adult birthdays. Why, you might wonder?? Because I got to spend it with my incredible family! I spent my birthday with my Mom, both brothers, both sisters, my nephew and of course my wonderful husband and beautiful daughter. It was so great to look around and see my family. It is not often that we are all together so I really cherished this special time.

We were in Oklahoma for my special day. We went to one of my favorite places, BRAVO! YUM! It was delicious! We enjoyed a yummy meal and then headed back to the house for dessert and presents. My middle brother, Jon, has his birthday on December 19th so we "shared" our birthday's this year. After dessert and presents we played some games and visited.

Thank You to my wonderful family for making my day so special.

Happy Birthday Kailey!!!

Yes, I know I am a day late in writing this, but my excuse is a good one... We were too busy celebrating Kailey's birthday for me to have time to write anything:) Yesterday was so fun! We had a family day to celebrate and boy did we love every second of it! Kailey's favorite place in the whole world is CHUCK E CHEESE, the three days before her birthday she kept asking to go to "Chuck Cheese" so we took her there for her birthday lunch. She had a ball! Eating pizza, drinking coke and running around the place like a wild woman! She was worn out by two so we headed home for a nap. We had a special dinner, opening presents from Mommy and Daddy and then sang Happy Birthday. Kailey was our helper in the singing department. She knows "Happy Birthday to you" so she kept singing that--it was VERY cute! We had some cake and then headed out for ice cream. We really enjoyed this family day. I cannot believe Kailey is TWO. It just seems like yesterday she was born. Time is flying by... I am just so glad I get to spend every day with her. She makes EVERY SINGLE DAY so wonderful.

Her birthday party with friends is next Saturday and boy are we busy getting ready for that! We are doing a "Candy Shop" theme and everything is turning out great! I am SO EXCITED!!We have some fun surprises in store so stay tuned for details...

Lucky Girl

Kailey will be TWO tomorrow, and let me just tell you, she is one LUCKY little lady.

This is what she is getting for her birthday from some special loved ones...

We have been doing TONS of research and this seemed to fit with our criteria. It is just perfect for Kailey. And I might add it is perfect for Greg too, because the company (Rainbow) comes and sets it up at your home! YAY! Also, if we ever move, they will come and disassemble it, pack it all up and set it up wherever we may move. Awesome, right!?!? It has a great slide, clubhouse, rock wall, swings, a monkey bar, picnic table, tic-tack-toe spinner, binoculars, a picnic table, safety ladder, and more!! Plus, a REALLY great warranty!

The website of the company is www.kidstructures.com they have some great products if you are in the market for a play structure.

I CAN'T WAIT to see Kailey play on it!

Sorry...

I know, I haven't updated in a while. I promise to update soon, once i get a chance to upload pics from my birthday and Christmas!



Stay Tuned for Birthday, Christmas and New years Pics!!

The Christmas Train

Last night Greg, Kailey and I went to something called The Christmas Train, at a local church. It was AWESOME!! We were not sure what to expect, but our friends that had already been there said it was something really special.

When we arrived at the church and went in the main building we were greeted by friendly faces and THOUSANDS of Christmas lights, about 10 Christmas trees, live Christmas music, and of course SANTA!! Once we made our way to the ticket counter we noticed other booths serving hot cocoa, pizza, cotton candy, cookies, etc. I got a small hot cocoa and boy was it yummy.

We purchased our tickets for the train and while we waited we enjoyed listening to the music, and Kailey and Greg had fun dancing. They also had a really cute area set up for the kids with bounce houses, santa and really cute Christmas activities.

Once we boarded the train Kailey started yelling "ChooChoo"" ChooChoo" she was so very excited! The train ride lasted about 12 minutes and it shared the true meaning of Christmas with all of the passengers, it was so special and touching. I was really glad to see so many people interested in something like this. It is really refreshing to have a night out with like-minded people.

Anyone living in the Houston area should check it out- here is the link http://www.thechristmastrain.org/

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Baking...

This past week I pretty much baked something Christmas-like EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!! This is how it went down in the Blanchard Kitchen:

Monday: Make (from scratch) all the dough for 12 DOZEN cookies

Tuesday: Baked 12 DOZEN Christmas Cookies

Wednesday: Make 2 Christmas Tree Cakes and 4 pounds of fudge

Thursday: Make 100 edible snowmen

Friday: Make 2 loaves of homemade breakfast bread, and make divinity.

Saturday: KITCHEN CLOSED!

Kailey and I had LOTS of fun baking it up this past week, but boy did I get in over my head. My problem... to many new recipes to try! Everything turned out fantastic especially the 144 cookies and the edible snowmen.

The kitchen is closed for the rest of the year, so don't call me if you need something baked!

Christmas Crafts

Kailey has been VERY busy this month making various Christmas crafts. We have made everything from ornaments to mini trees to our own Christmas cards to gift bags and EVERYTHING in between. Kailey LOVES art so it has made the season very fun for both of us!




We decided to make a few special gift bags for the extra special presents. Kailey painted the bags with fingers, toes and paintbrushes. They really turned out cute and I am sure the reciepients will love them as well.

Elf on the Shelf...

This year we started something fun for Kailey (and future children) at Christmas time. It is called "Elf on a Shelf."

It's meant to be a new Christmas tradition for your family. We've been participating since Thanksgiving and boy are we hooked!

Here's how it works. Mr. Elf comes to visit your home during the holidays. He watches over the home and reports back good deeds to Santa each night. The next morning he comes back and sits in a new location. Your kids get to search him out each day. Kailey LOVES this part! On Christmas Eve he returns to the North Pole and stays their until next year.

Here's how it goes at our house: every night before bed we read the book "Elf on the Shelf" and kiss Mr. Elf goodnight, then Kailey goes to bed, when she wakes up the first thing we do is hunt for the elf. She LOVES this part! We search high and low andHere's how it goes down at our house. Once we find the elf we kiss him good morning and go on with our day. I think as Kailey gets older she will better understand the idea that the elf reports back to Santa part, but for now she is enjoying hunting for him and reading the cute book.

We named our elf something special but for now we are keeping his name within our family.

Just another special touch to the Christmas season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

More Pictures...

oops... these didn't load onto the last blog:

Christmas Countdown...

So, we decided to start a Christmas countdown 12 days before Christmas. We thought that it would help Kailey to see how many days left until she can tear into all of the presents she has been looking at under the tree. We made a paper garland with red and green paper, we have 12 loops, and each day we cut one off, so we can all see how many days are left until the craziness of present opening begins. Kailey LOVES to use the garland as a scarf and is really great at cutting each days loop off (with her safety sissors of course).

Christmas Pictures

On December 2nd we had Kailey's Christmas pictures taken and boy are they cute. It was so hard to decide which ones to buy. She did really great and smiled the whole time and really LOVED being the center of attention... imagine that?!?!

Below are a few of our favorites...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Silly Little Kailey

The last few nights Kailey has been quite the silly girl at dinner. A few nights ago she started to lean in for a kiss and then when we would get close she would move and then CRACK UP! She made a game of it, leaned in for the kiss and then tricked us! She was really having fun being silly. When I pulled the camera out she started to pretend to kiss the camera and then giggle- so silly. She brings so much joy to our lives, moments like this remind me of how very blessed Greg and I are!

Dear Santa...

A Mom's Letter to Santa (from my friend Kathryn's blog)


Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold Sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over Several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my daughter's red Crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, 'Yes, Mommy' to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting 'Don't eat in the Living room' and 'Take your hands off your brother,' because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a Vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.