I guess I am a little behind on my updates! Christmas has always been my most favorite time of the year but boy am I glad it is over. This year seemed much busier than years past. Here is a condensed recap of the past two weeks...Kylie had pneumonia as well as croupe and was down and out for a couple days. After a strong dose of some antibiotics she was doing much better and is now healthy. She had a wonderful Christmas and Santa was very good to her. She has enjoyed her time off with her daddy and sister as well as being able to play with her friend Juan next door. I have to tell you that we have the best neighbors in the world! They treat Kylie like one of their own and include her in almost everything. Makenzie is doing well and despite a small sinus infection that chose to come out her eyes (GROSS!!!) she has been healthy and was able to fight it off without having to go to the doctor. She is having to go back to the dermatologist tomorrow because her eczema is rareing it's ugly head again and this time with a vengance. Hopefully we can get something that will finally kick this stuff for a while. Santa was also very good to her even though the whole concept is still a little too hard to understand at her age. Rian and I had a wonderful Christmas as well and even though Santa does not visit us anymore we got some wonderful much appreciated things. I finally got a new camera so I will have new pictures up soon. I am just trying to find the best possible way for you guys to see them without having to put them all on here. We are looking forward to New Year's Eve and celebrating with friends that we have not seen in a long time. This time of year has kept us closer to home and busy with family functions! We are very glad to hear that Uncle Tom is doing better and hoefully on the right road to a full recovery! We are taking Richard to get two wisdom teeth taken out on Friday. He seems to think he will be back to work on Saturday night...If any of you have had this done I think that you will agree with me that that will probably not happen. I think I was down for at least 3 days although I may have just been being a baby and I had all 4 taken out! I hope that everyone had a Very Merry and Blessed Christmas and have a Very Safe and Prosperous New Year. I will post pictures soon or atleast instructions and I promise I won't go so long without an update!


"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man." - Benjamin Franklin

One week from this evening Santa Claus will be on his way!!! Things have been going well in the Ferrero household. Everyone is staying well and happy! This past weekend Rian and KJ went back up to Grandma and Grandpa's to finish up the basement before they went back south so me and the girls went to my parents house for dinner. My cousin Paul is back from China (he has lived there for the past 2 years! He is now married and has a brand new beautiful baby girl!) so it was nice to see him again. We sure have missed him. Kylie was 4 when he left and she took to him like he had never left. Kenzie also fell in love instantly. Saturday we picked up my cousin's son Ian for the night so that his parents could have a night to do what they wanted before their new baby comes in January. My cousin's husband is a police officer so he has to work a lot of Saturdays. Ian and Kylie had a blast and I have to say that he is the most well behaved 3 year old little boy that I have ever met in my life! I would have a third and hope it was a boy if I knew he would turn out like him! Rian got home late Saturday afternoon! Kylie and Ian made a pallet in the living room and ate ice cream and watched Horton Hear's a Who Saturday evening. They ended up sleeping out there all night. Sunday we met my cousin and sadly had to give Ian back. We had our usual Sunday night dinner at my parents house and headed home to get ready for the week ahead! This week is Kylie's last week at school before the Christmas break and I know she is looking forward to 2 weeks off of school. Tomorrow is her school party and I have volunteered to go help with craft stations! That should definitely be interesting! Then on Friday she gets to wear her PJs to school which is always fun for her. We found some new Camp Rock pajamas on sale at Target and she can't wait to wear them to school. I have almost finished my Christmas shopping, just a couple more last minute things and I will be done. Nothing like waiting till the last minute! That's me....always the procrastinator (sp?)! Hope everyone is well and finding joy in this Christmas season!


"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy shit, what a ride!" - Mavis Leyrer

Wow....

Wow is all I can say. It is 7:25pm and both of my girls are fed and asleep in bed. Even Kylie (I will explain why in a minute)! This is a new world record.
Now to our weekend...We had a wonderful time in the mountains with Grandma and Grandpa. We headed up Saturday morning and got there early afternoon. We spent the day hanging out and catching up. The guys watched Florida win the SEC championship (which Don and Arliss were happy about even though I just can't bring myself to root for Florida!!!!) and we had Pasta Fazool for dinner. Afterwards we opened presents and put the babies to bed. The guys watched some more football and the girls chatted down stairs. It was amazingly windy and I don't think I have ever been so cold in my life. It made me really envy Ally for not smoking anymore! The next morning we had breakfast and the guys went to work finishing the basement. Ally and I packed up and headed home leaving the guys to help get the basement ready before Grandma and Grandpa left for Florida next weekend. (It's getting too cold for them as well and I completely understand) We had a wonderful time and I love watching Kylie & Makenzie with them and how much they truly love them. Grandma loves playing games with Kylie and Kylie was even able to repeat a lot of Grandma's alphabet game for her Nana & Papa Sunday evening when we got home. Sunday we met Ally's parents and had lunch at Waffle House and headed home after picking up their dogs. We went to my parent's for our usual Sunday dinner. I have to say I was one worn out mommy when we got home Sunday evening! Monday morning I took Kylie to school and took Makenzie to my mom's since Rian was still in the mountains. Jessica is off work (after graduation) until January and my mom happened to have the day off, so it worked out wonderfully! I got off early to pick Kylie up from school and went to pick up Makenzie. They both had baths and dinner by 6:00 and Kylie was asleep by 7:00, Makenzie at 7:15pm! Now to the reason that Kylie was in bed so early....Saturday at Grandma's house I was downstairs with Grandma, Kenzie, Ally, and Aubry. Out of nowhere I heard one of those screams where you know it was not just a bump on the head or a fall but a truly painful terrifying scream! I ran upstairs to see Rian holding Kylie still in a panic state. I grabbed her from Rian as he followed me in to the bedroom. I asked her over and over again what was wrong? What happened? She just kept saying her hand! She was flinging it around so I could not see anything and knew I did not see any blood. I asked her what she touched and she finally was able to tell me the window. Seeing an outlet below I thought maybe she had touched that and somehow electrocuted herself. Rian went to inspect the window and there it was. A wasp! Apparently when I went to put Kenzie down for a nap and closed the blinds I had disturbed the wasp trying to escape the cold outside. He flew down and was resting on the string that you use to raise the blinds. Kylie tried to raise them without paying attention and grabbed the wasp on the string. We put tobacco (I knew smoking was good for something) on it and then Grandma taped a penny on it. I gave her some tylenol and things seemed to be better. She was fine on Sunday minus the little pain and itching it was causing. 1:30AM Monday morning Kylie wakes me up in tears saying her hand is itching and hurting. I gave her some Tylenol and put some anti-itch on it and put her in bed with me. Monday morning she woke up with a sausage thumb and a softball palm. It didn't seem to be bothering her as bad so I sent her to school telling her to call me if she could not make it through the day. ( This was her right hand so I was worried about writing and she even had trouble pulling up her pants). I never received the call. When I went to pick her up the swelling had reduced tremendously but the itching was worse and a strange red rash had started to creep down her arm. We headed to CVS (pharmacy) and had the pharmacist look at it. She determined that the stinger was still in her hand causing the "infection" look and we bought some Benadryl to help with the itching. Thus the reason she was asleep at 7:00! We are to watch her hand and watch for fever to make sure she does not need to see a doctor. Hopefully by the morning things will look a lot better! Never a dull moment. We are anxiously awaiting Daddy's arival home and hoping for a calm week before another busy weekend planned next! (more to come later!) Also, Everyone please say a prayer for Rian's Uncle Tom as we recently heard he is having back troubles and is in alot of pain. We are including you in our nightly prayers and praying for Aunt HelenMae's strength! Wish you guys were closer to help out. I know Rian would surely help with the wood! Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

"Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory."

-Albert Schweitzer

Only 23 days until Christmas! Wow! It is so hard to believe that the year is almost over. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know that we did. The weekend was a good one as well and was spent with friends and family. Kylie spent the weekend with my parents helping decorate for Christmas. They said she was quite the motivator and they were very shocked to have it all done by Saturday afternoon! That's my girl! If you tell her that you are going to do something and it is something that she wants to do....she makes sure you get it done. Makenzie was with us all weekend and was able to spend most of the weekend with her cousin Aubrianna or Aubry as Kenzie calls her. Those two are quite the pair together. Everyone is well again at our house and we are very thankful for that as I am sure so are Grandma and Grandpa from Florida because we are heading to their house this weekend for our Christmas since they will be heading back to Florida soon! Rian's work has been slow so he has spent the last two weeks playing the "stay at home dad" game with the girls! I know it can be hard but I am pretty sure he is enjoying it! We are going to have to explain to Kylie what a recession is and that even though Santa "makes" the toys, he feels the strain as well! =) We are lucky enough that Makenzie is still too young to understand any of it! Like I said before though, we are thankful for what we have because there are so many others that have it much worse than we do! This week has been going really well so far and I am hoping to get our house decorated for Christmas before we leave on Friday! Have a wonderful week everyone!


"Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow."

-Dorothy Thompson

Being Thankful...

Have you given Thanks lately for what you have in your life? I am sure many of you, with myself guilty as well, have griped about what you do not have. With the holidays fast approaching it is very easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season without stopping to realize the true meaning. I am thankful today, I will be thankful tomorrow, and I will make every attempt each day to wake up thankful and thank God for the blessings he has granted me and not go to him only when I have a problem or need something. I am thankful for waking up every morning with a roof over my head. I am thankful that I can wake up each morning with my best friend right beside me. I am thankful that I can wake up each morning to the sound of little feet running into my bedroom to start the day (although usually earlier than I would like them to). I am thankful for my wonderful family, near and far. I am thankful for the most amazing friends anyone could ask for. I am thankful for a God that forgives. I am thankful for his son who died on the cross that day so that my sins may be forgiven. I am thankful.
Take a look around you. Are you one of the people fortunate enough to have a bed to sleep on, to have food in your refrigerator, a place to call home? We all have our problems, everyone does, but when you are having one of those days when things seem to be going everyway but your way, take a look at the lady in the grocery line behind you, the person you pass on the sidewalk, the man at the post office. What's their story? Is that a mom buying her child's favorite food to try and get them to eat something after their chemo treatment this morning? Is that a person walking home after having a horrible day at work not sure how much longer he can take the stress? Is that a father mailing a letter to his son stationed in Iraq who won't be home for Christmas this year? Everyone has a story. I bet though that mom is thankful for the chemo that her child received this morning giving them a better shot at a longer life than someone 10 years ago. I bet that person passing you is just thankful for a having a job. I bet that father at the post office is thankful that his son is still alive to send the letter to. We all have reasons to be thankful. Take time this holiday season to really reflect on all the reasons you have to be thankful. Share your reasons with others. Let someone know that they give you a reason to be thankful and give someone else a reason to be thankful for you. We all have something to give, whether it be our friendship, a shoulder, a hand to hold, a hug to share, an ear to listen, we all have something. Wake up in the morning and think of one thing to do that day that could possibly put a smile on someone's face even if it is just by putting a smile on your face. They are contagious and don't cost a thing. I know personally that when I go through the drive through sometimes I will tell the cashier that I would like to pay for the car behind me. Sometimes I get crazy looks, sometimes I get questioned but I am sure that when that car pulls up to find out that some complete stranger paid for their breakfast or their lunch that their day gets just a little bit better. My simple act of kindness might inspire them to do the same for someone else. Pay it forward. Check your closets this winter and see how many extra coats you have that you don't wear, see how many outfits you have that you probably will never wear again or that don't fit you, look in your pantry and see how many cans of food that you bought on sale just because. Could you stand to let some go? Again, give someone else a reason to be thankful for you! I hope that everyone has a wonderful safe Thanksgiving and that in this time of giving that you remember to be Thankful.

Sorry for the delay...

We had a rough week last week. I will start with last weekend and bring you up to date. Last Saturday we had my grandfather's 80th birthday dinner which was a lot of fun. Makenzie had a hard time due to the fact that we got there at 6:00 and did not eat until 7:30 (way past her dinner time) and then did not get done until around 9:00 or so (which is past her bedtime). Kylie of course was fine and enjoyed all the attention from family members from out of state that she does not get to see too often. Sunday we had a nice lunch with "Grandma and Grandpa from Florida" (as Kylie calls them) and watched the Falcons at Reid and Ally's. Monday was a normal day with no issues! Monday night / Tuesday morning Rian got a stomach virus and spent 6 hours throwing up at least 3 times an hour all night! He was home from work on Tuesday and I did my best to keep the girls away and Rian quarantined. I washed all the bedding and tried to sanitize as much as I could to keep anyone else from getting it. Thank goodness it was only about a 12 hour bug and he was feeling much better by Tuesday night. Wednesday morning Kylie woke up with a sore throat and complained of not feeling well. I kept her home from school (also thinking that she just needed some one on one time with mommy also!) and was feeling much better after some Thanksgiving craft projects and a good movie. We went to my parents for dinner that evening and everyone seemed to be doing just fine. Thursday morning Makenzie woke up with the worst diarreah (sp? and TMI) and I was worried that she was coming down with the stomach bug. I sent her to school with an FYI to them and headed off to work. I did not get a call so I though that maybe she may have just eaten something. My dad went and had Thanksgiving lunch with Kylie at school on Thursday and called and said that everything went well! Yeah...maybe I did do a good job of keeping them germ free and getting that bug out of our house! I could only be so lucky. Thursday afternoon at about 3:45 I get a call from Kylie's daycare saying that she had thrown up all over the bus on the way from school and then all over the cafeteria at daycare! I head home and pick both girls up and take them home. Rian had to work late that evening so I had Kylie throwing up everywhere, Makenzie screaming, both girls needing a bath due to gross bodily fluids and all the while trying to keep everyone seperated so no one else got the bug. My hands were almost cracking they were so dry from all of the hand washing. Kylie continued for the next 5 hours every 30 minutes like clock work although she got really good at her aim and the mess was kept to a minimum. I had to run to my parents to grab some diapers since we had gone through so many and to get some plastic grocery bags to line Kylie's barf bucket as I was not in any mood or shape to be going to the grocery store. While there I was kidding everyone that I was the carrier and they were all going to get sick to. Take foot insert mouth! The next morning...we are now at Friday...my sister in law calls to tell me that she spent the entire night throwing up as well! Another bites the dust! I really should be careful of what I say. Rian was home with Kylie on Friday to make sure she was over it and to get some rest. That evening my brother and sister in law came over for dinner since my parents were heading to my grandmother's for her Thanksgiving dinner at the retirement home. I called my dad to check on painting time for Saturday and he mentioned that my mom did not go with him because she was not feeling too well! An hour later...I get the call...she is throwing up! AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I feel though at this point it has left my house so I was in the clear! The next morning Kylie and I head to my parents house to help paing their kitchen and dining room as everyone seems to be feeling better. We got both rooms painted and I have to say it looks amazing. Saturday evening they came back to our house and had dinner and made Smores with Kylie in the fireplace. Sunday morning we got up and got some much needed cleaning done. While I was in the kitchen doing dishes Makenzie had apparently gotten a hold of the phone in the living room like she does so often but this time I did not notice. After an undetermined amount of time Rian notices and puts it back on the base. Not 45 seconds later the phone rings (I bet you can guess where I am going with this...), I answer it and I hear on the other end..."Yes ma'am this is Gwinnett County 911. We just received a hang up call from this number and when we first attempted to call back, the phone was answered and all we could hear was someone pushing buttons and then hang up again." Me: "Oh my gosh...I am so sorry. I have an 18 month old at home and she apparently got a hold of the phone. We will try to make sure this never happens again." 911 Operator: "So would you like me to cancel the police?" Me: In my head "Well, duh!" speaking "Yes, please do!"
Needless to say that phone has been removed from the living room so that she can no longer reach any of the phones in the house!
Sunday evening we went to my parent's for our Sunday night dinner and then had a quiet evening at home. Rian is off this week so he has the girls at home this week with him. We will see how survives being a stay at home dad. Fortunately for him he only has Kylie in the afternoons after school and it is a short week for me with the holidays! Hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving! (FYI - I usually do not have time to proof read so...sorry for any mistakes!)

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." - John F. Kennedy

Things have been good in the Ferrero household. Richard got back from Chicago on Wednesday and my dad got back from Italy on Friday. Saturday we had everyone over to watch Georgia beat Kentucky (everyone except Reid since he was in Vegas). That evening Rian and everyone went to a local dance hall / club to see some Ultimate Fighting. I stayed home and had a nice quiet evening with my girls! Sunday was dinner at my parents and Kylie went with my brother and his wife to her grandmother's 91st birthday! This Saturday we will be celebrating my papa's 80th birthday. Sunday we will be having lunch with Arliss and Don or as Kylie calls them "Grandma and Grandpa in Florida". Makenzie's leg is looking so much better you can barely even tell there was anything there!
Yesterday I had my parent / teacher conference with Kylie's teacher and I have to say that girl makes me so proud to be her mommy! In reading her teacher explained to me that most kids come in from Kindergarten at a level 3 and at this time of the year should be at a 7 (going up 4 levels). When Kylie started she tested in at a level 7 and is now at 14!!!! She has doubled her reading level and her teacher said that she is in the highest reading group and because there are only a few 1st graders at the school in that level she goes to another class for reading.
Her computer classes that she is taking are on two different subjects, Math and Language Arts. In Math she should be at a 1.9 right now and she is at a 2.4! In Language Arts she should be at a 1.7 and she is at a 1.99! Her Benchmark Testing level should be at a 70% and she is at 82% I believe. Also, on her CoGat Testing she is abover average in the three areas they tested! She certainly is my smarty pants! She takes after her momma! =)
Now to brag on my other smarty pants. Every day we have a new word added to her vocabulary. Her new facination is the moon. She is also learning her colors. She can now say them all although she still gets confused when asked what color something is. She knows yeyo, why (white), back (black), wed (red), geen, bue, and bwown (brown). She can almost always identify yellow and purple which are obviously her favorites.
I will leave you with a classic Kylie and Makenzie story. I am in the kitchen doing the dishes and I hear them in Makenzie's room laughing away (I know that Rian has moved Makenzie's play school desk away from her dresser since she figured out that she could climb on the desk to climb on the 5 drawer dresser, so I know at this point she is not up there) and I think it is wonderful that they are having fun and not fighting over something. After a few minutes and not paying much attention to the laughing that is still continuing it starts to get closer to me as Makenzie is coming towards the kitchen. As soon as I turn around I see a white haired little old lady looking at me and laughing. Kylie and Makenzie had dumped 1/2 a bottle of baby powder on Makenzie's head. I would expect this from an 18 month old but Kylie should know better. Unfortunately I was laughing too hard to yell at either of them. Afterwards though I did explain to them that it was wrong and I threatened Kylie with her life if Makenzie ever got a pair of scissors to cut her hair that she better stop her.

Have a Great Weekend Everyone!

"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance."
-Franklin P. Jones

It's Not Ring Worm...

After taking Makenzie to the doctor on Monday or whatever day it was last week things were not getting any better. In fact her leg was looking worse. Then by Thursday evening she had started to run a fever and had a horrible cough. By Friday night the fever had gotten to 103 and we fought it all weekend with Tylenol every 3-4 hours. Sunday night Rian decided he was going to take Monday off and take her back to the doctor again. This time she had an ear infection and a sinus infection. The doctor also looked at her leg again and said that she did not like the way it was looking either and referred us to a dermatologist. I was able to get an appointment for yesterday (Tuesday) and after taking a scraping of it and testing it the doctor has determined that she has something called Nummular Eczema. It is very commonly misdiagnosed as ringworm due to the similarity in appearance! So we have a new cream, new soap, new lotion, etc. for her sensitive skin. The doctor made it quite clear that if it smells good, don't use it! Unfortunately she will probably have to deal with this for the rest of her life but there is a small chance she could grow out of it by the time she is 5 or 6. Only time will tell. At least now we know what it is.

Now on to our weekend! Friday evening we took the girls up to Reid and Allison's house for trick or treating. I ended up keeping Makenzie at home (due to fever) so Rian, Reid, and Tony took Kylie out. She did not last very long though after a "scary dead bride" came to life as Kylie was walking away and scared the pants off of her! Saturday we went to Tommy and Danielle's to watch our precious Dawgs get stomped to death by the Gators! I am sure Arliss and Don were just thrilled after the beating we gave them last year! Since Makenzie was still not feeling well we decided not to do anything special for my birthday and just hung out with everyone at the house. I did my fare share of celebrating though and wollowing in my sorrowers from the earlier game and paid for it Sunday morning! Vodka, OJ, and RedBull were going down way to easy! Sunday we headed home got some cleaning done and headed to my parents for dinner with my Grandmother. My dad left for Italy on Sunday as well so we did not get to see him before he left. Monday everyone at work took me out to lunch for my birthday and my mom cooked me Filet Mignon and Crab legs for dinner! It was wonderful!

We are looking forward to a quiet weekend at home this weekend! Hope everyone is having a great week! God Bless!

Quote for the day: (I am not going to say who I voted for but you should know I was not a happy camper when I woke up this morning! We all need to start praying!)

"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop

Feels like a Monday..

(The first part was written on Tuesday)

Today feels like a Monday and for good reason, it is my Monday. I was off work yesterday after having to take Makenzie to the doctor. Kenzie has been battling some sort of diaper rash for about 3 months now that will go away only for a couple days and then come back with a vengance. I had taken her to the doctor last Thursday but had no answers as the rash was having one of it's better days so the doctor was not able to see it in all of it's glory. Well, on Saturday morning I was changing her diaper and noticed a spot on the back of her knee that looked like ring worm. I put some anti-fungal cream on it Saturday morning and night and then Sunday morning and night but it did not seem to be helping. (This is the second time she has had this) So I decided to take her back to the doctor yesterday morning to have it checked out and since the diaper rash was rearing it's ugly head again then maybe we could up with an answer on that as well. After looking at her leg the doctor did say that she thought it could be ringworm (which by the way, is not a worm at all) and since the cream was not working we are to try an oral anti-fungal med that has to be taken 2x a day for 4 weeks! Yikes, that is a lot of medicine. Kenzie also had to have blood drawn to get a baseline for her kidney and liver functions since the medicine can be harsh on them. That was not fun but the nurse was amazing and Kenzie handled it as well as any 17 month old would. Now, if the medicine does not work then we have to go back for more test to see if she has something called Nummular or Discoid Eczema which can very closely resemble ringworm and a lot of times be mistaken for ringworm. As far as the diaper rash goes the doctor rambled off some terms that I can not remember but we are trying a new prescription strength cream and see how that does.

I'm back...It is now Thursday. Got busy sorry.
Back to the update and about our weekend. Kylie spent the weekend with Mema & Papa (my grandparents) and had a blast. Friday night they took her to Red Lobster (which she loves even though she only eats chicken fingers there!) and Saturday night they went to some friends of their's for dinner. Sunday Rian and I and Makenzie went up for dinner and to pick Kylie up. Friday night we went to our friends house and spent the weekend with them and watched Georgia beat LSU (right? that is who they played?) Anyway...it was a nice weekend and it was fun to be with everyone again since we had spent a couple weekends at home! This week has been good and I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday, the last day of October, and Halloween! Where is the time going? I am excited about this weekend, we have a couple of things on the burner since Monday is my birthday but I will let you know about it next week because I am not exactly sure what we will end up doing! We found out yesterday that my dad might be going to Italy next week which he is excited about. My dad used to travel a lot and I don't mean around the country for a couple days. He traveled the world for weeks and sometimes months. He has been to every continent I believe except Antarctica! If I am correct her has been to places in Africa, India, Iceland, Russia, Australia, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, and Dubai to name a few! He gave up traveling a while ago but has always said that he would like to do it every once in a while if given the opportunity and he gets to decide if he wants to go or not. There are several places that he has said he will never go back to! I can only imagine! Ok...I rambling now. Not sure there is too much else to mention today so I will leave you now and I hope that everyone has a very wonderdul, spooky Halloween and a wonderful weekend!

On a side note, I have decided to start ending my posts with a quote and since Monday is my birthday and I am another year older I thought it only fitting for this one:

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." - Abraham Lincoln

How true and an adaptation that I have heard and love is:
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away!" - or something to that effect!

What a wonderful weekend. Friday was spent doing absolutely nothing, we even ordered pizza so that I didn't have to cook. Rian and Makenzie were in bed by 8:15, Kylie by 9:00 and me by 9:30. The fact that it rained all day Friday and was dark by 7:30 made it all the more easy. Saturday morning started off quite chilly so we spent the morning eating breakfast and watching cartoons. (Makenzie's new favorite show is Barney) By the afternoon and after Makenzie's nap it had warmed up some and so me and the girls (while daddy watched the Georgia game) went outside and raked leaves to fill some bags that I bought at Target. The first one we tried was a giant spider. We got the body all filled with leaves and the darn thing spit right down the middle. I thought that maybe we could tape it but while Kylie was trying to fill one of the legs it too spit in half! Ughhh. I guess that's what you get when you only pay $1.99 for it. So we gave up on that and went to the trash bags that look like pumpkins. We were able to fill 3 and the girls had fun. Kylie was a little nervous about picking up the leaves because she was afraid there were bugs or one of the dogs might have peed in them. Makenzie though was determined to destroy every pile of leaves we were able to rake up. She thought it was quite funny. Saturday afternoon I took Kylie to a birthday party around 4 and had to pick her up at 8. She had a lot of fun and was not ready to leave when I got there. She was very upset and telling me that she is "always the first person to leave!!!" My response is, well sorry, when a parent says that the party ends at 8 and you need to be picked up by that time, well then, I am going to be there at that time. I am sure after spending 4 hours with 10 girls age 6-9 I would want the parents to be on time! I am always the mean mommy! I have been getting that a lot lately. I am not sure if I am really that strict or some parents just their kids do as they please. I mean really, Kylie has and does so much more than I was ever allowed. I tell her to be thankful because things could be a lot worse. I am sure it is just a phase that will probably last for the next 15 years!
Sunday we went to my grandmother's for dinner since my parents were in Florida. My grandfather was at Deer Camp hunting so it was nice to go and visit her.
Not sure what this weekend will hold but I will be back soon to let you all know!
Have a wonderful rest of the week! Hope everyone is doing well!

Not going to the beach. Doesn't that sound awful? If you have read my previous posts you would know that we were supposed to be going to the beach again this weekend for a wedding with my parents and my brother and his wife. Unfortunately with the way things have been lately we have decided that paying bills is a little more important. (Although I would like to disagree!) So off to the beach everyone goes.....except us! So we will have another quiet weekend at home and be taking care of my parent's dogs! I must say though that last weekend I was able to get quite a lot accomplished on my "quiet" weekend at home. Saturday we finally went and picked up Kylie's new furniture that was so graciously given to her from my boss and his wife! We then went to my parents to watch Georgia beat Tennessee with my brother while my parents were at the game! Oh....wait....need to back up to Friday night. I had mentioned that we would be going to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins, yeah right they wanted almost $20 per pumpkin. We had to go to Walmart Friday night so guess what....they had big pumpkins for $3.88 a piece! What a steal! Kylie could really care less where it came from, she was just glad to get one! Ok, back to Saturday. Previously, I also mentioned the Kylie wanted to be Hannah Montana for Halloween. Well the costume I found was over $30 so I told her that if she wanted that, then she would have to help pay for it with her Target gift card that she got from Uncle Dain, Aunt Amy, and Gianna for her birthday that she still had not spent. She did not like that idea at all. Papa Richard had been going through all of the boys old costumes trying to give her an idea when he came across a wedding bouquet from my wedding and suggested she be a bride. It was like a light bulb had gone off...."Can I wear my white wedding dress, Mommy?" "Of course...all of the weddings are over now, you can do whatever you want with it. You can even wear my veil and we will do your hair and you can wear makeup!" She was sold! I also found a Halloween costume in a box of clothes that came from our friends KJ & Michelle for Makenzie!!! So with what could have turned out to be pretty expensive (pumpkins and costumes) it cost us under $10 for just the pumpkins! So while Daddy and Uncle Steve were watching football on Saturday, I took the girls to Target and Kylie was able to spend her $20 on what she wanted. Of course she wanted new dry erase board markers, a notebook, and some new Halloween pens and still had money left over! Not toys! We went to the toy area and she said "what are we doing here? I don't play with toys!" Her room is done up like a class room. She has a bulletin board, a dry erase board, her new desk that came with the furniture (that looks much more "grown up" then her last one, a table with chairs for her "kids", a rocking chair and a rug for story time, she even has transperancies (sp?) that go on a projector machine, stickers galore for grading papers, math and english workbooks, markers out the wazooo, crayons of every color known to man, pens that will last a lifetime, and the list goes on and on. I think I have a teacher in the making. If she does not grow up to be one I will be really suprised. I know, I know, kids will change their mind a million times, I just have a feeling! So, if any on you prior teachers have anything still in the closet, Kylie would love to take it off your hands! Man have I gotten way off track. So, on Sunday we cleaned and rearranged Kylie's room to make way for her new stuff. We moved a couple things into Makenzie's room that Kylie had outgrown. We had our usual Sunday night dinner with my parents and then went home for an early night in bed. This week has gone well so far. Kylie has had Benchmark testing for the last two days and report cards come home tomorrow. I will be anxious to see how she is doing although from the looks of things that get sent home, she is doing wonderful. She started 1st grade on a reading level of 3 (they label everyone at this level at the end of Kindergarten) and by the end of the year she has to be at 18. Well at the conclusion of the first 9 weeks, only half way through the first half of the year she is already at 10! Hope everyone is having a wonderful week and thanks for tuning in! Be back soon!

All over the place...

Finally getting to an update for the week. Last weekend was amazing. The rehersal dinner and the wedding were perfect (almost as perfect as my wedding! =) Of course it was a whirlwind of activity that kept us going until Sunday evening. The girls were amazing. Kylie looked like a princess as she always does and Makenzie had a blast with all of the people, lights, music, etc. We are really looking forward to a weekend at home this weekend with no "big plans". We do plan on taking the girls to a pumpkin patch to get one and taking them to get their Halloween costumes. Kylie of course is wanting to be Hannah Montana and I have not decided on Kenzie yet. I think though that a devil costume would be probably be the most fitting!
You see, Makenzie has always had a problem with biting. I have tried everything from biting her back, spanking, time outs, etc. Now she has quit biting or at least biting hard. Now it is a game with her. Kylie knows how to push Kenzie's buttons and get her in trouble. Kenzie will now "pretend" to bite Kylie and sometimes catch a little skin. Never enough to leave a mark but Kylie and the drama queen she is comes screaming and this is how it goes:

Kylie: "Mooooooommmmmmmmmmmmm...Kenzie bit me!"
Mommy: "Kennnnnnnnnnnzzzzzziiiiiiiieeeeeeee...did you bite Kylie?"
Kenzie: "Momma bite" (which means yes)
Mommy: "No bite Kenzie, that is bad"
Kenzie: "Momma bite"
Mommy: "Not nice Kenzie, you don't bite"
Kenzie: "Na Nice" (not nice)(and she starts crying)
By this point Kylie had quit crying and starts again!!!!
Mommy: "What are you crying for now Kylie?"
Kylie: "You made Makenzie cry!!! Why are you so mean to her to make a baby cry? You should not make your baby cry!"
Mommy: "Well she did something wrong and something that she knows she is not supposed to do."
Kylie: "Well it's not nice and it didn't even hurt that bad!"

I can't win!!!!! Makenzie drives Kylie absolutely crazy sometimes but as soon as she gets in trouble, hurt, or is crying for something, Kylie comes running to the rescue. She absolutely hates for her baby sister to be upset.
Makenzie's knew infatuation (sp?) is baby dolls and baby bottles. She will now play with her baby doll and bottle for an hour straight enertaining herself. Of course sometimes she insists that you assist her in feeding her baby if she needs to do something else. She loves to say "Bebeee". When it is Kenzie's bed time she will take her baby in with her to her room and lay the baby down and put the baby's blanket on her and give her a bottle. She will tell her "nie nie, bebee" (night night baby). It is absolutely precious.

I will wrap this up now. Sorry it was all over the place but that is how my brain is functioning today. I am so glad it is Friday. Kylie has Monday off of school so it should be a nice long relaxing weekend!!!!

Oh I almost forgot. We had absolutely wonderful time with Ron and Duke last week. Everyone came for dinner Wednesday night and Rian grilled pizzas which turned out awesome. Thursday everyone went up to Reid's so Ron could see his house. I stayed home with the girls because I knew it would be a long night and they both had to get up for school! Friday afternoon they left to stay with friends in Atlanta for the rest of the weekend!

Also, yesterday was Richard's birthday! Happy Birthday Papa!

What a weekend....this is a long one

Have a seat, we are going to be here for a while....
We had a very busy weekend but I am going to keep the update short because I have something else more important to talk about. Before I get to that though....Friday night we had Tony, Tommy, and Danielle come and stay with us for the Chilli Cook off on Saturday. We did not camp out or enter this year due to my brother still recovering from knee surgery. He is usually the cook for this thing. We still got up Saturday and all of us went for the day! It was a lot of fun as usual and the girls truly enjoyed it. Makenzie loves to people watch and there were definitely a variety of people there. It amazes me though that so many different types of people can be in one place and yet seem like they all belong. Of course we saw many people that we know as this is a huge thing for our area and it was nice to catch up with people we hadn't seen in a while. Saturday evening everyone came to our house for the Georgia vs Alabama game. We will not even go there about the score. It was fun despite our disappointing performance. Sunday morning was cleaning day to get ready for Ron who will be here today. My brother called Sunday also and said that he was coming over because he had something for Kylie. It turns out that while driving down the road there was a turtle crossing the street and since Kylie is my reptile lover he thought she would like to see it. You have to understand that ever since I can remember, my dad was always catching snakes and such and we would hold them and keep them for a day and then let them go. I have always done the same with Kylie. We have rocks around a flower bed that on any given day in the summer you can find at least 1 or 2 snakes under them and sometimes we have had as many as 10. Kylie loves snakes. She knows the rules and that is that she cannot touch one or pick it up until she tells me and I make sure it is one that she can pick up (I am quite versed on the snakes in GA and can identify most or at least tell if they are poisonous). This rule also goes for daddy (Rian) since he is not so much the snake guy. He always comes and gets me to remove them or he will kill them and he knows I don't like that. Anyway, so back to the turtle thing. Knowing that Kylie loves snakes, we thought she would enjoy the turtle. We were kinda wrong on that one. She was not too sure about it. She loved looking at it but was not about to pick it up. I found it quite funny that our snake girl is a little afraid of turtles. I do have to say though that she has never seen one up close like that. They are definitely not as common as our snakes.

On to my next and more important topic. I wanted to get the word out about the month of September. Not many of you are aware that September was National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Not many know that a gold ribbon represents Childhood Cancer Awareness. It's not your fault. Not many people in the country know. What we do know is the pink ribbon. We know October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. We know because it is everywhere. You can furnish your entire kitchen from Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Target in nothing but PINK appliances. You know because Delta flight attendants are wearing PINK this month and sky miles are being donated for breast cancer research. We know because it is EVERYWHERE!!! Did you see any GOLD ribbons? I fully and whole heartedly support Breast Cancer Awareness and Research. Please do not get me wrong but did you know that every school day 46 children are diagnosed with cancer, 2,300 children will die each year, only 2/3 of children diagnosed will survive! Helen Jonsen, Forbes.com senior editor and mother of a child who recently underwent treatment for osteosarcoma, stated in a September 12th article, “Cancer is the No. 1 disease killer of children in the U.S. ...We tend to talk about it in hushed tones instead of screaming for help. But scream we should.” The article goes on to say, “The funding for pediatric cancer clinical trials has gone down every year since 2003, and is currently $26.4 million. By comparison, NCI funding for AIDS research was $254 million in 2006; funding for breast cancer topped $584 million the same year.” For the past year I have been following the stories of several children with cancer. Most are the ages of my children. Many have died, leaving their parents with a whole in their heart that will never mend and their arms aching to hold them again. One particular boy named Coleman I have been following since the beginning. He was diagnosed at the age of 2.5 with Medulloblastoma after a tumor was found in his brain the size of a tangerine. Coleman is now 4 years old and has recently relapsed. Their options are limited and the statistics are not in their favor. This little boy has a twin brother who has been more effective medicine than any doctor could give him. This family's Faith though gets them through each day with a smile on their face and love in their hearts. What they have been through, I can only imagine. They need your prayers, our prayers. So many children do. So many families do. It just doesn't seem right that the children who will one day be the leaders of our country, some day be mothers or fathers or doctors or teachers may not have the opportunity because we don't deem their cause important enough to let everyone know what a GOLD ribbon means! I challenge you today to help us take a stand and make gold ribbons as well known as pink and to help us make a difference! I am a mother, not a mother of a child with cancer, but a mother with a goal that God forbid that day to come I hope that the statistics that are given to you today will be different and I am doing my part to make that change. Are you willing to do the same for your child, your niece, your nephew, your grandchild?

We are at the halfway point for the week. Is it really Wednesday already?
Last weekend turned out to be a lot of fun for everyone. Us girls had fun on Friday night going out. Makenzie and Kylie stayed with my parents and of course had fun with Nana and Papa. I picked them up on Saturday morning and we went back to Danielle and Tommy's house. Allsion and Aubri (as Makenzie calls her) joined us and we had another girls only night. We watched our favorite Georgia Bulldogs win again, ate pizza, and had a few (maybe more) drinks. Kinda sounds like a bunch of guys! On Sunday me and the girls went to Shane's first birthday and then headed home to see Daddy (Rian). The girls had not seen him since Thursday evening. Rian and the guys seemed to have had a blast. The stories were told as I knew they would be and I have to admit I wish we had been able to go as well. They all survived and everyone was able to stay in the raft even though aparently the guide tried really hard to have at least one go in. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the water wasn't too terribly cold. Rian described the house and the view similar to Arliss' except with the mountains going on as far as the eye could see. The inside was wood similar to theirs as well as the outside "log cabin" look. They had a screened in porch with a fire place and hot tub, a pool table in the basement and 5 bedrooms! Sounds like they had it made! This week we have been cleaning and cleaning and cleaning! I have not done a good cleaning of the house in a long time. Of course we straighten up and wipe things down but I am talking about cleaning windows, window screens (Richard's job), polishing and cleaning the hardwoods, dusting everything, wiping down every picture frame, etc. Ron is coming in next week and we have company coming this weekend as well, besides that though the house just really needed it! We are getting some new (new to us / hand me down) furniture for Kylie's room that will complete everything and everything will now match! She is very excited as am I because now all the bedrooms have matching stuff which is a big deal for us since so much of our stuff in the past has been mis matched what nots that we happen to have or were given! My next project then is to paint her room and then the everything will be completed. We painted Makenzie's room before she was born but I just never got around to repainting Kylie's since she has gotten older. Time to get ready to go home and get some more cleaning done. Will post more after this weekend.

Not Much Happening...

Not too much going on since the last post. Things have been rather calm around the Ferrero house hold. Last weekend we spent Friday evening celebrating at my parents house. My brother's wife Jessica took her last final and is now starting her externship on her way to graduation to be an MA. We are all so proud of her but noone as proud as my brother! Stephen is recovering well now from his knee surgery and has finally been able to get out of the house which I know he is enjoying. Saturday, Rian and Reid kept the two babies while Ally, Kylie, and I went to Danielle's bridal shower. We spent the evening there watching Georgia beat South Carolina. Sunday we had our usual Sunday dinner at my parents. This week seems to be dragging and I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. Mom & Dad will be watching the girls as I have Danielle's Bachelorette party and Rian and the guys are heading off for White Water Rafting! I am sure when they return there will be plenty of stories to tell. 10 guys staying in one cabin makes for an interesting and I am sure trouble making time! I just hope they all can manage to STAY IN THE RAFT! The weather has been cooling off here and they highs have only been in the high 70's. Definite sign that fall is right around the corner. Can't say I am too excited as I HATE the winter! I will leave you with a couple pictures. Still no beach pictures but hopefully I can get them this weekend! These are not new but are new to you guys!

Old Picture of Kylie and Gianna after they decided to draw on each other's face!

One of my favorites!

Princess Kylie!

Look at those big teeth!

Makenzie's First Birthday!!!!

Well Deserved...

I'm back.....lots of happenings since I last posted but the biggest and the best was our trip to the beach!!! We just got back last night and it was a much enjoyed, well deserved trip! (Although not near long enough, but I guess they really never are!) We started planning this vacation many months ago and had all intents and purpose to head to Myrtle Beach, SC this year as a change of pace for us Gulf Coast Lovers! Unfortunately Hannah had the same idea and decided to follow us. So....Friday morning as we are packing up the car to head out I just did not have the greatest feeling about driving into a Hurricane (or Tropical Storm...whatever) as they are asking the residents on the beach to voluntarily evacuate. I phoned the condo where we were to stay to try one last time to get our deposit back (since they don't have to give it back unless there is a mandatory evacuation) and the woman on the other end was very understanding and gave us a full refund!!! Wonderful news but now what? So in a matter of about 30 minutes I had found us a new place and we were off.....to the Gulf Coast! The weather was absolutely beautiful! We did not get a drop of rain. Not even those afternoon pop up things that seem to happen daily on the coast. We had so much fun and the girls absolutely loved it. Makenzie made friends with all of the older ladies on the beach and at the pool. Every morning we would hear "Good morning, Makenzie" and at night leaving the beach "Goodnight, Makenzie!" Kylie (our fish) enjoyed it so much more this year now that she knows how to really swim. She was able to be in the pool without anything on and even got to swim out to the sand bar with Rian. Makenzie also really enjoyed the sand and the ocean! She had no fear! At the pool she also began to "try" to swim on her own. She would jump off the edge go completely under the water and come back up to me to grab her. I hope to have pictures soon to post so that everyone can see. So after a 5 day weekend we are back to the grind of things and starting another week. Stayed tuned as our next month is packed full of happenings....
Preview of what's to come and the happenings of the Ferrero Four:

• Saturday 9/13/08 - Danielle and Tommy's Wedding Shower
• Friday 9/19/08 - Danielle's Bachelorette party and Tommy's Bachelor party (Rian will be white water rafting all weekend)
• Sunday 9/21/08 - Our friend's son Shane's 1st Birthday
• Friday 9/26/08 - 9/27/08 - Camping out and competing in our Annual Chilli Cook-Off
• Wednesday 10/1/08 - Ron Ferrero is coming in town for the week
• Saturday 10/4/08 - Danielle and Tommy's Wedding
• Thursday 10/16/08 - 10/19/08 - Heading to the Gulf Coast again with my parents and brother and sister in law!

It's been a while...

This could turn out to be kind of a long one....
The second week of school sure did turn in to be an interesting one. Monday and Tuesday were quite uneventful with the new "normal" school routine beginning to come in to place. Wednesday however was anything but normal. It all started with a phone call at work from Makenzie's daycare that she had fallen and bumped her eye. She was fine but they just wanted me to be aware. Like I said previously...Makenzie has no fear and since being moved up with the bigger kids she insists on doing everything that they do. When I arrived at the school I realized it was not just a little bump but a beautiful black and blue shiner!!! (It is now in the greenish/yellowish phase) I had to pick her up early that day due to her needing her 15 month shots. These are never fun. 4 shots at one time is not something I think that anyone would enjoy. It was the longest doctor visit ever. We waited for 1 hour in the waiting room which by then Makenzie was quite miserable and I was on my way. It took another hour in the actual room. While waiting I got a phone call from Rian that there had been a fight on the school bus and Kylie got hit. What? Are you kidding me? With Makenzie screaming in the background I told him I would have to deal with it when I got home and went to pick her up. After 2 hours and 4 shots later we finally were able to leave the doctor and I dropped Makenzie off at home to go get Kylie. Apparently Rian had heard wrong because she was not hit she had gotten pinched by a boy and our neighbor at that! Apparently there was an issue with a book bag and all of the boys ganged up on the girls and started pinching them. Of course knowing how dramatic girls can be, they all started crying and caused a huge ruckus! I do have to say though that Kylie ended up with a pretty good bruise herself! So Wednesday ended with both kids black and blue and me just hoping for a better Thursday! I should have known better.
Makenzie slept really well Wednesday night and I thought it was quite weird that she had not woken me up yet before my alarm as she usually does. I got up and went in to her room to find her sitting in her crib smiling at me and laughing! She had to be up to something. As I approached the crib something had happened that had never happened to me before. Makenzie had learned to take her diaper off and had pooped. She was playing with her poop! It was everywhere! On the floor, in her bed, squished between her fingers! Absolutely disgusting! All I could at that point after getting over the initial shock was laugh! It was either that or cry! My Thursday was not starting out any better than my Wednesday had ended. Needless to say Kylie was late for school and I was late for work that morning. I told Kylie to blame it on our newly named poopy monster!
Thursday evening was calmer and Friday was wonderful. Kylie went with my brother and his wife to the softball game and Rian and I stayed home and enjoyed some peace and quiet.
Saturday was dinner at my parents with my dad's mom and Sunday was a repeat with my mom's parents. It is Monday again and we get to do it all over again! Hoping this week is a little less exciting than last week was!

It's Monday again. Ugh... The weekends seem to come so fast lately and yet they end even faster. This weekend was nothing extraordinary and yet it was nice. We spent Friday night having dinner with my parents. After dinner I took Rian and Makenzie home and me and Kylie went and watched my brother's softball team play (he was watching as well)! They won of course...I think they are undefeated. It is a far cry from the team that he played on with Rian and "the guys". We were at home and everyone was in bed by 10:45 which is nice for a Friday evening. Saturday morning had us up and out of the house by 8:15am. We had to go to Jefferson to our friend's Tommy, Tony, and Danielle's house so that Rian and "the guys" could get fitted for our next wedding 10/4/08. We spent the day there and the evening just hanging out. Kylie has a blast when we go because their neighbor has a daughter named AnnMarie that she plays with. I know that I was in bed before the two of them. Sunday was quite relaxing. We came home from Jefferson and went to my parents for dinner. (We do this quite often as you can probably tell!) I will leave you with some random pictures that I have been creating from a new program that I found. Hope you enjoy and I will be back in a couple of days!

Kylie, Jessica, and Sarah

Kylie Ann

Makenzie Michael

Steve & Jessica

Rian & Reid

Full Circle...

So it's finally Friday and I could not be more happy. This week has seemed to take a million years to go by. Our family has had a pretty bad run of luck in the last week as far as our bodies go. Last Friday in a very early (4:30am) half asleep / half awake attempt to use the restroom my mom chose the wrong path and fell down an entire flight of stairs. She's ok but bruised several ribs, broke off some piece of bone in her elbow and sprained her wrist. Later that evening during my brother's co-ed softball game while trying to be a gentleman and not run into a girl running to first base he tore his OTHER ACL and his Meniscus (sp?). You see... he did the same thing in a softball game almost exactly a year ago on the other leg! Everyone said he should hang up his cleats....I say why? He will have two new knees now....he should be fine! =) The girls had puny tummies last weekend but I thought it was a mixture of teething (yes, my 6 year old and my 15 month old are both teething...more on that later) and Kylie's jitters about first grade. They must have had some sort of stomach virus that was brewing but not at full force. Well the hurricane hit me Sunday night. I was praying to the porcelain gods every two hours all night long and by Monday morning my entire body was aching. You never realize how many muscles you have to use to throw up (I know, TMI). I spent Monday in bed trying to recover. Thank God it was only one of those 24 hour bugs. That is something I would not ever wish on anyone. Tuesday was my Dad's birthday and we went and had dinner with them at my parents house. Unfortunately I was still a little nervous about what food I put in my stomach so I was not able to fully enjoy the steaks or the grilled shrimp and scallop cabobs. I ate what I could but I was told by everyone that it was amazing! Makenzie has had a rough week but yet lately every week has seemed to be rough on her. She currently has 12 teeth and is cutting her 4 canine teeth...that is 16 teeth total! It feels as those she has been teething forever. We never seemed to have any issues with Kylie and teething (she is now getting her last 2 six year old molars) but Makenzie is a different story. She is miserable with them. The weekends are better but she is also able to take 2 naps on the weekends when she is home with us where is at daycare she only gets 1 and sometimes that's not even a very good one. Imagine trying to get 10 one year olds to sleep at the same time. Not happening and Makenzie likes or should I say needs to be in a room by herself to go to sleep. If there are people around she is awake. She has to be laid down in another room and she puts herself to sleep. Rian left Wednesday morning and went to North Carolina for work. He came home last night (Thursday), so it was only one night being gone but with still not feeling quite up to par myself, it makes for a rough evening with only one parent. We were definitely glad to see him last night when he got home. So that brings us back to the beginning...full circle....So it's finally Friday and I could not be more happy!

Hope Everyone has a wonderful weekend. I will try to post Sunday on the happenings of the weekend!

-The Ferrero Four

Recap....

Thought I would give this a try. So, the summer is dwindling down and for Kylie, summer break has come to an end. She has now been an official 1st grader for almost a full week. As the first week of school usually goes she has had it pretty easy. Next week she has been promised though....the homework will start. Homework? Yes....nightly! Kylie was very fortunate last year not to have homework. My personal opinion (and that of her Kindergarden teacher) is that at the age of 6 after sitting for 6.5 hours in a school building the last thing that a kid needs to come home and do is MORE work. She goes to daycare after school and gets home around 5:30 and then homework, dinner, baths, bed. Where is the time to unwind? Time to play? Hopefully it won't be too much but I know she will do just fine! It is hard to believe that it is the middle of August already. This summer flew by and yet sometimes seemed to just drag. We have spent a lot of appreciated time at my parents pool. Kylie has become quite the swimmer and can now make it the entire length of the pool. Makenzie would like to think she could swim, she is quite the water baby! She is definitely our dare devil child. She is not afraid of anything. If there is a place to climb, she climbs it, if there is an escape route, she takes it, if there is something she is not supposed to do, SHE DOES IT! She is her father's child! =) So our summer has been spent at the pool and spending wonderful time with family and friends. Kylie was able to spend a wonderful week with her Grandma and Grandpa (Rian's side) in the mountains. She went to the lake, shopping, and even climbed Brass Town Bald. She spent many weekends with her Mema & Papa (my grandparents) and was able to go boating and fishing on their lake. She spent a couple weeks home with her Daddy doing "their thing" together and stayed with Nana and Papa (my parents) several times! She has definitely had and deserved the break! My brother and Jessica got married July 26th and Kylie was one of the flower girls. Of course she was absolutely beautiful and loved getting all dressed up! She is quite the princess! We enjoyed seeing so many family and friends that we do not get to see very often! Even Grandma and Grandpa made the trip down from the mountains. Fun times had by all!

So the point of this blog is to keep those of you who we do not talk to regularly update on the Ferrero Four! (which is almost everyone....I am horrible about making calls and writing, but hey I work full time, I am a wife, and a mother to a 6 year old and a 15 month old...who can blaim me?) Please check back regularly as I will try to update every couple days and maybe even add some pictures here and there as I have time!!!!

This is only the beginning....