Another Day With the Boys

September 25, 2006 Nothing new, just another dinner with Kinsey's favorite fellas. We just don't get pictures of the three of them sitting still very often!

Tweetsie Railroad

September 10, 2006 OK, so it has been a really long time since I posted any pictures, but that's just what happens when school starts back I guess. Our last big adventure was a trip up to Lenoir, NC to visit Granny. We decided to take advantage of the gorgeous fall weather and take a day trip to Tweetsie Railroad in the mountains. Granny took me when I was a kid at least a million times, so the times have a changed! What an amazing day it was. To see the magic in your own child's eyes in indescribable. I never knew what this day was going to be like. When we walked in the gates, Kinsey saw the towering green steam engine "choo choo" and wanted to ride it immediately. On the ride there are cowboy and indian fights so I didn't know how she would take it. She was as solemn and wide-eyed as I'd ever seen her. Then she wanted to ride the rides, another idea that made Mommy nervous, but she rode like a big kid all the way. She fed goats and deer, ate cotton candy and LOVED riding the "horties" on the carousel. We couldn't get her off. As you can see, the day wore her out (and us too) but it was one we won't forget...at least I know Granny, Mommy and Daddy won't!!!

A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words!!!

Look closely now... :)

Big Girl Swimming

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August 15, 2006 We knew Kinsey liked the water and we've been pretty impressed by her independence in th epool and ocean and her ability to swim with her life jacket on. But we were NOT prepared for her latest feat. As of last Thursday, Kinsey is now OFFICIALLY swimming with no outside help of floatation devices. She asked to get out of her baby boat and climb the pool ladder and when I asked if she wanted to swim to the ladder, she said "uh-huh" so I let her go, and boy did she swim. And the best part was she climbed the ladder, looked back with a grin and asked for "mo". And now, there is no stopping this kid. Swim, swim, swim--even when we aren't in the pool with her. Hope this video clip works. I think you'll be proud, too!

Last Lake Hurrah

August 9, 2006 With the first day of school upon us, we decided to go to the lakehouse this weekend with the Griners for one last summer hurrah. And boy what a trip! We all swam and played on our homemade slide and even talked Kinsey into a tube ride with Mommy! Kinsey and the twins had a blast. Burgers, boat rides and lots of giggles made for a great last weekend!!!

Mimi's Birthday

August 3, 2006 Kinsey's favorite nextdoor neighbor, "Mimi", was sweet enough to invite her to her 11th birthday party at a community pool last night. Kinsey had a ball and I swear she was convinced she was 11 herself. Jack and I didn't even bother getting in the pool because she wanted NOTHING to do with us and only wanted to hang with the big girls. What fun it is to see her growing up!

Graduation

August 2, 2006 Kinsey's first graduation party and I'm sure it is nothing like the one she will have when she's 18!!! Kinsey will move up to the 2 year old class on Monday, so they had a pizza party at her school today for the "graduates". The camera battery died before her teachers could take more pictures, but this is just before they devoured the pizza and cookie cake.

Definitely TWO!

July 26, 2006 Today, Kinsey proved to me that she was definitely two! Usually when I take a shower in the mornings, she will sit quietly and watch Sesame Street. So this morning, when she wanted to play with her barnyard animals, I was curious to see how well she did. I had a phone call just before I got in the shower, so I ran upstairs one more time before I got in to check on her and this is what I found.

Video Montage

July 22, 2006

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Back from FLA

July 1, 2006 Kinsey and I just got back from a 10-day trip to Ft. Lauderdale visiting my parents. We had the best time. We spent most of the vacation in Nanny and Papadad's pool, but also enjoyed the Discovery Museum, Safari Park, and dinghy rides (the seas were too rough to take the big boat out). I'll have to post Florida pictures later since we took pictures with mom's camera and not mine. Kinsey became a fish almost overnight. She's always loved the pool, but after this trip she can blow bubbles, put her head underwater ALONE and kick her feet really well. I think she probably would have been swimming if we'd had another week. Since we've been home, I've taken her to the neighborhood pool twice though, to try to work on these skills so she doesn't forget. I attached a picture of Kinsey with another neighbor, Rex, and one of our Jack Russells, Emmett. Rex and his older sister Peyton, who I'll be teaching next year, went swimming with us this morning.

Backyard Beach Blast

The party was a HIT! We had even more fun than her circus party last year. And what a crowd! I didn't know how Jack was going to top his clown cake from last year, but the sandcastle cake this year was amazing. He really has a talent.
We had a houseful of family and we all woke at the crack of dawn to prepare for the party. Jack and my dad worked on the cake, Laura worked on the party favors, my mom and I food, and Paul had backyard doggie poop pick-up doodie (get it?!)--boy do I owe him one! The backyard looked great with Kinsey's playhouse that Jack finished just in time as the centerpiece.
She had a sandboat, and adirondack furniture and some sprinklers and of course a pool to go with the beach theme. Eight two-year-olds came and some neighbors and we all partied and grilled out until dark. As you can see by the baby pool picture,things got a little wild towards the end of the party! :) It was an amazing day that at least the adults won't forget. What a wonderful family we all have!

She's TWO!!!

June 16, 2006 I can't believe our little tiny baby is two years old! Boy how the time has flown. I love this age more than any so far. Don't get me wrong, I think babies are adorable, but the personality of a toddler, even if its the middle of a tantrum, is the best. I guess I'm weird because I'd take a screaming tantrum over a crying infant any day. But then again, I do teach 13-year-olds an love it! For Kinsey's real birthday, we had just the family over for steak supper. Jack's mom and dad, Laura and Paul, and my mom were all with her. My dad didn't arrive until after Kinsey had already gone to sleep. We celebrate with a "Melmo" cake and party accessories since he is her first real crush! Jack made the cake and I decorated it. Not too bad if I say so myself! The big party is tomorrow...I hope we can get everything done in time. We are expecting more than 20 guests!

Birthday Week

June 14, 2006 So Kinsey will be the big 0-2 on Friday and what a better way to spend her birthday week than playing at the pool with her bestest neighbors "Mi-Mi" and Turner. Every morning this week we have taken the golf cart down to the pool and played until lunch. Her best buds Jacob and John Scott even met us a few times. My mom, "Nanny" had been visiting with us and is helping my sis and BIL move out of their house. This week has been so busy planning for the big beach blast!

Sunset Beach, NC

June 5, 2006
So, we just got back from a week at the beach with my Granny and her three sisters Vera, Sherry, and Edie. Jack, Kinsey and I all left last Friday after my last day and spent a fun weekend together. Jack had to come home for work, but Kinsey and I stayed the rest of the week. We all had a wonderful time and I was absolutely beat when we got home. Kinsey was attached to my hip the entire time. She loved the ocean and the sand and didn't seem to be too scared, except for crabs and bugs, which are her new pet peeve! She met a cute little friend that she played with every day and she helped her daddy fly a kite for the first time. The start of the week was rough because Kinsey had developed these really bad ulcer-like sores under her tongue and wouldn't eat anything but ice cream. But she was back to her food-snatching self by the third day.

Kinsey's BIG birthday present

May 20th, 2006
Jack has finally decided what he wants to build for Kinsey's second birthday coming up. With less than a month to go, he got it in his head that he wanted to build a 10 x 12 playhouse for his little girl. I was absolutely shocked and told him there was no way he could get it done. But he has been working his tail off to prove me wrong. Check out the progress he's made in ONE WEEK--and that's after work hours, too!

2 Years Old

May 6, 2006
Today we went to one of Kinsey's first friend's birthday party. I can't believe the kids are turning two already. Many of her baby friends were there, although none of them are babies anymore! The kids all played out in the back yard in the great play area that they had. I think this party finally inspired Jack's next major project...

Easter Weekend

April 17, 2006
Well, we were just starting to recooperate from our spring break trip and it was time for a big Easter weekend. Now that Kinsey is more into everything, we had a much busier weekend planned. On Saturday, we decided to brave 3 Easter egg hunts--our first with our "new" church, Briarwood Baptist, followed by our old faithful Oconee Womens' Club Easter egg hunt. This was the one Kinsey had her first appearance in the newspaper last year! I think they say that there were over 4000 kids there "hunting" over 50,000 eggs. I intentionally put hunting in quotes because it is not a hunt by any stretch of the imagination. The have these quarter-acre plots roped off and have tossed in thousands of eggs and hundreds of kids line up around the square and when they blow the whistle, the madness begins. Boy, you have never seen such competitive parents. Supposedly, there were eggs with golden tickets in them, but of course we never got one. Just several dozen eggs filled with some junky plastic toy. Just what we needed! Then we went to a neighborhood hunt to finish the day.

On Sunday, we had a lovely lunch and Jack's parents' house and late that afternoon, we went with our great friends Mary and Chris and their twin boys to the State Botanical Gardens for a photo shoot. After chasing my class bunny, Pepper, around the garden, trying catching flying baby chicks, and several hundred pictures later, we all drug ourselves home in utter exhaustion! What a weekend!

Spring Break Trip to Jamaica

April 10, 2006
I thought now would be a great chance for me to start my own blog site since we just got back from Jamaica and have lots of things to write about! Jack, Kinsey and I met Nanny and Papadad Putman at Beaches Ocho Rios last Saturday and spent a week playing and relaxing in the sun. What a vacation it was! Kinsey had a blast on the beach, going down waterslides, eating ice cream and dancing with the gang from Sesame Street. Her favorite character was "Melmo" by far! We learned quickly that you do NOT get a frozen drink without getting Kinsey one of her own. The same rule applies to popcorn. We also learned that Kinsey likes to be the center of attention (wait--no, we already knew that), but we did enjoy watching her shake her booty on stage. She must get her dancing skills from her daddy!

We got home from Jamaica Saturday night and still had a big weekend left. We went to Harrison's, one of Kinsey's play friends, 2nd birthday party. We were also very sad to miss her buds Jacob and John Scott's, (or Jay-blah and Jah blah as Kinsey so sweetly refers to them) monkey-themed party on Saturday. I cannot believe she will be two in just two months. Boy does time fly! I remember that tiny, peaceful little baby like it was yesterday.

We are looking forward to an exciting upcoming Easter weekend. Along with community and church egg hunts, I am excited to be getting baptized at out new church (of almost a year) this weekend. I will post more pictures of our big weekend.