Emily's First Day of School!

Well, I officially have a child in school now. Yikes. Emily started school this week, and she was so excited!! Doesn't she look so grown up?! I cannot describe the feelings the were going through me as I watched her file into her classroom (and yes, I cried). She, however, hardly looked back! Emily was so ready and so excited to be going to school. Her teacher(s) are very nice and already art class is her favorite thing. She has a new friend every day (well, the two days that she's been, so we're 2 for 2) and gets to eat lunch there with the other kids which is always fun. But very loud, she says.

I didn't think having her at school would make things much easier at home--I even wondered if it would be harder since she's such a big helper--but it has been a bit, easier I mean. I only have two heads to keep track of if we go anywhere, and it is actually a little easier to gear things toward the younger ones instead of bouncing between the older and younger mindsets. I didn't realize how wearing that was. We are all excited to go pick her up at the end of the day, however.

Emily's favorite things:

1) ice cream, watermelon

2) red, pink and purple colors

3) anything to do with art

4) bbq pork and rice, corn and peas

5) Strawberry Shortcake

6) Horses and cats

7) books, she's so close to reading all by herself!

8) School!

9) My Little Pony

10) Puzzles

on a lighter note...

The girls started their first time with swimming lessons. They have had a blast. I am not a huge fan of 8:30am lessons, but they do get us up and going a lot earlier than usual. The pictures pretty much tell the story of how things are going. Kimmie is a little nervous but is doing well. It takes a bit of convincing and she'll only do as much as she absolutely has to, but she does it. She is getting a lot more comfortable in the water.
Emily, on the other hand, has thrown herself into swimming. She loves doing all the things she is asked to and will do it and much more. She cannot keep still in the water for a second, she is so excited to be there.

Poor Calvin is forced to sit and watch from the sidelines. He so desperately wants to swim! He hasn't thrown any major fits as we retreat up the stairs to the bleachers, for which I am thankful. I think he has enoyed the one-on-one time with me a bit too. We have been reading and coloring and eating chocolate, while I am trying to watch the girls at the same time. Lately he's discovered the drinking fountain, which he thinks is pretty cool. I have my doubts as to how much actually ends up in his mouth, but he's trying. Every five minutes, if he could. Here's a picture of him after an ice cream cone. You'd think I would have learned not to give the kid chocolate... but the pictures are always good for memories.

Books and a soap box episode

So I've been reading a lot lately, which is not really good. Last night I finished a book called "The Appeal" by John Grisham. Now, I've read a couple of his other books and enjoyed them, but by the end of this one I was mad. First, I was mad about how the book ends. The bad guy wins. If I am going to spend hours reading a book when I should be doing other things, I want to read something better than doing those things! I see enough garbage about the bad guy winning in real life, I don't want to read about it!! Second, I am perturbed and angry at the way Grisham sneakily and indirectly casts doubt on the stand that homosexuality is morally wrong. He infers that strong Christians are bigots and that somewhat who supports the death penalty and opposes abortion is a walking contradiction. What?!?! I also thoroughly dislike the way he breeds mistrust of the government, and dislike even more that that distrust may be well-founded, I will never know. The more I hear what Obama is doing the more I think he is a sleazeball in gentleman's clothing. And no, it's not because of race! I am annoyed that people who voted against him because of issues were labeled racist while the people who voted for him specifically because of his race were the "open-minded" ones. Please. So now, according to the media and others, people who stand up against mandatory abortions that force doctors who don't believe in them to perform them for minors without parents' knowledge are now the intolerant ones. According to them, Christians who support family values are blind sheep, uneducated and unreasonable zealots who are striking out at "reason" and "tolerance" because they are afraid and backward. And they seem to say that churches that urge action in moral issues are stepping outside their bounds and should have their nonprofit status revoked for interfering in political issues. And all this makes me mad. They take the truth and twist it around to their own point of view. They glorify good religious people as long as they stick to giving to the poor and needy, but if you want to preserve family values and resist having the world's ideals foisted on you... well.
So the book made me think, and made me mad. Overall, I would not recommend it. Not conducive to a good night's sleep.

birthdays, piggyback and ring around the rosie

So I had a birthday, and here are the pictures. It is so fun to have family close by to come up for the festivities (and so I'm not left eating a very yummy cake all by myself)! John was a dear and made the fettucine alfredo (the ingredients all just happened to be in the fridge; hmm, imagine that :). And he made my favorite ding-dong cake with the girls, who firmly believe that cool whip always tastes much better when it is purple. Here is a picture of blowing out the candles: my first birthday (well, maybe since I was one or two and couldn't do it myself) when I didn't get to blow them out. Calvin came sneaking up during the song and before I knew what was happening he had the candles blown out before the last notes of the song had ended! I was so surprised that he knew exactly what to do and had the lung capacity to do it (only two tries!). It was hilarious, and I didn't mind too much.


Here's the crew partaking of the goodies. Matt was here too, but he was in the other room on the phone when I decided to get out the camera. Sorry Matt! And all bets are off at the dinner table (well, ours, anyway): you leave ice cream unattended long enough and it will disappear one way or the other! Thanks guys for coming up, it was really fun.

Kimmie and Calvin both thought the cake was pretty darn good. Funny how not hungry they are during dinner. Then you pull out the cake and all of the sudden those kids are starved!

I had to make cookies for the stake pioneer day activity (which got rained out, lovely), and Calvin has recently discovered the perks of "helping." Said perks ended up all over his face (it was yummy dough) and we had to get a picture. He would only pose with me in it too, so forgive the saturday non-grooming and just look at the kid.

And here's a series of photo of piggybacks. I came in the room and Calvin was giving Kimmie a piggyback around the room, trying his hardest to actually move with her on top of him (which is actually not as hard as it seems since he weighs nearly the same as she does, notwithstanding the six inches she has on him!). So I pulled out the camera and they all showed their amazing piggybacking skills.

Last but not least, here's Calvin's latest and greatest. He has been singing Ring around the Rosie and Twinkle Little Star all the time the past few days. This is the best I could get on video. The kid refuses to perform on demand. Still, I think it's cute.

In other news, the girls started swim lessons today and were very excited. And of course I forgot the camera. Emily was so excited she could hardly stay still in the water, it was so funny to watch. Kimmie was not at all sure of things and had to be convinced to do everything, though she did it eventually. She can be such a daredevil if she's sure of herself, but if not, it's really hard to get her to try. She zips around better than Em on a bike, but in the swimming pool she's pretty timid. Calvin was dying to get in the water with them but sadly, not allowed. I'm going to have to find someone to watch him during their lessons or find something really creative to do or he's going to go crazy by the end of the week. I'll take him to the open swim session on Friday though, and hopefully that will make it up to him. Anyway, I'll remember the camera tomorrow!

happy Fourth of July

I guess I should post pics of the holiday weekend. We celebrated the Fourth around here abouts. John really wanted to go camping but because of many factors it didn't work out. When the downpour started about dinner time I was kind of glad we didn't! Fortunately it cleared up by the time fireworks were ready to go.

Anyway, we started the morning early cooking 5 dozen eggs for the ward breakfast. Holy cow! They had plenty of eggs there. Pancakes were yummy too. After that we puttered around a bit and then John took the kids up to the foothills on a hike with his family. I stayed home, watched a movie (Great Expectations... weird), and cooked food to get ready for the bbq that night. We drove down to John's parents for the bbq, stopping to get fireworks on the way (nothing like waiting til the last minute), and had a fun dinner there. John's brother David was in town and was the newly elected favorite uncle in Emily's book--which might have had something to do with him carrying her the entire hike up the mountain earlier that day. During dinner the thunderstorm started and we got a bit nervous, but as I said it cleared up and was pretty nice for the fireworks, although kind of cold! We went to the church and set up blankets and chairs on the lawn to watch the city's fireworks. It was fun. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I couldn't capture the cute scene of Emily on David's lap, Kimmie on Richard's, and Calvin on Gary's to watch the show. Darn it!! We also had lots of sparklers and I'll have to download pics off my phone to see if any of those turned out. After the show the streets were a parking lot so we did our fireworks at the church. Made for a late night, but it was fun. The kids all conked out pretty quick on the drive home. What a novelty to be able to spend an evening with family and then drive 15 minutes home to sleep in our own beds! Can everybody just come move to Colorado? It would make things a lot easier!!
This picture is from Sunday night dinner. Notice the Trivial pursuit game. Gary and Richard were obliging and let me trounce them at this game again. I think they use it as insurance so I will continue to play other games with them, knowing that they can beat me at everything else! I've gotten so I refuse to play any kind of economic or strategic game with them--there's just no point. I already know the outcome! If luck is involved, then I at least have a sporting chance, albeit a small one. These boys are just too smart for their own good. I think playing Trivial Pursuit is good for them. :) Okay, it's not too bad for my ego either. ;) Thanks guys.

This past weekend was fun. I went to a baby shower (time away from kids, what a concept!) and John took the kids around shopping and downtown. I met them there later. We got these prizes from the library's summer reading program so we went and got some free ice cream cones for the girls (and yes, some for me, though John and Calvin shared too) then walked around a bit. John showed me the Oak Street plaza where they had a band playing and a little water sculpture/park that the kids LOVED. They got totally soaked. I kind of wanted to join in, it was hot! There was also a guy doing balloons there and Calvin kept trying to take the other kids', so I got him a dragonfly, then Em wanted a flower and Kimmie a butterfly. They were pretty good! They lasted all of an hour after we got home, but it was fun and the kids loved it. It was fun to do fun things together as a family. I tried to get pics of the kids with their balloons, but getting them to all look in the same direction after a long day get interesting. Oh well...

I also have to post this picture of Calvin and me, because I love it! He is my little buddy and cuddlebug. He is all boy, but already watches out for his mom and knows when she needs a hug. And also knows that if he needs a hug, he can always get one from me!

weird weather

This spring has been pretty wild here. We have had more rain, and two weeks straight of thunderstorms. There was a little break and now we're getting more. About a week ago we had a really interesting day when a thunderstorm came rolling in. It looked like a good one so I got online to see what was going on (our tv doesn't pick up any channels yet, haven't figured it out). Lo and behold, there's a tornado warning, and a report of one being sighted 5 miles sw of our city. Great. I thought we left this stuff back in Kentucky!! So I took the kids (waking Calvin from his nap) down to the basement with a bag of pretzels and the phone, freaking out the whole way. I have nightmares repeatedly about tornadoes, so I probably didn't handle the whole thing very well. Thanks to my mom and to John's fam for staying on the phone with me to tell me what was going on and keeping me from wigging out completely. Thankfully, the kids remained relatively calm and thought it was fun to eat pretzels on a blanket downstairs. We had hail and wind and lots of rain, but no tornado (here anyway, there were a couple down south). But it was good I was down there since our back window turned into a waterfall as the rain built up in the window well started pouring into the basement. Fortunately it's just cement and the drain was back there so it wasn't too hard to sweep the water into the drain and stop it up (or at least control it) with towels and buckets. But it made for an interesting afternoon. I have also decided that Colorado is woefully unprepared for any kind of weather emergency. The closest tv broadcasting channels are all an hour and a half away and the radios (even local stations) were just playing music like nothing was wrong. It was really frustrating to try and figure out what was going on outside.

Here's a couple pics of the hailstorm that came through two weeks ago. It shredded most peoples' gardens so I guess it's good we haven't really done much with the yard yet. Sad though. John's coworker started an organic farm this year and lost all his crop. Pretty tough when your livelihood depends on forces completely out of your control. The hail was at least nickel-sized. All in all, I would say this spring has been Kentucky-worthy. Definitely not boring.

Just for fun, here's a video of me trying to get Calvin talking. It sort of worked. You get an idea of how he's doing, but he's never been one to perform on demand. He's actually quite the conversationalist. He's pretty physically adept as well. I wish I had a video of him yesterday riding a scooter down the driveway and the sidewalk. He's not even two yet! (Okay, he's only got a couple months left, but still!) His latest thing is jumping off couches and chairs, and he lands on his feet! This one's definitely going to keep me busy.

yesterday

Yesterday I got a lot done. It is somewhat rare of an occasion, so I thought I'd brag a little. Yesterday I took the car in for an oil change, walked over to the Kmart while that was being done and bought a new phone, walked back and got the car, stopped at the grocery store, then headed up to the tire store to get a tire fixed (it had a screw embedded in it!) but the tire place was busy with a 45 min wait. I was doing all this towing three kids along (one cranky and due for a nap) so we opted to come back later. We went home and had lunch, put Calvin and me to bed while the girls watched Dora (anyone who says not to use the tv to babysit kids has never had more than one kid), then packed everyone in the car again and headed to the tire store for a fixing. Waited inside for about 15 min and they got it done! Didn't even have to break out the capri suns to keep the kids happy (though we did go through the cookies I brought). Plus it was free so that was cool. Then we came home and made strawberry freezer jam, muffins, a yummy salad and cut fresh pineapple for dinner with a homemade pad thai (it's less impressive than it sounds, since the peanut sauce was already made I just had to cook pasta, and the freezer jam was no cook so it took about 5 minutes. Still, it sounds impressive when you rattle it off). And after dinner I actually got the house picked up, after much harrassing of children to help, and dishes mostly all done before John got home from helping someone move. This does not happen all that often, although more lately since I don't have a dishwasher, though it seems like there's something wrong with that picture... ssshh, don't tell John. :)
I do have to gripe about the grocery store I went to. I have resolved to never go back there again. Picture me with three kids (the youngest hungry and tired) in one of those stupid car-carts that are impossible to steer but you get anyway hoping it will keep the kids quiet for a little longer, pushing down the narrow aisles of a grocery store in the middle of Colorado liberal central. The store is right off CSU campus so there are few, if any, kids in the whole store, and lots of people toting their reusable grocery bags and driving cars plastered with Obama stickers. Can you imagine the looks I got??? I swear, if I hear the phrase, "Wow, you've got your hands full!" one more time... and those were the friendly ones. Then there were the looks of polite incredulety, open amazement, and frank scowls--until they realized I was looking right at them, then they'd paste on a smile. From now on, I'll go to the one down south if I need to go to that store--it's bigger, closer to the family neighborhoods, so there are actually other kids in the store. I still get some looks, but more of them are friendly and a couple are actually understanding. Or maybe I should just start grocery shopping at night when I can leave the kids home. I'm still staying away from that store though.

Emily and friends

So this post is mostly about Emily, but I have this picture to put in first: three little bookworms. I walked in the room and there were all three of them lined up on the couch looking at books. Looks like I'm doing my job (at least the aspect of instilling a love of books in my kids) pretty well, doesn't it?


Over the weekend Emily got a new haircut. She has been chewing on her hair which drove me crazy and I kept threatening to cut it, and nothing got better so I finally chopped it off. She actually likes it, and so do I. She looks a lot older to me, and there's no soggy tangles to comb through, so I'm happy!

Also, Emily is quite the budding artist, I think, so I'm posting some of her artwork. Here is the card she drew for her grandma's birthday (her dad wrote the message out for her, then she copied it onto her card), the artwork is all her own. She's gotten pretty good at those flowers! And notice the chocolate layer cake down at the bottom. I show her how to draw things once, and then she takes them and gets creative.

This is one of the pictures Emily has been bringing home from church every week. This is of Moroni giving the gold plates to Joseph Smith. A while ago she drew one of the First Vision which I am sorry to say got lost before we could get a picture of it. It was a full page production similar to the painting I'm sure was shown in class, with red fire all around them. I am kicking myself for not snapping a picture of it.

This one is of Moroni writing on the plates. Notice the "stylus" in one hand and the plates in the other, fashionably depicted in green and pink. :) Maybe those were just the colors she had. She is usually pretty picky about doing things in the correct colors. She loves color by number stuff because then she knows exactly what color is supposed to be used. If she's going to be an artist, I've got to figure out how to get her to loosen up a bit! But that's just part of her personality, things are pretty much black and white in her world. Makes for a pretty obedient kid, actually, for which I'm grateful. If she knows the right way, then that's the way she'll go, to the best of her ability.

This last one is from a coloring book. She LOVES to color and will spend a good chunk of the day coloring in her new my little pony book that she proudly bought with her own money. Cash seriously burns a whole in her little pocket! My mom says I was like that too, so maybe she'll grow out of it like I did (John would say, NOT!). Anyway, notice how well she stays in the lines, the color choices, and the shading on the bow! I was amazed. Not that I'm bragging or anything...

So there's my update on Emily. I am trying to tell myself I'm not showing off, but as an unofficial artist myself it is fun to see her abilities growing. So scratch it off as maternal pride, and a record for the family. Then maybe I'll feel less guilty. :)

kitchen progression

Okay, here's the kitchen. I don't suppose you really need commentary with each picture, so I'll just put in the points of interest as I see them.

Okay, before I show the current photo, I have to insert pics of our newest addition and one heck of a deal. We found this stove on craigslist and got it for $100!! It was a mess when we got it and we had to take it apart to clean it (which got a little interesting) but it sure cleaned up good and we are delighted with it. Dual elements, a warming zone, and a nifty touch control panel make up for the battered handles that a little paint can fix. We feel pretty smug. :)

Here's trying to put the oven door back together after using a razor blade to clean the glass and scrubbing everything else.

Here it is set up in the kitchen! Minus the control dials, they were still drying. You can see the scratched off paint on the oven drawer and the door handle, but a little silver paint will fix that, when we get to it. We got this thing set up and were amazed at how different the kitchen looked. Thank goodness that 70s monstrosity is gone! Well, it's in the garage.. we're still trying to get rid of it. Anyone want it? :)

Here's the kitchen as it is right now. We got rid of our broken dishwasher and are lookingn for a new one, so that's what the big brown spot is by the sink. One drawer is done, the others are half done, and the cabinet doors aren't even started. Still, I like how it is turning out.

And a functional laundry! No closet doors, and it's right off the kitchen which I am not sure about, but it's working out so far. There are shelves painted white set up in it now, but I don't have a picture.

So there it is. I think that's about where we are at on the house. It has been a lot of work and I will put on record that I have done the kitchen painting almost single-handedly. Not that John hasn't had plenty of his own to do, but it was my idea and I did it! (Am doing it, I guess) Though John has said he would help with spraying the paint on the doors. We made a project list last night and even unfinished it's pretty long, so we still have lots to do, but it's coming along!!

house update, specifically

I suppose I'll start with the main entry. This is the view coming in the front door, that's the railing on the stairs just to the right. Straight back is the dining area and the back door.

phase 1, painted
phase 2, table and lighting installed

Next the family room, which is still a work in progress but coming along...
phase 1, mid-painting

phase 2, painted, except 2nd coat and some trim

Then the living room, which is just to the left of the front door. This is our most finished area right now.
phase 1, painted and toys to keep kids busy while I painted!

phase 2, furniture moved in

phase 3, finished! sort of.

Next, bedrooms:

Calvin's room, someday I'm going to paint a blue border around it

The girls room, can you tell they were excited to have their beds back? This will be accented with a dark and light pink (I think) at some point.

Here's the master. I won't show you a picture of it now because it's a disaster. Stuff is everywhere.

So there you go, I think I will do the kitchen on a different post since there are so many pictures.

general update, specifics later

First and foremost, we've been in our new house now for about three weeks. We have a phone and internet (hence the post) and are feeling a little more settled each day. Though my penchant for painting has been drastically reduced since we've moved in, so the day when things actually are done may get further and further away. Still, we are enjoying having our own place and having Calvin sleeping through the night and in a different room than us, and the kids are loving having all their toys back and daddy is loving the inherent mess (NOT). I will post more detailed pics about the house and its progress later, but here's a decent picture of our new abode. Visitors welcome!!

John celebrated moving in by buying an "efficient" lawn mower... ie, no gas, no electricity, just good old human effort. Good thing he's perfectly happy to mow the lawn himself. :) He was actually really excited to get it, so excited he didn't even change out of his work clothes before trying it out. And getting the kids excited about mowing too... it's pretty cool, Calvin can about push it himself. A fact that will be exploited repeatedly in the future, I'm sure.

John was so excited this year to be able to take his son to the church fathers and sons campout this year. John's dad and brothers went too and they had a good time. Gary found a dead cow on their hike so he was happy, and documented the fact thoroughly on our camera (thanks, Gary). I'll refrain from posting them here.

Anyway, John got to indoctrinate Calvin on the joys of hiking, sleeping in the tent, and eating mounds of toasted marshmallows, so it was a good weekend. I think they even slept a little...

We celebrated Memorial day with a fun breakfast up in the mountains with John's family and some of their friends. They let us tag along, and it was a fun day. Pancakes and eggs cooked outdoors are always better for some reason, and they got in some volleyball and frisbee and bocci ball as well. One man who came was an "old soldier" as he called himself, and it was neat to have him there while we recited the pledge of allegiance and sang God Bless America. The kids had fun at the playground, and then John dragged us up the mountain on a hike. :) It was actually very pretty, though dragging tired kids up a hill (it was a mile, for heaven's sake) got more tiring than the actual walking for me. Emily was complaining about sore feet before we even got to the trail. But we distracted them sort of successfully by finding different colored flowers and periwinkle butterflies. A thunderstorm cut the fun short, and we hustled down the mountain and got to the car just as it started pouring. Needless to say, the kids were pretty tired on the drive home.

So, things are coming together. More slowly now that we're living here, ironically, but we are happy to feel like life is moving along again and we are were we are supposed to be. There is still a ton of work to be done, but we have a great many things to be thankful for. And we are.

We're In!!

We are officially in our new house! We have no blinds, stuff is everywhere, kitchen cabinets are shelf-less, but we are in! The girls love sleeping in their bunk bed again, and we love that Calvin is in his own room and not in our closet. There is still tons to do, but it's exciting to be self-sufficient again. A billion thank yous a billion times over to Mom and Dad Butler for taking us in for nearly a year. I am so blessed to have such generous, kind, sacrificing, helpful, hard-working in-laws. We could not have done this past year without you.

not yet...

I was all set to move in last weekend, but we didn't get enough done. Even after three straight days (all day) of being at the house painting I still don't have the cabinets done. Almost. Well, that's not counting the doors that will wait for warmer weather and us actually living there. It is depressing that even after all the work we've done we will still be moving in with a family room with no flooring, a kids bathroom with half the wallpaper removed, a half bath with all the wallpaper still there, and a master bath that we haven't even touched and needs a pretty dang good overhaul. All the bathrooms have these ridiculous "recessed" lighting boxes over the sink that do absolutely nothing and I want out, which will involve knocking out more drywall and studs and patching and texturing and painting and getting new light fixtures... And all the doors and cabinet doors to paint. And then there's the yard...
I just reread "The Fire of the Covenant" by Gerald Lund and he mentions how people on the trail would get overwhelmed by "seeing the elephant" or looking at the 1500 mile journey across the continent all at once. I think that is what I am doing.
That book is a good one to read every so often to remind myself what our ancestors have done and sacrificed in being obedient to the Lord and gathering to Zion. While fighting thoughts of depression of being such a reprobate while having such an easy life, I am reminded that I have also covenanted to give my all for the kingdom, and wonder how well I am fulfilling that covenant. How well am I doing at being my brother's keeper? How well am I doing at being humble, selfless, and patient, and relying on the Lord? Not at all well, really. And while I know that perfection is nothing near attainable in this life, I do need to be at least moving forward on the trail.
The Willie company had one of their hardest climbs and most deaths after the rescue party came to them. Even though the Saints from the valley sent/brought food and clothing and helped where they could, the emigrant Saints still had to pick themselves up and continue on. Their climb up Rocky Ridge in subzero temperatures after a month or more of reduced rations was a horrible fight for them. And I ask myself, what is my Rocky Ridge? What is it, or will it be, that when all my strength, all of my temporal crutches are completely exhausted, will teach me to turn to the Lord and say, "I can't do this, I just can't on my own. Please help me." The thought frightens me, but also makes me want to try harder to be closer to the Lord now. The emigrant Saints could in full confidence turn to the Lord, for they knew they were doing His will. Can I say the same?
The other thing that struck me in reading this book was the quote at the beginning of one section from Elder Maxwell (I believe), that talked about how the Lord could have stayed the weather, he could have tempered the awful winter storms that hit the handcart companies, but the responsibility for caring for the Saints was on the shoulders of the Saints in the Valley. The Lord most often cares for his children through the hands of his children, that both the helped and the helpers may learn. Grand miracles were not needed. A lesson in charity, in faith, and in responsiblity was needed far more. We have covenanted to care for each other, to lift each other up. How often do I life my head up out of my daily activities, and open my eyes to the needs of others around me? I can say that I am a young mother, and have my hands full of fulfilling needs, but still my conscience is pricked and I have to admit that I do not do this as well as I should either.
More and more I am thinking that the experiences of those early Saints are as much for us as they were for them. Their trek across the continent is an analogy of our own lives. Can we face them, and continue pushing on, with the same faith and courage that they demonstrated?

Happy Birthday Kimmie!

Kimmie turned four years old last week! She's getting so big. For her birthday she wanted a caterpillar cake and a party at the park. Fortunately the weather cooperated so we had a fun night at the park with grandparents, three uncles, and next-door neighbors. Earlier, I took her to the Build-a-Bear factory to make a special stuffed animal for her. She, of course, chose the sparkly pink unicorn. I warned her that we would not be able to get any clothes for it if she chose that one, but she didn't really care. Both she and Emily like it a lot. Our neighbors gave her a soft bride doll, that she absolutely loves and takes with her everywhere. The two girls are allowed one toy to sleep with at night and they have been taking turns with those two things ever since Kimmie's birthday. So, here's pictures:

Dinnertime

The birthday girl

Cute sisters!

Three munchkins, impossible to get all three looking forward at the same time!

The birthday haul. There were stick-on earrings and a cool lollipop and a disney princesses balloon in there too, but it's obvious what the favorites where...

10 things about Kimmie, age 4:

1. Spunky: she knows what she likes and it not afraid to let it be known.

2. Observant: Kimmie is very visual and picks up on the littlest details. Not much escapes her.

3. Frank: she will voice said observations exactly as they appear in her head. If you want an honest opinion, she's the one to ask. If not... well, she might tell you anyway.

4. Friend: she plays so well with both Emily and Calvin. Calvin adores her and it is so fun to listen to the two of them giggling over who knows what. She and Emily will play for hours with their stuffed animals, usually some variation of mommies and babies.

5. Mischevious: Kimmie will dare to do things that the others will not. In some ways she and Calvin are a troublesome pair because Kimmie will think things up and Calvin has no fear in following and taking it a step further. If those two are together and it is quiet, then there is definitely trouble.

6. Sweet: Kimmie loves bedtime stories, songs and hugs. She always wants me to kiss her on the forehead after she gives me a kiss goodnight. And sometimes, she just needs a hug.

7. A flair for fashion: Kimmie always notices what earrings I'm wearing or compliments a dress I'm wearing. She loves skirts and jewelry. She has a definite taste in clothes that I have yet to figure out. She has some pants she wears all the time, and others she refuses to, and I am not sure what the system is. Maybe there isn't one, and it's just little girl capriciousness.

8. Games: She loves games. She loves to play them with you whenever you can. This I am not very good at. Sorry, Kimmie. I will try to be better.

9. Eyes: She gets comments on her sparkling blue eyes wherever she goes. And she has the Butler eyelashes that set them off perfectly. And the dimples. Man, Daddy better be ready when this girl is ready to date!

10. Kimmie is just, Kimmie. There is no one like her in the world. I love her laugh and her spunk and her wrinkled nose expressions that she saves just for me. She is as stubborn as I am which spells trouble sometimes, but I also love that she knows her mind and what she wants. I love you Kimberly Ann!