Thursday, July 28, 2011

Nathan Turns 2!

 My baby boy turned 2 on Saturday the 23rd of July.  We spent the most of the day at home and then headed to Russell's cousin's wedding in Redlands.  My mom was the florist for the wedding so after the ceremony, she took the kids home and Russell and I stayed at the reception sans kids, which was kind of nice.  Anyway, we didn't really celebrate Nathan's birthday that day because of the wedding.
On Sunday we had our families over for dinner and cake and ice cream and had a nice time.  We had an "UP"-themed party because Nathan is obsessed with that movie and asks to watch it the second he wakes up every morning.  I kid you not- as soon as you walk into his room every morning he says "watch doggie movie!"
The invites I made on the computer and just e-mailed to the family.  I thought they turned out cute.
We just decorated with bunches of helium balloons and pictures from the movie that I printed out.  I was trying to make it fun, but very low-key.
I didn't take pictures of the decor really, but Russell did take this one.
I stressed over the "UP" cake for a few days and decided to just do something yummy and not stress so much over the look like I usually do.  I made a strawberry cake with homemade strawberry filling and buttercream which I though tasted really good.  I changed my mind on how to do this cake a dozen times and eventually just decided that since it was only for a few people and a 2 year old, I would take the easy route and just do balloons and use a printable 3d house that I found online at the bottom of the cake.  Simple and cute.
He was spoiled with clothes, puzzles, books, and lots of sports equipment!  He opened this soccer ball from Grandpa and Grandma Kinser first and was ready to call it quits and start playing
I had to throw it in the other room to get him to open the rest of the gifts.  He also got a baseball glove and tee ball set and a soft ball and bat.  He is definitely ALL boy!
About Nathan at 2:
Favorite phrases:  "I do it" (Mr. Independent)
(often followed by) "I did it!"
"follow me, Mama"
"don't let the bed bugs bite"
"good nap!" (when he wakes up after nap)
"no spankin'" (after hitting his sisters)
"watch a movie"
"beep the horn" (whenever we are under a bridge or tunnel)
Favorite movies: "Up" and "Cars"
Songs: "Popcorn Popping" "Wheels on the Bus" "Twinkle  Twinkle"
He can:  Sing the ABCs
Count to 12
Serve a volleyball pretty well
Climb out of his crib
Get away with just about anything ;)

Friday, July 22, 2011

Watch Out . . .

for the new members of the Justice League!
Impressive muscles, no?

Monday, July 18, 2011

Kinser Family Update

And baby makes 6!
(coming Jan 2012)

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

July 4th, 2011!

I love the 4th of July!  It's become one of my favorite holidays.  This year we spent it with Russell's extended family.  We went to Aunt Vickie's for swimming and a potluck dinner.
Madylin relaxing in the pool
Morgan enjoying the sun


Nathan aka "The Fish"  He loooves to swim and isn't afraid at all!
After dinner we headed to Aunt Lynne and Uncle Max's house for homemade ice cream and fireworks.
Here is our patriotic brood. . .
(Great thing about girls- some cute leggings and last year's dresses can be used again!)
Madylin is staring at her pretty toes that cousin Crystina had just painted for her.  It took several shots to get one where she'd look up!
2 years ago this was me and 3 cousins on the 4th of July
Here are 3 of the 4 little patriotic boys from those bellies  . . . (Cody Bogh had not arrived with his parents yet unfortunately, and we didn't get another one once he had)
Braden Fisher, Luke Fisher, Nathan
We watched the fireworks from lawn chairs near the street so we could see the show at the University of Redlands.  During the show Nathan kept saying "cooool" and "spockly" (sparkly). He loved it.
My ALL-TIME favorite picture from the 4th is this from the ride home after fireworks:
He would not put this flag down.  He kept calling it his "own flag," as in when it dropped he'd say "uh-oh! Drop own flag! Drop own flag!"
Here is my favorite with some editing:

Monday, July 11, 2011

We Graduate!

Besides enjoying the sun, the month of June was also about Commencement ceremonies in this house.  Russell and I both finished requirements for our bachelor's degrees in March and we both got to "walk" in June.
Russell graduated from the University of Phoenix on June 4th with a BS in Business Administration.
There were a TON of graduates, but the UoP officiators really knew what they were doing (although they started like 40 min late).  They were very efficient and very fast and the whole ceremony only lasted about 2 hours once it started even though there were over 1,000 graduates.  Russell's parents and I were in attendance.
I graduated (with honors! - just like to throw that in to bug Russell) from California State University, San Bernardino on June 19th with a BA in Human Development
There were less graduates, but it was soooo long because the University president, Dr. Karnig likes to talk to each of the graduates for a second as he shakes their hand.  Here he is shaking my hand and he asked me what I was going to do with a degree in Human Development.  I told him that for now I would be at home taking care of 3 little ones and he said, very sincerely, "Well, that is a great thing to be able to do."  President Karnig used to be at all the volleyball games and he even had the volleyball team to his house once for a dinner.  Such a great man and I was happy he was the one to shake my hand.

It was also really great to be in the beautiful arena where I spent some of the best days of my life playing volleyball.  I love that place and as I sat and listened to speeches I got to look around at all the volleyball banners for conference and regional championships that I was a part of earning and just reflect on memories and think about what a  great college experience I was able to have.
My parents, Russell, and my brother Steven were all in attendance at my ceremony.
 Thanks to our families for supporting us and thanks to our kids for putting up with Dad's busy nights doing homework on the computer and Mom's dropping them off with babysitters multiple times each week from November to March.  Thanks to our families for helping watch the kids while I finished school this Winter (especially Jessica and Mitch!)  We couldn't have done it without help and we are so excited to be finished!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Enjoying June

Russell has been home for most of June and we have been having some fun in the sun:
In our little pool in the backyard


Enjoying some post-swimming fruit snacks
Nathan just being adorable while swimming at Aunt Kami and Uncle Mark's
We went to the beach in Carlsbad and although the air was a little chilly- the kids loved it this year!

Sporting their new sunglasses while snacking at the beach

First Haircut!

We decided to cut Morgan and Madylin's hair for Summer.  It was beautiful long, but they hated when I had to brush it out and they hated having me wash their hair.  Shorter hair has been soooo nice for all 3 of us!  The girls love it.
Madylin before and after her first haircut
Morgan before and after first haircut.
I do miss their long hair a bit- I won't keep it this short, but it is nice for Summer when we are swimming a lot and sweating in the heat!