Our Beautiful Weather

I wish you could see this weather! Today and tomorrow, we have temps in the 70s and sunshine! Tomorrow will be a perfect beach day. We've got a lot going on this weekend: a Chamber event tonight then decorating the church tomorrow morning for a party tomorrow night. I also have made an appointment to have the girls' portraits done in Jacksonville tomorrow afternoon. Maybe we can squeeze in some time in the sun before the party and after the portrait session. No wonder we can never make any progress on the house, there's alway too much fun stuff to do!

Happy Mardi Gras!

The Saint Marys Mardi Gras parade was this past weekend. We all participated with Ms. Julie's crowd. We walked along with strollers and wagons and threw beads and candy and the onlookers. It was a lot of fun and the weather was perfect. We had worried that it would be cold but it was nice, probably in the upper 50s at the parade start time. Elsie rode in the stroller and Mary Grace walked with Ms. Julie and "throwed" beads. She was so excited that she walked all that way and "throwed a bead" at her Happy Apple teacher, Mrs. Galluccio.
I had to do weekend bond hearings at the jail on Saturday morning so I had to meet Stephen and the girls at the parade. That meant that Stephen had to dress the girls. I wish I had taken a picture of poor little Elsie. She had on pink and green striped tights, green crocs, blue bloomers, and her favorite blue and pink Mickey Mouse shirt. It also looked like her hair hadn't been brushed. He said he "tried"! and that they were supposed to look like clowns anyway. Apparently, the theme of the parade and festival this year was clowns. I think everyone in town saw us! I heard several "Hey, Stephens" and one "Hey, Judge".
It was a fun festival, too. They had a Cars bounce house, which was complete with a slide! We didn't stay too long, though because it was just about nap time when the parade was over.
Later that afternoon, we drove up to Saint Simons and had dinner with one of Stephen's former clients from Carrollton and his wife. He and Stephen got to be pretty good friends before we moved down here and he and his wife were on SSI for vacation. It was a fun evening. We even took the girls along because we weren't able to find a babysitter. I guess when you get all your babysitters from your church, you run the risk that you'll need them on a night of a youth retreat, which is what happened to us last night. But it worked out fine. We had an early dinner and the girls were so well-behaved at the restaurant. I'm glad it turned out that way because we've got parties on both Friday and Saturday nights next weekend so that will be a double-babysitter weekend. It was nice to spend this entire weekend with the girls.
I haven't decided what I'm going to do for Lent yet but I'm praying on it.

Things We Love

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share a few things that make the Salt Marsh Kinneys swoon!

1. Mickey Mouse and Disney Princesses

2. The beach (particularly Amelia)

3. Horizon milk (2% please)

4. adventures, especially ones that involve going to a park

5. The view from our front porch

6. Ms. Julie and all our friends at Ms. Julie's house

7. Our church, which includes Happy Apple Academy

8. Two jobs, thank you, Lord!

9. Our family.

10. Each other!

Valentine's at Disney and Sea World!

We had a great Valentine's weekend in Orlando. On Saturday, we went to Magic Kingdom. There, we met Mickey Mouse and Ariel. Those two meetings were definitely the highlights of the day for Mary Grace and Elsie. We also rode Snow White's ride and the train around Magic Kingdom. We saw a new parade and met Pluto, too. After all that, we got back on the Monorail and headed over to Epcot. The girls fell asleep in the stroller on the way over there. While they slept, Stephen, Gina, and I rode Spaceship Earth. Then Stephen rode Mission to Mars (I chickened out!). We spent the rest of the day walking through the countries. Just before the park closed, we rode the Nemo ride. We tried to get to Journey Through Imagination but it closed early.
On Sunday, Stephen and the girls and I went to Sea World. We saw the dolphin show and the Shamu show. We also saw polar bears, beluga whales, walruses, aligators, ducks, and sharks. It was so much fun! The girls especially loved the dolphin show. We bought a year pass so we can go back again and again.
We came back to the condo early that evening and mom and Gina kept the girls while Stephen and I went out to dinner.
This morning, we went back over to Disney to walk around Downtown Disney. We visited the new T-Rex Restaurant. It was pretty cool but too crowded so we decided to wait to eat there another day.
It was a fun, relaxing weekend with the girls and mom and Gina. We're looking forward to going back in June and maybe checking out Animal Kingdom and visiting Sea World again.

The Two Olivias

As most of you know, Mary Grace has a sweet little friend, Olivia. A few weeks ago just out of the blue, Mary Grace said, "Olivia's mommy said that Olivia really wears her out." I thought about this for a minute. I'm sure that Olivia may wear her mommy out from time to time, as any 4-year-old will, but I couldn't imagine Olivia's sweet mommy saying that to Olivia, especially with Mary Grace in ear shot. Well, a few days ago she said the same thing again. I really didn't know how to respond. Was this a statement that I was supposed to respond to or a question I was supposed to answer? I thought about it for a few minutes then it hit me. She's talking about Olivia the little pig from the Olivia books, not sweet Olivia Rogowski! Sure enough, in one of our Olivia books, Olivia's mommy says to Olivia, "You really wear me out but I love you anyway!"

Elsie's 2-year checkup

I took Elsie to the doctor today for her 24-month checkup. She's just fine, thank you!
She weighs about 24 1/2 pounds and is 32 1/4 inches tall. That puts her in just below the 50% for height and between 10% and 25% for weight. So it looks like she's going to take after her Aunt Gin and be a petite little thing.
She does have diastasis recti, which is why her little stomach muscles look so funny. Apparently, they don't meet in the middle like they're supposed to. The doctor said that she may grow out of that, but even if she doesn't, it's not a big deal and shouldn't really have any adverse effect on her.

My Dear Little Elsie

My Dear Elsie,

Just after 5 am two years ago today, your Daddy and I packed our stuff in the car and headed to the hospital where you would be born. You were supposed to be born on February 6th but you had different plans! We made it to the hospital and were in our own room by 8:30. Grandmomma and Paw Paw soon followed. Then came Nana, Dr. Danks, and Aunt Chatham. We waited. We watched Devil Wears Prada. We waited. We talked. We waited. In what would become your typical fashion, you were in no hurry. Finally, just after 5 pm, you first graced this world with your little presence. You were perfect. Perfectly healthy, perfectly sized, and perfectly beautiful.
Your name was a secret to everyone but your Daddy and me. We named you after your Daddy's beloved grandmother, Elsie McNeal Kinney. I never got to meet her but I think her spirit, humor, and love live on in you. I'm sure you give her great joy when she looks down on you from her seat in Heaven.
When you were one day old, you met your big sister. It was love at first sight! She loved you from the start and still would give you anything in her power to give just to make you happy.
Speaking of making you happy, you love Mickey Mouse. I don't know what brought this about or why it has lasted so long but you just can't get enough of Mickey Mouse. I have to fight with you many mornings to get you to wear something other than your Mickey Mouse pjs to Ms. Julie's house. Anytime you see three circles together, you say "Micka Mout"!
You also love your pappi. Ms. Julie doesn't let you have it during the day but, first thing when I pick you up in the afternoons, you want that pappi and it doesn't leave your mouth until you get to Ms. Julie's the next morning. I guess I'll have to start getting firm about that soon.
You love applesauce and raisins but not green beans. You especially love "Nana Bread".
You are still sleeping in your crib and loving it! Two nights ago when I put you to bed, you rubbed your little face across your sheets and said, "My bed, my bed!" over and over.
You love to go to the park and climb up the slide. You are getting pretty good at climbing the ladder that goes up the middle of the jungle gym. You also love the beach, especially digging in the sand and pouring water everywhere. You love coloring. In fact, when I ask you what you did at Ms. Julie's today, your answer is always, "Color" (but it sounds like "Cala").
Your best friend at Ms. Julie's house is Maddee. Today, you told us over and over again that it's "Elsie birthday, not Maddee". You also love Stella, Benjamin and Reece. But your best friend of all is Mary Grace. You two love to play together. You hide in Mary Grace's tent, put on pretend makeup at the "Cinderella on a counter" vanity, love your baby dolls, play dress up, read books, and color together.
You are a sweet child most of the time, although you can throw a two-year-old tantrum with the best of them. You love to sleep and have been known to take a four hour nap in the afternoon and still go to bed like clockwork at 8 pm and sleep til 7.
What more could a mommy want than two perfect, sweet, smart, and happy little girls? My prayer for you is that you will grow up knowing the comfort of God's love, a happy home, a loving family, and a Christ-centered life.
I love you, my baby girl!

Love,
Mommy

Getting Ready for Elsie's Birthday

We spent this weekend getting ready for Elsie's birthday and Valentine's. Stephen painted the girls' bathroom yesterday and I made cookies for dinner with friends last night. Today after church, I made cupcakes for Elsie to take to Ms. Julie's tomorrow to celebrate her birthday with her friends.
Some photos are below. Yes, the cupcakes are frosted with the Secret Chickamauga Chocolate Cake frosting. Yum! I just put a little on each cupcake because I didn't want to get the kids too hyped up on sugar!

We're Going Back to Disney!

We're going back to Disney next weekend for Mary Grace and Elsie's birthday. I'm so excited! The girls had a blast when we went last summer. It should be even better this time because it will be cooler and Elsie's a little older. Mickey Mouse, here we come!

What a Wonderful World!

We spent the afternoon on Amelia and Talbot islands in Florida. In the words of the great Louis Armstrong, I think to myself, what a wonderful world! Stephen and I are in a bible study on Wednesday nights in which we're studying and reading Genesis. Mary Grace is also learning about the world's creation at Happy Apple. It's wonderful to be able to go back and read those old stories that we remember from childhood and look at them through adult eyes. But, you can't help but have a child-like joy when you sit on a white sand beach on the edge of this great land and stare out over beautiful dark blue waves and know that our God created it all. Amazing!
We started out on Amelia, where the girls and I played on the beach while Stephen met with some people about a case. After he was finished, we drove over to Talbot Island, which is the island south of Amelia. For the most part, it is uninhabited, by humans at least. As you can see from the pictures, it is absolutely beautiful. The beaches are so long and the sand is like white powder. We had this beach all to ourselves; no one else was in sight!
Talbot is a lot like Cumberland but you can get there in a car and there are no wild horses (at least, none that we saw). There's so much to see there. There are huge dunes, dark blue water, beautiful sand, and "boneyard beach", where old fossilized trees look like huge bones on the beach. You can see a small example in the last picture. Unfortunately, our camera battery died before we got to the beach that has so many old tree trunks. We're planning to go back for a day when the weather gets warmer, though.
It was a fun day but we're looking forward to warmer weather. We had our first 2008 beach swim in March of last year, so we should only have about 5 or 6 more weeks til it's warm again!
Enjoy the slideshow!