Look! No Training Wheels!

Kasey was home this weekend and took Mikenna's training wheels off her Barbie bike. She tried and mastered the art of balancing on your bicycle in about 5 minutes... She was definitely ready. They went on a bike ride together and she kept up with him the whole time - zipping down the hill, up the hill, in circles... She's a natural! :)

No More Thumb!!

Adiee's thumb sucking has come to an end... We have FINALLY won a 2 year battle and the good news, her thumbs are starting to look normal again!! :-)

We started trying to wean her off of her thumb when she was 2 and for a while she would just suck her thumb when she was in bed and when she was sleepy. We tried everything and what worked for her? We got some knit gloves to put on her hands at night and nap time. We called them her 'princess gloves'. We caught her a couple times with a thumb pulled out of a glove, so Kasey put some string through the hem of the glove and we would tie them in a bow with a double knot so that she couldn't take them off. It took a couple months to be sure that she had broke her bad habit... and she did!! :)

Go Ahead and LAUGH!!

Well Father's Day was interesting this year that's for sure! Kasey had to work all weekend long; wanting to spend time with him, the kids and I packed up to go camping - we left later on Saturday so that we would get there when he was getting off work. We set up camp at Seminoe State Park, it was fairly busy so we put Isla in the car to play in a safe confined space while we were putting up the tents. When we were done I went to get her and realized that it wasn't as kid-proof as I thought because she found a blue pen and had scribbled all over the driver's side leather seat. Yeah, that was a great idea... worst part is that it will not come out. So, at this time Kasey and I are a little peeved and I was getting things ready for dinner and realized I had forgot firewood; the firewood!! Are you kidding me, how does that even happen?? It wouldn't have been that big of deal if we were camping in the mountains but we weren't, so Kasey had to go find something to burn so we could cook dinner. It took about a half an hour to find some scraps of wood - and they burned out about 10:30 p.m. so we went to bed.

Okay, now it's Sunday and Kasey had to get up for work and left at 6:20 a.m. Of course, the girls hear his truck start up so my day started at 6:20 A.M. as well. I'm all for getting up early when camping, but not that early! haha :) It was really cold and windy in the morning and got really hot around lunch time. The girls played in the lake so they were just fine. There wasn't any sand, just gravel and mud but we made it work. :) After their nap, we played in the water yet again... I was sitting in my chair watching the girls and a stray dog came and stirred up mine (who were both tied up), his owner came to get the stranger dog and Sara - who is protective of our family - showed agression to the guy and his dog... Scared me to death!


Anyway, when I decided to go camping to see Kasey over this weekend, I fully expected to spend some time by myself while waiting for him. I figured it would be like 4 hours or so, maybe even from 6 to noon. But I spent 11 hours of misery by myself, looking at all the cars driving by hoping it was Kasey. Even something as simple as going to the bathroom had turned into a field trip - 3 kids and 2 dogs that you can't leave by themselves... Irritating! So it's like 5:30 p.m. and Kasey bought firewood when he was in town, but he forgot to get cash back for the camp fee for the second night! We had to pack up camp, drive to another location, re-set up camp, built a firepit, and started dinner at about 7:30.

So now we are sitting around the fire enjoying our dinner amongst the millions of mosquitoes, when Pete goes in for the kill on a tiny piece of hot dog that one of the girls dropped and jams his head in the in the small folding chair. When he realized that he couldn't get it out, he panicked and whipped it right out from under Mikenna, swung it around and hit her in the shoulder and cheek (and we are close to the fire, by the way), she wasn't hurt or anything thank goodness. Kasey had to grab him and took a couple hits himself, while I had to sit on him while Kasey cut his head out of this chair with a hack saw. As you can imagine, it wasn't easy going to bed after all this excitement, but we had to get to sleep early because we had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to break down camp because Kasey had to work and I was heading back home. We said our goodbyes at 7, how depressing... :(

It's funny now, but wasn't so much then! Haha :) I think it's safe to say that this was the worst camping trip both of us have ever had. Even though the kids and I only saw him for probably 10 hours combined, it was well worth it because he won't be home for another week. But you know, this will be a memory that we will look back on and say "remember when...." and then laugh for hours. Oh, wait we already do! ;-)

Happy Daddy Day to all the men who take great care of their families, because any guy can be a father but it takes a special man to be a daddy! :) Kasey - you are the best dad, husband, and man I have ever known. Our girls wouldn't be the same without you, I wouldn't be the same without you. We love you tons!

Mikenna is 6!

Mikenna is growing like a weed... Just look at her, she has transformed into a "big" kid!! Her attitude has also made a flying leap in that direction too! Still a sweetheart but definitely with a twist of spunk.

On her actual birthday, Kasey was out of town working and was really sad to be missing his first born's birthday and Mikenna was understanding but bummed. I couldn't just let something as small as a 2 hour drive come between them so we decided to surprise him. He called that morning and Mikenna played along perfectly, telling him all about making cakes in the easy bake oven, the cupcakes, and how she wished he could be here, etc...

My goal was to leave at about noon, which never happens... At the last stoplight, I had to slow down quickly and my purse fell off the passenger seat and right on top of the cupcakes that we had decorated... Talk about irritation! And to boot were already an hour behind schedule... We still got there on time and when we did, we played at a park across from Kasey's station and waited for him to get off work. I called him because we had been waiting for about an hour and I asked him what he was doing. He said that he was working late and waiting for his supervisor to get there so he could do his operator qualifications, then asked me what I was doing. I told him we were at a park and I asked him how late he would be, he didn't know. I said, "That stinks because we are right across the street." He was so excited!! :) We went and looked at his office and then waited for him to get off.

We all went to dinner at Sanford's, then drove out to the sand dunes and played in the sand until the mosquitos came out and started munching on us all. Last stop was a park where we lit candles and sang happy birthday before we headed home.

We will be having her actual birthday party with friends at a later date...

Happy Anniversary

Six years... Wow, 6 years ago today is one of my happiest memories. Back when I started my blog last year I wrote about this momentous occasion as one of my first posts and the event leading up to it... our engagement.

Since our anniversary landed on a Monday, it was back to work for Kasey. So I got to see him for a few minutes at 5 in the morning before his drive today. Kasey sure put his heart out there on Facebook today, I just had to share what he had to say because it made me cry. Every woman deserves a man that treats them the way that Kasey does me. He is such an amazing husband and daddy.

"6 years ago today I married the woman of my dreams! 6 years ago today, I married the woman that would help me learn what life is really about, how much fun life can be, and how much I can really love someone through and through. 6 years ago today I married Krista Ann Oakland and it was the one of the best days of my life!"

Then went on to say...

"I love you Krista Brown and not a day goes by that I don't think about how lucky I am to have such a loving wife like you, you are my rock, my everything and I am so thankful that I have you by my side for the rest of my life there isn't any one else that I could ever love like I love you!! Happy anniversary Krista, 6 years down and a lifetime to look forward to!!"

Okay, definitely feeling the love here... :)

Thank you Kasey for the love and the life you have given me. You are incredible.

Poodles in Paris

She did great and looked beautiful! They did the major parts of their dance, but I think the lights and the dark, people filled audience was kind of intimidating for all of them; it was different than rehearsal because the lights were on and there weren't as many people... But I screamed at the top of my lungs and I cheered my lovely little Adiee on!! Great job Baby, We love you!! :)

Memorial Day

We went on a mini vacation for Memorial Day: A day trip to Rapid City. Our first stop was Mount Rushmore... When we saw it from the road the girls were super excited to get out and walk around! They loved it! :-)
I dressed the girls the same on purpose obviously but when we were driving back home that night, I noticed that we were ALL in stripes! Funny :)

Next stop was The Cosmos... Now that was FUN!!!
It was such a neat place! You could feel the pull when you entered the mystery house, everyone was standing at a slant... The girls thought it was a blast!!

Here, Mikenna and Adiee are standing across from each other, and they had a level there to show that that the two platforms were straight. In this first photo, of course Mikenna is taller than Adiee...
But when they switch, Adiee now is the same height as Mikenna even though the platforms are level!! How cool is that?!? They sure thought it was!

In this picture, Kasey is in the mystery house re-enacting a scene from the matrix... Sorry Keanu, you've got nothing on Kasey!! ;-) Isla's face is funny too - she was saying "whoa", obviously very impressed with daddy's skills!! Haha :)

After we were done with our Cosmos tour, we drove on... We stopped in Keystone to get some lunch, a beautiful little town where you can spend 40 dollars on grilled cheese sandwiches. Haha :)

After lunch we went to Storybook Island, we were there for quite a while! We had so many pictures it was hard to choose just a few!

Cinderella's set... Note Adiee looking deep into prince charming's eyes! Haha :) So precious!

Now it's Mikenna who's giving Aladdin some love... Haha :) Those girls!

Isla forgave Tigger and gave him a hug even though he BIT her... This was the funniest thing! She put her hand/arm in his mouth and started screaming "Ow, Ow, OOOOWWW!!!" and would run away crying! She did it probably 4 or 5 times and I got a little video clip of her doing it! HILARIOUS! :) Everyone around got a kick out of that!

Sweet Adiee riding a "real" unicorn...

Mikenna loved this tree!

Kasey and Krista as Raggity Ann and Andy. Mikenna took the picture right as Kasey was grabbing for Isla... Look at that face! Haha :) I love you!!

The girls rode the Storybook Line, I thought Isla was going to possibly freak out once they started moving but she didn't! She absolutely loved it and didn't want to get out! This picture was taken when they were finishing up their ride.
Mikenna was reading the words on the wall, Adiee was being adorable and sitting in the Cat in the Hat's lap, and Isla's face is something else! I love my kids! :)

Last stop - Chuck E Cheese!! Something they have been waiting for all day!

Mikenna after she and dad won the race! Which was quite obviously a win! Haha
Adiee riding the carousel... She is such a happy little girl!
Isla was a hungry baby! Smiling with food in her mouth... I thought I had taught her better than that! Haha, just kidding :)