2+2...

...does NOT equal four. At least not when one of the four has to go to Atlanta for a business dinner. So after a Gymdogs meet and a Bulldogs basketball game in the past two weeks, we were suprised to get free tickets to the next THREE Lady Dogs basketball games, including tonight's awesome upset over Auburn. The kids and I hit our fav pizza joint for our pre-game dinner. Here's where the title of tonight's post really comes in. We're sitting at dinner and Kinsey announces that 2+2 equals 4. OK, so first time I've heard her talk math, but I'm thinking she probably just is repeating something she's heard, not really computing. After I asked her about four or five questions (I mean, no pythagorean theorem here or anything), she proved she's beginning to add a little. I was kinda proud! So pizza was great and we got to the game and met up with about half of my basketball team. Another visit from Hairy Dawg made Kinsey's night. Max's highlight was shaking his pompoms and mimicking the Dance Dogs and cheerleaders. I think we need to get him to the football games and have him meet some players next fall. I'm getting worried... ;)

Bulldog Basketball

Yesterday, Nanny and Papadad came to town and we decided to take in a Georgia Bulldogs baskteball game. Even though the Dawgs couldn't pull this exciting game out, Kinsey had a big night as Hairy Dog made a visit up to our seats. Max had a blast, too, dancing and singing to to the band.

Pink Out--Go Dawgs!

Kinsey and I had a great date tonight. We got tickets to the Georgia Gymdogs meet thanks to a friend from work. Thanks to Nan, we got to enjoy some gymnastics without busy Baby Max! We ended up finding the Griner Gang at the meet and the big kids enjoyed each other's company. It was "Pink Out" night in support of breast cancer awareness and it was really cool to see the stands all showing their spirit, especially the student section.


Max showed his Bulldog spirit, even though he wasn't invited! :(

Kids Night Out

Kinsey and her buds at Chuck E Cheese.


Max enjoyed the rides and games.

One Hundred

Today was the one-hundreth day of the school year--woo hoo! Most importantly, that means only 80 to go. It also means another celebration for pre-schoolers. I love Kinsey's school! So for this big day, the kids were supposed to bring 100 small snacks (we sent pink Hershey kisses) and make a hat with 100 of the same item all over it. One trip to Michaels and two hot-glue-burnt fingers later, this awesome princess hat is what we created!

Max just HAD to get his picture made too--"chee" as he says!!!

"Incredible" Teachers

This week is Spirit Week at my middle school and yesterday was Famous People day. Here is what the incredible 7th grade teachers came up with! :)

The Wheels on the Bus...

OK, so this is probably only news-worthy to parents, but Kinsey took her first ride on a school bus yesterday. Seeing as how she's hardly even ever been out of a carseat other than our annual Lake Lanier Lights trip, this was a big deal to her. It gave me chills as she practically had to crawl up the giant steps thinking of her being in elementary school in just 6 short months.

This "big event" was also marked by my first basketball coaching loss in my 6 years of coaching. Since I've only been and assistant coach, this was also only my second game that I have ever coached alone in my 6 years! :) Still, I guess that makes me 1-1 which isn't all that bad!

So I decided to take Kinsey "on the road" with me to our game. After the initial excitement of the bus ride, she soon got bored. It wasn't long before the sugar from many concessions that the middle schoolers fed her kicked in and she was wide open again.

For me, the game was exciting, even though we lost. We did go into overtime and in our defense, we only had 6 players to their 13, and we definitely were at a disadvantage after playing a full 4 quarters. All in all, my gals put up a great fight and entertained my little superstar as well!

Happy TWO Thomas!

A BIG Happy Birthday to my nephew Thomas! He turned two yesterday and we had the best time playing with him. He had an awesome "dig dig" cake, got some super cool car toys, and ended the night with fancy sparklers. Thanks for the big time!

New Babies, Old Friends

I was so excited yesterday that I got to go to a baby shower of one of my great friends from high school, Farrow. Since she now lives in New Orleans and was home for the holidays, she actually had already had beautiful baby Harriett (I don't even have a picture of the guests of honor--boo). The best part about the whole party is that everyone brought their children, who ranged from just weeks old to almost 5 years old. All the kids were adorable and so well behaved. It was wonderful to see all my old friends as new mommies and all of the precious babes. Congratulations Farrow!

Good Ol' Granny

Since Max was having tubes this week, we invited Nanny, Papadad, Annie Doggie, and Granny to our house to help out a bit. Kinsey was in heaven having them all to herself while we were at the hospital with Max. Poor Nanny got sick again and had to cut the visit short, but Granny and Kinsey had some fun cleaning dishes and watching TV in their matching jammies. Believe it or not, these PJ's were bought in two separate states, without even knowing the other existed. Ironic.

Rewind...Christmas Eve

So, with all the hustle and bustle of Christmas Eve and New Year, I am just now able to organize my pictures from the last couple of weeks. I know, I know.

We had a very nice Christmas Eve with Jack's parents coming over to our house and having dinner and exchanging gifts. The kids had a wonderful time with their Nan and Granddaddy and one of the big hits of the evening was Max's karaoke box.



After the madness, the kids had a bath, set out the milk and cookies, and settled down for the reading of the stories by the fire. This is one of my fav Christmas pictures.

Christmas morning was lovely. No, really, it was. Kinsey was so full of magic this year as she bound down the stairs to see if Santa had come. Her big suprise was that Santa delivered with the tiny, two dollar, elephant toy (thanks Randy at Rainforest Cafe) that she lost in the Atlantic Ocean in June. Every Santa that we visited, this is what she asked for. She really enjoyed her Breyer horses and barn and Max seemed excited about his train set. However, by the end of the day, the trains were a-flyin!

The next day was Putman Family Christmas at Lake Keowee. What a crowd with Nanny, Papadad, Granny, Laura, Paul, Thomas, and Juju (not to mention three dogs)! Everyone had a wonderful time. Max loved his keyboard and was compared to Elton John on more than one occasion as he carried around Kinsey's pink sparkly purse. I swear that boy DOES love music! One of my favorite gifts were the bear and bunny hat/mitten/boot set that my parents got them.



We were able to get a couple of shots (popsicles as bribery) of all three cousins in front of the tree.