Butterfly Pavillion!

One of the best parts of being off-track is being able to meet up with my friends and catch up. So, yesterday we saw Susan, Jack, and little Sam (didn't do any pictures..forgot the camera) and today Casey and her kiddos! Though I see Casey every day at work --I'm pretty sure she sees me more than Josh :) we don't ever get to just "hang out" and have fun. So we headed to the Buttlerfly Pavillion (we both got half off memberships with a groupon---yea!). We had a lot of fun and the girls loved it! I left Mallory at daycare so I could focus on the older two.

Casey's son Aedan is a great older brother.....to my girls! He helps keep an eye on them and shows them stuff, it is so cute. I guess he does have practice with his own sister Abby.

These pictures are so funny. It looks like they are all looking at plants and leaves, but really they are looking at butterflies!

On the other side of that little fence they are looking at a turtle...I forget her name, but I do remember that she is 25 years old.

Pouting.....after I told her to sit on the bench and not stand.

Look Mommy!

Picking flowers.....after being told NOT to!

Right after this picture and telling her NO again....Kaylee had a little temper tantrum that got EVERYONE'S attention!

Being a spider!

After the buterflies before heading home we stopped at McDonalds where we played some more and had a quick lunch.

See Kaylee in there?!?!?!?!? She went in there to have some privacy and came out with a stinky diaper.

Tribute to Daddy!

So this has been a hard year for Josh....my wonderful husband and loving father. SO- I decided to post some pictures of him with his girls and share a little poem for Father's Day. He was not home with us to celebrate so hopefully this will bring him a smile and make his heart happy.

Daddy's Girl

Hello, Daddy! Time to play, I missed you, off at work all day. We'll seek and hide and skip and jog, and when we're done we'll look for frogs. Today I helped Mommy sweep the rugs, maybe after dinner you can help me catch bugs. Maybe I'll help out in the yard, fixing the truck won't be so hard. I cherish this time you share with me, I love you, Daddy, I know you love me. - Leila Devlin

You are a wonderful Daddy and the girls just adore you. You have so much fun with them and we are so lucky to have you in our lives. Thanks for working so hard for our family! Lots of Love From your Girls, Me, Emma, Kaylee, and Mallory

Vacation!!!!

I have just finished my 11th year of teaching! I can't believe that! So much has happened in that time....crazy! So now I am off track for about 5 weeks. Time for relaxing, cleaning, organizing, and most importantly...having fun with my three princesses. We don't have any big plans for the next few weeks, just have fun together. My brother is moving here in a few weeks so I hope we can spend some time with him and his family before I have to go back to school. We are getting our house painted---which is overdue for a paint job. We have lived here just over 5 years and have never liked the color so I'm excited to get that done (not to mention the house really needs it!).

Anywhooooo....on to new stuff.

We didn't start track off to well. Friday Mallory started getting sick. Well I guess she had a slight cold all week, but started getting bad on Friday. She had a fever of 103 and that lasted through Saturday and then had a slight fever on Sunday. She was so sad and pathetic, my poor baby. If she was awake....she wanted me and that was all, which as you can imagine is a bit tough for my other two lovely princesses. Luckily they were both great this weekend and let Mallory have Mommy. So we made it through the weekend and this morning off to Dr. Arthur we went! Double ear infections for Miss Mallory. She also has a bad cough and in case (and just in case) it turns to croup Dr. Arthur gave us the meds for that in case we need it so I don't have to go back in. Thank goodness. I have been in there every week for the past month. The nurse and I were laughing because she said every time that she sees me I have a different baby! So here is my sick Mallory, I'm sure she will be much better tomorrow after 24 hours of antibiotics in her!

On Saturday Emma and Kaylee were playing dress up and mommy. They had their "outfits" on with their purses and babies. They were walking around the house and heading to "Papa and Gram's house" (that is what Emma told me). They are too cute!

Notice Emma is caring for two babies...but Kaylee can only handle one right now.

We got home one night last week and my mom had picked up some pretty tutu skirts for the girls. They were on the counter and we walked into the kitchen and Emma was so excited! Both her and Kaylee took their clothes off right there so they could put their new skirts on.

We visited the Southlands' fountains for the first time this summer last weekend while Josh was still here. We also got Mallory's ears pierced.

They loved the fountains. Emma loved getting soaked, whereas Kaylee liked to go through and around them trying NOT to get wet. So funny their little personalities.

Sweet Malli-Boo! See her little ear?!?!?

Enjoying some more time in the pool. They love it! Can't wait to go swimming more this summer in a BIG pool.

Kaylee and Emma made these visors at church. Kaylee wore hers around the house all day, she loves her hats!

Summer Time, Summer Time...Sum Sum Summer Time!

So I am not off track yet....but the weather is nice now and so we have been getting in to the summer spirit around here. I have 8 days of work left and then off for almost 5 weeks. This is not a great picture of Miss Emma....she has been a stinker about pictures, she will not smile or pose! She was looking so cute this weekend with her hair all up in a "messy bun", but wouldn't let me get a good pic.Another one...trying to get her. I did OK. We have been playing outside....finally!!! And the girls love it. We could spend all day out there and they would be so happy.

Morning snack outside. See Kaylee has a mouth full of goldfish here but I told her to smile....so she is trying, and Emma...well she isn't even looking at me (and she's doing it on purpose).

Taking a bit of a break from outside for a little accessorizing!

I made corn-on-the-cob for the girls for the first time. They did awesome with it and loved it, much better than I had expected.

On Sunday after church we broke out the swimsuits, sprinkler, and swimming pool! Emma does not care how cold the water is.....she will just play and play. She has an ear infection right now and a bad cold, but you wouldn't even know it! She was shivering so much at one point I had to make her stop to warm up in the sun and a towel--her teeth were chattering and she had goose bumps all over.

Mallory joined us in her jumping thingy...and just last year Kaylee was right here....

.....and now look at her. She wasn't too sure of the sprinkler. She hates cold water and just screams when it hits her. BUT---she loves water and will play and play in the pool or a bowl...just as long as she doesn't have to put her whole body in (unless it is nice and warm like the bathtub).

Mallory joined Essence int he pool. We "graduated" to a bit of a bigger pool.

Emma of course loved it!

One last one of Mallory. She is my chunky-monkey! Her personality has really blossomed and changed this past couple of weeks, I love it! She is so silly and loves to dance and talk! Actually.....talk is the wrong word--she yells! I guess she knows that if she wants to be heard she has to be loud! And now that she crawls she is everywhere and doesn't have to get upset when we leave the room. She can just come and find us!