Picture Perfect

Picture perfect.  That's how I'd describe the past three days.  It's days like these that keep me going as a wife, mother and home-maker.  Though I love my life and have no room to complain, sometimes the Lord just shows me extra favor by blessing me in the form of simple joys, such as a wonderful weekend with my little family.  It really doesn't take much to make me happy---A cooperative child, a low-stress husband, a clean house, beautiful weather, a great photo, marking things off my "to-do" list, etc.  I'm a simple kind of girl......what can I say?

We awoke to a rainy day on Friday morning, but it was perfect since I really needed to do some house work.  I can't stand wasting a pretty day indoors, but when it's raining I feel like it's more justified since we couldn't be outdoors anyway!  

Kyndall is quite the helper these days, always saying "me do it" or "me help, Mommy".  Although it would be much quicker to just send her on her way and do it myself, I realize that she truly has a servant's heart and it brings her joy to know she is helping in some small way.  So, I always do my best to find something she can do.  In this case, it was using the Swiffer to gather the dust and dirt before I mopped the floors..........

Friday was also my Dad's 60th birthday!  We sent G-Daddy this cell phone picture along with the caption "Happy Dirfbay, G-Daddy!!"

If there's one thing that little miss enjoys, it's being outside.  Even with the rain, she insisted on going out.  Thankfully, part of our patio is covered and she enjoyed sitting at her table watching the rain fall and playing nicely by herself while I finished the housework.  I love being able to just leave the back door open and let her come and go as she pleases.

Matthew had been in Memphis ALL week for work, and he finally returned home Friday around lunchtime.  Kyndall had been asking for him every single day, and I really didn't know what else to say except "Daddy's still at work".  She was SO SO SOOO glad to see him Friday afternoon!  

Still working on the potty training, to no avail.....But she sure looks cute trying!  =)

Friday night we ordered out for dinner and stayed home to enjoy each other's company.  With Matthew being gone all week, we just wanted to relax and catch up.  Even after several hours of him being home, Kyndall was still on her Daddy "high" and wanted him right by her side for the rest of the night.

Daddy is so funny!

My other babies, who are greatly lacking for attention these days......Sorry, boys!

Saturday morning, Matthew took Kyndall to breakfast just like he does each week.  I think Kyndall is starting to "get" it and it's something that she really looks forward to.  She often tells me "You not go, Mommy.....only me and Daddy".  Recently, she's even been able to remember the name of the restaurant that he takes her to each week, and she points it out EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. we drive by! Click on the link below and listen closely to this video that I took of her when I walked in her bedroom Saturday morning.........

KYNDALL TALKS ABOUT BREAKFAST WITH DADDY

As you can see, she woke up in a very happy mood so I took advantage of this and did a little snapping before she and Matthew headed out to breakfast........

Cheesin'.........

Daddy's girl

I love that she closes her eyes when giving kisses!

And they're off!  (Translation.....Mommy gets a few hours of free time!)

When they returned a few hours later, Kyndall came busting through the front door shouting "yook, Mommy!!"  (Look, Mommy)  She was proudly showing off yet ANOTHER golf club!  Matthew assures me that she asked for it, and she probably did.....but that's not to say he didn't do a little prompting!  He's determined to make a golfer out of her!

I have to say, she's pretty good and she looks oh-so-adorable to boot!

What a look!  Practicing for the future golf paparazzi, are we??

She is now the proud owner of a putter and a wedge......(I think??)

When she grew tired of golf, she moved on to her playhouse........

It was a warm and toasty day here in West Tennessee, so I suggested we pull out the kiddie pool and go for a dip.  Not surprisingly, she was all over that idea!!

What is this, a PAGEANT?!

I have no idea where she gets this...........

Can you say SASSY??

When we finally got out to the patio, I realized that the kiddie pool was busted.  Whoops!  I was in no mood to make a Wal-Mart run, so I improvised a bit........

It was a HIT!!!  (And made for a great photo opp!)

The water was chilly, straight out of the hose!!

When lunch time came, she requested a picnic of pretzels and peanut butter.  Whatever!

The water left her with the most adorable little ringlets.......

She's definitely my child, as she could probably eat her body weight in ice cold watermelon!!

Since I knew we would be outside for a while, I decided to try the "no diaper" potty training tactic.  I figured the worst case is she would pee on the concrete.  And she did.  And then laughed about it.  Potty training FAIL, yet again!

Going for a drive in her birthday suit

Later that afternoon I managed to braid her hair for the very first time!!

Stalling at naptime.......She knows Daddy is a sucker!

Saturday evening we grilled out and enjoyed more family time...........

Matthew made burger sliders, which for some reason I like much better than a regular sized hamburger.....(???)

This little one went for another dip in the "pool" and we all hung out on the back porch until the sun went down.  It was a GREAT day!!!!

Sunday morning was church, lunch and then errands............

This was the first time she's ever shown any interest in picking out her own clothes.  Thankfully, we came to somewhat of an agreement and she left the house looking at least halfway presentable!  I'm not ready for these types of battles!

Lunch at Friday's!

She no longer agrees to sit in a high chair.....It's a booster seat for this big girl!  =(

After a quick trip home, we headed back out for our errands..........

Driving the lawnmowers at Home Depot is always a highlight

Home Depot has "Beep Beep" carts just like Kroger!  Translation.....Our shopping trip is actually a pleasant one!

It was a HOT day!!  Home Depot was giving out free bottles of water and Kyndall thought this was super fun.........

I managed to make it to a few stores of my choosing, and I came away with this for our upcoming beach trip!  I have such a weakness for the itty bitty little girls swimsuits!!!

Matthew and I have been wanting to spruce up the front yard a bit, so one of the things we got at Home Depot was some mulch for the flower beds.  Here's what the front yard looked like before........

And then after.............

Kyndall was happy supervising from a shady spot in the driveway for a little while.........

But it wasn't long before our little helper was putting herself to work!  I told ya, she LOVES to feel helpful!

Ever the OCD child, she made it her job to collect the trash that Daddy was scattering as he opened the bags of mulch.........

Matthew will hate this one, but I thought it was too cute not to share!  =)

I was very happy with the end result!  It's amazing what $20 and an hour's time will do!

After her nap, she requested to play with "dough" (Play Dough) outside.  I think this child could LIVE outdoors if we would let her!

Watch this video of Kyndall building her "dough tower".............

TOWER OF DOUGH

Next, she asked to paint.  Lord have mercy I do NOT enjoy these types of messy activities!  I know it's important for her to experience these things, but I just have to turn my head and hope for the best because seeing her get messy is hard for me to do!  I stripped her down to a diaper and just told her to go for it!  

Our dogs love to chase the golf ball.......

Sir Huckabee

Sir Cameron

I didn't even want to know what it looked like over there!  See her tummy?!

This is what I discovered as I investigated further.........

See why I cringe when she asks to do messy things??  It was in her hair, on her face, on the table.....you name it!  But, she had fun and I guess that's all that matters!

She loves to see herself on video, and asked me to "make moobie" (make a movie) of her riding her bike.  You'll hear her saying "Me see me" at the beginning.........

RIDING HER BIKE

It was such a nice evening that we decided to dine "al fresco" on the back patio, where Kyndall enjoyed chicken fries with "white dip dip" (Ranch, of course), fresh strawberries and chocolate milk.  Is your mouth watering yet?? =)

After dinner she requested to Skype with Grammy and G-Daddy........

Side note---I'm looking for a LARGE, decorative collage frame to hang under this wall decal in our breakfast room.  If you see any for a decent price, let me know!  I've got my eye on a few at Hobby Lobby and Kirklands but nothing has jumped out at me yet.......

As if we hadn't packed in enough for one day, I decided to hang these curtains in K's room.  She already had the valances but I was hoping to find something to keep the summer heat out of her room since our house faces East/West and the afternoon sun is brutal. These are sheer, so they really don't do that much in the way of blocking sunlight and I'm not totally in love with the way they look either.  Still thinking on it..............

(Photo bombed)

I was on a roll so I decided to keep going!  My motivation to get stuff done is at an all time high since my surgery is fast approaching and I feel this impending need to mark things off my to-do list as fast as possible.  I had my sweet friend Mrs. Donna make this wall decal for Kyndall a few months ago.  I've had it a while but have been dreading trying to put it up.  If you know anything about wall decals, you know it's one of the most tedious and nerve wracking "do it yourself" projects that ever did exist!!!  Matthew and I worked together and we were both sweating bullets by the time we finally got this thing finished!  I love the way it turned out!!  I had seen this saying on a canvas at Hobby Lobby and I teared up just reading it.  I knew I wanted it to hang in Kyndall's room.  Mrs. Donna did a great job with it!!

(I promise it's straight---My camera, apparently was not!)  

When we lived in our home in South Carolina, Mrs. Donna made this decal for Kyndall's wall........

(I miss those green walls----Maybe I can convince Matthew to paint??)

 I ALSO finally hung her name that my friend Lindsey made when Kyndall was born.  We had it in her nursery in our other house but I just had not taken the time to hang it back up since we moved.  Kyndall loves sitting on her changing table and pointing out the letters and calling them by name while I put on her clothes, brush her hair, etc.

LASTLY, I put up these cute little wall hooks that I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  I had seen them a few months ago and remember thinking "there's no way I'm paying that much for those!"  I was happy to see them for $2 each just a few days ago!!

And there you have it, our oh-so-simple but oh-so-wonderful weekend!  I got a lot accomplished, spent time with my two loves and also got some great pictures.  I'm holding tight to memories like those of this weekend because it's probably the last one of it's kind for a very long time.  Our lives are about to get CrAzY and not necessarily in a good way.

Matthew's parents are coming up this weekend for Memorial Day and Kyndall and I will be riding back to Tallahassee with them and staying until June 19th.  My surgery is scheduled for July 2nd, so I want to spend as much time as possible in Tallahassee with my friends and family prior to my surgery. I honestly don't know when I'll be back again but I'm sure it will be at least September or October at best.  On top of that, my sweet precious Granddaddy got some very grim and completely unexpected news recently (on my sister's wedding day actually) regarding his health.  So, I want to spend as much time as I can with him.  I will likely stay with my Grandparents a good bit of the time that I'm in FL.  Kyndall and I will be bouncing back and forth between their house in Two Egg (Marianna) and my parents house in Tallahassee for about three weeks.  We also have a family beach trip to Destin planned in there somewhere.

  Kyndall and I will return on June 19th and a little over a week later my entire family will be arriving for my surgery.  I have no idea what my recovery time will be like, but my Mom has been approved to stay out of work for up to six weeks.  I'm hoping and praying I'll be back on my feet long before then, but it's nice to know I'll have the help if I need it.  

With all of that said, I will likely be away from my blog for a while.  Though my blog may be lacking, my pictures will NOT!  =)  I'll probably return with more pictures than you ever hoped to see of our crazy, busy life!

For now, I'm taking it one day at a time and trying to focus on the GOOD in the midst of all this sadness and stress.  I am still blessed beyond measure and I rest in the knowledge that God's got this all under control.  Though I wish the timing was better, it's HIS timing nonetheless.  His plans are not always our plans and His ways are not our ways......This I know!

On a happier note, look at this door prize that I won at my MOPS meeting earlier this month!  Maybe we'll be able to cash it in this weekend before we leave town!!

Happy Summer, everyone!!!!