Super Parents

We tried to have a fun family night last night. Fun was had by all, except Olivia. Addison had told us earlier in the week that she wanted to cut a face into the pumpkins and also wanted to paint them. What a great idea, lets do that. So we ordered pizza, moved the table and chairs and spread an old sheet on the floor. Got the pumpkins cleaned off, plates to pour the paint onto, and paint clothes on the girls. We were ready for this fun evening. Addison was the 1st to dive into the paint, and she thought it would also be fun to paint her legs black. Olivia was next, we tried VERY hard to show her that the paint went on the pumpkin, NOT in her mouth. She was not a good listener. Even Addison tried to help her with painting the pumpkin. Olivia was not hvaing any of the pumpkin, only paint in the mouth. It became apparently obvious to me that this was NOT going to be enjoyable if I had to continue fighting her off and holding her hands out of her mouth. I had visions of how this night was going to go, and that fiasco was not in my vision. (Reminded me of Addison's 1st birthday party) So, unfortunatly Olivia was not allowed to participate in the fun anymore. She went right to the bath and then to bed.

Once Olivia was in bed, we got right into getting the "guts" of the pumpkin out and continuing to paint the pumpkins. Addison even asked if she could put more paint on Olivia's for her! Addison loves her sister sooooooooooooooooooooo much, it melts my heart!!

This little video sums up the evening well. We really did have a fun time, and Addison enjoyed it so much. I think we will make this a yearly tradition! I did find out something I had not know about Tony, he has NEVER carved a pumpkin. He tried to get the "guts" out of the pumpkin, but there were still seeds and strings hanging...I took over and scooped it out!

Happy Fall Ya'LL

The girls have been enjoying trips to the Pumpkin Patch! Addison has been less than cooperative with picture taking, and Olivia just smiles everytime we say "cheese"! Last weekend, we had "grandparents weekend" at our house. Addison got to take her grandparents to preschool with her and then we all headed out to The Scarecrow Patch. We thought we would only be there an hour or so, it was after lunch and we figured the girls would get tired and need a nap. Well after 3 1/2 hours, we finally left, hoping they would fall asleep on the 20 minute drive home! Nope, both wide awake and singing in the car! Needless to say, it was dinner early, baths early and off to bed early!

While at the pumpkin patch, Addison got to ride a slide (a million times), ride the zip line, ride a pony and pick out a pumpkin. Oh, and she has a tendency to not watch where she is walking or running, and ran smack into the corner of a truck flatbed. We got some ice on the boo-boo and cleaned it up. She was good as new, and ready for more playing. Olivia enjoyed playing in the corn and watching Addison run around! We tried VERY hard to get some good pictures of the girls together in the pumpkin displays, but when one was looking or smiling, the other was not. So, not too many good pictures! A lot of pictures though.

We are anxious for Halloween to dress the girls up and go trick-or-treating! Addison likes to try on her costume EVERYDAY! Matter of fact, she enjoys trying on ALL her clothes everyday. She has made it her personal goal to see how many outfits she can wear in a single day. Sometimes, it can be as many as 10! Last night Tony and I went to parent-teacher conferences for Addison! She is doing great and her teacher thinks she is fitting into their program very well! We are so proud of her! We love you so much peanut!!!

Enjoy some pictures from the pumpkin patch!

And some more!

A Trek to Idaho

Happy 1st Birthday Leo! Mommy, daddy, grammy, Addison, and Olivia made the 15 hour trek to Pocatello Idaho to see Leo for his 1st birthday. Addison was a complete angel in the car. I could not have asked her to be any more well behaved...now she did have a constant companion to entertain her, thank you mom! Olivia, well she thought it might be fun to see exactly how many times she could poop in a day. It turned out to be 5 times just druing the car ride! I am sure that slowed us down a bit. We were up and ready to leave at 4am from Grand Island and pulled into Pocatello at 6pm - it was 70 degrees when we left and 38 when we arrived at Kevin and Jenny's house. We were able to let the girls play for a little while before starting thier baths and getting them to bed. Neither one slept much in the car on the way there, so we figured thay had to be exhausted. Addison and grammy were sharing a bed, and Addison would not go to bed without grammy, so off to bed grammy went at 9pm; good think, cuz Addison was up and ready to go at 5:30am the next morning. Tony and I learned that Olivia talks in her sleep and was rather loud, disrupting our sleep. But she slept great! Saturday, we woke up to about 2 inches of snow on the ground and it conitnued to snow all day. Jenny says 6 inches, Kevin says 3 inches! So not really sure how much snow there was. Addison, daddy, grammy, Kevin and Leo all went to the Idaho State University Homecoming parade...yes, in the snow! I think Addison had fun, she brought home a "true Idaho potatoe"! Jenny and I stayed home and got ready for Leo's birthday party! Hard to believe it has already been a year. I remember getting a call from Kevin on the evening of October 11th saying "Ker, we might have a baby...I just had to tell someone". I think cried tears of joy for them for quite sometime. I waited nervously the next day for Kevin to call me and say he was theirs. I was still home on maternity leave with Olivia. This was the 1st day I had taken Olivia to the babysitter because I had to run into work for a few hours. Well, on my way to work, I realized, I had the wrong day. So, I turned around and was just going to go home and sleep for a little while. I got the call, "his name is Micheal Leo and he is all ours! We are on our way out the door right now to go get him. What do you think we should take for him". It was so awesome to hear the excitment in their voices, a true miracle and the working of God. God has truly blessed not only Kevin and Jenny, but Leo with parents who love him uncondtionally and with so much love! I decided to head to Walmart and buy a "few" things for them. A few things turned into much more, and I filled a diaper box full of "stuff" for them!! I couldn't wait to tell Addison about her new cousin! We finally got to see them in February, when they flew into Omaha for baptism for Olivia and Leo! Leo was an answer to prayers for Kevin and Jenny, and was also a great addition to their family awhile they wait for the call from China to go get their daughter to make thier family complete!

The rest of our trip in Idaho was spent just having fun and watching grammy run around with all her grandkids!! It was so fun to watch her with them all, and truly enjoy EVERY single minute, every single cry and every single whinning moment she had with them. Addison and grammy played puppets, grammy read books to the kids, got up at 5am with Addison, grammy gave baths, put all the kids to bed, feed the kids, took them for walks, carried them and entertained them in the car! They all veyed for her attention. I wonder what she will do when they all are as opinated as Addison and want grammy with them ever second of every day! Better get your running shoes on mom!!

We spent some time at a beautiful park and tried to get some fun outdoor pictures of the girls and our family.

Enjoy the rest of the random pictures from Idaho! We sure had a great time and can't wait to get together again!

The trip home seemed to go much faster; we got home in 14 hours, but still a LONG trip, and again the girls did perfect. Olivia did not try to break her poop record, but did decide once mom was driving that it was time to poop a few times. We really enjoyed our trip and hope we can get to see Leo again real soon. Prefably before Cassie and Lou's wedding in April.

Next, we have to find a weekend to head to Wichita to see Addison and Olivia's newest cousin, Sydney. Tyler and Latisha had a baby girl this morning! Londyn is being a great big sister, although really wants mommy to hold her!

Thanks for coming by! Don't forget to check out the post before this with additional pictures!!

A LONG overdue Update

So it has been quite awhile since I posted, where has the time gone? I will try to do better. This post will be in 3 parts because we have so much to share with you all! First will be pictures from Addison's 1st day of preschool and then Kevin, Jenny and Leo's trek west to Idaho to their new home and fianlly our trek west to see Leo for his 1st birthday!! So get ready....

Addison was quite the cheeseball on her 1st day of school - she would not sit still for me to take any pictures. She has loved preschool and enjoys singing us new songs and having Jesus time with her baby dolls. She struggled with Jesus time in the beginning, not sure why, but she loves it now. Today, she was having a pajama party at school and thought it was so funny to wear her pj's to school.

Kevin, Jenny and Leo have moved to Pocatello, Idaho from South Carolina. I think they need to buy winter jackets still. There has already been 2 snowfalls! Much more snow than they have seen in the last 9 years living in South Carolina. Along their trip west was a stop in Grand Island for a few days of rest, relaxation, and chaos as we celebrated Addison and Olivia's birthdays with them. Leo decided that the trip the day before was way to long and he needed a good nap, so he slept through the party and woke up just in time for the start of the Husker game. It was fun to visit and see Leo again. We had not seen him since February. He was so big, and almost walking. Addison had a great time following him around, try to give him loves. He was a sport! Addison enjoys reading and having books read to her. Kevin always likes to take advantage of this and read to Addison when he sees her. He had a hard time keeping a straight face this time, as he thought we were all staring at him. He apparently gets the giggles when he is around me.

We even missed daddy's birthday in here, sorry Tony!! I did not forget about you!! We did not forget his actual birthday, just forgot to mention it on this blog! Happy Belated Birthday Daddy! We love you ! For his birthday, we went to York to visit his mom and dad. Tony was playing in a golf tournament, and I got to go with him. Very rarely do I get to go out to the golf course with him, so it was a nice treat. Although it was ab it chilly, actually it was freezing. I think Tony would have loved to have had Addison out there watching, but I do not think she would be able to keep quiet and last through all 18 holes. So Mamo watched the girls, and Addison and her made daddy a birthday cake for when the golfing was all done! The girls made daddy a picture frame for his office (actually just Addison made it, Olivia was sleeping!). He just needs to find "the perfect" picture to put into it!

So this blogger is giving me some trouble, so I think I will post this and then do our Idaho trip this afternoon. I promise I will get it done, I have the pictures with me! Enjoy reading about the last month!!