visit from an old friend

Who's the cutie patootie you ask?? It's Wesley...my friend Caroline's son! Caroline and I grew up in the same city but didn't actually become friends until college. I've kept up with her over the years through other people, but thanks to the blog world have finally been able to really catch up! Her and her ADORABLE son came over to spend the day with us yesterday and we were able to 'reminisce' and talk about the last few years of our lives while the kiddos played:).

Wesley and Kinsey:)

SO CUTE!!!

just messin' around...

workin' at the carwash...

I am SO glad that we've had enough rain to lift the water restrictions! My poor van has been waiting for a bath for almost a YEAR...and yes, I did say YEAR!!! Brian was so sweet to wash it on Sunday afternoon:). I put all the kiddo cars out so Cailey could wash them as well (the others were asleep). I did this one time last year and the kids had so much fun, so I figured she would enjoy herself. Cailey had a great time washing with 'bubbles' and spraying everywhere!

Another Date Night....

Saturday night was another date night for couples in our Sunday school class. This time we didn't host, but we helped out at different house. The kids spent most of the time outside playing on the playground, doing 'relay races', making up games, rolling downs hills, and playing with the parachute. The most popular game for the first part of the evening was the 'big' kids pulling the 'not so big' kids down the hill on the parachute. Kinsey LOVED this! Unfortunately I didn't think about grass stains when I dressed my kids in white shirts though:(. The kids ate dinner on the deck (without incident) and went outside for more playtime:)! There were four babies that we played with inside too:)!! The kids had such a great time that Cailey didn't want to leave!

sibling love on the tire swing

this was completely kid led....I was VERY impressed!

kinsey stayed on the parachute as much as possible...
and doesn't Braden look scary in this picture?

dinner on the deck

my guitar hero...he's
turned into quite the little
'ham' posing for me every chance
he gets!

Photo Shoot Preview

My VERY talented friend, Laura, took some pictures of our family this weekend in a beautiful setting. We've never had a REAL photographer take our pictures before so I was giddy about the whole situation. It was hard getting them all to smile and I thought of all the things I should have brought AFTER we were done. (My kids work great when bribed with Goldfish...Kinsey would have smiled for her 'blankie' too...now I know for next time:) I've seen some previews of the pictures Laura took and they look awesome!! At the very end I took a few of the TIRED kiddos:) I can't wait to show you the real ones though:)!!!

Jumpin' Beans!

We had a great playdate on Wednesday at a place called Jumpin' Beans. I had never been there before, but it was SO great for the kiddos! There were inflatables for them to jump, climp, and slide on and they had a blast! We ended up seeing friends from preschool, work, and church....so they were able to play with a lot of kids they already knew. They were so tired after jumping for a couple of hours and Kinsey was signing 'all done' while laying down...there were great naps that day!

Cailey had so much fun with Lindsey!
Braden was like a monkey on the rock wall:)

Kinsey was SO cute and did such a great job hanging
in there with the 'big kids.'

she likes to be clean???

I got a phone call from Sheree after Steve (her husband) had been watching Kinsey on Thursday. She wanted to tell me "a typical Kinsey story." My first thought was...uh oh!!! Sheree laughed and said that it was a very 'busy' day. Translation? While Steve was helping other two year olds with potty issues Kinsey was off 'exploring' on her own. She somehow found diaper cream and had spread it ALL over her face (as if it were shaving cream!) A while later Steve needed to help the others again....when he was done he couldn't find Kinsey. Where had she gone? Oh...just up in their CLOSET to search out brand new UNopened sunscreen so she could spray it all over herself! Sheree said she had to go through a lot to find it and get it open! I am SO thankful to them for being willing to watch her and feel bad that they have to clean her up a lot! (She's written on their walls with Sharpies, colored herself and her clothes with markers, and the list goes on and on!)

I don't know what it is with my angels, but all three of them have gone through a phase of playing with 'bathroom' items. From eating toothpaste and feeding others deodorant (sorry Laura W) to Kinsey's favorites: Spreading soap, shaving cream, lotion, toothpaste, bubbles...ANYTHING all over herself and the counters...but not before tasting them:)! This too will pass and then I'll be sad that they are growing up too fast! I've been thinking a lot about that lately and feel like I'm acting like a Grandma, but seriously...they are growing up SO fast!!! I treasure the time I get to spend with them...even if it's cleaning them or breaking up fights...it's all worth it for the best hugs, kisses, and smiles in the world:)!!

Awana Awards....

Yesterday evening Cailey had her Awana awards night! The whole fam headed over to clap and cheer for her achievements! She learned SO many new scriptures this year and was able to go through two books (YAY, Cailey....sorry, proud parent moment!) I love the look on her face in the picture on the right...you can tell she's proud and wants to smile but she's too embarrassed:)! We're SO proud of you Cailey Anne!

After the awards the kids had a time of fellowship and snacks:) She and Harrison were in the same class and Anthony (Harrison's dad) helped teach them!

I am tracked out by Cailey

I am tracked out from school for three weeks! I spent the night at Rebecca's house. We played outside and watched 100 and the thousand Dalmatians. I will do lots of fun things during track out. I wanted a picture with mommy. (Cailey typed everything by herself...with help on the spelling.)

the new look

Thanks for all the positive emails and comments about the new look! Shannon from eightcrazy designs put up with me changing my mind DAILY until I thought it was perfect:)!! Now to answer all the questions I'm getting.
1. Was it a premade design?: NO, she started from scratch, asked me my favorite colors, and things I like and we went from there.
2. What's with the ostriches?: A secret obsession of mine (not so secret now)
3. How long did it take?: About a week...probably shorter if you don't change things as much as I did!
I think that covers everything..oh..and I learned how to do a LOT more computer things through this too:)! I did the pics and the music (I'm sure you all think that's easy, but I'm somewhat behind the times!). There's another secret obsession of mine hidden somewhere in the blog...can you find it? (You people who know me REALLY well are NOT allowed to answer on the blog...email me:))

workday turned family day!

Saturday morning I had to work at a Kids Expo for a few hours. About 4 hours into it I saw my beautiful family walking towards me! I was NOT expecting them to come...I thought they might come today for Mother's Day (they did last year) but I was so excited to see them! This year they had SO much more for the kiddos to do and the great part is it's all free. Highlights include: all three riding on horses (NOT ponies), jumping in a bounce house two times, watching a COOL magic show (Brian and I couldn't even figure out how he was doing it), Cailey getting a tennis lesson, Braden petting a Macaw (which we JUST learned about in preschool), Cailey and Braden sitting in a REAL helicopter and firetruck, eating popcorn, cotton candy, AND a funnel cake (I know it's a lot, but they all shared and it's NOT like they get it everyday!), hugging mascots, playing games, making crafts (a Mother's day card and a necklace), swinging on a swingset, and Cailey's favorite...getting her face painted! ALL this in a nice and cool airconditioned building:)!! They were all very well behaved considering it was WELL past naptime and they were loaded with sugar! I only had the 'take along' camera which is dying...I keep it in my purse for times like this. I'm SO glad I had it, even if the pictures didn't turn out that great. I was SO bummed because while they were on the horses it wouldn't work!!! Kinsey on a horse for the first time and no pictures...so sad!

Kinsey LOVED going on the horse and was waving
and blowing kisses when the ride was over! She didn't
like the cotton candy but loved the funnel cake!

Braden was SO excited about the helicopter and horses...oh,
and of course the snacks:) His favorite by far, though was
the bounce house...I heard him giggling so much in there!!

This picture is my favorite one of
the day! She was seeing herself in the
mirror for the first time...true happiness-
not a fake smile..I LOVE it! And it was
the highlight of her day! She also wants to learn
how to play tennis now:)

Mother's Day 2008

cailey

Cailey made the top one is from home
and she made the other at school

braden

braden

Braden made the top one at home,
the second at preschool and the third
in ABC play with me...he even typed
it himself:) (with spelling help)

kinsey made this card for me:)!!

My mother's day cards from the kiddos...I LOVE that Cailey and Braden can write, type and share their own feelings now! Don't get me wrong, I love all the crafts they did in preschool too....but these are extra special!

old toy, new game

We constantly have baby toys out because at LEAST twice a week we have lots of babies here. The other night when I was cooking dinner I was fascinated because the kids were actually playing together...nicely.....creatively! Cailey would push the star on top of the toy and it would play music for a minute or so. While the music was playing they ran all around the outside of the rug while laughing! As soon as the music stopped they raced to the yellow rocking chair...whoever got their first won that round....basically musical chairs. They played it for a LONG time and we so happy while doing it! Who knew a baby toy would entertain 'big kids' for so long!

the worm that didn't squirm....

Yesterday evening we were outside in the backyard and Cailey said, "ooooo, a worm!" Next thing we know she's holding up her 'worm'. Maybe if you zoom in you'll be able to see what it really is...we couldn't help but laugh because her face was priceless!! She had peeled the silicone caulk off of where the siding meets the deck. I suppose we should have been upset, but we weren't...we just thought it was so funny!

a new outfit!

We moved into our house over 4 years ago and A LOT has been changed since then. It is now a brand new 19 year old house! EVERYTHING from the siding, windows, flooring, paint, light fixtures, appliances, hot water heater, and plumbing are new. It's been a work in progress but I finally feel like we are done for a while! We've had a lot of house 'emergencies' hence all the new stuff. The latest 'new' thing is the roof. I have always hated the red roof am I'm SO happy to replaced it with a prettier one!!! (Yes, I do think it's pretty:) I'm not going to post before and after pics of the inside today, but I will show you the before and after of the outside.

2004

2008