Happy Birthday Kaylee

 Kaylee Joann Floyd. August 29, 2007. 7 lb 12oz. 19 inches long.

How did this tiny baby.....

turn into this little girl!???

Kaylee turned 4 today! I'm not sure how it's possible that my children grow up the way they do. We had a tiny little family birthday party. Of course Heather and Taylor came too:)

 Is she the happiest 4-year-old you've ever seen??

 I know this post is supposed to be all about Kaylee, but LOOK at Riley's face. Seeing her in this picture makes me want to pick her up and squeeze her right this second. In fact, I think I will...

 and look at Kaylee's cutest little bashful face. Oh, how I love her!!!!

 Lily helped open Kaylee's presents...

 and Kaylee held every single one up just like this so I could take a picture.

 We got a pull string pinata. The girls have been begging for a pinata ever since we borrowed a library book called, "Hooray, a Pinata" (super cute book!). The pull strings are sooo much better than beating the junk out of a pinata that an adult is finally forced to rip apart.

 Me and my 7 month pregnant belly shaking the rest of the candy out.

 The wonderful thing about having a family birthday is that the absence of frenzied children scrambling for the pinata candy. The girls have always been very calm and collected when it comes to pinata candy. Here they are demonstrating;)

 Here is Michael playing the part of the missing crazy kids.

I am amazed at how this little girl has grown up. Kaylee is our animal loving girl. She loves God's creatures and is sensitive and caring toward all of them. When Kaylee was born my mom said something to me like, "She has such a sweet and special spirit." I've always remembered my mother speaking those words and at times I have wondered about her "sweet" spirit because she can be such a pill! However, as Kaylee gets older, I am able to see more and more of what my mom was talking about. Today in the car we listened to part of a talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf titled, The Love of God (beautiful. read it. right now). When we got out of the car Kaylee said, "Mom, I really want to see God". I talked to her a little about Heavenly Father and how much he loves Kaylee and then I asked her, "Why do you want to see God?" Sincerely and with affection, she said, "Because I love Him"

It was such a special moment for me as a mommy. She is such a good girl and, like all children, she has such a pure spirit. 

Kaylee, I hope you know how greatly you are loved! You are loved by so very many! I am so happy that you are aware of your Heavenly Father and His love for you. And I'm so happy that you love Him. I pray that it continues to grow. I LOVE YOU, Kaylee!! Happy Birthday!

first day of school! first day of school!

She practically ran to school. 

yay! 

...and here is how I left her, doing what she does best- making new friends.

Lily gets to ride the bus home from school. Although I had my camera in hand when she got off, I couldn't take a picture because the bus driver was talking to me.  :(  BUT the driver was suuuuuper nice and I think Lily will love her!

Her first homework assignment was to "skytrace" the number one and sing, "Come straight down and that is all (x3). That's how we write the number one" (sung to the tune of skip to my lou). If only all homework could be so difficult...

sleepy

Riley whined at my feet as I stood at the sink tonight. I told her I had to wash just a few dishes before I took her to bed. It took me less than 5 minutes but she gave up on me.


ps. we're back home in Idaho. Safe and sound:)

dirty boys

Who knew roofing was such a dirty job?

we went on a date

We went out on Friday. I love him:)

family

Before Geri and Shane left on Monday we decided to do a quick photo shoot. Andrew and my dad had to come home from work for a few minutes just to get these pics.

8 months and 6 months preg with best-friend-sister-cousins!

 This was our attempt at an awkward family photo... ;)

and here is a random photo of the girls on a homemade swing by Emma.

last week

I don't feel like blogging. I wrote a huge post about our crazy week last week but rather than bore anyone to death, I'll wrap it up in a nutshell.

I drove to Salt Lake on Tuesday to pick my mom up from the airport. The plan was to continue down to Las Vegas, stay the night and drive the rest of the way to my Grandpa's house in Southern California the next day. As we came into Las Vegas the air conditioning stopped working. Not cool in 100 degree weather. Literally. We took it to the dealer the next day, stayed another night in the City of Sin (seriously, there is some yuck stuff going on there), and picked it up Thursday afternoon. 10 miles later, my beloved Astrid (Yes, we name our vehicles. My mom thinks it's weird. It's a Howe thing) overheated and then completely died just as we were pulling into a gas station. Fortunately, we were on the shady side of the building where we spent 4 hours waiting for a tow truck. The driver (Jeff, super nice and friendly) picked us up around 10:30 at night. He drove us to Pahrump, NV where my dad was waiting for us. It was discovered that the radiator cap had not been put back on properly and was the probable cause of the car overheating. My dad refilled the engine coolant, made sure all caps were on tight, and on Friday we began our journey yet again. The car began to overheat as we drove through Death Valley and my amazing, good, wonderful, non-complaining and ever-optimistic father drove through Death Valley (110 degrees) with the heater blasting to keep the engine cool. He saved us. My mom saved us. They are good at that. They've had lots of practice I guess:) We went straight to my parents' house in Independence and it never felt so good to be home!

So a 12 hour trip in 4 days. Awesome. I am lucky to be blessed with happy children who are able to entertain themselves. They were so well behaved the entire time. Poor Kaylee and Riley had diarrhea all 4 days. Riley had a terrible diaper rash. We had to make stop after stop for Kaylee to go potty and to keep Riley's bum clean and pain-free. But through the upset stomachs and sore bums they were all so good. The fact that I packed five days worth of snacks helped too.

Okay, that was still long. How 'bout some pictures??


These first two are old (phone pictures) and have nothing to do with anything.

I love seeing things like this when I wake up in the morning. Riley had just woken up when I took this pic but this is how they had been sleeping. I made her put her arm back over Lily so I could get a cute pic.

An embarrassing day at the splash park for sure. Kaylee insisted on wearing this bathing suit that I'm sure is sized for a 7-year-old. It is hidden away for the next several years.

Here is Kaylee swimming in the pool while we were stuck in Las Vegas. We stayed at the Stratosphere Hotel for $33 a night. My mom's a deal finder.

The girls thought riding in the back of the tow truck was a-mazing. They were all asleep 10 minutes later.

ps. are you wondering why my mom flew to Salt Lake in the first place?? It's because neither she nor my husband would allow me to make the 12 hour journey on my own. Good thing they didn't!! Someday Michael and I will own a reliable car and I'll be able to make a trip by myself. I really hope I don't have to go anywhere by myself again though. I much prefer having my loving husband with me.

luckies

 squash flower.

We're so blessed to have such good friends. We asked Heather and Taylor to water our garden while we're away and they are going above and beyond. Like they always do:) We are so excited about our garden. Thanks for taking care of it you guys! We just love you.