One Quarter & A Dime

Payton and Brady are very interested in counting money these days, so one quarter & a dime added up is how old I turned last week.  We celebrated with a family party at my parents house.

I request the same thing every year, but when it's your favorite, it's your favorite!  A Mexican Fiesta and of course, DQ Ice Cream Cake!

Grandma Tammy and Grandma Inge joined in on the fun.

 The men played a round of Kub before dinner.  

 Mark and Dad had an incredible come from behind victory and rubbed it in with a celebratory kiss :)

Payton and Brady attended VBS through our church a few weeks back.  This Babylon headband has been attached to Brady almost every day since!

 Me and my momma.  She knows how to throw a great party!

Payton worked on her gymnastics.  She's getting quite good at handstands.

 No Mexican Fiesta is complete without a little salsa dancing!

The kids got the party started, but the dads soon joined in...

 And after all that dancing, there's nothing better than a nap with Opa.

 The ladies!

 After dinner it was time for some presents.  And some silly faces.

 I didn't actually open any of them, but the kiddos told me I got some new glasses, a new pitcher, some bowls, and some fun summer clothes and shoes.  Thanks everybody!

 And as I mentioned earlier, no birthday of mine is complete without some DQ Ice Cream Cake.  

And some popsicles for the little ones...

I am so blessed to be able to call my family my friends.  I love you all very much.  Thank you for making my party so much fun!

Lily The Kitten

As I posted about earlier, Payton had a wonderful 8th birthday.  She got so many wonderful great presents...clothes, shoes, stuffed animals, and toys.  But, there was one present that was definitely her favorite...

This is Lily the Kitten (and Payton).

Payton and Grandma Tammy found her on Craigs List.  They went to the house where the kittens were born and decided Lily was their favorite.  There were five kittens in all, but Lily was the sweetest.

As we were not exactly sure about bringing a pet into our house, the initial plan was that we would keep Lily at our house for a few days, then she would go and live at Grandma Tammy's house.

Well, this silly little kitten must be fairly smart.  She has cuddled, snuggled, and meowed her way right into our hearts.  She was already litter boxed trained when we got her.  She loves to play with all three kids, and besides the occasional unintentional scratch, she is very loving and gentle.  Her worst trait so far is that she wants to sleep right on our faces!  So, she has been confined to the bathroom at night and seems to be just fine hanging out in her bed with some food, water, toys, and a litter box.  And we feel better knowing she isn't wandering all over the house.

Needless to say, Payton ADORES Lily.  She does all the feeding and litter box clean up without reminder or complaint.  She sets up agility courses for Lily and trains her with strings and ribbons.  She plays with her for hours at a time.  She has been a very responsible pet owner and we are very proud of how grown up Payton has been.

So, as of now, (Payton did her own hair in the picture below, fyi) Lilly is going to stay.  I guess I have realized that our daughter is passionate about very few things.  She's ok with school, ok with sports, but passionate about animals.  So I had let go of what I wanted, what others wanted, and choose my daughter this time.

And this silly little kitten.

Snapshots Of Memorial Day

We had another great day at the cabin on Memorial Day.  Pretty much everyone who reads this blog knows what goes on at the cabin, so I won't bother to narrate. :)  Here is a recap of the day...

Payton Ruth, 8 Year Old

We are now the proud parents of an eight year old daughter.  We celebrated Payton's important milestone with a pool party at Grandma Inge's.  In addition to the family, Payton got to invite 8 friends from school.  They weren't all able to make it, but keeping track of all 6 plus our kiddos was enough life guard duty for me!  The kids played in the pool for a while, then we had a pizza picnic lunch.  After some more swimming, we opened presents and had cake.  Payton helped me decorate her rainbow skittle number eight cake.

The party was a great time, and it was fun to see Payton in her element.  Here is a video of all of the fun.  Payton picked the Beyonce music in the background.

PR, we love you SO much! It's hard to believe you are already a 3rd grader and STILL the only girl!  You are sensitive, creative, emotional, and passionate about animals.  And most of the time, you use those qualities for good.  Every once in a while, those qualities create just a little bit of drama :).  We are proud of the young lady you are growing up to be, and we pray that you continue to be kind, smart, and a positive influence on the people around you.  We love you daughter, happy birthday.

Brady: Preschool Graduate, Future Kindergartener

Our first born son reached an important milestone a few weeks back...he donned his cap and gown and showed the world that he is ready for kindergarten in the fall.  That's right, Brady Michael is a preschool graduate.  Brady had a wonderful year.  He made a lot of great friends, including Eli, Narian, Blake, and Dylan.  He learned everything he was supposed to and got a great report card (well, he kicked booty at numbers but needs to work on rhyming... :))  He developed a special bond with his teacher, Mrs. Croshal.  She offered to pick Brady up from our house on Thursday mornings and drive him to school.  Isn't that awesome?!  They were able to chat and get to know each other just the two of them.  She is going to come over this summer and take Brady out for Slurpees and Chik-Fil-A.  We were so lucky to have such a kind and fun teacher for Brady.

A little about the program you'll see in the video.  The graduates sang their own songs first and went through the graduation ceremony.  Then they took off their caps and gowns and were joined by the three year old preschoolers for a few more songs.  Thus, the costume change mid way through.  Also, if you know Brady at all, you know about his favorite place to rest his hands.  He made sure to rest them there in the middle of the program.  I caught a picture of it, make sure to check it out :)

Brady Michael, we are so proud of you.  You did a fantastic job in preschool, and we can't wait to see what you achieve in kindergarten!  We love you buddy.