First Hair Cut

Katherine did not make a peep!

 

Paul was taking Luke to get a hair cut tonight.  Katherine and I decided to go.  Since we were there we decided to have them trim her hair a bit.  She did wonderful!  She sat right in the chair and did not flinch.  I wouldn't say it is a great hair cut, but it will do.  Hopefully this will stimulate some faster growing hair.  It is still so fine and not really long enough to do anything with.

Ready or Not...

Paul and I have debated when to start Luke in an extracurricular activity.  We opted out of t-ball this summer so when we knew fall soccer was starting we signed Luke up.  Tonight was the first practice.  We had absolutely no idea what to expect.  Neither one of us know much (if anything) about the game.  Apparently, Monday practices are going to focus on skill development.  Several age groups and teams are all on the field together with one "coach".  I honestly do not know how she did it!  Luke and his friend Connor or on the same team.  Not sure how this is going to pan out, but we will roll with it.  They were more interested in chasing each other around than doing what they were supposed to.  It was obvious we were newbies. We did not bring chairs so we stood the whole time. 

Katherine did great!  She played with camera the whole time -- she walked around asking everyone to say "cheese". They will practice two nights a week with games on most Saturdays.  It is going to keep us busy!  I just hope Luke has fun and enjoys himself.

Sunday In The Park

 

We are still loving the unseasonably cool temperatures. It has been in the 50s at night with very little humidity during the day.  It was a perfect day to go to the park.  We made a couple of laps around for some exercise before we went to the playground.  It was pretty crowded.  Apparently we weren't the only ones that had the good idea. 

The kids had fun.  Katherine wanted to do everything Luke was doing.  We kept them off the "big" playground because there were a lot of older kids playing.  Luke was not too happy with us when we told him it was time to go.  He pitched quite the fit which we had not seen in a long time.  Despite his  bad behavior it was a nice little afternoon.

The Smith Reunion

Luke was excited to see Ryan again!

The Smith Cousins:
l-r Stan, Scottie, Bonnie, Rhonda, Steve, Mom, Beverly, Aunt Sheila, Barbra, Larry and Chester

Uncle Pete and Uncle Harb

She loved the park!

This morning we made an early trip to Academy Sports to get Luke's soccer gear.  He had fun trying it on and so did Katherine.  After that we headed to Lynchurg for the Smith Reunion.  I hate to say that Paul and I have only been once since we married and have not been since we had kids.  It was great to see everyone and it was a good turnout.  We did a little perusing of the square before we went to the reunion.  We met at a building on the square and there is a playground close by the kids enjoyed.

We enjoyed delicious food and chatting with the family. We all went to Nanny's to visit before the reunion.  It was a very busy Saturday.  The kids slept most of the way home since it was well past their bedtime.  We had to say good-bye to Andrew and Mandi, but won't have to wait long before we see them again. We are beach bound in September!!!

Fun Visit!

Andrew and Luke reading

She's all smiles!

A new outfit for Bitty Baby!

Katherine will be cheeing on Auburn in style this season!

We are so excited Andrew and Mandi are here for the weekend!  It is a very quick trip on their part; but we are happy they are here!  Mom took the day off so she offered to pick the kids up from school.  Paul and I went to Mom's after work.  Andrew and Mandi got there shortly before we did.  Mom cooked a great supper and we enjoyed catching up.  Katherine opened her presents from A&M and loved them both! 

Pop's Birthday!

Katherine helped Pop open his present

Luke got the candles ready

The kids swapped seats on the ride home

We met Bill and Paula at Casa Veja for birthday dinner.  It was a good time!  Luke has started visiting his new room at school and will be in there permanently starting Monday.  We are keeping him at the same school and he will be in the Pre-K class.

Katherine definitely continues to test her boundaries.  A couple of days this week she has gone to time out at school!  What?!?!  I know...I was really surprised the first time it happened. The main issues has been her dumping out several bins of toys and then refusing to pick them up.  I couldn't believe it since she loves to clean at home.  She should be moving in to the 2-year old room and we think that will help.  Hoping this phase is short lived.

New Stool

Katherine is making good use of some of the things from Kitty's.  She loves this little stool and thinks it is just for her!

Lydia's Birthday!

The kids had a blast!

This picture shows how hot and sweaty he was



This is the best pic I could get...



No fear for this girl!

Face painting

Little sister had her face painted, too

Luke has been looking forward to Lydia's party for weeks!  It was at our church in the Family Life Center.  I am ashamed to say I had never been in there.  They have a great indoor jungle gym that the kids loved!  There is also a party room.  The party had two attendants who coordinated everything and did finger painting and balloon animals for everyone!  Katherine had a blast -- she thought she was as big as the big kids.  She would go all the way to the top and would not even let me wait for her at the bottom of the slide - "no, Mommy, no".  She is growing up too fast.

When the kids and I were walking out of school this afternoon we had a great surprise -- Paul was pulling in!  I knew he was going to try to make it to the party but the last I heard he was called out on a job and was going to be really late. It turned out the crew figured out what they needed to do so he didn't have to go!  The kids were so excited to see him!  So, we all went to the party.  Paul and K left to go eat supper while I stayed with Luke.  It was fun chatting with all the parents, Today was Lydia's last day at the school.  Luke is so sad --  she is his best friend.  She is going to a private school for Pre-K which is where her brother attends.  We are giong to miss her!

Years of Memories

I took the kids to school today and did a few errands before going to Gallatin to work at Kitty's house.  Bill and Paula had done a lot since we were there a few days ago!  Jim, Claudia and Lauren were there, too.  We mainly focused on the kitchen by taking everything out of the pantry and cabinets.  There is so much stuff!  It is amazing how much Pyrex we ladies have!  Kitty was also an avid baker so she had all sorts of bread pans, muffin tins and cake pans.  She apparently kept every aluminum pie plate she had ever made.  I actually brought some of those home; they just come in handy!  I packed up China until we ran out of paper.  It was nice being there and hearing everyone share their memories of the house.  I wish Paul could have been with us. 

Kitty is known for her knit dish cloths.  I was relieved to find that she has hundreds of them!  She has recently forgotten how to make them.  I brought a stack home tonight and Katherine set to work folding them up!  I also brought home lots of baby pictures of Paul.  The kids loved seeing those.  I had not realized  until now how much Katherine favors his baby pictures.  She definitely has a lot of his features!

Happy Girl!

I made this wreath with cupcake liners and styrofoam!

Katherine is still basking in the birthday glow!  We still have all the party decorations up and her gifts are still scattered all over the living room. The car is getting a lot of drive time from both she and Luke.  Everytime she gets in it she says "gas, please Mommy"!  She is also playing with her doll bed a lot.  She loves putting her babies to sleep and covering them up.  I kept the decorations for party simple and mainly used ideas I found on Pinterest, Man, is that site addictive! If I didn't have all these real obligations in my life I could waste hours on there!

Trying on Mommy's shoes!

Party Time!

Nonna helped Luke fill out his card for K

The birthday girl and Pop

Lauren was so sweet to read to Luke

She loved the balloons!

Chit-chat

Princess outfit complete with wand from Lauren

Modeling her sweater and hat knitted by Nene!

Minne Mouse umbrella from Luke

Her sleeping bag from Nonna came in handy when Kitty was cold!

Her first new car!  She (and Luke) love it!

Putting her baby in the new bed Pop made for her!

Our sweet baby!

She devoured her cake and ice cream

JonJon stayed to help assemble Luke's new Lego set!

The toy (and box) from Uncle Jim and Aunt Claudia were a hit

Katherine loves owls, so it was easy to decide on a little them for her party this year.  I sent out owl invtes, had a cute owl shirt made and ordered an owl cake!  She was so happy!  For the past few weeks anytime she would see her invite on the fridge she would say "my owl, my owl".  She can tell you that an owl says "whoooo...whoooo". 

The day was a huge success!  She was just too sweet!  She loved every present and would grin and giggle with each one!  Luke loved helping her open her gifts, but was a little bothered by all the attention she was getting.  Luckily, Bill and Paula brought him a gift, too.  She got a Princess Coupe car and an owl backpack from Paul and I.  She loved the car.  I forsee many fights over that car in the future.  Luke wanted to be in it as much as she did.  He is almost too big for it. 

We were also surprised by a baby doll bed that Pop made from cedar off the farm!  He even made a little hope chest for the baby's clothes and steph for the baby to get up in the bed.  Nene made the bedding for it which matches her room!  Too precious!  I know it is something Katherine will treasure and hopefully pass down to her daughter one day. 

Our kids are so blessed with such sweet family and friends that love them like they are their very own!