five on friday (04/20)

Happy Friday!!!

ONE. We’ve had a couple of good walks this week and actually enjoyed some sunshine! It was even warm enough for shorts one day! The temperatures have still been in the 30s these past few mornings, so late afternoon walks are our favorites. (And this might be one of my favorite-ever pictures of Kaya and Kaelyn together!)This girl with her crazy hair and sly smirk… She’s always so content to sit and watch the world go by as her sisters run down the path.Come on Spring! Kaya keeps reminding me that the groundhog told us we’d only have “6 more weeks of winter”, and it’s been longer than that. Haha.TWO. They’re all growing up so fast that it’s breaking my heart a little… but then I see how much they can do on their own, and how these three sisters really look out for and care for one another. It’s nice to be able to sit back for a moment and just watch them create their own fun. THREE. I’ve been looking for these little “bug boxes” for the older girls for probably about a year, and this week, we finally found some at the dollar store! Now Kaya is ready for the next time we find a caterpillar!Are they not the cutest little entomologists you’ve ever seen? They’ve been searching everywhere for something to catch, but besides a few ants, they haven’t had any luck yet.FOUR. We had a super-simple family night this week, and it was Kaelyn’s turn to pick the treat. She saw some ice cream cones in the grocery store and instantly knew that was what she wanted (although I did have to explain that the cones didn’t come with ice cream already in them like the picture on the box portrayed)! I dipped them in melted chocolate and sprinkles to make things even more fun.It’s the little things that still make them the happiest (including deflating balloons, apparently…)FIVE. We were the only ones at Kangaroo Kids this week, so my girls ran around probably twice as fast as usual because they didn’t have to worry about waiting their turn for anything. And all the bubbles were just for them! They napped really well once we got home, too. 😉Happy weekend!

Linking up herehere, and here today!

five on friday (04/13)

Happy Friday! The sun is shining, and it’s finally feeling like SPRING! I’m so excited for the weekend and some family time!

ONE. We’ve had a few good walks this week! There is nothing like having the warm sun on your face after what has seemed like an extremely long winter. Lately, the girls are obsessed with all going down the slide together. I think Nella isn’t as big a fan of this activity as the older girls are, but she at least tolerates it.Kaelyn and her sunglasses… she just cracks me up. She was also extremely excited that Kaya’s old polka dot hat is now hers!And no, I will never have enough pictures of Nella in the swing. She laughs and laughs the entire time she’s in it!TWO. Michael had a work trip to DC this week! He attended the Docker GovSummit conference and even got to give a talk. He had about 150 people attend his presentation. I may not understand any of his “nerd” stuff, but I am still so so proud of him.The conference building was right down the street from the Capitol. So cool!He was able to walk around for a bit and see the memorials and monuments. Maybe one day we’ll all get to go with him on one of these trips and enjoy seeing the sites, too.THREE. While Daddy was walking around DC, we were bouncing around at Kangaroo Kids! The teachers brought out this new little bounce house, and the older girls were obsessed with climbing over the wall.Nella loves climbing into this big donut-like structure and just hiding. She also collects all the balls she sees!
FOUR. Whenever Michael gets home from a trip, we always try to do something a little extra special (if the girls have been well-behaved while he was gone). This time, we went out for Chinese food. These were some very happy kids!Her “cheese” face just cracks me up.We also enjoyed some family time at the library. It’s always so quiet and refreshing when we go in the evening.FIVE. This isn’t exciting… or at all glamorous… but just a friendly reminder that it’s not a bad idea to have regular skin checks with your dermatologist. This week, I had the tiniest little biopsy (and one single stitch) on a spot that looked like it could have been a basal cell carcinoma on my face, but thankfully, it came back clear. Here’s to using sunscreen and taking precautions against skin cancer.Happy weekend everyone!

Linking up here and here today!

five on friday (03/16)

It’s late on Friday night, but I just had to squeeze this post in! I have a lot of cute little moments to share and couldn’t pass it up.

ONE. The girls have been putting on these little “costume parades” (in their words) for us lately. The most popular version of the parade is “Frozen”, and while Kaya and Kaelyn each take turns playing Anna or Elsa, Nella is always Olaf. If you think pants are required to be Olaf, guess again! Apparently just a diaper (and one sock?) will do! TWO. Michael has a Docker meetup once a month, and this one included their birthday celebration! Naturally, I had to make some cupcakes for him to bring.Cutest little Docker Captain you ever did see!You can’t beat her adorableness, even with the cap on backward!THREE. I know I talk about it all the time, but it really is my favorite part of the week- Kangaroo Kids!!! I just love how big my girls smile while we’re there.

Nella’s favorite activities involve collecting all the balls she can see… Seriously, I wish they could stay little enough for this forever.FOUR. This is actually pretty big news- we got all new windows installed this week! We were wait-listed for about 10 weeks for this, and I’m so excited it’s finally finished! It was so strange to see the workers just rip the old ones right off the house and have absolutely nothing there for a short period of time…It was pretty cold, too, so thankfully, they were pretty quick about getting the new ones in. We already notice less of a draft and have been able to keep the thermostat set lower, so this was definitely something that needed to be done.FIVE. Kaya has been such a big helper lately, and this week, she wanted to help make Daddy’s lunch. She told me, “He likes pretzels on his sandwich!”, so I thought she’d put some between the bread slices, but this is what she came up with, all on her own. I love her creativity (and Michael loved his special sandwich)! Happy weekend!

Linking up here, here, and here today!

five on friday (03/09)

I feel like it’s been a year since I’ve gotten on the computer to write anything but a baby update… so I have a lot of pictures! Let’s see if I can keep this down to just five things (I’m guessing not…)!

ONE- VISITORS. We’ve had some visitors these past couple of weeks! Lelia and Baby Bryce made their first-ever trip (since he was born) out here to see us! I know it’s not easy to make a longer drive with a baby (and sleep away from home), so I definitely appreciate all the effort it took them to get out here.Lelia and I enjoyed a run (our first one together in over a year!), some cookie bars, and just hanging out chatting. Kaya and Kaelyn enjoyed kissing and hugging all over Bryce every chance they got. I just love these sweet sweet cousins! I enjoyed some Baby Bryce cuddles, too!It was also especially fun to see Bryce in person because he reminds me a lot of Kaelyn as a baby. I feel like they look like they could be siblings, really.Who couldn’t love nose-chomping kisses?The following weekend, Grandma Debbie came up for a visit! The girls loved snuggling, playing endless tic-tac-toe games, and drawing love notes for her.

TWO- MICHAEL. I feel like my guy really deserves his own post, but he’ll have to settle for just one section of this one. He’s always so busy working hard for us, lifting us up when we’re down, and just being there in general.

I can’t help thinking that we keep adding little princesses to our family because he’s the best “girl dad” there’s ever been. I’m not sure how Little Girl #4 is going to fit on his lap, but I know he’ll find a way.He spent part of February at home sick with a cold. I was sad to see him not feeling well, but the girls loved having him home for a few days. Thankfully, no one else caught what he had!Don’t worry, he’s still working on his baby bump…

THREE- KANGAROO KIDS. This is the highlight of the week for my little girls. Even Nella is really getting into it! She crawls all over the mats, climbs on everything, and wants to do everything her sisters do. The teachers brought the ball pit out especially for her, but of course, everyone else loved it just as much.She also had her first ride on the parachute! Kaya and Kaelyn were so excited to share this with her, and held her hand to keep her safe.

FOUR- SCOUT. Spring came to town for about two weeks (before winter rolled right back in)… and it rained forever and the pollen count was very high, so naturally, my dog looked like this (yes, again):At least we’ve seen a consistent pattern of this happening in relation to the weather, so after some eyedrops and Benadryl (and a few days without rain), she’s been looking better.  Poor poor puppy. I like seeing her back to her normal self!

FIVE- HOUSE. We’ve been talking about it for probably a year, but finally made the decision to go ahead and get rid of the little fireplace that was here when we moved in. We had a guy come and remove the gas line, so now all that’s left is fixing the wall and replacing the carpet where it was.I’m really excited to have this corner open, since that gives us more options for arranging the furniture.SIX- TREATS. I know, I went past five, but I had to end this on a sweet note! We’ve been doing a little more baking around here and even delivered some treats to friends. (Yes, that is a blue dog!)We’ve also enjoyed some of the best local donuts. Mmmm!Happy Friday!!!