I'm Siiiiiinging on the Swing

Kelsey still loves the swings. But her new thing now is to sing on them. It is like the minute she gets going, she immediately starts to sing. A few of her favorites are ABCs, Twinkle, Twinkle, You are My Sunshine, The Wheels on the Bus, and Mary Had a Little Lamb.

She has also somewhat conquered her fear of the trampoline. Our neighbors have one and said we can use it anytime. We tried having Kelsey jump a few times, but she would get scared and want to get out. Mattey took her the other night and she actually seemed to like it. She would not jump too much, but liked it when Mattey would lay down on his back and then she would sit next him. He would make the trampoline move in a game he called "popcorn." She would laugh and laugh and then say" more popcorn, daddy."

She loves being outside and has a blast. The coming in part is still a struggle, but we can't blame her. The summer is wonderful!

Here is a little photo shoot we had today. Kelsey automatically says "cheese" or "cheeseburgers" when the camera comes out. Then after we take the picture she says "I see it." What a little ham ;)

Happy Father's Day!

To celebrate Father's Day, Kelsey and I decided to have a scavenger hunt for Daddy. To start the morning, I wanted Kelsey to tell Matt "Happy Father's Day". However, since Matt has been working on her saying happy birthday for my birthday, she liked to combine the two and would tell Matt "Happy Birthday Father's Day." It was very cute. After some morning hugs and kisses, Kelsey gave Daddy his first clue.
Clue #1: Daddy you need some time to relax and enjoy this summer sun. His gift: A round of golf at the local golf course.

Clue #2 My Daddy needs to look good on the course. His gift: A new golf shirt



Clue #3 My daddy need to cool down after a day on the course. His gift: His favorite beverage of choice ;)

Clue #4 My daddy might be a little tense after golfing and could use relaxation. His gift: A massage given my mommy

The last thing Daddy opened was a card from Kelsey and a card from Mommy.

The remainder of our day was also great. We went to church and then spent the rest of the morning at Dave and Vickie's. We had brunch, watched the Twins, and then the boys all went outside to play baseball. Next up was two more graduation parties. One of them was for Matt's cousin so we were able to see all the Skala clan. They are such a fun group and we love getting to see everyone and catching up.

Mattey is such an incredible father. He loves Kelsey with every ounce of his being. He provides for our family and makes us feel safe and loved. Matt is always wanting to play with Kelsey, read her books, cuddle, and even help out with diaper duty. I could not ask for a more dedicated, committed father for our daughter. He truly is every child's dream dad and Kelsey and I feel so blessed to have him in our lives.

Then:

Now:


Today is also a day to celebrate our own fathers. Both my dad, Larry, and Matt's Dad, Dave, have been very inspirational in our lives. We are both so fortunate to have such amazing fathers who have been great role models for us. They have shown us how to be good parents and have loved us unconditionally. We are thankful for you and love you both so much!

Smith Family Gathering

On Saturday afternoon my family came down to spend the afternoon with us. I have not seen my dad in some time and was really excited to get to spend time with him. Everyone arrived in the afternoon and we were all able to just sit around for a bit and catch up. However, with the weather being as nice as it was, the kiddos all wanted to get outside and play. The game of choice this time was soccer. Lauryn and Soren are both in soccer right now and so they are really into it. We did also pull out the tee and the kids all took turns batting. I think my dad and Brian were just a little tired after shagging balls while the kiddos hit the ball and ran the bases. I was the official picture taker so I guess that got me out of playing defense ;)

We also celebrated Annika and Miranda's birthdays since we try to combine parties when we can to help accomodate my dad and Chris and all the driving. Annika turned 3 at the end of May and Miranda just turned 5 in early June.



It was so good to see my family and have them all down in Owatonna. It truly means a lot to me that everyone was willing to come here. What a fun afternoon!

Happy Birthday, Mommy

Friday was my birthday and Matt has been working on Kelsey saying "Happy birthday, Mommy" She did such a good job with it that she just kept repeating it over and over all day. It was so sweet! I told Mattey that for my birthday I just wanted to lay low and spend the day with him and Kelsey, and that is exactly what we did. To start the day, Matt and Kelsey made me breakfast.
It was a nice day outside, so we were able to get out a little and enjoy the sunshine. Mattey and Kelsey again pampered me by making lunch while I just lounged around. During the day, Kelsey got attached to a backpack and purse she has had for a long time, but hasn't really played with much lately. She was so into playing with them that she would not take them off to eat lunch or take her nap.


Later in the afternoon we met the Ginskeys for ice cream at the Blast. We then went to their house for a little cousins play session. For dinner, Mattey grilled out and we enjoyed yet another meal together. (I bet it sounds like all we did was eat all day! hehe) Finally that night Dave and Vickie came over for a bit to celebrate with us as well. Kelsey wanted to get right in there and help me open my presents.

It was such a relaxing, perfect day! I really love birthdays and Mattey knows this, so he truly made my day special. And for the record, I will be 29 and holding from here on out because I just don't know if I am ready for my first number to be a 3 next year! But seriously, here's to another wonderful year full of great memories!

Random

This post will contain a lot of random things to catch you up on. The first thing is that summer break is in full force and I am loving it! We had our first day with all three of us home together today. It has been raining here for the past few days, but not today! We had a beautiful, sunshine-filled day. Therefore, we got some outdoor work that has been put off since we have not been home much lately. Mattey mowed the lawn and then trimmed all of our bushes. Here is an updated picture of our house. The grass is so green and our flowers look great due to all the rain. I remember my mom used to take a picture of the house every summer, so maybe this will become a tradition.

Later in the day we went to feed the ducks. Kelsey gets very afraid of animals when we are around them. She loves to read about them and can say what sound they all make, but when she sees them in person, she gets really scared. So we weren't sure how she would do. At first she only wanted Matt or I to hold her while she threw the bread to them. But after a little bit she wanted to be put down and eventually fed them all by herself.




To end our day we went for ice cream and watched a baseball game at Dartt's Park. It was such a wonderful way to begin our summer break.

Catching up on some old business, we stopped at Dave and Vickie's last Saturday in between graduation parties and Kelsey wanted Grandpa to play games with her. Thankfully Grandpa was up for it!
Kelsey had her first friend birthday party last Saturday. She has a really good friend from daycare who turned 3. They had games, food, movies, and cake. Kelsey didn't know where to turn first. When we left, it only took about 5 minutes for her to fall asleep.


Kelsey likes to ask "What's that?" for things she is curious about now. Today she took every magnetic letter off the refrigerator and would say" what that letter?" When you ask her what her name is, she can now reply "Kelsey Skala". When you ask her how old she will be, she says "2" but proceeds to hold up both her hands to show 10 fingers. hehe

Summer Break, Here We Come!

The past week has been so busy that I have not had time to blog. Since school is now finished though I am hoping to get caught up. Here are a few highlights to get started: The Owatonna baseball season came to an end this past week in the section final game. Unfortunately, the huskies did not make it to state this year. However, they had a great season and have a lot to be proud of. Mattey finished his fifth year of teaching on Friday and I will finish mine up on Tuesday when we are done. We are both looking forward to time at home with Kelsey. We started our to-do list filled with fun outings and house projects. It is always such a good feeling to know we have time to catch up on family time and house work. I absolutely love that both Mattey and I are teachers because we get to share time with our family all summer long. Hello summer break!!!!!

Throw It In

Matt recently taught Kelsey how to play catch. She stands on one side of the room and he on the other. Matt will tell her to put her hands out and she stretches out her arms in front of her. Then before Matt throws it she will say "throw it in." When she catches it she says "I catch it!" Then she will say "I throw it to Daddy" before throwing it back. Tonight Matt would throw it up and she would say "up high Daddy."

Another thing she has started to say is "I no like this." For instance, after the bath tonight I laid her on the living room floor to get on jammies and the TV was on. She said "I no like this, Daddy" until we changed the channel to a show she wanted. Silly girl :)

On a potty training note, she asks to sit on the potty everyday before bath, but never actually goes. She just wants to put toilet paper in the toilet. Today she sat on the potty chair and then when Matt got her off she took off running and guess what she did? Peed on the carpet of course. She came running back in the bathroom and said "I go potty." Let's hope the next time she says this it happens on the toilet!