What a difference a year makes!!!

Here is a picture from our visit to Santa just last year...

Here is our picture this year...

I had been talking to Caroline all week about going to see Santa. And all week she was willing to sit in his lap and get her picture taken. The minute she saw him she said "NO." When we walked around to him she put her arms out for me to pick her up. We walked up to Santa and Kayla got on one knee. I put Caroline down. I was expecting the death grip that she had on Uncle Steve last year, but she let me put her down. She never cried. She actually almost smiled for the picture. She would not, however, take her hand out of her mouth. I have noticed that is what she does when she is nervous or uncomfortable. She sat on his knee the entire time we were there. He asked her if she wanted a babydoll and she said "yes". Later he asked her what else he could bring her. Her reply..."Elfy."

Kayla came prepared. Here is a picture of her and Santa studying the American Girl catalog. She showed him exactly which one she wanted, what her name is, and what outfit she should be wearing. Kayla and Santa are checking out the dolls while Caroline is checking out the big guy with the white beard.

My dad went with us to take video of the girls with Santa. I failed to mention I was bribing Caroline with a treat. Kayla told me that she was good, so her treat should be TCBY. You don't have to ask my dad twice for that. Off they go...

Another Grayson Pic

I had to post another picture of Grayson. Here he is with his mom. Andy and I went to see them today. He is absolutely adorable. I did not want to give him back. Brandy seemed to be doing really well.

Congratulations Brandy and Chris!!!

My friend Brandy had her baby today at 1:15 pm. He is 6 lb 10 oz, 19 inches long, and his daddy says he is perfect. I am so excited for both of them. This is their first baby. Welcome to the world Grayson Lane!!!

Christmas Parade

Kayla was in the Christmas Parade this weekend with her dance studio. The City puts on a pretty nice parade, and Kayla really enjoys getting to be a part of it. I dropped her off at 5:15 with another mom at the "float", and then I went to find a place to watch. The parade started at 6:00 and it was not long before we saw them coming...

She can't wait until she is in 3rd grade so she can do cartwheels instead of having to ride.

Cousin Nic was also in the parade. His mom works for the American Red Cross. He helped pass out hot chocolate to all of the parade participants before it started. Then he got to ride in the Red Cross vehicle. He is sticking his head out the window, and Donette is walking.

This just cracks me up. Until living here, I had never seen a beauty queen driving a tractor in a parade!

And no Christmas Parade is complete without a visit from Santa.

This is Kayla after the float arrived back at the dance studio. She was absolutely freezing. I should have put more layers on her. Oh well, I will do better next year!
The parade lasted about an hour, and then they have a pajama party at the studio. Kayla always wears the prior years Christmas pajamas from Jenny. They are always so cute. Kayla grew quite a bit this year...the pants were pretty short! I have a hard time getting Kayla to cooperate for pictures sometimes. She likes to run away from me or make faces like this...
She had a great time at the party. It was nearly 10:00 before I could drag her out of there. Junk food, loud music, dancing, and friends. She was not in a hurry to leave so she could go home and go to bed!

A First

We experienced a first today. Caroline has been very congested and has had a runny nose for a few days. I walked in the kitchen a minute ago and she had a handful of kleenex on her nose. She told me she needed help. So I held the kleenex and told her to blow. I don't know why I did, but I looked up her nose (maybe because she was having trouble blowing). I was pretty sure I could see a yogurt covered raisin. I asked her if she stuck a raisin in her nose, and she just very calmly looked at me and said "Yes." Anyway, we finally got it out. I was not having much luck getting it out - other than just making her mad. She started to cry and it came flying out. There was indeed a raisin way up there. Kayla NEVER stuck anything up her nose. WOW!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

We ended up having a really fun Halloween. I got the girls ready and my mom came by to see their costumes.

Caroline was a butterfly...

Kayla was a cheerleader...

I thought I would try to get a picture of them together, but Caroline was not wanting to sit by her sister at that particular moment.


She did a little better after she was given some candy.

Jennifer brought Patick and Jackson over. For those who don't know, we met KC and Jennifer in childbirth class when I was pregnant with Kayla. We have all been good friends ever since. The kids have really grown up together, and Halloween has always been sort of a tradition. Last year was the first year we did not trick-or-treat with them.

We went up to the Fall Festival at our church. We had never been before, and it was a blast. We ended up staying at the church a lot longer than we had planned.

There were fun things for the big kids...

Fun things for the little kids...

There were lots of carnival style games...

And Caroline sat there so patiently waiting for the big kids to finish. Now that I look at the pictures I am pretty sure she was half asleep.

And a Fall Festival would not be complete without face painting, lots of candy, hot dogs, chips, lemonade, and sno-cones.

Here is a group shot of all of us.

We did come home and do a little trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. It was pretty late so we only went to three houses. The kids had a great time. It was good to spend that time with our friends. Schedules are so busy all of the time so we don't get to see them very often. It was a very successful Halloween.

First Grade is Good

Kayla is having a good year in first grade so far. She got her report card last week and she made the A Honor Roll. Today she came out with a Student of the Month ribbon. She was chosen by her teacher to be the Student of the Month for September. She will have her picture in the newspaper soon. (They took the picture today).


A while back she was interviewed for the school newspaper. This is what it said:

"Kayla is a 1st grader in Ms. Walton's class. She would like to be a teacher when she grows up. Her favorite color is pink and she has a talent for gymnastics, cheer and piano. Kayla's favorite food is spaghetti and her least favorite food is asparagus. Kayla likes to drink Sprite. She has a fish and dog. Her favorite subject is Reading and she has 100% of her AR goal. Kayla has a sister."

I am not sure when this interview was done, but we have not had either one of those animals at our house in a really long time. You can't always believe everything you read!

Anyway, Kayla is having a great year and we are really proud of how well she is doing.

Fun Picture Tag

Here's a new tag that is actually pretty simple to do.
Open your pictures folder
Go to the SIXTH folder
Go to the SIXTH picture
Publish it to a NEW POST and tell the story of the photo

I got this from Jenny a long time ago. I am finally getting around to it. This is a picture of Kayla as we were heading to her first day of preschool. She is holding her star from the Dora stage show we had taken her to a few days before. That was a tough day for me. My baby was going to school. Now, my second baby is almost as old as Kayla was in this picture. No pigtails for Kayla, but still just as adorable and precious. I love my girls!

Amy and Brandy you are tagged. I want to see your pic.

Caroline

I was trying to get a cute picture of Caroline in her pumpkin shirt and hairbows that Aunt Jenny gave her. That is a difficult task with a two year old that is always moving and who thinks she is really funny. I think they are cute and the 2nd and 3rd ones make me laugh.

The Greatest Show on Earth

I had thought about doing this, but changed my mind. After reading Darlene's comment this is the summary of our day:

Tickets - $198
Programs - $30
Chicken and Water - $16
Popcorn - $7
Sno-cones - $27
Great Birthday Memories - Priceless


ORIGINAL POST:
We have finally finished celebrating Kayla's birthday. We took her and Libby to the circus last Saturday. They had no idea where we were going until we got there. They finally guessed it and were both very excited.

I am not used to having to buy 2 of everything. Before we even walked in the door it cost us $30 for 2 programs.
We went to the pre-show. We got to go down on the floor and watch some performances and get autographs in the program from the performers. Good thing we splurged for the programs!
We had great seats for the show. We were in the front row so the girls had unobstructed views of the entire show. We were within a few feet of many of the acts.
We got to buy 3 sno-cones. I could not come home without a clown cup for Caroline. Did I forget to mention those were $9? Each.

Here is one of the video clips I took.

We all had a wonderful day. The girls spent the entire car ride home looking through the programs at the signatures that they got and the acts that they saw. The day was worth every penny. And Kayla FINALLY feels like she had a party. This was fun, but I think we will go back to BounceU next year.

Slumber Party

Kayla and Libby were invited to their first slumber party at their friend Megan's house. This is a very brave mother. She invited 24 six and seven year old girls. I can't imagine. Both girls were extremely excited. They were counting down the hours all afternoon until it was time to go.

I am sure the mother was thankful that not everyone showed up. Here are all of the girls when I dropped Kayla off.

They had a blast. It was constant running and screaming while I was there last night. This morning, they were all more mellow. Megan's mother said they were up until 3 am. Kayla actually came home and took a nap! It was a great first slumber party!

Happy Birthday Kayla!!!

Where has the time gone? My baby girl is now seven years old. It has been a great seven years. She certainly keeps us on our toes. I have never seen a child with more energy. I am very proud of her. I hope that I have enough energy to keep up with her for a few more years!

Here is my 7 lb 14 oz baby girl born 7 years ago.

Here is my baby girl today.


She had a great birthday. Her PawPaw and Grandma Sue came and picked her up for a day on the town. She got to eat shrimp at Red Lobster and do a little shopping. And no day at the mall is complete without some TCBY. She had a great time.

For her birthday dinner she chose to eat at Ted's. Her Grandma Nancy and Uncle Russ joined us.
She was less than thrilled when they put the sombrero on her while they sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She leaned over to me when they were done and sternly said "I did NOT want to wear that big hat!"

She gets to go to the circus tomorrow with her best friend Libby. She does not know where we are going, so it should be fun. After that the birthday celebrations will finally be over.

Happy Birthday Kayla!