Fall Fun with my Boo Crew...

I'd have to say that my favorite picture taking of the year is at the pumpkin patch. Not sure why but I just love it. There is a favorite one we visit yearly at a Methodist church down the road. The church is known as the "pumpkin church". The kids love looking at the different types of pumpkins and try to see which ones they can pick up....

Last night we trick or treated with the other kids on our street. My kids don't yet have the desire to go and go till they drop so two loops around the block and they were done! Love that! This year we had.....

One handsome Train Conductor...All Aboard!

Dorothy (with the much coveted red ruby slippers)...

And my sweet Tinkerbell....

At the end of the night...Happy Halloween from my Boo Crew to yours!

Gotcha....

The time goes by way too quickly. Monday the 25th was 5 years since we were blessed with Mackenzie and today is 7 years that Madalyn made us parents. I look at these pics and see so much change and then none at all. Madalyn was and is our more serious, tenderhearted girl and Kenzie was and is our spunky, loves intensely, "I'm gonna let you know how I feel", girl. They are known affectionately as "the girls". I can look back now and see that both of them were grieving all the change and loss but very differently. Madalyn was just quiet, serious, holding back some as she tried to adjust. Mackenzie on the other hand was loud, mad, sad, and wouldn't let me out of her sight. This is still how it is. I love their uniqueness and what they bring to our family. We love China and can't wait to go back in a couple of years. I can't imagine not being mama to these girls.....

They were and still are yummy.....

Six Years Ago...

God created a blessing that would soon be ours. Happy Birthday Mackenzie Paige Kang! Our joy girl, always ready with a smile. You are beautiful, funny, smart, and kind. We love you!

More bday celebrations coming up...stay tuned.

Sticky Situation...

A couple of weeks ago, we spent the day at Bok Tower (more on that later). On the way home, we always stop off at Webb's Goat Milk Candy store and we each pick our guilty pleasure. Mason picked this candy stick. About 10 minutes into it he starting yelling and crying. What in the world? I turned around to see this...........stuck to his hair and forehead.....we couldn't help but crack up.

Our Birthday Boy!

Happy Birthday Mason who turns 3 today. Over the weekend, we celebrated with friends and family. He goes with the flow, loves playing with his sisters (although that is not always reciprocal), is WAY more talkative than either of the girls, loves to rough house, can keep up with the big kids, and still likes me to sing to him and "nuggle nuggle". He's just so fun for our family!

You may notice the decorations look familiar. That's because we had a Hot Wheel themed party last year and this year was Cars. It really is his obsession so I'm glad I saved all the stuff. We started off with a little pool time, then pizza, cake and presents....


This might be my favorite pic of the day!


Oh, and he's sporting a new haircut!

He found those two new cars sitting on the counter before I put them on the cake and he couldn't get to them fast enough.

Still on there.....

And now they're gone. The second he blew out the candles, they came off!

He loved opening presents. He received the Cars movie, a new sleeping bag, new Cars cars, a Thomas movie, a new fancy Rescue Helicopter, a fire engine Cars thingy, and he has a super hero cape with a big M on it coming in the mail.

There's that fancy helicopter....

The sweetest time for me is after the party when the birthday kid can just play and enjoy all their new things.

Our time with him has gone by really fast. I'm not sure if that's because he was bit older at 16 months when he came home or if its just that I'm getting old-er. In any case, I think of his birthmom today knowing she is thinking of him and wondering about him. I am forever grateful for her selflessness and courage.

We love you Mason! Happy Birthday Buddie!

From Baby to Big Boy all in a Week....

Mason turns 3 in about a week and this week has been full of change, maybe more than one mama's heart can handle. He started preschool and goes on Tuesday and Thursdays. He has been talking about going to "Chenky's (Kenzie's) school" for about 6 months now. We took the kids to buy new backpacks about two months ago and he could not have been more excited to buy his Thomas "packpack" and fire engine lunch box. He would frequently take them to bed with him. So he was definitely ready for school to begin. Here are a few shots from his first day....

Those gates are heavy. I love this shot.

In front of the loft where they can go to look at books and hang out with the Jesus doll (which Mason said looked scary and that he didn't like him).

It took about 30 seconds to find the truck/car area...

Here he is looking at me as I'm leaving...all smiles!

So in other news this week, he is fully potty trained even at night...well at least so far. He's been using the potty casually thru the summer. But in last couple of weeks, in preparation for school, I began being more consistent and he picked out some big boy underwear. It took several days to convince him the cars go on the back. He came out of room time a few times having turned them around to have the cars on front so he could see them! Quite a site....baggy in the front and his butt cheeks hanging out in the back. Sometimes he'll ask me to go into the bathroom so he can see them in the mirror! He's had several accident free days now. He's not great at letting me know when he has to pee but if I set him in there, he'll go every time. He will tell me if he has to poop though. So the other night, I ran out of pull ups and thought, oh well, let's see what happens. He woke up dry and has been for the last 3 nights.

In addition to preschool and underwear, he has also transitioned to a big boy race car bed. He LOVES cars. Originally, I had planned to put him straight into a full bed but decided not to rush it. And we knew he'd love the car bed. I got it off Craigslist. So with a new car bed, comes a new car rug from Target and new car bedding. I also have some Cars wall stickers that will go up around his bed.

He thinks is he quite cool....and he is!

So all in a week's time, I feel like he has grown up on me......SIGH......

Big Day....The Big "K"....

My baby is off to Kindergarten!! She was very excited and had her clothes laid out and backpack ready to go last night. We dropped off Madalyn first and then I waited with Mackenzie till they kicked out the parents. She did great. She had lots of questions and was a bit concerned she would forget the room number. She came home after "meet the teacher" on Friday and wrote it down on a piece of paper. She carried that piece of paper around all weekend and then tucked into her name tag pouch that hangs around her neck. The only problem she might have is opening her thermos, so we'll see.....


Walking from the lunchroom with her class. She is bolder and more confident than Madalyn in certain things and had no problem lining up with class and going with the flow.

BFFs

Striking a pose...

My sweet Madalyn....still teary on the first days of school. She is in a new building this year and is easily overwhelmed. She is also easily embarrassed so it creates a conflict for her between wanting to cry and not wanting to let people see her cry. But I told her I'd be home later today to hear about her day and she was able to pull it together enough for me to take Mackenzie to her class. I went back and peeked in on her and she was saying the Pledge and doing ok.

Mason joined us and had to carry his Thomas backpack as well. He starts preschool in two weeks and is so excited.....