Good Morning, Birthday Girl!

July 5, 2002 at 9:52 am, God gave me the best gift a mother could ever receive. Rylee Elizabeth Keesee made her big debut with a full set of lungs! This year my baby turned 7! I cannot believe how fast time flies when you are having fun, especially as a mom! Rylee is such a sweetheart. She has a heart of gold with a side of her dad's stubbornness! I love you, and hope you had an awesome 7th Birthday!

Every year I decorate the room so that when they wake up, it's a reminder of what a special day it is! She didn't wake up very easily this year!

Rylee, Cutter and Justin

My wonderful kiddos and me!

Rylee loves anything to do with fashion! I have no idea where she gets if from because if you know me, I'm definitely not the inspiration. I'm going to have to give credit to Hannah Montana, That's So Raven, Cheetah Girls, Wizards of Waverly Place, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus for all her ideas. Anyhow, we got her a little sewing machine (that didn't work) so that she could turn all her designs into actual clothing.

Justin and Cutter taking a break from all the festivities, reading Tonka!

Rylee, I love you all the way around the world! I cannot believe you are already SEVEN years old! In honor of your birthday, here are SEVEN things I absolutely LOVE about YOU!

1. Your heart of gold! You are so caring and thoughtful, and make me so proud!

2. The way you love my mom, and pray to God every night that he lets her continue to watch over us!

3. The way you love your little brother and let him tag along!

4. Your hard-headedness. I blame your dad, but I am just as bad. I know it gets you in trouble sometimes, but it also reassures me that you won't let others run over you.

5. That you still allow me to, and call me, your Best Friend! You have no idea how much my heart melt when you say that!

6. The way you try to convince me that you are turning into a 'Tom-Boy,' but are still a 'Girlie-Girl!'

7. You can always tell when I need a hug!

4th of July at Dad's

I know, we are always on the go! With both families in town it's hard to pick and choose, so we try our best to be every where. With my mom already gone, it's hard for me to miss out on anything because I truly don't know when the last time with anyone is going to be! It's sad, but it's the truth! So, I try and cherish every moment and make new memories every day!

We went over to Dad and Hanaba's for a Fourth of July dinner. I think Cutter booted dad from the grill, and took over the hamburgers by himself! He is such handful, but I love him so much!

Here he is flipping the burgers!

Dad and Rylee in the backyard. Remember she had been up all night and swimming all day...thus the reason she looks very tired!

Taking the burgers off the grill! Makes me hungry!

This summer we went to Alta Vista's far field several times a week to ride bikes. I'm not sure if I have blogged about it or not, but Rylee has officially mastered the art of riding a bike! I'm so proud of her, and she has so much fun! Hanaba actually wrote one of her weekly columns for the Wichita Falls Times Record News on Rylee's progress. http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2009/jun/22/pedal-power/

Here's Cutter! He loves to ride his bike with Roo! He already has the whole pedaling thing down, and can't wait to take off his training wheels. I don't think I'm quite ready for that though!

Here's Roo!

Grandad and Hanaba!

Thanks for a great time, I love you both! The only thing missing was Silly Wormie!

Swimming on the 4th of July

After waking up at 7 am sharp with all the girls, Rylee, Cutter, Shaylee and I headed over to Chad and Brittney's for the annual 4th of July party! We all swam, ate and had a good time with family and friends.

Shaylee and Rylee goofing around!

Cutter loves the water, and was so excited to be swimming with his daddy.

Cutter was supposed to be giving me a kiss.

Nanny and Andy had a wrestling match. Guess who won...Nanny!

Here's Aunt Brittney and Karsen! Too cute!

Birthday Slumber Party!

Rylee decided this year that she would rather have a slumber party than a swim party for her birthday! She invited eight girls, six of whom showed up! Remind you, that made eight kids including my two! I don't know how John and Kate took care of eight, 24/7...Anyhow, I made it through the night, and the girls had a blast!

My little baby!

Rock Star party theme! We borrowed Grandad and Hanaba's microphone and amp which made our stage complete.

Rylee and Justin before the chaos began!

Roo and I

Which by the way, I have been asked not to call her that infront of other people now. Just another sign she is growing up!

All the girls eating their pizza.

Blowing out the candles.

Amalia, Rylee and Shayne

I'm sure Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift or Hannnah Montana was on!

They loved the water sprinklers (which weren't in the plans)!

Group hug!

Fashion Show 2009!

Yes, Cutter was included!

He rocked out too!

They're just pretending! They ALL ended up on my bedroom floor!

Sunday Best

I know I'm so far behind on posting thatI should just stick to the main events, but I couldn't help it. My little babies look so grown up in their church clothes!

Rylee and Cutter,

Thank you so much for being the best kids a mommy could ever ask for!

I love you all the way around the world!

Father's Day at the Farm

This Father's Day the kids and I packed up the car and headed north to Fargo. Hanaba has a farm there, that consumes much of her time. She always talks to Rylee about how when it's nice outside, she sleeps on the roof. Rylee could not wait to see this roof, and feel it our for herself. No, she did not sleep up there, but did climb the ladder to take a look!

Here they are, Hanaba and Rylee on the roof!

Wormie and Ryan playing 'Wack-a-Moley!'

The first night there we sat around the fire and told ghost stories. Rylee used the flashlight to make her stories seem more scary.

Here's Cutter and Ryan on the tractor.

Grandad and Cutter. I'm not sure what Cutter is doing with the air compressor?

Hanaba told Rylee ancient stories about the Indians burying treasure somewhere on the ranch. Rylee loves using the metal detector, but not so much the digging. That's what Grandad's are for, right?

She didn't care too much to find that sometimes old tractor parts are the treasure!

I love this picute of Cutter. Silly little boy!

Playing in the dirt!

That eventually made it's way to the mud pies!

Rylee and Cutter at the beginning of the Hay Ride! Hanaba even went and got some actual hay to put on the trailer! Such a thoughtful Grandma!

Thank you Hanaba for letting us invade your farm! We had so much fun, and hope to go again soon!

Fishing in New Braunfels

We made several trips down to New Braunfels this summer to visit my aunt, and just get out of town. This particular trip the kids and I stopped at Cabela's in Buda on the way to town. We spent an hour or two just looking around, and finally agreed on what to buy. Rylee bought a purse (no surprise), Cutter bought a toy 4 wheeler, and I bought new fishing stuff!

As soon as we got to the house, Cutter wanted to swim in the river, and Rylee wanted to fish! So we did a little of both, as I tried to keep both kids happy!

I love this picture of Rylee fishing in the back yard. The trees in their backyard are huge, and this shot makes Roo look even tinier!

She such a little fisher girl!

Playing in the hot tub!

Rehydrate after the chlorinated swim!

Both kids taking their turn on the poles! Too bad, the fish didn't like the worms I actually touched and baited!

We always have a blast when we go to visit, and this time was no exception! Thank you James and Deborah for opening your house up to us all the time. I love you both more than you know, and can't thank you enough for all that you have done and helped me with!