Opening Day 2011

Kinsey and Kayleigh decked out in their matching Cardinals gear for Opening Day 2011. Kayleigh wasn't exactly "feeling" it . . . hoping her fussiness isn't a bad omen of the Cardinals 2011 Season! : )

Tangled!

Our house was filled with much excitement and anticipation for the DVD/Blu-ray release of the newest Disney princess movie, Tangled! I had planned to save the movie back and put it in Kinsey's Easter basket, but she saw the commercials and signs at Walmart, so she knew it was coming! Plus I was just as excited as she was about it coming out! : ) Jackson was in preschool, so we made it a fun girls trip to the store to pick it up (after much price comparing & research and with my $5 coupon in hand) . . . it was perfect! She dressed up in her "Tangled" dress and clutched her "Tangled" Barbie and off to Walmart we went! We even scored a special bonus pack complete with a "Tangled" Brush and Comb (same price as the movie alone). Can't wait for our PJ Party/Movie Night tonight!

Meeting Baby Benjamin

My sister's family came up from FL on their spring break so we could all meet my newest nephew, Benjamin Joel. Kayleigh really like getting to check him out . . . and poke him in the eyes and nose and steal his binky! What our cousins for, right?!! The big kids had a great time playing together and can't wait for them to come back in June to play OUTSIDE together this time. Our lovely IL weather provided snow for their spring break scenery, so the kids were stuck inside playing for their visit! Though they came up with lots of fun creative things to do together . . . they set up "bunk beds" in the back room for a pretend sleepover, made each other dizzy spinning in the office chair, and performed concerts and put on style shows! Lots of fun!!

Pool Playdate

The moms from my table at MOPS met up at the Rec Center for a pool playdate this morning. Jackson and Kinsey had a GREAT time . . . Kayleigh, not so much! I think the water was mostly the issue, it was a bit chilly, but she just didn't want me to put her down! She did warm up a bit and let me sit her in the zero-entry end right before we left. Definitely something we'll have to do again (if we have time) before the City Pool opens Memorial Day weekend!

Kayleigh Faith- 14 months

Kayleigh is saying more and more words ALL the time . . . she can now say "Baby", "Ball", "Tickle, tickle" (while holding out her arms and wiggling her fingers trying to tickle you!), "Me" (for "More"), "Uh-oh", "Bye", "Hi", "Mama", "Daddy", "Papa" and lots more babbling where she looks at you like you should know just what she means! She is very playful and loves to be chased, tickled and wrestled. Kayleigh LOVES playing outside and going for walks in the wagon with her big sister. They just giggle and squeal at each other the whole time! The weather this March has been crazy . . . one day it is snowing here and the next day it is 70+! So getting outside on a warm day is a must at our house . . . here is a picture of Kayleigh enjoying a warm afternoon in our backyard!

Spring is Here!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Last Game of the Season

Jackson had his last FCC basketball game of the season this morning. He played against his buddy Steven's team and they were even paired up to guard each other for one of the periods. Jackson made 2 baskets during the game today. Both of his sisters were dressed to cheer him on!!

He was really looking forward to getting his medal for finishing the season, but then got shy when we took his picture! And the most exciting news of the day . . . he gets to have a pizza party this week with his team!!
We really noticed drastic improvement this year . . . he made at least 1 basket every game and had 2-3 most games. He learned to dribble the ball a lot better, to pass more, and was much more aggressive at rebounding and stealing the ball. Now he is ready to move on to playing t-ball . . . in fact, he asked if I could get his tee out tomorrow so he could get started practicing!!

I Love You! from Kinsey

Kinsey is really into signing "I love you!" right now . . . so here she is sending a little love your way!!

Kayleigh Faith- Walking (Part 2)

Our Little Book Worms

Our kids have gone through spurts of loving to sit and read and then being too busy doing things to want to sit. We have always made going to the library a fun activity getting to pick out new books that really interest each of them. (We no longer can attend the "Story time" that is offered because it runs at the same time as their Friday preschool.) Now that Jackson and Kinsey are getting older, it has been fun watching the books they pick out. Jackson loves the series of "Sight Word" book they have too . . . he can actually read them all by himself. I can always tell which ones are a hit based on the number of times I read them in a day! Here are some of their recent selections . . . all of which are a HUGE hit . . . and yes, I almost have them memorized : )

Jackson:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi in Training
Transformers: Robot Roll Call
Iron Man: I Am Iron Man

Kinsey:
Disney Princess: Ballerina Princess (she LOVES this one SO much . . . she is already talking about taking dance lessons so she can dance like a princess . . . it is rivaling her obsession with Pinkalicious, Gigi and Fancy Nancy!)

Kayleigh:
OK, so she didn't pick any books out from the library, but she has recently enjoyed sitting to read more and more! I love catching them when they are "reading" on their own outside of or "normal" reading time.

Kayleigh Faith- Walking!!

Jackson: 2011 FCC Basketball

Jackson: Kindergarten Shots

After watching Kayleigh get her 1 year shots in January, Jackson informed me that he would NOT be going to Kindergarten (prior to this he was very excited about going). I told him he would miss out on learning so many things . . . his response, "I don't need to go to Kindergarten, I'm learning a LOT in preschool!!" After that, he has woken up in the night a couple times crying about having to get shots and just being very anxious about it. So I called the health department and got him scheduled for them, so we could put the anxiety behind us!! And my biggest motivation was to get them done before his Kindergarten screening in March, or I was afraid he would politely tell his teacher that he did not need Kindergarten and wouldn't answer her questions. So yesterday was the day, we didn't tell him what he was doing, I dropped him off with Dave and he took him over lunch (I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to sufficiently restrain him.)

We are happy to report that Jackson survived his kindergarten shots!! After he screamed through the 1st one, he calmed down for the other 2 and afterward said, "I thought it would hurt like when I skin my knee on my bike, but it was more like a mosquito bite!" And a red dilly bar from DQ after sure helped too : ) Glad it is over so we can be excited about kindergarten again!!








Dave wrote: "I love how Jackson expresses himself by drawing pictures. He got his kindergarten shots today and was very scared. I had to help hold him and he did pretty good once the first shot was in. When we got home he drew this picture of a tooth and a needle. The dot next to his smiley face is the place where he got his shot. He made sure t point out that the tooth was smiling." We think he chose a tooth to draw because he got a toothbrush in a little take home bag after he got his shots!

The yellow sign was posted on his door yesterday morning before he left for the shots . . . it really has nothing to do with his shots, except that I wanted to remember how good he is getting at sounding things out to write down a short sentence or make a list. Let me translate, "Don't come in, air plane is going to take off!"