Girl Scout Camp 2013 - Day 1

In June our Girl Scout Troop took a two day camping trip to Camp Judy Lane in Eastern Kentucky. It was a fabulous experience. Both the girls have declared it their favorite Girl Scout activity of the year and cannot wait to go back again next year.

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Here are the Daisies (1st row) and Brownies (2nd row) with their wonderful Troop Leader, Jeannette. She has done an incredible job all year and truly outdid herself with this trip for the girls!

 Teamwork was first on the agenda. The girls participated in a number of activities and obstacle courses which challenged them to think and work together. Here are pictures of a few of the activities they did.

 Trying to balance all together for 10 seconds

 Everyone had to go thru a different portion of the "web"

 Everyone had to follow the leader exactly thru this web. If the web was shaken and the bell rang, someone would lose one of their senses/abilities making the course that much more challenging.

 The Brownies making their way across the tire swings

 The girls had some time to play on the tires too 

 

 

 The girls divided up into groups and were responsible for preparing and cleaning up each meal including making fires as needed. This was a bit slow at times but a fabulous learning experience for everyone involved!

 The Daisies enjoying the fruits of their labor

 Sweet Miss Maddie

 After lunch we headed for the rock climbing wall. We have never done this before but Reagan was a natural and was one of only 3 girls to make it to the top. Kennedy did an awesome job as well making it over half way up.

 Missy K all ready to go!

 Reagan and Maddie ready to climb! :)

 Posing for a picture lol :)

 There goes Kennedy! :)

  Reagan at the top of the rock wall

Nina on her way up 

 This mother/daughter duo both made it to the top - way to go Denny girls! :)

 Kennedy's favorite Cadette, Zoe, gave it a good try too

 Next we split up again and the little girls headed to archery. The girls were extremely excited about this opportunity (I'm thinking because of Brave?). The moms tried this out as well and I have to say it's a lot harder than it looks!

 

 Ms. Meg managed to hit an acorn! lol :)

  Kennedy helped her "Big Big Sister, Zoe" make the "Stone Soup" and keep an eye on the food over the fire in general by bringing her sticks to keep the fire going. The girls and I agreed that the "Stone Soup" was super yummy and fun!

 Enjoying supper around the fire

 Kennedy found this large snail which she fell in love with

 The girls put on a couple of impromptu plays at "Thicket Theater" for our evening entertainment. They did a great job and I was pretty impressed with some of their improve!

 What better way to end the day than with a new found treat to cook over the fire - Banana Boats!

As you can see we had a super full and fun first day at camp! No wonder the girls can't wait to go back!!! :)



Special Graduations 2013 - Will and Katie

 I once again find myself trying to figure out how to catch up for all the activities we've been busy with over the course of the last several months. In May I attended two very special high school graduations. It seems appropriate to catch up with this post now as these two graduates begin their college careers this month. I have known the Kellys since Nancy was my 5th grade Sunday School teacher, so quite a while before Will was ever even thought of. :) I met the Hamlins before Katie was 2 so they have been an important part of my life for a long time too. The picture below is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding of all my favorite little people I use to baby-sit for while I was in high school and college. Will and Katie stood up together as ring bearer and flower girl for us and were so super cute. I can't believe they have now both graduated from high school and are beginning college! How on earth is that possible?!?!?

 

 Will was valedictorian of Cookeville High School and is headed to Emory this weekend

 Will and Nancy

 My not so little (but still as cute) ring bearer

Katie graduated with honors from Lexington Catholic High School and is receiving her diploma from the Bishop in this picture. She has already started college at Transylvania University in Lexington. We are so excited and blessed that she stayed close so we can keep using her excellent baby-sitting services for the next 4 years! :) 

 

 The Hamlin Family

My beautiful (inside and out) flower girl 

 Jackson loves Katie! :)

Congratulations Will and Katie! We know you will do great things and we wish you all the very best!

Watch McKinley Grow - Duck Post - 0 to 6 months

In case anyone was worried you can see I have not neglected to record McKinley's growth with our big yellow duck like I did with the rest of the kids. I have only been negligent in my posting of said duck pictures... :)

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19 August 2013 - 6 months old

 

 23 July 2013 - 5 months old

18 June 2013 - 4 months old

19 May 2013 - 3 months old

24 April 2013 - 2 months old

17 March 2013 - 1 month old

26 February 2013 - 9 days old

 

McKinley is a little social butterfly. She loves everyone and responds to anyone who talks to her with a big smile (or two or three :). In the last week or so she is beginning to show a bit of bashfulness with a preference for me around strangers but it literally only takes a couple of seconds for her to warm up. If you are willing to hold her and talk to her, you can quickly become Ms. McKinley's best pal! :)

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While McKinley is quick to smile she makes you work for a giggle. Even after great efforts (most recently roaring at her has been a pretty funny joke) you rarely get a true giggle. I can probably count on one hand the number of times anyone has really gotten her to laugh. Having said that, however, her giggle truly has to be one of the sweetest and most beautiful sounds in the world. It is beyond precious to hear and watch her explode with happiness. :)

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We have not had McKinley's 6 month checkup yet, but at her 4 month one she was in the 20% for height and weight. I imagine this will be the case again as she was wearing an outfit just today that Reagan wore at two months. She is a little squirt but a happy little squirt! :)

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McKinley rolled for the first time at 4 months. Surprisingly she rolled the first time from back to front vs the easier front to back. Having said that, she still doesn't roll back to front consistently and obviously has a much easier time with the front to back, especially during tummy time. She might do better with the rolling if she ever let us put her down and/or her big sisters and I ever put her down... lol :) In the last week or so she has started doing a decent job of sitting up by herself although I would certainly not set her down and walk away quite yet.

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In this last month McKinley began to eat food. We started her out with rice cereal at night (pictures to come) but quickly moved on to oatmeal in the morning. This was followed relatively quickly by apple sauce or yogurt in the morning with her oatmeal and a veggie such as carrots, green beans, squash or sweet potatoes with her rice cereal at night. So far no hint of food allergies. Thank goodness none of my munchkins have had to worry about that. We are so blessed! McKinley has also discovered a love of Puffs. What do they put in those things? All of my children have found them and still find them to be completely addictive!

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We've been working hard to get McKinley to sleep thru the night. She's pretty much always given me 4 hours to begin with but then she'll want to eat every two hours after (occasionally more). In the last couple of weeks (especially since we've started food) I've been working on getting her to skip some of those feedings and she's been pretty receptive. She still wakes up but after cooing for a minute or two will fall right back to sleep. Accounting for those momentary coos I would say she consistently sleeps at least a good 8 hours before insisting on being fed. Such a good baby! :)

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McKinley is exceedingly loved and adored by all three of her big siblings. Even Jackson has fully come around. The first thing they do when they get up is to come and find her and then frequently dote on her throughout the day. They all love this sweet baby girl and the admiration is truly mutual. Watching your children play, interact and love each other has to be one of the best feelings in the world. I hope and pray they always remain close and enjoy each others company throughout their lives! 

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We are enjoying every minute of watching you grow Ms. McKinley! Your smile and love for life is contagious! I can't believe we're already half way to a year old and I wouldn't mind a bit for the next 6 months to go a little slower than the first. I know you'll be a precious toddler too but I sure love having such a precious baby in the house! Guess I better enjoy it while I can!!! :) 

Love My Munchkins!

I've been having fun lately trying to capture some cute close ups of the kids. While Dad and Andrew enjoy landscape photography I really enjoy people as my subjects. It's probably not hard to guess who my four favorite subjects are. :) In that vein... just tonight the girls were talking about growing up and moving away. Tim said he wasn't ready for that and he would miss them. Kennedy's immediate response was "It's okay Dad, you have lots of pictures of us." She's right, we do, but I'll still miss these sweet faces and smiles once they're all grown up!

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Reagan (6 years old) - Reagan is a wonderful big sister. She has become such a big helper around the house and with her little siblings, especially McKinley. While she can be pretty intense (and sometimes a little challenging) she truly has a heart of gold with a love of life and people. With her big smile and eyes that twinkle she can light up any room! :)

 Kennedy (4 1/2 years old) - Our little sweetheart and an awesome sister and big helper too! You can always count on Missy K for a good story and interesting take on any situation. She's still doing her best to determine if McKinley is in fact a girl. Just today someone commented on what a pretty little girl McKinley is when to their surprise (and typical confusion) Kennedy promptly replied "Yes, and we're pretty sure she's a girl." She generally follows that up with "We've been treating her like she's a girl anyway." This line of thought began during a conversation with Grand-Dad sometime after McKinley was born when she declared "We're sure going to be surprised if McKinley turns out to be a boy!" She has continued to randomly make this statement despite our efforts to assure her McKinley is most definitely a girl including discussing the differences between girls and boys. lol :) We do love this little goof ball! :)

 Jackson (2 3/4 years old) - Jackson gets two pictures because I wasn't sure which I liked better or was more appropriate. I love that big smile, but as any of you who know him know, you're as likely to get his signature scowl as that beautiful smile from my shy and anti-social little guy. We're working hard and making progress towards increasing the smile time! :)

 

 McKinley (5 months) - Everyone is in love with this precious baby, no doubt about it!!! :) We adore this sweet little girl and can already tell she is going to have a big personality too! And yes, Grammy is extremely excited about those big blue eyes!

 

Even though these four munchkins sometimes drive me a little crazy I love them to pieces and can't imagine my life without them. There is no doubt their big personalities and super hugs light up our days like nothing else ever could! :)