A Fancy Dinner

Kambryn came to me around 4:30 Thursday afternoon and said "I have a great idea", now of course the is a phrase she uses often and I never know what might follow but on this occassion it was really sweet. She told me that she wanted to have a "Fancy Dinner" which to her means that we eat in the formal dining room. So I thought for a moment and realized that there was no good reason not to eat in the formal dining room and I even took it a little further and got out my crystal and china for us to use. So I finished preparing dinner and I allowed Kambryn to set the table with the crystal glasses and her great-grandma Nanny Betty's china and we were just about set. She of course needed to bring her baby to eat with us so we moved the baby highchair in from the playroom and had a wondreful time. I put on Christmas music and turned on all the Christmas lights in the house and the kids both loved it. I just love that my little girl thinks outside of the box and loves to change things up. She did approach me the next night and say that she wanted another fancy dinner but I told her we might need to wait a little before we do it again, maybe we can make it a weekly tradition.

Santa through the years....

Santa has been a pleasant experience for us up until this year. Kambryn has always been that kid that was never afraid of strangers and always wanted to talk to just about anyone. Kolten on the other hand is totally the opposite. Kyle and I even have trouble getting him to let go of one of us long enough for other family members to see him. I always joke that he is just another limb for me since it seems he is always on my hip. He doesn't like it when people talk to him while we are out and don't try to approach him if he is playing in a room because he will make a mad dash for his mommy or daddy to be rescued. So when we began talking about taking our picture with Santa this year I knew I would end up with Kolten crying in the shot.

she comes by it honestly....

When we started Kambryn in preschool this year I knew that one day she would come home with the "needed to be reminded" box checked for something. We lasted an entire month with nothing but glowing marks from Miss Cindy until today.....we had that little box checked, ugh. Kambryn really is a well behaved kid at school (she saves all of her acting out for mommy & daddy at home) so I figured it couldn't be to bad. Apparently she had a hard time keeping that little motor mouth of hers quiet during "naptime" today. As most of you know the 3 year old class in preschool doesn't have to sleep during naptime but they do have to lay quietly and "rest" for the allotted time. Well what can I say about my spunky outspoken little girl, I really don't know where she gets the need to talk all the time :) Miss Cindy said that she just could not stop talking to her friend Brynn and was told 3 times that she needed to not talk before she was able to close that little mouth of hers. I guess this is a milestone that all kids eventually get under their belt, I am just glad that it is one of those moments that I can laugh about. Kyle and I did have a little talk with her tonight about making sure to have her listening ears on and follow directions, time will tell if she had her listening ears on when we had our conversation :)

Happy Fall!

For those of you who know me well you know that I love when I can put the kids in matching or coordinating pj's. Halloween is the beginning of my fun each year. It is a little difficult finding cute pj's that look good on both a boy and a girl. I actually have a more difficult time with the Christmas pj's but that is another post. This year the kids got pretty simple pj's but the jack o lantern face does glow in the dark, Kambryn LOVES this little perk. Here are a few picture of the kids in their pj's, as usual it is hard to get a good shot of them together and of course Kolten is always on the move so he is usually running as I am snapping a shot. Happy Fall everyone!

It has been a while, huh.....

Our laptop battery went out on us about a month ago and it has taken me this long to finally get one ordered and get it on the laptop. I am so excited to have my laptop back! We have had a busy few months. We finised out the summer with lots of swimming and playing outside in the horrible heat, Kolten was officially diagnosed with a milk allergy, Kambryn started preschool and Kolten started walking. These are just a few of the many milestones since July but I am condensing for the sake of time. Here are a few pictures and video of Kolten walking.

when you talk to a 3 year old, you never know what they will say...

Wednesday evening Kyle and Kambryn went to pick up a pizza for dinner. Kyle said on the way Kambryn starting talking about our mini vacation next week.....
Kyle: "Are you ready to go to Norman next week and see Bob Stoops"
Kambryn: "Yes, where does Bob live?"
Kyle: "In Norman"
Kambryn: "Oh, is there a high school there?"
Kyle: "Uhhh, yes"
Kambryn: "Does Bob Stoops have a car"
Kyle: "yes"
Kambryn: "Does he wear panties or big boy underwear"
Kyle: "Ummm, I guess big boy underwear, why"
Kambryn: "Oh, just because"

Sometimes the our daughter's thoughts are so scattered and random, but always good for a laugh :)

Take me out to the ball game....

This past Sunday Kyle and I took Kambryn, Allie and two of my sisters, Holly & Haley to a Frisco Roughriders game. This was the first baseball game that Kambryn and Allie had ever been to and we wondered if they would like it. Oh course the loved it! What is not to love....a big, new adventure to explore there park, eating hot dogs and chips and of course having Dippin Dots for the first time. Oh to be a child again and live in such a wonderful bubble of fun. Allie didn't smile much because she was very hot and Kambryn just wanted to dance everytime the music would come on. Here are a few pictures.

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz

Well, we finally did it! Kyle and I have been talking for a while now about buzzing Kolten's hair for the summer. He has such long hair and is so hot natured, he would often wake up from naps with a wet head. He also didn't really have a hair style, just about 5 or 6 different hair lengths going on at one time. Of course after most big changes I totally had a big wave of remorse about "what have I done to my baby's hair". Kolten has never had hair this short, he was born with 2-3 inches of hair all over his head! He looks like a totally different kid, I think he looks like an older boy. He was also such a trooper while Kyle was buzzing it all off, he just sat there like a big boy and didn't even move. Here are a few pictures from the process.

Zoo trip 2010

We went on our annual zoo trip this weekend and as usual we had a blast. Of course it was really hot but we had to go this weekend since it was TI's family fun weekend and we got in for free. We took Allie and two of my sisters, Holly & Haley, along as well. The kids all did great and loved to new exhibit "Giants of the Savannah". Kolten of course had that pointer finger out the entire time and would point and say "dat" for everything. The girls were equally excited about the animals, especially the giraffe's since they came right up to the fence and let you feed them. We also have a tradition to have the kids picture take on the big turtle each year. This of course was Kolten's first year to have his picture taken (last year I had him 6 days after our zoo trip). Here are a few pictures from our day.

Gymnastics Class

Kambryn took a little gymnastics class last week and loved it! I wasn't sure if she would go into class since I would not be able to go with her. She was a little reserved the first 20 minutes of class but then warmed up and did great. We are trying to find her a place to take gymnastics but are still trying out a few different ones. Here are a few pictures.

and now there are four....

We have had a busy weekend, I can't believe that I haven't had a chance to blog about our new niece! She is so precious! Adalyn Ellouise Kempson made her entry last Thursday. Funny thing is, before we left for the hospital that morning Kambryn had told me that "Baby Adalyn was going to have hair like her and Kolten not like Allie" and she did have a head full of dark hair. The kids (Allie, Kambryn & Kolten) did great waiting to see Adalyn and kept most of the waiting room entertained with there sillyness.

A treasured gift....

A few weeks ago at Kolten's 1st birthday party my Dad gave Kolten a very special present. I have been sitting over the past few weeks trying to decide if I wanted to blog about this present and what it really means to me. This past weekend my dad had a minor health crisis and ultimately had a pacemaker placed on Monday so I decided to go ahead and write about Kolten's gift.

As most people know my Dad was "blessed" with four daughters, he was the best dress ironing, bow tying, hair fixing, lunch packing, meal preparing dad around. So last year when I found out that I was having a baby boy he was thrilled. Finally there would be some testosterone in the family! He of course doesn't favor any one grandchild over the other but I know that he is thrilled to have a boy in the mix.

So at the party, after all the presents had been opened and cake had been devoured by Dad quietly approached Kyle and I in the kitchen and said that he had a gift for Kolten that we would need to put up until he was older. This is a special object that he has had since 1971 and was holding onto, he said he would give it to his first grandson. When my dad was stationed overseas in Hawaii during Vietnam he was working in the Vet Clinic. Apparently his OIC (Officer in Charge) Dr. Jerry Bell had given him a Case knife. It is hard to believe that someone would hold onto something so simple for 39 years. Apparently when my dad began preparing to give Kolten the knife he sent it off to the Case manufacturer to have new blades placed because one had completely broken off and the other was extremely wore from use and sharpening. Case send the knife back with a letter stating they did not fix and replace blades but they would give him a brand new knife that looks exactly the same. So know Kolten has two sitting on a shelf in his room, one that is brand new and one that was carried by his Pawpaw for 39 years.

I know that for most people this simple treasure is not much but for me it really is special. Check out the pictures!

Buckaroo Birthday Party

Our little buckaroo had his birthday party yesterday. He had a great time and got lots of cool new toys. The only problem we are having now is that Kambryn wants to play with all of his new stuff and isn't letting him get to much of it. Typical big sister! Her are a few pictures from our day. Thanks to all our wonderful family and friends for sharing this special time with us.

Kolten is 1 year old...

I can't believe that it has been an entire year since our sweet Kolten was born. It seems like this first year has flown by! I remember back in those early days that I never thought we would make it to this point. We made it through the horrible reflux, not sleeping, then only sleeping on my chest, to sleeping in our bed and finally now sleeping in his own bed. Once we got the reflux under control we learned that he is a really laid back baby, almost to laid back sometimes. He finally started crawling and is all over the house now. He is the little man of many faces and always makes us laugh. He is also our "Human Hoover" because he eats anything and everything in sight or off the floor. He actually has lots of nicknames "Bubba, monkey, Kolt", I am really not sure how these all came about. Here are a few pictures from Kolten on his birth day and today on his 1st birthday. Happy Birthday Kolten!!

The Park and a picnic...

We are always looking for fun and free things to do with the kids. So when Kambryn asked last week if we could have a picnic I thought it was a great idea. We finally made it happen this past Saturday morning. We packed a lunch and headed to the park. The park that we go to has lots of old trees around it so it provides lots of great shade. Kambryn would live outside if she could and never stops when we are at the park. Kolten on the other hand is not to thrilled about the slides and cars at this point and is happy to play in the grass and watch. Here are a few pictures, some of them really tell the entire story without me actually typing it out. :)

Big Boy Haircut

Well the time has finally come that Kolten is getting his first haircut. Here are a couple of before and after shots. He doesn't look like a baby anymore, he looks like a big boy. It really makes me sad, he is growing way to fast.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

This past week Daddy turned 32. We had a couple of celebrations over the weekend and then one Wednesday, which was actually Kyle's birthday. Our first celebration was on Saturday with Ganny & BawPaw (Kyle's mom and dad) and after dinner we went to Braum's for ice cream. Let's face it, the stop at Braum's was more for Kambryn than for Daddy since he is not a really big sweet eater. Then Tuesday evening Kambryn and I made Daddy a chocolate cake. Since Kyle works 7a-7p over night we were not going to get to see him on the morning of his birthday. We prepared everything and set it all out for him to see when he got home. The plan was for him to walk into the kitchen and see the handmade birthday cards from the kids, chocolate cake and the laptop. The laptop had a sticky note that said watch me. I had placed the kids on the table and had them wish daddy a happy birthday and I recorded it on the Flip Video. Then I got worried that he might just walk past the presentation and I decided to call and make sure that he knew we had left something for him. Here are a few pictures and the video. Hope you all enjoy.