Kindergarten Supplies

Hard to believe, but my baby girl is going to start Kindergarten next week!!! She is very excited about the fact that her new "big school" has a "way better playground than the preschool playground!!!" Of course we had a list of materials to purchase, and we had so much fun gathering all these supplies...

Now, to choose just the right backpack...so many choices...

The "Winking Barbie" backpack wins!

Now for a lunch bag...Kayli says "Well, Mom, you know how much I LOVE Strawberries?!!!" 

Well, looks like we are all set! My "Big Girl" is Ready and Waiting for the BIG DAY!

Our Little Friend, Lily

Kayli and I got to schedule an impromptu playdate with our little friend, Lily, last week while her mom had to go to a meeting. Kayli loves it when Lily comes over because she loves to practice her nurturing skills on her toddler friend! They had a great time at the "picnic in the kitchen"... "Cheers, Lily!"

Now, Kayli notices that Lily is eating her cheetos with a fork...

So, of course Kayli decides that looks like fun...

Lily then decides it would be better to just make a meal out of the cheetos, and forget the hotdog! Kayli tells Lily that her mom said she needs to eat a bite of her hotdog before she gets more cheetos... I love how seriously Lily watches Kayli when she talks...

after lunch, the girls go out to play in the driveway...Lily checks out Kayli's scooter, but Kayli tells her it's "too dangerous for a toddler"...

So, Lily sticks with Kayli's favorite toddler riding toy, that Kayli tells me she wants to keep forever because it was her very first riding toy and she loves 

it sooooo  much!

Kayli teaches Lily how to get a closer look at the ants with her tiny magnifying glass!

"Ok, Lily, it's your turn to try..."

"Good Job, Lily!"

"Now, my mom says if we pose for a few pictures, she'll get out the freeze pops!" "Smile!"

Lily "says" I'm done posing... Get the freeze pops already!

The freeze pops were a HIT! I think they both had about 5! Oh, the joys of summer!!!

AND...purple frozen lips and tongues!

What do you do with an old frame?

In the process of cleaning out the basement, I took a bundle of stuff to the Goodwill. The guy at the door was taking my "stuff" from me, when I handed him this wooden frame. He looked at the frame, looked at me, and said "What am I supposed to do with this?" Well, I'm thinking, you do what everyone does with a frame, you put a picture in it and hang it on the wall! So, if you don't want it, I'll find someone who does...

Annual Lake Vacation

Our annual, week-long, vacation to the Lake of the Ozarks always "signals" the end of summer vacation, as the beginning of the school year is just "around the corner"! We gathered with approximately 30 other family members for a full 7 days of sun and fun! We had "pool time", "lake time", "boat time", "shopping", "campfires and singing", and generally eating, drinking, and playing til' we all needed another week just to "recover"!
Kayli had the "time of her life", getting to spend time with so many people and doing so many things. Since many of our cabins were all together in a tiny little cul-de-sac, Kayli was THRILLED to be able to say to me "I'm going to go see what Laura and Mickey are doing" or "I'll be right back, Mom, I'm going to check on Marion and Jim" and out our cabin door she'd go, looking so proud of her independent self, she'd cross the tiny little cul-de-sac, to knock on a door! She'd return a little while later to report the activities of everyone in the cabin she just visited. It was a crack-up.

                         We took a wonderful sunset cruise in Uncle Kevin's boat...

What a beautiful sunset on the lake!

Juice popsicles were a hit at the pool...

Uncle Gerry is sooo much fun!!!

The girls loved playing "beauty shop" at the pool with the squirt bottles I brought. The grown-ups loved the "spa treatments" too!

Aunt Ellen brought her party raft for extra fun...

Cousin Jake plays with Kayli in the lake...

Yes, Jake models his creative way to wear a life jacket while throwing Kayli in the lake!

We had a great jacuzzi tub in our cabin, just waiting for bubbles...

I brought enough "princess attire" for all 3 little princesses...

A little rain can't stop us from having fun! We've got a t.v. tuned into the Nick Jr channel and Aunt Suzanne to sit with, or on!!!


then, there were golf cart rides...

dressing up and playing kick ball...

dressing up some more and playing with dolls...

Kayli LOVED music night, and participated wholeheartedly by "playing along" with Uncle Gerry!

Kayli explains something to Anna as they sit on the sidelines, watching Jake try to catch a fish...

Uh, Mom, I think Jake's fishing line is caught on something...

Woohoo! Jake catches a fish!

Grandpa is enjoying the whole fishing expedition...

Kayli and Hannah assist Matt during the big Bingo game...

Anyone here close to a bingo?

We were all enjoying some wonderful Nachos and salsa during the Bingo game. Problem was that the salsa and the Bingo chips were right next to each other, and I was concentrating so hard that I went to reach for a Bingo chip and I dipped my whole hand in the salsa!

My favorite part of the week was all the smiles and squeals I kept hearing from my sweet pea!!!