Been awhile...

 

 Well, hello again.  It's been since ahhh, February since I last posted.  Life has been lived, and lived well since we last spoke.  (I realize I'm talking to myself and maybe 3 other people at this point ;)

 I hoped I would get back here, and I resisted the urge to purge all my pictures from the last 5 months and just start up-to-date.  But then I looked at my babies faces, and how much they've grown and changed since February I HAD to save the memories.  Even if they were just of ho-hum everyday life.

The rest of February looked like this...

Cousins came from Alabama,

Trace placed 1st in sparring and 3rd in form in a karate tournament.

It was a big day!

 March brought birthday celebrations...





and Keatyn's discovery of Nanny's clip on earrings...



and the ability to dress herself.



On March 28th, we closed on our new house and April 4th was our last night at 1317 Lower Mill Road. :(   Bittersweet!

A few nights into the new house, and I was BEYOND grateful for a finished basement where we spent the night waiting out a tornado warning. They never even knew they had been removed from their beds.  Ahhh, to be an oblivious kid again!



First grade field day fun!



Some sweet girlfriends and I went to see Zac Brown Band.  Always a fun girls night out!

 

 Keatyn got her first "professional" haircut. 

Then in April, we headed down to Alabama to watch Nelson play baseball and have an Easter Egg Hunt with all the cousins!

 

 


Easter Sunday...



A little golf with Granddaddy after church...





Then onto Nana and Papaw's for Easter dinner with the family.





In May, we said goodbye to 1st grade and our PRECIOUS Mrs. Sabourin.  I had no idea on the first day of school (picture on the left) what a blessing this woman would be to my boy and our family.  God made some people to be teachers, and she was one! 



Last day of school fun!

 

 

One Friday night around 11:30 I got a text from Aunt Kadi that said something like... "Hey, we just bought Keatyn a house.  hee hee"  I read it in my sleep and had to look at my phone the next morning to see if I'd dreamed it.  I replied, "Should I be scared?!?" 

A few weeks later, this was delivered to my backyard. Well, HELLO house...



That's probably the last Habitat for Humanity auction my brother ever lets her go to. :) We had to stop calling it the "doll house" because Trace was getting offended.  But lets face it, it's got flowers in the window boxes, a kitchen with plastic food inside, and a Hello Kitty "Home Sweet Home" flag hanging on the wall. 

This thing has a real shingled roof and windows that open WITH screens!!  It's amazing!  And so very sweet of them.  Kadi said when she saw it, she immediately thought of her and her sister playing in theirs until they were WAY too old, and she wanted Keatyn to have one.  Love her!

Since we've moved in, I've got lots of projects planned.  Most involve painting something, like this mirror, or 3 rooms. ;)  I'm a scavenger.  Just because we move into a new house, doesn't mean we get all new stuff.  I'm determined to "repurpose" our old stuff to fit our new.  We've been here 3 months next week and I've yet to put a nail hole in the wall.  I have pictures sitting on the floor all over the house, just so I can make sure it's where I want them.  I think I'm ready... bring on the hammer!



We've been to the pumpkin patch on Signal Mtn. 3 times since schools been out.  It's quickly becoming my favorite playground.

 

 We've spent time with sweet friends...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trace is working on his blue belts in Karate...

We've celebrated Mother's Day...

 

 We've spent time at the lake...

 

 

 

We've watched Daddy's weigh-ins...

We've learning to share our crab legs...
(Boy, she's not going to be a cheap date.  That girl loves her some crab legs and steak.
And she's apparently willing to kiss boys to get them.)



We've been to the Creative Discovery Museum while Trace was at Minecraft camp...

 

 

 

We've painted with long time, precious friends...

 

We had Weird Animals VBS at church...

 

 

 And went to Lyndsey and Ryan's wedding...

 

We even caved in and became a mini van family.  I said I never would. I fought it for years with my SUVs.  But with the commute to CCS, the gas mileage was killing me!  We knew we needed to trade my Armada with over 110K miles on it, so we took the plunge.  I'm shocked to say, I'm loving it!!!  When we hit 24.3 miles per gallon on the way to Destin the other day, I nearly cried.

 

 

 

So that's what life's been like around here.  I'm blessed beyond measure.  Love my family and friends!!