May 2012

Mother's Day 2012. I'm so thankful for my two little sweeties. Abby's favorite stuffed dog, Polar Bear, makes an appearance as part of the bribe to get her to pose for the picture. Bubble gum may have also been part of the bribe.

 Kate got to meet Clifford the Big Red Dog at the library.

 Abby got to see a performance of Winnie-the-Pooh by amazing child actors at a local theatre, and was brave enough to get her picture made with some of the characters afterward. Here is Abby with Eyore, played by one of Aunt Diney's middle school students.

Kate and I enjoyed our last full morning at home together during Abby's last day of preschool. Kate will be joining Abby at preschool in the fall. I know she'll love it & I'll savor a few hours of alone time per week, but sniff, sniff, I will miss having my littlest at home with me with no other commitments. Here Kate gives me one of her sweetest faces as she grabs my camera, aka the "cheese". Also, have jeggings ever looked cuter on any person on the face of this earth, particularly one who is on tiptoe in a pink chair trying to wash dishes?

Here's my sweet Abby headed out for her end-of-the-year program at preschool. I can't believe how quickly she's growing up. Only one more year at her delightful little preschool before I send her off to kindergarten.

Links

I decided to waste just a few minutes (yeah, right) reading a magazine after the girls were in bed before I tackled a very messy kitchen. Ran across some great summer freebies & felt compelled to check them out online. Now further compelled to record and/or share these links before I lose track of them and the kitchen is still a mess.

Free book through Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading/index.asp

Bank of America Museums on Us
http://museums.bankofamerica.com/

Target Arts & Culture
http://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?contentId=WCMP04-031764&ref=sr_shorturl_arts

Kids Bowl Free
http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/

$1 Kids' Movies
http://www.cinemark.com/summer-movie-clubhouse

Most of them would be more useful to city dwellers, but I'm thinking we might be able to participate in a couple of them anyway.

Time to clean now...

Sisters

Image by Amber Gibson Photography

I love the relationship that is developing between these two girls. One of my favorite moments recently was hearing them both laughing like crazy from the backseat as they entertained each other while I drove.

Pure Sweetness

Kate is very generous with her big, heart-melting smiles these days.

She has also been sleeping well, often with her chubby little hands tucked behind her head.

Check out those eyelashes - she gets them from her Daddy.

My Favorite Picture

copyright Moments in Time Photography

http://www.momentsintimega.com/

I love this photo from Kate's 6-week-old photo session. I've got one on my dresser and I like it more each time I see it. I'm feeling rested enough for a quick post since for the first time I awoke this morning to daylight and two sleeping girls, neither of whom had required any parental attention since just after midnight!!

Welcome Baby Kate

We welcomed Katherine Isabelle Barrett on August 24, 2010 at 11:38 p.m. Kate weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces and measured 18 inches long. We are so thankful to God for bringing this precious little girl safely into our family. Abby is thrilled to finally meet her baby sister.

Christmas Eve 2009

We started out the morning assembling a Chocolate Bavarian Torte. This cake is one of Nana Diana's specialties, so we made one in her absence. We miss you, Nana Diana! The name & the look were intimidating but it actually only requires a few ingredients. However, the assembly is tedious and it was quite a chore with my little helper. Nana substitutes Hershey's kisses for the semisweet chocolate. Abby can unwrap and consume a chocolate kiss so fast it makes my head spin. She is keenly aware that once it's in her mouth, I've lost the battle. I was finally able to keep her out of the candy and finish the job when she became preoccupied with harvesting tiny bits of cake from the waxed paper that I had cooled the layers on.


Our cake misadventures made us late, but our next stop was breakfast at Dinee's house. (Abby has dubbed Aunt Diane as Dinee, usually "my Dinee.") We had a great time. Abby especially enjoyed playing with Sawyer and Zach. Sawyer, being the oldest cousin on this side, knew all about removing candy canes from the tree. Abby was the happy recipient. All three were actually content to pose for a few pictures, albeit with candy cane goo oozing out of their little mouths.

Brooke & Zach


Abby, Sawyer, & Zach


A Sticky Smooch from Zach


Dinee with her grandsons & great-niece


Clint with Zach & Sawyer


Late afternoon brought our family gift swap. Abby was thrilled to finally get to tear into the presents she'd been touching and talking about for several days.



The biggest smile came from a Barney CD. Abby wanted to listen to it right away. Jonathan explained that we would listen to it in the car on the way to our next party. Her immediate response was "I ready go bye-bye."


Noticing Abby's multitasking with our new phone & her new computer. She pretends (or believes?) that anything with a screen, including our alarm clock, is directly connected to the "Lodi Bear" (Yogi Bear) clips that we occasionally let her watch on YouTube.



Our final stop was the annual Christmas Eve Bash at Paw-Paw & Nana's house. Abby had a fabulous time. She even wore her ponytail cooperatively for quite some time until she felt it on her head during an impromptu tumbling demonstration. As you can see, this is apparently where I hit the wall with picture taking. I did not even capture a picture of the hosts/great-grandparents. The trend continued on Christmas Day as well. I guess I just get overwhelmed when there's a crowd.

Abby & Nene

Abby & Papa






Abby received lots of great gifts. A couple of highlights were Elmo slippers and a giant doll who will apparently be named "My Big Doll." Abby doesn't really understand the naming process - her only other name suggestion was "some milk". Miss Chatterbox has recently told me "I readnin' to my bid doll" and "I sit in he lap".


We were out way past bedtime on Christmas Eve but Abby did fine. She has really started to be more flexible with her schedule as long as we get back on track quickly after the fact. This is a real plus for special occasions.