MAUI

Here are some pictures from our vacation!

Kevin and me after spending 1/3 of our day on an airplane.

Gettin' some sun. Riding horses.

Eating at Bubba Gump. Beautiful sunset. Standing in front of a banyon tree as big as a city block!

YAY BEN!

Valentine's Day was very nice. We got to have Kevin home all day! Kevin and Kaitlin did some dancing and we just hung out and enjoyed having everyone together! We have exciting (well, it's exciting to me!) news around here! Ben went potty last night, this morning, and after his nap this afternoon! He is excited for himself. :) This past Friday night my car, which I somehow left unlocked, was broken in to! Yep, they stole my GPS out of the console and Kaitlin's wallet that had like $10 in it. It was so upsetting! And I got to teach Kaitlin all about "bad guys". She would like to, and I quote, "punch them in the face". She tells it like it is! But I did tell her that we don't need to do that. ;) Kiley is a little chatter box lately! I love it. It seems like a few months ago I couldn't get her to do anything but grunt at me! And today Ben kept coming up to me and saying Mama! He used to say it months ago, but he quit for the longest time...but now Mama is back! Ok, here are some pictures!

Kaitlin's 1st school project

Warming up!

Well, it's been warming up here lately! Yesterday the kids were in shorts and t-shirts! I love that in Texas we can be in the 70's in the winter time. Today Kaitlin and Kiley are having their Valentine's Day parties at school...they are so excited! I've been busy getting our taxes done (woo-hoo). So, I should probably be doing them right now, but I am going to take a well deserved break! Last week Kaitlin read her first book, Go Dogs, Go!!!!! She is so excited! I can't believe she starts kindergarten this fall...only 7 more months of having her here all day. :( We plan on putting our house (in Rockwall) up for sale soon so we can move back to Fort Worth. Please pray that it sells quickly and we can get back soon! Tiffany and Neil find out what they are having soon. We're having her baby shower on March 14th. Oh, our vacation to Maui that we went on in January was soooo great! It was very relaxing and we got to see a ton of BIG waves. We rode horses, snorkled, drove to Hana (AGAIN!, 3 times we've driven this road that has over 600 turns!!), took hundreds of pictures, went to the beach, shopped, and ate some fabulous food! YUM. I love that the fish is so fresh. We had the best mahi-mahi with a mango salsa...mmm! Well, I need to find some time and get some pictures on here! The kids are growing so much. Everyday they do something new. It's crazy how fast time flies.

My baby is 5!

Kaitlin is 5! I just can't believe 5 years just came and went so fast! On Friday (her birthday), Kevin got donuts for everyone (Kaitlin's favorite!). He had to leave for work before she got up, but she was sooo excited to wake up to donuts. We even had donuts for lunch too (it was her birthday...we had to do something extra fun!). Later we went to the park. We brought the bubbles, and they all had so much fun! After that we went to McDonald's...yummy! (well, not really, but Kaitlin thinks it is). Finally, we came home and took baths and got ready for bed. Saturday was the big P-A-R-T-Y day! We had a rainbow party at Chuck-E-Cheese...oh..my..gosh! That place is crazy. When I took out my camera to take some pictures...it didn't work! I went in to spaz mode! But luckily, Junior, Meoshi's brother in law, had his new camera and let me borrow it. Thank you Junior! When I get the pictures from him, I'll put them on here. Apparently the cake I made was pretty darn cool! :) Even people from other tables were coming up to take a look at it...I love a good confidence booster! But anyways...Kaitlin had the best time and got so many great presents! Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate Kaitlin's 5th birthday.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We have had such a wonderful year! We baked some cookies earlier in the week, and the girls had so much fun helping! On Thursday, New Year's Eve, we ate at The Harbour on Lake Ray Hubbard at some great mexican food restaurant (I just can't remember the name!) and we went to the movies and saw Bedtime Stories. It was so funny. Kaitlin loved it, Kiley laughed a little, and Ben had so much fun climbing up and down the stairs in the movie theatre! Saturday was so beautiful! It was in the 80's...gotta love this Texas weather. The kids and I went out and did some yard work for about 4 hours. Kevin stained the back porch and back driveway. It's beautiful! The girls and I got to go on a bike ride (Kiley finally got to try her new bike outside). Sunday was a relaxing day and it was so cold, the 40's! We went to Town East Mall and went to eat at McAllister's deli. Kaitlin's having a rainbow birthday party on Saturday, so Sunday night Kevin and I made a practice rainbow cake...we had to make sure we could actually make it, incase we really needed to pay a pro to do it. But I think we did a great job!! So, I am ready to make her cake for her party. Today we had freezing, so Kevin stayed home from work! I love when he gets to be here all day! Well, here are some pictures of what we've been up to:

CHRISTMAS!

Well, Christmas was great! It was busy, but not crazy like it has been other years. We started our Christmas on Wednesday at Lee and Tera's with our Lavender family gift exchange, Thursday we opened presents at our house. Thank you Aunt Margaret and Aunt Eileen for the presents! Then went to my mom's (my dad and Missy were there) to open presents and eat. Then we went to Kevin's cousins house to eat yet again! We stayed the night at my mom's and went home the next day. Saturday we went to Louisiana to see Neil and Tiffany (who by the way is 9 weeks pregnant!). My mom came with us and we ate at Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro (YUMMY!). Sunday the girls and I went to a birthday party then over to Meoshi's to give them their gifts. I think we are finally done going places! It's nice to be home. The kids had such a great Christmas. For their "big" gifts Kaitlin got a telescope, Kiley got a bike, and Benjamin got a mini. power wheels (they all LOVE this!). Kevin got me Buckle clothes and a new camera (yea, he's the best!). It's a Nikon D200 and I was soooo suprised! Kaitlin's 5th, yes 5th, birthday is on January 9th, and on the 10th we'll be having a rainbow themed party at ChuckECheese! She's very excited. Kiley has been talking all the time lately! Just all of a sudden she has so much to say! And Ben is learning so many words! Yesterday I put his hat on his head and he put his hand on his hat and said "hat"!!!! I probably freaked him out a little with all my excited screaming, but I was so happy! Life here in Rockwall has been good, but I can't wait to get back to Fort Worth, to friends, family, and familiarity. MY plan is to be back by spring. But, who knows! This is the greatest house, and it should sell quickly...when we finally put it for sale. I miss having my husband working close to home. But, anyways! Here are some holiday pictures...

Where does the time go?

Well, it's been over a month since I last posted! We've been in our house for 2 months now. It's been exciting! I love Rockwall, but I can't wait to get back to Fort Worth. My photography business is really getting busy, so I'm driving alot to Fort Worth every week. We've got a really bad slab leak, so we'll be moving to a hotel sometime next week...so that stinks! They said it will probably take about 2 weeks to get everything done. They almost have to tear up our whole house! Should be fun. Anyways, Neil and Tiffany came to town this week for Thanksgiving. We went to an awesome train exhibit at North Park, saw "Four Christmases", and went to the Wax Museum (so much fun!). It's always so great when they come. We had dinner at our house. It was such a relaxing day! Benjamin started taking steps about 2 weeks ago!!!!!! He just gets up and goes! Kaitlin and Kiley are loving their school and mother's day out! And Kiley is finally participating at ASI Gymnastics! It took some time, but she loves it now. Kevin painted our dining room and entry yesterday. It looks so good! We are getting decorated for Christmas around here too! We got all the decorations out yesterday, and we're putting up the tree after nap time today! I love Christmas time...although, I could do without all the rude people during the day after Thanksgiving shopping! :) And BTW, I am loving having a dishwasher! 6 years of no dishwasher was no bueno! Kevin and I booked a trip to Maui for January 14 - 18! We can't wait to go back.

WE MOVED!

That's right! A lot has been happening in the month. We have moved to Rockwall (about an hour away from everyone). :( It's such a great town! We're supposed to only live here temporarily, maybe 6 months or so. After we do some work on the outside of the house, we plan to put it on the market and move back to Fort Worth. I will, however, miss it here. It just seems like everyone is much more friendly. So, besides the move...Benjamin turned 1 on September 21st!!! And we had a cowboy birthday party for him. It was so much fun. I think everyone really enjoyed it. I know all the kids had fun dressing up and doing the "boot" pinata. Then on the 27th we moved to Rockwall. And the next day I turned 25...getting older. As for the girls, they are now doing gymnastics at ASI gymnastics. Kaitlin is crazy about it, and Kiley could really care less about it 75% of the time. We're all adjusting to life in a different house...it hasn't been easy. We are so far away from family and friends. I think having a big house has brought us further apart. We used to spend the whole day together downstairs in 800sf, now the kids have almost 3600sf to roam in...I miss being "cramped" together. My mom has come to see us a few times, and Meoshi, Shiloh, and Monique are coming on Thursday to spend the night! Saturday we are planning a trip to the Dallas Arboretum. I've never been, but I hear it's beautiful, and they are supposed to be having a big pumpkin theme area. I have been driving to Fort Worth about 2 times a week...let me tell you how fun that is with 3 kids 4 & under! :) And Benjamin is still not walking on his own...maybe someday. He'll walk just fine holding your hands or behind a toy that moves. He's getting his top 2 teeth right now, poor baby, he just doesn't feel good all day. I've got so many pictures to put on here. I'll have to put them on some day soon when I have time. Ok, well that's all I can remember from this last crazy month for now!

ROAR!

Kevin and I thought it would be fun to have a Surprise Day one Saturday a month. So, this past Saturday Kevin took off work. We started the day with doughnuts with SPRINKLES! The girls love them! :) After that we went to McDonalds (for the kids) and Jason's Deli for us (I can only take so much Mc Donalds, and I think I've had enough for a while). Then we went to the Omni theatre to watch Dinosaurs Alive. I think Kiley was probably the only kid in there making noise. She loves to say "Roar!" when she sees dinosaurs, so throughout the whole movie she was roaring, laughing, and squealing. It was so cute! Since Kaitlin loves smoothies, we stopped by the Smoothie Factory before heading to the mall.

After a crazy day:
we were so tired:

I found out earlier this week that Neil and Tiffany are going to be moving to England next June. As if Louisiana wasn't far enough! :) Oh well, we'll just have to go visit them a lot. Benjamin's birthday is this Sunday, so I have been busy planning his party. We are supposed to be moving to Rockwall in about 2 weeks. We'll be far from everyone, but I think it will be a nice town to live in for a while.

BIRTHDAY TIME!

Well, we had the first 2 birthdays in our busy birthday time of the year. Kevin and my mom both had their birthday yesterday! Kiley and I made french toast and eggs for Kevin for breakfast. Then, we got Olive Garden for lunch with my mom. Then, that night, we had Kevin's family and Meoshi and Carlston over for trout and Kevin's favorite chocolate cake from Central Market. It was delicious! Kaitlin got to pick out a present for Kevin this year! She wanted to get him spicey gum and coffee (we got a Starbucks gift card), because "Daddy loves spicey gum and coffee!" It was a great day! Next Sunday, Benjamin turns 1! I can't believe it's been a year already!

MASSACHUSETTS

We left for Massachusetts on Tuesday! Kiley and Benjamin had a rough time on the plane, it's so hard for them to sit still. :) Seeing everyone was so great! Having all the family around makes me want to just pack up and move to MA. When we got there, we went straight to Grammy's and ate some pizza!

The next day we headed to the zoo!

Thursday, it was off to Martha's Vineyard with Aunt Teresa, Robert, and Andrew for some ice cream, carousel riding, and beautiful scenery.

Friday we headed to Wood's Hole for the aquarium, and then it was off to the beach!

We had a WICKED good time! :) And we can't wait to go back!!

Potty dance!!

KILEY IS POTTY TRAINED!!! Yes, it's true, my 23 month old is potty trained! We are all so excited. We do a little dance and sing "pee-pee in the potty" everytime she goes, she loves it! Last night I got her Elmo and Dora panties, and when she woke up this morning, she couldn't wait to put them on! In fact, I think throughout the day, she tried on 6 different pairs. She just couldn't make up her mind which pair she liked best. :) Kaitlin is such a great big sister. She truely is so excited that Kiley is a BIG GIRL like her. Yesterday, Kaitlin took Kiley to the potty all by herself! I couldn't believe it!, but Kaitlin knew she had to go, so she took care of it! Kaitlin is so amazing. Tiffany called tonight and said she and Neil might be coming for the weekend. That'll be nice, it's been almost 7 months since we've seen them!

A busy weekend!

Well, this weekend was busy! On Friday Kaitlin and Kiley got their first haircut!

Lovin' the suckers!

Saturday, the kids, Granny, and I went to Mineral Wells. First, we went to the Clark Gardens. The girls had so much fun chasing ducks, smelling flowers, and running all around. After 2 hours in 90-something heat, we decided to head out and go shopping. We shopped for 2 hours, then headed straight to Papa and Missy's for dinner.

2 hours in 90 degree heat...nobody wants to pose :)

Kaitlin and Kiley had a good time in the pool Sunday afternoon! Kiley got Kaitlin! That water is so cold!
Kaitlin got her back! :)