Favorite Summer Activity

Our kids LOVE to swim. They look forward every year to when it gets warm enough to swim at the pool in Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood. We haven't gone as much as we should have this year but that's just the way things have gone. Zoey and Noah have really enjoyed their time in the pool this summer though and have both made some big strides in the water. Noah has become fearless with his floaties on and is an awesome jumper now. He used to not even want to get his head wet but now he will run and jump into the pool without a second thought. He likes putting his head under now too and he likes to play in the shallow end without his floaties on. Zoey has made the biggest progress this summer and is now a floatieless swimmer. We didn't really do anything to work with her and teach her how to swim. We were all just swimming one day and she wanted to not use floaties and she swam. So now she is the big cheese jumping in and swimming with her big cousins. It has been so fun to see her playing in the pool this year and I am amazed yet again by her and her ability and drive to teach herself things. Olivia had her first moments in the pool. I really didn't think she would like it but she really did. I didn't put her in this summer until the water was pretty much like bath water. She did great though and seemed very relaxed in the pool. So, it has been a big summer for our three kids and thus a ton of fun for us.

Zoey in the deep end, floatie free.

Daddy and his baby girl.

Sweet little Olivia chillin in the pool.

Swimming is so exhausting when you are only a few months old.

Big boy Noah in the shallow end without his floaties.

Splash!

This was them right before they were going to go under water together.

Fun With Cousins

So, sadly, my brother and his family just recently moved to the Dallas area. I mean it is definitely a good them for the family but all of us here in Tucson are certainly missing them. We were lucky enough though to get to spend a lot of time with the cousins before they moved. David, Machella and Kylie all slept over for a couple nights and that was a lot of fun. It was just nice to have all the kids around and for the bigger cousins to get to spend time together because they do have so much fun with each other. We didn't really do anything too exciting but we still had fun. We miss the Doll family greatly but we are so grateful for the time we had with them here. We didn't get to live close to them for as long as we would have liked but we had a lot of fun during the time they were here. It was great to celebrate holidays and birthdays together and just spend random time hanging out and swimming. We love you guys and hope life is fun in Texas!

Noah loved sitting by David, watching him play the DS.

Olivia just chillin at the park while everyone else played.

Playing on the jungle gym right behind our house.

Cousins having fun on the jungle gym.

Hmmmm, don't know what I think about this heat and humidity.

Can you just feel the love she has of her Mommy bothering her?

Love the smile!

Silly David.

The Uncle Rico pose. Ha ha! Oh how I miss you David!

Yay for cousins!

She looks grumpy but I promise she is not. She used to scowl all the time but has begun to grow out of it.

Kindergarten

So here we are with parent/teacher conference coming up next week and I am barely getting around to blogging about the first day of school. I am a horrible blogger these days but I want to be better. I love keeping people up with what is going on with us but it's hard to find the time and/or motivation these days. Hopefully I can get some catching up done this weekend and then keep up on it a bit better.

I was going to do a whole long post about my baby starting school and all that meant to me and all these thoughts that have gone through my head. At this point though, my goal is to just share some quick information and post the pictures. I guess the most important thing about Zoey starting school is that she absolutely loves it. She has yet to complain about school or having to go. She likes her teacher and though she already knows the stuff she has been taught so far, she still enjoys doing the work. Her first day she rode the bus at her own request. We were planning on taking her but she really wanted to ride the bus. My eyes teared up a little as I watched her get on the bus and not even give a second thought to it. The bus took off and the flood of anxiety hit me. I worried horribly about how her bus ride would go, if she would be OK and find her way to her class when she got off the bus at the school, if she would be timid in class and in her interactions with others, if she would have kids to play with on the playground or someone to sit with at lunch, if she would ever have any moments when she was completely terrified and brought to tears. It was a LONG day for Mommy to say the least. I could not wait to pick her up from the bus and hear how her day went.

Much to my excitement her day went great. She did have a moment when she got to school and off the bus. She didn't know where to go and her eyes got filled with tears she said. I asked her what she did and she said she just found a big person to help her and then she was fine. I did make sure there were 2 things I drilled into her head before she started school. Those were that she didn't need to ever be afraid and that if she ever needed help all she needed to do was find a big person and ask. It worked too because she has asked for help a few times and I am thrilled about that. She is overcoming her timidness and I am so proud of her because she is strides ahead of how I was when I started school. I couldn't ask for a better child as a student. She goes to bed great at night and does pretty good about getting up in the mornings. She loves riding the bus and she loves all her time at school. So far she has stayed on green for her behavior every single day but that really does not come at so much a surprise to me. She does all her work well in class and when she comes home from school she is always excited for me to see her papers she brought home from the day. Her first priority when she gets home is not to play or rest or anything but do her homework. I know we are still early in the game but this little girl of ours is the best. We are so proud of her and her courage and kindness. I look forward to meeting with her teacher next week and hearing what she has to say about her. In my eyes she is a beautiful, amazing, smart little thing and I love her to pieces. My first baby is in school now. I can't believe it but I am so excited for all the experiences ahead of her. Way to be such a great Kindergartner Zoey. I love you!We made it a family excursion. Just waiting for the bus.

Olivia was just wondering what the heck was going on.

My beautiful big girl, so excited about starting school.

Noah was a little bit sad about saying goodbye for the day. He did miss her.

There are a lot of people at our bus stop. We were just glad that we weren't the only ones who brought the whole family along to the first day of school drop off.

Here comes the bus!

She didn't even look back...

Mommy made her bed and cleaned up her room. We also left a little something for her.

Little brother picked her up and gave her a ride home from the bus. I thought this was one of the cutest things of all time.

Finally noticing the surprise Mom and Dad left for her. She got a couple new Petshop toys and a little treat. We just really wanted her to have something special for her after such a big day.

Reading her note.

Big hugs for Daddy.

Party Time

Noah just celebrated his 4th birthday. On Sunday we had a family party after church. I let him pick whatever he wanted for dinner and he chose burgers and homemade mac and cheese. So I made homemade burgers and mac and cheese. We also had some yummy fluffy jello and my delicious potato salad. It was a tasty dinner and nice to hang with the family. After dinner Noah got to open all his awesome presents (thank you everyone) and then we sang happy birthday and had jello cake. It was a nice, relaxed birthday and everyone seemed to have a good time helping Noah celebrate being 4.

I love our boy. There is just something special about the little guy and he holds a special little place in mine and his dad's hearts. He is a very sensitive boy and it is certainly teaching us patience and how to deal with things a little more calm and with a little more kindness. I do have to praise Jay in that area. He really deals so well with him. Noah may be one of the most challenging kids but he is also so sweet and incredibly hilarious. His love of snuggling and his ability to make me laugh every day are the things I love most about him. I just love our little guy so much and I am so happy and grateful to be his mom. Happy Birthday Bubba, Monkey Man, Noah!
Superstar!

Me and my boy.

Presents. Yay!

This kid just couldn't wait to open gifts.

So Aunt Jenn gave him a gift and when he unwrapped it it was in a camera box. He looked at it and said "this is boring". Oh my heavens it was hysterical.

He got a couple Kung Zhu pets that he had been asking for.

Counting the money from Grandma and Grandpa. He got 10 $1 bills. That's a lot for a 4 year old. He was totally excited.

Zoey read the card to him that she made for him. I love that he cared enough to stop and take a moment from opening gifts to hear what the card said.

Why, you ask, is there a picture of this card? It's because a funny moment goes with it. Noah opened the envelope and pulled the card out after a bit of effort. Then he looked at the card and opened it up. It opens up and down instead of from side to side. He opened it just fine but I guess he was perplexed so then he just rips the card in two. He brings the card to me and says "how did that happen?" I told him it was because he pulled it apart. He just looked at it for a moment and then moved on. I said the power of the force was just strong in him I guess. We all just thought that the moment and what the card said on the front made the situation more funny. It was so hilarious and I think many of us were in tears from laughter.

Can you tell he was excited to get "Legoanajones"? That's Lego Indiana Jones for anyone who doesn't catch what Noah calls it.

Aunt Pam somehow became the holder of all Noah's things. It was just funny. He would finish opening something and then go hand it to Pam.

4 whole candles.

If I remember right it took 3 or 4 blows for him to get all 4 candles out. Silly boy!

His AWESOME Grandma and Grandpa McKinlay got him a Power Wheel. He was so surprised. The first time he jumped in it we hadn't charged it yet so we didn't think it would go at all. It did though and he about took out everyone with it. It was too funny watching him try to drive it at first. Too cute though.

All smiles on his party day.

Cute boy in his new big boy hat. I am trying to get him to love baseball caps because I think he looks so cute in them.

Wearing his cap and playing his "DS" that Aunt Pam got for him. This boy sure was spoiled this birthday. I am glad for him and thankful he has so many people who adore him as much as I do.

One Big Day

Today was a big day in the McKinlay family. 4 years ago today our boy Noah joined our family. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. What is even more crazy though is that also today was our first babies first day of school. Zoey had her first day of Kindergarten. I just can't believe how the years fly by. I know they are still little but to me they have already grown so fast. I miss their baby days for sure but I am also so very much enjoying them as they get older. Life has started on a road to new adventures and we are all excited and ready for it.