Happy Birthday Kyra Faye!

Opening her stethoscope and doctor's coat and scrubs

My sweet girl is 4.  She is one awesome girl. She is full of curiosity about the world around her.  She is in awe of how the human body works and wants to know all she can about it.  She loves sharks, especially Great Whites.  She is a social butterfly who tells everyone she sees hello.  The more people around her, the happier she is.  She strives to please.  She is brave (except when moths, bees, and wasps are around).  She is quick to smile and has one of the best ever!  She is becoming quite the swimmer and dazzles the neighbors with her scooter-ing skills.  My girl has enriched my life in ways I didn't know possible.  I'm so blessed to be her Momma!!!!!

Kyra's party

Since I'm going to be at school about 3 hours away on Kyra's actual birthday, we had her party last night.  I think she had an absolute ball!  So hard for me to believe my little girl is 4!!!!

We had her party at our local city park that has kiddie rides.  We rented the caboose which is attached to the rides.  Very fun and just up her alley!

Her two favorite things are sharks and My Little Pony (well, bones and blood are her favorite but those are a bit morbid for cupcakes), so we had shark and My Little Pony cupcakes :)

Riding the carousel with her cousins

Riding the roller coaster (she loved that she could ride it with them and not me!)

He LOVED the bounce house!

Sing to me some more!!!!

What do you have there Kyra????

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

Walking with her favorite!

Riding the carousel with Daddy

Mountain Fun

Last week we went to my folks' "mountain house" (that's what Kyra calls it).  Some dear friends from Atlanta that we hadn't seen in way too long were able to come up as well.  It was a very fun time!!!  The only downside was fishing wasn't great and I had a nasty eye infection (no pictures of me!!!!).  

Making ice cream with PopPop

Playing with sticks

So silly!

Throwing rocks and dirt into a little tree

Gorgeous views

No pics, but lots of fun!

I realized last night I've slacked on updating this recently.  I guess it's because we've been busy, but haven't had good photo opportunities.  So, I'll just update you on all of us today :)

LIAM: He is ALL boy and ALL two!  That's about the best summary I can give you of him right now.  He's full of energy and orneriness.  The boy doesn't stop unless he's sleeping.  He got a scooter when he pooped on the potty and love, love, loves it.  Our city pools have "family swim" on Sunday mornings from 10-12 and we've gone the last couple times (our fun outings for the week).  He is quite the natural!  He has no fear (a good and bad thing), so he's willing to try anything and doesn't get upset in the least when his face or anything gets wet.  Last Sunday I let them take float-y rings to the pool, he very quickly figured out how to kick his way all the way across the pool and steer around other people.  I started potty training him the beginning of June and it's gone fairly well. He frequently makes it to the bathroom or close to it, but also frequently forgets he needs to pull his shorts and undies down before he goes!  He does fairly well at nap time, and bedtime is sort of hit and miss. Considering the amount of liquid he drinks each day, it's totally expected. I think I've changed his sheets and mine more in the last month than in the past year, but....hopefully, by the end of summer he'll have it all figured out!

KYRA: She started swim lessons a few weeks ago.  While she is very outgoing and super friendly, she also tends to be on the cautious side.  So, swim lessons were a challenge for her.  But, she did everything her teacher asked of her and even got brave enough to jump from the side a few times.  I was so proud.  She has another session that begins next Monday and I'm excited for her to continue learning and to see her grow less fearful.  Her birthday is at the end of this month.  Hard to believe my girl will be 4!  She wants an X-Ray machine with a tv screen for her bedroom so she can take pictures of her bones and look at them whenever she wants.  Not sure mom can make that happen!  I tell you, if she doesn't grow up to be a surgeon or something I will be very surprised, she loves all things related to health and the human body!

ME:  The biggest news is I will be heading back to school this fall at Western State College (it's in a small mountain community in Colorado called Gunnison).  I'll be getting my teaching certificate (finally) as well as my Master's.  I have to be on campus for 5 days the end of this month (over Kyra's birthday of course!) and next summer, but then everything else will be online.  I'll be doing student teaching this next school year (for the whole year) as well as taking classes (can you say busy?!?!) and then will be certified at the end of the school year.  Next year I can work as a certified teacher and finish the last year of classes to have my Master's.  It'll be a busy couple years, but definitely the right thing for me and the kids.  I'm nervous and excited.  Right now, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the kiddos while I'm student teaching, so if anyone local knows of anyone who wants to keep a couple super cute and fun kiddos for one two or three days a week (Tues, Weds, and/or Thurs), please let me know!

Hope you're all well!  I'll post pictures as soon as I take some!