Our Beach Adventure...

Yesterday we made the trek to Destin, FL to meet up with some family for the week.

Since it was late when we got here, we waited until today to visit the beach.  This is Kip's first look at the ocean...

Once we got down to the beach Kory, Kip & Avyn played & played & played on the sand & water. They couldn't get enough.  They each took turns being buried...

Even Eric...

After hours on the beach, we headed back to the beach house for a few more hours in our pool. 

Needless to say, everyone was worn out tonight. 

What a wonderful first day at the beach!!

Saturday Fun

Kory had the opportunity to go to Six Flags with some friends today. She was beyond excited...counting down the days til Saturday excited, woke up too early & couldn't go back to sleep this morning excited. 

She had a blast!!  She rode all the big rides that she met the height requirement except for one...she said that one was just not for her. :)

Eric & I are thankful for friends taking her & being her riding buddies because we are NOT coaster fans. We prefer to feel our stomachs in our stomachs, not in our throat or feet or some other location in or out of our bodies.

With Kory gone & Eric working to meet a big job deadline, that left Kip & I to have a day all to ourselves. That used to be a regular thing, but lately it's rare. He was so sad to know Kory was going to be gone for the day that I promised him we'd do something fun. When he asked "What?" I panicked because I didn't know where to take him!  I figured it out though...

We headed to Chick fil A for a breakfast date & playtime on the playground. 

Then we headed to play on 'the dinosaurs' (after a quick stop in Ulta for momma), but got run out by bees...everywhere. Kip wasn't so concerned with them. He kept saying he didn't see them in an attempt to get to play longer, or maybe just to make me look crazy. But I was not interested in trying to treat bee stings today so I won & we left. 

We went to Half Price Books where Kip spent his birthday money. He got a few goodies. 

Then we searched for a Halloween costume. We stopped into the Halloween store & I was so surprised that Kip loved being in there!  Typically he's a scaredy cat like his momma!!

We ended up at Target & he decided on a Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates costume & a huge sword...I think I'll regret that 😊

I promised him a park & since I didn't know one in the area, we went on a search for one. We found a really neat one similar to the 'castle' park back home.  We didn't stay too long & both decided to go back when sissy is with us...it'll be more fun!

We got Kory back around 7 & headed home. Both kids were in bed & asleep by 8:30...early for our house!!  

Kip Turns 3!

Today was a day of celebrating our BIRTHDAY boy!  

A few weeks ago Kip came running into our room and told me he wanted to go to 'ChuNk E Cheese' for his birthday.  I laughed at his mistake in pronunciation but really thought...well, he kinda nailed it...eww!  Then that made me think of a story that he didn't know & Kory probably didn't realize/remember. They love to hear stories about the past, so I told Kip that he'd been to Chuck E Cheese when he was in mommy's belly. His expression was confusion & Kory's, too. I went on to tell them that when Kory had her 5th bday party at Chuck E Cheese he was in my belly but only daddy & mommy knew...we'd just found out & hadn't told anyone.  Kip then announced that we were going to go to "Chunk E Cheese" for his birthday & Kory was going to be in mommy's belly this time!  Hahaha!  Kory & I about died laughing. Sorry, buddy, doesn't quite work like that!

So, Eric & I decided we'd surprise him with a trip to Chuck E Cheese on his birthday. Well thankfully the other day, he picked a new place to spend his birthday. At dinner we were talking about animals & the zoo when he said "I want to go to the zoo Tuesay."  I said "Well Tuesday is your birthday."  His response?  You guessed it!  "I want to go to the zoo for my birthday!" 

So this morning we got up & headed to the Ft. Worth Zoo. None of us Kibor 4 had been there, so we were all excited. The weather was perfect & there was hardly anyone else there. We practically had every exhibit to ourselves...it was great!

It was so neat to watch Kip see all the new animals & Kory to make connections from previous knowledge she had. We all had such a fun day celebrating Kip and were exhausted by the time we left.  And we're so thankful we got spend it observing God's creations rather than in "Chunk E Cheese". 

The birthday boy requested Chick fil A on the way home & a Spider-Man Cookie Cake. 

One of the things that was most interesting to us were watching the flamingos sleep this way (in yoga's tree pose!)  We watched them for a good long while...

We got to pet different animals...

A lot of the animals were active and visible today. Kip was excited to see this white tiger, but got scared when it paced behind him. He didn't trust that tiger so he kept his eye on it!

We took in a bird's eye view...

Kip loved all the phones!  Kory loved the stories & sounds you'd hear in them. Kip was just concerned about pretending with them. Every time he'd pick one up he'd say "Kory, pretend I live far away from you."

In the car on our way to the zoo, everyone told what they were most excited about seeing. Kip's answer was the sea turtles. We did see them & he did like them. When Eric spotted this shell, he called Kip over & they went to town 'investigating' it. It's hard to see but Kip is up on the table sprawled out in front of the shell & both of them have their heads practically inside it. 

We hopped on the train to get us back to the other side of the zoo. The kids sang Choo Choo Soul the whole ride. :)

Another favorite was this spot to take a peek under the water. There were otters that kept swimming past this window. 

We love this sweet boy so very, very much and can't remember life before he joined us, making us the Kibor 4!!

New Adventure in Homeschooling

So we're off to a great start with homeschooling!  I have to MAKE Kory take days off. I spent some time earlier this week getting us more organized. I didn't have a chance to get everything set up the way I wanted before she started since she was so eager to begin & insisted on beginning before public schools. I'm kind of glad I didn't organize it before we began because I changed up some things from how I originally wanted to keep track of things now that we know more about how our day & the lessons flow. 

On Thursday morning we packed up & headed to our first time meeting with our Co-op. The kids are each taking 2 classes & then we eat a picnic lunch with everyone before taking Kory to her piano lessons. I help with 2 classes while the kids are in their groups. Kory was soooo excited to get started. Kip was most excited about the picnic...food & knowing that's when he'll be back with mommy are at the top of his priorities. After a small breakdown in the car, Kip actually did really well with me leaving him in his class & staying with his group without a meltdown when he saw me throughout the morning. 

Kory is taking Geography & PE. Kip's classes are outside play & playtime (inside). 

I help with the 4's & 5's, then older kids (preteens/teens) in a logic class. 

It was such a fun experience for us!  It felt so great to be around people that love learning & education without all the fuss of grades/testing/politics/etc.  Just a bunch of mommas loving on & teaching their kids & other's kids!

While Kory was in piano, Kip got to play with some kittens. I didn't get a very good picture, but he was really sweet with them. 

From 'fro to No (hair that is)...

Well, the kid still does have hair, but it's considerably less than before. 

Giving Kip a haircut is bittersweet for me because it takes him from looking like my baby to a big boy in just a matter of minutes.  Eric knows if it was up to me, we'd go forever before trimming it up. So he always just starts cutting away, while I'm occupied & don't have a clue what he's up to. I'm thankful for that :)

Kip came running into the kitchen while I cleaned up from breakfast & looked like this...

I crack up everytime I look at this pic!

Then he disappeared for a while. When I went to find the guys, this is what I found...

Between a recent growth spurt & this haircut, he looks like such a big kid. I can't believe he'll be 3 in a little over a week!

What momma wants...

Momma gets!!  Well, sometimes anyway. And it doesn't hurt when you've got 2 little cuties in your corner begging for the same thing. What did we talk daddy into??  MEXICAN food!!  You're right, it wasn't very hard to convince him.  

The kids enjoying the complimentary ice cream...

We stopped by the store on the way home and Kip fell & busted his lip. He may or may not have been behaving insanely & momma may or may not have just been getting ready to snatch him up when BOOM!  Mouth met concrete floor. We were lucky it was just a busted lip & no missing or loose teeth. 

Don't worry...he was back to jumping around & being crazy in no time!

Just Our Day

I bought a Trunk Organizer from Bed, Bath & Beyond that I was eager to put to use!  There's some things that we keep in our trunk for convenience (or an emergency!) and I'm tired of 1) arranging them a bazillion times each week just to have them roll around as soon as I'm in 'Drive' & 2) the trunk looking like a mess.  I have a feeling that this little organization tool is one of those things that is so simple, but is going to make my life just a little nicer and bring a smile to my face.  One such thing is our divided hamper...everyone sorts their own clothes as they go into the hamper so when I'm ready to do laundry, I literally grab the load and go without having to sort.  It really is so fun to find simple little things like that to help make maintaining order just a tad easier!! :)

Anyway, I wanted to get out in the driveway tonight to clean the car out & get it organized.  Most of the time I do this at the carwash & the kids are right there 'helping me.'  You know, putting finger prints on the review mirror so I have one more surface to wipe down, checking the hazard light button to be sure the lights still blink, testing out the horn & scaring all the other carwashers half out of their skin, looking through every single book in the car that I'd just put back in the seat pocket for the 100th time...you know 'helping'. :)  Oh, and I have to love that when I turn the car back on, the radio is blaring to who knows what station, the lights are on bright, and the wipers are roughly & noisily swiping back and forth, back and forth, leaving nice smudgy streaks on my newly washed windshield.  Ahhhh...love having help!

Today I wanted to be strong & brave and just take on the whole task of cleaning and organizing the car by myself.  Which meant I needed to find something VERY interesting to keep the kids (mainly Kip) fully occupied.  Usually every time I think, "Oh, he's really gonna love this activity" or "Ewwww...this'll keep his attention", it's an epic fail.  He's over whatever it was in 2.5 seconds leaving me with a mess to clean up, nothing to show for my effort, and disappointed that I planned yet another boring activity for my little firecracker.  

Sooooo, we set his easel up outside, pulled out some new paint, and they went to town.  Kip painted for probably about 30 minutes...that's amazing!!  I got my stuff done, they had fun, and all were happy :)

Kip's first work of art...

Kory takes her artwork very seriously (seriously!) 

Explaining her picture...fire, a tent, sun, sky, clouds (she wasn't finished yet). 

So Kip had to explain, too!  He said while he was painting that he was painting baby Jesus. So of course, now he's pointing out baby Jesus...see?? ;). Then he said 'here's fire (copycat), the number 'K' (which I painted & he got mad about it), the number '1', & the number 'i'. 

Besides painting his pictures, he enjoyed dumping the water onto the tray multiple times, decorating his painting shirt, & mixing all the paint colors together.  

Just a fun, laid back summer evening...I love it!!