Nothing in particular

Well, Bill took the girls on a Daddy date. They are off to the park and the museum and to pick up fast food (a thrill, for sure =). So, even though I posted yesterday, I took this chance to blog again. Just like the title says, it's not about anything in particular, just some miscellaneous pictures and comments. Hope you enjoy.

This morning, ready for church.

Caitlyn, Keegan, and Kelsey used to wear dresses every day. A while ago, they had a little meeting and informed me that now they only want to wear dresses for church (with Kelsey adding maybe she'd even wear jeans to church, but mom vetoed that idea.) Lucky for them, soon after that we were given a bunch of clothes that fit their new styles!

Eeek! Caitlyn thinks the sunscreen is cold :o). We are sunscreen fanatics around here. Caitlyn, especially, burns SO easily.

Keegan helping Bill wash his car. She is such a hard worker. Once she wanted to earn some money and asked if I had any extra jobs she could do for money. I said she could clean the floor behind the refrigerator (which I moved, obviously) and she got it spotless. I was so impressed. Here, she is helping Bill for fun.

What's to say? Kelsey is just cute! (said the totally objective mother :) She has on her bathing suit to help with the car washing, too.

Good old Caitlyn. What a sweetheart.

In this picture, Kelsey has popped a toy up into the air. It worked better than she expected! haha

Fun at home

We brought up summer clothes from the basement this week. Everyone had fun trying on things to see what fit. These outfits are from when Caitlyn and Keegan cheered for Upward basketball. Kelsey is quite pleased that they now fit Keegan and her!

Everyone always tells me that Keegan and Kelsey look alike. Usually they don't to me, but in this upside-down picture, I think they do! Kelsey is on the left.

Kelsey playing a new (birthday) computer game in her new hat and shirt.

Keegan and Kelsey playing on the bunk beds with a friend (and a Littlest Pet Shop pet :-)

Happy birthday Kelsey!!!!!!

I can not believe it, but my baby is 6!!!!! Monday was Kelsey's birthday and she is very proud to now be 6, no longer 5 :). She is such a great girl and a huge blesing to our family. We are so thankful for the loving, healthy, smart girl she has become - a long way from that tiny preemie in the NICU so long ago.

Littlest Pet Shop is THE thing with Kelsey right now, so we made her cake with some of her favorite LPS toys.

Yea, presents!Painting a wooden animal

The moral of this photo is - NEVER send Bill to buy wrapping paper! LOL

Instead of an egg in a spoon, we balanced a Little Pet in a spoon. Kelsey is almost back to start.

I just LOVE this picture.

My big 6 year-old girl in her new LPS t-shirt colored herself. :-)

I love you so much, Kelsey - happy birthday!

This weekend

Being the middle child had advantages yesterday, as Keegan got to be involved in everything. Saturday Keegan and Kelsey had a soccer game and Keegan and Caitlyn had a Scottish performance. Today we came home after lunch and didn't leave again, which was very nice. We played Clue (the Bill/Keegan team won), Parcheesi (Mommy/Kelsey team won), Uno (Caitlyn beat us all), and Racko (even split.) Thanks, Teresa, for the great games at Keegan's and Caitlyn's birthdays :), we love them. This is Kelsey at the end of the day at the Scottish performance. She was so worn out and fell asleep in my lap not too much later.
Caitlyn and Keegan, ready to go. This time there were live bagpipers to play. That is so neat, but also a real challenge as the music, timing, and style can be totally different than what the dancers are used to hearing.

Caitlyn on the right.

Caitlyn on the far left, Keegan in the center.

Now, on to the soccer game...

It is very tricky to get out of the goalie shirt, especially if you are trying to hurry ;). (Keegan on the right.)

Kelsey, who is literally counting the days until she turns 6.
This was Kelsey's first soccer game ever. She just jumped right in there, even though to me she looked a lot smaller than everyone else! Kick it, Kelsey!

This is Keegan (#9) scoring a goal. Yea, Keegan!

These days

Well, as of this very moment, Keegan and Kelsey are playing outside, below the window. They are looking for bumble bees and screaming and running whenever they see one. (It is apparently quite entertaining.) Caitlyn is in her room listening to the radio and re-assembling her Rubik's revenge Rubik's cube. Together, she and I can work a regular Rubik's cube. She hasn't mastered Rubik's revenge, so she has learned to take it apart and put it back together solved when she gets tired of it! This weekend was filled with dance rehearsal, 2 performances, church, and a birthday party (Happy Birthday Emma!) As usual, Caitlyn, Keegan, and Kelsey were excited to have a chance to perform, the first time in their Christmas kilts!No one could ask for a sweeter Sunday school teacher. Caitlyn, Keegan, and Kelsey all love Miss Libby! You can see the egg falling out of Kelsey's spoon in this birthday relay race.

Too cute! Keegan and her friend are missing the same front tooth.The first layer of Rubik's revenge.

Kelsey is starting to make friends of her own. Until recently, she has pretty much tagged along with Caitlyn's or Keegan's.

The rest of the story...

Lately, several people have asked me how Caitlyn, Keegan, and Kelsey act at home and if they are the same as they seem. They short answer is that they act pretty much the same at home as they do when we are out somewhere. They generally get along and treat each other the same no matter where we are. The longer answer is below.

Caitlyn -

Caitlyn is very much as (I think) she seems - calm, sweet, intelligent, responsible, self-controlled, very into ballet and reading. What I think most people don't see is her silly, giggly side. She definitely has one, but only the people who know her well get to see it. She also makes jokes, mostly plays on words. Caitlyn talks more when we are home, but still has times when she is quiet.

Keegan -

With Keegan, it is almost exactly the opposite. Everyone sees her silly, giggly side, but I think people would be surprised at how tender, thoughtful, and truly sensitive Keegan is. One example is how she once came to me with tears in her eyes to confess that she had been reading in bed one night when she was not supposed to be. She was so sorry and ashamed (much more upset about it than I was.) She frequently makes sweet notes for her sisters or Daddy or me. Another thing that's not so obvious is that Keegan is very good at math and thinking games (like Sudoku.) Overall, she is very much the same as she seems - passionate, loving, fun, generous, playful, caring.

Kelsey -

Finally, Kelsey is also very much the same as people see her. I think the 2 most surprising things about Kelsey at home would be 1) unfortunately, she occasionally (ok, frequently) irritates Keegan just for the sake of doing it, and 2) the simple fact of how much she talks! This child generally wakes up (and wakes me up :) and goes to bed talking. She gives long monologues on about any subject. Some recent topics have been: what if someone ate pizza every day and what if there was a pickle on it (Bill is the only one in our family who likes pickles and this is evidently very interesting to Kelsey because she mentions pickles regularly :-), whether that was Daddy's plane we saw in the sky and what if it was, what if so many people came to a party that there were 2000 people there, what if somebody kept jumping and jumping and could jump so high, what if she (herself) was 26, why did the girl in the book disobey, why do I think she (herself) likes to dance a certain dance, and why do I think the dog keeps stealing the plastic Easter eggs off the table - I wish I knew the answer to that one myself! But I am honestly thankful that I have a daughter who wants to share her thoughts and feelings with me. I hope she keeps that trait forever. About #1, while Kelsey does sometimes provoke Keegan, she can also be extremely thoughtful and loving to her. Today Kelsey offered to drink juice since she and Keegan both wanted milk and there was only one glassful left. Most of the time they are the best of friends and very kind to one another. Kelsey is very snuggly and affectionate and still wants to be with Mommy most of the time. I hope she keeps that trait, too!