Very Busy Little Girls

My girls have been very busy for the last two weeks... very busy trying to drive me crazy! They have been into EVERYTHING. Yesterday, about an hour before church, the girls got into my conditioner and put it all over their hair and clothes. I had to stop what I was doing and bathe them and get new outfits for them. Needless to say, we didn't get to eat before church.

That was just one example of the mischief they've found for themselves. Here are the biggest two:


Yes, you read it correctly. Emily cut Bethany's hair. A lot of it. This is what I could grab before it scattered into separate pieces.






Then, on Monday, this happened:



Emily and Bethany got into the glitter I used for our trunk, and Emily bathed Bethany in it. How in the world does Bethany agree to these things??? Four days later and about 10 baths later, they still have glitter in their hair, in their ears, and on just about every surface in our house.

I just hope I can get them to bed before any more mishaps. Speaking of which, I'd probably better go stand right on top of those two so they don't get into anymore trouble.

Fall Festival

Our church held their annual Fall Festival this past Sunday night. It was SOO much fun! The committee decided to add Trunk or Treating this year, and everyone did such a great job with their trunks! Many of the adults got into the spirit and dressed up as biblical characters, heroes, and even a HOT CHICK!

The festival started out with a parade of costumes. We see Mrs. Bonita, Zoei, baby Zach, Sydni, Annette, Taylor Starr, Daniel, and Carston.

Preacher Phil joined the parade!


Emily and Bethany take a break from the crowd

Mandy, Cameron, and Katy joined us for the festival! We were so glad to have our friends with us

After the parade, the children enjoyed carnival games for prizes. Here, Cameron and Bethany play "Castle Ring Toss"

This was the cutest game! It was the "Little Debbie Cake Walk". Props to the Cox family for this awesome game!

Emily stood still for a picture, although her attention was on the Great Pumpkin display

Bethany hams it up while I get a picture

Emily and Nana- we're so thankful that Nana and Papa came to visit with us!

Papa and his Bethany

The children's choir performed a few of their songs for the crowd


God's Promise Trunk

The fruit of the Spirit trunk

Queen Esther's trunk

Noah's Ark trunk

We had such a great time! We are so blessed to be at our church. We couldn't ask for a better fellowship, and we are honored that we are loved by so many!

Monkey Joe's with friends

Last Thursday, we joined Daniel McLean to celebrate his 5th birthday. This was our first trip to Monkey Joe's and everyone had so much fun! I was very grateful that Zoei and Jonathon (Jon-Jon to Emily and Bethany) helped me out! I had toddlers running in every direction.

Bethany surprised me by going on the big slides!

Literally, this was the ONLY time I got Emily to stay still long enough to get a picture. Every other time, my camera couldn't keep up with her!

Jon-Jon was such a big help! The girls love him to death, and I think the feeling is mutual.

The Terrible Three's ?

So, I have heard from everyone and their brother "Brace yourself for the Three's. You think the Terrible Two's are bad? That's NOTHING". So, I've braced myself. I've cringed, waiting for the horrible onset of more temper tantrums, etc.

The thing is, it's not as bad as last year. Emily seems to be improving. Sure, she still does bad things. She'll hit Bethany if she gets angry, and she cries when she doesn't get her way. BUT- she is learning to accept responsibility for her actions. She can tell you what she did wrong and why she shouldn't do it.

Plus, since she's able to communicate more effectively, we've had a much easier time. If she's on the verge of a crying fit, we'll ask her to stop crying and tell us what's wrong. Typically, that calms her down, she can tell us the problem, and we work together for a solution.

Last night, Ken asked me something, and I called him Honey. Emily looked at me quizzically and said, "What's 'Honey'?". I explained to her that I call Daddy Honey because it's a nice name, like when I call her "Emmy Poo" or "Baby" or "Sweetheart". She looked deep in thought, and then said, "Oh, I get it." LOL! I about died laughing.

So, my point is, I guess, don't listen to other people. Your child is different from your other child and different from every other child in the world. Don't let other people discourage you or your confidence in your child.

"Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

And Kitty's name is.....

After much deliberation, we've finally named Kitty. Her name is...

Peek-a-boo!

Boo for short

She loves to hide, so we thought that was a cute name. Also, if you're familiar with "Monsters, Inc", they call the little girl "Boo". Funnily enough, she calls Sully "Kitty". Haha. We liked that, but thought it would be too confusing for the girls.

So, Peek-a-boo, welcome to the family!

She's spoiled already. If I don't pet her enough, she brushes up against me and meows until I pet her. LOL

A Saturday with Clinton Kelly

So, I am very late in posting this, but I couldn't go without talking about it! My mom got us tickets to go see Clinton Kelly at Macy's at SouthPark last Saturday. It was so incredible. Not only is he really funny, but he's also very down-to-earth and VERY nice. I wasn't expecting him to be that fabulous, honestly. Mom and I sat at the corner of the stage and the runway on the front row! It was so cool. They had a runway show, obviously, where he talked about elements of style and fashion. Mom and I were inspired and had a great time shopping afterwards.

Then, we got his new book and HE SIGNED IT! He was so incredibly sweet. It was such a great day!

Clinton looks my way for a photo


Clinton MCs the runway show, giving all sorts of advice


He was such a nice guy!

A Healthier Burger with service in Charlotte!

My Mom asked Ken and me (and the girls) to meet them for dinner tonight. She's been bragging about this restaurant she found that served "healthy burgers". I wrote it off immediately, thinking that it would taste horrible. Boy, was I wrong!!! This place is FANTASTIC! It's called Topz. They offer some great specials, too! For instance, on Monday and Tuesday, kids eat for 99 cents. The combo includes entree (mini burgers, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, or hot dog), oven-baked fries or applesauce, drink, and a lollie. I wanted to share it with you savvy moms out there looking for a great place to meet other savvy moms for lunch! Here's the site:

www.topz.com

I hope you like it as much as I did!!!

Last entry for Card Day

This is Bethany sleeping on Papa, sitting with Daddy. Don't they all look exhausted?

My entry for a prize on Mandy's site

"What's in your purse?" She asked for candy, and I just so happened to come across some in my house- LOL

World Card Making Day

I can't wait for this! You guys have to check this out:

http://limelightpapercrafts.blogspot.com/2008/09/world-card-making-day-details.html

See you there!

Emmy's first day of ballet

Emmy had her first ballet class today at Bonita's School of Ballet. She had so much fun! She looked all grown up in her sweet little leotard and ballet bun. It was so funny to watch her class. Sometimes she listened, sometimes she didn't. Overall, she didn't do too badly, especially for her first class. All of the little girls are so darling, and Emily is making all sorts of new friends. She's not as coordinated as some of the other girls, but I'm hoping that ballet will help with that.




Okay, one cute story: At the end of class, the girls line up with tiaras and a sceptor. One by one, the girls take a turn walking across the studio and back, holding the sceptor up high and walking on their tippy-toes. Well, Emily starts off, gets halfway across the studio, and does a dramatic twirl while she watches herself in the mirror. I about died laughing! She's such a little drama queen.

Newest member of the family

We would like to introduce to you the newest member of our family. She is almost 6 weeks old, and we got her on Thursday.

LOOK at that sweet FACE!



We haven't given her a name yet (we can't agree on her name) but we do love her very much! She is almost 6 weeks old, and her favorite word is "mew". Haha.

Blessings

I wanted to share with you guys that effective 12:30 pm on Sunday, Ken became the Associate Pastor at Mountain Springs Baptist Church in Monroe, NC. This is an answer to prayer that we are so thankful for!

We are transitioning right away. While our house is on the market, we are staying in the church's parsonage. It's beautiful, spacious, and located very conveniently near the church. We're saving money on gas!!

We thank you so much for your prayers for us. We ask that you would continue to pray for us as we make this (wonderful) transition.

Please feel free to share your prayer concerns with us as well. We would welcome the opportunity to know how to pray for you guys more specifically.

Peace and love to you!

Dear Family and Friends

Our wonderful, loving, dear family and friends, we have a special prayer request to share with you. This weekend is a big weekend for the Kistler family. We are heading to a church in view of a call. What that means is that the deacon body and the Senior Pastor believe that Ken is the person being called as their new Associate Pastor/Youth Pastor. We are going down on Thursday for a meet-the-church and church-meet-the-Kistlers weekend. Ken will be preaching at the worship hour and the church body will vote after the service.

We would appreciate your prayers for us this week. Thank you so much!!

Lorie

Cupcake Time!

Emily has been begging to make cupcakes again ever since her birthday. Today was the day! I was so proud of our little chef. She very carefully followed my instructions and did everything except put in the eggs (that was my fault- I was too wary of the mess). Bethany wanted in on the action and helped, too! Then, after a little cooling time, it was frost and, as Emily calls it, EAT TIME!

Emily proudly shows off her hard work


Bethany loved watching the batter mix- she said, "Wook! Wook!"



Daddy watches as Bethany very carefully puts the papers in the pan




Emily frosts her own cupcake and licks her lips as she thinks of diving in!


Bethany shows her enthusiasm for Emily's baking skills


MMMMMMmmmm!



Emily nicely asks for another one after cleanly and carefully eating her cupcake

Afternoon in the Park

Ken and I decided to take the girls to the part after their afternoon naps today. It was a pretty day, and it wasn't too hot. The girls had a lot of fun.

Emily enjoys the curvy slides

Bethany takes a shot at her soccer skills

Emily loves to just hang out- what a cute little monkey she makes!

This is my favorite shot of Bethany

Our beautiful girls!

Needless to say, we had a good afternoon. Tonight we're going to make cupcakes and decorate them. More pictures to come for that!

Disney World

WE HAD SO MUCH FUN! Now, in the interest of keeping this blog honest, I will tell you that we had more than our fair share of meltdowns, outbursts, and tantrums. And then there were the kids. Haha. Just kidding. It really was so much fun. I think there's an appeal no matter what-aged children you bring. Having said that, I think we're going to wait quite a long time before we go again. I've tried my best to narrow over 175 pictures down to a number that wouldn't be too obnoxious for everyone too look at. I've probably failed at that, but I gave it a good try. I've cheated a little bit, because I've left out all of the pictures with Aunt Dana, Uncle Mark, Madison, Mackenzie, Will, and Mason. I'm going to do a separate blog post with all of those because those were two big days for the girls, too!

Bethany decided that she's the best driver around

Emily hugged the Cinderella statue at Downtown Disney

The girls modeled their Mickey Ears (sadly, the only time they would wear them!)

Emily and I had a Mommy-Daughter date at the Grand Floridian to meet Cinderella

Emily with the Prince

Emily hugs her favorite person in the whole world


Bethany and Daddy make each other laugh as we stand in line


Bethany enjoyed meeting Belle (yes, Emily is pitching a fit in the background)


Emily and Bethany enjoy a ride around TomorrowLand


Emily poses- Aww, so cute!



Family shot with Mickey and Minnie (please note Emily's excitement)


Bethany's favorite moment was meeting Ariel


The girls at the "Cat in the Hat" ride at SuessLand inside Universal (everyone's favorite ride). It actually tells the story during the ride. It was really cool, and we must have ridden that ride 5 times!


Yes, Emily is asleep on the luggage cart


Bethany was asleep, not too far off from Emily!


Well, that is the short version of our trip. I think I've captured everyone's favorite moments. Oh! I've got two funny stories for you:

#1- To meet any of the characters, you have to stand in line. We stood in line at least an hour to meet each set of the characters. The first group that we waited to see was, of course, the princesses (Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle). We had been in line for 1 1/2 hours and were literally the next people in line. Right as the lady turned the corner to let us in, Emily pooped her pants. I looked at Ken and said, "I am NOT getting out of this line to change her diaper." So, we go into the room. First up is Aurora, so we go to meet her. Aurora asks Emily, "What's your name, Sweetie?" Emily looks at her, and at the top of her voice, says, "It's POOP!" You should have seen Aurora's face. It was SOO funny.

#2- Bethany liked meeting the characters, but her favorite by far was Ariel. She kept petting Ariel and cooing at her. When we went to go leave, Ken picked Bethany up, and Bethany started crying. She held her arms out to Ariel, which, of course, melted Ariel's heart. Ariel said, "Aw, c'mere Sweetie" and took Bethany. Bethany laughed and grinned as big as she could and kept giving Ariel cheek hugs. It was so sweet!