My silver (or blue) lining

This week has been particularly trying in so many ways. But on Thursday, I picked Kaliese up from school and we drove down to the tag office. I had been informed that my "specially made for me" license plate had arrived. With screwdriver in hand, we proudly walked out with our lovely addition to the van.
A man walked by and casually asked, "You're not a tarheel fan are you?" To which Kaliese, not seeing the question as rhetorical, promptly answered, "Yes she is, my mom loves the tarheels!"
Today I rented two movies at the little dollar vending machine at Kroger. One was for the kids and the other was Made of Honor. Braedyn was excited about his movie, but asked what the other one was. I just told him it was a movie for mommy. He said, "Its a tarheel movie?" LOL! You may think I overdo it a little with UNC, but so many children are far worse. They are taught to hate the Bulldogs or the Yellowjackets. I don't encourage enmity against other teams, just positive vibes for our team!!

Another notch on the growth chart...

It's been awhile since I've updated, but that doesn't mean the children haven't secured a few more accomplishments on their growth chart.

Kaliese looks and talks more grown up everyday! We've started a new hairstyle of growing her bangs out, which at her rate of hair growth, could take a while. Meanwhile, it just means we have to pull her hair back every day. But she's still just as beautiful and as a bonus I get to see her eyes!

She has also started riding the bus home from school. I still take her in the mornings, but to save on gas and allow her brother a nap at a reasonable time, it has become convenient for her to ride the bus home. She enjoys it mostly. Its a big kid thing! However, she does come home with just a wealth of knowledge, both useful and not so useful. She is doing really well at school!

Braedyn has also grown by leaps and bounds (almost literally!). He still enjoys having his sister read to him from time to time, but now shares that joy with his best friend. A darling sight if ever I saw one.....

He is gaining ground on learning ABCs and 123s. It always helps if Spider-man is your tutor!!

But still he mostly enjoys dressing up as superheroes/villians (sometimes both at the same time - hey, you do what you have to do when playing by yourself!), playing with his transformers and spending time in his new "big boy room" layout.

Oh yeah... and he is also now potty-trained (except for at night). It was one of those things where he wasn't going to bother with it until he was ready, but once he was ready it seemed like an overnight success story! So he is officially a Big Boy!

(No, I don't have pics of that!)

They both now have a chore chart. They check off the items as they do them and earn money at the end of the week. We are taking the Dave Ramsey approach and they each have a giving jar, spending jar and saving jar. So far, they really seem to enjoy it!

Although I am so proud of all they accomplish on a daily basis, time is flying by just a little too fast!

A Story About a 6 Year Old....

Once upon a time (August 17, 2002 to be exact) a beautiful blue eyed princess was born. From her earliest years, books were a favorite hiding place for her. She would meet the strangest of characters and quickly become the fastest of friends with a Cat in a Hat who spoke in rhyme and a curious little monkey with an uncanny perspective of the human world. She met a mulitude of bears, pigs, girls in capes, princesses in castles, brave knights and even ferocious monsters and dragons. Some would lull her to sleep while others would spur her imagination into action!
After 6 years, we decided to throw a huge party for her and all her friends (both real and thought to be real). So, we gathered all the best books and characters from across the land and appropriately displayed them around the room.




All who were gathered were invited to create a storybook of their own using their imaginations and a few necessary tools provided(you know: crayons, stickers, markers, stencils, etc.).







A game filled with cunning, strategy and skill was played by all with the grandest of prizes awarded to the champion! (Ok, so it was a literary bingo game and the winner got to call out the next game - but still filled with adventure.)




Afterwards, a great war broke out! Brave knights wielded their weapons against mighty foes! There were many casualties and only the most courageous were left standing. (Who knew balloons could be so much fun!!)





Her friends brought extravagant gifts of every shape and size - gifts befitting such a princess. Each came with a greeting wishing her well on this momentous occassion. She read each with care and treasured the sentiments of her loved ones. (It was the first year I didn't have to help her read her cards!!)



There was cake and goodies for everyone as the festivities continued. And each special guest received a bag of treats as they headed out the door on their long journey home!



And the princess lived happily ever after...




View complete birthday photo album
here

No Kangaroo attacks....Whew!

Well for all of those who immediately thought of the mishaps of Billy Joe McGuffrey on Kaliese's first day of first grade, I can happily report that all went well! No pencil box obstacles and certainly no kangaroos pulling out hair (however, she was closer than you might think to such an atrocity as her school mascot is a wallaby!!)

I must say she really, really loves school. She got the perfect teacher. She's young, fun and full of sass which fits Kaliese to a tee. But she's not a softy, she's got a firm handle on the class. We spent some time in prayer about her teacher for this year and God certainly came through.

Watching her thrive in school just means more to me than you could ever know. Every parent wishes to impart some of themselves into their children. Just a little piece of me that creates a special bond with each of my children individually. And I can see where this has taken place to some extent. Kaliese loves to read, loves classical music, and even musicals! She enjoys watching Jeopardy with me and as I answer the clue, she repeats my answer just before the contestant rings in. She gets such joy from being right!! Of course she has my eyes and resembles me in appearance, so you can definitely tell she's my child in more ways than one.

However, there are pieces of me that I would never want her to experience. My memories of school were filled more with fear and shyness. I was forever self-conscious and worried about everyone's opinion of me - certain it was never good. It was mostly just a severe case of being shy, but it felt like a prison. Once I got to know a few friends I could be very social and have a great time, but there was always that lingering sense of discomfort.

I was afraid of everything: the dark, shots, snakes, public speaking, the public in general, new places, new faces, etc.

I overcame a lot of this when Kaliese was born, as I did not want her to experience any of the fears or uncertainties I had. If she ever felt that way, I had to make sure it wasn't an inherited trait from me.

Well, today I talked to her teacher briefly and her principal. I just wanted to let them know how much Kaliese enjoys school and how much that meant to me. The words used to describe her? Miss Personality, Social Butterfly, Charismatic! They used these terms in the most positive sense. I was assured she was not one of those "in-your-face" children and she was not a distraction in the classroom. The teacher said Kaliese sat down on the carpet with a book and her peers gathered around her, so she "took over" and read them the book. The teacher was impressed because it was a lengthy book, but she also noted Kaliese's personality in the situation.

What that says to me? Love of learning, love of school, and self-confidence to conquer all (without being overbearing). That was priceless information to my heart.

The principal asked where she got that personality, because I had made it clear that Kaliese was the opposite of me at that age. However, I do have a tendency to act like that around one person: Katie. For those who know us, Katie and I share a unique relationship that tends to take 10-15 years off our age. She makes me laugh. I mean, at our age, we still cannot be trusted to sit together in church without causing a distraction. Katie is full of fun and sass and uses that in her job, which is why the girls she keeps LOVE her! Well, Kaliese got a nice healthy overdose of our combined personalities the entire first year of her life. Apparently that was enough to stick! So thanks my sista!

I count my blessings daily and this one (Kaliese and her blooming personality and self-confidence) is more than just a blessing - it is a most treasured gift!

On the First Day of First Grade.....

Well, she's off! Back to school as a big 1st grader. Of course, we called it 'Big School' when she went to Kindergarten. But really, how hard is Kindergarten --its just all play (or at least we thought as much until we got the homework -WOW!).

Kaliese and I spent a wonderful afternoon yesterday shopping for the rest of her school supplies and her 1st day outfit. The tax free weekend must mean a lot to a lot of people, 'cause Tanger outlet was packed like Christmas Eve!!! Walmart and Target were out of most everything, so we stood in an unreal line at Staples to purchase the last few items. At any rate, Kaliese and I had a great time. She loved picking out her own stuff and putting together her outfit. We ended the day with an Oreo Candy Blast Frappe!

When we got home, we put it all together in her lovely backpack. We made a custom decorated cover to slide in the front of her binder. We put beaded strings on her backpack as well as added her 'cousins' keychain. She decorated her spiral notebook with 'Horton Hears a Who' stickers that she picked out herself.

This morning she was very excited to go to school. She didn't eat much for breakfast, so I think she was a bit nervous. But she got dressed in her new clothes, put on her favorite necklace that her brother gave her for Christmas, and threw on her new backpack.

She walked into class like an old pro - gave me a quick kiss and 'I love you' and her life as a 1st grader began.

I look forward to seeing her at 2:30!

Meanwhile, Braedyn and I will do our best to entertain each other!

Thank you for the pigs.....

Funny Story (that has nothing to do with this picture, I just thought is was a cool set of Kaliese doing her flips off the bar!).


Last night I made grilled porkchops for dinner. As we were setting the food on the table and getting ready to eat, Kaliese made the comment that all meat comes from pigs. I told her that some does and some comes from cows and some from chicken. She wasn't sure how that worked. But she volunteered to pray for dinner, "Thank you God for this food and thank you for pigs and cows and chicken. In Jesus name, AMEN!" Later as we were eating, she asked about the skin of the animals. Did we cook that? She asked about more details of just how this meat related to pigs. I kindly asked her to wait until after we had finished eating to have that discussion. Something about eating porkchops and talking about pig skin just doesn't digest well!!!


Anyway, about the picture. The kids had a wonderful time playing outside and Kaliese used the swingset as a obstacle course - trying to get from one end to the other without touching the ground. The picture is of her fantastic dismount!! They played tee-ball for awhile and barked at the dogs on either side of the yard. They were filthy, but a good filthy!!

The Beras are Back in Town!!!

(A scenic picture of the Beautiful Napa Valley)

After a few days home from our wonderful vacation to California, I think we've finally adapted back to the Georgia routine. We woke up at a fairly normal time this morning, grocery shopping has been done to refill our fridge and pantry, and pictures have been edited and put together in this wonderful album for you to browse at your leisure. Admittedly there are quite a few pictures (but not nearly all), however we were gone 10 days - did you really expect less??

We had a wonderful, relaxing vacation. The kids did really well on the flights. We spent a good amount of time at the pool and what time was left over was spent at the park, playing with cousins, relaxing and enjoying the company of family.

Kaliese was very sad to leave, as were we all. Every year we wish we could stay a few days more. The kids truly enjoy Emily and Natalie and have such fun playing with them! We enjoy spending time with Al, Mary, Jeff and Anne as well as other family and friends we get to see. It is always a very treasured time for us.....not to mention a wonderful break from our everyday lives!

Another Post from the West Coast...

It's been a few days since my last post, but nothing much has changed. Basically we swim most of the day and make s'mores at night. The kids are still having as much fun as ever.

Saturday morning we went to the park to play and feed the ducks, pigeions, geese, etc.

On the way home, Uncle Jeff picked up some birdhouse projects and some aprons from Home Depot. The kids had much fun putting them together and painting them.

Yesterday we took the kids to see WALL-E. They were all very good and the movie was mucho cute!!! Pixar just doesn't do its movies justice with their trailers. There have been several Pixar movie trailers where I was left with a less than enthusiastic feel about the movie. I have always been pleasantly surprised that the movie was tons better than the trailer let on. WALL-E was one of those times.

I'm not sure what we are doing today, but I'm sure it will be fun.

Sorry the pictures are not up to par, but the editing is taking soooooo long trying to do it online. So you just get the raw pictures.....except for the one of them feeding the ducks of course!!!

S'more Family Fun

Yesterday was spent mostly swimming. The kids would swim, get out and rest, eat snacks, swim again, etc. The adults did the same, the cycle just went at a slower pace!

Kaliese found she likes swimming under water. She would push off from the ledge and swim face down for about 5-7 seconds.

Jeff barbecued some ribs that were way yummy and the kids ate hotdogs. It got too cool to swim about 6:00pm, so we gathered round the fire pit to roast marshmallows and make s'mores.

This was Braedyn's and Kaliese's first experience with these, so they were very excited. They each ate most of theirs, but afterward Braedyn was mostly interested in eating just the chocolate and Kaliese wanted to roast marshmallows for everyone else. Well, at least they can say they tried it!

More fun later!!!

Happy Fourth!!!

Happy Fourth of July to all!!

Yesterday afternoon we went swimming for a few hours! The kids played hard. Kaliese is still trying to swim on her own and Braedyn let us take him around the pool (he usually insists on sitting on the shallow ledge!).

After dinner we went to a golf course to watch fireworks. The kids played until it got dark, constantly asking when they were going to see the fireworks. Kaliese wasn't feeling well and laid down on the blankets -- she was asleep before the show started and didn't wake up until we were putting her in the car. As for Braedyn, he kept his face in Brian's chest the entire time. So much for their excitement to see the fireworks!!!

Today is another cloudless day which hopefully will be in the mid-80s. We are going swimming and having a cookout so it should be a fun and relaxing day!