taking a test run! :)

kam LOVES her new rapunzel bike and is doing really well riding it! she can almost make it up the hill without having to push her bike! :) yay for that! :) and mck was trying out the new skateboard daddy brought home (i was NOT responsible for that!). both ken and mck are enjoying it, but it is making me soooo nervous!

high in the sky!

bentley is enjoying his swing these days (although kam still claims it as hers!). he isn't too sure about going very high or very fast, bu enjoys a light, gently push. . . in fact he'll start to close his eyes and relax! he LOVES being outside! he's even starting to enjoy trips down the slide while his big sisters hold him! :)

hot dogs and s'mores!

what a fabulous day! bailey finished up the playscape for the girls (they've been asking about it everyday since we moved in!). the weather was so perfectly "fall" that he set up the fire pit and helped the girls cook hot dogs and s'mores! YUMMY!

"come see this cool thing, mom!"

i was holding b.c. and cleaning up in the house when i heard ken open the garage door and yell, "come see this cool thing, mom!".

thinking it was another one of their little outdoor treasures that she would show me, i headed outside . . .

hmmmm. here's what she shows me lying on the driveway. not exactly what i was picturing . . .

when you see this one with ken's foot next to it so you can see how big the thing is. (she's 6. the centipede is big!) this was in our front yard. nice, huh?

the scary thing is, i was disgusted, but all 3 girls thought it was pretty cool! :)

evening entertainment

the t.v. is rarely on in the evenings anymore . . . every evening after dinner the girls head to the garage to "suit up" in their boots and sprinkle deer corn all over the yard. they keep watch until our visitors arrive, get a popsicle, and head outside to watch the beautiful deer! one deer, usually the first visitor each evening, is really getting brave. we'll see her within a few feet of the patio door . . . she's usually just looking in to see what we're up to! :) on this evening she let the girls get really close to her! we've had up to 8 deer in the yard and even got to see a few babies! so cool! sure beats t.v.!

ken will sit very still and gets so frustrated if someone scares the deer off. mck can be quiet, but has trouble sitting too still for too long and will forget that sudden movements scare the deer! :) kam on the other hand has NO clue how to be quiet and is loud from the second we open the door! she is so funny and will talk to the deer . . . even telling them to "please don't poop in our yard" and "go get your babies!" or "go get your friends!". it's funny . . . the deer have learned to just ignore her! :)

we've also seen a variety of other creatures . . . some of whom are NOT so welcome . . . several squirrels, a small snake, a few HUGE black crunchy scorpions, a HUGE centipede (i chose not to see that one . . .), lots of beautiful birds, several horny lizards, and some geckos! what a great place for four kids to grow up!

spring splash day

with the weather so nice and warm . . . nearly 90! . . . the girls needed a splash day! we pulled out the "pool" and their new sprinkler (SO cool!) and let them have some fun! :) ken had a friend over from school, so they had a blast running around with each other! mck had fun pouring watering cans of water over her and being the first to test out the sprinkler! and little kam loved just being with the big girls and hanging out in the water . . . she still a little too timid for the slide and isn't quite sure about splashing! :) we cannot wait for summer! :)

playgroup easter celebration

the girls and i had a wonderful time at ms. j's house for our playgroup's easter party! ms. j has the best backyard . . . like a private park! :) the kids got to paint on a paper mural, eat lots of yummy snacks, decorate their own cupcakes, and participate in an easter egg hunt!

kam was so fun to watch . . . what a difference from last year! she was so excited about the eggs! she wanted to keep going and didn't understand that there was a limit to how many she could pick up! :) she loved checking out the treasures in her basket. i tried to take her bunny basket away on the ride home, but she refused, so i gave in. when i stopped at a light and turned around i found her with a mouthful of tin foil and a bite taken from each of her chocolate eggs! too cute!

mck was sooooo fast. hello, the girl doesn't do anything quickly . . . unless, of course, she wants to! she was all over that backyard i could hardly snap a picture of her! when i finally caught up with her, we had to take half the eggs out of her basket and hide them for other kids! :)

ken was great . . . she was careful to make sure she got only her 12, but tried to pick the ones she thought were filled with "good stuff"! she was so happy to get to participate in the activity, as most of our playgroup stuff happens when the big kids are at school!

perfect weather. perfect location. perfect hostess. perfect start to spring.

zilker kite festival

as is tradition, we went to the zilker kite festival with our bff's! :) the kids had a great time! ken and mck were into picking out the "cool" or "pretty" kites and kam was just amazed by them all! every time we go outside now she wants to see kites! :)

there were seriously kites EVERYWHERE and the wind gusts were a little crazy. . . daddy had some trouble getting the kites to stay up for too long before they'd come crashing down on a poor bystander!

we finished the afternoon with a delicious lunch at hula hut on the lake and headed home! the weather was PERFECT! we couldn't have asked for a nicer day! :)

splashin' in february!

yes, it is february, but the weather here this week has been GORGEOUS! today after picking ken up from school the car thermometer read 92! what better way to spend the afternoon than splashing in the pool?!?!? :)

the water was FREEZING, but the girls didn't mind! :) they had a blast sliding, splashing, and dumping the water out of the pool! ken and mck even showed kam how to "paint" the driveway!

for the birds

we finally managed to make our pine cone bird feeders! (we've had the cones since OCTOBER!!!) :) the girls had fun piling on the birdseed and picking the places to hang them! ken was soooo helpful with keeping kam interested and mck was stressed about the peanut butter on her fingers - she wasn't sure if she should lick it or freak out! :) ken and mck each made one for their teacher too! now we're just waiting for the birds to find them! :)

sweet sisters

ken and mck were being super sweet one day after school last week (this tends to be a rare occurance!). i snapped some pictures outside of them! sweet sister girls!