The Kirbys

Master Mike

April 29, 2013

He did it! Mike got his MBA!!

I am over the moon proud of my guy. It has been a loooong two years, but he we did it! I joke with him that he may have done all of the assignments, but this was a group effort for sure!

We don't know where the Lord will take us next but we are excited to get started with our next adventure!

It was so fun watching Daddy down there with the class of 2013 (the MBA's have the yellow sashes on and Mike is in the second row of sashes, second from the end furtherest from us) and we were so excited when his name was called. The girls and I practiced yelling "Go Daddy!!" Of course when the time came to scream it out it was hardly synchronized but Mike said it was still really cute :)

As soon as they called his name though, we were out. I took all three of our fidgety babies up the stairs and back out to the lobby area to wait it out while they read the rest of the hundreds of graduates' names. Taking on a three hour graduation commencement ceremony with three kids by yourself, not the most awesome or sane thing to do; running around in the open hallways, way more awesome.

When they were finally done reading we met Daddy outside for a few pictures at the Marriott Center in our BYU blue.

And then we went over to where Mike spent the last two years, the Tanner building.

Mike and Kylie both finished school during the same week and even though Kylie didn't have a formal preschool graduation, I still wanted to make sure we got some pictures of our two "graduates."

(I made Kylie's cap and gown out of Mike's gown from when he earned his undergraduate degree 6 years ago.)

We are so proud of you, Daddy!

Congratulations!

My Boy in a Bowtie

April 22, 2013

Oh man, that's all I have to say. I picked up this little bow tie for my Hudsey guy and just about died yesterday when I put it on him before church. I mean seriously though, he's just so dapper looking with his little bow tie and faux-hawk, well I guess as dapper as an almost seven month old can look with drool all over his shirt.

A Little of What's Coming

April 20, 2013

I feel like there is so much going on right now and so much to look forward to, but so much on our plates that I don't even know how to keep track of everything. Mike is in his last week of school right now, he graduates on Friday and it is so crazy to me to look back at how quickly this 2 year MBA program has flown by. Kylie is out of school so we are getting into the swing of summer (well, as much as we can in the middle of spring). We are taking some new family pictures in the next couple of weeks so of course outfit choices and shopping has consumed a giant chunk of my brain. And we are busy planning our second annual trip to Disneyland next month. It's funny, we have been so consumed with everything else lately that our big family vacation next week has totally been put on the back burner, so much so that we didn't realize it was coming up so soon! We're excited though. The girls are ecstatic and I'm excited to not have to carry around a pregnant belly this time.

Today, in between running our usual Saturday errands, Kylie ran out in her "family pictures dress," as she refers to it, and went out and picked flowers on the front lawn. There are a number of things about our cute little townhouse that I will be glad to leave when we finally move (mostly the space and the train) but I sure do love that little tree that sits right outside our family room window that blooms with the prettiest little pink and white blossoms in the Spring. I'll miss that tree :)

Preschool Graduate

April 19, 2013

Okay, well there was no graduation, but my little Ky is officially on her way to kindergarten and kissed preschool goodbye.

I cannot believe that it has already been an entire school year and she is finished with school. We absolutely loved the BYU preschool and are so glad we decided to send Kylie there. She LOVED all of her teachers and all of the fun activities they did every day.

Her favorite center was painting, her favorite song and dance was tootie tot and bear hunt, and she loved playing in the sandbox and recess. Every single day my floor would be caked in sand after taking her shoes off when we got home.

At the end of the year they sent each child home with a bound portfolio of all of their photos and activities from the year. It is such a neat keepsake to have to remember her at this sweet stage. I also wanted to make sure that before I left, after dropping her off for her last day, that we would have some photos of her favorite things from preschool.

Kylie and her teacher, Mr. Brad, he was awesome! He put up with me sitting in the observation booth more than any other mom through the whole year :)

They celebrated their last day with a pajama party and a movie (hence the jammies).

And I had to get a picture of her in the same spot where she stood before her first day of school too.

We were so sad to leave the gates of the preschool for the last time, but we had so much fun and Kylie loved every minute of it.

28th

For the last few months I've been giving Mike the hardest time abut turning 30 (of course none of it phased him). All of that talk about turning 30 though had me thinking that I was turning 30 too. So I was super excited when my actually day came around and I realized I was only turning 28!

To celebrate we went to our new favorite little spot, Thanksgiving Point, and enjoyed their annual Tulip Festival. I try to remind Mike that my tulips are my favorite flower as often as possible, just in case he wants to surprise me with some at any given time. It was the perfect spring day. I wore a really cute outfit with my new cute boots and felt like the cutest 28 year old there :) We were silly, we skipped, we danced, we played, we embarrassed Mike, all of my favorite things!

After spending the day out and about we came back in the evening to the most glorious desert you could ever imagine. I made this triple chocolate cheesecake, and I kid you not, I ate 90% of it by myself. The girls each had a tiny sliver, Mike had a tiny piece, and over the course of the next few days I ate the rest. And I don't regret a single calorie of that heavenly desert.

My babes sang me "happy birthday"and I finished the perfect day with lots of hugs and kisses. It really was one of my most favorite birthdays to date. The weather was perfect, the food was ridiculous and the company was the best.

Happy Birthday to me!

Nature Walk

April 5, 2013

The babes and I went on a little "nature walk" the other day. We explored trees, gathered rocks, sticks, flowers and leaves, and I brought my camera. I wanted to capture their sweet curiosity even doing something as simple as walking around our neighborhood. I love all of the little treasures we were able to take home with us, including this little video.

Enjoy :)

Gratitude

March 31, 2013

I'm so grateful that I was able to spend my Easter Sunday with these three beautiful children and their amazing daddy. We had a wonderful morning at church being reminded of our Savior and the amazing love that he has for each one of us. We got home and shared some sweet Easter baskets with the little monkeys, and finished the day with an Easter ham.

And I've been able to enjoy these pretty little blooms too. I got them for myself for Easter. It is amazing how much joy fresh flowers bring to my home (at least for the next seven days). Some day I will have hydrangea bushes in my backyard and I'll be able to snip them whenever I fancy, and they will make my table feel so happy.

Egg Hunts

March 30, 2013

We went to an Easter egg hunt that was put on by the MBA spouses association on Friday and both girls got toooooootally jipped. Emily got one egg (and a rock), and only because Mike was fighting off the other kids so she could get one, and Kylie got zero, and she cried. It was so sad. Sooooo, the next day our church was putting on a hunt and we figured we'd try our luck one more time and hopefully walk away a with maybe two eggs this time.

Thankfully for their little eggs loving hearts, they had the kids sectioned off by age, there were more than enough for all of the kids, and they actually hid the eggs rather than just throwing them in a big pile on the lawn and saying, here kids, go fight over these (I mean seriously, it's called a hunt for a reason). I digress...

The girls had the best time searching for the little plastic candy holders. And by a few minutes into it, the bigger kids were helping them fill their baskets and reach the little eggs that were up a little too high. It made my little mama heart feel better after my babes were crying the night before.

Cookies

March 29, 2013

These little girls LOVE to bake. They pretty much just love to be in the kitchen, period. Kylie would seriously rather watch the Food Network over any cartoon and when 4pm rolls around, the world stops because Giada De Laurentiis is on TV. She is her idol, I'd even goes as far as to say she's obsessed.

The other day I needed a serious mid-day chocolate fix and my girls needed something to do so I convinced them to make me some cookies. I let them mix up the whole thing themselves (which was a big deal for me and my ocd...)

Kylie was sooo excited to be able to crack the eggs all by herself. I didn't give her any instructions since she told me that she already knew how to do it (from watching Giada I'm sure), so I just watched. She cracked it on the side of the bowl with so much confidence, until it oozes all over her hands. She was so surprised and disgusted. It was pretty hilarious. Ever since, every time I go to crack an egg, she chimes in and is sure to tell me she does NOT want to do the eggs anymore.