Welcome Fall!

Cooler temps, swings and a dog mean hours and hours of outdoor play for the kids. 

She even reads outside!

Ryder loves playing outside with the kids...

 until they trap him up in the treehouse and he can't get out!

A Glimpse of Our Summer with Videos

Karis has learned to swim! 

The kids didn't take any swim lessons this summer, but we have been swimming a lot with friends. Karis practiced swimming every time and now she can swim across the pool. 

Makena is reading!

Makena has been making great strides with her reading.

Kyle always makes us laugh!

Here is one example of how he does that.

Bubble Monsters

What happens when you leave three misfits in the bathtub unattended? They pour in lots of bubble bath and turn the jets on!

Daddy came home for lunch so I left the kids in the tub to make him lunch. Karis was not in the tub (at the time), but playing with the other two. She came running to tell us there were lots and lots of bubbles. Daddy went to see what was going on and Karis kept saying, "Mommy, come look!" "No," I told her. I didn't want to see what kind of disaster they created. She came back again and told me to come see all the bubbles. I asked, "Is Daddy mad?" Only after she told me he wasn't, I was brave enough to look. There were a lot of bubbles but they were all contained in the tub. Phew! It was hard to get them bubble-free at the end but the giggles and smiles were well worth it!

How could I be mad at these faces??

Fallen Leaves

These California kids have never seen so many fallen leaves! Daddy gathered all the leaves into one big pile, and the kids enjoyed jumping in and playing in it. 

 

Daddy had to rake, and re-rake...

Karis got a little carried away. Look at their facial expressions!

The pile was almost as tall as the kids. Daddy was pooped so we all helped put the leaves in bags. It was a fun afternoon working and playing together.

And then mommy had to vacuum all the leaves and debris the kids brought into the house!

Today's Pics: Bubbles, Bugs, and A Bad Attitude

Get the bubbles, Kyle!

There are bubbles on my head!

Playing with pill bugs

She's the only one not afraid to touch them.

My car!

Don't touch my car!

Taking A Walk With Kyle

When taking a walk with Kyle, there's not much walking going on. But there is...

Stopping to look at bugs

Standing on every man hole

And sitting on neighbor's benches

Love his curiosity...it just takes a long time to get home!

This evening we walked to the elementary school after dinner. Can't believe we are one summer away from Karis going to kindergarten!

Today's Nap

These days Kyle has been sleeping with his giraffe lovey and two beanie baby dogs...and of course his supply of pacifiers. Some days, he picks a random thing to sleep with. It's usually whatever toy he's holding in his hand when I'm putting him down for a nap. Today it was Daddy's hat he had been wearing. 

Soon there won't be any room left in the crib with the way he's been growing lately and with all the stuff he's sleeping with!

Sign Language

"Please"

"More"

Still trying to translate this one...

A Little Boy

"What. I'm growing up, mama. You knew it would happen. I'm not a baby any more."

"Does anyone know why mama keeps looking at me like that and taking pictures?"

Chores with Kyle

Chores with Kyle can be entertaining...

  

   

  

...and challenging.

Memory Like An Elephant, Counting to 100 and a Ring Pop

A few weeks ago, Karis asked me if she could have a Ring Pop. I asked her how she knew what a Ring Pop was. She told me she had seen one when she watched a football game with some friends. I had no idea what she was referring to so I asked her more questions. I then realized that she was talking about the time we went to a high school football game when we first visited Coppell back in October. BACK IN OCTOBER! She saw some random person with a Ring Pop at a football game and is now remembering it. I was so shocked. This girl has quite a memory.

While at the store the other day with Makena and Kyle, I saw Ring Pops at the registers so I bought two. I didn't want to just give Karis a Ring Pop, so I decided that if she could keep her Pull Up dry for three nights, then she could have it. She was so excited and determined. 

The first night, she went to the bathroom before going to bed. Derek put the girls down and a few minutes later we heard the door open and in a soft voice Karis says, "Daddy, I have to go pee pee." She takes care of business and then goes back into her room. About five minutes later, the door opens again.... "I have to go pee-pee." Derek and I looked at each other and laughed. She was so nervous she was going to wet her Pull Up that she kept getting up to go to the bathroom. We knew she was going to lose sleep over this, so after she went to the bathroom we called her downstairs to have a little talk. We told her we would think of something else she could do to earn her Ring Pop. She went back upstairs and stayed in bed. 

The next morning, she asked me if we had thought of something she could do for her Ring Pop. She wanted this so badly. I told her if she learned to count to 100 she could have the Ring Pop. We coached her in the morning and wrote some numbers down for her to refer to. A few hours later... 

She got her Ring Pop!

Of course little sis wanted in on all this too. I told Makena she had to learn how to count to twenty. I worked with her all morning and though she didn't quite master it, she did pretty well.