sweet friends

snapped this picture after a valentine cookie decorating playdate with kam's two bffs.  it doesn't get much sweeter than this!  love these girls.

100 days of school

mck is posing with her "100 days" project. it had to be a 3-d representation of 100 items. she did an animal cracker zoo! she had lots of fun grouping the animals together while i hot glued them . . . probably because she ate every broken one she came across! it turned out pretty cute!

surgery for b

here's little b.c. before his tongue surgery. posing in his new darth vader p.j.'s (gotta love the middle "bad guy" pose!)! he was a real trooper. he wasn't scared at all. he walked off in his little looney toon hospital gown and yellow skidder socks like he knew what he was doing. when he was done i could hear him coming around the corner talking about the cat in the hat! :) he wasn't fussy and just wanted the popsicle he was promised. he was a rock star. sadly, he bit his tongue really bad on the popsicle . . . so we're not sure if the extra long recovery was that or the incision healing. poor little guy wanted to eat fruit snacks and REAL food . . . and just couldn't. after about 5 days though he was back to his old silly self . . . downing fruit snacks! and now he can stick out his tongue and lick and ice cream cone . . . like every little boy should!
his sisters were sooooo darn sweet. each of them made something at school for him and ken and mck had "bought" stuff from their school treasure boxes to give to him to make him feel better. so sweet.

written by mck!

for her latest project mck wrote a book . . . after reading a non-fiction book about fire she had to create her own book about fire. she wrote a short story about freddie who went camping and needed to build a fire to stay warm. she wrote the story all on her own (with encouragement for ken!) and drew all the adorable pictures. the girl is a rock star when it comes to projects. she'll sit down, work for several hours and knock it out! the book is just adorable!

awards for ken!

at a mid-year award ceremony ken received three awards! perfect attendance, a honor roll, and the art award (only one given per class!). we are so proud of ken. attendance is easy . . . the girl would rather be at school than at home (how awesome!), and the grades are a pretty easy thing for her too. what was really cool was the art award. ken LOVES art and spends a lot of her spare time sketching in journals and random pieces of paper. she loves her art teacher and has learned so much. pretty cool.

kam is an author!

our little kam wrote a book! she has been working up to this at school for awhile now . . . coming home with several unfinished works of art. but this time she finally finished the book AND sat in the author chair AND read it to her class. she was so proud of herself! she came home and read it to us for story time last night! now her book is right next to her bed, "so i can read it every night!"

a day at the zoo

a day off from school meant a day at the zoo for my monkeys! we had such a nice day. really perfect weather, the kids were in great moods, and we had great friends with us too! it was wonderful to spend the day outside just enjoying the kiddos! ken and mck were very interested in reading the info at the zoo . . . kam (plugging her nose in many pics!) was very into the smells, and b.c. just thought everything was cool . . . but really loved the orangutans! i think everyone though the coolest (and grossest) thing we saw was an elephant peeing . . . it literally peed a bucket-load! it was really neat and i think we talked about it for days!

our zoo veterinarian!

yes. that is mck with a lion and a dr. kit . . . ready to head off to school for a day of pretending to be "dr. mckenzie bailey, head zoo veterinarian".

and yes, this is the same 6 year old who doesn't like any of the animals that we have . . . except for maybe the chickens because they leave her alone! couldn't believe that's what she picked for career day. (on a side note, i did get several comments that "i have to pick a REAL job. so i can't say i want to be a fairy . . . but that's what i really want to be." love that girl!)

our little start student

mck was the star of the week . . . her poster was complete with purple, glitter, and a big giant "m"! could it be any more "her"? she put words that describe her all around the "m" and couldn't wait to share it with her class! gotta love this girl!

yes, those are my kids in a dog cage!

ha. this was too funny not to capture on film! :) we got a new dog cage for brock and the kids thought it was soooo cool that they could all fit in it . . . along with graham. they literally played for 45 minuted in the cage.

new years eve 2012

wii dance, noisemakers, junk food, and fun drinks. a simple, fun new years eve at home. . . and this year all the girls made it until midnight . . . and then some! even little b.c. hung in there until 11:30. (of course we paid dearly for it the next day!) so much fun to just hang at home with the family.

here's to 2012 and a much better year for the bailey bunch!

walking at the nature center

we had a wonderful post-christmas celebration with the stahl's and before we headed home we spent the afternoon at the nature center. it was the perfect ending to a great visit. the weather was amazing and the kids loved walking on the trial and playing on a giant playscape. even graham enjoyed a few trips down the slide! the kids all loved having g and g hold their hands and run and play!

post-christmas with the stahls

we had a great post-christmas celebration with the stahls! more gifts . . . rollerblades for the big girls, a gas station for b.c., and a lalaloopsy for kam! and some really cool p.j.s and toys from they cousins! we had a wonderful christmas dinner and dessert too (kind of made up for the christmas dinner of pancakes that we'd had!). so nice to have everyone together. makes my heart smile.

christmas 2011

from the barbie dream house to the big four wheeler, the pirate ship to the trendy toys, we had some happy bailey kiddos on christmas morning! the look on the kids faces as they were coming down the stairs was awesome! everyone got everything they asked for . . . and then some! we took most of the day to open and play with presents, taking a break fro breakfast and hot chocolate. we were in pajamas all day, hanging out, and playing and watching movies. we had pancakes for christmas dinner! does it get any better than that?

christmas eve 2011

this christmas eve was really wonderful. we went to church, had our traditional appetizers for dinner, decorated cookies, read the night before christmas, got our matching p.j.'s. too!
what a difference a year makes. we have so much to be thankful for . . . so much. a beautiful, healthy family. four amazing kiddos. a new extended family. and a bright future ahead!

girls night at the nutcracker

the bailey girls started a new tradition this year . . . and evening at the theater. the girls had so much fun getting dressed up for a night on the town! we went to see the austin ballet's nutcracker and it was AMAZING! the girls were soooo enthralled with it! ken and mck thought it was magical and were staring through the whole thing. kam loved it, but felt the need to talk in my ear, non-stop through the whole thing! (it was a little too much silence for her. we can't wait to do a special evening out again next year!

our gingerbread village

making the gingerbread village is now a bailey tradition . . . a little house for everyone! it was amazing how independent mck and ken were this year . . . they did everything themselves. and even little kam knew how she wanted each piece of candy! b.c. wanted help from daddy to decorate his cabin! it really turned out cute! now we just have to keep b.c. from crawling ont he counter to steal pieces of it!

k's choir performance

ken's first choir performance was wonderful! she loves choir and is so enthusiastic about learning all these new songs! the performance was a great collection of holiday songs from around the world. . . so mck, kam, and b.c. enjoyed learning new songs too! the performance was even more special because ms. s. and her family came to watch . . . ken felt so special! then it was home for coffee and dessert with everyone.

lights in belton 2012

this may have been the best year at the belton lights . . . ever! we went early and during the week so the crowds were minimal. we even got to hop out and take some pictures in front of the lights! nothing beats the excitment you can feel in the car as the kids first see the lights and we turn on the music. this is truly the magic of christmas. it's so wonderful that we still get to share this tradition with our friends . . . not wishing time away, but i can't wait until next year.

magical moment with santa

i don't think it gets much better than this . . . the kiddos got some one-on-one time with mr. claus on the g'town square. the girls were a little bit in awe and b.c. was a little shy at first, but after he gave santa's beard a little tug he was comfortable. they got to share their wishes for christmas . . . ken - a caboodle, mck - a caboodle and doll stuff, kam - a pony (not a real one!), and b.c. - a firetruck! not sure we'll ever be able to top this one.