Noodle Face

A girl after her Mama's heart. Love you lots Kinsley!

Some Mornings

At times I do wish that I was a stay at home mom, especially during the mornings. Some mornings, it is amzaing to me that we actually get out of the door in one piece. (Granted it's not usally on time, but that's the story of my life). I have to admit that I have two super good girls in the morning and they are very helpful. A lot of times Kinsley ends up getting her hair done while she is sitting in the booster seat eating breakfast. Keltie is usally pretty content as long as she gets to watch her shows and eat her breakfast. She knows the ques from the shows as to when we need to be leaving. This was Kinsley this morning. Keltie was too busy watching shows and eating her fig newtons. I guess looking at this face (and of course Keltie's) I know that they will be waiting for me when I get home after a long day. I have a busy group of students this year (that's putting it nicely) so I truly am thankful to get home to these precious parts of my life.

Notice the crooked piggies. What do you expect when she's eating?

Shh!, it's a secret.

Kevin and I decided to update our house by giving it a little bit of color. Well, while we did this, we thought it would be best to not have the girls at home with us. Grammy and Boompa were more than willing to let them spend the night at their house. While they were gone, Auntie Carol and Grammy were sneaky and decided that they should take their pictures. Off to Cherokee Park they headed for a photo shoot. Keltie was told to keep it a secret and she did for almost two weeks. Kevin and I didn't know anything about it until I approached Carol to take Kinsley's one year old pictures. Thanks for the wonderful surprise. Here are a few of my favorites.

Random Summer Pictures

We had a great summer this year. I didn't teach summer school so I got to spend a lot of time with the girls. Here are just a few things from our summer. Enjoy!

Too tired to go anywhere else.

So pretty.

4th of July

Oops, sorry this is an afterthought.We spent our last night in St. Louis, Missouri, we we decided that it was a good idea to watch the fireworks at the Arch. They were amazing. (Sorry these aren't in the correct order). Keltie loved them, but of course they were too loud for her. Kinsley was once again in awe of them. They stayed up way later than usual, but were asleep well before we got back to the motel. It took us an hour to get out of the parking lot. What an experience!The girlies.

The Arch

Kinsley Turns 1

It's hard to believe but on July 8th our little girl turned one! We were barely back from vacation and we left for camping to celebrate her birthday. She wasn't too excited about it until the chocolate cake got brought out. Needless to say, she won't be eating chocolate for a long time. She was up until 11:30 that night, just wired from it. Not a fun time! There's not too many pictures here because I already downloaded them at home, but you can see the excitement on her face!

Yes, she still had the nuk. We broke her of it right after her birthday. She was very needy, so I wasn't ready to cut the tie yet.

"Yeah, it's my special day!"

A Day at the Ocean

Since we were so close to the ocean, we decided to spend three nights in South Carolina. We were within walking distance to the ocean. Keltie was so excited to get there. Anytime we saw water, she thought that it was the ocean, even if it was just a small lake. She had more fun playing in the sand, but Kinsley was definitely our little water bug.

Look at those chunky thighs. I think she was eating the sand here.

A rough day at the beach.

We decided it was too hot sitting directly under the umbrella, so Mama got to hold her. I'm sure everyone enjoyed the view.

Beach babies.

Future swimsuit models.

Last day at the ocean.

Aquarium

During our vacation, we took a trip to the aquarium. Keltie was very excited to see the penguins. You could actually crawl into a tube and get up close to them. Too bad my flash went off, but you can see how excited they all are.

Keltie was just amazed at all the different fish that she got to see.

Kinsley is in awe.

She wanted to get close to everything. She loved it.

These three were too cute. They just kept feeding off each other. One would say something then the other two would have to chime it. It was neat just listening to them.

North Carolina

Every two years, Kevin's extended family has a family reunion. This year it was decided that the events would take place in North Carolina. We had a great time. We traveled through 11 different states. The girls did a fantastic job, although we did have our moments. After 12 days of traveling, I think that we were all ready to be back. Here are some pictures from our stay. The first one on top is taken at one of the cabins we stayed at in the KOA. I don't know why Kinsley was dressed that warm because the temperatures were HOT!

We did the majority of our traveling with Kevin's sister and her family. It was an adventure traveling with 6 kids. Keltie had a great time being with her cousins. The three little triplets pictured at Fontana Dam.

One of the waterfalls we visited. Sorry but I don't know how to get it the right way.

Mama and the girls at the cabin.

Again, I don't know how to get it the right way.

Kinsley enjoying an Oreo.

We spent a lot of time in the van. Keltie enjoyed watching her movies. Now even when we go to town, she thinks that she needs to have one to watch.

We had Kinsley broke of the nuk habit before we left. Needless to say, by the time we got to Illinois, it was reintroduced. Luckily we threw one in just in case. It was a lifesaver. Thankfully it didn't take too long to break the habit again.

Summer Rides

Of course with summer, comes the good old trips to the local carnivals. This year the girls got to go to Dorchester Days and Cheese Days. Neither of them were that excited about watching the parade. The rides were definitely the highlight. Everyone teased us because we actually let Kinsley ride and they told us that we would have never let Keltie ride at that age. Kinsley is a bit more adventurous though and loved them. She kept moving around in the little train and we couldn't even find her at times because she would be scooting down so much. I guess they will have to share their love of roller coasters with someone else since Kevin and I are big into them.

Boompa took Keltie on her first ride so of course he had to be the one to take Kinsley as well.

Mama and Keltie spinning around and around.

Keltie wanted to ride the swings, but I told her she was too little. Thankfully she really was too little, but she insisted on going on the Ferris Wheel. Of course proud Boompa had to take her on it. She loved it, even when it stopped right away at the top. Brave little girl.

"Grammy, hold on." She did look a little pale after the ride.