Surprise Bowls

If you are part of our family you know exactly what the term "surprise bowl" means. I am that mom that gives my kids a small treat every night after dinner. Some nights it is something bigger. Most nights it is just something small. One night a couple of years ago Kellen was wanting candy so I made him a bowl with an arrangement of goodies and called it a surprise bowl. Well, the term stuck and quickly became Kellen's treat of choice. Conner has also embraced the surprise bowl and it is a common request in our household. Kellen will often take a surprise bowl over almost anything else. Conner has helped take surprise bowls to a whole new level. He likes to cover his eyes while I make the surprise bowl and then we sing "happy surprise bowl to you" as I pass them out to the kids. Yeah, we are weird. But I imagine it is one of those silly things the kids will always remember and maybe even do with their own kids some day. 

Little Fishies

These little McKamey kids are little fish. They would gladly swim every day of the summer and stay in the pool until it gets covered up for the winter. Well, as soon we saw swim suites out at Target the kids wanted to know when they would be in the pool. I kept trying to put them off and tell them that we would be waiting until the pool was warm enough, once it was summer time. I explained many times that the pool was way to cold to be comfortable and that if I took them swimming they would be freezing and unable to enjoy it. 

They disagreed. Over and over again they told me that they would not be cold. That they would be fine and would have fun, even if it was freezing. So, in an attempt to pull off a good Mommy "I Told You So!", I decided to take the kids on over to Grammy and Pa's pool and let them try it out.

Some pre-swimming photos. I love what you get when you ask kids to pose... 

 Kel and Con - Very happy with their superhero bathing suites

 Makenna - yeah, I am not so sure. But what a wirey looking girl. 

 All ready to go

 Kellen and Con were the first ones in. MUCH to my surprise Kellen was shrieking with joy. Conner however quickly kicked his way back to the stairs as fast as those legs could get him there.

 I guess my "I Told You So" moment sort of backfired...

 Crazy girl!

 This is how she really felt about the water temp. But these little smarty pants kids were so set on proving me wrong that they managed to stay in the pool for a good 30 minutes or so. They did however require a very warm bath when swimming was done.

Conner is apparently my only smart one and stayed safely on the side and observed with mom. Good boy!

Gardening and Big Girl and a Cute Baby

 One of the things I love most about Todd and Kellen's relationship is the way they love to spend time together, out in the yard, working side by side. They just love to be with each other. Kellen loves to help him work and get him drinks and learn what Daddy is doing. And Daddy loves the companionship....makes the time go by much faster. They just melt my heart!

 Well, Daddy was a stud and built the family some raised garden boxes! We were All so excited to get out there and start planting. Even Conner was totally focused on the job at hand. Each of the kids got to pick some plants that they were in charge of planting. It was fun to see them each taking ownership over something and being enthusiastic about watching it grow. 

 Makenna was our Garden Pro because of her experience at school planting their 1st Grade garden. It was cute to hear her tell me all she had learned and watch her give me a step by step run down on how to plant and care for the crops. She is getting so big!

 Makenna very proudly brought her family with the open house this year where she got to show off her room and all the fun things that they do. She has just LOVED being in first grade. And she Adores her teacher, Mrs. Balough. 

I was honored to be selected by Makenna this year to come to her school for the VIP lunch. It is so neat to watch Makenna at school, to see her show me around and teach me what the rules are and what she does. I love watching her interact with her peers and see the way she behaves socially. It is so fun to watch her growing and maturing and really coming into her own little person. And I am so very proud of who that person is. She is adorable!

 Carys at 5 months old! Starting to get so big! This is when your little baby starts to leave you and a big baby starts to replace them. At 5 months old Carys could sit with some help or support, but was well on her way to sitting alone. She was a very happy little girl! Quick to give a smile to her mommy, daddy and siblings. Strangers on the other hand....she does not smile for strangers. She has to size you up before she will start handing out little grins.

She had finally embraced tummy time and was getting really good at rolling both directions any time she wanted to. She was getting better at putting herself to sleep and was starting to prefer sleeping on her belly. She also started using her jumper, which she loves! She still wouldn't take a bottle at all, but was a great nurser. She just likes to make sure she stays close to mama.

 I just can't get enough of this happy, smiley girl. I mean, just look at those cheeks!