The Kelleys of Wembley Court: August 2011

Yay! The time is here . . . Mary Kate has started playing with her baby dolls. So precious! On Wednesday, Jay's mom (Dianne) and I took the kids out for some shopping errands. After we were done with our list of stuff to pick up, Dianne decided to take the kids in and get them a toy. The kids are excellent shoppers (most of the time) and Max was on his best behavior because Grandma was with us. He is smart and has learned that good behavior pays off when Grandma is around. We headed into Target and Max picked out some Transformers after a long deliberaton. Next we decided to pick Mary Kate out a new doll. She had started showing some interest in her's at the house so I had my fingers crossed we where at the begining of the stage. Whew! I never knew that picking out a doll could be so hard! We wanted one with a bottle because that is what little girls do . . feed their babies. Well, very few came with a bottle and we couldn't find an accessory kit that had bottles in it. Mary Kate picked out several . . one with a binkie, one for the tub, on with a twin, one that cried, one that giggled . . the list gones on and on. We spent what felt like the better part of an hour on the crazy doll aisle. Finally we chose the one for the bath tub. She was too cute carrying it to the front of the store and touching it's face in the box. As soon as we got home I took it out of the box and it hasn't hardly left her arms since a week ago. She will trade it out for other babies but a "baab-e" now always goes with us. She takes a bath, goes to Mama Nora's house, goes to church, goes to the fair, out to eat, to swim at the pool . . . basicially where ever Mary Kate goes now a "baab-e" goes too. I found an accessory pack a few days later so now the baby is set. She has bottles, food bowls, spoons, and blankets. Occasionally, Mary Kate will share her binkie with the "baab-e". At the fair on Friday she kept handing her to the older boys for them to feed her and rock her. They were sweet and played around with the baby to Mary Kate's delight. I think we all got to "baab-e" sit for Mary Kate through the course of the evening. These are some of the moments I live for these days. I am so thankful for my wonderful kidos. They are each too cute as they transition to these stages of favorite things and ideas. Thanks you, God, for the wonderful blessings in my life!

A Neighboring Fair

August 12, 2011

This weekend we all headed out to a fair in a nearby county. It is huge with a variety of activities, foods, booths, and of course rides. The kids got to pet animals such as alpacas and horses. Mary Kate loved petting the tiny ponies. She just giggled each time it moved. Trace enjoyed getting kisses from the alpacas.

Trace, Jacob, and Ashton

Max was still too short to ride everything this year. He didn't like that, but it was okay with me since I got the other hand stamp for unlimited riding. I love that I get to ride with him, but all the round and round and round begins to spin my head after a few. His height gives a chance to rest in between when he can't ride what the bigger kids are riding. I love having the babies of the family!

Jess and Max

Max and I were riding a ride nest to the cars when I noticed Lee's head going around on the baby cars. I thought what is he doing, then I noticed . . . . Mary Kate wanted to ride. Just in case you haven't realized it . . . if she wants something . . .Unk Lee makes sure she gets it . . .even if it means him riding in the backseat with his legs wrapped around his neck. She loved the cars! She was grinning ear to ear each time she passed us.

Unk Lee and Mary Kate

Grandma, Jonathan, Hunter, Deanne, Jacob, and Max

mKate was excited!

Jess and Max on the Ferris wheel

Our Girls in the Fair

August 2, 2011

Last week, Gindy got the crazy idea that we needed to put our little beauties in the local fair. After days of convincing, I agreed to participate with her. It was only a million and one degrees that night, but the girls handled it like champs. Mary Kate loves to get dressed up with her tutu dress and pretty shoes and bow. She had no problem getting ready for the fair. Kerrigan was adorable in her monogrammed pillowcase dress and big bow. Both girls enjoyed meeting the other little ones while we waited in line. To both of our surprise, they each did a great job sitting in our laps waiting for our turn. They didn't whine or wrestle to get up. I think they were both stunned and trying to figure out what in the world we were doing to them. When it was our turn, though, Mary Kate would not look up or make eye contact with anyone. She just stared at the ground and played on my legs. Kerrigan looked around, but didn't care to interact except for a very short version of peek a boo. Oh well, now we can say we have done it and put the pictures in their baby books. We laughed and laughed at all the crying babies surrounding us while our girls stared into space. Neither of them placed, but it was a must have experience if you have a little girl. Max was upset that they didn't win. When we got home, he went to his room and got his t-ball trophy from this year. He brought it to the kitchen and presented it to Mary Kate. He said that he thought she should win so she needed a trophy. She giggled and took it from his hands. Too sweet, he loves her so much! Thanks for twisting my arm, Gindy, I had lots of fun!

Mary Kate and Kerrigan

Lee and Cheri's Wedding

July 30, 2011

Lee and Cheri tied the knot a few weekends ago. They had an intimate cermony with just family in the the Kelley's backyard. It was truely beautiful as they each stood with their boys to join as a family. We are all very excited to add Cheri, Jonathan,and Jacob to our family. They complete our family just perfectly!

Tony Milliken, Jr. conducting the ceremony

The Wedding Party

Announcing Mr. and Mrs. Lee Kelley

Sweet family

The Kelley Crew

Opening gifts

Cutting the cake

Hunter Beaty, Trace, Jacob, and Harrison Beaty in the pool

We all enjoyed pooltime after the ceremony

Ty made sure that even Cheri got some pool time

Wow! She handled it better than I would have!

Destin Friday

July 15, 2011

Loving to ride the waves

5 yrs old and they can still do it!

mKate is just learning how . . . lil cheerleader

My Daddy

What a great week!!

Well, another beach week has come to a close. It was awesome while it lasted and makes me long to be back there as I blog about it. I am so blessed to be able to have a family and kidos that love to do stuff that I love too. We made so many memories that I will cherish forever. See you next time!

Destin Thursday

July 14, 2011

During our trip to the beach Jay and I celebrated our TEN year wedding anniversary. Jay planned out a day full of surprises for me and Bebe and Big Daddy kept the kidos at the beach. When we left the condo we went out for breakfast and mochas and then headed over to our first adventure. Jay had booked us a jet ski tour to see the dolphins. It was a blast! We got to run up and down the coast line bouncing over the waves. The guide found dolphins at the end of a pier down the shore and we all got to capture them in pictures. I didn't get any awesome pictures, but you can see it's fin in the photo below.

Getting ready for our tour . . . check out what number jet ski we got!!

Dolphin ---->; over there

After the tour, we went out to eat lunch at our favorite local restaurant, Dewey Destin's. I love their crab dip with crackers, so I decided that would be my lunch. Whoa! It was great! Once we finished we headed back to the condo to spend some time on the beach with the kidos. I had asked Jay to please let us spend some time in the sand with the kids on our day. I couldn't give it up . . . we just have too much fun together. When we got back we found Mary Kate and Big Daddy playing and guess what . . . Max was boogie boarding.

Mary Kate loving to "WEEE" with her Big Daddy

The brothers are at it again

This time Jon lost his wedding band . . . .

Josh and Jon got into another playful scuffle on the beach. They rolled, tossed sand, and dunked each other until they discovered something was gone . . . . Jon came up missing his wedding band. Poor Jon! He was sick over it. I even witnessed him attempting to remove Josie's toe ring to wear because he felt so lost without his band. Max got really confused over the issue too. He asked me "What will happen to Aunt Josie?" I said, "What do you mean, Bud?" He replied, "Uncle Jon lost his wedding ring." I laughed and explained that they are still married and will have to buy a new ring. Precious. Have I ever said how much I love that little guy? He was so worried that we would just toss Josie to the sharks, I guess.

Josie's expression when she finds out what they are looking for

Unk P and Aunt Holly

Mary Kate and Aunt Holly really bonded this trip. They found a mutual love of lipgloss and make up. She loved Holly's cupcake lip gloss and would stick her tongue out everytime Holly had it. One night while we were getting ready for dinner, Holly treated her to a little blush and whatever else Mary Kate found in her bag. Little Cuties! Mary Kate is a girlie girl. She loves lipgloss, shoes, and hair bows!

Fun with the underwater camera

Siblings in the sand

I think Logan has Ryan's skin coloring . . . don't you? LOL!

Our family after 10 yrs

Wow! 10 yrs! Look how far we've made it , baby! After some time on the sand, Jay and I headed in to clean up for some more surprises. All the info I had about the evening was to be ready at 5:30. Once ready, we headed out and went back to the docks. Here Jay and I walked around until he stopped me in front of a beautiful catamaran. He said, "This is it! Just like our honeymoon 10 yrs ago in Barbados." Neat-o! A sunset catamaran cruise and fireworks display. We loved it and it was so much fun to remineice over the years and about our honeymoon.