McKinley

The kids started swim.  The older kids all have googles but I didn't think McKinley would need any so I didn't bother buying her any.  Well, she told me that she needed googles too.  I thought maybe getting her some would make her more excited about swimming.  Not so much, but she LOVES her googles.  She puts them on every chance she gets!

She loves dancing, singing, and performing!  She loves her "stage".

Easter sunday!

I'm not sure why this is the only picture I took on Easter...We must have been running late for church and by the time we got home McKinley probably needed a nap.  Blair had a ball putting make up on her sisters later that night.

This is how sassy McKinley walks!  She also loves not wearing any clothes...

All ready for swim!

Blair messing around with messenger.

Dyer

Dyer won our annual peeps jousting tournament

One of Dyer's art pieces got selected to go into the county art fair.  I don't think he ended up placing but it was pretty cool that his teacher entered one of his pieces.  Nathan and Dyer took a trip to the fair grounds to check it out.

Blakely preschool Easter program

It's hard to get pictures to come out with the lighting...

McKinley thought she needed to sing along.  If you listen carefully you can hear her in the beginning of this song.

Random pics and videos

Blair loves stealing my phone to take pictures and videos.

April Fools!

I told the kids last year that I wasn't going to do anything for April Fools this year because they don't appreciate my food pranks.  They think that I am mean.  I try to tell them that I fool them but it's not mean.  Everything I make for them tastes good.  Nathan convinced me last minute to continue with the tradition.  Even the three middles requested "ostrich eggs" for April Fools breakfast.

"Ostrich eggs" and "hot chocolate".  The hot chocolate was really chocolate milk with marshmallows. 

For dinner we had "sweet and sour chicken with rice"  The chicken was rice krispies shaped into chicken pieces and then covered with a sweet orange glaze.  I cooked the glaze a little too long so it was harder than I wanted.  Nathan made a sweet Thai rice dessert.  Easton was overly disappointed...

Since that was basically dessert we had to have a main dish.  We decided to keep it simple and just have spaghetti.  The twist was dyeing the noddles different colors.

The kids enjoyed the rainbow noddles.

Easton was a little unsure at first but decided to eat it anyways.  He just had to make sure it was completely covered in red sauce.

He's HOME!!!

We all made signs for when Nathan came home from deployment.  The kids each had fun decorating their own sign.

Who's excited Daddy's home....This guy!

Daddy, get your hugs and Kelseys here!  We love you!

Dad over here!

Dad, I'm so glad you're home! Mom quit 2 weeks ago!

Don't worry daddy I took good care of mommy...but it is your turn now!  She is A LOT of work!

McKinley threw up on the car ride there so she was wet and stinky! 

I've waited 221 days for this moment...Pucker up Maj Kelsey!

McKinley was so excited to see Nathan!  We were both a little worried how she would react to Nathan, but she ran right up to him!  I think being able to facetime almost everyday helped a lot!

Back together again!  Best feeling in the world!

St. Patrick's Day

The leprechaun left some fun treats at the end of the rainbow!

Blakely fell asleep on the floor of my room...

Fun leprechaun drink for dinner.  

Dyer wanted to try corned beef for dinner so we gave it a try.  I'm not sure it was a huge hit though.

Field Day

Blair and Dyer's school had field day in March this year and it was so much better!  All the other years they wait until the last week of school and it is so hot and humid. 

Dyer's class tug of war

Here comes trouble!

She sure is cute but sassy as can be!

Blair's class tug of war

Happy Birthday Handsome!

Nathan was still deployed for his birthday so we sent him a birthday package.  He didn't tell anyone that it was his birthday but shared some of his birthday goodies.  One of his coworker's birthday was a day or two before or after his so he thought the goodies were for him!  Haha!  His coworker was a little upset that Nathan didn't tell him it was his birthday.  He found about about a week later.

The kids singing to Nathan.

Easton made me breakfast in bed on Nathan's birthday!  It was really sweet!  It probably would have been for Nathan if he was here but I'll take it!

Happy 2nd Birthday McKK!

McKinley woke up and was a little confused what was going on.

She loved her trampoline

This thing was a pain to put together.  I thought it would be an easy thing to put together but boy was I wrong.  I'm pretty sure it took me over an hour to put it together and by the end I had rope burns on my hands and I was sweating like crazy!  Who would have thought it would be a workout putting this thing together.  By the time I finally got it together, it was all skiddywampus so I took it apart and put it back together again.  Even after taking it apart and redoing it, it was still off.  She still had fun with it.

Ready for church

Easton helping her open her cards.

McKinley loves ice cream and doesn't seem to care too much for cake so I decided to make her a mud pie cake.  

Gift from Gma and Gpa Earnest

Apparently this is what happens when someone turns 2!

Going for a walk with her baby and stroller.

Movies, playground, and Barnes and Noble

I took the kids to the Lego Movie 2.  I should have known better than to take McKinley because she is the worst in movies.  She definitely doesn't take after her siblings when it comes to screens.  The only thing that keeps her in a seat for any amount of time is popcorn.  Once the popcorn is gone, she is done!  I'm not sure if her and I even watched half the movie.  The rest of the kids enjoyed the movie.

Afterwards I took the kids across the street to the new playground they built.  It's a crazy maze contraption thing.

Where's Blakely and Blair?

Where's Dyer and Easton?

For Christmas Mr. Roger gave the kids each a gift card to Barnes and Noble.  Since we were over in Destin we decided to stop in and use the gift cards.  I thought all the kids would get books but apparently I was wrong!  I would have encouraged Dyer and Blakely to get a book but McKinley was throwing a massive fit (past nap time!) so I hurried them along as fast as I could.  They all seemed happy with their purchase so I guess we'll go with it.

Broken Toe and Valentines Day

Blair was outside playing with some neighbor friends.  She came in almost in tears saying she hurt her toe.  It was bleeding a little from the tip and nail bed so I put a band-aid on it.  Eventually she told me she was running off the porch (bottom porch) onto the trampoline (it's only about a foot off the ground) and then landing on the grass.  The last time she jumped she hit her toe on the metal bar of the trampoline on her way to the grass.  This happened Saturday.  By Monday she was still complaining that it hurt really bad and was walking on the outside of her foot.  I made a same day appointment for her.  The practitioner she saw didn't think she broke it but because the nail bed was damaged she sent Blair down to get an x-ray.  The practitioner said she would call us later with the news.  I brought Blair back to school only to turn around an hour later and bring her back to the hospital.  She did in fact fracture her toe and she had to go and get a tetanus shot.  Poor thing!  I felt really bad that I didn't get her in sooner, but really there wasn't anything to do other than buddy tape.

 Dyer and Blair had to make their Valentine's boxes for school.  Dyer wanted to do a minecraft spider.  I think it turned out pretty well.

Blair wanted to make a wolf.  I didn't want to go out and buy anything extra so we used only what we had on hand.  The only grey spray paint we had was more metallic than either of us wanted.  We ended up saying her box was a robo dog!  Blair seemed pleased with the end result.

Nathan made me this amazing video for Valentine's Day!

100th day of school

A couple of 100 year olds!

No teeth!

This little one claimed that she wasn't tired but I think it is safe to say that she was wrong!

Things got a little too quiet and I eventually found her like this.

Yes, I started potty training her right before she turned 2!  She's doing pretty well.  As long as there is candy and stickers involved she does fairly well.