Dear Santa...

The girls made their annual lists to Santa this year...Lauren writing her first list at least 1 1/2 months ago. (We have had several iterations since then.) Below are their FINAL lists with the hopes that Santa will leave at least one of their favorite items.

Happy Birthday Lauren!

Happy 6th Birthday

to our beautiful Lauren!

 Thank you for your love, kindness, laughter, and silliness each and every day. You bring smiles to our faces with your free-spirit and love of life! We hope your year ahead is filled with extra-special moments and the happiest of days. May your dreams always come true!

 

We LOVE You-

Mom, Dad, Kate and Kasey

Trick or Treat!

This year for Halloween we acquired a second dog and were blessed by an angel. The girls once again enjoyed going from house to house in an attempt to replenish their candy supply. They were kind enough to give Mark and I the candy they don't like...which I might add, were only a select few.

All I Want For Christmas...

We are 1/2 way to singing the ever famous song this time of year...

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"

Last Friday morning, Lauren informed me that her front tooth (which had been loose for weeks) had turned completely around. I offered to pull it, but she insisted that she would fix the situation. After turning the tooth back around, and repeating the act a second time, she took it upon herself to remove the tooth without any assistance from Mom.

Now the other one is loose, just waiting to come out in the next few weeks. Lauren did express that it is much easier, and more fun, to drink out of straws with her bigger opening.

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Happy 8th Birthday

to our beautiful Kate!

Thank you for all of your hugs and smiles each and every day. Your kind, loving, and enthusiastic personality are a blessing to all those around you. We wish you all the best in the year ahead. May you continue to follow your dreams and be surrounded by love and happiness every day. 

We Love You Very Much!

Mom, Dad and Lauren

Daddy-Daughter Dance

This past Sunday evening, Mark and Kate attended the Y-Guides Daddy-Daughter Dance held for 3rd year Y-Princesses. They both dressed up for a night of dinner and dancing. Kate had her nails done (thanks to her friend's birthday the day before) and wore a beautiful sparkly dress (borrowed from our friends) for an evening on the town. Mark looked very handsome and Kate very pretty, not to mention grown up.

 They had a wonderful time with each other and their tribe. Mark commented that the next time she gets dressed up for a dance, chances are it won't be his arm she's on! Oh how the years go by...let's hang on to them as long as we can!!!

Beautiful Girl

Dad and Daughter ready for a FUN night!

Final Picture before Departure

Kate's Y-Guides Tribe

New Family Portrait

Here's are new family portrait! (Thanks Doug/Pop-Pop) Kasey is fitting in beautifully!

Meet Kasey!!

Kasey is the latest addition to our family!

She is a Chow/Border Collie mix that we rescued through the SPCA. They believe she is about a year old. Kasey has a wonderful temperament, very calm and laid back. She craves affection and is willing to be loved by anyone. Hard to believe someone abandoned her. The girls have been waiting for this moment for years. In fact, Kate says she has asked for a dog since she was 2...6 years later, her wish came true! The girls love to take her for walks and give endless hugs and kisses.

We are so grateful and blessed to have her! Thanks to Biz (Mom-Mom) for telling us about her and to Ryan for the beautiful picture.

I'm sure you'll be seeing quite a bit of her in future posts!

And just like that...

...both of our girls are off to school!

The girls started back for another school year on Monday. Lauren has staggered entry this week for Kindergarten, so she only went on Monday. Her entire class will come together this coming Monday for the first time...22 total. We were very excited that Lauren has the same Kindergarten teacher as Kate. She has been teaching for many years and is a fabulous teacher!

Kate has enjoyed her first week and loves her teacher! Her teacher student-taught in 5th grade last year at our school and is now teaching 3rd grade for the 1st time. So far so good! Plus we've heard only excellent things about her.

Here's to another great year!

Good Judgment

Kate's school has a program that focuses on certain "Character Traits" or appropriate behaviors for all students. Each quarter, the students and teachers select a classmate that displays the Character Trait that month. Kate was selected and awarded the "Good Judgment" trait.

Lauren and I had the privilege of attending the Character Traits breakfast honoring the selected students just before school was out. Kate received her certificate and pencil while enjoying all of the breakfast treats.

We're proud of you Kate! Keep up the good work!

Kate Receiving her Award

Kate with her certificate and goodies

The Graduate

It's hard to believe, but we are officially done with preschool in our household. Lauren graduated from the four-year-old class the end of May and now has her sights set on Kindergarten. She'll begin the same day as Kate...July 9th!

We were very proud of Lauren as she accepted her diploma from her teachers, following the entire 4-year-old classes performance. We were fortunate to have several of the grandparents and a couple of cousins at the ceremony.

Displayed on the outer walls of the building were the graduates' Self-Portraits, one completed in September at the beginning of the year and one in May.

We finished the event with a trip to Chick Fil-A for lunch and to celebrate. Here are some highlights from the day.

Procession into the Sanctuary

Flowers from Grandpa and Grandma

The Proud Family

Mom-Mom and Lauren with Self-Portraits

Loving Sisters!!

Snuggler Holders

On the way back from Delaware, Mother's Day weekend, we stopped at IKEA.  The girls acquired stuffed animal holders for their rooms to house some of their many furry friends. Kate selected aquamarine blue and Lauren chose dark pink. Below are the hanging results. (Photos courtesy of Kate.)

Cupcake Diaries

Carah inspired Kate to read the cupcake diaries series. Kate is currently reading the first book, "Katie and the Cupcake Cure." She has almost finished it and will be moving on to "Mia and the Mix." (This post was provided by Kate, including photographs).

Our Recent House Guest

A couple of weeks ago we had a house guest from Wednesday to Monday. She was very sweet and lovable...the girls adored her! They had so much fun playing with her and were sad to see her go that Monday.

Meet our house guest...Finley, our friend's Saint Bernard.

Weighing in at just over 100 lbs., Finley resembled a small pony. She was the hit of the neighborhood! People stopped to ask if we had gotten a dog (of course with a surprised and confused look on their face). Although rather large, she was a "gentle giant." Both Mark and I agreed, she dwarfed any room she entered, making our house feel rather small at times. Nonetheless, we all enjoyed her stay.

The girls keep asking when we can get our dog. That we're not sure about at this point, however we are sure that a dog the size of Finley is a little too big for our lifestyle.

Easter Egg Hunt - Take 1

Our church had an Easter egg hunt Saturday morning for kids of all ages. The Eggstravaganza (as they call it) consisted of games, music, crafts, and an egg hunt. For the first time in years, our girls were in the same age group which allowed us to travel through the events as a family. Here are some highlights from the event.

Lauren after competing the egg and spoon game

The girls, with friend Julia, sitting for Duck-Duck-Goose

Doing the Hokey Pokey

Waiting to begin the Egg Hunt

Lauren and Kate with their eggs

Go Fly a Kite!

A couple of weekends ago, our family ventured out for the Y-Guides Kite Day. We met up with several other dads and daughters from Kate and Mark's tribe and attempted to fly kites. There was just one problem...bright beautiful skies with no wind! Hard to fly a kite in that weather!

The girls gave it their best shot, running as fast as they could. I was able to capture some moments that made it look like their kites were flying. Thank goodness for still shots!

Prepping the Kite

Lauren Giving it her all!

Mark's Kite Takes Flight

Kate Flying her Kite

The Kite Flyers

Can dogs read?

The second Sunday of every month our library allows children to come in and read to therapy dogs. The fact that our girls absolutely LOVE dogs, this event is a must on our calendar each month. Although Lauren is not yet reading, she has either Mark or me read her book selection to the dog while she pets the furry companion.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our family, the Gilmores, and Dad and Pat headed into downtown Raleigh today to view the annual St. Patrick's Day parade. The parade (lasting an hour and 45 minutes) was filled with Irish dancers, old cars, military groups, dogs, firetrucks, and just about anything else under the sun! It is quite an event.

We determined that just about anyone can enter the parade and are therefore trying to come up with our own float for next year!

Enjoy the shots! (As you can see, we really like the dogs!)