Kate in the choir

Today was such a special day! During our parental pursuit, one of the things i ofter caught myself daydreaming about was watching my child grow in his or her faith. Of course, during childhood, Sunday School is such a huge part of that along with participation in the annual children's Christmas pageant. I have watched nieces and nephews, and children of friends and friends i don't know all waiting for the day when i could watch my child go thru the time-honored tradition of rocking folded arms back and forth while humming the forgotten words to Away in the Manger. Friends, my dream will soon be a reality!
In our church, you have to be in Kindergarten to join the kid's choir, this being Kat'es 5th year, we signed her up and she is loving it!
Today, on Christ the King Sunday, best Sunday of the season in my opinion. The children's choir (kate included!) sang Cast your burdens unto Jesus! It was fantastic. Kate had a little more "hip" action thean the others, it's those private jazz lessons, i think! But it was wonderful!


Do you see her? Up front in the pink and orange glaring at me, haha!

During the service, we had a chance to write down those things that were weighing heavy on our hearts and leave them at the altar cross for our pastors to pray on. It felt good, although we should be doing this every single day, it was a nice tangible way to cast our burdens. I pray this holiday season, you will cast your burdens onto Jesus and delight in the Birth of our Savior, taking time to count you Blessings, i promise you, they are all around you.

I forgot perhaps the best part of the day! Kate had rehearsal after church and guess what? Miss Lacy has a speaking part in her very first pageant! Oh my, i am one proud shepherd momma!

I am so over 2011...

So this has been a crappy, crappy year. Jay's sweet brother died suddenly. Then on Good Friday, my grandmother passed away suddenly. Last week my grandfather who had been on the decline, passed away. At least we knew it was coming. People always ask would you want to know you were dying or would you rather it happen suddenly. Not sure i know the answer but from the other side of the fence, being able to say good bye is much MUCH better. I am anxious to put this year behind me, no doubt! But that being said, there have been some good things.

My sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Phoebe (Buffet). We made great new friends! We had a very memorable trip to the lake with our new friends. Brooke's BFF got accepted into her school. Kate started Kindergarten. My brother moved back to OKC. Kate and Brooke were in their first parade! Jay got to go fishing! I started a book club. Kate took private dance lessons. Brooke took tumbling and won another soccer championship. We got a cat. Jay and I started teaching Sunday School again, Kindergarten! Kate joined the children's choir. We decorated our house all spooky for halloween and it was a big hit! We are headed to Grand Lake for a whole week at Thanksgiving! I have learned to look at the bright side!

No promises on my blogging future, you just never know! But i wanted to add a post so when i look back at this year and my absence of posts, i will remember that amid the trials, there were some rays of light!

All About Brooke

It seems i have forgotten to post a pic of Brooke from Christmas. Let me just say, this girl gets prettier and prettier every day. It makes me sad to see her grow so fast, it seems just the other day she was putting on fancy dresses for make-believe tea parties now they are for winter formals. She even has a boyfriend. Shhhhhh...she would kill me if she knew i blogged that. It is opening up conversations to have so for now, i think it is a good thing. The only outing they have been on (notice i did not say DATE) is to our church. He asked to go to church with us one Sunday and we gladly obliged. Here is a pic of beautiful brooke from the night of Winter Formal.

Yes, the dress IS strapless which is why i made her wear a buttoned up sweater over all night! Yep, I am proud to be THAT momma!

Last bit of Christmas...

Well these Christmas posts seem to be never ending! The truth is, with little ones in the house, i just can't get enough of it. We celebrate every tradition we can possibly think of, i am just sorry it took so long to share them with you.

One of our favorite traditions is our week of baking! I have always taken off the week before Christmas to spend with brooke and now brooke and kate. We love to bake and this year was no exception. We decided to make treat platters for all of our neighborhood friends. Check them out!

Mmmmmm Chocolate!
Brooke and I are kinda famous for our "christmas popcorn." Brooke starts asking me around December 1st if we are going to make it and if we have received any "orders." It's not like we charge for it, we have just done if for so many years now that people expect it and start calling us looking for it. Yes, it is that good!

Santa was good to the girls this year because they are good girls! Kate got her Leapster Explorer, Baby Alive and the Polar Bear Alive (which actually came from aunt Bootsy). This year she also finally embraced the tradition of stocking stuffers! How can you not adore this face?


Brooke got her ipod touch 4g and it was even engraved which proved to her that santa is real because there is no way jay or i could do it!


I think that brings 2010 to a close we started off 2011 optimistically but sadly, it was short lived. On January 30th, we lost Jay's younger brother Matthew. His death was untimely and unexplained. Our hearts our filled with great sadness at this seemingly senseless loss. Jay and i have spent countless hours reminding each other that our Faith is strong and that at the foundation of our Christian belief is that our time on earth is short and that after death, our true life begins, in our Father's Home. Matthew, my brother, my friend, you are loved, your smile remains in our hearts forever. Until we meet again.

Christmas Continued....again

Christmas Eve found the Lacy family at the home of my mom and her husband. It was great to have my brothers and sisters around along with all the kids. We were able to take some great family shots so i think in the post I will just share them but before I do - we had a special guest, straight from Mexico it's Justin Bieber!


The girls attacked him - swooning!

Ok so technically, this isn't Justin Bieber - it is my foreign exchange nephew from Mexico, he is spending the school year with my sister and his family and he is hilarious.

Christmas 2010 would not be complete without a round of Apples to Apples - our new favorite game!


Here are a few random family pics



Next up Santa visits ho ho ho!!

tiny tiny dancer

When I was little I was certain my career would take me down one of 2 paths. I was going to either be a choreographer or a nun. Let's face it, the nun thing wasn't very realistic. I've always been that boy crazy girl - plus i am a little (just a little) high maintenance) and a vow of silence, yeah, i don't think so. So choreographer made the most sense - i was very deliberate and specific, i wanted to choreograph shows, specifically the orange bowl half time. I would lay in bed planning themes and running through moves in my head. The irony is, i never took a dance lesson. My mother was apparently pushed into lessons and didn't want to do the same to me. Despite my lack of lessons, i danced in the 5th grade talent show to a standing ovation. I went on to be the captain of the winterguard on the dance line. In college, i did choreography for the modern dance company as well as the marching band half times. Certainly not the orange bowl but not bad for a kid with no lessons. SO my dream was always to have my kids dance, i restrain myself enough to keep me from being "that" mom but i might push a little. Brooke danced when she was really little, one class and that was enough. Enter Kate. Kate loves it. She took her first class when she wsa just 2 1/2 and is now in her 3rd class. I have seen remarkable improvement - she practices at home and nails her first position plie every single time. She is already talking about moving to gymnastics, which is perfectly fine, i wouldn't push her to do anything she doesn't want to, i just want to give her all the possibilities in the world. I took this picture at last week's class - it's definitely my new favorite! My heart, my joy, my tiny, tiny dancer!

Christmas at the Lake!

A few months ago, my dad moved to Grand Lake. I have to admit, i wasn't thrilled. It was so nice having him close to me, probably didn't tell him that enough. I always felt like I had a "safety" net! Turns out, my safety net wasn't nearly as important as his happiness. I think he loves it - really don't remember him being happier! We spent the weekend before Christmas with him - my brother, sister and our families - it was so perfect!

Brooke and I stopped to take the obligatory vacation pic!



I think my dad seemed to enjoy it too! He didn't do too bad in the present department either.



We enjoyed a nice Christmas dinner filled with sandwiches and yummy snacks - my nephew Draven enjoyed the "sandwich o' death!"


It was chilly but we still enjoyed the view from my dad's dock.


Kate got one of the presents on her list - turns out a "live" polar bear actually meant, Polar Bear Alive! Way to go Bootsy!


Brooke enjoyed hanging out with her girl cousins - Audrey and Zoe.


While the older cousins hung out and played with Papa's new Wii, Kate gave her younger cousin Llllie a makeover! Pretty.


On the way out of town, we stopped by my sister's lake house not far from my dad's. Can't wait till this summer - i imagine we will be spending a lot of time up there especially if my dad buys a boat...hint hint!


Wow - more Christmas updates to follow!

Christmas 2010

The Friday of Christmas break brought some conflict! Brooke's entire school went to the movies - seriously, how cool is that? They even surprised them by taking them to the movie in 3d! Jay chaperoned a car full of mid-schoolers including Brooke. On Wednesday of that week, Kate said she needed something for her party on Friday. I had been asking her for days what they were doing for Christmas in her class. Finally, she said, ummm, you might want to check my bag. I think Mrs. Wilcox wrote you a note! Well, come to find out she had a whole Christmas program they had put together - i was soooo excited - there is really nothing cuter, is there? Unfortunately, it also brought conflict, Jay was already committed to Brooke's school. I guess it was just bad timing because none of our family could make it. I was so excited to have my work BFF, Jessica with me. She totally rocks and so did the concert! Here are some pics of my talented little munchkin!




I am so thrilled with Kate's teacher this year - she is a doll and really goes all out for the kids - it's a great way to start Kate's academic career! Her son is in the same class as Kate and the two of them have a budding relationship, so much so they got busted for kissing under the table and apparently there was NO mistletoe in sight - oops! Hard to believe she is just 4 - she is still the greatest gift I have ever received!

Brooke had a great time with jay unfortunately he didn't take any pics - imagine that! Next time i will remind him. We met back home at 1:00 and hit the road for Christmas with my dad. I will save that for my next post!