Florida Vacation - Day 2

Well after a bumpy flight and 1 missing stroller (which has been recovered!), we made it to Florida yesterday evening! We had a fun day relaxing by the pool. Tomorrow we are going to the beach. The girls are all really excited because it will be their first time! Here's a few pictures we've taken so far!

Kelby and girls hitchin' a ride on airport shuttle

By the way, we went for a dip in the pool at our hotel the night before our flight left and you know what our little Liv said? "Mommy, this Disney World is sure fun!" She thought the dive of a hotel pool we were at was Disney. Boy, we could have saved ourselves some serious cash! :)

Wait airplane .... don't leave me!

Julia lounging in the pool

Abby having fun in the sun with her 2nd cousin Mackenzie

The sun is a lot more intense here ... even after applying lots of suncreen ... we still got burned!

Kelby and girls playing with Shack the Boxer, who thinks he's a lapdog

Project Swingset

I've always wanted to be able to look out my kitchen window and see my girls playing on their very own swingset in our backyard. Well, I got my wish! It's been a huge undertaking for Kelby because he has had to put the entire thing together himself (me and power drills don't get along too well!). I've chronicled the progression of the swingset so you can see what a task this has been!

Oh my goodness, where to begin?

Taking shape...

The swings are up!

It's done! Thank you Daddy for all your hours and hours of work!

Jules having fun on the swings!
Julia monkeying around Liv and Jules

Abby chillin' in the treehouse

Gorgeous flowers in bloom in backyard Onto other news ... after 3 1/2 long months of waiting, Kelby received a job offer!!!! Can you tell I'm just a little bit excited and relieved?!? It was a stressful few months but I think we've come out the other side stronger than before. The Lord took care of us in so many ways over the past few months, so we feel very blessed and thankful. Before Kelby starts his new job, we've decided to go on vacation to "The Happiest Place on Earth"! Yep, we're going to Disney World. The girls are so excited, although I don't think Livvy knows what she's so excited about, but she does keep saying, "Are we going to go see Mickey today? Are we, are we?" If I'm not too exhausted at the end of the day, I'll try to update while we're away, so check back soon!

Crazy Mornings!

I think I've mentioned this subject before but I got to thinking it deserves its very own post. Somedays I feel like I'm torturing my little Olivia when I'm brushing her hair in the morning. There are screams and tears and more screams. The neighbors must wonder what is going on each morning! No matter how gentle I try to be it's never quite gentle enough. It must have something to do with her mass of curls because Abby and Julia never protested so much!

Pre-torture Session

Post Torture Session and no, No More Tangles doesn't help!!!

Oh and pray for strength for me today. I'm attempting to take Livvy's blanket AKA "soft" away, at least until bedtime. It's her "trigger" for sucking her thumb. Many times throughout the day I'll find her plopped on the floor somewhere in the house sucking her thumb with her "soft". There have already been tears but I am trying to stay committed to this new challenge!

Bird Watching

We've been watching this Swallow nest the past few weeks which is under our deck. The nest is pretty amazing because it's built up against the wall with mud. A few days ago the seven little eggs hatched and we've had fun watching the mom and dad fly back and forth to feed their chicks. I videoed this today ... enjoy!

Note: You may want to pause my playlist so you can hear them tweeting

Sisterly Bonding

Moments like these seem few and far between sometimes so I thought I'd capture this photo opportunity this evening. It was really the most precious thing. Livvy had her head on Julia's lap and Julia was telling her the story of "The Three Little Pigs". She even had props.

Props: Brick, Sticks and Straw

Little Miss Independent was busy playing with Mitzi

Sorry, not the greatest photo quality tonight. It is really windy out this evening. We're in for some more thunderstoms, second evening in a row. I hope the big bad wolf (the weather) won't come and huff and puff and blow our house down!

And She Sleeps

A few moments ago I was working on some of my dictation when I realized how quiet it was upstairs...unusual since all three girls were playing together! I went upstairs and found Abby and Julia had migrated to my room to watch TV, so I went in search of Olivia. This is how I found her in Julia's bedroom ...

I guess when the girls ditched her she found her "soft" and her thumb, plopped on the floor and fell asleep. I was able to carry her to bed and get her jammies on all while she still slept. If only we could all sleep so soundly! By the way, any suggestions on how to get a 3 1/2 year old to stop sucking her thumb would be greatly appreciated!

Bike Ride for 5!

We took the girls on a bike ride this morning to a trail here in town. We hadn't been riding since last summer. Abby and Julia are more confident on their bikes now, which made the ride so much more enjoyable. Liv sat in her bike trailer which was hooked to Kelby's bike. At one of our stops she said, "I'm glad we stopped, my legs hurt!" What? She'd been sitting the entire ride! Kids say the funniest things. I managed to get some great shots of them along the ride!

Abby's eyes look so blue in this picture!

Jules hugging a treeJulia's chain fell off halfway through our ride!Sweet Liv Don't think I'm a die hard or anything but I also managed to get my run in when we got back this afternoon. The bike ride wasn't any type of workout with all the starts and stops we made. I'm not sure if my run was so hard because I hadn't ran in over a week or because of the heat but it about killed me! I've been used to running when it's in the 40's, 50's, 60's or 70's. It was in the mid 80's today and the humidity was pretty high. I don't know how I'll continue my running this summer when the temps are in the 90's with the high humidity! I managed to run in Colorado Springs though at 6035 feet ... for some reason though that sounds more pleasant ... and more beautiful! Signing off for now, I have dinner to make!

Summer is here!

Well I think it's safe to say that summer is officially here. It was a hot one today, but it's only the beginning I'm afraid. We've been housebound the past few days due to rain so my sis and I and a friend took Olivia to the zoo today to see the new Butterfly Pavillion (Abby and Julia were in Summer School). Liv was captivated by the butterflies and held her little hand out so they would land on her. I'd love to go back and spend more time there when it isn't wall to wall people. Here's a few pics ...

This is too funny not to post!
My goal for tomorrow is to get back into my running routine. I ran consistently for 7 weeks, 4 miles, 5x per week. I was feeling so great! I even kept up my routine when I was in Florida but after buying new running shoes I got some horrible blisters the first time I ran in them so I've been letting them heal before I start back up again. Tomorrow is my first day back after taking a week off. I really enjoy running but I wish I had someone to run with. It would be so much more enjoyable and safe! I was almost attacked by a dog a few weeks ago. Anyone want to volunteer???

Meeting Cousin Will

Well I've decided to join the blogging band wagon. I'm not the greatest of writers but I do have three girls and they seem to always give me something interesting to write about. So here goes ...

The girls got to meet their new cousin, William Isaiah, this past weekend. We had a great time eating hotdogs and hamburgers, holding baby Will and playing games. The girls were all able to hold him for the first time. He was born 5 weeks early so he was in the NICU for several weeks.

My sister took these pictures of Olivia. We are all amazed at her naturally curly hair. It will get even curlier this summer as the humidity increases! There are many tears shed every morning as I TRY and comb through her hair, although I'm told that while I was in Florida she didn't cry once for her Aunt Kristin. She even said it tickled. Hmmmm, somethings not quite right there!!! You know, I think I remember being the same way as a little girl. I cried and cried when my mom brushed my hair but when a friend or relative did it there was never any pain.

Olivia throwing "helicopter" leaves off the deck. She made great friends with Jessie's dad and they made several trips to find more leaves! Oh what fun for a three year old!