Yesterday

Yesterday was quite the crazy day. My sister called around 11:30 telling me she was in labor and I had to go stay with the kids. I jumped in my car (with my bathing suit on, ha!) and went to stay with the kids. We played all day and then got to go see baby Kate at the hospital! The kids were so cute with their new baby sister!!!

I was totally exhausted last night and slept til 9:30 this morning (which is late for me these days). Being Aunt Kat all day is tiring, but I wouldn't change a second of it for anything!!!

Kate Elizabeth

My new niece is here!! We share the same middle name :)

Kate Elizabeth Sparks
6 lbs 11 oz
18 3/4 inches long

Aunt Kat is so in love!!!!

Afternoon walks

Around 7 every night, Ty & I have started walking Emma around the neighborhood and it has quickly become my favorite part of the day. It's just us and our sweet puppy, the weather is perfect, and I love walking around looking at houses (I recently have developed "house fever").
I snapped these pictures yesterday right before our walk...and one of Emma just because she's cute!!
Hope everyone is having a great start to the summer, I sure am!!!

Memorial Day

Yesterday marked a year since my sweet nana went to be with Jesus. Today marks a day to remember those who have given their life for our freedom. My poppy did not die in the line of duty but he did fight for our country and I will forever be proud to be his granddaughter. He passed away when I was in 7th grade and I miss him all the time. I am so glad him and nana are now together again in Heaven. I miss you so much nana & poppy.

I hope you took the time today to say a prayer for our military men and women who have served or are serving now. I hope you also took the time to pray for their brave families.

A certain family is on my mind tonight as they are still mourning the loss of their son, brother, nephew, grandson, and cousin. I have written about Jacob before. We grew up in church together and he died in July of 2010 serving our country. He will always be a hero to me.

Thank you to all who have fought for our freedom. Thank you to all who are fighting for our freedom.

Sorry the pictures are all out of order, I'm on my iPhone! The pictures are of Jacob Dennis, my nana & poppy, and my poppy in uniform (he was so cute!)

Yum!

I made this delectable dessert Saturday night called chocolate chip cookie cheesecake! We went to a friends house for dinner & I made this along with my momma's yummy baked beans! It was a huge hit & I am totally making it again! Thank you pinterest!

Ingredients:
-3 (8 oz) tubs of cream cheese, softened
-3 eggs
-3/4 cup of sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2 rolls chocolate chip cookie dough

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together in a bowl. Cut cookie dough into 1/4 inch slices & fill the bottom of an 8x12 greased pan with the slices and press them together so there are no holes. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the cookie dough and put the rest of the cookie dough slices on top of the cream cheese mixture. Bake 45-50 minutes until golden brown and the middle is slightly firm. Let cool and then refrigerate. Cut into slices when ready to serve!

Enjoy! This is a yummy one!

What I've been up to

I'm going to try to take a picture every day of summer so here's what I've been doing for the first two full days of summer....
-Lunch with Levi & my sister
-new shoes
-pool with a sweet friend!!!

Summertime!!!

It's officially summer!!!! Last day with the kids was yesterday (i had 4 for half the day and 2 for the rest of the day...ha!) and went for a 1/2 day today for a teacher workday! I cannot believe that another year is under my belt. My third year of teaching is officially over! Where has the time gone? I've made new friends and found out that I LOVE teaching Kindergarten!!!! Those sweet babies have been such a blessing to me this year & I can't believe they are on their way to first grade!

I am so ready for long hot days & fun summer nights. I'm ready for endless days at the lake with nowhere to go. I'm ready for the beach & some yummy seafood! Thank you Lord for summertime!!!!

Instagram

Here are some instagram pictures I have taken recently! I love all the cool features instagram has!!! If you have it, follow me @kealfano! These pictures are from this weekend. I saw the prettiest sunrise Saturday morning that took my breath away.
My sister had a garage sale so I went to help with that Saturday morning & the kids had fun playing outside all morning!
Ty bought Emma a pool from Walmart and she has had a blast keeping cool in the water! It makes her really hyper!!! It's so cute!

Pictures

Thought I'd do a picture update....enjoy!

My Marmie!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mommas out there!!!

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful mother who raised me in a Christian home. She is the most selfless, loving, caring, hard-working person I know. She never missed a cheerleading competition or a game I cheered at. She was my biggest fan and has always supported me in everything I have ever wanted to do (except maybe go to BAMA - ha!). She is more than a mom to me, she is my best friend and I don't know what I would do without her. She always has the BEST advice and I can always count on her to calm me down when I am upset or stressed about something. She is such a Godly woman and I can only hope to someday be half the woman she is!!

Mom, thank you for everything. I don't know how I'll ever repay you for everything you have done for me and taught me. You are my hero! Words cannot describe what you mean to me.

I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my mommy you'll be.

Emma

Emma got her 3rd round of puppy shots this week and she did great! The vet tried to trick her by giving her treats while he gave her the shots but when he put the needle in she turned her head around to him like, "hey, you tricked me, what'd you just do?" lol it was amusing. She weighs 20.8 pounds and it is very likely that she will double her weight in about a month which is CRAZY! She is getting so big so quick!

Ty trains her when he feeds her so she has to work for every bite of food. It's pitiful but I know it will be good in the long run when we have a very well-trained dog. She does sit, down, and kennel right now and rings a bell when she has to go outside to pee! Maybe I'm biased but she's a pretty smart puppy :)