Memorial Day Weekend

Kate loved the idea that she could be in "2 states" at the same time!

Mr. Ben - zipping down the slide at the Park in the Old Market

A perfect ending to a beautiful day - ice cream sundaes!

We had a fun weekend in Omaha! On Sunday morning, we decided to meet my parents (whom were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary - congrat's to them!) at my sister Wendi's house for brunch and a fun afternoon together. The kids were super excited to see everyone, and after a delicious brunch we spent the afternoon at the park, playing basketball, lawn darts, and Wii! Then we headed over to visit Cairney West (Brian, Suzy, Nick & Zach) for the rest of the afternoon and evening. It is always fun catching up with them.....and of course, getting to cuddle with their dog Sammy (especially a plus for Ben). This morning we thought we may spend a few hours at the zoo before heading back to Des Moines, but the crowds and traffic were a bit much, so we went with plan B, headed for the Old Market area and had a great afternoon. We walked over the pedestrian bridge, played at the Mall on the slides for a while and then grabbed some lunch before heading home. Kate and Ben ended their day with a yummy ice cream sundae (-: What a gorgeous weekend it was! Now Miss Kate has 7 more days of school to finish up and then summer can officially begin for her......we are all really looking forward to that!

Pre-school graduation

Ben's pre-K class

Joey, Jack, Drew, Kate, Ben and Aunt Lynne

We are so proud of our "graduate"

the big guy on graduation!

Here he is with all three classes...he is on the second to the top

row on the far right side.

Tuesday night was Ben's preschool graduation. It was quite the evening.....beginning with a special dinner her at home with the Jensen's and Papa and Grandma Cairney (Ben picked the menu - hot dog on a bun, doritos, watermelon, lettuce salad, and birthday party ice cream for dessert) (-: It was quite tasty and a beautiful night for a BBQ! They had been preparing for this program for a few weeks at school, so I had a little preview of what to expect. But as you all know with preschoolers, there is nothing like seeing the excitement on their little faces and feeling the energy just come pouring out of 48 little bodies all on stage, performing their little hearts out! Singing their praises for all of us, but mostly for the love that they feel for Jesus! I asked Ben what his two favorite songs were, and he said "Stand on the Rock" and "Jesus loves me"......they were all my favorite, but I would have to agree, those two were good ones.

It was an emotional night for me off and on......I mean, for those of you whom have been blessed with knowing Mr. Ben Cairney for the past 5 1/2 years, who would have guessed the timid, introverted boy that walked into New Horizon's Preschool 2 years ago, would have graduated being known as a "leader" in the classroom, one whom talked frequently, always willing to share thoughts and ideas in the class, and just a "great kid to be around"! Of course, we always saw that side of him here at home, but when he started the 3 year old class, I remember Mrs. Bleeker (his teacher) saying, "Don't worry, he will eventually talk to me (-: "

Now off to Kindergarten we go next Fall, and of course, he is already talking about that and so looking forward to it! I am talking myself into being excited for that first day too....even though I know that is all part of the plan.....I will most likely walk away from school that day too, wiping my eyes, knowing that this is just another very exciting day in the journey of life for Mr. Benjamin Cairney! But I will forever, hold in my heart, a piece of that little blond headed boy that used to hide his face in my neck or bury himself in my legs......I love you buddy - Congratulations on your graduation -- I am so proud of you!!!

XOXO -- Mommy

other photo

Here is that other photo that I promised - is that an adorable card or what!
There is nothing like those precious little creations that kids make you, made from their two sweet little hands........thank-you Ben - Love, Mom

Weekend - May 16th - Well, our plans to go back to Pender were suddenly changed in our drive way Saturday morning after soccer when the battery in our van decided that it could not go another mile. After wiping our tears (Kate's, even though I was super disappointed too) we completely unpacked, waited for Doug to get home, and then off to the shop we went. Since the van repair took too long, we crashed Daddy's trip to Pella to see Greg, Dawn and kids and to celebrate the college graduation of a very dear friend of ours.....so all in all, we had a wonderful weekend, filled with lots of laughs, soccer matches, practices, baseball games, and church! - just missed our Nebraska peeps!! Congratulations to Aunt Wendi - graduating from Nursing School, Jase & Jared Johnson - graduating from Pender High and Northeast Tech --- Way to go everyone!!!!

Mother's Day

The beautiful flowers that Doug and the kids gave me

The two crazy kiddo's that I am so proud to be known as "MOM" to


See, there are days where they do seem to enjoy one another (-:

Here is a photo of how my Mother's Day began. Well, I digress for one quick story....Miss Kate was so very excited to give me her gift that yesterday am, around 0615, she darted down the hall into our room, paper bag crinkling & only to hear Doug ask her, "Kate what are you doing??? It's not until tomorrow..." Back to her room she went....which is so Kate for those of you that know and love her as much as we do! SO, this morning at 0715, she ran into my room again, jumped into bed with me, proclaimed, "Happy Mother's Day" Mom and quickly showed me what she had created in school. Such a clever little gift "Breakfast in Bed in a Bag" filled with a delicious cherry cereal bar and a tea bag! I loved it!!! We ran downstairs to show Daddy and Ben and they were waiting for us with the rest of my treasures - a beautiful bouquet of roses and some dark chocolate M&M's........what a perfect start to an amazing day!

Since we had gone to church last night, Kate and I stayed home and played a marathon game of Monopoly (almost 90 minutes) while enjoying tea and M&M's of course, while the boys went back for KQ since Doug had to teach. The rest of the day was spent playing outside, an amazingly long walk for me enjoying the gorgeous day that God gave us, running an errand with Kate and then a yummy dinner! Thanks Doug and kiddo's for making this day and every day so special for me -- it is truly a joy and honor to be the "Mom" of this house, and I owe it all to you!

Ben gave me a beautiful flower that he made from prints of his hands and I will get a picture of that uploaded ASAP!!! - the poem on it is absolutely priceless....he brought it home on Thursday and wanted me to open it right then. It is these little things that just really tug at my heart strings.....these little treasures! - thanks so much buddy!

A special thanks goes out to my Mom, Grandma and my mother-in-law.....without all of your love, motherly guidance and wisdom, I would be lost some days. Thank you all for your love and support and for being such amazing rolemodels for me!!! I love you......

Kate

Kate - celebrating her 1/2 birthday on April 11th, making her officially 8 1/2~ - of course she is enjoying her chosen dessert, cheesecake!

Kate - posing as a clown fish with class mate Bella, after their "Go Fish" production at school. The kids did a fabulous job and she was very excited for the performance!


Another tooth, bites the dust..........and the tooth fairy letter was priceless.....one to be kept for many years to come....

Good buddy Max Wilson on his First Communion last weekend - they are too cute!

Well, what kind of Mother did I think I was, devoting an entire blog entry to the "Little Brother" and not only that, but spending an entire day with just him also! (-: Of course, big sister Kate, even though she read the entry, appeared to enjoy the pictures and stories of the day, was a bit envious, naturally........So, I have promised her that her and I will have a day devoted just to the "girls" very soon, I thought that I would get you all caught up on the latest happenings in the life of the younger Cairney female in this house! Miss Kate has been very busy the last few months. In second grade, she wrapped up yet another year of chess club a few weeks ago. She just asked me tonight if she could play again next year, so I would say that it's safe to say she enjoys her Friday morning matches before school.

I think that she would most definitely agree that the excitement recently has been focused on the preparation of their musical "Go Fish". She was cast as a clown fish, had a few wonderful lines to memorize, and was so very excited about all of the great songs that they shared and fun actions to perform! I was very proud of how she did and how calm she was about performing in front of all those people - way to go KATE!!!

Her Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings have been occupied with soccer practice and games. She seems to be really enjoying her season, and has been very excited when the goals have gone her way. A few weeks ago, we were blessed to have my parents come and visit for the weekend ( we had a wonderful time with them here) and they saw Kate play her best game yet! The hustling and footwork was quite impressive I must say.....we don't know where that girl came from (-: ??? It was so fun to watch her and the rest of the team!

She has had 2 teeth getting wiggly on the bottom for some time now and last Sunday, she approached me to "pull another one" out for her. How I was given the official title as "Tooth puller" at this house I will never know?? However, I do know that Doug would like a shot sometime.....guess that he better hold out for the little guy! I must admit, and give Kate much deserved praise --- this was the first time that she did not shed a tear and was very brave for the event. I mean, it was her idea, and I warned her that it may hurt, so you would think that is how it should go, BUT, for those of you that know and love our sissy at this house.....not usually the case where the emotions come into play. She left an adorable letter for the tooth fairy, requesting a new Nintendo DSI or any cool toy, or last but least....any extra $$$ would be fine also....She awoke to some $$$ and seemed thrilled with the treasure!

Last weekend her good buddy Max Wilson received his First Communion and we were all able to celebrate this special event with him. These two kiddo's have been an absolute joy to watch grow up together and I can't wait to continue to see the life events unfold before our eyes for both of them. We love you Max, thanks for sharing this special time with us -- God Bless you!

Miss Kate is growing up more and more, right before my eyes (which look just like hers if you have not noticed), at least that is what people tell us.....8 more years and she will be driving - YIKES!!!! A few more after that.... proms, graduation, etc.,..which is why at times like this, I sit and reflect just how fast time zips by us.......it seems like only yesterday that we were bringing this little 5.7# pink bundle home from the hospital and feeling like we had not a clue of what to do with her! I often have that same feeling when her and I are not at all on the same page about situations here at home, disagreements that we are having, or just plain not getting along at all in a particular moment......BUT, as I take my slow deep breaths, ask God for patience, calmness and grace for her, I try and cherish each of those little moments, look to them as perfect teaching opportunities and go with it. I have learned to try and ask her more about what she is feeling and why instead of always thinking that I "know it all" just because I am the MOM........it is in these instances that we all realize that Sis is a sensitive young woman, with a strong opinion,who is changing each and every day - right before our eyes...and I just need to stop a moment, take a look, and show her how much I love and appreciate her for who she is, not for who I want her to be!!!

I love you Kate, and everything that you bring to my life! Can't wait to have our "girl day" together!!!

XOXOX - Mom

Culinary creations and flowers

The first of April we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary at this house - I was so blessed to have not only married Doug, but then also to be the receiver of these beautiful roses from him - thanks honey!!!


Kate's school had a cake auction and I thought that I would attempt to create this cake that I saw in a magazine a few months ago. Well, as you can see, it turned out OK! And most importantly, the new owner of the cake said that it was delicious, looked beautiful, and raised $$$ for the school! - who knows what I will attempt next???

A Day at the Fett's

Kate and Olivia Velarde


Olivia, Kate, Josiah, Isaiah, Lucas and Ben - the trampoline is always a highlight of a visit to the Fett's


Josiah and Kate - also another fun event, riding in the big wagon behind the mower!

A few weeks ago we were blessed with a beautiful afternoon and spent some time out at my Uncle Roger and Aunt Sharolyn's house. The Velarde's were back from Minnesota so of course, the adults enjoyed getting caught up with one another, but the kids had a wonderful time playing together also.....thanks to you all for the prayers for my Uncle Roger's recovery from surgery and for his upcoming decisions regarding cancer treatments. God is so GOOD!!!