fun lunch date

Yesterday, Kaelin and I got to eat lunch with my sweet friend, Jamie.

Jamie lives in Colorado, so we don't get to see her very often. Her son Garette is about to be in first grade and Kaelin loves to get to play with him. He did not go eat lunch with us today and Kaelin was a little sad about that, but he did get to come over later in the afternoon.

Of course we ate Mexican food. Anyone that is away from Texas for very long, comes back with a strong craving for some good Tex-Mex.



We were so excited to get to see Jamie and Garrett and spend some time with her. We are hoping to make a trip out to Colorado to see her sometime soon. (The weather is definitely more tolerable right now than it is here.)

Jamie is one of those friends who is incredibly talented that it makes you just want to throw up. She has an absolutely beautiful voice and is a great artist. She can draw, color, paint anything you want. We were sitting at the table eating Mexican food and I brought some paper and colors for Kaelin to play with. Kaelin asked Jamie to draw a dog, and she actually drew a dog that looked like a real dog. My dogs usually involve stick legs and a bubbly looking round face.



After Jamie and Garrett left, we had another fun outing (involving MORE Mexican food). We met Kaelin's best little friend Laney and her parents for a fun dinner. After dinner, we took Kaelin to their house so the girls could play. We actually had to bribe, pry, and pull Kaelin away just so we could eventually go home. She was having such a great time.



As Kaelin is getting older, it is so much fun to see her with her friends. She just gets into her own little world when she is around friends.

Paint

Here is the paint story I warned about in a previous post.

I needed to go buy some paint to paint the following items: chair rail, baseboards, and the headboard and foot board to Kaelin's bed. Sounds simple, right?

WRONG!!!

Mistake 1: I went to Lowe's rather than going to the paint specialty store that I know and trust.

Mistake 2: I told the guy at Lowe's what I needed and in between him talking to a "buddy" and texting on his phone, he came back with a gallon of paint. Todd looked at it and reiterated the items we were painting. The guys said "yes, this will work".

Mistake 3 & 4: We actually believed the guy and purchased the paint.

I took the paint home and began painting the chair rail (which turned out fine). I then moved on to painting the baseboards (turned out okay, but had to paint quite a few times). I then moved on to the bed (I am still screaming about this one...).

I painted the bed and the paint began peeling off. So, I stripped that paint off. I then applied Kilz primer to the headboard and foot board. I let that dry, then I painted the headboard and foot board AGAIN. (My blood pressure is beginning to rise again just from typing this). The paint began peeling off again.

I called Lowe's, asked to speak to the manager. The operator asked me what it was regarding and in my head, I said "It is regarding the complete IDIOTS that probably could not even find a job flipping burgers at McDonald's, but you have hired them to work in the paint department" but I really said "It is regarding a paint issue I have." I then explained the entire ordeal. She went and spoke to the manager who said I could return the paint. I told her, that was fine, but when I return it will there be someone with 1/2 a brain that can help me with the proper paint. And I am not lying when I tell you this next part... The operator actually looked at the schedule and said so and so is working right now, but so and so comes in at 4:00. She then said "I am really not sure if either of them know what they are doing, but there is a lady that is working the cash registers that knows a lot about paint."

WHAT... are you kidding me... They even know they have morons running the paint department. So if you know you can't provide people with the proper service, then you should no longer offer that service.

My eight or more hours of hard work has now more than doubled. I have to strip the paint and Kilz, sand the furniture, and REPAINT... Again.

Lessons Learned...
1. Lowe's knows they hire stupid people and they seem okay with that.
2. Purchase paint from a paint specialty store (Sherwin Williams).
3. Evidently customer service is a lost art.
4. Apparently texting on your cell phone at work is an acceptable practice (I see it everywhere.)
5. I will probably never get (nor want) a job at Lowe's if they should ever read this and I am okay with that.
6. The money, time, effort, and frustration could have been saved if I had just gone out and bought a new bed rather than thinking simply painting this one was a good idea.
7. When painting, it is okay to use the word stripper, strip, and stripping with no one getting offended.

When (If) I finish the bed, I will post a picture.

Play Date

One of Kaelin's favorite friends, Laney, got to come over today. Words can't even describe how excited those girls were to see each other. They are definitely girls because the high pitched squealing could probably be heard a few blocks away.

I talked to Laney's mom yesterday afternoon to set up a play date for Thursday. Laney started crying while we were on the phone because she wanted to play with Kaelin. So I told Tara to bring her over while she ran her errands. Laney came over and Kaelin had an entire afternoon planned for them.



We set the water slide up and they played on that for about 3 hours. They ate two Popsicles each. They played in Kaelin's sand box and her little house. They found fun in dumping blue and green sand in each others hair. I tried to clean them up, but I even found sand IN Kaelin's ears. I will probably be cleaning sand for days.

Those girls had such a good time. Laney is a friend that Kaelin met at her school. Today reassured me that trying to put Kaelin back in her school in Crosby with her friends is a really good idea. She has made some awesome friends at her school and I don't really want to take her away from them.

When Laney left, Kaelin was exhausted. Being that excited and playing so hard really wears a girl out. Kaelin got a blanket and fell asleep in a chair in the living room. She NEVER does that, so I know she was just beat.

Update on Kaelin's new room...
Todd got more work done than I did. He is just about finished with her new bookshelf. I began the process of stripping the paint off of her headboard and foot board. I bought MORE paint. That is about all of the work that got done today.

What's New???

We have been working feverishly the last week to create Kaelin a new room. She is switching places with our office. The office/guest room was quite a bit bigger than her other bedroom (lots more closet space, this is much needed).

This room has been a work in progress for a while. I bought the paint in November. (Yes... I said November). My original plan was to paint the room during Christmas break, which turned to spring break, which turned to summer break. So here we are at the end of summer break and the paint cans were finally opened.

Thank you to Aunt Debbie for helping me get started. She came over two nights last week (while Todd and Kaelin were out of town) and helped me get started with the paint. I probably would have put it off until Thanksgiving break or even further. Thank You... Thank You... Thank You...

When Todd and Kaelin came home, I got some additional help. Todd helped me finish the paint, hung curtains and is working on building Kaelin a great bookshelf. I am going back to the paint store to get more paint (story behind paint to come soon) and back to Target to get more curtains.



I will give an update picture when everything is done.



Even though the room is not finished, Kaelin was ready to be in it. She insisted on sleeping in her big girl room because (in her words) "I am not a baby anymore, so I don't need to be sleeping in the baby bed". We had converted her baby bed to a toddler bed, but in her mind it is still a baby bed.

She was so excited that it took her until almost 11:00 to finally fall asleep. We had to talk about every new noise in her new room. When the air conditioner came on, she ran into my room and asked me if I had heard that noise. I said no. She said, "listen... it is the air conditioner". This went on for about a 1/2 hour. We talked about all of the noises. She left like a rock. I went in her room this morning and Mo was sleeping in bed with her and she did not look like she had moved a muscle all night.

Today, the bed will (hopefully) get finished, remainder of the curtains hung, furniture moved in, toys moved in (that might take a week to complete) and stuff hung on the walls.

When it rains it pours...

I am not speaking about our weather (or lack there of).

*** Although... a pretty good chance of rain over the next couple of days. I think I saw my tomatoes and flowers doing a rain dance yesterday.***

Have you ever been through a time when you felt like you were on a roller coaster that just seemed to have the big drops but it did not seem to being going back up? Although, you know it has to go back up, it just is a slower process than the drops.

Uncle Truman has had one of those weeks. So, it would be really great if you could spend some time praying for him and the roller coaster ride he is on.

Last weekend, he got a call that his brother, Virgil, had been admitted to the hospital. By Monday, the doctors knew he had lung cancer. By Friday, the doctors informed them that he had stage IV terminal cancer in at least 5 places in his body and have given him 8 months to 1 year to live.

While visiting Virgil in the hospital Uncle Truman's 90 year old mom, Grace, had a stroke. She was already at the hospital visiting, so they had to take her to another floor and admit her through the ER. The good news was she was at the hospital and was able to receive help immediately. The doctors have determined she has diabetes, but seems to have minimal damage from the stroke. She is having trouble walking and standing.

Then... (yes there is more)... Uncle Truman was running on Saturday morning and did something to his knee. He is training for the San Antonio and Houston 1/2 marathon, so he was running a long distance run of 11 miles. Saturday night, his knee looked like someone had put a golf ball in it, but by Sunday, it became apparent that the golf ball was actually a baseball.

So, as of now, this is it. If you would not mind keeping all of these needs in your prayers, it would be greatly appreciated and much needed.

These are my words of wisdom (or lack there of)...

You know Jesus never gives you more than you can handle (even though you are pretty sure you are over the limit). In times like this, you should be extremely thankful for Jesus having so much confidence in you, even though you might not have the same level of confidence.

2 Corinthians 7:4:
"I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds."

We love you and are praying for you, Virgil, and Grace.

Mission Impossible

Todd and I are going to a birthday party tomorrow night (no Kaelin- does this get to count as a date), so I was on a mission to make pasta salad to take to the party.

Sounds simple, right?

Hold on... in small town America, the supplies for making a pasta salad is not exactly a staple at the local grocery store(s).

I started out at Kroger's. Made it past the produce, could not find the correct Italian dressing, could not find little pepperonis, could not find wagon wheel pasta... so I gave up and left. (yes I left my basket in the middle of one of the aisles and just walked out- I was a little upset)

So, I drove down to Wal-mart (not my first choice for grocery shopping, but the next store on the way home). They had the Italian dressing, the little pepperonis, and kind of had the wagon wheel pasta. They only had mini wagon wheels, not the real ones, but beggers can't be choosers. I went to get marinated mozzarella balls... not to be found in small town America. I had to compromise and go with mozzarella blocks that I cut up and soaked in Italian dressing.

Now, if I was looking to make chicken fried steak or mashed potatoes with lots of cream gravy (ummmm I am beginning to get hungry), I would not have had a problem with my grocery list. Basically, anything that might be a little different or unusual is not a staple at any of our grocery stores. If you are looking for Twinkies, Moon Pies (but why would anyone ever look for these), bologna, or Vienna Sausage, I can definitely give you some great recommendations on where to shop.

My friend, Lisa, gave me this pasta salad recipe. It is really good. Just be prepared to adjust (which I did) or go to a grocery store that is not afraid to buy things not cooked in lard.

Pasta Salad

1/2 bag of wagon wheel pasta (or the mini wagon wheels if you are shopping in small town America)
1/2 bag of bow tie pasta
1 yellow bell pepper (chopped)
1 red bell pepper (chopped)
1 orange bell pepper (chopped)
2 bottles of Ken's Steakhouse Italian salad dressing
2 bags of mini pepperonis (or the large one cut in half)
2 cans of whole black olives (drained)
2 containers of small tomatoes (cherry or grape- if they are a little on the big side, just cut them in half)
2 containers of mozzarella balls marinated (or in small town America- buy two blocks of mozzarella, cut it up and soak it in Italian dressing)
Italian seasoning to taste

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain. In a bowl, add the chopped bell peppers, pepperoni, olives, tomatoes, mozzarella balls with the marinade. Dump 1/2 bottle of Italian dressing over this mixture and stir it up. Add the pasta to the mixture of goodies. Dump the rest of the bottle of Italian dressing over the pasta salad. Put it in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve it (it is even better if you make it a day early). Before serving it, pour the other bottle of dressing over the salad. You might not need all of the other bottle. You just want it to have Italian dressing on it, but not be drowning in it.

Ashley Fanatic

You might remember me posting about Kaelin pretending to be Ashley Force (the NHRA funny car drag racer). Here is a reminder.

Kaelin still looks forward to drag racing every weekend. We usually watch the qualifying races on Saturday night and then the elimination on Sunday. We have not been to any live drag races in a while, but we still stick close to our redneck roots via the TV.

Sunday night, Kaelin was laying in my bed with Todd watching drag racing. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed. I walked back into the bedroom and Kaelin said (true quote) "Mom, Ashley just lost to Tony Pedregon. We are just going to have to try again next week". WHAT... even Todd looked over at her. She pays very close attention to everything. This is just an example of exactly how close she pays attention to every word and every detail. I started watching the TV and she was right, Tony Pedregon had beat Ashley Force and yes, Ashley was going to have to try again next week.

One more example of "redneck" being a gene not a product of your environment.

Peace and Quiet...

Todd and Kaelin have gone on an adventure. They headed up to the farm while I stayed behind to attend 3 grueling intense and stimulating days of workshops for my new school. I would much rather be with them because I know they are having WAY more fun than me. (Not that I hate staff developments and workshops, especially meaningful ones--- I just hate to spend MY summer time that belongs to MY family going to them).

The house is so quiet. Too quiet!!! I have definitely decided I am a person of noise. Although I always say I want peace and quiet... I think I might just mean tone it down a little because quiet is only nice for a short period of time.

The workshop I am attending is called Capturing Kids Heart. It is truly a great workshop (even for a summer day).

Convenience vs. What is best?

I wrote about Kaelin changing schools a couple of months ago (Here is the story). Well.... that has caused quite a ruckus around our house. Kaelin finally figured out that a new school meant she would not be with her friends that she has known for two years now.



Once she finally put two and two together, #2 began to hit the fan.



Kaelin tried to convince me to stay home with her next year and take her to her "own" school. I told her I would love to be able to stay home with her, but I had to work so we could have nice things. Since she is such a shoe hound, I tried to involve shoes in my explanation. I told her if I did not work, we would not be able to buy new shoes. She thought about it for a while and then said "Mom, I really have enough shoes, I don't need anymore." WHAT... my child... enough shoes... I knew we had a problem on our hands when she was willing to sacrifice shoes.



I told Todd about our conversation and how badly she was wanting to go back to her school with her friends. We both agreed that she would probably be the happiest with her friends, so we set out on a quest to try to make it work. I was not going to be able to leave work at 2:00 this year to be able to pick her up, so I knew we were going to have to do some searching to find a solution.



We don't have a solution set in stone yet, but we are working on it. I called her school to see if they had an opening in the 3 year old class. THEY DO!!! Thank you Jesus. Todd went and picked up the paperwork. I have been in contact with Kaelin's friend Laney's mom. She has offered to take and pick Kaelin up from school. The school director has also said she would be happy to keep Kaelin as well. Things are slowly falling into place... just not set in stone yet.

It's a dog's life

The other day, Kaelin, Todd and Mo were playing dress up. Kaelin absolutely loves dress up (and apparently Mo does too). Mo is very comfortable with his masculinity, but you might not be able to tell that from the pictures. He was wearing probably 7 necklaces, a feather boa, and two purses around his neck. He was patiently sitting there waiting for more dress up attire.

The funniest thing was Todd wearing the purple hat and a feather boa. I tried to get a picture of him, but he was having no part of that. It would have made some good blackmail material.

Kaelin could play dress up for hours. Of course, she is always the princess. Sometimes I get to be her princess friend, but she is always the main princess... just as it should be.

Happy Birthday Twins

Today are Annie Kate and Kole's 1st Birthday!!!!

These are my sister, Kristen's, twins.

They are coming to Texas to visit us soon and we will celebrate the twins birthday.

We can't wait!!!

Kaelin and I visited Kristen last year before the twins were born and Kaelin fell in love with Annie Kate before she was even born.

Happy Birthday to you!!!

We love you and can't wait to get to see you.

I take a skinny latte...

Who in the world would say that????



I officially have a "mini me".

Anyone that has talked to Kaelin for any length of time has probably noticed some of her "grown up" or advanced language. She picks up on everything I say (which means I really have to watch my choice of words... especially when I am driving).

Example:
Next time you see Kaelin, you can ask her what her phone number is and she can tell it to you perfectly. She has known this information for well over a year. How in the world did she learn this at such a young age (you might be asking yourself)? She learned her phone number from shopping with me and the clerk asking my phone number whenever I wrote a check. I told you, she pays attention to EVERYTHING.

Another Example:
The other day, Kaelin was spending the afternoon playing at Mrs. Mary's house. We met Mrs. Mary for lunch and then Kaelin insisted on going home with her. Kaelin decided to do some pretend shopping at Mrs. Mary's. She was loading up her basket and then taking it to Mrs. Mary to check her out. When Mrs. Mary was checking her out, she asked Kaelin how she was going to pay. Kaelin said "I am going to put it on my card." Okay that was funny, but the next part was even better. Mrs. Mary asked Kaelin if there was anything else she could get her today. Kaelin said "Why yes, I will take a skinny latte." Oh my goodness... we go to Starbuck's too often and she pays way to close attention to what I do and say.

Soccer Star

We have been telling Kaelin we would sign her up for soccer if she was interested. Todd bought her a soccer ball about a year ago, but Cassie (the big dog) got a hold of the ball the other day. The ball definitely lost the battle. We told Kaelin we would get her a new soccer ball soon.

I had to run to Academy the other day for some new running socks. The soccer balls were right next to the socks, so I got her a super cute hot pink and white soccer ball with a cute pair of hot pink and white shin guards. Those were soccer essentials, then I couldn't resist adding some cute soccer clothes to the ensemble.

When I got home, I let Todd give her the soccer ball and shin guards and I gave her the cute clothes. She did not take the clothes off for two days. (She even slept in the soccer clothes- but I did convince her to take the shin guards off in bed). We met Mrs. Mary at Applebee's and Kaelin was wearing her full soccer gear. We went to Mamaw's house and Kaelin was still in full soccer gear. We have listened to Kaelin talk about being on a soccer team, being a soccer star, playing soccer with her friends, and doing a good soccer kick for the last three days. It is really cute. She is so excited. Todd played soccer as a kid, but I have always been kind of sport challenged. I sure hope Kaelin gets her athletic ability from her dad.

Todd took Kaelin out to the soccer fields yesterday. She did really good. She loves to run, so that is a huge advantage for her. We checked into soccer teams for her and she is going to do two things. We are going to put her in a soccer camp at the beginning of August and then she will play fall soccer for the YMCA in Kingwood. I will definitely let everyone know about game times and locations. It should be fun to watch a bunch of three year old's try to play soccer.

12 million bats and a concert

More on the Garner trip...

On Thursday night, we went to the "Bat Tour". This was something I had never done in all of my years of going to Garner. No way was I going to leave the dance to watch some bats. But it was really cool.

It started at 7:30 in the evening. You drive through a ranch to this cave. The cave was 1/2 mile deep. The tour guide said there were 10-12 million bats in the cave. The bats come from Mexico every year. They are in the cave from April until September. The bats come here every year to have their babies and then they go back to Mexico. Every night, the bats come out of the cave and to find food. They are typically out less then 2 miles and less than 2 hours. They eat agricultural pests such as weavels, mosquitoes, etc.

What did Kaelin think..........



She thought the bats were okay. They were stinky (you can imagine 12 million bats peeing and pooping in a 1/2 mile area). After that, Kaelin went to sleep with me holding her. (She is not as light as she once was... neither am I though) She had just had enough. We had been in the water all day and it just wore her out.

On Friday night, we went to a restaurant in Concan called The House Pasture. The House Pasture is a steakhouse that has a huge covered pavilion and a big yard where they hold concerts. Pat Green was there on Friday night, so we went up there and watched him. It was so much fun. Kaelin had an absolute blast. Kaelin danced, sang and then slept.

If you are looking at Todd in the picture and wondering if it is just the photo or does he really not have any hair... The answer- He really does not have any hair. He says it is cooler. I think he probably used the dog clippers to do this.

Garner Girl

We just got back from 5 days in Garner. This was Kaelin's first trip to Garner, so did a lot and have lots of fun stories to share.

The weather was blazing HOT. (But that part of Texas always has a great breeze). Even with a great breeze, there is not a lot that can be done to cool off the 108+ temperatures.

Just like New Braunfels, there was not much water in the river. One of the locals we talked to said they have not had any significant amount of rain in two years. WOW.... I thought we were in a drought here. It was really sad driving down and seeing all of the crop fields totally scorched and burned up from the heat and lack of rain.

Yes, we stayed in a tent AGAIN... we are just gluttons for punishment. Did we not learn our lesson in New Braunfels?????

We had a great campground, but their choice of music was not exactly a top pick for us. One day, Todd walked back from the bathroom and I was just dying laughing. He looked at me and then heard what I was laughing so hard at. Our neighbors were actually playing "My Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus. If that was not bad enough, it was followed by the Mackarena (not sure of the spelling). The next day, we got to wake up to the Kenny Rogers song "Lady". You might be thinking "that song is not that bad, what are you fussing about?" The song was in Spanish. The song went something like this "Senora...". Again, another laughable moment.

Our neighbors were having some type of family reunion, so they did not have just one or two tents on their site... They had 1 RV, 2 pop up campers, 4 tents, plus two additional campsites with an equal amount of stuff on each of those. (No joking... I am very serious... I should have taken pictures) I saw one truck pull up (single cab Dodge Dakota truck with a camper on the back) and at least 6 people got out of this one little truck that I don't think 3 people could even fit in. Several more vehicles arrived looking about the same. When it was all said and done, they must have had around 75 people with their group.

Saturday night must have been line dancing night at the neighbors campsite. They had some type of line dancing CD that contained every line dance you could think of. Todd, Kaelin and I turned the lights out at our campsite so they could not see us sitting their. We sat their and just laughed at all of the line dancing.

When we came home on Sunday, I told Todd that I thought my tent days had come to a screeching halt. It is just too hot, too cramped, too dirty, uncomfortable air mattresses, etc. Garner was very similar to New Braunfels in the fact that we just don't fit into the tent camping section. The tent campers are young college age kids, or a group of 75 + that arrive with 4 tents and 4 cars. As soon as we got the truck unpacked, Todd got out his laptop. I asked him what he was working on and he said he was looking up some RV's. Smart choice...

On my next post, I will update you on our trip to the bats and the concert we attended- along with some pictures of our little Garner girl.

The house it too quiet

So why is the house so quiet?

My Dad came by to see Kaelin yesterday and Kaelin wanted to go home with him to spend the night. She has not really been into spending the night with anyone lately. She gets to where she is going and then wants to go home at bed time. But, last night we did not get a call to come get her. She spent the entire night with PawPaw. I called over there a couple of times and she sounded like she was having a total blast. One time I called and she could not come to the phone because she was busy playing on the slip 'n slide. The second time I called, she was able to squeeze in a few minutes to talk to me. She told me she ate pizza, played on the slip 'n slide, and was now getting ready to go to bed.

Todd and I commented on how quiet the house was. I woke up extra early this morning but was not met downstairs by little feet. I told Todd we need to get some chores done this morning and then hurry over to get Kaelin. I said she is probably missing us. He said "Or maybe Mom is missing her." Maybe he is right, either way I will head over to get her in a little while.

So what did we get accomplished on our quiet evening...

We cleaned out the guest room (which will soon be Kaelin's new room). Our media room is quite a disaster right now because everything is in a big pile in there. We are decorating the guest room and making it a "big girl" room for Kaelin. Kaelin's room will become the new office and the media room will one day return to being a media room rather than a garage sale/junk/scrapbook/sewing/additional closet/storage space.

I will post pictures once the room is done.
Hint: (you could probably guess this) the room will be a pink and brown "princess" room

Happy 4th of July

How do the Hicks' celebrate the 4th of July????

We are CRAZY ... crazier than you might think. We all (including Kaelin) got up at 5:30 AM (what in the world for- you might be asking yourself). We went and picked up Aunt Debbie and Uncle Truman and headed to downtown Houston to run in a race. Yes, I know it was hot. Yes, I know it was early. Yes, I know it was a holiday. Yes, I know all of this. But, you should know by now that we are just nuts!!!

Todd, Uncle Truman, and I all ran a 5K and Kaelin ran the kids 1K. Today is the hottest day I can remember. The race was hot and one of the hardest races I have ever run due to the INSANE extreme heat.

Kaelin loved the race. She was so funny. She has really gotten into running races. She runs the entire time and encourages the other kids to keep running. She made friends with a little girl today and she kept saying "I have to go catch up with my friend". Too cute. She got a fancy medal and a little American flag (both have become prized possessions). We barely made it out of the parking lot and Kaelin crashed.

After we got home (and napped), we had a little 4th of July family get together. Mamaw, Papa, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Truman, and Uncle JW all came over for hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, tomatoes from my garden, and HOMEMADE ICE CREAM WITH HOMEMADE BLACKBERRY COBBLER... yum yum. What a perfect American meal. The guys even sat in the living room (due to the insane heat outside) and watched baseball.

What a great day to live in such a great country.

You might be looking at the pictures wondering what in the world does the little princess have on? She was wearing an extremely cute 4th of July blue and white striped seersucker outfit that I dressed her in. The boots and cowboy belt were all Kaelin's doing. I had some very cute red and white polka dotted sandals picked out, but evidently that did not fit Kaelin's fancy. She went back up the stairs and dolled herself all up.

We would like to thank everyone that is fighting or have ever fought for our wonderful country. We are truly grateful to live in such a magnificent country with such spectacular freedom. We would not be where we are today without such brave people standing up and protecting everything we hold sacred.