mck and kam painting

kam and mck spent some time painting and LOVED it . . . painting at the picnic table is a whole lot easier than having to cover up the kitchen table! the clean-up is so easy too! :) they had fun mixing colors and making two great murals! :)

mck cooking with mommy

mck and i spent some time all by ourselves in the kitchen making blueberry cookies! :) (ken refused to help because she "doesn't like blueberries" and kam was napping) she loved getting to do everything herself . . . i think sharing/splitting everything gets old after awhile! she kept commenting "mom, i get to do EVERYTHING. we should make things ken doesn't like more times!" :)

the cookies were actually really good . . . very soft . . . almost like a breakfast cookie and the blueberries were soooooo yummy in them! :)

blueberry picking with grammy

the girls and i went blueberry picking for the first time with grammy! :) it was amazingly hot, but the girls were troopers (okay, grammy and i were too!). they were so cute trying to find a good patch to pick from! ken and mck were really into it! they did great too . . . weeding out the "yucky" berries and grabbing the "really purple ones!" they picked quite a few . . . you'd be amazed how much time you spend picking and how slowly the buckets fill up! kam did great EATING the berries! she was really funny . . . she'd kind of sneak up next to ken or mck's bucket stick her hand in and grab a handful before the girls could shout "MOM, she's stealing our blueberries again!" she would kind of smirk and shove the handful in her mouth . . . there's no telling how many she ate! :)

mck and ken are PICKING the berries . . . kam is STEALING them! :)

we picked almost 4 pounds of blueberries! grammy made blueberry pancakes for the girls and we made blueberry cookies and blueberry/raspberry cobbler at home! a yummmmmmy treat! there is only a handful left in the freezer, but i think this will be a new summer tradition! cereal was a whole lot more delicious with a handful of fresh blueberries on top! :)

HOT and TIRED after an hour and a half of PICKING! :)

after picking we hit the local sonic for some yummy drinks and lunch! :) thanks for a fun day, grammy!

visit to grammy and grampy's

with bailey out of town, and all of us needing a break from the house . . . we headed to g &g's for some relaxing time . . . okay, so life isn't exactly relaxing ever around here . . . but a little time by the pool was nice! :)

the girls were little fish! :) mck was swimming all around with no float the whole time - jumping off and swimming to the side . . . even practicing diving for things at the bottom of the pool! WOW! mck went from not wanting to jump off the rock or the side of the pool when we got there . . . to two days later jumping off the rock with no one there to catch her and only one layer of foam in her float! AMAZING! and little kam . . . well, she wasn't scared from the start . . . kind of makes you nervous! she walks in with her floaty, goes under, drinks a bunch of water, and comes up smiling and coughing! :) we really have to keep an eye on her! :)

we spent a lot of time in the pool and just hanging out! :) it was great! we went to market street to see the "dancing" fountains and get an ice cream. the fountain is really cool . . . lot of fun to watch! :) we got some ice cream . . . kam picked marshmallow with m&m's, ken picked cotton candy and mck picked cotton candy with sprinkles . . . but ate everyone else's and then couldn't finish hers! :)

we walked over to the splash fountain where kids were running through in clothes and bathing suits. the girls all sat on the wall . . . not one of them even attempted to go touch the water until i said something about them being "weird" kids for not wanting to touch the water . . . they all chimed in with something about wanting to . . . pretty soon, they were all SOAKED! they all ran around having a great time until it was time to go and they realized they didn't have clothes to change into! :) they all got to ride home in their skivvies! a big treat! :)

we had a great time . . . then grammy offered to watch the girls for a couple days! :) ken and mck stayed for the weekend! it was nice to have a break and they had an awesome time! :) they didn't miss me a bit! :) it was really nice to have some time with just kam (and not breaking up any fights!) it was amazing to me how much easier just having one kid was . . . what are we doing having a fourth? CRAZY! :)

when i picked the girls up they were so excited to see me, but more excited to see kam! it was really sweet . . . of course the sweetness lasted only through the night . . . everything quickly returned to normal! :)

kam's first haircut

okay, so kam's hair wasn't exactly in need of a cut, but by the age of two, i figured it was time we got a little trim . . . to even things out and make that hair GROW! :) kam watched ken and mck get their hair cut by our friend kim, then it was her turn. she sat so still and did great! she was so excited to finally get her haircut! :) she couldn't wait to tell daddy on the phone that night (he was traveling!). it really made her hair look neater . . . and a little curlier . . . now we just need to see some growth! :)

ALL DONE! :)

seeing joe . . .

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yes, that is the port-a-potty right behind us! :)

well, after a very long wait in the hot texas sun, the girls got to see one of their favorite children's artist perform at the kickoff for the library's summer reading program! we arrived for the start of the events . . . a long line for a donut hole and a drink and i quickly convinced the kids that looking at the animals was more fun!

we saw several rodeo events, looked at the calves and the horses, hung out with our playgroup friends, and waited a very long, very hot 2 hours to see joe perform right next to a port-a-potty (does it get any better than that?)

joe mcdermott was the last "event" of the morning and performed most of the kids favorite sogns! :) the girls had fun dancing and doing the motions to the songs . . . kam joined in at the end! it was worth the wait to see joe!! :)

summer kickoff

the girls were excited to wake up this morning . . . the first day of summer! :) it was sooooo wonderful to hang out in our p.j.'s for most of the morning! the girls woke up to summer goodies on the table and a purplicious breakfast of grapes, raspberries, purple frosted cinnamon bites, and purple juice! :)

we had lots of fun just hanging out in the playroom and playing together . . . we really have just not had enough down time lately . . . and i haven't been able to just enjoy the girls! it was really nice! we even made "watermelon" cupcakes . . . pink cupcakes with green icing and watermelon slices on top! :)

we had the perfect opportunity to try out our new summer fun toys because the van was in the shop (AGAIN!)! a great excuse to stay home! :) the girls had a blast and didn't want to come inside! :) we ate popsicles and got wet and just enjoyed having no where to be! :)

first visit to the splash park

we headed to the splash park after kam woke up from her nap to really get the summer started off quickly (can you tell i've been waiting to just have fun with the girls?)! i was really keeping my fingers crossed that all 3 girls would have fun at the splash park this year because i know it is one "safe" thing for me to do with them in the summer heat when the baby arrives!

well, i couldn't have been happier! ken loved running around on her own, mck switched between playing with kam and playing with ken, and kam was just happy trying to fill up buckets with water, only to pour them out again! (we're still working on the idea of putting the bucket at the bottom of the spray . . . rather than the top or the middle!)

it was so nice to see them all enjoying something and knowing that i can do this when our little guy arrives soon!

ken's kinder graduation

uhhhh. another milestone that's come way too quickly! miss ken finshed kindergarten and is now officially a first grader! for the week preceding the event work from the year was coming home . . . her collection of art work (quite impressive for first grade . . . especially when she went into the techniques used in some of them!), her science journal (holy crow, beyond impressive!), her journal (wow . . . what amazing growth!), and her shared writing where we wrote something together each month (a wonderful keepsake!).

it really was crazy to see how she entered kinder as this shy little girl and came through the year with lots of friends, reading like crazy, and LOVING school! i could not have asked for a better year for her! she was so lucky to have an amazing teacher . . . AMAZING! (ken's first grade teacher has a lot to live up to!!!) ken really loves learning . . . LOVES IT! she was actually sad it was time for summer . . . because she thought she should stay and "learn more at school"! (we call her our little nerd . . . don't know where she gets the nerdiness from!?!?!?)

cooper elementary had a great morning planned for the graduation! we watched ken walk up on stage and shake both the principal's hand and her teacher's and receive her diploma . . . while the announcer told everyone that ken wants to be a teacher when she grows up! we had cake, gathered her belongings, gave a last hug to her teacher, and headed out the doors of cooper for the last time . . .

kam turn's two!

so hard to believe my baby is two! kam had a great birthday! grammy and sarah drove up to help us celebrate! we started with a splashtime in the pool . . . kam spends more time filling up the buckets and dumping the water out of the pool than anything else! :) too cute. when she isn't dumping water out, she watches everything that ken and mck do and tries to get in on the fun! :)

after a short nap, we woke kam up to a decorated kitchen, balloons, and presents! i jokingly told her we were just going to look at the presents . . . that brought on the pouty face an lots of tears! we had to take a fruit snack break to cheer her up! :)

she had fun watching ken and mck open most of her gifts . . . she could have taken an hour, the girls flew through everything in a matter of minutes! she is in love with her new ballet gear (thanks aunt sarah!), her american girl baby to match ken and mck (thanks grammy!), new sprinkler and bath crayons (thanks to tim, missy, and baby sophia!), and the cherry blossom market too! :)

we headed to chick-fil-a (kam's birthday choice!) for a yummy dinner (who doesn't love chick-fil-a?) and some playtime! it was easy to convince the girls to leave and head home with the promise of cake! :) kam couldn't decide between princess and dora . . . so we had a dora cake and princess plates! she was pretty happy! she had the whole birthday routine down . . . the girls have b-day celebrations for each other on a regular basis when they're playing! . . . she blew her candles out without any help and ate most of the frosting off of her cake! :)

we celebrated again on sunday with a doughnut breakfast and lots of playtime (because we really have not had enough with the girls lately!) and a cookout for dinner! kam devoured her corn-on-the-cob!

so sad to think two years have already passed. she really isn't a baby anymore. :( she talks like a big kid, acts like a big kid, and sleeps in a big kid bed. where did my baby go?

heb field trip

we took a really cool field trip to heb! :) mck and kam had so much fun . . . sampling food, touring the store, meeting h.e. buddy, and just checking everything out! what a fun playgroup activity! :)

the girls loved seeing the lobster up close, checking out different fruits and veggies, and best of all . . . getting to go inside the giant cooler (we didn't last long!!!).

the girls got lots of goodies on our way out . . . including a color chart for eating fruits and veggies . . . it's been a huge hit! :)

the only thing that would have made it better would have been getting to do my grocery shopping at the same time! :)

moving . . .

so, after a few weeks of work . . . and LOTS of sweat, we had movers bring all of our big items to the house today! it was the best $400 we've spent in the whole house process . . . too many big items and some tricky stairs! :)

ken and mck were both at school . . . we had the girls rooms put together before they got home . . . they were thrilled to see all of their new bedding and to get to sleep in their new rooms! (we'd been counting down for quite awhile!) kam was excited to be in a big girl bed and to be sharing a room with mck!

we have a lot of unpacking left to do . . . and a lot of things left to finish, but it sure is nice to have so much more room and know that the baby will get to come home to a space of his own too! :)