Kayli Catches Her First Fish!

Kayli had such a great time when we met up with her cousins, Jake and Nick, at a recent event at our favorite farmstead. The event was sponsored by our cable company. They had free fishing, face painting, pony rides, wagon rides, inflatable slides, and feeding the baby goats. The weather couldn't have been better, and we couldn't have found a better way to "kick off" the summer!
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Thanks for getting the worms on my hook, Aunt Marion!

Ok, my pole's in the water, I'm ready for a fish...

Uh, Helloooo, I said I'm ready for a fish now...Anything? Anything?(Kayli kept pulling her bobber up onto the dock to see if her worm was still on the hook. I kept telling her that she needed to wait and be patient in order to catch a fish, and she told me "Oh, you mean 'be patient' like when you are trying to be patient with me when I am not listening?" Yes, that would be another way to look at it, Kayli.)

Oh Yeah, I DID IT, AHA, Oh Yeah!!!

Jake just kept reelin' in the fish, one after another!

Kayli says, Now, I'll be happy to pose for a picture, but just keep that flip-floppin-slimy lookin' thing away from me, ok?


Nick just kept getting his worms "stolen" right off his hook, one after another! Eventually, he caught a fish, using fish pellets from the quarter fish-food dispenser on the dock. He was convinced that he had finally caught the fish that had been stealing his worms as he proudly announced "I caught the stealer!"
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There was face painting...


Pony rides...

Feeding the goats with baby bottles...Awww, sooo cute...
The "baby goat experience" always starts off so cute and calm...
Then, before you know it, you're surrounded, and you only have one measly baby bottle to offer...
So, now one of the goats decides to eat your skirt, and your mom has to push her way in and yank it out of the goat's throat! (Notice that goat nuzzling up to the side of Kayli, grazing on her skirt? So sneaky, and quiet, and it doesn't take long before the skirt is halfway down his throat!)
Ok, now let's get some order here...
Alright... everybody line up... should we try this again?

Hey, now that calls for a "time-out", you get down!

And finally, my favorite pictures of the night, the thrill of the inflatable slide...

Flip Flops and Shades; Let the Summer Begin!

Preschool Graduation!

They wore black, construction paper hats with red tassles. They were lined up, waiting in the hall outside the tiny room where their parents waited in tiny chairs, cameras at-the-ready. In the "blink-of-an-eye" each name was called and diplomas were handed out, as cameras rapidly fired in attempts to capture the moving targets. It was fast and furious, this "pomp and circumstance", lasting all of maybe 5 minutes. Then, the kids all ran to their parents, settled into laps, and watched a slideshow to music. It was fun to hear the kids's comments as they viewed pictures of themselves and their friends up on the screen. There were cookies and water for everyone, then, down came the nap mats, as the non-verbal signal for parents to say "good-bye"!

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Whoops, don't forget your diploma, Kayli! (Her hat fell off upon her grand entrance and made her forget to stop and get her diploma!)

Whew, made it!


Below: Kayli stands between two friends that will come to the same school next year. Anna and Zach.


Below: Kayli, poses with her teachers

Below: Kayli's friend, Leah, asks me every day if Kayli can come to her "Birthday". "Sure", I say, "when is it?" She replies "November 16th!" Oh, ok. What a crack up!
Below: Kayli poses with another friend, Quinn.

Below: More fun with friends while they eat cookies and spill, I mean drink, water.
Below: McKinley says "Kayli you sing into the microphone and I'll dance!"
Below: Kayli says "Ok, Mom, let's put this 'ploma' on the fridge!

I bought Kayli a little Princess Tin Box with some Princess socks and jewelry inside.
She didn't waste any time finding other things that "needed" to be put in this container!

Below: Kayli says "Thanks for the tiny pink roses, Mom"

"You're Welcome, my tiny pink Kayli Rose", I say.

Another Sweet and Simple Mothers Day!

On this day, Kayli said to me:
“Mom, tell me what you always wished for when you were little and wanted to grow up and you thought about Mothers Day and what you really wished your little child would get for you. Whatever you always wanted, Mom, just tell me, and you can have it, because I will get it for you!”
I gave the best answer a mother could give: "Kayli, first, I always wished for a sweet child like you and here you are.

Second, I always wished my sweet child would draw me pictures...

Third...I always wished my sweet child would bring me tiny little flowers...

Now that I'm a Mom, here are some things that are precious to me: daily hugs and kisses, and spontaneous "I Love You's" from my sweet child, a never-ending supply of handmade gifts that are made with love, made from the heart, that become my precious keepsakes, providing snapshots of these moments in time, the ongoing chatter and questions, and comments that shift my focus from my busy work day to the simpler things in life, the daily challenges that turn into accomplishments (if I can hold myself back long enough to let it happen) then, "MOM, I did it!", the "newness" that comes with every day and every experience and keeps us learning together, the quiet of every night after my child says her prayers, and we both drift off, replaying our day in our heads, and wondering what tomorrow will bring...

My "gift wish list" has expanded to include something just as precious as all the above mentioned items. This is the gift of TIME. A Mom treasures the gift of time. Time to sleep in, just one morning, time to sip a cup of coffee til' you can actually see the bottom of the cup, time to stay in your pjs while you sip coffee and read the whole paper AND puruse the ads, time ahead of you that is just "there, for the taking" but not scheduled or planned or committed to any one place or activity that requires a specific length of time, to be used at your discretion, at your pace, on any activity that sounds enjoyable and is one that can last as long as you want or can be cut short to make room for something else that pops into your head and sounds like something that would add to the delight of this day.
On a special day like "Mothers Day", this time can be spent with your child, as long as they understand that this day is "about you", and can willingly agree to the following "rules" 1) Everybody must keep their happy face on today 2) Nobody is allowed to whine today 3)Everybody takes a nap today
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And for one day, we came close (remember our house is for sale and we have to be ready to show it at a moments notice, so it has to stay clean/picked up, and we can be asked to leave for a period of time, and of course people still look at houses on Mothers Day, so I had my morning to sleep in (that's about 8:00 to me), sip coffee til I saw the bottom of my coffee cup, and read the paper. Then we had to be out of our house by noon for a showing, so we packed for an impromptu picnic at the park, even though this was an unusually cold day for May.

We played, we laughed, we came home to the clean house that we left, and layed down on the couch for a wonderful late afternoon nap just as it began to rain. Heaven.

Here are a few of the special gifts home brought home from daycare:



AND, here is a special gift I had made for myself, a Mother's Bracelet ( WEll, I didn't say I was opposed to buying gifts, especially jewelry!)