Belated Bday and Blueberries

Payton crushing the graham crackers!

New princess vanity set!

Princess toy bench:) (Sitting like such a lady too - umprompted I must say)

Payton's birthday gift from us finally arrived at NFM this past week, so we packed up (well, diaper bag and sippy cups anyway) and headed over to pick them up. While there we also endulged in some movie purchases for the kids. Kale couldn't stop running through the aisles - needless to say, we don't take him a lot of places so when we do he thinks he's earned the goldent ticket to run free!

Payton and I also attempted to make a No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake yesterday. She had fun helping but the verdict is still out on it's success......we'll let you know how it turns out!

Back to another work week; is it summer yet? :)

10th anniversary??

If mom's calculations are correct, this is the 10th year we (myself, sister Megan and mom - in respective order :)) have participated in the Race for the Cure. We dedicate our 3.1 mile walk to Grandma Roberta who gave a good fight to the cancer, but also to the numerous women and men that we see walking with us wearing the pink t-shirts - the survivors, and those with "In Memory of" on the back of their . I think within the first 1/4 mile Megan and I were already tearing up at the stories being shared over the loudspeakers and microphones. It was an amazing day, surrounded by amazing people:) Thanks for this memory mom and Megan:) Hopefully Payton will be able to join us in this effort soon!

Spectacular Sparkle Party!

Hard to believe she will be 4 years old tomorrow....truly, where does the time go? We had an amazing day with friends and family; we are blessed to be surrounded by so much love! We plan to take Payton to Chuck E. Cheese tomorrow to celebrate her official day, and our last day of summer vacation. It has been a great summer! Happy 4th Birthday Miss Payton! We love you!

Sparkle

Stay tuned for pictures from Payton's 4th Birthday party! It's going to be a sparkling, good time!

Christmas in July

While we were shopping for patio furniture we found this cute baseball chair for Kale....couldn't resist purchasing it! Haven't been able to get a picture of Payton in it yet, but she loves it too! We also bought some items for her, but I cannot post yet!!! They will be revealed soon at her birthday party (how she is already turning 4 is beyond me).

The house has received gifts this summer too; a fresh new paint color, a concrete patio and new deck! When the furniture arrives, I'll be sure to post some completed pictures. In the meantime, we are dealing with a bit of a water problem in the backyard as a result of the new construction. Ah, the joys of owning a home!

More

A milestone has been made tonight!!! Kale signed "more" at least five times during dinner!!! I've been trying for about 4 months and it finally happened!!! Russ and I have had conversations with each other and the pediatrician about Kale's lack of speaking clear words yet. She reassured us that boys take a bit longer to develop these skills. It doesn't help that Payton was a full-sentence speaker since the moment she learned to talk and we've only had her progress to compare to (lesson learned - don't compare children)! So, we've been waiting and waiting for a clear, full word from Mr. Kale with no luck thus far. He knows exactly what we're saying and responds to each request (well, of course except "No, Kale! Don't touch that!" - he just smiles with his evil smirk each time we say that). He knows where to go when we say bath, night-night, upstairs, downstairs, etc. Just no clear verbal language yet - so when he responded with sign tonight I was ecstatic! It is a beginning, and whether it takes another week for him to do it again, I'll take it!

Terrible Good Reunion

Thank you for all the wonderful memories, Grandpa. You will be greatly missed, but such a great addition to the Kingdom of Heaven. I feel blessed to have spent your last day on Earth with you; give Grandma and all of our angels big hugs from us. Love you forever.