Study Buddies

Randy and Caden are "studying" together. Sometimes there are advantages to being a lefty - you can study in the same chair as your Dad without bumping elbows.

Randy is applying to George Wythe University. He is taking an extension class called American Foundation this coming semester. They will be studying the founding documents such as The Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, and Tocqueville's Democracy in America. He is going to be pretty busy this next semester as he is also taking 4 credits from BSU toward his second bachelor's degree.

What a great example for the kids!

Cub Scouts

Colin turned eight on Saturday. That makes him a Cub Scout and me the mother of a Cub Scout. It's so fun! He's been working hard it this week and has accomplished a lot.



Here he his earning his Bobcat tonight at pack meeting. He is pinning my first mother's pin on me. How exciting!
(I didn't realize quite how large I am getting until I saw this picture. Yikes! Tomorrow makes 17 weeks.)



On Wednesday, Colin set up a pretend library and his books kept falling over. We got to work on wolf achievement #5 and make him some awesome bookends. I think he's got some potential in wood working.

Music Man

Caden woke up this morning "singing" the train part of Orange Blossom Special. I don't know how to type what he said. Something like "err, errrrr, err, err buck, buck, buck, buck." How can you not wake up with a smile when that's your alarm clock. So funny!!




Of course, the little turkey won't do it again for me so I could get a movie. This is not today's picture, but it's classic Caden.


The big kids have been doing several Christmas Fiddle shows at nursing homes and care centers for the past two weeks. With all the practice and the shows, it's no wonder Caden can sing the songs.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

I haven't had time to find the pictures from Thanksgiving. We went to parents' house and had a wonderful time. I love to go home.
Keri posted these pictures of us Kelley girls on her blog so I borrowed them.






When you take pictures with Keri and Kylie you have to pose. This is Keri's signature tush pose. You can see that Keri and Kylie have a little more practice with posing for pictures than Katie and I do. I'm okay with that.

Hoedown Pictures

This is a picture of the Jammers doing the Patriotic Medley. It's my favorite song of the whole show. They play each of the armed forces songs and have the veterans from each stand while their song is played. It's AWESOME!
Colin and Robyn are on the front row in the center. They are standing next to each other.


This is Colin and the other contest winners playing Dill Pickle Rag.


Here is Grace in the practice room just before going onstage.

It's that time again - The Country Harvest Hoedown is here!

This is it. The BIG Weekend we've all been waiting for. Finally.
The Country Harvest Hoedown is tonight and tomorrow. I can't wait to see the show.

Colin, Robyn, and Grace are all in it and they have been practicing for months to get ready.



Yesterday, Colin and Robyn were on TV as the dress rehearsal was televised during the weather reports on the news. That was pretty cool.



Grace didn't go because it was WAY too early in the morning for a four year old. She and Caden had a good rehearsal anyway.
Uncle Mike wrote and said to make sure Caden learns something "manly" like the guitar. Caden is happy to comply. Every time Randy picks up his guitar to practice, Caden goes for his too. Admittedly, Caden's playing backup isn't too pleasant on the ears, but it sure it fun for the eyes to watch.
(He still can't wait to get his hands on a fiddle though.)

When is the good part of pregnancy?

I was feeling not so great the other morning and I said to my family, "Don't mind me, this is just the bad part of pregnancy." After saying that, I wondered when the good part of pregnancy was. Then I looked around and saw it all around me.

Here are a few examples of the good parts of pregnancy, yep they pretty muchly all happen AFTER it's all over.


Colin, Robyn, and Grace trying to hold down the leaf piles they've been working on when a big wind came up.

Caden insisting he get to try to ride the unicycle. I am pretty sure he'll learn it before I ever do. I've been working on it and it's just too darn scary! It's the one thing I didn't get done before I turned 30. I brought home Mike's unicycle and I worked on it unsuccessfully for days. Then one night after work, Randy hopped on it and rode around the block. He was the kids' hero that night. He totally cheated by not telling them that he has been able to unicycle for years. Sure made me look bad! Pretty funny though.

Grace working on learning to rollerblade. Robyn found them at the DI yesterday and the three big kids have been taking turns with them. They actually only fit Colin, but that hasn't stopped the girls from trying. Robyn is the best at it so far. Luckily, I learned to rollerblade as a child, rollerblading is not nearly as scary as unicycling. Randy said he married me for my rollerblading skills. I'd better dust them off and start practicing again. :)

How to Draw a Butterfly

Here are the step by step instructions on how to draw a butterfly according to Grace.



Here's what it looks like with all the steps put together.





I tried it and it's pretty fun to draw butterflies! Especially with such a great teacher as Grace.

Crazy Manimal!

Cader Bader is a crazy manimal! But he has beautiful big brown eyes so he gets away with everything.


He is not afraid of ANYTHING.


The girls and I made the cutest table display yesterday with some great little gourds and pumpkins we found at a farmers market. Today Caden put all the great little gourds and pumpkins down the vent! Even the adorable little warty one.
Randy saved the day by crawling under the house and pushing up on the vent so I could retrieve them. Hooray for Dads!



He thinks he is big like his brother and loves to get in on the computer games. Colin has been building a chess playing robot this week with the Lego Mindstorms and Caden loves to "help." I'll have to get a picture of it when all the bugs are worked out. Colin is building it for Robyn - she likes to play chess, but no one likes to play with her because she always wins so he is building her a robot. What a great brother! :)
I love to watch the things these little turkeys come up with.



One good feature about Caden is his impeccable table manners. He can use a spoon better than his three siblings put together. He is contrary even in that though - notice he is a little lefty!