Fun Times in the Bathtub!

What a fun Sunday we had today! The kids were exhausted by the end of the day - so exhausted that I actually woke them up from their naps!

We belong to Watermont Swim Club and today the pool had a Grand Opening cookout. Last season the clubhouse burned down (don't know the details about that) so this summer they have a brand new club house and everything. Yippie for us!

We arrived at the cookout around noon. We brought rice crispy treats - we needed to bring a dessert. Around 12:30pm, the Elkridge Fire Department arrived with a Rescue Truck and one Firetruck. That was all Kellen needed. He was mesmerized by the firemen and trucks! He even took a tour of one and sat inside too. The fireman also shot their water cannon over the pool. Colleen questioned if the pool had been on fire or not.....and I explained they just did that for fun.

After that we all enjoyed hot dogs, hamburgers and lots of other treats.

We headed home around 3pm - which was just in time - since the storms hit about 3:30!

Of course, I have NO pictures from the picnic - I forgot the camera, so instead we took some pictures of bath night. The kids were having so much fun and loved that Jeff turned the water green!

Colleen's 1st Ballet Class!

Colleen all ready to go to ballet class!

Colleen practicing a little for Daddy.

Colleen following her teachers instruction

Colleen waiting for the ballet portion of the class to start. (They do half tap, half ballet)

Colleen stretching for class

Wednesday night Colleen took her very first ballet class.....and she LOVED it! She keeps asking us when she can go back to class. I am very happy that she is so excited about the class and who knows - perhaps I will put her in the same program for the Fall.


She did a great job listening to her teacher and following the steps that she taught her. Above are some pictures from her very first class.

Beautiful Scenery

A few nights ago we came home from the library and saw a wonderful rainbow! A double rainbow to be exact.

By the time we got out of the car and got the camera, the rainbow was almost gone.

Here are Jeff's pictures of the rainbow and a flower from the front yard!

Colleen's 1st Library Card

Last night we went to the library and Colleen got her 1st library card. She was so excited to get her very own card so she could pick out books.

At first Colleen didn't understand why we couldn't "buy" the books and keep them forever, but then we explained that with her library card, she could borrow books every week and keep getting new ones.

She finally understood and picked out about 5 books to take home. She was so excited.

Another Colleen story - and this one shows that she is very smart and that Jeff and I are going to be in a lot of trouble when she gets older.

It was dinner time and Colleen was taking a long time to finish eating her cheeseburger. I told Colleen that if she finished her burger before I finished the dishes we could go to the library. She agreed and the challenge was on!
I finally finished all the pots and pans and sat down at the table. Colleen was still eating.
I looked at Colleen and said - "I win, I guess we aren't going to the library tonight"
Colleen looked at me and said - "Mom, you aren't done with the dishes yet. You still have to clean MY plate!" And with that she put the last bite of cheeseburger in her mouth!

I almost had to get up from the table to laugh - she really had gotten me with that one! Of course, we did end up going to the library!

Kellen went pee pee on potty!

I went and picked up Kellen at school yesterday afternoon and I was a little surprised to see - written on his daily sheet - "Peed on Potty" in big letters and circled.

I read it a couple times and thought for sure the teachers had written it on the wrong sheet. There is no way that Kellen who is 19 months old - and the BABY of his class - could have gone pee pee on the potty when none of the other kids had.

I asked the teacher about his sheet. Ms. Karla responded "oh, yes he had a great nap". So at this point I knew it must have been a mistake about the other message.

I asked again about the sheet, specifically about the pee pee thing. Then the teachers start telling me all about it! Yes he did go on the potty and they were all so excited! I told them he wasn't ready, but they said he TOTALLY is ready!

The believe it is his new hair cut that is having him act like a bigger boy!

Then this morning, Kellen decided to show Jeff and I that he could do it again! I was SHOCKED to see, with my own eyes, Kellen going pee pee on the potty.

Happy Birthday Natalie!

Colleen and Natalie

Colleen and Natalie picking the candy off the cake

Colleen before going in the obstacle course

Colleen climbing in the course

Colleen sliding down...she almost making a perfect star shape

Colleen sliding down

Colleen at the bottom of the slide

Everyone at Natalie's party

Happy Birthday Natalie!


Today Colleen's best pal Natalie turned 4 years old. Natalie had her party at Pump it Up, which is an indoor moon bounce place that has MANY different types of structures for the kids to play on.

Colleen has been looking forward to Natalie's party for a very long time. Each day she would wake up and ask "Is it Natalie's Birthday today?" And each day I would have to explain when Natalie's birthday was and how many days away that was.

Here are a bunch of pictures from the party. Some aren't the greatest quality - and that is because I took our old camera - so it would fit in my purse!

Afternoon Fun at the Pool

Colleen and Natalie pretending to eat their dog bones

Nat and Colleen as "Ariel" watching Lindsay the "Sea Witch"

Kellen trying to run away from the girls

Saturday afternoon we loaded up the car and headed out to the pool. It was such a nice day and the kids had a blast at the pool.

Colleen was super excited when she saw her friend Natalie and her sister Lindsay coming into the pool too - about 45 minutes after we arrived.


Here are some pictures of the girls playing and one of Kellen running around the pool - probably trying to get away from all the girls!

Father's Day Weekend

Colleen's masterpiece

That looks painful!

Happy Belated Father's Day to everyone out there! We hope you had a good one!


We had a nice relaxing Father's Day weekend - which is exactly what Jeff requested. Too bad his other wish of watching Phil Mickelson win the US Open didn't happen!


The kids each did something worth noting this weekend. You can see Colleens accomplishment in the picture above. She did a wonderful job on my hair. She even put some clip earrings in it - which were NOT fun taking out!


Kellen's big thing was finding his nipples! He discovered them and immediately began giving himself tit ti-twisters! They looked so painful, but he didn't seem to mind at all!

Happy 40th Anniversary - Grammy & Pop!

Colleen all dressed up with her special new necklace

Top view of the cake

Side view of the cake

Grammy with her card

Jeff's parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary today.


We planned a surprise lunch for them and all the grand kids were so excited for the big day. The original plan was to go ride the trains and then come up with an excuse for them to have to come to our house....where we would have a party ready. But those plans got scratched when the weather for today was 95 degrees with a heat index of 115! So, instead we decided to go up to Grammy and Pop's house and have a surprise lunch there.


Lunch started out with Uncle Mike's yummy chicken salad. After that we surprised Grammy and Pop with a special lemon souffle cake. Everyone really loved the yummy cake.


Next was time to give the happy couple their presents. Grammy got a ruby and diamond necklace from the grand kids (Gwyn, Colin, Colleen and Kellen) and Pop got his favorite Berger's cookies! They also got a "Happy Anniversary" balloon. Oh.....Colleen drew a special picture for Grammy and Pop too. It was them on their wedding day. They liked it so much that they put it up on the fridge right after they saw it.

Kellen's Chair

Kellen has decide that he no longer needs his little kid chair and has staked claim to one of the big arm chairs in the family room

Most days after school.....while we are making dinner, you can catch Kellen in this exact spot watching PBS Sprout!

Tuesday Evening at the Pool

Colleen smiling for Mommy

Kellen walking around in the pool


Kellen laughing about Mommy worrying about him

Colleen swimming under the Daddy bridge

Kellen kicking on the side of the pool

Everyone kicking on the side of the pool

This past Tuesday evening we decided to take the kids to the pool right after school - before dinner.


The kids had such a WONDERFUL time and I was amazed at how well they did in the water.


Colleen loved "swimming" and really enjoyed using her Barbie goggles (she got from Aunt LaLa)

Kellen was so natural in the water. He played, splashed and even sat on the bottom with no worries at all. I was a little nervous Nelly....but really shouldn't have been.

Our Backyard Visitors

One of the members of the bunny family that visits our yard every day.

One of the deer who come and eat in our backyard

A few days ago, Jeff caught some of our friendly animals in the backyard. Typically, we see them out in the evening, but Jeff happened to catch them in the afternoon before the kids and I got home.


Since we were going to miss them, Jeff snapped a few pictures for us to see.

Poor Chicken Little

Kellen got a Chicken Little doll for Christmas, and for the longest time Chicken Little spent the night with Kellen in the crib.

You can see from the pictures, that Chicken Little no longer sleeps in the crib with Kellen. Chicken Little ALWAYS spends the night above the crib watching over Kellen.