First Prayer and New Songs

Tonight Kate said her first prayer with Daddy. She repeated after him, "Dear God, Thank you. Amen".  It was one of the sweetest things I have ever heard.  I love our bedtime routine.  Usually after dinner, Kate takes a bath and spends about 20 or 30 minutes just playing and singing.  After her bath, Justin and I read books with her in her room, sing some songs and say a prayer.  I have been so surprised at how well she can sing along to the songs.  Recently we discovered she knows "This Little Light of Mine" as well as the hand motions.  I keep telling Justin that I need to get it on video.  She also loves to sing "Jesus Loves Me", "Jesus Loves the Little Children" "Jesus' Love is a Bubbling Over" and "You are Holy (Prince of Peace)".  Usually Kate will belt out every third word or so in each song. When we were done singing tonight, she kept saying "more church".  Although I'm away from her most of the day, the hour or so before Kate goes to bed is the highlight of my day.

Mini Vacation

The three of us have just gotten back from a mini vacation in Destin!  One of my favorite places, but then again I haven't been to that many places.  Once a year, Justin's friends from Tennessee, Mike and Vickie Clayton and their daughter Taylor, come down to Destin for a work conference.  We love being able to spend time with them and catch up on everything that has been going on.  Justin was able to see the Clayton family last October in Gaitlinburg but I was not able to go because of work.  It has been a couple years since I have seen them, so this trip was long overdue for me.

We left Saturday morning and I convinced Justin to take Kate and I to the beach before we checked into the hotel.  Our normal beach spot was closed so it took us several minutes to find another beach access place that wasn't going to be too crowded (haha).  We ended up at Topsail Hill State Park, which was nice, but we had to take a tram to the beach which only ran once an hour.  I was a little uneasy about the once an hour ride, but it worked out.  

We learned that Kate does not like the beach.  Anytime sand got on her she started wailing and wanted us to wipe it off immediately.  She also hated the waves and there was seaweed everywhere, which didn't help.  When Justin set up the umbrella, he was missing a piece of the pole, but thankfully Kate was able to stay in the shade.  I managed to rock Kate to sleep (so rotten!) and she ended up a taking a decent nap on the beach.   Justin and I both got burnt, even though we put on sunscreen, but that was better than Kate getting burned. To sum it up, it was an awful trip to the beach. 

Lucky for Justin and I, the rest of the trip went great.  Thankfully, Kate was well behaved the entire weekend. We met the Clayton family for dinner on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon we hung out with them at their condo and then grabbed dinner together again.  I'm so glad we were able to go to Destin - I always look for a reason to go!

 The View

 The seaweed - gross.  Despite that, the location was nice because there weren't a lot of people there.

Waiting on the tram, eating Craisins (one of her favorites).

Kate and Mr. Mike

Kate and Mrs. Vickie

The family. 

I'm sad the weekend is over, but hopefully there will be another trip in my future!

Next weekend - My ten year high school reunion (yikes!).

4th of July 2011

We had a very uneventful 4th of July - but it was nice.  Justin, Kate and I stayed in town and got several chores done around the house; nothing exciting but it felt good to get a couple things marked off the "to do" list. 

We decided not to fight the crowds this year to watch a fireworks show like we did last year. Since 4th of July was on a Monday, it would have been a very late night to see fireworks and then have to get up early the next morning for work and school. Since the Tom Brown Park show wasn't starting until 9:30 or so, Justin and I decided to light some sparklers at my parents house and call it a night. My parents had invited us over for dinner and then we put on the "big" show in the backyard.

I'm glad we didn't put a lot of effort into our fireworks show because Kate wasn't too interested.

 

Happy 4th of July! 

Kate's Haircut

Here's my last post for the night... I cut Kate's hair last night.  At first I just trimmed it since her bangs were in her eyes, but Justin convinced me to cut some length off to try to get her hair to look a little more even and blended in with the sides.

BEFORE

AFTER

I promise it's straighter in the back than it looks in this picture.

It took me some time to adjust to it, but I think it looks cute.

Timberlane Small Groups

Our group at church has recently started meeting regularly for small groups and I am so excited about it! This past weekend was filled with small group activities. Saturday, David and Brittany Covan hosted a cook out/slip n slide party at Dave's parents house. Every time we are invited out to the Covan's I know we are going to have a great time.

The ladies (well most of them) - from left to right: Lindsey Burke, Tracy Reavis, Sarah Mullinax, Aunt Katie, Brittany Covan and Meredith Sullivan

Riding Audrey's wheeler and swimming in the pool - what more can two girls ask for?

Ms. Presley and Ms. Emeline riding Audrey's "big" 4 wheeler - one just isn't enough!

All the guys lined up at the slip n slide.  Fortunately no one was injured.

On the second and fourth Sunday evenings of each month, we meet at the host family's house at 4:30 for a great time of devotion, food and fellowship. This month, Jordan and Katie were gracious enough to host since Jordan has been one of the leaders in getting the small groups started.

 

Audrey and Kate - lined up to race down the hall.  This kept them occupied for quite some time.  Peyton missed this photo, but she was right there racing too. Audrey won every time. 

My goofy girl - always looking for attention!

Meredith Sullivan, Lindsey and Ben Threadgill

Lindsey Burke (holding Kendal Covan) and Brittany Covan

Jordan Swain with Mindy and Tim Fike (who actually work with me at Education)

Can't wait for our next small group event!

Splash Days

Kate's school has started splash days on Thursdays and Fridays. I never realized how much work it would be to get her ready for splash days and now I'm glad it's only two days a week. On top of getting her lunch made each day, I now have to send her in her swimsuit and regular diaper, a cover up, water shoes, apply sun screen, bring a towel, and swim diapers. Whew. But this picture makes it all worth while - she loves it!

Justin's 30th birthday and Father's Day

Kate is spending the night with Mimi and Papa tonight and guess what I decide to do?  Catch up with my blog (while Justin is watching a scary movie).  It has been several weeks since I last did a post and it has been on my To-Do list.

Recently Justin celebrated his 30th birthday! One more year and it will be me - yikes! Justin lectured me about not throwing him a surprise party (which I wasn't planning on doing) and instead we had a cookout at Mimi and Papa's with my family, both Reavis families and the Smyly family.  It was Raymond's 31st birthday two days earlier so it was wonderful to have all the families together to celebrate.

Being silly

While Kate and Audrey played with their toys, the big kids played with Lamar's newest toy - an air rifle.  

It was a low key birthday celebration, but a lot of fun!

On Sunday, we celebrated Father's Day by eating out for lunch after church.  Once again we were able to celebrate with Gigi and Grandaddy, Nanny, Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie, and Mimi and Papa.  Kate and I are so blessed to have such wonderful fathers in our lives.  I couldn't ask for a better dad, father-in-law and husband.  We are lucky girls!

After such a full weekend, Kate passed out before we made it home from the restaurant.

Happy Birthday Daddy and Happy Father's Day!