Kailyn Turns 6

Happy Birthday Kailyn!

Kailyn started her day with Lucky Charms (a special treat). Then we went to the local splash park with her Grandma Bassett for play group. Everyone sang Happy Birthday and ate cupcakes. She then went with Grandma B to pick out her birthday present.

We had a family party with Grandma and Grandpa J, Aunt Megan, Aunt Ashley, Aunt Amy, Hailey, Makayla, Grandma and Grandpa B, and even dad was able to be a part of the celebration thanks to Skype. I think Kailyn had a great day.

Jordan helping make the birthday treats.

Jordan's creations.

Kailyn doesn't care for cake so this year she asked for sugar cookies.

Kailyn showing off her new purse and Hawaiian leis.

Caden and Hailey.

Oh, a new backpack for school.

Telling Grandma and Grandpa Jones thank you.

A new barbie, which will go perfectly with the new Barbie doll house she got from Grandma and Grandpa Bassett.

A little about Kailyn at 6 years old:

Favorite color? My most favorite color of all of them is red, pink and brown.

Favorite food? macaroni and cheese

What do you want to be when you grow up? missionary

Favorite thing to do? fly kites (probably because she got one for her birthday)

Who are your friends? Jenessa and Taiya

What is your favorite toy? My new Barbie, its name is Fellen

Favorite Story/Book? Barbie and American Girl

Where do you want to live when you get big? Mexico

How many kids are you going to have? 6 girls and 6 boys

Favorite song? Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam

Favorite movie? Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus

What makes you happy? reading books

What makes you sad? When Caden bites me (not sure when this happened??)

How do you know mom and dad love you? Cause they told me

Trouble

Chase is becoming very mobile, very quickly. He now crawls all over the place. He has also learned to crawl up this step at my parents' house, although he hasn't learned to crawl back down and normally just ends up falling off it if he tries. He has also started to pull himself up onto anything he can. Today he pulled himself up onto this coffee table. Nothing is safe anymore.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me! I wish Ken could have been here but I am glad I was able to be here with my family. The kids picked out my cake and ice cream. When I heard they were going to pick out my cake I guessed they would pick a cake mix with sprinkles in it. I nailed it on the head. They also picked mint chocolate chip and butter pecan ice creams, although good I think they confused me with their dad.

Chase Is Crawling

More Montana Pictures

The kids have been sleeping in the storage room at my parents' house. One day I went in to wake Caden up from his nap. There was a big jar of open butterscotch chips laying next to him.

Me: "Caden, did you eat these during your nap?"

Caden:"Yeah." (As casual as could be, as if I had asked him if he put his shoes away.)

(The jar was half empty, which I later found out was because the night before all three kids had had a little midnight snack of butterscotch chips)

A few days later I found him like this. Yes, to the left is a big jar of mint baking chips. He had informed me that they were yummy and he liked them.

My mom told me that one day Jordan came up stairs emitting a strong odor of mint. She then proceed to tell Grandma that Caden was eating the "chocolate chips."

Grandma then asked, "Did you try any?"

Jordan shakes her head and says, "No." (Strong mint odor floating from her mouth)

Grandmas, "Are you sure you didn't try just one."

Jordan begins to say no but then says, "Maybe just one...or two." (More likely a whole handful or two or three...)

I'm amazed with how much is missing out of the two containers that no one got sick.

The girls have been having fun dressing up. Here is Kailyn in a dress that Grandma Jones wore when she was younger.

Chase has started to pull himself up onto things. Most the time he just gets as high as a kneeling position. Here he is pulling himself up on the step.

For the last few weeks Chase has been a pro at going from a sitting position to a crawling position and back again.

Cousin Makayla and Chase.

We went to play group at the splash park with Grandma Bassett, Aunt Amy and her girls.

Kailyn about to be dumped on by a bucket of water.

Now you know where Jordan got her carrot top from. She loves to eat carrots!

Kailyn playing with Chase. She was giving him a 'horsey ride' which he loved!

And the big news. Chase has started to really crawl.

Fun in Montana

Here is a quick look into some of the fun we have been having in Montana.

The grandparents have loved spending time with their grand kids. Here is Grandpa Bassett holding a sleeping Chase. Grandpas loves snuggling and hugs.

My sister Ashley is getting married in September. We (my sisters Amy and Megan and I) made a scrapbook to give Ashley for her bridal shower.

Chase now loves baths. Baths are always funner when you can sit and splash.

I helped my mom make this jean rag quilt. This one might 'accidentally' find its way into my suitcase as I pack for Ohio.

The kids have loved jumping on the trampoline and riding their bikes.

Kailyn jumping on the trampoline in the rain.

Caden jumping in the rain.

Chase with cousins Makayla and Hailey.

Jordan feeding the geese.

Caden feeding the geese. This poor goose is trying to get a huge chunk of bread Caden threw.

Kailyn feeding the geese.
Hailey and Jordan holding hands as they walk.

The kids think sliding down grandma and grandpa's stairs head first is great fun. I remember doing this as a kid, only we used sleeping bags to slide down on.

Meet Chase

For those of you that have been asking. No you are not going crazy, the name of our youngest has been changed.

The reason for the change:

Ken and I had never gotten to talk about names because of Ken's crazy work schedule. When you only have 10 minutes to talk, picking a name unfortunately is not a priority. We had Chase about 2 weeks earlier than expected which also caught us off guard. We are not sure how Ryan was decided on since it was not on either of our individual top 5 lists. From the beginning we both had trouble calling him Ryan. It just never seemed to fit. We also HATED how all of our kids ended in the same 'en' sound. Having a Kailyn and Caden is bad enough (they are way too close). Ken said we should change his name when Chase was only a few weeks old. I had to warm up to the idea but finally decided to look into the logistics of changing it. After much confusing research on the internet we finally decided that it was worth the effort. So about a month and a half ago we begin to call him by his new name, Chase. He responded immediately to the name so it must be a sign that he likes it better too. As my mom pointed out, it ironically did correlate to the time Chase got on Zantac and began to become a happy/new baby.

The pictures Shelly Forgot

Shelly "forgot" to put pictures of herself up. So, here are a few more pictures of the horseback riding and covered wagon day.

Also pictured are Grandpa and Grandma Bassett, "Happy Pappy" (our friend who offered the instruction on hooking up and driving a team of mules--he's up close to Ken, ready to take over the reins if things got out of hand. He did have to take the reins a couple of times), and a couple of ladies who came out for a ride.