Kaden Turns *2* !!!

Last Friday, the 25th, Kaden had his 2nd birthday!! Kelsey was so excited all week for his birthday to arrive. "Only 4 more days, Kaden, and you will be two...., Only 3 more days....,Only 2 more days,.... Kaden TODAY is your birthday!!!!" Very sweet. Another one of the many pluses of having "children" vs. "a child". :-)

His one request was a "pink pig cake". Not sure where/when he started saying that but that was what he wanted. Thanks to a small picture I found in one of his books I was able to grant that request.

Why are toys these days triple secured to the packaging??


Khara made a very sweet card for Kaden and even gave him some of the money fr0m her piggy bank. :-)




A lady from church heard Kaden say he wanted a pink pig cake and went all out trying to find him gifts to match that theme. A stuffed dancing pig and the Pink Ty Beanie Baby Pig- Silkie. Very sweet and thoughtful.

**Khara's Big Debut**

Tonight Khara had her first T-Ball game!! All of the practices and strict coaching really showed up. Before the game I asked her if she was nervous, "yeah, a little", she said. After the game was over, she told me that she was actually shaking!! :-) Mark saw one of the players on her team, who is quite shy, get to the game and then ended up being to scared to come play. What do you do??

She ended up having a great time. Actually hit two doubles and a single--yeah!!! Of course I might be a little biased, but I think T-Ball players are some of the cutest out there!
A little warm-up!!


Last minute instructions from the coach. The main one being "Pay Attention". If the coach catches them twice not paying attention, they do not get to bat the next inning!! Khara was proud to say that tonight anyway he never gave her the first warning. :-)


Waiting on 2nd base for the signal from her 3rd base coach.

Fun Weekend

Saturday evening we took the family out in the boat for the first time this season. Mark has gone out a few times, this was the first time for the rest of us. The kids were so excited and had a great time.

When we got back to shore they wanted to wade by the dock a little. I hadn't planned on that, but it was fine- they still had their life jackets on, and all had suitable shoes. This was Kaden's first time to play in the water at the lake and he LOVED it.

I was watching from shore as they played around. I was hoping they would only get their feet wet...somehow they managed to get all the way up to their waist. Kaden was out playing and slipped. I quickly found out that his life jacket will hold him up but not keep his face out of the water. All of the sudden he was lying face down in the water with bubbles coming up!! Very scary!!!! I grabbed him within a couple of seconds and needless to say, came home a little wet myself. He wanted to go right back in...Boys!!



We had a wonderful Mother's Day at my parent's house. Mark got me a really nice pair of Born Sandals. What a great husband!!!

*Latest Project*

Tuesday was our last MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting for the year. I am the creative activities leader for our local group. We chose an outdoor/summer theme for this meeting. In keeping with the general topic, I decided to have the moms make flip-flops.

It still cracks me up how similar moms and kids are.... you always have the mom that needs the directions explained just one more time, the mom that has a hard time choosing the color/ style she wants, and then the mom that jumps right in and has her project whipped up in no time...lots of fun. :-)

GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Have I ever mentioned that I don't really care for cops??? No, I would never say that, my brother is one. But, I do Despise items they like to issue. 'Nuff said?? No, let me explain...

Thursday afternoon I was trying to make sure I made it on time to a dentist appointment for Khara. The office had been very nice and squeezed us in for an emergency appt. I was a couple of miles on my way listening to an upbeat Collingsworth CD, my mind on a million things, when HE clocked me going oh, shall I say, significantly over the allowed limit. Kelsey was in the front seat and since I thought that might me against the law I had her quickly go get buckled in the back. (BAD idea!!) HE saw the "kid action" so also tried to do his civil duty by putting a #2. on the wonderful yellow piece of paper for no seat belt.

When I started to post about this yesterday my feelings were much different. Thankfully, I waited and you are now reading a pretty calm post. I do realize it really is their job, and if it taught Khara and Kelsey that you truly do have to be buckled up at all times and saves them from something in the future it will have been all very well worth it!!!

On a positive note, the amount was much less than I thought it would be. And, its just money anyway, right???

Another Fun Day At The Zoo

Saturday was a free admission day at the zoo in Springfield. I mentioned it to the girls and immediately that was their choice of activity for the day. Mark wanted to go to a Cardinals baseball game. The love and devotion to our children won out as we ended up at the zoo. :-)





After the zoo we went to Longhorn Grill to finish off a gift certificate we had purchased for half price. Can't beat that deal- free admission to the zoo and lunch on a half price gift cert. :-)

Mark was very impressed with the size of his triple cheeseburger.



Khara lovin' lemons while I anxiously await my delicious chicken sandwich.

***T-Ball***

My life may be changed forever...Khara went to her first sports practice tonight. Her first T-Ball practice was tonight and she is thrilled!!! Last year I encouraged her to play but she wasn't sure about it, later she wished that she had signed up. This evening after 1 1/2 hours of throwing, hitting, catching, and running the bases, she came home and said, "I didn't know T-ball was so fun!!".

She has a great coach that is going to make sure they learn the correct fundamentals of ball!! (He use to play college baseball-eeekkk, pressures on). They are still kids; 5, 6, and 7 year-olds at that, so I'm sure it will be a great season full of lots of laughs.

Mark bought Khara a new glove today. Saturday we will go in search of cleats. She should then be all set. Now, Kelsey can't wait until she can play next year. :-)

Photo Session

Brenda, here they are, finally!!!

A couple of weeks ago I took Kelsey and Kaden to a really neat studio to have their pictures taken. We had taken Khara when she was younger but never had Kelsey or Kadens done there. (Since they don't cost "pennies", it may be just a "once in a childhood" thing :-)). We had a great experience, though I was a nervous wreck by the time I left. A two-year old in a huge room full of beautiful antique props while a 4-year old is trying to give a "real" (vs. fake) smile, can be a little stressful on a mom who is there solo.

I picked up the proofs last week- 52 of them!!! Now we have the very hard job of trying to stay on a budget while choosing the ones we like the best!!

I am still so new at trying to scan and post pictures, so please excuse them being a little crooked, dark, or with a white border around them. If only I knew.... Of course a picture of a picture will never do it justice but, Gives you a little idea anyway.

**Bunnies To Bobcats**

I'm back in the world of blogging, yea!!

The Saturday before Easter we were at my parents and Mark found this little rabbit. (just before the dog did-eekk!!) The kids had SO much fun with it and Dana and I laughed and laughed at them. Khara, our MAJOR animal lover, wanted to just hold, hold, and hold it. Kelsey wasn't quite sure of it, but since Khara did...the pressure was on. :-) Kaden, all boy would grab it with just one hand, give it a good squeeze, drop it when he was done, etc. All while Khara was crying "he's going to kill it, he's going to kill it". Hilarious!!

We let them keep it in a box for the day until their cousins Andrew, Caleb, Kaley, and Camen could see it. Khara then "released it back to the wild". :-) I know, I know, if you know anything about wild animals you know that it could never survive with all of that handling, being squeezed and dropped, but Khara didn't have to know that. :-)



Last week Mark came home with another animal he found for the kids to see. I was on my way out the door for a School Board meeting as he came in. He told me to look on the trunk, I told him to be sure and take a picture. We did not let the kids hold or pet this one.

Balloon Art

On Saturday our local library was having a special celebration in honor of Library Week. We went and ended up staying about 2 hours. They gave all the kids free books, folders, and buttons; plus they had a really neat clown doing some incredible balloon art. We've probably all seen the little clowns that can make a horse, giraffe, etc. from one little balloon. This guy was amazing. He could make just about anything. My favorite is the motorcycle that Kelsey requested, (complete with handle bars, seat, and kickstand that allows it to stand up)--5 balloons and about 3 minutes!!!

I didn't even think about taking my camera to the event but snapped a couple of pics. of the balloons that Khara, Kelsey, and Kaden got when we got home. Oh, one more neat thing...we all received coupons for free drinks from Sonic!!! Gotta LOVE Sonic!! :-)

Easter Weekend

What a wonderful weekend!! Easter egg hunts, Dyeing Eggs, Easter Baskets, New Easter Outfits...I think we managed to get it all in and had a great time enjoying family. For the sake of Brenda/Aaron, and Kendall/Leanna; I will post several pictures...we missed you guys!!!! For some reason, I forget to take pics. of the adults...I will work on that, my dad, mom, Jeff, Vicki, Dana, Mark...they were around also.

Saturday morning we went to a very chilly Easter egg hunt at Stockton. It was 25 that morning with wind. Mark said the wind chill must have been about 10 or 15. Sounds like we were a little crazy, but the kids did enjoy it and got some neat prizes!! Our kids were in three different age groups, in three different places. We were thankful to have Dana along so that they could all participate .Kaden wasn't real thrilled with the Easter Rabbit. But, you know the spill--"real quick, just for a picture..."



Saturday evening Khara, Kelsey, Andrew, Caleb, and Kaley had a blast dyeing eggs!! That is a wonderful memory I have of every Easter doing that with my family. Great fun for all ages!!!


Kaley watches as Kaden cracks and tries to peel another one of her eggs.

Some very creative eggs from Drew.

Ready to go to church. Kelsey is even armed with her snack bag of Easter candy. :-)

Excuse the glare. This will come as a real shock, but we were racing, again, to get to church on time. We just snapped a couple of pics real quick before going out the door.

Khara's Easter Party

Today was Khara's 1st grade class Easter Party. I volunteered to bring snacks and attend to help out. I tried to think of a snack that was cute and also appealed to children. With the help of one of my 150 cookie cutters, I made Rice Krispie Rabbits.



It was a chilly 33 degrees, but they still went outside for the egg hunt. I think kids seldom think it is to cold to go out. And, what would an Easter Party be without an egg hunt??


Now I'm off to do a marathon house cleaning!! My sister Dana flew in from Alabama Thursday (yeah!!!) and the kids all wanted to go with her out to grandma's this afternoon. We will see how much I can get done in oh, maybe an hour. ( I don't want to take advantage too much...) :-)

My brother Jeff and Vicki and their four children are coming tomorrow (another, yeah!!!). It should be a wonderful Easter weekend!!

Kelsey's Easter Party

Kelsey had her preschool Easter Party today!! I don't think I have ever seen a group of more excited 4 & 5 year olds!! They were so anxious to get outside and hunt for eggs that I think we threw away more of the food than they ate. I'm thinking more and more that this would be a wonderful age to teach. They are so fun!!!

The Results of Staying Home on a Saturday!!!

two loaves of bread, two cracker pies, chocolate peanut butter bars...yum, yum, yum

This past Saturday during the day we...stayed home!!! Seems like our Saturdays are normally so busy. Mark had really hoped for us to all go out in the boat for the first time of the season , but when the day looked cloudy and stormy that was quickly postponed. I had a chance to get a jump start on my "Monday work" and do some much loved baking. We had a church dinner the next day which is where the bread and pies went.

Later that day we traveled about 40 miles to Ft. Scott and heard the G.B.S. Band--very good. What a great way to spend a Saturday!!!


*Yes, I did manage to do this with three children around...they all took a nap on Sat. afternoon--at the same time!!! A wonderful thing at our house. :-)