Who Ever Knew...

....That a haircut could be so painful?!?

Conner is usually so happy, easy going, quick to make friends, comfortable with mostly anyone and any situation. So taking him to get his haircut just sounded like a fun and exciting outing to me. I figured he would wiggle like crazy, but that was my biggest concern.

It started like this, "What is this place? What is this chair? Why am I wearing this ridiculous cape? Mom?"

His unsureity became a little more intense as each moment passed....

And then he lost it. Sheer terror on his face the entire time. You would have thought they were chopping the kids arm off....the poor thing. And the saddest part was he kept reaching a hand out to Daddy and Mommy, looking for someone to rescue him. I'm sure my response of just taking pictures and trying to get him to lighten up just further infuriated him.

Then I had the Genius idea of grabbing him a sucker. "This will get him distracted and quiet him down." It worked....

...for about 15 seconds.

In the end he walked away traumatized, but cleaned up and looking sharp for his party. His hair doesn't really look too different at all. We both like the shaggy look he has going on, so they basically just cut the back (which was forming a mullet/pony tail thing) and evened out the top a bit. He looks adorable to me, but it will be awhile before we go back...

Any Canvas for My Little Artists

The kiddos are obviously too young to know that every one's favorite thing about a cast is that you get to have people write on it. So the look on their face was just classic when I casually sat down, pulled out a sharpie and said, "Hey, who wants to draw on mommy's cast?" They were both over the moon. And they really did a great job turning an ordinary hot pink cast into a beautiful work of art. Makenna put the names of everyone in the family on there, drew me a flower, a heart and a picture of me wearing a cast. Kellen scribbled his little heart out and then got really excited when he realized one of his scribbles looked like a "candy cane". He was Very proud of his "candy cane" that he "drew" for mommy! I love my kiddos. I did not love my cast quite so much. But they made it a touch more tolerable.

My kids always think they need to do a silly face picture following a smiling one. I guess most kids do, right?

Can this face get any cheesier. Love it! At least he is once again smiling for the camera....you've got to appreciate that much!

One of the things I love about Kellen is that he is a complex individual, much like an ogre, with many layers to him. Those who don't know Kellen super well can see him as a more quiet, shy, introverted person. And he does have these qualities under certain circumstances. But in the comfort of our home, surrounded by people he loves and is at ease with, he is the biggest goof there is! He has such a silly side, I love it! And I love that not everyone sees it. You've got to be "in" with Kellen to really see him let loose. As little children do, Kellen love to wear his mommy and daddy's shoes. His favorite pair right now is this pair of mommy's boots. He calls them his "Hee High Boots". And hey, they are pretty great boots, can't blame him for loving them!

Bubbles, Kicks and Big Arms

This year the kiddos got to have swim class with Big Daddy. Mommy in a cast is really not conducive to pool time. So Daddy stepped up to the plate and got right in there with the kiddos. Kenna is old enough to be in a class without a parent, but Kellen needed a swimming partner. It was great to see Todd have the chance to do a class with the kids (since so often classes are during the day when he is working). It was so fun to watch them all have a "splashing" good time together.

Con and the gimp got to sit on the lawn and watch everyone else enjoy their pool time. He had a blast running around and playing with his little buddy Carter (they share birthdays and are just destined to be best buds!).

Kellen is not generally your water baby. Day 1 was met with some resistance, as anticipated. But within just a couple of days he was happily standing on the edge of the pool jumping in to Todd. Each day he smiled more and more and made such great progress. I was really Sooooo proud of him! Good Job Bud Bud!

Kenna did a really good job this year. She is really swimming phenomenally (which of course is relieving and exciting for us all!) It was really hard to get a good picture of her swimming since much of her swimming is done under the water and I had to take pictures from behind the gate. So naturally the only 2 decent pictures I could get are of her goofing off and getting in trouble. Yep, that's my girl being a fountain and spitting water on the side of the pool. And then there she is again, having been "benched" because she was not keeping both hands on the edge of the pool and listening. But I was proud of her because it only took one good talk with her and an apology to her teacher and then she was hands on and a good listener the rest of the session. Silly girl.

How cute are these boys?!

The Rest of "The 4th"

What a cutie, right? Well, Con missed out on the fireworks this year. It had been a long day, he had not taken a cooperative nap and the fireworks weren't coming on until after his bedtime. So he and mama went home, relaxed and put baby in bed early :)

I love this pic of my two little men. It makes Kellen look so little standing next to his handsome Daddy. It freaks me out to think some day he will be as tall as his Dad standing next to him :(

Makenna after inhaling her s'more. She looks so grown up these days.

Kellen had a rather smart approach to getting his marshmallow in his mouth without too much mess! Such a clever little boy.

Ding busted out some sparklers. Makenna was thrilled about it.....

Kellen not so much. He tried it briefly but then abandoned the idea. He still gets upset if you mention Ding's fireworks!

Pre-Firework Festivities

The fourth of July this year was really great! The kids had a total blast. We had a great time at our wards pancake breakfast. Then we went to Grammy and Pa's house, took a dip in the pool and then had the chance to just hang out, bbq and enjoy each other before the fireworks got underway. It really was a really good day...loved every minute of it!

We definitely have another water baby. Conner is a happy little clam in the pool. He loves it! Reminds me a lot of the way Makenna was in the pool as a baby. He was just content as could be to float around, splash and play.

This girl is such a swimmer! And doing such a great job this year swimming on her own. Her favorite animal is a river otter and she tries her hardest to be one herself. This swimming activity also lead to further tooth drama with Makenna, but we will continue that story at a later date....

The way I got to enjoy the pool festivities.

Pa taught Kenna how to do a cannon ball. And she learned and perfected it almost immediately. Pa was very proud!

Whenever I see these two together I realize just how much they can resemble one another.

Pa also made a total breakthrough with Kellen! He is Not a water baby. He really doesn't care all too much for the pool. At least not big pools. But on this day Pa was not only able to talk Kellen in to going out in the middle of the pool, but he even took him on a bunch of "Shamu rides" on his back. It was incredible! And Kellen was Loving every minute of it.

We put on tattoos....

went streaking...

had pedicures...

and kicked back and played.

Sleeping Babes

I love sleeping babies, kids....hey, even sleeping adults can be kind of cute.

Kellen recently took to sleeping next to his Book of Mormon, which he calls his "Book of Mormon Stories". Such a sweetheart. I look forward to showing him this picture some day when he is called on his mission. I am sure it will be here before I even know it.

Makenna and I sleep in very similar positions. I too LOVE to have the blankets pulled right up to my neck. Either that or she sleeps with her hands above or behind her head, which I am also a fan of. Such a cutie.

No picture of Conner sleeping. He wakes up really easily in the middle of the night, and I was not willing to risk it for a picture. Maybe when I am not gimpy anymore :)

This is what happens....

They learn to walk. And for a very brief period of time, just being able to walk around and explore becomes complete and total entertainment. And they are happy to just walk anywhere they can.

But then walking is no longer enough. Then they want to climb, and jump, and get onto and into everything they can. And that is right where we are.

For the last week the backyard has been great for Conner. He has been thrilled to have more freedom out there, to walk around and explore and push things around and chase after Bella and climb on our small trampoline. And then the other day I turn around and there is Conner, trying (and doing quite well at it) to climb up the slide! What in the world? And seriously, he was making good progress up it, even all on his own.

Of course Makenna saw this and thought it was the greatest thing ever. And in her big sisterly fashion got right over there and helped him up and wanted to slide down with him over and over. I tell ya, the older Con gets the more and more I see his energy and his drive equal to Makenna's. I think those two are going to have A Blast together and get along great and cause their mother a lot of worrying and a lot of grief!
They were adorable to watch play on the slide. Makenna loves to be Conner's little helper, loves to teach him and help him do new things, loves to have him follow her and try to be just like her. And he adores his big sister and does all he an to keep up with her...which is exactly what worries me :)

She was so proud the first time she got Con to the top of the slide. And he was just as proud to be up there. I was too nervous to grab to camera and take a picture of him in that moment.

Tryin his best to keep up!

Such a handsome boy!

I've never known someone quite like this little girl....she always knows how to have fun and try and make people laugh along with her.