Carnival

Who out there in blogland doesn't love those small, dirty, not-so-safe carnivals that come to small towns....well I do!!! Jon, on the other hand, not so much. So, the kids and I, along with Grandma & Grandpa, who will do just about anything for Kate and Gabe, drove over to have some fun!!!

Our view from the top of the ferris wheel!

Grandma & Kate LOVE the Merry-Go-Round!

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And Pawpaw & Gabe had fun just watching.

More rides!!!

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This was Gabe's favorite thing at the carnival...the firetrucks! But the sweet thing about it was that as much as he loved every second of the ride, he would only ride in the backseat of the firetruck with big sister Kate safely taking the wheel up front. In fact, the one time I tried to let him ride alone while Kate was busy on the big slide, he immediately started motioning for Kate to come. He got more and more frantic with his waving until the ride started, he was all alone, and he PANICKED! They had to stop the ride to get him off! Minutes later I convinced Kate to ride again and he was just as happy as before. Gabe LOVES (and although it doesn't make complete sense - feels more safe with) his big sister!!!

This was Kate's favorite ride...The Big Slide!!! I escorted her down twice and then she wanted to go over and over (and my legs were tired of all the stairs), so she went down probably 20 more times by herself. At the very end of the night, Gabe and I joined Kate for two final runs down the giant slide. Aren't carnivals fun!?!

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Girlfriends

After school today we invited a few of Kate's 'girlfriends' to come over for lunch and play. We planned to play dress-up inside, but the weather was almost perfect so we instead headed outside for a picnic and playtime. Kara, Kiley, & Alana, we loved having you girls over and hope you will all come back again soon!!!

Girls just wanna have fun.......

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Purple sand! The girls decided to "paint" the playhouse....

Alana's baby sister, Tahlia, will soon be big enough to run with the big girls.

Gabe was napping for most of the playdate, but when he woke up and found

friends in the backyard he was very excited and ready to play too!

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Mardi Gras 2009

Saturday morning the kids and I were excited to experience our 1st Mardi Gras parade! And I must admit, I was impressed! Many of the businesses went 'all out' with their floats and also threw so many bead necklaces to the kids. Here are two of our favorites...

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Kate LOVED all the beads!

She would yell to the people in the floats asking for more beads as they drove past!

Walking back to our car, we were parked near the elementary school playground and decided to let the kids play for a little bit and take advantage of the beautiful day.

Can you tell Kate is in charge here?!? :)

Kate & Gabe having fun!

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Madeline & Gabe loved this slide!

Gabe was only slightly into all the beads at the parade, but once we got home he and All 35 necklaces were inseperable! He would put them all on, one by one, then take them all off, then put them back on, one by one....ALL AFTERNOON! And as you can sort of see in the second picture, he was very serious about it!

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Gabe the Gymnast!

That's right, just as the title suggests, our little boy is in gymnastics!!! Okay, so this wouldn't be my first choice for him, but with Gymboree 45 minutes away and his 4 best friends all girls, gymnastics it is! :) It's actually more like 45 minutes of Mommy & Me free play with access to all the gym equipment for us to introduce our kids to. It's a pretty perfect setup for us because it's close to home, inexpensive, and gives us one more "baby" activity while Kate is in school.

This is Gabe at 2 months old at his first visit to Gymnastics with Kate!

And as you can see, Gabe has always been a "ladies man!"

This is also at Gymnastics, Valentine's Day 2008, with twins Lauren & Nicole.

And now, one year later, February 2009, our little boy gets to start gymnastics too...no more sitting on the sidelines for Gabe! The gymnastics instructor came over and took Gabe to the balance beam...he did great!

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And then he tried the rings. But, Gabe is not the daredevil his sister has

always been so he was a little nervous...

In fact, although he tried everything, his favorite spot was the ball pit!!!

I had to include these two pictures of Ava & Madeline on the rings...two of Gabe's buddies.

Ava, what are you thinking.....?

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Let's Dance!

First of all, what do you guys think: Does Gabe look like a girl today? Wearing this longall - with TRUCKS on the chest- he was called a girl 5 TIMES today! I know I like his hair long, but come on! In fact, in one store, I was buying a Christmas dress for Kate to wear next year and the check out lady asked which of my beautiful girls it was for...Crazy!

Later today Kate and I were so excited because....she is going to Spring Dance Camp!!! A local dance studio offers dance camp for the month of March and it's open to rising 4 year olds who will begin ballet in the fall! The class is a Ballet/Jazz combo and Kate is soooo excited!!!

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And finally, while on the topic of dance, I wanted to show you how we spent our afternoon. Kate dresses up in one (or sometimes several over the course of a day) of her princess costumes almost every afternoon. And on some days, she insists that Prince Gabe play along too. He is usually pretty happy to play prince with with sister, Princess Kate, but today was even better than usual. The two of them laughed and danced and had the very best time!

Princess Kate & Prince Gabe

Gabe was so proud of himself.

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Take a bow!

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Valentine Goodies

I know you guys are probably tired of Valentine's Day :) but I wanted to share with you all the goodies the kids received this year from all the parties. Thank You to all our amazing friends!!! Kate & Gabe are so lucky to have each and every one of you in their lives!

A sampling of the extra special photo/handmade cards.

Chocolate & Sugar Cookie - Yum!!!

Valentine's with Friends!

Today we were excited to have our little group of friends over for our final Valentine's Playdate of 2009!!! We love all of our friends! Thank you so much for coming over to play today!

Kate passing out her Valentine's.

A hit with all the girls and Gabe....the trampoline!

Bryce was so cute jumping and dancing with Kate & Emma.

She really seemed like one of the big kids today!

Gabe also LOVES to dance!

Emma was kind enough to take his hands and lead him in a dance. :)

My little artists!

The playhouse....a hit with all the babies!

"Little Miss Mommy" Bryce was in the kitchen preparing lunch for Gabe & Madeline. :)

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Gabe, Griffen, Walker, & Bryce playing with the purple sand.

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Bryce was in such a fun mood today!

Another crowd favorite...the little tikes cars!

And furtunately, Gabe was actually very okay sharing them!

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Amidst all the fun, we also had a craft set up: marble painting paper hearts!

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Time to eat! We had LOTS of yummy kid & mommy foods!

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Flower Garden party favors




Thank you Kate & Gabe for helping me set up for your party!
I love you guys sooooo much!!!!



I loved this picture of Emma.

While my friend Sarah and I cleaned up, we let the kids run around the backyard with their lollipops. In the end, this was Gabe: very dirty, sticky, slimey, nasty, just plain gross! I carried him straight to the bathroom for a bath before naps! When Kate walked in to get in the bath with him she said, "Oh mommy, that's (pointing at Gabe) going to make me sick!" I couldn't help but laugh and agree with her! So, she and I put him in the bath first and hosed him down beofre she climbed in to join him for a bath.