Why didn't I look there?

So today we were outside enjoying this wonderful Florida weather. We have played, and played, and played outside this whole week it has been sooo nice! The girl loves outside, and even tho it is hot, I keep telling myself this is a good way to work on your tan Tara (and yes sometimes I talk to myself). We have swung, we have slid, we have played with the sprinkler (a story for a different blog day), we have picked grass, and we have even played in the flower pots, oh and I mustn't forget we have eaten popsicles every day all week long, (please daddy help us blow our pool up this weekend) we need another activity. So it got close to nap time today, and I started looking for her passy, because in order for her to go to sleep peacefully, she has to have a bottle in one hand and the passy in the other. I could not find it anywhere, literally I looked everywhere, in her room, living room, our room, playroom, bathrooms, outside on the patio, and I couldn't find it, so I had to go get the back up passy I keep in her diaper bag. Ok so moving story along, so then she takes a nap, and we go on about the rest of our day. Until a little while ago we took Sophie outside to do her business, and I put Jolee down on the patio and do you want to know where she crawled over too.................................the flower pot where she had evidently put her passy. So that's where I found her passy in the flower pot, if only I would have looked there, why didn't I look in the flower pot? Or if only she could have told me where she had put her passy, that would have really helped me when I was frantically searching for it so she would take a nap. So there you go the story for today. She is a smart one, I tell you.



Oh yes, I took a picture, because who would have believed me otherwise, It had to have been Jolee that put it there, because I sure didn't and I know Sophie didn't (she would have ate it) and we are the only 3 here! She's good!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures,

My baby is 11 months old today, can you believe it? Where does the time go? Oh my gosh, she is getting so big. Below are just a few of the pictures that my girl Amber took a couple of weeks ago of Jolee, she is a great photographer and friend with a precious little family. Thanks again Amber they are all so unique in their on little way and you really captured her personality in every one of them! OK, so enough bragging on Amber J/K! Enjoy looking at the pictures of my baby!

Look at her cute little chubby round face, I wonder where she gets that from? Love this one!
She so wants to be outside running around with Abbie, Emma, and Sophie! Love this one!
Check it out, she actually has enough little hair on top to blow in the wind! Love this one!
Love this picture! She was laughing so hard! FYI-I'm going to use this one for her 10 mo picture!
Look at those little teeth she still only has 2 bottom ones! Love this one!
OK so I love them all, but do you blame me? See why me and Silas ooohed and awwed over them!

Fridge Play, Again!

Alright, so I guess we are getting to the stage where Jolee has decided she wants to see how everything works. So we have already discovered she likes the inside of the Refrigerator. But now she can open the drawers and takes things off of the shelves. For Example- Silas grabbed a Capri Sun out of the fridge, on the way out the door the other day, and when we got in the car down the road he discovered that the straw had been pulled off of the drink. Then at that moment I remembered seeing Jolee pulling the straws off of all the drinks the day before, because she had figured out how to open the drawer they were in, get the drink out, and then pull the straw off, that's a huge accomplishment for her, I thought. On the other hand, I could see Silas's point as he had to cut the tip of the Capri Sun off to drink it, due to there not being a straw attached to it. So yesterday, she kept taking the towel rack and hand towel off of the refrigerator door (the towel rack is magnetic). So I thought magnets, she would love playing with magnets on the refrigerator. So I got 2 magnets and showed her how to put them on the door and take them off, so after that the whole time I was cooking supper last night, that kept her busy. Clearly, now I have to go get some cool Alphabet Magnets or something like that for her to play with, but we worked with what we had last night. And she loved it, and evidently thought it was neat. I know some people are going to say come on Tara a magnet blog, but people this means my baby is growing up, and is learning how to do new things. So we must document it!


Jolee working diligently on getting the magnets on the fridge door.

Look how proud she is, that she did it!

"Flip Flop Summer Tour 2007"

So lets play a game, if I said "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" what would you say? Or If I said "When The Sun Goes Down" what would you say?...... You would probably say what, no way, you saw Kenny Chesney in concert? And my reply would be... Yep, and it was so good ,and so much fun! He puts on a really good show! But wait, it keeps getting better... scroll on down, after you look at our pictures we took of Kenny, at the concert last night!




Next question of the game. If I said who sings "Baby Girl" or "Something More" would you answer SUGARLAND! You should have.... because we saw them last night too at the concert. She was amazing and full of energy! She is wonderful in concert! OK, so Sugarland opened for Kenny Chesney, so who opened for Sugarland? After you look at the pictures of Jennifer Nettles and Sugarland scroll down to see the next question and answer.......



OK, last question of the game? Who was the opening, opening act last night at the concert? He sings "Dixie Lullaby" or "Wave on Wave" you got it... Pat Green.
It was a very fun night listening and watching 3 great artists. I have decided that living in Jacksonville, and Silas working at the Jacksonville TruGreen Branch has had its perks, just since we have been here, we have seen Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, and now Kenny Chesney, Sugarland, and Pat Green in concert and have had super, super, super seats each time. We have sat in a SUITE!, NICE HUH!! Plus FREE food, FREE Parking, and FREE Tickets what else could you ask for? We had a blast and just wanted to share a little bit of our weekend!!

POPSICLE'S

She loves them! We are trying new things, and I'm trying to find fun things at that, so since it is getting summer time what better thing to try none other than Popsicle's. So after our walks this week, we have started going outside on the porch and sharing a Popsicle, which she really, really, really likes. Yesterday we had Pina Colada flavor YUMMY!! I know you are probably thinking ewww I bet that is messy, and yep you are right, but she loves them so much and she gets so excited, so I'll deal with a little extra mess, whats one more mess during the day to clean up right? Oh, and I'm still holding the Popsicle stick so not so bad right now, but after we eat them she just gets a early bath! You would think it would be really cold and she would just lick it, but no she actually bites off pieces with her 2 little teeth, and gets really, really, really upset when the Popsicle is gone, you'll see. Enjoy your weekend guys and eat lots of Popsicle's!!


Jolee enjoying her Popsicle!


Still enjoying her Popsicle! Do you have more mom?
No more gone, gone Jolee!
Told you she hates when the Popsicle is gone!

Poor Sophie

We had just gotten back from a walk today and before I could get everything put up, (because you just can't go for a walk the way you use to anymore, you got to get the stroller out of the car, put it back up when you get back, take a sippy cup of juice, make sure you have the passy, sunglasses (so mom won't get a headache because of the bright sun + they are prescription so I can see where we are going), get the garage door opener so we can get back in the house, get the leash and the dog, you really need to have a checklist I tell ya. But anyway back to the story... Before I could set everything down and get Sophie's leash off of her, guess who wanted to try to pull Sophie around the house, yep you got it Miss. Jolee, she is fast I tell ya, and poor Sophie just goes right along with her and looks at me like come on mom, hurry! They really are so good together like 2 peas in a pod! If Sophie goes somewhere Jolee is crawling right behind her, and if Jolee takes off somewhere there goes Sophie. Although I have noticed on some days since Jolee has gotten more mobil Sophie stays up on things and out of Jolee's reach. But before I could rescue Soph I had to take some pictures!

Weekend Report

Our weekend report starts right now... On Saturday morning we went to the James's house (a family from our church) to celebrate their son Ethan's 4th Birthday! He had a cool Superman Party! After lots of playing and eating cake and ice cream, we headed home with the Ferrell's in tow (another family from church) the girls had a blast playing together and of course playing with Sophie (who loved that new people were here to play with). Jolee tried her best to crawl right behind them and keep up, and she did pretty good! We went to The Jacksonville Landing and had Mexican for supper, yum! Then went to one of the coolest parks ever, and everybody played the kids and us bigger kids (and by bigger I mean taller and older). And once we got home and got the girls down for the night, or so we thought, us bigger kids played the "Friends" board game all night. Who knew, but they have some really tough questions on there. And let me tell you Brother Jay really brought it that night and won the game! We had a wonderful service at church the next morning and then ended the weekend with a nice lunch with our church family. So we were busy bees this weekend, but we had such a great time and hope to do it all again real soon. Below are some pictures that were taken at the park on Saturday!

Jolee loves the slide!


Here comes Emma! Look at Abby go on that glider!
Jolee trying to figure out how she could climb back up!
What a sweet little face, if I say so myself!

Happy Birthday Pappy!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Pappy, Happy Birthday to you! So I will refrain from putting up how old you are today for all blogger land to see, but we just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday and we wanted you to know that we love you very much, and we hope you have a wonderful day on your special day! We wish we were there to give you hugs and kisses and eat cake with you, but just know we are thinking about you today and always! And yes, your present will be there, even though we aren't. You have always been such an important part of my life, and a wonderful Father to me and Joseph, we knew we could always come to you, and we still do! (sorry). And I know we will always be close having that special Father Daughter bond. I'm so thankful for you and all the sacrifices you have made for me thru out my life. You have always worked so hard for our family, and we truly appreciate you! I know Jolee will be blessed in her life as well to have you as her Pappy! Happy Birthday! We Love You!

The Key Clans Easter

OK, so this should be the last of my Easter stories, due to the fact it was the last event of the weekend right before we headed back to Florida. After Church everyone came over to my Grandparents house for lunch and a Easter Egg Hunt. We had tons of Eggs to hide, so all the men took care of hiding them. Then the younger kids got a 10 minute head start and then the older ones came running out, and there were some serious egg hunters this year, but some also got caught up in eating the candy out of the egg before putting them in their basket. (very smart!) We all had a great time being together, but of course we always do.. It is wonderful to have such a big family, who I can honestly say really enjoys being together. There is always laughing, joking, and playing going on at the Farm when we all are there!

Grandma & Grandad are in the middle of the picture then they have 4 children with their spouses and then all the grand kids! See why it is loud when we all get together!

Easter Morning!

For it to have been the Easter Bunnies 1st year visiting Jolee, she did pretty good! (notice I did say she)! She filled Jolee's basket with an Elmo video, Elmo plastic eggs filled with puffs, (how bout that), a bunny rattle, and a bunny that says my 1st Easter on it, oh and bubbles. And she also remembered to bring the basket from Florida to Granna and Pappy's house in Alabama where we would be Easter morning! Now that's a pretty good Easter Bunny, if I say so myself! We had a wonderful morning and it was so much fun watching her pull out everything one by one and shake it and then of course right to the mouth it went. Jolee racked up this Easter she also got a basket from her Uncle JoJo and Aunt Pam with the movie Charlotte's Web in it, and Granna and Pappy gave her some stuff animals and also one that sings loudly and dances, oh by the way let me thank you for that one. Just kidding she loves it, so I love it! So anyway we had wonderful 1st Easter with Miss. Jolee.

Jolee going thru her Easter basket!
Daddy and his little girl on Easter Morning! Me and My Girl!
Jolee and her 1st Easter Basket!
My family... Dad, Mom, Pam, Joseph and their dog Chloie, and then us of course with Jolee and Sophie our dog!

30 Years

Dad and Mom's 30th Anniversary was this past weekend while we were home, so on Saturday night we had a little surprise dinner party for them at my brother and his wife's house (Joseph and Pam)! We had Chicken Cordon Bleau with a special sauce, twice baked potatoes (which my sister-n-law makes and they are the best), we had rolls, and green beans pecandean (inside joke), and cheesecake for dessert! We did have a small oven fire, but it was quickly taken care of. But hey that's just one more thing we can all look back on and laugh about it, and Mom and Dad I'm sure will never forget this Dinner Party! We all had a wonderful time being together celebrating Mom and Dad's Anniversary. Thank you Mom and Dad for giving me and Joseph such a great example to go by with our marriages! We Love you Both very much! And we feel blessed to have you as Parents, not alot of kids these days can say Happy 30th Anniversary Mom and Dad, but we sure can! We Love You!


Dad and Mom (Or now known as Granna and Pappy!)

The Beautiful Dinner Table! Jolee with her Uncle JoJo and Aunt Pam!

Buddies forever!
The Cake Presentation!

MeMaw and PePaw's House

Last Saturday we went to MeMaw and PePaw's House (Silas's Parents), and had a Easter Egg hunt with Jolee and her cousins Zachary and Caden (Silas's sister's kids). We had a great visit and it was really fun to see the boys take time with Jolee they wanted to hold her, they looked at books with her, and even put some of their eggs in Jolee's basket! Due to the weather being so cold we had to have the egg hunt inside, and of course, Silas forgot where all he hid the eggs, so sorry MeMaw and PePaw in advance for the eggs you will continue to find this week!

I promise, the stripped shirts were not planned!
Look, I found one!

Can the Egg Hunt be over PLEASE! I'm exhausted!

Our Trip To Bama

Wow! What a weekend! We had a really great time, but as always it was way too short! We left Florida on Thursday night and arrived in Alabama about 4am Friday with a full schedule, We went to a Funeral, we hunted Easter Eggs with both sides of the family, we had an Anniversary Party for my parents, we went to Church, we visited with all family members, and we played, and played, and played!! I do want to ask for your prayers for both of my Aunts who lost their Dads within a week of each other, and keep in mind their kids who are between the ages of 8 and 1 who are trying to deal with the concept of loosing their Grandads. So anyway, the next week of blogs will probably be about our weekend in Bama. You would be amazed at all the events you can attend in 2 1/2 days. We got back to Florida Monday morning at 3am, so we are tired. At least me and Jolee are getting to stay home and rest, but poor Silas had to get right back up a few hours later and go to work. We both knew it would be a quick trip, but family is very important to us and we feel it is important that Jolee gets to see her family as much as possible since we live so far away from them, and it being her 1st Easter was a great reason to go!



This is Abbie (our cousin) feeding Jolee lunch! Abbie is my 1st cousin, and now I am known as Jolee's mom to her not Tara, but hey I got lots of hugs this weekend and she rode with us places. I know it was to really ride with Jolee but I'll take what I can get!
Abbie wanted to pretend she was Sophie and get in her cage, so we let her in. She is the prettiest little puppy I have ever seen!

On Friday night we had a slumber PARTY! With all the cousins they came over to Grandmas and we watched Charlotte's Web, and ate Pizza and Chips and Dip! It was hilarious, I had such a great time with them all. Me and Joseph are the oldest of the Grand kids, and then there is this huge skip so after us, there is 6 more under the age of 8! With one more on the way and then Jolee is the Great Grand kid! So it is loud! And always fun over at the house when ever body comes over!

Easter Picture

Just thought I would share Jolee's Easter Picture, I had made last week!

Jolee likes the Fridge!

Yesterday we went to the good ole Wal-Mart for some groceries. When we arrived home I started putting the cold stuff up and Jolee evidently decided that she wanted to see what the refrigerator was like. So she crawled right on over to it and hung out there while I continued to stock it up, she must have liked it, she was laughing and blowing bubbles the whole time. I promise to you this next part really happened last night. Desperate times call for desperate measures! She was so whiny last night and tired and ill and nothing would make her happy, so what did I do.. None other than open that fridge door and let her have at it, there she went right to it and was happy, happy, happy, squealing, and laughing, just having her self a good ole time. When Silas came in from work last night he looked at me like do you know Jolee is in the refrigerator? I said yep, I 'm the one that opened it and let her go for it, because it has been one of those days, and sometimes you just do, what you gotta do to survive! **By the way when I say in the refrigerator, I mean like her leaning in it and looking around, not sitting in it with the door closed, the door is wide open, Just so we are all clear**

Jolee's New Playroom!!

The color is Cantaloupe Slice, the theme is tropical! And if I say so myself it is too cute. I wanted Jolee to have a room she would enjoy going too, and would have fun playing in. And I think I have achieved my goal. Now let me tell you, it was a hard job convincing Silas the color is Cantaloupe and not Orange (due to some Alabama Oath he must have taken, he said he couldn't have Tennessee or Auburn Colors in his house)! But after some convincing and of course using but it is for Jolee, he finally said OK, only if it is Cantaloupe and not Orange! So we now have a fun and bright colored playroom! The idea took off due to us having a lighted palm tree that we were looking for a place to put during the move. We got the lighted palm tree when I was pregnant to put up at Christmas, because I was so sick that's all I felt like doing (and I guess Silas was having sympathy sickness pains too, because he didn't feel like putting the big Christmas tree up either). So we got it and hung ornaments from it that Christmas! So anyway, back to my story it hit me that we could have a tropical themed playroom and use the lighted palm tree. So I got Pappy to paint the room, and me and Granna started putting the room together, between us both I think we are pretty crafty. So here are some pictures of our new playroom!


pictures of our cousins!

Proud New Owners!

We are the proud new owners of this 4bedroom 2 bath house! We are so excited and feel very blessed. We moved in last weekend ,on our 7 year Anniversary! What a Anniversary present!

On the move again!

We have been busy, busy, busy! We have moved again! At least, this time we are in the same city, we bought a house and moved in last weekend. Poor Jolee she just turned 10 months old and this is her 3rd house to live in, I bet she is wondering "what kind of family was I born into, that moves this much?" Anyway, you want to talk about being blessed, that was me and my family during this move, so here's the story.. it really happened so fast, my grandparents had planned for a month to come in for a visit, and it just so happens that was the same week we had to start packing, so they went to work, and packed, and packed, and packed, mowed the yard, and kept Jolee busy so I could get stuff done, and then of course my mom and dad are always there when I need them, they have moved us lets see, this is our 8th move, so we are getting pretty good at this moving stuff. We spent all last week unpacking, painting, and getting our house set up to be a home, we got a fence put in (that by the way, I got a killer deal on, and Silas was very excited with my negotiation skills!) Here is the part that blows my mind, on Saturday we had some brothers from the church come over and lay sod, and put in a garage door opener, and the sisters cleaned the inside of the house, and started helping me unpack, they even brought drinks and snacks. On Sunday after church 18 people showed up at the house ready to move us ,they brought their trailers, trucks and cattle trailers, they came ready to work! So while the guys did all the heavy lifting, the ladies did the unpacking and restocking of the pantry, the fridge, made up beds, anything that you could think of that needed to be done, was already being taken care of. When it was all over Sunday night we just sat there in amazement, and all we could say was WOW! We have been really blessed! So, below are just a few pictures from the move. So thank you all so much for all of your hard work, we could not have done it without you! (Are we might still be over there now packing up)!

Pappy and Jolee with the Uhaul!
The laying of the sod in the back yard on Saturday!
The garage door opener being installed Saturday!
The girls resting, after cleaning the house on Saturday!
Jolee wondering are we finished yet?