Airlie Gardens on a sunny weekend

Look at our tiny princess. My aunt sent a box of fabulous dress up clothes for Lily Kate. We couldn't let her have all the fun so we pulled this little dress out that we've had for a while. Isn't she sweet? We got this great chair at Target this week for the girlies to share. We are getting some new chairs for the living room and I'm thinking the more they want to sit in the pink one the less they'll sit in the others and the longer the new ones will stay free of chewed up Cheez Its and milk. A girl can hope, right! Below is Kate with precious, Ella. We got to visit with our long-time friends, Kelly and Scott and their daughter on Friday night. The pink chair is popular.

The girls' Soni (Parks' mom) got the girls this cool tent. It usually lives in our house but now that temperatures are rising it's on the porch. I love watching them play together.

I added this picture so you can see Kate's stick on earrings. She got them as a prize for being incredibly compliant and sweet on Friday (turns out she had a stomach bug and I think that's what was slowing her down - but, hey, I love to reward sweet behavior). Apparently the "stick power" on these things is amazing. This first pair lasted 3 days through baths and sleeping. At this rate the package is going to last months. She thinks the earrings are big time. This morning as we were leaving, she looked at me and sort of did a double take and said, "oh, look at your earrings, they are so cute, they look just like mine" They don't at all, but it was one of those moments when I just said, "you are exactly right, you look beautiful". There she is, all calm with her earrings.

Dyin to Get Outside

Yesterday while Charlotte napped Kate and I walked next door to the neighborhood retention pond to throw pine cones in the water and bask in the short glimpses of sunshine.

"aaa puh"

"Apple" is one of about 5 words that Charlotte says. (it sounds more like "aaa puh") She babbles tons of unintelligible words, but there are a handful that she uses correctly and consistently. She can say: da da, ma ma, na na (for no no), baw (aka ball, used for balls, balloons, & ornaments), bkk (book), baa (bath), and her favorite, aaa puh

SNOW!!

"Oh my wert, this is unbelievable!" Liky Kate and the rest of us were thrilled to wake up to 4 1/2 in of snow in our backyard. It was a beautiful morning.

This is the back (above) and side (below) of our house

Precious Charlotte

I love Charlotte's outfit, it was everthing warm that she had all mixed together. She was actually the only one of us who had proper mittens. Parks was using gardening gloves.

Above was Parks' first attempt at a snow man. The base, on the left, got so big that it was too heavy to keep rolling. The mid section, on the right, got too heavy to put on top of the base. Poor Parks just started over and the result was great.

About 30 min after I took this picture the wind blew the man down. His arms fell upward so he looks funny laying in our yard with his arms up in distress.

Artemenko Boys

Our friends, Will & Ben came over to play yesterday and we loved it. Ben and Charlotte are a lot alike - sweet, goofy, mostly content. But Will and LK couldn't be more different. Will is focused and smart, likes to read and tell stories about sharks and dinosaurs. We all know LK is a wiggly, talkative girlie-girl. But, they are buddies. Kate LOVES Will and I think Will is starting to show some affection. They decided they were getting married - the bridal attire (complete with veil) was completely LK's idea (like that's hard to believe). I'm not sure what to say about it. So far it's harmless. And look at beautiful Ben, asleep on the couch amid the chaos.

My Ballerina

Quote

Tonight when we were putting Lily Kate to bed Parks and I read some books. Parks was near falling asleep and he said man, I have no energy tonight. Lily Kate said, Daddy, I'll pray for energies for you tonight...WAIT (will all sincere enthusiasm) I have lots of energies, I can give you some of mine" Oh how I wish we could do that.

The Big 0-3!

Lily Kate turned 3 on Friday. We opened presents at home on Friday and then had a big Chuck E Cheese party on Saturday (at her request for the last 4 months). This doll below is awesome (thanks, Mom!), it is almost as tall as she is and she has loops on her feet so that she can attach to Kate's feet and dance with her. Kate has given her 3 different names and has kept her by her side since Friday. Each year on the girls' birthdays I write them a letter and put it in a big manila envelope. I'm thinking I'll give them to the them when they go off to college. It has be such a great exercise to reflect on how much I love them and how wonderfully made they each are. Happy Birthday, Goose.

Lily Kate asked for it and I delivered - a purple cake! You should have seen the kids faces at the party after they ate....I'm sure their parents appreciate me

Charlotte riding a ride

Kate enamored by Chuck E & the "buddies playing music"

Grace (she's Samuel's mom who's pic is below) and Oliver - our biggest little friend (and one of the cutest!)

There's the birthday girl. As we were leaving Chuck E Cheese (on our way to eat pizza next door at Mellow Mushroom, like I imagine all sane parents do) Kate said, "Being together and dancing with all my friends is AMAZING!"

Nice Shots

We borrowed a great camera from our friend, Pete, to test drive. Makes all the difference.
Below are some shots of Grace & Ryan's cutie, Samuel. Sometimes we get to keep him while Grace goes to work at their Chick Fil A store. Isn't he precious?! We love Samuel (& Chick Fil A!)

Daily Livin..

I've been wanting to get a shot of this apron since Christmas. She wears it all the time when she "helps" and somehow in those moments I don't seem to have time to take pictures. Ashley, my sister-in-law made coordinating aprons for the girls & they are adorable. I am trying to convince her to sell them. If you are interested, I'll get you her number :)

I finally put all of the dress up clothes together in a trunk that is accessible to LK so now she comes out in a new outfit about once an hour.

BATH time = FUN time

I'm sorry, what month is it???

Freezing, then warm, cold again.... who knows... we had a beautiful day the other day and Lily Kate begged to go swimming. We settled on a little splash mat and some running around.

So, the other day Kate was eating tuna fish and an apple for lunch and she mentioned that she liked eating those two things together, I said, "when I was in college I used to eat tuna with apples all the time" - that has led to Lily Kate now begining many of her phrases with "when I was in college..." It's really funny... My favorite so far is "Mom, when I was in college I had a baby in my belly, it was Emma (her doll)." That's just wrong...

Dessert downtown with the Young Life ladies

All these pretty ladies are our YL leaders. The picture below is of me and my dear friend, Emily. She hasn't lived in town very long but we have become fast friends. She and her husband love our family well.

If you are a girl, you know that getting ready to go out is half as fun as the "going out" itself. Since Brittany has moved in with us I have had all the benefits of another female opinion in the house (ie "belt or no belt?" kind of questions are always answered with thought and care) Lily Kate LOVES getting into my clothes and wearing my tops like dresses. She usually chooses the
"shiny" ones because they are "fancy". I had a precious time with her playing with shoes and earrings. She adores all of the YL leaders and what better girls for me to have her look up to. She did cry when we left without her but I have made a promise of a "lady ice cream trip" in the near future, so hopefully, more pics to come...

Happy Birthday Charlotte. The big 0-1

Charlotte was a fan of cake, but really, who isn't? It was a fun day to celebrate her. She may have liked us singing to her throughout the day even more than she liked the cake.

Post-cake bath. What a cutie.