4th of july

well, we broke tradition again this year and headed out of town to see grammy and grampy for the fourth! (usually we enjoy the small town feel of georgetown for the holiday!) hanging out by the pool and relaxing and enjoying the girls sounded so much more appealing than braving the heat for the day!

we had such a nice day! we had delicious chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast . . . some in the shape of the u.s., lincoln, washington, and an eagle! :) we put on our bathing suits and literally spent the entire day by the pool!

the girls are little fish this year . . . ken and mck are swimming so well . . .ken is really working on learning to dive in and mck is loving swimming without a float . . . she is scary to watch though, spending LONG periods of time under the water! kam loves the water too . . . it's been tough trying to get her to keep her head out of the water to keep her ears dry! she likes to put on her chest floatie, arm rings, a water ring and hold a ball and walk into the water . . .HILLARIOUS to watch!

grammy did a great job making a wonderful cookout for everyone! and the homemade chocolate chip ice cream with her homemade hot fudge was the best! :) (okay, the best part was that she didn't really let me do anything other than relax, but the food was really good too!)

we went to watch the woodlands fireworks that night . . . what a wonderful end to the day! the fireworks were great . . . one of the coolest finales ever!

my water bugs!

okay, signing up for swimming lessons that started at 10:50 in the morning was not the best idea i've ever had . . . especially since we've had no rain, record heat, and i am 9 months pregnant! but WOW, was it worth it! ken and mck made soooooo much progress! :)

ken was in the seahorse 3 class . . .with 8 and 10 year olds! (okay, not entirely sure how that happened . . . but she did really well!) the class was almost entirely in the deep end and worked on really developing all of the strokes, her endurance, and diving! the girl did so well! it was really challenging and she had to work really hard, but she didn't complain once! she doesn't want to do ballet in the fall . . . she wants more swimming lessons! :)

mck's class was a little too easy for her . . . but i think this was a good thing! she was the best in her class (of 3 boys!) and knew how to do most of what her teacher was expecting . . . so the teacher worked with her on things that she could improve on! by the 3rd day of class she was swimming to the side after jumping in with no help! she did so well and it was really a confidence booster for her. every time you looked in the pool, there she was with her little head just sticking up with a giant smile! :)

kam is still too little for lessons (other than mommy and me) so we spent time playing in the baby pool trying to keep cool! she was a good sport about hanging out at the pool for 2 hours each day. she had so much fun retrieving items out of the pool drain and trying to steal the teacher's toys! :)

the bailey girls' first sleepover

the girls and i had our best friends over for a movie night and sleepover! we all met for dinner, then tried to wear the kids out at the park before heading back to the house for play, p.j.'s, snacks, and a movie! the kids had a great time . . . we spread the sleeping bags out in the playroom, turned on despereaux (one of our favorites!!), and served up some yummy popcorn and sweet tarts! :) the kids were really good . . . until the movie was over . . .

servin' up snacks!


settlin' in for the show!

i think miss s. and i were up and down the stairs about 15 times investigating nosies or tattling! around 11:15 we split the kids up and put one in each bedroom upstairs (thank goodness for our new house!)! we got to enjoy a girlie movie of our own along with some much needed girl chat! :)

the girls did great, of course, because they were in their own beds . . . the caswell kids wanted mom to camp out with them, so poor ms. s. spent the night on the floor. :( we'll work on that next time!

can't wait to do it again soon!

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!

cherry limeade popsicles!

we made our own crystal lite pops . . . the pictures of the stained faces were too cute not to share! the red color took a couple of days to disppear! :) mck got it on her nose when she tried to drink the juice . . . kam thought she looked cool, so she tried to copy her . . .and poor ken makes a mess everytime she eats a popsicle because she has no front teeth! :)

8 years . . . and counting!

my mom sent me an e-mail for our anniversary . . . it said "Congratulations and much happiness....8 years and 4 kids later...." i just started smiling . . . i think that makes us sound a little crazy! :) certainly not where i thought we'd be 8 years ago, but i couldn't be happier!
bailey is the least talked about member of the bunch . . . and although i often give him a hard time, he is really is a great guy! he is an amazing father and puts up with most of my complaining and "honey-do's" . . . which i think is even worse now that i am pregnant! some days are really rough and i complain a lot . . . i am lucky. i get to stay home with my 3 (soon to be four) kids, he helps when i ask for it, he is great with the kids (sometimes a little too much on their level, but great with them!)
we are a lucky family!
so here's to many more years! (notice i said years, and not kids!) :)

surgery for kam

after more than a month on antibiotics and not having much success clearing up a double ear infection . . . kam had tubes put in her ears and her adenoids removed today. the girl is a trooper! she really didn't understand what was happening, but really didn't even cry when they took her back for surgery . . . she was so excited about the tiny stuffed animal lion they gave her! :)

the nurse was shocked at how sweetly she woke up from surgery and then . . . well, she turned a little crazy! poor baby was out of it and trying to rip out her iv, which couldn't be removed until she would drink. kam was SOOOO mad. i never knew how strong she was, but i was having trouble holding her arms apart so she wouldn't rip it out. the nurse finally left us alone and as soon as she was gone, kam said, "i have a drink now?" so funny . . . she was fine after that! sucked down a whole cup of juice, got her iv removed and got to head home.

she was a rock star when we got home too . . . she ate 3 pancakes and played for 2 hours before i laid her down for a nap! :) she was a little fussy in the evening, but never needed the pain medicine! :) she did so well! now the tough part is keeping her head out of the water . . . with this heat, all we want to do is swim! i blame it on the dr. though, and keep telling her the dr. said "no", so at least she isn't mad at me! :)

the cutest part of the whole thing is that we have to give her anti-biotic ear drops to keep out any infection . . . i put cotton in her ears after the drops. she keeps saying . . . "i have cotton candy in my ears?" too cute! :)

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 . . .