kam turns FOUR!

my sweet little baby girl. where has the time gone. you are so beautiful, so silly, so smart, and so adorable. it is impossible to imagine life without you! you love ponies and playing babies, story time and puzzles. you love to be a big kid, but still need your mommy time. you are becoming so independent and really trying to figure out what you want . . . sometimes by throwing temper tantrums, hitting, pushing, and yes, an occasional bite! :) you love to be tickled, to cuddle, to play with your siblings. you are so amazing. i love listening to the things you say and the ideas you have. i love you sweet kamy kate! happy fourth birthday! :)



we celebrated . . . AGAIN . . . for your real birthday day with a trip to build-a-bear, gifts from g&g, sarah, and tim, missy, sophia, and aubrey! you had a yummy mcd's dinner and a pink cookie cake! what a perfect way to head to your next birthday.

another celebration of FOUR! :)

we celebrated . . . AGAIN . . . for your real birthday day with a trip to build-a-bear, gifts from g&g, sarah, and tim, missy, sophia, and aubrey! you had a yummy mcd's dinner and a pink cookie cake! what a perfect way to head to your next birthday.

kam turns FOUR!

my sweet little baby girl. where has the time gone. you are so beautiful, so silly, so smart, and so adorable. it is impossible to imagine life without you! you love ponies and playing babies, story time and puzzles. you love to be a big kid, but still need your mommy time. you are becoming so independent and really trying to figure out what you want . . . sometimes by throwing temper tantrums, hitting, pushing, and yes, an occasional bite! :) you love to be tickled, to cuddle, to play with your siblings. you are so amazing. i love listening to the things you say and the ideas you have. i love you sweet kamy kate! happy fourth birthday! :)

a new lease on life!

what a wonderful day! two major surgeries went perfectly smoothly! within four minutes they had taken s's kidney and placed it inside bailey. . . and it started working immediately! wow. there are not words to describe our feelings. we are so humbled by this amazing thing that s has done for our family. it is not just a gift of life for bailey, but a gift for our entire family. we will have our "normal" craziness back . . . and two healthy parents. s is putting us back together again! now the recovery begins . . . lots of doctor visits and medicines, lots of taking it easy and time off work . . . but before we know it things will be back to normal. what a great start to our summer. what an amazing, humbling gift. we love you s. you are our angel on earth.

a family celebration!

we had a wonderful afternoon with our new family members. . . we were celebrating the upcoming surgery! we had sandwiches and green cupcakes and wore our green shirts! :) what fun! :) we are so, so, so lucky that s, b, and j are now a part of our lives. they are beautiful people inside and out. the countdown is on . . . may 24 here we come!

watercolor time!

craft time is fun again! the kids are loving doing crafts together . . . and now that b.c. gets what he's supposed to do (stay on the paper . . . not paint himself . . . keep his paint on his paper!) it is fun for all of us! they love to create a masterpiece and pick a spot to hang it up! love.

celebrating FOUR with friends!

kam had no doubt who she wanted to celebrate four with . . . her two bff's from pre-school m and e! they had a blast a chuck e. cheese playing games, taking pictures, and riding lots of rides. kam was all smiles all day! from soda to pizza, princess cupcakes to beautiful gifts kam felt like one lucky little girl!

taking a test run! :)

kam LOVES her new rapunzel bike and is doing really well riding it! she can almost make it up the hill without having to push her bike! :) yay for that! :) and mck was trying out the new skateboard daddy brought home (i was NOT responsible for that!). both ken and mck are enjoying it, but it is making me soooo nervous!

aquarena springs

we took a great day trip to aquarena springs (and the outlets, of course!) the kids had so much fun on the boat . . . the fish were fun and we saw lots of turtles and fun water birds! :) the wetlands were super cool with nesting tilapia EVERYWHERE and a cool water moccasin at the end of our walk! it was great to be out enjoying the beautiful weather and four happy kiddos! :) we can't wait to go back!

our own little spot!

we found this little park on the river. it is so quiet and usually almost empty! it is like our own little paradise. we take a little walk from the car and settle in to a little rocky area by the water. the kids can play, swim, fish, and be crazy! :) it is so fun! we cannot wait to get some rain and some more water in the river! for now it makes for a great (and super close!) weekend outing. oh how we love georgetown!

a surprise birthday!

sweet kam talked about wanting a "surprise" birthday for months . . . well, it just so happened that we were going to be away on her birthday, so, a surprise it was! :) she woke up to a room filled with balloons . . . and had the most beautiful smile! :) she was thrilled! :) morning presents . . . the usual book and outfit (this time with a coordinating outfit for her baby!) a yummy donut breakfast (her pick!) and then the rest of the goodies . . . including her fav - a rapunzel bike that she has been asking for for months! she was one happy girl as she took laps around the house! :) in the evening it was a birthday dinner at our new favorite river spot . . . for a wonderful picnic and some swimming! and a yummy princess cake to top off the day! :) so hard to believe our baby girl is about to be FOUR!

mother's day pre-school tea

what a fun way to celebrate mother's day a little early with my sweet kam! :) a mother's day tea at pre-school! complete with homeade goodies and mint iced tea! :) and the sweetest gift - a butterfly magnet with a beautiful saying. what a sweet afternoon! :)

our artist

wow. our little ken had a piece featured in the school district art show at southwestern university ! (and for the second time!!!) :) we all had to go to take a peek! :) ken LOVES art. . . that may be an understatement. the highlight of her school week is art class . . . she loves the class, loves her teacher, loves the projects! so she was beyond thrilled that she was picked. her piece was a really cool watercolor picture . . . a seascape with a fish stamped in the middle. we cannot wait to hang it on the wall!

my creative/crafty kid!

after seeing a short news story about a guy that makes paper dolls ken retreated to her room for hours asking for various supplies . . . cardboard, paper, glue. . . with the strict rule that no little kids were allowed in her room. she designed a little group of dolls (complete with fashion changes!), a house, a couch, a toilet, and several other odds and ends! she is so darn creative!

releasing the butterflies

we picked the coldest day EVER to release our sweet butterflies. i think it was 54! but the kids did not want to wait another day! it was awesome to watch their faces as they let the butterflies go . . . what an amazing experience for the kids. b.c. wasn't sure he wanted to touch his (and i was scared he would smash it!) so he kind of put his hand near mine and watched! kam was amazed that hers wanted to crawl right up her arm! mck's hung out on her forever . . . it was almost as if she was saying she didn't want to go! and ken's flew away . . . but not too far so she had the chance to pick her up and hang out a bit longer. i think we'll wait a few months and do this all over again.

my little guy

this is how my little guy decided to go outside today. gotta love it! mickey costume and camo boots. it doesn't get any better than that!

disney princess on ice

the ultimate girl outing! :) a trip to disney on ice! :) the girls were thrilled that their cousin s, and missy, and friend gh got to come along! it was a great afternoon! :) everyone dressed in pink, carried their wand, and snacked out on lots of sugar! :) they watched so intently! it was so cool to see how magical it was for them! :) kam stared dreamily at almost every princess! mck and ken loved the dancing and the cool tricks! :) can't wait to have a girls' day again soon! thanks missy and tim for coming! :)

mck's field trip

mck got to spend the day at the farm . . . and i got to go along too! :) it was a beautiful day and a great little farm . . . and so much fun to see mck with her friends. i thought she would be really clingy but i think her friends wanted to hold my hand more than she did! they saw a cow being milked, took a hayride, saw all sorts of animals, found fairies in the forest, and got up-close to the longhorns! :) what a wonderful experience for the kids! mck was so happy i got to go along . . . so was i.

easter 2011

easter 2011 will go down as one of the best! :) what an amazing weekend the kids have had! :) the fun started friday afternoon with the "peeping" and continued through the weekend! the kids LOVED coloring eggs this year and were so much more independent! it was fun to watch ken and mck coming up with designs for their eggs . . . while kam and b.c. just loved that they got to be involved! :)
the kids woke up easter morning to eggs in their slippers . . . build-a-bear gift cards for the girls (yes, i am a glutton for punishment) and a bulldozer car for b.c.! :) then it was downstairs for easter basket opening . . . holy crow. it was almost christmas! :) buckets of goodies from us including new towels and bathing suits . . . and baskets with goodies from mr. e.b. himself! :) wow. these kids are spoiled! :)
then it was outside for easter egg hunting. NO ONE needed help. we just got to point out the occasional missed egg. . . and stand back and watch them having fun! this year the eggs were filled with money, hair "goodies", fruit snacks, and gum . . . we were candied out from the peeping! :) we had a confetti egg fight and just enjoyed the morning! :)

then it was time to get dressed up and head to . . . a baseball game! :) the kids had a great time, but it sure was HOT! :) we sat on the grass, walked around a lot, and just enjoyed the day! :) then it was dinner out (yay! no cooking!) and some time at home to relax. what a perfect day!

mck's special day with a friend

mck got her special birthday day with her friend g. they had a sleepover and watched barbie and chatted and giggle until pretty late! :) they woke up super early and played american girl dolls for a LONG time! :) it is so nice that they get along so well! :) then it was off to bulid-a-bear for the real fun! :) we ate lunch at chick-fil-a, rode the merry-go-round, and stuffed new friends! :) mck made a cute flowered bunny . . . named daisy! they had a great time making their animals . . . but maybe had more fun riding the escalator! :) (i think my kids may need to get out more . . . it was cute how much fun they had!) :)
(both girls have said what perfect birthdays they have had! the best part is we did the least amount this year . . . simple family parties, out to dinner, and a special day with a friend! it is great that it doesn't take much to make them happy!)