new camera

Hello . . .

Goodbye . . .

I hate to say goodbye to this camera because it is really a good camera. It's just too slow for me. Actually, it will still be hanging around as Kimee loves to use it and I will bring it with when I don't want to haul the new one places.

One funny thing I want to mention. I have learned more about myself as I see how Kimberly reacts to things. For example, Kimee doesn't like change and takes a while to warm up to doing something new or different. I am the same way. I had my new camera sitting on the table for a couple of weeks before I finally decided to open it up and try it out. I really was excited, but I just needed some time for it to sink in, I guess.
It is not too heavy or big like I thought it might be. AND it is SOOOO FAST! I couldn't be happier with the fact that when I press the button, it actually takes a picture. Right that second! Even reviewing and deleting pictures is really fast. I am excited for this new "toy" of mine and can't wait to learn all about taking really good pictures. It's about time for a new hobby.

Maddilyn: Two Months

She's just sooooo cute!
We are loving having a new baby at our house.
Maddi is so good and so sweet.
Happy 2 month birthday!

doctor visits

I don't know for sure why, but I really dread going to the doctor's office. One reason is that I hate wasting time and money for them to say it's nothing. I hate the worry deciding whether or not symptoms are worthy of going in to the doctor. I dread sitting and waiting with the kids for our turn because we all get ornery. So I had to be somewhat proud of myself that I made it through the last couple of weeks. Within a two week period of time, I visited the pediatrician twice, Ear/Nose/Throat specialist, OB/Gyn, family doctor, and the dentist! What I found is that if you group all doctors appointments into a smaller amount of time, there is not as much dread and worry. :) And it really helps that I did not have my kids with me for 3 of the 6 appointments.

horse lessons

Kimee has been going to horse lessons with her cousin Sarah for a few months now. I went the other day and got some pictures. This time Audrey got to come and so did Mariah and Emma. Everyone had fun.

Maddi is growing

Maddilyn is getting bigger every day. We went in for her check up and she is now in the 98/96% for weight and height. She is 13 1/2 lbs and 24 inches long! She is smiling lots, especially in the morning. She is also blowing bubbles and drooling a lot. She is so cute! She is getting more and more fun as she is awake and interacting more during the day. She also sleeps a lot during the day and night, which is nice. She is a great baby and we love her so much!

Audrey says, "She is sooo cute!"and loves her a little bit too much.
Kimee loves holding her and talking to her. Kimee is also really good at helping Maddilyn not cry when we are in the car.

Audrey's haircut

Audrey got her first real haircut last week. She felt like such a big girl, although I think she was a little nervous. She doesn't look a lot different. Her hair is still big and curly, it's just shaped better and not so scraggly. I love Audrey. Isn't she adorable?

Kimee's pet caterpillar

I found a little green caterpillar in the garden and showed Kimee. It immediately became her pet. She talked with it and played with it a lot. We found some weed leaves that it really liked and it ate a lot. Then it curled up into the leaf and either became a cocoon or died. We are waiting to see. I guess I shouldn't call it and it, because Kimee says it's a she and her name is Greenleaf.

more fun

We took our annual trip to Lagoon with Dave's company. I figured that Dave and I have gone together for 16 years. Even though we don't go on all the scary "grown-up" rides anymore, it is more fun going with our kids and seeing their joy and excitement. The girls loved going on rides together. Someday (before we know it) we will be able to go on all the big rides with them.

Here is Kimee and Audrey with their cousin Jeremy.
The train and the carousel are family favorites. I think we went on the carousel four times (the lines were so short.) Kimee says her favorite was the dragonfly- which was a swing type ride. But she says there are lots of rides she liked.

After rides, we went to the company all-you-can-eat bbq. It's a great tradition and it is one time when I don't care if they eat more ice cream/popsicles than food. Afterwards, the kids are ready to crash, so we head home. We will always remember this year's trip to Lagoon because Jeremy threw up in the car on the way there, and Audrey threw up on the way home.

vacation fun

We had so much fun on our mini-vacation to Wolf Creek.

Our favorite thing to do is go swimming at the big pool. It was actually warm this time. Kimee only went down the slide once, and was too scared to go again. She had fun diving for toys underwater wearing her goggles.
Audrey can swim really well with her life jacket on. She had fun having Daddy throw her up in the air and splash in the water.


The kids love playing together at the condos. This is Kimee and Audrey playing with their friends Kaylee and Lily.

Audrey and Jeremy out on the deck. Dave spotted a fox out on the golf course and we all got to watch it walk along the course for a while before it disappeared into the trees.

daily excitement

Now that school's out for the summer, Kimee and I talk about the things we are going to do each day. I even made up a summer calender for Kimee so she can know when things are (and maybe she won't ask a thousand times when her birthday is). During the day we comment to each other when something is exciting enough that "We will have to tell Daddy about this".

Well, last Wednesday something REALLY exciting happened. Kimee was genuinely so happy and so excited that we got pulled over by a police officer. She told Daddy when he got home, "Two really good things happened today. One, we gave Maddi a bath. And two, Mommy got pulled over by a police officer for going too fast down the hill." I just smiled as she relayed very well what happened. "He gave us a warning." He also checked to make sure they were all in their seats belts. Thank heavens Audrey was, as she has recently learned how to unbuckle herself.

I wasn't going to blog about this, but I thought it was just too cute how happy Kimee was. And I got to thinking that the last time I got pulled over was right before I started teaching at Vineyard 15 years ago. It was on my way home from the school after meeting with the principal and intern coordinator. Now I am just about to start teaching at a new school. (I wasn't on my way to or from the school when I got pulled over though.) Kimee did tell the officer very excitedly that, "We have never been pulled over by a police officer before!" And that may have got me bonus points towards getting a warning and not a ticket.

It was actually a pleasant experience and I wanted to thank the officer for his service, but I didn't want to sound too corny. It's a hard job that doesn't pay much, so thank goodness someone is willing to do it. Kinda like teaching.