Pappas Family

Sisters

2009-11-08T17:02:00.000-08:00

One of the things I was most excited for was seeing Kinley's face when she got to meet her new sister. Here is the video of them meeting for the first time. We pulled into the drive way and she was waiting for us on the front porch. Her face just lit up and was so great to see.

We told her to go into the house, sanitize and then wait on the couch to hold her sister.

Kinley holding Kendall for the first time.

They have on matching shirts, but Kendall's cheeks are hiding the "little" part on her shirt.

So precious!

Kendall Everlyse Pappas

2009-11-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well, she's finally here! I went in for my c-section yesterday at 11 and Kendall arrived at 11:32am. She was definitely ready to come out. Our precious "little" girl weighed in at 9 pounds and 9 ounces. She's 21 1/4 inches long and has huge hands and feet. Even our pediatrician joked that she took her first step in the nursery last night.
Kendall has been doing great. She is super sleepy - everyone knows how hard it is to be cute all the time. Kinley gets the most amazing look on her face when she sees her little sister. We've showed her Kendall through the window in my room since we can't have any visitors. She smiles, laughs, reaches for her sister and then wants to know how many poopy diapers she's had.

Here is Kendall just minutes after she popped out. I can't remember what its called, but her feet and her arms were purple for a couple hours after birth - nothing to do with breathing, although, she did have the cord around her neck loosely one time.

Here we are with our new daughter. Kendall was crying a little bit until her daddy held her and started talking to her. Can you believe how dark her hair is - I'm still amazed she has hair at all.

This is the cute night-night outfit that Kinley picked out for her little sister to wear in the hospital. You can't see, but she has matching socks, too.

Here we are with our new bundle of joy!

Kendall does have blue eyes, but mostly she's too tired to show them or her cheeks push them closed; I'm still debating:)

Here is Kendall on top and Kinley on the bottom. Just for those of you wondering.

Halloween Fun

2009-11-02T15:06:00.001-08:00

Kinley is one lucky girl! The Saturday before Halloween the Manhattan zoo has a Spooktacular even where the kids can trick or treat and get to see the animals. Kinley chose to dress as a nurse for this day. Her "real" costume is a white witch, but at school they could only dress up as community helpers, so she decided on a nurse.

The family picture at the zoo.

Here is our precious nurse! She barely glanced at the animals, but she was on a sharp look-out for the next candy opportunity.

We had a great time walking around with our friends and looking at all the animals. We got to pet an opossum the size of a cat, a turtle, a goat and a snake (Tom and Kinley avoided this one).

Halloween was so much fun this year. We got together with friends and had a blast! Kinley was so much more into the trick-or-treating this year. She was so cute going up to the house and knocking on the door and waiting. A few times she would forget to say thank you until she started walking away, so she would just YELL it over her shoulder as she was running back to us.
I just thought the decorations were cute at this house. Too bad it was already dark.

And finally, here is the beautiful white witch!

Fall Happenings

2009-10-13T10:12:00.001-07:00

We've had a pretty busy fall so far.

Last weekend we went over to Wamego to the Oztoberfest. That's right...like the wizard of Oz. We walked around for a while and Kinley decided to take her picture with the Wicked Witch of the West. She was completely fine until the witch said hi to her. Luckily Daddy was there to protect her.

We met up with some friends for dinner one night at at local wing place we like. The had expanded next door to make a game room, so of course, we had to go in.
Jimbo, Kinley's hunny, was working with her on her hunting skills. She also played air hock with Andy and skee ball with me. That one was a little tough.

I was working on Kendall's stocking and Kinley, being the big help that she is, decided to "help" me hold the jingle bells. Goofball! (Look close and you can see them in her ears too)

Kyle's parents were in town from Texas so we all went out to have s'mores and good times. Again, Kinley was such a great helper the marshmallows were only completely burned on the outside:)

Today Kinley finally go to go on her class field trip to the pumpkin patch. It got canceled last week because it was rainy. Luckily, today it was only cold and windy.

There was a petting zoo where she got to pet a calf and 2 baby piggies. She just barely tapped the pigs and pulled her had away. I'm not sure why since they were sleeping and not even moving.

She also pet a few goats, but by the time we were leaving, they were a little skittish and that really frustrated her. She just wanted to touch them and they would only get close to the adults.

We took a hay ride out to the beginning of a corn maze. Kinley didn't want to sit by me, but finally during the ride she came over, probably because I had a blanket.

The worker told them a little story about how the pumpkins grow. Kinely got to be the sunshine!

The kids led the way through the corn maze that ended at a little pumpkin patch. Kinley is on the far left with the bright pink coat and hood.

See the pumpkin she picked out by herself!

Besides the cold, this was really fun for me. The last field trip they went to a fire station and Kinley told me I couldn't go. She was just going with her teachers. This time, she asked me to go with her and even wanted Daddy to go too. It really is feeling like fall around here, and we can't wait for more fun things to happen!

Bordeaux, Talence and Paris

2009-09-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

Our trip to France was pretty good. I'm just going to give a brief overview and then explain some pictures. When we got to Bordeaux, the weather was great, and it was amazing the day we were in Paris, but in between was pretty chilly and rainy. Tom ended up third at the DecaStar meet. The scores were nothing to brag about, but Tom finished 2 decathlons this year healthy. I'm pretty excited for next year since he will finally be able to start training on time without setbacks from health issues. Hopefully things will come together for him this next year.

I rented a mini van in Bordeaux for us to get around in, and this was very helpful for all of us. Unfortunately, the first day we tried to make a U turn (not using a round about) we (Tom) hit the curb a little too hard and popped the tire. Here's the proof - Tom and Kinley were big helps changing the tire:)

Dr. Draeger and Kinley doing treatment on their "patients".

This is a picture of the track when Tom was doing his pre-meet the day before the meet. You can tell it was a bit damp and cool.

This is the award ceremony after the meet. To get to the podium, they were shoved in little bitty cars and driven around the track. I've never see so many big guys in tiny cars! Oh, Tom's the one in the bright orange shirt.

Here is the family picture at the dinner after the competition. We had some amazing duck and some sort of strawberry cake-like dessert.

The day after the meet, the meet director had arranged for people to go surfing, but that didn't interest us, so we went to the beach by ourselves. It took us about 45 minutes to drive over there, and the weather was pretty nice for a bit while we were playing in the sand. It got a little cooler and overcast when we walked around the little town, had lunch and of course ice cream.

We made Kinley into a mermaid. I have never seen one so beautiful!

The guys made "Kinley" a sand castle, but I think she only put a couple shells on it for decoration. There was much strategizing and planning involved for a castle that a little girl supposedly wanted.

We went back to the hotel and picked up Cliff to go on a tour of a nearby winery. It was pretty amazing! We got to see the whole process and taste 4 different wines. I'm pretty amazed at the effort that goes into a single bottle of wine and the knowledge that people have about wines and wine-making.

Our last night in Bordeaux we went into the city center for a great dinner that a girl we met at the winery suggested. It was a tiny place with a huge underground cellar for the wine. If you wanted any, you went down and picked out the bottle yourself!

This was a huge fountain in the city center. Obviously you can't tell, but it was beautiful with statues and water all the way around.

We flew to Paris on Tuesday and spent about 8 hours trying to see as much as we could. Our first stop right out of the taxi was at the round-about around the Arc de Triomph. We decided we didn't need to go up in it, but looking at it was good enough for us.

Here we are across the river from the Eiffel tower. We both really enjoyed going up in it and seeing the city. I wish Tom could have gone with us.

After the Eiffel tower, I promised Kinley she could ride the carousel that was right across the street. I think might have been the highlight for her.

You probably can't tell, but Kinley is running through a garden that leads up to the Louvre.

Kinley and I in front of the little arc that sits outside the Louvre.

We made it over to the Notre Dame cathedral. Didn't get to go inside, but still got to see the beautiful outside.

As we were boarding our flight, Kinley got to go into the cockpit and talk to the pilot. Unfortunately, this is not the plane we flew home on. After 3 hours of sitting on the plane waiting for the air conditioning to get fixed, we were transferred to an other plane and eventually made it home 3.5 hours late.

1st Day of Preschool

2009-09-01T13:38:00.001-07:00

Well, the day finally dawned when Kinley got to go to preschool. To say that she was excited would not even begin to describe how she was feeling.
Tom tried to wake her up this morning to no avail, but when he mentioned it was a school day, she opened her eyes super wide, then a huge smile popped up and then she sat straight up in bed ready to go.
I made her a special breakfast of banana pancakes with sprinkles (her favorite). She needed a little encouragement to keep eating. She just kept telling me she was ready to go now.

After all the necessary primping, we were out the door. Here is the traditional front door first day of school picture. I know the lunch box is a little boring, but her real one is backordered.

After about 3 minutes of our drive to school, Kinley asked me what was taking so long. She cracks me up!

Big girl heading into school.

This is one of Kinley's teachers helping her put her bag in her little cubby. She was excited and didn't act scared at all. I gave her one last hug and kiss and told her she was going to have fun and then I turned to leave the room. Thankfully, I suddenly felt two little hands grab mine and Kinley is there looking up at me with those huge blue eyes and she says, "But Mom, I'm going to miss you." Aww, I know she's great. I told her I would miss her too but she was going to have so much fun. She went right over to the table where her name was and sat around with some of the other kids trying to figure out what they were supposed to be doing.

When I went to pick her up she was so happy! Her teacher said she did "amazing". I keep trying to ask her what she did, but she won't say. So far I've found out they learned a wash your hands song while they were in the bathroom, they played outside, ate some lunch, and she told Jimbo they painted their hands and stamped them on paper. Maybe I'll figure it out by the time the school year is over. Oh well, at least she had a great time.

Once we got home, she went into her room and found these!

Jimbo's mom made her some amazing wings! I think its funny she knows exactly what they are and how to put them on - no question.

Germany Trip

2009-08-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

SUPER LONG POST!

Our trip to Germany was so fun! Not only did we get to see some amazing things, but most important, Tom won his meet and did GREAT!

The first challenge once we landed in Frankfurt was to catch a train and go to Cologne. We got our luggage, bought train tickets and made it to the platform for our train.

Here is Kinley on the way to Cologne - we are a little bit tired.

This is a shop right by our hotel. Kinley and I liked to look at all the animals out on the street. She would even give them all hugs and tell them bye when we left.

After a short nap, we went to the Dom Kolner. This is a huge, beautiful Gothic cathedral that is right down by the major train station. We got to look inside and it was amazing! There were gorgeous stained-glass windows, beautiful paintings, a mosaic tiled floor and just an overall beauty to the entire church.

On our walk back to the hotel, we decided to stop at Hard Rock Cafe' for dinner.

Kinley was getting tired and didn't want to eat or take a picture with me.

After I let her get down and dance, she perked up for a bit.

The next day we ventured out to the Chocolate Museum. There was a whole history of when people started using cocoa and how its harvested, and our favorite part...the chocolate factory! We got to sample the Lindt chocolate from this fountain. Again, Kinley not into the picture.

This is the "train" we took from the chocolate museum back to the cathedral so we could get back to our hotel. Kinley had been seeing these and was so excited we got to ride in one.

From here, we took a couple trains up to Marburg where the meet was held. Tom had been at the track, so by the time we got to Marburg, checked in our hotel and then walked down to Tom's hotel, he had been there only a couple of minutes.

We hung out for a little then went with the team to a restaurant where the athletes got to eat free all week - good food for us! We said our goodbyes and then went back to our hotel for a good night's sleep.

We got up a little early and met Miss Reva for a day trip to Kassel. One of the reasons I wanted to go here was because this is where the Grimm brothers (of the fairy tales) grew up. I am somehow related to them (Great-Great-Great Uncles or something).

Outside the museum by a poster.

We only got to see the floors of the museum about the fairy tales because the floors with the life and work were under construction. I took this picture of some artwork by the 3rd brother before I was told no pictures - oops.

The town of Kassel was interesting because it wasn't really very old. It was bombed during the war and most everything looked like 50's architecture when everything was rebuilt. We took a little tram to the edge of town to look at 2 different castles.

The first was Lowenburg. It looked great, but was too far away to walk up there. The second was the a very extravagant castle with an aqua duct system coming 1.6km down from it, and there was a big statue of Hercules on top - I think he is a symbol of the town.

Lowenburg

Schloss and Hercules (there is scaffolding on the left of Hercules)

Cute girl in a tree

One of the pools that the aqua ducts ran through.

I don't really know what this building was for, but now its an art museum. We went up to the third floor to see a few Rembrandt and Reuben paintings. Pretty amazing how detailed and long lasting some of them are.

Now, on to Marburg.

We took a tour of the city to see the Landgrave's castle and Elizabeth church. We also found out many other neat little facts about the town. All through town there were different reminders of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales. They would come to Marburg and occasionally stay.

Kinley by the little fountain in the center of town

The seven dwarfs on one of the walls of the castle

Up by the castle overlooking the town. See how the spire is leaning. Its so if it would catch fire it would fall away from the church.

This is Elizabeth church. Our hotel was less than 100m from here, so we walked by at least a dozen times on the way to and from Tom's hotel.

Elizabeth hospital. Elizabeth built this hospital to help anyone in need, and the medical industry is still one of the major industries in the town.

After the meet (I'll post more on that later) we spent the next day at a Roman military base first built 2000 years ago and then in Frankfurt.

The gate of Saalburg. This was rebuilt in the 1800's and they weren't sure how it really looked, but it looks neat now.

The family picture

Frankfurt main train station

Reva and I got caught in the rain storm

Tom and Kinley stayed dry at the cafe'.

This trip was amazing! I had such a great time and I think Kinley did too. I have many pictures of the meet and other things dealing with the Thorpe Cup, but I'll do a separate post about all those.

Perfect Sunday

2009-08-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

Nothing is better than napping with Daddy!
(can you tell they're "watching" golf)

Lots of Fun and a Little Drama

2009-08-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

Kinley and I ventured down to Texas last week for my cousin's wedding. We came in early and surprised my mom. I always love to see if we can truly pull it off. We did some painting at my sister's house, played at the "cool pool" got lots of play time in with the cousins, and went to the wedding. It was really nice and everyone had a great time - especially Kinley...

My aunt and uncle had a pool party/BBQ at their house the night before the wedding. We all had a great time. Kinley absolutely loves the water and never wants to get out. She thinks she is so big with her floaties!

Just a warning...here comes a picture of my big belly! I wish I had measured my tummy with Kinley just to compare, but here it is with a little over 3 months to go...

After that scary picture, here is one of the little angel. She is trying to wait patiently for the ceremony to start. This was the first time I had "trouble" with Kinley. She wouldn't be quiet. She wasn't being bad, but just kept asking questions and commenting during the whole thing. I kept having to hold her lips closed for her.

This is our attempt at a self-portrait. We set the timer and ran!

Now for the best part...

As soon as we got to the reception, Kinley took a sip of water and looked at me and said, "Mom, I have to dance." How hilarious! There was no one on the dance floor, no music and very few guests at this point, so I thought, sure why not. She loved it! She only took little breaks (for cheese and cake) and would try to dance with anyone out there.

Now, the bad part...

This might be a little too much, so just skip over if you need to. On our way home, we got bumped up to first class for our flight from Austin to Atlanta. Pretty cool.! In Atlanta everything went downhill - fast. We were going down the escalator, holding hands, and Kinley just started crying and screaming about her toe. When we got to the bottom, a lady said I should check her foot because the escalator cut her daughter's toe one time. Well, by the time I got out of the way of everyone else, there was blood dripping out of her cute little Croc. I carefully took off her shoe (which had black skid marks on the outside edge) only to find a huge gash (I say this because it wasn't a clean cut) under her pinkie toe around the outside of her foot. Luckily, a woman gave me a clean wash cloth to apply pressure, and someone called for help. An airport worker came over and radioed for the EMT people and then we waited. A really nice woman and her daughter stayed with us the whole time and helped clean up Kinley's shoe, the floor and just gave me someone to talk to. Kinley was crying to hard and telling me not to squeeze too tight, and thankfully she fell asleep. A short 45 minutes later, the EMT guys showed up, cleaned her foot a little and put a quick bandage on it. We followed them to a waiting ambulance that ended up being right on the tarmac with the airplanes (way cool for both of us). Its a little scary riding down the interstate with a big back door with a window right there at the bottom of your daughter's bed on wheels. We got to the children's hospital, filled out some paperwork, and went to a little procedure room. Eventually a doctor came in looked, said definitely stitches and x-rays to be safe (since we don't really know how this happened). We walked up to x-ray and I had to leave her with a nurse and her blanket (Purple). I could hear her talking and saying cheese for the camera. Let me just say now that had I not been alone I would have been bawling this entire time, but I had on my brave face for Kinley.

So, back to our room with the promise of a purple Popsicle when we were all done. The x-rays came back normal, so just the stitches to look forward to. When we first got to the room, the doctor put some numbing cream on a cotton ball and taped it to her toe. This was to numb anything it touched. Next, the nurse gave Kinley some medicine to calm her down and forget what was going on. We had to wait quite a while for this to fully kick in, but it sure was funny to see my 3 year-old trying so hard to put her finger back in a pulse monitor and missing by a mile! Finally the doctor and a nurse came in and set everything up. The doctor held her foot, the nurse was grabbing her leg and laying across them both, and I was practically laying on top of her telling her everything was okay. Once they started, I about lost it! Only the top layer of Kinley's skin was numbed, and because of the jagged shape and depth of the "laceration" the doctor had to stitch VERY deep. She screamed and tried to pull her leg away and was yelling for me to get off her. The whole time just looking at me to help her, and there I was holding her down telling her it was going to be okay. What a liar! After what seemed like a lifetime and 4 stitches later, she just curled up next to me and cried. This was a little strange because she was so upset, but so loopy she couldn't even sit up. When they finally brought her the Popsicle, she would take a little bite, but then just stare at it trying to figure it out.

We had to hang out for a bit to make sure Kinley didn't have any problem with the meds, so this gave me time to text with Tom. We had obviously missed all the flights back to Kansas City, so we needed to be confirmed on a morning flight and needed a place to stay. Tom took care of the flight, and when he called, they we going to charge him! Luckily, a different lady took care of everything and got us on the 7:30 flight in the morning. Jim got us a hotel and texted us the address, so when we were ready to go, I just had to show the cab driver and off we went.

Now, let me just add couple things although I know this is already so long.

1. I haven't eaten since having a soft pretzel on the plane we got while in Austin. Our flight was at 2:00pm. (oops, I forgot Kinley shared some of her Popsicle with me)

2. Kinley hurt her foot around 5:30pm Atlanta time.

3. We left the hospital at 11:00pm Atlanta time.

4. Once we checked in our hotel, I walked over to Denny's, carrying Kinley, and ordered us some food. Kinley was still so loopy she couldn't sit on a stool by herself!

5. When Kiney fell asleep around 12:15am I finally cried. Not just a few tears, but cried. Nothing is worse that your hurt baby.

Okay, so there was our trip. Kinley is doing great now. She doesn't remember the stitches, thank God, and she only mentions her foot in the shower and when anyone tries to look at it. She is running and walking around fine which is great since we leave for Germany in 2 days! I can't imagine having to carry her all the time - just makes me tired thinking about it.

Just Some Recent Stuff

2009-07-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

We have been super busy this summer, and I love it! Here are just a few things we've been up to...

Chillin' at the pool in Oregon

Watching the US Championships in Eugene

Playing on a super cool slide with our cousins

Playing with sparklers on the 4th of July (needed both hands and doesn't like loud sounds)

Went to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Took some pictures at White Sands National Park in NM (sure was hot and lots of sand)

Made bird feeders out of the pine cones we picked up in Ruidoso with Aunt Weesie and Uncle Mike

It sure has been fun, and we're not even done yet! We'll try to keep updated better, but I keep forgetting what I was going to do. Hope everyone is having a great summer as well!

Lucky Girl

2009-06-23T16:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning we had planned to go on a walk around the city park, let Kinley play on the new play place, eat our picnic lunch at the track, watch Tom high jump and throw javelin, and then all go to the pool.

We started off great, got 2 laps around the park (lots of sweating included) and then headed to the the bathrooms. When we walked out, we noticed lots of kids and parents around the new sprinkler park with swimsuits on. Luckily Kinley's suit was in the car, so after a quick change and a big smile from both of us (mine for finding I had the camera and Kinley because of any reason to wear a swim suit) we headed back to the new park. We sat down in the shade, applied sunscreen and learned the water was turning on in 5 minutes - so lucky!

Here is the beginning of the adventure...not quite sure what to think of everything yet (much like her daddy).

Oh, maybe this could be fun!

Getting more and more brave every minute

Lovin' the water!

Finally got the water cannon figured out and immediately tried to shoot people. I have to say, she got nailed in the face a few time earlier, so I was glad to see her get some revenge.

Kinley had a blast and of course didn't want to leave for the track, but like I said...we had things to do yesterday. Randomly one of the designers for the park sat by me and stared telling me about the whole thing. Pretty interesting - sometimes more than I needed to know, but great plans and still planning more improvements to all the parks in town.

We made it to the track, had lunch, watched high jump and then Kinley watched javelin from her new personal pool - the ice tubs outside in the hot, hot sun:)

Too Hot!

2009-06-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

Kinley has been asking us for a few days to go swimming. We have had every intention to take her, but it just hasn't worked out. A few days its been because of the weather, and today Tom has a couple recruits he has to meet with, but such is life.

Our compromise on the situation was to play in the hose. Kinley LOVES to go "hose the water" with Tom, so this was great!

Just the beginning...

Honestly, I think this shot is funny because the lens on the camera fogged up from the humidity.

She wanted to do it "my own self"

You can just barely see the shadow of a car coming from behind the tree that she was aiming at

Its so much fun to see her play and truly enjoy playing with us. Can't wait until she can play with her little sister:)

West Texas Trip

2009-06-04T13:19:00.001-07:00

Just a warning...this is a really long post!

Kinley and I went down to Texas for my cousin's graduation. We had such a great time seeing all my family and exploring Big Bend. Of course, my nieces needed some clarification between Big Bend (a national park in Texas) and Big Ben (The clock tower in London). One little letter can make a world of difference. Kinley kept asking where was Big Bend, even when we were driving through the park. I kinda think she was lookign for a great big play place.

PART 1 - GRADUATION

Almost the whole family - just missing 3 adults and 2 kidos

Opa & GrandLis with thier granddaughters

Lots of fun things to do around the house before we went to the graduation. I can't remember if they were in a boat or a car, but it sure did fall over a lot.

Jessica Nicole Rush...we are all so proud of you!!

All that playtime at the house made the 3 little ones a bit tired.

PART 2 - BIG BEND AND FT. DAVIS

This is Santa Elena Canyon. The Rio Grande divided this rock. Its 1500 feet to the top and 2.5 miles long. On the left of the picture is Mexico and the right is Texas.

Big Bend was amazing! I have certainly never seen anything like it in the rest of Texas. The mountains at plants were all so different from anywhere I've traveled before. Its hard to believe that this far west is a desert, and if you go to the other side of the state its so lush and humid. We didn't get to get out and hike or anything because the one trail we had picked out was flooded at the entrance, but we did get to take a back unpaved road. The girls thought it was fun bouncing in the back of the car.

Ft. Davis considered a frontier military post. It was in use from 1854-1891. Many of the buildings are still there as well as the foundation from almost every building ever to be on the post. The troop spent much of thier time fighting different Indian tribes that attacked travelers and mail stations. I guess the lucky thing is the fort itself was never attacked.

Kinley looking at one of the cannons in the armory. We actually got to go into the elisted men's barracks. Usually you just look through a doorway, but there was a class or something that was being led through and they said we could go with them - nothing like the way I would like to live.

PART 3 - MEMORIAL DAY POOL PARTY

I'll share these pictures later.

We met at the apartments my little sister manages to play and have some lunch. The kiddos had a great time! The adults loved the sun and seeing the kids enjoying themselves.

PART 4 - CHICKY STORE

My mom has always taken the kids to the feed store in Georgetown to look at all the baby animals. Sometimes they have lots, and this day we were lucky! Chicks (lots of different kinds), ducks, rabbits, turkeys, and even a guiney pig (don't know if I spelled that right).

Also, a little extra info...

Kinley will be getting a baby sister in November!

Outdoor Stuff

2009-05-13T14:13:00.001-07:00

Sometime last week Jim came home from work and found Kinley and I in the backyard. He said he found a frog in the garage and brought it out to us. Kinley was all good with frogs until this experience. She would look at him and talk about him, but no touching. Finally we coaxed her into petting him just a little. Of course, the frog chose this time to take his first big jump. Kinley let out the girliest, high-pitched squeal. So funny - for me! She came running and didn't want much to do with him after that. Luckily, she's gotten over most of the "fear". She will go in the backyard and come back and tell me the frog must be hiding because she doesn't see him.

So...here is the little guy.

After Kinley and I took our recycling in one day, we came home and washed out the tubs. This was the highlight for Kinley. She loves the water!

Yes, that is her bathing suit top with her panties. I know, great outfit, but just be happy you're not seeing more flesh. We're working of modesty.

So, my mom came up to visit back in March, and we worked in the yard. She brought up some iris and day lilies, and we found a ridiculous amount of gladiolas in the back. We got some beds fixed and we've been waiting for the blooms. We have had 2 dark plum iris blooms so far, and some more surprises. We had great tulips by our mailbox, and these beautiful peonies (we think) we didn't even know were there! We have a total of 5 plant and so far have 3 different shades of pink.

On the side of our house there was this little bed with a couple rose bushes and a small windmill-looking thing. Well, a couple weeks ago it disappeared under this vine, and today we found 4 of these purple flowers! Its great to get beautiful surprises, especially when I didn't even know there was anything alive.

New Friends

2009-05-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

I know my whole life I have heard of people having imaginary friends, but never thought much about it. Probably if I had one my sister would have made it go away or made fun of me so much I wouldn't mention it again. Anyway, Kinley has started playing with a couple. There is Elizabeth, Swiper and sometimes Sheena. I can understand where the first 2 come from...Elizabeth is her middle name and it took her a long time to not say "little bit" and of course Swiper from Dora. Who knows where she found Sheena.

Just yesterday we were at the indoor track and Kinley wanted me to time her. This is new fun for her. She ran a whole lap (200m)! I was super impressed she didn't stop or take a short-cut. Of course just like Tom and me, as soon as she finishes, she asks what her time was. Anyway, after her turn, I was talking with Tom and I here Kinley yelling, "Come on Swiper!" I asked what she was doing and she told me Swiper was running and she was timing him. Its like this a lot. She will have picnics with them, or let them have turns drawing, but she only dances with Swiper while she's watching Dancing With the Stars. She really cracks me up!

This was only moments ago. She likes to dress up will ALL her stuff, then slowly sheds until she just has on a skirt and shoes. She's also been into her swimsuits, so her "bathing suit bra" gets worn a lot now, too. (the bathing suit is around her neck and on both arms)

Just a shot from Easter of our little family.

Church Egg Hunt

2009-04-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

Our church had an Easter egg hunt, lessons and crafts today, so we thought we'd go join the fun. We showed up at the elementary school down the road from the church for the hunt. We got there a little early, so Kinley had to restrain herself for a while. When we walked up, there were eggs all over the ground. It was pretty hilarious watching all the kids just staring at the eggs and continually asking if it was time yet.

Here Kinley is waiting and waiting and waiting.

Once they said go, I pointed Kinley to an empty end of the play ground, and off she went!

Daddy showed her where some eggs were by the play stuff. She thought it was all so cool and loved to see the other kids pick up eggs too.

Here is the goofy smile showing us all her eggs.

After the egg hunt, we went back up to the church for a little lesson, games and crafts. Kinley made this cross. The only thing I did was hold the glue dots and put her initials on.

Right before it was time to go, the kids got to go pet some baby chicks. Kinley was so gentle petting the little black one. She asked me if she could hold a little yellow one, but more kids started coming, so I told her that wasn't the best idea. And yes, we used lots of sanitizer right after this picture!

What did you do!?

2009-04-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

So its been a bit crazy here. A couple weeks ago it was mid 70s and great. We played a little sand volleyball and loved it, but it didn't last since then, we've had a storm with 80mph winds and its snowed twice! Its crazy, I tell you! For instance...today its 70 and its supposed to snow and only be in the 30s tomorrow.

Anyway....

Last weekend Kinley was in her room putting on makeup with Swiper (this is what she tells me). She comes out and I don't even know what to say. I'm stunned! All I could say was "What did you do?! At this time, Kinley just started howling and the tears started flowing. Being the mom that I am, I let her cry while I got a picture before I held her and addressed the issue.

Make sure you check out the chunk of hair hanging down from her shoulder.

Now you know why I didn't know what to say. What can you say to that face? She "luckily" only got a couple chunks in the front, but I told her if she cut her hair again we were going to shave it like Daddy's. Also, the pictures are a little fuzzy because I'm laughing and crying at the same time.

Mom's new shop

2009-03-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know my mom (Sue Cote') has (finally) decided to make handmade nursery bedding and other baby things and sell them. My sister and I have told her for years to do this - she's very talented. She has a "shop" on the etsy site, but you can also email her or even stop by to look at her things for you or someone you might need a gift for. You can get to her site by http://www.goodnightsweetheart.etsy.com/ or email her at goodnightsweetheart@hotmail.com. Hope y'all like her stuff as much as I do!

Here's a peek at some of her things. I also put a link to her shop from my blog.

Woven Ribbon Blanket

Grami's flannel blanket

Shoulder Savers

Happy Birthday Kinley

2009-03-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Kinley is 3 today! The time has really just flown by. Kinley and I talked quite a bit about her birthday and what kind of cake she wanted. For a while she was telling me she wanted a donut cake. I was pretty excited, since I really like cake donuts, but at the store she decided she had to have a pink cake. We already picked out a couple little ponies to put on top, so that was easy. Funny thing, when we got up this morning I sang to her (no she didn't cry) and then asked her what she wanted for her birthday breakfast...cereal, pancakes, yogurt or a breakfast bar. This was apparently the wrong question. She just started crying and said, "I want birthday cake for breakfast." Too funny, Kinley was all about it being her day and getting her way.

Anyway, the birthday ended up great! It was warm enough to grill burgers and brats and then follow it all up with CAKE!

Here is the pink cupcake cake with a big pony, a baby pony and 3 candles.

Kinley blowing out her candles

Opening her puppy and purse - thanks Andy & Agne

Playing with the baby pony and Big Baby in her new car seat

Even Tom liked the new puppy that moved and yapped

Papaw - notice the balloons!

Kinley had a great time eating, opening her presents, and playing with her friends. I'm sure it will all happen again too soon.

Here is a picture of Kinley a day or so after she was born, on her first birthday, her second birthday, and one from today. Wow how she has changed and grown up!

2006

2007

2008

2009

Catch-Up Time

2009-02-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I thought I'd finally get my computer screen fixed. I knew it would have to be sent off for the repair, but I certainly didn't think it would take more than a month to swap screens and send it back. That being said, I have a lot to catch you up on.

Through some weird circumstances, we now have a craps table in our garage. Kinley loves to go out and "play with the boys". Apparently she has picked up quite a bit of the lingo as well. She can tell you what you're supposed to say with each number and definitely knows seven out.

Can't you just tell who's really in charge of this table?!

Kinley has also been helping me a lot while I'm cooking. Its much nicer now that I have a huge kitchen compared to the apartment. She gets the things out of this cabinet and will usually make us soup or cupcakes, although yesterday she had a fire at a cookout with marshmallows. And yes, they were great!

The day finally came that Kinley needed her first haircut. I was a little scared to trim it up, but like my sister always says...it will just grow back, so here we go, or went.
February 11, 2009
This is brushed out before we went to the salon.

And the back.

Here is the first cut!

The finished look, complete with product and flat iron! Aunt LoLo would be so proud.

So here is our late Valentine's Day picture. This is her "little attitude" pose with her new pony. By the way - the name of the pony on the package was Sweetie Belle. I suggested we just call her Belle. Kinley said okay and then later said that was a princess name so she was going to call her Jasmine. You never know the logic of a 2 year old.

We met some friends at the bowling alley the other day. Kinley has been with us before, but this was the first time she wanted, or was able, to roll the ball. She helped me a couple times, but apparently Mom is no fun.

Amanda let her help and she was done with Mom. Oh well, I have to let go sometime.

Antigo, Wisconsin

2009-02-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

So we took a quick trip, okay it was a 12 hour drive each way, up to Wisconsin to see Dr. Draeger and his family. He is an awesome chiropractor who loves to help people, especially athletes. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Kinley and I got a couple workouts in. Here we are up in the gym before we hit the pool.

Here we are swimming in February in Wisconsin!

The actual reason we went up was for Tom to get some work done. He always feel so much better after one of Doc's treatments.

So, Doc's parents own this amazing bakery in Antigo! Let me explain why this is so exciting for me...the bread is awesome & good for you. They make their bread with flax seed so you get even more good stuff than from a piece of fish. And, its soooo good. We got there just in time to have a fresh doughnut, and Kinley got some yummy cookies.

Kinley had a good time feeding Zeke. She might have made him gain a few pounds, but she had a good time & Zeke didn't seem to mind either.

We went sledding! Kinley and I went down a bigger slope together, and then she decided she was big enough to go by herself. We also really liked being taken back up the hill on the snowmobile. Tom and Chris were of course more daring and had to compete to see who could go the farthest on each sled - that is the ones they didn't break. The amazing thing is that no one got hurt!

Kinley found a pony just her size.

Danae and Kinley painted toes and we were not allowed to interrupt them. Kinley wanted to do big girl stuff all by herself - big surprise!

Oh, and Tom had this small steak at a neat little place in the middle of nowhere.

Kinley's Room

2009-01-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

I might have told some of you Kinley really wanted to paint her room in our new house. This is all she could talk about for weeks! Eventually, after much decision, she decided on pink, "cause that's my favorite." Here I have some before, during and after pictures. We aren't quite finished decorating, so you won't get the full view, but you'll get the idea.

Here is Kinley's room with the previous owner's stuff in it.

Kinley helping tape off the walls.

After the primer, Kinley got started on this spot.

Kinley had her own place to refill her brush, but she kept wanting to put it in the big can. She was so extremely excited she could barely contain herself.

After lots of help, here is the "Poetic Princess" pink room. Can you believe that's actually the name? Kinley loves her new room and has had no problem sleeping all by herself!

Graceland!

2009-01-10T18:26:00.000-08:00

While driving out to Knoxville to meet the movers (another story for a later time) we/I decided to go to Graceland. I have always wanted to go and decided, why not.

Here we are outside the front of the mansion.

Front entry parlor complete with stained-glass peacocks.

Hard to tell, but we were heading upstairs in a hallway that was completely covered with green shag carpeting. It was awesome!

They had converted Elvis' raquetball court into this "trophy" room. Pretty cool and even had some of the more sparkly capes Elvis wore.

So, this is at the back of Elvis' plane the Lisa Marie. I was taking this picture of me in the bathroom mirror when an alarm went off. I turned around to see Kinley laying on Elvis' bed! Luckily we were the only ones on the plane and the guard didn't come and get us, but wow!

I've heard many things about Graceland, and I loved it. I thought it was really neat. Ironically we went on the 8th (our anniversary) which is Elvis' birthday. We went early in the morning and it wasn't really crowded. It took us almost 2 hours to get through everything. It was just enough time to see everything and not too long for Kinley to really lose it. I'm so glad we went, and I'm sure Tom is as well.

Yahtzee

2008-12-27T12:08:00.000-08:00

So we were playing a couple mean games of Yahtzee last night. I'm not so good. Anyway, we were talking about it today in front of my 6 year old neice, Emma. Tom was saying I was still bragging about getting Yahtzee last night, and Emma says, "Aunt Kimi doesn't have a boat. A Yahtzee is a boat, I know and Aunt Kimi doesn't have one." She cracks me up!

Merry Christmas From Texas

2008-12-26T07:00:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas! Just thought I'd share some Christmas fun from Texas.

December 23

For quite a while Kinley has been begging me to go skating. I'm not exactly sure where the idea came from, but we decided to give it a try with my sister and her kidos.

Here are Holly, Leah, Kinley and Tom before we hit the ice. Of course by the time we got all laced up, it was time for a break to clean the ice.

This is Lori, Leah, me and Kinley on our first lap. Kinley was great walking on the skates on dry land, but the ice was another story. She tried really hard holding onto the rail, holding hands and me holding her, but one lap was enough. Luckily, Tom also was in need of a break, so they sat on the side and helped with everyone else.

Traditionally, after Thanksgiving we go up to BLORA to see a great light display, but this year we got to do it closer to Christmas. We were afraid of lines, but we must have timed it great. The only line was leaving through the light tunnel. We really love seeing all the displays - especially me.

The cool light tunnel you drive through when you leave.

December 25

Look what Santa brought Kinley!

The first shot of her face when she looked into the living room. This one cracks me up. She's not sure what to think.

Tom and Kinley opening up their stockings.

This is probably the best reaction she had all day!

So, outside we went to play with all the new stuff! Kinley got all her protection on to ride her bike. Let me tell you, she's not such a good driver. She doesn't understand yet how to steer, and she was getting really frustrated trying to pedal. Oh, I haven't mentioned she woke up with a terrible fever around 2am and was feverish all day - this did not help all the chaos.

After some old fashioned bike riding, she decided to drive the bee car. Did I mention she's not such a good driver?

Ryan got this cool 4-wheeler and was giving his cousins rides, and I want to say again this was probably Kinley's fault. Luckily Tom the traffic cop was right on the scene.

I guess Kinley got her license revoked because she caught a ride with Ryan back to the driveway.

For the last Christmas celebration of the day, we went out to my aunt's house for my dad's side of the family. We had a magnificent dinner! After we opened our gifts, Tom couldn't resist my silky-soft hat and scarf.

We had a great Christmas and just want to say thanks to everyone for such a special day!