A Spring Day?

With the temperatures close to 70 degrees (we are in December, right?!), we decided to take a family walk along the American Tobacco Trail not far from our house. Kate enjoyed the wide open space to run while Lauren sat back, relaxed, and strolled along in her "vehicle." Here are some shots from our family outing.

What happens...

...when you give a 13 month-old a chocolate covered pretzel?

There is a Santa Claus...and an aunt and uncle!

First off...Merry Christmas!!! We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and are looking forward to a Happy New Year! Best wishes to all in 2008!

Now back to my post!

We asked Kate several weeks ago what she wanted for Christmas. She replied that she wanted Santa to bring her a Snow White doll and princess dress-up clothes. Fairly simple list with few items.

As you can see, Santa came through and left a Snow White doll under the tree! As for the dress-up clothes, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Kim and Kate's cousins took care of that request. Looks like we have two princesses in the family!

Thanksgiving Highlights

As mentioned in my previous post, we traveled to Roanoke for Thanksgiving to spend time with family. Here are a few photos highlighting our wonderful time in the mountains.

Football Mania

With the days getting cooler and the leaves falling from the trees, football was in the air over Thanksgiving break. Ryan, Mark, Riley and Matthew took the field several times during our visit with Dad and Pat this past week. Even Dad joined in as quarterback in a few games. Although the team names and scores changed throughout the days, fun was had by all!

Happy 1st Birthday, Lauren!

It's hard to believe that our precious little girl turned 1 yesterday! Where does the time go?! It has been a beautiful year and we look forward to many more wonderful years ahead. Here are some snapshots from her birthday celebrations. We were quite impressed that she stayed relatively clean during her cake eating, unlike her normal tendencies to destroy everything in her path. She's lucky she has a smile that will melt your heart!

When Lauren's thirsty...

she'll drink from the bottle any way she can!

The Wiggles

This past Friday we surprised Kate with tickets to The Wiggles, one of her favorite groups. The concert was in Roanoke, so we told her we were going to visit Grandpa and Grandma for the weekend. We arrived at the concert fairly early and asked her if she would like to walk around. She preferred to go directly to our seats and wait for the show to start. I think she was worried she would miss something if she left. We did have to explain that Greg (the yellow Wiggle) had been replaced by Sam. She is still convinced that Greg, and Sam, will be there "the next time we go." We all had a wonderful time singing and dancing to the tunes of this famous group. The pictures capture the night's event!

Where's Lauren?

Lauren can pretty much destroy the living room in less than 5 minutes. She dumps anything she can get her hands on and then moves on to the next "victim." The only bad part is that Mom gets to clean it up!

Final Halloween Event

I promise this will be my final Halloween post of 2007! Last weekend, our friends had a Halloween party for all of the kids, complete with games, prizes, food, and a surprise story reading from a witch! Kate and Lauren had a blast! We enjoyed seeing all of the kids in their costumes and watching Kate participate in the games. Plus it allowed Kate to wear her Snow White costume an additional time!

Halloween Parade and Carnival

Last Thursday was Kate's Halloween parade and carnival at preschool. The kids dressed up in their costumes and paraded around for all the parents to see. Then each class was given the opportunity to come to the "carnival" and participate in several games, receive a tattoo, and get creative with a couple of crafts. I volunteered to help, which allowed me to participate in the day's events with Kate.

Snow White and the Ladybug

Happy Halloween!

Mark and I had the pleasure of escorting a beautiful "princess" and "a bug as cute as can be" throughout the neighborhood tonight for trick-or-treating. Kate was none other than Snow White! She chose that costume back in September, and believe it or not, the idea lasted until Halloween. Very rare for a three year old! Lauren inherited her sister's ladybug costume, but we must admit, she was much more cooperative wearing the hood portion than her sister! Both girls had a wonderful time! (A special thank you to Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop for passing out our candy!)

On a side note, we had a packed fun-filled weekend! Many more posts to come in the next few days!

Kate's First Production

Ever since I watched our friend's daughter this past summer, Kate has fallen in love with "Annie." She and Abby used to watch the movie during the day when the summer temperatures were too hot to play outside. We then downloaded the ever popular song "Tomorrow" to the ipod so Kate could belt out the lyrics several times during a car ride. However, Annie became a reality this past Sunday, when Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop (Biz and Doug) gave Kate an early Christmas present and took the three of us to see the Community Theater's production of the famous show. It was FANTASTIC! Kate was mesmerized throughout the entire show...her first official production! As you can see from the photos, she was beaming from ear-to-ear (and those were taken before the show began!).

A Stroll in the Park

After our trip to the Farmer's Market two weekends ago (sorry for the delay), we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and enjoy the natural surroundings of Lake Wheeler Park. Kate expended some energy running around the playground with Mark, and then the four of us enjoyed the view of the lake from rocking chairs on the deck. Other highlights included indulging in honey covered cinnamon nuts from the Farmer's Market, eating Rice Krispie treats (compliments of Aunt Kim) and watching the ducks as they gobbled up food from a couple below. We can only hope for more gorgeous days and opportunities ahead!

In search of the perfect pumpkin!

The family took a trip to the Farmers Market on Sunday in search of this year's pumpkin. We scoped out the pumpkins and selected a large orange one and a small white one to join the three small orange ones already at home on the front steps. Kate was thrilled to show dad the "big blow-up pumpkin with the scary face" that we had seen the week before, and both girls got a kick out of sitting on the HUGE pumpkins!

2 + 3 makes 5!

This past Saturday, our family went from 4 to 7 for the afternoon and evening. Ryan and Kim dropped the kids off and enjoyed an evening out. We, too, had a lot of fun! We took our brood to an Indian festival of lights. Although we were in the minority, the kids enjoyed feeding the ducks at the lake and Matthew played a game of "7-11" at one of the booths. We then returned home for some soccer, sliding, and wagon rides while the pizza cooked in the oven. After our pizza party, Matthew, Riley and Uncle Mark returned to the soccer field for one final game before heading inside. We had a great time...hope our "three kids" did too!

A Sunday Afternoon

This past Sunday, we took a trip to visit with Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop (Biz and Doug). The afternoon was filled with rounds of pool, tricycle rides, cookie-making, a trip to the playground and a delicious meal. Lauren is contemplating trying out for the basketball team in a couple of years and Kate is looking at becoming a pool shark. The girls had a great time...enough activity that they both fell asleep on the way home!

Time Flies!

One minute your staring at your precious miracle in the hospital...



and the next minute, she's driving!

A Trip to the Zoo

Last week, we took a family trip to the zoo to refresh Kate's memory and expose Lauren to the many beautiful creatures of the earth. Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop (Biz and Doug) joined us for a day's adventure visiting "Africa" and "North America." Kate stated that she liked the lions the best (even though they were sleeping) and Lauren seemed to enjoy the animals in the water, the otters and sea lions. Kate claimed she was scared of the gorilla and refused to remove her hands from her eyes to even take a peek! She did, however, enjoy the carousel ride, smiling the entire time from ear-to-ear.

We had a great time and hope to return in the spring. Enjoy the shots from our fun-filled day!

Harvest Festival

This past weekend, we joined up with Ryan, Kim and the kids and Kristen, Keith, and Ashlyn to attend the Yates Mill Harvest Festival. The old mill was restored a few months ago and is now in working order. The festival centered around "corn" and included free popcorn, a corn husking contest (won by Riley), corn cob toss, free hush puppies, tours of the mill, a storyteller, and good 'ol fashion bluegrass. A good time was had by all!

A Special Day to Remember

Happy Birthday, Mom/Grandma!
WE LOVE YOU and MISS YOU!!!

Future Careers

We haven't quite determined what Lauren will choose for a career when she grows up...it's a long ways off. However, we think these are two possibilities.

A future English professor or a future Rock Star. What's your vote?

School Days!

Kate started preschool this past Thursday. When we arrived to her classroom, she hung her backpack in her cubby and turned around to give me a big smile. Then...she discovered the puzzles!!! Needless-to-say, I had to say her name about 10 times before getting her attention to say goodbye one last time. There's no separation anxiety there!

When I picked her up, she was so excited to tell me about her day and all the fun things they did. Now, she asks each day, "What day is it today?" When we tell her, she replies with a grin, "I have school today?" Looks like it's going to be a good year.

He's Here!

Yesterday, we welcomed our new nephew/cousin into the world. Peter James was born just after 7pm last night. He weighed 7 lb 14 oz and was 20.5 inches long. Maureen and Patrick are doing well and are enjoying their new life as parents.

Congratulations to all three of them and may their lives be filled with precious, beautiful memories!