The 4th of July

As usual we did our "big" celebration on the 3rd. Our town sets off fireworks that night instead of on the 4th. We had Kiki, her friend Annie, Ashley, Bret, Kora, and their 4 kids, and one of their daughter's friends over for dinner. We kept it simple and just grilled sausages and hot dogs, and had chips, watermelon, corn on the cob, and soda. Kora brought potato salad as well. After dinner we headed off to watch the fireworks.

Kiki came back to our house afterwards and invited the four older kids to sleepover at her house, which they were thrilled about! Apparently they stayed up until midnight and had candy canes for breakfast.

Kiki brought them back the next morning. We had cake for breakfast - our traditional 4th of July red, white, and blue cake. This year we used only raspberries and blueberries as Eva is mildly allergic to strawberries. Before cutting into it, we took a picture with all five kids ~

We took the rest of the day easy. We had planned to go to Bret and Kora's bash, but our minivan is in the shop with transmission problems and we couldn't all fit in the Avalon, so we stayed home instead. We had leftovers from the night before for lunch and made french dip sandwiches for dinner. Before dinner, we took pictures of everyone in their flag shirts. I think the pictures turned out really well!

A silly picture, of course, was included ~

I figured out how to work the timer on our camera, so we got a shot of the whole family :)

The kids wanted individual pictures as well ~

After dinner, we went out to the backyard and tried to use the sparklers we bought five years ago and keep forgetting about. Lighting them took several tries as the wind kept blowing out the matches, and even blew out the flame on the lighter. We only managed to get three to light. The only picture I got of a lit sparkler was of Beth.

We forgot to buy our usual box of poppers, etc, but we had a box of poppers left over from New Years, so Rob handed those out. Eva surprised us by loving them and enthusiastically participating in this part. 

Grandma's Visit

First a couple cute pictures of Eva ~

I was home very little during my residency, so I wasn't here to remind Rob to take pictures. Friday, after my residency was over and before Grandma flew home, Rob and Grandma took the three older girls to Cabela's. Jack decided to stay home and enjoy unfettered use of the kids' computer. Eva stayed home to take a nap with me. Meg, Kylie, Beth, Rob, and Grandma had a wonderful time!

To thank Grandma for taking care of the kids (and Rob) while I was at the residency, we had Ashley come over on Friday night to babysit the kids so Rob and I could take Grandma out to dinner at the Olive Garden and to the airport. Before we left, we took a couple of pictures with her ~

Update on the Kids

I stayed up half the night last night talking to Susie. She asked what the kids have been up to and in telling her, I realized it's been a while since I've talked about each of them.

Megan turns ten this summer. I don't know how exactly she's gotten that old. Susie pointed out that at this point, Megan is only a year younger than Susie was when Megan was born. Eeeek! Megs will be in fifth grade next year, so she only has a year left before she starts middle school (that sounds so weird). She still LOVES to read and devours books in days or hours even if they are hundreds of pages long. Her current favorite is the Percy Jackson series. At the end of the school year, she had to study various colleges and has decided she is going to go to Texas A&M and major in agricultural engineering. She has wanted to be a farmer for years, but very recently has decided she does not want to get up at 3am (which for some reason she thinks is the hour that farmers wake up), so she has changed her mind and now wants to be a billionaire who happens to have farm animals on her property. Originally she planned to become a millionaire by winning "America's Funniest Home Videos" ten times. She was very disappointed when I explained to her that $1000 times 10 is not $1 million. She even had several plans for funny videos she wanted to film at Miss Jojo's pool. Upon finding out that she would have to win 1000 times, she has changed her mind and decided to be an inventor. She has already come up with several ideas, such as "the world's yummiest chocolate" and the "helicar" (a car/helicopter). She graciously told me that as I suggested she become an inventor, she would give me $1000 when she becomes a billionaire. She is struggling a bit socially at school and feels that she doesn't have many friends. She emailed Veggie Tales about it and they responded to her with a story! We thought that was pretty cool :)

Kylie has really enjoyed getting to watch lots of tv and play on the computer all the time this summer. She is also spending a lot of time with Caitlin and Caitlin's family. She's looking forward to starting soccer again this fall. This coming season she gets to start traveling for games (yay - and yes, that is sarcastic) and having two practices a week. She is still goalie and does an incredible job at it! She had a wonderful birthday. Instead of doing parties, we let the kids pick between a few things. Kylie choose to go to a movie with Caitlin and me and then out to lunch at McDonald's. We saw a remake of "The Three Stooges" (I let Kylie pick between all the movies - all four of them - that were PG or G), then we actually parked and went into the McDonald's and Kylie and Caitlin got to play on the playplace. Kylie picked IHOP for our family dinner out for her birthday and we made sure to do it on a night when Kiki was home and could come with us :) Kylie loves school and is excited that she'll get to keep her 2nd grade teacher for 3rd grade as the teacher loves her class so much that she is moving up with the class!

Beth just finished kindergarten. She managed to wear dresses all year long; the only two days she wore anything other than a dress were field day and Polar Express day, when she wore pjs. Beth has such a definitive view of life. She is very definite about everything and in order to change her mind about something, you have to present her with definitive proof and several examples. She cracks me up. Her latest interest is special effects in movies and she loves to explain to others how they special effects are done while they are watching the movie. She usually gets it wrong, but her explanations are hilarious :) She is still very sure that she wants to be a doctor. When Megan was studying colleges, Beth decided she wanted to do so as well. She (at the age of 6) has decided to attend Baylor University as a pre-med student. She plans to get married and stay at home with her kids though after earning her degree.

Jack continually cracks us all up. He comes up with the craziest ideas and statements. He is very into superheros, specifically the Avengers, and Avatar, a sci-fi series. The outfits he wears are hilarious :) He is very friendly and talks to everyone everywhere we go. He makes everyone, even strangers, smile. He gets picked on a bit by his older sisters sometimes and is looking forward to starting school in the fall and being able to hang out with boys. He loves wrestling with Kylie and Eva. His favorite toys are his Captain America shield and his toy sword. He is super sweet as well and frequently tells me "Go lie down. You need to rest to keep Laura in. I'll do everything you need done."

Eva is talking. A lot :) She has tons of words, although most of her talking is hard to understand at the moment. Occasionally a very clear phrase will pop out though. Her first three word phrase was "Mom! My shoes!" said as she requested that I put her shoes on for her. Shoes are very fun. She has also learned that she can have conversations by using words she knows. Her favorite conversation, which we have literally a dozen times each day, goes as follows: "Ma?" "Yes Eva?" "Ma!" "Yes Eva?" "MA!" "Eva!" "MAAA!" "EVAAAA" "MAAA" "EVA" "MAMAAA" . . . you get the drift. This continues for about 10-15 minutes each time. She has also learned to express excitement very well. When she hears the garage door goes up as Rob gets home from work, she screams in excitement and runs to throw her arms around his knees. When we do things like get pizza for dinner (which is pretty often as that's what I'm craving still), she yells "YAY!!!!" and claps her little hands together. She also says "WOW!", which is very cute as well. She loves tackling her brother and sisters from behind and trying to knock them over, especially when they are watching tv. She thinks it's funny to randomly bonk people on the head (we're working on that) and also uses that technique when she is mad at someone or wants something someone else has. She loves to give hugs and kisses and blows Rob and I (and Miss Betsy) kisses when we are leaving or when we put her to bed.

You Might Live in Texas if . . .

As with every place we've lived, there are multiple things that make this area unique. Here are a few we've noticed ~

• It's too cold to swim if the temperature is below 90* - and the low 90's is pushing it
• You own several pairs of sunglasses and wear them everywhere, even on rainy days. You even have a pair you save for guests who don't understand how important they are down here
• You have permanent flip flop tan lines on your feet
• Hail walnut sized or smaller doesn't even get noticed
• You're more likely to see a dead armadillo on the side of the road than a dead skunk
• You know that the third number on house listings (2/3/2) refers to the number of living rooms
• You know what an access road is and know how to use it to get to a restaurant on the other side of the highway (that took us a few years to figure out)
• You understand the difference between Dallas and Ft. Worth
• You can sleep through thunderstorms that literally shake your house
• You don't notice barking dogs or train whistles any more unless you listen for them, even in the middle of the night
• You don't worry about sunscreen unless it's over 95 and even then you only use it when you're in a bathing suit and it's the middle of the day
• You recognize that even the World Series won't be on tv if there is an important high school football game at the same time
• You know when happy hour is at Sonic
• You'd rather drink Dr. Pepper than anything else, except possibly sweet tea
• You know that BBQ means beef brisket and has nothing to do with the sauce - it's the way the meat is cooked
• You know that Babe's has the best fried chicken, creamed corn, and salad dressing on the planet
• You know what queso and rotel are
• Your house is still worth approximately what you paid for it ten years ago
• You own at LEAST one gun
• You still say the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of each school day and follow it with the Pledge to the Texas Flag
• You have to drive 20 mins to find a Burger King, but there are 20 taco places within five minutes of your house
• You know that you call 911 if there is a cow loose on the road
• You don't own a winter coat
• Ice storms trap you in your house for days, but you can drive in rain so hard and thick that you can't see more than 2 feet in front of your car
• You don't own a snow shovel and had to use a rake the few times you had to "shovel" your driveway
• All the Walmarts have grocery stores in them and are open 24 hours a day
• Even Walmart sells better fried chicken and pecan pie than most restaurants in other states
• Your boss or those you work with have told you they will pray for you
• You understand that "Bless your heart" can be an insult and you can tell when it's used as such
• Ya'll (not y'all) is singular; all ya'll is plural
• You understand when everyone pauses for a moment of silence to honor Jesus Christ and Chris Ledoux before a rodeo
• You have a sprinkler hose surrounding your house to water your foundation during dry spells
• You can recognize blue bonnets and indian paintbrush on sight

Summer Plans

Friday was the last day of school, but we never had school on weekends, so we considered Monday the first official day of summer vacation. Due to bedrest and my schooling, we won't be taking any vacations this summer. We'll have to take it easy, but we still have some fun things planned :)

Every other Monday (for now - in a month or two it will be every Monday) I have OB appointments. The kids stay with Ashley while I go to my appointments. Tuesdays we've made our official "swim" day. Jojo graciously has invited us to use her pool and we've received invites from other friends who have pools in their neighborhood as well :) Wednesdays will be reserved for homework (and the first Wednesday of each month I work with the PDI program at night). Thursdays we go to the movies. A local theater has a summer program of ten movies. They aren't new releases, but they're fairly recent movies (for example, this summer's lineup includes movies like "Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked", "Arthur Christmas", "Mr. Popper's Penguins", "Happy Feet 2", "Rio", and others). Tickets are bought before the summer starts and you buy a set of tickets that covers all ten. They don't reimburse you if you miss a movie, but it only costs $6 per person for the whole summer, so it's totally worth it for us :) We got an extra ticket so Ashley could come with us (makes it so much easier when I don't have to take all 5 kids to the bathroom if one has to go), and Betsy got tickets for the same day of the week (you have to pick one day and go on that day every week), as did my friend Stacy. Fridays we have no set plans, and weekends differ by week.

We are also excited that Grandma K is coming out to spend a week with us at the end of June! I'm doing my second residency in two weeks (yay for getting to do it in Dallas again!!!) and Grandma is coming out to help Rob take care of the kids while I'm gone (which really means she takes care of the kids and Rob and they all get spoiled - which is awesome as that mean Rob gets to be taken care of for a while instead of being in charge of taking care of everyone else :) ). The kids are thrilled that they get to see her again and Rob can't wait either (I'm excited too, but I'll be gone most of the time), although just so you know Grandpa, the kids keep asking if you're coming too :)

We don't have much planned other than that. Obviously, we're excited about Laura Alice joining us (hopefully towards the end of the summer). I'm 24 wks now, so she is officially viable. Ten and a half weeks of bedrest down, ten and a half to go until 35 wks! We're halfway through bedrest! Making it to 24 wks was my first goal, so we're excited to have reached it! My next goal is to make it through my residency and to 28 wks. After that, we hope to hit 30, then 32, 34, and my final goal is 35 wks. If we can make it that far, especially if I've had steroid shots for her lungs, Laura should have a good shot at not having any major issues.

I'm still hanging in there. I've had to cut back on my activities even more. I spend most of my time sitting or lying down. Ashley has been over almost every day and I don't know what I'd do without her! The kids have been incredible too :) Megan makes breakfast every morning and they all help out throughout the day. Rob has done an amazing job at keeping up on the chores and running the house. I was up too much at the end of last week between preparing for Kylie's baptism, attending Beth's kindergarten graduation, and going to Kylie's baptism, and almost ended up in L&D (Labor & Delivery) Saturday and Sunday. Thank heavens for Sam and his herbal remedies that help calm my contractions!

To top things off, I have decided to make this more challenging (why be difficult when with a little effort you can be impossible?) by developing gall stones. This is quite an accomplishment as I had my gall bladder removed after my pregnancy with Kylie. I'm talented :) Apparently gall stones don't necessarily develop only in your gall bladder, so you can get them even without a gall bladder; your chances of getting them are just greatly decreased. Anyway, they can't operate until after Laura's delivered unless it's an emergency, so I'm on a low fat diet and have pain pills for the attacks. On the plus side, the onset of major attacks has led me to go from gaining a pound a week to losing a pound a week, so overall I've only gained 6 pounds so far, which is amazing for being 24 wks :) I may do the same thing I did with Eva and walk out of the hospital weighing what I did before I got pregnant. Yay for not having to lose baby weight!

Kylie's Baptism

Kylie was baptized this morning. There were four other children baptized at the same time, so there were quite a few people there. There were about 25 people there just for Kylie. The seven of us were there, along with Miss Jojo, Bret and Kora and their 4 kids, our friend Meredith, Kylie's teacher from church, and someone from the children's organization and from the bishopric in our ward (who also brought his five children). Rob gave one of the talks in the meeting before the baptisms (Eva refused to let go of him, so he held her while giving his talk). Rob baptized Kylie and Bret confirmed her (which is the second part of the Mormon baptism ceremony). I couldn't have done it without Jojo, who took care of the other four kids while I stayed with Kylie before her baptism and helped her get changed afterwards. Thank you so much Jojo!!!

After the baptism, while we were waiting for those involved in the baptisms to get changed, we split up by ward. There was one other little boy from our ward, so we watched slideshows of photos of both children. Anyone who would like to see the slideshow we made for Kylie, let me know and I can email it to you!

Kylie and Daddy (and Eva, who decided to be a Daddy's girl today) before Kylie's baptism ~

Miss Jojo and Kylie after the baptism ~

Our family ~

Bret, Kora, and their four kids with Kylie ~

Kylie with Mom and Dad (and Eva) ~

Following the baptism, Jojo and Bret and Kora's family came back to our house for a celebratory lunch. Jojo and Kora didn't let me help much and took on the lion's share of getting everything ready. Betsy, Ashley, and Caitlin were able to join us. We finished up with a rainbow cake that Kylie happily shared with Noelle (Bret and Kora's youngest) as it was Noelle's birthday ~

Later that afternoon, Jack and Rob went to go watch "The Avengers" movie at the theater. The three older girls and I went to see it earlier this past week with Kiki. Jack got decked out from head to toe as Captain America in honor of the movie. He got lots of compliments from other movie goers!

Eva posed with Jack before he left ~

Daddy and Jack just before they left ~

Last Day of School

First a cute picture of Eva ~ 

For the first time this year the elementary school did an official kindergarten graduation. They opened by having the kids sing a couple of songs. Beth is below, second row from the top, fourth from the left ~

All the kindergarteners from this year ~

Each student's name was called and they walked up, shook each of the kindergarten teachers' hands, the walked across a little wooden bridge to the 1st grade teachers, officially entering 1st grade. Beth walking past the kindergarten teachers . . .

. . . And walking down the other side as a 1st grader ~

Jack and Eva watching the graduation ceremony ~

Beth, Eva (love her face in this photo), and Jack after the ceremony was over ~

Beth with her best friend Maia ~

Playing with the balloons afterwards ~

Beth and Mrs. Butley, her teacher ~

Standing on the bridge (since the photo I took when she actually walked across it was super blurry) ~

Kylie and her teacher, Mrs. Brooks ~

Megan with Mrs. Hill, one of her teachers ~

Megs with her other teacher, Mrs. Cantrell ~

Two days before school was over, a 9 year old girl in our neighborhood was shot and killed in a tragic accident. Just before the end of school, the students released pink and red balloons as part of a memorial to her ~