A Note To My Girls

To My Girls,

It seems that there is no slowing down life, there is no way that I can preserve where you are today and keep you here for just a bit longer.  With each day we are all growing up together and I can only do my best job to remember what today was like because tomorrow you will have grown a little more.

You are both at incredible stages in life and I am noticing and jotting down all the things that I see you do and hear you say and I can't believe that this is how good life can be.  We are loving life up these days and I want to remember all this goodness!

Kamille, 

You are spot on 3.5 years old and on your 1/2 birthday we sang you a quick Happy Half Birthday before we tucked you into bed.  You had told me at some point that you wanted to have two birthdays this year and this completely satisfied you!  Despite being 3.5, you are really excited to be 4 years old and then 5 years old so that you can go to Kindergarden.  Oh little one, please don't rush this for me!

I still think that the best word to describe you today is Spunky and when you get into a giddy funny mood, your spunk just explodes and makes us all smile!  Although you are a tad bit less persistent about what you wear everyday, you still like to have a part in figuring out what you will wear and how you will have your hair.  You still love to pull your clothes out of your closet and layer them up in such crazy outfits while spending quiet time in your room each day.  During the day you love to play with stickers and paper.  You fold paper up and stick stickers on it to keep it folded.  So many stickers and folded papers lying around our house these days.  I love watching you do puzzles.  Now I don't have anyone to compare you to, but I think that you are brilliant at doing them.  We bought you a puzzle appropriate for ages 5+ and you can do it all on your own.  I love watching your eyes move around as you work hard to piece it all together.  You love shopping bags, purses and any other type of bag that you can get your hands just so that you can fill them with random findings from around the house.  If there is anything I am missing, I know to check out your shopping bags, purses and backpacks because chances are you've swiped it.

Most of all you love to play house when you get to be "the mommy."  You are such a great little mama to your babies and when we 'play house' you always ask me to be the "big sister."  You call me "big sister" however, when you play with your dolls you always give them the craziest names.  Your name giving always makes me giggle because it starts out as a real name and then evolves into a bunch of different sounds after.  So, for example, Ella-bing-la-dee-ka-ma or Jess-e-mu-kee-ya-me.  Its hilarious to watch your face as it stretches around these twisted and elaborate names.  Sometimes I ask you to tell me the name again just so I can see if it comes out the same way.

And speaking of you speaking, you have such a great vocabulary and when I hear you talking on your "cell phone" to your friends or my friends, I realize how much you absorb from me.  Certain expressions and the way you pause, scrunch your face, shake your head or move your hands.  You would swear that there was actually someone you were listening and responding to at the end of your line.  So cute!

I love the way that you say the words, cottage, peach, cheese.  Sometimes I make you say them just so I can hear the way the sound comes out.  I should get it on video.  And my recent favourite iss your attempts to say mosquito.  If we don't say it first, you say spaguito, maguito or smugito.  Cracks me up. I also love the way you use the word "her" instead of "she."  When you are talking about Karis you'll say something like, "her don't want tofu for dinner, her don't like it."  I always think that it will be a sign of being a big girl when you start saying "she."  A couple days ago when we were eating blueberries you came across a squished one and as you held it up for me to see you said "this blueberry doesn't work in my mouth Mommy."  Ha!  The things you say!

You do have a "bad word" too and I don't love it when you say it, but a loud "ba" means that you're pissed.  You get a really angry look on your face and point your finger and out comes a really direct "ba."  Not sure how it came to be, (actually I need to stop pointing my finger, that's my dirty fault) but we treat it as a bad word and address what's going on for you when you use it.  You even let out sneaky, quiet little "ba"'s when you know that I just might be listening and you're pissed off at me but don't want to make it a big issue.  Oh, you are a teenager in the making.

You are still a delicate little girl and although you rarely get bumps and scratches from risky moves, you love to play up the "owies" that you do get.  We have finally been able to move past your obsession with needing a bandaid for every owie that you do get because Daddy introduced you to the idea of a "nature's bandaid"- the scab.  Now you love to point out how well your nature's bandaids are healing your owies and the blisters that you get from your beloved Crocs.

You certainly are a spunky girl Kam.  And a girl like you easily finds herself with many fun nicknames to suit that personality.  Some of the names that we all call you are, Kam, Kam-Star, Kami-T, Peanut, Meatball, Kammer and Kamster. 

Karis, 
 
I want to capture you - my baby who is not yet one year.  It seems that being 10 months old has brought out so many changes that we are seeing.  You really are quickly turning into a small child and less of a baby.

We call you "the girl in the trenches" because of your unique way of getting around.  I know its typically called comando crawling, but you seriously get right in there and dig your toes into the ground, pushing off as your forearms pull your forward.  Its hilarious - and you're fast.  I love it.

You are just starting to push yourself up into a downward dog position and making efforts to pull yourself up in your crib and at the bottom of the stairs.  Big things are happening.  It great to see you take over the main floor of the house and move around discovering everything from inches off the ground.  When I hold you up by your hands, you step forward with pointy feet and unstable legs.  Just the beginnings, my love. 

Along with your moves, your sounds are also changing and I am sure that you are responding to us with your own words.  We love it when you give us a good raspy "haaaah."  Its like you're laughing along with us or showing us your excitement.  And if its not the "haaah, haaah" sound then its a "t" sound that you push out from your belly with a puff of air.  "te, te, te."  You are talking to us.

You are definitely starting to use ma-ma-ma and da-da-da sounds to get mine and Daddy's attention.
Its so neat that you have put that together.  You call me from your crib and I can't help but run to you when I hear it!  You can mimic small sounds that I make to you like "ga-ga-ga" or "pa-pa-pa" too.

And although you may be a pickier eater than Kamille was, you positively must eat a huge handful of Cheerios and a full cut up banana to get your day started off right.  Seriously, every morning I get the same full body excitement when I hold up the bag of Cheeerios and a banana.  Will you ever want something different?

 This is the month that you consistently slept through the night.  Amazing!  You have always been an amazing sleeper (for which I am extremely grateful), but it was this month that you slept from about 8pm to 7am for almost 2 weeks straight.  Its very rare that you get up at night and if you do, its only once for a quick snuggle, some boob and then you are off to sleep again.  Thank you for this my sweet one!

I love the littleness of your head and how I can still cup your head in my hands and kiss your face all over as you look up at me with a huge 4-tooth open mouth smile.  You are so delicious!
Recently you have started to snuggle in and give me head-resting-on-my-shoulder hugs.  Oh, I could hold you like that for hours, but five seconds seems to fill you up and so I will take what you give and remember that feeling of pure comfort.

As I mentioned in a different post, you totally have music appreciation and bounce around when you hear music or a beat of some sort.  I love when you play with Kamille's small pots, pans and metal kitchen utensils.  You really get into banging away and bouncing about.

Just like your sister and I, we will forever be people watchers.  You are social and are totally cool with tagging along with the family to whatever we get up to.  However, the one thing that you totally don't like is sitting in shopping carts.  It drives you nuts and you twist and move about, complaining about having to be strapped in.  Super bummer.  But if this is the only bummer I can think of, then I will still call you the perfect baby.  I am crazy in love with you.

Together you girls are beautiful.  You enjoy each other's company and other than the ocassional "her took my toy" moment, you make each other giggle and squeal while you roll around on the floor together.  When you are having such a good time together your sister calls you "Kaawaaaas" with this hilarious look on your face.  It makes me laugh.  Some of your other nicknames are Kare Bear, Kerr Bert (from Dad), Kariboo, Monkey (from me), Karis Bo Bo (from Kamille), Poopsy Lou (when I am changing a stinky nappy) and most recently Karis from Paris, or Karis de Paris (from Auntie Jilly and said with a very french accent!).  

You both make it so easy to be a Mommy and I am more than grateful that you are both healthy, happy and thriving girls.  I do not take any of this for granted.  Every day I think of just how lucky I am.  I love every ounce of you both and I am soaking up everything about your 3.5 year old and 10 month old selves.

xoxo
Mommy

P.S.  When we had the driveway widened this month we all left our mark.  If there is one thing that we can preserve, its the size that your hands and feet were while you are this small.  Our hands prints won't change but soon your hand and foot will be bigger than what you stamped out.  This will always be there for us to remember your smallness.  I like that.

Muffin Mondays

I totally value the importance of spending quality 1:1 time with my girls.  In my job, I preach it.  I tell parents that at the very least, 15 minutes of "special play" with your child can make the world of difference in the tone of your day and in your overall relationship with your child.  And this special play is all about letting your child feeling like they are #1 in your world.  The child gets to determine the play and call the shots while you follow their lead.  Now, I get that fifteen minutes a day can seem like a long time when life demands you in so many other ways and I am just as guilty of not making time for special play as any other mother out there.  However, I do try to spend some sort of 1:1 time with each of my girls, fifteeen minutes more or less, everyday.

Ever since Karis came into our lives, finding time to spend just with Kamille can be difficult at times. But the one thing that Kamille and I have come to enjoy together is what we call "Muffin Mondays." Mondays are usually the slower start to our week.  We don't often have many plans that day and so its a great day to implement something fun to look forward to.

For Christmas this past year, I received the book The Complete Muffin Cookbook.  It has over 130 different muffin recipes in it, ranging from Get-Up-and-Go muffins, to Herby Cheesy muffins, to Crunchy, Crumbly, Fruity, Spicy Do-Da muffins, to Extra-Effort-But-Worth-It muffins, to Low-Fat-But-Still-Worth-It muffins and Holiday, Special Occasion and Good Time muffins.  With so many to choose, we decided to make it a weekly or bi-monthly thing to try to work through this book.

We wait until Karis has gone down for her morning nap and then we get to it.  The book is laid out really well and all the ingredients are simple and fast to organize in your kitchen.  Kamille is now a pro at taking out the muffin trays and cooling rack all by herself.  While I take out all the ingredients that we need, she neatly arranges our silicone muffin cups into a fun pattern in the trays.  We have two sizes - one for adult muffins and one for kiddy muffins.  I love these muffin cups.  I also used them for freezing the perfect amount of baby food purees when Karis was first eating solids, not to mention that they are a more green choice to the paper cups that gets tossed after one use. 

Anyway, after measuring out dry ingredients, Kamille gets to tip it all into the bowl and give it a stir. This is the time that I usually have to take a deep breath and be ok with the amount of spillage that happens.  Small hands learning to do big things can sometimes tip me over the edge because I have somewhat obsessive/compulsive tendencies with being neat, tidy and efficient with things like this (as I have mentioned in past posts here and here).  Silly me! 

And muffins are easy.  They are quick to assemble, not a lot of fru-fru and doing complicated things with the ingredients.  Clean up is usually limited to 2 bowls, a spatula and a couple measuring spoons and cups.  Overall, its not a lot of effort for some quality time spent with my girl.   She loves it.  And the best thing of all is that we never have to debate over what will have for our morning snack - muffins of course!

Whether its weekly or bi-monthly, on a Monday or falls on a Saturday, making muffins is something that I want to remember about life right now with my Kamille.  

My Juggling Act

So as I approach the end of this maternity leave I look back at the past 10 months and all that I have done and accomplished as Mom, partner, homemaker, friend and self.  In the beginning, I stressed over it.  I tried to do it all and really, I did not do a good job at any of it with that mindset.  Again, the book MOMfulness helped me to completely re-prioritize the things in my life and to find a new way to move through life doing all the things that I should do as well as those things that I want to do.

It wasn't until I found this description of "doing it all" on one of my favourite blogs that I was finally able to put this new mindset into words.  I'd always read Kelle's blog and thought "geez, how does she do it all?" and here was the answer.  This is what she says when asked the question....

Q:  How do you do it all?

A:  I don't.  If you saw my house, you would certainly understand this.  I am always juggling a trillion balls and while some balls remain up and flying, there are always a few that are falling and scattered.  We choose each day what we will attempt to juggle well.  

To me, this is such a great way to think of it.  Outside of daily routines, I have a lot of balls that I can juggle on any given day.  Balls like, laundry, vacuuming and cleaning toilets, getting through my stack of Today's Parent magazines, taking, deleting, editing and sharing photos, websurfing and facebook, menu planning, crafting, working out, blogging, spending some 1:1 time with each of my girls, and giving some time to my Kevin as well.  To me, these balls represent life to me right now.  They are the things that I choose to juggle lately.  My juggling act would have looked a lot different when I was working or before I had kids and will look a lot different when I start my MA program in the fall. 

There are also balls that I would love to juggle and are within my grasp (like reading novels), but I choose to pick up others rather than that one because, well, the "book" ball never seems as attractive to me as the blogging or barrette making balls do right now!  And I'll tell you, I have picked up that "reading a novel" ball many times and I end up dropping it just as fast.  It must be slippery!  ; )

And although the concept of juggling can still allow for spontaneity like a last minute call from a friend to see about going shopping in the city rather than staying at home for a day of housework, it is generally a very well thought out juggling act for me. I like to have an idea of what balls I will have the choice to  work with from day to day.  And sometimes one juggling act directly impacts the next act (like when I stay up till midnight to work on this post, knowing full well that it is cutting into my time with the "sleeping ball" in hand) so its also good to know when you need to drop one ball and pick up another!

There is a sense of ease in choosing what I will do in each day.  I can't do it all, however I do know that I am really good at juggling what I can do well.  Some days my act has a few balls, some days it has thousands.  Now when I start to notice a feeling of stress because I sense a lot to do, or maybe it feels like I haven't played on the floor with one of my girls enough,  I tell myself to chill out and then I think about how I am going to change up my act.  When am I going to pick up some new balls and put others down.  It just helps me to keep it all in perspective and I like it.

photos taken when i was just playin' with my girls....

(how ridiculous is that barrette!!!??)

Bath Time!

If there was a smell that I could bottle up just to remember forever it would be that of a new born baby.  There is something special about the smell of a goopy new baby.  And its strange that a goopy baby can smell that good considering its been sitting inside a body for nine months or so.  None the less, it is a smell that is nearly impossible to preserve and save for later.  So when Karis was born, I asked the nurse if we could prolong her first bath for as long as possible just so I could savour that newborn smell. Afterall, that white goop is good for their skin, so why wash it and its scent away so soon!!??

However, that first bath is inevitable and the next best smell is that of a fresh baby who has been bathed in the hospital's best choice - Johnson & Johnson's Baby Shampoo.

a little bottle of golden deliciousness

And so try as I might to recreate that smell at home, nothing compares to the smell of your baby in its first days of life.  That is the one smell I wish that I could bottle up.  

Today, I still love a good smelling girl.  I sample the smells of different bath wash, shampoos and soaps to see how delicious my girls will be as they get tucked into bed after their bath.

My girls love bath time!  Splashing around in the big tub, playing with tub toys and getting all soapy.  For the girls, its the best way to wind down a day of play.  For me, its all about washing chalky hands, dirty flip-flop marked feet, and food stained faces - all evidence of a great day of play and fun.

In our home bath time immediately follows dinner and all depending on the events of the day, its my favourite time to watch the girls interact, or it can feel like just one more chore or thing that I-just-don't -want-to-do that I need to get through.  You see, my bathtub is DEEP.  When we bought the house, we thought it was a fantastic kid's bathroom.  I envisioned filling it up so our children could learn to float and do other fun things, or myself taking long soaks by candle light, but really I haven't done either of those things.  And the positions that I have to bend in to clean the girls can sometimes be an ab and lower back workout in itself.  However, just sayin.  See for yourself.....

no joke, this is pregnant me, bathing kamille.  don't laugh.  this is why it is sometimes a chore. 

At night, when I bring Karis up to bathroom she kicks her legs with excitement.  She will one day be our swimmer.  She has no fear and thoroughly enjoys splashing, being splashed and rolling around.  She is also a very serious "bath toy" player.  She gets down to business when she gets in the tub, taking each squirty-squeeze animal out of the basket, giving it a smile and a toss before her big sis gets in and steals them all away from her.

Kamille has become slightly reserved in the tub as she has gotten older.  She's got such long hair so her bath time is pretty much the business of getting all that hair washed - another chore part!

All of this hair now requires big girl shampoo and conditioner.  And we'd be useless without our Boon Flo hair shower thingy.  Its ideal...and I suppose the best thing about having a deep tub is that Kam can sit right under it, so its not awkward for her.

My most favourite part of bath time is watching the girls grow to enjoy it together.  Initially Karis would just lye there and take all the splashing and kicking from Kamille, but now that she is sitting and "taking charge" of the toys, its neat to see them laugh and splash around together.

they are just so cute together

And once their hair and bodies are washed, teeth are brushed and jammies are put on I get to snuggle up to each one as I tuck them into bed and get one last smell of their delicious bodies.  Such a sweet way to send them into a good night sleep.  

evidence of good fun in the tub

A Love List.

We returned home to find that summer had finally arrived in our small part of this world!  Yipeee!
Lots of sun, a touch of heat, some gorgeous blowing wind and I am one happy Mama!

And when life feels that good, its easy to see so many things to be appreciative of and love.

Hence, my next Love List

1.  having the windows open all day and night long.  Because feeling that wind refresh our house over and over all day long is just so wonderful and at night I fall into a delicious sleep listening to the sounds of night, tucked in perfectly under my summer weighted duvet.  Yum. 

2.  the way Kamille squeals "hair party" when we are driving in the car and she sees Karis' hair blowing in the wind.  This expression of hers is so cute, because its true, when its windy, our hair does party in the breeze!

3. my morning coffee.  So its official.  After about 10+ years of being a "take it or leave it" coffee drinker, I have now fallen deeply in love with the morning ritual of sipping a hot coffee.  Sunny summer mornings seem that much more perfect with the delicious smell of freshly brewed coffee and the warmth  of slightly creamy yummyness in a fresh white mug.   However, the funny thing about this statement is that although I love this ritual, I still think that I am less in love with the concept of drinking a full cup at once.  The not so romantic view of my love for coffee is that I am often reheating that same mug about 3 times during the early parts of the day...and then by mid afternoon, I usually give it up and toss it in the sink. Silly me!

4.  karis dancing.  My little groovilicous baby does the cutest little bob and bounce move when she hears a catchy tune on the radio or a commercial that has an upbeat jingle to it.  I love the moment when her ears catch the sound, she looks towards it as her eyes widen and then she slowly starts to bounce.  So cute!

5.  barrettes for little girls.  So I've got another craft obsession happening again.  I am lovin' these cute girly girl barrettes.  I have a plan in the works to market them to my friends and sell them as a "made to order" type deal.  And despite my long "things to do list" for my last months of maternity leave, I still choose to consume any free time that I might have with something that I completely do not need to do at all.  Making stuff like this puts me in my happy place for sure!

just a few of the fun stuff i've made so far.....

6. community spirit.  In the summer months there is so much going on in town.  So many festivals, mountain bike races, triathlons and other attractions that draw people outside to be together in great spirits!  And when something fun comes to town,  I am the biggest fan of cheering on the sidelines.  I love being inspired by great people doing great things!  I hope that I can keep the excitement for community spirit going with my girls as they get older.

 the epic test of metal, 67km mountain bike race, 800 riders - amazing!

 cheering on the riders!

kamille taking a snack break from all the cheering we did.
even karis joined in rather than napping. 

fun kid events too!  kamille joining in for the mini metal bike "race".  

look at those little legs fly! 

7.  14,000 Things To Be Happy About.  This book is so much fun. My sister had a copy of it and I loved picking it up and turning to a random page.  There truly are so many small things to enjoy in life.  I've got to get myself a copy of this one because it is a great reminder of all the happy things we are surrounded by and motivates me to keep adding and noticing those "happy things" into my everyday. 

8.  eating outside.  Whether its a picnic lunch on the side of the lake, an afternoon snack on the front porch or dinner with great friends on the stunning patio of one of our favourite restaurants, eating outside is so great.  There is so much more to see, it seems more social and spills and messes don't seem to be such a big deal. 

9. www.weelicious.com 's daily lunch photo.  Following my "I hate making lunch post,"  I was reintroduced to this site by a fantastic mom's comment.   After "liking" weelicious on facebook, I am now privy to some amazing inspiration for making lunches.   This Weelicious Mama posts a daily photo of her son's lunch and let me tell you, this ain't no sandwhich, granola bar and a piece of fruit kind of lunch.  Not only are there foods of all kinds and things you would never think to put in a lunch, but they are served up in an equally as awesome laptop lunch container.  Although I have yet to craft up some crazy delicious lunches for Kamille and I, I am really loving the inspiration and I look forward to sending Kamille off to school with her very own super cool laptop lunch box!

 these are some serious lunches!  check out the site for great ideas!

10.  getting into a Master's program!  I got accepted to City University to do my MA in Counselling.  I. am. super. excited.  and I love that I will one day get to do the work that really makes me happy - counselling youth and families!  I start in October so it gives me one extra month to soak up this pretty chill-axed, easy going life that I have goin' on right now!

Summer brings out so much to love...and all this sunshine just accentuates it for me.
I know that in a couple months it will be done and over with.  The days will get shorter and the temperatures will drop, but I know that I will roll into the fall season with just as much excitement!  Oranges, browns, sweaters and jeans, crisp morning air and slowcooker dinners.   Yum!

Until then, I'm gonna take this summer and jam-pack it with so much fun!  Its the final months of maternity leave and life will never have this amount of freedom for me.

Must. Live. (and Love). Every. Ounce.

Summer Heat And A Tea Party

After a week of fun and sun at the cottage, we packed up our cars and headed on back to the city.  It felt good to be leaving.  I was looking forward to a sand-less bed to sleep in and not having to slather on handfuls of sunscreen each time we stepped out the door.  However, I suppose I was not prepared for the wall of humidity that we drove into as we came back to London.  It was the kind of heat that makes it feel closer to 40 degrees celsius and breathing in feels thick and heavy.  Totally hot! 

For the rest of the week, the expression that came from me almost every hour became  "Its stinkin' hot."  I mean, it was so hot that I sweat just walking out the door, I got blisters from walking in my sandals because my feet were sweaty and I couldn't stand the feeling of any hair on my neck.  

It was the kind of heat that means having to keep the blinds closed inside and living much like a vampire just to ensure that the internal temperature of the house doesn't dare compete with that of it outside. 

But despite not being able to enjoy long periods of time outside, we filled our second week with some really fun things.

Like staying cool in the shade of Grandpa's backyard.....

And baking "no bake" chocolate squares with Auntie Jilly....

and then playing dress up.....

But the ultimate in dress up and girly girl goodness is having lunch at Once Upon A Tea Cup.  If you've got girly girls, Once Upon A Tea Cup is a "whimsical land of make belief and magic" in which to set them free! 

The concept itself is centered on the time-honored tradition of the tea party. Women can share a pot of tea and light fare, while their little ones can join in with their “tea” (warm infused milk topped with sprinkles!) being served in miniature teacups and saucers. To enhance their experience we have our featured “Closet” - a wonderland of costumes to ignite their imaginations. Playing dress-up and enjoying tea with their mommies is a wonderful way for any little one to spend their afternoon.

And if you didn't know already, Once Upon A Tea Cup was founded by Christopher Noth (yes, the Mr. Big) and his wife, who is from Windsor, Ontario. 

my sister's little king, kingsley

The Closet is the place where our girls transformed into fairies, princesses and other fun characters.  Despite my efforts to keep it somewhat organized during their excited and multiple wardrobe changes, I just had to learn to give it up. 

the magical closet.  something for everyone, or simply trying everything on!

This is by far Rachel's favourite place to spend an afternoon.  She is the Queen of Dress Up, for sure.

rachel proudly announcing that she is a beeeeaaauuutiful bride

When we were here at Christmas time, Kamille wasn't too interested in the dress up part of it all, but this time she got right into it.  

Sweet Cordelia mostly stayed on the sidelines this time.  She was lovin' up the hot chocolate lattes while the two girls danced around her. 

And of course we used this dress up affair to try our luck on another Cousin's photo.  Again, no perfect shot, but together they all make for a giggle.  Gotta love the chaos! 

Once Upon A Tea Cup was such good fun with my girls.

We finished off our holiday in Ontario with some more time spent with cousins, good friends, our Nana, Grandma, and our Grandpas.  Despite all of the fun we had, the girls and I were ready to come home to some kind of normalcy, cooler temperatures and our Daddy. 

And speaking of Kevin.  We were all excited to see him when we got off the airplane.  The anticipation rose as we headed down the elevator to the baggage claim area.  In the elevator, a woman commented on Kamille having taken off the bar in the front of the stroller.  I informed her that she was making sure that she had a fast getaway so that she could run to her Daddy.  And with that, the door opened and in the distance I noticed Kevin.  Once Kamille spotted him it was that perfect moment of Daddy and Daughter running towards one another.  Priceless.  Kevin had 3 colourful gerbra daisies in hand and appeared equally excited to have his girls back.  But for me, the most impressive thing about meeting Kevin was that he looked 100% awesome.  He had had some time to himself, some time on his motorcycle and then some time at home to do a number of home improvement jobs, but the one thing that made him stand out on this day was that he had got his hair cut, and well, he just looked amazing!  Fresh, happy and ready to resume life as the K4 family.  So great!