My "Little" Lil

Hard to believe my littlest baby is already 6 months!!  Auntie Liz requested to see some chunks....Lil' Lil was happy to oblige!!  This one is for you Auntie!!  Here she is at her 6 month dr appt.  She is 20 lbs 4 oz!!  I think most of her weight is in her HUGE eyes. 

One of those moments....

No words....just feelings. xxx

"Santa Isn't at the North Pole Anymore!!" ~Emma Jane

So today was a day to remember...especially if your are a child in the Kinkaid Home!!!  The babes got to visit Santa Claus at the mall!!!  Now when mommy says, "Santa is watching you!",  they actually believe me!!  Emma was so excited to see that Santa wasn't at the North Pole anymore.  Gavin was FULL of questions..."Where are the reindeer?", "How long does it take to get back to the North Pole?", "How does Santa know everything on your list, I only told him about one thing when I sat on his lap?", "How many kids are on his good list?", "How about the bad list?"...etc etc.  Emmy just wants to be sure he knows she is good and that is all that matters.  When they sat on his lap, Gavin was very excited to be there, but Emma was a little unsure.  Lily didn't even really realize what was going on.  Which was a good thing because I am guessing that if she saw who was holding her she would have had a fit.  We had so much fun doing our "First Christmas Activity" of the season.  The kids also talked me into getting them Sees candy AND a miniature Lego set at the Lego store.  It sure is fun to be a kid. {But honestly I think it is even more fun to be a mommy watching her kids have fun.} xxx

Fantastic Friday 11.11.11

Gavin had the day off of school today!!!  Yippee {for me, he actually likes to go to school, but I love having him home!!}!!  We have been talking about this day for awhile.  The kids knew that this day was going to be a KID day.  Mommy could only do KID things.  NO PHONE, CLEANING, ORGANIZING!!  {It was hard not to do my daily chores, but I really did enjoy purely focusing them and basically only the essential mommy tasks like making food and doing dishes.}  Today, like all our days together, was absolutely wonderful.  Believe it or not all four of us are even sick and we STILL had a great time!

Halloween Happenings

Here are a couple of the Halloween activities we have done this year...

Craft Day!!

It isn't very often that I take out my sewing machine, but when I do it is loads of fun for me and the kiddos.  On this particular craft day we made head bands, burpies, and snotty blankies (thank u again Carrie).  It just so happens that the big kids (lol!) had colds so the snotty blankies were put to immediate use.  Here are a few pictures of our day.

This is Emma attempting to sew a headband on her own....and Lily enjoying one of her new burpies.  She is such a spit up queen that she needs LOADS of burpies. I think I am going to make her a few more.

Stair Closet Revisited (for the millionth time)

So today, I had many things to do but this closet ended up being what took priority.  I was able to finish it thanks to little helpers.  One little helper Lily, slept for 3 hours!!  My other two little helpers, Gavin and Emma were happy to help because they got to use fun craft supplies (this was my secret to getting them to stay out of the closet). 

A little side note to my soccer post..(be sure to read the post under this one first!!)

So, I was looking at Gavin's pictures and something just didn't seem right.  I looked and looked but it took a while for me to put 2 and 2 together.  Finally it hit me.  Look at the size of his shin guards!!!  My goodness they are HUGE compared to the other boys!!  I wonder if they are the wrong size??  Hmmmm????  This morning I dug out the packaging and notice they say size small.  Later we look more closely Size Small = 4' 7" height         Are u kidding me right now???  My poor baby was wearing adult shin guards!!!  We put him in the wrong ones!!!  No wonder he couldn't run very well and felt like he couldn't get to the ball!!!  My poor baby could barely bend his legs!!!  As parents, of course we feel absolutely terrible!!!  Needless to say, he will be wearing new shin guards on Saturday and hopefully all will be better!!  We are so sorry Gavin David!!!

SOCCER!!!!! soccer...hmmmmm

So!!  Today was Gavin's first ever soccer game!!  We have been excitedly anticipating this day for quite awhile.  Daddy is his coach and Mommy is his Team Mom.  Wooohooooo!!!  Silver uniforms...what should the team name be- Silver Dragons-??...banner....soccer cleats...water bottle...adorable (I mean macho) soccer bag...so much to do to get ready for this first game!!  How fun for a little boy to have this excitement build and build, he talked about it all the time!!  (He even got a new pair of soccer ball undies!!!  shhhh...don't tell him I told you that!) 

Okay...last night...bag all packed, uniform laid out, plan in place for getting ready and out the door no later than 7:45 am.  Can you picture it? A little 4 1/2 year old boy almost not able to fall asleep due to anticipation and I am sure some anxiety about this new adventure.


We wake up right on time!!  Off to a great start!!  Yay!!  Uniform on, hair done, bag packed, snack for the team loaded in the car along with SOOOOOOO much other stuff that it looked as if we were going camping for a week!!  Oh yes...did I forget to mention that it is raining??  But that doesn't matter...Mud Line says "fields are open" so we are on our way!!  First stop, Mommy's Pumpkin Spice Latte (Thanks so much for informing me these are back at Starbucks Carrie!!)and bagels (ok, donuts too, it is Saturday afterall) for breakfast.  We arrive at the fields right on time...we won't talk about the EXTRA long hike I had to do with the girls, stroller, soccer bag, diaper bag, breakfast, waterproof blanket, umbrella, (did I mention 2 little girls?), etc etc.

AYSO Soccer BU5 (Boys Under 5) league has paid UK coaches to come in and help with the practice each week.  Practice is the 1/2 hour before the game.  This was so much fun to watch and Gavin was definitely in his element.  Organized instruction...he LOVES that!!  He listed so well and responded to the coaches with such enthusiasm and confidence.  Half hour of drills and the boys are all pumped up to play their first game...so off to their designated field we go.

Each team has 6 players, but only 3 get to play at a time, there are 4 quarters, so each player plays half the game.  Gavin starts out the first quarter.  He is all smiles!!  He loves loves loves running after the ball and he put forth his absolute best effort.  Gavin's sportsmanship was outstanding!!  I am so very proud of my little (big) boy.  I sat on the sidelines (nursing Lily and trying to help EJ feel better) feeling so lucky to have such a wonderful little guy, and how lucky are we that Daddy is the coach?...Anyway, I sat there watching and smiling...SOCCER!!  Yes!!  Soccer is finally here!!

Just look at that smile!!

Lucky #7

Father and Son

Now, as you all know, my Gavin is a very sweet, kind hearted boy.  Yeah sure, he can rough house and tease his sister, basically be all boy.  However, he doesn't always exhibit the "all boy" side.  While playing the game there was another boy who dominated the game and Gavin couldn't really get a hold on the ball when it got close to the goal.  This boy constantly made the goals.  Gavin felt defeated.  Gavin started having the quivering lip...he wanted to badly not to cry, but the tears escaped his eyes, showing to all that sweet sensitive side of his.  Oh my little boy Gavin was crying and my heart was breaking.  Quarter ended and off he ran to me, to bury his head in my shoulder, to find his safe spot to let his emotions go.  He told me "Mommy, I am afraid that I will never make a goal."  Oh how I wanted the perfect words to help him understand that all was just how it should be and that he would be fine.  I hope to him I had the perfect words to reassure him.  He got back on that field and tried hard again.  This time he was mowed over by a group of boys...the field was soaking so he was dirty (we know how Gavin doesn't like to be dirty) and his feelings were hurt...he felt like he was pushed (which he wasn't) and out came the tears again.  He sat and contemplated soccer in my lap that last quarter.  I think he is struggling with whether or not he really likes it, but I think the "like" is going to win out the "dislike". 

This is a very long winded post that I had to write in order to help me contemplate my own "like" vs "dislike" of soccer.  I think the "like" is going to out win the "dislike".  I think Gavin and I are BOTH having a big "growing up" moment/experience that will be priceless as far as life lessons go.  I just hate to see my boy struggle, wish I could take away all the hurt, but I know that this will make him stronger.  I just pray for the strength to be strong myself. 

Soccer day...all in all...a great day!!

My Little Sunshine

My sweet Lily is almost four months old.  I am making my mom and I an 8 x 8 album of Lily's first year.  I made one for Gavin (almost done) and will be making one of Emma as well....catching up is taking forever!! Here are the first 3 months...

THANK YOU dear friend....

Friends....friends....what would we do without our friends??? My sweet dear friend Carrie just created my entire blog layout for me.  Incredible!!!  Five children (one a newborn like Lily), teacher (she is homeschooling her four girls), wow...her time is precious and she used her free time to help me.  Thank you so very much my dear friend!!!  I love you and my blog does too!!!!  It is so cute!!!!

oooopppsss!!!

Tried to change my background to a cute one and I really messed it up!!  LOL!!  I have nooooooooo idea how to fix it  :(

Tears and Cheers!!

Yes, I am in tears, while Gavin will eventually be cheering...his FIRST day of school is coming up!!!  Today he met his teacher and teacher's helper.  They are super duper ruper nice and I just know they ALREADY love Gavin.  In fact he is their FAVORITE!!!  (He is the only one who brought his teacher a flower today!!  Heehee!! )

Okay...here it goes.....Gavin with his teachers and enjoying his first sight of his classroom.

Now On To.....Christmas!!!!!!!!

I have a few years to catch up on, but these 8 x 8 albums are quick and fun to create.  I am just choosing a few pictures to highlight the year. Our yearly family album will have many more pictures.  Enjoy!!

More Little Spooks

Here are the remainder of our pages...well at least until this Halloween!! 

2007 Halloween Now Complete!!

Gavin and Emma helped me pick out the album today and we also picked up the first four page prints.  I think this is going to be our favorite album!!!  Here are the pages from 2007...only 2008 and 2009 to go!!

Another Album Started!!!! Wooohooo!!!

I am stealing my sister-in-law's idea og making an 8 x 8 scrapbook for just Halloween.  Each year it will include 2 pages ...so far I have completed year 2010 and the Title page. 

Place Mats

Thank you so much Carrie for the wonderful idea of making place mats!! Gavin and Emma really really really loved this project and they have such great conversations now about their beautiful work while they eat.  It is so neat to see how something so simple can be such a huge deal in their eyes.  Here are pics of the place mats they made...I included a photo of each side...they had fun picking out a few different pictures that I had in a stack for their place mats.  The sequin idea was the icing on the cake.  Emma put hers on in piles and Gavin was very meticulous.