3 1/2 Year Pics!

Better late than never right? Momma really wanted to stay on top of having pics of the kids taken every month for the 1st year of their life and then every 6 months until they turn 5. Kinley is actually 3 3/4 years now, but we just got around to taking her 3 1/2 year pics! :) Here are 3 shots of our pretty little miss! As you can see she is in the "only smile if I'm laughing stage..."

Kinley Swimming!

Obviously she doesn't have any type of "form" yet, but we are proud that she can "go" on her own. The farthest she has made is about 3/4 of the 25 meters on her own, but her goal is to go the full length by the end of the summer so she can do the "big slides" in the deep end! :) We hope she makes her goal, but know that it might be next summer.

She can also dive down and swim under and adults legs or dive down in 4 ft water to pick up a diving ring. The first time Momma told her to try that the little turkey did a bob and grabbed it with her feet, quite funny that she "got it" and thought she had accomplished the task! :)

She also can be launched/pushed under in the middle of the deep end, find her way to the top and swim to the edge.

By all means we don't just let a 3 year old swim by herself, but it is a little more comforting for us to know she is becoming a better swimmer and doesn't depend solely on her Puddle Jumper float as she has the past 2 years!

- Thanks to Ms. Jill for standing in as the "mommy" for her to swim to while I took the video! :)

K-A-T

As I mentioned in last post Kinley has been wanting me to spell words for her so she can write her letters. I used the opportunity here and there to help her sound things out to learn the letter sounds as well.

Tonight while I was making dinner she asked me how to spell "dog" - this was one we sounded out then she asked me about "cat" - our conversation is below...

Mom: Lets sound it out, kuh,kuh,kuh (sorry, don't know how to type that)
Kinley: Kuh, kuh, kuh - K!!!!
Mom: Well, this one is kinda tricky cause there are two letters that make the kuh sound
Kinley: What's the other one?
Mom: C
Kinley: Mom, you are just so confusing, first you tell me kuh, kuh, kuh is K and now you told me it was C, you are just WAY too confusing, what is the next letter after C?

Our Growing Girl!

Kinley's growing up so fast and this summer she is doing so many "big kid" things, just wanted to note that this summer she is having a ball doing 3 of her favorite things that make Momma and Daddy so happy and proud and also a little sad to know she is growing up so fast.

3 New Things Kinley can do this summer:

1. Swim - a few weeks ago something "clicked" and Kinley can swim across the pool without her floaties - it is awesome to see this little "fish" in the water!

2. Color (for real) - of course she has been able to hold a crayon in her hand and mark on a paper for a long time, but this summer she has really taken care to want to stay in the lines and have the entire picture colored perfectly. Almost every morning she wakes up and before she can even make it to the breakfast table or to the bathroom she is literally BEGGING Momma or Daddy to get the crayons down.

3. Write her letters - she has been able to write several of her letters for awhile (like the ones in her name), but now it is an ongoing project for her to ask anyone and everyone she can how to spell things so she can write them in her notebook. Usually it is people's names but sometimes it is random other words. Along with this I also have to note that she came in all excited today because her daddy had just "gotten her another iPad!" :) It was funny because she was excited about the new "notepad" he had given her to write her letters, which for this 3 year old is way more exciting than an actual iPad - such a cute mix-up!

Here is a pic of the names she wrote last week on our trip!

Gulf Shores 2011!

Last week we had a wonderful beach vacation at a beach house in Gulf Shores, Alabama. We went with Gma and Gpa Coleman, Uncle Troy and Grandpa-pa Marvin and Grandma-ma Manda to celebrate Grandma-ma's birthday. She was completely surprised to see Jaxon and Kinley run out from around the house when she arrived, and Gma Kerry had even kept it a secret about where they were gonig the entire trip!

We had a great week of fun in the sun at the beach, shopping the outlet mall, watching the Blue Angels practice and going to Waterville!

Thanks to Gma and Gpa for renting the great house!!!


Coloring her Orange Beach T-shirt from Gma Kerry!


Modeling T-shirts!


"Hangin" on the hammack!


Daddy and his Gpa Marvin!


Our carefree girl!


Cheese!!!


Gma and Grandma-ma at Grandma-ma bday party!


Whose party was it anyway? :)


The house had a great area for the kids to drive their ride-ons!


Fun in the sand!


Momma had to post this for blackmail later!


She loved her ear plugs at the air show!


So cool!


Kinley trying out being a Blue Angel pilot!


Family of 4!


Kinley and Momma at the beach!


Collecting shells with Gma!


Collecting shells with Grandma-ma!


Flying a kite with Gpa!


More sea shells!


Watching the singers at Lu-Lu's!


Lu Lu's is owned by Lucy Buffet (Jimmy Buffets sis)!


It is a restuarant with tons of fun stuff to do while you wait to eat, the wait was nearly two hours, but the wait is half the fun!


We went to THE TRACK one morning - kids on airplane ride!


Everyone loved the bumper boats!


One of Momma's fav pics with her 3 fav people!


Making tunnels was one of K's fav things to do!


Flying kites with Momma!


She LOVED it!


She was so excited to see her name in the sand!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July a couple days late from one proud little American Girl! So happy and blessed to get to raise our little miss in the U.S.A. To celebrate the 4th this year we were excited to go to Mr. Brian and Ms. Nikki's house with a group of friends. We didn't have firecrackers this year because of the burn ban, but we had tons of funs with all of the other activities they came up with. The wagon decorating and parade were a huge hit, the food was amazing and Ms. Nikki even thought of things like setting out coloring sheets for the kids to do a "craft" that night. Thanks to the Lees for a WONDERFUL party and thanks to GOD we live in the good old U.S.A and are blessed with so much in this life!!!















Thanks Ms. Nikki for taking many of these photos!

Ella and Kinley's Slumber Party!

Last Sunday after church Ella Bella, as Kinley calls her, came home with us for a slumber party! We don't know who was more excited the girls or the mommas! :) The girls had a ball, eating pizza and fruit snacks (don't worry Ms. Juli, also greenbeans and grapes), playing dress up and of course staying up SUPER late to watch Tinkerbell. Momma loves this stage and how EVERYTHING is SOOOOO FUN right now in these little munchkins' eyes! So glad Ella got to come over and excited for the next slumber party at Ella's on Weds night! - PS - try not to notice that the girls still have pizza from supper all over their faces in these pics! :)

WOCC FAMILY CAMP 2011!

We can't believe that this year marks WOCC's 5th Annunal Family Camp - and Kinley's been to all 5 - well, KINDA :)(year one Momma was 7 months pregnant with Kinley). This year was the best year yet - Kinley had a ball at the classes, the water games, family olympics, campfire devo with smores (we should note this year we had an amazing "flashlight" campfire and wonderful "microwave" flames to roast marshmallows with the burn bans we are experiencing this summer), and kickball game - she loved every minute! Check out some pics from her weekend (thanks to Ms. Jen for sending extra pics for the blogs from her "collection" of shots of Family Camp 2011).


Samantha, Ella, Aubrey, Tay and Kinley - sweet friends - can't believe how big they are getting!


The two cutest kids ever, that couldn't seem to take cute pic that day! :)


Love how the "big kids" step in to help in the kids' activities!


Kinley running to 1st first base in the annual kickball game!


What "beautiful" running form....


"Whew, made it, now I have to fix my hair and pose for the camera!"


Ms. Kay helping the girls with crafts ALL afternoon on Saturday so the Moms and Dads could rest and play games!


Bible Class crafts - Thanks to Ms. Nikki for organizing the kids activities!