Weekend Fun- So Far

It seems like we have inadvertently started a weekend tradition of eating pizza.  There is a new restaurant that has opened in our city that we've been to a few times, then Kevin wanted Giordano's pizza for his birthday, and last night we went to yet another pizza place that we used to visit fairly often, but hadn't been to in a long time.  They have the BEST chocolate chip pizza, and that's the main reason that we go.  Their food is good too, but the chocolate chip pizza makes the trip worth it.  Kate seemed to agree with us...

We didn't have any real plans this morning, so we mostly stayed around the house.  Kevin cut the grass, trimmed the bushes, etc.  Kate and I played around for a little while. 

And she pulled out her favorite toy- her drumsticks. She only gets to play with these when she's VERY supervised. 

Since I've already put so many pictures on this one post, I'll save the rest from today for a separate post. Besides, it's time to go watch some more college football. :) Hope everyone is having a great weekend. We sure are enjoying this one at home!

Labor Day Weekend Again

Okay. These past few posts have been a bit out of order, but I really wanted to post about Kate's first day of "school".  However, I don't want to miss out on any of my Labor Day weekend days!  So, let's back up to Sunday...

We haven't been to my parent's house in a while, and we thought that Sunday would be a good day to visit.  We decided just to make it a day trip.  It was just too much to pack up all of Kate's stuff for an overnight visit and we wanted to be at home on Monday anyway, so a day trip just worked best.  After church, we packed up the car and hit the road.

We tried to go out on the lake for a bit, but it didn't quite work out.  We got down there, put on our swimsuits, put on sunscreen, got on the boat, backed the boat away from the dock... and then looked at the sky.  Not good.  We never even made it out of our cove.  But I did get a few pictures in our 5 minute ride.

We spent the rest of the day and evening just hanging out.  Sometimes that's just the best thing you can do.  

By the end of the day, we had a VERY tired little girl.  I thought for certain that she would sleep the whole way home, but she managed to keep her eyes open for the whole ride.  Once she made it to her bed though, she was out for the count!  

And that's how we spent our Labor Day weekend.  Hope you all had just as much fun watching college football, relaxing with family, or whatever!

First Day of "School"

Kevin and I are so grateful, and thankful, that Kate gets to spend her week days with her Nana.  We love that she is being taken care of by family, but we also want her to have a little time socializing with other children, developing social skills and learning how to share.  So, we enrolled Kate in a 1 day a week Mother's Day Out program at a church that is very near to our house.  And as a plus, Kate's Nana can get a bit of a break during the week.  :)  Today was her first day!

I was definitely more excited than she was since she had no clue what was going on!  She did think that the sign was pretty interesting.

Kate goes to MDO on Wednesdays from 9am until 2pm and it is actually a very structured program.  We're excited about what she'll get to be a part of over the next year.  She's in a class with 2 teachers, and 5 other kids. 

We went to orientation last week, and she got to stay with her teacher for about an hour while us parents got all of the necessary paperwork and info.  Apparently she's a very social little girl.  When I went to pick her up after the orientation meeting was over, I learned that she really wanted to help comfort all of the other kids who were crying when their parents dropped them off.  She also earned the nickname "Little Greeter" because she would wave hello and by to everyone. And she did the very same thing again today.

Kevin will normally be dropping her off, but I really wanted to do it today since it was her first day.  We got there right at 9, and I dropped her off with no tears.  Her teachers said she did great today and had fun, but just wouldn't take a nap.  I wasn't surprised.  I'd actually put a note in her bag that said she probably wouldn't.  Normally for naps we put her down in her crib when she's still awake, give her a blanket and paci and then walk out.  She goes to sleep on her own, but she does have to have it quiet and she has to be by herself.  She just doesn't want to miss out, so of course she didn't want to go to sleep with 5 other kids and 2 teachers in the room!  She'll just have to get used to it.

Overall, it was a great first day and I'm sure she's going to enjoy all of the Wednesdays at MDO to come. 

Labor Day Weekend

We had another PACKED weekend; especially so since it was a 3 day weekend.  Friday night we celebrated Kevin's birthday with a few pizzas from Giordano's Pizza from Chicago.  This was his request instead of a typical birthday cake.  I'd never had one but it was really good!

Saturday was another big day in our household because college football is back!  I guess technically college football was back on Thursday, but neither of our teams played until Saturday.  For those that don't know, Kevin is a big Georgia fan and I have been a Clemson fan since birth.  :)

Luckily our games were at different times on Saturday.  Kevin watched the first quarter of the Georgia game on his computer (on ESPN3), before he realized that it actually WAS being shown on TV.   For the Clemson game we decided to grill wings and ribs, and have chips and dip.  Ken, Angela and Kristi came over to watch it with us and cheer Clemson on to a win over Auburn.  Kate got a Clemson cheerleading outfit for her birthday, so of course she wore it for the occasion.

And because I was just thinking about it, I thought it would be fun to go back and look at pictures from Kate's first game last year.  Wow. What a difference a year makes!

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Today is Kevin's birthday! Yay!  He is celebrating by playing golf today and then tonight, we're having a very special birthday "cake".

This was Kevin's request.  Instead of birthday cake, we ordered THREE deep dish pizzas from Giordano's in Chicago.  Kevin has been to Chicago and had the real thing and loved it.  He's been wanting one of these for a WHILE so we finally decided to just do it.  Happy birthday! :) 

We're having a few people over and cooking 2 of these tonight.  And we're saving the 3rd for another night.  Shipping was the same price regardless of how many you bought, so it just made sense to get an extra. 

Anyway, today is a special day so we're celebrating a very special person!  I'm so lucky to have Kevin as my husband, and Kate is a very lucky little girl to have such a great daddy.  He takes such good care of her.  He is the one who gets up with her in the morning, feeds her, changes her diaper, and takes her to her Nana's house for the day.  He is the one who picks her up and brings her home each evening.  He is the one who has worked for 5 years on our yard, and has it looking better than it ever has.  He's a great leader for our family, and we both love him so much.  I'm sure Kate would tell him if she could, but for now she'll have to tell him with her smiles and laughs.

Happy birthday, Kevin!

Fun In Charleston- Part 3

I promise, this is the last of the weekend-recap pictures! I took SO many though!  After Kate got tired of the splash park area, we took her over to the playground.  It was hot so we didn't stay too long but she loved, LOVED the slide. Although, she couldn't really figure out how it worked.  She kept trying to go UP the slide, and was actually doing a pretty good job of it.

On a totally different note, college football is finally back! So, I'm going to get back to watching South Carolina and Vanderbilt play, and get off of the computer. :)  Go Vandy! 

Fun in Charleston- Part 2

Saturday afternoon, while visiting my grandmother, we decided to head over to the James Island park. The park is about 5 minutes from my grandmother's house and apparently my mom would take me and my sister there when we were little.  I didn't really remember it, but it was great.  It cost $1 per adult to get in, and Kate was free.  Definitely worth it.

First we went to the little splash park area.  I was thinking this would be a lot smaller than it was.  In my mind I was thinking about little squirts of water shooting up from the ground.  You know, the kind that you can go step on.  This was MUCH bigger, but it was still fun. Kate had a blast, and met a little friend. And, in typical fashion, I took a million pictures.  I guess I'm now "that mom".