Friday, September 10, 2010

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy Birthday, Pop!!!
Kam is so thrilled that you are coming to eat lunch with her today. We love you!!!!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Boys

Thought I would post a few pics of Mark's nephews here so everyone could see how much they have grown.

The twins, Cahl and Cade...they are in the 6th grade this year.
Aunt Carla and Quentin.... Q is in the 8th grade and playing football in Rogers.
Q is #74....
Although you can't tell here, I have no doubt that Q is the tallest person on the team... he dwarfs me, which doesn't take much... but he's dwarfed me since the 3rd grade!!
Good luck, Quentin!! Hope you have a great season!!!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Dance Dance Dance!

Dancing on my bed....
I found a hilarious video of Kam singing some random made up song here that I would love to post.... but it is sideways and I think you all would get tired of turning your head to watch it!

The Many Faces of Kamdyn

I found this collage of Kamdyn while I was searching for Cooper's birthday pictures. I'm pretty sure we were on our way to swim somewhere and she was being silly.

I miss summer already!!!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Cooper and Me...

Cooper and I spent the day together after dropping Kam off for her first day of school. We got a haircut and returned a few duplicate birthday presents. He checked out every toy at Wal-Mart and finally decided on a race car track. No surprises there!

Cooper wasn't too thrilled about the haircut....
Or shopping...but I was dying to check this new store out and somehow my car found its way to Little Rock. I will be visiting it again soon --without Cooper!
We made a trip into Toys 4 Us (that's what he calls it!) where he found another race track that he liked better. We also bought Kam an iCarly remote to give her as a surprise when we picked her up.
He couldn't wait to get home to play with his new Monster Truck raceway. It was a huge hit and we had a good time playing together. JJ brought the kids over and they all played while I went to get Kamdyn.

I do not even want to think about Cooper going to kindergarten!!! My mind will not go there!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Kam's 1st Day of School

*This is a long overdue post so I apologize for the delay! I downloaded the pics on my new computer and then couldn't find them (along with Cooper's birthday pics!)...

We were a little rushed for bed the night before, but we had to read "The Night Before Kindergarten" to Kam. Of course, she wanted to try to read it herself but I promised her she could read it the next night. After we put her to bed, Mark and I each wrote a note to her on the inside cover of the book for her to always have. I was very impressed with Mark's note -- he wrote more sentences than I've ever seen him write before! No surprise but I cried while writing my note, reading my note to Mark out loud, etc. You get the picture!
I can't take credit for this book idea. Deana read this book to her kiddos and wrote a note to them so I wanted to do the same thing for mine. And, of course, I forgot to order the book in enough time so Deana came to my rescue again. She picked up the book in Bryant and Mark went to get it Wednesday night--just in time to put Kam to bed!

This is what Kam looked like when I woke her up that morning....
Then she began jumping on the bed as soon as she realized it was the first day of kindergarten....
I cut her sandwich in the shape of the heart and she thought that was the coolest thing. We also wrote her a note (heart shaped, of course!) for her lunch bag that she found before she left. She said, "ahhh, that's so sweet!" And for the record....she is over sandwiches for lunch now. Two days was enough for her!
When we walked out to leave, Mimi and Pop were waiting to see her off.... I got teary eyed when I walked out and saw them. It was Dad's day off and Mom will tell you that it's hard to get him out of bed on those mornings! It meant a lot that they came down although it was no surprise to me that they did.
I wanted to pick a spot to take Kam's picture every year so I could see how much she grows from year to year. Let the posing begin.....
Do you know how hard it is to get Kam to stand normal and not strike some ridiculous pose every time? But I finally got this picture....my lens was fogged but I love how sweet she looks.
A close up....her necklace says "Kindergarten Rocks!"
Kam and me.... I wonder if next year she will think she's too big for me to pick up and hold like that?
Daddy's girl....
The whole family--not looking at the camera!

Walking up to school...
We took her stuff inside and took a quick picture before taking her back to the playground....
Standing in line with her teacher, Mrs. Mac....
I can honestly say that the only time she hesitated for even a second was when I told her to go get in line. She wanted me to walk her over to the line. We got there right before the bell rang (too much picture-taking at home!) so she didn't even really have time to play or get acclimated before it was time to go inside. And because we were trying to get her with her class, I really didn't have time to hug and kiss her the way I probably would have had we had more time to hang around. I think that was a good thing for both of us.
However, I did get teary-eyed as we began walking back to the car.... I think Mark would have stood and watched longer but there weren't many other parents around so we decided it was time to go.

3:00 could not come soon enough for me because I was dying to know how the day went. Her teacher sent Mom an email around mid-morning letting us know that she was doing great. That helped. This is Kam after her first full day of school....
When she got in I asked her how it went and she said, "it was awesome!" I think that I couldn't have asked for a better response!

I'm going to be honest though... the novelty of the first day was fun but all day long I kept thinking, "do I really have to do this again tomorrow?"

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The Night Before Kindergarten

Dear Kamdyn,

Tomorrow is your first day of kindergarten. You are so excited and could not wait to pack your lunch and backpack tonight. You've had your outfit picked out for weeks now. I know you are going to love kindergarten and I am so excited for you and this new time in your life.

As you know, Mommy's had a few teary moments this week about you going off to school. Tonight after one of those moments in particular, you wrapped your arms around me and told me that you promised to always hug me every day before you left for school. I'm going to hold you to that promise!!

I am so proud of the special little girl that you have become. You have so many fabulous qualities (have I ever told you how funny you are?) and I hope that these will continue to grow as you begin school. I could never thank God enough for the special privilege of being your mommy!

I love you to the sun and moon and back!

Love,
Mommy