Happy 6th Birthday, "Katie Boo"

What can I say about our sweet Katie Boo? I mean really, she is amazing. I know I'm completely biased, but she is creative, brilliant, sharp, witty, beautiful, & sweet. She likes to know that we're close by but is independent enough to go to school with no hesitation. However, if you start talking about her going off to college, she starts crying. She says she is going to build a house in the backyard and live near us forever. We'll see how she feels about that in about 10 years...or less! LOL

A typical day will find Katie inventing something with a box, string, & paper. It will find her enjoying some television on Disney Channel...'Phineas & Ferb' being one of her favorites. It will find her playing in the backyard, practicing baseball. It will find her inviting us to "book club" or a "party" she is creating. It will find her giving us hugs and wanting to "be with us." It will find her dancing around and teasing with her Daddy. It will find her playing the DS or Wii (well, if the Wii hadn't been stolen anyway.)

She is a pro at school, just like her sister, yet...different. She & Gracie are night & day in personality, yet both so wonderful. Katie is our little social butterfly and such a tom boy. I just washed & put Toy Story sheets on her bed that she got for her birthday. There was a time I never would have bought something like that for her...my little girl...but they made her so very happy, and you only turn 6 once! She loves to be with her Daddy, loves to play baseball with him in the backyard (she will start playing softball in April!) She has her friends who are girls and likes girly things, BUT she also has quite a handful of friends who are boys (one of her favorites is 16 years old...LOL) and likes "boy" things, too. The girl loves Toy Story and Spiderman, etc.

She has turned into such a wonderful little reader! She wants her turn at reading from the Bible if Gracie is asked to read their Bible Reading to us. She still needs some help with some words, but she is definitely a real reader, and we are so proud of her! She has done such a good job with learning her memory verses for Bible Class. Her favorite song is, "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High." I love to see & hear her sing during church! She likes to write stories and even wrote a song the other day. Very cute. She has a mind for math like I've rarely seen. The card I found for her is perfect! She can figure out mathematical things in her mind quickly & with little hesitation...definitely NOT like me! She is a problem solver extraordinaire! She definitely thinks outside the box. I'm a little jealous of her really, and the way her mind works.

I love Katie's smile! Not her frozen, fake smile she sometimes gives for pictures, but her genuine, joy filled smile. The smile she gives when her Daddy does something she thinks is hilarious. The smile she gives when her favorite 16 year old, "Juice," picks her up and talks to her. The smile she gives when something exciting happens. I LOVE to hear her deep laugh. It just makes me think of innocence & joy filled childhood. I love her passion! True, her passion sometimes gets her into trouble, but focused on the right things, it will serve her well in life. She is full of drama and just so much fun.

THANK YOU, GOD for blessing our lives with Katie Brooklyn Shanks!
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Chris stayed home this morning for a bit, so she got pancakes for a birthday breakfast.

Her gifts await!

She was so excited to come downstairs to see her presents this morning.

She got a cute dress from Grammer & Pappy. She also got a Toy Story "snuggie" that I haven't gotten a picture of yet.

She said we need to wait until Spring to fly the kite.

She enjoys listening to cd's at night, so this cd can be added to her collection. She already read some of the book before school. I think she will spend many happy hours curled up in her new chair.

Emotional Overload pt. 1

So Sunday night during church, I had to get up & leave because I got upset. The whole weekend had been difficult, but during that time, I was mentally going through my jewelry box, thinking of what was in there. (I know, that's not what I was supposed to be thinking about during church.)

All of a sudden, it hit me: Bigmother's baby ring! I have had my grandmother's baby ring for a long time and have successfully not lost it, so to think that I may have lost it this way was just too much. Chris was home with Katie, who was sick, which was yet another reason for stress, so I immediately called him to have him check in Gracie's jewelry box. He thought he found it, thankfully, but we weren't sure until I got home and could make sure that's what it was. I am grateful that her ring was safe. I am grateful for the friend who knew me well enough to know that I needed someone to follow me and cry with me.

They did get my other grandmother's (Maw Maw) watch which was special to me. She actually let me have it before she passed away. After she passed away, I was blessed to be able to have a pendant that had a small diamond in it. The diamond had originally been in her engagement ring. To think that someone has that is very upsetting. It wasn't a large diamond; it won't bring anyone much money, but it was special to me. I've always kinda wished I had her garnet ring. My cousin, Andrea, has it. I am so thankful she does.

I had a 'Mother's Bracelet' that I cherished. It was sterling silver with Gracie's name on it orginally. With the birth of Katie, her name was added, and then Ellie's name was added most recently. I loved that bracelet. They apparently swept that into the pillowcase, too. I mean really, what are they going to do with it? They probably threw it away somewhere; don't see how they could sell it with those 3 specific names on it. It was worth a small bit monetarily, but it was customized to be for me. Who else has 3 daughters with my daughters' names, so I don't see how they could sell it?!

I got up this morning to take a shower & dry my hair before Chris left. I never do that, and it was about 45 minutes earlier than I needed to get up, but I could hardly stand the thought of getting in the shower with him not home. Not yet. Today is the first time I've been home alone without him other than a short while when he went to the store last night. I can hardly bring myself to leave the main part of the house where I can see the back door. I am making sure to have windows & blinds down here open where I can see out and they can see me in here. I stood at the front door and literally stared at the yard guys working on my neighbor's yard. Just in case. I wanted them to know that I was here and that I was watching them. It's probably not fair to them, but right now I find myself suspecting just about everyone I see in the neighborhood.

I'm sure I will say more later, but God's words are better right now:

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Katie's 6th birthday party

Amid all of the negativity of the event mentioned in the previous post, we had Katie's 6th birthday party. It was already planned and actually served as a nice distraction to all of the bad that had happened.

Gracie's teacher from last year, our beloved Mrs. Shah, once again provided a precious cake for the event. We used Katie's Toy Story figurines to add to "Andy's room" for her Toy Story cake. As usual, the cake tasted as delicious as it was cute!

Katie was just a bit excited, can you tell?!

We had the party at a gymnastic place which is great for the parents & kids alike. The kids have a great time, and it is such an easy party for the parents! The coaches entertain the kids and even serve pizza, cut cake, and write down the gifts.

Ellie enjoyed having one of her little friends there to jump around with.

Chris thought he would be cool and jump into the foam pit off of the trampoline. Too bad he lost his glasses in the process! It took our friend, Kerri, and the coach to help him find them! LOL

Our little daddy's girl had a fun time!

She can be a Mama's girl, too!

She was so excited that her teacher came to her party! What a sweet teacher to do that!

One of the things I love most about Katie is how her face shows such complete joy when she is happy! She is a passionate child...with each & every emotion!

She had a little problem blowing out the candles and needed Daddy's help, but she sure had fun trying!

Ellie loved the pizza and cake!

Katie was blessed with so many fun things from her friends!

Buzz, and a great poster that is already proudly displayed on her wall!!
Jessie!

Toy Story blanket!

Fun, girly stuff!

Toy Story Lego army men.....and other things not shown. Such a blessing!

Thank you God, for our sweet ALMOST 6 year old (on the 10th) and her sweet friends who helped her celebrate her upcoming birthday!

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Poor Katie woke up sick this morning and has been running fever almost all day. She was feeling quite badly tonight. Our children have been hit HARD with sickness this Winter. Ugh! I'm glad she was able to enjoy her party before she started feeling badly. My guess is that Gracie 'shared' with her after her latest bout with sickness. :(

sad weekend

Wow. I do not plan to write a lot about this right now. However, I feel I need to document that last week, we were broken into in the middle of the day. Thankfully, no one was home. They took a lot of stuff. I am sad, a bit nervous, mad, & thankful...along with many other emotions.

I am on a borrowed laptop since ours were taken.

Friends have changed plans to spend hours helping us secure our house and have given to help our children be happy.

I will write more later. I am trying to remember that the thieves are loved by God and need our prayers.

Ellie's First Haircut

Today was the day Ellie got her first haircut! I kept putting it off, but it was way past time. Making an appointment to have the girls' pictures taken Saturday morning helped give me the nudge to finally get it done. Several people at church use this lady who comes to your house and charges very reasonable rates, so I called her & made an appointment for this afternoon.

Here are some 'before' pictures of my sweet Ellie.


Ellie did "ok" during the haircut. We let her "spray" her "pup pup" with the spray bottle and brush the puppy (and me!) with the big brush.

She did have some anxiety of course, but all in all did pretty well.

Here are some 'after' pictures. I was so happy that her curl stayed!!!!!


She was a bit confused by all of her hair that ended up on the floor! Her reaction was hilarious!

Gracie got her ears pierced!

Yesterday, Gracie told me that she had decided she wanted to get her ears pierced! This was a complete surprise to me because she had previously told me that she would NEVER get them pierced! Chris & I would tease her about it (even though I really didn't care if she didn't do it.) She said her friends get to wear all these cute earrings, and she wanted to also.

I made sure she understood that she may be allergic to some earrings and they may get infected (I struggle with this) and if that happens, she would have to stop wearing them. I also emphasized that she would have to take care of them. Then.....off we went to get them done! She had a few tears. I don't think any of them rolled down her face, but they were there. I know it hurt, but she did really well!

The only downer to the day was when one of her little friends came up to me at church and said, "You let Gracie get her ears pierced?! I have to wait until I'm 14!!!!" Oops, sorry, Lisa for making your daughter probably start bugging you more now! LOL

Here is my sweet daughter "before."

Here she is, nervously waiting.

getting her ears cleaned

and marked

pretending to get them done (she posed this picture so I could hold her hand when she actually did it.)

Here is my sweet daughter "after." We have to clean them 3 times a day for 6 weeks with these same earrings in, then she can change earrings but should continue to wear earrings for 6 months to prevent them from closing. She wanted the pink, sparkly flower earrings, but I convinced her to get the small, white gold balls since she has to wear them for 6 weeks. When the 6 weeks is up, she has her heart set on the peace earrings she saw! LOL...Of course!