Memorial Day Weekend

This blog post is going to be for the family and friends who like to see many pictures of my children. I took quite a few this weekend, and couldn't really decide on which ones to post, so I am posting most of them.

We had a really nice weekend. Sunday we went to church. It was this year's outdoor service. It was really nice. After church was over, the kids were invited to plant some flowers there. They had a good time doing that.

I took them in their red, white and blue outfits to church that day. And that is what started the pictures!

We spent Sunday doing massive yard work. It was a hot day, but we are so limited in our time to do work around the house, that we have to use even those really hot days.

We started cutting down trees around some big rocks in the front of our yard.

The kids enjoyed watching Mat do that.

I will take a picture of the area once I get it all finished. I planted some flowers, but it still needs some more and some mulch.

Monday we had a memorial day parade.



We live in a small town -yet we had a parade of our own.

Arlington marched as a Daisy scout in this parade. She was very excited to throw Candy at the crowd. (although she tried to keep all the gum for herself).




Cainan's favorite part of the parade was all of the fire trucks. That boys loves trucks.


Finley's favorite part were the horses that were in the show. And of course - all the candy.

Cainan and Finley had a great time watching the parade and gathering more candy than they received at Halloween.


Cainan also liked the bands and collecting the candy. He is not a big sweet eater, but he had fun getting the candy from the road.


After the parade was over this big truck was parked and Cainan and Finley got a kick out of being only as big as the wheels.

The "parade" was over in about 1/2 hour. So we were down and back in less than an hour. That was good because we were having a picnic and wanted to get the house ready.

We had a picnic with our friends Emma and her girls that afternoon. It was a great time.


The kids had a fun time playing on the swings and running around the yard.


We had a ton of picnic food, and just enjoyed the gorgeous weather.

They stayed for 3 1/2 hours before heading home. Our kids were exhausted by days end - after a very busy weekend.

But we had so much fun. I am really starting to look forward to summer.

So - here are the multitude of pictures of the kids.

I thought for fun - I would give you some facts about the kids - to keep you entertained while you scroll. If you are done with my blog for today - I will see you tomorrow for a special birthday post for Cainan!

Anyway - Arlington.

Arlington is 7 1/2 years old.

She was born in California. On a Saturday.

I had just finished Valentine's day celebrations at work on Friday when my water broke. She entered the world on Saturday around 2:30 in the morning.

She is a very typical first child - kind and caring. Independent. A leader.

She is a definite daddy's girl.

She loves super heroes and fairy tales.

She is curious and smart.

She is the best big sister. She entertains her little brother and sister without complaint. She actually WANTS to spend time with them.

Her favorite past time is art.

She would rather do art than anything.

She is curious about the world. She loves history and true stories. Right now she is reading about Louis Braille. (did you know he wasn't born blind?)

I feel so lucky to be her mommy.

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Cainan

Tomorrow is turns 4 years old.

He was born in Hunan, China.

He came into our family when he was 14 months old. He couldn't even crawl.

Now he runs and jumps and hops.

He still gets frightened by new experiences, but he is more willing to try them.

He has become silly and sweet.

He is the best little boy. He LOVES to eat. And going out to eat? That is his favorite.

He loves everything super heroes. Batman is his current favorite. Followed by iron man.

He has been through a lot in the last three years, and we have been amazed to see how much he has grown.

He is easy to love. We are so lucky to have him in our family. Happy almost birthday sweet boy.

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Finley

OKay - so I KNOW we call Finley rotten, and stubborn, and "a handful".

And trust me when I say - she is ALL of those things.

But so much more. Finley is our free spirit

There is something captivating about her. When she was first born, I couldn't believe I had "done that" to Arlington - taken away Arlington's "only childness".

In the end what Arlington got was the most amazing little sister. She is fun, spirited, giggly, cuddly, and the best kind of rotten.

She was born in Florida. I watched the fireworks from the delivery room. She came into the world the day after firecrackers, and has been one herself every since.

She was given a challenge. But one that she will NEVER let beat her spirit.

It isn't her style.

She loves baby dolls most of all. She is very caring and sweet to her dolls.

She also loves everything princess. And girly. Arlington never was a dress girl. But Finley - she would wear a dress every day if we would let her.

She is wicked smart. Almost too smart for her own good (as they say). She picked up learning how to use the brailler as fast as she picked up her sight words.

Finley loves no one more than she loves Arlington. She NEVER wants to upset her, and will do anything Arlington wants her to do.

When we found out that she would lose her sight, we were determined not to every let her know how sad we were.

In the end, she showed us that we have no reason to be sad. She has been our sunshine through so much rain this last year.

We love you baby girl - heart, mind, soul - we are SO lucky to have you.


I hope you are still alive after all the pictures. And see - now you have more knowledge. Aren't you glad?

Too bad if not.

Tomorrow I am going to try and post for Cainan's birthday. See you then!!!