Summer Fun?

This has been the craziest summer ever. We were all thinking we'd have a fun, relaxing summer in the states. But it has been much less than that. Don't get me wrong, we are loving being here with our family. It just that when your sick or your kids are sick you just want to be at home laying in your own bed. Or the kids having their own toys and knowing exactly where their boundaries are. Miss Ruby is constantly getting into something or another. The kids and I have been sick over and over again. We've made 3 separate trips to the ER, because that is the only way we can see a doctor here. We've had bruises, cuts, and even black eyes.

This has been one interesting summer and if/when we do move back to the states the girls are okay with it now. Before they had no desire to move here. Everything was overwhelming and hectic but it has calmed down their anxiety being here. When the girls went to Walmart for the first time, Lilly was upset and fidgety. She couldn't focus on one thing, her eyes were pinging from one thing to another. All of that and the culture shock has dissipated and they've relaxed.

We have had some fun too. We've gone to the flower park, the zoo, walks around the neighborhood, and even found some old covered bridges. We are getting excited that Daddy should be here soon. With all the chaos going on, this summer has pretty much flown by.  Like I said nothing could come close to being able to spend time with family since we've lived overseas for the last 6 years.

We are so excited to get back to Texas soon. We miss Memaw, Papop, and Uncle Shelby terribly. But we are moving soon and planning on a nice long trip there!

Life is so chaotic right now and the next few months are getting any less chaotic either. And our Lilly we'll be starting kindergarten this year. Seriously, where has the last 5+ years gone. It feels like yesterday that we got married and were moving to England. And now Lilly is 5 and Sadie and Ruby are going to be 4 and w in less 5 months. So I'm going to go hug the babies before they get even bigger on me.

-k

PS. Here's another shot of Ruby's shirt:) It's a little blurry because she's so excited for her fruit snacks!

What's New with Us?

Yup. She went on the potty. So proud but so sad. And no, I am not trying to potty train her yet. We're just trying to get her interested.
And do you see her shirt? It says "Ruby's Fruit Juice Stand". I found it at the Carter's store and got all giddy. There are never clothes, toys, key chains, or anything with the girls' names on them unless we had someone put it there. I like it better that way. Hopefully when they're all in school there won't be a handful of Ruby's in the class.
I'm exhausted and surrounded by whiny, tired children, so when they go to sleep I'll try and update more before I fall asleep. I feel as tired now as when we had newborns. Ugh! I swear I'm not ignoring anyone, just sleep deprived and overworked, ha!

-K

The 3rd of July?

One thing I love and hate that the girls do is when they are "politically correct". Everything is very literal with them. Today's not your actual birthday but we are just celebrating it today, so Happy Day Before Your Birthday! This was just one of those instances. Since the 4th of July was on a Monday this year, most of the fireworks were over the weekend. I knew I wanted to take the girls to see them because it's just one of those times when you equate something with a certain day or holiday. Just like turkey on Thanksgiving. For us it's fireworks on the 4th of July. Well they were constantly questioning why we weren't going to see fireworks on the 4th but on the 3rd. Once they caught on, they started yelling to everyone else, "Happy 3rd of July!". Yes, I already know how cute my kiddos are.




On the 4th we went to the Macungie Flower Garden. It's just a small plot of flowers in the middle of town right next to the train tracks. Two things the girls love is flowers and trains. We walked around and looked at all the flowers and tried smelling them too. I got to take some photos of the girls and the flowers and we even got to see a freight train. It was a very warm day so we went and got some cold treats at Rita's Water Ice. I forgot how much I love that place since the last time I was there I was just a kid.




After the snack we went back to the house and watched some movies. We had a nice quiet holiday. We all had a good day but boy did we miss having Daddy with us. Cross your fingers and toes that soon he'll be here with us. We miss you!



-k

Our Trip to the Zoo

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to the Lehigh Valley Zoo. It was the perfect size for toddlers especially ones that don't have a stroller to lounge in periodically. It was small, not too many animals, and in a beautiful location. It borders a nature preserve in the hills and the drive to the parking lot was just as nice as actually spending time in the zoo. It was no where near as impressive as our trip to the Waco Zoo with Memaw, but it was perfect for young kids who needed to walk on their own.


Oh and on the way there Lilly said, "Papou if there is a frog house you'll have to take us in there by yourself. Mommy really doesn't like frogs, but I do." Then Sadie chimes in, "Yea they freak her out! Daddy had to take one out of the car!" And when you read that dialogue make sure you add Sadie's Boston accent. It sounds more like this, "Yea they fweak hewr out! Daddy had to take one out of the cah!". We are still trying to figure out where she picked it up from.


We saw some penguins, prairie dogs, a small alligator, goats, geese, swans, a zebra, alpacas, an ostrich, and some birds of prey. There were peacocks roaming freely around the zoo and they were beautiful. Ruby wanted to run up to it and pet it- like she did with all the other animals. She feels the need to touch EVERYTHING now, or put it in her mout The girls were so excited to see an owl that looks just like Hedwig. Hedwig is Harry Potter's owl and the girls a obsessed with anything Harry Potter. We were able to go into a "bird house" that housed several macaws that we were actually able to feed, touch, and even hold the birds- if they were willing to let someone hold them.


I think I was most proud of Lilly. Lilly is so eager and excited to learn to read. That's all she really wants to do at school. That girl is so excited to be able to sit and read a book all by herself. I'm sure that she'll try and stay awake at night reading and fall asleep with her head in a book. One thing that Lilly has been good at is memorizing words. I have tried to get her to sound out words but it just hasn't clicked for her. She has memorized a lot of words. We went up to one of the zoo habitats and Lilly walked straight up to the plaque that describes the animals and without any help says, "Wolf. Oh wolves are in here, let's go! Did you know that my Daddy has wolves on his arm?" I was so shocked and proud of her. When she can read a full book by herself I think we are going to have to throw her a big ole party. I know how proud of herself she'll be.


Remember how I said it was a small zoo, well right about the time when Lilly and Sadie started to complain about being tired of walking we had seen all the animals. It worked out perfectly. Since the zoo is right on the nature preserve we got to see some deer, and protected elk and bison. We hadn't had lunch yet we decided to go thru a drive thru somewhere. Sadie chimed in quickly with McDonald's and wouldn't let up about it. I checked the navigation and found one not to far from where we were. We started following the directions and it started taking us further and further into farm country. I thought, "Man where is this place?" Just then we turned back onto the main road we started on, but this time in the opposite direction. So instead of just making a U-turn we went at least 10 minutes out of the way to do it! Crazy! And to top it off, when we got there Sadie was sound asleep. Typical Sadie-Mae, she just ate when we got back to the house.



We all had a fun day and I think we are going to make another trip there once Daddy gets here.The girls are just like him when it comes to animals. They love them all.

Sunset Walks

I apologize for the lack of updates but it just seems like one thing after another on this "vacation". So far Ruby has been sick twice- separate ailments, 3 ER visits, utter exhaustion, cranky, moody, tired children, things breaking, and just plain drama. I sure do love being able to spend time with my family, but I think I'm going to need a vacation after this!
In an effort to work off some energy before bedtime, my sister Gabbie and I took the kiddos on a photo walk. We walked over to an area of the neighborhood that is waiting to be built. You can buy a townhouse in the neighborhood and they'll customize the way you want when they build. The are made for some really beautiful photos and I know we'll be back over there many more times. We left the house after dinner so it was just before sunset and the lighting was beautiful. The kiddos were really good too.


Sadie was walking on the curb when I told her to get down before she fell. Now Sadie is a little clumsy so falling was inevitable. She looked at me and said she needed to practice walking on the curb because when I tell her to get down she gets really nervous. I couldn't help but smile at her because she can come up with the craziest things. I thought oh well she can be up there. No more than 10 seconds after that did she fall and cut her left knee. And by cut I mean a miniscule little dot. By no means was I going to tell her there was any sort of blood because she would panic and no longer be able to walk. I signed to Gabbie not to mention it when Lilly pointed it out to her. Thanks Lilly! Gabbie managed to convince her it was blood but that she fell onto a really small berry. Hallelujah! She believed and started walking again. She climbed back on to the curb and Gabbie told her to get down. She was nearly in tears about how nervous she gets when we tell her to get off the curb and then falls again. Lilly again points to the microscopic blood drop. Sadie then tells her no and that she must have fallen onto another berry. When we got back to the house I cleaned and bandaged them.



The next night at dinner we were telling Uncle Chris, Gabbie's fiance, about her falling into berries and she says, "I'm not so sure those were berries anymore." And I about choked on my food and was trying not to spit food out as I started laughing uncontrollably. Oh Sadie-Mae how we love you dearly. She truly is sunshine on a cloudy day!




-K