Devynee - 2 years

We'll leave the picture post for tomorrow (her actual birthday), but thought I would update you on our little Devy.

At 2 years:

• Devynee is sleeping through the night and taking one 2-3 hour nap. 
• She is wearing size 4 shoes and 2T clothing
• Devynee loves to brush her teeth. Anytime. Anywhere. 
• She repeats anything her brother and sister say. 
• Devynee loves to say "Oh my goodness!" When something surprises her or is cool. I love it. 
• She wants to be part of the big kids and is mad if she has to nap when friends are over. 
• Devynee is a bit of a picky eater but eats a lot of what she likes. She usually latches onto one food at dinner and only eats that (be it rice, beef, chicken, potatoes, etc.)
• She wants to walk in all stores. No more cart riding. For this reason, mama hates taking her to stores. 

Look for pictures tomorrow!

Other California Fun (you know, the stuff that isn't Disneyland)

Kendree wanted Aunt Aubrey to do her hair.  She went a little overboard in the ribbon drawer.

Shortly afterward, she put on her Disneyland souvenier. An Ariel dress up jewelry set including huge clip-on earrings and a necklace.

The real reason for our trip was to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Cali's 40th wedding anniversary.  We had a small get together for friends and family.  Devynee stole this sweet hat from the playroom and wore it around for a while.  She must have wanted to feel at home...

The only other thing I have from that night (I am the worst at taking event photos) is a video of Ray and Karen cutting their cake.  Katie made it the same flavor as their wedding cake and it was delicious.

Devynee hanging out in her Snow White dress (that Minnie from Disneyland didn't leave her side for DAYS).

See? Another day, still Minnie Mouse.

These are obviously out of order, but here we are with Tessa!

 Running!

Easton and Uncle Alex shenanigans.

Kendree and Norah. Matchy, matchy, matchy!

Cousins.

More of Easton.

Video Catch Up

I've also been busy uploading some videos that were on Ron's phone.  You can see them all here: http://www.youtube.com/user/kaleel05

I thought I would share a few of my favorites.

Devynee shakes it to an "elf yourself" video. (12.2012)

Kendree doesn't want to be outdone by her little sister. (12.2012)

Easton and Kendree drive the go karts at Boondocks in August 2013.  Kendree's "skills" make me laugh!

Kendree was entertaining us all with a little song and dance she composed (it is all "written" on that notepad she is holding).

Bad habits

We all have them. (well, at least I hope we do).

One prompt I saw for NaBloPoMo was to name the bad habit you would give up in an instant if you could do it without difficulty.

This was a no-brainer for me.

I would stop biting my nails.

It seems so easy, I've even gone months without doing it, but as time moves on I always, always come back to it.

I can give you excuses (a bored habit, my nails are super weak anyway, etc.) but the bottom line is that I do it and I'm not sure if that will ever change.

Any magic potions for this one? :)

The Garden

When we finished the backyard last year, we built three planters along the back fence that we always planned for our garden.

This year, we planted:
Zucchini
Squash
Cucumbers
Tomatoes (cherry, heirloom and another kind - I can't remember - better boys maybe?)
Sweet Peas
Green Beans
Bell Peppers
Carrots
Green Onions
Watermelon
Strawberries
Raspberries

It was an experimental year, as I had never really grown anything and was willing to give everything a shot.

The zucchini, squash and tomatoes did awesome.  We had literally hundreds of cherry tomatoes. The peas, carrots, green onions and strawberries also did very well.

The cucumber was taken over by zucchini, the green peppers never made it to maturity and neither did the watermelon.  We were able to keep the raspberry starts alive, so in 1-2 more years we'll start to see some fruit there.

The kids loved it.  Especially Kendree.  She would weed with me for as long as I weeded.  As long as I was clear in my instructions as to what was a weed, she never made a mistake.

One thing I did not do well this year, was to document anything. The only pictures I have are ones that Ron took of our carrot harvest (after everything else had been taken in).

The mutants:

Most of our carrots this year.  I did take in about one other pan full throughout a few soup making sessions, etc. during the end of the summer.

I can't wait for next year, as I know what my family eats and what will do relatively well here now.

Disneyland: The Ronnie Pictures

I'll spare you repeats of the ones I already posted, unless there is something too good to pass up. :)

Easton in line for our very first ride, Peter Pan.

Finally on the boat for Small World (this was our longest line, about 30 minutes).

Devy and me ready for Small World.

And a shot that proves Kenny was there too.

The whole family with Mickey!

Daddy and Devynee on the train on their way out of the park.

Ron got better close-up pictures of Kenny with the princesses.

And look, me too!

Kendree wanted to see each princess' shoes.  Here, Tiana was asking Kendree about her own shoes.  [The girls that play the princesses each day have a special blessing coming their way.  They are DARLING with the little girls.]

In line for the last ride of the night, the Buzz Lightyear ride. You can see the exhaustion in his eyes.

 Kendree and I on the Buzz ride.

 Ron and Easton.

Finally, a very dark picture of Ron and I on Matterhorn.  The only picture we took after the kids were gone. :)

During the kid switch in the evening, Kendree was really intent on telling Aunt Alisa something.

I'd say Kendree was a little worn out after it all.

Random Pictures from 2010 - 2012

I've been meaning to get these pictures on the blog and what better time than during NaBloPoMo?

Let's take this WAY back to 2010 and remind ourselves of how little Easton and Kendree were back then.

Because I want some semblance of order on the blog, you'll have to link to the posts themselves.

2010 picture catch up: http://kaleeronnie.blogspot.com/2010/12/picture-catch-up.html

2011 picture catch up: http://kaleeronnie.blogspot.com/2011/12/2011-picture-catch-up.html

2011 picture catch up #2: http://kaleeronnie.blogspot.com/2011/12/2011-picture-catch-up-2.html

2012 picture catch up: http://kaleeronnie.blogspot.com/2012/12/2012-picture-catch-up.html

I wasn't sure if posts that old would show up on blog feeds. :)

Wish lists

I've been compiling wish lists for the family the past few days.

Well, I've been actively compiling them, at least.  I compile all year long (bless you Google Drive) and then really finalize before the Christmas season.

It got me thinking, do most families use wish lists?

Or should you just "know" what a loved one wants because you know them so well?

Overall, I enjoy being able to purchase items that I know that person wants, but do enjoy a fun surprise every once in a while.

I'm intrigued. Please share your thoughts.

Thankful Thursday

Let's get a little thankful, shall we?

I am thankful for:
Heated houses
Recliners
The smell of Murphy's Soap
Medicine
Squeals of laughter
Repeater-of-words babies
Warm water
Super glue
Uplifting words
Family time
Microwavable treats
Evenings with Ronnie
Cheerios (only with sugar, of course)
Our regular routine
Sushi
Good friends
Long phone calls
Flashlights
Funny stories

How about you?

Disneyland: The KaLee Pictures*

On November 8th, we headed to Disneyland!

We didn't tell the kids where we were going, but just told them we were going on an adventure.  Easton figured it out about a block before we got there.

We arrived at the park around 8:15 a.m. and got in line to get tickets.

We were admitted into Disneyland at 8:45 a.m. and proceed up Main Street to the rope.

During this time, Ronnie had Devynee on his shoulders, and wanted to pick up Kendree to get a shot of both girls with the castle in the background.  Balance issues ensued and lets just say that only a miracle kept Devynee from landing on her head (everyone was fine).  It was scary looking enough that several strangers jumped up and over to us to try to help.

Awesome way to start the day.

When the ropes came down, we headed straight for Peter Pan and then Casey Jr. We also did Alice in Wonderland, the Tea Cups and the Storybook boats.

After a ride on Small World (Devynee LOVED that one) we headed to ToonTown to meet some characters.  Devynee has an obsession with Minnie Mouse, and we basically brought her just so she could meet Minnie.

After a few character meetings, Ron took Devynee to be picked up by Grandpa and the kids and I rode the ToonTown roller coaster and the carousel.

Kendree met some princesses (Easton refused to get his picture taken with the "girls.")

The character meetings continued...

At Woody, we met up with Aunt Alisa and cousin Norah and finished all of the "kid" rides at Disneyland with the exception of Autopia. I consider that a day well spent.  The lack of crowds was awesome and we spent no longer than 30 minutes waiting for anything (and most were a 10-15 minute wait).

Aunt Alisa waited for another Grandpa pick up with the three kids and Ronnie and I utilized some fast passes.  Then Alisa and Alex joined us and we hit up every other ride in the park (except Splash Mountain because I didn't want to get wet and it fortuitously closed) and walked to our car around 11:30 p.m.  It was a very long and very awesome day.

*I'll do another post when I get Ron's pictures off his phone.