Christmas

My favorite Christmas present this year was having my parents come and spend Christmas with us in Florida:

Their Christmas present to us was to add an extension to the kids tree house.  My dad and Anthony spent days adding this middle level to the tree house.  It has a slide, fireman's pole, ball drop, stairs and room for a zip line one day.  Thanks for everything.

I am not one to complain, but would also like to add my worst Christmas present: LICE.  Someone gave one of my children lice, who in turn gave it to 3 other people in my house.  It has been a very very busy week.  I can't stop itching my head and am so stinkin' tired of cleaning and laundry.  Anyone want to borrow a hair brush?

Kenzie is 6

This beautiful girl turned 6.

She weighs: 43lbs and is 3'9" tall

She is in kindergarten.

She is a breath of fresh air.  She is continually helping around the house.  She cleans without being asked, and loves to take care of Mason.

Her favorite color is purple

She loves doing hair and make-up.

She got her ears pierced on her birthday.

Is 100% daddy's girl.  She has him wrapped around her finger it amazes me.

Loves school, doing homework and reading.

Road Trip

For Thanksgiving we got to stay with Anthony's Uncle and Aunt in Alabama.  While there we took a trip to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center:

Anthony's cousin Emilee and her 2 cute twins came along:

It was amazing.  There were tons of cool things to see and do.  Call me lame but my favorite part was actually a presentation on air.  The presenter ended the presentation with a bang.  She had all the kids take a cup and stand in the back of the room.  She then took a large garbage can filled it with fog and hit it.  We could actually see the air shaped like a ring fly from the front of the room to the kids and one by one she knocked the cups off their heads.  If you look close you can see the ring of air about to knock Madelyn's cup off her head. 

 Kenzie, Parker & Anthony enjoyed rock climbing:

 

They even got to enjoy rides:

A picture to prove I also attended:

Dad's Sweater

About 30 years ago Anthony's mom made this sweater for Anthony to wear.  Can you believe she kept it and that it is still adorable?

Kenzie quotes

Kenzie:  "Dad, kings are rich and bossy."
Anthony:  "Like me?"
Kenzie: (laughing as she says) "You're not rich."  She stops to think then says: "but you are bossy"

Kenzie:  "Guess what I am?  I am super fast and mom hates me."
Anthony: "What?"
Kenzie:  "A cockroach."

Mason's 2

This adorable brown eyed boy turned 2.  He is such a character our whole family enjoys him to the fullest.  He is funny, always on the move, loud, and has our whole family wrapped around his finger.  He can melt my heart faster then the heat can melt my ice cream cone on a hot Florida summer day. 

He enjoyed being spoiled all day:

His favorite present is the train set my parents gave him.  He stayed up until 10 pm on his birthday playing with it.  He was too adorable, I didn't have the heart to take it away.

Cute Kate

Kate got to participate in a Thanksgiving program at her school:

 I thought she made a cute pilgrim:

 I am lucky to be her mom:

Best Friends

While the big kids are at school these 2 kids love playing together.

Mason

Mason's favorite place to put his finger.  I hope this phase passes quickly.

50 Degrees

Parker actually got to wear a coat for a day.  Luckily it warmed right back up the next day.

Best Day Ever

At the end of the day I overheard Parker and Kenzie laughing and talking about how this was the "best day ever."  Melt my heart.  We spent the whole day as a family, so Anthony and I must be doing something right.

Parade

Today at school the kids got to participate in a parade to celebrate Veteran's Day.

Anthony got to be in the parade since he is currently serving our country.  The kids loved having Anthony there:

I am so grateful for everyone who has served, and to those who are currently serving our country.  

Good-bye Binky

I have been trying to decide how to get rid of Mason's binky.  The other day he flushed it down the toilet.  When I put him down for his nap and he asked for his "bink" I showed him the toilet and told him he flushed it "all gone".  He said "okay" and that was that.  Thank you Mason for getting rid of your binky all on your own.  

Halloween

Mason was the perfect Bam-Bam, happily hitting everyone or thing that got in his way.

Only in Florida is it possible to trick-or-treat shirtless and not get cold: 

Kaitlynn was Tinkerbell:

 Kenzie was a bride:

Parker was a Black Ninja:

Anthony, Mason and I were Barney, Betty and Bamm-Bamm Rubble 

 

Our Costume wouldn't be complete without our friends Pebbles, Wilma, and Fred Flinstone:

Priceless

When I walk in a room and find these 4 kids playing happily together.  I love being their mom.

A Breath Of Fresh Air

Kenzie helps me so much, in my world she is like a breath of fresh air.  

McKenzie is the most helpful 5 year old I know.  If she notices a garbage is full, she will take it out.  She will then empty every garbage in the house putting a clean trash bag in each, just because she wants to.  When I throw Mason's dirty diapers by the front door, she can not walk by it without taking it out.   She does these things and many more never being asked.  I don't know how come I got so lucky to have her as a daughter but I wouldn't trade her for anything.

Mason

Mason has over 2000 sq feet of house to play in.  Yet, his favorite spot to play in, is under my bed.  Don't know why he thinks its so fun, but the smile on his face when he is under it is priceless.

The Puzzle

These 2 handsome boys completed a 500 piece puzzle together.  Actually, thanks to one of the kids it ended up being 498 pieces. Still quite an accomplishment.

Crazy Kate

This is how Kate did her hair for school today, 2 gigantic flowers.  I hope her teacher enjoyed having a flower garden in her classroom.

Back to work

After a well needed 3 month break, Anthony has picked up his hammer and is ready to make over my bedroom.  Goodbye wall.

Parker

Sometimes school is a little hard for this handsome boy.  When he brings home 100% on his Social Studies test, it is definitely worthy of a blog post.  You go boy.

Mason on the go.

This almost 2 year old never stops moving.  If a light is on:

 he turns it off, if its off he turns it on.

 If a door is shut, you better believe he is going to open it.

The things they say

Some days my kids drive me crazy with all the comments, questions and complaints they have.  Some days they make me laugh.  Here are a couple conversations I have enjoyed recently:

Kate:  As she is jumping on the sidewalk trying not to step on a crack.  She sang: "If you step on a crack, then you'll break your mama's back."
Me:  "Kate, step on a crack and see what happens."
Kate:  Gives me a look of total disbelief.  "No, I don't want to break your back."
(Kate is my rule breaker.  Usually she would jump at the chance to break something.  I guess she really does love me if she won't "break my back" even if I tell her she can!)

Parker:  "I wish I was invisible."
Me:  "What would you do if you were?"
Parker:  "Well, first of all, I would never have to go to school because you could never find me and tell me it's time to leave."

Kenzie gave me a handmade card and said: "It says Happy Mother's Day.  I hope you have a good day. You are as pretty as a flower."

I love that when you are 5 you can make any day you want Mother's Day.

The Beach

Nothing better than a relaxing day with Mason at the beach.  I love having him around.  He is great company.

New shoes

I can't tell who is more excited about my $10 heels, me or Kaitlynn.  She wears them more than I do.

McKenzie Star Student

For having such good behavior this week at school, McKenzie got to bring Mickey Mouse (her class mascot) home for the weekend.  He went to the beach, church and Big Kahuna's with McKenzie.  She then wrote about his weekend adventures in his adventure log and added a picture.  Kenzie sure is enjoying Kindergarten.  She is a sweet girl.

Mason

Now that all his siblings go to school, no one is around to tattle on Mason.  He takes advantage of any opportunity he can to get into mischief.

True Confession From My 4 Year Old

"Mom, sometimes I pick my bugers and then I eat them." 

Don't want to forget that gem of a confession.  I would love to remind her of this when she is a teenager.

1st Day of School

Am I old enough to have 3 kids in school?

Parker is in 2nd Grade:

McKenzie is in Kindergarten:

 Kaitlynn is in Pre-K

(Good luck to Kate's teacher this girl has a mind of her own)

Favorite Comment

My favorite comment today was spoken by Parker.  While eating his dinner her turned to Kenzie and said:  "You should try this, it looks so disgusting, but it tastes super good."

I am not sure if I should have thanked Parker for a comment like that or not.  I am just happy the food all got eaten.

Big Kahuna's

The kids have wanted to go to a local water park all summer.  They finally all saved enough money to get season passes that are good for the rest of this summer and all of next.  They couldn't be happier: