Pink Toesies

I painted Haylie's toenails this morning, just like Mommy's. She held very still and was careful not to touch them until they were dry. She is so excited, now she walks around showing everyone her "pink toesies."

Backyard Birthday BASH - literally!

Happy Birthday to my Dad!!! What a fun day we had on Sunday, celebrating his birthday and chatting about how old we're all getting! The girls all had a great time with an impromptu swim - Dad and the guys decided to run up to the store and get a little pool so the kids could play in the water. We weren't prepared with suits so all the girls were swimming naked (photos not appropriate for website publishing!!).

My Dad (left) and his best friend Mario (since highschool)

Onto the bash part- my Dad and Kathy's house isn't exactly child-proofed. They have done a ton of work on their backyard and it is quite the quaint, artsy little retreat, complete with statues and fountains, etc. All of these things were like magnets for Haylie and Kiley who were instantly soaked after trying to drink from the fountains, get in the fountains and take apart the fountains. It's all fun and games until something gets broken.... CRASH went a gorgeous little green duck statue into lots of tiny pieces. We felt terrible and hence it was time to distract the kids with something else, so off to the store for a little pool.

Battle Wounds

At my Dad's on Sunday Haylie got into a little battle with the cat and the cat won. She was following it around most of the day smacking it's backside when finally the cat got fed up and took a quick swipe. Poor Haylie!!!

Near Drowning

Ok so it wasn't as close as near drowning but it sure felt like it!!! Yesterday Haylie, James and I went to a friend's house to swim, along with our playgroup buddies. Haylie was playing on the step of the pool and I was sitting on the edge with James on my lap. Haylie was having a very fun time splashing in the water and playing, and I was chatting it up with the girls. Then it happened, Haylie bent over and bumped her bottom on the back of the pool, sending her head down, diving into the water. It was only a second or two before I grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the water and up onto the side of the pool, but honestly it felt like an eternity as I watched her go straight down, towards the bottom of the pool, completely under the water. When I pulled her up onto the side of the pool, our playgroup moms were so amazing... I must have had an absolute look of panic on my face and James was screaming on my lap (since I probably smashed him in half jumping to get Haylie). Haylie looked at me and was about to start crying when all the moms started clapping and telling Haylie what a good job she did. Haylie instantly felt like she was a little diving star, which thankfully made her comfortable enough to return to the water later. In addition, right when I pulled Haylie out, my friend Sara who is so great at helping and sensing a need, ran right over and took James off my lap to calm him down so I could focus on Haylie. After it all settled down, my friend Christine reassured me saying, "I know to you that felt like forever but it was really just a couple seconds." Looking back I am sooo thankful for the great moms we were surrounded by and most importantly for the fact that I was right there next to Haylie, paying close attention. I hear so much talk about water safety and the fact that it only takes a few seconds for a child to drown - yesterday I really felt the truth of that. I praise God for that lesson!!

Back To The Fun

I am so excited to be working part time and this week was the beginning of my new schedule. To kick off the summer, my sister Nicole and I decided to take the kids to Funderland, a little amusement park for children. We had a blast all day long and were completely worn out at the end of the day. Nicole and I loved watching the girls have fun on all the rides and thinking about how big they have gotten. We took sooo many pictures and I was so excited to look through them when I got home. As I pulled them up I had to laugh at myself, I felt like such a geek becuase I wasn't sure who had more fun - the kids or me. See below:

Why is my mouth always wide open???


Isn't she so cute?

There were so many great pictures I had to include a little slide show too. In some of the pictures Haylie is crying - poor girl got scared on the fishie ride and it took her several more rides to get over it. At the end of the day we told Haylie and Kiley they could each pick their favorite ride to go on one more time. Haylie picked the tea cups and Kiley picked the fishies. So good to be back to the fun!!!

Back To The Fun

My Silly Kids

Here are some photos and stories of my silly kids, from the past couple days:

James enjoying his rice cereal!

The boots revisited... The other night Micah and I went to check on Haylie after she went to bed (around 10 pm) and look who we found sleeping in her rain boots!! (Note: she wasn't wearing them when we put her to bed!)
James loves his new Bumbo chair that we borrowed from a friend.
Princess Haylie!!

And now a story - last night we went into Haylie and James' room twice only to find Haylie in James' crib with him. He had started fussing so she got up, crawled into his crib and turned on his music player for him. As cute as it sounds we are quite worried about making it a habit!!