Cassidy and Travis arrive!

And they brought their parents too! We've been having lots of fun with all of them here. It's been too long since they were last here in Michigan, we can't believe its been a year and a half! We've had this date on the calendar for a long time, and for the longest time October seemed so far away, but school started and before we knew it, October was here! We're glad they choose to stay with us for six days!

 We got to celebrate Cassidy's 5th, Travis's 3rd, Sarah's and Kristi's birthdays! Here are the kids (and Kristi) eating their birthday cupcake treats after opening presents. (In case you were wondering why Kristi is sitting with the kids, she doubled up and celebrated again later with the adults for more birthday treats.) 

 Sarah and I don't know how to plan a vacation together without coordinating at least one outfit! In the case of this trip the kids have two matching outfit sets and matching pj's! How long do you think they'll let us do this?! Hopefully until they're at least 22.

Sarah picked out these dresses for the girls. The girls, and Travis who choose to sit on the stairs behind the girls, wore matching outfits to church on Sunday!
Sunday breakfast was memorable because it was the first time I made overnight rolls for everyone - they were a hit. Glad our family could introduce the tradition to their family and cousins visiting from Iowa deserves a special treat like this! I think Travis liked them the most with Sarah at a close second. 

Caught 'cha Travis!

 The two weeks prior to their arrival we had nothing but bright blue skies and warm sunny weather. Unfortunately the grey clouds and rain showed up for the weekend they arrived, but Sunday was nice and warm enough that we all got outside to play on the playset, ride bikes and fly a kite.

Fish tail bracelets

Kristi comes home and keeps us busy in her sweat shop making bracelets, hour after hour, day after day. Just kidding, we had fun making all these bracelets! We have more than we know what to do with!

 Teaching Kayla how to make her first fish tail bracelet. Kayla was hooked.

 Kristi's bracelet sweat shop

Ha! Even the neighbor girls got into it!

Thanks for making us hip and cool Kiki! And stylish too!

Silly girl

Never a dull moment with our Khloe! Forever our crazy party girl!

Big, big and bigger

From big girl bed to a big girl bike! So many BIG things happening around here! She's getting too BIG too quickly! Wasn't it Kayla that was just riding her toddler bike down the street, like last year? (Okay, so maybe not really). This feels like Kayla deja vu all over again!

Khloe's favorite thing to do is ride her bike. She's so happy and proud! You'll hear her exclaim, "Look! I a big girl now!"

Her own personal escort! Thanks Gina for providing the umbrella on this sunny day! 

Khloe, please remember you are not even 2.5 years old yet! I look at this video and think you look so old. I think it's time to put your big girl bed and big girl bike away. This getting big thing is a little out of control lately. Crib and stroller please!

Angels from above

I get to be a mommy to these two sweet souls? No matter how I may stumble and fall through this "mommy" parenting thing, they still think I'm the best. How did I become so blessed!? Every day these precious girls humble me and make me want to be a better person. As their mommy, I'm supposed to teach them life's important lessons, but they are teaching me things every day! They teach me patience, to open my heart even wider, to open my arms even more, to let go, and to see the joy in the simple things of life. I always want to protect them from being hurt or sad or lonely or scared. I  always want to be by their side. 

Lord, I know I fall short of meeting their every need, so please help guide me so that they can see Your love for them through me. Give me the confidence and strength and wisdom to be the best mommy and always protect them!

A little girl no more

"I a big girl now!" That's Khloe's new favorite line. And she's right, she is a big girl now. Khloe has made the transition so effortlessly. The same cannot be said for me.

Khloe, you got your big girl bed this week! This is a BIG moment! And almost too big for me to write about. Mostly I have been in denial that this chapter of your life - your first two and a half years of life - are over. After all, you are my baby! My baby! You're not supposed to be a big girl yet. Or ever. This week has been very emotional for me. Why is it for a mom? Is it a mom thing, or is it just me? Aaron handled it so differently; the dismantling of the crib did not symbolize the passing of time for him, the closing of a chapter, the loss of innocence. Nope, it just meant finding one more place in the house to store something big. He chided me, "She's ready, you're not". "Well, what if she's not!" Okay, so yeah. Maybe he is right. Khloe loved her crib and surprisingly, for as much as this girl likes to run, escape, climb and generally be a daredevil monkey, she never once tried to climb out of her crib. (I still can't figure out why this never crossed her mind). She sleeps soundly, she puts herself to sleep, she never wakes up at night. So, why in the world were we going to fix something that wasn't broken? Why ruin something that's working so well? I tormented myself with these thoughts as we were rolling the queen size box spring in the front door.

Yet, we've been talking about this moment for awhile now. We (I) knew it was coming and was quite excited about it. We talked a lot about it with you too and you were excited about it too. Goodness, you were probably tired of hearing us talk about it! I guess I just never realized what the moment would feel like when it actually came time. And when it did come time, I pushed back at it. Well, Kayla was two and a half before she went in her big girl bed... "And Khloe will be two and a half in 3 weeks" Aaron pointed out. My line of logic backfired. I was out of time, and excuses.

Khloe, I want this for you, but at the same time I don't. I know that doesn't make any sense. I'm happy to see you growing up and while that brings so many fun new exciting things, it's big moments like this that cause me to reflect on how my baby is becoming big.

As I mentioned earlier, this transition has been effortless for you, you ask to go to bed, you stay in bed (shocking!), you don't fight getting into bed (also, shocking!) and you've woken up singing every morning. Your big girl bed must be a happy place! You just look so little in your bed! You're just this tiny, tiny dot in a sea of duvet and sheets and blankets! It makes me sad that you have to be by yourself in such a large space!

But all of this has opened a new chapter that we are happy about. You slept together in the same bed at Grandpa and Grandmas, and then at home too. This text from my mom melted my heart! Picturing you two cuddling together in bed keeping each other warm and safe made my heart smile! Yes, this is how everything should be. Welcome to your big girl bed Khloe!

 Out with the old...

 In with the new!

Settling into fall

And quite nicely I might add!

We are back to the old familiar school routine, and it's working out well. Kayla thinks her homework is "too easy!", she's passed all of her spelling tests so far with 100%, which means she is then given a candy word test (yes, she gets candy if she passes it) and has also passed those with 100%. Kayla and Khloe have started back with gymnastics. We're still managing to squeeze in fun between the daily routine and chores of the school year. It sure does help that it feels like summer still!

A fun afternoon of dress-up with Gina and Gabby

 We invited Molly for a sleep over! The girls had a ball. They don't like to leave one another until the next sleepover date is on the calendar.

 We got to visit with Denise who was in town from Chicago and meet her sweet boys, Evan and Asher, and her littlest one, Samara (or "Sam"). The "cousins" all had fun playing at the park and at our home on a Sunday morning and afternoon

 Yea! First grade lunch!

For once - and I'm sure it won't last - I was more popular than Khloe. Everyone wanted to sit by me this time; last year it was Khloe. Yeah, I felt cool. We brought Kayla what she requested: pizza! 

 Making driveway art, because Asia and Kayla wanted to do something "crafty".

And Khloe, as usual, just wants to ride her bike to visit her friends' homes!