Happy Birthday to the Halloween Baby

Here's wishing everyone a Happy Halloween, and Jeremy a Happy 30th Birthday! Jeremy, I love you! My mom started a blog now too, so on the right side of our blog page (scroll down), I now have links to the McKay blogs. I'm excited because sometimes out here in Virginia, I feel out of the loop with what's going on in everyone's lives. So, if anyone else out there has a blog, let me know!! The kids are going trick or treating at our church tonight, so I will take some pictures of them in their costumes and post them tomorrow. Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

John David the Prize Fighter

I had to share these pictures of John David's eye. It looks like he's been in a boxing match, which I guess he was, only it was with a dresser! Last night, Corey and John decided they were going to climb the girls' dresser to see the hamster, only it didn't exactly work like that. the whole dresser fell over on them, but somehow Corey managed to escape without a scratch. John however, as you can see, looks like he was in a fight! Jeremy assures me he'll be fine. "He's a boy", he says! On a sadder note, social services decided yesterday that Dawn will be moved to another foster home, probably this week sometime. Jeremy and I both have conflicting emotions about this, but both agree that it is the best solution for the other kids. Corey will be staying with us till at least probably March. I just keep reminding myself that God has a purpose in all of this.

Our Little House on the Prairie Girls

This past Sunday was our church's annual Old Fashioned Sunday. Every year we dress up in old fashioned clothes, and after service we all eat at the church and fellowship together. We all really enjoy it, and look forward to it every year. Two years ago I made the girls dresses, and made them so that they would last a few years. The weather was perfect for the day! Also, my brother, Andrew, started his own blog too! If you scroll down on our blog page, you will see a feed of his posts called The Middle McKays Update. It is only a small portion of the actual post, so if you click on it it will take you directly to his blog site. Great job Andrew! Don't forget, tomorrow is of course Halloween, and Jeremy's 30th birthday!! Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

My brother turns 26 today! Happy Birthday Uncle Drew! We love you!

Caitlyn's violin recital was yesterday afternoon. I am still amazed by her confidence. She doesn't get stage fright at all! She got right up there on the stage. Even when she faltered a bit at the start, she kept right on going and never missed a beat. Jeremy and I thought she did a fabulous job! The top picture is of Caitlyn and her Violin teacher, Keadron. Keadron has really been great for Caitlyn, and Caitlyn continues to really enjoy her lessons. The second picture is of Caitlyn and her friend Maura. Maura is another of Keadron's violin students, and also a homeschooler. Caitlyn and Maura get a long very well, and obviously have many of the same interests. I have tried several times to upload the video of Caitlyn playing at the recital, but it is giving me a hard time, so I will try again later. Hopefully I can get it uploaded, because she did a really great job. On a completely different topic, we are in need of some powerful prayer. I can't go into details at this point, but Dawn has had some pretty serious behavior issues over the weekend that caused us to have to call the weekend on call social worker twice. She is really struggling again, and her moods and behaviors are so unpredictable that it is really affecting everyone else in the household. When she's home from preschool, there is constant tension in the house. Jeremy and I are both heartbroken over this situation. Please pray that we can get her the help she needs, and that God will guide us in making the right decisions not just for Dawn but for the whole family. Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

Rainy Thursday

Good morning! It is nasty and rainy here, but we desperately need the rain, so I'm not complaining. Plus, the rain just might get us out of soccer practice tonight! :) Dawn is starting to get tired of soccer. She enjoys it, but it's really not her thing. Most of the time she's too busy watching the other kids, that she trips right over the ball in front of her. She hasn't quite got the whole idea yet. At least she is having fun! We've only got a couple more games left in the season. Kylie is already looking forward to the spring season. The picture above is one that was taken this summer of our niece and nephew, Haley and Lanning. I've always loved this picture, and thought that I would share it. Aren't they precious?! Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

Sleepin' with the Turtle

I thought you all would get a kick out of this photo of John. Every night he falls asleep with a Spiderman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, or one of his many ninja swords. No stuffed animals for him! He's definitely all boy! I have added a few goodies to the blog that I wanted to explain. If you scroll down the blog page, on the right there are three new buttons. These buttons will add the blog to either your Yahoo, AOL, or Google home page. I tried it and it actually works. Personally I like the emails better, but just thought I would offer a little variety. Also, on your blog emails, there is now a little picture of John David at the top next to the blog title. If you click on this picture it will take you directly to the blog site, so you can check out the slideshows and pictures. I may change the picture from time to time, but whatever picture is there will always take you to the blog site. I also changed my delivery time, so that if I post in the morning you will receive your email early afternoon. I almost always do my posts in the morning, so this should work well. Thanks for hanging in there while I work out the kinks!! Anyways, hope this makes things easier. Have a great day! Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

Answer to Prayer!!

Just wanted to write a quick post to share some answer to prayer! Dawn and Corey's grandma, Judy, came to a ladies get-together at church last night. We had a great time, and one of my really close friends was able to lead Judy to the Lord! Like I said yesterday, God is really working! Thanks for all your prayers! Also, for everyone who subscribes via email to the blog, all my picture slide shows do not get transmitted through the email. On your emails when you see the "rock you" logo, that means that there is a slide show. Then just hop right over to the blog page to see the photos! Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

John David All Dressed Up

Hope you all are having a great start to your week! We had a pretty busy weekend. At the top are a couple pics of John David all dressed up for church yesterday. He looked so cute, and he was obsessed with his tie. He's really into doing everything Jeremy does, so the tie was a big deal! Friday night our church had their Fall Festival and the kids all wore their costumes. I didn't make costumes this year. Dawn and Corey's grandma wanted to buy them costumes, and once the other kids found out they wanted store bought costumes too. :( I missed the fun I usually have making the costumes with the kids, but my sewing machine is in Tennessee with my mom, so I guess it was just as well. I totally forgot to take some pictures of them in their costumes, but they are wearing them again on Halloween night, so I'll be sure and take some then. Then on Saturday, we had a soccer game, and picked up Morgan (Kylie's best friend). Morgan spent the night, and the girls had a blast. they played dress up, and we made donuts. Long after everyone else was asleep, Kylie and Morgan were huddled in Kylie's bed giggling and whispering. They are so happy together. It really warms my heart to see them together. Among their more obvious similarities, the blonde hair, their smiles, and their almost identical personalities, we recently discovered that their birthdays are only a week apart, and they both have outie bellybuttons!! How crazy is that?! I guess they always say that everyone has a twin somewhere. Well, Kylie found hers! Dawn and Corey's grandma and dad were at church with us again yesterday. We also saw them at the Fall Festival, and Dawn's soccer game. It has taken some getting used to, but we are getting better at being comfortable spending so much time all together. With the progress that the case has made recently, the social worker said this week that Dawn and Corey may be able to go home (to their grandma's) sometime in January. As hard as this is, Jeremy and I know that God is working overtime in this situation, and how incredible it is to be apart of this family mending. Just please keep praying for us. Looking at the calendar this week, it doesn't look like it should be too hectic. That would be nice for a change! Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

The Frog Incident

Well, Dawn's first day at preschool went very well. I think she really had a good time. John has been dealing with some congestion and allergy yuckiness for about 5 days. He seems to be a little worse this morning. I wanted to post the frog story. It happened at the Foster Family Picnic, but I forgot to post it when I posted all the pictures from the picnic. The picnic was at a local park that has a lot of wooded area. Jeremy decided to take Kylie and John on a walk in the woods. They came back just as we were all about to eat, each with a small frog in their hands. The frogs were very small, and as we sat down to eat, Kylie decided to hold onto hers and we put John's in a cup. The kids sat at the picnic table next to us with another foster family. We're all enjoying our meal when I hear screaming coming from their table. I knew immediately what had happened! I look over to see the kids all scrambling after something. Then I saw it! John's frog had escaped and was jumping from plate to plate! Kylie, while still holding her frog in her hand, was the one who finally caught the frog, right in Caitlyn's food! It was a classic "little boy brings frog to the dinner table" fiasco. It was priceless, and had all of us laughing hysterically. The best part was the look of panic on John's face!:) We have lots of birthdays coming up in our family. My brother, Andrew, turns 26 on the 29th, Jeremy turns 30 on the 31st, my mom turns 49 on November 9th, and my niece, Haley, turns 3 on November 18th. Caitlyn also has her violin recital coming up on the 28th. Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

Doctor Appointments and Caitlyn at the State Fair

This morning I took Caitlyn and John to the ENT/Allergist office for follow-up visits. Caitlyn's lung function is now back to normal after we started her back on the inhaled steroid. John however has fluid in his ears again. That meant they still weren't able to do a hearing evaluation. He goes back in six weeks unless he ends up with another ear infection. Please pray that the doctors won't wait if they need to put tubes back in his ears. He's had so much trouble with his ears since his the first set of tubes fell out. The slide show is pictures that my friend, Jennifer, took of Caitlyn at the state fair on the 6th of this month. Even though we homeschool, Caitlyn is associated with the Christian school at our church so that she gets to go on field trips and things with them. The whole school went to the fair and she had a great time. Jeremy and I had fun bowling last night. Jeremy bowled a high game of 146. Not bad, especially since he didn't have his bowling ball. I was amazed that I actually broke 100 three times in a row! Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

Jeremy and Angie at the Beach

Jeremy and I had a great time away this past week. We left Thursday night and came back Saturday morning. It was a much needed break, and we enjoyed it! We didn't think we'd actually be able to get in the ocean, since the weather had cooled off quite a bit. We waited till late afternoon, and actually the water was pretty warm. Jeremy and I both tried boogie boarding, but didn't have much luck. :) Jeremy and I are going bowling to night with our Sunday school class. We haven't bowled in awhile, so that should be fun. Caitlyn's two front teeth are loose! She's quite excited. I added a picture to the top of the post of Caitlyn singing at church. I still can't believe how well she did. Also, we had a huge answer to prayer yesterday. Dawn and Corey's dad and grandma came to church with us!! They really enjoyed it and it looks like they may continue coming. This would be great for all of us. It really helps when we're all in this as a team. Love you all, and thank you to God ALmighty who has for now blessed us with these.

John David Turns Three!

John David turns three today!!! I can't believe it, but we all know that time flies. He is really turning into a little man. In fact, the other night he didn't want us to tuck him into bed! He wanted to got to bed by himself. I know it's a good thing for him to be independent, but it's breaking his momma's heart! We had our friends Candy and Mark over for a birthday dinner the other night. All John has been asking for for his birthday was a Spiderman cake. I thought, well sure I can do that. Let's just say that I have not inherited the cake decorating genes from my parents! I try, but it just never turns out quite right. This time the whole top layer of the cake broke in half. I tried to "glue" it back together with icing, but I had made buttercream frosting instead of my mom's recipe (I should have known). Everything just kind of started sliding! It was horrible. I eventually got it iced, and I drew a spider web, and a big old spider on the top of it. Then I quickly threw it in the freezer, so at least the frosting would set, and it would stop sliding. By this time though, the entire cake was lopsided! I pulled the cake out shortly before dinner, and John David made my day. With excitement in his eyes, he said, "You made me a Spiderman cake?!" He then did a little victory dance around the kitchen, while I blinked back tears. Even as I cut the cake and it crumbled on the plates, John was so excited that I couldn't help but be a little proud of my Spiderman cake.:) Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

North Vs. South

The North - South Issue

The difference between the North and the South - at last clearly explained:

The North has Bloomingdale's, the South has Dollar General.
The North has coffee houses, the South has Waffle Houses.
The North has dating services, the South has family reunions.
The North has switchblade knives; the South has Lee Press-on Nails.
The North has double last names; the South has double first names.
The North has Indy car races; The South has stock car races.
The North has Cream of Wheat, the South has grits.
The North has green salads, the South has collard greens.
The North has lobsters, the South has crawfish.
The North has the rust belt; the South has the Bible Belt.


*FOR NORTHERNERS MOVING SOUTH .

In the South: --If you run your car into a ditch, don't panic. Four men
in a four-wheel drive pickup truck with a tow chain will be along shortly.
Don't try to help them, just stay out of their way. This is what they live
for.

-Don't be surprised to find movie rentals and bait in the same store....
do not buy food at this store.

-Remember, "Y'all" is singular, "all y'all" is plural, and "all y'all's"
is plural possessive.

-Get used to hearing "You ain't from round here, are ya?"

-Save all manner of bacon grease. You will be instructed later on how to
use it.

-Don't be worried at not understanding what people are saying. They can't
understand you either. The first Southern statement to creep into a
transplanted Northerner's vocabulary is the adjective "big'ol," truck or
"big'ol" boy. Most Northerners begin their Southern-influenced dialect this
way. All of them are in denial about it.

-The proper pronunciation you learned in school is no longer proper.

-Be advised that "He needed killin." is a valid defense here.

-If you hear a Southerner exclaim, "Hey, y'all watch this," you should
stay out of the way. These are likely to be the last words he'll ever say.

-If there is the prediction of the slightest chance of even the smallest
accumulation of snow, your presence is required at the local grocery store.
It doesn't matter whether you need anything or not. You just have to go
there.

-Do not be surprised to find that 10-year olds own their own shotguns,
they are proficient marksmen, and their mammas taught them how to aim.

-In the South, we have found that the best way to grow a lush green lawn
is to pour gravel on it and call it a driveway.

-AND REMEMBER: If you do settle in the South and bear children, don't
think we will accept them as Southerners. After all, if the cat had kittens in
the oven, we wouldn't call 'em biscuits.

Karate Kylie

Jeremy shot a few short video clips of Kylie at Tae Kwon Do yesterday. She's so cute!

Warm-up


Punching


Kicking


Punch the numbers Kylie!


Enjoy! The laundry is calling me, gotta go! Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

My Sister the Photographer!

As many of you already know, my sister, Andrea, is a sophomore at MTSU studying photography. I wanted to take a chance and "toot her horn" for her. I am so proud of her! She is very talented, and has a passion for her work. I put together a slide show of some of her recent photos. She has agreed to send me more soon! Andrea has been able to accompany a professional photographer (a friend of hers from church)to several weddings. The photographer has even used some of Andrea's photos on her website! Enjoy! Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

The Picnic and Round-up

Howdy everybody! We have had a very busy, but fun weekend. On Saturday was the Foster Family Picnic. I spent almost three hours painting faces! I took one of the teenagers from church with me to help, and boy was I glad I did that. The kids had a great time, and got to meet kids from other foster families. It's nice for them to be able to interact with other kids that are going through the same things. Then today we had Round-up Sunday at church. We all dressed up in western clothes and headed to church. The picture at the top is a picture of Kylie and her best friend Morgan. They act alike, look alike, and people get them confused at church all the time! They are definitely two peas in a pod! Tomorrow starts another busy week, but we certainly enjoyed our weekend. Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

Twinkle Twinkle

Here is the video of Caitlyn I promised you! Enjoy! She really is improving, although there still is some screeching! :)

Soccer Pics

Here are a few pictures one of the other soccer moms took at the game on Saturday. Dawn was having a bad day, but we did finally get her to play the last quarter of the game. Once she started playing, she was glad she did. I still am amazed at how great a coach Jeremy is. Not that I didn't think he had it in him, but he does such a great job at balancing learning skills with enjoying the game. He always reminds them to have fun, but try their best. The kids really like him, and the parents are satisfied too. Now that's a hard thing to accomplish! Tomorrow is our Foster Family Picnic, so I will post pictures from that in the next couple days. I am doing face painting for the kids. I'm excited, but nervous. At least they won't be able to see their faces!! :) Also, I took a video of Caitlyn playing her violin, and I will upload it sometime today. Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.

October at a Glance

This week has been pretty low key so far. We are getting ready for John and Jeremy's birthdays coming up (11th and the 31st), Halloween, our Foster Family Picnic on Saturday, and Round-up Sunday at church this weekend. I still can't believe John David will be 3 next week! This past year has flown by. Caitlyn has a violin recital coming up on the 28th. Guess what song she was assigned to play?? You guessed it! Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! She has actually learned how to play it smoothly, one note at a time now. I will try to remember to video her sometime this week. Her confidence amazes me. She has no fear in front of an audience. In fact she sang in church about a month ago, and never faltered! Kylie should be getting her purple belt in the next few weeks. She is getting more confident in Tae Kwon Do. She doesn't freak out anymore if her friend, John Joseph, isn't there. Jeremy and I are planning a get-away next week for two nights. A friend is watching the kids so we can get some alone time. I can't wait! We're going back to the condo at the beach. As much as I love the kids, I love to have a break too!! Dawn has soccer practice tomorrow night, but then we have a week off soccer, which should be nice. Dawn is doing better the last few days, but last week was pretty bad. Continue to pray for us. Dawn's therapy was helping, but she has clammed up recently and refused to speak to her therapist. Corey is doing well, although he continues to have issues the morning after a visit. Sometimes I forget what life was like before all the drama! :) Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has for now blessed us with these.