Monday, August 30, 2010

Aunt Arla's July Visit

Aunt Arla came to visit us from Wednesday, July 14 through Sunday, July 18. We had such a great time with her and only wish we lived a little (alright a lot) closer!

Grammy and Pop-A-Lops came up from Tennessee Friday evening for the weekend to see Aunt Arla and the girls too.
I should have cropped/edited some of these pictures but I'm so far behind and I'm also working from Dad's, Arla's and my pictures so I figured just getting all the pics sorted through, selected and posted was as much as I could manage at present. lol :) I thought this was a pretty cute picture of Grammy with her girls (even if it should have been cropped...).
Grammy and the girls discovered a new game for the slide that weekend. Grammy would sit at the end in order to prevent Reagan from sliding off the slide. Then Kennedy would slide down behind Reagan and completely cover up her head. I don't know which of these three is the silliest!
Reagan loves the computer! Here she is enjoying some computer time with Aunt Arla. She pretty much knows how to turn the computer on, get to the internet and find the games she wants. Every now and then she needs a little assistance but she's pretty much got it figured out.
Aunt Arla took some pictures of Reagan practicing the violin while she was here. As you can see Kennedy has also decided she wants to play. For a couple of weeks Kennedy was extremely interested in practicing but now she is kind of hit and miss whether she wants to practice with us or not - just depends on the day. She's learning some of the basics, however, and that will be helpful when she begins violin in a couple of years. :)


Reagan's "play" position feet
Being silly with Aunt Arla and Grammy Saturday morning - yes, Kennedy does love her pacis...
While Aunt Arla was here we visited the Disney Store. Kennedy never asks for anything and is super easy to talk out of anything. Well, basically as soon as we went into the store Kennedy went straight to this huge Mickey Mouse picked it up and was determined to take it home. We need another stuffed animal (especially a large one) like we all need holes in our heads, but she was so sweet and so determined that I just couldn't tell her no. She loves Mickey Mouse! She's even sitting next to me right now excitedly exclaiming "Mickey Mouse! Mickey Mouse!"
Kennedy likes to "help" Reagan color. Sometimes Reagan is patient with this and sometimes not, this is one of their sweet moments. :)
Aunt Arla's favorite restaraunt while we lived in DC was P.F. Chang's. Luckily we have one here in Lexington too. After enjoying a yummy lunch we all shared the "Great Wall of Chocolate." :)
Thank you so much for coming (especially for driving the 11 hours all by yourself - we know that wasn't easy!) to see us Aunt Arla!!! We had a wonderful time and can't wait to see you and Uncle Scott again after the baby is born! :)

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Slip 'N Slide - Take 2

As you may remember from an earlier post this summer, Uncle Andrew and Aunt Jennifer gave Reagan a Slip 'N Slide for her birthday. You might also remember that Reagan had a great deal of difficulty figuring out how to use the Slip 'N Slide. At the time I told her we'd have to see if some of the bigger kids in the neighborhood could show her how to use it. It's been so hot and humid here it took us until the middle of July to find a day nice enough to pull it out again and at the same time spot some older kids outside. I have to say we have some of the nicest kids ever in our neighborhood. I had been envisioning our 7 and 8 year old neighbor girls teaching Reagan how to do this but it ended up being 3 of our pre-teen/early teen boy neighbors who spent the morning trying to help Reagan get it figured out. They were so sweet and understanding and worked so hard to help her understand what to do. I am just so impressed with these guys! They are always wonderful with the girls and I certainly wouldn't expect it from boys their age. Thank you guys! We had a great time (even if we still don't quite understand how the Slip 'N Slide is supposed to work). Maybe next year! lol :)


Kennedy watching the demonstration(s)

Care for Anabella

Wow, I am so dreadfully behind on my posts again! I don't know why it's been so hard for me to keep up this year! I really am going to get back at it tonight/this weekend and get some updated pics of the kids up here. I've got to get caught up before this new baby makes his arrival in about 3 1/2 weeks!
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In the meantime, I thought you all might be interested in checking out a blog I follow on a regular basis. I can't imagine what this family has gone through and continues to go through as their 1 year old daughter, Bella, who has EB (a rare skin disease also known as the Butterfly skin disease because her skin is so fragile) is going through a bone marrow transplant (BMT) in Minnesota. There is no known treatment for this disease up until this point so this family is on the pioneering edge of potentially discovering a cure. Unfortunately that also means they are having a lot of unknown and unexpected side effects. Their story is so inspirational and despite all the discouraging and dissapointing news they have dealt with they somehow manage to stay upbeat and optimistic. It definitely makes me realize how incredibly lucky we are to have healthy children. Please keep this family in your prayers as they go through this journey and that they end up with a happy, healthy little girl at the end! You can find their blog at the following link: careforanabella.blogspot.com
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Have a wonderful day and be sure to count your blessings! :)