Double Digits

I have a kid in the double digits.  That’s just ridiculous.

Last Thursday Kelby turned 10 (gulp!) and, just like every birthday eve, as I tucked her in on Wednesday night I told her the story of her birth.  I told her again how stubborn she was in not wanting to come out of my tummy and how when she did she was screaming.  And I told her again how she really hasn’t changed that much since…  Still stubborn and still screaming.  She gets a kick out of it.

Thursday morning Dad woke up early to make her a special breakfast…  Monkey Bread.  Kelby LOVES bread!  Any kind of bread.  It might be the only thing she is not picky about.

I asked her to take a pic for me before we left for school and this is what I got…

Keep in mind that she picked out her clothes the night before knowing today was her birthday.  She fancy.  I actually had an outfit picked out (jeans, converse, and a nicer tee), but she told me my selection wouldn’t work with the game they are playing at recess…  She told me they are playing “torture chamber” and she is the boss.  She scares me. 

I asked her to retake the picture before walking into school.  She was holding her cookie cakes to share with her class and as I attempted to fix her headband I knocked one of the cookies cakes out of her hands and onto the ground.  #momfail  

This was actually incident #2 in a series of events that day that indicated Kelby turning 10 might have had me a little flustered.  #1 being forgetting the last run in the WOD at cross fit that morning and #3 realizing I had put my underwear on inside-out around lunch.  I’d like to say it ended at 3 but it didn’t…

That night we had her favorite for dinner…  Golden Chick.  {eye roll}

Friday evening we had a family dinner at our house to celebrate her.  We let the girls decide on their birthday dinner menu and Kelby’s selection included fried fish, french fries, hush puppies and fruit.  Girlfriend loves her fried food!  I added in a salad to the mix as well.

Grandma makes the best cakes!!!

Yes, there is a cat on our table.  Apparently we are those people...

Unfortunately the afterparty got a little crazy (usual late night rip stick contests) and ended with one going to the ER and ultimately a broken arm.  :((((  (We feel horrible Meagan!!!)

Saturday, after celebrating another classmates 10^th birthday at the roller skating rink, the girls and I scurried around town to pick up supplies for Kelby’s “friend” party.  This included a stop at HEB where they were letting kids decorate cookies!  Perfect!  They were starting to get jittery from lack of sugar in the past 45 minutes...  ;) 

She invited all the girls in her class over to watch a movie outside.  The movie lasted approximately 45 minutes until they asked me if I could just turn it off so they could run around…  lol!  Ten year old girls + glow sticks at night = mega fun!

Yep, I didn't even take the cupcakes out of the plastic carrier...  It was basically her third party and I don't want her to get spoiled.

Happy Birthday my sweet girl!  Muah!!!!

put a fork in us... we're done!

our last week of school was a doozie!  monday was a holiday.  tuesday we had neely's pre-k graduation.    

   

neely had such a sweet pre-k teacher.  she will surely be missed.  i can't believe that kid will be in kindergarten next year!  

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wednesday kevyn had a field trip followed by an ice cream party and then the schools end-of-year pep rally (or pepper rally if your kevyn).

funny story...  i had no idea where we were headed for kevyn's field trip until we were loading up!  i knew the name, but i thought we were headed to one town and was corrected by another mom as to which town we were actually going to.  and here's the kicker...  i thought i had never been there before until we were pulling up and it all started to look familiar.  i need a nap.

thursday we had kelby & nat's flat stanley party and then kevyn's kindergarten graduation that evening.

kelby & nat did such a great job on their flat stanley projects. ok, who am i kidding...  darren and i did great!  parents were invited to attend the presentations and we all high-fived and commented on how well we all did as parents.  it was really quite comical.  i was, however, really impressed at how well all the kids did with getting up in front of the entire class to present their project.  it was like they had no idea public speaking could even be considered scary.  to them it was no big deal.  i love that!  

at our school, kindergarten and 8th grade do a joint graduation ceremony.  while lengthy, the ceremony really got me excited for my girls and all they will get to do and become while at our school.  i REALLY like our school if you can't tell. 

another funny story...  (i can only say it is funny now.  it was NOT funny at the time.)  we had mexican food (kevyn's pick) prior to kevyn's graduation ceremony and although i knew before hand that enchilada's would be risky, i gave in and we went for it.  all throughout dinner jeff and i repeatedly reminded kevyn to lean over her plate, don't take big bites, keep her napkin on her lap, etc.  towards the end of dinner i thought we made it with only a few tiny and barely noticeable spots.  yay!  until we coached her again to be sure to lean over her plate to take a bite and she leaned right into her plate!  yep.  brown enchilada sauce all the way across the front of her dress.  crap.  i took one last BIG drink of my margarita, loaded up the girls, and raced to the house to change.   

we are really going to miss mrs. z.  we joke that she can teach kindergarten one more year (for neely) and then she is going to have to move up to a higher grade so we can double-dip.  thankfully we don't really have have to say goodbye to our teachers since we still see them every sunday in church and at sunday school.

and friday we had closing chapel, end-of-year awards ceremony, and then class parties.

see all those cute signs???  the ones my brain was determined to forget to send to the printer, pick up from the printer, and cutout and paste to a stick until 11 pm the night before?!?  yah, those.  welp, they are the same signs that my youngest accidentally dropped in a big puddle right before taking those pictures.  i wanted to cry, but all i could do was laugh.  so if they look droopy, its because they were.  and wet.  and i'm really thankful these pictures are taken at a distance and you can't see the watermarks.  geez, these kids...

and when the school bell rang for release at 11:15 AM we loaded up and hooked it to dallas for our cousins high school graduations.  whew!

~becky

kelby is 7!

yep.  she did it.  i tried to bribe her to stay 6 by offering her a giant stuffed penguin she's been eyeing, but she did it anyways.  she turned 7.

we kept both of the girls parties this year super simple.  both had sunday afternoon meetups at the park.  no going overboard with decorations or party favors.  in fact, everything was bought really quick at target.  my mother-in-law did however do amazing job with the cake.  kelby was a little leery of a party at the park (the bathrooms scare her) and my "go with the flow" attitude towards it, but later told me it was the best party ever.

this girl simultaneously makes me scared and excited to be her mom.  she is never short on energy or attitude.  she can weasel her way out of most situations and has perfected her manipulation techniques on her little sister.  she is also very kind and sensitive and still needs a bed full of babies to sleep with her at night (as well as "pink blankey").  and when she is not bossing encouraging her little sister and cousins on what they should be doing, she is really owning up to the big sister/cousin role she was born in to.

kelby asked to have a pinata.  i hesitated at first, but when she suggested to fill it with the abundance of halloween candy we acquired, i was sold.

uncle Darren's expression in this one kills me.

funny story, when i was getting her "7" candle out, i paused and was like "oh crap, i got the wrong number!  OH CRAP, i got the right number!  she's turning 7!"  i had a minor freak out moment.

prior to kelby's party, i had a moment where i got choked up about my sister not being there.  she wasn't able to make kevyn's party either, but it now felt different.  holly would always come to my girls parties early to help set up and always offered to take pictures for me.  

i didn't need help setting up and really didn't need help taking pictures either.  it all worked out.  

but i think my sister showed up just in case...  

for those of you who don't know, it was my sister's wish to be remembered as a ladybug.  wouldn't you know natalie found a ladybug to show me.