The final rose...

One of the things I absolutely love about being back in Fargo is the time I get to spend with my cousin Christina.  She is such a sweet girl, so easy to have around, and is absolutely adored by my children.  There are 7 years between her and I and although we may not be close in age, we are close at heart.  Christina comes over every Monday night and we have dinner, watch some great Monday night tv, and enjoy some wonderful conversation.  We share a love (or maybe slight addiction) for "The Bachelor(ette)."  We religiously watch the show and there may or may not even be some bio researching done on the side.  We only missed a couple episodes of "The Bachelorette" this entire season and on both occasions Fargo was plagued with terrible storms.  Christina and I also share a deep fear of storms and bad weather.  Therefore, we decided this was a sign that we should spend every possible Monday together especially if there is an episode of "The Bachelorette" on.

We were very excited for the final rose ceremony and even purchased a "final rose" of our own in celebration of the season.  It is so fun to share a passion for bad reality tv.  I only hope that we will continue watching: Bachelor Pad, DWTS, The Bachelor, and The Bachelorette for many Monday nights to come!

We even were able to celebrate the last rose with my sister as she was visiting and Holly came over for the last half as well!

Good times.  Much love to Ashley and JP.  Although on the first episode he donned a creepy trench coat, he was our top pick from the beginning!  The big question is, who will be the next Bachelor?  <3

A Special Visit.

Cousin Jessie and Aunty Arin came to Fargo to visit for a few days.  I can't explain the excitement at our house in the days leading up to their arrival and during their entire stay.  We don't get to see the two of them as much as we would like so it was so fun to have them at our house and spend a lot of time with Jack and Auntie Holly as well.  Jessie is absolutely amazing with kids and I would have to say that having her around was a blessing.  She has such great "motherly" instincts and is so good with each of our three children in her own special way.  I was amazed with how much Kenzie adored her, giving her some of the biggest smiles I have seen.  Jessie is one of the sweetest, silliest, prettiest, and most well-mannered little girls I have ever been around.  Just love her.

We had some great weather and were able to do some fun things outside.  This is a cute one of all the kids (minus T who we missed A TON) at the park one day.

 We headed to Detroit Lakes to spend the day at the lake one day.  It was an absolute blast.  The weather was questionable in the morning but turned out to be an awesome day for the beach.

Such a great picture of Jack.  He made a turtle and I wanted his picture with it, it was really good!

 While everyone swam and played, Kenzie spent most of the time napping in the stroller.  This actually turned out to be a good thing since she really did not care for the lake.

I buried Kadence in the sand.  Great idea Mom.  She was a little distraught when she flicked some sand in her eyes when she moved her arms free.  Luckily, she recovered quickly and was back in the lake swimming in no time at all.

Kenzie happy away from the water on Aunty Arin's lap.

Landon attached to Auntie Holly.  He's pretty reluctant when it comes to the lake, actually.

Love this picture of Jack playing with Kadence.  She loves him so much!

And...this is what Kenzie thought of the lake water.  I am not sure if it was bad timing and she was just cranky after she woke up, but she definitely was not liking the lake.  I tried several times and she screamed louder each subsequent time.  Perhaps it was too chilly for my little princess?  Or...maybe she is just like her Aunty Arin!

The lake was a big hit and a great day.  While Jessie was here, we also made a trip to Space Aliens, Ryan took the four kids to a movie one night, had many treats, and just hung out all together.  What a great few days full of great family memories!

T-Ball

Landon had a great first summer playing t-ball.  Unfortunately, he spent 3 weeks of it in a cast.  With that said, this little boy amazes me every day and he sure didn't let a broken hand with a cast on two of his fingers and all the way up to his elbow slow him down.  He went to t-ball, batted, grounded balls, and was even able to throw with his casted hand.

The program itself was a bit chaotic at times (to say the least) and Landon's team was lacking in the good coach department, but it was still fun to see the excitement in Landon's eyes as he played each day.  One of the funny things about 4 year old t-ball is that what one child does, most follow.  This creates a comical heard of players following each ball.  With the help of some cones along with constant redirection throughout the entire season this improved only a little.  I am anxious to see the difference in 5 year old t-ball...

Love this picture of Landon swinging.  It still amazes me that he was even able to hold the bat, let alone swing and hit the ball.

This is Landon and his team.  His coach is absent from the picture which sort of explains his role on the field.

Running, throwing balls, fielding ground balls, playing in the dirt, batting, and chatting with cute little girls.  I think it's safe to say that Landon's first season of ball was a success.  Still, hoping for a more organized program and a more experienced coach next summer.

Cars Man.

This little guy has loved playing with cars since he was a tiny little boy.  He loves racing with them and creating his own scenarios.  Sometimes I enjoy listening to him play with the cars as he recreates the movie "Cars" and now "Cars 2."  He also has a new love of taking pictures with our ipad.  He likes to take pictures using all of the different picture modes.  The rainbow color mode is definitely his favorite.  The other day he was taking pictures of all of his cars.  He would line them up just right, some with just a single car and others had a couple cars in them.  He was so proud of himself and I thought he was absolutely adorable.

He took this picture which I thought actually turned out to be a pretty neat picture.  I think I'll print it for him so he can put it in his room.

I don't even want to think of the day when he thinks playing cars isn't "cool" anymore.  It has been such a big part of his life and who he is.  Love this sweet little guy so much!

BooYa!!

What a funny little girl.  I just love the way Kadence talks and all of the funny, cute things she says.  Lately, she has been obsessed with singing and just dances around the house singing songs-some made up, some real songs.

We took the kids to the county fair in town a few Sunday's ago and we all had an enjoyable time.  Last year, Kadence was very afraid of the rides and cried through the entire ride she went on.  This was probably harder on me than her if I remember right.  Landon loves rides and is pretty fearless.  Ryan and I chuckled because we could tell he was actually kind of bored on the "kiddie" rides they went on.  We were very reluctant to put Kadence on any rides, but she insisted.  We made her watch the ride one time before she could go on it and she always chose to go on the ride.  What a great big brother Landon was riding with her and making sure she was ok.  I am not so sure she would have stepped foot on any of the rides had her big brother not been right beside her.  The first ride was pretty mild and she was smiling the entire time-phew.  Then there was the bumblebee ride that not only spun around in circles, but also got pretty high in the air (for a kids ride).  Landon really wanted to go on it and Kadence of course insisted as well.  We nervously watched as the ride started to go up into the air and waited for their bumblebee to pass us.  Much to our surprise not only did they both have the biggest smiles on their faces, but Kadence screamed, "BOOYA!!" as they passed by.

Ryan and I looked at one another and I asked, "did she just say what I think she said?" to which Ryan replied, "She sure did!"  We were cracking up!  So the rest of the rides were filled with many booyas by both kids.

We couldn't figure out where Kadence got the saying from and we found it so interesting that she was always using it appropriately.  When we asked her she replied, "Jessie say that!"  Of course!  She started saying it after we spent the week in Iowa with the Frasher's.  Too funny!  So, she continues to say, "booya!" and we continue to smile thinking of her cousin Jessie and how much Kadence loves her.

8 Months!

Happy 8 months to our sweet Kenzie!  This little girl melts my heart every day with her big toothy smile, her scrunched nose, and her big blue-green-hazel eyes!  She has grown so fast and is a busy little girl.  She doesn't sit still for long and is on the verge of crawling.  I think I might be in trouble then.  She gets up on all fours and rocks and moves her knees and then usually falls.  I would guess within the next week or so she will have it figured out.  Her little legs are getting stronger and stronger every day.  She is also getting more brave usually only hanging on to things with one hand and even letting go completely.

Such a happy little girl she has turned in to.  It is crazy to think how cranky she used to be and the things we had to do to keep her happy as a newborn.  I just can not get enough of that brig scrunchy nose smile.

I love watching Kenzie learn new things everyday.  She loves to put the balls in her toy and watch them go around the ramp and out the bottom where she picks them back up and does it again.  She can pick up cereal or puffs and put them in her mouth to eat.  She really isn't caring for pureed food very much and has hardly eaten any at all.  I am going to start to slowly introduce finger foods to her and see if she likes that better.

Kenzie has been enjoying the pool on the deck, many stroller rides, and trips to the park.  She still doesn't love the car and cries when we go near the car and open the door, but once she is in her seat and big brother is next to her she is usually pretty content.  She loves to play peek-a-boo and gets really excited when daddy gets home from work.  The little lady has started sleeping on her tummy which makes me nervous but I think she sleeps better that way.  She's been taking better naps during the day and she even slept from 9:30-6 last night.  This is the best she has done and I only had to put her nuk in one time!  I doubt this will continue but it sure made for a refreshed mommy this morning!

Love her to pieces!

Summer Soccer.

Landon and Kadence had their last day of summer soccer today.  It was the first "sport" activity for the both of them and I think it is safe to say it was a success.   Soccer was very fun for the kids and even more fun for us to watch (that is after the first day's chaos when I took the two of them by myself and they were on complete opposite ends of the 10 field complex).  There is nothing more enjoyable then watching your children try something new, show much improvement over a period of time, and then be so proud of themselves for it.  

This is Landon and his soccer team with his coach, Amy.  As you all know, Landon is full of energy and loves to run.  This quality turns out to be a very good one to have when playing soccer.  The first couple games were definitely chaotic but towards the end of the season they were looking quite a bit more like a "real" soccer game.  The kids finally grasped the concept of which goal to score in and who was on their team.  Landon even scored 3 or 4 goals this week alone (up until this point neither teams were scoring very often).  

Warming up and doing some stretching with the coach.  Landon really liked his coach and if you look close there is something priceless about her smiling at him.  I think she liked him a lot, too.  

Landon was so fun to watch!  Have I mentioned that his broken hand didn't slow him down, EVER!  We just wrapped his cast with some padding and an ace bandage so that if he accidentally hit someone it wouldn't hurt them as much.  I am SO excited to continue watching Landon play sports!

This is Kadence with her soccer team and coach, Shannon.  This was Kadence's first time doing an organized activity and taking direction from someone other than her parents.  I had no idea how she was going to act.  As it turns out, she can sure talk the talk but I am not quite sure she walks the walk.  I don't know if soccer will be Kadence's thing but I think she enjoyed being outside and running around anyway.  There were a couple of games that she decided she wanted to "sit out" a.k.a. bawl on the sidelines while her parents tried their hardest to get her to go onto the field.  In fact, I don't know if she would have played the last couple weeks if it wasn't for her sweet coach Shannon who she absolutely adored.  She mostly danced around the field running with the others but never kicking the ball (she would actually purposely avoid making contact with the ball).  When she wasn't doing what I just mentioned, she was following her coach around holding her hand and just staring at her with admiration.    She also spent quite a bit of time yelling, "Mommy!" then blowing kisses and smiling.  She's so fun and so different from her big brother.  With that said, 3 year old soccer is quite different even from 4 year old soccer.  The kids really have no clue what is going on for the most part and it takes forever to get from one goal to the other.  They require constant direction from the coach (and parents, you should hear some of these people yelling at their 3 year olds!) and lose interest very quickly.  It was fun to watch, but for very different reasons!

This was Kadence's favorite part of soccer...."Gooooooo Comets!"  (If you click on the picture to enlarge it you can see how she really feels about her coach.)  It was SO fun to watch Kadence and I can not wait to watch her in the future...I think we'll try dance next :)