disney princess on ice

the ultimate girl outing! :) a trip to disney on ice! :) the girls were thrilled that their cousin s, and missy, and friend gh got to come along! it was a great afternoon! :) everyone dressed in pink, carried their wand, and snacked out on lots of sugar! :) they watched so intently! it was so cool to see how magical it was for them! :) kam stared dreamily at almost every princess! mck and ken loved the dancing and the cool tricks! :) can't wait to have a girls' day again soon! thanks missy and tim for coming! :)

a grinch hat for daddy

daddy brought home and plain santa hat and asked the girls to decorate it for him for a contest at work! :) the girls and i had a blast decorating it up with a giant grinch, some tinsel, and christmas balls! :) daddy even wore his grinch shirt to work to top off our amazing design! :) the best part . . . he won a $50 gift card! :) go girls!

a camp "in"!

the girls had a great time setting up their tent and having a camp "in" in the playroom! :) we even had s'mores for dessert! :) b.c. loved climbing in and out of the tent . . . and messing up everything the girls tried to set-up in the tent! :) won't be long till we'll have to set up two tents so there's enough room! :)

a "fishy" treat!

ms. b (LOVE her!) stopped by with a cool snack for the girls . . . their own jello fish bowl! what fun! the girls spent awhile studying it trying to figure out what it was made of and if the fish were really real! (it probably didn't help that i was giving them a hard time about it!) what a fun summer snack! we'll be making this very soon! :) hello . . . you can't go wrong with jello and gummies! :)

painting the coop

with a little help from the girls bailey officially finished the chicken coop today! the girls had lots of fun painting . . . well, it was fun for about five minutes and then mck got a little bit of white paint on her hand and had a huge meltdown because she wanted to come in a take a bath to get it off "right now!" . . . after we got over the meltdown they continued painting for quite awhile! the coop looks great . . . the chickens are happy! in fact, tonight we found them all nestled together in one nest in the coop . . . so glad they have all that room! :)

birthday trip 2010

what a wonderful weekend the girls had! it was packed full of fun . . . before we even left g'town! :)

we took the girls to the salon to get their fingers and toes painted! they were in heaven. they were all so still and so quiet . . . and of course everyone thought they were so cute and well behaved! what a fun (but rare!!!) treat! :) we had lunch at chick-fil-a and then hit the road! :)

next stop . . . the animal safari! the kids loved it! i think we arrived a little late in the day for all of the animals to be hungry . . . but there were still a few with appetites! one emu in particular really got a little too anxious for the food that ken had . . . see the picture at the bottom? :) poor kid! :) the girls loved the petting zoo . . . complete with brand new baby goats and an enormous pig! we checked out some cool peacocks too! then it was time to hit the hotel!

after checking in and getting settled we walked the river walk and headed to the rain forest cafe for a yummy dinner and lots of entertainment. the kids were in awe of everything. we sat right next to the elephant so they thought that was awesome too! we topped dinner off with a huge volcano dessert! poor little b.c. was so worn out by the time we got back to the hotel that he fell asleep in the stroller . . . a rare occurrence!

on saturday we hit six flags as they opened at 10 and went strong all day long. the kids rode all the rides . . . and some of them more than once. it was overcast and never got hotter than 80! how perfect! the girls had so much fun and were able to ride many of the rides together by themselves! it was a treat to watch them! we left the park around 5:30 with 4 tired kids!

sunday was a low key day . . . i woke up to lots of wonderful homemade presents from the kids and a few nice gifts and cards! we had a nice breakfast, visited the hotel animals one last time and then we toured the alamo, walked along the river, and just took it easy! bailey splurged and took us all on a carriage ride before we headed out of the city! what a great trip!

spa night for the girls!

spa night for the bailey girls! i got out all the bath goodies, made a special drink for the girls and had them put on their robes! they took a special bubble bath in the big tub, used special lotion and got their toes painted, all while sipping on their ice cream drinks! :) what a fun evening! i think they thought the coolest part was that there were no boys allowed! :) we'll be making this a monthly event!

gardening (and a splash day!)

bailey and the girls have been working hard on a deer-proof garden! :) after several days of work and LOTS of planting, we have a pretty big garden with LOTS of variety! the kids picked most of the plants out! (funny that ken was soooo into picking theplants out and she own't eat veggies!) the kids have had lots of fun and are anxious to see what grows! we had to have a splash day becasue they we worn out and tired! :) what fun! :)

bouncing with all the kids!

we met our friends for a morning of bouncing! it was a little crazy (being spring break) but the kids had so much fun running around with each other! they were litteraly all sweaty by the time we went to leave. poor little kam was just a dilerious mess at the end. she had tried so hard to keep up with the big kids. what a fun day!

president's pie!

the girls and i had lots of fun making "president's pie" with directions from mck! she made this at school and directed us through the whole process! what fun! :) it was a sickening sweet treat (oreos, cherries, and whip cream!) .. . but they gobbled it up! and we had fun squirting whip cream too! :) thanks ms. b for the great idea. . .. next year we'll be more timely and have it on president's day! :)

cinderella play

the girls and i went to see a high school performance of cinderella this morning! it was wonderful for mck and ken . . . maybe a little too much for kam, but i hated leaving her out! ken and mck sat mesmerized through most of the performance! ken's teacher's daughter was the fairy godmother, so that added to her enthusiasm for the show! and both girls were excited when we saw some friends of theirs that they got to sit with during the performance! intermission was super fun too . . . a princess parade where they all got to walk across the stage and right by the stars of the show! :) what fun! :)

"princess day"

for those of you who didn't know, today was "princess day". . . or, so my 3 girls declared! :) this morning they "snuck" downstairs at just before 7 and made me a wonderful breakfast of special k and ice water . . . with a straw! :) too cute! ken even carried it in on a tray and wrote a sweet note! :) after they helped me eat my breakfast, they decided it should be "prince day" too and made bailey a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch with a glass of water (no straw!). they helped him eat his too! what a sweet way to start the day . . . although i must admit it would have been even sweet if they had all gotten their own breakfast and let us sleep! :)

trampoline time!

we took advantage of a visit from grammy and grampy to have grampy help put together the trampoline! :) it was a little chilly, but they got it done in just a few hours . . . then we all got to enjoy the fun! :)

camping "out"

we promised the girls we'd sleep in the tent sometime over the break . . . well, the weather just wasn't quite warm enough . . . so instead we set up the tent in the extra bedroom and they had an indoor camp out! :) 3 little girls in a very tiny tent made for a crowded sleeping arrangment, but they loved it! :) they talked and giggled and read stories for a few hours before falling asleep! :) can't wait till we can camp for real! :)

playing with the kids!

the girls have had a wonderful time with peanut and rocky! :) they will chase them around int he pen for hours! :) we can't tell if the goats are enjoying it or if it's pure torture . . . but slowly and surely they're getting used to us! :) what fun! :) they "cry" every time we walk outside . . . just wanting some attention! :) very cute! :) it is so fun to watch the two of them together . . . they really love each other! they cry when they're separated too! :) who would have thought i'd be enjoying the country life?

our halloween costumes arrived . . .

when the door bell rang with a ups package, we knew the costumes were here! :) i got everyone on-board with the whole "it'll be so fun if you all match" idea, figuring this may be the last time i can do that! :) so, we're going with a pumpkin theme . . . our little pumpkin patch! :)

the girls' outfits are all very girly and each picked one that they just loved . . . kam's is called pumpkin pie . . . a sweet little pumpkin fairy! :) mck's is pumpkin princess . . . a light up foofy dress that is sooooo "her"! and ken's is called pumpkin spice . . . okay, i call it "hootchie pumpkin", but it actually looks a lot cuter on her than it did on-line! (i threatened to return it if it didn't look okay!) :)

so i had to capture the images of the girls tearing into the package and trying their costumes on and checking themselves out in the mirror! :) their excitement makes everything soooooo much fun! :) i just love it! :)

(don't worry! b.c has a pumpkin outfit too . . . his was hanging in his closet and he was sleeping when we were taking pictures! :))

time with the kids

i have been a huge slacker! i had this great idea before kam was born to spend time with each of the kids - one on one each week by taking them to do something special . . . well, that lasted all of a few months. i have been wanting to start doing that again, but with b.c.'s birth, it seems like 4 kids and only 7 days in the week make it really tough . . . so, i devised an easy little plan . . . cooking with them!

dinner has to be made every night. the kids always want to help, but three little ones in the kitchen make dinner preparation painstaking at times . . . especially when b.c. picks that time to be fussy . . . so everyone now has a "night" that they help me cook!

ken helps mon, mck helps tues., bailey does dinner on wed. (this after i said i need at least one night off!), and kam helps on thurs.! they get to pick (from a couple of choices) what we're making and they get to pick what everyone has for dessert! they help set the table and do as much as they can to help get everything ready! it has been really fun! they actually want to know when their night is to help! :)

this great plan is allowing us the one-on-one time the kids and i both need without spending money . . . and we're getting something done that has to be done anyway! :) can't beat that.

a week with grammy

the girls had a great week! :) they got to do lots of fun things with grammy while i spent time with b.c.! monday they went to the library and got to spend lots of time picking out books and playing . . . tuesday was b.c.'s photo shoot, but the girls got to participate too! they were all little hams! :) they loved the extra attention! then they got to go to lunch at burger king and do a little shopping! wednesday they went back to the library for the end of the summer reading program! there was a cool bubble lady there and they all got their faces painted and ate lots of pizza! :) they had a great time!

thursday they all went to the movies to see g-force! they ALL sat through the movie! (hello- even kam!) they filled up on popcorn, soda, and candy! :) what a treat! friday we all ventured out . . . we left at 8:30 (WOW . . . i impressed myself!) we started off at chick-fil-a for breakfast and lots of play. i dropped the girls and grammy off at the pool while b.c. and i went to do some errands and pick up lunch for everyone. b.c. and i hung out at the pool for awhile while the girls finished swimming. about 45 minutes later b.c. had had enough . . . and we headed home around 1:45!

what a fun and busy week! i have a feeling the girls might be a bit disappointed in the coming week . . . taking all 4 kids anywhere is a bit daunting! thank goodness for grammy! she has been a lifesaver! between cooking, cleaning, taking care of the girls, and holding bentley . . . i would not have survived this week without her! reality is about to set in!