Native American Day

Our elementary school here rocks! Seriously, we are only a few months into the school year and they have already had so many neat things for the kids. The week before Thanksgiving they had a native american day for all the kindergartners. It was so much fun, for the kid and adults alike. The kiddos all got dressed up in items they had made in class. They then went to the auditorium and had a bunch of different stations with activities set up for them. Makenna probably told me 10 times "This is Awesome Mom!"

Makenna and her little friends. Girls are so funny and social, at such a young age!

Makenna and Kara! Such good friends! I heard someone ask them the other day at school "Are you guys sisters?" They both laughed and said No! Then the little girl said, "Well, why are you always together and always playing with each other?" So cute!

Planting corn the way the native americans did, by putting some pieces of dead fish in the soil with it. That stinky thing only lasted at home about a week, and I think I was a saint for keeping it around that long :)

Dancing around the pretend fire they helped build

A very fun day to be a mommy!

Catching a fish from the river and hanging it up to dry

About to be lead on a buffalo hunt. The kids took this very seriously and it was a very intense atmosphere. They would be some really good hunters!

Getting ready to sneak up on the buffalo...

Posing with their "kill". They then got to go in and eat some buffalo dogs, which many of the kids were confusing as hot dogs :)

BFF's

You might think that 5 years old is a bit young to have that "soul mate" kind of friend. I completely beg to differ. Makenna and Katie are the cutest little friends I have possibly seen. Katie and Makenna were in Preschool together 2 years in a row. It was their second year together that they really grew close. Makenna would talk about Katie every day. They just loved each other so much. Once Makenna left Circle Preschool and was getting ready to move onto Kindergarten, I sort of figured that was the end of that Makenna/Katie duo. But I was wrong. She asked about her all summer long. She was in tears a couple of times having to explain to her that Katie would not be in Kindergarten with her.

And then when Kellen ended up in the same Preschool class as Katie's little sister, I discovered that Katie's summer had been very much the same! So we were finally able to reunite the two and have a few playdates. A month or so ago Katie came with us after preschool to pick up Makenna and surprise her at school. I still wish I had gotten a picture of Maknna's face when she first saw Katie....It was like Christmas morning. I didn't even get a hug that day after school...all of the affection was focused on Katie (sort of a glimpse as to what the teenage years may be like as mom). These two girls just inspire me. Their love and friendship with one another is just so sincere and genuine and sweet. Love them!

Part of what bonds these two is their appreciation for the same type of humor...silly girls.

Makenna and Katie at Funbelievable

My handsome boy! Isn't he just looking so grown up and mature all of the sudden?!

I love Funbelievable because I am forced to go up in the toys with the kids. Conner insists on hanging with the big kids there...he wants nothing to do with the "toddler" section. So I have to escort him and help him the whole way through, which also gives me lots of fun play time with Kellen and Makenna. Since Makenna was busy with Katie the whole time, I got some fun time in with my boys!

My little Con! He likes Funbelievable for many reasons, one if which is the sucker he gets on the way out. Love my silly boy!

McKamey Catch-Up and Christmas Fever!

I feel so terrible that it has been so long sine my last post. I know life has felt very busy. I don't know what it has felt so busy with....maybe these pictures will explain some. Maybe they won't. Either way, here's the going ons of the McKameys....

Kellen has become quite the handy helper as of late. Makenna has a reward chart she fills out for each day that she gets a "green tag" at school, and I felt like Kellen deserved a way to earn rewards as well. So we made him a chart that he gets to fill in when he helps mommy or daddy with chores around the house that are above and beyond his normal cleaning up. He has totally embraced this and is happy to help with everything and anything he can. A lot of the time he isn't even worried about filling out the chart, he just wants to help. When Makenna is not around he tends to be my little shadow a lot and just follows me through the house. But I have discovered that us doing chores together is not only productive but something he really enjoys and is a fun and bonding all at the same time!

The kids have also started joining me in my exercising on occasion as well. I think they just like playing with the hand weights and the only way I let them is if we turn on a video. They tire pretty quickly but love to brag about how strong they are. Silly kiddos.

And Conner just likes to pretend to play wii. He grabs a remote and sits up on the coffee table where Makenna and Kellen sit to play and just smiles. He cracks me up

The eye mask only lasted a couple of days, but it was cute while it did.

Conner helping me clear off the table after dinner. I tell ya, you can't turn your back on this kid for more than a minute.

The many looks of the Con. He enjoys dress up right now

About a week ago Sarah and I got together with our cousins Danielle and Shannon and Danielle's kids and had a lunch/play date. We stopped and saw aunt Stephanie, ate at Cafe Rio and then went to Chuck E Cheese for a bit. We did get some crazy looks with us 4 ladies out with 7 kids 5 years old and under and Danielle due with another in a couple of months. But we also got a lot of compliments and had a really good time.

Kellen and Makenna had a blast with Grammy making some cute Thanksgiving crafts. I told them both to smile big. I guess they didn't need to smile quite THIS big :) They also made a turkey pin for Grandma, Grandpa and Papa and were very proud of their work. These kids love anything crafty!

My adorable boys. Con gives some good hugs!

Kellen in his Santa Jammies...already! We start Christmas early in our home. Kellen is the ring leader of this. He has been singing Christmas songs every night at bed time (most often "The 12 Days of Christmas") literally since Christmas last year....and every night is not overstating it. He says that when he grows up he wants to be Santa ("not a pretend Santa, A REAL Santa!") and he has changed from wanting to be Batman next year for Halloween to wanting to be Santa and having Kenna be Rudolph. This boys love for all things Christmas is just contagious and makes the season that much more fun and exciting!

And here is Rudolph. Makenna already wants to be Rudolph without Kellen having to request it. She got a trip to the dollar store after a blood draw last week. She picked out a pair of Reindeer antlers. So cute. And the quickly pulled out the red paint and requested that I paint her nose. She did this last year as well. I guess things don't always change all that much.

Conner and Rylee....this is his little crush. She is the little sister of one of the girls in Makenna's Kindergarten class, Kara. They came over for a play date last week and Conner was in heaven. He can't keep his hands off of her :)

Kellen's new thing is making his own breakfast. He loves putting things in the toaster and getting them ready all by himself. Independence....it is sweet and sad all at the same time!

Halloween 2011...starring

A very Proud Butterfly! Makenna quickly chose to be a butterfly this year, but wanted to make sure that her costumes had wings that opened as she spread her arms out. She didn't want wings on her back, for after all, that is not how a real butterfly is! But thanks to an amazing Grammy that was able to make this adorable costume, we got it done. And she was a very cute, very happy butterfly! Love my girl!

And then there are the boys...my tough, muscle men!! Conner couldn't have cared less what he was. But Kellen on the other hand insisted that Conner dress up as a superhero with him. And of all the superheroes, I think Thor most accurately described our dear little Conner! He was a cutie in it. He either loved his muscles or hated them, depending on the moment. This is Conner's pose for pictures; if you pull out a camera and point it at him he squats down and says "Cheeeeeeese". I don't know where the squat comes from, but it is cute and funny

Kellen wasn't being too picture cooperative this evening (this was the night of the ward halloween carnival), so this is the best picture I have of him that night. Love his huge, cheesey smile as well. Seriously, pictures of kids at 3 are probably my favorite, with this adorable, forced smile! Yes, Kellen was spider man last year as well. But hey, if my kids are happy in their costume I don't really care if they are the same thing 5 years in a row. We did have to get a new one....last years has taken quite a beating. He already says next year he wants to be Batman, but I'll believe it when I see it. This boy lives for spider man...which cracks me up since he has Never even seen a spider man movie/cartoon.

The Trio

Conner in a "I don't like my hat and muscles" moment!

Love my family! So Much!

5 of the cute baby boys all born within months of each other. These little guys are going to be such good buddies!!

Makenna and Ellie! She Adores Ellie! Seriously, Makenna looks up to Ellie so much. And Ellie is very patient with her! Thanks Ellie!

Rah Rah, Brookie and baby Kipper (aka the Wonder Pets) came to our carnival this year as well. It was fun to get to see my cute niece and nephew all dressed up in their adorable costumes!

Makenna and Kara. These little girls love each other. Such good little friends!

Halloween night, getting ready to go Trick or Treating

Such a handsome little boy, he just kills me sometimes!

Oh, my heroes!

This isn't the best picture, but Conner was adorable to watch trick or treat. He totally figured it out and was having a blast running up and down from house to house, sometimes just to run and have fun, other times coming back with his own goodies. Such a big boy all of the sudden!

The morning after Halloween Conner found his costume in my bag, brought it over to me and started trying to put it on. And he happily ran around in it all morning.