RAISING KANE

K.M. Builders (time to party)

2012-11-26T20:19:00.002-06:00

Get ready for picture overload!

My sweet family!

Kylie looking for her construction vest

(no tractors were purchased for this party... Kane is just spoiled rotten by my mom!)

First painter to report to duty!

The one and only birthday boy!

I purchased construction style boots for Kane to wear, but he insisted that he wanted to wear his 'fast shoes'! Birthday boy won that battle!

Landon hard at work on the blueprints

Brad and Kane busting down the wall!

The construction fence worked perfectly! Not only did it keep kids from running in the street, but it added to the construction look!Win win in my book!

Bella, Zach and Kane

Sweet Zach playing with his tools and tractors

Amberly, Blake and Kane hard at work hammering the nails!

I'm so glad this precious girl got to come to Kane's party!

Aunt Chelsea signing Kane's book

Landon and Chloe goofing off!

Violet checking out all the desserts!

Peyton watching all the kids run around

What a masterpiece! ha!

Aunt Ashley and Kane!

Sweet girls!

Brody was too busy working to stop for a picture!

Since Uncle Danny has done a few pinatas with his 5 kids, we put him in charge!

Brad giving it his all!

The final blow came from RJ. He demolished that poor thing!

Up until this point every last detail was perfect! It didn't even cross my mind that we needed candles for his cake! The only we could come up with were Lulu's tea light candles! ha!

Those cheeks!

Cousin Chloe asked to cut the cake... ask and you shall receive!

Some of Kane's adult party guests...

Aunt Char and cousin Brooke!

Mrs. Herrera and Mrs. Tippit (aka his 3rd grandma)

Brooke, Chloe, Kylie and Aunt Char

Aunt Holly and (soon to be) Uncle Paul!

My big 3 year old ready for bed in his construction pjs and book!

We are so very blessed by our friends and family! It warms my heart to know that Kane has so much love surrounding him. We are thankful for everyone that helped us celebrate our precious son as he turned 3!

K.M. Builders (party details)

2012-11-26T15:18:00.003-06:00

My precious little guy turned 3 on November 9th! In true Kane fashion, we threw him a construction party. He is in love with tractors, so this party was a hit!

As guests arrived they were greeted by his company sign.

This was the sign in table. I asked for all the guests to sign one of Kane's tractor books as a keepsake.

One of my favorite details, is the wrench pen with a piece of ruler ribbon tied to it! The dump truck was his party invitation this year.

The dessert table!

The kids each got personalized measuring tapes of bubble gum, sucker wrenches and construction cones full of popcorn.

One of the biggest hits were the dirt cups with wooden spoons!

The cake was held up on a piece of plywood and 4 construction cones and the cake knife was a saw! In my opinion, it's all about the detail!

The cake was served on these plates with tool belt forks.

Each guest got a personalized toolbox full of tools and a construction hat.

I used a piece of plywood and sawhorses for this table.

The drink table... I just had to have these cute construction cone cups!

Again, I took advantage of the theme and used plywood to hold the water bottles.

The construction vests with name tags on each one

With the help of my mom's handy neighbor, I made 2 barricades for the party.

Kane's Aunt Ashley got him this adorable plate and utensil set for his birthday.

Each place setting had a coloring placemat for the kids.

Each table had a "toolbox" runner going down the middle. Loved this find at Hobby Lobby!

There were many stations for the kids to play at. This one was a coloring table. I contacted a local builder and he kindly gave me a stack of blueprints for the kids to color.

Months before the party, I purchased the tractor canvases at Michael's.

This station had styrofoam "wooden logs" for the kids to hammer "nails" into.

We had a painting station for the kids to paint a house.

Cute aprons so the kids didn't get their clothes dirty.

There was a tractor pinata, so these were the candy bags.

We had a "brick" wall that the kids could throw balls at to knock it down.

And finally, we had a large dirt pit with ALL of Kane's tractors for the kids to play in.

Next up, the party and all the guests!

our day at the zoo

2012-07-12T12:03:00.000-05:00

Chelsea and her family invited us to meet them at the zoo a couple months ago. We had the best time with the kids and each other!

Love these sweet babies!

Kane and Ambs got to feed the giraffes after lunch.

LuLu and Kane were a little startled when the giraffes tongue came out! They have the longest tongues!

Babies and their grandmas

Is their anything cuter?! I think not!

LuLu pointing out the monkeys.

We had so much fun at the zoo with great friends!

Kane's BIG Boy Room

2012-07-10T10:34:00.000-05:00

Kane's big boy room is finally complete! I went with an airplane theme, so he can have this room for quite a few years... or until I get tired of it! ha! I love how it all turned out and I think Kane does too. He makes sure every visitor sees his new room. I could not have done all this without the help of my SIL or friends. I know they got tired of me sending them different pictures and picking their brains!

I had an artist on Etsy personalize these two prints for Kane.

The red one has a "K" on it and the yellow one has his birthday month and day.

This shelf is my favorite! My dad gave me that Pooh bear when I turned 16 and got my first car (did he baby me, or what?!). He always joked that he was my co-pilot. Such a perfect finishing touch.

Kane's giant paper airplanes.

I love Kane's little dress-up area!

Found this compass at Hobby Lobby and fell in love with it.

(promise it's not dusty. I tried wiping it off a million times)

Sweet little guy wanted me to take his picture too!

Love this monkey! My grandma gave it to me at one of my baby showers.

The growth chart I made for Kane.

His bedroom would not be complete without these awesome airplane sheets!

Kane getting prepped for his first night in his new room!

We have been lucky that the transition has been so easy for us. Sweet angel never tries to climb out of bed or leave his room. He always calls for us when he wakes up.

Thank you so much Stephanie for making the valance! I LOVE it!

birthday bowling for dad

2012-06-06T13:24:00.000-05:00

My brother and I recently celebrated what would have been my dad's 67th birthday. It's so weird to think he would have been 67. I always wonder what he would be like as he aged, I can not imagine him ever slowing down and getting older.

My brother came up with the idea to take all 6 kids bowling. It was a tad chaotic but SO much fun!

We got two lanes... one for the kids and one for the adults. My brother was rather impressed with my crazy bowling skills.

The scoreboard before the kids started bowling in our lane.

Mr. happy feet loved the bowling shoes!

Kane was a bowling champ! He not only loved it but he creamed his cousins!

(They all had the same odds with the ramp and side rails)

He must get it from his mama!

Kane got a spare the very first time he bowled!

Nothing like cheesy pizza from a bowling alley! ha!

Uncle Danny is always goofing around with Kane!

The night would not have been complete without my monkey hanging on the ramp!

Love my brother!

6 kids + 4 adults = one crazy night of fun celebrating our dad!

national donut day 2012

2012-06-01T10:50:00.001-05:00

Today is national donut day, so Kane and I celebrated by making homemade donuts.

We read this adorable book before we headed to the kitchen.

Kane helped me pour all the ingredients into the mixing bowl.

He was able to scoop up some cake flour with his tractor while I was preoccupied preheating the oven. Little stinker!

All ready for the oven!

Doesn't he have awesome bed head?!

Our iced donuts all ready to eat!

All smiles for national donut day!

gymnastics performance

2012-05-20T07:13:00.001-05:00

Kane and I went to my niece's gymnastics performance on Saturday. We were so excited to see everything that Kylie learned this year and spend time with my other nieces.

Ashlyn and Kylie

My brother's youngest daughter, Cadyn.

Chloe was such a big help today! Such a great big sister and cousin.

Jumping into the foam pit!

Chloe throwing Kane into the foam

Landon gave Kane a big push down the slide.

K and C jumping

My sweet boy loved gymnastics!

Kane and Uncle Danny

Kane was trying to copy Kylie during their floor exercises!

Ashlyn showing off her medal

Kylie showing off her medal!

My brother is the BEST daddy to his girls! I am so proud of the dad he is.

My brother with Cadyn and Ashlyn

Kane and I brought flowers for the girls to congratulate them on a great season!

picnic play-date

2012-05-19T21:40:00.001-05:00

We had Bella and Peyton over on Friday for a lunch play-date. After a quick trip to Chick-fil-A, we all enjoyed a little picnic outside on the patio. Kane loves "chicken way" and always tells me he wants "just fries and a coke." ha! Crazy kid has never had a coke in his life.

Bella and Kane climbing on Michael's punching bag

beautiful baby Peyton

The kids were looking for bugs in the backyard and found a ladybug on the punching bag. Bella was so worried that the ladybug was sick because it wasn't moving, while Kane poked at it until it fell off. ha! The difference between boys and girls became very apparent at that moment.

Pushing Bella on the swing... he didn't quite get the point that when you push a swing it comes back and knocks you down!

Such a sweet day with sweet friends!

shower time

2012-05-17T21:24:00.000-05:00

Kane took his very first shower today! In the past, he has jumped out as soon as the water hit his face, but this afternoon he thought it was hilarious. He spent all evening asking me to get back in!

I drew about 95 smiley faces on his tummy with foam soap.

I have wondered for the longest time if his 2 year molars have come in, but he never opens his mouth long enough for me to look. I finally got my answer with this picture!

Despicable Me Movie Night

2012-05-17T06:57:00.000-05:00

Kane's favorite movie currently is Despicable Me. He would watch it every single day if I let him. I realized a few weeks ago that we haven't had a movie night in awhile, so I thought this would be the perfect one.

We sat down with stuffed crust pizza (also in the movie) and got our movie night started.

I made Kane his very own squid launcher

and an alien that he had to knock down.

He kept trying to knock it down with the squid launcher. Not exactly how they do it in the movie, but who cares.

He was so excited when he finally knocked it down!

He loves his "big bug" shirt!

I made minions out of twinkies as an after dinner treat.

(idea from Pinterest)

First and only bite of a twinkie. :)

I also made him a box of Coconutties, but I ended up eating those!

Michael and my minion posing in the boxes of shame.

I can not even look at this picture without laughing! Such a little actor.

We had such a great time and can not wait for Despicable Me 2 to come out!

C is for cookie

2012-05-16T13:38:00.001-05:00

Kane and I celebrated national chocolate chip cookie day by baking our very own batch! We will use any excuse to make cookies!

He loves to pretend with the hand mixer.

my little cookie monster!

I caught him several times trying to sneak cookies off the cooling rack. Kid loves his cookies... just like his mama!

Love my cookie eating companion!

water balloon fight

2012-05-16T09:35:00.000-05:00

I needed a little pick me up this morning, so I decided to have some water balloons ready for Kane when he woke up. We threw a couple at Michael last night and Kane thought it was the funniest thing ever.

He thought he was hilarious throwing them at me. By the time he emptied the bucket, I was soaking wet. Nothing makes me happier than hearing him laugh.

It was so fun to mix things up and let him play outside when he first woke up!

Mother's Day 2012

2012-05-16T00:40:00.000-05:00

On Mother's Day we took LuLu out to lunch to Palazzo's. We had the best lunch and enjoyed spending time with her.

As you will see in the following pictures, Kane was in no mood for pictures. He is SO full of personality these days!

One of LuLu's several attempts at getting a picture with Kane.

Aunt Ashley gave it a shot too, but Kane was just not having it.

Later that evening we headed over to LuLu's house for dinner. I was hoping I could sneak a picture with Kane, but failed miserably!

As my grandfather used to say... Kane was being a squirt!

Monday evening Chelsea invited a bunch of girls over to watch the season premiere of The Bachelorette. We had tons of fun and can not wait to do it again!

2.5 years old!

2012-05-14T15:36:00.000-05:00

My little boy turned 2.5 last week! How is that possible?

Just because I love to spoil him rotten, he got a new scooter on his half birthday. He was so excited to open it up and test drive it.

Such a fake smile! He was in no mood for pictures... he was so anxious to open it.

Taking it for a spin around the house.

Kane also got a special cookie to celebrate the day.

My kind of guy... goes straight for the icing!

Love my big 2.5 year old so much!

And with this face, I put the camera away. He was so over me taking his picture! ha!

party people

2012-05-14T15:34:00.000-05:00

We kicked off our Saturday with RJ's 9th birthday party. He is without a doubt the sweetest kid I have ever been around. I admire my step-sister so much and the kind of mom she is.

RJ and Melanie

RJ had his party at Monkey Bizness... an inflatable party house.

Kane loved going down the giant slide with Michael!

My guys!

After RJ's party we raced to Caden's birthday party, so we wouldn't miss the gender reveal of his soon to be sibling. It just so happened that Caden and his dad had a birthday right around the same time that they found out the sex of the baby, so Kristina had one big party!

Kristina had the cutest table setup for the reveal. This was the cake.. she just had to cut it open to find out the sex of the baby!

All the guests got to guess the sex of the baby.

Love this idea!

K and A playing outside

the birthday boy and Kane

the kids played inside while Kristina got ready to cut the cake!

It's a....

GIRL!!!!

There was not a dry eye in the house! Kristina was SO excited. Her reaction was priceless! I am so excited for her and her family!

After the big reveal, we sang happy birthday to Caden and his dad!

We had the best Saturday celebrating with friends and family! We are so thankful that they included us on their special days!

evening walks

2012-05-10T07:28:00.001-05:00

Kane has recently refused to sit in his stroller on our evening walks, so we decided to pull out his wagon. Only problem is, he won't sit in it. He is only interested in pulling it.

He is so cautious when cars pass us. He pulls all the way over, tells us to stop and sits on the curb until the car passes.

My little independent man. So determined to do everything on his own.

After our walks, we always snuggle up on the couch and read books together. I adore my family and the time we get to spend together.

Ella's Luau

2012-05-09T08:22:00.001-05:00

Sweet Ella celebrated her 1st birthday with a big Luau party on Saturday. She was the most adorable birthday girl ever! We love her so much and were thrilled to celebrate her!

Ella and her Aunt Holly

She just started walking, so it was nearly impossible to get her picture!

While Ella was socializing inside, we took Kane outside for a swim.

We love Ella so much and had a blast at her birthday party!

couples night out

2012-05-08T11:45:00.001-05:00

Friday night Michael and I FINALLY went out on a real date! Besides meeting up with some of Michael's fellow residents for a hospital happy hour, this was our first time out in 3 years! Aunt Ashley agreed to babysit for us, so we took her up on her offer before she could back out!

We met up with Chelsea, Danny, Kelly and Jason for a night of fun at Eddie V's.

The guys... Danny, Jason and Michael

Jason.... haha!

The 6 of us... Last time we were all out together was New Year's 2009! Way too long!

New Year's 2009... Michael already changed out of his clothes. He was not aware of our picture obsession!

50 sucks

2012-05-07T10:06:00.001-05:00

Last Friday my stepdad turned 50!

My sisters and I have been planning his party for what seems like forever! We had lots of surprises up our sleeves... starting with Krista flying in from Virginia! We surprised him at work on Friday and took him to lunch at Escalante's.

My stepdad with his 2 daughters... Krista and Melanie

Saturday afternoon we met at my mom's house while he was away and started decorating for his big surprise party! We made him this gift basket complete with an Apple TV

His next door neighbor made him this one

Lots of suckers for lots of kids!

He was so surprised when he walked in!

The kids bagged up some of the confetti and kept jumping out at random times to surprise others... they thought it was hysterical!

For his last surprise, we had his siblings fly in for his party. It was possibly the sweetest sight ever to see how excited he was to have them there.

Aunt Krista and Kane

haha! best shirt ever!

Krista and I took on the task of emailing 50 people from his past and asking them to send us a memory that they had of him. It was more difficult to get all this organized than we ever imagined, but SO worth it!

(idea from Pinterest)

Melanie handing him the letters. He was so touched that people took the time to do this just for him.

Love and appreciate him more than he knows!

I am pretty sure the bakery misunderstood how many people we needed to feed! ha! So much cake!

Melanie insisted that he blow out 50 candles, so he recruited all the grandchildren to help him.

While assisting in blowing out the candles Kane helped himself to a big chunk of cake! oops!

After cake we all sat down to watch a slideshow that Melanie put together.

Krista, Kane and Cadyn

Kylie and Krista

pretty positive Kane helped himself to enough suckers to make MY stomach hurt

My mom and her best friend. They have been BFFs since they were 6 years old.

my sweet grandmother

Scott and his siblings

My blue eyed girls!

Once the party died down, we all went outside so the guys could race their cars.

We had the best time planning Scott's 50th birthday party! So glad we were able to pull it all off!

volunteering at school

2012-05-04T07:01:00.002-05:00

The other morning my brother called me in a panic... he signed up to volunteer for Kylie's class activity and could not make it. Kane and I had a hour to dress and make it there, but we did with a few minutes to spare!

Sweet Kylie was so surprised and happy to see us there! She immediately made room for Kane in her chair and they listened to her teacher's directions together.

My little boy jumped right in like he was a big 1st grader!

waiting for Kylie's teacher to put all the kids in groups

Kylie asked her teacher if Kane could be in her group.... sweetest cousin ever!

In the madness to get to her school in time, we did not have time to stop and grab her a hot lunch. Sweet girl still asked that we stay and sit next to her.

Our impromptu trip turned out to be a lot of fun! I am so glad I am available to spend extra time with my nieces. Every extra minute is a huge blessing!

you jump, I jump!

2012-05-03T13:53:00.001-05:00

Chelsea invited us over to her MIL's house yesterday afternoon for a swim party.

Kane has not been swimming yet this year, but he took to it in no time! We had such a great time playing and talking with good friends.

Kane played on Amberly's tricycle before we got in the water

Amberly is a fish! She jumps right in without any hesitation!

We brought along our bubble machine so the kids could play with it.

Amberly and Violet

Sweetest little girls!

Amberly gets major air when she jumps!

We had to convince Kane to jump in at first... "Kane, watch Ambs"! ha! It worked like a charm though!

pretty little lady!

matching floaties for K and A

Kane LOVED jumping to his Aunt Chelsea!

She was the best aunt and let him jump to her time and time again!

I loved watching the two of them together...Kane had so much fun!

Grandma Devoni was the best swim coach to these little swimmers. She worked with them in the deep end and tried to teach them how to kick.

She also served the kids fruit and popsicles! She surely knows the way to Kane's heart!

Kane and I had the best time and can not wait to go back and swim some more!

Kane screams for ice cream!

2012-05-02T22:46:00.002-05:00

Kane and I spent yesterday afternoon on a mini mommy-son date. Kane loves going to the park these days. We don't go every single day, but we try to go as often as possible. Much to my disappointment, I am always the ONLY mom there. There are nannies galore to chat with, but no moms. Nonetheless, Kane always finds friends to play with... and that's the important part.

He gets a kick out of chasing birds. He loves running up to them and seeing them fly away.

Once we got nice and sweaty, we decided that an ice cream from Marble Slab sounded perfect to cool down!

Kane picked blueberry ice cream with gummy bears... mommy picked sweet cream ice cream with gummy bears :)

"Mommy, I want this one"

Love fun afternoons with my little guy!

aquarium

2012-05-01T09:21:00.000-05:00

My friend Stephanie and I took the kids to The Aquarium at Moody Gardens a few weeks ago. We decided it would be more fun to all ride down together, so she came and picked us up!

Kane, Brad and Bella

Sweet babies trying to hold hands

Group hug!

They were so excited to be together. They jumped up and down the whole time we waited in line.

looking at the penguins

monkey see,

monkey do.

After the aquarium, we went to the Rainforest Cafe to eat lunch before heading home.

We had so much fun! Can't wait to go back and check out The Rainforest at Moody Gardens!

Blake's train party

2012-05-01T08:27:00.000-05:00

Kane's friend Blake turned 2 the other week and invited us to his adorable train party. His mom surprised all the kids by having a train come by for a little bit.

All the kids waiting to take a ride

Kane checking out the train

At first Kane was so excited to take a ride!

But as soon as we took off, he lost it! Screaming uncontrollably! Poor kid hated the train! I was in shock and certain CPS would be knocking on my door later that night.

Broke my heart to see him so upset.

Thankfully, we came across a tractor in a empty lot and he calmed down.

He was traumatized. ha!

Back at Blake's house there was also a moonwalk. For some reason, Kane was afraid of that too. We think he was just not feeling well that day because he passed on cake too. So unlike him!

He opted to quietly play with Blake's trains instead.

Sweet Blake getting ready to blow out his candles.

Sugar Land Airport

2012-04-29T13:05:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting to take Kane to the Sugar Land Airport for as long as I can remember. We finally decided that this weekend was the perfect time. The weather was beautiful, so there were a ton of planes taking off and landing.

The airport itself was gorgeous. There were a couple gated patios with chairs and tables that you could use. They had a mini cafeteria inside in case you wanted snacks.

They had multiple planes parked right in front of the patios. This particular plane was getting ready to take off.

LuLu tagged along with us for the afternoon.

There was a huge gated park a mile or so away from the airport. Can we say PERFECT place for an airplane themed birthday party! I am defiantly reconsidering Kane's 3rd birthday party theme. Already called the airport to make sure it can be rented out and decorated! Best part about it... you can use it for free!

On the far side of the park is a huge gazebo... perfect for setting up party tables!

The runway is located right by the park so you get a great view of the planes taking off and landing.

Kane was running around pretending to be a plane!

There were multiple picnic tables and grills all over the park that you can use too.

After a great afternoon at the airport we headed to BJ's for some lunch. Kane took it upon himself to eat all of our fries!