The Gregor Family

No tooth for the tooth fairy.....this time around

2012-02-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

This goes back to Monday, January 23. Kaylee's tooth had been soooo loose on the Saturday and Sunday before. Monday morning rolled around and she still had not lost her tooth. I was kind of concerned with her going to school with it that loose because I was worried about it coming out at school and getting lost. Now I know that is not THAT big of deal, but it was the first loose tooth, so it was kind of a BIG DEAL. :) So she was sent off to school with the little tooth chest she was given at the dentist, for times like this when you might loose your tooth at school, and told her to let her teacher know if she looses her tooth and needs any help, and then to put it in the chest. So after school I actually forgot to ask her right when she got off the bus how her tooth was, and didn't remember until we got back to the house. I finally thought of it and assumed she had not lost it because she had not said anything. So I asked how her wiggly tooth was and she finally said, "well, it came out at school." I get all excited with the "oh my gosh!!! let me see!! "why didn't you tell me?!?!" I look at her mouth and instantly start digging in her back pack for the little tooth chest containing her tooth. "So where is it ?", I keep asking as I am digging around. Kaylee is pretty calm. Well...

So above is the happy toothless grin. Why you ask do I say "no tooth for the tooth fairy" in the title? Because, we had NO tooth for the tooth fairy. Seeing the lack of excitement from Kaylee as I am looking for her tooth I finally get out of her that she swallowed her tooth at lunch. "WHAT" I not so calmly say, and "weren't you being careful while you were eating since it was so loose???" Now, I know this is only a tooth, and she did not mean to swallow it, but I think this goes in the "Mom putting a certain expectation on one of your oldest child's firsts, and then being disappointed when it did not turn out how I planned"category. I had the vision of her being able to put the first lost tooth in the tooth fairy pillow that my grandma made for me, and then reading our tooth fairy book before bed. And of course sharing in the the excitement of the tooth fairy. Now if this was any other tooth except my oldest child's first lost tooth, it probably would have been no big deal to me. But don't worry, I got over it really quickly and then was able to laugh about it. At least I did not have to figure out what to do with it? Are Mom's really supposed to save those after the tooth fairy comes??
Kaylee had still told her teacher at school that she lost (swallowed) her tooth, and Mrs. Bailey had a great idea. She said to simply write the tooth fairy a letter about what happened to her tooth. And that is what we did! We did not want to take any chances of the tooth fairy not coming!

Holding her note by the tooth fairy pillow with her proud new smile.

That note still makes me giggle! Dear Tooth Fairy, Sorry I swallowed my tooth. Love, Kaylee.
I did save that. That is better then saving an old tooth anyway!! :) Notice her empty tooth box. :)

After reading "The night before the Tooth fairy"

And the note must have worked because she found this in her tooth fairy pillow the next morning!!

Okay, and I promise to not have the same drama next time even if any one else decides to swallow their lost teeth. :)

Grease is the Word!

2012-01-22T19:49:00.000-08:00

Well, at least that is the only "word" I could think of when I saw these two cuties!! Two Fridays ago Kaylee had her 50's dance at school. My friend Amanda and I took the kids. The all looked so cute in their 50's clothes. I am so glad I saved my old poodle skirt all these years that my Grandma made me!

These two crack me up! They are just too cute. Should I be worried?? They look like they are 6 going on 16! They were so cute and danced together for most the time.

These two also had a ball dancing and hanging out together!

Our pretty pretty princesses.....

2012-01-22T19:21:00.000-08:00

And the Dad of the year award goes to Ryan for being such a good sport and playing the game Pretty Pretty Princess with Kaylee! Love you babe!

Someone is in need of a room update.....

2012-01-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

I am finding Lex in and out of her crib a little too much lately. This is how I found her the other day when I went to get her up from nap.....and she did not start out this way. A new bed is definitely needed! :)

Christmas wrap up!

2012-01-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

Okay so I have finally made it to my last Christmas post! I figure I could not forget to blog Christmas day. I know Valentines Day is just around the corner but tonight I was still getting before bed Christmas song requests, and earlier today Lex wanted to watch Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer. Okay, so we have a little trouble letting go. :)

Here is the excitement of seeing what Santa brought:

Nice sock!

Making pretty window pictures

Poor Lex, the agony on her face that Brandon would dare wear her new helmet!

Then after breakfast and finding this guy it was time for presents!!

Kaylee and Lex gave Brandon "Goobers" because for some reason they all call each other a Goober.

Awwww...

New guitar!

Lex loves her new sleeping bag!

New guitar for Lex!

Ryan's big gift!

Afternoon jam session!

Both girls love their new doll houses!

Kaylee having fun with her new camera! She is loving taking pictures and videos.

Trying out the new scooters!

And that's a wrap!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

The morning started off with the usual contagious excitement that Christmas Eve brings. Our Santa cookies were all baked and we were ready to decorate. Ryan was getting off shift that morning and while we were waiting for him to come home and my Mom and sister to arrive, the girls started getting their reindeer food all ready.

The cookie decorators hard at work!

This was the first year Lex really got into it! Even though I think she ate as many as she decorated. :) It led to the 3rd year in a row of her not napping on Christmas Eve. Too much excitement and too much sugar!!

Then all ready for church

After church we went over to Memaws for Christmas Eve dinner

The girls always have fun with the Hallmark toys that sing and make noise!

Good job Ryan!

The girls get to open one present on Christmas Eve

Then the excitement really kicks it up a notch as we go back to our house to put out the cookies for Santa, carrots for the reindeer, throw our reindeer food, and read Twas the Night Before Christmas.

The girls all ready just waiting for Memaw, Auntie, and Brandon!

Picking out the best for Santa!

Taking time out to read one more Christmas card!

Then out front to throw our reindeer food!

We couldn't forget my car, that is reindeer height ya know!

Then it was one final good by to this guy and off to bed. I think we were all sad to see him go. He adds so much fun to each day. Until next year Charlie!

Our Family...

2012-01-11T20:38:00.000-08:00

An original completed with love by our own talented artist Kaylee. :)

More Christmas activities!

2012-01-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

I really will finish Christmas at some point! I hope in the next few days. ;) I have been slow to blog and slow to put Christmas away this year. Normally by Jan 1st or 2nd everything is down. On Wednesday I finally packed up everything but the tree, and just today we finally took the ornaments down and Ryan put the tree in the garage. :( And you better believe that until today it was still glowing in the window every night! Now the ornaments are still all over the dining room table but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

On this particular night we took the girls to the Desert Ridge Marriott to look at the big gingerbread house display and of course some photo ops. And yes, they went out in their pj's!

Some of the Grinch characters were at the hotel walking around. Lex would not go near them so Ryan joined in the picture because Kaylee did not want to go by herself. Yea for Dads!

Throwing pennies in the fountain

Then over to Desert Ridge to look at the big Christmas tree. The girls love when this comes out!

Taking laps around the tree

Then of course the book store which is always a favorite!

Here the girls are decorating big gingerbread cookies from Memaw. The icing was kind of hard to work with but the girls still had fun! I had to add some water to it because it was so thick and then I think it got too runny and dribbled all over.

And on take 2 we finally made it to the train park to see the lights. Take 1 was about a week before Christmas and the line was about 2 1/2 hours long so we decided to try another night. We had some sad girls so we had to promise to come back, even though it was after Christmas.

Winter Performance

2012-01-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas Kaylee had her Winter recital. It was so fun to watch her do her little dance on stage! Looking back at my pictures I realized I got none of her in full costume or on stage. :( Here are some pictures from before and after.

She loved getting to wear make-up! She thought that was the greatest thing ever!

After the show:

Memaw and Auntie came to watch too!

Opening her present from Memaw

Great job Kaylee! We are so glad that you are loving dance!

Happy New Year 2012!

2012-01-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

Last night we had fun bringing in the new year with our neighbor friends the Smith family!

We had fun decorating!

Let the party begin!

The charming couple sipping on Champagne (aka sparkling cider)

....and having a lovely conversation.

Cambry, Kaylee, and Tyler

We did some fireworks in front of our house

Glow stick limbo time!

Love the mustaches. They were a huge hit!

They are just too cute!

Time to ring in the New Year (New York Time). At ten here when the ball fell in New York we did our New Years. Most kids were getting tired. That worked great and the kids had no idea!! Next year I don't think we will be able to get away with that. :)

Ryan helping them with the poppers

Lexies turn

We all did a New Years toast with sparkling cider!

Me and Amanda

Happy New Year!! With how I have felt for most of 2011 I am ready to put it behind. I look forward to hopefully a more healthy 2012!

Brandon....

2011-12-29T21:12:00.000-08:00

...we have found your true talent.... :)

Life is a learning process...

2011-12-29T21:00:00.000-08:00

....and tonight I learned that if my 2 year old shreds one of her books in her crib instead of going to sleep, and then puts a piece of the paper up her nose, it will come out when she sneezes even if you could not see it when looking up there with a flashlight. The knowledge I am gaining...

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2011-12-28T22:49:00.000-08:00

We love Christmas and all the fun that goes with it! We are already missing everything about the season and it makes me very sad that every time I get in the car KEZ 99.9 is still not playing Christmas music, the Christmas music on TV is gone along with all the fun movies. I think they should keep playing it all through New Years just to let us down easy. :) Here is some of what we enjoy in December and what we will miss:

Playing with all the Christmas toys and books:

Every night just looking at and playing in front of the Christmas tree:

Getting to see Mama in goofy reindeer hats:

Every morning the excitement of where Charlie is going to be and all the fun places that we find him:

Getting cookies from Santa even if it is the goofiest Santa you have EVER seen!!! He came out at one of the Christmas parties we were at and I started cracking up. He was worth going to grab my camera. This one even had Kaylee doubting. She walks up to me after and said "that was not the real Santa was it?"

Going to Brandon's to see their first Christmas tree together:

Making the yearly gingerbread house with Auntie:

Getting to wear Christmas PJs most every night:

And of course all the fun Christmas clothes. My Grandma would be proud since she made these skirts for me and my sister probably when we were Kaylee and Alexa's age.

Ryan and Kaylee making their yearly fudge. This is all Ryan. Every year he reminds me to get the stuff for fudge and it turns our really good!

And of course I could not forget all the many countdowns, boxes to be opened, or advent calendars to be read every day. I think we were up to 5 this year, and kind of a lot to keep up with, but the girls had a blast and looked forward to it each day!

Class Party!

2011-12-28T22:14:00.000-08:00

On Dec 16th Kaylee had her class party at school. They all wore their pajamas and got to decorate gingerbread houses and cookies. Lex got to come along for the fun!

That looks like a good conversation! :)

Help from Lex

Kaylee and Isabelle

Cutie Pie!

2011-12-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

I was going to give it a try but realized I am still too overwhelmed with all the many Christmas pictures from the month to tackle at this hour. So this is it for tonight! :)

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

We had another fun day in our pj's! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!

Just because........

2011-12-20T21:25:00.000-08:00

I thought this deserved a post all on it's own. :)

Christmas show

2011-12-20T21:05:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of December Kaylee had her church Christmas show. This year as a Kindergartener we have moved on from angels and cows to be with the big kids! Here she is below in her little shepard costume:

And of course her favorite part is the cookies and juice after!

Tis the Season.....

2011-12-15T15:33:00.000-08:00

......for all the fun that Christmas brings!

Decorating the Tree:

Finally getting something a little better to hang on my door:

My latest craft project

And our poor dog got to wear our old sad excuse for a wreath. Poor thing can't get a break. We finally get rid of her reindeer antlers and now this! :)

Christmas crafts:

Our own Santa and reindeer!:

Playing in the snow:

Lex not so sure

And finally what fun would the season be without a cookie exchange!:

These were a few of my favorites

Congratulations to Amanda and Brandon!!!

2011-12-14T22:21:00.000-08:00

Tonight he popped the big question and she said YES!!! We are SOOO happy for the both of you. Brandon we are so excited to have you as part of the family!! You will be a great Brother in law and make a great Uncle to the girls! We look forward to the fun of the coming year!

Polar Express 2011!!

2011-12-14T21:51:00.000-08:00

We took our annual Polar Express trip the Saturday after Thanksgiving and we had another fun year! We all look forward to this tradition every year and it is such an exciting way to start off the Christmas season. We already can't wait for next year!!

Here are a few pictures of the kids at lunch:

All ready for Santa pictures!

The Guys!

The Ladies!

LOVE the kids outfits this year. I think these are my favorite so far!

It was difficult to get 6 little ones to smile for a picture so I posted a few!

Kaylee and Kiki all ready to go! They were so cute and wanted to sit together the whole time. :)

Alright you three!

Love this one because it captures the look on Lexies face from about the time we were in line for Santa pictures until I think time to go home. :) We will all remember the LEX LOOK! I was starting to get worried it was going to get stuck like that!

Approaching the lights of the north pole!

That is Santa excitement right there!

Lex getting her bell

Kaylee getting hers!

Last year I was starting to wonder what to do with all these bells! So I decided to tie a red ribbon on each one and then write the date on the bell in red from the year we went so we can hang them on the tree as Christmas ornaments. Problem solved!

Love this one of the girls!

The next morning after breakfast

And that's it!

Fun at the Park!

2011-12-08T20:55:00.000-08:00

The week of Thanksgiving our friends the Studderts were in town and on Monday we met them at the park and then went to dinner. It was so good to see them while they were in town!
Kaylee and Brooklyn

Lexies favorite way to get up to that slide was the rock wall! Made mama a little nervous. :)

Kaylee and Kennedy

Just one of the kids!

The cute kiddos!

He's Back!

2011-12-08T14:01:00.000-08:00

Well, he has actually been back since the day after Thanksgiving but I am just now getting around to posting. Charlie has been a huge hit again this year. Kaylee had been asking all the week before Thanksgiving when Charlie might come back. I told her we would just have to wait and see. :) He first showed up on Friday morning but was not discovered until dinner time. I think he picked a little too hard of a hiding place for the first day back since Kaylee did not really know he was back so did not know to look for him. Thank goodness Mom spotted him after dinner and the excitement began! Maybe next year he can pick something not so high up for the first day. :)

A few other places we have found Charlie:

This morning we had found him after he had gotten into the hot cocoa mix and marshmallows and helped himself. Those elves! Good thing I had no plans to use my mixer that day. :)

Thanksgiving Day

2011-12-08T13:49:00.000-08:00

Everything is all about Christmas around here but I did not want to get too far behind and forget Thanksgiving! Ryan was off this year and we had a nice low key day. We took the girls to the park in the a.m. while the turkey was cooking, and later on my Mom, Amanda, and Brandon came over for some good Thanksgiving cookin!

Playing with the new dolls Memaw brought the girls.

Kaylee wanted to make pilgrim hats for a craft that day.

Happy Thanksgiving.....

2011-11-24T21:17:00.000-08:00

Love,

Two of the cutest little pilgrims!

A Thankful Month!

2011-11-23T21:56:00.000-08:00

This month we have had fun working on fun Fall projects and talking about what we are thankful for. We started off by the girls putting together turkeys for our table centerpiece.

It was cute to watch Kaylee help Lex with hers. :)

For Kaylee's class we had to decorate or disguise a turkey so it would not become Thanksgiving dinner. Kaylee chose to make hers a princess. I think this turkey is safe!

This was something new and fun that we did this year. We brought our tree out the beginning of November and decorated it as a "Fall Tree". It has been fun having the tree out so early.

This year we made a "thankful" garland for the fireplace. I got the idea from my Mom's group and Pinterest. :) It was really fun to talk with the girls and get their ideas about what and who they are thankful for. Then I wrote it out on fall leaves and we hung them up. We also added a few pictures the girls colored on the garland. Here they are coloring their turkeys and cornucopias, or "copias" as Lex calls them for the garland.

I love how the candy cane skirts have started to make an appearance!

Then of course we must twirl in the twirly skirts!

Then these are from earlier today. Kaylee was such a big help and helped me get a few side dishes and hot cocoa mix ready for tomorrow. She loves to help in the kitchen. Then of course she was not going to let the day slip by without making turkey hand cookies. :) Holidays are such a big deal in our house and the excitement was not lacking today. I let them have a "fun bath" tonight, that is a bath in Mom and Dad's big tub, and then they were running around giggling and gobbling and wondering how soon Charlie might show up. Charlie is our "Elf on a Shelf" sent from Santa if you don't remember from last year. We read "The night before Thanksgiving", and Kaylee said tonight she was going to have visions of turkey legs dancing in her head! Love that girl and her enthusiasm! I think the real reason for the huge extra excitement is really for the season and holiday that follows. I can't say I blame them!

Our Halloween

2011-11-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

These are a little late but back to Halloween. After Kaylee got home from school we carved our pumpkins. Poor Lex is not going to even know this tradition because the last two years she has been napping and sick with a stomach virus. :(

Making our yearly "boo" cups.

Ryan decorated his ghost like the Charlie Brown costume on "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"

Yea! I remembered to save and roast the seeds this year. Both my girls LOVE the pumpkin seeds.

Our sweet Cinderella

Poor Lex, this is how she rolled on Halloween. "In Jammies" as she told everyone. We were going to have her stay back with my Mom and sister but she got really upset when she was not going so we let her ride in the wagon. At least by Monday she was throw up free, but that morning she still had a little fever so we took it easy. She said, "I am not going to wear my bumble bee!!" The girl knows what she wants!

First house...

We met up with some of the neighborhood kids and trick-or-treated with them.

And I guess they all got tired because for some reason they all did this. It was a quick power rest and they were back on the go!

Let's hope for a much healthier Halloween next year!

Highlands Fall Festival 2011

2011-11-23T20:54:00.000-08:00

This year our church had their big fall festival at Westworld again. It was the Saturday before Halloween. It is a great event with lots of fun activities. We ate, played games, road on the hay ride, jumped in the bounce houses, girls got their face painted, danced, and came home with lots of candy. Lex came home with something else again for the second year in a row. That is right, she woke up throwing up for the second year in a row the night after the fall festival. I think I am going to keep her home next year. Poor thing has had two duds of a Halloween.

Our little Cinderella. The bumble bee was not about pictures before we left. :)

I am glad I got these pictures of the girls in their costumes because the costume never made it on Lex for Halloween. :(

This was the first time either of the girls got their faces painted. I guess it helps when you have a younger sister to show you it is okay. :) And no, I did not say that backwards! Kaylee actually would have probably done it without Lex this year, but up until this point she always said no. For about her first 5 years Kaylee was never into stamps, stickers, fake tattoos, face paint etc. I think she just never liked the idea of having something on her skin. Lex is the exact opposite and LOVES that stuff. With Lex liking all of that, and now that she is almost 6, I think she has realized that that stuff isn't so bad. :)

And of course we could not forget all the games and candy!!

Mom's group Halloween party

2011-11-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

The kids all started off on a cart/hay ride to pick out a pumpkin

Lex not so sure at first but she ended up having fun! :)

Picking out her pumpkin in the pumpkin patch. I could not get her to wear her wings or antenna. I actually only got one picture of her this year in full costume and it is on my phone.

We found a winner!

Now back inside to decorate it.

Playing with BIG felt pumpkins

Decorating with Fall leaves

Yummy time!

After lunch the kids went on a trick-or-treat walk in the church offices

And back for one last craft of painting pumpkins.

A few randoms

2011-11-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

The girls playing out front with some of the neighborhood kids!

Fun in Lexie's crib!

So sweet!

Bowling!

2011-11-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of last month we went bowling with Auntie and Brandon. We had a fun afternoon!

It was rock-and-bowl so the girls had fun dancing

I actually managed to get one. Sad it was only one since we were playing with the bumpers!

Picking pumpkins!

2011-10-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

This year for picking pumpkins we tried out a new farm. My sister got some tickets really cheap for McDonald's Ranch so we gave it a try. It was really close and we all had fun. It was nice and low key and perfect for little ones!

Lunch!

Taking the hayride out to get our pumpkins

A snow cone break! This was needed on such a hot day!

Playing in the hay maze. Again, perfect for little ones because they, and Mom, could see over the hay and not get lost!

Petting zoo

Tutu cute!

2011-10-30T14:41:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from our fun Halloween photo shoot!

Getting all ready. I can't believe how long Kaylee's hair is!

Fun with pumpkins!

2011-10-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

So the craftiness in me has come out in the last month. I think I am making up for lost time! :)

And yes...I actually did bling out pumpkins.

Kaylee's teacher had each family decorate a paper pumpkin for the classroom

Another pumpkin project. Kaylee helped to hammer in each of the nails to spell boo.

Fun Halloween flip flops

Another project...felt pumpkins the girls can take apart and make different faces with.

They have really enjoyed the pumpkin making station

Flowers for Memaw

2011-10-02T21:46:00.000-07:00

This year for Memaw's birthday we had our own idea of what kind of flowers to give her. The girls did such a cute job!

Singing in the Rain

2011-10-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

Or more like jumping in the puddles with a light sprinkle, but the other title sounded much better. :) A few weeks ago me and the girls had just gotten home from meeting some friends for dinner and it was actually raining. Now the girls use their umbrellas just to play with most nights when we are outside, but you better believe we were not going to miss an opportunity to actually use them in the rain! Puddles here we come!

Signs of the season.....

2011-09-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

......the artwork and books have started to include pumpkins....

...all the soaps, lotions, and candles have a new look......

......the fridge is the most exciting place to be for people 5 and under, I don't think the electric company will like us this month.....

......it must be fall and it is only.....

!!!!!!

And of course one excited 5 year old who could not wait for the changes.

I am just hoping for the weather to go with it really soon!!

September = Apples

2011-09-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

At least around here it does! On September 10th we went back here to go apple picking. This year we went earlier then last year and we had a much better selection to choose from and plenty down low for the girls to pick. We came home with another 20 lbs of apples! My apple peeler corer slicer was working over time this month with all the apple sauce, apple pie, apple cake, and apples and sausage. I think I just left it on the counter for two weeks since I was using it daily. :)

First we started off with eating lunch. The farm was selling grass fed beef sandwiches.

Then of course we had to take time to climb the cool tree we were sitting next to. :)

Then we had to pet and say hi to the horse

Then we finally made it to the apples:

Our apples getting weighed on their cool old scale:

Then on Monday of this week just before it was time to change out this:

To this:

We had one more apple event to take care of. Kaylee had Johnny Appleseed day where everything was all about apples for the day. Lex and I got to go in and help out with an apple station.

Here she is at "line the apples up from the biggest to the smallest":

Apple coloring game:

Put the lower case apple letter on the big letter. Lex had fun doing this one too, with Mommy's help. :)

Making paper apples:

Measuring how tall you are in apples:

Make a necklace out of Apple Jacks:

Then the whole class got to show their apples:

After, Lex and I stayed and had lunch:

And that concludes our apple month. Bring out the pumpkins!

Still waiting...

2011-09-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

....but doing much better! I don't think I ever mentioned this on my blog but I ended up having to have surgery on Aug 18th. Remember all this. The middle of 2011 was definitely a struggle, to say the least, but the last 2-3 weeks I have been really starting to feel like I can get back to life . After I saw the ENT he said my Eustachian tube was totally blocked in my left ear and it was being sucked in and causing lots of pain and blood to pool behind my ear. OUCH! That also was causing all my dizziness, nausea, & swooshing sound in my ear. So, to figure out why this was being caused he looked at my nose and found my terbinates were so enlarged, also causing all the sinus pain I had been feeling, and then from my sinus scan it showed my adenoids were so enlarged. The terbinates are on one side of the Eustachian tube and the adenoids are on the other so you get the problem. So I had surgery to remove my adenoids and terbinates. Unfortunately this is a very slow healing process that takes 4-6 weeks. My nose and sinus pressure seemed so much better after about 2 weeks but my ear has taken longer. I still have days it hurts but the pain is mild compared to before. I had my follow up appointment at 4 weeks out and my hearing and ear still don't show it is responding correctly, actually showed worse in the hearing, so I go back again on Oct 31 for a recheck. I just hope I don't have permanent hearing damage. At least it does not seem bad enough to where I feel like I am having trouble hearing. Then I go to the eye doctor on Oct 25th and hopefully I can get that figured out and will be able to wear contacts again. At least when wearing my glasses I don't feel like my eyes bother me as much since all the sinus pressure around my eye has gone away. God has definitely been working in me through all this and has reminded me to trust in Him even when I don't understand it. I find it is so easy to trust in God when things are going well, but when things get difficult I tend to find myself in worry and questioning things like, "why do I just keep feeling this miserable" and "why am I not getting better" and my favorite that I found myself saying all the time is "Is it really possible to feel this bad EVERY DAY? Yup, I guess so." , instead of just giving Him my worries and realizing that He has a reason for what is going on in my life even though I don't understand it right now. I will always be a work in progress but I am really trying to give Him my worries, and not continue fall into the anxiety/worry trap that something way worse must be going on with how bad I feel, and just pray for strength to keep going. I have found it amazing how God can change your attitude. Jeremiah 29:11 states, "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future of hope." And thanks to Jesus we can have that future of hope in spite of how crummy things are sometimes.
So that is where I have been lately, and of course just being super busy with Kaylee in school and how crazy life seems to have become this fall. I feel like I have a million posts to catch up on and will try to tackle those soon. But of course I could not leave you hanging without showing any pictures, especially if you are actually still reading this post with all my boring health drama. So here are a few cute pictures of the girls.

Alexa on her way to dance a few weeks ago:

And our own personal Statue of Liberty!

Family Movie Night

2011-09-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night we had a family movie night. Of course no movie night is complete without this:

....and some of these mixed in:

The popcorn makers

All ready to go! We watched the new Bambi 2 movie. Lex usually does not sit through a movie but she did really good. It was probably a combo of the popcorn, M&M's, and the fact that she was allowed to stay up late that she stayed put on the couch! It was a noisy movie though and I have never had to answer so many questions during a movie. :) A few of Alexa's favorites that she asked over and over were, "Where did the shadow go?",and "Where's porcupine?" We are still talking about that porcupine! We all had fun and it was good family time together. :)

First Day of Dance

2011-08-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

For Kaylee:

Kaylee started a new dance studio the Monday after she started school. I feel like a traitor not sending her to my old studio that I grew up dancing in but that one was way more expensive. :) This class is a ballet / tap combo. She was so excited to start tap. Here she is all cute and ready to go!

For Alexa:

Yep! Alexa got to start too the next morning! It is more of a mommy and me class of just fun activities and movement to the music. She loves it! Kaylee's dance teacher is offering it for FREE for toddlers. Pretty good marketing if you ask me! Here Alexa is all ready to go. She was not wanting to cooperate with pictures that much but here they are anyway! Since it is a Mommy and Me class I totally forgot to take pictures during her class.

Real Princesses!

2011-08-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

It is always fun to get a box in the mail, especially when it is something that can make you a "real princess". The other day Grandma Graham sent Kaylee and Lex these fun crowns in the mail. When we opened them up Kaylee was so cute. She said, "now we are real princesses!" Thanks Grandma Graham!

The Big First Day!

2011-08-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we had the big first day of Kindergarten! Kaylee did great and could not wait to go back. Mom did really well too. Only teared up just a little. :) I think it helped that I could go in with her for the fist hour and a half. I wonder if they do that for the kids or the parents?? It also helped me that the first two days were let out at 1pm for Kindergarten. She loves how she has her own desk and that she gets to bring her lunch to school. So far today things are still going well. It has been strange having her gone but at the same time it has been fun to just have Lexie time. I get lots of "where is sissy" from Lex, and "are we going to get sissy yet?" I didn't know what to do after I put Lex down for a nap. It was so quiet so I figure it was a good time to update my blog. Better that then cleaning the house or actually getting work done. :) Today is the first day Kaylee goes until 2:55. Hopefully Kaylee, and Mom, will adjust quickly and it won't be too long of a day for her.

Here are pictures from the fun first day:

Love the face Lex!!

Setting her back pack down in line to go play.

She came right in and started coloring at her desk.

Back at home I had two helpers for cupcakes this year! Ryan got to be home with us all day.

She loved her cupcakes!

.....actually we all did. It took about 90 seconds for this to happen. :)

That night she had her special requested dinner of tacos eaten on the red plate and then of course more cupcakes!! Auntie and Brandon also came over to eat with us. Last year was also tacos and I wonder how many years that will be the requested dinner?? Seems to be the big favorite right now! It was a good day. :)

This one was taken this morning just because they were cute!

It is here:

2011-08-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

I have really not been looking forward to this day for a long time. Not that she is not ready, just for me knowing that this is it, on to real school and no turning back. I will miss not having her shining face home with me during the day. Lunch is going to seem really quiet with just me and Lex. I know she will do great. We had her walk-through on Tuesday to see her class room and meet her teacher and before that she seemed kind of nervous. Since then she has been excited and ready to go. She was really excited tonight and that is a really good sign and makes me feel better sending her off. Hopefully I won't cry too much, so far today I have only started to tear up twice. :)
So all her clothes are set out, back pack ready, just packed my first of many school lunches. Let the adventure begin!

A few from the 4th

2011-08-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

I know these are a little late but I figure I probably shouldn't skip 4th of July. Here is what we were up to that weekend.

Going to the parade on Saturday

This is probably my favorite picture from 4th of July. We have one extreme to another!

All ready for swim class on the morning of the 4th

This is one tradition we could never break no matter how I am feeling:

Having their own parade

BBQ on the evening of the 4th. The kids loved the slip n slide.

Sparklers!! Kaylee not so sure.

Ending the night relaxing with a good popsicle and watching an amazing fire work show!

Good thing we did not have company this night.....

2011-08-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

....because we had a few little ones that decided to help themselves and start eating the mashed potatoes right out of the pan! :)

An unwanted house guest....

2011-08-05T22:28:00.000-07:00

This little guy showed up in our kitchen last Sunday night. All I have to say is good thing Ryan was home. I have lived in AZ my whole life and I have never had one in my house. I hope I never have another one!!

This Summer

2011-07-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

This summer I planned on having so much fun with my girls especially since it is Kaylee's last summer before REAL school...play dates, swimming, fun activities, projects, church Mom's group, getting stuff done around the house with all the extra summer time, a fun vacation....well, I guess God had other plans for me. But I guess that is life, not always going the way you planned. I instead got to spend pretty much the entire summer sick....or whatever I still have...since June 10...but not that I am counting or anything, and since this is my blog I just wanted to complain about it. So I started with just a normal cold, that went to a sinus infection, to a plugged up right ear that had a constant swishing sound that lasted until two days ago, dizzy all the time, then went to getting antibiotics for the sinus infection, that made me so nauseous and sick, to another medicine that still made me sick, to the Zofran that just took the edge off but then made me extra headachey and dizzy, to my eyes not being able to wear or focus right in my contacts anymore, to the medicine finally being done and still having sinus pressure and ear pain and dizziness, but a sinus CT scan that shows the infection is gone, to another medicine to try and relieve sinus pressure that just made me feel sick and not be able to sleep, to finally saying "screw that" and I am just going to take Sudafed until I can finally get in to see the ENT on Aug 1. So, I have been trying to patiently wait as I continue to feel ear pain, in and around my ear, sinus pressure, and dizzy most days until the ENT can hopefully help me out. I guess I might have an inner ear problem, since the regular doc said I don't have an ear infection, at least I hope that is all it is and nothing more serious. The good news is that on Wednesday of this week I finally stopped hearing the constant swishing or white noise in my ear that I have been feeling since Fathers Day Weekend, that can make you go mad....and I think it did many days along with a good dose of anxiety of why I seem to not be getting better. So that is me in all my glory this summer and also why I have not blogged much. Most days were spent at home not doing anything fun, pretty much the girls only went to swimming class when Ryan was home and could take them, no play dates since the beginning of June, no Mom's group. The activities that I did try and do like 4th of July stuff and our CA vacation were sad to say such a struggle and the kind of things you do "just for your kids". :((( The good news is that in the last week I have started to have a few more days where I feel more normal and not feel so crummy on top of my normal ear aches and dizziness, and the sinus pressure has not been as bad everyday. Yea!

And to try and not have this summer be a total bust we started the day off going to the Harkins summer movie, that we were supposed to go to every Friday morning, and then this afternoon Kaylee and I did our usual summer tradition of making homemade Popsicles. We tried peach this time around and they are really yummy. Usually we start making these in June...nothing like waiting until the last 2 weeks of summer break but better late then never!

And these pictures were taken yesterday. On vacation Kaylee found my Aunts old wedding album and loved looking at all the pictures and seeing Mommy and Auntie when we were 23 months and 4 years old. My sister and I both still had the flower girl dresses we wore all those years ago so we had the great idea of dressing up Kaylee and Lex to take their picture in them. I remember playing dress up in that dress many of times when I was little. Needless to say they are now a little stretched out. Kaylee now talks about how she can't wait to be a flower girl someday.....no pressure or anything Auntie and Brandon!! ;))

Kaylee took this picture taking very seriously and smiled pretty for every picture. Lex on the other hand was being the biggest goof and the faces she made had my sister and I cracking up!

And here is the picture from back in 1982 that inspired the photo shoot...

Fun Father's Day Weekend

2011-06-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

My Mom had a couple of free nights at the JW Marriott so we all decided to go and make it a fun Father's Day weekend! We arrived on Friday afternoon and hit the pool.

The girls loved this little spray pad area.

View from our balcony

Dinner at the Blue Sage

Amanda and Brandon

That is a huge french fry Lex!!

The girls, and lots of other kids including Ryan and Brandon, loved running around on this grass area.

Lex trying to figure out this whole potty and toilet paper thing!

Day two at the pool

Lunch!!

Memaw and Lex

Auntie with the girls

Love this picture!

We had a birthday party in the afternoon that we snuck out to for about an hour. The theme was Minnie mouse. That is why Kaylee has the ears.

Feeding the ducks

Here is a video of the girls entertaining us with a dance at dinner time. :)

After dinner they were handing out stuff to make s'mores.

Yummy!

Ryan with his girls on Father's Day waiting for dinner

And here they are with their sucker bribe since a certain little one did not want to pose for any more pictures. Well, they ALL decided they needed one!

Happy Father's Day Ryan!!! We had such a fun weekend even though all us girls got sick again. Thanks for being such a great Dad to your girls. We love you!

What have we been doing?

2011-06-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

I have been a horrible blogger lately so I thought it was time for a post. Summer has kept us busy with lots of play dates, swim classes, and three of us being sick with yucky colds. :( We are just doing 6 weeks of swim class this year instead of the long 11 weeks we did last year. Unfortunately we had to miss two days last week from being sick and then three days this week after the girls relapsed from our fun weekend. I have had the joy of being sick the whole time. :( Hopefully we can all feel better soon and really start enjoying our summer. Heat wise Summer is officially here. We have not been playing outside much in the last two weeks from being sick and yesterday evening the girls dragged me outside and it was suddenly really hot! Two weeks ago when we were well it was still bearable in the evening. We were lucky to have it stay nicer outside in the evening for as long as it did. Here are just some random pictures of the girls:

Kaylee is in a phase where she loves to look at my big chapter books. No, she still can't read, but she loves to look at them and pick out all the ones she will want to read as soon as she can. At least she is excited and motivated!

Lex getting the suit cases out to go on our fun Father's Day weekend!

My little dishes helper! The girls have both loved helping in the kitchen lately.

We have been working on potty training!!! We are still not potty trained but I can get her to go at least two or three times a day in the potty. At least she is motivated, most the time! I think we need to take a few days that we are staying home and just go for it and see what happens.

Playing outside. These were taken pre-sick before it was over 110 outside. :)

The Sunday Paper.....

2011-06-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

....I never thought getting it would be such a big hit!

Head over heals

2011-06-13T16:02:00.000-07:00

The other day I was in my closet putting away laundry when Kaylee came in and looked up at my shoes and said, "you have a lot of head over heals." At first I did not think I heard her right. But then Lex came in and she said it again to Lex. I had to laugh, and then explained that my shoes with heals are just called "heals" and not "head over heals". I told her how "head over heals" is an expression for something. Like if you are head over heals in love, you are really in love with that person. I think she understood?? I did not even know she had heard that expression before but it sure put a smile on my face!

Hello Summer, hello stomach virus

2011-05-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was Kaylee's last day of 4 year old preschool. I have been very emotional about this lately just thinking how this is it, one chapter is closed and now on to Kindergarten. We have had such a great experience at La Casa and I am sad to think that she will no longer be going back.

Well poor thing almost had to miss her last day of school. Ryan was working and Lex woke up throwing up. At first I was like oh no, Kaylee is going to have to miss her last day of school. Last time Lex had a stomach virus she threw up every 10-15 min for a few hours. If that was the case there would be no way we could make it to drive Kaylee to school. I continued to get Kaylee ready and Lex had not thrown up again so I decided to risk it. Even if Lex and I could not join Kaylee for her last day ice cream party I did not want her to miss it! We made it to school and I called the school office from out front to see if one of the office ladies would come out and walk Kaylee to her class so I would not have to take Lex out of the car. Trish came out and offered to stay at the car with Lex so I would not have to miss dropping Kaylee off on the last day. She said she has been there as a Mom and would not want to take that moment away from me. So of course on the way to class I was thinking about what Trish said and I totally start crying thinking about what I was doing. Such a sap!
On the way home we made it until about 1 min away from our house before Lex threw up again...all over herself and the car seat. Poor baby, and has woken me up every night since throwing up. We are all so ready for her to feel better. I pray she can make it through the night tonight.

Off to the last day of school! She was excited for summer break this year unlike last year she did not want it to end.

It seems like we were just here...

Kaylee's last week was pretty low key with fun activities. Here are some pictures of her fun last week:
Water day was Monday

After water day some of us went to celebrate at Chick-fil-a

Wednesday she officially graduated preschool and got her Diploma! :)

Then Friday she had her fun ice cream party where parents and siblings were welcome but unfortunately I have no pictures since Lex and I could not make it. :( Here is something that I remembered from last year that I thought I would share again. A reminder to me to enjoy them each and every day because before you know it they will be off to Kindergarten, then graduating high school, and off to college....I know that is getting carried away but you get the idea!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-05-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

I had to show off the beautiful cake that Ryan and Kaylee made me for my birthday last Saturday...so yummy!

...and then I had to show how much Lex liked it! Way cuter then pictures of me! :)

Happy Mothers Day...

2011-05-18T22:43:00.001-07:00

....a week and a half late!

We had a nice day with a french toast breakfast compliments of my wonderful husband, church in the morning, then my sister made us all a yummy lunch. I lied down on the couch all afternoon with Kaylee and watched a movie instead of doing laundry, work, or cleaning :), and then we went out to dinner so I didn't have to cook! Yea!!! That made for a great day!

Here are the only pictures from that day with my two precious blessings.

I love Lexie's face in this one!

Cinco De Mayo lunch

2011-05-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

Ryan was off on Cinco De Mayo so of course we had to get some Mexican food! We took the girls to El Encanto in Cave Creek. Love going there and so do the girls! It is such a cute atmosphere with the pond.

Sorry it is so dark but it shows the nice view from our table. The girls loved watching the fish, turtles, and ducks swim by...I liked how the glass window separated us so they could get up close and not fall in!

After lunch we fed the ducks and the goose

The Angry Goose! This goose was squaking away and would push all the other ducks aside, and was a huge food hog.

Preschool Olympics- 5/2/11

2011-05-18T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures from Kaylee's preschool Olympics that were the beginning of May. I could tell this year she was less nervous and just had fun with everything!

Go team!

Lex did great watching and the graham crackers helped! Only one minor meltdown when she wanted to go in the tunnels and was not allowed. :(

Time for the parade of athletes!

Yea Kaylee!

Mother's Day Tea and Art Walk

2011-05-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

I am a little behind since the Mother's Day Tea at Kaylee's school was on April 30th. I will try and get caught up on everything in the next few days. :)

Kaylee and I heading out to the tea. Yes, I still had my Easter stuff up. I think it finally came down last Tuesday!

Memaw was able to come too!

The kids all sang us a few "Mommy" songs and then we watched a slide show of all the kids.

Back in the room the kids sang us a few more songs and then the teacher read us a story about how quickly your kids grow up and all the lasts that they have from last time feeding them a bottle, to last time rocking them at night, to just holding them and all the lasts of growing up..... I was in tears. I have found myself in tears a lot lately (three times alone just in the Mother's Day service last Sunday) with Kaylee finishing up preschool and thinking about her heading off to Kindergarten in the fall. Just realizing how quickly she is growing up and I am really trying to enjoy all the time I have with her at home since soon she will be at all day school and getting busy with life.

Posing with the frame Kaylee made for me

Then we walked around and looked at all her displayed art work

This is so cute and pretty right on! We love to play games together, I love the Private Selection Brand Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream....I say it is heaven in a carton....kind of become an addition of mine...anyway, jumped the gun on the age a little...not 31 until this Saturday...don't want to rush it ;), and she is so sweet to say I make yummy dinners since about 50% of the time I didn't think she likes what I made! :)

Okay, off to eat some blueberry ice cream. Now everyone knows my weakness!

Easter

2011-05-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

It is so easy to get caught up in the bunnies and eggs but we need to remember the real meaning and why we celebrate this holiday. Thank you Jesus for your life, death, and resurrection, so that through you we can be forgiven and spend eternity with you in heaven. Thank You!!

The Easter bunny showed up!

...and left lots of jelly beans!

time to find all the eggs the Easter Bunny left. Inside first....

...then outside

Show me your jelly bean bribe so you would sit and take pictures with me!

Let's go fly a kite

2011-05-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

....up to the highest height!

Before Easter dinner it was very breezy out so we went outside to the greenbelt behind our house to try out the new kite from the Easter Bunny.

Annie watching us from our backyard

Where's the baby??

2011-05-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of Alexa's favorite things to do right now. She will hide in different spots around the house and then I will hear, "Mommy, where's the baby?" wanting me to come find her. The game closet is one of her most favorite places to hide!

Boo!

Getting ready

2011-04-27T20:43:00.001-07:00

On Friday late afternoon we colored Easter Eggs. It was a hot day so we decided to color them inside. After we were done I remembered why we did them outside last year. I think next year we will be moving it back outside. This way I won't have to be so paranoid and the kids can just have fun! Lex lasted about 2 minutes before she realized that the egg color made her hands all dirty and was off to the game closet. Kaylee had fun but good thing she was in her underwear because her hands, arms, and stomach was covered!

After the eggs were done Daddy and Kaylee joined Lex with the games.

On The night before Easter Kaylee told me that she wanted to throw Carrots out front for the Easter Bunny. Hey why not, we leave stuff for Santa and the Reindeer why not the Easter Bunny!!?? They each got a bag of cut up carrots to throw out front. Lex did not even make it out the front door before eating hers!

It was really cute. While the girls were throwing their carrots we saw two neighborhood bunnies just waiting across the street for us the finish. Kaylee got so excited and yelled to the bunnies, "go tell the Easter Bunny we are leaving him carrots and that we have been so good!"

Lex mostly ate hers

Kaylee finally had to help with Lexi's bag

I don't know about the Easter Bunny but something sure enjoyed those carrots that night because they were all gone in the morning!!

School Easter Egg hunt!

2011-04-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday Kaylee had her School Easter egg hunt and party.

Here she is on the egg hunt

I got one!!

Kaylee and Kyrsten

At the class party decorating her cupcake

Enjoying the gifts

2011-04-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

These are back from right after Alexa's birthday but I am just now getting around to post.

Here are both girls with Alexa's gift from Grandma and Grandpa Graham. She got a few books, crayons, and lots of coloring books! They also each got the really cute aprons they are wearing.

With all the fun new coloring books Alexa thought it would be more fun to color the tag on the gift bag! :)

Here they are having fun with the new water paint books.

Just in time for summer.....a new water table from Memaw!

Mrs. Kaylee Potato Head

2011-04-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

Cute silly girl!! Kaylee and Lex both got a big kick out of this and of course their Mom had to take a few pictures!

Ice Cream Birthday Treat!

2011-04-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

Our family has really enjoyed being part of the Baskin Robbins birthday club this year....and it is not just the kids who are registered! :) Any excuse for going to get ice cream right!!?? A few days before Alexa's birthday we took her to get her free ice cream, and of course we all had some too! We had one happy birthday girl!

The Party

2011-04-14T16:05:00.001-07:00

We had a little Birthday party for Alexa on Saturday night. It was a perfect and nice low key night with family. We had dinner, opened presents, ate cake and ice cream, of course sang "Happy Birthday" again, played, and finished off the night with a mean game of balloon toss!

Ryan and Memaw setting up some snacks

Time for Presents!!

Checking out her new Little People school bus. She loves school buses right now and Little people!

Thanks Memaw for my own "Buggy Boo Boo" as Lex calls it. Lex has loved Kaylee's Buggy Boo boo and was so happy to get her own!

Both girls got Barbies! Lucky Kaylee!

We fianally got that good smile!!!

Wow, triple fisting it! I don't know how we ended up with so many sippy cups!

And finally the cake was soooo good it was a two man job to clean her up!

Kind of a goofy picture of Ryan, but that is Ryan, and I thought it was cute of both guys trying to tackle the clean up job!

Any other frustrated bloggers?

2011-04-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or is anyone else having a horrible time trying to post lately?? After I upload all my pictures, and then write, I will go to post or preview it and most of the wording gets all messed up between the pictures and some pictures line themselves up side by side. Then once I finally get the pictures to not be side by side after editing it like 8 times, the wording will now have a huge gap between pictures and it will not let me close the space. It used to post "as is" the way I put it together the first time. So sorry in the last few blogs the wording is all spaced really far apart between most the pictures. It has become so frustrating and makes a post take about 8 times longer then normal. Just wondering if anyone else is having this problem???