.painted nails.

Nick, Kate, and Kamryn came over on Wednesday for dinner and then Kate & I sorted all of Melissa’s Pampered Chef order from her Bridal Shower!

Of course, no visit from Kamryn is complete until we polish her finger and toenails!

 

I taught her to curl her fingers and blow on them to help dry the polish. It’s so dang adorable when she does it!

 

Mom came home after a while and Kamryn was so excited! We asked her, who is here? and she said, “Probably Connie.” LOL – so funny!

      

I just love that girl!

.craft day.

All break I was looking forward to January 5 – because it was craft day with friends! Jessica, Amy, & Kate were planning to come over to craft and chat and eat and laugh – always a favorite day! Jessica didn’t end up getting to come – darn committed momma’s making sure their little girls get to birthday parties!

We had a fun day – lots of everything I’d hoped for: crafting, chatting, eating, and laughing! I think we all got a lot done – in all of those categories!

Mom got a lot of play time with Kamryn in!

I got a lot of “Marcie help you!”

 

 

Some iPad games – I think the 2 year old is teaching the 60 year old here. :)

 

I went out to Nick and Kate’s in the evening and we made dinner with a recipe I found on Pinterest! It was yummy and definitely a keeper. Kate & I agreed that adding pineapple would make it even better!

 

http://recipeschmessipe.blog.com/2012/07/30/kings-hawaiian-baked-ham-swiss-sandwiches/

I cannot wait for the next craft day – which WILL include Jessica – and I think it WILL be a whole weekend long. YES!

.pickle backs.

Yesterday, I got to go to the Tri-Cities with Nick, Kate, & Kamryn to run some errands and then meet up with the Clark’s!

Kamryn had super cute french braid pigtails – seriously adorable!

It was so great to see Chris, Candace, Delt, & Libby! I was at the Lake this summer and missed seeing them, so it had been about 10 months since I’d seen Chris & the kids last. They are growing up so much!

 

 

These two are so cute together!

 

 

 

We left the kids with Dale & Ginger, Chris’ parents, and went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Even though it was past our birthdays, Candace took a quick ride on the saddle!

 

We went to the mega liquor store – did some browsing and a little beer tasting…

 

and then met up with Delt, Mari, and their friends at Uncle Sam’s Saloon. They had been there for quite a while and were having a grand old time! One of their friends ordered Pickle Backs – which look as nasty as they sound. I didn’t even have one and they still made me cringe. It was supposed to be a shot of whiskey followed by a shot of pickle juice – but they came already mixed together. Dis.Gust.Ting. Chris had THREE – and we made a quick getaway after the 3rd so he could get something to cleanse his palate. I think it’s permanently damaged after that nastiness.

It was so fun to get to be with Chris & Candace – but makes me really miss getting to be around them all the time. We are keeping our fingers crossed that they’ll come back to the area before too too long!!!

.crayon wallet.

I made this little crayon wallet for Kamryn for Christmas. I saw some of these on Etsy (where I did most of my Christmas shopping this year!) and bought a pattern.

I thought Kamryn would enjoy it and it’s the perfect size to throw in a purse or bag to have paper and crayons at the ready!

.kamryn time.

Nick, Kate, & Kamryn got back from Hawaii this week so we had them over for dinner to catch up and hear about their trip! Dad & I made Sweet & Sour Chicken and Fried Rice from a Pinterest recipe
(http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-with-fried.html)  – definitely a keeper!

After dinner we went downstairs and Kamryn found an old purse to play with. We had fun finding all kinds of little things in the craft room for her to put in her purse!

 

And then packing and repacking it!

 

This little stinker knows when you want to take a picture of her and she will not look or smile.

 

Then today, she got to come back and play during the Volleyball banquet. We watched a Christmas movie and played with the My Little Pony’s. It makes me smile when she plays with the ponies – thinking of the hours and hours and hours Melissa and Kamryn’s Aunt Angie played with those same ponies. Still fun, a generation later!

 

.nails.

Kamryn’s Gramma Karen caught this picture of me polishing Kamryn’s nails at a volleyball game this week! This is one of the things we enjoy doing when we’re together. At the game, Kamryn was a little restless so she was digging through my purse and finding all the colors of chapstick – another favorite thing we share – and found a bottle of nail polish. Of course we had to polish her nails – a distraction for about 5 minutes!

.kamryn’s big announcement!.

Kamryn and her momma let my Mom & I in on a little secret last week….and they told the volleyball team this morning at their practice!

Kamryn’s is going to be a BIG SISTER! YAY!

 

Kamryn seems to know what is going on and is proud to say that they are going to have a baby and that there is a baby in her momma’s tummy.

 

I told Kate we have to get done with coaching so we can get our craft on for this new baby!

.shopping day with Kamryn.

On Friday, Mom & I took Kamryn with us to the Tri-Cities to run some errands and take the dogs to the groomer while Kate had volleyball practice.

Kamryn was a trooper through all our stops – the craft store trifecta (JoAnn’s, Craft Warehouse, and Hobby Lobby), Ulta, and the Halloween Store. She was so good the whole time! We ran into Madi and Kirston, two of my cheerleaders who happen to LOVE Kamryn, at Joann’s so they played with her a bit to ware off some energy. :)

Shopping for fabric with me at Craft Warehouse was so funny – kept saying, “WOW! That’s cute!” or “Wow! Pretty!” She tried to put everything in my basket – a girl after my own heart!

We went to lunch at our favorite sushi restaurant. Kate had packed Kamryn a lunch so she had PB&J while Mom & I had yummy sushi. She liked the chopsticks I was using to eat my lunch, so Mom put Kamryn’s string cheese and sandwich pieces on a chopstick. She loved it! :)

New skill: eating with chopsticks!

 

We had a fun day with her and she was sooo good for us! She fell asleep on the way to pick up the dogs from the groomer and slept all the way home. Such a sweetheart!

.a day with Kamryn.

We got to have Kamryn for the day today while her Mom coached the volleyball team to a victory at the Quincy tournament and her Dad was busy on the farm.

We had such a fun day…probably my favorite was when she was playing Little People while I was in the craft room. She came over to me while I was sewing and said, “Watch you!” She watched for a few minutes and then said, “Help You!” She sat on my lap and helped me sew for quite a while! She counted pins and helped me take them out of the fabric. She called “Ready, Set, GO!” when it was time for me to sew. Cracked me up!

We had a tea party, played outside, played with the dogs, had lunch, and snuggled before nap time. I love spending time with Kamryn – she is such a joy!

.kamryn & samson.

Kamryn came to play on Friday! I love to watch her play with Samson; it’s the cutest thing! She loves Samson and he obviously loves her…he lets her touch his face & paws and give him lots of hugs & kisses. Kamryn offers him tea when she’s having a tea party…it’s absolutely adorable!

Usually, when he’s laying down, she whispers, “shhh! Samsie sweeping!” Today, she kept saying “Wake up Samsie! Wake up!”

These two…two peas in a pod!

 

I love it!

 

.friday friday!.

The first Friday of the school year. I made it through the crazy week and am so looking forward to the weekend!

It was picture day at CHS – here’s my ID card for my 7th year at CHS!

We get to have Kamryn over to play on Friday afternoons again this year. It is the highlight of my week! She is so much fun right now! Mom & I took her to get ice cream at the Burger Factory. We got her a cup of ice cream thinking it would be easier for her to eat. She at about half of that…

 

Then decided to switch Mom and take over her cone! So funny!

 

She was loving it!

Such a fun way to start the weekend!

.kamryn time!.

Kamryn got to come over again on Friday afternoon. Her Dad has been in the hospital this week with an infection that manifested in his leg, so she has been hanging out with all her fans this week! We were lucky to get to have our turn on Friday!

Melissa & Ryan came for dinner, so I did Kamryn’s hair and she found my necklace to put on…she looked adorable!

I was trying to get her to take a picture to send to her Mom & Dad and it wasn’t working – she was not digging it!

 

 

This new thing she’s been doing with Samson is so funny! She likes it when Samson licks her, but not in the face, so she puts her head down so he’ll lick the top of her head!

 

She was spinning and jumping and spinning and jumping and saying the ABC’s over and over and over again! I don’t know how she wasn’t exhausted!

Melissa polished her toenails…

and they spelled everyone’s names over and over again on the Magna Doodle. That smart little girl can spell her name! She’s 2!!

 

It is so much fun to have Kamryn come play – she is such a joy! She makes us laugh and smile so much. Love that girl!

.kamryn turned 2!.

How is it possible that this bundle of energy, cuteness, and joy is already TWO years old?!

Her super talented Grammacamera took these adorable pictures that perfectly captured Kamryn’s personality!

 

This is my favorite out of all of them!

 

We celebrated BIG today! I got to help Beth and Kate with decorations and preparations before the party. We decorated cute turtle cupcakes to go with the Finding Nemo theme. They had everything looking so adorable!

Nick made delicious kabobs – straight from Europe! It was such a fun afternoon, celebrating our favorite girl!

She loved her birthday. She LOVED her presents and wanted to play with item as soon as she opened it. Present opening was extended to before dinner and after dinner to accommodate the birthday girl. :)

 

Cards were intriguing…and rip-able, so very very fun!

 

The hit of the evening was her gift from Amie and Papa (Dave and Karen) – a Kamryn-sized digital camera. She loved it! Her hands aren’t big enough to hold the camera and take a picture at the same time, so she’d look through the view finder, then hold the camera down to be able to take the picture. Then she’d look at the screen and say “oh man!”

 

 

 

The funniest moment was when she was taking a picture of a stuffed animal my Mom was holding. My Mom turned the animal upside down, to tease Kamryn, but she outsmarted my Mom by turning the camera upside down! Smartie pants!

We loved celebrating Kamryn’s birthday. I am not kidding when I say that she brings so much joy to everyone around her. She had us smiling and laughing all afternoon. She is also beyond smart! Kate said that at her well-child, the doctor asked if she knew 20 words. Twenty words?! Heck, she knows 20 animals and their sounds, 20 numbers in English and Spanish, 20 people’s names, 20 letters, all her colors, and much much more! I can’t wait to see what 3 brings! 

I hope she doesn’t grow out of her “hugz!” Kate and Nick have taught her to say goodbye whenever they leave and give hugs and kisses. She is so good about giving hugs and kisses to everyone in the room (especially when she’s in a good mood!). She says “HUGZ!” I love it and it melts my heart every time. And when she says “Mah-cie!” I’m so lucky to get to see her at least once a week – I totally miss her when I don’t get to see her for a good period of time! So blessed to have her in my life and to get to be her godmother!

xoxo Kamryn!