Way behind on updates...

Good heavens -- sometimes I wonder how in the world life became so busy and hectic. I have kind of skipped around on my blogging over the past month and noticed that I haven't updated since the kids' first day of school. Brett, Kendall & Kameron are all loving school which is so reassuring for me to know that they are happy -- as I really miss having them home with me. With school being at the forefront of my mind right after the girls' birthday in July, I failed to post pictures from their birthday party as well as our almost 2-week vacation to Nevada and California. I'll update briefly on our vacation (as I'm not sure how many details of the trip I will remember since it was in mid-July) and then jump to what we've been up to over the last couple of weeks since school has started.

(I just had to post a picture of the "castle" cake -- as this is the first decorated cake I've really ever done.) ;o)

We left for our vacation the day after Kendall & Kameron's 5th birthday party to fly to Las Vegas. From there, we drove over the next few days to the Los Angeles and then San Diego areas. On the trip, we saw sights such as the Extraterrestial Highway (aka -- Area 51 area), Valley of Fire State Park, Yosemite National Park and the giant sequoias, Sequoia National Park, Walt Disneyland, Universal Studios, Calico Ghost Town, Hoover Dam, as well as tons of sights in Hollywood/Los Angeles (Venice Beach, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Dodgers game, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Sunset Strip and Hollywood & Vine, Father of the Bride house, Brady Bunch house, Pretty Woman fire escape, Mann's Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood Bowl, the famous Hollywood Sign, La Brea Tar Pits, Olympic Stadium, Rodeo Drive, the Rose Bowl, Santa Monica Pier, Beverly Hills Hotel, UCLA, Universal Studios, Walt Disney Studios), and San Diego (Padres game, the Queen Mary, Sea World). Unfortunately, the only "celebrity" we saw on our entire trip was in a Denny's restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood (go figure!) and we didn't end up taking a picture as we didn't want to interrupt his lunch meeting. It was Quentin Tarantino -- and oh my, he is definitely an odd character! Here are a few of the pics (in no real specific order)...

The camera was acting very weird so I honestly have NO idea why this picture came out in black and white.

Little A'Le'Inn Restaurant on the Extraterrestrial Highway

Inside a giant sequoia




Kendall & Kameron on their "actual" birthday eating a yummy cheesecake with the birthday candle that they both just blew out.

Walt Disneyland




Universal Studios


Couldn't resist putting this one in as the previous picture is from The Simpsons area at Universal Studios. Randy's Donuts is a tiny little place on the corner of a very busy intersection -- but the donuts we had from there were fabulous!

Mann's Chinese Theatre

Hollywood Walk of Fame -- Michael Jackson's star

The Queen Mary in San Diego -- famous oceanliner that was faster and bigger than the Titanic that was used to carry rich and famous people across the North Atlantic for several years and was then used in WWII as a troopship known as "The Grey Ghost." The Queen Mary is known as one of the most haunted places in the world and while very neat to visit, it is definitely a creepy place.

Calico Ghost Town

We just had to pan for gold while at the ghost town. ;o)

Honestly, I'm really not giving this trip enough details in this blog entry; however we saw so many things that I would be typing this entry for the next few weeks trying to fit everything in. We haven't ever been able to take a two-week vacation together as a family and it was an absolutely wonderful vacation!

Since this past weekend was a long one for Labor Day, we took the kids up to the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago to explore the museum as well as see the Harry Potter Exhibition. The kids enjoyed seeing so many things in the museum and the Harry Potter Exhibit was definitely very neat. Kameron was selected in the very beginning of the tour to sit up on stage and wear the hat that Harry wore in the first film where it was decided what house he was going to belong to. Kameron got up on stage and said her name with much enthusiasm -- and when asked where she was from, rather than saying Peoria, or Germantown Hills, or even Illinois, she simply and honestly replied with "AMERICA"! ;o) All of the people with us in the audience were laughing at how cute her answer was. I just love the innocence of children!



Kameron getting ready to find out she was being "assigned" to the Hufflepuff House. ;o)

This is what I felt like doing as we were leaving Chicago.

We wanted to get the kids settled in school before we signed them up for additional activities...so now with them happy and content in school, we signed Brett up for a Martial Arts class and Kendall & Kameron for a Ballet class. This past week was their first week for these classes, so I'll post more on these when I get a few pictures. Mike is in India for the week so I'm praying that everything in our household runs smoothly and nothing extreme happens while he is gone. ;o)

First Day of Kindergarten and Third Grade -- * update *

Where in the world has the time gone?! I mean, really -- it seems like just yesterday we were bringing Brett home from the hospital and now he has started third grade ... and, again, it seems like just yesterday we were bringing Kendall & Kameron home and they are starting Kindergarten. I know this is the way that life goes but it truly and wholeheartedly makes me sad.

We went to the Meet the Teacher night on Monday to take all of the school supplies to the kids' classrooms and meet their teachers. Kendall & Kameron have Mrs. Stivers (thankfully they listened to our request and put the girls in the same class for Kindergarten) and Brett has Mr. Arnold. Both of the teachers seem extremely nice and we have heard nothing but good comments about both of them.

Brett started third grade on Tuesday. The bus picked him up at 8:04 a.m. and returned him home around 11:45 a.m. He has 4 children in his class that he knew from 2nd grade which made it a bit easier for his first day. He was able to take a tour of the school and get an understanding of where everything is located. It was nice that he only had school for 1/2 day so we could spend the afternoon with him.


On Wednesday, the children woke up around 6:45 a.m. to start their morning routine for getting ready for school. All of them were very excited to go to school -- and the girls especially since it was their first day ever. I told them that I wanted to take pictures before they got on the school bus, so they ate their breakfast and got ready in a pretty good amount of time. I was very thankful that the sun was shining so I had an excuse to wear my sunglasses outside with them. It absolutely broke my heart to see all of them leave today on the school bus but I know they are all having a great time at school which helps put my mind at ease just a bit. My heart is still broken that they are growing up so fast but I know it is just part of life. They all have early dismissal this week so will be home around 3 p.m. or so.

*** They all arrived home around 3 p.m. and were as happy as little clams! We sat down to have a snack and talk about their day and all of the new friends they met and what they learned. They all had a very exciting day -- definitely moreso than mommy. I blasted the radio all day while I cleaned the house because I was lonely and missed all of my playtime/lunch pals. All of them are very excited to go back tomorrow (I hope that lasts for a long time!). The only incident was Kendall decided to attempt to climb on the monkey bars at recess and ended up falling off of them onto her back. Yikes! Definitely not something that I wanted to hear had happened but thankfully she didn't get seriously hurt, just a sore back and a bruise or two. I just wish I could protect them 24 hours a day. *** (I know I took a ton of pictures but I didn't want to forget how happy they all were to go to school and how precious they looked.) I'll post pictures from our vacation to California later... ;o)

Happy 5th Birthday, Little Princesses!

We can't honestly believe that Kendall Nicole and Kameron Mackenzie are turning 5 on July 14. (We are going to be on vacation on their actual birthday, so I'm posting this a few days early.) It literally seems like just yesterday that they were born and we held them in our arms for the first time. We didn't know how we were going to manage with two brand new babies and a 3-year old at home. And now, we're wondering where all of the time has gone. Our babies are growing up! We love you with all of our hearts, little princesses, and hope you have a wonderful birthday!

2:04 a.m. -- Kendall Nicole arrived
2:15 a.m. -- Kameron Mackenzie arrived

On Sunday, we had the girls' family birthday party. We had about 30 people here to help us celebrate...although we still had a few family members that were unable to attend. ;o( The girls dressed up as princesses to greet everyone as they arrived and then after about 30 minutes or so of doing that, it was time for swimming. We all had a great time -- and Brett even learned to actually dive off the diving board (we are very proud of him)! The girls received tons of wonderful presents and then we enjoyed cake, ice cream, and punch. It was an absolutely fabulous day! Again, Happy Birthday to our precious princesses! We love you!!!

This is my first actual "decorated" cake -- so I just had to put a picture on here. ;o)

Birthday Tea Party and swimming fun

Since we will be on vacation for Kendall & Kameron's 5th birthday, my aunts Alice and Colleen treated us to a "birthday tea party" at Her Majesty's Tea Room in Dunlap this week. It was a cute little tea room where the owners treated us like royalty. It was neat to see some of the English items they had for sale in the tea room (digestive biscuits, specialty teas, etc.) -- and really made us remember England. ;o) When we were seated, we each received a crown to wear for the day. Each of the crowns were an exact replica of what each royal family member wears. Kendall was Princess Eugenie (Fergie's daughter), Kameron was Princess Beatrice (another of Fergie's daughters), Brett was King George, Aunt Alice was the Queen, Aunt Colleen was the Queen Mother, and I was Princess Diana. We were served several different types of teas throughout the meal (all of them were delicious) as well as a wonderful display of yummy "English" food. The girls each received food/sweets that were tailored to being a princess (big read wax lips that they had to kiss a gummy frog with, etc.) and Brett received food/sweets that were tailored to the theme of Alice in Wonderful (the little wax bottles of liquid said to make you big and then another to make you small). Very cute setup for children...kept their attention and they couldn't wait to try out more food and sweets. ;o) (To be honest, I knew the girls would love it ... and while Brett wasn't really keen on going to a tea room for a party as it is a "girly" thing to do, it ended up that he had a great time as the owners really tailored it to fit the kids.) Wonderful time...thanks Aunts Alice and Colleen!
Our table at the tea room

Chillin' in the taxi cab at the Tea Room




"Princess Eugenie"

"Princess Beatrice"

"King George"

"The Queen"

"The Queen Mother"

"Princess Diana"




Trying to make sure he doesn't grow too big while drinking the "growing" liquid

Kissing the frog -- hope he doesn't become a prince for at least 20 years. ;o)

Kissing the frog -- hope he doesn't become a prince for at least 20 years. ;o)



Kameron showing off her new tea set

Kendall showing off her new tea set

Brett showing off his Mad Hatter hat

Exhausted beyond belief. ;o)

On Thursday, we had Tina and Jenny and their kids over to swim and play. (Stacey was also planning to come over but couldn't make it work with their summer schedule as they live in Bloomington and it takes a bit longer to get to our house.) ;o( We had a great time visiting while the kids swam. I'm not sure about Ian, Max & Blake, but my Brett, Kendall & Kameron were exhausted from swimming for so long. ;o)



We are now attempting to get ready for Kendall & Kameron's family birthday swimming party on Sunday. They have asked if I could bake them a cake...so I'm going to attempt to bake them a "castle" cake and decorate it. Yikes! Should be interesting...I just hope the cake still looks like a castle when I'm finished with it. ;o) Then the day after the party, we are leaving on a family vacation. Will post more information and pictures once we get back. Until then... ;o)