Ahhh...a Vacation!

Too bad I was not invited.

With Kayden starting big school this year, Michael wanted to start a new tradition of taking the girls on a mini-trip whenever they start a new chapter in school (elementary, middle, high and college)....the tradition kicked off with a trip for two to San Antonio.

Michael picked Kayden up from school early on Friday and they made it to San Antonio around 5. They went to the wax museum, Ripley's Believe it or not, Tower of the America's and had dinner on the river walk. Saturday they had an "amazing breakfast" and then the tomb rider and river walk boat tour.

There trip was cut a little short because about 2 weeks after we planned it, Kayden got an invitation for her best friends birthday party, which as you can guess, cannot be missed (especially because the party was not on a Sunday)...luckily it was on Saturday night so they could still go as originally planned; just had to come back a little earlier (which in talking to both of them was not necessarily a bad thing cause both there feet hurt from walking).

I love watching Michael plan daddy daughter stuff...really cannot get any cuter!

August 24th

August 24th was a pretty darn big day in our house, such a big day, in fact, it was worthy of the most coveted vacation day for both me and Michael (vacation days are precious you know...they must be used wisely).

We kicked off the morning with a hardy bowl of coco crispies and carnation instant breakfast to send the girls off the school. Not just any school day though...today was the first day of "big school" for Kayden. We could call it her first day of kindergarten, but whereas she did kindergarten last year at a private school, it was much more exciting to refer to this day as the first day of "big school". So why the repeat of kindergarten you ask???? Well, basically because the only way for her to move on to first grade was to find a private school that accepted a first grader not based on age, oh, and a little thing called money. Apparently in our area of Houston, enrolling in kindergarten and first grade is based strictly on age, unless you find a private school that will accept a child based on skill level and not age. Anyway, Kayden was excited for big school and we were excited to not pay for private schooling anymore :)

Not only was it the first day of big school for Kayden, but it was the first kay of pre-kindergarten for Kaylee. Kaylee didn't move schools from where she went to pre-school, but now that she is in pre-kindergarten she has to wear a uni-form and she is old enough to go on field trips...woot woot.

But the day does not stop there my friends....August 24th was also Michaels 30th birthday. Sadly it was slightly overshadowed by this big school business, which I figured it would be, so I put together a little surprise party the Saturday before (unfortunately the pictures are on someone elses camera though). Can I tell you how hard it is to put a surprise together for the Mr. of all things control??? But I pulled a small little shin dig off at the downtown Aquarium and I would say it was a surprise till we walked in and saw my dad standing there (guess he didn't get the note to be seated) and of course the hostess said, "the rest of your party is upstairs". Nice.

Ok, back to his actual birthday...it was pretty low key, but I did manage to remember this little dive called, Lankfords Grocery, we had seen on Diner's Drive-ins and Dives about three weeks before that he wanted to go to, so I took him there. Seriously fantastic hamburgers. And I surprised him with a leaf blower, which may not sound that great to some, but Michael is oh so grateful for it.

And that folks was our big, vacation worthy, day!

Dance Class Numero Uno

Today was Kayden and Kaylee's first day of dance class. We had not enrolled them in dance until now for two main reasons...1) I kind of wanted to see if they would get into sports first...no such luck. We tried soccer and that went not so great so I really was not up to trying another sport. 2) My mom once made a comment to me about how creative the girls natual dancing was and wouldn't it be sad if a proper dance class mellowed them out. I thought she made a very good point so I was a little nervous to enroll them cause I didn't want to have an effect on there dance creativity...then they started some questionable moves and all of a sudden putting a little damper on there creativity did not seem like such a bad idea after all.

Because they are only 18 months apart they are able to be in the same dance class, which works out quite nicely and I think they liked being able to go together.

{the pictures are not so great because parents have to watch behind a think glass small window, so I could not even get up close to the window to take the pictures}

{love this picture...notice Kaylee in the far right, she for the life of her could not get her feet positioned correctly, it was so cute to watch}

Kelsey Call Photography - July 2009

This is seriously a long time over due...why am I so lazy at taking pictures? Gosh, I am so lazy, I am even lazy at hiring someone to do it for me! But finally I did it...I figured Kyler's first birthday was a good enough reason, so here are some of my favorites as well as an update on the girlies

KAYDEN

Kayden is the oldest K in the house and has definitely assumed the oldest child role. Her and Michael are alot a like, which usually means either getting along great or butting heads, but one thing is for sure...she cannot fall asleep unless he is here. Every time he is out late doing something (something being school or young men's stuff) I probably hear at least 10 times "when is daddy going to be home", "he will be home tonight, right"...poor thing definitely has my bad case of the fears and feels so much comfort when he is around. A few more things about Kayden:

1) She loves to talk and understands things way beyond her years.

2) She must know what everything is and what it does

3) She is pretty darn good at anything she tries, although she may not like it.

4) She has a major sweet tooth

5) I have been lectured by her for my tattoo, my inappropriate wedding dress, and for having a baby before I was married

I love this little girl (excuse me, Big Girl) so much. I have been through alot with this one and I am so happy to be in a place where she only sees me happy. Love you Kayden!

KAYLEE

Kaylee was born the oldest K as well, but two years after birth assumed the role as the second K and that place seems to fit her like a glove...she was meant for it. I guess Heavenly Father knew what he was doing :) She has an easygoing personality and is such a great nurturer. The other day we had some friends over who brought there 7 weeks old. We put the baby in the swing and Kaylee made the swooshing noise and then sang to her until she fell asleep...so cute! Little more about Kaylee:

1) She is very content in her skin and I really hope she does not loose this quality.

2) She has her dad's appetite and will eat anything...obsessed with pickles

3) She is a puzzle pro and loves them

4) She makes everyone feel so welcome

5) She by far has the most even temper of anyone in the house

I first met Kaylee when she was 14 months old. Michael and I (who worked together) ran to his mom's house during lunch for him to pick up something...we were not really dating yet so I just stayed in the car, but he came back carrying Kaylee and she reached her arms out for me and put her head on my shoulder and just laid there, she didn't want to go back to her dad, it was so cute and you can not ask for a better first memory then that. Love you Kaylee!

KYLER

Kyler is the third born K and the feistiest of us all. This is a baby trapped in a big girls body and she is just dying to get out. Ever since she was born, Kyler has been memorized watching her sisters play...now that she is a little older and can walk she does her very best to keep up with them, but gets so frustrated very easily. When we found out we were pregnant so soon with number 4 I felt so sad for Kyler. I felt like I was taking her baby years away from her, but now I know better. Kyler cannot wait for Kynzie to be here so she doesn't have to be the baby anymore.

Kyler is talking up a storm these days (or at least trying to) here are some of the words she can say at 13 months: mom, mama, dada, daddy, yaya (Kaylee and Anthony), kaka (Kayden), nana (correctly saying nana (my mom), shoe, flag, look, ball, soft (if only she would be soft), cheese, cookie, clock, no no, hot, no touch, lina (linda, our neighbor), water, baby, up, happy (more like happa), flower, dog, kicat, meow, stop...and that is all I can think of at the moment, but that is about all of them that are pretty clear and then of course she has the words that really only we understand.

This girl has got a strong personality and brings so much laughter to our home (granted sometimes we are laughing at her)...but we just cannot get enough of her...everyone wants to be around Kyler. Love you Kyler!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEELEE

4 years ago today little miss Kaylee made her big debut into this world and has pretty much been spreading smiles around ever since. This little girl can make anyone feel like they are the most special person in the world to her. Seriously, even my brother smiles when he sees her because she gets so excited just to see him (if you know my brother, you know this is huge). I can see this being a problem when she gets to the dating age, but we will cross that path when we get there :)

Kaylee is such a great balance to our ever growing blended family...there is this little thing I like to refer to as the 'thompson gene' which is incredibly dominant, I mean really, if you are in the blood line of the thompsons (my mom's dad) there is no escaping the inevitable characteristic that come with this gene (moodiness). Lucky for our family we have Kaylee who keeps Michael sane and me and the other girls just a little more cheerful when our inherited quality would lead us to be otherwise. Kaylee is so easy going and almost always in a good mood, she is friends with everyone in her class and there is not a sole she won't play with. She is a great big sister to Kyler and from day one has always been so patient and loving towards her, which is pretty impressive considering Kaylee was not quite three when Kyler was born...at the same time she is such a great little sister to Kayden. She looks up to Kayden so much and is pretty much game for whatever Kayden wants to do.

WE LOVE YOU LEELEE - HAPPY BIRTHDAY

{turning 4 has got to be one of the best birthdays cause they are now old enough to completely understand there birthday and young enough to still act crazy excited}

{we had a party on the 18th at Pump it Up with her school friends and her mom's family from San Antonio, as well as a few other friends and family}

{LOVED the way her Hannah Montana guitar cake turned out...she wanted a Hannah Montana theme and the cake decorator said he couldn't do Hannah Montana, but could do her guitar...uh, that was an understatement}

Happy Birthday Babyzilla

Hard to believe one year ago little miss Kyler made her debut into this world. Kyler, better known as Babyzilla for her bridezilla like temper, is the third daughter in our house, although the first daughter between both Michael and I. There was a lot of anticipation for Kyler's arrival, but secretly I know majority of people who are not family just wanted to see what she would look like and who she would act like since daughter number 1 is full white and daughter number 2 is full asian. It is safe to say kyler is a full mix! She is built like daddy, but looks like mommy, she has both our tempers, but both our sensitivity as well...she is addicted to all things food and rubs your arm so sweetly when she snuggles just like Kaylee, but she has a drive to do things on her own and the desire to talk about all things just like Kayden. Kyler has brought so much joy to our lives...she is just as much Kaylee's sister as she is Kayden's and just as much Michael's daughter as she is mine. She has brought our blended family together in a way no own else, nor all the time in the world would be able to. Don't bother calling anyone in our home "step" or "half" because our family does not know the meaning of those words and Kyler has shown us that we truly are all connected. WE LOVE YOU BABYZILLA!!!!

To celebrate Kyler's birthday we started a full week in advance singing Happy Birthday to her everyday and teaching her that when someone asks how old she is, she holds up one finger and says "one". Kyler really took to the happy birthday song and loves, loves, loves to sing it...she can sing along with the "happa brba" part and eats up the attention. We also started the week of by getting ready for her shin dig that took place this last Saturday.

Here is the weekend in pictures:

{Some of the decor for the party}

{some of the party guests}

{the cake}

{singing happy birthday}

the 'why the heck am I in my highchair outside on the driveway' look

the 'what is that thing' look

the 'daddy is this for me?' look

the 'oh my gosh it's the Happy Birthday song and all these people are singing to me' grin that lasted the rest of the song

the first dive in

yum, this is good

ok, for real, this is really good

and now I am done

{the end of the party}

This is the note I found on the master bedroom door as I was going to bed. No, I did not tell Kayden to write this, but I thought it was hilarious so I had to take a picture.

{the actual birthday morning}

{birthday lunch with mom and dad}

{opening presents with the fam and nana and papa}

{and more of this cake business}

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY MY SWEET and FEISTY BABYZILLA