Storytime

I have been wanting, and needing, to update our blog for quite sometime. I finally have a little time today, however don't have access to the photos I need. So, I thought I would do a little story time. The girls continue to grow and change on a daily basis. As they do there are some funny, and not so funny, moments that come too. I thought I would share some examples:

Story #1 (and the most recent as it happened last night):

I put the girls to bed. Ainsley first, then Kaylee. It wouldn't matter if I had Kaylee go to the bathroom every 5 minutes the hour before she went to bed she would still come out, minutes after I have left her room, to ask to use the bathroom. So as part of our "normal" routine, I left her room, walked into mine and was about to go downstairs when I hear her door open, and there she is asking to go to the bathroom. I say "yes", she heads into the bathroom in our room (for some reason this is the upstairs bathroom of choice, probably because it's farther away from her room and therefore allows her to be out of her room longer than if she would use the one in the hallway by her room). I am now in the kitchen and can hear Ainsley, in her room, right above me, doing her nightly antics in her room, while she is suppose to be sleeping. All of a sudden I hear a very loud crash. I head back upstairs and as I get closer I can hear Kaylee crying. Honestly, my first thought was she was sitting on the toilet playing around and fell off. I walk in my room and she comes out of the bathroom. Here's how the conversation goes:

Me: Kaylee, what happened?
Kaylee: I broke something. (crying)
Me: Take a breath...what did you break?
Kaylee: (still crying) I didn't mean to.
Me: What did you break?
Kaylee: (walks into bathroom to show me as I follow and points to wall): that.
Me: (looking at the wall, by the shower where a towel rack use to be, but now only one of the rod holders is still in place), how did that happen?
Kaylee: I didn't mean to.
Me: I understand that, but how did that happen?
Kaylee: I was swinging on it.

So we went down to tell Daddy. We all had a discussion on how we don't swing on things like that, and thanked her for being honest, and restated that it's important to be honest and take accountability for wrong choices. Then she went to bed.

Story #2:

Daddy decides to go for a walk on one of the trails in our subdivision. He asked the girls if anyone wanted to go on a walk through the timber. Ainsley agreed. She was down in the basement playing and came upstairs, when she came up she had brought a toy with her.

Ainsley: I ready to go.
Daddy: What's that?
Ainsley: It's Diego animal rescuer for the animals.
Daddy: Are you taking it with us?
Ainsley: Yes, I rescue the animals from the forest.
Daddy: Ok, let's go.

Upon their return:

Me: How was the walk?
Daddy: Good.
Me: Ainsley did you see any animals?
Ainsley: No, baby jaguar was in the trees.
Me: Did you rescue him?
Ainsley: NO! I said baby jaguar was in the trees.
Me: Ok.

She can be a bit bossy and a bit blunt.

Yes, I do still blog!

I can't believe my last post was from July. Well, maybe I can, but still where has all that time gone? As summer is winding down and we are looking ahead to fall activities I am reminded about things that I still am wanting to blog on. Some catch-up sessions are definitely in order! Since we have a 3 day weekend coming up I'm hoping to get caught-up, at least a little bit. Here are some of the things I need to work on:

• Individual posts for Kaylee and Ainsley in honor of their birthdays, 3 months ago!
• St. Jude Run
• Random summer fun!

Please check back soon and hopefully you'll see a refreshed, and updated, blog!

Turtle, Turtle

One day Brad was working in the yard. He found a new friend and brought him into visit. It was a turtle. The turtle just sat in the middle of the floor for awhile and didn't move. Eventually he got more comfortable and began to move about. Abby seemed to be very protective and would lay by him, and if anyone came over to the turtle she would stand up and start smelling the turtle and nudging him. After awhile we took the turtle back outside so he could go back to his "home".

Summer Fun

I realize I have been really behind in my posts! We have been having a fun and busy summer. Nothing big, just a lot of fun! We've been having swim lessons on Tuesdays and Kaylee has tap/ballet on Thursdays, playing at parks, working in the garden, and just hanging out. Here are some of our summer fun photos.

The girls got to go to their first wedding this summer. Kaylee was super excited to go! My cousin, Erica, got married and we took the girls. Here is a photo of Kaylee, with cousin Jillian, after the wedding and the cake and punch reception.


Here's Ainsley trying to curtsy in her pretty dress.


We celebrated Father's Day with all of the AWESOME Dads/Grandpas we are so fortunate to have in our lives.

The girls with Grandpa Duffy. We did Father's Day and his birthday.

The girls helping Grandpa Bentley with his Father's Day gift.


Kaylee with Daddy, hanging out.


My beautiful babies on a summer day!

My little Ainsley in her outfit she picked-out to dress-up in. We do a lot of dressing-up in our house.

Ainsley had me put the wings on the back of her dress and she kept turning around going "Where my wings, Where my wings?"


Ainsley in yet another dress. She kept setting Elmo up and he would fall over and she would say "not again", but then once she would get him to stand-up and stay she would knock him over. She loves Elmo so. Thankfully he's a good sport about it. HEHE.

Kaylee was into getting her photo taken. As soon as she would see me take one of Ainsley she would ask me to take hers. So of course I obliged.

We have been doing some swimming. Ainsley LOVES the water. The girl has no fear. She just goes, goes, goes!

Skyeler, Ainsley and Kaylee taking a swim.

We love to eat outside in the summer. Kaylee is really into setting the table and helping out around the house. Which I love! This day she was very proud of carrying everything outside, so I thought a photo was in order. She's so proud!


Of course in summer there is also a lot of ice cream. Many times after swim lessons we go to eat at Green Gables. This night it was our wedding anniversary, so we also needed ice cream! Well my thought was we would be eating it outside, however when I came out from paying Brad had already put the girls in the car. I was a little leery as a friend of mine had just picked-up and gifted the cover for Ainsley's seat. While I can wash it I really wasn't happy about the possibility of needing to...because again we had just got it! Ainsley loved her ice cream and the cover fared well. So all in all it turned out OK.

Fun on the Fourth!

What a rainy 4th of July we had this year! I felt bad for Kaylee because she was SO excited for the 4th; one would have thought it was Christmas by all her excitement. Towanda usually has quite the 4th of July festival. However, given the condition we chose to skip it this year.

We still were able to find some fun though. We had my niece, Skyeler, and nephew, Koen, birthday party. Koen turned 6 on June 28 and Skyeler turned 8 on July 6th. I can't even believe it. Especially Skyeler who was a mere 1 week old when Brad and I got married! The girls had lots of fun, as they always do playing with their cousins.


Grandma and Grandpa Duffy with all the grandkids. It's always interesting trying to get one of these photos. I can't imagine why we have such a hard time getting 5 kids, ages 2-8, to stay still, look at the camera and smile all at the same time.



Ainsley is trying to put on the Uncle Sam hat that was the pinata.


I'm not 100% sure what Maddox and Ainsley are doing in this photo. Perhaps helping each other accessorise? I am 100% sure that regardless of what they are doing that red/yellow car always seems to be involved!


After the party we headed out to Lake Bloomington to watch the fireworks. However, when we got there we found out they had been cancelled. Kaylee was very sad! Which was a little surprising because the night before we had gone to a pre-4th cookout where there was fireworks and Kaylee wasn't a big fan. So Daddy, being the hero he is, took us into Fairview so we could watch the fireworks there. Another reason Daddy is a hero is because he bought headphones the girls could wear so the fireworks wouldn't be as loud. We backed into our parking spot, opened the back of the van and set a sleeping bag up so the girls could sit there and watch, and Brad and I sat in folding chairs. They were all set, with their star marshmallow snacks Grandma had sent, and we were ready to watch!


Kaylee had her headphones on well before the fireworks started! Ainsley ended-up sitting on my lap and putting hers on after the fireworks started.


Waiting for fireworks!

Yey for Daddy who saved our 4th of July!

Recital

This past weekend was a busy one! We had a wedding and Kaylee's tumbling recital. She started taking tumbling last fall. At the end of each year the have a big recital. In the past it's been at U-High, however this year they are remodeling their auditorium so the recital was held in El Paso, which is where her class was. It is a very long day of rehearsal on Saturday and then long recital on Sunday. She did a great job and it was so fun to watch her. The recital was very long, fortunately my niece and nephew were in various acts as well as other kids we knew. So it helped to be able to watch other people we knew.


Here is our little lady bug doing one of her poses. I guess the outfit makes one feel the need to pose. Her class had decided to call themselves the "Ladybug Girls".

Kaylee and Skyeler getting a photo outside of my Dad and Sallie's house.

All of the superstars: Kaylee, Skyeler and Koen with the flowers they got from their Great-Aunt Myra.

So proud!

Every day Brad and I easily find reasons to be proud of our girls. As a parent you hope that you are able to lead by example and instill in them the values you deem important. As they grow you see more of their personality and character. Some times you like what you see and some times not so much. Thankfully their are moments that shine through to reassure you that you are doing the right thing.

It's a busy transition period at Kaylee's school right now. Many children are leaving, as they will attend Kindergarten in the fall, and new children are starting. We've been told by Kaylee's teachers, on several occasions, what a great job she does with new students. She immediately tries to include them and show them "the ropes" (it's hard to believe she will be big kid on campus this year).

One student in particular is extremely quiet, partly due to it being her first time in this type of situation. Most of the children in the class are some what intimidated by this child's silence, and tend to be stand offish as they don't really know how to react to someone who isn't outwardly social. Kaylee has continually taken this girls hand and invited her to play, even assisting in her picking-up blocks. The teachers have told me how cute it is to watch Kaylee take this child under her wing and embrace her.

Every time I think of this I get teary eyed. We have all experienced a time when we have felt like an outsider, or that we didn't fit in. At an age where they still are lacking a filter in most situations it makes me even prouder of my little girl. This is an act that shows her true character. Obviously we try to teach our girls that we embrace everyone regardless of differences, but at 4 that can be a difficult thing to follow.

Ironically over the past several weeks Kaylee has been talking to Brad and I about compassion. She will bring up the word and tell us "it means to help take care of other people". I truly think in this situation she has really shown us what that means and in a much better way than words could ever do.

Kaylee, you are a gem! You have such a kind heart and love of all people. The world needs SO many more people like you. Your Dad and I are so blessed that God gave you to us! We love you!!!