Happy Birthday Kourtney!!

I can't believe it! Kourtney turns 9 today!! Adam and I kept teasing her there wasn't going to be an August 26th on the calendar this year because she needed to stop growing up!! She would have to stay 8 for one more year!! Just this past year she has made changes from a little girl to a young lady and although it's so exciting it totally makes me sad! She is growing up so quickly!! Her interesting are changing from toys/cartoons to fashion, earrings, nail polish, music, and many more "grown up things"!! Thank goodness boys are NOT the interest(hahaha)!! We are so blessed to have Kourtney in our family! She has such a special spirit! She brings so much joy and happiness to our lives! Being the oldest child can be hard at times but Kourtney is such a great example! Just a few words to describe Kourtney are: Thoughtful, kind, loving, helpful, dedicated, beautiful, smart, funny, mindful of others, artistic, desire to learn, and many many others!! I could go on and on!!! We want Kourtney to know how special she is !! Adam and I are truly blessed with the privilege of being her earthly parents!! We hope your day is as special as you are!!! WE LOVE YOU SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!

Improvement?

Deja vu? (sp) Our chocoholic daughter!! I am wondering if it is impossible for her to eat anything chocolate without it covering her face?? She is a chocolate magnet! Once again she opened her treat before we were actually home!! How can you get upset with such a cute messy girl?!!

I do think we are making improvements! (1st birthday) I am guessing maybe she will be mess free by the time is is 15?!! (or maybe not)

First Day of School!

I guess we can say summer is officially over! First day of school!! After walking the kids into school today and dropping them off at their class rooms, I realized I really wasn't ready for the new school year to begin. I really enjoy having them home! Although we really didn't have much on our agenda this past summer we enjoyed each other and spending time together! I wonder if I'm ever going to out grow the teary eyes and not wanting to leave them at school?! I remember telling myself I would never cry when I became a mom! Well, ya right! I am totally eating my words!! I feel like the luckiest mom to have such wonderful kids!! Although Makell and I seemed a little lost without the other two today, I am excited to see their progress and know it will be an exciting time for them!!
Kaitlyn standing next to the First Grade door and her bear tag!! Does she look excited or what?!!!
Kourtney started 4th grade this year!! I just can't believe it!
(Is this not the cutest thing or what?!) Makell wished she was in school as well! Kourtney and Kaitlyn are so good to include her when they play. I think after we were home about 30 minutes she started going through sister with drawls! She asked for a popsicle right as we arrived home and of course I gave in and let her have one (8:30 a.m). She went outside to eat it and as I was loading dishes into the dishwasher I noticed her sitting on the bench with this sad look on her face. I asked her what was wrong and she didn't say anything. I asked her if she missed her sisters and she nodded her head YES. Oh, how she loves and missed her big sisters!! I don't think there is a day that goes by that she is not making us laugh! I can't wait to spend more one-on-one time with her while the others are at school!

Splashin' Fun!

I decided to do one last summer play day before we totally got back into the swing of a new school year. This was the first time I had taken the girls to the pool swimming by myself! Only one set of eyes to watch three kids! I have to say I was a little nervous but we had so much fun! It was a perfect day! There were not a lot of people there and it made it really enjoyable!

The kids absolutely loved the water slide! I lost count of how many times they went down!

I think Makell loved the water slide more than anyone. For about an hour straight the only things I heard from her were, laughing and "I do it again"! I caller her my little Mermaid! I really think she would live in the water if she could!

Kourtney and Kaitlyn had a great time playing together! We all played shark, tag, ring around the rosies and this is a picture of them having a "tea party" under water! Wow, what imaginations!

Kourtney gets braces!

Today was the big day!! Kourtney got braces!! Doesn't she look so cute?! She has been really excited but yesterday the nerves set in. She was pretty nervous and really didn't know what to expect. When she was done she just laughed and thought it was funny that she had been so nervous. Adam and I think it makes her look so much older! Adam even made the comment that it made him feel older! And of course, she picked her favorite color....BLUE!! I think that was the most exciting part! She was a little disappointed when she found out she can't eat corn on the cob, popcorn, or candy for the next 6-9 months. We can't wait to see the before and after pictures!!

Super Slide!!

A few evening ago our wonderful friends Brian and Melissa invited us to go water sliding with them. I have to say we had the best time ever!! As we pulled in the parking lot and saw how long and steep this "homemade" water side was, I immediately felt the butterflies and nervousness (approx. 180 ft long). Adam and I were more nervous than our kids! The kids had a ball! Makell sure surprised us! We thought for sure she would be terrified on the way down but as she reached the bottom of the hill she ran back to the top and was ready for another turn. Many times she wouldn't even wait for her turn. She would just jump on and go! I'm afraid she is an adrenalin junkie!! Another thing, she was able to slide with Jackson! Those two crack me up!! Anything Makell does with Jackson is at the top of her list!! Kourtney and Kaitlyn had a blast coming up with new ideas on how to slide down. They tried their tummy's, backs, knees, backwards, sideways, and any other way you could possibly think of. Melissa's family and friends were there as well and we had such a great time racing one another and coming up with a new or different way to slide down each time! Melissa has such a wonderful and fun family!! They are pretty entertaining as well!! A few of them would ski down and do frontward flips! (ouch!) We even had an extra participant!! There was a little boy that was sliding down in the mix of everything. We were trying to figure out who he belonged to. Come to find out he didn't belong to anyone there! I guess he saw how much fun everyone was having and thought he would join in! (I wondered if his mother new were he was?) It was pretty funny! It was so fun to watch the kids have such a great time!! When time came for us to leave, of course they didn't want to go! On the way home in the car Makell said, "dat was AWESOME!! I do it adain!" We had such a great time and can't wait to do it again!! Thanks Brain & Melissa!!

Crafty Fun!

So the kids were absolutely bored today. I remember seeing this fun project on my friend Melissa's blog a little while back. I remember telling myself I think the kids would enjoy something like that, and I wanted to try it!! You know those crayons that break or get highly used and then no one wants to have anything to do with them anymore? Well who ever came up with this idea I LOVE it!! I sent the girls on a hunt to gather every crayon they could find that was broken and hard to use. There were more than I imagined! They peeled off the paper and then cut them into pea sized pieces. This actually took a little while to do but with them being board earlier this kept them busy for a while and they didn't seem to mind. They used an old muffin tin and covered the bottom of each muffin cup with the pieces of crayons. We then put them in the oven to slightly melt. I had some small distractions I actually let them go longer than I wanted. Some of the colors mixed together. We let them cool and harden and then just popped them out of the tin! Super Easy!! For the most part they turned out pretty well and the girls loved them!! Makell was down for a nap so she missed out on the fun but she sure liked using them to color with. I think these will be the "official" church crayons. If they spill you only have to pick up one and not the whole box!!!