Mom of the Year

I'm out of the running AGAIN this year! Man. Maybe next year.
This is one of those stories that I would probably rather forget, but Randy told me I need to write it down, and as it gets farther and farther away I am able to laugh about it a little more.
Last week Randy was gone for the whole week. Because the days were so long with just the three of us, I made it my goal to get the girls in bed most nights around 8 so that I could have some time by myself to catch up on housework, do school, and just watch t.v. and rest. Tuesday night I was able to do that, but before I had put the girls to bed I had started the sprinkler in the front yard. After I put the girls down, I did some things around the house and remembered I needed to go turn off the water. Cooper was already asleep and I hadn't heard Kendall for a long time, so I figured she was asleep or almost asleep, and I was just going out to turn off the water and come right back in.
When I walked back around the side of the house though, I saw our neighbor, Bud. We said hi and then he told me that he just heard I was working on my masters. We started talking and I told him some about what I was doing and he was very complimentary and before I knew it, we had been talking awhile. It was fine though, I figured, because the girls were both asleep. Then Frannie pulled up with their daughter Nicole, who just found out she is pregnant recently with their first child. We started talking baby stuff and I started to think it had been a pretty long time and it was probably time for me to head back inside. When I went inside, it had been about 45 minutes. But both of the girls were still quiet, so I just took care of stuff around the house and went to bed.
The next morning, when Kendall called me from her room, I went in to get her and the first thing she said was this:
"Mom! Last night (which, I never know what this means--it could mean five minutes ago or it could mean two weeks ago) I was crying and calling you. You didn't come get me, so I got out of my bed."
Me - "Kendall! You got out of your bed? (She never gets out of her bed) When did you say this was?"
Kendall - "Last night Mom! I was crying and I got out of my bed and I didn't find you! I went to the back door like this (she is acting all this out for me) and I tried to open it but it was locked. And then I still couldn't find you and so I laid down on the floor (in the hall between the kitchen and living room) and I cried like this! (She is so distressed at this point). Mom! You left me and Cooper by ourselves and we are too little to be by ourselves! We need someone to watch us!"
So, I am starting to think that this must have really happened because there are too many details and she is really upset. I told her that last night I went out in the front yard to talk to Frannie and Bud and Nicole, but that I didn't leave her. I told her that when I came back in the house she was asleep. I remembered that her door was still closed when I came back in, so I asked her what she did next and if she closed her door.
Me - "What did you do, Kendall?"
Kendall - "I didn't find you so I got in my bed and cried!"
Me - "Did you leave your door opened or did you shut it?"
Kendall - "I closed it. I didn't know you were outside!!"
Oh.My. I felt so awful! She thought that her and Coop were all by themselves! I held her and told her probably a million times that she is never alone and I would never leave her by herself. I told her that I thought she was asleep and I was just right outside the front door talking to the neighbors. I can't believe she just got back in her bed and went to sleep, thinking that she was by herself!
She told Randy about it on the phone that day, she told him about it when he got home, and she has retold the story to me several times since then. Awesome. Glad that one of the only times she has ever gotten out of her bed was a time when I was in the front yard for 45 minutes.

Singin' (and Dancing!) in the Rain!

It rained in Lake Jackson today! We were so excited to get rain - it has been forever since we have had anything at all. It is so dry here and that is so not normal! Kendall wanted to go out and play in it, so we put her rain boots and rain coat on and got her umbrella and headed out to jump in puddles!

She was so excited!
Getting ready to jump!



Love this!



So much fun!

Cooper was with us - I was just holding her the whole time. :)

This was after she took her jacket off and told me she wanted to take her dress off because the bottom of it got wet. That would be "no." :)

Cooper loved watching her sister have fun!

Happy rainy Wednesday! Here's hoping for more tomorrow!

Happy Father's Day!

I just found this post and realized I never posted it! I am so behind on blogging these days!
For Father's Day weekend at church, we served popcorn. Randy and I spent some time on Friday and Saturday bagging a BUNCH of popcorn - and Kendall had fun helping. I think she ate way more than she bagged, though! While we were working, she decided to put the totes full of popcorn in front of the door, and then she put her chairs in front of them. Sometimes when Randy is getting ready to leave after lunch to go back to church, Kendall and I will run and stand in front of the door and say, "No! You can't leave! Don't leave us!" :) So she told us that she was going to put these big things in front of the door and then Daddy wouldn't be able to leave. She cracks us up!

One of her jobs was to hand us a new bag of popcorn every once in awhile!

Randy had to leave on Sunday night to go to camp, but we came home from church that morning and fixed him a good Father's Day lunch and told him that when he got his Iphone later in the month, we were getting him an Otter Box! Kendall is so into otters these days after going to Sea World - she was very excited about the Otter Box.

We love our Daddy and are so thankful for him! We had a great Father's Day weekend and enjoy all the fun things we get to do with him every day! Love you Ran!

Tangled

Meet Rapunzel. :) Or "Tangled" as she is sometimes known in our house. Kendall came in the living room the other day with her princess tent around her neck and said, "Look Mom!! I am Rapunzel!! Look at my long hair!!" Then she ran around the room with her hair behind her and then gathered it all up and threw it up in the air just like Rapunzel does on the movie.

How does she come up with this stuff?? I just love watching her imagination and creativity.

I love this girl!

The Camper!

Last week was very exciting for Kendall! I had a class in Houston to go to all week, so Gigi and Peeps and Grandma Dane came down from Sunday to Wednesday to help with the girls! Kendall was extra excited because we had told her that they would be bringing their camper and that she would be able to sleep in there with them! This was the first time for them to bring the camper and it worked out great! Grandma Dane slept inside in Kendall's room and she got to sleep out there with Gigi and Peeps. They got in pretty late Sunday night, so she was already asleep, but she had so much fun checking it out Monday and then Monday night she was practically begging us to let her go to bed...starting at like 7:30! She kept saying, "Can I go to bed now?!" and then at one point we were sitting around talking and she yawned really big and said, "I am so sleepy...I'm ready to go to sleep in the camper!"

Here she is posing in her little bed! It was so cute how excited she was!
She slept great in that bed on Monday night, but Tuesday night she ended up in the big bed with Gigi and Peeps. She still slept great that night...I'm just not sure about Gigi and Peeps!

Tuesday night after I got home from my class and Randy got home from work, we cooked burgers and then went out to the beach for awhile. It wasn't long before Kendall was taking her swim suit off, going to the bathroom, and then Randy was having to help her wash it out and put it back on. We have got to teach that girl how to tinkle with her suit on!

We had a great visit with Gigi, Peeps, and Grandma Dane! I was so thankful they were able to help while I had my class and Kendall had such a blast in the camper! We love yall!!

Bathtime Sing-Along

Our little ham...we love hearing her sing! And so does her sister!

She says, "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, bake YOUR MAN! Bake me a cake as fast as you can! Roll it, roll it, throw it in the CAN!" Love it!

25

Kendall, Cooper, and I met Randy at "Chick-a-lay" for lunch today. Randy claimed a table (it is so crazy all the time in our Chick-fil-A - we SO need another one!) with the girls while I went and ordered our food. I brought our number and drinks back to the table and went to get straws and napkins. When I got back to the table, Randy said, "Kendall, tell Mommy what this number is!" and pointed to our sign. She said, "25!" He said that when I was gone, she said, "Dad. That's a number." And he said, "Yes - what is it?" thinking she would say "2" or "5." She said, "25!"
What in the world?! Who even knew she knew 25?! Crazy. We have been doing "school" every day this summer in the mornings while Cooper naps, but we haven't been spending as much time on numbers as we have on letters and writing, and I for sure have never taught her 25. Sesame Street maybe? Maybe we should just watch more t.v. :)

Memorial Day

We had a great Memorial Day....over a week ago! So behind. Anyway, the girls wore their new dresses from Gigi and Peeps and they looked so cute. We had two fun parties to go to and had a great day together as a family!

For lunch we went to the Beams! Kendall had fun running around in the backyard with Brynlee, Lawson, and Aubrey, and even got to swim a little in their pool!

After the girls' naps we went to the Pearts for a cookout to say goodbye to our friends the Blocks. They are moving to Iowa and we will miss them! We had a fun party though! I think its hilarious that this is what Kendall does these days when we ask her to pose!

The Peart's backyard is so cool - they live on a corner and none of their neighbors have fences, so when you look out their back windows it looks like they live in a park! Very cool and great for parties!

Cooper was very interested in this yellow cup. :)

They had a water slide, and we brought her bathing suit, but Kendall was not interested. She enjoyed playing on the swing set with Caleb!

It was a long, hot, fun day! The girls were worn out that night and slept well, though! Happy Memorial Day!

Some Kendall stories

A few days ago, Randy was holding Cooper, singing, "Who put the bop in the bop shoo bop shoo bop? Who put the ram in the ram-a-lam-a-ding-dong? Who was that man? I'd like to shake his hand, he made my baby fall in love with me!"
Kendall, always listening, said, "Daddy, it was Jesus! He made our baby!"

This weekend, Randy cut his finger pretty badly with the hedge trimmer. He came in the house with it bleeding and since he had been working in the heat with not enough water ended up getting light headed and needing to lay down on the floor. Our friend Carlette, a nurse, came over to look at his finger and bandage it and while she was doing that, Kendall, was standing next to me. She said, "Mommy, God will heal Daddy's boo-boo." Love that faith! Later in the day when he was fixing his bandage, Kendall said, "Mommy, we should pray for Daddy now." We stopped right there and prayed for Daddy's finger to feel better. So sweet!

Yesterday we were driving and out of the blue, she said, "Dad. Why can God always hear us?" We said, "Well, he can hear us all the time because he is always with us! Even when we can't see him, he is always with us." She said, "Ok!" And that was it - she moved on to something else. It is amazing to us that she just believes something so easily that she can't see!

This afternoon, Cooper was fussing when I was feeding her. Kendall looked at her and said, "Cooper! It's ok, God is always with you!" Love it! I said, "Kendall! Thank you for teaching Cooper that! She is so lucky to have you for her big sister to teach her all these things!" She said, "Mom. When Cooper is big, I am going to teach her to say Yes! to Mommy and Daddy. And to not say No." That would be awesome, Ken. Thank you. :)

It's never boring around here!

Sarah Sleeps Over!!

"Mom, Sarah is my best friend." I hear this a lot! Kendall loves Sarah. And she has been wanting her to come and sleep on her "secret" bed ever since she moved into her big girl room last summer. She was two and a half and she just knew that the little bed underneath her's was for Sarah. Last Sunday night, Sarah was finally able to spend the night! Mary and Nathan were running in a race on Memorial Day morning really early in Houston, so Sarah came to stay with us Sunday night. Kendall was so excited about it!

Sarah didn't come over until around 8 that night, but Kendall was ready! They took baths and then of course they had to wear each other's pajamas, just like they did when Kendall spent the night at Sarah's house in December.

Kendall is holding one of the many babies Sarah brought. She was taking very good care of it. :) Look - they even traded house shoes.
Besties!!

Sarah loves to hold Baby Cooper and asked if they could take a picture with her. Look how proud she is to be holding her!

Crazy Kendall!

Before bed we let them watch a movie! They both agreed on Monster's Inc.

Brushing teeth before bed!

Ready to read and go to sleep! I wish I could explain how excited Kendall was. Even still, right before bed. She was giddy. So sweet!

I always think it's funny to see Kendall being a goofball and look at the faces Sarah has when she is watching her - cracks me up! What in the world does Sarah think about our silly girl?

I read to them, left the room at 9:45 and we heard them talking for a little bit, but by 10 it was silent! They were out! And they slept all night until 8:00 the next morning!

Mary and Nathan dropped Caleb off VERY early Monday morning and we hung out watching Monster's Inc until the girls woke up. Then Randy fixed pancakes, sausage and eggs and we had four happy kids on our hands!

Kendall had so much fun and they did so well together! It was a fun night and we can't wait to do it again! We love you, Sarah Grace!

San Antonio with Gigi and Peeps!

On Tuesday, May 17 (I am SO behind!) we left Pops and Kiki's house and headed to Gigi and Peeps to meet them and head to San Antonio! This trip has been planned since Christmas and is their birthday presents to all of us this year - what a great present! Kendall was so excited to go with Gracie and Evy (and Val and Dohe!). She loves her cousins and has so much fun every time she gets to be with them!
When we got to Gigi and Peeps' house, they had the cutest little backpacks filled with stuff for the trip for each of the four girls. Kendall and Gracie put their's on and they were ready to go, watching us get the cars loaded and ready! I love this picture of them sitting waiting oh so patiently. :)
We had a great drive down to San Antonio....Randy and I had the little girls and Gigi, Peeps, Val, and Dohe had Kendall and Gracie. The hotel we stayed at was the Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch - so nice and such a great layout for our family! There were three rooms, each with their own bathroom, and a living room and a kitchen for us to cook dinners in. It worked out great! The facilities were super nice, too. There was an indoor/outdoor pool that was heated (which was wonderful, because it was a little colder than we expected!), and a lazy river with a beach! Wednesday we just stayed at the hotel and played in the pools and lazy river all day. Here are the girls posing for a picture....what makes them think to do that when you say "pose!" Monkey see, monkey do!

Playing with Val and Gigi in the lazy river. This part was NOT heated and I was not about to get in that cold water! :) I had a great time sitting in the sun on the beach with Peeps.

Here the girls are one night waiting for dinner, doing some painting. Kendall loved Gracie's color wonder paint things...we need to get some of those!

One of the things in their matching bags from Gigi and Peeps were matching dresses! We dressed them up in them for our trip to SEA WORLD! on Thursday. We had to get a picture of all four girls before we left - so cute!

What a diva!

Sea World was so much fun! We took family pictures as we were walking in:

The Davises

The Danes

and Gigi and Peeps with all four granddaughters! Strollers = best idea we ever had. It was a lot of walking!

Kendall loved all the shows we saw, but I think this first one was probably her most favorite. It had sea lions, walruses, and her favorite - the baby otter. Except she says it so cute - kind of like "oder." I don't know how to write it, but it's cute. :)

Taking a break in the Sesame Street play area with Peeps! Goofy girl.

There was a really cool climbing thing with slides in the Sesame Street area. Kendall decided she wanted to climb, and since she is usually scared of that kind of thing, I jumped on it and went with her just because I was so happy she wanted to do it - even though I was in a dress. Oh well!

Sesame Street Sing-Along! Again, we were not sure if she would like this or not, but she did fine! She is usually pretty terrified of anyone in a costume.

She loved it, though! Cookie monster did come up at one point and want to give her a high five, but I was able to wave him off and she was so brave! So proud of her. :)

The Shamu show! It was so beautiful - those animals are awesome! Kendall was very intrigued and we had a great conversation about whales and how they are the largest mammals. She loved the baby whales!

At the end of the day, we walked over to the dolphin feeding tank. Kendall had fallen asleep in her stroller, but Randy decided this was too cool to let her miss. He woke her up, bought some fish, and she actually fed the dolphins! We were super proud of her for doing this - and now she says that that was her most favorite part of the whole day!

Look how close they were! So cool!

Friday we did a little more swimming and then headed back to Lake Jackson. We had such a great trip and loved getting to go to San Antonio with our cousins and grandparents! Thank you so much Gigi and Peeps! We loved it!