Happy Fourth birthday, Jonny Robert

Holy smokes, the kid has turned four. Jonathon celebrated his birthday on Sunday and here are some of the pics from all the fun.

Oh buddy....now that's dirty

Recently, Jenni and I got tired of the privacy fence that was up next to our driveway. The people before us had hit it with a car and it was all out of wack (reference the water picture in a previous post). So we decided to tear it down and put up a new section of chain link. Well at the same time our neighbors decided to concrete their driveways and had created a nice big pile of rock and dirt beside the house. Well, I took advantage of the situation and got the crew to give me the gravel and then the kids made sure that they took their fair share of the dirt.




I don't know who had more fun, the kids in the dirt or Jenni stripping them naked in the yard and washing them off with the cold water hose.

Our trip to the K...is wet

So, earlier this week Jenni and I decided to take the kids to a Royals game and we picked last night because it was cowboy hat giveaway night. And wouldn't you know it, IT RAINED. So, I think that every post on this board has something to do with water. We had a good time, we ate our weight in hotdogs and nachos and watched the game. The kids made it through most of the game without getting too stir crazy. The game went into extra innings and (even though it killed me) we went ahead and left. My Royals ended up losing, but it was fun to take the family out to the ole ballpark.

Happy Father's Day

Jenni and the kids woke me up this morning with my Dad's Day presents. It was nice, Jenni had figured out how to make brown lunch bags into a little neck tie looking present. I opened my presents from the kids and they were two bags of M&M's (one of my favorite snacks). After we were done with the present giving I had given Kayla the bags to put on the kitchen table. Jenni and I came out of the room and found that the table wasn't where my candy was, it was in the living room. Just see for yourself...

Little stinkers.

Can you say "Creative Thinking"?

Everyone says that one of the benifits of being a teacher is having your summers off. I'd have to agree. Although whoever came up with those words of wisdom was definately NOT chasing around a very creative little 2 and 4 year old!

The kids are finally old enough to play out in the backyard together without constant supervision and it is so nice to be able to let them go outside while we are cooking dinner or working in the kitchen. However, I say "constant" because they are professionals at finding new ways to give me a heart attack. Jonathon (aka: Monkey #1) figured out how to climb onto the roof of their playhouse by using the swingset as a stepping stool. Not to be left behind, Kayla (aka: Monkey #2) also figured out how to tackle this feat. This is now their favorite place to play in the backyard.



Kayla's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds every day. I swear she comes up with a new phrase or statement that knocks my socks off on a daily basis. The latest occurred while I was in the kitchen. I had just set up the kids with one of their videos so that I could start making a dessert for the dinner I was preparing. I had just gotten all of my materials ready when I heard the distinct patter of little Kayla feet running into the kitchen. She put on the brakes, slid to a stop, looked at me like I was doing something wrong, and said "What are you doing Mommy?" I told her that I was making a cake for dinner and her whole face lit up! She made a 180 degree turn, ran to grab her chair and said "I make cake, too, Mommy! Me help!" So I had a lot of help making my cake!



Jonathon and Kayla have also rediscovered the fun of playing in the water. Being the sentimental person that I am I couldn't help but compare water pictures from last year to this year. They are growing up so fast? Who gave them permission to do that?

They call him......Ring Bearer

Last weekend the Fam went back to Nebraska for Jenni's cousin Jeremy's wedding. Jonathon was asked to be the ring bearer and performed perfectly. So we're posting pics, just because anytime you drop a 3-year-old into a tux it's incredibly adorable. Enjoy.

The killing of the bull

Okay, so this one is going to take a little bit of imagination on your part. Every now and then, good ole Jonny Robert, drops into cowboy mode and pretends to ride bulls and rope steer. So, not too long ago I had taken a small amount of scrap wood from around the house and built my little cowboy a roping toy. It was pretty much a saw horse with a head. One night while I was out in the yard with the kids, Jonny Robert roped that bull AND PULLED ITS HEAD OFF. I was laughing my chops off while he drug it around the yard yelling excitedly, "I killed the bull, dad, I killed the bull." I went to get Jenni to have her join me in this moment of funny when Jonathon yelled to Kayla (who had now joined him in his chant and laps around the yard), "Let's tie it up." We got the camera out in time to capture the beautiful moment that our little cow pokes posted thier quarry.



Look closely at the bottom of the tree and you'll see the "head". Don't worry....I've already played doctor and grew that bull and new head, hopefully stronger this time.

P.S. - Do you know how hard it is to explain that cattle roping isn't suppose to kill the cow, when you're laughing that hard?