Happy Birthday Kyler {2 1/2 months ago}

So I am a little behind but what else is new? Better late than never right!!! RIGHT!!!??

Happy Birthday to our favorite 7 year old!!

This is what he wanted more than anything!!!
He got to open this one right when he got home from school!

Reading it so intently...this is serious stuff!

hmmm...ya think he likes this one?

We love Skippyjon Jones!! He is hilarious!

Trick Candles....I know we are pretty tricky...he thought it was super funny though. It gave him the giggles and I love to hear him giggle.

Birthday Spankings! It's Kyler's favorite part!

Kailee

Kailee went to her 8th grade dance last night. She looked stunning!!! She is such a ham for the camera...we rarely get a serious picture from her...but it's ok, cuz that's our Kailee!!! She went with her friend Emma to a "Night in Paris". She had a great time!

Kailee's Canvas

For Family Night a few weeks ago (actually it's more like a few months ago, who am I kidding?!)...anyway we all sat down a made a list for each one of the kids and came up with words that described that person. I took the lists and made my own version of "Subway Art" for the kids to hang in their rooms. I thought it would be a fun way for me to be creative and play with my vinyl and also a great keepsake for the kids. They will have a fun reminder of all the great things we thought of them in 2010!
I love how Kailee's turned out. I bought 16x20 canvas and painted it black. I used teal and white vinyl. I am a little bit picky so I spent a ton of time ( I won't even admit to how many hours) getting the image just right. I wanted the fonts to also express Kailee...which I think it does! She loves it and I love it! I have started on Austin's...we'll see how long it takes me to get it done....1 down, 3 to go!
**I also learned that vinyl doesn't stick so well to canvas. So after I got it all on there I painted a layer of modge podge over the whole thing!! {{Also I am pretty impressed with myself...I made the books on there all by myself from scratch!!!}}

Kailee's Room...well most of it

So Kailee's room has been in the planning stages for months now. We finally had a free weekend to do it and I finally got her to make a final decision on a paint color! She chose gray walls...which I thought was perfect since she wanted so many "pops" of color. It's a great neutral to balance everything out! She really is my mini me...she was super crafty and had fun doing it! I wish I would have taken some before pics but that would have taken thought (not alot of that goin' on here!) She did alot of the decor items in her room! When it is all the way done and we get the last few finishing touches done...we will post more pics!We need to add the bling to this chandelier.

We bought some rhinestones to put on it...just haven't done it yet.

Kailee made the dream sign (painted, sanded, distressed, vinyl)
She also took some old books we bought at Goodwill for a $1.00 and she covered them with cute scrapbook papers, added some fun embellishments and antiqued 'em up! Didn't she do a great job?!!Her message/information center! We still have to cut out the chalkboard vinyl in some cute shapes and get those up. When we do she can write herself little notes and reminders!!
I LOVE these new "Who's your Hero?" posters that are at the church bookstore. They are so neat. Kailee chose 2....LOVE! This one is the from the Book of Mormon, Daughter of the Wilderness. The other one is Mary the mother of Jesus! We still have a couple of roses to finish putting up too.

Kailee sanded, painted, sanded again and antiqued the shelf and the frames. The frames were cheapos we got at Goodwill. The doll is one that Shawn got her in Indonesia.
cute birdcage...still needs a bird
This is the saying Kailee wanted above her doorway...love it!!
I think this is my favorite. This is the one I really wish I had a before pic of! The sign was an ugly old thing with a picture of a boat with and arrow on it. Kailee painted it, sanded it and stained it. Then we made the vinyl together and put it on! I am so proud of her and all her hard work...she had great vision for her room! She is now looking for a little chair she can refinish and put in the corner by her window. (to the left of the flowers, which is why we left that space empty) Oh, the cute flowers were from Target!

Camping for Spring Break

So this year we decided to go camping! Yes I know...I am not a super huge camper...I don't hate it, it's just that I really enjoy indoor plumbing and sleeping in a bed! Call me crazy! But I took one for the team this last week and it turned out great! We went to Canyon Lake in the hill country about a 2 1/2-3 hr drive from Katy. It was beautiful...we were nervous what it would be like but it turned out fantastic! Our campsite was on the water and it was gorgeous! My new favorite thing is the tent heater that saved us all from freezing every night! We had such a good time...lots of fun, super relaxing, no schedule to follow...perfect! I think I might even do it again!!!! :)

settin' up camp

tents up!!

Helping dad chop wood for the fire

munchin' on Cheetos while we were getting tin foil dinners ready

Bella helping Shawn make his tin foil dinner.

Eating their tin foil dinners...they all made their own. They all turned out sooo good! Everyone was scraping the bottom of their foil by then end of the night!

I was constantly chasing Ty away from the ax. He scared me too many times. Shawn is just way to laid back about it...another reason I prefer to not camp...what happens in the woods stays in the woods, I don't need all the details!

This would be the "where is my licorice" face!

reading...relaxing in the tent

Austin

lunch

Kailee roasting hot dogs for us

getting ready for dinner

the weather was perfect...we couldn't have planned it any better if we tried! The kids went down to the beach quite a bit to play...of course you can't leave out Bella...she loves to swim! All of the beach pics were taken by Austin

the boys got a little cold...time to get changed and warm up and I am sure Bella is thinking why do we have to go?

not sure why a sad face

typical Ty...covered in rocks

playin' in the water

Making dinner on our last night there...we had roasted corn, dutch oven potatoes with ham (Shawn really makes some incredible dutch oven food!!)

Kyler was hiding from the camera!Ty reading by the fire, waiting for dinner to be finished. We bought the whole 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' series and the kids all read alot this trip...it was great!!

more reading...

gorgeous sunset on our last night there!