Congratulations Sarah & Chris!

This weekend we were very excited to celebrate with great friends as they (finally!) decided to tie the knot!!! Congratulations Chris, Sarah, & Madeline on a beautiful wedding and a very fun weekend! We wish you many more happy years together!

Now, let's rewind and see all the fun we've had this weekend! The festivities began Thursday night on the Casino Cruise for Sarah's bachelorette party!!! Unfortunately, soon after this picture, Sarah found herself sick on the boat and spent the evening trying not to think too hard about the very rocky boat and praying for land! I, on the other hand, spent the evening learning to play blackjack! :)

Friday - Rehearsal Dinner

Gabe got the honor of being "Ring Bearer" and was asked to escot Miss Madeline down the aisle! As a special treat, Sarah painted these adorable buckets, filled with sea shells, for Gabe & Madeline to carry down to the alter.

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I wish I knew what they were saying to each other!

Kate also enjoyed rehearsal dinner.
She was a little jealous over Gabe's bucket, but Sarah promised to paint her one too! :)

Silly girls!

more silly smiles!

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Saturday - Wedding Day!!!!

Gabe & Madeline were also given cute t-shirts that said Ring Bearer & Flower Girl to wear before being changed into their outfits for the wedding. While Sarah was getting ready these two had a blast being crazy in the hotel room!

Best Friends Forever!

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All dressed up and almost ready to walk down the aisle!

I didn't get to take pictures because I was helping them, but Gabe & Madeline did great! Gabe walked straight to grandma & pawpaw (who were marrying Chris & Sarah), and Madeline was only briefly sidetracked by a cousin sitting on the aisle. The wedding the beautiful, the weather was perfect, and everyone had a great time! Kate did have a special job of passing out birdseed to the guests!

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After the ceremony the kids really wanted to go to the water.

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And before heading to the reception Kate wanted a picture with Chris & Sarah.

And as promised by Sarah, Kate was allowed to throw bird seed at her!

I think this was Kate's favorite part of the evening! :)

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At the reception Gabe insisted on sharing his milk with his girl!

Congratulations Chris & Sarah!!!!

Official Apple Outfit

At Happy Apple, all the kids are asked to wear their t-shirts with the different colored apples on the first day. It's actually pretty cute to see all the kids matching, but of course I also like to have a special 1st Day outfit! So, beginning last year, Kate wears her special outfit on the 2nd day and we take all the pictures again...fortunately, Kate doesn't mind! :) She was pretty proud of her dress too because she said "EVERYBODY loved it!"

Our happy little Orange Apple!!!

Letter Bb

As much as I very much intended to do Tot School all summer, life happened and we got busy! And although we are of course still very much busy now that school has started back, it's different. We have alot going on with preschool, playdates, gymnastics, and ballet, but our weeks are pretty consistent so it should be easier to schedule in time for "school." This week we jumped back in with the letter Bb! Kate and Gabe decorated their B's on Blue paper with Buttons & Butterflies! Kate is also working hard on writing her letters.

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Blowing Bubbles!

Kate takes bubble blowing very seriously and will hardly look my direction.

Gabe, on the other hand, just wants to have fun!

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We also used balloons for "Bopping Balloon Art!"

And we can't study the letter Bb without showing pictures from Bathtime!!!

Kate's new favorite thing in the bath is going under water while I keep time on how long she can hold her breath. Her longest so far is an impressive 11 seconds! I remember loving to do this as a kid too!

She eventually pops up out of the water and asked, "How long was I this time?!?"

Gabe too sticks his head under the water briefly, but mostly he just likes to be silly!

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Next to holding her breath, Kate's other favorite bathtime activity is drawing! In fact, she loves to draw all day! This is her portait of Gabe. She would look closely at him, then draw, then look again, then draw. Pretty cute! Does it look like him??!? :)

1st Day as an Orange Apple

It's that time! Happy Apple Academy....here we come!!!

At Open House Kate got her first homework assignment. She was to decorate this cardboard person to look like her and represent her personality. Well, spending a very busy weekend in Atlanta, Kate couldn't start her homework until about 9pm the night before her first day. Not the best idea, but I knew she would get upset being the only one in her class without her doll and I didn't think it right or fun for her if I did it while she slept. So even though it meant not getting alot of sleep, Kate loved staying up after her little brother to do a special project! In the end it was worth it and she was able to take to school a very cute "Kate."




Kate is an Orange Apple with Mrs. Lori this year!!! It's only been a year, but she seemed so much older taking her to school this morning. It was also so sweet to see her find old friends from last year and get so excited!

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Kate with Mrs. Lori and two friends from her Yellow Apple class last year.

Kate, Cooper, & Caroline

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Last in line, Kate headed off to assembly with the Orange Apples!

After hugs and kisses to Kate, we went out to breakfast with my parents.

Kate had a great day at school and enjoyed getting to see more friends!

Walker, Kate, & Griffen

Playtime with girlfriends!

Kate, Alana, & Amelia spent about 30 minutes after school playing hide-n-seek in the bushes!

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Goodbye Summer Vacation....

With the end of this weekend also comes the official end of our summer. Kate starts back to preschool tomorrow! But, what a great last weekend we had selling our house and visiting friends in Atlanta! Our final morning started out visiting our old church, Buckhead Church. It's always great going there...and it reminds me that we moved to a really small town. :)

After church we went to McDonalds with Ryan & Lucas. Thanks M Family for once again letting us stay at your house! And Ryan, your Kung Fu moves are amazing!!!

It looks like Ryan was being goofy and Kate is going in to her "you're going to be in trouble" mommy-mode. :)

This kid has the best "CHEEEEESE" face!

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Despite our very busy weekend, I took the kids to Portrait Innovations for pictures. And let me tell you, I have never had such a hard time choosing which ones to buy! Kate almost always does great, but Gabe is a whole different story! He usually gets extremely nervous and clings to my leg. We still generally manage to get a couple good ones, but this time I felt like they were all amazing! I sort of wonder if it was because the photographer was a male...maybe he is nervous that the women are going to take him from me??? Just a theory....

Goodbye Summer 2009!

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