Three stranded braid

By now my Kimberleesita knows the routine of getting her hair done. It will take a long time. Washing it is not fun. And it will take a long time.

However lately she has been a lot more cooperative. I think it can also be because I'm getting faster - even though her hair is getting longer.

In either case here are her beautiful locks in the most recent round of braids. They look great and she looks just beautiful.

I hope they last at least two weeks this time. We will see. :)

Silly willies

Recently we had a formal gig to go to and when we were dressed Kim quickly got the camera out. She never missed a photo op.

I love that we were all dressed up and acting so silly

My pretty girl, she makes me so much less self conscious. I hope I could that for her as well.

Daddy kangaroo and his Joey LOl!

This was so cute and sweet. A few days ago we took the kids out to play and though it was warmer than it has been in a LONG time it was a bit on the cool side. Kimani thought Naomi was getting too cold so he wrapped he me up inside his sweater like a baby kangaroo. The kids came over and we had a Goodrich about the baby being a joey whet her name is Naomi. She was as happy as could be to be cuddled by her daddy.

These boots...

Daniel has a true obsession with these boots. Of he could sleep with them he would. They are so big on him and he had managed to navigate himself with them to not fall or trip.

Today we went to the store and this nice family stopped their car to let me with the car seat and Daniel cross the street. When we were safe on the sidewalk the car pulls up next to is and say to Daniel, "hey little man, cool boots!" Daniel was all smiles and fives them a thumbs up. So cute.

Growing so fast

Here are a few pics of Naomi.

Eating, drinking and being merry.

Fall concert

Nemi's favorite day of the semester, the concert. Although he never actually sings at the concert. We sing at home for days before and after the concert, but he never sings the day of. Too funny. We love going and supporting him. As soon as he comes out the kids begin to scream his name and he loves to see us in the audience.

Go Nemi! And baby boy, you sing when you are good and ready. As long as you are standing up there you will always be the bravest boy to us.

Library outing

Here is Daniel doing this peg puzzle all by himself. He was do proud and so was I.

Team work

Recently Kim was helping Dan find a toy to go to bed and together they were rummaging through the you box.

Dan picks up a toy and says, "this one Kimberlee?"

Her response, "no, that one is too loud and noisy!"

I laughed so hard at that. Here they are still looking for something. I think they ended up agreeing on his Easter bunny, which he never took to his bed anyway.

Brotherly Love

Daniel is so in love with his baby sister. He wants to hold her hand any chance he gets. I took this picture today in the car. They were both taking a nap while we waited for Nemi to get out of school. So sweet the two of them holding hands.

My Daddy and Me

My Dad recently came to visit so we could attend my nephew's graduation from the USCoast Guard.

I enjoyed having him here those few days. Every time he comes he gets sick and I was hoping this time would be different. Unfortunately, it wasn't and he spend a day a bit out if it.

The last two days he was here I decided to pick his brain and had him help me with a couple if projects I'm working on. We went to Home Depot to buy some crown molding to frame a picture Kimani painted. We measured and cut that piece of wood until we were both sore. All this while we had the four kids in two carts I the store waiting for us. I kept wanting to leave and my Dad would say, 'don't worry about them. They are fine lets do this now when we're together so you don't have to do it alone with them'. So true.

As the time got closer to take him to the airport I realized how alike we are. We love to do little projects like that. We will get an idea in our head; think it out and figure out his to get it done and then we get to working to brim it about. It may work it may not, but at least we went for it and tried.

Our picture frame didn't work out as we thought. Somehow the measurements were off a bit and it ended up being too small. In a few weeks I'm going back to start over and try again until i get it right... Just like he would do.

Happy Resurrection Sunday

What an amazing Easter Sunday morning. To be honest I have never done anything celebratory on this holiday. We just pretty much go to church and back. If the kids happen to have a nice outfit great if not that's great too.

However, this year my father purchased for the kids some nice dressy clothes and I decided to go with it.

Saturday night I had the kids plant 'candy seeds' in the hopes they would grow into lollipops in the morning. Lo and behold they did. Lol. Kimani placed the lollipops and in the morning they were so excited when they found them :) that was cute.

Sunday morning was so impactful. I made breakfast and shared with the kids the real reason of Easter and they actually listened and participated in the activity (resurrection rolls). At the end we all gave a loud shout to thank Jesus for dying for us.

We took some pictures of the kids dressed in their Sunday best. After that we went to have an early dinner.

Finally, we got home for the Easter egg hunt and basket reveal.

I had gotten a different puzzle for each kid and took the pieces and placed it inside different colored plastic eggs to distinguish it from the others. So Kimberlee's puzzle was hidden inside pink and purple eggs. Nehemiah's in blue and orange. Daniel had to find yellow and green eggs. When we came upstairs they opened the plastic eggs that contained their specific puzzle and assembled them together. As we were doing that Daniel said, I had a great day Mommy.y heart melted and it made my backache worth it.

I am one exhausted Mommy, but I feel like the kids had a well rounded day.

Happy Easter my children.

USCG Graduate (Cape May, NJ)

Last Friday my nephew graduated from the United States Coast Guard. We are so proud of him. He made it through boot camp. We have had some really cold weather up here in Jersey the past few weeks so I am quite sure it wasn't easy for this Florida boy. I tried to write him once a week to keep him encouraged. I missed only one week - and the week of graduation I didn't send one out because I knew I'd see him. I was quite proud of myself for accomplishing that goal. Sometimes life gets busy and I don't get to do as above and beyond as I'd like, but this time I actually did it. Go Titi!

I knew the ceremony would be quick and my favorite part was when the cadets received their completion diplomas. Many of them had family members in one of the military branches and would be presented the certificate by those people. I thought that was beautiful, but the real surprise to me came when I saw my niece, his sister, getting ready to present him with his diploma when it was his turn. She is a corrections officer and was also in full gear. I teared up. I had no idea she would be doing that in his ceremony. Wow! What a way to share the moment with those you love most.

I was so proud of them for making such great career choices, but I was also super proud of my brother and sister in law. They have done such a great job with those kids. I look forward to learning a lesson or two in parenting from them. They definitely have proven results in their approach. No one is perfect and no two kids are alike, but it is good to glean the things you can from those who have succeeded around you.

Congratulations Mikel! The future is bright before you. Keep trekking ahead.

Love you!

A Man's Love

I have heard many times that there are women who get jealous of their "daughter" taking too much attention away from the husband/dad. I never really got that. I just don't quite understand how jealousy could make its way into that kind of interaction.

Tonight Kimani and Naomi were just falling in love. They stayed comfortably in cloud nine as she babbled to her daddy and he showered her with kisses. It was so beautiful it moved me. I was in heaven too, but in a different way. I was so glad to see them bonding and connecting.

At that moment I got it. When a marriage is rocky, unstable, or a woman is unsure and vulnerable it can be easy to feel like the daughter is taking attention and maybe even 'love' away from her.

The sad part is that they are two separate relationships. Totally different and apart. Fulfilling different needs and needing different things to make them successful.

When those lines/boundaries are crossed I can then see how a woman may feel jealous of her little girl emitting so much love from her father when she, as a woman, is having difficulties in the relationship and may yearn for such responses.

As for me... I'll stand a room away for a little while longer and watch the loves of my life fall in love with each other again...and again.

Challah bread

My good friend Leah brought her awesome bread maker over and we made this delicious loaf of bread (below).

It tasted so good. I'm gonna try to make some bread without the machine and see if I have any success.

Baby or Not!

I was feeding N in her feeding chair recently, which was D's chair for the past two years. Once done eating her carrots I took her out of the chair and D squeezed himself past me and sat on it.

- "I'm a baby mommy!"
- "you are. So I have to feed you." I took a spoon of the left over carrots, began the airplane sound towards his mouth. He quickly covers his mouth. "Come on baby, time to eat."
- "no Mommy it's just pretend."

Ha ha ha!

I chased him for a bit 'trying' to feed him. So funny.

Tutu... and it's cute too!

I made this cute tutu for K and she absolutely loved it. She wore it all day...literally!

It was so easy to make. The only reason it took me a couple of hours to do is that I started right at bedtime and the kids kept interrupting me. Other than that easy peasy!

When I finished I put it on N to test it out and she looked so cute! Now I'll just use the left over tulle to make her her own.

Applebee's

Tonight we were invited to an adult birthday celebratory dinner. We were actually quite excited to go, but of course with no sitters to call upon we had the crew.

Wow! Did we turn that place upside down. Our kids had a bad case... a very bad case of cabin fever. So when I say they went wild at that restaurant it may be a little under statement.

Somehow or other Kimani and I got home full of joy having had a really good time out with the kids. Yes we did it to ourselves by giving the kids ice cream at 8pm. Yes we had them walk 20 laps (from couch to kitchen) once we got home to burn off the sugar high, but even in that we laughed the whole time. Below are the 'sane' pictures before the desserts arrived.

Fun night for sure!

Sister Love

Tonight Naomi had finally fallen asleep while at the same time Kimberlee woke up. Unfortunately, I HAD to take a shower. So Kimberlee was sitting quietly eating her cereal next to Naomi while I hurried to shower.

I get started and what do I hear, N crying on and off. i also hear K talking to her, trying to keep her quiet. I begin to really hurry and finish up my shower when I hear K say, "no N don't touch my cereal". I then jump out of the tub and peek out at the girls and I see K holding N on her lap and trying to sooth her. That touched my heart so much. N was being a true baby and tried to take K's bowl of cereal, but it was so beautiful to see how K just took it upon herself to help her sister while I was in the bathroom. That girl is a true gem of a daughter and sister.

Kimberlee's First Cake

Very many times when we go to the store with our children they add items to our final order not initially in our list. However, at a recent trip to Shop Rite Kimberlee saw this cute piggy spatula that she said she would make me a cake with.

How can I resist such cuteness? Well we finally got the chance to make the cake and she did quite well. We had a good time.

******Kimberlee you did a great job with the cake today! I'm so proud of all your enthusiasm and abilities. The cake was super delicious.