Closing time...

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

Well, we close on our house Thursday morning. Hard to believe. Our life has been crazy lately. Well, not "lately", the past year is more accurate!

We have lived with my parents for the past year. Let me just say...it really has been great! Here is why.
* My mom and I are extremely Close
* We watch the same TV shows, so every night we enjoy each others company while discussing the latest Bachelorette drama, who the best dancer is on So You Think You Can Dance, the sadness of Jon and Kate divorcing....the list goes on!
*I have learned alot about how to run a home from my Mom
*I have learned through conversations with dad.
*We have had tons of help with the girls
*My kids have developed strong bonds with mimi and opa!
*We got a lot of bills paid off!
*I had time to really figure out future plans
*I have learned how to cook some great meals!
*We had time to have our home built!
*And the most important: I have been able to be here with my mom as she goes through a very difficult time. I have been able to hold her hand, keep her company,and take care of her house.

I know that there is a reason for everything. God knows this reason. We, sometimes, are fortunate to find out the reasons for things. Sometimes we are not so fortunate. Those are the times that our trust in God is tested.
I often wondered why my husband and I decided to sell our home and live with my parents for a year. For a while we thought it was because I was not going to work next year. Now that I am going back to work next year, I realize we are wrong about the reason.
This is one of those fortunate times that God reveals his reason to us. The main reason that we decided to sell our house and live with parents for a year is because we were able to be here for my Mom and Dad through my Mom's illness. I was able to take care of her and her home, Chloe was able to cheer her up. Trinity was born during that time. If a newborn doesnt give you a will to live, what will?
We are so thankful for this past year. For this precious time. So, in the words of Josh Gracin..."We were alot of things...but we weren't crazy!"
And on Thursday, we will begin a new beginning! In this wonderful home, where we will raise our precious little ladies to be strong individuals, to love one another, and to Love the Lord.

The day that I gave birth to Chloe, (A very long and hard day, I might add), I looked at my parents and said..."How can this be the worst AND best day of my life?".( Of course, once I saw her sweet face and held her in my arms, the worst part just flew out the window!) I feel that way again...but not a "best and worst" feeling, but an "anticipatory and sad" feeling...I anticipate moving and look forward to it, but I am also sad. It's hard to control emotions when they are on polar ends! Is that a woman thing?

My secrets out!

I don't know if you know this about me, but...
I absolutely, love , love, love matching outfits! I adore buying outfits for my girls that match. I think its the BEST!
There! My secrets out!

I know I have two girls, but...

Is it already time for this:
Story told by Chloe:
Today, I was playing with Tyler, and Adison was just standing there, so I started to go her way and when she "sawed" me she starting running away from me....so McKayla talked to her and then asked me to come here...so I "goed" here, and we both said sorry and we hugged each other and now we are Best Friends again...

Oh my, she's FOUR! Can you imagine junior high with her?...let's not go there anymore! Deal?

Chloe and Adison are best friends. They just had a common bond from the moment they met. They hold hands wherever they go. Adison's mom and I always try to make sure they spend summer camp together and are in the same dance class. They were also in pre-school together last year. This upcoming school year, they won't be in the same class, but will be at the same school. They are such precious girls!




PS: Adison gave Chloe a friendship necklace for her fourth birthday. You know, the necklaces that have one charm that says "best" and the other says "friends"! Well, Chloe had the "friends side of the heart! One day, while playing with her necklace ,I glance at chloe and she has her hands down her throat...I ask her what is wrong and she said, while cyring, "I swallowed my necklace". She didn't swallow the whole necklace, just the charm. We made her drink and eat bread to ensure that it wasn't stuck in her throat. About two days later...it came out! (sorry!). She cried and cried because we wouldn't give it back to her! Ha! I bought her a new one!
Well, I happen to think that these girls may have a few ups and downs, winding roads, fun times, and maybe even some fun trips...kinda like the "Friends" charm did!!!

A strong bond and a Chloe-ism!

Chloe and her Mimi (my mom) have a strong bond.
Mimi: (with a sad face) "Chloe, I am going to miss you" (She was talking about when we move to the new house)
Chloe: (With the voice of a teenager!)- "Mimi!, I'm still gonna be your grandkid!"




Sidenote- Chloe-ism
The other day Chloe was trying very hard to snap her jeans. She comes storming into the living room and screams, "These pants are GIVING ME MY NERVES!"...Ha!

Mimi and chloe playing with the camera...

6 month feet!

Already?

Meet the Cobbs...

Ha! I couldn't resist! Did you know that corn looks like it has hair? Well, me neither! When we went to the church garden yesterday, my dad picked one with "hair" because he thought Chloe would get a kick out of it! Here is our conversation:
Me: (showing her the corn) " Hi Chloe, I am Mrs. Corn!"
Chloe: "Why does it have hair like that ?"
Me: "That is how God made it, isn't it beautiful?"
Chloe: "Yes!", "Mommy, did Got make a Mr. Corn?"
Ha! Well of course he did! So we brought Mr. and Mrs. Corn home, washed them up, gave Mr. Corn a snazzy hair cut, and drew faces on them! Oh, and gave Mrs. Corn jewelery, because it just wouldn't be right for her to not have it! Here is Chloe playing with the Cobb family!



The Garden is growing like weeds! Well, except its not weeds, it awesome vegetables! Any vegetable you could ask for! And it's all organic! I am not really an "organic advocate", but it sounds good! I mean, not against it, just don't really care! Maybe I should!


This is what we came home with. Curt made some homemade salsa, dad grilled some corn, and the rest is just waiting to be devoured!


Anyone up for shelling peas?

Fathers Day 2009

Daddy,
We love you soooo much! Thank you for being a good example to us, playing with us, being silly, and loving us unconditionally!
Love,
Chloe Marie and Trinity Grace

Daddy,
I love you sooo much! Thank you for your love, advice, what you have taught me, understanding my humor, and the great walks we go on!
Love,
Kristi (aka: love)

Now...thats LOVE!

mom and her Grand-girls!

My mom has been sick.In fact, "sick" is an understatement. In January she was told that she has congestive heart failure. She has fluid surrounding her heart and and it is also enlarged. Back in January her heart was working at 10 percent. There is much fancier terminology involved with this illness, but for blogging sake, I will keep it simple. 10 was not a good number. We were afraid that we were going to lose mom. That is hard to even type. They decided to treat her with medicinal therapy, telling us that only 30 percent of CHF patients respond to this kind of treatment. The other 70% do not survive or are heart transplant candidates. My mom was one of the 30% who responded well to the medicine. Mom is now able to live a semi-normal life. She was able to shop for short periods of time with me, cook dinner, and pick up the house. She gets tired really easy. She even recently went on vacation!
About three weeks ago, mom passed out. She was told that she was at a very high risk for her heart to quiver. She had a recent echocardiogram that came back with better results than last time. Her heart is now at a 20. Doubled! The doctor said that since her heart is a little stronger, it is time to get a difibrulater. A defibrulater will keep her heart at a healthy pace, and also shock her heart into rythym if need be.
On June 19, she went in for her implantable defibrulater surgery. I was a nervous wreck. Mom did great during the surgery and was home that afternoon! It was music to our ears to hear the mom was okay. Thank our good and gracious Lord.
My family views a heart difibrualter as a demonstration of God's grace. None of us deserve this life we have, but He gives us grace...in my mom's case, a difibrulater and great meds!
The guy that programmed my moms defibrulator gave my dad a sample one. My dad said later on that day, that if his wife was going to have to wear a defibrulator...then so was he...


now, that's LOVE! (notice the defibrulator pinned to his shirt!)


My mom also came home wearing a very boring sling. We decided to "Bling her Sling"...fun!

Winner...Winner...

Chicken (Spaghetti) Dinner!
I would like to make a public confession...cooking is not my thing. I want it to be. I want to be able to just throw something together that tastes great, or have my husband look forward to my meals. That is a personal goal of mine. So, tonight Britt came over to give me a lesson! She taught me how to make her famous chicken spaghetti. It is the dinner that she has served me several times! I remember one time being at her house late at night, hungry, and eating a plate of this spaghetti for the first time! I also remember her bringing it to me when my family was in need of meals. We all looked forward to this meal. Thanks Britt. Thanks for always caring for others the way you do...oh, and for giving me a cooking lesson! This will definitely be one that my family will be fed for years to come!
So, I thought I would post the recipe!
Ingredients:
1 package of spaghetti noodles
1 package of grated cheddar cheese
2 cans of cream of chicken and mushroom soup
chicken
chicken broth
1 onion
2 bell peppers

Start by boiling the chicken in the broth. We used chicken strips, but any chicken will do. Chop up the onion and bell pepper. Saute those in butter together. Boil the noodles. In a large bowl combine the cooked noodles, diced chicken, veggies, soups, and cheese. Stir well. You will need two casserole dishes, unless you cut the recipe in half. Pour the mixture into the casserole dishes and put in oven on 375 for 10 minutes, until it is a little bubbly!
Serve with a salad and french bread!
Easy enough....and so delicious!Don't forget dessert!!

Great Wolf Lodge!

...or according to Chloe, "Good wolf shlodge"...so funny!
We got to go there! Let me tell you, the whole time we were there, I would get random thoughts in my head...thinking, "man, I wish this was here when I was little!"...or "I am so glad that my daughter gets to experience this place!"
It is very cool! When you walk in, it immediately feels like a cabin...big tree, fireplace, warm colors! Then, to the left, there is a wall of windows, and when you walk over to the windows...there it is...the most amazing, huge, breath-taking, heart-palpitating, make you smile, indoor water park! It looked like so much fun! I mean, you walk into the room and you can't help but get wet...there is a huge bucket that fills with water and then tips over every 10 minutes releasing 1000 gallons of water! Chloe and I had a blast standing under it on several occasions! Have I mentioned that we think Chloe may be half mermaid! She loved going down the kiddie water slides over and over and splashing and spraying water on people! It was fun to see the joy in her little face!
The second day we were there, Chloe swam for NINE hours! Let's just say that getting her to bed that night was super easy! I think she fell asleep AS she was crawling in to bed! That day she rode a big water slide. She sat in the tube with me and screamed the entire way. As soon as we got to the bottom, she would shout "who wants to go again?!"
Like I said...it was fun!
Trinity didn't really know what was going on, but she enjoyed the water. We took her bumbo chair and she sat in that and splashed in the water. She also took great naps in the stroller poolside!
My brother, sister in law, and niece, Maddie went with us. Maddie is so precious! I am head over heels crazy about her! She loved Chloe and loved splashing in the water. All of my moms grandbabies love the water!
We are going back next year! But, will make sure I bring the diet Coke...Pepsi just doesn't do it for me!!

For Sake of the Song Concert!

While on vacation, we spent several days at my brothers house. It was fun. The highlight of the stay was the annual For Sake of the Song concert that the Randy Rogers Band hosts every year. The concert is outdoors by the river. I love the setting! This year it was so fun to have My Aunt Gayle, Uncle Greg, and cousin Megan get to come to the concert too! When we got to the concert, my brother gave us all backstage passes! We were so glad! When the band was about to play, we went backstage. My mom has been sick, so she needed to sit down. We walked to the stage where a row of chairs awaited us! It was incredible to sit on the stage during the concert with the other band families. I watched the crowd in amazement...people were screaming for them and singing all of the words to their songs! The crowd was huge! It was very surreal to think that my brother is a part of all that. He lives a pretty astounding life, one that I could not imagine before last Saturday. But, while sitting on the stage and seeing all of the fans...i got to be a part of it! Anyways, here are some pics i was able to take during the concert!

We're Trippin'!

We are on vacation right now. We arrived in San Marcos on Monday to do a little outlet shopping. Okay...a lot of outlet shopping! We move in to the house in about 3 weeks, and my intentions were to shop for household items. Let's just say, that didn't happen at first! I can't walk in to a Carters outlet, Children's Place outlet, Baby Gap outlet, or Gymboree outlet without getting a few little clothing items for the girly-girls! So, that is what I did! Okay...I filled the back of my suburban with clothes for them! Who can resist matching outfits and 5 dollar deals? Especially for Chloe, who will change outfits several times a day! What princess doesn't?

So, Tuesday we got up and shopped again and then headed to New Braunfels! My brother and his family live here. I instantly fell madly in love with my neice all over again. She is a little, tiny, talking, eating, playing, sweet, adorbale person! And as I type this, she is dancing with Chloe! I am so delighted that these girls will have each other in their lives.

We shopped Wednesday and Thursday with Amanda. This time, I got some things for the house! I picked out my bedroom comforter, rugs, the girls bathroom decor, and some other things! Also, Harriet made me a new flower arrangement for my bedroom to match my bedding!

Today (Friday), we are hanging out at home whille the guys play in the first annual "For the sake of the shot" golf tournament, hosted by the Randy Rogers Band. Tonight we are going to the acoustic show and then Saturday night we are going to the "For the sake of the song" concert! Chloe will love to dance and sing at the concert! Is it wrong that Chloe knows all the words to one of RRB's most popular songs "Kiss me in the dark"...I think not!...okay...maybe it is! But when your uncle drums in the band, you tend to hear the music a lot! And...maybe even use it to fall asleep in the car!

So, that is where we are! We leave Monday morning to head to Dallas! We are staying at Great Wolf Lodge, playing in the waterpark all day, and catching a baseball game!

I will post pics when I get home! But for now, here is the three McKnight ladies have a great time at Red Lobster!

Saturday in review!

Today was a good day. We had a lazy morning until Curt got home from golfing, then we went to a furniture store where we spent a long time trying to decide on which dining room table to order. That was 2 hours I will never get back! We finally decided on this table...

After the longest furniture shopping trip ever, we stopped to get Chloe a strawberry cheesecake blizzard at Dairy Queen. She ate the top off of it, then passed it to us! Needless to say, we finished it for her! I am not surprised, she is a plain vanilla girl!
When we got home we hung out in the backyard! Chloe went swimming and I laid out. I refuse to pay another month for a tanning membership, so I guess I will go natural and let the sun work its tanning magic! This is a picture of our little oasis we like to call "the backyard!"



And here is Chloe laying out! I was spraying myself with a water bottle...because it would make too good of sense to just roll over slightly to the left and get in the POOL! So, Chloe gathered her towel, sunglasses, and water bottle and sprayed the entire bottle all over herself the entire time! It was pretty funny.

While she was laying next to me, (because what four year old doesn't lay out with her mommy?), Chloe started pointing out shapes to me in the clouds. I never saw what she saw, but here are some shapes Chloe found in the sky
1. a girble- with his eyes closed and laying on his side!
2. a dinosaur- with sharp thingies on him
3. a puppy- doing a trick
4. a horse- with a "people" riding on him
I saw this one...

You can't tell me that does not look like the Lock-ness monster! Okay...or not!

We had a nice barbecue chicken dinner with potatoes, home-grown green tomatoes (fried), and home-grown cucumbers and tomato! It was nice! (despite that fact that Trinity liked the looks of Opa's bright orange cup and decided to knock it over!)

Dad and I went on a walk...6 miles to be exact and Curt took Chloe to see Up. I asked her what the movie was about, here is our conversation:
Me- "was the movie good?"
Chloe- "yes"
Me- "well, what was it about?"
Chloe - "his house went up, up, up, with the balloons!"
Me- "Why"
Chloe - "because...its called UP!"


She fell asleep on the couch! I would say, all in all, good day!

Chloe and Mommy!

Thanks for taking these pictures, Andrea!

And 1...and 2...and

Trinity and mommy doing crunches together! I guess you could say we both have "baby fat" to lose! Of course, her baby fat is adorbale!

Flippin some Flops!

Chloe loves flip-flops! That is pretty much the only shoe she wants to wear, even in the winter. Except for the other day when I let her dress herself and found her in the backyard like this...


Anyway, because she loves flip-flops so much I decided to decorate some for her. These are totally not my original idea! It actually stems from my extreme cheapness, we saw some in a store and decided that we could make them ourselves! So I took pictures of them as we made them so that I could blog instructions! It took me 15 minutes...tops!


Hot glue ribbon to the sole of the flip flop
Wrap the staps in ribbon overlapping a little bit.Clip hair bows to the ribbon on the front! I like this because you can switch out bows!I added rhinestones to the polka dots! The finished product!

Aren't they adorable?