Catching up

I haven't been on here for awhile again.  Here's a few pics from the last month or so to catch us up.

Kira got her ears pierced!  She had been talking about it on and off for months but wasn't quite ready.  Well, a friend at school got it done so suddenly she decided she was brave enough.  She did great!  Didn't even cry!  She was so excited and loves her new bling.

Kira and Kaylee got to go to the Daddy/Daughter dance again this year.  They were so excited to get all dressed up and go on a date with dad.  They had a wonderful time!

The kids had to get outside by 8:30 a.m. the first day of snow.  They went in and out a total of three times that day.  They had a blast playing out in the snow.  We've had alot of snow already this year so I don't know if I'm really ready for this winter to go on for another 3-4 months.  At least it's going to look real pretty for Christmas!



We took the kids on a train ride in Monticello to have "Lunch with Santa".  They had a great time both going on the train and also getting to see Santa.  They were both so excited to see him until he actually came by.  Kira talked to him for the first time EVER but Kaylee didn't want much to do with him.  She finally warmed up a little and talked for a minute.  What a fun, memorable time.

We've had alot of fun Christmas parties (adult) as well as fun programs/parties at the girls' schools.  I love being able to be home so I can go volunteer at their classes and see them with all their friends.  What a wonderful time of year!  It's just a few more days until Christmas and the girls are so excited.  It's hard to believe it's here already.  I've got all the shopping done and spent all last weekend baking and getting stuff ready for friends.  I think I'm more excited for Christmas as a parent than I was as a kid.  I can't wait to see their faces.  I'll try to update and post pics of Christmas before January! :)

Kira's missing tooth

Kira lost her first tooth on Oct. 18th.  She was so excited about it.  We had talked and planned for it since July when she went to the dentist and he said she had a loose tooth.  It finally got loose enough that she begged Dad to help her pull it out. She was so brave and it came out fairly easily.  The Tooth Fairy visited that night and left her a gold $1 coin.  I can't believe she's getting this big for this milestone already!

Happy Halloween 2010

We had a great Halloween this year.  The kids had several activities they were able to dress up for and get candy.  Kira was Dorothy from Wizard of Oz and Kaylee was a mermaid.  Luckily the weather was nice so it made for a fun week.  Unfortunately, during trick or treating, Kaylee got in one of her "moods" and didn't want to go anymore.  Then, when she tripped and fell, that was the end of that.  Kyle's mom was with us and offered to take her home so I could continue with our friends so it all worked out.  I like this holiday more and more each year as the kids get bigger and excited about it.  Fun times!

Top 40 under 40

Kyle was recently nominated and selected by Central Illinois Business Magazine to be one of their "Top 40 under 40" business people in the community.  It's a well-deserved honor.  He works so hard for our family and volunteers for the community.  I truely appreciate all he does.  Congrats, honey!!
http://www.centralillinoisbusiness.com/index.cfm?colid=133

MIA

Where have we been all summer?  We have been so busy with all kinds of fun stuff.  That and Facebook have made this blog take a back seat. Sorry we missed 4th of July, our trip to Utah and other fun stuff.  It's been hard to keep up on here but here goes on a few recent highlights.

We took a day trip to Indianapolis to the Children's Museum.  The kids had a great time with everything but especially liked the Barbie Exhibit (surprise!)

We had a fun swimming party at a friend's house.  There were lots of the girls' friends there and it was a wonderful summer day!

Kira started Kindergarten!  She was so excited to go the first day.  Although, she woke up the night before about 4:20 a.m. with a tummy ache and a bad dream that books were climbing in her bed trying to bite her.  Maybe she was just a little nervous.  We took her to school the first morning to drop her off and she was good to go!  She didn't seem to have any reservations at all.   I actually did much better than I thought I would.  I think I went through alot of the emotions all week.  I did fine until I waved goodbye as I was walking out the door and she waved at me.  I started the tears as we walked down the hallway.  But, she had a fantastic day and I know she's been loving it ever since.  She started riding the bus on the second day and has done pretty good with it overall.  It's made such a change at home already too.  The first week she had some very grumpy times after school but she's also decided she's a big girl now.  She wanted to learn how to do a ponytail, how to take a shower by herself, has been having very good manners asking for things, helped out more around the house.  We love her teacher and school so overall it's been a very good experience!

We did a little fishing in the pond behind our house.  The fish were totally biting!  We could barely get the line in the water before another bite.  The girls had a blast and thought it was so cool although they weren't sure about touching the fish.

And Kaylee started preschool!  My little baby is big enough to go to school on her own.  She is so happy to finally be going to the same school Kira did.  It's great that she already knows the school and was totally comfortable with me dropping her off.  Today was her first realy day back with the whole class and she talked about all the fun stuff they did. 

And with all my "free time" now?  I'm going to be taking over doing books/accounting/payroll for all of Kyle's various businesses.  Hopefully, once I get into a groove, it won't take too much time because I've been excited about having a few hours a week to do what I need to.  Now that Kira is in school all day, Kaylee has been much more demanding of my time than she used to be.  It's been alot of fun spending time with her one on one but I don't get enough other stuff done.  She's so cute and I  know this time is so fleeting so I'm trying to enjoy it with her and get her friends of her own to play with.  It's definitely been a change of life, routine and schedule but it's all good!

Gymnastics recital (from May)

The girls had their very first ever gymnastics recital.  There were alot of girls there and they weren't too sure about it all but they had a great time performing what they had been learning.  This was back in May but I guess I forgot to post about it.