Happy Birthday Katie

Katelyn

Age: 4

Personality:  Carefree, girly, defiant, hands on, quiet, impulsive, shy, moody, determined, imaginative

Favorites:
Food:  PB&J, strawberry oatmeal, corn on the cob, cucumbers, apples, pizza, chicken enchiladas, salad, crackers, chocolate milk, and chips
Songs: Kenny Chesney's "Young", My God is So Big, The B.I.B.L.E.
Books:  Barbie books, Dora the Explorer books, and Strawberry Shortcake books (notice the girly trend?)
TV Shows:  Curious George, Sid the Science Kid, My Friend Rabbit, Willa's Wildlife
Movies:  Meet the Robinsons, TinkerBell, Madagascar, Princess Stories, Ice Age Dawn of the Dinasaurs
Games:  Chutes and Ladders, puzzles, PBSkids.org games
Toys:  Polly Pockets, Barbies, dress up, blocks for building towers/homes for Polly Pockets or Barbies, stroller for playing house, coloring books, and playdoh
Activities w/Mommy:  baking, reading, cuddling while watching movies, dancing contests
Activities w/Daddy:  cooking, helping with building projects, exploring outside

You wanted tacos, chips, chicken, and water for your birthday dinner (interesting combo?)

Dear Katie,
This year has been a challenging, but fulfilling year with you.  We started off a little rocky with efforts of getting you potty trained.  I had hoped to have you potty trained before Andrew was born, but you wanted nothing to do with it.  No matter what the incentive I gave or item taken away, you didn't seem to care.  You truly are a determined little girl.  At times our personalities really clashed and I didn't know where I was going to get the ambition to start a new day with you.  But finally, you seemed to "hit rock bottom" so to speak with the potty training issue, and things started turning around.  I guess you really wanted to learn in your own time.

As you are getting older, your personality is certainly flourishing.  Along with being determined to do things however and whenever you please, you also have quite an imagination.  With Kyra being in school all day, I worried about how we would occupy the days.  But you sometimes go a couple hours making up songs, role playing with your barbies and polly pockets and toy animals.  I have to be careful to remember to set some time aside for you, otherwise I could easily forget you are in the other room.  I have enjoyed watching you build really detailed towers and rooms for your dolls.  They have been complete with kitchen and bathroom!  Your coloring skills have also greatly improved.  Although we are still working on the alphabet, you love to write random letters and pretend to write a story like your big sister.  But perhaps what I like to see best is how you interact with Daddy.  You love to work on projects with him.  The other day you were helping him work on the plumbing in the bathroom.  You were cutting the pipe and working with flux with a little guidance from dad.  You love a challenge, but you don't want any help.  You certainly want to do it your "own self."

Yes, Katie I love your spunky attitude.  You definitely march to the beat of your own drum.  You're a quirky, loveable little girl and we hope to discover many new wonderful qualities about you in your 4th year of life.  Lots of love,

Mommy and Daddy

You wanted a unicorn cake for your birthday, surprisingly it was about the easiest cake I've had to make so far!

Grandpa Bob gave you prunes for your birthday.  Never a dull moment with Grandpa Bob.  Maybe that's where you get some of your quirkiness from?  Not surprising was the fact that you liked the gift.

My First Kid's Birthday Party

Kyra has been talking about her birthday non stop for months. I seriously had to tell her, "babe, just stop thinking about it because it's 130 days away." Of course, as the time approached I began getting a little nervous that her party would not meet her expectations. She had plenty of grand ideas, but this momma is still adjusting to life of 3 children and knew that I had limitations. Fortunately, she has only gone to a few friend's birthday parties, and we have never put on one for more than family (therefore she didn't have much to compare it with).

When all was said and done, I think I threw a fairly tasteful party. There weren't a lot of kids, 6 in fact, but that seemed to work out just fine (we were supposed to have two more, but unfortunately one of them was under the weather...we missed you Sarah).

The itinerary went in my head like this...

11:30 pm: feed Andrew

12:00 pm: Lunch (corn dogs, cherry koolaid, cherry jello jigglers-cut out into hearts and teddy bears, veggie straws- a Cos*tco product, and grapes)

1:00 pm: leave for bowling

2:00 pm: come back from bowling

2:30 pm feed Andrew

3:00 pm: feed the kids cupcakes and ice cream, sing Happy Birthday, open gifts, and let the kids play

Of course, when do things ever go as planned when you have an infant right? First of all I don't know what I was thinking planning a birthday during the day when my hubby couldn't help. Second of all, I probably shouldn't have thought we could keep to such a timely schedule. So, we didn't exactly finish lunch in time, or even leave the bowling alley to come home in time (we didn't even get home till 3:15 pm). I kind of forgot we were bowling with 3-7 year olds. Fortunately, I came to my senses and thought I should invite the mom's just in case I needed help, because I sure did. And thankfully, my sister in-law offered several times to take Andrew while we went bowling (although I kept refusing until after lunch time, and then I decided I better drop him off). And you know what? We had lots of fun. It may have felt a little crazy at moments (especially with two nursing mommas), but the kids had fun, and it was fun to watch them bowl.

So, it wasn't exactly a Martha Stewart birthday, complete with coordinating theme and all. But thankfully my little 5 year old could care less and just enjoys time with friends. Yes, it was a fun birthday.

All the kiddos eating their cupcakes

The girls seemed to think stomping their feet would help their ball move faster down the lane

Butterfly cupcakes. This year Kyra didn't want a cake, just cupcakes with blue frosting for the boys and pink frosting for the girls. The girls also had a lot of fun and took great pride in being able to decorate the cupcakes themselves.

Happy 5th Birthday Kyra

KYRA.

Age: 5

Personality: Caring, considerate, stickler for rules, helper, social butterfly, striver of perfection. You are always seeking out new friends and love to play with others.

Favorites:
Foods: Hamburgers, corn, cherries, pb&j, mac & cheese, carrots, chocolate milk, and vanilla ice cream w/a cherry on top
Songs: I've got the Joy, This Little Light of Mine, Bubbly & Kidz Bop World (from Kidz Bop McD's CD)
Books: any Dora the Explorer books, Rapunzel, Peter Pan, Enchanted Tales
TV Shows: Martha, Word Girl, Super Why
Movies: Kung Fu Panda, Ice Age, Tinkerbell
Games: Littlest Pet Shop, Uno, Memory, Guess Who?
Toys: stuffed white doggy...Rose, Magna Doodle, My Little Ponies, any coloring books, bike, scooter
Activities w/Mommy: games, coloring, reading, baking
Activities w/Daddy: baking, games, exploring outside, bike riding

Dear Kyra,
You have grown up so much this past year. We have enjoyed watching you learn to ride your bike, pump your legs on the swing, pour your own milk, and hold your little brother. You are very helpful in calming Andrew down, insisting you know exactly what to do (and often you do). You have started sounding out words, and love to write people letters. Your relationship with your sister has flourished, and although you can sometimes be bossy, you love her dearly and have become best friends. You are a sweet girl that is growing up way too fast. But we enjoy watching you strive to learn new things. You can't wait to start school in a week (even asking if you were going to sleep there over night, and being disappointed when I said no). We know you will do well and look forward to hearing all the stories (because we all know you love to talk and ask questions)!

Love,
Mom and Dad

Birthday Boy

Yesterday it was Rudy's 8th birthday. Yes, our beloved dog is getting up there in age. Before the kids were born he was our baby. We let him sleep on our bed, on the furniture, and played fetch with him more frequently. And on his birthday, he would always get some sort of gift. Frosty Paws were one of his favorites (although the repercussions of his gas left something else to be desired). Of course since we have had children, poor Rudy doesn't get the attention that he once did. He's no longer allowed on any of the furniture (although I still hear a quick jump from my bed when I enter the house...with the sheets pulled down as evidence that a warm furry body was recently curled there). And the long walks we once had are replaced with quick outings out the slider door to simply do his business. Oh, he doesn't get completely ignored. He still gets daily doggy treats, a pat on the head, and occasional outing in the field with "dad". And who could forget a pull on the tail, and jump on the back to play "rodeo" by the girls (I'm sure he loves that one). But simply said, he can no longer claim is spot as "baby" in this growing household of kids.

Yesterday, however Ruders got the royal treatment. When I told the girls it was his birthday, they wanted to have a celebration. I told them, that he wouldn't remember, and that he didn't really care, but they were insistent. They cared. They made sure he had extra treats yesterday, sang him "Happy Birthday" a number of times, and petted him with extra care through out the day. Kyra said, " you have to get him a present! He's my best boy!" So with that, I went to the store for a rawhide chew. Before I left for the store, Kyra said..."What are you going to get him mom? You can tell me because it's not my birthday. But don't tell him, or else it won't be a secret anymore." I just love innocence of kid's minds. So, Rudy thoroughly enjoyed his birthday attention and wagged his tail eagerly in anticipation of the smelly treat beneath the wrapping paper. Happy Birthday old pal!

Singing Happy Birthday to Rudy


Enjoying his rawhide, without even opening it yet

And she's the big 3!

My youngest has now turned 3. It's hard to believe, since those 3 years have gone by so quickly. Katydid's birthday was Friday, the 1st day of spring (because I had a c-section, I thought that would be a nice day for her birthday...even though that day never tends to feel like spring yet). Anyway, we decided to have our own little family party on Friday, and celebrate with extended family on Sunday.

What a fun day. I asked her where she wanted to go for dinner, and she replied "to the grass." I guess I had to be more specific, so I said what restaurant would you like to eat at, and she replied "the Costco food court!" After that, I figured I'd better give her a few suggestions. We finally settled on a Mexican restaurant, which suited us fine since we love Mexican, and she loves the chip basket. After that, we headed to Playworld (a Chuck E Chee*se of sorts). The kids had fun playing on all the maze things while we got to sit and chat. Finally, we headed to Cold Stone Creamery. I tell you, it mind as well have been my birthday, because I think I had just about as much fun as the girls did.

The next day of course I was hit with an awful cold. I wasn't sure if we should still have her party on Sunday, but figured it was just family, I would be fine. I cleaned a little and prepared to make her birthday cake....a castle cake. I have spent the last couple years making the girls cakes, and Kyra gladly explained to her sister that I would make any cake she desired (thank you big sister). I'm just hoping the ideas for these cakes don't keep getting harder and harder. Fortunately, the castle cake wasn't the hardest, but it wasn't my best looking cake either. At 10pm that night, I finished the cake. The only problem was, that it was a little top heavy. So after finishing it, I couldn't move it. And because it was 3 tiers, I couldn't cover it either. The best I could do was drape a blanket in front of it, so she wouldn't see it the next day.

Sunday came, and my cold hit me like a sack of bricks. You know the kind of sinus headache that makes you feel like a truck ran into you? I debated again whether we should cancel the party, but we had to eat the cake (since it wasn't covered), and we couldn't move the party to my in-laws (because we couldn't move the cake!). On with the party it was! Fortunately, I have a husband who is quite handy in the kitchen. He took the girls to church, while I stayed home and prepped the turkey, and red potatoes. We pretty much had a Thanksgiving type meal going on, but that's my Katie! She's a meat and potatoes kind of girl. Plus the main item on her birthday menu was corn on the cob (I tell you, these girls are their father's girls through and through). The corn this season is nothing to write home about, but each girl still had two ears each!

Katie had a wonderful day. She has become so expressive this year. She opened up each present with such glee, and hugged all her aunts and uncles. And I made it through the day too. It was worth it to see such a happy birthday girl. And to think I can add making a turkey to my list of accomplishments now.

October Highlights

As I wrote in my previous post (3 weeks ago!!), I haven't been in the writing mode. However, tomorrow is a new month and I plan on jumping into blogging again (of course that's just a goal not absolute).

We did have a wonderful month though filled with many outings and visits with friends and family. I won't go in total detail of everything we did (since I'm summing up our month in one blog entry), but for memory sake will include the synopsis.

In the beginning of the month we headed to Zeeland's Pumpkin Fest. We've gone for the past 4 years and loved it. They have a chili cook off, barn yard animals to pet, pie eating contest, and a bunch of games for the kids to play. The best part is that it's primarily free! Next we had my old college roomate and her family visit for the weekend. This was a true treat since we haven't seen each other in over 2 years. We had no problems catching up as if it were just yesterday. The weekend was complete with painting pumpkins, getting in a game of golf (for the guys), and having a bonfire. Their little girl, Ella, fit right in and seemed to become friends quickly with our girls. At times they played so nicely together, we didn't even remember we had children in the house! We tried sneaking my hubby's birthday in amidst the company too, unfortunately other than a cake it was sadly under celebrated.

Katie, painting her orange pumpkin....orange!

Kyra put the candy corn on herself!

The following weekend we had another college roomate and her family come to visit. We headed to the apple orchard and picked apples. Of course we went on one of the 80 degree days, so it didn't quite give us that fall festival type of feel. Of course at least we didn't have to worry about jackets either! And with those apples (along with many my father in-law has given us...he loves to give us seconds from a local farm), we have made apple pie, applesauce, apple dumplings, and apple compote for pancakes. I guess you could say we haven't exactly been shrinking by our consumption of desserts.

The girls at the apple orchard

Finally, the girls and I went for a visit to Chicago to visit my family. Unfortunately they didn't get a whole lot of time to visit their cousins since our family seemed to get stuck with some kind of diahrrea bug, but we still had a good time. The girls dressed up early in their Halloween costumes and were able to take part in the town's Batfest parade. They enjoyed playing more games, watching all the other kids galavant in their costumes, and listen to Halloween stories at the library.

Yes, it was a good month, full of family activities. And as the upcoming holidays approach quickly, I'm sure there will be many more fun times. The quickly descending chill in the air and husband fervantly working to harvest the corn before the frost sets in, tells me that I need to be starting on my Christmas lists, cookies baking ideas, and cards. November, here we come!

Happy Birthday Kyra

Kyra is 4 years old today! We actually celebrated her birthday over the weekend so family could join in on the festivities, but today is her day. I remember last year she was so disappointed her birthday was over that she began planning her next birthday and kept asking when it would be. Thankfully those little ones have short term memory, and she soon forgot to ask me on a daily basis, but now the day arrived. We had a small party with the hub's side of the family and celebrated with her choice of dinner....CORN! When I asked her what she would like with the corn, she replied "nothing else, just corn." She is my husband's daughter! So we had corn, of course we did elaborate a little. I didn't think the rest of the family would be satisfied with a single item for dinner. For dessert we had a Hello K.itty cake (that seems to be her favorite character these days). And of course she had her gifts. I think her favorite gift was a little glass beaded bracelet. The hardest part of the evening was consoling Katie who didn't understand why she didn't receive any presents. She went as far to even try and take her sister's birthday cards away. I had to resurrect Katie's old birthday cards just to appease her for the moment.

All in all it was a great evening filled with smiles and laughter. And tonight we will celebrate again by taking her out sans sister to dinner and a movie (her first!).

Happy Birthday Kyra,

You are a beautiful little girl, whom we love so much. Every day you make us smile with your creativity and joy for life. You are so excited for school to start in a couple of weeks and have been practicing by filling your backpack and pretending what it will be like in the classroom. You are great with other kids, and love to make friends with other children at the playground. You are social, yet cautious. You love to color and paint, and stay in the lines of a coloring book using only the colors the objects are supposed to be (have been for some time). You love to dress up and play princess with your sister. You make up creative names during role play and love to dance and twirl in your dresses. You are growing up so quickly and at times I can already get a glimpse of the adult in you. We love you and hope this year is full of many more firsts and great discoveries.

Love, Mom

Surprise!!

After coming home from Georgia, I had to quickly get my brain focused on party mode. My father in-law had recently turned 70, and we were throwing him a surprise birthday! Over a month ago we had sent out the invitations and were now closely approaching the date of the party, when my grandpa passed away. Fortunately, there are two other siblings who were helping with the planning, so when I came back there was very little for me to do. We rented out my father in-law's church (which is brand new), and had much of the food catered. I had only to assemble the photo board, print out some trivia about Bob, and get him to the church on time (that of course was the tricky part)! We had called him earlier that week to ask him if he'd like to go out to dinner. Fortunately, he said he had no plans, so we were all a go for 6:30 pm. He had asked the other two siblings if they'd like to join us for dinner, but they made up excuses for not coming. Of course I didn't think we were off the hook quite yet, because Bob is notoriously early. Sure enough, he arrived at our house an hour early. My clever hubby thought he might show up early though, so he hopped in the shower as soon as he entered our house. I told Bob that the hubs was outside all day, and needed a quick shower (of course he made sure to take a long hot shower). You'd think that everything would go smoothly after that, but if any of you have a 3 year old, you know that they can never keep a secret. We had coached Kyra about not talking about the party or anything birthday wise. We even did a little role playing and pretended to be "grandpa." We asked her what she was going to say to grandpa, in which she said "nothing." Okay, we were as ready as were going to be. Wouldn't you know, as soon as he came in the door, she asked, "Grandpa, is it your birthday?" I tried to look nonchalant, and took her into the bathroom while I did my makeup as to avoid any other mishaps. Kyra, however was not happy that she couldn't be in the living room with Grandpa, and said she wouldn't mess up again. I decided not to chance it.

So, we all were ready to go, and hopped in the car when we told Bob, Kyra wanted to take him somewhere special and he and his wife had to be blindfolded. I wasn't sure if he would go for this, but with the coaxing of his wife (who was not going to keep the blindfold on), he agreed. My hubby took lots of wrong turns as to confuse him to where we were going. We had just about baffled him by the time we arrived at the church, when Kyra blurted: "Grandpa, this is your church!" Ahh, yes....the secret was foiled again. The best we could do was continue to play along. The hubs guided him in, took off the blindfold, and everyone yelled "surprise"!

It was a great party with the room full of people that were dear to him (close to 50). And oh, so much food. We had to give so many "doggy bags," just to get the food to a manageable level. I guess, better too much, than too little though. All in all, he may have not been completely surprised, but I think he was overwhelmed with how many people had come. It was a good time had by all. I'm sure he would agree.

Happy Birthday Katie

Dear Katie,

Two years ago today you entered into this world. I remember when I first found out I was pregnant with you. I was nervous and scared because I had a 10 month old and didn't think I was prepared yet to take care of 2 young children. I found out I was pregnant with you days before your Aunt Aub was married. I remember crying through her wedding, both at the joy of her getting married, and because of the emotions I was feeling from being pregnant. For the most part the pregnancy went smoothly, unlike your sister's. I thought for sure you were a boy because I gained very little, swelled very little, and felt quite good most of the time.

So, when March 20th came, we headed to the hospital (for a scheduled c-section) to finally meet you face to face. I chose to have you on the 20th because it is the first day of spring, and what better way for a fresh start, than to have a fresh start with a fresh new baby! The doctor's had a difficult time getting you out, because you were breached, so every time daddy asked what you were, they weren't sure. A short while later they announced we had another baby GIRL! Your daddy smiled with joy. Although I was wrong in predicting you were a boy, we couldn't have been happier. You were healthy, strong, and beautiful. What could be better than having 2 sister's close in age, that would hopefully become great friends someday.

Now you are two year's old, and full of life! You love playing with dolly's and stroll them all around the house, while covering them in blankets later on for naps. You love to put stickers all over the house, and let mom play seek the stickers! You are talking more and more every day, with your favorite phrases being, "look at me!" and "how about...these shoes (your always picking out new shoes to wear). You let your older sister boss you around for a little while (of course you let her know when you've had enough). You love to make goofy faces, and make your parents laugh. You are wistful and inquisitive. You are messy and carefree. You can be a little spitfire, which keeps us on our toes, but your smile always turns us to goo. We love you very much Katydid. Happy Birthday!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated my oldest's birthday. She turned 3, and boy was she excited. I think she has been talking about her birthday for about 3 months now. She had grand ideas for her birthday, ranging from getting a zebra (which I happened to get her, only in plastic form) to planting a tree (which would have been a nice idea but we didn't do). Anyway, her birthday was a success.

She had a great time with the cousins, loved her presents, and her cake (thank goodness, because it took me just about 6 hours to make it). When I asked her what her favorite part of her birthday was, she said playing with her cousins. Ahww. We all had a great time. Now if we can only distract her long enough before her next birthday (which she is already planning!)