singing her song

Igor at his best. She did a

great job portraying her
part.

here's how Klaire spent the program.. thank goodness it was in airplane mode! She is an iphone expert. She is also a good sport about waiting on brother and sister!

here is Kennedy with her teacher, Mrs. Baxley at the Halloween program. Her class was supposed to dress up as Igor, Dr. Frankenstein's assistant. Daddy came up with the idea to put a pillow under her hoodie and brown pants. She hunched over really looked the part. the only hard part was that only two of ther classmates dressed up like him too.

they sang some cute songs and once again the music teachers outdid themselves. Here are some more shots of the kids singing their songs.

Scott's first year of soccer came way too fast. He played on the Bulldogs(original, I know). He played soccer a lot in the yard but was official this year at 4. Here he is running toward the ball. He did very well for his first time. Scott scored quite a bit! He was so proud. GOOOOOAAALLLLL!!! THis was his first of the season.

Once again, dad was conned into coaching. This time he recruited Terral to help him. The boys are Aaron, who turned out to be a great soccer player, Zachary, soccer is not his first love, Tyson, the best player on the team, Hudson, terrals son and scott' friend, we traded a girl for Hudson and he was well worth the trade, and Scott. These boys ended up winning all but one of their games. they played together as a team and the coaches did a good job too!

Scott and Tyson having a heart to heart with coach Sean. As Pospsy would say "Strategizing"

I am so thankful Hudson got to play on our team. He and Scott got to be close and hopefully will play together again. These two could cause some serious trouble in the years to come.

New Years

I have already broken several of my New Year's Resolutions. One, was to take more pictures, keep up with blogging better, and lots of others that I should know better than to resolve. Soo, after seeing Erin's blog book and how cool it was, I decided to catch up with my blogging.
WARNING: This will be a work in progress and take some time. But in the long run I am sure it will be worth it.

There are lots of things I want to remember. Here are a few things that I need to write down for posterity:

A conversation I had with Kennedy at Christmas time about talking to Jesus. Here's how it went:
me: Jesus can talk to us anytime.
K: Really, how?
me: Well, we don't always hear His voice out loud or hear his voice at all. Sometimes he talks to us through the Bible, other people, or circumstances.(yes, she understands that word)
K:oh, like when he talks to me when the wind whistles through the trees. (yes, completely HER words)
me; yes, K what does he say to you?
K: Jesus tells me He is proud of me for wanting to tell people about Him.

This made me so proud. At times, I wonder how we as parents are supposed to instill the teachings of Jesus in our children exactly. Well, sometimes I focus on us too much. Jesus will lead and show us and our children those teachings. Kennedy is such a sensitive spirit. I am so proud of her desire to do what's right.I hope it continues throughout her life.

Today, Klaire sang most of her alphabet. I have been so terrible about documenting things that she has done. Her fun personality makes me laugh on a daily basis. I also want to pull my hair out on some days because she does such different things than my other two. She is so good to go with the flow but when she has had enough, she get enough.

Scott had surgery for his ears on Tuesday. I did not get pictures because I didn't take my camera to the hospital. He did great. They put in T tubes because this is his third set. His chronic ear infections require this action. he was almost asleep when the nurses took him back. I was thankful they drs didn't have to give him the Versed. This makes them forget the procedure but also makes waking up afterwards that much harder. It makes Scott a grump. he didn't this time. He has been so good,

Busy Week at the Fair part II

Busy Week at the Fair part II(follow pictures above)

After spending all week getting geared up to show calves, the fun part finally rolls around. After showing Bella and not having so much fun, Kennedy got to forget about animals for a little while and begin to transform herself for the Fair Princess pageant. It all began at the Red Carpet Salon where Michelle Lensing did her hair. She started out curling it with a flat iron, ironic. Then she swept it up on top of her head with all these beautiful curls cascading from her head. Great job, Michelle!!

Then she got her Tshirt and jeans on for the opening number. She had to introduce herself and then do a dance to a Hannah Montana song. Quite awkward for six four to six year olds. No organized moves makes for a LONG dance but they did well. We then hurried back stage for a quick change into her dress. It was a short white dress with a halter and beads on the bodice. the skirt was full and flowy. Her socks and bow matched with marabou(fur) and rhinestones! The more bling the better!!! She came out and smiled so pretty, did her figure eight walk and then went to the emcees who one of turned out to be her queen, Emily McCollom. Emmy asked her the question what was her favorite toy. I thought to myself oh good, an easy one. She will answer horses for sure. I was wrong. Kennedy answered the question with "puzzles." Not sure where that came from but she smiled through it and looked very poised. She did so well that when they came out, she was announced as the 2010 Sebastian County Fair Princess. For her first pageant she did great! We are looking forward to our next appearance at the Greenwood Christmas Parade.

Memories

Today my alma mater Ouachita Baptist Univeristy is having blog out day. The admissions office wants alumni to share their story via blog so here goes:

I always heard about OBU through my dad's youth group kids. I grew up know all about OBU. Many of Searcy grads went there. I really got serious about looking for colleges my junior year. My first love was any school where they had good cheerleaders and I could try out before enrolling as a student. I didn''t want to go to any school unless I could cheer for that school. This meant I couldn't go to U of A because when I was a senior tryouts were not until fall after enrollment. I found a school in Jackson, TN called Union University, a baptist school that had a coed cheer squad who was decent. I visited there and thought I liked it. Being a private school meant that I was going to have to get serious scholarships. On that visit, I learned I had a full ride due to grades, actitivies, and grants. Upon returning home, I had a letter from a girl I had looked up to all through high school telling me how awesome OBU was and how she thought I would love it. I made the excuse that I was still two thousand dollars short on scholarships at Ouachita. Looking through the mail turned out to be my answer. I had a letter saying I had received two thousand dollar scholarship from some random place in New York. WOW! God was trying to tell me something. Shortly there after, I tried out and made the cheer squad. Granted, we were not Kentucky by any means but I met two of my best friends cheering.

This leads me to some of the best parts of OBU:I met my roomate of four years at OBU. We are still friends to this day. I made so many great lifelong friends at college. Some of the best things were my social club(similar to a soroity at at state school) EEEs. Tiger Tunes. We WON as Toy soldiers. (pics to come later) Tiger Traks basically a oozefeat of mud volleyball, cheering in college,hanging out in OC Bailey with my girls, laughing, crying, and growing close, TWIRP week(the woman is responsible for paying).

I had such a wonderful experience at OBU and I hope my children choose to go there as well.

Spontaneous and silly

Today was a wonderful day I hope m kids remember. For the first time in a very long time we had nowhere to be and nothing to do. I was kind of in shock because the day was so eventful even though we were not on a "schedule."
The day started out with my kids "cocka doodle doing" my brother at 7 this morning. Not a morning person, he actually endured it quite well. After a breakfast of togetherness, we ventured to "Greenwood House" aka my parents house in Greenwood. Side note: My parents live in Searcy but have a small place here to come and visit so as not to be in our "grill".
We hung out with my parents, had lunch, and then Kennedy got to ride her horse, Spirit. I know, original but we inherited the name when we bought the horse. She hasn't gotten to ride lately and loved it. I am not sure the love is as passionate as it has been in the past but still there. After riding, we played outside in the beautiful weather. I am so thankful it wasnt' so hot today.
My parents got a new porch swing and my dad, brother, and Sean put it together. It wasnt' that hard but each wanted to participate so after they finally got it put together we played with the box. It first was a resturant, then a lemonade stand, a package which came with children popping out. The best part of the play came when Popsy decided to push the big kids down the big hill behind the pond IN the boxes. How much fun did these two have. OMG! The game went on for a long time. Savoring the delighted squeals and jubilant laughter, I realized the kids are still babies. They don't always need an activity scheduled to have fun. Sometimes just being silly and spontaneous is the best.

Fair Week is always busy for the Hollands. Part I

The busyness began Monday getting ready for all the festivties. Scrounging up a car for the parade was first on the agenda. Sean and I called everyone we know that had a convertible but to no avail. Then, we thought of Susie Butler. She has a bright yellow Pontiac Solstice and was nice enough to let Sean drive Kennedy in the parade. K loved it soo much. She was riding in the parade because she was a contestant in the Sebastastian County Fair Princess. Soo, it was off tothe parade. Kennedy thought the parade was more exciting than the pageant. She wore her snakeskin dress and her boots. She sat up so tall and proud waving the pageant wave.




For the past three years, Kennedy has shown a calf. Her first experience was Norman, a bottle fed calf who she saved. He was light brown and very fragile, for lack of a better word. Then there was Ears, who was named for those parts of her body. She was half Bremer with a red coat. She and Ears bonded and became good partners. That calf would follow her anywhere. Ears was such a good heifer that grew to be over 500 lbs and Kennedy showed her again. Kennedy loved showing her calf and was very proud ofher showmanship award, her purple Grand Champion ribbons.

This year was a bit different. The calf's name is Bella, she came to us about one month ago. Sean worked with this calf every day trying to get her ready for the Sebastain County Fair. She seemed ready, a little "antsy" as Sean and Kennedy described her, but ready none the less. As she lead the calf into the area, Bella decided that she would not perform. She headbutted Kennedy four times and made her cry. Sean had to help K lead Bella into the ring. K cried all afternoon.

This year was Scott's first year to show. He is four and did a great job. He had a little help from dad but was soo proud. His calf was "Lady" after the purple engine that is a friend of his favorite engine, Thomas. Scott did not have a good relationship with Lady at first. She was very hungry and ran over him in the process of getting to her food. He began to like her better after he waited to work with her after she ate.

He walked out into the arena leading Lady as if he had done it a hundred times. Chest puffed out, he walked so proud, as he should be. Considering the weight difference inthe two. Both of the "pee wees"as they are called at this age got a purple ribbon. It takes a lot just to get them out there much less the time and effort it takes before you get there. Ask Sean about that, I am not quite sure of all the details. Give me hair and makeup I am good. Dirt and other things, not so much. Both of my babies made me proud.

Klaire was at the fair also. she did a lot of sitting and waiting. That's how she spends most of her time these days.

I don't have a picture of our lifesavers every year at the fair but they are always there and so helpful. The Taylor girls: mom, Susan, Claire, Aubrey, Christine, and Madeline. These girls are so great to do anything Kennedy (and Scott this year) need help with from scooping poop to helping lead cattle. They even do fun stuff like tie kennedy up with duct tape. She asked for it(litterally and figurateltly) and keep everyone entertained.

Thanks Taylor Girls for showing my children how to have fun and be responsible all at the same time.