Christmas 2007

Well, we survived yet another Christmas. I believe our house "threw up" Toys R Us in it. Between Santa, Us, and Family I can say that the girls had a HUGE Christmas. Santa brought a pop up tent with Disney Princesses on it (let me tell you this tent comes up to Jason's chin, he also brought a shopping cart and an easel/chalkboard combo. As Santa was getting ready to leave he must have got caught in our fireplace because some of his suit was stuck to our fireplace (pictures will soon be posted so you can see). Jason and I got the girls just about everything else that you could imagine: books, nail polish, WebKins, playdough, Globe for Kerigan, movies, CD for Liv, and the list is so long I can't even remember. Mimi and Papa got them each an interactive doll that came with a bed, stroller, and highchair, clothes, character pillows (lightening McQueen for Liv and Tinkerbell for Kerigan). Morgan got ALOT of noisy toys but that okay she having a blast. My mom got them two XBOX 360 controllers with three games and snowglobes and a movie. Morgan got a tricycle and shoes (much needed). Other Family gifts consisted of oh my I can't even remember. But you get my drift it was a BIG Christmas at the OKelley house.

In other news, Kerigan made the Target program at school. For those of you not familiar with this program it is a full day out of the classroom with kids that think like she does. In other words, the gifted program, she obviously gets that from her dad because I surely don't have the brains sfor the gifted program.

The girls and I all return to school on January 8th, I am looking forward to continuing on towards my degree and the girls need the consistency of school already. Also on January 8th, Jason and I will celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary man that seems strange that we have been married for 8 yrs.

Please remember our dear friends Zach and Lisa in your prayers. Lisa is 33 weeks pregnant and is on complete bed rest. She is due on February 12th but at this point the doctors are just trying to get little man to stay in until at least January 15th.

We pray that each of you has a great rest of 2007 and a blessed beginning to 2008. We will update in 08. (Hey I made a rhyme).

Is it really time?

So where has the time gone? It is unbelievable that Christmas is only 10 days away. The OK Fab Five has been very busy the last 11 days so let me update you. Jason and I were involved in our Christmas Program at church so up until last Sunday evening we were practically living up at our church. Now, Jason is involved as the keyboardist at the Christmas Play for Kennesaw First Baptist this weekend. This past Monday we surprised the girls with checking them out of school early and taking them to Cheesecake Factory and a visit with Santa. Also, on Monday we had our dear friends Zach and Lisa and Eddie, Molly and Eli all over for dinner which was alot of fun. On Tuesday, Morgan was diagnosed with a sinus infection so you can imagine how grumpy an 18 month old with a sinus infection can be. Then on Wednesday, Kerigan was diagnosed with bronchitis so she was out of school on Thursday and Friday. We have been trying to get everybody well so that we can try to enjoy our last week before the holidays truly get into full force. I want to thank you all for your prayers of my friend, Angela as she had surgery on the 7th and came through it well and is slowly recuperating. So until next time the OK Fab Five is signing off.

Where did time go?

Ok, so back in August I said that I was going to do alot better with this. Now look 2 more months have passed by and I am SO far behind. I am going to try this differently this go around with a little encourgement from a friend in Tampa. I have decided to see how this goes. Over the last couple of months we have been extremely busy--Jason and I have grown in our marriage after a difficult couple of weeks in October but we learned that we can just about weather any storm that we are put in with the help of God, friends, and family. It was truly a growing process for me and a HUGE learning lesson also. I will not elaborate any further...but I would appreciate any prayers anyone could still send our way. The girls have grown so much. Kerigan has been testing for the Target program and is loving it. She claims the testing is extremely easy so we will see what they tell us once it is all over. Liv, well, what can I say? She is my little mess. Her teacher says she is extremely bright too and I don't mean to brag but since I not even close to being bright they must get it from their Dad's side and for that I am greatful. Morgan is into EVERYTHING. We recently had to put locks on our cabinets which I NEVER had to do with the others so you can tell she keeps us hopping. I am wrapping up my first semester back at school full time and starting January 8th I will be taking 4 classes so we will be studying ALOT at the O'Kelley household. Since my last post, our dear friends Zach and Lisa (their picture is on the right side) found out they are expecting a baby boy and tonight she told me that they plan to name him Zachary Christopher. I told her I was stuck on little big man if she didn't mind. I am so excited for them. Please keep me in your prayers as I have an econ final on Tuesday and need to do well. I am going to try a few different things to keep this more current so please bear with me. I plan to post new pictures soon so keep watching. We are in the Church christmas program this week so it will be busy at our house once again this weekend. Also, before I let you go one of my dearest friends and blog readers is having surgery on Friday and could use as many prayers as we can possibly give her, please remember Angela and I will send an update when I hear how she is. For tonight I am signing off.

September in a Flash

Where did it go? I don't even know what happen to the month of September. Oh, that's right 3 members of the O'Kelley Fab Five started off the month sick so that made mom wanting the month to fly by :) We have been extremely busy with cheerleading like I mentioned in the last blog. We had cheerleading pictures taken on the 15th so when we get those back I will post those. School has kept me extremely, I have had tests, presetations, and projects all in one month, but you know it is all for a good cause in the end. Kerigan is preparing for the church play that she is in on November 18th so that keeps her busy on Wednesdays. Morgan FINALLY started walking last week. If you haven't personally seen her do it you need to see her (you know who I am talking to). Even though we have been busy we have been just us. We stay on the run but we manage to survive. I feel like we stay really busy until I go to write it in our blog and then it feels like nothing so who knows. Until next month, we will see what kind of trouble in can get into and stay out of all at the same time. :) Love to all our friends and family.

Let's try this again

So I started this blog thing about 6 months ago determined to keep it up and keep our friends and family up to date with our every day life and well, everyday life happened and I haven't kept up so I figure I might as well see if I can try and keep this up again.

We survived the summer and boy was I happy when the girls returned to school. Now don't get me wrong I love having my kids out of school but I am also into routines and as many of you know it is hard to keep routines in the summer so I am finally getting another routine down.

Let me get you caught up on everyone in the O'Kelley Fab Five as we now call ourselves around here.

Jason: Is staying extremely busy at AT&T in the Tax Systems Department as a manager and when he is not doing that you can either find him at the keyboard at church (his second love), playing short stop for the church softball team on Tuesday Nights, or helping out at the flag football games where the girls cheer on Saturdays. However for the last week he has either been battling the strep virus or a stomach bug and at the point his "lovely" wife is about to pull out her hair.

Kerigan: She turned six during the summer and is our big first grader this year and is loving every minute of it. She has a fantastic teacher. I was told that if the principal of the school's kid was in the class then you know you have a great teacher and I am extremely blessed to have such a great teacher. She is excelling at all of her work and receives really good comments and grades for all of her hard work. When she is not at school she is either cheerleading, taking ballet and jazz, or participating in the kids program at church.

Liv: She is now 4.5 yrs old and she is in the pre-k program at Kiddie College which is about 5 miles from our home. Her teacher is Ms. Patty and she is loving it. I have always told Jason that the girls seem to grow tremendously once they start at Kiddie College and the same holds true for her. She has become an even greater joy to be around and has grown into a little girl. When she is not at school she is cheerleading, taking ballet, or participating in the kids program at church.

Morgan: Well, little miss priss is 15 months now and is most definitely a priss pott. She is attempting to walk but still to "chicken" to let go and have at it. She keeps all of us on our toes though from playing Daddy's keyboards to climbing the stairs when noone is looking.

Me: Well, needless to say I can't stay still. I started Fall Semester at KSU in August on Tues and Thurs mornings, I still work at church, I am co-room mom for Kerigan's class this year, I attempt to keep my house in order, and I work at nights at the Cobb County Jail 2-3 nights a week for the Public Defender's Office. Also in August I was FINALLY to put on a daily medication for my migraines which has made life a little easier and less painful.

My true intentions are to keep this up to date at least once a month (maybe readers will get lucky and I will do more based on what's happening with the Fab Five). I have some readers that will give me a hard time if I don't keep it up (you know who you are) and I will keep it up to date with their help.

Signing off for now

The O'Kelleys

What a Week

My how week's pass quicker the older I get. Our week's always start off busy and they NEVER seem to slow down until Fridays. On Mondays, Kerigan had dance and half through the practice we had a parents meeting for the upcoming recital. Kerigan looks so cute in her two costumes. This past week was Teacher Appreciation Week at Kerigan's school so I worked up there for a while on Tuesday wile the teacher's had their luncheon. Kerigan has been so blessed with two outstanding teachers this year we have been extremely blessed. Wednesdays of course is always busy with church and Kids Express. This one was a little more busy because we had our Kids Express send off for summer so we are through for 15 weeks. Thursday was Muffins for Mom at Liv's School and then I really just did housework and then we went to ball practice, came home, got beths and the girls were all in bed before the Homeowners Assocation meeting that was at OUR house started at 8:15. Friday we wrapped up appreciation week with flowers and the gifts from the students. Friday I got great news on two fronts. Many of you may rememeber that Kerigan's Kindergarten teacher had a still birth last August just four days before her actual delivery date and also the evening of the first day of school, well she told me that she is expecting again this coming November. I am so excited for her and her husband. She started the school year off on a very hard note gets to finally end in a joyous note and I found out on Friday that I am almost finished with my college degree at Kennesaw State, so I will be returning at the end of this month to begin wrapping up that process. When you have a degree that is 123 hours to complete and you only have 50 to go it seems that it is God's way of saying let's get it done. Saturday was a great and extremely BUSY day, the girls played in TWO games, we had lunch with some very close friends, and then had a cookout at some other's friends home. Mother's day has been great and relaxing. Let's see what this week brings. Until next week signing off.

Here we are part 2

So little miss guess who, here is your update. Since April is already over life seems to be flying by. Hopefully I will get much better at updating these as soon as school is out. We haven't been quite as boring as I thought we were in my last post. At the end of March the girls started playing Upward Softball thorugh my in-laws church so needless to say our Saturdays have been crammed. You can see some of their pictures on the page. Kerigan's dance class has been preparing for their recital that is the first of June so we are looking forward to that. Being Room Mom at Kerigan's school is keeping em busy lately as school winds down, but I am having a blast and wouldn't change working with her teachers for the world. Last week, Kerigan cut all of her hair off and boy does she look CUTE. We are so ready for Liv to be out of her preschool. It is so amazing how much a school can change over 4 years and I am not sure Morgan will attend this school because of its changes. Liv is so ready to be at her new school she is already counting down the days til summer is over. Morgan is getting extremely active (not that she wasn't already) but with activity she has also found her voice more vocally and I mean she thinks she is keeping up with and talking with her sisters but boy is she loud. Last weekend Jason and I had a complete night to ourselves for the first time in 10 months, refreshingly nice but strange at the same time. VBS is only 40 days away at this point and I am so looking forward to it being the week. I have a great group of people working with me this year, whether it be during the actual week or those that are helping me on the sidelines before to get the "game" well organized. So that's our current update. Hopefully I will remember to post next week.

OK OK

Okay, so I have fallen behind or we have been extremely BORING people. We have been extremely quiet since Disney World. The girls had a very quiet Spring Break. Both the BIG girls are playing Upward Softball so Thursday and Saturdays are our big days with practices and games. Jason has quit piano lessons for now as he feels that time with his family is more important which is nice because every night is busy with church, dance, and ball,to have a night free of anything is nice and Tuesdays is now a completely free night. Rebecca is planning fericiously with VBS. Too many planning now seems crazy but we are down to two months and with her being "athletic" director (theme this year is sports) the job gets bigger every year as our church grows. Morgan is all over the place now, nothing is safe. Infact, we have had to learn that movies and Jason's game controllers are all she can focus on and that's all she wants and if that isn't enough enjoyment the fireplace and playing in trashcans rates a second best. See what I told you we have been boring for the month of April, for our regular readers I will do my best to not take 19 days for the next update.

We survived

Well we survived and lived to tell about it. We left for Disney last Saturday morning and all we told Liv and Kerigan was that we were going on a road trip for the day. Morgan had been sick for over a week and with the advise of her doctor, Morgan stayed home with Grammy for the week,(which after seeing some of the kids in Disney her age I am glad she didn't look as miserable as those babies did). We left Marietta at 6:30AM and stopped only twice (once for breakfast and once at the GA-FLA line) yes, my girls are great travelers. We arrived in Orlando at 2:00PM and when we were finally exiting the interstate did the girls figure out where they were. We spent Saturday evening at the Disney Village and letting them see a little of Disney. We awoke on Sunday morning to start our day at Magic Kingdom. We arrived at MK at 9:00AM (the minute the gates opened) and we headed right for the Tea Cups. We were at MK nearly all day but did move over to Epcot to finish out our day with dinner with the Disney Princesses. The girls were able to meet Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White, and Jasmine. The biggest surprise even for mommy and daddy was that the princesses sent Liv a brithday card signed by all of them for her birthday (now mind you we DID NOT tell anyone that it was her birthday on the 20th). On Monday we started our day at Animal Kingdom and then proceeded to Typhoon Lagoon. Typhoon Lagoon would have been fun but we bacame aware of a couple of things on this trip, since last summer Liv has developed a fear of water, fire, and fireworks. So needless to say we were only at the waterpark for one hour. Tuesday we went to MGM Studios where Kerigan got to dance in the High School Musical Pep Rally and Liv got to dance in the Playhouse Disney Musical Review. If you have kids you know what a big deal both of these are. We finished Tuesday at a Braves Spring Training Game. When Wednesday arrived we knew that Liv's fun factor card was on the verge of expiring so we went to Magic Kingdom that morning, rested for a couple fo hours at the hotel, and went back later that evening. Since Liv was wearing down we convinced the hotel to let us check out a day early and we decided to come home on Thursday instead of Friday. Which was fine by me because I was going through Morgan withdrawl. We have close to hundred photos that we took I will post of our favorite memories soon. We are looking forward to Spring Break next week, Kerigan and Liv have their first softball game on Saturday (I will post those pictures one day). I look forward to having a slow start up week but also just being back home.

Here we are

Well, I got in trouble by one of my many readers for not updating sooner. I am trying not to bore you guys so I thought approximately once a week would work. I guess we will see. This week has been a non-eventful week. Kerigan performed at PTA this past Thursday night which was too cute, but of course I am a little biased. Jason has been EXTREMELY busy at work which is unusual but we made it through even if we were like ships passing each other in the night. I started back to Tae-Bo this week, I forgot how much it can kick your booty but I enjoyed being back. Jason and I were able to have dinner with close friends on Friday Night before we all went to Ultimate Date Night at our church. They took our picture at church so I will have to post it. Kerigan and Liv spent the night with Mimi and Papa on Friday, we had to go and pick up Morgan ( Mimi isn't ready to tackle all three for a sleep over). We have a very busy weekend planned with my aunt and uncle in town so I will update again later.

This is a first....

I have always wanted to be truly internet savvy and be able to keep family and firends near and far updated on our lives here in Marietta. So let's see how well I do. Life at the O'Kelley house has been crazy the last couple of weeks. Jason was out in San Antonio two weeks ago so it was the girls and I and even though I haven't had them all by myself for days at a time we survived. I was humbled by how God showed me during the week how much Jason and I rely on each other to help with the girls. I was humbled by how much I truly treasure a husband that helps me out the way he does. I came to see that I am lucky to have a husband that is so involved in our family life the way he is. Since he has been back at home we have been non-stop. Church keeps us extremely busy but we are greatful for a church family like we have been given. We are preparing for Liv's 4th birthday and our family trip to Disney. The girls don't know that we are going and we don't plan on telling them until we actually arrive. Kerigan is in Kindergarten and loving it, Liv is in preschool 3 days a week, and Morgan is now 8 months old and is crawling everywhere and now pulling up. She is moving much quicker than the other two girls ever did so she is keeping us truly on our toes. For all of you that are reading this we are greatful for each of you and love having each of you in our lives.