Cannon's favorite things

Cannon's likes are changing by the day. So it is hard to keep up with what a 2 & 1/2 year old likes consistently but I think I did it.

In true Melban fashion Cannon has taken a liking to cars. Any and all cars will do. I know that Cameron will interject soon to teach Cannon the finer points of owning a Mustang.

Aunt Nae and Uncle Eric are the coolest. They have a horse Ginger that Cannon loves. He talks about the hooooooo (horse) a lot.

I know I used this for Gracelyn as well, but seriously my boy loves MILK.

The "bike" is just his all time favorite toy~At the moment~

This was last summer and a year later Cannon is still as attached to his thumb! He loves it and as much as we try to get him to take it out he is a sly little guy and sneaks it back in his mouth every chance he gets.

I think I have blogged about Cannon's connection to Cameron before. Well it still is as strong as ever. Although I am 2nd runner up.

COOKIES! I have a cookie monster on my hands.

pictures of Lily

I finally got some pictures of Miss Lily. She is just adorable and her big sister and brother are pretty precious as well!

Robert and Sally Melban

I recently was reminded of a couple in our family that many of you haven't been introduced to yet. They are super sweet and haven't always been together. First to come into the family was Sally. I believe that it was Easter of '04 when we met her. She is just a doll and so precious. Gracelyn immediately took to her and since then she has brightened our day immensely. Sally is easy going and not loud or outspoken. I like that about her.



Robert came later in '06 but like Sally he too is just a loving easy going guy. Cannon is becoming more fond of Robert and enjoys his quiet ways. Cannon makes up for Robert's meekness.


Both Sally and Robert are treasured by other members in our family as well. They have stayed with Nana-B and Papa before but prefer to stay here at our house. Marlee just squeals with delight when she comes over and Sally is here. Also she comes into my house and starts searching for Sally immediately.

So here they are~Robert and Sally Melban

Gracelyn has slept with Sally faithfully since the day she got her. Robert hasn't felt the love as much as Sally until recently. Cannon drug out Robert from the toy box and he has set up permanent residency in Cannon's bed ever since. Sally went to school with Gracelyn for the first few weeks and just stayed in her backpack. I know that is made Grace feel better knowing that Sally was with er at school. Poor Sally has been through it all and needs to be washed again soon but through it all she has never lost her fluffiness. What a true friend.Gracelyn gets the credit for naming both Robert and Sally. She loves the name Sally and says if she has a girl when she grows up her name will be Sally Elizabeth. She also named Robert for Cannon. I thought it was hilarious that Robert is what she came up with!

Gracelyn's Favorite Things

I got an idea off of a blog I frequent, listing your children's favorite things. Gracelyn gets to go first.

Lip Gloss~She is a sucker for glossy lips and fruity flavors.

Such the girly girl for sure.

Milk makes your bones strong right? We are counting on this fact because Gracelyn drinks approximately 1 gallon or more a week by herself.

As a family we drink 4 gallons a week. Pink is her favorite color. If she gets to pick out her clothes, shoes, underwear, socks, bows, etc. she always chooses the pink ones. I love that about her.
Seriously can't live without these things.
When I asked her what her favorite food was she said the above and chips.

Why did I ask I knew that!
Television is so different in Gracelyn's world than when it was when I was young. Gone are the days of funny safe sitcoms. At least Gracelyn can show off her dancing skills while the stars strut their stuff.
Everyday after school our quiet time consists of watching this show. She received it for Easter and has loved it. I do to. The music is so fun and lighthearted. Shortly after school the boys wake up and they will sit and watch it as well.
I have a true flip flop girl on my hands. I have to hide them in the fall so that she can't wear them when it is freezing outside.
The giant gumball machines are a weakness for my sweetie. She always wants pink of course so usually daddy and I get a piece to try for a pink one.

There are about a million more things that are special and unique about her. The most important of course is that she knows her heavenly father thinks she is fabulous. Which I'm pretty sure she does. Thank you God for such a precious little girl to love.

Random pictures

One way to get a post is steal pictures off your sister's blog!! :) Thanks Renay!

*Me and Gracelyn*

Yes i know that my hair was a little too light! I got it fixed and really like it darker now. I hope to go even darker next time. The sad thing is is that I had to finally come to terms with my hair getting darker the older I have become. UGH!!! I really wish my hair was as beautiful as my sweet Gracie girl.

Keely and Gracelyn. Such a great friends.
My sweet Cannon on Ginger. He loves this hoooooo (horse)!
Love these two cutie patooties.

Lily Michelle

She is here safe and sound. Lily Michelle was born between 10:25-10:30 am this morning and weighed in at 8 lbs and is 20 1/4 inches long. But the most unique feature is that she has a TON of dark hair. I love it. I got to hold and cuddle her for a little bit and will go back soon to log in some more hours with Amy and Lily in the hospital. Amy did great and is just a pro at having babies. I hope to get a picture of her soon to post! :)

** She is just 1 oz off of Mason's weight. It was awesome to hold a baby the same as Mason again. I love that feeling. Their 2 year-old Jack was the exact same weight as Cannon so I have gotten that experience twice with Amy's babies!! Thanks friend. I needed that!

How much can you cram into one day?

I know that many people won't think that our day was all that busy. Just an average day in the life of many of you but for us we were super busy. We started off going to the 2nd service at church or as it is affectionly called the late service. You know when you are running late in the morning you go to the late service. Some mornings we do this on purpose but this morning we went to the 2nd service because we were running late. So after a wonderful worship time we scooted out the building and over to the grocery to pick up lunch and a few essentials. I just want to plug that United has milk on sale 2 gallons for 7 bucks!!! You save a whole dollar!!! This is huge in the Melban home. We go through about 4-5 gallons of milk a week so I grabbed 4 gallons and will be going back for more. Then off to sleepy land for 4 of the 5 Melbans. I was in heaven today. A full three hour nap for everyone is not too shabby. I needed it for sure since my nap schedule has been a little off for the past week or so. (Yes I take a nap on the days I don't work) THEN the excitement begins. Which puts us around 5:3o starting a project that we have no idea how long will take. Cameron changed out the holding/pressure tank since it was having major issues. It took a lot of sweat and muscle and a prayer literally to get the pipes apart. God is so good guys. So we got that done which lead into cleaning the garage. How? I don't know but it did. So we cleaned out the garage kinda. We didn't go through boxes or sort through stuff but we did sweep and throw out all the trash that collected over the winter and that was massive. Cameron teased that his car was feeling claustrophobic. Nice and neat in a way. I am not so embarrassed for someone to see my garage now at least. I was wishing we would have made our way into the sun room but it was a little late to start that project. Then off to help Cam wash off his equipment. Whew! What a way to start an exciting week.

Our friends the Ramseys will be welcoming baby number 3 tomorrow morning around 10:30 am. I am so excited to go up there and see Lily Michelle. Amy is a friend that has been around for as long as I can remember. We went to college together, graduated and started our careers together, had children together and now we get to experience being mommies to 3 children together. WOW! She is just super special in my life and I am praying that tomorrow is smooth and very normal. God is just amazing and I know that Lily's birth is just one more way for us to see His glory. My prediction is that she weighs in at 7 lbs 11 oz. and is 20 inches long. I have no idea why but I think she just might be bigger than the first two Ramsey babies.

May each of you be blessed beyond measure this week.

I'm it!

Playin' The Tag Game
My wonderful friend Melissa tagged me, so now it's my turn to give you some very strange but fun facts about me!
Here are the rules:
1. Link your tagger.
2. Post the rules.
3. Share 7 facts about yourself (random and weird).
4. Tag 7 friends.
5. Leave a comment letting them know they've been "tagged."

Numero Uno: I took Latin in high school. I only made it through the class because the teacher liked me. I had no skill at learning a language that was dead. The only Spanish I know is what my dad taught me growing up. Counting to 10, please, thank you, etc. Plus throw a line or two from a country song and you might as well just go ahead and call me bilingual.
2. I recently counted crosses in my house and my total was 50! But at bunco a few weeks back I won a set of three red metal crosses and then I got another for hosting a shower so I am past the 50 mark. I never set out to acquire so many it all started about 6 years ago. I love them all and can pretty much tell you where every single one came from.
3. I spend a decent amount of time reading in a year. I love all kinds of books but christian fiction is my most favorite. The only thing about that genre is that most often the setting is back in the 1900's or something. I can only read so much about the simple life before I go berserk. So Jordan has enlightened me with some new book titles that I hope to check out soon. This leads me to another confession that is a sore spot with me. I owe the public library a decent amount of money due to fines. Not because I lost a book or anything but because I did a project on Beatrice Potter back when I was in college and they still haven't forgiven me for it. I did call and request them to be checked out longer. I did call a 2nd time to extend my time. I did call even a 3rd time and I thought all was fine. Well it wasn't I guess and I owe big time.
4. My drivers license is not expired and I refuse to get it changed to show my correct address. I hate that I have to pay them more money because I moved. But I also haven't ever been stopped since I moved for it to make a difference. I am now on a mission to make it to the expiration date which is just one more year. FYI~I have lived in my current house for almost 4 years.
5. I was a Community Health major during my time at ACU. I have no idea where that would have gotten me but I had some cool health classes that made me realize that I did not want to go into the medical field. I didn't decide to become a teacher until I transferred to WTAMU my junior year. It required the least amount of science.
6. I am usually very good about going through my clothes and discarding out of date/style items and also things that no longer fit. However I still have the shirt and shorts that I wore when Cameron purposed. I would love to fit back into them one day! :) Now that would be a huge feat.
7. I spent 3 nights on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA when I went on a technology conference 9 years ago. I even have a few pictures reenacting a couple of scenes from Titanic. Good times! Get teachers together outside of the classroom and you never know what could happen. The very next year I got to attend the same conference but in Anaheim so we were able to rent a car at around 6:00 one evening and we drove around all night in places that were just so foreign to us. I was standing in John Travolta's footprints at around 2:00 am. Then we drove the car back into the rental place at 7:00 the following morning and headed off to our conference. I can't tell you one thing I learned but I sure can tell you that the Hollywood sign is very hard to get to in the dark.

Adios Amigos!

I now tag,
Kelly, Amanda, Dixie, Renay, Michelle, Wade, & Katie

I found a growth...

Last night during our small group we had the opportunity to talk about growth and how we see ourselves growing in a way that is showing our faith.

I could list a hundred ways of how God is using me. He has set forth the plan, given me the skills to perform the tasks. Now what? I know that I have asked the question "Now what?" more than I can count. Knowing what God wants me to do and feeling convicted about it is powerful. I know that God has always tried to talk to me. I just never listened so He used other people to talk to me. Being hard headed stinks. I am coming to a point in my relationship with Christ that I am hearing God more and He is able to speak directly to me because I am open to Him. He still uses people to help me but mostly it comes directly to me from Him.

There have been two very small incidences recently that have been huge in my believing that I am growing. One is a time when I spoke to Cameron in a way that shocked him and I. I later told Cameron that what I was saying was not from me. I'm not that eloquent. But it all came from God. My courage to address an issue that had been a sore subject between us was relieved and not only was I able to get through the conversation Cameron was able to hear it because it wasn't from me. It was God speaking. The second time was just a few nights ago. I have a cabinet in my kitchen/living area that is the junk haven. I dug in there for a book to read and came across a paperback that I hadn't read before. SCORE! I started in on the first page and didn't understand a word of it. I was too tired I thought. The second night I started again and AGAIN it was just jumbled in my brain and I was drifting to sleep within seconds. So on the third attempt I heard God say to throw the book away. I don't remember the title of the book it was an easy read that was full of fluff I'm sure but there was something in it that God didn't want me to read. So I just tossed it to the ground and went to sleep and thought that I would just put it in the trash in the morning. God woke me up at 3:00 that morning for me to throw it away. I didn't have to use the bathroom, there was no crying child, no dog barking. I woke from a dead sleep to God telling me to get my rear up and go throw that book in the trash. I did and fell back to sleep within seconds.

I don't ask "Now what?" nearly as often although I still wonder it sometimes. I don't argue with God on His plan nearly as often although I still wonder sometimes. I'm not saying I don't EVER wonder or argue but it is less.

That my friends is growth.

Mason's one year pictures

Mason was on the move so most of the pictures are action shots. I loved how they turned out! The new place we went to was super friendly and so helpful when picking out portraits. I never felt pressured to buy more that I was needing to. But anyways we did have to wait a little while because they were short staffed and Mason had a huge melt down. They let me wait it out for about 30 minutes and he just crawled around and played. So they threw in a free wall calendar. Great customer service in my book. His shirt picture is posted below so be sure and scroll down to the previous post and check that one out too!

The Shirt Part 3

Finally I was able to get Mason's picture made in the shirt. I have to ship it out in the morning to Indianapolis so that cousin Beckett can get his picture made in it as well. There was a delay in the photo taking but finally I got it done.

Here are all three of my babies in the 54 year-old shirt. It is missing a button and I promised myself I would get a new one sewn on before this picture but it just didn't happen.

Gracelyn wasn't too happy with her photo session but this was just priceless!

We did get her in the traditional pose tough.

August 2003

Cannon was all smiles that day.

Every one we took was precious.

August 2006

Mason was more serious in his shirt picture.

Thought it was sweet and captured his serious personality.

April 2008

Green Eggs and Ham

A couple of friends and I have come up with a recipe blog. It's sole purpose is to post recipes that we have actually tried and tested. I hope you guys enjoy and please try some out. Be sure and leave comments on whether it was great, so-so or a no-go. We are tired of the same ole stuff and hope you get some great ideas to add to your stash of great recipes.
Bon Appetite!
Y
Keri

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA
I wish I could figure out how to just post the video but just go ahead and click on it.

I am not a political person. Really I am not. It is not that I don't care because I do. I care deeply but my knowledge base is very small so I tend to not participate in political discussions or conversations. I am a religious person though so if the two overlap then I guess sometimes my views of religion seem political and my political views seem religious.

The above statement leads me to claim that I am sick of Oprah. This is coming from the person who was sooooo upset to not be able to sit in on her tapings while she was here in Amarillo many, many years ago. I have pictures of her driving away in her black suburban while many fans were waiting to catch a glimpse of her. I remember driving by the bed and breakfast she stayed at while here and thinking oh how fun to just meet her once.

This disgust is coming from the same person who would have skipped class to receive a Kate Spade bag while during a taping of designer duds. Or would have loved to see Garth Brooks or one of the many other celebrities who made the trek to Amarillo for her to continue her taping schedule.

Why was I a supporter? Because I was ignorant to her true persona. I thought it was all about her favorite things, the huge give-a-ways, the massive makeovers. You know the fun stuff but during that time there were subliminal messages against God that were being brought to the table and I just cruised right over them. Wow. How shallow of me.

I am one to admit my wrong doings. (most of the time) I am wrong in my thinking that Oprah is anything other than a worker for evil. I believe that with my whole heart. A good friend has given me insight into Oprah's teaching and she sparked my interest. So after several weeks of study and confirmation of my findings I no longer think that she is evil because my friend told me she was but because I have researched it myself.

I appreciate Teresa (who really needs to get a blog going) for enlightening me on this issue. It is sad that the world thinks so much of an individual such as Oprah. Talk about a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Calling all Lurkers...

I have been blogging for about 20 months now. It has been slow at times but for the most part I try hard to ramble on about the day to day things that happen in our family. My kiddos give me the biggest part of my material. We live in the same town as both sets of grandparents and a ton of extended family so we are very fortunate in that respect. But because of that this blog isn't just about posting pictures of the kids to keep the family updated. It is about me writing down stuff. Sometimes that stuff is personal and sometimes it is trivial. Sometimes it shows me being vulnerable. I strive hard for it to reflect my faith.

Over the past few months I have found out in a very round about way that I have more than a few family members reading this blog. I love it. It doesn't bother me. (Hello... We're on the INTERNET...DUH!) Check out my list of blogs I read and see if you can find the connections between me (or Cameron) to these people. There are a few that are tricky. There is one that I don't know at all and just love to read.

I read a list of blogs almost daily. Most of them are on my blog roll that you see to the right. BUT there are about 15 more blogs that I have found or come across while reading other people's blogs. I don't know these people and don't comment on them. It is called lurking. When you lurk on other people's blog it is like you don't want them to know you are there. Why? I don't know. But after reviewing my site meter I realized that my blog on average gets 45 hits a day. I only get an average of 2 comments on each post though. hmmmm.... unless my sister and a few others are checking back 15 times each then that shows me I have LURKERS!!! So the point of this post is to call out my lurkers. Leave a comment. Tell me what's up. Just leave a quick hello. I won't care if I don't know you. Promise!! :) I don't expect a comment on every single one of my posts by any means that is just insane BUT once a month to let me know you are still around would be nice. Nothing on my blog is private. I never post anything without people's permission. I try hard to ask for picture permission of other people's kids as well. I say all that because sometimes when you get in a blogging slump it is great to know that there is more than 2 people reading my randomness.

I will be taking my own advice and commenting on all the other blogs I lurk on...

My original plan was to go ahead and write down the names of people who I know read the blog but don't or rarely comment. You can all be thanking Jordan right now for advising me against that.