kinsey, the daredevil!!!

Kinsey has always been a climber....even before she could walk! She is also a daredevil- both on land and in the water. She has no problem or fear when jumping into a pool or off of something. Yesterday Brian was shocked to see her jumping off the ledge of the couch over, and over, and over again (something she's done for a while because she sees her sister do it:)! She has missed the beanbag before, and just says, "ouch" and gets back up to do it again! (Kinsey is kind of clumsy and runs into a lot of things..walls, people, cars, bushes, etc...AND falls down a lot- she just gets right up and moves on. It takes a BIG boo boo to get her down! She a tough cookie!) Please know that this is NOT something we encourage, contrary to the video:)! Also...check out how Kinsey's language is coming along now! We are SO excited for her to be talking more!!

I'm a Big Kid Now!!!

Kinsey loves to be independent....and always has! Lately whenever she goes to Sheree and Steve's she wants to carry her bags by herself too. I can't believe how fast she's growing up!! I always call her my baby, but it really hit me when I saw this pic that she's not a baby anymore!!

Playdate for Braden

Braden doesn't usually have playdates with friends from his preschool (other than Zackary) because usually we're with other friends. He had the opportunity to play with Kevin, his best friend in preschool at the mall the other day. They are A LOT alike, so as you can imagine they get along very well! Kevin is also quiet, very cooperative, sharing, and kind. I did see a side of him that I've never seen before though...he really came out of his shell while playing with Braden! They had a great time and can't wait to do it again next week!

a waiting girl....

The other night I went out with a friend that I haven't seen in years. It was great to catch up with her and we literally talked for hours! It's amazing to see how God puts people together at just the right time to help each other through trials....even in cyberspace! Well...when I came home I was talking to Brian and we were laughing pretty loud. I went to sit on the bed and Brian stopped me....good thing! This little angel was obviously waiting for me to come home and give her a kiss! She was snug and fast asleep in our bed....so tired that through the talking, laughing, and LOTS of picture taking she stayed asleep!

Happy Morning!!!

This is what I call a great morning! Braden is always happiest
first thing in the morning- but not so much for Cailey. (She's like
her mama....NOT a morning person) This particular morning everyone
was giddy and it was so cute I just had to post it. Oh...also note that
there are only TWO stools, yet all three made room for each other
to share the stools!

Prima Ballerina

Nope... she's not having a dance recital...she's not even in dance class. Cailey found this costume the other day in her dress up clothes and came down to show me! She looked so cute that maybe I should put her in dance class:)! My assistant gave me a bag full of dress up clothes last fall and I just added them to the girl's box without going through them. They go through phases with playing dress up and lately that's all they want to do! I'm so thankful for hand me downs...and so are the kids! Now I'm thinking that maybe I should get mom to dig out all of my old recital costumes for the girls to use!

human trains and chat time

Friday night we got to hang out with the Megilligan's again!! The kids had a great time and got along so well (as they usually do). Austin was such a trooper with the girls....first he was playing hide and seek with Cailey and then he let Kinsey hang on to him all throughout the house- her new thing is to pretend she's a train with someone else. (Kinsey even got everyone else to join in on the train!) Cailey ADORES playing with them and we enjoy having time to talk to grownups:)!! I especially love getting all the great parenting advice from Janet!!!

At one point all the kids came parading
down with musical instruments.

Easter Day 2008!!

Easter day wasn't as cold as it was forcasted to be so we were able to dress the kids up and let them hunt for their baskets and eggs before church! Braden was really focused on the hunt and found TONS of eggs! Cailey was so cute....she would open up each egg to see what was inside before putting it in her basket and moving on to find the next one:). Kinsey had her own system going too....she would open up each egg and EAT what was inside before moving on to find more eggs!! I think my kids had more candy on Easter than they've ever had in their lives! After collecting eggs and toys for their baskets, we all went to church to celebrate the real reason for Easter!!

A day early...

Yesterday was a GORGEOUS day so we decided to put the kids in their Easter clothes and get some pictures since it's only 50 degrees today!! We're still going to do their egg hunt today though, so look for those pics to come. Oh...and in the morning the girl's got hair cuts! Kinsey basically got a trim, but Cailey got 10 inches cut off!! It broke my heart to see all her hair on the floor, but she wanted it short- hopefully she'll still feel that way next week! (Last time she got her hair chopped she cried when she realized it meant no more pony tails and french braids.)

Easter Egg Hunt 2008

Yesterday I hosted an Easter egg hunt/party for some friends. We had three different stations for the kids to do....decorating bags, cupcakes, and crosses. (Thanks to ALL the moms who helped with that!!) After everyone went through the stations, Kelly read an Easter story and Janet led songs so Laura and I could hide the eggs outside. To make it a little bit harder, we marked the older kids eggs with stars for them to find so the younger kids would still have some to find:)!! After the hunt the kids all stayed for a while and played in the yard. The weather was AWESOME and it worked out perfectly! Oh...sidenote....after Kinsey found her eggs she decided to eat ALL the candy inside, including the foil wrapping around the chocolate candies!

God's Intended Roles....

We were driving in the car the other day as a family when Cailey brought up an interesting conversation about mommies and daddies. She first wanted to know if she cried when she came out of my belly. (As background, we had been looking at their baby books before we left the house.) Then she asked why she came out of my belly instead of Brian's. She asked if daddies could have babies too. After telling her that God made mommies to have babies in their bellies she said, "God made mommies to have babies in their bellies and God made daddies to throw us up in the air." Need I say more:)???

Exercise Buddies

I belong to the Y and have been going to work out there for years. Lately I've realized that it takes so much time to get there, put the kids in childcare and go home that I started looking in to getting an elliptical for home to save time and money. (On top of the Y membership every month, I also have to pay for childcare...which can be really pricey if you work out a lot.) SOO I bought an elliptical and have been using it- in front of the kids most of the time because they always want to be with me:). Afterwards I usually do some floor work (abs, push ups, weights, etc.). Yesterday morning Cailey came in and put a towel on the floor to do push ups with me. A few minutes later Kinsey followed and went to get TWO wash cloths to put down underneath herself and joined in with us. It was VERY cute...and Brian ran to get the camera:). I guess I never thought of it before but they haven't seen me workout because they're always in the childcare section of the Y or sleeping when I do it...until now:)

Scrapbooking Again!

Friday night I went to a scrapbooking event with the ladies from my Sunday school class. There were ten of us in all split between three tables. Originally I planned to only crop the pictures for Braden's baby book, but in the end I got most of them cropped AND put into his book! Now I'm totally motivated to do more but I have one problem. When I scrapbook I feel the need to take over an entire room. I need table space, floor space, and I need to be able to leave it out all the time until I'm done. Currently there is no room in my house that will work for that. Ho hum...maybe I will get caught up sometime!!!

Going On a Green Hunt...

I took the kids on a 'green hunt' on St. Patrick's Day. First we went all through the house trying to find as many green things as we could (including green milk that I made for them). Once that was done we ventured outside in the sunshine to find some more green. It was a GORGEOUS day for me...60 degrees...perfect! We walked around the neighborhood 'spying' green all around, climbed trees, rolled down hills, hid in a willow tree and did LOTS of giggling! I will cherish the time I spent with them for a long time!! When was the last time YOU rolled down a hill???