Toothless Grin

Kaylee has had a loose tooth for a couple of weeks and every meal has been extremely dramatic. "My tooth really hurts," "I can't eat. It hurts my tooth," "Mom, there is blood!!!" So, Warren told her it would stop hurting if we just pulled it out. Kaylee decided that made alot of sense, so our kitchen counter became a dental chair.

Kaylee was so brave!! She off course needed "Piggy" to help, so Nicole (being the sweetest little girl in the world) ran upstairs to get it for her.

Warren kept trying to distract Kaylee by asking her questions, but you can clearly see the fear in her eyes.

It only took a few seconds, but she screamed!!!

Here is the little tooth and when it was all over, she was soooooo excited about the "Tooth Fairy." She probably cleaned that tooth 10 times during the day to get it ready.

I just love their toothless grins!! The one right next to it is also loose, but we will see if she lets Dad do that again.

GOOD JOB NICOLE!!!

On Sunday, Nicole called me over to show me something. It was this picture. I asked her, "Did you do this?" (Because normally Nicole just does circles and lines, nothing to coherent). She smiled so proudly and said, "YES!" She than told me it was a picture of me. Kaylee did the writing below, but Nicole actually drew something where I could tell what it was. I was so excited for her. I don't know if anyone else understands what a huge deal this is, but it is HUGE. She had a concept in her head and put it on paper. This person has arms, legs, eyes, and a dress. YEA for Nicole. I am soooooo excited for her.

Also, the ball in the middle of the dress. I asked her what that was and she said, "Your Baby, Mom." Ummmmm, I don't think so Nicole. Atleast, not for alittle while.

End of Summer

Well, the weather is getting cooler, the colors on the trees are changing, and on Saturday there was snow in the mountains. It is my favorite time of year and I love it. Every time I see a red or yellow leaf, I get so excited and show the girls. Just the other morning, Warren was watching football highlights, the windows were opened with a very cool breeze blowing through, and the girls were getting ready for school. I told Warren I had the nervous, anxious, excited feeling I get this time of year. I have know idea why. Maybe it's school starting, those years in marching band and football games, or maybe it's the fall colors. It makes me feel like baking and shopping. Who knows why-but, I love this time of year. I love Halloween, pumpkins, the food, the clothes, apple picking, pumpkin patches, the decorations, etc. I love it all!!

So, heres to the end of summer and some of the highlights:

POOL FUN

Last year, the girls hardly played in the the splash park, but this year they loved it (when it was opened).


Nicole's favorite thing to do at the pool is to jump in. She just jumps in, climbs out, and jumps back in. The funniest thing to watch is her trying to duck her head in the water with her life jacket on. She loves the water and maybe next year, she will be without life jacket. That is a BIG maybe because she is soooo daring.

This year Kaylee learned how to swim and got pretty confident. One day she swam all the way across the pool, took a break on the other side, and went back. She needed alittle help on the way back, but did AWESOME. It was fun watching her grow in confidence.

Taylor also loves the water or "wa, wa." When I would say okay girls lets go swim, she would quickly stop what she was doing and go find her swimsuit. She never complained when I put her life jacket on and loved to splash in the pool.

LABOR DAY

On Labor Day, we went with our good friends the Carlsons up in the mountains to go off roading. The spot was perfect, no bugs, perfect weather, and big open space. The girls loved it and Warren was soooooo happy!! I think we may have found a new tradition for Labor Day.

Nicole is in her element when we are outside. She loves the dirt and off-roading. She doesn't even blink or scream when they go fast or fly in the air.

Taylor loves the motorcycles. When she hears the engine, she comes running, lifts her arms up, and wants a ride. She gets a huge smile and loves it.

We borrowed a razor from Andy and everyone loved it. Especially Warren and Kent. They would take that thing soooo fast and jump off of things. The girls loved it. You could hear them screaming and laughing from far away.

The car seat could strap into the seat belt, so Taylor was safe while Warren went crazy on the razor. He told me he didn't do anything too crazy, but I wonder? At the end of the day, the girls were flithy dirty. Fun was had by all. We waited all summer to do this, and we squeezed it in at the very end. YEA!!

Now on to my least favorite thing to do when summer is over - the switch over of clothes!! AHHHHHHHH!!

It is such a chore and it kind of makes me sad. When I pack up the clothes the girls have outgrown and pull out the new ones, it makes me reminisce and sad. I remember Kaylee and Nicole wearing the clothes, wonder if I will get to use the baby clothes again, realize how much they have grown, and wonder where the time went. Alot of the outfits have memories and I think about them as I put them away.

Goodbye summer and hello to my favorite time of year.

A Nicole Moment

Nicole is probably the funniest person I know, and many other people agree. On Friday night, we were eating spaghetti with friends and a bunch of noodles were all over the floor. I swept the noodles into a pile and got busy doing other things so I completely forgot about the noodle pile.

Nicole came upstairs for a cookie and walked right through the pile. She stopped, looked at the bottom of her feet, sat down, picked off the noodles, and stuffed them in her mouth. She preceded to eat almost all of the noodles on the floor. We all started to laugh and Nicole got pretty embarrassed, so she ran back upstairs. I went after her and gave her a huge love.

We all love Nicole and she constantly keeps us entertained.

The Photographer

Kaylee worked hard all summer to earn a camera (my old one). She had to behave herself, do her chores, listen to Mom and Dad, and not throw fits. It took her all summer to earn 20 butterflies on her chart, so it was very hard for her. She was sooooo excited about earning her camera and has been taking pictures non-stop. She was very excited to put them on the blog and post about the pictures. So, here are some of her photos and her comments.

This is my sunflower. It grew all summer long. My Kindergarten teacher gave me the seed and it grew in class and at home.

Taylor found a cowboy hat and I took it from her to put it on. I also like my hazel eyes in the picture.

I love feet and wanted to take a picture of my feet.

Nicole took the cowboy hat and wanted to put it on. And her hair looks curly.

My Grandma came over when I got my camera. And doesn't she look pretty.

My other grandma came to see my Mommy's race. Doesn't she look prettty.

This is a picture of my Grandpa that broke his knee. Doesn't he look funny.

This is behind Pikes Peak. I thought it looked pretty.

This is Mommy next to the lake behind Pikes Peak. Isn't her shirt funny. It looks like paint.

This is us in the car going to Pikes Peak. And this is Nicole with her messy water bottle.

Isn't it cool with the sun shining. And this is Mommy after her race.

This is Kaylee's blog - thanks for reading. And I hope you like it. Good bye

I DID IT!!

Yea for me!! I did it and I am not afraid to say, "I am proud of myself!!" For someone who about 3 years ago, would never run more than 1 mile (yes 1 mile) without huffing and puffing - I ran my first 1/2 marathon on Labor Day!! I ran the entire thing in 2 hours accomplishing my goal. I finished 67th out of 230? something. The last 3 miles were painful, but I kept visualizing Warren at the finish line. I was soooo looking forward to falling into Warren's arms all dramatic like. It was fun to be there with Michelle and Diana to calm my nerves and they also did AWESOME - injuries and all.

After the race, I guzzled down water and drank about 3 cups full of gatorade. When I took my sunglasses off, everything was blurry and I was seeing stars - but I just sat down and that was that. Luckily, my parents were there to help with the girls because I needed alittle time after the race to just relax.

Thanks to everyone for putting up with my whining the past couple of months, thanks to Warren for helping me to have the time to train, thanks to my parents for their encouragment, and last of all - I DID IT!! And, I might just do it again - faster!! (looks like I caught the racing bug)

Here are some pictures of me in all my glory -

This was one of the best parts for me - I could see my family!! YEA!!!

I was trying to put on a happy face for the girls - but I was really dying inside.

Off to the finish line!! And, one last small hill. And thanks for the bum shot Warren.