Santa!

I was so excited to take the kids to see Santa this year. Aaron and I have really been talking him up to the kids - especially now that Elf on the Shelf has debuted in our house (which is another post). My mom's hospital has a yearly Christmas celebration so that was our first Christmas experience of the year. 

Here are a few pictures of the visit with a short video at the end. Blake was hilarious because he went up to Santa and then saw a fake present and grabbed it and thought it was his!

Picking up the pieces

It's been three weeks. Three weeks since we lost someone so special to us and there is not a day that goes by that I do not think about her. There are so many unanswered questions because it was so sudden. I am sure there will be a time that I need to get it all off my chest but I am going keep it to myself right now. It feels like a piece of the puzzle is missing and I know we will feel like this for a very long time. Please continue to pray for everyone.

I have thought about giving up this blog because of lack of time and it reminds me a lot of Paula because I know how much she loved reading it. However the past few weeks so many people have told me that they read the blog so I want to keep it up for them and so everything is documented for the kids when they get older. I am also still keeping up my other blog - One Frame a Day - which I take pictures of the kids everyday (almost everyday) and post a picture and then at the end of the year, I will print it off and have a copy made for each of the kids.

So many things have happened the past few weeks. Here are just a few:

- Kylie started at the same daycare as Blake, which she loves.

- Blake started back to preschool and his favorite part is riding the bus!

- We tried potty training with Blake again and he is NOT ready at ALL!

- Blake loves his new big boy bed. He sleeps so good in it and stays in bed all night.

This video is priceless. Aaron calls me KK which has been my nickname my entire life. However I never expected my kids to call me KK. Kylie has picked this up from Aaron calling for me through the house. You will need to mute my playlist to hear what she says.

What's My Name - Kylie from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

Here are some pictures from the past two weeks as well.

Kylie's first day of school

The kids watching a movie in Blake's bed

Aunt Emma and Uncle Nathan came to visit!

Uncle Jonathan showing Kylie the moon

Blake trying to get mommy with the water gun

Grandmom and Grandpa playing cards with the kids

Buzz and Blake....can you tell which one is which? :)

Pretty girl

Here is the last video for the night. Blake and Austin had a great time wrestling with each other. I can only imagine what our house would be like if we had two boys. It is kind of long but very cute.

Wrestling from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

Happy 4th!

This weekend was great. We got to do a little bit of everything including a quick trip to the zoo, sliding, swinging, swimming and of course playing.

Here are a few videos and pictures from our weekend -

Blake is such a big boy! He will jump (more like step) into the pool and swim all by himself! Of course this is with his swimmies on.

Blake Swimming from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

And of course I had to put a video of Blake sliding down the slide.

Blake Sliding from Kaelin Thacker on Vimeo.

My little bubble guppy.

And a cute little girl in a cute littel suit.

Daddy telling the kids all about the snakes at the zoo.

Whatever this creature is...

The kids watching fireworks on Sunday night.

And all of them watching fireworks on Monday night.

I hope you all had a great 4th!

This Week in Review

So my weekly catch-up....not sure where to even begin. These past two weeks have been so busy! It all started with a trip to the zoo. We bought a season pass which means I will milk it as much as possible. The kids absolutely loved it! We didn't wear ourselves out and try to make it to every exhibit because I know we will be back plenty of times these next few months. Some of the kids favorites: elephants, lions, gazelles, tigers. And Blake's least favorite: gorillas. He was so scared! He didn't realize that there was a thick glass between him and the monkeys...and of course, Kylie had no fear at all. Below are a few pictures from our day.

On Friday Aaron and I headed to Belterra (the casino boat) for a little getaway for our anniversary. It was so nice but I missed my kiddos. We had an amazing dinner at Jeff Ruby's and spent some time at the blackjack table. On Saturday we went to see Hangover 2 and went to see a Red's game. It was so hot but so much fun.

Just to reminisce, here is a picture of our wedding party from our wedding day.

Last week went by pretty fast because of class and everyone in our house had the case of the stomach bug. It was AWFUL. Kylie started it and Blake ended it. Thank goodness it is now gone from the house and I hope it never finds its way back here. Luckily Grammy and Grandpa came to visit and help take care of us.

Oh and good news: Only two more classes left for me this summer!

Have a great week!

A Busy Month

It has been almost a month since I have last posted but I have a good reason. School and kids (and hubby) have taken up all of my time and of course, they always come first. So here is a little breakdown of what has been happening at our house.

I last posted that Blake celebrated his 3rd birthday. I cannot believe I have a 3 year old! That just makes me a year older :) I love his more and more every day and cherish every second I have with him.

We went to see Dr. Pringle for his 3 year check up and he looked perfect! His stats were:

Height: 39 1/4 inches (90%) - grew 5 inches in a year!

Weight: 37 1/2 lbs (90%) - gained 7 1/2 lbs in a year!

Here are a couple of other things we did in the month of May:

- Went on a field trip with Blake's daycare to the Zoo

- Austin graduated from Preschool

- I finished one class and started another

- Mom and Dad opened their pool!

- Kylie has started talking a lot more....and with that also comes a lot of attitude!

- I blogged on Monday that my best friend Emily had her baby girl, Regan. She is so adorable!

Most of the photos from this month are on my other One Frame a Day blog but I have included some others. I know that this month I will have many more starting with tomorrow because we are taking the kids to the zoo!

Until next time....hopefully it won't be too long!

Our Life and a Party!

This past week has been a crazy one. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great week, but busy and eventful.
I want to remember how busy and crazy our lives are 10 years down the road so I am going to walk through a normal week in the Thacker house.

Monday – Usually no set schedule. I try to leave for work at 7ish and Aaron leaves at 7:15 to take both kids to daycare (this is typical during the week). I get off around 4ish and run any quick errands then pick up Kylie by 5:30 and Blake by 6.

Tuesday – Aaron has class from 6-8:45 pm so I am on my own for the night. I usually pick up the kids and head home to fix a quick dinner and play with them outside if the weather permits – hopefully we can be outside more often now that it is getting warmer (with the exception of the April showers).

Wednesday – I have class from 6-8:45 pm so I usually don’t get to see the kids in the evening L Aaron usually picks them up and grabs something to go for dinner for them. I get home around 9:15 from class and get to catch up with Aaron, unless he is doing homework.

Thursday – Same as Tuesday – Aaron has class from 6-8:45pm so the kids and I are on our own.

Friday – No set schedule unless we are going out of town. Aaron works later and gets home around 6:30pm but we usually stay home and hang out as a family.

Saturday and Sunday – Aaron and I usually have to take turns doing homework unless our parents take the kids or come over to watch them. This past weekend both of our parents (and Grandmom) came to watch the kids so we could work on papers that are due this week. Thank goodness!! We usually have other stuff going on as well like Birthday parties, baby showers, guests from out of town, etc. I LOVE Saturdays because I know I still have Sunday to hang out with the family and catch up on things.

So there you go. A normal week for us. Can you see why I cannot wait for us to be done with school!? We hardly have any time together as a family of four. I know I need to take advantage of every second I have with my babies because I know they won’t be this little for long.

This past week was a typical week for us (like above). On Saturday my niece Katie had her 3rd Birthday Party so we went to Kristin and Jeremy’s for her party. It was a princess party so Kylie wore Katie’s Snow White dress. She looked so old in it. I cannot believe that Katie is 3!! Happy Birthday Pretty Princess!!

Saturday was also Thunder Over Louisville which I will not brave with the kids until they are at least 6 or 7 years old. I think they will be scared to death if I took them down there now! At least it was pretty to watch on TV. Blake enjoyed watching them with a Capri Sun tonight.

Going to Katie’ party reminded me that I need to get on the ball for Blake’s birthday, too. I CANNOT believe I am going to have a 3 year old! Has it really been 3 years?!? This year the theme will be……..CARS! It was really a toss-up between Cars and Toy Store because he is really starting to like Toy Story. But since he has loved Cars for so long, we knew we couldn’t go wrong with Lightening McQueen.

I am so excited because we decided that we wanted to go ahead and make the investment of a bouncy house for the kids’ birthday parties. We thought it would end up saving us money in the long run if we don’t have to rent one or go to an actual bouncy house facility. I think the kids will love it!!

This week one of my best friends Amanda will be having her baby! I cannot wait to meet the little guy. I know her and her husband are very anxious to meet him too!

Go Big Blue!

This week has FLOWN by! I didn't even have class but I got into bed late every night and still didn't everything done at home (or work) that I wanted to.

To start it off, Kentucky won their last game to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen! We were VERY excited and cannot wait to watch them beat the #1 seed Ohio State tonight. Go Cats!

On Saturday, my MIL and SIL, Emma went to see the the musical Cats and it was amazing!

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

We also got to play outside a few days this week since it was in the upper 70's here.

They have also gotten a lot of use out of a present they got from Santa that mommy just put together!

They love it!

As for this weekend, another school/homework free weekend for me. Watching UK play tonight with Aaron and hanging out with the kids sounds like the best weekend to me! I am sure I will be taking lots of pictures of the kids in Kentucky Blue and blogging about our weekend on Sunday :)