Happy Valentine's Day!!

It took me a long time to figure out how I wanted to decorate Katelyn's nursery before she came home. I finally decided on a heart theme because I wanted her to always feel surrounded by love. Well here it is a year after I first saw her face in a picture and this is the little girl that I get to love and love and she is so sweet and loving in return.

So this Valentine's Day, we wanted to make sure we sent a whole bunch of love your way from Kentucky!

We go to the YMCA most days of the week and mommy gets to workout while Katelyn plays in the nursery. She LOVES the nursery at the Y and the people who work in there are just awesome! I always feel like she's in good hands. This week they helped her make mommy a Valentine's Day card....

So now I need to officially start a box for all of the artwork treasures because there's no way I'm getting rid of this one...so cute.

Can I get an AMEN!

There comes a time in life

when you have to let go of

all the pointless drama

& the people who create it

& surround yourself with

people who make you laugh

so hard that you forget

the bad and focus solely on the good.

After all, life is too short

to be anything but happy.

Warm day = PARK!

It was almost 60 degrees today. Are you hearing the Hallelujah choir or is it just me?? When Katelyn got up from her nap I asked her if she wanted to go to the park. Her little eyes lit up as if to say, "Really, can we?" And she said par par...so off we went.

It's amazing how much more park proficient she's gotten in the last few months. She runs everywhere and loves to climb and slide and she's even warming up to the swing.

As the car got closer and Katelyn could see the park she was shouting, "PAR, PAR, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!!!" at the top of her lungs. It was really cute. I mean how can you say no to that kind of zeal?

Let me make it really clear...Katelyn's FAVORITE thing to do at the park is to go down the slide. She does it over and over again. She is a VERY good slider.

...even when she gets a little sideways...she thinks it's funny.

"Look mommy, I did it."

When we got home from the park we took a walk around the block before dinner. I just couldn't bear to go inside and Katelyn didn't argue with me about that one. We were soaking up this spring-like day.

The bottom two pictures are from yesterday...just because they're really cute.

And this look pretty much sums up this sassy girl...she looks like she's about to get into something. (I'm sure she did.)

My birthday present to myself!

I'm SO excited!!! I just bought tickets for Katelyn and I to go to see Disney on Ice at Rupp Arena on my birthday next month!!! I can't wait to see Katelyn's little face light up when it all starts. It's my birthday present to myself...quality time with my best girl.

$12.42 buys more than you think

I love grocery shopping. I know that's not a cool thing to tell people when they ask what your hobbies are, but I'll just come clean...I really love grocery shopping. Getting the most I can for the least amount of money is a game for me. Some people like the Wii I like the Sunday ads and my coupon organizer. I've recently discovered the world of internet coupons. You can print off all kinds of extra manufacturers coupons online. FABULOUS!!! So below are the treasures from my trip to Kroger this evening.....All this for $12.42. I got all the toilet paper for free. The cans of vegetables for a total of $.45. The loaf of bread for $.25. All three multipacks of yogurt for $2. Both boxes of cereal for less than $2. This food will go far around here. My hobby is paying off. I saved almost 70% on groceries this week.

And because I know that there are some of you (dad) who will get mad at me if I just write about coupons without posting pictures of Katelyn....Here's her eating the fruits of my labor.

Good thing I like a good deal on groceries, because this kid is happiest when she's eating!


And when she's finished, she likes to play.

So silly....

We're still here, just cold.

It has been a very wintery week here in the not-so-Bluegrass. This is what it looks like today. We got 3-4 inches of snow and it's windy out...brrrr. Last week we got a lovely ice storm and we had a sheet of ice all over everything followed by rain, then snow and then some ice again. Just wretched. If I could skip mid-January to mid-February in Kentucky every year I'd be a happy camper. We lost power for about 20 hours and so our friend Charlotte was SO nice to take us in for a night so that we could be cozy and warm with the lights on.

No cookouts in this backyard any time soon. So sad. I'm ready to plant the garden...dreaming of fresh herbs and veggies...hmmmm.

Fortunately we only went one day without power but many in our city lost it for much longer. My pastor, his wife and their two boys went without electricity for four days. So as soon as we got to come home, they came over to stay here with us. We had a lot of fun for a few days. The one thing nice about so many people losing power was seeing how people came together and if you had power, you had people with you who didn't. That's how it should be. We watched movies and ate together and we wouldn't have gotten to know each other in this new way if we could have all been in our own homes. Katelyn LOVES Aaron's boys and they are both really sweet with her. Below is a picture of Joe and Katelyn watching cartoons in the morning.

My girl is getting really girly. We went over to our friend's Don and Laura's house the other night to watch the Superbowl and Laura gave Katelyn a little purse to play with and let us take it home. Katelyn is super cute sporting her new accessory and she likes to put the food from her kitchen in it to tote around.

Make sure you look good while eating your snacks!

It's time to go shopping...lets get in the car and go to the mall. :) Maybe she has some cash in there that she'll share with mommy.

Oh the babies need to go for a walk. Their "mommy" has that under control.

One of these days it will be warm again and we'll have pictures of Katelyn doing stuff outside. But for tonight anyway, we're going to eat soup and grilled cheese and stay in the house..thankful that our electric is on and praying for those here in Kentucky who are still waiting.