Katie was napping when Sheryl arrived and had asked if Katie would be shy. I said NO WAY, she doesn’t have a shy bone in her body, she will be a total show off, and will warm to you immediately.
Ha.
She spent the first 45 minutes laying in the bean bag with her hands over her eyes and then when we made her get up, this is what she did:
Then she started to come alive and be her cute self. 🙂
First guest and first drinks for our TiVo housewarming party! Tom was out getting our second guest from the airport!
Waiting for Papa, Grannie, and daddy to bring Owee back from the bus stop (she slept in today!).
My three cookie monsters!
All smiles with the grandparents! It helped that Tom was behind me making faces! 🙂
A rare family pic (since I’m always behind the camera!).
Any excuse for a cake, really…we celebrated all of our birthdays!
Papa was elected to blow out the candles since I was still sick, Tom and Grannie Lin were getting sick, and Owen and Katie would likely spit on the cake. 🙂
Having fun with the party horn/birthday whistles, which actually THANKFULLY didn’t make any actual noise. 🙂
Today Owen’s school had a Bullying Prevention Assembly instead of the normal Friday morning program, so we got to see most of that (we came in after it started to see Owen’s class perform a poem). I recorded the poem but we were far away and it was hard to hear in person (and even moreso on the video) so here’s a screenshot:
Most of the student body of Owen’s school (I checked, and there are around 700 students in K-6):
It was Linda’s idea to make a Halloween cake and let the kids frost/decorate it.
Since I had help, I made a triple batch of spaghetti sauce. This is what 9# of meat looks like at the beginning…
And this is before the simmer…
Owen wanted to play football with Papa, so of course then Katie had to go out as well!
He was invited to a birthday party at a local martial arts place…and boy did he have fun. We would actually have been interested in sending him there, but it’s expensive (not to mention 4-5 days a week).
Here is a video compilation of some of the stuff he did.
But I had to put this video in all on its own—he was SO excited and SO proud of himself for breaking the board! GO OWEN!
We were downstairs coloring a welcome sign for Grannie and Papa when Katie pulled out her peekaboo bear…and the excitement began. Holy cow.
We had one of these growing up and I always wanted one of my own but I never lived anywhere with a lamppost!
Until now!
I asked, and Gramma Jean made one for us when she was here! After seeing the neighbors with their decorations, I put it up after getting Owen on the bus.
We all went for the morning program!
Then they told us it was Halley tradition to have the VIPs participate in Tooty Ta with the kids! (This is the dance I posted awhile back that Owen learned in Pre-K but did again this year.)
You can’t see us very well, but me and Gramma Jean are up in the front. 🙂
Owen’s cubbies:
Owen’s table:
I love his hopes and dreams: to do more homework! 🙂
This is why I can’t take Katie in the classroom…all my attention has to be on her.
She just wants to play and take out every toy. Here she was having a tea party. 🙂 I have no idea where she learned the words tea party.
Owen is Calendar Helper. We didn’t get to see it this morning because the morning program ran late. I have yet to get a good description out of him on what Calendar Helper does. 🙂
Getting ready for snack time!
What’s left of the ant farm from last week:
Getting ready to go to lunch.
Everyone gets hand sanitizer!
LUNCH! We asked who he usually sits with and he said “Somebody.” 🙂
After lunch, daddy was back in the classroom helping.
Owen loved every minute of it—and so did Tom!
Gramma Jean and Grandpa David babysat so we could go out for dinner. This was happening as we left…
And the driveway was full when we got home.
GJ gave this house to the kids ages ago and we finally got it out and set it up (and colored it) while Katie was napping and Owen was at school.
At dinner, Katie started asking about going to the playground. It was still early enough and the weather was still gorgeous, so off we went!
We got a box from Amazon that just called out to be made into a house. 🙂
Katie loved it, but it got CRAZY when Owen got home…
It’s perfect for Katie but just a bit too small for the both of them together…but they don’t let that stop them!
Look at all the cool stuff on it!
I’ve been slacking in taking pictures of Katie in her totally adorable Beson cousin hand-me-downs. This one was sooo cute I finally had to take one. 🙂
Grauntie Sue sent a dolly and some bears for the kids. Katie was enthralled with her dolly—as soon as she saw it in the box, she was saying “MY DOLLY! MY DOLLY!”
See part 1 here!
Today Gramma Jean and I tried to get a better shot of Katie in the dress with the doll—and with the bonnet that I found (and didn’t lose after we moved!).
First, Katie was thrilled to get new shoes (I’ve had them forever and finally had a reason to get them out). Second, she loved her “long socks” and sat very patiently while I put her tights on. Third, she was excited to finally hold “her dolly” that she had seen sitting on the table waiting. 🙂
Here’s a comparison shot with the original picture and the closest one from today (out of 147 shots):
And a collage of the rest of the best:
Two of my favorites:
Some pics mom took:
Showing grandpa her long socks!
Heading to the bus stop to get Owen, with a brief detour to see the pumpkins and try for more pics:
As always, excited to see Owee getting off the bus!
Back at home, refusing to take off any of the outfit:
Mom and I went to Kohl’s this morning and Katie was enamored with the mannequins. She kept saying “He’s over here! He’s over here!”
Katie was SUPER excited to go to the playground and knew right where to go from our house.
After all that running around and sliding and swinging, she took an 8-second rest with Gramma.
Every time I would sit on the bouncy animal, Katie would say “NO! My horsey!”
We took Gramma Jean and Grandpa David to the park to go on the nature trail! It was a gorgeous morning!
Where’s Katie?
Here I am!
And the route we took. I knew it was up and down but a few of the big jags really surprised me. And aren’t GPS apps cool?!
Owen is such a great sport! The game was back and forth the whole way, and I was recording because I thought he was going to win. But Gramma did—and he was just as excited!
Gramma brought Owen a kazoo but he couldn’t get it to work—in fact, none of us could. Then Katie picked it up, figured out how it worked (we had all been blowing into the wrong end), and WOULD NOT STOP PLAYING. 🙂
We eventually had to hide it from her. 🙂