Nate and Kat

Bob and I recently celebrated our anniversary and we decided to watch our wedding video with Dottie (since she was here) after the kids went to bed. Dottie suggested we show it to Addie sometime, thinking she would probably like it. The following evening, Addie watched our wedding dvd before going to bed (part of it, anyways) and now she is hooked. We don't know whether Dottie's suggestion was good or bad, though, because it has become quite an obsession. So much so, that we have had to put the wedding dvd away and are trying to get Addie to forget about it. She had let it consume her life-talking about "Mommy and Daddy's wedding" and "pretty dress" and "don't throw the flowers!" among other things constantly. The biggest problem, though, is that she wanted to watch it ALL THE TIME, which is not an option around here. And when she was told she could not watch it, she threw a major tantrum. In fact, she could not calm down to go to sleep one night because she was so upset that she couldn't watch more of Mommy and Daddy's wedding. All that to say, we are trying to get her to forget our wedding, but have been able to distract her a little by talking about the wedding we will be attending next summer-Uncle Nate and Miss Kathryn's wedding! Addie is soooo excited-this video does not do the excitement justice, but it at least gives you an idea. Hopefully you can understand what she's talking about. The only bad part of talking about this wedding with Addie is that she just doesn't understand it's so far away...

Splashville

I think this is true for most of the country, but recently, it's been hot in Asheville. Close to record-setting temperatures. It kind of worked out that we were planning to go to Splashville in downtown Asheville this week. Splashville is in a park and is basically a bunch of fountains that sporadically shoot out water. It is for kids to play in, and our kids loved it. They took a little convincing at first, but after a while, Addie especially just went for it. She didn't care if I was anywhere near her-she just loved playing in the fountains! It was a fun morning, and I'm sure we'll be back with Daddy soon!

Shower Time

This past weekend, we had a fun time hanging out with old college friends and celebrating the upcoming birth of our good friends, Jen and Peter's, baby. Our kids got to meet my friend, Catherine's, kids for the first time (and so did we), which was another perk. We need more events like this as an excuse to get together!

The cake...we know this baby is getting a difficult last name to spell, so decided to make a joke of it:

It was a SURPRISE baby shower-and it worked!

Levi and Micah (born exactly 2 days apart) playing together (and yes, their sizes are as different as the picture looks):

The whole group (minus myself-we sent the boys out hiking while we had the shower):

It's not a baby shower without a few, fun games:

Addie and Sophie staying occupied:

More games (Randi, Becca, and Catherine):

Meg and Jen:

Cow Appreciation Day 2011

We have been dressing up as cows for free Chick-fil-a for 5 years straight now...hopefully we'll be doing it for many more years to come!

The boy cows:

Girl cows:

Cutest cow pic (don't worry, I'm not leaving Addie out-she just wasn't cooperating for a picture):

Best one I got of Addie:

4th of July

To try to get Addie excited about the upcoming birthday of our country, I did a couple of preschool activities with her. They were a big hit and now, Addie can't stop talking about the 4th of July. In fact, every time she prays these days, she says, "thank you for the 4th of July". We have tried to let her know it is over, but she is in denial.

Her stars and stripes collage:

What could it be? A graham cracker with icing,

some red twizzlers,

and some blueberries, to make an edible flag! (we had to get a picture quick before it was consumed!)

The morning of the 4th:

Our big activity on Independendence day was to go to the local parade. I had been reading a few 4th of July books to Addie and all of them mentioned parades, so she was very excited about actually going to one.

Waving the flag:

Daddy and Addie:

Don't worry, we let Levi out of the stroller and he got to wave a flag too:

Just watching the parade go by:

Waving, chewing, whatever:

And to top it all off, Bob put up a swing for the kids in the back yard:

They both loved it:

Summer fun

I will post our pics from the 4th soon, but still need to upload those onto the computer, so for now, here are a few from the past couple of weeks.

Bob was very ashamed of this picture, but I thought it was really cute. Levi loves to play with whatever Addie is playing with. Oh, and anytime Addie has a baby doll, she finds one for Levi as well. Very cute and sweet.

We went putt-putting for the first time with the kiddos this year. It was Addie's first time actually playing and went as well as it could, I guess. She figured out that picking up her ball and putting it in the hole was much easier than try to hit it with her club.

Daddy trying to help.

We let the little guy out of the stroller at the end....

Two cute kids!