Summer 2008

No harm done.....He fell, and then sat right back on for some more fun!

This is how Kyle gets from here to everywhere.....RUNNING!

How have we come along on our summer goals? Some are goals for both of us, but most are mine! :)

Chloe swimming across the pool: YES

Baby books up-to-date: YES

I have already filled one whole book full of Chloe. I will have to buy another book to continue on! Kyle's book is getting very full, too, and he is only 18 months old! These little ones just do so much during the first few years! I guess how some people love to scrapbook....I love to work on baby books! :)

Hardware (doorknobs, cabinet knobs, hinges...) replaced in house: Most of it is done! We just need to get some new faucets!

Master Bedroom painted: NO

Read 3 books: NOPE.....I started on my first one last week (for the new book club I'm in)....Hopefully, I'll get to the other 2 by the end of the year.

2008 pictures put in an album: YES

Getting home video on DVDs: YES

I had 18 months of home video on the computer taking up all the space. I was afraid that our computer would crash, and I would lose it all!! I was finally able to get them on DVDs. Yeah!

Kyle feeds himself with a spoon: STILL WORKING ON THAT ONE

VIDEO

Here's some video of the kids this month! It might look like from this 4 minutes of video that we stayed home all month, but we did get out quite a bit!

Fruit Orchard

taken by Tiffany

taken by Tiffany

On Friday, Chloe and I went with a group of friends to a fruit orchard to pick some fruit! The kids had a fun time picking peaches and apples off trees. They were even able to taste a couple of them. On the way home, Chloe kept telling me, "I had alot of fun, momma." We will definitely have to do it again sometime.

VIDEO AND PICS

Big Boy Haircut!

Kyle had his hair cut this week! He was such a big boy. I told the lady to cut his hair much shorter this time. He sat in the chair all by himself and did not move. It helped that we gave him a sucker to eat while they cut his hair. It also helped that Everett was getting his hair cut at the same time. Kyle had fun watching his daddy!

He looks so cute!

Kyle had fun playing in the backyard. He loves to run up and down the hill.

Weekend Birthday Party

Taylor and Chloe splashing in the water!

Kyle sportin' his camo attire,

Ben splashing around in the background

Taylor and Chloe

Kyle.......yummy blue and red icing!

Chloe ate the icing and then the cupcake.....haha.....

That's my girl!

Here comes Super Kyle!!

Chloe and Taylor playing chase!

Chloe and Kyle's friend, Taylor, turned 4 on Saturday. We were so happy to celebrate with him at his Super Heroes birthday party. All the kids had fun splashing in the water, playing on the playground, eating hotdogs and eating SuperTaylor cupcakes! Hope you had a super fun birthday, Taylor!

Cousins/Grandkids Pictures

Here are the 5 cousins/grandkids from my side of the family.

Emma, age 8

Annie, age 12

Chloe, age 3

Jake, age 14

Kyle, age 1

This is the first time we have had them all together in one picture. I was wanting one to frame, and I know my parents wanted a picture of all their grandchildren together. So, when we went for a visit this week, we made sure we got at least one!!

The 3 of us (Joan, mom, and myself) were taking pictures at the same time. Together, we took about 40 pictures in 5 minutes. Here are some of them from my camera! :)

This year, I'll have to work on getting a picture of all 10 cousins/grandkids together on Everett's side of the family.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

We spent the holiday as we have the past few years with the exception of the big crowd that we usually have over.  We did not want a lot of kids in the pool.  It just makes us too nervous!  Tony, Rachel and Lorenzo came over, and we cooked out and swam in the pool.  The kiddos had a late nap, so we thought we might make it to see the fireworks, but we didn't get around to it!  Maybe next year!

I was very excited for Kyle today.  He had his arm floats on, and he was kicking his legs and moving his arms to stay above the water.  He was having a good time, because we didn't have to hold onto him the whole time.

Chloe and Cousin Madison

Aunt Brenda and I took Chloe and our cousin, Madison, to a movie on Wednesday. We saw Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. They had a very fun time at the movie and playing in the mall after it was over. Here are some pics.

Peanut Butter Fun!

According to Kyle, this is how a Peanut Butter Sandwich should be eaten...smashed, smeared on hands and face, and then put in mouth! I'll have to remember that the next time!

Kyle, you make us smile all the time!

Our Summer So Far!

I haven't written as much this month as I usually do....it's amazing how much busier the summer is than the rest of the year.

I have been changing door knobs, cabinet knobs, hinges, doorstops, faucets.....we are getting the 20 year old gold hardware out of the house and replacing it with antique bronze. I have been having a fun time replacing them all....except for the first doorknob I replaced last year.....if you haven't heard my nightmare story and need a good laugh, then I'd be happy to entertain you!

EVERETT has been doing stuff with the pool and yard! I feel like that pool and yard take up so much time, but he seems to enjoy doing it. He knew what he'd be getting into when we bought the house.....we both knew I wouldn't be taking care of those things! I planted flowers the first year we were here, but I have not spent my time doing that since having the kiddos! Everett is still playing soccer....outdoor and indoor!                       

KYLE is just as active as ever! Kyle jumped out of the pack-n-play last weekend. I knew the time was coming when we'd have to put it up, but I was hoping he'd hold out on jumping out of it until summer was over. He has been a little pickier with his eating! The good thing is....he LOVES fruit! He will eat any kind of fruit I put on his tray. He says "yum-yum" when I put something on his tray that he likes! :) It is very cute! He has 16 TEETH! He loves the pool! He kicks and moves his arms like he wants to swim! He will go under and not swallow any water! We got him his own little pool to play in, and he has a great time in it! He has started asserting himself much more. He doesn't let Chloe get away with anything. If she takes something away from him, he pulls her hair or takes it right back. Also, we have started time-outs with him, and to our surprise, he sits there until we tell him to get up.

                                            

CHLOE has been attending a summer camp for 2 days per week all during June. She has learned about dinosaurs the first 2 weeks and outer space these last 2 weeks! Chloe swims very well now. She swims across the pool and back to the steps. I am the one that has to tell her she is tired and needs to get out. She would swim laps all day if I let her!  She is also very busy with her Princess barbies.  She loves to show her barbies to anyone who comes over.

HOMER has lost 2 pounds!! That's quite a bit when he only weighed 12 pounds. He was very overweight. He should be about 9 pounds. We'll keep feeding him his diet food and keeping him away from Kyle's food! A few months ago, he could not fit through the wrought iron fence. He now slips through it easily.

We have spent quite a bit of time at our new shopping center!! We have all kinds of stores that are less than 5 minutes away now!! Chloe and Kyle love the Barnes-n-Noble storytime and train area. We have eaten Snuffer's hamburgers and cheese fries quite a bit....maybe a little too much! We can't wait until the Blue Goose opens!!  It's so nice to finally have shopping, restaurants and a movie theater.  When we moved here 5 years ago, we had a Target, and that was about it!

Everett and I tried one of those hourly drop off playcares. Last weekend, we took the kids to go play, and we were able to go have a 2 hour dinner!

One more thing....We are wanting to get rid of our piano, so if you know anyone that wants a FREE piano, then let them know. They will just need to come over and move it out!

That's all for now....I'll write more next month when I get a chance!

Here's some video of us in June!

JUNE 2008 VIDEO

Dance Recital

Kyle and grandpa!

Chloe and grandma!

Chloe dancing in the middle

Chloe is the second little dancer

Chloe in the middle

Chloe FINALLY got the Sleeping Beauty....she has waited for weeks!

It was so cute! We are so proud of Chloe! Kyle was proud of his big sister, too, and he clapped when she danced! :)

The video I have posted is of the dress rehearsal on Friday night. We were allowed to take pictures and video during the rehearsal. She actually did very well! She knew the ballet dance much better than the tap dance, but I think she did great on both of them.

The pictures we took were from the actual recital. We were able to take photos without flash, so that is probably why the pics do not look as good as they could be.

She is wearing make-up.....it felt strange putting make-up on her! I did not put everything they said...we just put some mascara, blush and pink lip gloss.....that's plenty for a 3 year old!

Chloe has been so excited about this recital. We told her that she would not be getting any flowers. There were flowers out everywhere for people to buy for the dancers. We told Chloe that she would be getting the last barbie of her Princess Barbie collection if she tried her best on her dances. If you don't know already, Chloe has been collecting the Princess barbies for awhile now. She has all 6 Disney Princess barbies and all 6 Disney Princess baby barbies. She would get them for different occasions and even bought 4 of them herself with her own birthday money! She only had 1 left to get. It was Sleeping Beauty, and she finally got her today!

Grandma and Grandpa Taylor came to watch Chloe dance today. We all went to get ice cream at Culver's after it was over! YUMMY!

Chloe did have a fun day dancing at her recital, but she will be taking a break for awhile. She had a choice on whether she wanted to keep on with dance or gymnastics, and she has chosen gymnastics. We are so happy she had the opportunity to dance, and if she wants to do it again in a few years, then we would love to put her back in. She just doesn't seem as excited to go to dance as she does to gymnastics. So for now, this is all the dancing you will see from Chloe....ENJOY IT!

HOMER

I have been meaning to post something about the 5th member of our family.....our wonderful dog, Homer! We got Homer in April of 2006 when Chloe was 14 months old, and he has been such a sweet dog! He is great with the kids. He plays with them all the time!

We have him on a diet right now since he seems to find every little piece of food that anyone drops....especially Kyle's food!