Applebees Buddy

Today at Applebees our super sweet waitress asked Wyatt if he wanted to go find Chris (the owner or manager that Wyatt had become "friends" with earlier during lunch). She took him back to the kitchen and when he came out he had a HUGE smile and this HUGE treat. He felt very special at Applebees and might just have a new favorite restaurant.

The waitress said that when they went in the kitchen Chris asked what Wyatt was doing and he sweetly and confidently said "working." He then asked Wyatt why he wanted to work and he said "to make money." This kid cracks me up and even though Chris told him he'd have to wait a few years I would say Wyatt was happy to have this treat instead of money.





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10 Months {Kenley}

This picture took FOREVER to get. I kept forgetting to get Kenley's 10 month picture and finally remembered after bath before bed this night and it was near impossible to get Miss Priss to sit still. She wanted to crawl around. Lunge forward. Turn around. Grab toys. Crazy!!! Finally, I thought about how she likes to sit in Wyatt's chair and was able to get this.

 

At 10 months Kenley...

is just as happy as ever

loving her freedom to crawl all over the place

is tired of her brother taking toys away and is NOT happy to just have a different toy as she used to be

a great eater (she eats pretty much what we eat) and sleeper (1.5-3 hour naps and 12 hours at night)

sporting 4 teeth on top and 2 on bottom

styling with her earrings

still loving the outdoors

waving bye bye

sometimes clapping

making lots of noises but not yet naming things/people

cruising all over the place, was standing but not really interested in that anymore

able to climb the stairs (we reinstalled the gates)

more scared of things than Wyatt ever was and will grab on tight when she's scared of something and usually start to cry with a really sad face :(

the sweetest and happiest little girl EVER!

 



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Soccer

Team sports have begun at the Jeans' household and Wyatt is sooo excited! He's been telling me for months that he has a soccer/basketball game and he wants us to go (he makes that up). We signed him up for soccer with his friend, Aidan, and practice began last Saturday. We know his team will be lime green and black, but don't know the name yet.

Through Frisco Soccer Association (we signed up through them since Aidan was) he will get a jersey, socks, and a ball. And the day before practice we took him over to the Soccer Post in McKinney (they are great by the way) to get the rest of his gear. He got shin guards, socks, and shoes. He wore them out, he was so excited. They even had a soccer goal in the store with balls for him to make sure his shoes worked well. They did - they made him super fast.

Saturday morning before practice he wanted me to take pictures of him. He specifically said to get these pics of his shoes.

 



I had to get both feet.

And the whole get up with a "game face." We don't have their uniform yet.

Kenley loves to be outside and had no problem hanging out while brother played soccer.

 



The boys were absolutely adorable. It was the cutest thing ever!

Coach Manny is awesome! He was great with the kids, loves soccer, wants the kids to have fun, learn basic skills, and wants the team to become a family and continue to play together if they really like the sport. The other parents were great, too. How cute is this little huddle?! Now we've got to work on not touching the ball with our hands, convincing Wyatt that there is no tackling in soccer, and that one team kicks the ball one way and the other kicks it the opposite way. Can't wait til the next practice and neither can Wyatt.



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Time for a change...

So, why does my new hair do get a post on the family blog? Well, Kenley is 10 months old and Wyatt is 3 1/2 years old and this mama has been feeling like it's time to "do something" to feel good.

This hair style has been driving me nuts. I don't feel good going out like this and haven't been doing anything to my hair (even though believe it or not even for this my hair has been dried and sometimes straightened). My hair was in the middle of my back, which took 2 pregnancies (my hair grows better then) and a long time to get it that long, but it's soooo hot and unless I curl it I usually end up with this...

The only reason I thought to take this pic was because my friend, Mackenzie, said to get a before and after pic. I sent her this saying "before lol."

Here's my pile of hair. I took this pic to send to my mom, who was watching the kids, to freak her out. She was nervous about a hair cut. Probably mostly because I decided to cut it that day and insisted on going that day before I changed my mind.

And here's the "after." I really do like it. I swear the temp seemed to drop 10 degrees immediately! I feel like it's way healthier and has a "style."

It looks long in this picture, but she cut off about 6 inches and you can tell when it's in a ponytail!

My mommy makeover is in the works! :)
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Messy FUN

I stole this idea from my friend, Nancy's blog. Let me just tell you - it is THE BEST IDEA EVER! I took the kids outside and put shaving cream on cookie sheets for them to play and write in. They LOVED it. This little activity lasted for 45 minutes. Yes! 45 minutes. Both kids played and played. I got super cute video of it, too. Best part.... easy clean up.

Wyatt showed Sister what to do and it was so sweet to watch her see him and not look so unsure after watching him. After a few times of him showing her she tried touching it.

And shortly after she was totally into it.

Kenley had wandered up to the door and Wyatt brought her back. How cute are these 2?!

Copying Wyatt

And since EVERYTHING can be related to lions and Simba - these are lion "things" (which means paw pads).

Burying cars and Simba toys

He actually waited a long time to "paint" himself. I knew it was going to happen.

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Daddy said "YES"

I got my ears pierced when I was 6 months old and I have always been so thankful because my ears never had problems with my piercings closing or anything and I didn't have to deal with them - my mom did! So I couldn't wait to get Kenley's done... BUT Chris said "no."  I completely respect his opinion and so I've let it go... well... sort of. I ask about once a month. For some reason last weekend when he was out of town I asked and he said he'd think about it. That turned into a YES. I was so excited (and very nervous). So here she is proud as can be...   ;)


She cried (and so did I) and I felt AWFUL. I really did. After one ear I was changing my mind. 3 minutes late she was all smiles. Daddy does not like them and wanted to take them out - I said no way/ But for the record - he doesn't like them. I love them and I'm certain she will appreciate them one day. If not, she can take them out.
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10 Days in Africa {..and 10 days without Daddy at home}

Whew! We made it. We survived Daddy's 10 day trip to South Africa without any problems... well, except missing Daddy. Chris's dad sent him and his brother, Garrett, to Africa to hunt all kinds of animals. It was two hunters' dream and a great getaway for some brotherly fun. They both needed it and I'm so glad they had fun. Chris is starting a blog to show all his hunting adventures and I don't want tons of dead animal pics on the family blog so I'm going to spare us all. Next up... save my house from displaying these animals. However, I do know that all the meat was used for locals to eat and part of it is donated to people that would be starving without the donations. Nothing went to waste, they have to have permits for everything, and certain animals that have low population cannot be killed.

I made Chris and Garrett smile for this picture at the airport before they left. Neither of them were very happy because Wyatt was sooo sad and crying. He wanted to go on an airplane and to see Simba, too. If you've been reading, you know that he LOVES lions and all African animals right now. I tried to get them to smile and this was all I got.

Now, we had gone to Sonic on our way to the airport. Wyatt had to get milk, but Garrett got Coke. As we were pulling away (and Wyatt was throwing a huge fit), he saw the Coke, stopped crying, and said "Uncle Garrett left his drink," then took it and was happy the rest of the drive. Silly how kids work!

xoxo's

Wyatt got a present for every morning that he woke up and Daddy wasn't home. That way he could keep up with how many more days until Daddy got home. He felt so special and remembered his prize every morning. They were things like bubbles, plastic animals (which we have a collection of), crafts, etc. Oh and when getting all the prizes at Michaels I found a monkey tail in the clearance bin. Perfect. Add another tail to our collection of tails.

The first morning. He got bubbles and tons of different sticks for different types of bubbles. Chancy and Cooper came over that night for dinner and to play with bubbles.

I took this picture so that you could see that he went for all the BIGGEST prizes first.

We had a very busy 10 days. We went to the circus, hung out with friends, ate at my parents' houses, went to dinner with Pap and did our normal things. It was a fairly quick 10 days, but it was sooo nice to let Chris do bathtime tonight while I type this post. ;)

Here's Wyatt on the way to the airport to pick up Daddy and Uncle Garrett. Let me tell you, this boy LOVES his uncle. Garrett is such a good uncle and Wyatt sure did miss him. We all know that we pretty much come in second rank to Uncle Garrett. At the airport we had to park and when the boys were walking toward us, I let Wyatt get out of the car and I'm pretty sure that was the fastest run ever. He was soooo excited to see them. I wish I had it on video.

We made a "Welcome Home" sign for Daddy. 

Chris had lots of prizes for the kids (and me too). Wyatt got some chips that were Simba brand. A sandsnail shell. An "Africa" shirt. A Springbuck rugby jersey (Chris said it's the Dallas Cowboys of South Africa). And wooden animals - a zebra, elephant, and a lion.

Kenley got 2 dresses and was not interested in sitting still for a picture.

We went to Okada's for dinner with Chris's family to celebrate everyone being home. Aunt Sarah had been on a little vacation of her own all week with Sasa (Lori's mom).



Chris absolutely loved Africa (he was close to Johannesburg) and can't wait to go back. He says one day we will all go on a family safari over there and I'm looking forward to seeing all the wild animals that they got to see. I can't imagine just seeing giraffes and zebra just walking around. Oh and baboons!
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Circus

Wyatt and Kenley went to the circus for the first time last night and the sure thought it was the greatest show on Earth! Wyatt is obsessed with lions, tigers, and elephants and he was sooo pumped to see them.
My mom, friend, Morgan, and her son Kaleton all went with us. Morgan and her sister, Ashley and me and my sister, Lisa, grew up across the street from each other (where our parents still live) and we did so many fun things together growing up. It was so neat to be taking our kids to the circus together. And it's always a fun time when any of us are together, too. Lots of laughs.

The fun began when we shoved all of us into my car (because it's always more fun to ride together) and with 3 carseats it was one crammed car. Not to mention how fun it was loading the car when it was 110 outside. I hope Fall is coming really soon! The boys were super excited to go see the animals. We got our tickets late, but weren't sure how the kids would do so didn't want to sit too close anyways. Our seats were in the first upper level. When we got there that level wasn't very full at all so the man said we could sit wherever we wanted. That worked out great, the kids had plenty of room, and we were right up at the glass looking over.

Getting ready to go in

No one sat to our right. There were other people there! My friend, Mackenzie, said it looks like we went to a private circus. And it was impossible to get everyone looking at the camera with clowns and acrobats running around.

Another attempt at a picture. They are both trying to get away!

Kenley watched the entire time (until the very end when she crashed). She even clapped for the first time. Wyatt thought he was cool going behind us and sitting in the empty row.

National Anthem and the elephant that carried the flag.

Grammy got Wyatt peanuts, a snow cone, AND cotton candy. Oh boy! He spent most of the time sitting on the step or standing on the step pretending he was a lion. I was so surprised at how much this boy LOVED the clowns. He thought they were HILARIOUS! He laughed HYSTERICALLY and that had us laughing more than the clowns.

The tigers! Wyatt wanted to touch them... crazy boy! I shouldn't have read an article before the circus about how animals in the circus are (supposedly) treated. Every time the animals listened I was convinced they were scared too death and that they get beaten during training. I really hope not. Either way they listened well and had some neat tricks and were very cute.

Kenley was sooo tired about half way through but Nosey Rosey RARELY falls asleep places because she doesn't want to miss a thing. I kept trying to get her to lay facing me and pat her. Nope. She wanted to face the show and fought falling asleep so hard. But when she was out, she was out. I carried her to the stroller and then got her in the car without her waking up.

We made lots of memories at the circus and I'm so glad the kids loved it so much.
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First VBS

Wyatt went to Vacation Bible School at Christ Fellowship in McKinney this year. He was so excited, but also very nervous. He's all about The Lion King right now, so when we walked in and saw the mural on the wall he was super excited. He had several friends at VBS that we know but none were in his class (probably better so he could meet other friends). The theme for the week was Operation Overboard and they made crafts and learned songs. Wyatt LOVED it! He was there from 9-11 Monday-Thursday.

Wyatt's friend, Will

Surfer Wyatt

On the last day, the kids sang songs and danced for us. It was TOO CUTE! I was such a proud Mommy. Wyatt absolutely loved performing for us. He was so proud of himself. We bought the CD and we listen to his 2 favorite songs approximately a million times a day. He asks EVERYONE he sees lately to watch his songs and dances.

He's close to the stage in the center of this picture in a yellow shirt. He loved his teachers. There was a high school boy that was the class assistant and Wyatt loved him. He was so good with the kids, too. Wyatt cried (and screamed) the first 2 days when I dropped him off. I would stand around the corner and the kid would give me a thumbs up when Wyatt was happy.

We had decided this Summer that Wyatt would go to preschool this year 2 days a week and had heard GREAT things from our friends about Christ Fellowship. After our week of VBS, Wyatt said he would love to go to school there. So our getting-too-big-too-fast little guy in registered for preschool.
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