EastCoastLove

Sweet Shepherd! You are ten today! Can't believe it. All these squishy baby pictures seem like yesterday and also more than a decade ago. You are a sweet and caring boy. We are thankful for you and who you are growing into.  Our first born. We were learning how to be parents. Stumbling in the dark most days praying that what we were doing was 'right'.  You were a good baby and slept pretty well, but never through the night lol  As we added brothers you adjusted so well, and just wanted to hold the newest little baby.  You are a great big brother. Hoping y'all stay close as long as you live.  You already have style and everyone you meet is a friend. Our little happy social butterfly.   We love you and are so thankful for you! Excited to see what i ahead for you! 

Jack is six! Woah that was fast! This last year i have been trying to savor every last minute of time together. Cause now we enter into two new chapters, he starts Kinder and i go back to work! We are ready just a little nervous! This little guy is full of personality! Love him and what makes him unique. He adds even more laughs and craziness to our family and we all love him for it! His laugh and toots make us laugh so hard we cry at times. He also tries to tell jokes you gotta ask him to tell you his favorite joke!  He wanted a bowling party this year, so we met with family at Andy B's for a fun night! If you haven't been you need to go! Its supper fun!      Jack Kaleb Kimmel you are a gift from above! We are thankful for you and who you are! We are excited and thankful to be on this earth together. Thankful we get to watch as God grows you into who he created and dreamed up for only you!    Will it be weird if i continue to take pictures of him sleeping....

12 years ago we said I do  To what we had no clue.  There are so many things I never knew But thanks to you, you walked me through. To say you are my best friend is putting it lightly  You hold my heart so tightly  I am thankful for you and our life.  I am a lucky girl to be your wife.  You always joke we somehow have cheated cause every year feels a lot less heated Each season we have adapted and changed always growing and never shortchanged. Thought I would try my hand at poem for our anniversary :) what do you think? lol  So thankful for the 12 years we have shared! We are blessed beyond measure! Last year we ate dinner in the Whataburger parking lot... hoping we get to sit somewhere decent tomorrow night :)  23

This year we signed Asher and Shepherd up for UPWARDS basketball! Thanks to a friend who remembered a conversation we had months ago about sports activities, she let me know and we joined quick! They both love it!! I was sad that Jack couldn't join in the fun but it is based on grade level not age, so next year! Although he says he wants to do soccer or football not basketball. LOL This is a great starting place.  For those who don't know Upwards sports is a church program that teaches kids a sport and sprinkles Jesus in there. I am sure there is some official definition that I'm butchering, but I think you get it. Asher's age, K-2nd, doesn't keep score, or infractions.  So its rather cute watching all these kids double dribble, walk, and look at their parents for help. They play half court and rotate all players through the five 6 min 'quarter'. Shepherds age 3-5 plays full court and all the rules!  These last two months have been exciting and challenging. ...

Feeling loads of sentimental feelings this week as our sweet Shepherd is 9 years old today. Where did the time go?? Don't know if its due to this last year's craziness or what, but I feel like drinking this in so much! Celebrating all the things we have to be thankful for in a big way! Celebrating all the sweet things he does. Making sure he knows he is so loved! We are getting him early from school and gonna spend some one on one time with this kid!  Shepherd Karrick Kimmel is our oldest boy who stole my heart 9 years ago! We had two miscarriages the years before so his pregnancy was bathed in prayer and nervous excitement.  While carrying him I had to daily taking shots. I was on bed rest the last month and finally the last 2 weeks in hospital to keep my fluids up, which obviously kicked the stress level into overdrive! Due to all of the complications and to the fact that this stinker decided to be breech, we planned the C-section -February 3rd. If you haven't had a C sec...

Don't know about you but during this last year I have spent a lot time in the kitchen trying to feed my locked inside family. Made great use of Pioneer Woman and Magnolia cook books. Tried different slow cooker meals and even searched online for new ideas. Even had to pull out some of our favorite meals from years back.  Doing this I found an old copycat recipe we love! Don't know if you know my tex-mex obsession, but I have one! Could eat it every meal in so many different ways! I digress... One night when making quesadillas I stumbled on Chipotle Corn Salsa copycat recipe. YUM!  Back in my single days me and a group of friends would grab lunch after church and it was more often than not Chipotle. I don't know when it happened but when someone suggested I try their corn salsa, but I did and never looked back! Changed my Chipotle life hahah So when we got married and budget reasons meant no more eating out weekly I found this recipe. IT IS SOOOO GOOD!! There is something re...

  Today I turn 43. Wait what?? again I must say I never thought that being in my 40's would feel so young haha.  I have realized a few things this year. One my wrinkles are starting to show...I don't have a lot of grey hair but there are more and in my eyebrows no less...and I had to get glasses. Which was way more devastating for me than anyone around me cause absolutely no one noticed!  Hot off the press: this year has been a crazy one. Lots of things happening around us that I don't have words or energy to talk about but we do with our kids so they know reality and the truth of it all.  I think as we grow older and see things for the truth of it we realize we can't stay silent and need to be part of the change.  Don't know what is ahead for me my little family but I am excited and there for it! <3   

 Wait what?? Its true he is 7 now!  We spent last Saturday at a nerf battle place with a few of his friends and he had a blast!  He loves school and his family. He loves Pokemon cards and drawing them to hang on his wall. He loves transformers toys, movies and cartoons. He can't get enough.  We are thankful for his sweet heart and laughter. He laughs the loudest at Jack the silly little brother. \ Love watching you grow Asher! 

Hey y'all! My sis and I have started a 'book club' back at the start of 2020! Its so fun chatting with her about the characters and what we loved or hated about each book! She lives in VA so it's a fun way for us to 'hang out'. She is an avid reader and I am picky. She will research all things before she is interested in, or makes a decision, I sorta wing it.  It all started with the Outlander book series. She got me hooked and I anxiously await the 9th book. I've had friends who read constantly and widely and admired them. I usually just stick to movies or music. But during all this time at home due to COVID, I was able to read a few more, while adding more to my read list.  I reread the outlander book 5 of course cause its my favorite :) with a couple more sprinkled in. Here are three books that I adored and totally recommend.  On a recommendation from a friend we read "The Alice Network"by Kate Quinn.  A beautiful historical drama about a women ...

5 things about jack you should know 1. His facial expressions have been his greatest form communication since he was like 6 months old. He could raise his eye brows before he was one! His sweet little emotions are all over his face!  2. He loves to make his brothers laugh. Asher is his biggest fan!  3.  Still wants to hold my hand when we walk out in public! Still snuggles and lets me hold him when ever he isn't running wild :)  4. Always talks about motorcycles, dirt bikes, racing go carts, playing soccer, running and driving tractors. There is nothing this boy doesn't want to do. The world is his oyster.  5. Lastly he loves our cats something fierce and they love him too!  Happy birthday Jack! We love you!!

Interior design is something I have been into since I took an class back college. HGTV back in the day was my jam. Watching all the Design on a Dime, Love it or List it, and Sarah's house and of course recently Fixer Upper. Helping you create your own space that fits you and your budget. Now that we are in our forever house I always have a design plan running in the back of my mind.  Can't believe its been six years since we have built and moved out here in the country. We are so thankful we did it and having a blast. Our first house was 2400 square feet and this one is a 1200 square foot home. Talk about down sizing :) We didn't do much of decorating or building except for the boys beds and some small DIY stuff but really we just hunkered down and used whatever furniture we had at the last house. Which of course was too much and too big lol  before: We had this beautiful rectangle table from World Market that Kimmel and I picked out when we first got married. It had 4 chai...

Sitting in the grass of our back yard after my dad's funeral in September of '89, I remember feeling great comfort and words from God. He said I will be your provider and earthly dad.  Psalm 68:5-6a A Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families.  Years passed. I finished high school and headed off to college in '96. I got involved in a local small church and instantly connected with Karen the pastor's wife. Her husband Rick was the first man I remember being like a father in helping me make decisions, talk through big life questions and just be silly with. This family was so essential in my life. Even part of the reason I headed out to Texas for grad school, at Southwestern Baptist.  Big move to Texas alone at 21 was scary. I remember crying in a professors office, first week of school, after he asked me if I was doing ok. It surprised me and him! lol My roommate said she wanted to check out a church the n...

So when I thought I would start this blog back up I had no clue how strange it would feel to start it all again. Didn't think I would have a lot of voices in my head making me hesitate. It also is at a time when lots of voices are being shared and criticized on all forms of social media, it can be crippling. I have probably written three or four different posts and haven't shared any yet. Pictures are always so much easier for me. I am not good with words. I say the wrong thing too often.  I feel like I have to do a post and rip the bandaid off to get back into the swing of it. So here is a post about me feeling insecure about starting this journey back up.  This verse, Joshua 1:9,  has been an encouragement for me a couple big times in my life. I remember when I was feeling the nudge to leave a job for another, this was the verse God laid on my heart and gave me the strength I needed to take the plunge.  When I saw this sign at Hobby Lobby I had to get it for our bo...

There is only so much rough house and wrestling this momma can take before I loose my mind! With all the rain we had last month I had to get some puzzles and games for these wild boys! We don't want the screen time to go up just cause its raining, even though that's the easy answer. We try to let their imaginations fly and create but sometimes they need guidance. I am not a crafty person. The thought of glitter makes me twitch. So thankfully we can find these puzzles and games to help us through the wet days. I even saved up toilet paper and paper towel rolls for them to build with. They built eye glasses, spy glasses, binoculars and telescope. As well as boats and floats they tested in the tub which failed and ended the fun. When COVID restrictions hit Kimmel and I got some new games to try and entertain them. We have lots of fun playing all of these and even a few they can do on their own!  The newest one we tried is Scrabble Junior. I saw a family on insta...

Hello family and friends! It has been a minute since I have been able to sit, formulate a thought and write on this blog. Now having two in school and one almost there I feel like maybe I could pick this back up again. Shepherd is 8 now and finished 2nd grade! Asher finished kinder and is excited to start 1st in the fall! Jack will go to Pre-K at FBC Sanger, like the other two did, this fall. We finished strong with the distance learning thing and wonder what the fall is going to look like. Ironically I had ordered desks from IKEA for the boys that first week their school closed and FINALLY arrived 2 weeks back! when we finished. lol When I saw this months ago before the COVID I had to snag it and bring it home! I love being at home. Its my happy place. I love people and social things but I definitely recharge at home with my family. I am thankful to say that all five of us feel the same way. Shepherd has said a few times now that he will live with us when he is older while his ...

So a year ago lil Jack joined our family! That morning as kimmel was taking pictures of all the little moments up to the birth he made a hashtag #jackextraction and it made me laugh! Since i was having a C section it made sense...he only did it for two pictures but still it was perfect. A year later and its been amazing. This little happy guy is such a fun addition to our family. The boys love him and still love to hold him even thought jack can't stand it! Through out the day i hear both the big boys saying 'no jack' or 'uh ah don't touch that jack'...i then ask, who is the mommy? He apparently has 2 extras. Sweet lovable little Jack. We are so very thankful for you! You keep us laughing and happy as you continue to explore your world and get so very frustrated when you can't keep up with your brothers. Thru all the squeezes and pulls you must know they love you, its just a strange way to show it. Thanks for putting up with them! Save Save Sa...

So here we are in July and Jack is 11 months! Can't believe it! He is moving and a grooving, slo close to walking on his own. Wants to be where his brothers are and can almost wrestle them for any toy. He is just getting stronger each day!  Trying to go outside early each morning so we can enjoy the cool. It doesn't last long but we enjoy it while we can swinging, jumping or just enjoying the breeze.  He makes us laugh and we apparently make him squeal cause that is his form of communication right now. We are working on that haha