"workerman"

b says this is his favorite outfit . . . his "workerman" outfit.  love the hard hat and tool belt . . . but check out the shoes.  yes, those are kam's patent leathers!  gotta love it!

kam's pre-school graduation

sweet little kam had her pre-school graduation . . . complete with several ADORABLE songs and receiving her "diploma"!  the program was so sweet . . . and of course made me tear up several times!  we have had such a positive experience at learning tree . . . awesome teachers, wonderful friends . . . it's so hard to believe kam will be leaving this little safety net . . . and heading to "sister's school".  uh.  saddness.

it's official!

kam proudly walked her kinder paperwork into school this morning and turned it in.  it's official.  my baby girl is going to kindergarten.  boo.  she is so excited.  me, not so much.  hate that everyone is growing up!  hard to believe i have been home with the littles for five years now.

ken's spring concert

ken really enjoyed choir this year.  she loved learning new songs . . . and even loved performing!  we loved watching her.  the music was great . . . and lots of fun!  mck and kam sat watching the entire time . . . b was a different story, but we're working on that!   

no more thumb-sucking for kam

we took a trip to target this morning to pick a prize!  kamy has not sucked her thumb for 5 days!  AND she made this choice all on her own . . . one afternoon she just said, "i want to stop sucking my thumb.  because i am about to be 5.  i want to do it before i turn 5."  so, we painted her nails with the yucky stuff, she slept with a sock on her right hand . . . and she did it!  she is now the proud owner of a silly hair lalaloopsy . . . yes, we resort to prizes and bribery in this house!

mommy's first tri!

after a month of training with some amazing girls, i completed my first tri!  a 300m swim, 11.2 mile ride, and 2 mile run in an hour and 24 minutes!  the morning started off a little rocky . . . POURING rain and rather chilly temps.  we were soaking wet . . . and freezing cold before anything even got started.  there was a 30 minute delay for lightning . . . and then it was ON!  the swim was awesome - better than any open water practice i had had!  the bike was tough . . . hilly and wet to say the least!  at every point i was getting tired, someone along the way said something encouraging.  it was really cool.  the run was tough . . . only 2 miles, but through a wet field, mulch, rough pavement, and a little mud . . . not exactly what i had been practicing with!  it was such an amazing feeling to cross the finish line.  what an amazing morning.  the littles and hubby cheered me along all the way!  seeing their bright yellow shirts made me smile!  can't wait for the next challenge! 

poppy fest dancing queens!

ken and mck danced away to "play that funky music" at the poppy fest . . . in preparation for their summer recital!  they love their hip hop class and did really well in front of an audience!  gotta love those funky outfits too!  kam and b were such good siblings . . . watching every move their big sisters made!

mck's story time

"story time" was presented by the first grade class of ford!  it was sooooo adorable.  we are so lucky to have such an amazing music teacher!  each class presented a story and participated by singing songs/playing instruments that went with other classes stories!  it was really just great! what a wonderful way to end the school year!  mck was all smiles!  and she had some special guests . . . ms. s and her family came to watch!

she's an artist!

ken's art work was displayed at the library for the g'town art show!  this is the third year something of ken's has been picked.  wow.  we are so proud of her!  we can't wait to mount her owl and frame it along with her other pieces!

mck's family celebration!

not quite sure how all this growing up is happening right before my eyes!  what a difference a year makes!  mck doesn't look like a baby anymore . . . she is so smart, so silly, so sassy, and such a great big sis!  she is becoming more and more independent everyday!  we still love that she has her goofy side . . . and can still be a little bit clumsy!  she is sensitive and beautiful in every way! :)  happy birthday sweet girl!
we celebrated with dinner at and an ice cream cake from shake's . . .  YUM!  mck loved all of her gifts . . . including a new desk, dresser, and bookshelf . . . so she got a mini-room makeover!  she sat and read through her entire birthday book before opening the rest of her gifts.  so sweet. 

a field trip with mck

daddy stayed home so i could go on mck's first grade field trip to inner space caverns.  it was fun, but so sad to see how incredibly independent she was!  she really wanted me to come . . . but didn't want much to do with me on the tour.  she just liked knowing i was there.  she hung with her little girls friends and giggled and laughed.  then it was to the wooden playscape for a picnic and LOTS of playtime!  i had to drag her away!  what a fun treat to hang with my girl!

mck turns SEVEN!

doesn't get much better than a field trip AND a birthday party on your REAL birthday!  mck has so excited to take three friends to build-a-bear and have a sleepover!  we ate pizza, cupcakes, purple sprite, and lots more junk food!  the girls were all so sweet and got along so well!  she had such a great celebration! :)

easter 2012

nothing like starting off the morning with a chocolate bunny . . . times four! :)  the kids made out pretty well this year . . . lots of fun goodies from e.b. and fun swimming goodies from mom and dad.  we had a little easter hunt, got all dressed up, and headed to church with the fam!  then it was time to play with cousins and eat a yummy meal . . . and more easter goodies from grammy!  a great end to the weekend!

mommy date with the girls

this mommy date started out a bit rocky . . . we shoudl up for the movie based on the movie time on an email i had gotten, bought our tickets and popcorn and walked in to a movie that was HALF over!  oops!  the time on the email was wrong . . . so, they gave us tickets for a later show and we got to shop and go to dinner and then go to a late movie!  it ended up being really fun . . . and five hours long!  the movie was great and it was fun to have dinner with just the girls!

cake for mck and easter preparations!

nothing beats an easter egg hunt at grammys!  this year the egg hunt was color coded . . . so everyone had a shot!  there was even a "mother bunny" egg . . . loaded with a dollar from uncle tim!  we celebrated mck's birthday a little early . . . and then the kids decorated eggs . . . with their shirts off! :)  love seeing the kids with their cousins! 

an easter bust

we got the kids ready early sat. morning for an egg drop at the airport.  it sounded so cool - thousands of eggs to be dropped out of a plane at the airport . . . i guess everyone in g'town and the surrounding towns thought it sounded cool too!  it was crowded, hot, and delayed.  we were separated into 4 different age catagories . . . yikes!  and waited more than an hour to rush the field only to find . . . NOTHING.  my four kiddos didn't find a single egg.  the crazy thing is, toting their empty buckets over to where we decided to have a picnic and wait out the crowd, not a single kid complained.  they were bummed, but really good sports.  uh.  what a disaster!  but it wasn't anythign a trip to the dollar store and an ice cream at mcdonald's couldn't fix!  think we'll stick to backyard egg huntss next year!

st. patty's day!

green milk and lucky charms for snack today . . . happy kiddos! :)  (b opted out of this pic. . . but did get the snack!  he is not into picture taking these days!)

ken's sleepover party!

ken invited three friends to see a movie (in their pjs) and spend the night!  they girls had a great time playing, hanging out, eating junk food, and just being silly girls!  it was a perfectly simple celebration!

kennedy turns NINE!!!!!

how is it possible?  ken turned nine this afternoon at 3:06 p.m.  i am still wondering where the time has gone.  she is so mature, smart, talented, and such a good big sis.  what lucky parents we are!
after a couple weeks of not sleeping in her room, we revealed the big "room makeover" this morning!  she was in heaven!  aqua blue with a touch of funky zebra!  looks like a teenagers room!  i don't think she wanted to leave!  she opened her birthday outfit and book, ate her birthday donut, and sadly, was off for school!  we celebrated in the evening with an amazing italian meal at a new fav place and then ice cream cake and gifts!  this year was extra special with a few new traditions . . . a birthday photo book . . . and balloons filled with money ($1 for each year!)!  not sure birthdays can get much better than that.  happy birthday sweet girl.  we love you!

girl scout campout 2012

this year's campout was great!  we even got to have hot dogs and s'mores over a real fire!  the weather was cool, the girls were happy, and the stations were awesome!  we even finished the campout with a jungle breakfast . . . where the girls had to hunt for their food in the "woods"!