This and That

Cartoons have sort of been a thing of the past in my house these days. The new craze is "writing boxes." It's an idea I got from Kenna's open house at school. They suggested making a box for your child with different size and shaped papers, pens, crayons, pencils, markers, rulers, glue, stickers, books, scissors, etc, etc. The kids LOVE their writing boxes. They could sit down together for hours and just color and write and create. It has been awesome! It does take some supervision, but it is so nice to see them doing something like this during their down time. I seriously feel like my kids are coloring or drawing All the time! All The Time! It's great. Kellen is especially in love with it. And he even requests for me to give him "Homework" all the time now. Too silly!

Love my baby boy! His eyes just make me melt.

Makenna and Kellen were "painting" each others faces with pen. Thankfully it was dry erase pen and came off easily. Makes me remember to keep the Sharpe's far away!

The other day Makenna had a party to go to that was a girls only sort of birthday party. Kellen was feeling a bit down so I decided to take the boys to Chuck E Cheese for a couple of hours and play some games. It was great because with just the two boys 5 bucks is all it takes. Kellen decided to go out as Spiderman that day. Silly boy! Love him!

Makenna brought this home the other day and I just thought it was totally cute. I loved her pictures with the flowers and birds and the girl with the really long neck (perhaps part Giraffe?) I was especially impressed when I learned that the words she wrote here she sounded out and wrote on her own (mostly). And they have only been in school a month!!!

This is another cute piece of Makenna work: A list of everyone in the family. She initially wrote every ones name and brought it to me and then said "Wait Mom! I forgot someone. Will you tell me how to write Jesus?" Times like this I smile and think I must be doing something right!

Last week I got to work in Makenna's class for the first time. I loved it and loved the chance to see Makenna in her class. She is doing Such a good job and I am so proud of her. When I came in Mrs. Folks had her come get me by the hand and bring me up to the front of the room. Her teacher asked her to introduce me to the class. She said "Hello class. My name is Makenna McKamey (the way they always address the class when speaking up front). I would like to introduce you to my mom." Her teacher asked if I had a name and Makenna replied "Mom". Mrs. Folks then asked if I should be called Mrs. Mom then? Makenna said yes. This just made me smile :) I LOVE her teacher. She is Amazing and PERFECT for Makenna!

The same day I worked in her class they had a little Picnic at school with the parents for all the Kindergartners. It was cute and Makenna was thrilled and we had a blast!

Kenna and her best buddy at school Kara.

All Gussied Up

Little story to tell that I don't want to forget, don't want Todd to forget and want Makenna to smile at someday -

Todd was on his way home from work the other night. Makenna had been coloring while I had been on the phone with him. Suddenly she jumped up and ran into her room in what seemed like a really big hurry. She returned a number of minutes later with some pink, dangling, pretend earrings on and her hair brush and squirt bottle in her hand. She came over to me and said "Mom, will you brush my hair? I want it to be straight and beautiful. I don't like it when it is bumpy and tangly like this." This request alone made my jaw drop. Every morning hair brushing induces whining and complaining and is always resisted, never welcome. So a Request to brush her hair??? What?!

So I tell her Of Course I will brush her hair, tell her how pretty she looks with her earrings and ask her why she is getting all dressed up. She responds "Because I want to surprise Daddy and be Beautiful for him when he gets home from work."
Heart melted, eyes got teary, smile to my face. Our little girl has a crush on her Daddy...her first love!

Once her hair was brushed she wanted to know what else she could do to be beautiful. So we put on some perfume, and lip gloss and then we heard Daddy pulling in.
I wish I would have videotaped her coming out around the hall with her shy, coy little smile when she came out to say hi to him. The look on her face and in her eyes as he told her how beautiful she was and smelt her perfume...I just about died.
Makenna is a lucky girl to have such a great man to adore and love, and Todd is a lucky man to have such a beautiful little lady getting all dressed up for him and pining away for his affection.

All Over The Place....and Everywhere In Between

I don't know if Conner is starting to calm down a bit, or if I am just getting more used to his insanity....probably the latter. Either way, I feel like I am starting to get a little better of a handle on this crazy little man. I love his spirit, his happiness and excitement and his bravery and confidence. He's just a little nuts, that's all.

One of Conner's favorite activities right now is climbing on, in or over anything and everything he can. Here are just a few of the really cute pics I have been getting lately. Love my babe!

He's such a handsome little stud. And he is always so proud of himself!

This one was a bit of a surprise the other day. Usually I can trust him in Kellen's room to play nicely and safely. Not so much the case anymore. Thankfully Todd has already anchored the dresser to wall, which I am thinking is an important thing with Conner on the scene.

Kellen likes to get in on the action with his little brother. I always feel sort of bad taking a picture and then saying, "Okay, you have to get out now before you break the cart!"

Not only is or little Con brave and silly, but he is also quite smart! This really impressed/surprised me the other day- without ever having taught Con how to do this he picked up a baseball and a bat, put the ball on the tee, grabbed the bat, swung and hit the ball right off the tee and then repeated this a few times over. I guess this may be our baseball star Todd was hoping we would have!

B is for Big Boy!

Believe it or not our little Kellen is already taking those first baby steps away from the nest....just this past week he went to his first day of Preschool. The pictures speak for themselves. Kellen was in absolute Heaven! He was thrilled, beyond thrilled about going to preschool. And if you know Kellen then this comes as a little bit of a surprise. Kellen is not the type to venture off on his own. He's a mama's boy, a home body. He likes his comfort zones and gets a bit shy and stand offish in new environments and situations. I don't know if it was all the talking to him about preschool that prepared him, or it is due to him having seen Makenna go there and understand the routine already. Whatever it was he acted like an old pro.
First thing when he woke up Tuesday morning Kellen told me he needed to eat breakfast and get dressed so he could get ready for school. He got very sad when he realized we would be taking sissy first and then he would have to wait a little longer before it was time for him to go. He was very anxious and excited to get moving and get to school. While we were getting ready to go I asked him if he was excited and he said "Yeah! I'm not going to cry mama!" And I just responded "Of course you are not, Preschool is fun!" It was that moment that I knew he was going to be just fine and do great. And he did! He was a little shy when we got there at first but he got going with the play dough and had no problem giving me a kiss, saying good bye and letting me walk away without a tear. I know this may sound strange, but it was almost sad to me that he didn't get emotional. Made me realize how grown up he is and how ready he is for this big step. He's not my little baby boy the way he once was. He is standing on his own two feet and doing so well.

Look at how big these boys are!

Look at this handsome boy. And that little face just melts my heart. He is such a good kid and such a funny little boy! I'm proud to see him getting bigger, doing so well and being so happy. I miss his silly little self when he is gone, but I am happy to know he is growing and learning and venturing out on his own.

Kellen got to pick where we went for lunch after his first day of school. He chose quesadillas at Taco Bell :)

M & C

I like to take the kiddos to get pictures done at their birthday every year. I do love the photographers out there and the cute, artsy, creative things they do. But I must be a bit old fashioned as well and still appreciate a photo studio type picture. Since Conner and Makenna have birthdays so closed I did theirs together this year and will do Kellen's right around his birthday, as well as a group pic of the kiddos. I especially wanted to wait on Kellen since we are trying to grow his hair a bit...I want him as shaggy as can be by the time he is 3 :) So here are my little blond, blue eyed babes!

Conner was in a very serious mood this morning. Well, only every moment we were trying to photograph him. Seriously, we couldn't get him to crack a single smile. I don't know what was wrong with the kid, he is normally such a goof and a happy kid. But this day he was having nothing to do with it. But I went with it anyway. Still got some very cute shots.

"The Scowl" - one of my favorite looks right now and very representative of him at this time.

This first picture I just love because it Really shows off those missing front teeth. It's great how being toothless can be cute when you are a child....not so much later in life...

Isn't she a beauty!

Such a ham. I always laugh at poses that are just Sooo not Makenna. She looks cute and loves posing this way, but is just not her at all :)

Her hair is getting so long! And she is not letting anyone come near it with scissors at all. She has aspirations to be like Rapunzel.....I'm not so sure about that! Can you IMAGINE the tangles?!!

5 Years Used to Sound Like A Lot...

...but not anymore. Now it seems like your sweet little baby girls is born...

...you blink...

....and she's 5. A regular little girl. Graduated from everything toddler, shopping in the little girls section instead of the baby section, making her own choices, making her own friends, choosing what she wears, giving you a kiss on the cheek and telling you not to be sad and that she will be home from school soon.

Having a 5 year old just seems strange to me. I remember being 5. I remember the friends I had, I remember my kindergarten teacher and what she looked like and our classroom and the way my name looked at my desk. I remember my mom bringing me to school that first day. I remember 5. And now my daughter is 5 and it is strange to think that these moments in her life are now moments that may stay engraved in her memories forever. That she may be able to sit some day and reflect with me and have us tell the stories together of the things she did as a little girl. And though it pulls at my heart strings to remember how small she was not all too long ago, I look at her now with pride. She is beautiful, she is smart, she is full of life and laughter and joy and love. Her name means Happy One. I wanted my daughter to be happy. And I feel like the first 5 years I can call a success! For if Makenna is Anything she is happy!

Kenna and Grammy share a birthday just a few days apart. Grammy was so sweet and wanted to spend her birthday night together with our family and Makenna so they could celebrate together. These two girls have such a huge place in my heart!

Grammy and Pa gave Kenna her gift that night...

...her very own music box, WITH a ballerina that twirls around. This has been high on Makenna's wish list for the past year. Makenna told me that night "I always dreamed I would have a jewelry box with a ballerina and tonight my dream came true!"

Makenna's birthday was on a school night, but we went out to dinner with Cameron and his family and then she opened the rest of her family gifts that night before bed.

She was very sweet to Kellen that night and Kellen was Very cute with Kenna. He stood patiently watching her, helped when she said he could and got excited right along with her for all her new books and toys. He's a good boy and these two have such a good relationship!

Sat we had a small party for Makenna with a few of her friends

Kenna wanted a Little Mermaid party. We had pizza, played some games, played with water balloons, ran around on the slip and slide, had a pinata and cake. What more could you want?!

I always wonder what little wish is going through their head as they blow out their candles. In the case of Makenna it may have simply been "I hope I get the biggest piece of cake with the VERY MOST FROSTING!"

Kenna and Cam...buddies for life.

Makenna has been working hard at skating for a good 6 months or so and has wanted a pair of "big girls skates" for awhile! She has been so patient and finally her birthday made it's way around and sure enough Mom and Dad got her a new set of knee and elbow pads and her very own big girl skates. I was a bit worried about getting her roller blades vs classic skates. I was afraid the roller blades would be tough to balance on at so young. Boy am I glad I didn't get the reg skates because this girls was skating like a pro on these within minutes. Such a cutie and a little stud! That's my girl!

Happy Birthday Makenna Mae! We love you more than could ever know. You bring so much life and laughter and love into our home. You have taught me so much about life, love and happiness and I continue to learn from you every day. You are beautiful as can be, smart, funny and full of drive and determination that is going to take you so far. Reach for the stars and then reach beyond. Nothing can stop you! We love you.