Sunday, July 7, 2013

Happy Independence Day - 3 Days Later (What can I say? We've been busy.)



Katie had spend the night we one of her cousins the night before.  So, it was just me, Daddy, and Kinsley.  We woke up early and went to Beaumont.  We stopped by Academy where we got Daddy some bright, beachy shirts, beach shoes and cover-ups for both girls, and sunscreen.  We are thrilled to be going to the beach again for our family vacation.
After Academy we stopped by the mall.  I had a few gift cards from Bealls that were burning a hole in my wallet.  They needed to be spent.  I found a pair of shorts, 2 tank tops, and a bathing suit for our beach trip. 
Katie came home at around 4:00 and she brought Abby with her.  We had a lot of things planned that evening and they couldn't wait to get started.


We made a birthday cake to celebrate America's Independence.  Kinsley loves to help me in the kitchen.

So does her cousin, Abby.

Katie had a busy day playing outside with Abby on the Slip-in-Slide.  She needed a nap.

After we ate and the cake was baking, we decided to pop our own firecrackers while we waited to head to the park for the firework show there.

Katie has always been scared of loud noises.  She had earplugs in and her hands over her ears.

We drove to my sister's house to park our car since she lives so close to the park.  We walked the rest of the way.  Well, we ran, because we didn't want to miss all of it.

The fireworks were beautiful.

When we got home we lit the sparklers.  Thank goodness for Pinterest.  I found this idea on there.  Why have I never thought of using a plastic cup to protect those little hands?

Kinsley wouldn't do a sparkler, but Katie and Abby did.  They were writing their names with the sparklers.

While we were at the park, Daddy frosted and decorated the cake.  Why didn't I think to get some blueberries????  We sang Happy Birthday to America and then we dug in.

She wanted to more when she was done.  I swear this girl has a worm in her belly.  She has been eating so much lately.

The next day we went to Nanny's house (my sister) where we played with Lily and Ava and Katie learned how to do the Slip-In-Slide.  I needed to work on my tan so that I don't burn next week at the beach.

Katie had a tooth ache.  Poor baby.  She didn't let it stop her from having fun though.  Dentist appt. is July 30th.  She's going to regret having told me that her tooth hurts....LOL.

Bucket List Wednesday - July 3rd

My girls cannot get enough of the bucket list.  They ask everyday to pull something from it.  They have really enjoyed everything we've done so far.  Here's what we did this past Wednesday, which carried into Thursday.

We were actually supposed to do this last week, but ran out of time.  So, we did it this week.  We made a fairy house out of sticks we collected in the backyard.

We added a few special touches to the fairy house.

They wrote a letter to their aunt and uncle that live in Oklahoma.

We went to the Post Office to mail the letter.  They had to do everything themselves.

Kinsley applying the stamp to the envelope.

They both wanted to drop it in the box, but Kinsley couldn't reach.

After the Post Office, we went to the Dollar Store where they each had $5 to spend.  They got to choose whatever they wanted.  They then had to put all of their stuff on the counter (done with my help), and give the cashier the money.  They had to carry their own bags out as well.

Kinsley kept trying to give the cashier her money before she was ever finished ringing up her stuff. 
She was ready.

After all of that we were starving.  We stopped by a local barbeque place for lunch.  I'm trying to teach them to support our local community as much as possible.  Our motto is to buy local whenever you can.

I know this pic is blurry, but that's a belly laugh right there.  She was cracking up.  I'm wondering when those two top teeth are going to come in.  It's been a while since she lost them.

She posed just right so that she could have antlers on her head.

Showing off their Dollar Store loot.

They couldn't wait to tear into all this stuff.

We spent a good hour playing with this whoopee cushion.  When Daddy came home he played with them until he popped it.  We've got to get another one now.  They were heart broken.

Showing off the Hannah Montana glitter in her hair (That stuff is still in there even though I've washed her hair twice.  I think I need to break out the Dawn dishsoap.)

They each got a cardboard doll house.  They pretend that they are neighbors visiting eachother.

I love listening to them when they are pretending.  They always crack me up.

These are the items I bought to do all of the other stuff in our bucket list.  It's all hidden for now.

After lunch we stopped by the library to drop off our books and pick up new books.  I found Dick and Jane and had to get it.  Katie needs to work on fluency and accuracy when reading.  Gotta get her ready for second grade.

Katie ended up leaving that evening to spend the night with one of her cousins.  Kinsley and I put together her glow in the dark catepillar key chain.  Here she is working on those fine motor skills.  It ended up being too hard for her to put together and she lost interest in it quickly.  I ended up having to do it and it was very difficult to say the least.

We did this the following day, but we froze some of their ponies and Littlest Pet Shop figures in water.  I had purchased a few water guns at the Dollar Spot at Target and they had to rescue their figures using the water guns.  Saw this on Pinterest.

Took them a while, but they eventually rescued all of them.


Saturday, July 6, 2013

What a Summer So Far! - Recap of June 2013

We've been extremely busy this summer.  We were out of school for a week before the other local schools got out for summer vacation this year.  Which meant that recital was pushed back a week.  Our summer doesn't offically start until after recital because it's a week worth of preparing.  Well, for me, as the mom, it takes longer to prepare because I have to get all the costumes ready and organize or schedule, etc.  We love recital, but man is it a long week.  Here's our 2012-2013 recital in pictures:




My camera on my phone doesn't like the lighting in the auditorium.  My goal for next year is to have a better camera so that I can take better pictures.  We had dress rehearsal for 2 days this year.  A first for us because Katie was in 3 numbers.  Kinsley was only in one, thank goodness.  Next year, however, it will be CRAZY!  Katie will be in ballet, tap, jazz, clogging, and hip hop.  Kinsley will be in ballet and tap.  I'm going to need a personal assistant.


 Katie's ballet costume.

 Kinsley's sassy little pose in her ballet costume.

My sweet babies in their first recital together.

Kinsley received a gift from one of her friends.

 I love that face.

Posing with daddy.

Tap

Jazz - she rocked this number!


 My parents, siblings, and all of their spouses on Father's Day.  It was a very hard day.  I hate seeing my daddy and step mom so turn up.  We got daddy that large metal poster for Dustin's memory garden.  It turned out great.

Me and my daddy.  I love this man more than words can express.
We always start our summer bucket list after recital.  They couldn't wait to choose something fun to do.

 Having a fashion show.

Playing at an idoor playground.

We got to spend the day with my niece, Britton.  She is so stinkin' cute. 
Her and Kinsley danced for a very long time together. 
The weekend after recital we spent the entire weekend at my dad's house.  My dad works offshore, and my stepmother doesn't like to be alone, so we stayed with her to keep her company.  Playing with our cousins is so much fun.

Cheyenne is the oldest of them all.  She kept them entertained.  Kinsley loves Cheyenne so much.
Bucket List Wednesday again and this time, Daddy joined us. 
We spent the day at the park and had a picnic. 
We showed them how to roll down the hill like we used to do when we were kids.
We took a walk down to the river.
Playing at the park.
After the park, we went out for snocones.  They were refreshing.
After snocones, we stopped by the library.  They were worn out at this point.  We immediately went home and took a nap.  We still had stuff to do.  Later that evening, we met Paw Paw Dave at IHop where we ate breakfast for dinner.  Kinsley PIGGED out.  After IHop (Katie calls it Hop), we went to the movies to watch Monster's University.  Cute movie.  Kinsley pigged out on popcorn.
The next day we went to my dad's to visit him since he had training and would be gone for the weekend.  Kinsley threw up in the car on the way there.  She was fine after she threw up.  I'm sure it was because of the amount of food she ate the night before.

Playing dress up and having their own recital.
Last Sunday, after church, we went to my mom's house to swim in her pool.  It was so relaxing.  Katie finally put her head under the water.  We had a proud moment.
Being silly at Maw Maw's while waiting for dinner.

That's June in a nutshell.  Busy, busy month for us.  July is going to be even busier:  4th of July, our family vacation, and Kinsley's birthday!