New Pics...just wanted to dote

I don't know if she was hiding or posing...either way she's adorable. :D

I had some other pics to put on here, but the upload thing isn't working right. More later...sorry.

A River Runs Through It...

Brad Pitt sure did make a great Paulie in that film, didn't he? I had such a crush on that character, imperfections and all. :) For so long--not just because of Brad Pitt--that movie was my all time favorite movie. I just loved the entire plotline of the movie, the setting, the flow, everything.

It was because of that movie that I have always wanted to go visit Montana and learn how to be a fly fisherman. The scenery in the movie was so romantic and serene that it just made my heart happy. Well, this Friday I will have my chance: I'M GOING TO MONTANA!

It's going to be colder than I've ever experienced cold in my lifetime, but it's going to be so great and I'm extremely excited and thankful! Instead of fly fishing, (due to the sub-freezing temperatures), we'll likley be going downhill skiing instead. Brian's grandparents are in Hamilton, Montana doing some missionary work for a local congregation, filling in as a full-time minister. We are going to visit them and take our "big" vacation this year. Brian and I are going with Brian's mom and dad. We'll be leaving ATL on Friday and will be coming back on Thursday evening the next week. Helen won't be going with us, but will be with my mom the entire week. Please pray for our safety in transit. Flying is not, in any way, something that I enjoy doing. Pray that I don't have a nervous breakdown too.

The top three things on the group's list to do while we are there are: (1) Visit Papa and Deedee, (2) Visit Yellowstone, and (3) Go skiing (and not kill ourselves doing it).

Here is a list of things I, personally, would like to do while we are there: (not in any order)
1. Dog sledding -- is that weird that I want to do that?
2. See a real live moose, elk, and bison -- and live to tell about it (I hear none of these are friendly).
3. Build a snowman -- never done it. Nope, never.
4. Make snow angels with Brian
5. Go on a Lewis and Clark trek, where they went, what they saw, etc.
6. Hike a new trail everyday
7. Shop
8. Go ice skating on a real frozen pond/lake/body of water (not an indoor rink)
9. And of course, visiting g-parents, yellowstone, and skiing. (that goes without saying)

Anyway, I may not be blogging until we return. I am unsure if we will have internet access while we are there. But if we do, you can bet your britches I'll be uploading some serious pictures for you all to see. Check back Saturday evening to know for sure. Much love to you all! Thanks, in advance, for the prayers.

This is how my little girl sleeps. She's slept in this postion since she could pull her legs underneath her body. You'd think she'd lose feeling of her legs (or her arms) being this way all night long. I've tried turning her over and she doesn't like that at all. She'll sleep on her side for a while, but never on her back, and eventually she'll make it all the way back over to laying on her head. Some nights I've checked on her and her head will be buried in the corner of her crib with that little bootie sticking up. That bootie...how cute can you get.
On this particular day, I went to wake her up so we could go to the store and she didn't move when I walked into the room. So I went to get the camera and as soon as I snapped the above picture, the sound "clicked" and woke her up. She looked up at me like, "Mommy, c'mon, what are you doing? I'm trying to sleep here!"

When she realized I had a camera pointed at her, she decided to make her "big stretch." Cheese...such a cheese. She did that for like 10 seconds (with that little grin) and then decided she'd get up to see me.


This is what I got when she stood up. Yeah, even more cheese.

This is just before I picked her up out of her crib, she was about to get fiesty. She was tired of the crib, tired of the camera, and tired of me avoiding picking her up. She's not very tolerant of and patient with the camera unless she's got it in her hand (once she's finished posing, of course).

I've come to the conclusion that my daughter is a diva. She's constantly got a necklace around her neck. She has two sets of beads that she wears. I don't have a picture of it (figures) but this picture will work. This is Emily's purse (her babysitter). She decided that she wanted it and that she wanted to wear it...like a necklace. You can't really see it in this picture, but her purse is SUPER trendy. It's got little multi-colored hearts on it with a little "belt" closure and it's "Roxy" brand. Helen knows it's just her style already. I'm going to have one bling-ified little rascal running around here.

I can't deny that I love her beng divalicious; I think it's adorable that she likes to be girly. I like being girly too, I just don't have the money or the taste to do it. When I'm a millionaire, I'll get a personal stylist to dress me. Until then, I'll live vicariously through Helen and hopefully I won't encourage any bad habits.

I'm a LOSTie

DISCLAIMER: If you aren't familiar with the TV show LOST, the following may bore you and could quite possibly cause drowsiness. Do not operate heavy machinery while reading this blog.

I am a dedicated groupie for the television show LOST. Thanks to Brian's cousin, Jason, I've been hooked since season three. (We rented the first two seasons before we watched season three) I frequent blogs and discussion groups hosted by Jason and friends of mine to get other opinions and insights to each episode.

This season is much better than last season and it's because the show really makes you think and be observant to what is going on in the show. I went surfing tonight to find some information I had forgotten. I don't retain information very well, but there is so much to remember about the episodes that I truly forget tidbits.

I found a site called "Lostpedia." (I lie not...) I found what I was looking for and more. I began to read and thirty minutes later I realized I was in the middle of NONSENSE!

Granted, I have been known to get a little too deep in LOST and it's intricately created plotline, but good grief people! There are some out there that have WAY too much time on their hands. Either that, or there are people with an insane ability to retain random pointless information about....well....everything.

If I have any fellow LOSTies out there that enjoy a good in-depth theory of the series' mysteries, please visit Lostpedia. You won't be disappointed.

Emmy (Emily to the rest of the world)

Helen has a new babysitter, a real bonified babysitter, the kind that actually get's paid. Her name is Emily and she's completely adorable and wonderful to Helen. She took some pictures of herself and Helen Thursday night when she came over. (When Brian and I went to see Boortz).

They had a blast, but I'm not sure who was more tired afterwards, Emily or Helen! Emily is a great singer and she has taught herself how to play the guitar. I heard her sing one night at a church get-together when we had karaoke. She sang that Sara Evans song...oh man, what's that song. (The one about "she left the suds in the bucket and the clothes hangin' out on the line")
Ok, so I don't know my songs, but Emily sure can sing it!!! WOW! She'll be the next Carrie Underwood. This isn't a picture that does her beauty justice, but she's adorable.

Helen decided to take on a pew last week during worship services....and lost. She has a little bruise in the middle of her forehead and it has clearned up a little by the time this picture was taken. I just thought this was a cute picture of her in her pajamas on her big fluffy princess chair. She loves to show me and her daddy that she can climb, sit, and lay in her big girl chair. OH, she's such a diva.

This was fun -- I was tagged

Directions:
1) Answer each question.
2) Take each answer and type it into Photobucket (www.photobucket.com)
3) Take any picture from the first page of results and post. (click on the picture and copy the HTML code) Don't explain, it's funnier that way!


How old will you be on your next birthday?




A place you would like to travel:



Your favorite place:



Favorite thing to do:




Favorite food/candy:

FOOD:


CANDY:



Favorite animal:




Favorite color:



The town in which you were born:



The town in which you live:




The name of a past pet:



The name of your current or past boyfriend/girlfriend:




Your nickname/screen name:




Your middle name:



A bad habit:



First job:



Your grandmother's name:


Favorite song:




I tag all who are reading this!

Who wouldn't smile at this...

This is a picture taken during Christmas time by Helen's Aunt Leslie (Brian's Sister). She and Nathan were playing and she was certainly having a good time when Leslie snapped this shot! I loved it so much, I just had to share!

Boortzy

Politics and government are new passions for me. I had not realized just how behind and uninformed I was until I began listening to talk radio. Neal Boortz is one of my favorites. Despite his tendancy to be rude and opinionated, he really makes me think and makes me analyze what is going on around me.

Tonight, at the Avenue West Cobb Barnes and Noble, I will be standing in line to see Neal and get his second Fair Tax book " Fair Tax: The Truth: Answering the Critics" signed. I CANNOT wait. My loving husband is going to take me and we'll be going to dinner and all beforehand. He's so wonderful to me. He knows how much I want to meet Neal and how much I adore his show.

If any of you would like to do something great for your children and your grandchildren, you can do two things: Get involved with this country and the politics going on, and SUPPORT THE FAIR TAX. Other than fighting Islamic radicalism, it is probably the most important thing that could happen to our country. I am so passionate I can barely stand it. Check out the links. Even if you HATE Neal Boortz, take a moment to look into it. It wasn't his idea, it was the idea of a team of independant thinkers and businessmen, and merely made public by Neal and Congressman John Linder

Enjoy your read. I hope you all have a fabulous Valentine's day! XOXOXO

Apples and Oranges

About a month ago I started tutoring a young girl in math, I'll call her Faith, for blogging purposes. She's 13 and very energetic. She has so many talents and is so full of life. She's a strong new Christian with so much going for her. I can't wait to see what she does in the future. Until this semester, she's never had trouble in any subject. She's still doing very well in every other class. Her parents quickly found some help for her before the bad scores on her tests and quizzes became a problem. I enjoy so much her company when we meet for our "sessions." She learns so well and is so smart! I felt so good to know that after we started she made an 100 on her first quiz!!! (wow for her but Whoo hoo for me too!) I think I was happier than she was.....ok, maybe not. Anyway, as we learn (yes we: I have to re-learn most of what she does in class), we chit chat and giggle about this or that. She talks about how sister did this or brother did that or mom did this other thing. Until tonight, I considered her an average teenager.

Tonight I began tutoring a second young girl in math, I'll call her Hope, for blogging purposes. She is also 13, smart, whitty, and a fireball with so much potential that it's almost BURSTING out of her. Something is holding it back....not sure what, yet. Her parents, unlike Faith's, waited until she failed math last year and still failing well into this school year to get help. ("Why so long," was my first thought) Her problem with math is that she honestly doesn't get it. She's trying so hard, but I think half of her doesn't want to learn, and the other part can't wait to learn. There is this inner struggle that I believe doesn't involve math at all. We didn't learn much tonight, I just got a feel for how she learns and how she reacts to me. I took her home afterwards, stopping to get ice cream before we made it there. (Of course it was my idea! I was craving it.) We chatted like girls do. She seems to trust me with certain issues she's having. I listened and took mental note. I asked stratetgic questions, leading a discussion. None of the answers she gave me suprised me and none of the problems she had suprised me. But on the way home I replayed all of our conversations and I began to remember what I had forgotten about being a teenager....

Why blog Kristy? Why blog about this?

Before tonight, I saw these two girls as practically the same girl, or "type" of girl. I saw them both as 13-year-olds that have the same problems and the same issues. I look within myself this evening to realize my own shallowness and ineptitude to see silent plees.

Last week I saw one girl with the faith in knowing there is something else and willing to attain it no matter what lay ahead. Tonight I took a look into the eyes of another young girl who had a hope for something else....anything else...grasping for the faith of the first. Both with struggles, both with pain, both with Christian values in a world of impurity.

How is it that two seemingly similar people can be miles apart? Intellectually I know that all of us are unique, with unique situations and reactions to those situations. So why not these?

All that these girls need is prayers.

As a mother to a little girl, I'm not looking forward to teenagerhood.

Someone's always got it better and someone's always got it worse. Be thankful for what you have.

After the previous post, since I'm a newbie, I was jumping from blog to blog to see all the people I know who are also blogging. I ran across two blogs whose authors were new mothers of QUADRUPLETS! I think one set was 9 months and the other set 6 months. So, needless to say, I felt better about my little bout with Helen this week.

Can you imagine going through all the stages of life with FOUR at the same time. Those women must be super strong in mind and soul for our Father to bless them so. He must know they are fantastic women.

I am going to be praying for those mothers this week because they are going to need whatever help they can get. I don't know these people, but I'm sure God doesn't care if i know them or not.

I guess it goes to show you that someone has always got it better than you and someone has always got it worse than you. Though I was merely venting in my last blog, I should have taken the time to be thankful for what I have.

If you want to read up on these ladies, please visit them, their links below:

Life As I See It

Burkett Quads

Today has been a day. The past few days have tested my patience and my ability as a mother. Helen, my beautiful daughter, is a red-headed little fireball and has always kept me on my toes, literally and figuratively. Today and yesterday, however, has made me wonder if I'll ever make it to the "terrible twos" let alone through them.





I've felt like this guy all day long. My eyebrows are almost stuck in the "I MEAN IT" position. I've said "no," "stop," "quit," "don't do it, " and "no ma'am" at least 100 times today. I've popped her at least half as many times because I usually give her a second chance, so that sucks too. It seems like she is intentionally disobeying me and defiant just to be so. LIKE A TEENAGER! Now, I'm not looking for sympathy here, just venting that it is really hard staying mad all day. (For those readers out there, I am a part-time bookkeeper and Helen comes with me everyday. So I am doing this at work, or at home, depending on the day). I got maybe 3 hours of work done today, including the time she was napping.







My blood pressure was so high this afternoon when Brian got home I had to lay down and rest for 45 minutes before I could make dinner. Not only did he take Helen and let me have the time alone, but he straightened up the house and took out the trash. (That's not unusual for him, but today it made my heart happy!)


Today I've learned I need more patience and also more understanding of "love." I say I love Helen, but I don't feel like I showed her love being mad and the strict disciplinarine all day. How do you balance it. I mean, I discipline because I love her, but how far is too far for a 13 month old? What do I do to make her understand? Is consistency all that I have on my side? This mothering thing is hard, but worth while. I get a few hugs at night and a kiss every-now-and-then. (She's stingy with those)

I'm sending out a universal prayer request and hope that if any of your professionals out there have any advise....send it my way.

Helen is One

Since her birthday is so near to Xmas, we had her party on Christmas Eve to make it a little less like Xmas. We invited all of her family and a few close friends. There were about fifteen that came and I was so glad! She had her first bite of cake that day and I think she could have eaten the whole thing!

Her Grammy (my mom) bought her a party dress and I put her hair into pigtails because her hair was SO long. She looked like a million bucks! I bought some cute little birthday hats and put one on her. Since she had pigtails, her hat had to go on one side and it was so cute. Just like the backwards baseball cap, the one-sided birthday cone hat will be the new trend. She made that look good!

She got loads of toys and all kinds of bath tub toys too. She plays with everything she got that day. Well, with the exception of some of the books. She tends to tare pages, so we put the books with paper pages up and kept the board books out. She gets so excited about reading books that she can't sit and look at one all the way through once. She has to read them all at the same time.

I guess it doesn't hurt to have lots of toys...well, until you run out of room for them.

Virgin Blogger

So here I am, on blogspot. I've done what I can to get it up and going and I hope everyone will enjoy the read. I began to blog in hopes that this would become a cyber scrapbook I can "flip" through to remember those interesting days I am likely to forget. (I have a horrible memory, for those out there that don't know me)

The next few weeks I'll be adding some old memories to archive and a few new ones too!

A special thanks to all of you out there who encouraged me to begin my blogging experience: Kim, Kelly, Lori, and Teale