July 2011--Part One

In July we took at least two trips, but we did spend a bit of time at home. I wish I could say that I took tons of pictures, but below is a smattering of our fun at home. When Daddy came home from West Virginia, Kenly came down with the funk. She suffered for days with a high fever and no other symptoms other than a small rash on her face. The nurse seemed to think that she had hand, foot, and mouth disease, a really nasty virus. If so, she had a super mild case, and I'm happy she didn't erupt in "boils" like some of the internet pictures. About four days after she got better, Adam caught some "awful nasty" too. He finally went to the doctor, and got an antibiotic. It seems that what he had worked its way into a sinus infection. In the midst of it all, we had some fun.

I love to watch our critters snuggle Daddy. They were talking to Mops on the phone when I took this picture.
Kenly loves getting her toenails painted now. She loves to pick out the "ponelish." She's adorable as she bends to "blow dry" her freshly painted nails. She's even mastered the heel walk so that she can get from place to place without smudging her toes.
Twice in one week Kenly decided to color her face. Thankfully the markers she selected were washable, so it wasn't the end of the world. The first time I caught her, I laughed. If you look closely at her face, it looks like she tried to put on eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick. I love that her marker choice matched her pajamas. We had a long talk about how markers are used. When she colored her face pink a few days later, she lost her marker privilege. She's finally earned easy access to the markers back.

Kenly always wants to play in the rain with her princess umbrella and rain boots. However, most of our rains are accompanied by lightening, so I'm not going to let her out to stomp with a lightening rod in her hands. We finally got a gentle summer rain, and we let her go crazy. These are a few of my favorites from her "Singing in the Rain" moment.






Kenly loves this bubble mower. Sadly, it has never blown a bubble. We tried, but it need flat ground. Since we have a shortage of flat ground in the mountains, Kenly uses her imagination. I love that she's helping Daddy mow looking all feminine.

At the end of July, we all came home from adventuring, and Kenly started running high fever again. She had a slight cough, but nothing that I was too worried about. We used the humidifier and treated her fever. After days of watching her flop, I took her to the pediatrician only to find out that she had a mild case of the croup. A few days of steroids, and she was good as new. I'm beginning to think we played too hard.

Daddy Daughter Love

I love to watch Adam and Kenly play together. Awhile back I found Memory at a yard sale with Nana and Papa. They gave me the 50 cents to make the big purchase and the rest is history. Kenly loves playing Memory with Daddy. We don't play by the exact rules yet, but she's getting the hang of finding matches.


These two are peas in a pod. At times I wonder if Kenly has any of me in her.

Kenly is helping Daddy call Chance back inside. Doesn't she just look bossy?
I am in love with my little family.

Falling from the Tree

I just want to share that our apple is not falling too far from the tree.









Family nights filled with floor snuggles and goofy face competitions are fun. Who needs TV?

Christmas Cookies & Daddy

Adam had a snow day early in December. We used the day to bake cookies as a family. Kenly and I donned our matching aprons, and Daddy helped us bake the day away. We started with sugar cookies, and ended the day with chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. We also made some yummy pretzel/Hershey Kiss combos that were a big hit with our family and friends. You gotta love the sweet and salty combo.

Here are some photos from our day of baking. The pictures aren't the best, but they capture the fun of the day.



The little girl loves to add sprinkles to anything that will stand still.

We gave these cookies to Adam's co-workers and our neighbors. We also took a few to our family Christmas celebration. It's a good thing we didn't eat them all.

March Madness

March has been a great month full of wonderful surprises. I can't believe that April is almost here and that Kenly is closer to 2 than she is to 1. How can I almost be the mother of a 2 year old? Not possible, right?

Kenly and Adam play with blocks on a nightly basis. Adam builds a tower and then Kenly knocks it down. Adam has been teaching her to wait and to ask before she kills the tower. We'd hate for her to have her head knocked off in the nursery because she knocked over someones tower without asking.
Adam builds towers with windows. He and Kenly crawl around on all fours looking at each other through the windows. It is adorable to watch.
While Adam was working on his National Boards, Kenly and I went to Augusta to hang out with Nana and Papa for the weekend. While we were there, we went to a hot air balloon expo. It was good fun, and Kenly nearly lost her mind with excitement. Then she got tired and grumpy and we had to leave the premises quickly before I snatched a knot in her tail.
Kenly wanted to run under the balloon that was being tossed about by wind gusts. Toddlers don't take too kindly to being restrained.
The balloons were tethered. They were doing a dusk show...the fire is so cool at night. This balloon was tied to four cars and people were paying money for a short ride up into the air.


Kenly is really into giving kisses. If she likes/loves something, she wants to kiss it. It is too cute. I frequently hear, "Kiss. Kiss it mommy."
We tried to fix the grumpiness with an apple, but it didn't work. Oh well.
This month we also tried Play-doh. Kenly is a fan, but she wants me to make her things. She doesn't really play with it unattended which is probably good. We would have less play-doh because I'm sure she would try and eat it.
She asks to play with the play-doh by name though.
March has been a good month, full wonder and childhood magic.

Dada is FUN

Building Something Lasting

This weekend Kenly learned that these blocks are more than colors. They're more than objects to scatter throughout the living room. To her amazement she learned that these blocks build things. These block fit together to create things. And she was hooked. Adam and Kenly built towers and houses and dinosaurs until they were both exhausted. But the Mama in me couldn't help draw some parallels. You see, they're building more than houses.They are building a strong relationship that is built on a firm foundation of trust and mutual adoration. They are learning to work together,to share, and to play nicely. All qualities necessary in a daddy-daughter relationship.

The bond is growing stronger every day--one block at a time. And the beauty is, their relationship will be much stronger than any block fortress they could ever build.