Happy 3rd Birthday Katelyn

To My Dear Princess Katelyn,

Happy 3rd Birthday my sweet baby girl. I can still call you that even though you tell me your not a baby anymore, your a big girl. And yes, you are my big girl now too.

You have made the transition from crib to toddler bed and are now fully trained on the potty--thank goodness! Both of these accomplishments have made me a tiny bit sad at just how fast you are growing up.

Your favorite things right now are coloring, playing with your tea sets and kitchen, playing with all your babies, and ANYTHING that has to do with princesses. Princesses are by far your favorite thing of all time right now. You know all their names and most of the stories they come from.

This past weekend we had your birthday party and sure enough, you chose a princess themed party.

We even had a Cinderella pinata

You had a wonderful time opening your presents and were completely overjoyed by each one.


And your smile could not have been bigger than when you saw your cake! You were mesmerized by it and were grinning from ear to ear while we sang you Happy Birthday. Then you blew out the candle like a pro!!

Katelyn, 3 years ago I was overjoyed that you entered my life and today I feel so incredibly blessed to be sharing my life with you!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Love,

Mommy

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First Day Of School ~ 2009 ~ 2nd Grade

Its not until the first day of school that you realize just how fast the summer went by. Or that I realize I still haven't posted about our summer vacation yet!!

Today is Gavin's first day of school. A big 2nd grader. He was torn between being excited to go back and not being happy about having to actually do schoolwork again.

Over the summer Gavin's school added a new 2-story building to accommodate more kids. Gavin and I were both very happy to find out his class would be in the brand new building. I walked him in to his class this morning and was very excited for him. His new class is HUGE! The room is connected to another 2nd grade class by a little walkway where they have a shared bathroom which is nice.

Gavin quickly found his desk and started to unload all his new school supplies. He found where the backpacks and lunch boxes go also. I asked him if he wanted me to come inside at the end of the day and he told me he wanted to go thru the car line. Ok then.

And he was also happy to see about 10 kids he knows from previous years. After he was all settled in there was still about 10 minutes before the final bell rang. I asked Gavin if I could go or did he want me to stay longer. He whispered to me "GO!". I asked him if he wanted a kiss goodbye and he acted like it was the worst thing he heard his whole life. Ha, ha, oh well!

Now I cant wait to pick him up to find out all about his day!

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Socks

Ok, so I have this thing for socks. I love them. I wear them all the time in the house. Most likely you will never catch me without socks on.


I like plain socks, funky socks, soft socks, fluffy socks, or knee high socks. LOVE THEM.

Sooo, I think my love of socks has passed along to my son. He doesn't wear them around the house all the time like I do, and he even is quick to tear off his socks and shoes when he gets home from school. BUT, if he spots a funky designed sock- he wants it. When he was in kindergarten he got ahold of Danyelle's knee high Spongebob slipper socks. The were too huge on him but he wore them anyway. Even to school once. (shudder)

Last year he found a pair of socks that Paul had sent me from Alaska. They were dark blue with purple, pink and teal swirls thru them with ALASKA written in bold letters. Again, he wore them to school. Pulled up to his knees. (double shudder)

While we were in Gatlinburg a couple of weeks ago I thought I died and went to heaven when we there was a store on the strip entirely devoted to socks. My oh my. Before I knew it I had 5 pairs in my hand. I got pirate socks, dolphin socks, and some ladybug socks. I got Katelyn some knee high rainbow bright socks. Too cute.

My bliss was ended when Gavin and Ken walked in. Gavin went nuts over all the choices. I tried to steer him in the direction of socks that would fit him. He ended up finding a pair of womens knee high socks. With horses on them. And big letters that said "I LOVE MY HORSE".

I said "Gavin, these socks are too big for you. And they say- I love my horse. You don't have a horse."

Gavin thoughtfully looked at me and said " I think I love horses"

I said " well, your not getting these, find different ones"

He went on to find a pair of mens black socks. With a bear riding a motorcycle on it with orange and red flames. I again explained how they were too big and wouldn't fit. Gavin didn't care.

So here he is --- in all his glory. Wearing mens socks that go up past his knees. And yes, he wore these out on our vacation.

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$.99 Ice-Cream! Yummmmmy

Vanilla, Strawberry, Butter Crunch, Chocolate Almond Chip, Maple Walnut, Purely Pistachio, Black Raspberry, and Mint Chocolate Chip.

Mmmm, Did that get you in the mood for ice-cream? If it did, then I have a great offer perfect for these last hot days of summer.

From now until August 23rd you can get a Friendly's Ice-Cream Cone for under a buck!! Yep, that's right an Ice-Cream cone for $.99!!

So, what will it be? Forbidden Chocolate or Hunka Chunka PB Fudge?

Whatever the flavor- hurry in before the offer ends!!

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VBS ~ Day 1 ~

We got back from our vacation Sunday night and bright and early this morning we started VBS. Updates on our vacation coming soon.

Ken took one more day off of work so Katelyn got to stay home instead of going to the nursery at church that she loves so much ( sarcasm ).

Gavin and I headed out bright and early at 8am ( YIKES ). I am volunteering again this year to be a group leader. Last year I had elementary aged kids and Gavin was in my group which was so fun. This year I am in charge of the pre-school aged kids - 4 and 5 year olds. I was kinda excited when I was told I would be getting the younger kids. I kept imagining cute little cuddly babies.

I got to my station this morning and was ready and waiting to welcome my kids with open arms. I have 5 kids in my group- 3 girls and 2 boys. Girl #1 arrived and started talking nonstop about her school, friends, cats, dogs, pets of her friends, and anything else you can thing of. Boy #1 arrived and and ran away from me screaming. Boy #2 arrived and spent the first 20 minutes this morning laughing uncontrollably over nothing. Like a patient out of the loony bin. Girl #2 arrived and cried hysterically and didn't want her dad to leave. When he finally did leave she grabbed ahold of my leg and sobbed for 20 minutes. Girl #3 arrived and started running around in circles chasing herself.

And that is how we started the morning. The boy and girl who started the morning off crying quickly got over that and their true little selves came out. My group of kids really got along well thank goodness! But they are quite the wild bunch. No cute cuddly little babies here.

I learned quickly which ones I had to hold hands with when we moved from station to station. I learned which one liked to wander away and leave the group. Which one is the one who asked 500 times if his mom was back to pick him up. Which one who told me repeatedly he was bored and just wanted to go outside and play. Which cute little one kept giving hugs to everyone and not letting go. And all of them like to run from me when I am talking. I mean, WHAT is going on here???

And the best part?

Are you ready?

I learned which one likes to take all his clothes off when he is in the bathroom. Yep, that's right. Naked. I only know because other boys came out of the bathroom laughing about the naked kid. And I happen to have 1 boy in the bathroom. I sent my other boy in to see what was going on and he came out laughing that boy #1 was naked. OH. MY. GOD.

I stuck my head in the bathroom door and pleaded with him to put his clothes back on. No response. I asked my 14 year old nephew who was there also to go in and help the kid out. He told me no and walked away. Finally another adult male walked by and I told him I REALLY needed some help. It took him about 10 minutes to convince this kid to get dressed.

Lesson learned. Day 2 of VBS is tomorrow and Boy #1 will be holding it all day if he has to go the the bathroom.

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