July is Jumping!

I cannot believe that I have not blogged all month! What have we been doing? Jumping all over the place it seems.

Well I started off July with the girls spending some time in Waco so I could get a few things done around the house. The main thing on the agenda was to get Campbell's room converted to a Big Girl Room finally. Since her crib converted to a full size bed all we needed were bedding and matresses. Then a few little decorative touches.

Here is the finished product. I thought that it turned out great. More importantly Campbell loves her new big girl room. I do not know which was the better find for the room though. The cute pink nightstand for $30 or the beautiful painted letters for $13 a piece that a very talented lady painted for me from eBay. (Her name is Erica but I assure you it is not me...I wish I had her gift.) I am just so happy to have this transition behind us with no difficulties.

Of course we could not change one daughter's room without doing a little something for the other so here are Kaylee's letters and after months of searching a cute rug that has primary colors but actually has flowers and is for a girl:) Yeah! If you have ever tried to decorate a girls room with primary colors then you know the challenge. Kaylee has always been drawn to the brighter colors so I am glad we finally achieved a girly room with the colors she loves.

Letters thanks to the talented lady on eBay.

Flower pillow thanks to IKEA.

And finally thank you to The Land of Nod for the rug.

After all the decorating it is nice to just sit back and enjoy so we have had a lot of days like these...

Kaylee also enjoyed a fun week of camp at ACU's Kidquest. Each day she came home talking about all the fun she had and each night she was eager to go to bed so the next day would come more quickly. The only pictures we got were of her performing on the last day to show all the parents what they had been doing all week. She is already talking about attending again next year. I am so glad that she had the opportunity to enjoy a Spirit filled week of celebrating our God and making some new friends as well as reuniting with some old ones. I just cannot say enough about how wonderful this camp was organized and the staff was incredible!!

Now on to the most recent thing we have accomplished...pictures. We went last night to an incredible backyard here and Ashley took some wonderful pictures, click here to see the pictures of the girls. They both did so well at posing. I do not know how I will ever choose. If you live close or even if you do not Ashley is just precious and a wonderful photographer so check her out. Thank you again Ashley for blessing us with your talent!!

I think that about sums up July except us celebrating Cary's birthday which we loved. It is always wonderful to celebrate an amazing man!

We have also been enjoying the miracle of life out our back door. The picture on the left is from last Friday and the picture on the right is from today...just a week later. I am so glad that my babies did not grow up that fast even though it seems that way sometimes.

Life is good. I have just finished reading The Shack and The Same Kind of Different as Me. Both books were recommended by several of my friends and I have to say they were right. They were incredible! (If you want a chance to win your own copy of The Shack click on the link to my friend Tammy's blog below.) Keep the suggestions coming sweet friends. I am also enjoying a Sunday night Ladies Bible Study at church on a book called Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer. Let's just say I am trying to learn to be still and listen to God more instead of being too busy to really hear God's word. I wanted to do this study because one of the most Godly women I know is leading it and just being with her is a gift. Thanks Tammy for leading me through such a wonderful study and always opening your heart for God and others.

I will try to post more in August when I am not trying to be still and listen:)

Party Time!

Monday was finally Campbell's Big Party Day! It seemed like every weekend was full in June so we decided to have her party on a weekday. She was really into the fact that it was Her Birthday Party this year. When I went to get her out of bed that morning she asked me if all her friends were here. I had to explain that "no" her friends would be here later when the party started. Then I started decorating outside and setting things up so she asked if all the kids were outside. I had to again say "no" but they will be here in a little while. Once they arrived she was so excited!!

I decided to have a swimming, playing, and bounce house party. We put one pool at the end of the slide to their playset and the other one close by. They had more fun sliding into the pool and then running and jumping into the other one. It is so much fun to watch a bunch of little children's faces when they get to the end of the slide and hit the water. The bounce house a sweet friend let me borrow was used some but maily the pools kept them busy.

After playing and a little snacking it was time for the cake. Can you guess what color the frosting was on the cupcakes? All of the children's faces pretty much looked like this. Next was the time Campbell had been waiting for...presents. Each time she opened a present she wanted to know who it was from and then she had to find them so she could say "Thank You". It was one of the cutest things ever! Last year I do not think she uttered a peep. It is amazing how much my baby has grown over the past year.

The last order of business was to hit the pinata. They all waited so patiently for their turn. There is just something about a bunch of three year olds trying to break open a pinata that is hilarious. Some of them had great swings already!

At the end of the party I was a little sad and a little relieved that it was over. Campbell had such a wonderful time and I think her friends did too. Thank you to all her friends, their Moms, and siblings for coming and making her Birthday so special. She is still talking about her fun Birthday party when all her friends came to her house!

A Professional Swimmer in the Family!

Well Kaylee just finished swimming lessons for the summer and I am so amazed at how far she came in just two weeks. It is really crazy to think about how much better she is than last summer. Mr. Lynn and Mrs. Sherri are such patient, kind, and gifted people when it comes to teaching children. Kaylee is swimming all over the place and holding her breath under water for much longer periods of time. Each day she was so excited to learn more. It seems like so long ago now when she was terrified of the swimming pool now when we go she has to swim in the deep pool and prefers to be left alone. Way to go Kaylee!! We are so proud of the progress you have made this year. I think we are going to move up to the hour class next year and then Miss Campbell will be old enough to take lessons too.

Happy 3rd Birthday Campbell Grace!!

Today I woke up to my baby girl yelling, "Mommy" which happens most mornings, but this morning was different. I walked into Campbell's room and the first thing she said to me was "It's my Birthday! I'm Three!". I think someone was a little excited. While I was a little sad. It just does not seem possible to me most days that Campbell could possible be three years old already. I really did just bring her home from the hospital yesterday, right?

In the past few months she has grown up so much. She is talking all the time about everything. She has also given up her paci and been potty trained all on her own:) Counting is one of her favorite things to do, she can count to 25 which I think is pretty good since I have not worked on it with her much at all. She is convinced that she can read, really I think she just has most of her books memorized but we let her think she is reading like her Big Sister whom she adores so much. Her love of baby dolls and dressing up in anything princess continues. She is definitely still a Mommy's girl:) I just love to see what her little personality will develop into next. We love you sweet angel!

Since we are not having Campbell's Birthday Party until next week we decided to go to Chuck E. Cheese as a family to celebrate together. We all had a good time. Campbell of course would rather ride the rides than worry about tickets. I think her two favorites were Bob the Builder and the carousel. It was so much fun to watch her face light up over all the fun sounds and actions. Kaylee on the other hand is old enought to know that it is all about the tickets. After about an hour and a half of fun we picked out prizes to take home to finish the celebration.
Once we returned home Campbell was all about opening her gifts. She was thrilled to get a princess chair, a Mommy's Tote book, and a BBQ Grill so that she can cook like Daddy. It is amazing to see how much more they enjoy opening the gifts in just one year's time. After gifts we ate a little cake and put the ones that needed assemblying together. Happy 3rd Birthday Campbell Grace!

A little walk down memory lane with Campbell Grace...

Campbell at 1 month old.

Campbell at 6 months old.

Campbell at 1 years old.

Campbell at 2 years old.

Campbell at 3 years old

Campbell,
We are so blessed each day by your sweet smile and spirit. You do know how to pitch an occassional fit but luckily you usually stop as quickly as you started:) We like to refer to this as a "strong will" which will suit you well in life at times. You love to laugh and make others laugh. It is so much fun to hear you and Kaylee laughing together at different times during the day. Kaylee is your best friend. She is the one you ask about each morning and the last one you want to kiss "goodnight" when it is time to go to bed in the evenings. It is so cute to watch the way that you "Mother" your baby dolls. I know that one day (in the way distant future) you are going to be an amazing Mother because you have already had so much practice. You also give great hugs and kisses to your family and friends. Social butterfly does not even begin to describe the personality we have seen in you over the past few months. One of your favorite things to do is to sing songs or hear stories that have to do with the Bible. We pray that you always have this affection for the Lord and walk with Him daily. You are our angel and we are so proud and blessed to have you as our daughter.

We love you,

Dad & Mom

A Shower, Father's Day, & a Happy Birthday!

This past weekend we made the journey to Waco on Saturday morning so I could help host a shower with my Mom for, her friend Elaine's daughter, Kayla. I have known Kayla since before she was born, granted I was probably only 6 years old but just the same I have remembered watching her grow over the years. She is now entering a new chapter of her life and marrying her true love in August so this past Saturday was a chance to celebrate that. My Mom worked so hard making sure everything was perfect. My only job before the shower was to arrive by noon with the girls ready to attend the shower too. Here is where the big problem came in. Cary and I were about an hour from home when my Mom called to see where we were so she could guess the time of our arrival. After hanging up the phone I turned to Cary and said, "Did you get the girls hang-up clothes?" (The ones I stayed up late ironing.) I am sure you can guess the answer...a big "No". I immediately went into panick mode. We could not turn around because then I would be late for the shower and I was not going to show up at my Mom's with all she had on her plate and tell her the girls had no clothes for the weekend, just pajamas and hairbows. After some silence I told Cary to just go straight to the mall and we would find the girls two matching outfits at Gymboree for the weekend. Luckily, we got to Waco an hour earlier than expected, the lady at Gymboree was very helpful and happy to see us, and we made it in plenty of time to help with some finishing touches before all the guests arrived. I can laugh now but definitely was not laughing then:)

Later that evening after the shower we celebrated Campbell's Birthday. My Mom got her the cutest Princess cake so of course Campbell was thrilled. She loved blowing out the candles and having "Happy Birthday" sung to her.

She really had fun opening her presents from Papa & Nana, Great PaPaw, Uncle Don & Aunt Trudy, Duncan, and GG. We pretty much headed home with anything she could possibly want to ride outside as well as a camera of her own so that she can stop using Kaylee's all the time. Kaylee even managed to get a few surprises too. I cannot wait to post pictures of the girls in their bicycle helments...too cute. Thank you to everyone for all of the wonderful presents for the girls, they are already being put to good use. I have to say that the hands down favorite for the girls so far are the double strollers for their dolls. I pray they live close enough and are best friends one day and can walk their real babies around like this. Too fun!

On Sunday we celebrated Father's Day with three of my favorite men in the world ( my husband, Dad, and Papaw). Each of these men play such an important role in my life as well as in the life of my girls. I do not know how I got to be so blessed with such amazing examples of unconditional love, faith, honesty, and servants for the Lord and those around them. I thank my God for them each and every day. Each of them have helped make me who I am and give me wonderful support during all the many journeys of my life. Thank you! I love you all so much!

Also a Big Thanks to my wonderful Mom who worked so hard to make the weekend perfect for everyone, I love you!

Kaylee's Last Day of Kindergarten

Where has the past year of school gone? I cannot believe that my first born has completed kindergarten. I did not realize she had changed so much this year because she seemed like such a big girl to me when school started, but she is really a big girl now. I have to take a moment to be a little sad...okay I will now proceed:)

These two up close pictures are even harder to believe. It seems like just yesterday we were sending her off to her first day and walking as fast as possible out of the building with Campbell screaming for her sister and me on the verge of tears myself. I just love this precious face!

Everything about this year has been great! The Lord came through as usual and blessed us with the perfect teacher for Kaylee:) Kaylee's teacher was always encouraging and full of love for each of the children. It was wonderful to watch Kaylee spread her wings and fly this year. Each day she would come home with a report on who got in trouble, what they did in PE, and who her best friend was that day. We have determined that she should be okay no matter what first grade class she is in next year because she could name almost every kindergartener in her yearbook and tell us something about them. Considering there are about 260 kids in kindergarten I think that is quite an accomplishment. My little social butterfly:) I love it!

Here are a few things Kaylee loved about school this year...

1. She learned to read really well! Each day she is so excited about all the things that she can read around her. Library day was one of her favorite days of the week.

2. Language Arts is one of her favorite subjects because you can tell her the definition of something once and she can remember it forever.

3. She always talked about music class, especially when they got to play the instruments. She thinks that she can read music:)

4. She thinks Math is fun as long as she knows the answer quickly.

5. Recess was at the top of the list because she got to play chase with all of the boys each day. It was rare for her to come home talking about playing with some girls because she said all they wanted to play was house and that is boring.

6. Making new friends was so exciting for her. She could always tell me who got a new student in their class and what they were like.

7. She adored Mrs. "O". She has already said to me more than once that she misses her this summer. I will never forget the day she came home telling me all about Mrs. "O" selling her house and moving closer to the school. As a former teacher I had to laugh because there is no telling what my students overheard and told there parents when I taught.

8. Being a rule follower the structure of a school day was righ up her alley:) She was so excited to tell me on the last day of school that she had made it all year without moving her clip or going to the principal. "That is amazing!" she exclaimed. As if I had to worry about that:) I assured her we were very proud.

9. Show and Tell each Friday was her favorite activity all week. She loved being able to pick something out that related to that weeks lesson and share it with her friends.

The last week of school was so much fun for Kaylee since they had a Game Day, Field Day, Movie Day, and Play Day. On the last day of school Kaylee got in the car and was telling us all about the things they had done on their Fun Day. The last thing on her list was drawing with chalk outside. After she finished describing what she drew Campbell spoke up with the biggest smile on her face and said, "That is a good job Kaylee...I am so proud of you!" Do you think she has heard that a few times? I just love those moments with my two girls.

Kaylee, we are so proud of you and the smart, sweet, tenderhearted, funny, loyal, and honest girl you are each day. It is such a gift to watch you fly and know that the Lord has truly blessed us with such an amazing daughter to raise. We love you Princess!

Cousin Fun for the Weekend

Whew! The last weekend in May was a busy one around our house. Cary's Grandmother, Mother, sister Landrea, sister Chiara, nephew Catch, nephew Colt, and niece Chenna all came to visit and I was in-charge of the food for our church's 75th Anniversary dinner on the grounds. I thought that the house would be crazy but I was wrong. All of the kids played amazingly well together, I do not remember a single argument, and everyone had a bed of some sort to sleep on:) The two pools I bought ahead of time turned out to be one of my best investments because the children played outside most of the day Saturday and all day Sunday after church. Since Chiara and her family and Cary's grandmother had never been to our home it was especially nice to have a chance to visit with them. Thank you again Chiara for making the long journey with your three precious children...we are so glad that you did:) We also got to celebrate a few birthdays while everyone was together. I would say that we crammed as much as we possible could into our three days. The food for the dinner even went off without a hitch. Whew! It was so much fun to watch all of the cousins playing together. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

Campbell playing in the pool.

Kaylee just enjoying the water and sun.

Catch laughing at Kaylee and Colt.

Colt just laid back enjoying the pool.

Chenna having fun on the swing.

All the nieces and nephews helping Aunt Landrea (aka Rae-Rae, La-La, Lan, and Silly Willy) make a Birthday wish.

All of the children on their last day together...aren't they cute?