Sunday, March 16, 2008

What is Katie like these days?

Katie...Yes, she is mostly going by Katie these days. We still call her Kate a lot, but Katie seems to match her cuteness more closely. She has the cutest smile that I've ever seen. Although we are not sure, we think that she is the youngest of the two. She certainly acts like the youngest and wants to be the baby. Lately, she is so clingy and loving towards me. She has not been so outgoing to others in the past, but is starting to come out a bit now and actually say "Hello" to people she knows out in public. At home, she loves the fact that we think she is so polite. She loves to say thank you and please.









































These are a few of Kate's favorite things. Actually, Lily came up while I was posting, saw this picture and randomly confirmed, "Mommy, those are Katie's things!" The absolute favorite is the green string. This has and is still being play with for hours at a time. She makes knots, lasso's things and just carries it around. Same with the bungee cord. The stick is actually a broken broom handle that becomes a walking stick and a horse. The safety googles are, of course, for eye protection. The phone is to call Daddy, Mommy, grandparents, Sarah or Hannah. The wrench gets a workout around the house and the bat is for self defense (I guess, I'm not really sure. I really don't notice what she does with the bat unless Lily is crying). The leap pad is for writing her letters, at which she is a pro.












Many of these items are just like security blankets. Here she is watching TV with bongee cord and wrench in hand.













Doggybear (there are two of them) is still her best friend. She sleeps close to them every night.














She has expanded to other puppies. Below is her puppy collection that sleeps with her. They are arranged in order of importance from right to left. Each was named by her (except Doggybear which was my error. I thought it was a dog for 3 months during my initial mommy fog. Then one day I looked at it after getting a good night's sleep and realized it was a bear. She already called him "Doggy," so he became Doggybear.) Anyway, from right to left below is:
Doggybears I and II, Big Puppy, Medium Puppy, Puppy with a Mouth, Puppy without a Mouth and Shake Puppy (he vibrates when you pull his tail).









Katie is a tomboy (the opposite of her sister's princess personality). She never wears a dress except on Sundays when I ask her to (Lily never wears pants, only dresses since she was 18 months old). She likes to wear T-shirts that represent the things she likes...puppies, Chip and Dale (Dale is her hero), Belle, and Mickey Mouse. She doesn't play with dolls, as I'm sure you have gathered from her above list of favorite toys. Below is a picture of her playing with a doll. She is, so gracefully, lassoing Snow White.


































Another offer of mine to see if she wanted to play with a doll is below. She is taking her baby for a walk in the stroller. She was sure to bring all the things a little Momma might need in a pinch...a green lasso rope, a wrench, and, of course, safety goggles.


















Kate's talents are along the order of logic and engineering. She loves to work on projects, taking them apart or putting them back together. She is also crazy about computers. She can play for at least an hour by herself on the computer working on letter, coloring and number games.














Kate likes to be unique. She doesn't want to be like her sister always. As far as I can tell, she is pretty introverted and enjoys alone time. She is like her sister in that she is very sensitive, sweet and smart. I love trying to figure her out and learning more about her at every stage!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Chinese New Year celebrations

Here we are getting ready for the first Chinese New Year "Vegetable" (festival) as Katie called it.
































...and the FCC Chinese New Year dinner.





























Lily got her nerve up enough to do the dragon dance holding on to her friend, Laura Joy.







My favorite time of day

Getting ready for bed is the best time of the day around here. We go back to their rooms and Phil gets the girls all crazy by wrestling, tickling and having pillow fights. They laugh so hard that they can hardly breathe. They get to read their favorite books and say their adorable prayers. Lily is daily thanking God for Ella and Emma's birthday party and Katie is thanking him for Kai-Lan (from that new show, Ni-hao Kai-Lan). Then Daddy gets his good night kisses from the girls (I'll have to post that one later as it is quite the event). Phil then tells him that he loves them more than a bee loves honey or a monkey loves bananas or whatever he can come up with and the girls answer back with more of the same. Lily sometimes says, "more than girls love chocolate." Kate's newest is "more than a grasshopper loves grass." Mommy gets her snuggles as I snuggle them to sleep lying between them. I love it! Below, Lily is in pink and they are being silly at bedtime, making faces and goofing off.

OK...got to go...I left them fully clothed listening to a new CD in the kitchen...now they are completely naked and laughing...which means they are bored and about to get into trouble!






































































Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Look, Aunt Lily, we had snow down here, too!

"Hurry, girls! It will only be here for a few hours and not again for 10 more years; let's go build Frosty the Snowman!" Poor Katie is wearing the first warm clothes I could find...tourquise tights with floods...no time for fashion...we are on a mission!













Kate LOVES to watch the Frosty the Snowman movie that Grammie and Grandpa got us, so this was an extra special event.






























Ta-Da! He looks monstrous here compared to his actual 18 inch size.


















Now...to learn how to make and throw snowballs...



















Kate dodging Daddy's snowballs.













Lily gets the hang of it with her signature "I'm sticking my tongue out so I can concentrate better" move.


















Watch out!



Sunday, February 17, 2008

Rick Burgess' testimony

Most of you here in Alabama have probably already heard or watched this testimony. But many of my friends and family out of state still haven't and I promised I would send you the link. Rick Burgess is a comedic radio host. He and Bubba ("Rick and Bubba, the 2 sexiet fat men alive") are heard throughout the US and are hilarious. Rick's 2 year old son recently drowned. Following the morning graveside funeral for his son, Rick spoke at an afternoon memorial service for his son. His words are powerful and speak truths of the Christian faith. To hear him, go to the Rick and Bubba website, then click on the Bronner Burgess Memorial page, then click on the 3 videos you see there. I've never heard a testimony that I have pondered and prayed over so much.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The last of Christmas...

The week after Christmas, the girls were excited to be home and playing together. They are always like this after being out with other people for a while...they love coming home and it just being the two of them playing. I love it because I can plan ahead and get A LOT done around the house during this time since I know they will be absorbed with each other and happy.
Below is their day with Sarah after Christmas. (Lily with the glasses)














Here they are playing together in a tub of toys. This picture is so characteristic of their little personalities...Lily is looking in a mirror at herself while Katie is trying to figure out how the telescope works!


















And then...
The BIG one...we gave them our Christmas present. They were soooo excited! Notice how Kate is driving in most of the pictures. Of the first 4 hours of driving over 2 days, I think Lily only drove for 10 minutes. And the crazy thing is that they were both fine with that. Maybe Lily just got tired of Kate's persistent, "MY TURN!!!" requests every 60 seconds of her time behind the wheel. :)



















































































































I made a big bowl of tabouli that morning and since I couldn't get them off of the bikes/jeep, I let them carry it around in a bucket with a fork. They ate the entire bucket!














































Warning... when you see this scene on the road in front of you...get out of the way!!!
















Monday, January 21, 2008

Christmas at Grammie and Grandpa's

Grammie always has fun family traditions around the holidays. Here is Kate learning to prepare collards for cooking and freezing. Man, did she get into this task. She loves taking things apart, so ripping the leaves from the stalk was quite the thrill.














Lily uses her organizational gifts to arrange the presents under the tree.




















Aunt Carol helps Lily decorate her gingerbread house.














Kate is more interested in eating the candy!
















Lily doesn't stop until ALL the candy is on the house.

















Baking chocolate cupcakes
















Kate hanging out with Grammie














Watching the Disney Christmas parade with Daddy













On Christmas morning, Kate would take one piece of candy out and eat it completely before reaching back to see what else was in the stocking.














Lily flew through her stocking and then organized it all back into its place.




















Kate and her candy.... Lily eventually gave Kate half of her candy since Kate was so excited about it.




















Sorry Michael...but you just look too cute in this picture, so I had to post it!















Kate and Lily loved playing with their cousins


































Marissa and Megan even taught them how to ride their new bikes!










































Their favorite gifts of all were their stockings. Not wanting to part with them...they decided that they made good bed buddies as well.