Kiley

Here is her first school picture. We love it, and we know that, unfortunately, it's all downhill from here - at least in terms of quality school pictures. (I could post Jake & Sydney's school pics as proof of this, but won't do that to them. You'll have to take my word...)

Mat and MC are married!!!

This past weekend we took a trip to Memphis to see the last of the family get married off. It was exciting to see most everyone in the family and really sad to see them go the following morning. I realized how much I miss them and how grown up they are.

Here are a few pictures from Memphis. Congratulations Mat and Mary Claire!!!! :)

The new married couple

Almost everyone.... (We were missing Bob and Steve and their families)


Sydney taking a pony ride the day before the wedding


We couldn't believe we got Jake on the pony too. He loved it! ...and so did we. :)


Kiley NEVER stopped dancing!



Kiley and Bella at the Botanical Gardens in Memphis


Did you have fun Jake? (i hope to get a decent picture of Jake someday)

Subliminal Message: Bunny....Please

I thought this was an incredibly cute and creative way for Sydney to ask for a bunny. I've dreamed of bunnies for many nights since she put up the print-outs. I wouldn't say that we've given in but we did lay out the responsibility of having a bunny and what that would mean for her. She's rethinking the idea....i'm sure we haven't seen the last of her subtle hints. I love you Sydney!!

Happy Easter

We had a really nice Easter, although we so missed being with Martin's family. We'll get to see them soon for Mat and Mary Claire's wedding, so we are looking forward to that (our first long road trip with the kids - wish us luck!!!). This Easter was the start of my reign as the Stewart/Brown family hostess for holiday celebrations. I learned a lot, including:

• it's not as hard to make a good pie crust from scratch as you would think
• it's much harder to get a cake to come cleanly out of a mold shaped like a lamb
• when making whip topping from heavy whipping cream, mixing it faster and longer doesn't make it lighter and creamier; it makes it butter
• shoving all the potato peels into the disposal at once = a late night shopping trip for Drano
• HEB is closed on Easter Sunday (which I think is great); Wal-Mart isn't 
• in spite of what Mom said, it is possible to make chocolate pie filling too thick

Even though we made four pie fillings and three cakes in order to serve a cake and two pies, I would say the meal was a success. We had: smoked turkey, black forest ham, broccoli, rice, cheese casserole, zucchini tomato casserole, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, fruit salad, home-made rolls, chocolate cream pie, banana cream pie, and lamb cake. I think I gained at least three pounds...  :(

The Easter bunny brought baskets with little surprises for the kids. You can see below Kiley's reaction to getting her own pink brush (from the dollar store :). The big kids helped hide eggs, and then hunted them with Kiley and two of our good friends who came over and played for awhile while we cooked. Also, below is a picture of my beautiful girls taken at Sydney's recent poetry performance, and one of Jake and Kiley hunting eggs.

The sweetest thank you yet

Today kiley and I went to the park. Tonight while I was putting her down to bed, while she was hugging me and kissing me good night she said papa thank you for taking me to the park. She is sooooooo sweet.

Papa and the girls at the mall

We had a blast! We went to the jumpy tents, rode the train and the carousel, and at the end of the evening we got a picture to remember the good times. :)

Jumping jumping jumping jumping (to the tune of where is thumbkin)

On the Train

Round and round we goooo...

Syd and I mimicked what Kiley was doing. It was a fun photo shoot.

Hippity Hoppity

This is a craft that was intended for our Crowded House but it didn't quite take off. That didn't matter for Kiley. She wanted them for school on Monday (4/11/2011). The picture is a little blurry but I think you get the idea. :)

She absolutely loved them!

Little painter and her masterpiece

We try to visit the farmer's market for veggies and fruits each weekend. This is Kiley painting a tile at one of the craft booths set up for kiddos.

A pretty flower

Sydney's Poetry Reading

Sydney worked very hard on her poems over the past few weeks. This was her at her reading in class today and even though it's a little dark you can see her little sister eager to be just like her by sitting on the floor.

Wheee!!!!!

You know it's getting close to summer when....

Kiley and Papa playing with phones

Kiley and I were having a ball playing with phones. In between calls she got herself a little dizzy....

Kiley-speak

We're coming down the stairs in the morning and Kiley says to her puppy, "you are so stinkin' cute!"

Kiley was sings in her so cute little voice "Twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are", puppy. "up above the world so high...."

"Mamaaaa/Papaaaa, wherrrrree arrrrre youuuuuu." We answer, "Kileeeeyyyy, werrrrrreee rightttttt herrrrrrre."

"I need snuggles.", in a sad pouty voice.

"Up the hill papa. Up the hill."

"Wanna go inside?" as she nods her head up and down and smiles. Usually this means she wants to go outside.

"...But the sun's not sleeping yet."

Kiley at the Kiddie Acres

LAX photos

Jake is a big time LAX player. If you don't know what that is, I'm sure you are not the only one in TX. I didn't know too much about lacrosse until he signed up last year. He's in the center of this picture. He likes to play defense this year.


This is Sydney enjoying the cool afternoon.


Kiley with my phone. :)



And Kiley again, enjoying her time on the sidelines.

I'm BACK!!!

My client that I have seriously considered firing and wanted to be done with since December is finally on its way to becoming a distant memory... It's a double-edged sword in that it brought in a lot of income at a time we were putting ridiculous amounts of money into houses, but it had truly taken over my life. And, because of communication issues/style differences, we weren't likely to be successful, which was a huge issue for me. It was a blessing, and I don't mean to complain, but I have really struggled over this one and whether it was a good fit - and now I feel so much lighter that the decision has been made. I expect to be taking better care of my family, cooking more, and taking much better care of my other clients in the coming months. And, I couldn't be happier.

Kiddos say the funniest things....

...and our little angel is no different. Kiley has discovered pancakes in a big way. She likes them with no butter and with as much syrup as she can get us to add. I've tried honey but it's just not the same for her so we go with the syrup (or as Kiley says, Styrup). She especially likes the cookie cut out of a little gingerbread man, star or heart. She is so incredibly cute.

Courtney posted this on Facebook yesterday:

You have to laugh when 2 year old yells from the table about 20 times 'Are the pancakes done? Are they all done? Are they all done? ...' and then sighs and says quietly to herself, 'I'm very patient.'

She is so stinkin' cute. :)

Eating Pancake Man

Kiley is so funny. She's on this huge pancake kick and gets really excited when we have them. This was from today at breakfast. I'm really enjoying the personality that she is developing. :)

In the video I prompted her but it usually doesn't take much for her to speak her mind.

Kiley: Sites and Sounds over the last few months

Kiley busy practicing to be a proper princess

Trying on her swimsuit in anticipation of the summer heat


Kiley in her puppy blanket


Our first daddy daughter impromptu tea-time


Kiley eating some yummy peanut butter and working on our budget


Kiley just being her happy-self

Kiley saying good-bye to her old room as we get the house ready to sell

Dancing in her room with papa

It's really snowing...

Eating pancake man

Pretty eyes

The following photo features stunts performed either by professionals or under the supervision of professionals. We insist that no one attempt to recreate or re-enact or attempt to perform what is pictured below.

Kiley learning about concave and convex lenses.

Happy New Year

Kiley, ready to bring in the new year. :)

After Holiday Shopping

I know the floors at Target are not the cleanest but Kiley was enjoying herself. This is just a clip of the fun we had. She had about 15 of these dancing animals going all at once at one point. I'm not sure others around us were as amused as us but she was very happy.

One of Kiley's Christmas Projects