Firsts

We've had two big firsts in the last couple of weeks. Katherine got her hair cut for the first time, and Isabella had her first birthday.

She was so tired - it was actually a good thing, because she was not quite as fidgety.

Katherine was very excited about the zebra cape - like Marty from Madagascar.

Farrah did a great job following Katherine around in the seat.

Katherine went to wake Isabella up from a nap (with permission). It was extremely quiet, so I went to check on them, and this is what I found. Katherine had put all of her blankets and animals in Isabella's bed, and climbed in herself!

Isabella is so close to walking!

Isabella's cake.

She LOVED it!

My sweet girls - just had to share these pictures!

August...so far...

The girls both moved up to different classes at First Wesleyan Academy. Katherine is in the 3 year old class with a great teacher, Mrs. Beth. We are so excited about her year. She came home exhausted the first three days from the structure and instruction!

Isabella is in the toddler class. She is getting three teeth on the top at the same time. They are all in different stages, so it is hilarious. I think the fourth one is about to break through, too.

I just love this picture of me and my Kat! We wore matching outfits to church.

We take driving in our family very seriously. Keep your eyes on the road!

We know how to have fun, too! And check out how stylish Katherine is with her sunglasses on top of her head.

I took the girls to Nashville last weekend to visit family. Mimi went with us, and we saw Aunt Bibbie (96 years old) in the nursing home.

We stayed with Aunt Linda and Uncle Jimmy. Cousin Lynne and Aunt Judy also came to visit. Katherine got to sleep with me, and Isabella ended up in our bed in the middle of the night both nights, too. Made for some not so great sleep for me, but sweet, sweet moments with my girls!

Swinging!

Three Videos

It's been a long time since I posted any videos, and I've had a few requests, so here they are! Two of them are Bible stories that Katherine has memorized. For a very long time, we were only "allowed" to read the same two Bible stories to her every night. We've branched out now. She learned these just by listening to them over and over again - definitely a gift passed down from her Daddy. I can't do this!

We got locked out of Amber's house one afternoon, so Katherine Gave snacks to Isabella while we waited.


Katherine reciting the story of Jonah.


Katherine telling the story of Mary and baby Jesus.

Beach 2010

As a high school assistant principal, Andrew only gets one week off in the summer! It's quite a change for us. So, we spent last week at the beach in Destin. We did not see any oil, and we had a great time. Katherine liked the beach this year - she walked on the sand and swam in the ocean.


The Maxey Family.

Katherine loves to read. She memorizes the books and reads them to herself.

Sleepy girl.

Yummy donuts!

Sisters. The girls are starting to interact now. It's so sweet.

The pool was on the roof. Katherine is swimming all over the place by herself.

I only made it up to the pool once and was given all sorts of directions about where and how to swim by my mini-me! I opted to relax on the beach every day.

Isabella went to the beach twice for about an hour. She was fine - so laid back that nothing seems to bother her. What a bathing beauty!

Three Already?

Katherine turned three years old on Monday. We had a little party at Amber's house. We served all of Katherine's favorite foods with the grilled meat.

Mrs. Holly gave her the birthday girl outfit at school.

She's already swimming by herself, with floaties!

PopPop and Katherine.

Isabella and Mimi.

My happy girl's many cute faces.






The cake is coming!

Blowing out the candles.

Isabella enjoyed the cake a little too much.

Best gift of the night - Free Willy harmonica from Lauren.

Life

I've mentioned before that Katherine is the only girl in her class at school. One day, Kat did not want me to leave the gym, because Ms. Holly wasn't there. She was clinging to me, and I was trying to convince her to stay. Major rode over on his bike, she got on behind him, turned to me, waved and said “Bye, Mama!” They rode off together into the sunset. I ran to my office and grabbed my camera. Priceless.

Andrew is playing softball again with the church. It's a great opportunity for the guys who play to connect and get to know each other. The girls have been to two games so far. I made it to my first one last week.

Saturday, it was actually warm enough to swim. The pool felt great after 4 hours of yard work! Katherine is using the floaties and already doing great. I think she'll be able to swim without them by the end of the summer if she'll let us take them off her arms. Sara is the best teacher - she can get Katherine to take some risks.

Isabella was not too sure about the pool. Could be that we didn't have a bathing suit with us for her, or that every time Katherine and Sara screamed, it made her cry!

Andrew was gone for the weekend with the Maxey Men. They camped and hiked for 2 nights and 13 miles. Better them than me!

We couldn't all look at the camera at the same time, so this is as good as it gets for the Mother's Day picture this year.

My sweeties at lunch.

Loving each other.

Getting a little too wild now!