The Jesse Tree

We each took turns reading the passages from the Bible
(tonight's was: Isaiah 11:1-10 and 1 Samuel 16:1-13).

We will take turns hanging the ornament on our tree!

Tonight was the first night for the Jesse Tree. I've heard about it for a few years, but we've never taken the time to do it ourselves. The first family that I saw had handcrafted all of these beautiful ornaments and I was a little intimidated by the time put into it. But, this year our church printed paper copies of the ornaments so it's a lot more practical for this working mom to do! ;)
The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots." It's a way to encourage our family to focus on the true meaning of why we celebrate Christmas.

Thanksgiving

Micah and Blair took turns taking some pictures at my Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving. I only remembered to bring my camera to my Grandpa Chandler's house. I had forgotten how much they like to take pictures. I should add a cheap digital camera to their Christmas lists!

Fall Break at the Zoo

(Couldn't get Elizabeth to look up no matter how many times I tried!)

Halloween 2010 Pictures

Micah took this of Tony and I before we left to go trick-or-treating.

Showing some attitude!

I can't believe how much he's grown!

A cute pose before we leave!

#12 Rhett Kaelin starting Runningback for the Colts!

Blair with her vampire teeth in!

My little Pumpkin Spice girl!

Costume Day at Wee Ones

Sellersburg Celebrates Princess Contest

She received a huge trophy and $15!!

Micah with our neighbors Katie and Alyssa!

Micah placed 2nd Runner Up in the Sellersburg Celebrates Princess Contest last Saturday!!! She looked so adorable! We had went shopping and she picked out this really cute sequin/sparkly fancy dress that she wanted to wear. When I was double checking the time of the contest, I read that the contestants should wear "church attire" and "no glam or glitz" and that part of the judging was based on proper attire. I told her that what she picked out might be too dressy, so she ended up wearing an outfit we bought this past spring. However, she really liked the dress we had already bought, so I told her we might keep it and it can be one of her Christmas dresses. Plus, it came with a matching dress for an American Girl doll!

Micah's came a long way since her first Princess contest. (I had to hold her hand and walk across the stage with her.) She absolutely loves dressing up and all things "girly!"

First Day of School Pictures

The beginning of the year is always stressful, but this year it has been even more difficult with all that we are going through. I didn't get to work in my room before school started and now I am feeling really behind and unorganized. My coworkers have been awesome, though! I LOVE my JJ Family!

Micah loves every minute of being an "all-day-er" as she calls it. Since she only went to Kindergarten half-day, she's been enjoying many firsts. Eating lunch, going to special area classes, recess, etc. She's begging to ride the school bus, too! Our Technology Coordinator said that when her class came to the computer lab for the first time, she told the boys and girls that they wouldn't be using their head sets that day. She said that Micah raised her hand and asked if she could just at least put them on. It's amazing the little things that she gets excited about!

Rhett is super-thrilled that one of his best friends is in his class with him (Seth) although he's also very disappointed that his other best friend (Gage) is in a different class. It cracks me up how social he has become.

Blair will start Wee Ones the Tuesday after Labor Day. SHE CAN'T WAIT!!!!

I'm enjoying my class and trying to get to know them better. I love how eager they are and I enjoy hearing their stories about what they did over the summer. It's full speed ahead! Pray for us, because it's always an adjustment when I have to go back to work!!

Chris Tomlin & Toby Mac Concert

Toby Mac

Chris Tomlin

Johnny & Cindy

Me & Tony!

Self-Portrait

Wednesday we drove up to Indy for the Chris Tomlin & Toby Mac concert at the State Fair. It was an outside concert and was very hot at the beginning but cooled down after the sun went down. Awesome praise & worship with Chris Tomlin and a lot of fun with Toby Mac. I'm amazed at how physically fit those 2 have to be to perform the way they did that night. It was a great show and it was good to get away!