Second Annual Birthday Date

Isaac and I started a tradition last year of having a special lunch date in "Uptown" Lexington. Someday I am going to find out why it is "uptown" and not "downtown." Anyhow, our date was such a hit last year that I decided this should be a yearly event.

This year we had three hours of food and shopping. We had lunch outside at "Noah's Kitchen" where they make a delish patty melt. A burger, cheese, and sauted onions on rye bread... sinfully good.



We hit our favorite stores. The education store for Isaac, because they have all the fun Melissa and Doug toys out for kids to play with. Isaac picked out his present; a bird house that he painted and built himself, and a trash truck he put together with Daddy. My favorite store is Memories on Main, an antique store. I picked out my "gift" (although Noah did a great job on his own), a "new" kitchen table and chairs. I also got Kristin a beautiful old child size rocking chair.

Another highlight was looking at all the new pigs. Lexington has artistically decorated pigs all around Uptown. Each pig has its own theme. Why pigs you ask? Lexington is known as the Bar-B-Q capital of our fine state. We have over 50 Bar-B-Q restaurants here, and a huge Bar-B-Q Festival in the fall each year. So pigs are a hit around here. Poor piggies.




"Green Building 101" for Grandfather


Slightly disturbing... "Ye Olde Meat Market," a butcher pig.







We ended our date with a sweet treat. Isaac chose a chocolate cappuccino muffin and I had a mini triple layered cheese cake. Overall a fantastic date with a very handsome young man. I look forward to next year.

Strawberry Pickin'

Isaac and I started our Birthday by going with Lauralyn and some good friends to the strawberry patch. It was perfect weather, and the strawberries were divine. I have never eaten strawberries straight off the plant, and they were so delicious. Lauralyn ate her weight in strawberries while we were picking.

Introducing Sadie Elizabeth

My beautiful niece was born May 23 at 12:02 p.m. She was a whopping 9 lbs. 5 oz. (she takes after her Auntie Beth already, wink wink). I love the name her parents gave her... Sadie Elizabeth. I'm especially fond of the Elizabeth part :-)

I can't wait to meet this little blessing, but will have to wait until July when I plan to voyage back up to MD with Isaac for a long weekend.

Based on her newborn pictures, I think she might favor her daddy, a much prettier version of course.







Sorry for the week off of fresh blogs. We've been very busy... but I have lots to post in days to come!

You can take a girl to dance class...

...but you can't make her dance. After two unsuccessful dance classes, Lauralyn is officially a dance class dropout. She was pretty clear yesterday when I asked if she wanted to go to her dance class this week. It was an immediate, "No." The problem is that her class is a 3 year old "creative movement class," which translates to a lot of silly songs and fun moves. Our princess stood completely still for both classes, never cracking a smile or moving a muscle. I believe her idea of dancing is more in the realm of Cinderella or Snow White, her two favorite movies.

Oh, well. Honestly, I am very okay with saving $5 in gas money driving her there, and it is one less place for me to have to go this summer. It looks like our summer will revolve around the pool (steps away from our house), the library, and the Y. Sounds good to me!

On a sad note, I am now a tree frog murderer. Well, really it was involuntary frogslaughter. I opened the back door this morning when the kids pointed out a squished frog in the door jam. Poor froggy must have met its maker last night when I let Jezebel out. What are the odds? I have only ever seen one other frog on our house in the 7 years we've been here. :-(

Go, Isaac!

After missing his first two soccer games due to scheduling conflicts, Isaac finally played in his first game! Here are several shots of our little soccer star... I am sure I'll post more of future games too. I can't help but be proud of him! And the kids are really cute out there, it's like a swarm of little children all going after the ball. Pretty comical. Isaac is number 7 in case you are wondering. Oh, and I told him to wear black shorts, but he said those are "basketball" shorts and insisted on wearing his Dale Jr. shorts which totally clashed with his teal jersey. Thankfully, he told me today that next time he wants to wear the black shorts.







Some loyal fans came despite chilly weather.





The next three photos crack me up. Isaac got bored for a moment, and the two kids in the background appear to be having an interesting exchange.







Isaac's shining moment, and the other team's coach gets in my way!

A Visit

We were blessed to have a two day visit with Nanut and Grandfather (Noah's parents). Having them so far away makes these visits very special... plus as a bonus, they buy and cook dinner! What a treat for me! The kids played with them outside a lot... I wish I had taken more photos. I was actually feeling a bit icky with allergies, so I was not my normal camera happy self. Isaac got to pick out his birthday presents, and chose a toy bow and arrow set (he had his eyes on that for a few months), a T-ball set, and a new pair of worker gloves which Isaac refers to as "power" gloves.


Nanut made a cake and Lauralyn and Isaac decorated it, yummy.


Isaac enjoyed his "massage" treatment from Nanut. Really, each of the kids love any attention they get from Nanut and Grandfather.


"Daddy, you're so silly."

For my Birthday (and Noah's, too), we received a gift card to Lowe's so that Noah can take on another home improvement project... reviving our deck! He has ripped up all the old floor boards and is almost done replacing them with new ones! This will be so great, because whoever originally built the deck did a poor job leaving giant gaps in between the boards. Plus, the deck is probably 20 years old or so. The boards were warping and showing their age. I can't wait to use our improved deck!

Happenings

Lately, we have been busy... but what else is knew? Actually, several things.

First, I think Kristin is on the verge of walking. (I know I have been saying this for months, but I think she really is about to walk soon.) She has been pushing her push toy, and her favorite chair, all over the house. Climbing is a new favorite of Kristin's... she loves to see if there is anything fun she can eat or play with on the kitchen counter. This means we have to be extra careful about knives and the coffee maker.



While I was taking photos for my future "house photo tour" blog, Kristin stood up in the middle of the living room and took one step! Now, technically, she stood up for the first time by herself a few weeks ago for Miss Meghan who was babysitting. It has taken 4 weeks for her to do this trick for me to see. Stinker. Then, she had to go and take one step when Nanet and Daddy were playing with her on Saturday... I was in the other room. As far as walking goes, I do know it will be on her own terms, when she feels like it. The more we try to "make" her walk, the more determined she is to refuse to do so. It's amazing how quickly Kristin's legs can turn into limp spaghetti.



In other exciting news, Shannon and Jason have a new foster daughter, McKenzie. She is a preemie, an absolute doll. I took a photo of her with Lauralyn's new baby doll (and Nanet's hand is also great for size reference). Today, we got to babysit McKenzie and "practice" having a baby in the house. It went well, and the older kids are eager to have a baby of their "own" to take care of. Kristin was unsure, and somewhat jealous, but not in an ugly way... more like "this is my lap... but you are tiny and I don't really know what to think of you."



On another note, we have had some crazy storms come through our area. Thank the Lord, our town was spared the worst, but surrounding towns and cities had several tornadoes. We had two nights of intense lightning... but again, we got the light show with none of the damage. I managed to kind of capture the lightning in one photo, although this does not compare to the non-stop lightning we watched from our deck.



On a happy note, here is a cute little cardinal that sat by my living room window for at least five minutes. I wonder what he was thinking.

A Trip to Maryland Part 4

My final installment on the trip to Maryland! Friday after lunch we went to my David and Denise's new house in Centreville. We were able to spend the night and all day Saturday with them, which was so nice. I have determined that I have the cutest and smartest nephew ever. Aidan was so sweet, and he loved following Isaac around. Isaac was equally happy to have a boy to play with since he only has sisters. (Isaac continues to pray for a baby brother).


Being a 'Linus" runs in the family. Isaac with his "blanky" and Aidan with his "boggy."


How cute is my cheesy smiley girl?


David grilled 3 times during our 24 hour stay... needless to say we were well fed.


Lauralyn was exhausted from all the excitement.


Cute little man.


This is the beautiful view from the back of the house. The field is full of wild flowers.


Noah cooked his famous Saturday morning breakfast.


Grandad came and played for the first part of Saturday.


Kristin especially loved the race car track until one of the car wheels got tangled in her hair (the power was on). It took out a good chunk of hair, poor girl.


The hair incident didn't stop Kristin from playing with the cars though. She loved laying on her belly like Grandad, and watching the cars zoom around the track.


Isaac and Aidan grilled too... they had some healthy options: carrots or "matoes."




Saturday night we went back to Nana and Grampa Don's. Isaac slept in until 9:00... unheard of! Aidan must have worn him out :-)


Lauralyn read and sang while we let Isaac sleep.


And Kristin sat around being cute in general.


Heading home! What a wonderful trip filled with happy memories!