Happy Halloween!

This year Halloween was quite fun with a 1 year old basically experiencing it for the first time! I like having the kids dress up in a "theme", so when Kaylee decided she wanted to be an OSU pom squad member and that she wanted Kelsee to be an OSU cheerleader I began to think about what Braden could be. After trying a football player and Pistol Pete, we both agreed on a vet at the OSU vet clinic! With each costume "created" for under $12, we were ready for the big day! It all began at school for their class parties. Kelsee was a little cranky and of course class parties are always chaotic, but they were a success. I cannot believe this is Kaylee's last year to have class parties......sniff....sniff....:(
We began trick or treating around our town that evening after Dale got home. Kelsee was not sure at first and could not figure out what this stuff was everyone kept putting in her bucket, but after Daddy gave her a sucker to eat she quickly became VERY interested! She would walk up to the door and if the person had not answered by the time she arrived she would loudly knock on the door, she would hold out her hands (she quickly ditched the bucket!) or if they lowered their bowl she would dig right in! She was very cute!! And instead of thank yous she would blow kisses!! Kaylee and Braden, of course, had a blast and really enjoyed having Thad with them! They all came home with LOTS of candy....which I am not sure who is enjoying more, them or Dale!
Here are a few pics from the day!

Kaylee and a few of her friends from her class

Kelsee and her Pistol Pete! (Tanner Metcalf)

Braden's 3rd grade class

The 3 Stooges!! (Braden, the vet; Kyle, the warewolf; and Wyatt, Gene Simmons)

Our beautiful (and handsome) crew!!

The vet! Can't wait to see if he will actually end up being a vet!The lil cheerleader. For some reason when you get out the camera this is what she does right now!

Our OSU pom squad girl! Cannot believe how grown up she is getting...

And she's off!! She grabbed Braden's bag and headed over to the neighbors all on her own! She had no idea what she was doing, but the coincidence was cute!

Getting her first handful from our precious neighbor, Dorothy

Before she decided the bucket was slowing her down she would stop in the street and dig in to see what she got! It was too cute!

Well, another day for making memories has come and gone. It was a great day and we all had a wonderful time making memories!! Next year will be lots of fun watching Miss Kelsee figure it all out again and on a whole new level!

The YEAR has been FUN....

...Now look who turned ONE!!!!!

Wow, Kelsee Anne I can't believe you are already a year old!! You have been such a blessing to us. One that we could have NEVER imagined possible. You are definitely the best surprise we never knew we wanted!! You bring such a joy to this family....we just all adore you so much! To say you are spoiled would be a complete understatement!!! You are SO loved by so many people, both family and friends. I am sorry I have not been very good about blogging the past few months. You and your brother and sister have been keeping me VERY busy. You are by far the most active of all 3 kids at this age!

Some fun and interesting facts about you at a year old!

• You are walking EVERYWHERE!! Trying to even run now....which is SO funny!! Your little legs go faster than your body can handle!
• You weigh about 22lbs (you go to the Dr next week so we will know for sure then)
• You are talking so well....you say Mama, Da-Da, Bubba, Si-y or Kay-ee, Hi, Bye, Bite, Go, Yep, No, and mostly O-La (Lola....all animals are O-La!)
• You are into EVERYTHING!! We have had to "lock" up things for you that your brother and sister never even touched!
• You sign 'more' when you want more food
• You wave 'bye-bye' to anyone and everyone that goes by
• Much to Mommy's dismay you would rather not wear a bow! However, Mommy is not letting you win that battle!! ;)
• You are a very good eater! Your favorite right now is peas! We will see if that is still your favorite when you are 10! You are doing very well feeding yourself
  
• You are finally drinking milk....you are only nursing in the mornings now too
• You sleep pretty good....well you sleep great as long as you are right next to Mommy! You will sleep in your bed usually till about 5 and then you get in bed with Mommy and Daddy, then eat about 6.
• You absolutely adore your brother and sister. You want your sister any and all the time and you want your brother when you want to play. You do favor your sister over your brother, but your face lights up and you are SO happy when it is time to go pick them up from school.
  
• You are quite the social butterfly! When we go to a community event you are passed around from person to person and love every minute of it.
• This week you started "jumping"! It is so funny and you just laugh!!
• You clap when anyone says "Yea" and you dance (SO cute!! You hold your hands together and shake your shoulders) with any lil sound of music!
• You are still a thumb sucker! But only the right one.
• You love cell phones and remotes. You have already figured out how to turn on my iPhone and unlock it! I had to put a security code on it to keep you from doing crazy things on it!
• You are a very determined lil girl! When you want something or to go somewhere you get MAD when you are not able to!
• When I tell you you are pretty you "comb" your hair!

I cannot wait to watch you grow and change over this next year. You are becoming so much fun and are only going to get even funner! Kelsee Anne I love you and adore you so much! You are so spoiled and I am mostly to blame for that! But that is OK!! There is a saying "The Laughter of a Child is the Light of the Home" You have definitely LIT up our home!! We all love you so much Kelsee Anne and thank God daily for bringing you to us and look forward to helping you grow into a wonderful person of God.

Here are some special pics!!! Before you were born I purchased a bow (another one I know!) and your Doe-Doe came up with a great idea to use it as a "Grow With Me Bow." So we took your pic in the same bow periodically throughout your first year to show how much you have grown into your bow. Then I used that bow as the theme for your birthday party. Here are the famous pics!!

5 days old

3 months old

6 months old

9 months old

1 year old!

So Far Behind!

WOW!! I am SO far behind!! So much has happened over the past few months! We had a great but busy summer (hence the reason for the lack of posts!). Kelsee has grown SO much...can't believe she will be a year in less than a month! We had a great vacation to Gulf Shores, AL with a lot of my family and now the kids are back in school and we are getting ready to start a new set of sports..... I WILL be updating SOON! Check back for LOTS of new posts!!

Awards Assembly

The last day of school means awards assembly! I cannot believe my kids have completed 2nd and 4th grades!! They both had a great year and had the BEST teachers!

Braden (middle, stripe shirt) waiting along with some of his classmates while their teacher talks about what a great class they were!

Getting his awards from Mrs. Pierce. She is absolutely the best teacher! Both of the kids have had her for 2nd grade and I pray she is still there for Kelsee to have! Braden was awarded with a Reading Award, Superintendents Honor Roll all year and the class Citizenship Award!

Trying to get a sneak peak at his goodies!

Kaylee ready and waiting for her turn!

Mrs. Adair bragging on what a great student Kaylee is!! Ok, there has to be 2 BEST teachers because Mrs. Adair is also one of them!!! Kaylee got a Reading Award and Principals Honor Roll all year long! She had a a great year!!

Something was funny apparently!

Braden received the best boy in Music class for his class!! What a great honor!!
Both of the kids had a great year! We are very blessed to have such great kids who love to learn!! I cannot believe my kids are now 3rd and 5th graders!!!
Time for Summer to Begin!!!

Little Olympics

I am so far behind on blogging!! Summer is in full swing and you would think that would give me more time to keep up on things.....WRONG! That just means 3 times the work with 3 kids in the house all day now and also means baseball/softball almost every night! The kids had their end of the school year activities the first couple weeks of May. They began with Little Olympics. Both kids did very well and had a great time! Here are a few pics!

Kaylee (on the far right in the pink) running the 50 yard dash. She got 2nd!

Slater, Kaylee and Sydnie getting ready to run the 100 yard dash finals

Kaylee and Evan....2 man relay partners for the past 4 years!

Braden (in the orange) tugging against the biggest kid in the 2nd grade!

Braden got a lil wet on that one!

I can't believe this was Kaylee's last year to participate in Little Olympics. On to real track and field next year!

Easter 2011

Easter started off pretty quiet around our house...well as quiet as being woke up at 7am by a 7 month old can be! Kaylee and Braden left on Thur to spend the weekend with Nana, so it was just us 3 to get ready for church. Kelsee woke up with a yucky eye...it was all matted shut and gross!! Once we got it clean, it seemed to bother all of us more than it did her.
All dressed and ready for church on her first Easter! Nana, the kids, Aunt Joyce, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Eddie met us at our church. We were so glad to share our new church with them on Easter Sunday! We all came back to our house and were joined by Uncle Randy and Aunt Carol Ann for lunch and hunting eggs. We had a great time with Dale's family and really enjoyed having a family gathering at our own home! Hopefully we will have the room (SOON) to do many, many more!

The Easter bunny came to visit while we were gone to church! This is one of my favorite pics of all 3 of my kids together!!

Checking out the goodies! A lil scared with the top left pic! :) After egg hunting the kids went out to "not shoot eachother" with their new guns....that only lasted about 15 minutes before 2 wet kids had to come in and put the guns away!

Doing some hunting! It was so different this year for them to be hunting alone....this is the first year we have not spent with my family...

Kelsee was not sure what she was doing outside in the cold and why am I "helping" Daddy pick these things up! She did find a pretty purple one that became her BEST friend!
I loved getting to expose my kids once again to the true meaning of Easter, spend the day with family, watch the kids get excited about the simplest things, and finish off with a nice relaxing evening with the most important 4 people in the world to me!
Not spending the day with my family was hard, but had a great time with my in laws, kids and hubby!
Hope all of you had a wonderful Easter and isn't it wonderful when you think of the HUGE sacrifice that was done for us and we celebrate it by hunting eggs....never really understood that!

School Spring Program

The Spring program at school was all about Rock-N-Roll. Our new music teacher is doing a great job with the kids and I have really enjoyed watching them in 2 WONDERFUL programs this year! This was a big hit since we have not had one at all in the past few years. Kaylee's class dressed up like Elvis or 50's Rock N Roll and sang songs like Blue Suede Shoes, Braden's class was to dress like they are going on a date and he sang I Wanna Hold Your Hand. They all did great!!

All ready for the program! Don't we have an AWESOME Elvis! Thanks to Wyatt's infatuation with Elvis, we had access to a costume!

The 4th grade.....Kaylee did SO GOOD on her speaking part!!

2nd grade....Braden didn't act too excited to be there, but after said he had a good time.