March 2014

IT’S A BOY!!!! Here is the cake that revealed the gender.  Publix did a great job!  This is a 6 layer chocolate cake, complete with 6 inner layers of blue frosting.  Scott and I each took a knife and cut a big wedge, pulled it out, and within seconds Jackson was screaming “blue, blue, it’s a boy!!!”  I was so proud of the way sweet Taylor, who was really hoping for a girl, reacted.  No meltdowns, just disappointment.  The cutest thing she said was “I really just wanted that frosting to be pink….”  Because of her disappointment, I think we all felt slightly disappointed.  But in the two weeks that have passed, we have all really come around to the idea of another boy—and are very excited!!!  Even Taylor brought home a note she wrote at school that said “I am happy we are having a boy” accompanied by hearts, rainbows, and flowers.  :-)

Continuing with Taylor—she turned 5 this month!  We wanted to blow this birthday out of the water for her.  She has never had a party with friends.  We did have one planned for her last year, but due to the broken arm, we had to cancel.  Not to worry, we made up for it this year!  Count them, 17 friends!  Luckily we had a gymnastics party, so aside from bringing the cake and drinks, we really didn’t have to do much.  She had a blast and felt special, so we couldn’t be happier.  Tinkerbelle Cake!

 

 

 

 

 

The day before I surprised Tay in her classroom with cupcakes.  The video is really sweet, everyone was SO excited!  Love this little girl.

Jackson had another good month.  Biggest highlight was going 5-0 in the Team State Chess Tournament!  His team ended up 5th in the state for K-1st grade.  Baseball is going well, but we have been surprised at the amount of peer pressure we have received to let Jackson play on Sunday.  It’s hard because I feel like we are letting the team down.  However, parental patterns are powerful and we hope that Jackson will regard the Sabbath as special/holy when he has a family of his own.

Here are the costumes they picked for ‘dress as a character from your favorite book.’  Taylor chose a fairy book and Jackson chose a book about Steve Jobs—he insisted on not smiling because “Steve Jobs never smiled in pictures.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

King Grant had his 2 year old check up (4 months late), and the pediatrician started by saying “Well he is tall and skinny.”  What??  Nobody has EVER described Grant as skinny, and NONE of our children have ever been considered tall!  Less fussy this month, and so fun.  And he LOVES Uncle Jeff.

Scotty is hanging in there.  The case seems to be settling down, so he is getting a little more sleep.  Just one final meeting on Wednesday then it’s over!  Wednesday evening he’ll fly into Destin to finish out the rest of spring break with us.  We can’t wait!

Spring is upon us, and Atlanta is beautiful.  God is faithful and life is good!  Much love to all!

February 2014

DOUGLAS BABY #4 IS ON HER (or his) WAY!!!  Yes we’re crazy; yes we’re excited, and yes we’re scared!  We are 16 weeks, and since the nausea and extreme tiredness has largely passed along with the first trimester, I sometimes forget I’m pregnant—it’s the weirdest thing.  I’ll pass by a mirror, gasp at my changing figure, and then relief overcomes me a moment later when I remember I’m pregnant.  :-)  Baby is due August 27th, so it’s going to be one hot summer.  If you can’t find me, I’ll be floating in my neighbor’s pool trying to stay cool!  In reality, we feel very blessed and grateful for this little one to join (and quite possibly complete) our family.

Scott is doing well.  A big box of Godiva chocolates arrived on our doorstep last week with the message “Thank you for letting us have your husband an extra day next week…—BCG”  Nice gesture, but would rather have Scott.  Such a pressurized case; still the same cruise ship case in Miami.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen Scott work so hard, which is quite impressive.  Each week they have a huge meeting with the client which produces stress, anxiety, major sleep loss, and tons of work.  To add heat to the fire, he usually has to travel to Mexico or Panama one night a week.  April 10th won’t come fast enough basically.  We’ll need a string of moderate/local cases after this one if BCG is going to be a viable option for the future.

The kids can’t get close enough when he’s home.  Check out Scott in the the Panama office!

Jackson had a big month.  He went 5-0 at the State Qualifier chess tournament and made it into the gifted program at school (I never liked the term “gifted”, like you have it or you don’t; taking all effort out of the equation.  I’d prefer ‘high achieving’). 

Basketball season wrapped up and it’s on to soccer and baseball.  The weather is warming up and it’s fun to be back out at the fields again.  As an added bonus, Jackson and Trey (his cousin) are on the same soccer team!

Well we finally got Taylor into ballet and she of course is loving it.  She started soccer again as well and scored her first goal of the season last Saturday!  She is in a really fun stage right now—so funny, and sweet. 

It continues to be a full time job keeping her stocked with fresh books from the library.  As soon as she gets off the bus in the afternoon, she runs inside, jumps on the couch and starts reading the stack of books I have placed there.  She begs me to let her eat her snack while reading, but I insist she eat at the table—or I would never hear about her day!

Grant, is definitely in the 2s.  Fussy and particular.  Fortunately I watched the other 2 go through it and come out ok on the other side, so I’m not too worried.  Hopefully a majority of it will be over before Aug. 27!

Even though he is a little tough right now, he’s still a great cuddler, and a dedicated basketball player.  He also likes the YMCA daycare now, so I can workout guilt free—it’s amazing! 

This month Grant got a basketball goal for the trampoline which he adores.  So after he shoots for 30 minutes on our indoor hoop, he spends 30 minutes on our outdoor hoop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As some of you know, we had a 2nd snow week in February.  Atlanta in general was more prepared, but I was feeling overwhelmed about being trapped inside for another week without Scott home.  Luckily my parents saved the day.  Dad and mom came over in dad’s truck, spent a couple of nights, helped me organize some closets (see above), and we even ventured out to waffle house once or twice!

I had a great month.  I completed the 1st trimester, finished my reign as Primary Chorister (bitter sweet), and had an amazing girls weekend up at Lake Burton!

That about wraps up February.  Next month we’ve got Taylor’s 5th birthday party and the new baby’s gender revealing…so stay tuned!

Lots of love,

TFK

January 2014

Happy New Year!  And Happy Birthday to KING GRANT!  Two years old on the 24th.  We celebrated at home, with family.  I laugh every time I look at the cake which was supposed to be a perfect sphere.  However, when Grant saw it, he squealed “Basketball Cake!!!”  Recognizable equals success right?

He also celebrated with cupcakes with his little Tues/Thur morning ‘Mother Morning Out’ class.

We love this little guy so much, we all have such a soft spot for him.  His truck obsession seems to have been replaced by a basketball obsession.  Grant is to basketball, what Jackson was to baseball at that age.  He has a particular fondness for Jackson right now.  At the bus stop he talks to himself “Daxon here yet?  In a minute.  Bus here?  Not yet”  Jackson receives a hero’s homecoming everyday!

 

 

 

 

 

Taylor.  We continue to get reports such as “Taylor is such a gem to have in class.”  I am almost tempted to let out a sigh of relief that her difficult stage really is over!  I often think I am thankful to have a girl because she really brings such a sweet and caring presence to our home.  The 2 of us snuck away to a salon where we both got our hair cut.  It was a fun girls morning!  Everyone ate her up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jacksons basketball season wrapped up.  It was so fun to watch this year because it was more or less ‘real’ basketball.  Because of his birthday, Jackson could have played in the 6 year old league, but we decided to follow his dedicated coaches to the 7/8 year old league.  It was a good fit for Jackson, even if he was a head shorter than everyone.

He also had a strong showing at the annual MLK chess tournament.  He went 4-1, losing only to the top guy there (who had a rating of 1230, which is kind of insane for a 1st grader.  Jackson is 912).  Jackson gave him a great game though, and as always we were super proud of him.

Probably the most fun news to report was that it finally snowed in Atlanta!  It was fun for us because we were fortunate enough not to be trapped on the highways for hours and our kids were delivered safely by the bus before all craziness broke loose (Scott was blissfully clueless, and warm, in Miami).  Unfortunately Jay and Angie didn’t have the same experience.  Angie got trapped on the roads in North GA, while Jay was trapped on the roads in South GA.  Luckily Derek was safe with us for the night, and Jay eventually made it to Trey around 7pm who was safe and happy at school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grant hated the snow, but loved the hot chocolate and played with his birthday present (light up scoreboard/basketball) for HOURS with Derek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the snow week, the kids had 4 days off of school, and multiple play dates/spend the nights.  They had a ball.

(eating icicles). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scotty’s team did so well on ‘phase 1’ of the cruise ship project in Miami, that they hired the team on for ‘phase 2.’  So 10 more weeks.  I was hoping they would do well, but not quite so well as to get hired on again. :-)  Scott is enjoying the project though.  He has to fly to Panama at least once a month, to decide if the company should expand into Central America.  On one of these occasions Scotty was in Miami, about to load the corporate jet headed to Panama, when he realized he didn’t have his passport.  So instead of taking the cooperate jet, he flew Delta back to Atlanta, had his driver come to our house, grab his passport, then bring it to him at the Atlanta airport.  Then Scott flew back to Miami that same evening, got 3 hours of sleep in a hotel, before heading back to the airport to catch an international flight to Miami.  Poor guy!  And poor BCG, it ended up being a $1,000 mistake!  But the meeting went well that morning in Panama so all was forgiven.

And nothing too new with me.  Just busy making all the magic happen :-).  I was slightly sad that Scott missed all the snow days with the kids.  Facebook was replete with dad’s building snowmen, sledding, and having snow ball fights with their kids.  But what can you do?  When he arrived for the weekend though, he started building a tree house with the kids, so they definitely get their sweet daddy moments.  Plus, occasionally Grammy comes to spend the night when Scott is gone.  And she is instantly more popular than me :-).

 

 

 

 

 

 

With love,

TFK

p.s.  Jackson is playing chess on the computer, Grant doesn’t care that it’s boring, just wants to be right next to (and eating the same snack as) big brother.