Playtime Toddler

Today was the grand opening of Playtime Toddler, an indoor play place. Well, it wasn't exactly Gymboree (Kate's favorite hangout spot in Atlanta), but it was fun. Kate especially loved the box of princess dress-up clothes and the toddler skier!

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Gabe played with the box of baby toys and enjoyed watching his big sister. He even let her dress him up in princess attire a couple of times. :)


Then, the self appointed "King of the Power Rangers" came over to read Gabe a book. He was so sweet with him.

VBS Planning

The things you do for friends! :) My friend Jennifer is heading up Vacation Bible School at her church and asked Phoebe & I if we would help teach. I said yes, then once I started thinking about it, I started to panic. What have I signed up for?!? I will be teaching a group of 5 year olds all by myself (with the help of 2 high schoolers)!!!!! Aagghhhh! Well, that was my reaction, but now that the real planning has begun, I am actually very excited. I've got lots of ideas and can't wait to start decorating...I've even begun making fish for my wall display. :) Of course, I'm still a little nervous that the kids are going to think I'm a dork, but hopefully they will put cool teenagers with me to help out. :)


During planning the kids all go to the nursery to play. Gabe stayed home with Grandma today, but he too will get to come on Thursday. Kate was little nervous going in, but I think she had fun with all her best friends!
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And while the kids played, we hit the books! :) Okay, so we actually just posed like this for the picture, but we did study the material too. :)

Happy Memorial Day!!!

Kate & Gabe

Memorial Day 2008

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We started the day out by meeting up with our friends Phoebe & Walker at a nearby park. I wish you could all see Kate & Walker play together. Kate gets a little rough with Walker because she loves getting a reaction out of him. And Walker, being in love with Kate, gets upset but then keeps on coming back for more. Kate & Walker make a very cute couple...but I think Kate might wear the pants in the relationship...I think Walker likes it that way though. :)

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Gabe is showing off his new kung-fu moves!

Cody, I think he's ready for his first karate lesson. :)

After the park, we headed south to grammy's house!!! Unfortunately, Kate napped while we were there and woke up just before leaving in a very grumpy mood. So....no pictures of Kate with Grammy. :( But, Gabe was a happy boy!


We were also excited to see our cousin Hannah! A month younger than Gabe, she has now passed him in both height & weight...and even has 2 teeth already! She was very happy to see us...really...she just wouldn't smile for my pictures!

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What a cutie! It was fun playing with you today Hannah!

Playdate.....

Today we planned to go to the park with a few friends, but because of a very rainy morning, we had to go to Plan B.....Riley & Liam's house! Thanks for letting us all come destroy your house today Tonya. :)

Kate is wrapping Riley in a baby book.

Gabe was excited to get to play with his friends Liam, Lauren, & Nicole.

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KATE UPDATE..............

As you can see, Kate is feeling much better. Fever is gone, but she is still complaining that her teeth hurt. So, Rebekah, you might be right...perhaps it is her 2 year molars. I don't see anything coming up yet, but we are putting Oragel on her gums and just hoping this will pass soon!

Congratulations Boys!

Tonight Kate & I watched her friends, Walker & Griffen, graduate from their preschool class! Thanks for letting us come be a part of your special day!!!

Sick Day :(

Beginning last night, and all day today, our little girl has been sick. :( Coming in for dinner last night, I noticed that Kate felt really hot. I took her temperature and yes, with a fever of 102.7, she was hot! She wouldn't eat dinner and through the evening her temperature continued to climb to 103.1 before bringing it down with Motrin & Tylenol. This morning she woke up the same....102.5....so I called the doctor. He tested for strep....not a fun procedure...we had to hold Kate down for that one. But, it was negative. Then he checked her ears for infection but found nothing. Finally, he had her pee in a cup...1st time for that and she did great!...and checked for a urinary tract infection.....Nope. So, it looks like she just has a mysterious fever. He recommended letting the fever do its job, so after coming home we let her fever stay until it reached 103.6 and then felt we had to give her Motrin. The fever broke and she was able to go to bed. So, let's pray she wakes up feeling better in the morning!

Our sick little baby wanting to be cuddled by daddy.

bye bye baby bath

It's finally time to say farewell to the baby bathtub. I think Gabe is pretty excited about it...more room to play!!!!





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Saving baby bird

Our baby birds are spreading their wings! We have watched the mom & dad build the nest and have listened to the sweet chirpings of the babies in the mornings. But, these little guys are growing up. :) This afternoon I took Gabe out on the front porch to swing. I heard the mom & dad birds going crazy chirping and flying back and forth around the yard. Then, I looked over into our driveway and saw this little baby bird hopping along, still unable to fly. Our cats were curious of course and attempted to get close, but mommy & daddy bird would have nothing of that! They both kept dive-bombing the cats, chasing them into nearby yards. So, I got the camera and called for Jon to help. We called our friend Sheila, a bird expert, and she suggested that we carefully help put the baby back in its nest. Well, that sounded simple enough...except for the very protective mommy & daddy. One little cry from baby bird and they were all over anyone who came near! But, after many attempts, and one actual attack, we finally managed to get the baby bird back in the nest.....safe & sound.

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Here is a little video of Jon's 1st attempt to rescue the baby bird. But, as you will see, the aggressively protective mommy bird wasn't so sure she wanted our help!

Summer Fun

Today we brought out another new summer toy...the slip-n-slide. Well, Kate didn't exactly want to slide on her belly, but she did have fun running down the slide and playing with the water.

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Then, we found a little frog hanging out on the patio...Kate loved him!

After Gabe ate lunch, we pulled out his baby pool...his first time in!

Of course, Kate had to join him. :)

But, since she was running around the yard getting dirty, I told her she had to clean off her feet before getting into the little pool with Gabe.

Our sun-bathing beauties......

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Swordfight!!!!

Despite the obvious age difference, Dave has always been one of Kate's best friends. But, unfortunately, as we decided to make the move south, he decided to work long distance from Atlanta. But, when he does come into town, Kate is always very excited to spend time with her buddy Dave! Today was Dave's last day in town for a few weeks so of course we just had to go say goodbye...and what better time than to have a swordfight! And we wonder why Kate sometimes gets a little aggressive with her peers?!? :)

It's hard to see in the first picture, but Kate has a huge "sword" and she gave dave a tiny twig for his "sword." All is fair in love and war, right???

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And the winner is......KATE!

Gabe and PawPaw cheered from the sidelines.

Brrrrrrr

That's exactly what the kids and I were saying as we stepped into the brisk 70 degree water in Rylee's backyard pool. But, despite the freezing water, we all had lots of fun. Thanks for having us over today Rylee!



I think Gabe thought I was crazy putting him in this icy bath. :) He 'warmed' up to it after a few minutes though....

After about an hour we decided it might be a bit more fun to warm up and play on dry land!

Getting up and going to the park

This morning started out as usual...Kate on the couch watching 'Little Bear' with all her babies and Gabe playing on the floor with all his toys.

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Yesterday Kate & I made butterfly footprints. While making breakfast today she brought me three of her favorite babies and wanted us to do their feet too. :)



Then, we packed a picnic and headed to the park to meet Phoebe & Walker. Kate & Walker are quite fond of each other these days. So, Walker had picked out a really cute kitty beanie baby for Kate (as a big girl on the potty present), and Kate made a special butterfly footprint just for him!

Then they raced off to the playground!

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I thought this picture was cute. This older boy and his brother decided that Kate should be the mommy and Walker the daddy and the older boys would be their kids. Here he is trying to explain it to Kate & Walker and get them to play along....it didn't happen. :) Oh, and if you're wondering why Walker's lips are black - No, he hasn't gone goth....we gave him a cookie with very messy black icing.

Gabe was very overdue a morning nap so he finally crashed while the kids played.