Lucy and Samuel at the Farm

Samuel and Lucy helping out on the farm - bug catching, feeding the cows, playing in the pre-garden dirt and keeping General company. Thanks Grandma and Papa for taking care of these cuties - I wish I was there! Love you!!

Kelly's Surgery

Kelly's surgery went very well: her thyroid was removed without complications and there was no evidence that it had spread. The doctor was enthusiastic, saying that the cancer was in an early stage and that we should celebrate because they "nipped it in the bud." She is recovering in the hospital and will come home Tuesday where she will rest for the entire week. Thanks to Grandma and Papa for keeping the kids this week so that she can fully rest. And thanks to everyone for your many displays of love and support. We appreciate your prayers, notes, text messages, e-mails, calls, etc.

Clearly, God's Word teaches us that life is about relationships more than anything else. Even secular studies on happiness have concluded that the happiest people in the world are those who have the best relationships. We have been reminded of this truth this week as we have experienced such a strong outpouring of love. Thank you for glorifying God by reminding us of His loving care this week.

My family

One thing I've been wanting for a while is a picture of the four of us - I realized it has been a while since that happened and I wanted to make sure I had a good picture of us before tomorrow. My sweet friend, Jessica H, said she would take our picture - so we went to her house plopped down in her living room and here are the shots I liked the best (I tried to do some editing on some of them so they are the same but different lighting). Thanks so much Jessica! My family is a constant joy in my life and makes the "putting one foot in front of the other" each day worth it no matter what the challenge. I pray the Lord would give them strength and would comfort them in the coming weeks!

My surgery is tomorrow - late morning/early afternoon. I'll be in surgery for about 2 1/2 hours and be in recovery for a while. I'll get Jeremy to post progress tomorrow evening - and then I should be home Tuesday. Not sure how my voice will be for phone calls but I will post when I get a chance this week. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and help - I am grateful for your love and care.

Time at the River

Here are some pictures of our trip over Christmas to the river near Grandma and Papa's house -

Great Granny and Grandpa Kinsey

Over Christmas we got to see Great Granny and Grandpa Kinsey - here we are!

The Zoo

The boys loved watching the kangaroos box. They would call the rounds "round six".



For winter break Daddy took Samuel and me to the zoo (thanks Grandma and Papa for the zoo passes!) We had such a great time. One of Samuel's classmates, Zayd, and his brother Kalil and their dad went with us. What a great day - thanks Zayd and Kahlil for going with us and thanks Daddy for taking us.

A note to deal seekers

This is Kelly here and I want to share a grocery saving tip for all of my deal seeking friends. I want to put a plug in for the Farmer's Market south of Atlanta off of exit 237 (or is it 238) - here is what I got for $10 - yes $10.

4 zucchinni
6 oranges
5 bananas
1 bag of grapes
2 mangos
5 ears of corn
1 bunch of cilantro
4 sweet potatoes
3 regular potatoes
2 tomatoes
2 apples
1 tub of strawberries

I only had $10 with me and thought I would see how much I could get - it was worth the little drive up the interstate (only a few miles north of school for me). Some of the price may be because it was a little chilly and there weren't many customers but I'll take what I can get!

Look Here

Look here kinseyfarmhorses.blogspot.com to see pictures of Wyatt!

He's Here ...

And he's on time! Wyatt Daniel Kinsey was born this evening in Tallahassee, FL on his due date. He arrived around 6:00 pm ish and weighed a whopping 9 lbs. 1 oz and is 22 inches long - He's half grown all ready! Congratulations Uncle Casey and Aunt Erin!!! Can't wait to get the full nitty gritty and see some pics.

Waiting for Wyatt

Mama says the last few weeks of waiting for a baby to be born are hard - you try all the tricks in the book but in the end that baby is going to come in God's good timing. We are patiently waiting our first cousin on Mama's side - Wyatt Daniel - to be born any day. Mama says Aunt Erin isn't waiting so patiently at this point. Mama says she was 13 days late with Samuel and to pass the time Mama wove a basket in the garage - no joking - took long walks in the balmy Atlanta evenings of 85 even after dark, and took several strolls around Target (she had several Target employees stop her and ask if she was all right every time she would "walk in Target") - nothing really worked until God decided to send him - and Mama tried everything. We're excited to meet Wyatt - I need another little buddy to play with! Hang in there Aunt Erin - pregnancy doesn't last forever!

Valentine's Day

Samuel and I got a card from Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Stephanie for Valentine's Day - thanks! Mama is still picking up little pink hearts!! And we made Valentine's for Samuel's class and a few other people - sorry no mailed Valentine's BUT we LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU

more characters

Mama says we spice up her life - each day is full of surprises - she likes the surprises Samuel and I bring! Here are some of our latest "character" sightings

Ladies and Gentlemen...

...Welcome to the Circus! Samuel and Mama met Grandpa Noonan and Joanna at the circus today while Daddy and I stayed at home and went to the park. Looks like Samuel had a great time - Mama did too - and I think I may want to try some of that cotton candy next time - Samuel got to meet some of the clowns (and was not shy about volunteering for any of the tricks they wanted to do even when much older kids were a little afraid of the clowns) and animals before the show here are some pictures of the day -

News

This is Kelly, I haven't had a chance to let everyone know in person (and won't have time in the next week) but I thought I would fill you in on the latest with me. I found out last week that I have thyroid cancer. I will have surgery February 23 to have my thyroid removed and will learn more about the cancer's spread. It is an intricate surgery but the prognosis for thyroid cancer is great. I will be down for a while but have most of the details all ready taken care of. Pray for my family - that they would be comforted and have "the peace of Christ" and that I would have strength to finish my classes and peace to rest and recover. Thank you for your love and support - I'll keep you posted.

Meet Me!

As I take over this new responsibility I thought I would let you know a little about me
Age - 22 months
Hobbies - I am a dancing machine! I love to draw, play with play dough, bake (well, I really like licking the batter). I like to play with brother's little people and put things in and out of my purse or a bucket and I LOVE to do anything outside.
Bad habits - Biting (I'm getting better about not taking a chunk out of Samuel's arm) and I am a thumb sucker (I'm getting better about not having it in my mouth all of the time)
Favorite Books - I love "Pooh" books and can sit for hours listening to Mama read any book about animals.
Food - I could eat a cracker any time and the same goes for chocolate, yogurt, grapes and apple juice. I can eat a serious amount of mac and cheese and I like spicy things (I can down some spicy salsa)
Personality - I am independent, play well by myself and love to give hugs and play with my brother.
Song - "Jesus loves me" and "twinkle twinkle" are favorites but I like any music I can dance or play my instruments to.
How I would spend a special day - Riding the ranger with Papa, eating goldfish, drinking tea with all of my stuffed friends, playing ball outside and laughing and dancing to some great music.
Favorite Hiding spot - behind the couch
Favorite Evening with my family - Wrestling and playing hide-n-go-seek

A Family Garden

For Christmas, Samuel and I made Daddy a Garden Book. He had been wanting to plant a garden for a while and we decided to gather info for him, color some pictures of what the vegetables should look like and get the soil tested at the County Extension Office. Daddy was very excited and got to work tilling the soil and putting down the lime (Georgia dirt is very acidic so we have to raise the pH for our veggies to grow). The dirt looks like so much fun to play in - but it's been so cold we haven't done much but wait. We'll keep you posted as to what get planted and how the Gardening goes for the Noonan family.

CHOCOLATE!

OK - you might think Mama lets us have chocolate all the time but that's not true - well not ALL the time. BUT one thing is for sure - I LOVE CHOCOLATE!!! I really like when Mama has to make brownies or cookies for something (like the weekend for the Super Bowl). Here are a few shots of me enjoying chocolate - brownie batter and part of a cupcake Daddy brought home from the Super Bowl party. Samuel likes it too but it's not the same.

A bunch of characters

For Christmas Aunt Vicki and Aunt Kim got us a dress up box. We have loved playing with it! There's a never ending source of fun and ideas for imagination. I like the hats best! Every night we play some sort of pretend game and have so much fun with the costumes and props. Thanks for the great present!

Uh - Oh Spaghetti-O's

Okay - it's been a while since Samuel passed the baton to me - Mama has been so busy that we haven't had a chance to update you on the happenings of this redheaded clan. What a great time to take over sharing our lives with you - I am starting to be more vocal (with a brother who talks as much as Samuel I don't have a chance but to talk!). Mama loved hearing me say "uh-oh, Spaghetti O's" when she dropped the brownie mix on the floor this weekend. Here is my encore presentation of the vocal feat.