A new friend

Kaelynn usually likes the break from her brothers when they are at school. Today though she was a little lonely and decided to make a new friend. I was downstairs when she came down with a tight fist and exclaimed, "SSHHH, Violet is sleeping." At this point I am thinking that she is talking about one of her dolls who often take naps during the day. Oh boy, was I wrong!!! Violet is the little girl/imaginary friend who lives in her hand. Violet was with us all day long. Most of the time she was sleeping, but sometimes she was playing or walking on her tippy toes on the carpet. She was also carried around in Kaelynn's pocket (even though she didn't have one today). At one point I gave her a kiss and Kaelynn quickly exclaimed, "No don't eat her!" Earlier in the day I interviewed Kaelynn about who Violet was:

Don't be surprised if you see more of Violet later :)

These are a few of our favorite things........

All the kids have favorite things they like to do. Things they do pretty much every day!!! I thought I would capture those things for you! They all love to be outside of course. Carson's favorite thing to do outside is play hunting and fishing. The wagon is his boat and inside it he has his stash of guns, fishing rods, and bait. It really is the best of both fabulous worlds for him! Connor used to be able to sit in there with him, but as of late Carson has too many "toys" and can barely fit himself in there. Like father, like son!!!! Kaelynn loves to swing, once in a while she will let Connor push her. She is quite particular about how one is to push her- standing in the back of the swing pushing with only one hand. She must have been in a good mood this day :) Connor has more ecletic taste when it comes to outside adventures. He usually doesn't stick with only one activity like Carson does. He has enjoyed riding his bike and also likes to play hunting and fishing with Carson, but also likes to catch butterflies and insects as much as possible. The butterfly nets have gotten a lot of use in the past few weeks. He is finally starting to figure out how to keep the butterflies in the net once he catches them. She also loves to climb! She is very coordinated and has mastered getting up and down this rope ladder already. Her mind set is "What my brothers can do, I can do." Mostly that is true. She has no fear and will try pretty much anything. She is very independent too. That has been a good thing until last weekend. We started potty training on Friday and struck out big time. She had made up her mind that she didn't want to do it, and she didn't. After the 8th accident on Monday, I put a quick end to it and told myself it will happen when she wants it to happen. I just wish that would be soon. We are looking forward to not buying diapers anymore :) Another favorite activity during the day is baking or cooking with mom. The girls and I made banana bread this morning. Kaelynn loves to stir and dump things in. Abby is a little too little to help, but she was a great spectator. Both boys are experts at lego boat building. Here you can see a couple of their creations. I would say that a majority of their days are spent with legos in hand. I don't think I have ever seen the same boat twice. Yes, things are quite busy around here, but wonderful imaginations and creativity have produced great times for all of us!

MY princess!!!!!

There is something really special about a boys need to protect people or things. Connor and Carson are very protective of Kaelynn- the #1 princess of the house. Today it was my turn to be the princess. We were playing at a park in town when Carson stopped suddenly in his tracks and looked at me and said "Mommy, you're MY princess." At this point my heart melted and I was on one of those clouds that you makes you think things can't possibly get any better. I'm still on that cloud :) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Leonard

On Saturday my baby sister Katie became Mrs. Katie Leonard. It's hard to believe that we are all married now. She married a wonderful man named Rusty and we are very excited for the two of them. The ceremony and reception were absolutely beautiful as was the bride (as you can see!!) Connor and Carson were 2 of 4 ring bearers and Kaelynn was 1 of 2 flower girls. They were so precious and did very well!

Kaelynn did have a small breakdown during pictures. She ended up not being in a few of them. Overall though she did very well for being only 2 years old :) It was a great weekend and a beautiful wedding. Congratulations Katie and Rusty!!! We love you!!!!!!!!

Kaelynn- mommy or pop star?- you choose...

Kaelynn absolutely loves her dolls!!!! Most of her day consists of feeding them, consoling them, putting them to sleep, doing their hair, taking them for walks, and of course changing their diapers. Here she is changing her baby's diaper on the sidewalk of all places. She is too funny!!! She is becoming quite the little lady. She was downstairs with Andy when he decided to go upstairs. He asked her if she was coming up with him and she replied, "I probably won't, could you please leave the light on for me?" Just like that!!!!!!! Singing has become a well heard activity around our house lately. You can hear all three kids singing throughout various parts of the day. The favorite thing to do right now is sing a conversation. I often hear Kaelynn singing phrases like "you need to go to sleep now," or "I love you very much" to her babies. Since I have taken on the music of Kidstuf at church, singing/dance parties are a regular activity for our household. The music is so fun and upbeat and the kids love it. They are even starting to get some of the actions down. I've added these two videos of Kaelynn because they are too precious. These happened on Saturday evening before bedtime. This first one is of her singing to her BOZ CD. We love the air guitar she has picked up from her brothers :)

The second one was caught when she didn't know it. I heard her singing in her room and ran to get the camera. As you can see in the video the radio antenna is her microphone. The last note she hits is our favorite :) Maybe the opera house is where her heart is at???????

Thoughts about the first week of school......

We made it through the first week of school. I feel like I am adapting to my new job as a chauffeur fairly well. It is an adjustment though! The drive to school takes about 15 minutes- that's an hour a day in the car. It's nice to break up the day- we'll see how I feel about it when the snow starts to fly :)

The boys have a had a great week. They have really enjoyed getting to know the boys in their class. I asked if they play with the girls and Carson said "No, because they're not as big as we are." One day he will appreciate that quality :) They have PE and music during the week and have enjoyed those. The class has a jar that they get to put hearts in when they are caught doing something nice for someone else. When the jar is filled they get to have an ice cream party. Both boys have gotten to put hearts in the jar a few times this week.

School has been fun, but it has also been tiring for them. Carson is almost always the first one to get up in the morning- usually between 6:30am and 7:00am. It is rare for him to sleep past 7:00am!!!!! This morning (Saturday), he slept until 9:15am. He probably would have slept longer, but I just had to go in and check to make sure he was still alive and he woke up. It will take some adjustment to going everyday, but I think we have had a good start.

This afternoon we took advantage of the very warm Iowa temperatures and had a good water balloon fight. The boys discovered the bummer about a water balloon fight is that is doesn't last long. It was fun while it lasted!!!!

School days

I realize it's been a long time since I posted. I have many reasons why but will not bore you with all of them now! I hope to get back to regular posting as we start to get into more of a routine with school starting. Yes, the boys had their first day of school today!!!!! They were very excited. The school really prepared them and helped them to feel comfortable for this day and that is exactly what they were. They already knew where to go and already had made a friend from their orientation time. They of course said that their favorite part of the morning was recess. Connor observed right away that they didn't do any science today and was a little bummed about that. I assured him that there were plenty more days in which to do science. Carson has the first hook to hang his coat and backpack on. Connor hung his up so quickly I couldn't snap a picture. The first thing they will do every day is write their name on a piece of paper. After they do that they are able to go sit in circle time. They are sitting at different activity tables which I think will be good for them to meet different friends. Their teacher Mrs. Annie is on the left kneeling beside the table. She is very nice and the boys said they liked her. After school we went out to McDonald's to celebrate the success of the first day. They said they are excited to go back tomorrow- I would call that success!!!