Ready for a Vacation

Here is another group of pictures that I just couldn't help but share from our Fall Break getaway. Kaden had a couple of days off school in October so of course I just had to make the most of it. With Keith out of town for a couple of days I decided to tour a museum right here in Cartersville, the Booth Museum. I'm almost embarrased to say that I had never been before in the couple of years that it has been open and now I can't wait to go back...its amazing. The art, the sculptures, the history and the best part almost the whole bottom floor is a hands on interactive exhibit for children...the kids must of been in there for an hour exploring. I took my niece and nephew Kylee & Ethan on our day out in Cartersville too.
When Keith was finished with his work out of town he met us up in Chattanooga and took two days off work back at home to explore the city with us. We went to a farmer's market, climbed rock walls, visited a pumpkin patch, went on a hayride (where I lost my brand new sunglasses!), went to the incredible Children's Museum, took in some great scenery, and even rode the Incline Railway.
With all the recent snow and snow days off school Kaden did not have his scheduled February Winter Break off school where we had planned on taking a trip to our beloved Charleston, SC. So now I'm itching to get out of town and explore w/ the kiddos again.

Proud Parenting Moment

Ok so I know I wasn't going to post anything else until I finally got caught up. I also don't have any pictures to share (what good is a posting from me w/out a picture of my two adorable babies)! But I just have to share this story & brag on my amazing son for a moment. First let me say if you are just starting to read my blog don't think...'oh my goodness she is one of "those" Mom's that thinks her children are perfect'...oh no! I will share the good, the bad and the very ugly!...so check back :)
So with that said let me move on to the good, the amazing, the boy who makes me proud to be a Mom every day of my life.
I went on a field trip yesterday morning w/ Kaden's class to the Tellus Museum. For you non-Cartersvillians that is a wonderful science museum right here in our backyard. Anyways, the trip was going well. Kaden's class was split up into boys and girls. The boys went w/ another class that was on the field trip, which happened to include the apple of Kaden's eye, little Reese. We learned all about insects & spiders & had a lot of hands on activities. Then the trip took a turn into the very kid friendly gift shop filled w/ all kinds of goodies. They stopped the group and explained that they could look & even touch just please put it back if you didn't buy it. Buy it! All the kiddos were asking their teacher..."We can buy something?" Well if you have the money she replied. Ok...they are 5 & 6 they don't have a wallet in thr back pocket and I was only 1 of 4 chaperones so most of them did not have a parent/grandparent w/ them. I told Kaden to quietly pick something out and I would come back and get it for him. His friend Jonathan was standing by and overheard and when I turned and seen his little face it was so sad. He said "Can you buy me something Kaden's Mom?"...Well of course I can when you say it like that. Next thing I knew I had an audience of little boys. As Kaden looked around he pulled me down and said "Mommy, I don't want anything but can you buy my friends something; they don't have any parents to get them anything."
This hit home for me in such a big way! I was so proud of him to recognize the wants of others & not put his wants/desires first.
I bought each of the kids a small token to bring home from their field trip and of course quietly let Kaden & Jonathan pick out a little something extra. As I gave each of them there little brown bag when they were boarding the bus and seen their smiles and even received a few hugs I seen Kaden looking at me w/ a big smile...was he also proud of me??
It was a good day.

Kendall's 1st Day of Preschool

I had posted Kaden's big first day of Kindergarden last Fall! But I never did post about Kendall's big first day of preschool. Our little cutie is loving it. She only goes two mornings a week, but she really has blossemed and we have found out that she is quite the artist. She has also began talking so much more...too much now actually (like her brother). We are so excited about watching our Kendall "Bee" blossom.

Summer 2010

There are so many pictures from our events and trips this past summer that I want to share but in an effort to get caught back up in the blogging world I have narrowed it down to about 20 :) We had a great summer filled w/ vacations, trips w/ family, visits back to Keith's hometown of New Orleans, birthday parties, play dates at the club pool and even Kaden's first Cotillion program. Our biggest adventure was a trip to Disney in Orlando w/ friends...where we visited 4 parks in 5 days w/ 6 little ones! Kendall had two big firsts...a limo ride to her visit to the American Girl Doll store for her cousin Kylee's birthday. We visited the beaches of Amelia Island, Fl. for a little R&R and enjoyed sightseeing by carriage ride, lazy days on the beach and the kiddos even had a special visit from a pirate, princess and their macaw for a special story and tuck-in one night. We also fit in another beach trip to the Isle of Palms, SC outside of Charleston for a week w/ my entire family, which of course was not short of drama, laughing, crying, temper-tantrums and entertainment :)

Kendall Turns 2

As you can tell from the pictures our little princess celebrated her 2nd Birthday w/ an ice cream social. That day was incredibly hot and humid and there were clouds rolling in as we were setting up outside. We got in about 45mins before the lighting started and the whole party...about 35 people... had to move inside! Not as planned! At least everyone made it through the ice cream sundae line before that...however not before the sand art craft! Kendall had also fallen and hit her face on the garage stairs the week of her birthday so her nose and eyes were swollen and bruised :( And she hated the Maggie Moo cow mascot that came along w/ the ice cream caterers! So not the perfect set up, but I look back at her cute little face smiling as she blows out her candle or sits eating ice cream w/ her friends and realize once again it is all worth it.

Let me also mention that our landscaper showed up a week late to cut the grass so the lawn was being mowed as they were trying to set up the white tent and chairs in the backyard. Mix fresh cut grass w/ humid and wet weather and a bunch of sweaty kids not a good combonation! One last bumb in the road...the oh so cute ice cream cupcakes would not sit upright on transport to the party so they all collapsed and had to be reassembled which made for an interesting lesson in decorative frosting for me :)

I'm Back!!!!

The days are literally flying past me. It took Kaden's 6th Birthday this past week to make me realize how much I miss blogging and sharing all the excitement of raising my two beautiful kiddos w/ my friends & family. I also love that I can turn my posts into a storybook that my children will have to show their children one day! So much has happened since the last time I wrote...September! I want to post Kendall's 2nd Birthday & Holidays and then get caught up to Kaden's birthday. So that is the plan and I hope to start posting more frequently again. Especially now that Kaden is reading, I think he would really enjoy it! So hello long lost blogging friends...I'm back :)