Living The Martial Way

This weekend a 10 year old little girl, in Eustis Florida, which is a town about 25-30 minutes from here, was almost abducted by a man twice her size, from her front yard where she was playing.
Fortunately, this story ends with a happy ending. This 10 year old girl, fought, broke free and got away.
The police are still looking for the guy that tried to take her.
I am sure this guy will think twice about grabbing another child. You see, this little girl just so happened to be a black belt in karate.

Though, I wish she never had to go through any of that, I am so happy that she was trained, very well I am sure, to stay calm, defend herself and escape a situation that could very well have turned deadly.

And..to anyone who wonders why my boys train 5-6 days a week in martial arts and combat style/street fighting, to become better and stronger. That is the #1 reason why. You simply cannot be too careful. If there are any parents out there who still on the fence about sending their children to martial arts training, please think again. That 1 hour class that you'll find yourself driving to 3 to 5 times a week could save the life of your child.

On a brighter note...Kody and Kolin has recently gotten the word that they will be testing again on January 31st for their second degree black belt.
How awesome is that?

These were taken this afternoon...









I am so stinkin' proud of those two boys of mine. :0)

Hope you all have the most awesome day everyone!!

Love, Kim

My Bear

Dang..this kids big brown eyes make my heart melt. :0)



It was a pretty awesome day today..the weather was really nice, yep..so nice in fact we had to turn the central A/C on.
{Sorry Sheila!!}
Kody spent all afternoon on his...your all not going to believe this..

SKATEBOARD!!!

He was awesome, right on balance, flying up and down the street doing tricks like he hadn't a problem in the world.
Did I take pictures? Ummm.....no, didn't do it, sorry.
tomorrow's fixin' to be another beautiful day though, so we'll get some.
Kolin was so cool the whole day, riding right there next to him, just incase. Always keeping an eye on his brother..I just love that kid.

Welp everyone..I really hate to cut this short but without Adri around {her and Kayara went to Cape Coral for a week} it is real quiet around here and quiet in a home with two boys could only mean trouble. LOL!!

I'll catch up with ya'all tomorrow.

Have a great night everyone!!!

Love, Kim

Slash

We hope everyone's Christmas was a good one. :0)

Ours was pretty decent and very loud..kids, grandbabies, toys, flying paper, and Guitar Hero World Tour which Kody and Kolin {OK, and me and Kaysha} played all day long.

I have to tell ya'all a little something about Kolin tonight. OK, here goes..
Kolin, much like his Mama, loves Guns and Roses. Kolin is mildly obsessed with Slash. Kolin would love to be Slash, at least for a day. Kolin can imitate the entire November Rain video...all almost 10 minutes of it, and he can rock it..trust me on that.
Anyway...while out Christmas shopping two days before Christmas, which, believe it or not, is when I started shopping, I walked into FYE {a music store} looking for some cool Slipknot things I knew my boys would love.
I didn't find any Slipknot but, sitting there, hanging from a wall, all by itself, with a clearance tag on it, was Slash's top hat complete with a full head of Slash's long jet black hair.
I couldn't believe it and faster then you can say "Welcome to the Jungle", that hat was mine, all mine for my kid, Slash's greatest fan.

Come Christmas morning...Kolin opened up that hat and he flipped out, 100% completely insane.
And, he hasn't taken that dang hat off yet.

Here's a few snaps from this afternoon...







The processing on them was really out of the box funky, I know...but, I figured it may have been pretty dull any other way.

Thanks for stopping by tonight...have a beautiful night everyone. :0)

Love, Kim

Merry Christmas

We here in the "K" family would like to wish all of you a Very Merry Christmas!!!!



And, a special message to some one I love very much who can't spend Christmas at home this year. I miss you and can't wait until you are home. Here's a little something from me to you, it may not be very traditional..but it sure is us, isn't it? :0)



Have a beautiful day everybody!!!!

Love, Kim and the "K's"

A Misfits Christmas

Because things are always different around here, this year Adri has a "Very Merry Misfits Christmas" theme going on...











These are all taken today. :0)

Hate to make this so short tonight but Kaysha's friend Travis M. {the one in the military} is on "Tribute To The Troops" and I really want to watch it.

Have a beautiful night everyone!!

Love, Kim

Guess Who Lost Her First Tooth?

Alona did!!



And rest assured her two Uncles taught her all about spitting water through that gap. :0)

See ya'all tomorrow.

Love, Kim

Just A Little Bit Of Anything

And some cute kids too. :0)

I'm still working on those pictures from last weekend, slowly but surely.
Here's some for tonight.

The Boggy Creek Bird...



Bear bustin' a move, he is definitely the line dancer of the family.



My boys...



And, when we came home, we came home to these two, Alona...




And Adri...



Lots more photos of those two coming up soon.

Not much else going on here, just trying to wrap up the week.
Well my friends, I know this one is short and sweet, but I am exhausted tonight. We'll be seeing ya'all tomorrow. :0)

Love, Kim

Happy Hump Day!

I'll be back to regular blogging by tomorrow, I really will. :0)

We've just been trying to squeeze in alot of work hours and after school activities this last week till the kids are on Christmas vacation.
Their last day is this Friday and they don't go back till Jan. 5th.
And, to top it all off..I have not done a stitch of Christmas shopping. :0(
I'm also a Christmas card neglector this year...so in order to stay going "green", I'm going to put together a virtual one. I know, I know...it's just a fancy excuse for "I never got a Christmas card made".
Well, let me go see at what kind of photos from this past weekend I can round up, so I have something for tomorrow.

**Note**
All hat orders are being shipped tomorrow {thank you Karlio}. Enjoy them!!

OK everyone, as always..I have to run.

Have a great night everyone!!

Love, Kim

Camp Boggy's Holiday Party

We had the best day ever yesterday!!!
I have lots of pics to share...I just have to get to getting them downsized, but for now..here's three.

Kolin and Bear putting their hand prints on this years holiday banner.





And Kolin, doing what he does best...ingesting pure sugar by the handful. :0)



While we were there, we busted a move with a pretty classy band that was playing, and the crazy thing is, the lady who wrote Kody's awesome magazine article is a member of that band. Who would have thought?
So...in the midst of it all, Kody, Kolin and I got a big ole' "shout out" from the band. It was so cool.
Thank you Miss Ruth, you really made our day. :0)

Anywhos, I will have more pictures of their day up soon, but I seriously have to update the Hat site first.
Let me go run and put up a few Photographer Hat Packs, and I'll be back just as soon as I can.
See Sheila..I didn't make any promises this time. LOL!!

Have a beautiful day everyone!!!

Lots of Love,
Kim

Florida Boys

Just chillin' like brothers do. :0)



Good Night!!!

~Kim~

Happy Friday!!

WHEW...got through another one!! :0)

OK..first news, this is so insane, insane in a good way...

Adriana made it to 3 down South {like the Cape Coral/Naples} area TV stations yesterday..and it gets better.
They want the "Cutest Kid" to participate in all the major parades that they have there, sitting on a float and waving to peeps. How cool is that?!
Our little "Coppertop" is going to be making a name for herself real soon.
Plus..it gets better, there will be scouts for magazines checking her out. And to think, it all started out with this...



Who would have ever thought...not me. :0)

The other good news is, Camp Boggy Creek's Winterfest party is tomorrow and I'll be grabbing my two boys, tossing them in the car and driving them out there for a fun afternoon of lots of kiddo activities.
Oh...I'll make sure to take pictures cuz I know, I have been neglecting that badly. Stinks coming home and it gets dark 30 minutes later.
I'll make up for that tomorrow though, for sure.

OK, well I'm off for tonight. I'll be back tomorrow with some new stuff for ya'all.

Have a GREAT night everyone!!

Love, Kim

PS. One of Kolin, so Sheila doesn't think I'm a complete photo blogging neglector. :0)

A Little Bit'a K n' K

Just because I couldn't stay off tonight and mostly because I wanted to shock the bajeezes out of Sheila. LOL!!

Three of the "Double Trouble" kids..







Till tomorrow....

Kim

PS. Scroll down to my post below to see our Cat Country Cutest Kid winner!!! :0)

Cat Country's FIRST Place Cutest Kid!!

We have a winner!!!!!!!!


Cat Country's Cutest Kid is ADRIANA!!!!!!

Thank you so much to everyone out there who helped us get our baby girl to be the #1 cutest kid.
Now, mind you...we think all those young uns' were adorable...but who can resist a little redhead? ;0)

I'm off to upload some new pic's amd help Kolin with his homework. I'll try my best to be back on later, but if I don't..I'll see ya'all tomorrow night.

Thanks again everyone!!!

Love, Kim

Shopping Tip #1...Purse Safety

Christmas shopping is in full swing, I know this because I am a die-hard Wal-Mart shopper..and when it takes me more time standing on line to pay for my kids food stuff then it does to pick up a few hundred groceries, read all the celebrity scandal mag's at the register, eat a king sized Hershey bar one bag Bold Party Chex Mix and a Cola, pass out $5.00 worth of quarters to my two boy hellions for the arcade room, run back and pick up five forgotten items, get 24 photos developed, and set up my cell phone voice mail, my senses tell me...holiday shopping is alive and well here in sunny Leesburg.

Shoppers are buzzing and shoplifters and purse snatchers are around too. I haven't seen any yet..but they are there, I've been told.

Now, because my purse holds everything important in my life, gum, tums, strawberry lip gloss, glasses lens cleaner, 47 pens and highlighters {I know..I know, I just love them too much to part}, two to-do books, an unbalanced checkbook, 98 receipts, a polka dot umbrella and oh yes...my keys and wallet, I know I can't be too safe. It's mine, I'm keeping it and hell's to the no to all you Grinches out there, you ain't gettin' it.

What I do everyday, not just during the madness of the holiday rush, but all the time is a very simple way of keeping what's mine right there in front of me and not taken by some sticky fingered weirdo.

Now...while I don't have small young un's anymore this may be a small problem for those who do.
OK..so, very short and sweet...take the baby seat harness safety clips located right there on your shopping cart and clip the handle of your purse in them.
BaaDaa Bing, BaaDaa Boom..that's it.
Seriously..this takes 2 seconds and could very well keep your purse from being grabbed by some Scrooge who would love nothing more then to do some shopping with your hard earned cash.

BTW..I don't claim to be a professional safety expert..I just wanted to share what I know works for me. And, I've had plenty a man, woman and even a police officer tell me it's a darn good idea. Try it, please, for this here face...



LOL, see that..I knew you'd do it for him. :0)

Have a great night everyone!!!!

Love, Kim

It's Tomorrow Somewhere, Isn't It?

LOL, I should have known better..I really should have known. OK, I promise to never promise again, and that's a promise. :0)

So, yesterday was a busy day..no surprise. Last night the boys helped out with PWCST black belt testing, and that was really cool. Afterwards, while we waited for Kayara and Adriana to walk back from the Leesburg Christmas parade, Kolin had a few minutes to himself on a completely empty karate floor and of course, because Kolin is Kolin..he couldn't go without pummeling a couple training dummy things.

This is a pretty snotty photo cuz my speedlight {external flash} was acting like a snot, and he was moving way faster then me or the camera could keep up...so sorry about the quality, but ya'all get the idea.



It looks like Bear's Mohawk days may be coming to an end, as he has decided that he wants to grow his hair out long too. His decision made by a few brats in school that can't seem to take the hint "hands off the shunt". I'll miss that "hawk", but I'm sure one day it'll be back.

Welp, my friends and family that I love..let me get going and see if perhaps I can get a few snaps of Bear before it gets too late...or he leaves me to go toss a football around again.
Next weekend...Christmas pic's for sure, no matter what the little hellions say. ;0)

Have a great day everyone!!!

Love, Kim

Bad Blogger

Yep, I need a good ole' smackdown for being the worlds worst blogger this week. It's been a crazy week and between Dad Bear and I, we sort of barely made it through. All I can say is TGIF!!!!
I promise to get ya'all some new photos and some new blogging material to read tomorrow.
Till then though, it's pretty late so I'll wish you all a good night and I'll be talking to you tomorrow. :0)

Love, Kim

PS. Sheila, e-mail me!!! nikon4kim@gmail.com

Top Ten

Adriana made it to the final top 10 cute kids!!!
Please, please help us get her to the #1 spot for Cat Country's Cutest Kid

She's number #013 and this is what her photo that was submitted looks like...



Thank you so much to everyone out there who helped us get her this far.
I'll update again real soon..I have got to go and help Kolin with some homework. :0/

Have a beautiful night everyone!!!

Love, Kim

PS. I can't pull that magazine on-line yet, I think it may be too soon. As soon as I can get it to show ya'all..I definitely will. Oh..yes, it is a local Lake County magazine..a really nice one that is huge, in full color and just beautiful.I am still in awe.

PPSS. You would not believe how many people {friends from our hometown here in Leesburg} that we know who are reading it and can't get through it without tears {Ahem..Michelle}.
That Kody Bear of ours..he has touched alot of lives. :0)

Kody's Magazine Article...

It's here and hot off the press today, Kody's full color, 6 pages long magazine article and it is AWESOME!!!!!
I had no idea it would be today, so, on my lunch break, as I waited for my favorite little coffee shop to make my pumpkin latte with a Coke on the side, I glanced over at the racks off magazines and his name just caught my eye.
So, I picked me up a handful and tomorrow, I'll be going back for more. :0)

Seriously though...the article was beautifully written, absolutely phenomenal, the layout was incredible with all sorts of silhouettes of martial arts, skateboarding and even the first two pages were that of an electric guitar with the body part being a cancer ribbon.
It is so Kody, soooooo Kody Bear.
They used all my photos with credits....which was incredible in itself. :0)
There are no words to describe it...so, I'm going to look around tonight and see if I can find a link to it.
It's a must, must see.

I really just can't get over how beautiful this article is, and the people who put it all together, we thank you a million, trillion times.

To celebrate, well..I wish I could say I had some shots of Bear, but I don't. Sorry, but I will within the next day or so.
I do have some of Kolin from the weekend. BTW, Kolin and Kaysha are both in the mag. too.

I little bit different editing for me, but I kind of think I like the toned down colors for there...





Have a BEAUTIFUL night everyone!!!!!!

Love, Kim

Windy Ole' Florida

We're under tornado warnings till 5 PM today and I've got to tell ya'all..it is wicked windy out there.
Just another day in Florida though...funny how you just get used to it.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, sunny skies, warm temp's, heck..the boys even had themselves a big ole' water balloon fight.
Oh..wait, let me show you how sweetly warm it was...



Because we have green everywhere and absolutely no foliage at all, this year once again, I dragged out the plastic leaves and tried to get a couple of autumn snaps before December gets here.
So..here's Kolin trying his best to have patience with me....







When we all know he'd rather be doing this...



Which is exactly how I found him yesterday when I walked out the front door to take out the trash can.

Here's one of Kody from yesterday and as you can maybe see...he's all about the NY Jets this year. :0)



And not wanting to leave out anyone who happened to step in my way, here's Tiki, enjoying some sunshine and ahhhh, some fake leaf props. :0)



Well my friends, I had better get to packing up Kody's med's and anything else that's important just incase we do have to make the mad dash out of here for a while.

Have a beautiful day everyone!!!!

Love, Kim

PS. Sheila...just go right to "You Tube" and type in the name of the poem/song and it will take you right to it. :0)

A Solider's Silent Night

Requested this morning by my Mom and dedicated to our "K" family good friend {mostly Kaysha's}, Travis M. who is bravely serving our Country in Iraq as we speak, and to all the other men and women of this great Country's military...may God bless you all this Christmas season and always.
Thank you.



As we go on to spend time shopping, eating good food and being with the ones we love, please, for us, take a moment everyday to pray for these awesome men and woman of the United States Military.

Have a beautiful day everyone.

Love, Kim and Mama/Grammy Janet

Guitar Hero/Dragonforce

I wish ya'all could see Kolin fly though this song on
"Guitar Hero", he does it flawless and makes it look so easy. :0)



Me? I've only made it through level one and if it has more then 3 chords..I am completely lost, but I do look pretty funny trying. :0)

Have a great night everyone!!

Love, Kim and Kolin "The Guitar Hero Expert/Legend"

Happy Turkey Day!

From all of us in the "K" family, to all of our family and friends...best wishes for a very happy "Turkey Day". :0)



Love, Kim and the "K's"

Cat Country's Cutest Kid

Our Adriana made it to the finals!!!

Please, please, please stop by Cat Country, Tampa's radio station and vote for #13, our very own firecracker, Adri!!!! :0)
(scroll down a bit towards the bottom of the page}

Thank you sooo much everyone!!!!!



Love, Adri's Really Proud Gramma

Get Yourself A Box Of Kleenex....

Before watching this beautiful and incredible little boy...



Talk about a perfect Angel. :0)

Today's Kody

Taken this evening...



He is a pretty cool kid, isn't he?

Today was the last day of school for the kids, Thanksgiving vacation starts tomorrow. Unfortunately for us older folks living here, vacation day doesn't officially start till Turkey Day. The good news about that is we're done with the Thanksgiving shopping, The even better news is that Wal-Mart is conveniently open for peep's like me who forget something important every year. :0)

Welp, I better go..the boys and I are trying to babysit tonight and it's just not going well. One more hour and...

Her....

Mother........

Gets................

Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man, I hope this hour doesn't drag. LOL!!

Till tomorrow..have a wonderful night everyone!!

Love, Kim

That's HOT!!

Guess who's back?



I know I said that I didn't have any new pic's..then I remembered this one. :0)

The update below this one is Kody's...scroll down a little to check out our MRI results day.

~Kim~

Celebrate Good TImes!!

Sorry it took so long for me to get on here but, I promise it's worth the wait. :))

Kody's MRI came out FANTASTIC..PERFECT..AWESOME!!!!!

His ventricles are beautiful and filled with just the exact right amount of fluid to keep him healthy.
He has no new signs of any tumor growth anywhere.
The two suspicious spots have not changed and are official being called "Gliosis", which is just a medically fancy word for nothing more then "scar tissue". :0)

Today was definitely a really, REALLY good day and with Thanksgiving just around the corner, this was the best news and we give thanks everyday to everyone of you awesome friends and family who keep him in your prayers everyday.

Dr. Gegg said to bring him back in 4 months for another follow-up MRI and visit. If he's still perfect then we wait 6 months. But, Dr. Gegg likes MRI follow ups to be more frequent, we will most likely never go more then 6 months between them.

Kody only had one small problem today and that is after the MRI he started getting a headache, probably due to the MRI magnetics messing around with his shunt settings.
As soon as we got to the Dr's, Kody's favorite nurse, Abe, reset his shunt back to his comfortable 1.0, and things looked good.
However, while waiting for the Dr. to come in, Kody decided to lay down and when he got up he felt alot of pressure in his head, and a feeling of a rush of fluid leaving and then he got pretty dizzy and darn near fell off the table.
This was really all due to the fluid that built back up between the MRI and him getting his shunt reset. Though, the fluid collect quickly...it also exited quickly, so it's just something that we have to keep in mind for the next time.
Other then that...after his shunt was reset back, his headache left the building and he's been doing just wonderful since.

We also got to see Kody's MRI and brain up close and personal today as Dr. Gegg brought his laptop into our room and pulled up everything for us and Kody to see. He answered every question we had and Kody had and again, I know I've mentioned this before, but Dr. Gegg is the most AWESOME doctor ever. We are so happy and feel so blessed that he is in Kody and our lives. Just another reason to give thanks. :0)

Welp everyone..I really must get a move on.
I still have a ton of things to do before I can hit the sack.
I have to work all day tomorrow but I will be back on tomorrow night for sure and hopefully with some new pictures.

Have a beautiful night everyone!!!

Love, Kim

Waiting At Arnold Palmer

Kody's just about to wrap up his MRI, we're waiting for them to compare his new films to the 6 month priors and we are off to McD's for some breakfast and Dr' Gegg's for our results. :0)
Don't you just love technology...so cool that I can sit here and update for ya'll.
I'll update again when we get home.

Have an awesome day everyone!!!

Love, Kim

The Shunt Families Picnic

We had such a great time yesterday at the Hydrocephalus Family Support Picnic. Lots of good food, games, new friends...just an awesome day for sure.
Heck, I even won a $20 Dominoes Pizza gift card, which will come in real handy on "Tuesday Night Movie Night."

Here's just a few pic's from yesterday..I have more but not enough time tonight {sorry} to get them all done. I will though, I just need one more day.

Kolin, going down a slide with some roller things on it. I'm sure your supposed to sit on it like all the other kids did, but Wild Man was having none of that easy going down stuff....



Towards the end of the day, it was getting chilly so my boys took total advantage of the still hot grills. OK, truth be told..I was right there with them warming up 3 seconds before I snapped this. I'm sure the temp. was down to a chilly 60-ish degrees or so by then.



Stud Boy won the hearts of everyone there, this cutie in particular. Her name is Willow, she digs mohawks, she's almost 13, and she has a shunt since birth. :0)
BTW, Kody thought she was real cute too. :0)



I think the most memorable part of the day was just hanging out and listening to the conversations between these special kids.
I mean, on any given day, the talk between a couple of tweens/teens and even the elementary group would go something like this...video game talk, sports, skateboards and such.
What I heard was in depth, intelligent conversations about things like inter-cranial pressure, the differences between VP and programmable shunts, hydrocephalus, hospitals, drainage tubes, ventricles, cysts and tumors.

I've never seen such a bunch of awesome old souls in my life and I have to say, we are super excited about next month, because we've been invited back for the HFSG {hydrocephalus family support group} big Christmas bash.

Tomorrow morning bright and early we leave for Orlando so that Kody can get his 6 month follow up MRI over at Arnold Palmer Hospital. We'll find out the results tomorrow morning also so I'll update when we get home.

Have a beautiful night everyone..and don't forget to hang with our favorite peep's over on Wisteria Land tonight. :))

Love, Kim

My Sister From Another Mother

That's Sheila..my sister from another mother that I've never met yet. LOL!!
My long lost sister who laughs with me and worries about me.
Sheila..Your The BEST!!

But honestly, no worries..I've just had a super busy week, a few work related dramas that had nothing to do with me but did make my workload double.
I'm still trying to get over that lingering lung hacking, I haven't even thought of Thanksgiving shopping and Christmas is being forced upon me everytime I walk into the grocery store, my kids don't get clean socks often enough and Kody's been trying to borrow his Dad's, the cats cling on anyone who walks by in hope of a handful of dry food, I volunteered and got accepted as Kolin's only class Mom, back in the day when my life was more chilled out and now I'm wondering what was I thinking, my husband has turned into me, he's our families new chauffeur, chef, and appointment maker and taker, I'm three weeks behind in all my e-mails, and the worst thing that causes me alot of sleepless nights...
I can't even find five minutes to call my own Mom, who would walk in front of a semi if it would make her kids happy.
I'm an awful daughter, I am, for real, no joke.

But, other then all that, life continues to rock on as it always has.
Thanks so much Sheila...why can't we live closer? :0)

Tomorrow I will be able to get some new photos on here because we will be spending the day in the park, in Orlando, at a huge blast given by Kody's neurosurgeons office. It's a "hydrocephalus support group" party for kids of all ages and their families to meet and have a day of fun in the sun. Kody will be able to finally meet other kids with shunts and the whole day is gonna be awesome.
Heck, even Karlio is way into it...making 40 pounds of chicken, two giant sized tins of mac and cheese and is helping running the BBQ's.

Sunday is my goal day to have every last hat order finished and ready for the mail on Monday morning. I apologize again for the delay, but like I mentioned..I didn't want to go anywhere near the supplies and hats while I was sick for safety sake. All's good though and new, cool, funky hats will be on those little noggins very soon.
Thank you everyone for understanding.

Monday is Kody's MRI day. We have to have him at Arnold Palmer Hospital at 7:30 AM for his 8:00 AM MRI. Then we go see his surgeon for his shunt to be reset {the MRI will mess up his shunt setting, because of the magnets} and we will also get the results of the MRI while we are there.

OK, I think that's it in a nutshell. We've been busy, but busy in a good way. :0)

I'll be back on tomorrow night to let ya'all know how much fun we had at the park.

Have a beautiful night everyone!!

~Kim~

PS. How about Sunday Mom?

To My Mama

I love you!!!!!!



Love Your Baby Girl

Please don't be mad, yes I will call you. :0)