Quite a delay . . .

Lots to update since it has been AWHILE since my last post.  Let's see - Ella finished her first year at Christian Academy of Louisville.  Kinsley finished up in the Terrific Three's at preschool.  (I might add, after being in the exact same school since 4 months of age, she still - every morning - acts like it is the first morning she has ever been there and I have to peel her from my arms.  Oh girl!)  I finished my first year at Kenwood Station as the Reading Intervention teacher.  I loved it and am looking forward to going back this next year.  We just got back from a vacation to Gatlinburg (decided to stay relatively close since we got to take a big trip to Disney in April).  Anything else?  Oh - one more thing. . . baby boy is due October 2nd.  :)

December Happenings

The holidays were wonderful, busy, family filled, and fast! We carried out yearly traditions such as taking treats that we baked to Friendship Manor, had a Jesus birthday party, and had daily holiday activities that kept us busy with our advent calendar. Our elf on the shelf, Buddy, kept things fun with his mischief. Often the days feel like. whirlwind blur but I wouldn't trade it. We were not just busy, but enjoying precious moments and making meaningful memories. So we were busy in a good way. Santa surprised the girls with a trip to Disney and they were so excited. Ella said "We are going to Disney and Santa's paying!"

Ronnie and I left the day after Christmas for a week in New York City. It was amazing and a trip unlike any we will ever take again. We probably walked 25 miles that week with all the sight seeing!:). We did Times Square for New Years. I state it like that because it truly was an event and not just a location. It was a blast and memories we will have for a long time.

Brown Family Get Together

So if you read my blog, more than likely you know that my mom broke her hip a few weeks back. I don't know if I have ever experienced a weekend with such a turn of events! It started out as a weekend at The Falls Resort with my entire side of the family to celebrate my mom's birthday. We had the entire bed and breakfast rented out for just our family, the weather was crisp and cool, the trees were turning beautiful colors, and it was perfect. Friday was fantastic. We all hung out by the fire pit and just spent casual time together. This was the first time in a long time our entire family had a "getaway" together. Saturday was gorgeous and we all hit the outdoors. We took a long hike and the kids carved pumpkins. Then a photographer came for family photos, which might even be a Brown family first. Dinner was outside around the fire pit. Around 8 pm the weekend took a turn. Let's just say a coyote appeared, my mom fell, and the weekend was over. I am so thankful for the wonderful days we had as a family. I desperately wish my mom hadn't fallen because it was a scary night and has been followed by a long hospital stay, painful surgery, and a long recovery on her part.

My take aways from the weekend - I love my family. I am grateful for our time together and will not take a single moment of it for granted. I am thrilled my children know and love their extended family the way that they do. My mother is not at all a complainer!! (With a broken hip, you would be entitled to some complaining. Not her - I aspire to be like that!)

Here are a few of the great pictures we came away with from the weekend. These are the photographers, obviously due to copyright, but still favorites.

Kinsley is turning 3!

We had a sweet little birthday party for Kinsley today at KGA. There were 9 little friends that joined us for play, snacks, and cake. It was fun and I think Kinsley enjoyed it. For over a month she has talked about wanting a "Barbie" party. So really the only Barbie aspect was the cake, but she was fine with that! Poor Ella was in school and didn't get to join us. We saved her a piece of cake, though, so she was happy! This is the Birthday week of celebrating. Meme and Grandad came up last weekend, yesterday we took the girls to Disney on Ice, the birthday party today . . . When her actual birthday roles around on Saturday, we may not have anything left to do!

Labor Day Fun!

Since we were staying around here for Labor Day, and also because Ella had 2 days off from school, we decided it would be a weekend of adventures. We had no idea what that statement truly meant! On Friday, we woke the girls up and threw them in the car without telling them a thing. It wasn't until we pulled up in front of Big Splash Adventure WaterPark, in Indiana, did they find out what our day involved. It was a great day and we were at the waterpark over 7 hours. (With the soreness to prove it for the rest of the weekend!) The girls loved it, though, and we all crashed hard when we got home.

Saturday started our "camping" adventure. We decided we would camp in the backyard so it didn't have to be too overly involved if we realized we were in over our heads! I'll be honest, we aren't the usual camping family, so this was a new experience. Ella was thrilled. We put up the tent, blew up the air mattress, roasted hot dogs, and got the snacks ready . . For what you ask? Oh, for the movie that we rigged up on the TV outside to the tent of course! (Like I said, not true campers, and we know it and own it.) With about half the movie remaining, Kinsley was over it. I brought her back inside to get ready for her "inside" bed. A few minutes later, Ella walked upstairs - soaked! That's right, not a drop of rain in the forecast and it came a downpour. Luckily, they had moved the TV inside already. So dad chased the blowing tent around the yard and the lightning knocked out our air. So everyone came inside to sleep in our 87 degree house. It was honestly cooler in the tent, but with the rain, that wasn't the ideal option. So we made it through the night and then it came time for camping - day two.

This time, we put the tent up the living room, had smores, and it was a much better arrangement for the Cordrey's.

So, all in all, it was a weekend of making memories - fun ones, funny times, not so great memories (as we still don't have air!), but memories - a key element in parenting, in my opinion!

1st Day of School!

If you see any of our posts on Facebook, you know we had quite a bit of build up to the first day! We celebrated for what felt like a week . . . to the point where I was ready for it to start. We baked a 1st day of school cake (thank you mom for the idea), filled Ella's room with balloons, had a celebration night of fun a couple of days before school started, met new classmates for a playdate to curb first day anxiety, and the Back to School fairy even came to visit with some starting Kindergarten fun books for Ella.

The first day came and we were all up and ready to go. Uniform on - check! Homemade granola bars (requested!) for breakfast - check!, first day pictures - check!, leaving on time - check!, sitting in traffic for over 30 minutes - check! That's right - we were late for the first day of Kindergarten. The nice thing was that Ella wasn't the first in class, and she also wasn't the last. (It wasn't like we were the last car in the line of traffic.) It was probably a blessing because it was a mad dash to the classroom, put away things in the cubby, and get her to her seat so Mrs. Wagner could start their day. No time for sentimental thoughts, tears, or long goodbyes. So needless to say, we all did fine. And mom will never forget that her child, yes this teacher's first born, was late to the first day of Kindergarten. Off to a strong start! Don't worry - by day to we were extremely early. Now we just need to work on finding the middle ground. :)

Her prayer that night was "Dear God, please let tomorrow at school be just a great as today. It was wonderful." Precious. Our daughter is in love with Kindergarten, and I fall more in love with her sweet heart.

Summer Update

So just for a few quick updates:

- Ella went to camp at White Mills camp for the Overnighter camp. She loved the camp, but wasn't too thrilled with the over night portion. She mentioned that next year, she will be coming home before bedtime.

- We made one last trip to Caneyville before school started and got to visit all the cousins, aunts & uncles, as well as Meme and Grandad of course.

- We had a recent family addition - actually two. Cupcake and Cody (which is the current name of choice for every stuffed animal, baby doll, and pet for Kinsley). If we are getting technical, this is actually a picture of Cody II. Cody I lasted all of about 13 hours - nice.

We are off to celebrate last evening of summer before Kindergarten!