Happy Birthday Sweet Kaitlyn!!

I'm a little late in posting..but my sweet girl (that just told her younger sister if she didn't leave her alone she would sit on her face) turned 6 last Friday!!! I truly can not believe it has been 6 years since she was born. She was pretty specific on what she wanted to do for her party this year. She wanted to invite just a few friends and spend the night at a hotel here in town. Pretty fun idea! So my mom and I packed into a room with 7 six year olds for the night. We ordered pizza, had cake and ice cream, made bracelets, and did lots of swimming in the indoor pool.

She also asked for breakfast in bed, but when she decided to wake up at 6:00, I didn't get the chance to make that happen. So, I went to McDonald's and got her some breakfast and let her eat it on the couch. Good enough, right?

Oh, she also had her last day of swim lessons on her birthday. Mr. L and the other 2 kids in her class sang Happy Birthday to her under water. She loved this last year so I was glad they did it again.

We had so much fun celebrating her day. She truly is one of the funniest people I know. She makes me laugh on a daily basis.

We love you Kaitlyn. We are so proud of you!

the pics aren't in order, sorry!

Claire definitely enjoyed the pizza....

Meet Sam!!!

This is what we surprised Kaitlyn with for her 6th birthday! He is sooooo sweet. He is half cocker spaniel, half poodle. The breeder called him a cock-a-poo, but I don't like that name for 2 reasons.

1. It just sounds inappropriate. haha
2. It sounds like the name of a bird.

But whatever he is called, Kaitlyn was SHOCKED. We met the breeders about 40 miles outside of town..she had no idea where we were going. When she saw the man with a puppy, she immediately was like, "Mom! Look at that cute dog!" To which I replied, "Happy Birthday!" She just froze and said, "That's MY puppy?!?!" She was so excited and he immediately took to her. They have been inseparable for the past 24 hours.

In other news.. BRENNA IS HOME! She has been in Egypt working with the youth there for the past year. I could not wait to get myself to DFW to see her! I loved this "hat." Her brother wore that in the airport when they went to go pick her up. Sooo great.

Welcome home Brenna! Come to Abilene soon!!

A Visit with Papa....and nasty feet!

I'll begin this blog on a good note. This weekend we went to Ft. Worth to visit my Papa, my Dad's dad. He's been in a nursing home for awhile and we hadn't been to see him in too long. One of my cousins that I haven't seen in probably 15 years was in town with 2 of her boys..so we decided to try and all meet there to take a BIG family picture with Papa. Unfortunately, we didn't all get there at the same time for the picture, but we did get a few with just our family. It was great to see him...although a little bit hard to see him the way he his. He is so super skinny, on oxygen, has a really hard time walking. But, he can still tell stories and make us all laugh like he always has.

3 Generations...

Cora was not interested in smiling for the camera, but I'm glad I have this one of me and Papa.

LOVE THIS ONE.

Now for the disgusting-ness that is all 3 of my daughters FEET. Cora's happened first. She somehow got the cuticle part of her big toe infected and it caused the whole entire toe to turn pink and purple and swell up real big. Dr. put her on some strong sulfur-based antibiotics and told us to soak it for 10 minutes 4 times a day until it went away.

Then, while we were in Ft. Worth on Saturday, Kaitlyn parked herself in a HUGE fire ant bed long enough for them to take over her right foot and leave lots of lovely swollen ant bites. They are no longer swollen, but they turned into little bruises literally covering her foot.

And as for Claire...yesterday when she woke up from her nap her right foot was very swollen, VERY red, and hot to the touch. She wouldn't stand or walk on it at all. It didn't look like it had a bite anywhere. With it being Sunday, we headed to Dr. J's Express Care and found out she did get bit by something probably a couple of days ago and it had now turned into some kind of staph or strep infection. We avoided getting a shot, but she is now also on a strong antibiotic and we are keeping an eye out for the dreaded "red streaky line" going up her leg. That would be bad.

Other than THAT.... we are doing great! This week we are busy with Kaitlyn's second week of swim lessons, and getting ready for her 6th Birthday on Friday!! ALSO... my cousin Brenna gets back from Egypt tomorrow and I'm going to DFW to see her. It's been a year and I can hardly wait!!!!!

Celebrating, swim lessons, and more!

This summer has kicked off to a great start!

We went out to dinner to celebrate the end of the school year - and Kaitlyn finishing up Kindergarten. She is so proud to say she is a 1st Grader now. I just can't believe it! She chose Red Robin...and also chose this enormous piece of cake for dessert!

On Monday she started her 3rd year of swim lessons with Mrs. S. and Mr. L. She is a good swimmer already, but she LOVES doing this and looks forward to it every year. Plus, it's always good to brush up on your swimming skills when the Mom has 2 crazy little ones to keep up with when we go to the pool! On the second day Mr. L said they could get/jump into the pool any way they wanted to. Kaitlyn immediately did a flip off the side and came within about an inch away from cracking her head open. Does this surprise ANYONE?!?

We have already gone out to the water park in Eastland once so far. We LOVE this place and the girls do too. We'll go there quite a bit this summer I'm sure. I just wish Abilene had something similar so we didn't have to drive an hour! (They have cooler slides and other things..but I only had my phone to take pictures with and I was a little nervous having it in the pool!)

We are also SO BLESSED to have friends with pools and friends with memberships to pools that let us go swim. It will make this summer SO fun! Cora is FEARLESS. I wasn't sure how she would do this year with just the arm floaties, but she has totally surprised me. She does great. She will jump off the diving board, rocks, anything. She just kicks those little fat legs and gets anywhere she wants to go. Kaitlyn is still fearless as well and has already gone off the HIGH DIVE at the swim club! She was so brave. Claire loves the water too, and unfortunately I have yet to find a floatie that she will sit in on her own. She hates everything I've tried so far, which results in me holding her at all times. This is also why I don't have many pictures of her in the pool. Oh well! Good thing I love the water too.

During the summer our public library has what is called Young Audiences. They have people that come in and perform songs/skits for kids. The first one was yesterday so we met up with some friends and headed that way! This guy Mark was here from Ft. Worth. He was a really good performer! Kaitlyn and Cora loved singing and dancing with him. I needed a straight jacket for Claire for that hour, but we somehow made it through!

SUPERSIZE UPDATE!!!

Disclaimer: This is, by far, the longest post I have ever posted. I should have broken it up and posted about 5 seperate blogs, but I didn't. So, it totally won't hurt my feelings if you don't read it all. :)

Wow. I forgot my blogger user name and password. Sad people. Just plain sad. I have thought and thought about where to even begin. An update on each family member? Just pictures? Just forget the past 4 months and start from right now? I finally decided to give a brief rundown of each month that I haven't blogged. Stick with me everyone, it's a long one. Just a note - I started writing this blog on Thursday at 11:00 AM. Lets just see when I complete it.

Here we go.....

FEBRUARY:

James turned 31!! During his birthday weekend he went on a camping trip with his closest friends from ACU. I'm sure they celebrated big time.

James and Kaitlyn went to Highland's annual Father/Daughter Valentines Dance and Dinner. Kaitlyn had the flu last year and didn't get to go, so she was very excited. They had a blast.

Kaitlyn had a huge scrape on her forehead from trying to do a flip out of the swing in the backyard. Probably won't be trying that again anytime soon.

Our Huddle girls went on a retreat. All the way to the MCM Elegante across town. There were only a few girls there, but we had so much fun and grew even closer! I can't believe they are now all SENIORS!! Craziness.

The last weekend in February we went to Austin for a wedding. One of James's closest friends got married and Kaitlyn was the flower girl. It was so fun to catch up with lots of college friends that we hadn't seen in what seemed like forever. Shout out to Jordan for coming with us and hanging out with Kaitlyn so that we could enjoy time with our friends! We stopped at the capitol on our way out of town. Who knew Kaitlyn would be SO into it? She and James also enjoyed rolling down a hill. Jordan and I REALLY enjoyed watching that...

Flowergirl and Ring Bearer..

Thanks Jordan for coming with us and being the greatest babysitter ever!

This makes me laugh out loud every time I see it.

MARCH:

We had lots of fun playing outside and having play dates with friends. It was a pretty relaxing month actually. We stayed in Abilene for Spring Break. We took the girls to the zoo, and to Frontier Texas - which totally freaked them out. I had heard that it was going to be kind of loud... that was an understatement. They still had a good time..but Kaitlyn still talks about the mean Indians.

It was also that time of year for the HEB Retreat! We LOVE this tradition. This year was the first time we took all 3 kids. We stayed in a cabin with 2 other fun families and there were 7 kids in all. Bedtimes were a little crazy, but we just went with it and had a blast. Okay, so these pictures are in NO order..other than they all took place in March.

This is how I found them after I had unloaded the dishwasher one day...little stinkers.

Cora and her friend Kate. I like this picture b/c it looks like Kate is telling her some intense secret.

Another laugh out loud picture.

Fun times in the bath....

Frontier Texas Fun.....

Claire the climber. Always up in my business...

Playing with friends..

Kaitlyn's soccer season was in full swing. She had a great season. She still loves to play and does very well! Her team was Spirit and it was so fun to watch her play.

Kaitlyn and one of her good friends Haley Grace..

Future soccer star....

Megan and Garrison came to watch a game on probably the windiest day of the year...we love them! Kaitlyn and Cora will be in there wedding in January.

APRIL:

The first weekend we traveled to Lubbock for a wedding. Its always good and refreshing to go "back home." My dad had finished a tree house that he built for Kaitlyn. It was pretty impressive! We had an early Easter celebration..decorating eggs, hunting them.... we weren't prepared for the chilly weather though!

Getting to ride with Pappy in his big work truck. I used to hate riding in this when I was little, but my girls LOVE it...so now I totally love it.

For Easter we went to McKinney to spend the weekend with Grandpa and Grandmere. Kaitlyn always loves going there because they have a hot tub/swimming pool. She was in there every chance she got! We had fun just relaxing, watching movies, playing basketball in the driveway (I can still beat James by the way), and eating lots of yummy food! Cora was pretty sick all weekend, but we still managed to have a good time. :) Sadly, I didn't take ONE picture the entire weekend! What was wrong with me?!

The third weekend I got to go on a SUPER fun girls trip to Gruene with some girlfriends from church. We had SOOO much fun. It wasn't a group of girls that normally hang out all the time together..and honestly that made it more fun to me! It was great to get to know each other better. We just ate, shopped, ate and shopped some more!

Everything we bought... what recession?

We got a flat tire on the way there. This is Holly crankin the spare tire. For some reason I can't find the picture of the two guys that stopped to help us with SNAKES WRAPPED AROUND THEIR NECKS!!!!

The Monday after returning from that trip..I started a 2 week Bootcamp. It was so hard..but really fun. It was a good kick start to the summer and now I am better about getting outside and exercising on my own. I let my gym membership expire to save money - now I'm all on my own! James bought me a bike for Mothers Day and I have really enjoyed riding it. It's been fun to ride some with Kaitlyn too!

The last Wednesday in April our Huddle kids were SO excited (and we were too) to have Aaron Watson come and speak. He did an outstanding job and really impacted our group. It was a memorable night!

I love this picture of Cora and her boyfriend Todd. So precious.

MAY:

Kaitlyn and I went to the 2nd annual Daughter/Mama Pajama Party! Summer did a fabulous job organizing it and everyone had a great time! It was fun to watch Kaitlyn interact and dance with all of her little friends. I can't wait until Cora and Claire are old enough and I can take all 3 of them!

Kaitlyn and her friend Landry. She LOVES hanging out with her at ACU baseball games!

Look at all those monkeys jumping on the bed! There were feathers flying everywhere!

For Mothers Day weekend, we traveled to Dallas. James's grandparents were in from Mississippi and they hadn't seen the girls in WAY too long. Claire really took to them and let them love on her as much as they wanted too. It was another fun, relaxing weekend spent with family.

The next weekend I went BACK to Dallas to hang out with 2 of my college roomies - Sara and Sara. We Pricelined a hotel and got a great deal on the Westin in Dallas! We just ate and shopped (girls really like to do that!) It was so great to see them both - it had been tooooo long! It was fun to see Sara's pregnant little belly. I'm so excited that she is having a girl! We also went to see 17 Again. Let me just say that I think Zac Efron in the cutest thing ever.

Wow..lots of traveling. The next weekend was TOTALLY bazaar. We had plans to take our Huddle to Ft. Worth for a retreat, and I had also been asked to fly to Tennessee to surprise my BF for her 30th birthday. The retreat was planned first, so that was the obvious choice. However, not enough kids signed up to go, so we had to cancel it. I took a chance, emailed Ashley and asked if the offer was still out there for me to fly to TN. He worked his magic and had me on a plane the very next morning! I was SO INCREDIBLY thankful for this gift! The look on Mere's face when I showed up at her house was absolutely priceless. She had NO idea - and she is a hard one to surprise! They had all sorts of things planned. We got to enjoy a morning at the Spa, a fun downtown dinner with her family, and a surprise party for Meredith on Saturday night. They live in the neatest house right on a lake. It was beautiful. Mere took me kayaking for the first time. It was actually pretty relaxing. I just tried to stayed calm...she is 8 months pregnant. If she would have fallen out that could have been bad news. It was also great to be able to see Kelly and Travis and meet precious Bennett for the first time. I am in love with him. I'm pretty sure (and you can see from the pics) that he loves me too. Oh, he just melted my heart. I can't wait for my next trip to TN to meet sweet CHARLIE!!!!

Sweet Bennett..

We went to the Spaghetti Factory in downtown Nashville for Mere's bday dinner. It was YUM.

Meredith told me to stand with my arm like that because Paris Hilton said it makes you look skinner. I just look ridiculous.

JUNE:

Wow.. it's already June. Today is Kaitlyn's last day of Kindergarten and she is home sick. Total bummer. She's actually feeling fine, but she threw up all yesterday afternoon, so she couldn't go. She wasn't as disappointed as I was I don't think. I can't believe she is a 1st grader! She has learned and grown SO much this year. We have been very blessed by her sweet teacher. Kaitlyn has loved every minute of school. It has been so fun to look through her portfolio of the year, and read through her journals. Such precious keepsakes.

Cora looks up to her sister SO much, and is such a sweet helper with Claire. She loves to laugh and sing songs and tell stories. I just wish I could understand them! Her favorite joke right now is:

"Knock-Knock?"

(who's there)

"Princess!"
(Princess who?)

"I didn't mean to make you cry!!!!" Hilarious.

She loves watching the Wiggles (gag). She has to have her lip gloss with her at all times. She loves to dress up and watch me put on my make up - all three things that I put on. She imitates everything. If I'm crossing my arms, she is too. If I sit with one leg crossed over the other, she tries to do the same. If I cuss, she cusses. Just Kidding!

Little Claire. Let me try to think of something positive. Hmmmm... She is a HARD ONE! She is very stubborn and defiant right now. She screams like a small dinosaur pretty much all day and is constantly looking for something/someone to bite. Hard. I am terrified to leave her with people when I'm not there! Hopefully this too shall pass. She can be very sweet. She loves to look at books and color. She LOVES to be outside. She could swing for hours. She's a great sleeper, which I am very thankful for. She is a Daddy's girl for sure. Probably because he has way more patience than I do!

Kaitlyn and 3 of her friends on the last day of school. (Even though she was sick yesterday..I still took her up there at the end of they day so she could see everyone and say bye!)

I was too lazy to get the pool out the other day so I just filled up a plastic tub with water..the girls had just as much fun!

Word.

Playing on a statue on our walk around downtown.

Cora is such a water girl!! She LOVES to swim and totally doesn't mind the floaties, which makes it easier on me!

James and I are doing well! I am looking forward to having my summer off from teaching. We have lots of fun things planned! Vacations, camps, swimming lessons, Kaitlyn's bday, I turn 30!! Yikes! We also signed up to teach 5th graders at church on Sunday mornings. Definitely a new age group for us, but we are really excited.

Okay, I really do plan on being more consistent with the blog. I am better at Facebook..but I really want to get back into blogging. Hopefully I'll still have a few readers!

I'm finishing this at 9:35PM!!! 10 1/2 hours later it is finished. Wow.