A New Year

The only thing not changing in the Klenke family is the weather! Aaron and I have begun the next phase of parenting with "big kids". It is wonderful!

Madison has is now 9 years old and she is growing into a darling young lady. Madison is involved in jazz and choir and fashion! She enjoys anything that does not make her perspire...I can't imagine where that comes from..hee hee!

Of course Cade is the exact opposite; he has played baseball, football and now soccer. Cade is really amazing to watch because you show him how to do something one time and he pretty much gets it! He is relatively good at all his athletic endeavors. He obviously gets that from Aaron. Cade also has artistic abilites and he is very, very funny! At least he got something from me!

The kids have begun another school year and they seem pretty happy with their teachers and friends in class. Madison is in the 4th grade and Cade is in 1st. Aaron and I have been very happy with their school.

I have begun a whole new career with The Pampered Chef. I resigned from teaching public school last May and I wasn't too sure what the future held for me.... I had dabbled in Pampered Chef on the side and really enjoyed it so I thought I would follow my heart. I am so glad that I did that!! Now I am working from home, leading a team of consultants and putting on cooking shows that work around our family schedule. I really feel like I won the lottery!!!

Aaron is working for CBRE and is being challenged. He does commute to the Galleria each day which can be stressful to say the least. I feel like God is preparing him for something BIG. I know he is happy with me working from home and handling all the family stuff so he doesn't have to worry about us.

As a family we enjoy traveling and just being together. The kids love game night and movie parties.

I guess I should also write about Smokey. Smokey is our replacement cat. He replace Mittens after he died. Smokey is very....well...let's just say if Maddy didn't love him so much he may not live here anymore.

Goodbye sweet, sweet Mittens

Mittens Klenke came into our lives July of 2007. He was just a sweet little 5 week old kitten. He was so tolerant of the kids and their crazy way to play with him. He allowed them to dress him up and put him in the baby stroller. He was a great cuddler and companion.

As he grew he learned to be a great mouse and bird catcher. he kept our home mouse free all the days he was here. he was a sweet little guy who loved to sleep all day and chase mice outside all night.

In November of 2009 Mitty went out for the night as he usually does, only he didn't return in the morning. We thought maybe he was on a long hunt but deep down Aaron and I knew something was wrong. Our whole Sunday school class prayed for Mitty's safe return. He never came home.

Madison was probably the most devistated. She printed off a picture of hime and put it on the wall next to her bed. On the bottom of the picture she wrote: "Mittens was my best friend, and then he ran away".

We really do think something terrible happened to Mitty. He was a small little guy.

Rest in peace dear sweet Mitty.

Happy 4th Of July

We are celebrating the 4th of July with food, family and fireworks! Madison and Cade are really excited to see the fireworks tonight. Cade has been asking me how much longer......since July 1st! He and I are both glad the 4th is finally here. Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July!

Things that make me smile....BIG!

Cade eating a blue cupcake



My cutie pies getting ready for Camp Willomocky


Cade on PJ day

Aaron enjoying some quiet time with Mittens!



Hey, that's MY chair!

Silly boy!

ABC's Of Kathy

I have read several blogs with this little tidbit and thought i would try it too. I am not even sure if anyone reads this blog anymore, as it is really important mostly to me....so here I go. Please copy this idea and put it in your blog if you think it is fun/interesting.

A- Angels, I had a dream that the angel of the Lord appeared to me the other night. He told me not to worry about a human hurting my children but to watch out for animals. Frightening, I know.

B- Babies, everytime I see a baby I think I want another one.

C- Coffee, my new favorite drink and my favorite moment of the day when i am drinking coffee and reading the paper in the morning.

D- Deanna, my mother's name. I worry about her.

E- End of Days, I truly wonder if I am going to be alive when Jesus comes back.

F- Friends, I feel truly blesses to have so many very dear friends.

G- Grandpa-T, this is what my kids call my dad. They love him so much and so do I.

H- Happiness, I have learned that we each make our own happiness. Each day we must decide to be happy in spite of circumstances.

I- Ice cream, this is Madison's favorite food!

J- Jesus, he is in my thoughts everyday and I can literally feel him with me in times of need. I did nothing to deserve his mercy.

K- I really messed up here....I went to buy Maddy a bottle cap necklace for her birthday with her initial on it and i bought one with a K on it. Shouldn't I have gotten an M? Is it really all about me?? I truly did not think I was a self centered person but maybe subconsiously I am.

L- Love Dare, Aaron and I are doing the Love Dare right now and it is really improving our marriage.

M-Money, for the first time in a long time I feel like we have a fantastic financial future. Participating in Dave Ramsey's FPU has completely inpired me to continue to Live Like no one else now so later we can Live Like No One Else. We may seem strange with some of the things we do but it will all pay off in the end!

N-Nothing, this is what I have to do tomorrow and I am thrilled!

O- Ocotpus, this is a new game Cade and I made up in the pool. He is so much fun to play with!

P- Popsicles, a fun summer treat for the kids.

Q-Quiet--ahhhhh, need I say more?

R- Ressurection, what an absolute miracle.

S- Swimming, we do it every day!

T- Tadpoles, aren't they amazing that they change so dramatically to actually become a frog? I absolutley HATE frogs by the way, but I will give credit where credit is due.

U- Unicorn, this is what all the little girls were painting when maddy and I went to pick up our pottery from the pottery painting store.

V-Vicks Vapor Rub, gotta love that smell! I am a little weird.

W- Watermelon, my dad's favorite summertime food.

X- X-ray, hope my kids won't need any this summer!

Y- Yummy, a great adjecitve to describe a dinner at Los Cucos!

Z-Zoo, we are not going there this summer, it is just toooo hot already!

If you have enjoyed the ABC's of Kathy please leave a cooment or post your own and let me know where to find them!

Summertime!

We are all on summer break officially now. Cade has been off since Memorial Day, Maddy since last Thursday and I have been off since Friday. Aaron....well that is a whole different story....

I think this is my favorite summer break thus far, the kids are so independent and they play so beautifully together. I have spent my first few days od summer vacation cleaning and organizing closets and bedrooms. It is amazing how much stuff the kids have acquired over the past year. It is extremely theraputic to clean out and organize our living space. We follow the motto of Less Is More.

Aside from cleaning and organizing we have been swimming in our backyard pool everyday and cooking together. Mommy school starts today too. I need to bring Cade up to speed on a few concepts. Madison is going to be my teacher in training. She has decided she wants to be a teacher when she grows up so she might as well start now!

Our future plans for the summer include Splashway water park on Friday and SeaWorld after 2 weeks of VBS.

The Perfect Day

Sometimes things just go your way and today was our day. We started the day getting up when we woke up NOT when the alarm clock woke us up. I then made yummy breakfast tacos and had the best cup of coffee. After breakfast and getting ready we went to Griffin Elementary to register the kids for football and Cheerleading. That was so fun to see both kids get so excited about starting a new activity. Aaron applied to coach Cade's team and that made it really special for Cade. Madison then asked if I was going to coach her cheer squad...uh no. Registering the kids for these activities normally would be no big deal but since we are living off one income (and it is not the bigger one) everything is tough. But by the grace of God and some very generous relatives we were able to do this for the kids.
After a qucik Kroger run and a good lunch we went swimming in our new pool. The water was fabulous and both kids had a great time going under and really swimming! This is a huge accomplishment for them. Aaron was saying that we really needed some rain because our grass is very straw like..and then wouldn't ya know an hour later it started raining. So we rushed inside and dried off and now the kids are having a "movie party" while I make dinner. I am making chicken enchiladas and of course that calls for a margarita!
So yes we have been having our challenges lately but today was the perfect day. God is great.