Kate's Not So Hidden Rage

This is the picture Kate colored at church of her family. Except for the baby, it is pretty dead on. When we picked her up and they gave it to us we cracked up for the rest of the day. Do you think Kate has some hidden rage against someone in particular? Maybe. Hmmm....Hmmmm....Who could it be?

LOL I can't help myself. It still makes me laugh every time I look at it. Christopher was actually the one who picked her up and pointed it out to me. No, Kate does not have issues with her dad. She is his princess. Yes, there are MANY other explanations. (She didn't have TIME to color it all or the fact that almost everyone in the family HAS red hair or maybe that was the only crayon she could get during nursery brawl), but I think it was hilariously funny to interpret anyways. Kate's Hidden (or not so hidden) rage. LOL

First Swim of the Season

We took our first swim of the season today! Yay! Pools have been open and warm weather has been around for a while, but we haven't ventured out. Today was also my first time to take both kids to the pool ALL BY MYSELF! I was so proud of myself for attempting it (and way happy that it worked out and we had such a good time). Both kids are at least somewhat comfortable in the water and familiar with floaties and flotation devices (plus I think I told them that we ALL stay together like a million times). It was nice to be able to take them to the pool without having to enlist help. They are really growing up.
Dallin loves the water and immediately began splashing and "swimming" about with his floaties and such. In the picture above, he kept dunking his head and kind of swimming along before he would come up sputtering (this water was only a foot and a half deep) He actually got pretty good at flipping onto his back and swimming along with just his floaties on. I can tell he has lost a little bit of his finesse since last season, but it is nothing a little practice and some lessons won't take care of. Kate probably had the most dramatic improvement since last year. She literally went from being very afraid of swimming and not able to be left alone AT ALL (for her safety and because she was scared) to actually kicking her little legs and paddling herself around the pool with her ring. She could flat make time across the pool Yes, she wears a lifevest, floaties, and a ring, but then she can have a little bit of independence without she or I having a heart attack. She is not quite ready to go underwater or venture out of the comfort zone of wearing so much safety equipment it would be impossible to sink. The kids were absolutely exhausted and fell asleep on the way home. We had been out for 2 hours. Dallin ended up with only a little sunburn on his cheeks and nose area. I actually applied sun lotion twice while we were there, but the second time I used a different lotion and as soon as the kids hit the water it ran into their eyes. There was a lot of hysterical crying and eye rubbing. Dallin's eyes were soooo red and sore looking. Poor little Mr., so I flushed them out with the water we brought to drink. This helped, but I also think it washed the lotion off of his face...hence the burn. Definitely buying one of those sticks for the face in the future, Fortunately, his arms and everything else were fine (Yay for our SPF 50 swim shirt!!) Kate has no burns (she has a fortunate skin tone) All in all it was a big success! Can't wait to go out and swim again! Love my kiddos. :)

Dallin Rides a 2 Wheeler!

s, it is true! Dallin can officially ride a 2 wheeler bicycle. He never ceases to amaze me. He will go from not being able to do something at all to doing it very well or even flawlessly in the blink of an eye. When he decides he's ready...that's that. I don't think I learned to ride a 2 wheeler until I was 7 or even 8 years old, but my 4 year old lil guy is riding up a storm "just like a big boy!"
He outgrew his first lil bike a while back and we had found this pink bike in the trash complete with training wheels in the next size....so we snatched it up. He doesn't seem to mind it and is happy to HAVE a bike. (Yes, there has been a teasing incident about it--and about the training wheels, but I nipped that one quick....hey, I'm a mama bear!) Anyways, the training wheels never tightened correctly and so they would wobble and sometimes one would flip up and he would be leaning and balancing on one. It really made it difficult for him and he would fall over a lot. I kept trying to convince him that it would be easier to just take the training wheels off, but he wasn't going to go for it. It was so bad recently that I would barely let him ride it. We were also worried he was going to learn to counterbalance the training wheels which would make the transition without them much more trying.
Then 3 days ago, he was goofing around with the bike in the driveway. and I noticed that the training wheels were flipped up and he was balancing and "riding" about on the driveway without noticing. So, I got really excited and told him he was riding his bike as a 2 wheeler like a big boy. He was like "huh?" I showed him that the wheels were up and asked him if he wanted to try riding down the sidewalk. He was all for it and away we went. The first day, I ran behind the bike holding the seat and letting go. Then he would pedal a little ways and tip over. The big problem was that he would stop pedaling or pedal too slow. I kept saying "if you pedal to slow, you tip over!" He never really wiped out though. (Seriously, I remember wiping out and quitting several times before I got it) I was very excited for him and offered to take the training wheels off. He was not ready for that yet and was emphatic that they stay even if he wasn't using them.
The second day, it was better and he was pedaling more without stopping. He was able to do some starts on his own but still needed a little push to get going every once in a while. The big problem the second day was that he wasn't paying attention and was counterbalancing a lot with his steering. He was totally off roading and all over the grass and everything else. A couple of times he lost control and ended up in the road (thank goodness we live in a cul-de-sac!) Again, he never really wiped out. One of the training wheels was really flipping around this day and kept messing with him so I convinced him to let me take it off!

Today, he is riding like a pro. I am amazed, excited, and frankly a little weepy as my little boy is checking off another milestone. He starts on his own, steers well, and keeps pedaling. Plus he is always asking me to go out and practice some more! That's my boy! I sure love him and I am very very proud of his accomplishment. Here is the video from today.

And for your viewing pleasure, a short clip of Kate as she has recently mastered her tricycle and pedals it everywhere. I think it helps that her legs are finally long enough to reach the pedals. It cracks me up watching her little legs work so fast and ride that little trike. She is pretty good at it, and I love that she will ring her little bell and lift her legs on the hills and yell "wheee!!!" She reminds me of Elmo riding his little trike on Sesame Street. What a cutie pie!

Kate's 3 year old pictures

We had Kate's pictures done today at JC Penney. I must say I was completely shocked at how adorable and cooperative she was today. The past couple of years, good pictures have been due to purely talented photographers who could make my kids look like angels when they were actually being little devils. Kate was soooo darling today. All morning I kept telling her that they wanted to take her picture because she was so beautiful in her Easter dress. She got so very excited about it. She really loves that dress! She was happy to see the photographer (Miss Lisa) and did everything she asked. Dallin was equally well behaved in the waiting area! Hooray! Consequently, we have loads of beautiful pictures! Enjoy!

Pictures We Did Not Order (but included here for your viewing pleasure)

Yes, by this point she was done doing pictures and was going crazy with the tulle.

This one was tough to pass by, but we had so many beautiful pictures we had to cut some somewhere.

These are the pictures we ORDERED!

Love her big beautiful blue eyes in this one!

This one is my favorite shot of all. I don't think I would have thought of that pose, but it totally worked.
This one is so totally Kate. Her confident determined little face, sparkling impish eyes and grin and little hands on hips! Love my little diva!
I loved this shot because she looked like a little angel fairy dancing around (which she does A LOT at home)

Ta-Da! It's the taco tongue!

Such a little girly princess. On her tippy toes showing off her pretty dress and looking like she just knows she looks great!

Enhancements that we did NOT order (these are shots you already saw all fancied up)

Enhancements we DID order (again, pictures you already saw that they fancied up or grouped together)

It says Sweet, Silly, Smiles on the 3 little pictures on the side

Ok doesn't she look like one of the little fairies herself? LOL I thought it was so fitting.

Remember When...Cone of Shame

So on April 16, Macy got spayed. That's right, no puppies for us! She was dropped off early this morning at the vet. There was some definite action going on as one of the dogs there being dropped off bit another lady dropping off and then bit one of the vet techs. I didn't get a good look at the dog, but it was german shepherd sized. I didn't even realize it bit the first lady. I just thought she was mad about something that I didn't know about. She just started swearing and threw down her keys and check in paper and ran out. It was only after she returned that I realized she had been bitten. Anyways when the vet tech tried to take the dog back, he totally bit her hand. I mean he REALLY got her. There was lots of blood and you could see that there were deep punctures. Blood was spilling all over the floor. It was gruesome. I have never seen a dog bit in person before. The vet tech went to the back, got stitched and bandaged and came back out...she kept right on working. I don't think I could have. I later learned that she went to the ER and that the dog was put down (apparently he was a repeat offender).
Anyways, Macy had an uneventful surgery and I picked her up at 5. It was really weird spending a day without her. It seemed so quite and slow at home (even though both kids were there). When we went to pick her up, we had to purchase her first ever.....CONE OF SHAME! This was to make sure she wouldn't lick her stitches until they healed. So after we had the vet tech help us pick the right size, they brought her out. At first she wasn't going to come for anything, but then I called to her and she perked right up. She was soooo excited and didn't let me leave her sight for several days. She wouldn't leave her stitches alone so she ended up wearing her cone of shame for several days--until they were on their way to healing. It was HILARIOUS! As soon as we put it on her, she hung her head. She would just drag her head along the ground when she walked and she looked so so so humiliated. I felt bad for her, but I was very amused. They told us not to let her run, jump, play or anything for a week. I kept her pretty still for about 3 days. After that, it was a lost cause. She is a puppy. She is completely back to normal now and the scar is barely noticeable. The cone is a distant memory....except when the kids find it and try it on. Then Kate runs around the house saying "I the cone of shaaaame!" Ha Ha! Gotta love that!

Kate's Life of Crime

You may not realize it, but you are looking into the face of a hardened criminal. Don't let those baby blues and adorable pouting lips fool you.
Kate is goin down a bad road. She has committed a crime against the state at the tender age of 3(almost). The picture is proof positive. She's been caught red (well blue) handed.
Yep....Kate picked a bluebonnet...the state flower. A big no no in Texas. Where were her parents (especially her native Texan mother who should have known better)? Well, apparently they went on a walk last week during nursery class at church while I was teaching my own class. That was when Kate committed this crime. You think your kids are out in the right places with the right people and BAM! a life of crime begins. LOL
After church she came running up to me saying "Mommy! I picked a flower! See how beautiful!" I think my look of horror kind of freaked her out a little. I gently told her how beautiful it was and that we don't pick those flowers because we want everyone to see them. Then we took our smooth criminal and her pilfered pansy home. Yep, we kept the flower. It really was beautiful, and she was so precious. Hopefully, they won't go to hard on her when these pictures surface. :)
On a side note: the bluebonnets here are amazingly beautiful they just take my breath away. Everywhere there are fields of blue flowers all over. It looks like giant waving lakes of blue in the grass. People don't mow them here so they are growing all over the city. Austin is bathed in blue and I am loving it!

Happy Birthday Grandma Faye!

We had an extra special treat last week. We got to celebrate my Grandma Faye's birthday with her here in Texas! Grandma came down for a visit and stayed all week. The kids were completely out of their minds with excitement over her visit. Kate kept coming over and talking to Grandma.....and talking...and talking....and talking. Grandma hung on every word. Kate adored it! Dallin really loves being around Grandma too. He threw his arms around her right when he first saw her yelling "Grandma Faye Grandma Faye!" and he cried when she left. On this visit, Dallin made a discovery--Grandma only has 1 complete hand. The other has only a couple of fingers. It has always been this way, and it has never been something that I can really say I have ever even noticed. My Grandma can do anything anyone else can. Anyways, Dallin noticed this during her visit (maybe the 2nd day?) and was just mesmerized. He kept talking and talking and talking about it. After lots of questions and asking if he could touch it and shake it, he let it go. Thankfully, Grandma was very patient and gracious about it. Later in the week, Dallin asked me if his hand would be like that when he grew up. I thought he was afraid and told him no. God makes people all different ways. Well, before Grandma left, Dallin announced "I wish my hand was going to be like Grandma's. Grandma is soo lucky! God made her really special!" I can honestly say I never really thought about it that way, but I think he's right!
On Sunday we had our big family dinner on Grandma's birthday so we had a big birthday party! It was really fun!
There was wonderful food and family.There were lots of hugs. The hug between Maddie and Kate is monumental since they have only recently begun liking each other much. Also, Kate seems to have an aversion to hugging (except from me...of course) There were even some games (like ring around the rosie)There were presents. Even my kiddos got in on it and colored Grandma a picture. They were very proud of their works of art and Grandma LOVED them!Grandma got mostly pictures from everyone. She LOVES pictures (and they are really easy to fly with!) We had a really swingin' time!And, of course, we had a delicious German Chocolate birthday cake (Grandma's favorite) with really snazzy Happy Birthday candles. It took all 4 guys to light them up quickly. Unfortunately, the first time dad wasn't quite quick enough and as I was telling my children NOT to blow the candles because Grandma was a big girl and could do it herself.....my dad's match got to his fingers and he starting huffing and puffing and ended up blowing out ALL the candles in addition to the match. My children totally gave me a look like "why does HE get to?" So they lit them again (this time we told dad that Grandma was old enough to do her own candles LOL)
Before we left, the missionaries took pictures of our entire family with Grandma. That was really awesome and I am glad that we got those shots! We sure love Grandma! Grandma Faye now has 2 daughters, 1 son-in-law, 6 grandchildren, 3 grand-in-laws, and 3 great grandchildren in all (with one on the way---Tammy and Will's). Happy Birthday Grandma!