Happily Ever After

Moving

2010-04-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

Moving...yep I said it! We are moving! Well I am sure you already knew this info already, but here it is again. Lyman got a new job teaching at Nashville Auto Diesel college in Nashville Tenn. He has already been there for 4 weeks now and is really enjoying it. At this time he is living with my sister and Bro-in-law. Thanks Tara and Craig for taking care of my hubby for me! Life has been upside down and crazy for us since we have made this decision. I will say it wasn't not made lightly. We prayed and asked God for His Wisdom and felt this was the way He wanted us to go. We had a very hard time making this decision in a short amount of time, we are sooooo going to miss our church family! I can't even tell you how sad it makes me to think about it! We love our church family, but we WILL come back to visit! With Kayla being in H.S. still we debated on moving too. We hate that she won't be able to finish H.S. at Mt.Vernon but we want our family to all make this move together. She is still having a really hard time with it so please keep her in your prayers. Laina on the other hand is EXTATIC! She loves Nashville so she will be just fine. Mylie is ready to be in NashBill (as she calls it) she wants to be with her daddy. This transition has been tough on Mylie, she doesn't understand why daddy is only home on the weekends.She cries for him alot at night and asks about him all the time. When he is home, she is attached to him (which mommy loves...so I can have a break).
We are on the hunt for a house, I want to be close to my sister. We thought we found one, but it feel through so we are back at it, looking hard. Please Pray we can find one that we can call home.

I am currently in school right now to get my Educators License, and plan on trying to teach Cosmetology in Tenn. along with working with my sister. I won't finish school until the end of June, so will be in Illinois until then. Right now its packing and getting ready for the biggest rummage sale of my life. I hope I can make some good money!! I will try to post again after the move, I can't promise too much until we get settled. Thank you for your prayers!

Busy Family

2009-11-29T11:32:00.000-08:00

Hey guys sorry I haven't kept you up to date. Life has continued to be very busy for our family. My last post was about Laina going off to college. Well Laina loves college! Her grades are great and she loves her independance. It was hard for me to let go of that tight rein I had on her but I know I had to do it. She will say I am still controlling but I am trying...REALLY! She has come home several times and is actually home right now for Thanksgiving break. Both Kayla and Mylie love it when she is home. Mylie was so excited when Laina came home this past week that she won't let Laina alone. She constantly wants her Sissy. Kayla has had a good school year too. She kept herself really busy in the fall by being the Boys Soccer Manager. She liked to practice with them to keep herself conditioned for her upcoming season. Kayla and Lyman have also been very busy working on Kayla's car. They are redoing a Corvair. Mylie is doing great too. She is a big girl now wearing Big Girl Panties :) I feel quite proud of that! She is so smart too, she knows her birthday and we are working on spelling her name and writing it. Lyman and I are planning on taking the girls to Chicago for a little family trip before Christmas so hopefully we will have some cute pics to share later. Well here are a few pics...

This Mylie at Halloween:Raggedy Ann

My Little Model

Laina and Kayla

Three Amigos

This pic we took on Black Friday...we went EARLY that morning! This was Laina's first adventure on Black Friday and she loved it :) I love making memories with my girls and this was one of them!

One Flew the Nest

2009-08-24T05:18:00.001-07:00

So this past weekend was a big weekend for the Parsells. We took Laina to college!!!!! Wow I can't believe I am saying that! She is attending the Free Will Baptist Bible College in Nashville Tenn. She has always wanted to go there. We went last month to register her so this past weekend all we had to do was go move her in. Laina, Mylie and I headed down Thursday night and stayed at my sisters and then Daddy and Kayla came down Friday after Kayla got out of school. The college opened their doors at 10:00 am on Friday and Laina and I got there bright and early! (A big Thank you to my sister for keeping Mylie while we moved her in). Now I need to tell you we just got a new mini van which I was so ready for, and we had it PACKED!!! I couldn't believe all the stuff this child was taking, half of it I don't think she will even use, but she thinks she will :) So when I thought about taking all of her stuff to her dorm I thought that was going to be a huge chore. I was happy however to find that there were like 6 people there to help us carry things in, so I just knew it was only going to take a few hours to get her room all settled. Whew, what was I thinking, I was there until 6:00 p.m. But her room is super cute!! I even built a book case all by myself!! So after an exhausting day I kissed my little girl goodbye and went back to my sisters. NO TEARS! Maybe cause I knew I was coming back the next day with Lyman and Kayla. But even when we went back as a family on Saturday and gave Laina her car and gave our final goodbyes, there were still NO TEARS! I made it all the way home and then went to church when some of my good friends had to come ask me how I was doing..that did me in, I bawled!! And I was doing so good too. I can't walk by her room and not tear up either cause it is so empty (and clean) I miss her! But I know God has Great things for her and I am excited to see what God does with her life. If you think about it please pray for her! Being away from home can't always be easy, so I am sure she would appreciate the prayers. Well here are some pics of the weekend...

Un packing the van

Her Room mate made her Welcome home signs, so sweet!

Her Side of the room all done! Isn't it cute!

Her small closet, with all her clothes packed in tight!

Laina and her roommate Rachel

Katie and Laina (they went to church camp together their whole lives) :)

Laina and Momma

Our family together in front of her dorm

Well if anyone wants her address it is:

Laina Parsell

3606 West End Ave.

Nashville TN 37205

Nationals and a mini vacation

2009-07-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a long time. It has been a crazy summer. Laina started her first job working at Camp Hope, and has been getting ready for college. I can't believe she is going to be leaving soon. Kayla has been taking drivers Ed in Carbondale and has finished the course. She is working on driving with the teacher now and we just have to meet a few more times. Mylie is working on Potty training and doing pretty good, but we have our days and messes. Lyman and I have been busy working and chasing after our girls. But this past week we went to Cincinnati Ohio for the Free Will Baptist Church Association Nationals. It has always been fun to go to, we all get to see friends and listen to good preaching and its just always a blast. Well...not this year!! Some might be asking "Why?"or "What happend?"Well lets just say MYLIE HAPPENED!! I need some good preaching after this past week! ugh I am stressed just thinking about it again. But on our way home we decided to try to squeeze in a little family time. Lyman had found this place on the internet, and it was on our way home. We stopped at French Lick, IN. they have resorts there that are really cool and we stayed in one that had a indoor water park. We loved it! It was sooo much fun! Mylie loved it!!
She loves the water

We are one crazy family!!

Kayla's 15th Birthday

2009-06-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

We have had a crazy few weeks so I am trying to catch up with my blogging! (Pant pant) This past weekend we celebrated Kayla's 15th birthday! Every birthday we have the grandparents over for a dinner. The girls get to pick what they want to eat, this time Kayla wanted to grill out which worked out for me because Lyman did all that :) Kayla had put on her list that she wanted an IPOD so that's what she got. Now that I think of it Lyman did the shopping too, so I got off easy this year. Every year seems to go by so fast and this year seemed even quicker, Kayla will be 16 before we know it. We have signed Kayla up for a Drivers Ed course in Carbondale and that starts next Monday so watch out pedestrians!! Here are a few pics of Kayla's birthday bash!

Make a WISH!!

Doesn't Mylie look so cute sittting at the head of the table.

This is my cousin Candace, she and I have been close since we were born! Love you Candy!

Old Neighbors and ICECREAM

2009-06-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my old neighbor and great friend Wendy came home for her nephews graduation. We try to see each other everytime she is home. Wendy was my neighbor growing up in Sesser and we hung out through High School. I am sooo thankful for our friendship, she is always there for me even if we do live 400 miles away from each other. She keeps me in check and has taught me alot! I love you WENDY!!! So anywho we got to spend 2 days together and we had a good time. On Friday we took the kids to Sesser Park and then to the Custard Stand (the best place in the world). We enjoyed watching the kids play and visiting. I have some cute pics of the kids playing and I am adding several pics of Mylie eating her first icecream cone. She normally just shares mine or I get her ice cream in a cup, so she when I handed her the cone she went to town. :) I still can't get those stains out (note to self...always put her in play clothes when going to Custard stand)

Me and Wendy

3 Silly girls

Kensi Paige

Kade

Baby Kylie, isn't she so adorable!!

Kade and Mylie running the bases

The kids loved the custard stand

She loved that ice cream cone!

Laina's Graduation Party

2009-06-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

So to celebrate Laina's High School Graduation, we invited our close friends and family to a party at the Bonnie park. Wow do we have alot of family!! With our families being "combined" our girls have lots of grandparents, aunts & unlces, cousins, etc. So we had a BIG party! It was alot of fun, my wonderful sister-in-law, Marjorie spent the night with us and helped us get it all together. (I couldn't have done it without ya Marj, THANK YOU) Lyman and I debated all day if we should have it at the park or move it to the church with the crazy weather we have been having, but we decided to go for it and go to the park. As soon as we started to eat the rain came, ugh! But we just kept partying! Mylie loved playing in the rain, she has been coughing though ever since. Thank you to all our friends and family that came and celebrated with us, we are so Blessed to have you all in our lives. Here are some pics of the crazy but fun day...

Grandpa Ron, Laina, Grandma JoAnn

Mylie playing in the rain, she had sooo much fun!

Klaire, Maddi Kate and Mylie

Laina's High School Graduation

2009-05-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it...Laina graduated High School! I can't believe it because it was just yesterday when she was a little 8 year old with pig tails all over her head!!!! And wasn't it just yesterday when I graduated H.S.!!! WOW!! Laina has made both Lyman and I very proud! I am anxious for what the future holds for her but I know if she continues to put God first she will succeed in all she does.

Mylie ended up running a fever that night so we left her with Aunt Gi Gi, she wouldn't have made it through all those names anyway :) But Mommy dressed her up and took a picture of her and sissy.

They may not admit it...but they are going to miss each other next year!

Laina with Grandma and Grandpa Parsell

Laina with Nana and Mickey

Laina with Grandpa Bob

Laina and the Maske Family

Laina and the Kash Family

Time With Nana

2009-05-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

I love spending time with my momma, I don't get to do it that often though. My mom works 24/7 it seems and she lives an hour away :( So when I get to have some time with my mom I try to soak it in. Every spring she comes and stays the night and we plant flowers. Now I must tell you that I do Not have a green thumb, my mom sometimes wonders why I even waste the money on them, because I usually give up watering them half way through the summer. But I vow to be better this year!! Mom came up on a Tues afternoon and we went to the green house and picked out some pretty flowers. Mylie kept grabbing the buds of differnt flowers and said "mmm, thmells good" she was a big helper when it came time to plant them. We had awesome weather when mom was here, we had two picnics out side and Mylie loved that! Mom also got to see Mylie's Stong will in action while she was here too, this little girl can be a handful sometimes, let me tell ya! I need the super Nanny sometimes. Anyway we enjoyed spending time with Nana and look forward to her being off work again! :) Here are a few pics...

Daddy's Toys

2009-05-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost here I can't believe it! Mylie loves the weather and being outside too, I think I am going to be spending alot of time out side this summer (pant, pant). Since Spring has sprung, Mylie has discovered Daddy has toys! And she loves daddy's toys, she looks outside the window and says hi to them daily, she is too cute! Everyday, from the time daddy gets home, until supper time, she and daddy play outside. They mow, move dirt with daddy's tractor and we go for bike rides. I don't think she has a favorite, but she loves to ride that go kart...which about gives me a heartattack to watch! Here she is on pretty much every toy daddy has.

Her Children will rise up and call her Blessed (Proverbs 31:29)

2009-05-10T15:59:00.000-07:00

I hope that will be my children one day:) As for now I will rise up and call my mom Blessed. I am so thankful for my mom. I am the woman I am today because of her. I hope that I will be half the mother she was and is to me. I think back to my childhood and I am so thankful for my Christian up bringing, I have always been taught the truth of the Bible and God. Thank you momma, I love you!!!

This weekend my sister came in for Mother's Day weekend, it was the first time we have shared a Mother's Day with my mom since I have been married (9 years in June..whoa) so I was excited to spend the day today with our mom. We went to my mommas for lunch and enjoyed a nice day. I enjoyed seeing some of my family I haven't seen in a while, I love my family!

I was sad though because Laina had to work today...I guess I will have to get used to her not always being around, because she will be in Nashville very soon :(

I said in church today that I was so thankful for my girls...Without them I wouldn't be a mom! I have 3 of the most beautiful daughters in the world! I love being their mommy and taking care of them. Here are some pics of this weekend.

Wow my lipstick is bright!!!

Tara Mom and Me

Tara, Me, Candace, and Melanie luv you girls!!

Mylie and Maddi Kate

AHH isn't this sweet!!

Alli and Maddi Kate

Landon

A crew of crazy kids!!

The Next Vera Wang

2009-05-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

So today I went to a Fashion Show at Mt.Vernon High School. It was called Trashion Fashion, the Art Class Laina is in put it on. The students have been working on Dresses or clothing made out of things that can be recycled...Trash! Laina has been working on her dress now for over a month. She used coffee filters and trash bags for it. She does a great job on every art project she works on, some of it you will find displayed all over our house. But she did a great job of designing and making this dress (Watch out Vera) I think she will definately make Grandma Parsell proud too :)
I was a little late getting to the fashion show due to this major storm we are having even as I type, ugh! I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, but instead of having Toto, I had Mylie :) I thought I had missed it so I had to drop everything including Mylie and run up to the front to get some pics! They walked the cat walk one more time and then announced the winners. Now I know for most moms, ok all moms, we think our kids are the best, but I have to say Laina's was the best! And I was right she got BEST OF SHOW!! I was so proud of her! Even now I am gleeming with pride for her. Here are some pics of the fun event...

This Hannah Rogers Laina's favorite Teacher, who is also a friend of mine. Thanks for always being there for Laina, Hannah!

Laina's Senior Prom

2009-05-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

Last night Laina had her last H.S. Dance...Senior Prom. (Tear) Every dance she has been to in the last four years she has looked so beautiful, but last night I think she was the most beautiful I have ever seen her, she has just grown up into a beautiful woman. When we went prom dress shopping she had in her mind to find a red dress, her mom wore red at her senior prom and I too wore red at my senior prom... so she thought it would be cool to have a red dress. This year she went with a friend to prom, her date was Landon Isle. She said he was a great date, he opened her door everytime and danced all night with her. After Prom they went to a friends house and played flash light tag. (I remember playing games like that I miss my youth) :) Here are some pics of the night

Laina and Grandpa Bob

Fayln, Rachel Shelby,Alana, Laina and Olivia

Olivia and Laina

Laina Shelby and Rachel

Mylie

2009-05-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

Mylie update: Here is a little of what is going on with the Mylers... It doesn't take much to excite this little two year old, she loves her daddy's helmet for his motorcyle, she screams with delight everytime she sees it :) She also loves her daddy's lawn mower, she will stand on the back of the couch and look out the window and scream "daddy's wan moweer" it is cute! She loves music too, anytime she hears an up beat song she says "this is my song, mommy" and cries when it goes off. She loves to dance and her sisters are teaching her new moves all the time, which worries me :) With having two teenage sisters she thinks she is one herself. Today I heard her cheering "Ram's Yell it" she is soooo cute!! We have been working on potty training and there are days I just want to quit, but this past week she did great! She went one whole day with no accidents!!! I have told her that if she goes Potty all the time in the potty, mommy will get her a new baby kitten. I have neglected to tell you all that our big fat cat that Mylie loves to feed and smother, died!! We just found it outside lying under Mylie's little slide. Mylie kept stomping her foot saying "Wake up Kitty, Wake up" and now she cries and says "Kitty's Dead" it was sad, but I am hoping that the thought of a new kitten will get her potty trained. Any potty training ideas let me know! Here are a few pics of the sweet Mylers (that's her nickname)

Hod Rod Baby

Potty Training time

Reading with Baylee and Chloe

Soccer and some sweet cousins

2009-04-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

Soccer is in full swing, and let me tell you it is CRAZY! We have 4 and 5 games a week! I am exhausted from just watching it so I know Kayla is super exhausted! We were in a Tournament a couple of weekends ago and they had 3 games in ONE day!! Whew I was tired,but they placed second in that tournament so we were pretty happy. Kayla also comes home almost everyday with a new bruise, this sport is pretty brutal, Kayla loves being aggressive though, she is fun to watch! Kayla plays defense but the other day the coach let her play some offense and she scored a goal! I was pretty proud! I have told her since she was little, playing YMCA soccer that if she scored me a goal "Momma buy you something pretty" so after that game she asked me if I was going to buy her something pretty...
and I did :)

Here are a few pics of Kayla is action....

There will be more to come :)

Last week I went to my sisters, we shopped, went to the gym together and Craig watched the babies so we could go to a movie! It was nice, I love spending time with my sister and her family! I wish we lived closer! Mylie and Maddi Kate are alot of fun together too, they love each other but yet they fight alot! At one point we had to pull them off of each other, I thought we were going to see some blood! They were in a smacking contest and time outs were issued! Here they are in matching outfits, they are soooo cute!

Easter

2009-04-13T12:39:00.001-07:00

HAPPY EASTER! We had a fun crazy weekend. Saturday was our church Easter egg hunt. We had it out at Camp Hope, I love being out there, it's like being at home! We had 91 people there and over a thousand eggs to hunt, the kids had a great time! I thought Mylie would be all about finding the eggs, but we had to point them out to her and then make her pick them up, she was clueless. She did finally got the hang of it at the end. Easter Sunday we got up and got ready for church, after church we went to my Grandma and Grandpa Webbs house, we had a great dinner there and grandma had the kids go on a little Easter Egg Hunt and gave the kids bunnies. I really enjoyed visiting with my family, because I feel like I take my family for granted. I say this after a rough week... This past week we buried Laina and Kayla's grandma on their mom's side. It has really been hard on the girls, they just can't believe she is gone. It has also brought back feelings of losing their momma too. :( Say a prayer for my girls if you think about them, because they have had so much loss in their young lives. We all know time on this earth is fleeting, we don't know what tomorrow holds. So we have to live and love everyday!!! Oh my this is gushy!! Anywho we had a great Easter and hope you all did too! Here are a few pics of the weekend!

Busy Bees

2009-04-04T20:35:00.000-07:00

So sorry I haven't posted much lately, life has been a little crazy! Here is a little update of what has been happening.
Laina just got her first job working at Maurices, which excites me because I get 40% off now!! Yippee! I need to go shopping :) She likes it, but is a little scared coming out of the mall by herself at night, she got locked in between the double doors one night. If you know Laina, you will know how terrified she was, but I found it hilarious! She has also visited the Free Will Baptist Bible College last weekend and is very excited about attending in the fall, she found a room mate. I am a little anxious about this change. We were excited to hear Laina won a $250.00 scholarship from a couple in Mt.Vernon, that she can put towards any college. Good news since FWBBC is so expensive!! Any thing helps! Anyone else that wants to donate to her college fund let me know haha!
Kayla has just started her first year of soccer at Mt. Vernon High School. Her first game was last week and we were so excited to see that she started VARSITY!! She played the whole game too, except for about 5 minutes so she could rest. She is loving it, and is very exhausted after every game and practice. Kayla aslo has her first boyfriend! He is actually over for the first time tonight :) He's holding her hand... OH MY WORD!!!
Mylie has started the process of Potty training! She is doing pretty well I guess, I have never potty trained so this is all new to me! She loves to tell Daddy and her sisters when she does it and we all jump up and down and scream! :) She loves to be outside and loves to feed the cat! Our cat was fat already but now after feeding it a million times a day it is really getting big! HA! At church, Mylie has started singing in Pastor Pals, well she just stands there, but it's a start. At the end of Pastor pals the kids will go collect "J" Dollars, (money we give to missionaries). Mylie loves that part, she will just stand there staring at you until you give her a dollar, she is mommy's little money maker. Everyone gives into her!
Lyman and I continue to run around after our children, we enjoy it though. We find ourselves coming and going alot of the time. One of these days we are going to get away for a weekend together... probably when Mylie is in college :)
Well I better go, I will leave you with a picture or two. Some of ya have seen them on Facebook, but for those of you who haven't seen them here are Mylie with some curls and Kayla and Laina.

Cousins

2009-03-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

Well this past weekend was one that I have been waiting for, my sister was coming! My sister and I are very close we talk daily, sometimes 3-4 times a day if not more. Seriously every time the phone rings Mylie says "It's Ra Ra" which is what she calls my sister Tara. So even Mylie realizes that Mommy talks to Ra Ra alot!! But we have been so busy with Laina's cheer schedule and well life, that we haven't been able to get together so this was the weekend! They came in on Friday afternoon and we ended up having a great weekend! But things didn't exactly go the way I wanted them to, because on Friday evening Lyman came home sick! UGH! He was sick all weekend long, so we had to avoid Uncle Lyman. It was a bummer too because Alli and Landon enjoy playing X-Box with him and going on the four wheelers and Unlce Lyman is just fun. And then on Sat we had planned on going to the Centrailia Rec club to swim and our dad was also going to meet us there, but silly me didn't call and make sure they were open to the public and so we drove 45 min to find out they were having a swim meet and we couldn't swim!! The kids were not happy! So we went to my Dad's house for a short visit, which for those of you who know our family history know that it isn't very often we get to see our dad. So when we got there we were surprised to find out that his wife had locked herself in her room and wouldn't come out! My dad even went back there to just show her the babies and she wouldn't let him in. We aren't quite sure what that was all about and we are still not happy about it but we know it is her loss! We still ended up having a good visit with our dad so that is what matters. So after our visit we had to switch to PLAN B so we grabbed some lunch and took the kids to the Rend Lake college pool. It isn't as much fun because they don't have a baby pool or slides but the kids still had fun. My mom came and watched the kids swim and then came back to the house with us, we had a house full then cause my Aunt Peg and Unlce Alvin came to visit and things got a little rowdy.
Also, Mylie and Maddi Kate have a love-hate relationship, it reminds me of me and my cousin Candace, we were very close but we could only handle so much of each other :) Well Mylie and Maddi were just like that, they would be playing just fine and then all of a sudden there were tears and even blood at times. They each left there marks on each other. I enjoyed having all my family in, we are blessed with a very loving family and I don't know what I would do without them. Here are a few pics of the girls, we normally take more but we were too busy I guess :)

Here is the love

Having fun at the pool

State Champs!!!

2009-02-17T06:06:00.000-08:00

I have been excited to blog about this past weekend, but it has been so crazy since we got home. This past weekend was another crazy weekend for the Parsell family. But it was a fun one! First off, Lyman and I celebrated Valentines Day on Friday night, we went out to dinner and then to a movie. We seen the movie Taken, oh my word that was a GREAT movie! I am a little nervous about going to New York this summer now. Anyway, then on Saturday morning my Sweet Lym made breakfast and gave me a Day Spa package, which I am excited about using. After breakfast we packed up and headed to Springfield for ICCA State Cheer Competition. Last year we won 1st place, which was sooooo exciting, so I was a little anxious going back. Since it was Laina's Senior year, there were alot of emotions going on this weekend, first I was nervous for the squad to bring home 1st again, and I was happy it was almost over because she is never home and when it is cheer season we have no Family life! But I was also very sad, this is her SENIOR year!!!
I am sure some people think what is the big deal? Why is this so exciting? I can't explain it, but when your child is out there, you get this nervous, excited, overwhelming feeling! And when they hit everything so perfectly you scream with excitement. As soon as our kids finished with a perfect routine, I teared up! They did great!!! At last weekends competition we had 4 girls hurt or sick, and one girl was on the verge of blowing out her knee! So to come off the mat with a perfect routine and no one hurt... was Amazing! But to top itall off, we WON 1ST PLACE, 2 years in a row!! Which this has never been done at Mt.Vernon, so we are pretty proud of that too! We celebrated with a big dinner that night and then on Sunday evening we were welcomed back to town with a Firetruck and Police parade! It was another weekend to remember! Here are alot of pics of the Great Event!!

Mylie actually took a nap through the screaming and loud music! She was such a good girl!

Finding out they are State Champs...PRICELESS! I love this pic! I cry when I look at it!

Our Little Cheer Family

Here they are back at Mt.Vernon getting ready for the big parade

Back at the gym celebrating!

CONGRATS MTV RAM CHEERLEADERS!!!

"I DO IT"

2009-02-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

A phrase that comes out of Mylie's mouth almost 24/7 is "I do it, Mommy". She is getting too big for her mommy to help her do anything anymore. Today she wanted to put her own shirt on, which was hilarious, so I had to grab the camera! She struggled for ever with it. She never did master putting on her own shirt so I had to help, and she wasn't happy with me. But I love this age right now, even though she can be trying at times. She has been so much fun! Last night she opened the closet door and she shut it really fast and grabbed her chest and said "Oh that scary me Mommy". It was so cute! I have never heard her say that or even thought she knew what "scared" meant. The things that she says and does everyday keeps me smiling. You will continue to hear me say this, but we are so blessed to have this precious little girl in our lives! I love being her mommy and Thank God everyday for her!

Here are some pics of Mylie saying "I do it" and trying to put on her shirt.

She seen me with the camera

Nice hair..she pulled out her bow trying sooo hard to do it!

Little Swimmers

2009-02-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

Today Mylie and I went to the Centrailia Rec Club to swim. We took our great friends, Ninny, Chloe and Baylee and Karen. We had such a good time! Mylie loved the water! I want her to be a good swimmer so I really wanted to start early with getting her used to the water. She had so much fun! She didn't want to leave. Baylee and Chloe were not to big on it, but Chloe started to warm up to the idea. They were so cute together though, they had the best time in the locker room, they thought that was great! It was alot of fun and we will definately be going back. Here are some pics of the fun day.

SHE LOVED THE SPRINKLERS

Baylee

All toweled off

Cheer Competition and a Sweet Heart Dance

2009-02-08T11:26:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was one of the craziest weekends I have had in a while, Laina had IHSA Cheer Competition in Bloomington, and both girls had a dance to go to. In the middle of all that we had signed up to have a hog butchered, and of course that landed on the same weekend. So Lyman and Kayla stayed home to help with butchering and I headed off to Bloomington. The way this competition went, was if you made the Top 10 on Friday you went on to compete again on Sat. but our kids didn't make the top 10 :( but they were 12th out of 25 teams. We have one boy on our team, so that put us in a Co-Ed division, and the teams we were against had 7-8 boys so it was harder to compete against them. But we were proud of our kids, they did a great job! On Sat morning Laina and I headed home to get her and Kayla ready for the dance.
This was the first dance Kayla has went to since she was in H.S. so I wanted to get home to do her hair. Both girls looked absolutely beautiful. I was excited for them to be able to go together. My sister and I are very close now...but when we were their ages we couldn't stand each other, so I am happy my girls are as close as they are now, Sisters are the best!!! Here are a few pics of the girls getting ready for the dance and then with their dates.

Mylie wanted to be in the pics too, we had to get her re dressed before the boys came. She likes wearing her bathing suit around the house.

Kayla's date was Trace Turner

Laina's date was Joe Capps

Yet again Mylie wanted in the Pictures

Their dates were really sweet guys and they all had a great time at the dance, I can't believe they are both are so grown up!!

Mylie's 2 yr pics

2009-01-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

We had Mylie's 2 year pics taken with my good friend Jessica. She is a great photographer and has done Mylie's pics well for 2 years now :) I didn't know how well Mylie would do with these pics becasue she can be so stubborn sometimes, but Jessica always captures some good ones! I think we were all exhausted by the end of the session but it went great. Here are some pics that Jessica put on her blog, if you are interested in her Photography her website is linked to mine at the right. Jessica Hollis Photography...check her out she is GREAT!!

A long Weekend

2009-01-19T11:52:00.000-08:00

Well this weekend was quite a tiresome weekend! It started out with Laina having a ball game at home on Friday night. We don't take Mylie to all the games anymore because she is so EXHAUSTING!! I can't enjoy the game when she is with me because she just wants to run, so my mom kept her. Mylie spent the night with mom actually that night because the next morning we went on a ski trip to Paoli Peaks, in Indiana, we took a group from our church. We left at 6:00 a.m. ugh! But it was soooooo much fun! The last time I went skiing, my friend Andy talked me into snowboarding, which led to me cracking my tail bone. It hurt for 2 yrs! So this time I decided to strictly stay with skiing. I should tell you I am no better at that, but it doesn't hurt as bad when you fall. I am not the best skier though, I can't stop myself once I get going. I would fly down a hill and then have to throw myself over so I wouldn't take out a fence (that happend one yr), so now I have a nice size bruise on my elbow. One time I was flying down this hill and I made it all the way down without falling, and I was trying with all my might to slow down, but with all my efforts I still slid into this big man who was bent over and my face slid right into his butt! It was pretty funny! Here are a few pics from the fun day!

After the ski trip we came home and had to wake up the next day, went to church, and then had to work at the Mt. Vernon Cheer Competition. Our squad hosts a Regional every year and this year was the biggest one I have ever seen. There were 45 teams, so it was a long day of screaming, crying, and crazy cheerleading. We are all so worn out from the weekend, and very sore, but it was fun!!

A party

2009-01-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

Last night I took Mylie to a birthday party for another little girl. It was at Extreme Sports in Marion. It is a really fun place to take kids. We took our younger age kids from the church and they loved it too. If you live around here you need to check it out, it's alot of fun! Mylie had a ball last night! She climbed up the big slide and slid down all by herself. If I ever tried to help her she would say "No mommy, sit!" She is getting too big!! She loved jumping on the trampolines, and she even jumped into the foam pit, she didn't care too much for that. :) Here are some pics from a fun night.
Mylie took a liking to this little girl, we didn't know her but she was cute!

She always had her tongue sticking out when she jumped, I think it made her jump higher. :)

Mylie's TWO!!!

2009-01-10T14:58:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it, my baby's 2!!! Well I guess she isn't a baby anymore she is an onery little toddler!! I have said it many times, how fast time has flown by since we adopted her. It seemed like forever when we were praying for this little miracle, how I prayed and longed for a baby...now I can't remember life without her! Here are a few pics of the day she was born:

That was such an AWESOME day!! I love to look back at her pics and get that feeling again, it is overwhelming! Sniff, sniff... Well now she is two and a little stinker, but she is my little stinker! We celebrated her birthday today with some family and a great friend, Sophia. Mylie loves Elmo so he had to be the theme. I would like to tell you I made this cake, but that would be a lie :)

I tried to post more pics from her party but its gettting frustrating...ugh! Anyway,I know Mylie had a fun birthday party, and loved all her presents. We look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with this little angel. Thank you to all our friends and family who came to her party or sent cards or called. We are very blessed with such great People in our lives.

This week we have another crazy week planned, with ball games, Cheer competition, hair appts and Mylie's Two Yr pics with JESSICA HOLLIS PHOTOGRAPY (a little plug for a Great Photographer) so I hope to have more Parsell news to post this week.

Ear infections and a crazy schedule

2009-01-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

I have a grouchy baby on my hands, Mylie has a double ear infection! It is not fun! But I took her to the dr. today and hopefully she will be on the mend. Especially before Saturday, she turns TWO!! I will definately have more on that later this weekend! While we were in town we went and surprised Laina and Kayla and took them to lunch! Mylie loves her sissy's, she cried when I took them back to school! I enjoyed having lunch with the girls and hearing about their day, I can't believe Laina only has 5 more months of H.S left and then she will graduate!! Kayla does not like her new schedule, so she isn't liking school right now, but Laina is loving her classes. Laina is going to so busy these next couple of months with Cheerleading, even more than normal. In Feb. we have competitions the first two weekends, the first weekend all the cheerleaders might have to miss their Valentines Dance, which they are all ticked about, and on Valentines Day we will be in Springfield for ICCA State Competition. This is definately something I am ready to come to an end, but at the same time it makes me sad knowing this is it for Laina's cheer days. I so miss cheerleading myself, so I know it will be hard for her to leave behind. But maybe just maybe Mylie will be a cheerleader and we can relive our Glory Cheer Days through her! :)

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T12:54:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to start a blog for sometime now, but never really knew when to start one. Then I thought why not start fresh with a new year, 2009! So hopefully this year, I can keep family and friends up to date on the happenings of the Parsell family. Last year came and went so fast, so I am sure 2009 won't be much different. Last night we celebrated the new year with friends from our church, it was crazy!! There were 13 kids there!!! We had fun, but the mommies were constantly up and down, so it made for an exhausting night!! We took this picture of all the sweet kiddos, what Great Blessings!! I loved being with this group of friends, because they were all friends I grew up with. We always reminisce and have a great time, its fun that our kids are growing up together too! Well, life is going on around me as we speak so I better get going. I hope to keep blogging and hope you enjoy! Happy New Year!!