on the go-go

Khloe is officially a scooter/crawler/getting around girl.  She could move a few inches forward and several feet backward for quite a while, but Wednesday, she surprised me.  While playing around on the floor Wednesday evening, she scooted right past me to get some cars that were across the room.  I grabbed my camera, and I took a video as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, I uploaded it to a program that isn't responding to me.  I am trying to get it uploaded to YouTube, but I think it's not going to work.  So, I will take another video of her this weekend, and I will upload it for you all later.  She is doing a great job, though, and I am so proud of her!

Khloe is trying to relate to her Dad ... doing some accounting on the abacus. 

We had dinner at the Adams house one night this week ... someday, this close proximity between Mason and Khloe will not be encouraged!

Cole couldn't get enough of his sister!  He loves to talk to her and give her kisses.  He's such a good big brother.

Big smiles!

We gave Sissy a slice of cucumber last weekend to chew on.  She loved it!

Colton has been making me laugh so much lately.  He always says, "Yeah, I'd LOVE to!" Whenever I ask him if he wants to do something ... "Do you want to go to the park?" ... "Do you want to have corn for dinner?" ... "Do you want to see your friends?" ... "Do you want to run an errand with me?", etc. Or he'll say, "That's what I'm thinking about!"  If you ask him, "Colton what do you want for dinner.?"  He'll tell you what he wants, and then he'll follow it up with, "That's what I'm thinking about!"

At MOMs club this week, we had Kids in the Kitchen.  They made personal pizzas.  The kids enjoyed them.  We went to one of the Mom's houses, and her son has a cool motorized car.  He's a bit older than most of the kids (4 years), so he drove them all around the backyard.  It was pretty cute.  The older kids loved Khloe, and I found them all gathered around her at one point.  So cute!

Just talking to her and giving her kisses.

Colton's friend, Dase, drives him around in his jeep.

This week, Colton showed me just how big he's getting.  He wanted to get a drink all by himself, so he did ... and I saw this little boy reaching up with a big cup, getting water, and taking a big drink.  He did it, and he did a great job!  I'm so proud of him.  He's really growing quickly.  

I am amazed at how grown up he seems--probably because I'm at such a small stage with Khloe right now. He really is a good boy.  I'm pretty lucky!  

I started Jazzercise again this week.  The last time I did it was in Lincoln.  My job was right next to the Jazzercise place, so it was a great way to workout on the way home.  I haven't been able to find any Jazzercise places since (and I did not look the year I was teaching in MN) that has a schedule that fits with mine.  But there is one about 15-20 minutes away from the house that has a class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings that begins at 5:45 a.m.  Now, I have only been to one so far, but it was great! I am looking forward to my next class.  It was just as fun as I remembered.  What a great workout--and with kids, getting my workout over and done with by 6:45 a.m. is perfect!  

I have zero complaints about my kids' sleeping habits.  But Khloe has been on a strange one lately.  I know she is teething ... which can bring on so many challenges, but she has a weird way of showing it.  When she's awake ... she seems miserable ... crying, chewing on anything and everything in sight, uncomfortable, etc.  But this girl can sleep!  She woke up at 10:00 a.m. today (plus had two naps)--and she's in bed right now, asleep at her regular bedtime.  I think she feels better when she sleeps ... or maybe she's going through a growth spurt, too.  I don't know ... but that's what's happening here.  

Today, we met our friends, Duska and Landon, at the water park.  It was a beautiful day!  Very low humidity but hot enough to be at the water park.  It was great!  As I have said before, we will probably be at the water park a lot this summer.  Good thing both kids love it, and so do our friends!

This was last week with Mason and Landon, but I decided to throw it in here.  They are so cute!

Just playing in the water with friends.

This was last week, too ... but I love this picture!

This was today ... she had to wear Colton's hat, because I accidentally left hers at home.  Luckily, it's adjustable ... it worked well.

Loving the water

Colton played in the water all afternoon ... he just needed a breather.

Just being silly with Mommy!

I love this funny kid!

Enjoying some tasty peaches for lunch.

Splashing around with Mason.

Last Friday and this past Tuesday, we went berry picking.  On Friday, we went to a place that was a little ways north of us.  It was called JG Ranch.  They had blueberries and strawberries to pick.  They, also, sold fresh veggies from their own garden along with local honey and jam.  So, we picked a huge bucket of strawberries and just over half a bucket of blueberries.  The kids were pretty hot, so we couldn't pick as long as if we were alone (I went with two of my friends and their kids).  Colton LOVED the blueberry bushes, as usual.  He just ate and ate and ate.  He wasn't a fan of the love bugs that are all over Florida right now.  They were flying everywhere while we picked, and it was freaking him out.  He knows they are "nice" and won't hurt him, but he was still pretty scared of them.  They, also, had animals there.  There were cows, peacocks, and dogs.  The kids really liked the baby calf.  They got to touch its nose.  All in all, we got a lot of great produce.  Blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, honey, and jam.  All of them were great!  I made a fresh blueberry pie and strawberry peach cobbler.  We shared them with our friends.  They were delicious!  

Picking strawberries and blueberries with my kiddos!

Khloe and me enjoying the strawberry picking ... she enjoyed grabbing all of the plants within her reach!

Blueberry picking!

Colton was having a great time picking blueberries!

Mason and Colton checked out the calf.

The spoils of our Friday trip ... fresh garden tomatoes, cucumbers, and two HUGE zucchinis.  Local honey and jam ... and of course, a ton of blueberries and strawberries.

Fresh blueberry pie and strawberry peach cobbler ... they were tasty!

On Tuesday, we went to pick blackberries.  Colton and I picked 5 pounds!  We ate a bunch of them, and then I flash-froze the rest.  I don't know what to make with them ... we have had too much dessert lately, so I decided to freeze them and figure that out later.  They are HUGE and really tasty!  It has been a good week for berry picking here in Florida!

Blackberries!  They are delicious!

Colton's prize blackberry!

Getting in there to help mommy pick.

We plan on visiting a train museum sometime this weekend.  I guess you go on the train ride--which is the museum, so you walk through the train cars as the ride happens.  It's an hour and half long.  Hopefully, it's good for kids!  Sounds fun to me. 

Here's a funny video of Khloe "talking".  She likes to curl her tongue like the letter 'J'.  She makes high pitched screams ... it makes me miss having a boy at this stage--they have much lower voices, but she is a talkative girl.  I would be surprised if she lets Colton do all of her talking.  Right now, she's really into "da-da-da-da".  Sometimes, she'll just say "da-da".  I hope she gets what she's saying.  I try to have her touch Billy's arm when she says it.  Then I try and try to get her to say "ma-ma" ... she's not interested ... they never are! 

 

Mother's Day is this weekend!  I am blessed in my life with my mom, grandmothers, mother-in-law, and step-mother.  I hope I can be as good of a mom to my kids, too.  Happy Mother's Day!

visitors

It has been a busy week!  Last weekend, Colton and I had a little movie night.  We watched 'Cars 2' and ate popcorn together.  It was pretty fun!  We had to have some Mom/Son time while Dad was away. 

Watching 'Cars 2' and eating popcorn.

On Sunday, I took the kids shopping for birthday gifts for their cousins.  We had fun shopping around Wiregrass mall.  They did such a great job shopping that I got Colton a little treat from Blondie's Cookies.  He picked out the Cookie Monster cookie. 



Colton with his yummy cookie!  (He ate it for three days ... he got to have it in small parts.)

On Monday, we skipped going to the MOMs Club event, because it was really chilly!  We were supposed to go to the water park in Zephyrhills, but a cold-front moved in over the weekend.  It would've been way too cold for Colton.  So, we got ready for our first round of company, instead.  We cleaned the house and did some shopping.  That night, our friends, Pam and Austin Purkeypile, came to stay with us.  It was fun to see them ... as we hadn't seen them since Christmas.  They had spent the day at Discovery Cove celebrating Pam's graduation from nursing school.  Congrats, Pam! 

Colton with Austin.

She thought he was pretty entertaining.

Khloe with Uncle Austin.

Khloe liked Aunt Pam, too!

Austin seems ready ...

Uncle Austin and Aunt Pam with the kiddos.

We were supposed to go to the MOMs Club event on Wednesday, but I ended up needing to run some errands.  So, we didn't end up going to that event either.  Austin and Pam left for the airport after the event already started, so we didn't end up going.  We went to the park, instead.  Khloe enjoyed playing on the swings.  She has a lot of fun swinging.  We go on the slides, too.  The park is getting more enjoyable for her.


It was a cold day!

I have been spending some time this week working on some projects.  I have been sanding and using wood filler on the kids' new table and chairs.  Once that's all completed, I can begin to paint it.  I can't wait!  I, also, got started on painting our guest room.  I am really happy with the color I chose for that project.  It looks great, if I do say so myself.   I feel good when I get some projects completed.  I even mowed the lawn, edged the grass, fertilized, picked weeds, and swept the sidewalks this week to help Billy out a little bit.  I felt pretty good when I saw how much work I had done in the yard!

We have hit the park a lot this week!  We have had the most beautiful weather this week.  I knew that we had to get out to enjoy it--as it would not last for long (and this HOT weekend has shown that I was right)!  Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying the park.  I think we went nearly every evening ... and some mornings, too.


Khloe and her big smiles at the park!

Colton enjoying the swings--a rare occasion!

Colton and Khloe swinging together at the park!  I love this shot!

 I got Colton some things from the teacher's store last week, and he got to use some of them this week.  He got to finger paint for the first time.  He really liked it!  He did ask to have his hands washed constantly, but he, also, asked to finger paint a lot this week.  So, I think, all in all, he had a fun time!  Just look at that smile on his face.


He loves to finger paint!

Friday, MOMs Club went to the Florida Aquarium.  I went ahead and bought season passes for the family.  It's not too expensive, and we can use them to go after church on Sabbaths.  It's a great place for Colton and Khloe to see animals with air conditioning!  It's getting so hot here now that the zoo is almost unbearable for too long.  So, we'll have to use the Aquarium passes until next fall! Colton hadn't been to the Aquarium since last spring, so he was really excited to see all of the sea creatures.  He did not want to leave the shark tank.  He cried a little when we had to go.  He was having a great time.  Luckily, we'll be able to go back quite a bit.

Colton just checking out the sharks.



Just hanging out in front of the shark tank ... he is, also, wearing a shark shirt!

There it is!

On Friday night, Brenda, Gerson, Ethan, and Mom H came down to stay with us for the night.  We had a yummy supper of haystacks.  It was fun to see Ethan and to visit with everyone.  On Sabbath, we went to church and then headed to the zoo for a picnic and a few hours of animal watching.  It was pretty hot, though, so we were tired and sweaty by the time we left.  Colton always has a great time at the zoo!  Khloe ... is thinking about having a great time.  She finally fell asleep while we were walking around ... that girl fights sleep when things are going on!  She was so tired when we got home that she slept for nearly 3 hours--and I STILL had to wake her up!  Ethan is really getting big.  He was alert and awake quite a bit this visit.  It was fun to see how much Khloe liked to be near him.  It's funny how much babies like other babies.  


He loves those bubbles at Sabbath School!  Favorite time of the week.

Mommy and Khloe at Sabbath School--singing songs together.

Colton knows how to smile for the camera, and Khloe is very intrigued by Ethan's crying.

Colton, Khloe, and Ethan ... he wasn't too thrilled with tummy time, so Grandma had to help him sit up for the picture.

We all went to the zoo after church on Sabbath.  It was a lot of fun to take the kids around to show them the animals.  We have a really good zoo here in Tampa.  It's not huge, but it's really nice.

Walking around the zoo.

On a hot day at the zoo!

With Khloe at the zoo.

Colton liked the Tigers!

Cheese!

Daddy and Colton looking at the animals.

Enjoying the ride.

           

Had to wake the girl up all weekend ... slept in on Sabbath morning ... slept for a  LONG Sabbath afternoon nap ... love it!

Just snoozing

My girl has been trying so hard to move!  She is on the go now ... it's not pretty, but she's going!  She gets her butt moving and her legs going, but she just reaches with her hands--no help from the upper part of her body.  I know she'll be crawling any minute!  She has the heart for it--she just needs to her body to respond to what she wants it to do.

Hanging out on the floor ready to get moving.

Her little tooshie is up in the air ... and she pushes her feet and reaches so hard to get what she wants.

REACHING  ...

She loves to yell!

And talk ...

She's getting to be so big!

She had her first bath tonight out of the baby tub.  It was a bitter-sweet moment.  I am happy that I don't need to use that thing anymore, but I am sad that she's a big enough girl now not to need it.  She seemed to enjoy sitting up in the tub and playing with her duck.  The days go by too quickly!

Chewing on her ducky.

Happy bath girl ....

Big giggles

Colton had a little funny this week.  I heard him from across the house saying, "I'm sorry, Mommy!  I'm sorry!  Help me!"  When I got into the kitchen, I saw this.

Don't cry over spilled milk!

Apparently, he wanted some milk.  He got it off of the counter, opened it up, and attempted to pour it into the glass.  Surprisingly, none of it made it into that cup!

I took some pictures of Khloe this week while she was in her bed.  She was so cute after she woke up from her nap.  I can't believe how big she's getting, so I wanted to capture some sweet moments.

Such a silly grin!

Just playing with her feet.

I absolutely LOVE this picture!!!

Just another fun Sunday morning at the park with the family.  The weather here has been so wonderful ... and it's about to get WAY TOO HOT! I guess that's why we've been at the water park so much lately.