Mud Pie

Who needs swimming pools, waterparks, and Disneyland? We finally got a fence in our backyard. We literally have NOTHING else. No toys, no swingset, not even a ball currently, nothing. While I was packing up for our trip, I sent the kids outside to play for a while. They played for hours with the water spicket, and a flower pot full of mud. Seriously, hours. In a 2 square feet area, stirring potting soil in a flower pot. Whatever floats your boat.... Lincoln got to spend the whole afternoon in the nude which he fully enjoyed.

The girls have come full circle when it comes to picture taking. I was trying to take pictures of Lincoln, and they wanted in. Always with the ridiculous posing.

JFK

About spring break time this last school year, Skylar's teacher read a book to the class about John F. Kennedy. Apparently Skylar was quite intriqued by his assassination, and has not received adequate answers to her questions. I'm sure she was driving her teacher crazy as the rest of the class had quickly moved on to another subject. Her teacher checked out every JFK book from the school library, but most books written for children, even the chapter books didn't really go into much depth about the assassination. (I can't imagine why) Anyway, I thought her slight obsession would settle. I think I was wrong. When we got back from Washington, I asked her what she thought I brought for her, and she quickly replied " A book about John F. Kennedy!" I was shocked that she really remembered, but that was exactly what I brought her. However, after reading the book I brought, she promptly replied "That book didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. I know about Oswald and Ruby! I need to know what REALLY happened and why it happened!" Well, good luck with that one. She WAS impressed that I saw his grave and the burning flame next to it that she knew more about than I did. I don't know what I'm going to do with this girl. She is such a nerd, and I mean that in the most loving, motherly way possible! It was nice though that she was so interested in everything I had to tell her about my trip. When we returned, we sat for a few hours at my parents house, looking at all the books I brought back about Washington and all the sites there. I kept asking if she wanted to do something else, but she said no, she wanted to learn about all of the places. It worked out well for both of us. No one else in their right mind would want to sit and listen to me ramble on about my trip and my excitement about getting to see all the things I'd only read about. Londyn, bless her heart tried so hard to be interested. I think she is the only child that may have missed us even a little, so she wanted to sit by me and try to listen, but you could tell the poor girl was bored out of her mind, and I couldn't blame her a bit.

Washington DC

Up until last week, our summer has been a bit ho-hum. Not at all in a bad way, but we were pretty much doing the typical summer things like swimming, playing outside, reading, etc. We are slightly limited on the number of things we can do because Lincoln, although precious, requires a little more rest time throughout the day. I still think we were all enjoying our time of just hanging out doing what we want when we wanted. However, last week was our first of many mini vacations we'll be taking throughout the summer. We hadn't planned any big vacations this summer since I quit my job, but Kevin had a few travel dates planned for work, so things worked out that we could turn a couple of those trips into little getaways without spending a fortune. So, our first was a trip to Washington D.C. Kevin had a training there last week, and we had previously won a free airline ticket, so I used that and we went the weekend ahead to enjoy the city. Washington has always been a place I've wanted to visit for obvious reasons, so I was thrilled to get to go. The kids stayed with my family in Missouri, and couldn't have been happier to be left there for week without us. I'm sure I've said it a million times, but I LOVE taking trips just Kevin and I. It's so nice to just be able to spend time together and not be distracted by all of the daily duties at home. We had a great time taking in all the sites, and just being together. The only down side of just the two of us going is that there are very few pictures with us in them. I hate asking people to stop and take a photo of us, so I ended up with lots of pictures of just the stuff. I may as well have copied them from the internet. It was a bit overwhelming with so many things to do, but I would definitely say we made the most of our time. We are, however, planning a trip back in about three years with the kids so they can see everything as they are learning it in school. I may try to post more pics in the coming days, but we are home only long enough to do laundry and then we are headed to San Antonio with the kids. (another work training for Kevin that we are all taking advantage of) Shortly after that, we will be headed to spend a few days in Missouri. It will be a busy, but fun July!

Lincoln-20 months

It is becoming almost comical to believe that I may begin to update regularly. I must be kidding myself. I contemplated quitting, but when I start looking back at posts from the last few years, I'm so glad I have used this as a way to keep track of things we are doing and documenting things about the kids. I don't have baby books for any of them, so this is the closest thing I have to remind of their milestones and their little antics that never cease to make me smile. Speaking of making me smile....
I haven't made monthly posts about Lincoln since he officially turned a year old, but he is growing up so much and doing so many new things, I thought he deserved a little blog time. First of all, he's the cutest little boy in the world! I may be biased, but really, don't you think so? I LOVE his current age as he is beginning to develop a true personality, and able to communicate beyond cries and grunts. He rarely ever cries, and is a lot of fun to be around. He can repeat pretty much anything that you say, and can express himself quite well. I can understand most of what he says in context to what we are doing. He still adores his sisters, and the feeling is mutual. They play together for hours when we are at home, which makes me a very happy mother. He likes to help out around the house, and wear everyone's shoes. He likes to "go" and likes clothes and shoes, which makes getting him dressed for the day a smooth process. He likes to make people laugh, and is full of hugs and kisses for everyone. He is also a big fan of babies. (as if he's not one) But, he is so sweet and gentle with them. Well, I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea, and don't need to hear any more motherly doting. I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer, and then getting to spend even more time with him when the girls head back to school.

Discoveryland

I really had good intentions of updating more regularly, but time seems to get away from me, and I end up failing to do so. And, we really haven't been doing too many exciting things. We've enjoyed the time off, but we've pretty much just been hanging out at the house, an occasional trip to the pool, etc. It's been nice to take it easy. Kevin's parents did come for a visit the first week of summer vacation. We all enjoyed having them here in Oklahoma. One of our evenings out was a trip to Discoveryland. I had heard about it before, but we had never been before. I highly recommend it. It was a great night out! If you don't know, it's a performance of the musical Oklahoma at an outdoor theatre. There is a BBQ dinner served prior to the show, free pony rides for the kids, and delicious ice cream for purchase during the show. All of the kids enjoyed it. Even Lincoln did great, and we didn't leave until around 11:00PM. He loved the live horses in the performance and was always eagerly anticipating their next appearance. Mike and Raynette (Kevin's parents) and the kids.

The kids...I had asked the girls to crouch down so they could be closer to Lincoln, but he always does what they do, so the end result is this awkwardly cute pose of them all scrunching down.

Pony rides

Lincoln saying "I wanna ride, I wanna ride" He however wouldn't get on when I tried. He must have just liked the idea of riding. He is deserving of his own blog post soon about all the new and adorable things he is doing. I am really trying to take advantage the time I have with him at his age now, as it is so fun to see him learn and experience so many new things every day. You can just see him take everything in.

Having ice cream with Grandmommy and Grandaddy waiting for the show to start.

My not so little girls hanging out before the show.

Thanks Mike and Raynette for taking us to our first visit to Discoveryland! We had a great time!

End of School

Well, school has been out for about a week now, and summer is in full swing which makes me very happy! School, of course, ended with awards, assemblies and performances. I missed a few things, but did manage to sneak in as they got some of their awards. I'm so proud of both of them! Skylar heading back to class to perform their poems.

Londyn receiving her award, and looking to see if I got her picture:)

Both girls posing with the principal after receiving their limited edition Arrowhead Rocks tshirt for meeting and exceeding their reading goals for the year!

So, another year gone, and next year a lot of change will be taking place. The girls will be going to a new school, and I will be staying home! I think it will be a good change for all of us, but it is sure to be an adjustment. Both girls seemed to be ok with the transition, but when they got in the car after school last Friday, Londyn started bawling hysterically! I totally didn't expect that, but I think it's out of her system now and she's ready for a new beginning!