Lila Bella

Kenzie's cat Lila (other wise known as Mimi) is usually a horrible photo subject. Every single picture I take of her she looks pissed off. Today I was playing with my camera. She was laying on the floor so I got down on the floor and got this picture. She looks so sweet I couldn't resist posting it.

Cammie Kung Fu

His before class pose and excitement.

I know I haven't updated in a long time and I have no real excuse for that other than I rarely go downstairs to the computer now that I have my laptop. I can't and don't load pictures on my laptop as to not bog it down so the blog has to wait for me to got down to the guest room. And lately that hasn't been happening. Tonight I was down here loading pictures so I thought I would at least put one new blog up.

A few weeks ago we received a call from a local Tae Kwon Do studio. During the Chili Cookoff at Kenzie's school back in November (I think) they were doing a demonstration and gave the kids a chance to break a board. They also had the parents fill out a card for a chance to win a free month of lessons and a free uniform. Well this month they drew Cam's name. We had been thinking about getting him involved in some sort of activity outside of school for a while. I was between going back to swim lessons or t-ball. But this fell into our laps and seemed to be a great idea. Cam as many of you know had major issues with anxiety for a long time when he was littler. He wouldn't let anyone, including Rob, anywhere near him for a long time. Not only that but he wouldn't let me be anywhere away from him where he couldn't easily reach out and touch me. Don't even think about me leaving him any where for any length of time. After a little bit of Early Intervention and the great ladies at Gymboree he is doing really really great. He now very happily goes to school and had no problem staying with a babysitter. There are still moments that puzzle us and his anxiety pops up but there aren't that many moments anymore. And when they do show up they rarely last for more that a few minutes. The one thing we would like now to work on him is to have self confidence and be a little bit more outgoing in new situations.

So today was his very first lesson. He was so excited to go. I had a hard time getting him to take a nap (that never happened) and I think that was because he was so excited. Cam got dressed and hurried out the door. Everything was great until we stepped in the door. He shut down in the blink of an eye. After we got his shoes off and sat on the bench I could see that the anxiety was building. His poor face was red and he had tears in his eyes. So I picked him up and snuggled him on my lap for a few minutes before I put him down and told him that is was just about time to go in to class. We stood by the wall of windows and slowly inched our way to the door. As we got to the door one of the teachers was talking to a parent by the door and when she was done talking she reached out for his hand. Surprisingly he took it and quietly walked out to the class. After that it was no problem. He was so good. He stood in line quietly and followed every direction. After some warm up exercises they ran some laps and as he circled around in my directions I got a huge smile and a wave. After class he spoke a little bit with one of the head teachers about he homework they gave him last week (a chore chart and learning some Korean) and was awarded his first belt. So now he is the proud new owner of a white belt and is looking forward to next weeks class. Hopefully it will go even better than this week.

Violin Concert

In school this year Kenzie was able to take violin again. Because she took it last year she is in the advanced class. They had their first concert of the year. They did a really great job. I am so proud of her and all of her classmates. Below is a picture of all of them on stage. If I can ever figure out to get the video off of my phone I will post that too.

When you have a short kid this is the only picture you can get of her. It is of her leaving the stage.

Santa train

I know that I am way way way behind in updating my blog. So I have a new strategy and we will see if it pays off. I know that I have a lot to catch up so I am going to start with now and work my way back.

This past Saturday we took the kids on the Santa train. We went last year and they loved it so we were excited to go again. The train leaves at the station about 10 minutes from our house. After we get started Santa and Mrs. Claus come through the train and take pictures and talk to each child. Then some helpers came through and gave each kid a candy cane, a small pack of crayons and a coloring book talking about the importance of railway safety. After we got to Springfield we stopped and headed back in the direction we came from. On the way back a group came through and sang a couple of carols in each car. It was a really nice time.

Cam did really well at the mall seeing Santa (post to come) but he seemed a little bit more shy on the train.

Kenzie on the other hand was very happy to see Santa and to have her picture taken with him.

We all a great time. I love this picture of my boys looking out the window. They were playing a game to see who could find the most tires.

Still alive

I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Things have just been very busy this summer. We made three trips up to New Jersey to spend time with all of our family and friends. We have taken a few day trips to some cool new places. And we have been just plain busy enjoying the time off of school. We are down to one week of the summer left. This week we plan on surprising the kids with an overnight stay at Great Wolf Lodge as a last little hoorah before school starts. Thursday MacKenzie has to go to school for Seminole Camp. Because she is starting middle school this will be an opportunity to learn where everything is, what is expected of them, and meet the teachers. Then on Tuesday the 7th she will begin her first full day as a middle schooler. That same day (the 7th) Cameron goes in to his school for his meet the teacher day. Cameron will be starting three day preschool on the 8th. Hopefully by then we will be starting to get back into the regular routine of school and home. I am looking forward to getting back to the gym while Cam is in school. The summer, the trips to NJ and the lack of exercise have not been kind to me. With the kids out of school I had an excuse to slack but once they go back I have nothing to hide behind. Also hopefully I will have a lot more time to update you on all the fun things that have been going on in our house.

For now I will leave you with a little teaser. We have a new addition to our house. We are all in love:

Water Boy

Look at what Cameron can do!!! This afternoon we were at my Aunt Kate's house swimming in the pool. The kids were having a great day. After lunch we headed back into the pool for a little more swimming before we headed back home. I decided to take Cam's floaty off and see if he could swim. After he realized that he could do it he was a fish swimming back and forth between my mom and me. I am so proud of him. I guess swim lessons are paying off.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday Kenzie

I know I am a day behind but things have been kind of crazy around here. Actually I am very far behind on my blogging and hopefully I will catch up very soon. For now I wanted to do Kenzie's birthday post.

It is very hard to believe that my baby girl is 11. It seems like just yesterday I was in the Bahamas with Rob's family hoping and wishing that it was true that I was pregnant. And now here we are only two years away from having a teenager. Ugh lets not talk about that or rush that along. I am very happy that she is only 11 for now. 13 is way to close for my comfort. MacKenize is turning into such a bright and wonderful young lady. We do have our bumps in the road with her as I am sure many of you have had with your kids but we are working on making things better day by day. She is so super smart (you will find out more about that soon) and very creative. I know that whatever she puts her mind to she can accomplish. So today (and yesterday) I wish her all the best for the year to come. While looking for something last weekend I came across her birth announcements. So I will leave you with that. Happy Birthday to our first born angel.