Ode to my dear husband...

As I mentioned last night, Ed is at a men's retreat with church,

so I have had the kids alone since yesterday AM.

Now, I will say that last year at this time (minus Kate's issues)

this would have been more of the norm, but

I have to admit that I have gotten used to him being around.

To explain to you the times I missed him...let me give you a recap of my day...

7 AM Get the three of us up, dressed, and ready for the day

(I had to work today AND Abbie had a soccer game and soccer pics,

so I had to get her dressed in her uniform with an extra set of clothes)

8:15 Rush out the door to my sister's house (she had

graciously agreed to keep the girls while I worked and take Abbie to soccer)

8:30 Arrive at Lydia's and unload the kids, carseats, soccer/diaper bag, etc.

8:40 FINALLY head to work (with a brief stop at Sonic to get a drink)

8:47 Arrive at work and start IMMEDIATELY helping out

9-12 Tutor 3 kids at a time for an hour each set

12:00 Clean up the table, and help out with work issues

12:15 Head back to Lyd's to get the kids

12:30 Head home for lunch, naps, etc.

12:45 Start the lunch, nap routine

1:15 (or so) Everyone (but me) is in bed

1:30 Clean out and vacuum the van---it was BAD

2:30 Abbie gets up

4:45 Kate gets up

5:15 We head to run errands

7:35 Finally home from errands (and Chick-fil-a for 3.15)

8:15 Trying to get Kate and Abbie dressed at the same

time while looking for church clothes, etc.

8:30 Girls in BED!!!

8:35 Tired Mommy MISSING DADDY!!!

I love you honey,

Happy Seventh Anniversary (tomorrow)!!!!

5 kids in one van...am I nuts...

Before I begin this blog...

WARNING...Ed is gone at the men's retreat and the girls are in bed...

Translation...I am blog happy!!!

Now on to the rest of the story...

Well, not really since it was 5 kids (4 and under) with 2 mommies.

My sister, who seems to be having TERRIBLE luck with

her car recently, wanted to go to our new playgroup at Kathryn's house

(thanks again, Kathryn for hosting all of us :) )

and doesn't have access to a car right now.

The short version of that story is that they

took the car in to get fixed on Sunday, it was

"fixed with a new broken piece" on Tuesday,

and got REAR ENDED AT THE DEALERSHIP

(where it was being fixed) on Wednesday.

So, I went and "kidnapped" the carseats out of my

bro-in-law's van, and picked Rach and her

3 kids up in my van and off we went..

We stopped at Food Lion for a snack to

take and while she was shopping,

I was photographing the "bus" of kids...My nephew, Carter, 3,and niece, Emma,4,

Emma is taking care of her baby brother, Jonathan...Emma caring for Jonathan (9 weeks)Baby Jonathan Alder Manwaring

(named after my dad and grandad)The busload of kids...

Kate LOVED it

After having to buckle and unbuckle kids,

Rach and I decided that 7 passenger vans work

better if the passengers are NOT in carseats!!!

Baby sleeping Beauty

I took these pictures on the way home from visiting Rachael

(my sister) and her kiddos yesterday. Kate had missed her

AM nap (I had to take her to the pediatrician to make

sure she doesn't have croup--she doesn't!!!) and then went to

the library and then to Rach's.

It was more than she could handle... Mom, I am trying to sleep here!!!
But she's so cute (and quiet) when she sleeps...

Incedentally, she has been trying to get me to get rid of the AM nap, but I haven't given in...

How do you eat a chicken nugget???

The other night, while we were driving around looking at houses,

we went to Mc Donald's, which with the

new budget we are on, was a big treat.

The girls shared a nugget meal, and I

happened to have my camera along (surprise, surprise).

So I took some pics of my cute kids (and their cute Daddy)Now, Daddy, you put it in your mouth like this....And then it should look like this....You are supposed to take a BITE, Kate...

(notice what her shirt says--my heart belongs to Daddy--and it does)

But not exactly like this...

THE END

by Abbie and Katelynne Keesler

my soccer pro

Greenville has a Parks & Recreation Youth Soccer League

which Abbie is playing in this year and last Sat.

was their first game. She talks a big game and will tell you that

she is going to "take the ball away from the other team and kick

it in the net and score a goal", but unfortunately, for her,

it must be easier said than done...

here are some pictures of her first game...All dressed and ready to go...
Ready to kick the ball???

Maybe I will just hang out and let the others do the work...

Bed Buddies

The other day after the girls had awakened

(Abbie before Kate, and Kate with a little help from her big sister)

from their naps, I thought it would be cute

to put them both in the crib...They wouldn't look at me together

for a picture so this is the best I got.

It is so much fun to watch them play together."Peet a boo"--as Kate would say
Kate hangin' in Abbie's big girl bed
Abbie "tick a ticking" Kate with her bear...

A much needed update

Well, I know that many of you "daily blog checkers" (No, I am not naming any names) are saying it's about time that she add some stuff to that blog, and you will find new pics in the next few blogs, but I thought I would include a quick family member update (to borrow the idea from my fellow blogger, who is much better at it than I, Kathryn :) )

Ed is doing well. He enjoys his job as the bookkeeper, secretary, runner, and whatever else they need for Chas Management (a kinda mom n pop car company that has 4 car dealerships, 4 owner/bosses, 2 service stations, 1 wholesale business, 1 detail shop and 0 budget!!!!). So as you can imagine keeping the funds straight is quite a task...thinking about it gives ME a headache. He also enjoys the time he gets to spend with the girls and I as well as his Friday morning breakfast Bible study and now he is playing softball with our church as well.

I spend most of my days taking care of and cleaning up after our 2 sweet girls (and their daddy). I have also started working part time at Sylvan Learning Center as a tutor 3 days a week (another advantage to Ed's consistent schedule). It is a good break away from the house as well as a way to earn a little extra money. I am also on the WIC committee and the Women's retreat committee at church. (I think that's it!!!)

Abbie is our very sweet, social, butterfly (you know what they say about apples and trees, don't you???). We are in the process of having her gross and fine motor skills evaluated for some concerns that we have seen with her legs. She loves her little sister, and really tries to help her out, even when Kate doesn't want the help. She loves books and is always asking about the order of things and what letter they start with.

Kate (as I usually call Katelynne) is a mostly sweet girl. She is also social, but not to the extent that her sister is. She is ALWAYS busy and into EVERYTHING!!! She has been fairly healthy after all of her issues from last year...btw it was a year ago YESTERDAY she got sick...She runs, not walks everywhere and is starting to be able the talk some as well...

So, there is the update on us...Maybe I will be better about updating this thing (or not)...but I'll try...

Daughters and Donuts

The other night, we got the girls some white

powdered donuts, and against my better knowldege,

gave them some in the car...the first couple pics are from then...

the others are from this morning at the breakfast table.

Remember that usually, Abbie is the neat one, and

Kate loves to get MESSY!!!Kate after eating her donuts...MESSY
Abbie after eating hers...CLEAN

But see what happens this AM....
Kate trying to be neat and eat hers with a spoon...
Abbie says...No way, and stuffs it in!!!
Now look at that face!!!!

A night away!!!

At the end of the month (the 30th, I really mean the END of the month),

Ed and I will celebrate our 7th anniversary.

On that specific day, he will be at our church's men's retreat,

so we decided to go away for our anniversary a little early.

We left the girls in the very capable hands of my parents and

sisters (tagteaming) and went away. This was the first time

that we had left either of the girls overnight since Abbie

was 11 months old (except for Abbie staying with my parents

when Kate was in the hospital last year). We went and spent

the night at the Belhaven Water Street B&B,

which was delightful. The breakfast was GREAT too!!! The sign out front of the B&B
The Intracoastal Waterway out of our window
Our room
Our room again
I loved the fan....this was taken from the floor looking straight up.

On a side note, I told Ed that we need to start saving for our Valentine's Day getaway!!

It was lovely!!!

New Watering Cans

A couple weeks ago, the girls and I were wandering thru Walmart

(a dangerous activity for a myriad of reasons)

and we spotted these cute watering cans on CLEARANCE!!!

Well, they love to "help" Daddy with the flowers,

so I bought them each one. Kate got the "guk" and

Abbie got the PINK snail. It was a lot of fun to see

them figure out what exactly to do with them... "do I drink out of it???"
" No, Kate you are supposed to water

the plants, NOT you, that is messy"
"Like this??? "
" See, I will help you"

Winterville Watermelon Festival

On Sat., Aug. 25th, Ed took the girls ( I had to work) and

met Robbie and Maddie Quinn at the

Winterville (a little town nearby)Watermelon Festival.

They had a GREAT time!!!

First, there was the parade and then the girls got to enjoy some of the rides... waiting for the parade
Daddy and his baby
Abbie and Maddie
Maddie driving...Watch out!!
PLEASE NOT YET...

I am not ready for driving

Mommy's Laundry...2006 & 2007

I think I posted one of these comparisons a couple weeks ago,

but here is another one...The top picture was taken on June 28, 2006

and the bottom one was taken August 24, 2007...

It amazes me how much especially Katelynne has changed!!! Abbie and Katelynne as my laundry in 6/06
and again 8/07