“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” ~Psalm 139:14
Michelle & Trevor's son is here!
Hudson Liam Kalman
Born: October 20, 2009 at 6:04pm
Weight: 8 pounds 4 ounces
Length: 20.5 inches
“Every good and perfect gift is from above…” ~James 1:17
Berklee Quinn McCombs
Born: October 20, 2009
Weight: 7 pounds 3 ounces
Length: 20 inches
This past Sunday we took our dog Marty {his official name is “Taylor’s Million Dollar Martin”…or Marty for short} to be blessed at the annual “Blessing of the Animals” service. The original service was supposed to be held the Sunday before but was postponed due to weather. That meant that now Daddy had to miss it because he was out of town on his golf trip. Luckily, Marty is a really calm dog {unless you give him a water bottle or throw a ball} and good around other animals, so the girls and I we able to manage.
Gracie & Gwynie were super excited to take Marty up to church. This was their first time to take him to get his blessing. However, this wasn’t Marty’s first blessing…Lance and I took him several years ago when we where first married, living in Liberal, Kansas, and Marty was the baby of the family. He even made the front page of the Liberal paper {I know I have the newspaper clipping around here somewhere, if I ever come across it I will try to remember to post it}.
Before we headed up to church the girls each wanted to get a picture with Marty.
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I love this picture because I think it is so sweet that Father Clay took the time to not only get down to Marty’s level, but to look in his eyes as he blessed him. Although Marty may be “just a dog”, Clay treated him with respect as one of God’s creatures.
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The church had asked a parishioner who is also a photographer {David Chalker with Chalker Photography} to take free family portraits for those who had come to the event. This was probably the part that was the trickiest for me to navigate without Lance being there. It was quite amusing to me {and all the folks watching} to try to get both Marty and Gwynie to stay put and to look at the camera at the same time. Thankfully, David is a friend of ours and a VERY patient man! The picture turned out great…I just wish Lance had been able to be in it. The event was fun and we all had a wonderful time.
This past week the weather started to actually feel like Autumn {as much as it does in Texas anyway} so I decided to start getting out my Fall decorations. I don’t have a ton of Fall decor, but I LOVE the Fall colors so I put out a few things here and there.
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The day I did the decorating was one of Gwynie’s days at home. She REALLY wanted to help me. I let her put a few leaves around which she enjoyed. After I was done Gwynie told me that she had a surprise for me and that I HAD to come look {to be honest I was a bit worried what the surprise might be}. So she grabbed my hand and took me over to the first surprise…
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I thought it was so cute to see what she decided needed decorating {door knobs, air fresheners and door stops of course}. She was so happy with herself. I will definitely be leaving them up until after Halloween!
Gracie started a fun Hip Hop class last week and she is really enjoying it! I originally signed her up through the FAC so the classes would be there, but it turns out she was the only one that signed up {I’m still surprised by that}. They decided just to merge us into a class that already existed and we go to the dance studio now instead.
Today was her second class. It is not that easy to take picture/video of her class so I don’t have much to share. I am hoping that they do what they did at Gwynie’s dance class and let us in on the last day to see the routine and take pictures.
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This is the *ONLY* window that looks into the studio where Gracie’s class is held. I can’t see into it unless I stand on my tip toes. You can also see by the people everywhere that it is definitely designed for the dancers and not the spectators.
I hold Gwynie up to the window whenever she asks, but she got pretty creative trying to get a glimpse of sissy dancing. Gracie says that she can see Gwynie peeking in under the door while she’s in class.
One of the things that Gracie really likes about the class is that they jumped into learning a routine. You won’t be able to hear the music {only the voices of the people with me in the hall} but they are dancing to C’est La Vie. Here is their routine so far:
You probably noticed that Gracie is the only one not wearing ballet attire. The class description said to wear athletic wear and jazz shoes, but when we showed up all the girls had on leotards and tutus. I figured Gracie would notice and want to get a leotard. After her class I offered to get her one to which she replied, “Mom, hip hop dancers don’t wear ballet clothes”. Oh…how silly of me!
The PTA fundraiser at Gracie’s school this year is a walk-a-thon. Gracie REALLY wanted us to come up and watch. Daddy was is Mississippi for work so he couldn’t join us. I picked Gwynie up from school early to be sure that we would be there on time. I also made a couple signs for Gwynie & I to hold to help cheer on Gracie.
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Gwynie LOVED her sign!!!
Gracie’s reaction when she spotted Gwynie and I with our signs!
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Each student received a pedometer for them to use to keep track of their number of steps. Gracie was SUPER excited that she got to keep it. In fact, she still has it on.
The staggered each class so that they could each have room to run through the banners they had made!
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We had a great time cheering Gracie on! They handed out water bottles filled with beans for noise makers {which Gwyneth loved} and we would hoot and holler each time Gracie made it around the “track” {it was a loop they had set up in the parking lot and it worked perfectly}. Here are a few pictures of Gracie making her way around the course…
Gracie pretty much had a smile on her face the whole time!
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Gracie showing me her final Walk-a-thon step count!
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The girls cooled down after the event with a popsicle!!
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The walk-a-thon was a great event and Gracie really enjoyed it! Gwynie was an awesome cheerleader and was thrilled to be at sissy’s school DURING school time. Gracie wants to wear her pedometer for the rest of the weekend to see how high she can get the step count before she goes back to school on Monday!
Sermon #5: Sex
Sermon #4: Divorce
From any perspective, divorce and the conflict leading to it is a tragedy. The last thing God wants, is to see His children with broken hearts. The good news is that even if we find ourselves in it, God, with His power and grace, is able to redeem our worst mess.
Sermon #3: Politics
Perhaps you’ve heard the old saying “never talk about politics or religion”. It might be risky but it’s worth it because politics and faith can be mixed – just not in the way we normally do it.
Sermon #2: Addiction
People can develop addictions to a range of different behaviors. Do you know how to recognize an addiction in your own life and in those you love?
Sermon #1: Dying
This weekend Lance watched the girls and I headed down to Dallas for Michelle’s baby shower. I couldn’t make it to her shower down in Austin {it was the weekend before school started}, so there was no way I was going to miss this one. Here are a couple pictures of the beautiful {and glowing} Mama-to-be:
It may have been a rainy day outside, but inside the house was full of fun, family, friends and food {yum}. The hostesses decorated behind the food tables with these fun streamers that hung from the ceiling to the floor {such a cute idea}.
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She got so many great gifts. It almost made me want to have another baby {I said ALMOST…don’t get your hopes up Grandparents} seeing all the amazing things they have out even in just the 3 years since Gwyneth was born.
I had to get a pretty large bag for our gift because it was kinda big and oddly shaped {which made it nearly impossible to wrap…not that I tried}. I was cracking up watching Michelle open it…all I could see were her feet sticking out from under the bag.
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We ended up getting her a Bumbo. I LOVED mine that I had with Gwyneth {and now they have a tray that fits on them that is just too cool}. I even took mine to work once so that Gwynie could come with me one day. They are great!
Time for cake! My mom made the cake {which was delicious as always}. She and my Dad drove it in from Austin the morning of the shower. She made it to match the shower invite…Great job Nana!
The party was really nice and Michelle & Trevor were well showered with items that will help them to get ready for Baby Kalman. Now all we have to do it wait for the little guy to make his grand entrance. What a glorious day that will be!!!
"…I sing for joy at the works of your hands”. ~Psalm 92:4
Big brothers Calvin & Collin with their new little brother…
Coulter Alan Taylor
Born: September 10, 2009 at 2:52pm
Weight: 7 pounds 8 ounces
Length: 20.25 inches
Today was another big day at our house…Gwynie’s 1st day of preschool!! She has been so excited for school to start since we met her teachers last week. She jumped out of bed this morning and wanted to get dressed right away. Luckily she agreed to wait until after breakfast to get dressed {don’t want to spill anything on our first day of school outfit}.
Gwynie went to school 2 days a week last year but this year she is going to be going 3 days a week {yeah for Gwynie…yeah for Mommy}. Here she is already for her first day of school…
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After we dropped Gracie off at school we headed over to the preschool. We got there a little early so we had to wait a few minutes before we could go inside. Gwynie loves to get to school early so she can roam around the car. As soon as we park she asks me to unbuckle her and she gets up and heads to the “way back”. Today Mommy used the extra time to take a couple of pictures in front of the school.
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After the pictures it was time to head inside to put our stuff away and to get settled. Here is Gwynie with her All About Me picture her teachers asked her to color for the first day of school.
Ms. Hope & Ms. Kim have a really cute “check in” system. You find your picture on the apple and match it to the inchworm that has your name on it. I know this is going to be one of Gwynie’s favorite routines.
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The school asks the parents to wait to attend Chapel with the kids for a couple of weeks. I think it’s a good idea…lets the kiddos get used to their routines.
Gwynie was all ready to get school going for the day. In fact I had to follow her into her classroom and ask for a goodbye hug. She is such a big girl now and I feel so blessed that she is so comfortable at her school. I can’t wait to pick her up and hear all about her first day!
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