Kaylee Happenings

Kaylee had her second piano recital last month and did very well, again. 

Here's a link to the video of her performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjZpRwE9Eck&feature=youtu.be

She's holding the ribbon she received for earning a Superior rating at a Piano Hymn Festival she participated in this Fall.

I was just planning to make this post about Kaylee's piano recital, but then I realized there have been some other exciting things in her life.

Yesterday Russ worked with her on riding her bike, but she was pretty nervous and didn't seem to make much progress. However, this morning she and Ashlyn went out to play and she came in shortly thereafter yelling, "I did it! I learned how to ride my bike!"

One of her favorite Christmas gift this year was a certificate allowing her to get her ears pierced. 

And here's our pretty girl in her Christmas dress. (Can you believe how much she's growing up?!)

Christmas Tree through the years

2005 - Wymount apartment at BYU
we bought a little 4 ft artificial tree and figured it would get us through our student years

2006 - 1st Delaware apartment - same tree

2007 - 2nd Delaware apartment - same tree

2008 - same apartment - same tree

2009 - same apartment - same tree

2010 - same apartment  - same tree

2011 - same apartment - same tree

2012 - Texas apartment - same tree

2013 - HOORAY! Texas house - beautiful new 9 ft tree!!!
(and look how BIG all my babies are now!)

Thanksgiving

My blogging gets really sparse when holiday time arrives, but here are some pictures from Thanksgiving. Which was like 2 1/2 weeks ago. Oh well.

My parents and Gran came to celebrate the occasion with us, which was AWESOME. We LOVE visitors, and especially holiday visitors.

McKell became instant friends with Grandpa when he whipped out the Skittles.

We had a difficult time answering the question, "Am I bigger than a mouse?" Um . . . no?

Carrying on my childhood tradition of making spice drop turkeys.

Our food turned out well, and we had a lovely day together. :)

We are thankful for . . .

Over the years we've tried different ways to write down or express all the things we're thankful for during the month of November. This year we brought back our "We are thankful for . . . " posterboard. 

Here's the final product. I love it. :)

And here are a few of my favorite drawings for this year:
(mostly by Ashlyn, because she's REALLY funny)

Russ was out of town when we put up the poster, so when he returned the girls were showing him all the things they had added. Ashlyn told him she drew the sun and the earth and herself. Russ commented, "So, you put yourself at the center of the universe?" So funny, even more so if you know Ashlyn. ;)

Can you tell what all Ashlyn's holiday representations are? holly berries, four-leaf clover, heart, pumpkin, easter egg

Brenna's first additions to the board were, "My Dad, My Mom, and My Baby Sister"

Kaylee drew an individual picture for each school subject. Crazy girl.

And the first thing she put on the board was PIANO. Hooray!

Ashlyn's not ashamed to admit she's thankful for chocolate.

And she LOVES her "SISDRSS". :) So sweet.

We have so much to be thankful for!

Grateful

Here's a sweet paper I found among the schoolwork Kaylee brought home this week:

Poor Baby

McKell has had it pretty rough the past few weeks. Two weeks ago she was cranky and a little feverish. I finally took her to the doctor a few days later - ear infection.

She started feeling better pretty soon after we got her on an antibiotic.

Then this week she's had a runny nose, and Wednesday night she was up coughing quite a bit.

She was doing much better last night and slept great, but woke up this morning looking like this:

Time to go back to the doctor! It's worst on her cheeks, but she's got polka dots over basically her entire body. I thought it might be an allergic reaction to citrus, since she tried oranges for the first time Wednesday and Thursday. However, the doctor said it's due to some virus. Not contagious at this point, and it should clear up in a few days. 

I sure hope this little girl can enjoy some healthy days after this rash is gone. :(

Make It Do

The creativity of children always impresses me.

I came into the kitchen one Sunday evening to find A and B waving their "batons" around while K sang a song. Who knew kitchen stools and cookie sheets could make such nice music stands?