Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Jubilee Partnership Celebration

Aunt Dorothy and another realtor from her church, Paul Campbell, formed the Jubilee Team at Rector-Hayden Realtors effective the first of this year. As such, they had a celebration at one of their client's farms the third weekend in January. They had a bonfire, food, hayrides, music and many people who had a wonderful time! Thank you for including us in such a fun event and good luck with your new partnership! We are wishing you the very best! Here is the beautiful lady of the hour, Aunt Dorothy, with her awesome and husband (and one of my favorite cousins), Uncle Dan.Part of the crowd gathered around the bonfire (the only drawback to the day was it was a bit cold but that didn't stop anyone from having a great time!)Roasting hotdogsMissy K decided she wanted to roast a hot dog tooYum!Moving right along to the marshmellows...and the chocolate...Jackson decided he needed to eat a roasted marshmellow too, my roasted marshmellow to be exact...There was lots of Hot Chocolate which all the kids enjoyed - love that smile! :)Beautiful Miss HeidiTwo nearly 5 year olds (I can't believe it!!! Where has the time gone???)Missy K decided she wanted a picture with the big girls tooAll the kids enjoyed playing on the hay wagon; before and after the rides. Jackson and Holden were no exception. How cute are they smiling at each other??? Love it! :)Love this smile too! :)I think these pictures look so much like cousin Riley! Can you say ADORABLE??? :)Aunt Dorothy and Heidi posing for me :)Holden all snuggled up with Mom to stay warm - so sweet!Missy K decided she needed to be in this picture too. lol :)These guys were great and absolutely perfect for this event!I had a hard time getting a picture of all 5 kids together, especially since Heidi wouldn't come out from under the blanket. lol :) Sometimes you take whatever you can get, whatever that is... lol :)Miss Heidi peeking out for a quick picture especially for me. :)There was another wagon that was taller than the one used for the hayride and clear of anything so the kids could run back and forth and peek through the end. They had a great time playing together on this and I think I captured some of the cutest pictures of the day here. I know I'm biased, but I really do think 5 of the cutest kids on the planet live here in Lexington. ;)Holden and Reagan playing a game of Peek-A-Boo (I think - having fun with some game in anycase)One tuckered out baby boy!Thank you so much for including us on this fantastic afternoon! We know you all will do amazing things together in this new partnership! Congratulations and Good Luck!

Martin Luther King Weekend 2012

The girls love sleeping with Grammy whenever she visits. I always feel sorry for Grand-dad because he's left to wander the house in search of a bed because the girls frequently change their minds on what bed it is they're sleeping in. I feel especially bad when he ends up on the couch but he is such a sport for being so flexible! In the meantime, Grammy is a pretty good sport for being willing to sleep with my two wild and crazy girls. Jackson has become increasingly determined to do whatever the girls are doing so when they settled down for bed and to watch a movie he marched right in the bedroom and wanted to get on the bed as well. He was pleased as punch with himself for being up on the bed. I wish I could have caught his incredibly smug look on film. Thank you Grammy for attempting to sleep with my three crazy iddo kiddos (although Jackson did go to his crib at least)! :) When Missy K woke up Saturday morning she came downstairs, curled up in the entryway and did her best to go back to sleep. Grand-dad found her and called me to come and snap a picture. By the time I arrived she had popped up. I asked her to "pose" for me so I could get my picture, hence the smile on her face. In all seriousness, however, last week on the way home from gymnastics she fell asleep in the van and when I asked her to come in she barely made it in the door before lying down on the floor and falling fast asleep. No pillow, no blanket nothing but the hardwood floor in the same position as this picture. What a nut! lol :) The girls helped Grand-dad make our favorite breakfast meal when we're with them, Blueberry Muffins! :)Meanwhile Jackson was busy playing slots with Grammy. lol :) Then Jackson decided he had to go outside, immediately, without shoes or jacket. I decided I didn't want to listen to him scream inside and he'd probaly decide he wanted to be inside or at least outside with boots on if I let him take a couple of steps in the snow and make his own (well informed) decision.Poor baby! I was right though, he decided he didn't want to be on our deck barefoot that morning. :) On a truly sad note, this is the most snow we've had all winter! We can't wait for a good dump where we can sled and build a snowman! Actually, Reagan has been asking about a snowfort. I've been trying to explain to her that we are unlikely to receive enough snow for a long enough period of time to accomplish building a snowfort. I guess we need to be planning a Wisconsin winter visit before too long. :)After Jackson came back in he helped the girls lick the Blueberry Muffin bowl clean.The girls have been enjoying building with Legos more and more. Grammy brought some new Legos which are specifically geared towards girls for both Reagan and Kennedy. I was surprised how well Kennedy followed the directions with my assistance. She sometimes has a little difficulty getting the small pieces on but she was very patient and did a great job building the little bunny house, car and cart this kit came with.Grand-dad and I found this picture of the piece popping out of Kennedy's hand amusing. You can't plan these pictures! lol :)Reagan truly amazed me by tackling the directions on her own. This is the first time I remember her doing that and she did a fantastic job. She asked for assistance a couple of times but she primarily managed it by herself. Way to go Reagan!



As I'm sure anyone who has a child (or has been a child) knows there is something about taking the cushions off furniture and using them to build. There are many days I wonder why we even try to put cushions on any piece of furniture in our house! I love these pictures Grand-dad caught of Reagan "building" a hideout with what we refer to as the "Missy K chair" and our kitchen chair pads. Yep, I'm so sneaky but I am in here!Grand-dad said Reagan reminded him of Alice in Wonderland while playing under this chair. I hadn't ever thought about it but I totally agree with him, especially in this picture. I love my little Alice! :) Thank you for such a fun weekend Grammy and Grand-dad! :)

UK Excite Night

We attended the University of Kentucky's Excite Night for their opening women's gymnastics meet the first weekend in January. It was a fun family night out watching gymnastics, which is becoming increasingly important in our household with my Little Foal and Extended Star Filly. :)Jackson was probably the most impressed. He loved the music but he also clapped for the gymnasts. He was adorable!While Reagan enjoyed the gymnastics, the Cotton Candy was the highlight of her evening. As a matter of fact, when we were leaving Reagan told me what a wonderful time she had and asked if we could go again sometime. As I was saying yes and thinking how nice it is when an activity your doing for your kids turns out the way you hoped with everyone having fun, Reagan added "because I really loved the Cotton Candy!" Well, I'm glad she enjoyed something from the evening. lol :)Kennedy was the least interested in the activities but she was all about the Cotton Candy!The girls were being so good Tim took them in search of our first purchase of the Cotton Candy. They gobbled it down and soon someone selling Cotton Candy came by us so we bought another one. It was another blue though and Reagan had seen and wanted pink. Since he didn't have any pink he went to get some specifically for Reagan and so we purchased 3 Cotton Candies... No wonder Reagan thought Cotton Candy was the highlight of the evening! lol :)

I wish I had been able to somehow capture Jackson's reaction to the Cotton Candy. He really had no interest in it what so ever. Everytime we tried giving it to him he acted confused and like he thought it was something he shouldn't be putting in his mouth. He didn't get it at all. I don't know why it was so confusing for him, especially with the girls rate of consumption, but he did not go for it. Maybe he wasn't interested because he was too engrossed in the gymnastics! lol :) I sure love my three goofy kiddos! lol :)

Monday, January 30, 2012

Cracking Eggs

The first Saturday in January I decided to use the last of the Buttermilk we had from the holidays on some Blueberry Pancakes. This was my second time making Buttermilk Pancakes (the first being earlier in the week on regular pancakes) and I can't believe the difference in the fluffiness. They are so good! :) Anyhoo... my usual cooking companion immediately jumped right in to help me mix the pancake batter. Kennedy has been cooking with me so much lately that she has become quite adept at cracking eggs. As such, I did my best to try and capture a picture of this developmental milestone. :)Reagan decided she wanted to help as well and so she measured and added the milk.While the girls were scrambling the eggs Jackson decided he wanted to be part of the action and was doing his best to pull one or the other (or both?) of his sisters off the step stool they use for cooking. lol :) These girls make awesome scrambled eggs and pancakes and I love all the assistance (most of the time... ;)!