hill country book festival

okay, so we have another event to add to our growing list of yearly things to do! :) we went to the hill county book festival at the georgetown library on saturday and had a great time! :) there was sooooo much for the kids to do . . .

the girls met and talked to "real authors" - something they're really into lately, for some reason! :) they're always asking "who wrote that?"

they saw the biscuit brothers for the first time . . . wow! what fun! lots of fun up-beat songs! these guys were really funny. the girls were up and dancing or clapping the whole time! kam had more fun walking around the pole! :)

they were the only kiddos watching scott sutton, an illustrator. ken was FASCINATED by watching the guy make "peanut heads". she kept saying "i could do that!". he gave her own of his demos to take home. she was in heaven! :)

the girls got to do some cool crafts too . . . sand art, puppet making, and bookmarks! :)

what a fun afternoon! (and to top it off, bailey picked going to the book festival over watching the football game . . . wow! what a nice dad! (of course he was checking the score every chance he got, but hey, we'll take it!)) :)

children's museum

ken had the day off from school today (and monday!) so she got to pick a fun activity for us to do! :) it was fun to have all 3 of them on a weekday! :) they played sooooo nicely this morning before we headed out . . . oh and did i mention no one woke up until 7:20! :) i think that's a record! :) how nice! :)

we got the the chilren's museum before it opened . . . so were among the first to check out the new exhibit about transportation- mostly the metro - a bit too involved for only me with all 3 because everyone was going in a different direction and almost the entire exhibit involved reading! :) but the girls were patient and had a great time checking out their favorite exhibits . . . the kitchen, grocery store, trains, and of course the craft area. (did i mention that we do ALL of these things EVERYDAY at home! uhhh!)

we did storytime and shrinky dinks, ran back to re-load the meter, and then played for another hour! :)

what a fun day . . . almost makes me wish kennedy were home everyday! :) gosh, i hate this growing up stuff!

the girls' trip to the fire station

mck, kam and i headed to the fire station today for a visit with the fire fighters and a look at the trucks. mck was SOOOOO excited this year (not sure if it was the fact that she would get to see the fire trucks up close or that she got to wear her new tinkerbell dress and "bling" shoes!)!

sweet kam would try to repeat everything i said . . .
me: "fireman"

kam "manman!"
me: "truck"
kam: "uck"

mck and kam couldn't wait to climb in the big seat and take a look! it was a really fun morning! :)

bananas are healthy! . . . even when you cover them with chocolate! . . .and sprinkles!

okay, so i am really good at coming up with great ideas, but not so great on following through. the kids (really all of us!) were supposed to have "healthy" desserts during the week just splurge on treats on the weekends . . . this after realizing how much junk they've been eating! :)

so, monday i decided the kids would have bananas for dessert. i had three. they were getting rather ripe. and it's the one fruit that everyone will eat.

so i mentioned that would be dessert. kennedy pouted. then said, "could we make something with them?" i'm thinking muffins or something and said "sure!" then she says, "let's cover them with chocolate like we did at that playdate!" by this time mck was smiling! how could i say no? so, we covered them with chocolate . . . and then with pumpkin sprinkles! (after there's chocolate, what's a little more sugar?) :)

mmmmm! happy kids at dessert time!

park expo . . . kangaroos, tents, fire fighting, and dead fish! :)

our weekend outing to the tx parks and wildlife expo was great . . . overwhelming, but great! :) there were more than 30 acres of exhibits, activities, and vendors. (yes, bailey was in heaven!) it was a lot to take in, but we'll be better prepared next year! :) the girls did great . . . almost 5 hours of walking around checking things out . . . and they were still in relatively good moods! :)

my personal highlight . . . a talk put on by sea world - complete with cool and exotic animals! :) a bird flew - literally off the stage and right at us! :) oops! :) we even saw a baby kangaroo . . . so tiny and hairless inside it's mother's pouch! (okay, did you know that the kangaroo mom decides when she wants to have her baby and pops it out when it's the size of a GRAPE . . . a GRAPE!!! how lucky is that! :) seriously - no stretch marks! it just stays in her pouch to finish developing! :)

the kids saw all sorts of animals, played in tents, tried out boats, fought fires, checked out the hunting dogs (kam's favorite thing!), learned about habitats, and got to touch lots of dead fish! :)

does it get any better?

two adorable moments with kam this week . . .



you gotta love a 16 month old and some Halloween OREOS! :) kam was in heaven . . . that is until her bowl was empty! :)



kam dressed up in ken's old recital costume . . . full of sparkles . . . green sparkles! she kept running over to the wall in the kitchen and squealing. i walked over to see her SOOOOO amazed by the reflection the sparkles made on the wall . . . they looked like little fairy lights on the wall! she couldn't quite figure out why when she walked away they weren't there, but the excitement on her face when she saw the "wall of sparkles" was so sweet! :)

as the earth turns . . .

mck had a great time at our science playgroup. . . we learned about earth and the solar system! :) mck followed the order of the planets and LOVED scattering stars all over the place . . . kam was happy to pile all of her planet stickers on top of each other! :) what fun.

mck is so proud that she can tell everyone what planet that we live on . . . it's cute! :) we need to work on the other planet names, but earth's a good place to start! :)

it was a beautiful day at a beautiful park, so the girls enjoyed playing on the playscape, chasing squirrels (the pic of kam is her looking for it after it ran up a tree . . . again!), and running around! :)

mck pointed out when we got in the car to leave that the earth was turning while we were driving! :)

six flags and sea world . . . only a month apart! :)

we hit 6 flags last month with our "best-est" friends. the girls had a blast . . . they LOVED all the rides and weren't deterred by the heat or the lines! :) they had so much fun! even kam got to ride a few rides . . . can't say they were a big hit with her. (i think she'll be sticking with me when it comes to roller coaster riding!) :) the kids topped off their afternoon by winning superhero capes! :) (pink for the girls, of course!)

we went to sea world, again with our "best-est" friends, but on dell! :) it was their employee appreciation event . . . can't beat a free day! :) it was sooooo cool to see the girls reactions to the sea creatures! :) will it ever get old? i think i watched their faces more than the shows/creatures!
the dolphins were AWESOME this time - playing right in front of us! the shamu show (the same one we've seen at least 4 times!) was still wonderful! ken took her first trip on the shamu roller coaster last time we visited, but mck had to sit it out! this time she was tall enough . . . we actually measured her weeks in advance to make sure! it was the highlight of her day! :) kam was delighted by the animals . . . she woke up just in time to see the penguins - we actually rode the walkway 3 times so she could get her fill! :)

we've had our fill of amusement parks for awhile . . . but what wonderful memories! :)

lunch with our kinder kid!

today mck, kam, and i brought ken lunch (if you can call it lunch at 10:30 in the morning!)! because she's so darn independent and doesn't even want me walking her into school, i thought she might be a little standoffish . . . she was sooooo excited to see us. she ran over and hugged us all and couldn't wait to sit down and eat with us! the cutest part was how excited she was to show off her sisters . . . especially mck . . . she paraded her around and just kept introducing her! it was so sweet! she held mck's hand as they stood in line for ice cream . . . and then walked around on the playground together the whole time! :)

so sweet. it made my heart feel so happy! :)

who needs big sisters?

kam really surprised me yesterday . . . she is usually toddling around trying to keep up with ken and mck and they are usually trying to distract her with something so she'll leave them alone and not mess up whatever it is they are trying to play. well, they decided that they were going to play some games on the computer (which they've gotten pretty good at doing all by themselves) so i took kam outside in the backyard to play.

she entertained herself long after they'd finished playing on the computer . . . she was on her own little mission and very content to play by herself! she played in the playhouse and climbed up the play scape, sat in the swing for a few minutes, checked out the bunny, then played in the sand . . . filling up truck after truck and then starting all over again.

ken and mck came outside and called to her to come play . . . she looked up at them and then just kept playing in the sand . . . like she was saying "i'm fine all by myself!".

quiet time and "super why" take the cake!

so, yesterday mck and i had a really busy day! here's a brief look at some of the things we did . . .

1. read books


2. played with kam


3. played outside


4. went to the library for story time


5. checked out books after browsing for a LONG time


6. played puzzles at the library


7. came home and ate lunch (kam went down for a nap!)


8. played go fish THREE times


9. worked on about 7 activities for a "B" lap book . . . made an itty bitty book, colored things that started with "b", read "b" books, traced the letter "b" (you get the point!)


10. colored


11. read more stories


12. played barbies
    

by this time it was about 2 and mck was a little cranky, so she sat on the couch for a quiet time and watched "super why" while i did some stuff around the house. . .

bailey asked at dinner how ken's day at school was and what she learned . . . mck piped up and said, "you didn't ask me what i did today with mommy!" so bailey asked . . . i was listening really closely to hear what she would pick to tell him . . . after all, i had spent A LOT of time making it a fun day for her. . . . mck thinks for a minute and says, "i took a quiet time and watched "super why!"

seriously? i give up.

look ma, no training wheels!!!

after lots of procrastination (totally on our part and due primarily to the fact that ken's a drama queen and not super tough when it comes to bumps, bruises, and blood!!!!) ken has started riding her bike without training wheels! she did great yesterday and got even braver today - going almost all the way around the circle! :)

today she was getting discouraged and said "i quit!" after riding into the grass for the 100th time . . . we told her to give it one more try before we stopped for the day . . . and of course, she fell. :( a scraped elbow and knee and a bump on her helmet (gotta love the bike helmet!) . . . lots of tears and a bruised ego, but she'll be back out there tomorrow . . . with no training wheels! :)

mommy's little nerd!

mck and i have been enjoying our time together (while ken's at school and kam is napping!). as soon as i lay kam down mck says, "okay, it's time for my school work!" and she heads to the table in the office. she is a little nerd! i love it! who knew mck had it in her? :)

the pictures are from our sock puppet creations, her first attempts at writing her name, and a fun little lapbook (an idea we got from our playgroup!) that we made for letter "a"! :) she had so much fun cutting, gluing, and coloring and is so darn proud of it! she can't wait show ken all the things we've done when we pick her up!

all this growing up

okay, we're growing up too much lately! in the past two and a half weeks . . .
ken started kindergarten and LOVES it!
mck started pre-school and LOVES it! (her teacher has commented how much more independent she is than kennedy at this age . . . oh no!)
kam doesn't cry at the "y" any more - she actually ways "yes" when i ask her if she wants to go play! (i no longer watch the the ladies in blue shirts to come get me while i'm working out!)
ken has lost TWO teeth! (the gap she now has is kind of funny . . . bordering on hillbillyish!)
mck started ballet class and after putting her shoes on herself, she turned and walked away- no goodbye, no kiss, no nothing!
ken is a little ballerina in her class . . . using the ballet bar and really paying attention!
kam crawled to the top of the chick-fil-a playscape ALL BY HERSELF! and then slid down with ken!
kam has 4 more teeth coming in all at the same time . . . for a grand total of WAY TOO MANY!
kam is telling us "no" and crying like crazy if we tell her "no"! (terrible two's already????)
ken and mck can ride rides by themselves at six flags now!

i just can't take all this growing up!

the tooth fairy's newest client!

well, after a couple weeks of wiggling, ken finally managed to lose her bottom left tooth! :) i have been checking it daily . . . because i am a dork and was so excited about it :) . . . and tonight it seemed REALLY loose . . . i mean like REALLY loose! :) so, bailey told her to eat a carrot . . . she took a bite and we checked . . . and holy crow, it was out! just sitting there mixed with the carrot! :)

ken and i were freaking out! we were so excited! :) we grabbed the tooth and took some pics and i gave her the tooth fairy pillow that i got for her FOREVER ago and have been SO anxious to give her! :) she had the tooth tucked safely in the pillow and under her pillow in no time flat!

she can't wait to tell her teacher tomorrow morning because "we're graphing kids loosing their teeth and i'll be the first one on the graph!"

now we just need to wait and see what the tooth fairy brings her newest client!

kamy time

kam has really been basking in all of the attention she's gotten lately . . . she just loves being the only kid . . . and getting all of the attention. it's like she knows that it's "her" time when we drop the girls off at school.

we play on the floor and she brings me book after book to read. she hands me the book, turns around, and plops herself right in my lap . . . without having to worry about any competition.

she holds her baby and wants me to wrap it in a blanket over and over again.

she laughs like crazy and points to a million and one things so i can tell her what they are.

i guess with all of the noise when we're all together, i wasn't realizing how much she was trying to say . . . or how much she knew. she just kind of blended in. now i am getting the chance to see what an amazing little baby she is . . . repeating everything, making animal sounds, her contagious little laugh, and best of all getting to watch her crinkle her nose and give her toothy grin . . . all for an audience of one!

mck's big day at "3 year old pre-school"

well, today was mck's big day at "3 year old pre-school" (the term she continues to use!) she had a great start to her day. she hopped out of bed and was ready to put on her new duds! :) she was so darn excited!

"the backpack fairy" paid another visit to our house and left some hello kitty goodies in her backpack . . . mck was so excited that she and ken could write notes and do stickers together this afternoon! :)

she had her favorite breakfast . . . toaster strudel and cereal (lucky charms! yes, another healthy breakfast at the bailey house!) and then headed outside for a few pictures . . . she wanted ken to put on her backpack and take some with her! :) too cute!

she was so anxious to check out her classroom when we arrived and find her name on the floor and on the hooks. she couldn't wait to go outside and see some of the friends she remembered! ms. b was so excited to have her there and took her by the hand to show her around!

i headed to the office to sign her in and then peeked over the fence a few times to see how she was doing . . . she had already found some kids to play with and looked totally happy!

i left with my ONE baby . . . i felt naked! :) kamy and i had a fun morning and a little playtime at the park . . . just the two of us! :) i even got some cleaning done! :) what a great day! :)