tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14949096424625394412024-03-05T15:51:20.403-05:00Kisgen KidsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger151125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-50470777372675819352011-04-20T22:48:00.001-04:002011-05-11T09:19:49.169-04:00Strawberry Strike<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ZIoDRtUBV3Y1bAotPzrTSrDJ5PkeJ7w9o3g6rk9DhTRGGd0MGRvm5r_2VjI7ILmelIUPHzzJJjAcWGaKbAnAdkI-pqm4xrZ5-lsJgH4H-CITpCGqw0ke_H1KgI_vMIraEX-0Sbo6uQVm/s1600/IMG_0305.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605282354575949074" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ZIoDRtUBV3Y1bAotPzrTSrDJ5PkeJ7w9o3g6rk9DhTRGGd0MGRvm5r_2VjI7ILmelIUPHzzJJjAcWGaKbAnAdkI-pqm4xrZ5-lsJgH4H-CITpCGqw0ke_H1KgI_vMIraEX-0Sbo6uQVm/s400/IMG_0305.JPG" border="0" /></a>While Carter, Patrick and I love Strawberries, Cooper has been on strawberry strike since around the fall I think. He had said a few times "how about when we go to the Strawberry patch in the Spring I will like them." What a negotiator!<br /><br /><br /><div>The boys and I spent a morning strolling through the patch, squishing and picking bright red sweet berries ...then home to wash them and get them ready for our picnic that afternoon. Carter and I dig in, Cooper takes one little bite and says "mmm no I don't like them" ai yai yai. So the strike is officially over, but Cooper will still only eat strawberries made in stuff. Whenever strawberries are presented in front of him plain, Cooper never forgets to remind me, "remember Mom I don't like strawberries". Oh well... we give some we get some, I shall not complain....he is not a picky eater so if there is one thing he says no to, I'll be o.k. I just don't see how to pass them up....especially these fresh-picked ones man are they so sweet and juicy, unlike the many have purchased the last few months that were dyed red and bitter. At least Cooper can be my official picker, if nothing else, when it comes to strawberries.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605281752363401202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3E7rfR-yxtG9uk2IBsyMR8FO1oUjb9hqrcsIfeZ23j8GsDUWpJQFj4jmpycdpXOyEZ-hG7A2RAcAdlg-uuYm4sg2QpahakanKbVJhXSlYk_XmTtlyreeFlkv5XV1fYR-c9udL7tBEv4C_/s400/IMG_0320.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605280958343155298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix7reRSktLtPtY07_o9CFo1IM8apWkePfNRBWptj0BtODxoyh0DT3bC8aiYcKFFyVbqOT1R2jmr3kIMOBUBpZGPTzuboYRrJhQY1sE8iGnRZGNQ-geB2d9Lr0QpC_fONNAMQCvN6MErwIO/s320/IMG_0306.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605277489269060018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBukCp6v3OB3fIjXtT4ni4p1l0rK-mKfD0Nwffh6OY0ZpVBzyCW2QCAcMtiMMigILTg6R51j3h6eggk6HAJQDoMyI4zlda8Oxvr3AiyU0aAdRXUJyk0b-CaQzT2pgOzry1-cTC4qxxrfX6/s400/IMG_0307.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605280963981037298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg72HzaMDQ9L4Zc6QDlQKqmzB060sy2nvn2yk1NO8qQqvGBNzqp7IgolVY0EXHYjqNWglw1xLr3qHSMF_aECfe5e7EH7H4jvd4j0r3Ostr1_44UZMQwG_vzcjxby6a1VHawqv24i8o5ZI55/s320/IMG_0311.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605277077327233698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Gp1qyHw20JLwXYg4QPxrZJxUexCxe-NdGlZHJtKGdPLj6_zFHcvrQJFjVKpGeABv9-jOXgQSFUoZfkWsCU3EE_X95CffyW1OHDBXs7xtPV8ofGLOspS-0ATSFjoSlV7ixXQMWZAUK38w/s400/IMG_0314.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605280967271969554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXtKmF8kDNajKmdO4QETKzkIUbe9_hijnCM6eQpy_Jm1nG_mnIvGchFiKtMS-jY6umWPoos58_73TK3I3qtdfNSTV-kfTadCbLzhloCAP2RzMDS69-LzemMfLcBZk0zOXfdxW2GK9tlvew/s320/IMG_0337.JPG" border="0" /></div><br /><br /><br />These pictures are from a fun afternoon in Forsyth Park. Most of the time was spent chasing squirrels around trees and finding sticks to be pretend swords......along with eating our fresh-picked berries from that morning during our picnic. Oh what fun it is being outdoors!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605281765837669586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSwn85AQkUKJxMRb8MBwfB7DqaenqP_Rp0Ddw2yAiJeC6OrQor06oDusIZ3FRQH7s_QfItgC6NUTt-_SdRTkpoDGer_G5kZdD8w4lGs5Gyn-2C-1bh4ZEKt0MxaTYUkBce_w_Ik2kjdp7/s400/IMG_0346.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605281758805934434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrtifzUyWRLoQByCperPZ00cJ8dnrvmH-nOzYD4hTsO0loa0NAn2YcRjHzZL3ChKkI4K4WLA0VPdkKHLRlVn7iyzo2DK57KD8hKblZVeaGzMVcp6uefwY8vMR5D1oIlJAZvQEO9vKOKEr/s400/IMG_0345.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605282359502793842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUmiy0VU58f7m4mC0Qweq7fAIs1-73ozyGjp38gotygxMbxdVPO59M8W5PBnZkXAqclKLApDTpwYkCP1RHr8nE5ci98rXLcr6-EINSFzTW7lXagUlBM6WXW47SOC-6aSUshcURtEvzGit9/s400/IMG_0382.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605282367355336578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn152_eoDv7yv6I9lzV1bAgIvlZP0HrxOqQ-txCEpy5Lq-ZHEKHDJT6KWecpqSrkg_Wk5HDSbEhyFZg-Z3QhhRlRNgY5vJs2DeBsDcHLrU5pSExXmWMrMfyqG5_ArkUxhrKENtWyKDx7ln/s400/IMG_0392.JPG" border="0" /> We have enjoyed making many things out of the fresh-picked strawberries, which took me about 3 hours to clean and separate in to containers for the fridge and freezer. Fresh strawberry cake I made for Easter is one of the many things we have enjoyed.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605277078512854002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBq59AXKxz-Ntc-wEJ61w_CIQoZxIX_UppwqLnYDcZF-RgNV5MPw1c7OOf_qxYu6pM4B5rXkb5ia0W5b00PbghUdjD7PgT4mHWekLy71Qy6WMiWK3VoSKz1cZVT82oavw_V-EOLf6J-1j4/s400/2011-04-23_22.56.20.jpg" border="0" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-29649168166076741512011-04-17T22:27:00.012-04:002011-05-06T08:16:57.494-04:00Spiderman is 4- I mean CooperWhat a treasure of a son this little boy is!<br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601946432479216770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCA9KL4S2X50DNW7Rfao81mz7zdo_eIT8L8NLy-05VCY0B5WMynLxiavCMVXqsfimbZitLuHEwPCk5mKFBz5s7IRbxjap00WatGAr6h8VCVTmGPmompqmNTdAOZMQh-Vj-fSfFQpCEiwRd/s400/IMG_0109b.jpg" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6-b_3qWWPIPO2HIx230u_Do2ViaKX3-JFYClWI268X7S4Lwdnkq_zp3-HXlvV0Y0s3guM-QFR_fU3u-EOEk9zXMmpENGX9nhOF2Qlb7TT860dh0MFfpdAvDfRAV7mDsOTLxSV9CU_rKF/s1600/IMG_0179.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601946440056968050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6-b_3qWWPIPO2HIx230u_Do2ViaKX3-JFYClWI268X7S4Lwdnkq_zp3-HXlvV0Y0s3guM-QFR_fU3u-EOEk9zXMmpENGX9nhOF2Qlb7TT860dh0MFfpdAvDfRAV7mDsOTLxSV9CU_rKF/s400/IMG_0179.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWHybu4gMX4W__eLPVpdS9NdL8yz1je5M9c_1GStCTurQxAMn9LwYp4sIr8LomPXJ9jDPhJXDbDDn0zIE2Ld0OWLCEjsQL2KQTCA49giGgxCUDbba-N0XGceD43oS2D_nsQxFvBvB2vxs/s1600/IMG_0229edit2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601946434817833042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 368px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWHybu4gMX4W__eLPVpdS9NdL8yz1je5M9c_1GStCTurQxAMn9LwYp4sIr8LomPXJ9jDPhJXDbDDn0zIE2Ld0OWLCEjsQL2KQTCA49giGgxCUDbba-N0XGceD43oS2D_nsQxFvBvB2vxs/s400/IMG_0229edit2.jpg" border="0" /></a> Cooper has wanted a Spiderman Birthday since the Halloween party at school when there were 3 boys in his class dressed as Spiderman. I thought it might change, but he was set. So Spiderman planning began and he got to invite a few friends from school and from his other social networks (sports, neighborhood, and family friends). I found awesome Spiderman handkerchiefs at the craft store that I just knew I wanted to use for the party in some way, but was unsure how....every superhero needs a cape right. So Spiderman capes I sewed (<em>and had a fight with my sewing machine, but finally completed the task late one night</em>) and strung with yarn. We found an awesome spinning Spiderman cake topper on line and GG made a city tower cake with other villains. We had two appearances at this party: 1. Spiderman himself showed up outside of our fence ready to show Cooper and his friends some real Spidey moves. It was a blast. In the video you will see Cooper protect Spiderman from a friend that is trying to sword the hero. 2. Papa Kisgen arrived as Batman. It was a great surprise and treat and a funnier story....Cooper had told his Papa on the phone many weeks before this party that it would be cool if he came dressed as Batman, so Papa searches far and wide for his perfect costume and shortly after his arrival Cooper says "oh, I meant it would be cool if you came as Spiderman" poor Papa. Cooper was happy with his costume nonetheless and later said how <strong>cool</strong> it was Papa came to his party dressed like Batman. It was a fun birthday party just listening to lots of little 4 year old laughs running inside and outside and back upstairs and back outside. Cooper has some really fun friends!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601946435238082402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg346-cGYjTupDGj6b5sT5-LWnngo8xUxJ3Z-Afqee2mmFFqA-C-WvPHKWLR-OAYuGfuEef5BueygazzkXeXrsQh7h1idW6oO2u72ITJgV6WGuWWSccJ4NHZ_vqGqQlzSme7QAKiXy2w3tR/s400/IMG_0236_edited-1.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div><br /><br /><p></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603414910860114242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Rty8kSfu1kin_tcjXB049TEr3t18oz9SA328rruoHwFqnAgEWBW55ZwWMYOctcFKd5dvjS8Z-6RNkOFQQkJSO7JEFUxSlmk2J3H0yXzMUDMpK8AiyW_2g9hEKBSOx4ylkCILOuyLLaik/s400/IMG_0213.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603414905909315682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 284px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_XPMs675TfnTW67TMMP5g71RQsPT9w_ADHYdUlhtUO4BSFORZ6MH-ytiWbqMqEZXDNANuVn4RkMpAHUxyqFueBkHpoqPEFGDVjs08H8YYf4tQfKrpBUIWqbqYVthZK6RGEhCVI74FP3s/s400/IMG_0200edit.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603416433539588546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEyHI2erjq5gbbNHIWdvUSPxa9Lzpg9D37KFnGeVcaP4eabAvR4_Q1EhccndP16loPYMl-5ROKsJXjKClk7gx4Bbdhi1NkMJhMroY5PAtNFvSt_p5Fc6dp7mf7QlI89NOI-L42yHWL8d4u/s400/IMG_0290.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603416434742304450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTM8ZJPFNLUq9Fq06Tyn9tqUZZY22P1mKll6QlccMh5LI7_WWh36BnMH8bX2ZxXqdAHHcZQX3398MqjsO7hHlj5Pr_Ltx-t5M0Kni0QY84iRdtusCDMp5_8A3_yocdpz2Dte4GwrAAKRns/s400/IMG_0169.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603414921024095906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjShd5-wgmNvkE-xLTXZ_EoiEG51NmsNFKWU_QOjZ251c-jex1bvTpU6zd_cyf_fzvmfvH-Z3rBgo-GlHRrkBx9esRbSY-lQltkQJ-Xfj8Y0Sf6VFaxRyxHP6At6OcYIX3N_j6Zb_Se1q/s400/IMG_0159.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603416439498143506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3uP2swLFOSrx9tkhFuqVqwzr8P5W87AAdeIJoJsBkXsqNFt59B9R05KSegbaYBK1cYIKHlLxNO-U0MgsVA07DmVXYwr8kOctAENKvUlqf1m9ALI9JNKEnVeKDls5dMMQdbHGt_iisi78w/s400/IMG_0177.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603414913702926594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 309px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieLAID-PITLg4oQyyjzzJvzDt0UL0hKsqjXgbnuAjVu6rr3zqreK9W8AaCTjql_zGsopKbYd-kUmxhQiQqxYnFGlgx3UXwne7nt8Rh8XCKhfHwQASndKSKvM9LioYeCZEttT4xX4i6NK-w/s400/cake.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxjAZ-IrDxLauuq0Owb2IfMaLqz4BfO5hqteqvwgez2D9kOz0E67xDoTg2hm3ULkYXGA17SxGa2ROgbomIFWQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><br /><div>Cooper is such an amazing big brother! Carter is one lucky little brother. Let me give you an example.<br /><br /><br /><div>Cooper has been asking for a super spiderweb shooter glove for a few months now....so we had no problem thinking that was a cool fun gift to give him for his 4th birthday. He opened the gift with much excitement and Dad and Cooper quickly got it put together and began shooting webs (<em>aka blue silly string</em>) all through the downstairs....having a blast might I add. Amidst the commotion, before a single web shoots out, little tough Carter is hiding in a corner of the hallway whaling and balling his eyes out to stop the spraying of the webs. Cooper promises he will not shoot Carter, which I thought was so nice. Mom rescues Carter and calms down his short breaths and then accidentally runs through the line of fire and the whaling begins again. We finally get little C calmed down enough to eat some birthday cake...while he is still trying to catch his breath. A dialogue begins between the boys. <em>Carter</em>: "Cooper, you can not shoot people." <em>Cooper</em>: "Carter you should not come to my birthday party so I can shoot people and you won't get upset, ok." <em>Carter</em>: "ok!" They continue back and forth for a while, during which Carter calms down then cries and just tells Cooper he can not shoot us. Finally, I just remove Carter and take him to bed to calm down. Then I go lay down with Cooper and he says, "Mom, I think you need to take that web shooter back because it is not nice to scare my brother." Geez-Louise, he has wanted this thing for months and loves it and had a blast playing with it, but has such a sweet big heart and who would have thought tough guy Carter <em>who does not get scared of much</em> was insane about this thing. It was sooo hard to keep composure and soothe Carter when P and I were just laughing about the whole scene.<br /><br /><br /><p>The next day when I picked Carter up from school his teacher says "Carter said the cutest thing today, he said his big brother has real super powers." How funny after his "super powers" put him in hysterics.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603416446508662930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZxMvdxi93ZJyU2Ty_X5quYzIVGWcfbpDmLxt1ARy3xvAkjttY3YX_K685gE9LwNta3wVpgPqUHHlymRZVeQVQmC3BCH54lh1yYouXuvloGEOzls2BHqRHRcxQi4SSHL7zpm3rd6YUIvDy/s400/IMG_0151.JPG" border="0" />On the way to school on Monday morning, after his big 4 year old weekend and Mom and Dad feeling a little age stricken, out of the blue big Coop says, "Mom, I'm going to miss you so much when I go to college then Washington, D.C. after that". I shared this with a friend and she replied, "TOTAL COOPERISM!" There are plenty more Cooperism's to come...stay tuned. </p></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-58967075116313233592011-04-06T23:26:00.011-04:002011-05-05T16:18:28.158-04:00D.C./ D.R.<div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601085649192441394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisQ2v4-UqDXkaHx43BIaIH4NzWY1VT6Qj7PZSvVoPqs9OYYNSKWkV0G6Cx1q08vNqWEh_GoFnKMVQqu641gVioG38oP2ld20I9hBiNo5lKs32WChyphenhyphenXXeD-JJrPzx36cWoiofIQ-fsiVfx7/s320/IMG_9947.JPG" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYEwlXc8chwiCztB7e7dCIKFkpgs6dtq_4Ou72CDvZVN1Ol7_Vj4EVtfG3Ji4l3nS4HXMffN4YxcX32lr6618bLrglVA8yAH-JVUmfaPX4RQ0c7DUGtB95zVHX_cJVMhuEeEN-0mX_ugD/s1600/IMG_9946.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601085665001470130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYEwlXc8chwiCztB7e7dCIKFkpgs6dtq_4Ou72CDvZVN1Ol7_Vj4EVtfG3Ji4l3nS4HXMffN4YxcX32lr6618bLrglVA8yAH-JVUmfaPX4RQ0c7DUGtB95zVHX_cJVMhuEeEN-0mX_ugD/s320/IMG_9946.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601085655988521202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZdA2V7AmkPVeJnOMB49PjYa7qgWhafM4a00N5-qqr2norDv7We5Bv9eNBBACkwhsRD2LpQNlCoW6KG0XNJX8hUxmPrjT_iPEIcmNO3kiGUXR1N2ALSo6n6IHAtKxFXRcDqHccAF6ugrO/s320/photo11.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601940405388096418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPRclIP6TxmYG-auwt3aVQkF4_yEVswx8gCVJQhqCkYsw_pjo3i7xXDYKZMPKU78r-dslq5CKBT-5nc2NgpldGchOjrUDuUedk451J4Y9eBh6s77REQrnwxeZsqI-MN2zJDad-7PBfdk-/s320/shot_1301431976686.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601085651421063170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_RMCoBBmoT-h0FzKSdO1X_RX0DI6umDGoMQzUsummcGHCHd21wFZfrm_t4YcXUAFcwsjgaDEA6e2mPOR5C7Pt5G-sOP7oImU53VHZ_gmi_xI5yozSvdnXqdESlb6MU9W_VP4WF7qkxSo/s320/photo7.JPG" border="0" />Patrick and I went gallivanting alone together for 6 days! We started in Washington, D.C. which was in full bloom for the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was beautiful. We couldn't help but visit our engagement spot (which was 10 years ago March) and get our photo in front of The White House, as we talk about it with Cooper and Carter all the time. I had not been to D.C. since I moved away from Maryland in 2004. The two of us then went to meet 4 other couples plus 1 in the Dominican Republic. This was a trip in celebration of Lacey's 30th Birthday (<em>which was back in November when she was 9 months pregnant</em>). We arrived to a beautiful airport made of tiki huts and rode a long un-scenic way to our all-inclusive resort to find good cheer! The sand was white, the ocean turquoise, bushes of bougainvillea, and palm trees to the sky. V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N. Great times were had at the swim-up pool bar, lounging on the beach, dancing, Deep-Sea Fishing (more like no catching fish but whale watching), and spending time together as adults only. Between our group of 11, there were 7 children left at home with their grands. GOD BLESS Grandparents who want to be "active" in their grandchildren's lives and give us the freedom to get away every once in a while.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601938465463013746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 193px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfoM4SZmYrUCwk6xwpuVPxVnhVVnMXoVqFpqWuwcpUJqzFoNJzviKt0rY4eiU1MxMZqNNp-SbH7rjyA509DuRbZ5fi5pWcnLBzG4paRhINjaRsVJQXObwE3iHISpCLZ_0-13_Ni1GuhlzD/s320/IMG_0050edit.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601921351880311042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 147px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXoOsrKQxhCOjUA8OZ49NCJYeS3MqTxJJkLYxQbrdUpobqfXrMr18a2SSAYYB1c642W43DfOl0UZBN2Wi_2_cqsQQMEqFb0hZvw34i2AmbhBcqj-cTfSz8RIVM9lqUpaP6W9jvb4nycmI/s320/IMG_9980edit.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601921359830533378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpj6bcSBNafOtvjirG7dSqnw0YpPBhb1pWVwF1EgHLvv9nfNiaKqQfwJIUfgn75IS6d1NhM3Wda6XyTmyipL1mD9S7BaBBAooz5PREryMZt6PZ4LMHg7161xaFR9hOV1sxB0ZMyscaBnXr/s320/IMG_9993.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601921361798728082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGRd31kJtlS2fuu-rhXgAILBOuAhbP1qzNWbocCz-jwmIWN_m7SHwXzOKBBhV4QqzF6gePfrbUuMGUUA46r20PFGdR5BM18NumvA6GbjVv9lvH4M2w_fvVEfOjWphHhVns3VXTDHb7aFi/s320/DSC08764.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601938470962168674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1M-fN1VTH23z-0gj1eFfGQ9oubyg81lcORX2u1laokUIr9x09JuiK0zR4-jJf98tQ5le9HKEBRF0zJvb48YkhFM1mGwe9Hcm4Td_29Sw_qJv0lfObJuX6BnNQMF9a-IVRWrXQp644bel0/s320/IMG_0066b.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601938481239420050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiBts-fFDHEbdd0TbGliufP2zmXR_-wSwEY-l_3Aj2qjHsGWjQdH7DSapr_JqOG1s9EVoBe2zi0xRKRmj6oadXeMH6TtdCD1dmJsVibl7zlxrmLiQ_kTMaxLkJ4NFyIoLXXq7HHRVHVzHZ/s320/IMG_0092edit.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601938478016396418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 215px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnd_7vJSoBTV9yAWjUloEet3pZ67OgtS8MaVWscPAU8Aj1m48pOaulaZR7d1YB7s8Kk_X0rD-6AMKgUUKLtcd3lYv5f9dW-7MgGDb2YxWcIRaf9O7CyKRVEWp8HcOwZfViZ2PxW1eL5kxq/s320/IMG_0069title.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601938482732181794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 194px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLKu59Q06PpH8EU6rc7a0BlC52H9GEc9DOFmTVJ5ewdWUo-wVQf00uMUwwlEN_xvkA4zKC2tBJkXiv82ETotAu31TPb28vSv-H2SEC1YzpWPjQOFc2AY_NR3eCrcPfNkpzU_w8cgWUUtMS/s320/scenery.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-60598661679741042732011-03-18T22:23:00.006-04:002011-04-26T22:21:32.321-04:00The Happy ParadeBefore I begin...one other quick thing to provide a laugh: In this house, I feel like I buy red grapes at the grocery store every time I walk in. Carter James (who we many times refer to as a "fruitatarian" loves grapes). In his demanding but adorable two-year old ways can quite often be heard saying "I WANT GAPES AND I WANT A YOT" "SKANKS" "MOM, IS THAT A YOT?" <em><span style="font-size:85%;">again emphasis being on the pronunciation you can interpret from the spelling</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><br />Now to "The Happy Parade"<br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599711013805453378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 247px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg6r9DWiHJfbRauNfqYfXY6Z4rSbiV14HCAjqu__CwWjqO1dNSYprVjldEDivrDC-iKJPUPcVW0L-AHThN7OVvfGO61okJzQfPqJvtGkARcfZtQKbPcPa3QuOFCmZMOCdAArQ3cu3xyrMo/s320/stpatsshirts.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599712653515208082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYvm4L6wn8aZzRxwqStV0gmFTIll1wWTM-RQnmMNODdKgdi5QPLvyueSqNeic2gcj9llZjXD6SiQPwnwmhhyphenhyphenj1fAnA-0JT-GpfP-eY7mZJL4MJAZOXTqU1XRYbYdB0Ui8O8BK5gjGBa0xM/s320/2011-03-16_18.57.34.jpg" border="0" />We had been talking about the St. Patrick's Day parade for a few weeks with the boys, as we know it is something they love and a fine tradition here in Savannah (one that I have participated in (most years) since I was 4 weeks old. The morning of Carter exclaims "Mom, we are going to the Happy Parade!" Since then that is how we talk about the St. Patrick's Day festivities. Any firetrucks, motorcycles, marching bands, etc. that we might have seen on the fine day of green in Savannah is "Mom, like we saw that in the Happy Parade". Savannah's skies were blue and friends and families gathered in the azalea blooming squares. From all over the East, bands, policeman, fireman, and soldiers came down to participate and March for us. Many members of the Wagoner-McBride Clan joines us, as well as a few thousand more.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599711026374883426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ufsqcF1i32dgB6OQ4z8gxt1amB9m2ry9M3UULhtllIEQML2qmawS0tVlpkJQMKS909JC9vzqan3rUWYqHEYQLrJSten85oMKgLpYOF73YKPlU8e0IUDEPXy68BTN5Xi2DnqO73579aKp/s320/2011-03-17.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599712646124045890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimgjUbhiAq8qSxwGDdvb6N8PHd-YiceyT9PVrYktZ8CkJKAdMgPEwuMuUn_kMe4GgSX2c0Zko7T0LqjU4TRjP_hW7yZg-PZ44JD8Ux2U3RKyN5c1Hcm4rkvv9mVKPtidhyT3lB7x2Azo0y/s320/shot_1300373594822.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599712645876691234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMymlchO98dR4u5SNU_ScvCT7ePhdw-f8eocNr2lK8u7V4soSUg5_9fEzUyt1qljwYI1SPORpLbdyo3WLdG6t__2G5HrkOnVc9khFWs5jy46nlRJmMZ62S1XFtuhhRk1eLTRP5SiXj3_F/s320/shot_1300369732242.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599711032351852178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOtoAU-xA84L7Mci6cM4BPGhcVP6NoGJzcoXALzv13bWd2MOeFODWHW6rzgm-kJFm4HGI0UZA9aqPJfFElfsA1pDDjs17V7aFA5BwT8dQiji-zxnunxBfFaEHf3_6p1-OsQoh9WOi5lVAx/s320/FxCam_1300370560703.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599711019421576466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 262px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhscV6hH8q607Thl7L5xx-dw9byuXYPuNB-EIp9PiTupz8q5eK03OI4hBusN6PZGtjb2YGYRLeoxCtjuzoll4VrQUuwyvyJiBAf2axHoRZCpUE2hHfyg81bj2bTUts7lorfWMCiV5aTB7U9/s320/ggsteve.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600082034256084738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 173px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz3YCfXhZGnfTA6-XmbMX0n3ln8XTD7368xNgm7bigLQ6AsN14-MPV3C1kVK2L7uobc5VXuZfkJ8tKlWmzZtmd3d6ZdJvfIgkZsKVg1pUFjKRlVcWLtUkBW5EVCKspZrfpSEFqnjJA_diE/s320/BGedit.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Check out Carter below- this is how he stood for the entire 3 hour long parade.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600082037545342610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyJFQwkXSeZPMlCNHfCo54yNJnLiXKW0I71Egd6vCe710HNpfYUG5-Vzn_iakSMW9FoXZwjrGMu4JjOqx9hclhB1xJqdiv0KY6bS0Y245dk8pQtkBsLNjM3sXXBA7_Xe3lS-lLXvdU056z/s320/BG2+copy.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599712648247246418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJeOL7xnpzMapU536HajHEbqVr0fNbe6RB4zLG7Tovj3XE921Lc3iGQ4nG3ravslWEobi3vILyQbxU5rzeKCRVmsE0pp0eloxC7WoKe79veFyDR9LixPD8TZjVXIx09Z2ZhJVN0iZR7p-s/s320/IMG00376-20110317-1404.jpg" border="0" />It's really fun being IRISH for one day each year!</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-16658648087903106462011-03-01T22:26:00.010-05:002011-04-25T23:22:47.354-04:00Super Cute things our boys have done or said over the past few months<div><br /><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4gVVKjlzdTW4-EmlPa5PGSerNsF3aDHnGU7BTKO9WVZk035Jw3r4rWKtFfw2Mjcapv0SikHCqdOThjOF79kKxaNuFtd7XPjsaEIS4f9ij0tPS-DdqnLc4yONqcpG9N9z2F-jl-TApjAX/s1600/CARTGLASSES.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597770720576842002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4gVVKjlzdTW4-EmlPa5PGSerNsF3aDHnGU7BTKO9WVZk035Jw3r4rWKtFfw2Mjcapv0SikHCqdOThjOF79kKxaNuFtd7XPjsaEIS4f9ij0tPS-DdqnLc4yONqcpG9N9z2F-jl-TApjAX/s320/CARTGLASSES.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPu93uliTq8bBbCT1joCTrppljrdkGN1wKhnpqCuceSWoJ8nMyErJyC32ieiS5YJ3m3GmBB5QqidoTTdvJHnALIfLBQ42F6VBKzCdqiHby_OW7GPDnDH4DE6DNJ6WhERmWSC0mY-Jy9drO/s1600/COOPGLASSES.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597770713464751842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPu93uliTq8bBbCT1joCTrppljrdkGN1wKhnpqCuceSWoJ8nMyErJyC32ieiS5YJ3m3GmBB5QqidoTTdvJHnALIfLBQ42F6VBKzCdqiHby_OW7GPDnDH4DE6DNJ6WhERmWSC0mY-Jy9drO/s320/COOPGLASSES.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxVBVk1y7NBXx-yNm76HRqffx-zUk08SQLvdnXUxyJymTD1wTeqhxAFNpzT_ebyaEX5p2iMeLLg96dub_WXhHZASzwUAEv8qmE-DgHxd6hM0IGTINiAziy4X8u9m2ZbPkWaxAuWy64DDS/s1600/Playhouse+work.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596739073239794338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 194px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxVBVk1y7NBXx-yNm76HRqffx-zUk08SQLvdnXUxyJymTD1wTeqhxAFNpzT_ebyaEX5p2iMeLLg96dub_WXhHZASzwUAEv8qmE-DgHxd6hM0IGTINiAziy4X8u9m2ZbPkWaxAuWy64DDS/s320/Playhouse+work.jpg" border="0" /></a> Santa's Kisgen Elf preparing a level area for a super Santa delivery for the boys<br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLveM9jtDjrztOuP6TakW6gFdG2u7wuAUb8ROBJQdcIDSU3r5wh-qEqVI2W83dXa3os8P0eKEmmN53A0szyYelc2A0HqLRzkvmj3GEsy187Hc_kftd4aGbcJAoiBcvYHpMsSSlWgoMAchw/s1600/IMG_9651.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596735243406462530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLveM9jtDjrztOuP6TakW6gFdG2u7wuAUb8ROBJQdcIDSU3r5wh-qEqVI2W83dXa3os8P0eKEmmN53A0szyYelc2A0HqLRzkvmj3GEsy187Hc_kftd4aGbcJAoiBcvYHpMsSSlWgoMAchw/s320/IMG_9651.JPG" border="0" /></a> All the boxes and bins of holiday decorations, wrapping paper, gift bags and other Christmas cheer was at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me to start unloading them. I had one role of paper from last year that I had saved because it was pretty and it had half a role of paper left on it. I started doing some laundry and heard the boys having fun. i come out in to the hallway to find my leftover paper in squares through the hall and in to the living room. Cooper saw my face but before I could say anything he said "<strong>Mom we are using it as our map</strong>" and they kept playing and looking at their map and following them.....how could I be upset at that? So much for a year of saving the paper, but a cute story at least.<br /><br /><div><br /><div>.<br /><br /><br /><div><strong>Not-so secret gift keepers</strong>: I let Cooper and Carter each pick out a gift for each other this year. Cooper was excited for what he picked out for his brother and I made sure that during the entire process I repeatedly stated that it was a secret and a surprise for Carter to find out what it is on Christmas. The second we walked in the door, Cooper blurted to Dad and Carter, "It's a surprise Dad I got Carter big boy sunglasses for Christmas" with Carter looking at Cooper puzzled. We shushed him and I guess theoretically Carter is too little to remember, but it was just another funny little thing haha moment of holiday life with two little boys. It helped me learn my lesson though, as packages were delivered I would say to them that it was so and so's present and they would ask what it was. Did not want to make that mistake again, so just left it generic.......sure enough when Patrick got home from work, Cooper said "Dad, a package came today it was your Christmas present, but it's a surprise." Patrick is such a sneaky gift surprise ruiner anyway and I knew the boys had no chance of surviving their Dad's tricks<br /></div><br /><div>. </div><br /><br /><div>All during Christmas holiday season, Carter referred to our tree as "<strong>CHRISAM</strong> TREE". It was adorable.<br />.</div><br /><br /><div>Around the middle of December Carter got an <strong>accidental big boy bed</strong>. We were not quite ready, but the boys decided it was time. We are used to Cooper coming down on his own, but one morning two little boys showed up downstairs together to tell us good morning and Carter kept saying he got a big boy bed over and over. Cooper had loosened Carter's crib rail and swung it open and showed Carter how to climb out. I went upstairs to determine what had become of the crib to find it was very cleverly put back in to place and I had to figure out how they did it. We took the rail off completely in hopes Carter would do alright since he was typically really good at going to bed. Wow, he was DEFINITELY not ready. There were many weeks of Patrick and I reading up on the best parenting techniques on getting your toddler to stay in bed. Each week seemed to be a different method for us. I have to tell this particular story........Dad went to lay on Carter's floor to "tame the beast" that would not stay in his bed (but if Dad was in the room he would not get out of the bed). It had been a while and I heard Patrick snoring in the baby monitor. I went upstairs to get him up and find Carter wide awake in his bed butt naked and Patrick asleep. Carter had taken off his jammies and diaper and tee teed in his bed all while his Dad had a nice cat-nap. My husbands face was pure shock, his words were "I am humiliated and feel completely defeated by a 2 year old".<br /></div><br /><br /><div>. </div><br /><br /><div>One morning, as we are getting ready to leave for work/school, Cooper looked and me and said "Mom you need to go finished getting dressed". I need to mention I was fully dressed and accessorised and loving my outfit that day haha. I responded "what do you mean, do you not like what I am wearing?". Cooper <em>kindly</em> responded with a yes nod.<br /></div><br /><div>. </div><br /><br /><div><strong>Bedtime stories</strong>: Cooper Kisgen has amazing creativity. It is not the first time I have mentioned it, but when he tells bedtime stories I am always wowed. The parents are the ones who are supposed to tell bedtime stories, right? Well it began as Dad's talent and I had to learn them so I did not miss details when I retold or I would be corrected.....then Cooper was constantly telling us to wait wait you forgot this or that. It grew in to Cooper taking parts of movies and stories and making up his own. His details are amazing and so fun and delightful to listen to. I always get a big grin when Cooper says "want me to tell you a story?" no matter where we are. Sometimes its dragons, sometimes is knights saving a princess, there are always friends and Cooper is always the main character. How does it start again, oh yeah ONCE UPON A TIME. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596742992669101378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcWIF-bS0U_bHo6NNR__2UgjtYyr4ccb5f2O7yRj8f6DgyvmGqJddhIri_17FSLgaS8QylFsRFUk2tQXey2QSjiRhrgJCEJAOqrdlwMANyovksqhr-37VW50g_hOuo-nP9vPJSVqqXVPI/s320/IMG_9789.JPG" border="0" /></div><br /><div>. </div><br /><br /><div><strong>Xmas movies Lost N Found</strong> Since December 25th I had been missing every single Christmas movie we owned. They were neatly in a basket by the tree Christmas Eve night I remembered when cleaning and get everything set up. I could not locate the movies anywhere when I went to put in Frosty or Rudolph for the boys. I grossly went through the holiday trash that had already made it outside looking for our classic Mickey Mouse holiday specials. I was sad I would have to start over buying their favorite holiday DVD's. Weeks went by and everything was packed up. Around February 5th in fact, a T.V. remote came up missing just a few hours after we had last used it. I finally looked at a subwoofer box that has a small opening in it that sits next to the television stand in the living room. I thought hmmm if I were two I might be curious what I could stick in there. The problem is you can not stick your hand in this "slot" or see because it goes straight down. Patrick and I saw no way in to this thing but I insisted he try and take this sound box apart. We found the remote plus ALL of our holiday movies plus a random assortment of things we thought might be missing. It was quite a laugh, I had lots of people looking for these movies. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596735230486901394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfMH1d9JT7xRUtAz7Mx2Uw8gfvVzf908c6IF3n6Pa5QKd9w8u87TkXduSMPb8_vz3k1eTrD23kXWmhPwlEKIWuyWZ2kS-HIvxU9rVowVq92r5pkFHmvWYfWbRGeWVC9GbR-YLeFwAQ8g59/s320/2011-02-05_22.24.38.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><div>. </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599725305189285794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMCp6mBwgaWRh_J9iGystmt_PtGNa_n6V-QPXCIYA9hvUvlLHpIqosgaClwQfVqZA_tfKI5Okoa4HGdZYV6Vdjnzo-3OC-3t95Unqjqd0DdlV5k3CUkw493FGnKqQL8ncdT_gRtsb0nDHB/s320/Michael+Antley.jpg" border="0" />Our first meet of our newest family member, beautiful Michael Antley was New Year's Eve. Sweet baby girl!<br /><br /><br /><div><strong>Figerwork</strong> Since shooting fireworks on New Year's Eve with the Antley's, Carter has believed he is a "FIGERWORK". He says, "Look at this Figerwork pewh pewh". Please pay special attention to the spelling and you will see how cute it might sound to hear. He loves Katie Perry's song too "Baby You're a Firework". <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596737811014752610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjb_WVeLvrA3jEETSVbQ1qCNmQvGdnCqUB_sICgFmsZQkdATZ8IY29RWOtl0LyJ-I3IPeGdPBNYxTzoTKYDTd9BfdQi0zlKDFk6Te_-upFLT_9reOwtYYN-mzU3-gycYnwu0nAO2Mis5g/s320/IMG_9754.JPG" border="0" /></div><br /><div>.<br /></div><br /><div>Cooper and Carter's GG & GG Steve thought the boys really needed to have Nerf dart guns for Christmas. Ok sure, so it was fine and they had fun watching the little darts soar and make whistling and pop noises. One Saturday morning, Patrick and I were enjoying our sleep. I heard the boys whispering in Carter's baby monitor so I knew it was about to be wake up time. I was quite surprised that within 2 mintues of their bedroom whispers, nerf darts were whistling over our heads and heard Cooper tell his little brother "<strong>Carter lets get them</strong>"....then Carter asking me to help him load more darts so he could attack us some more. Now that's a way to wake your parents!</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596735237085456610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZ2hwZmENBHT4Vr7J0vJOSRqMkpWExbJnJukOsxKeLNIxc9_s0P62aVXnUsbJtYXGrYq8SBJPQjP8gEd5LKQ0sj8Agox9ODNQt_mYjbaNp-ZKns4hekgsKFIWAvhbC0EXPzf9TP3Id9Kn/s320/photo.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596742992010911010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6h2olcDRpS63yacJyG1Z4gIlMVXEyw_KSjYgSNNXz8kCGeam0f85EP7P9FihAI6VOeTodTDQuY-cMN780bzOIXVoRECBqbXFuQRx6pOT-9H5fdHCYK-iif12MKSx1DRW663UWAABFFbuz/s320/FxCam_1298316200674.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596737814091357570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 276px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8x-bUh1-v06I5eFAa-HzHEd3ORbqwgV7wmI9fHdSFBZoAk363_1BYyKB3oPPmqalOo99HckBHmqDFc7bbk3X2Lpw48Q6AGVV6DipxCKqDmbYdbX1S6qp_q7XRhM555QfOJteqLDGVErM9/s320/shot_1298319204092.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596738261954356722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-SGOJV-qMkh6L-cMetqOLV5fcGeEscZvLoZoD1R-ivnZYl-0B6t2zVYL9l6-uUJU1gA1lNQk_3oLGIuysxr03TZWexqx62zSMJtpefefBrDyMTJNS25Gj756RSQLWzvXU7j3al-yfWwZX/s320/2011-02-26_14.37.10.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>This was at Colson's 1st Birthday Party- the family of friends!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599726052280894050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMQoDfxUTdlJJG_NfnCepbcMO1UnwrUiD2IrQLTPgew9CmTfUg61wLQHnx-1FmGOHnOZ694yi-R9GZbbqh52RA-z1E0h8xzIjs-lVbQLlLZoQ_qPxDlrCByzWsx9OZWxQEAXtAod8BGdP/s320/colson1.jpg" border="0" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-44911560061998498532010-12-01T21:51:00.021-05:002010-12-02T14:10:03.255-05:00December 1st, 2010Oh my blog, how I have missed you. So here I am December 1st, 2010........last blog posting 9/28/10. <em>It's not for lack of trying</em>. I started two blog entries with bullet points and little reminders to write about, but clearly I never finished them to be published. Two little boys are busy and I am busier trying to keep up and learn how to parent each new thing that we face every day. Enough about me, let me wrap up the last few months before we head in to the end of Two Thousand and Ten. Really????????<br /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div align="center"></div><div align="left"><strong>September Wrap-Up</strong><br /></div><br /><div align="left">-Another Trip down to PCB for Labor Day. Cooper played putt-putt for the first time on this trip and had a blast, Carter and I sat that one out.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545935140478793762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOThv4UUaaCuCNLDkLJpRZsGGYmUTOAxxCwgWdzZt2289QqMLOlYJ7sDfhgniJlYwBzrTSTMyakJehcLMmTrJDkkYJaAT3Eu754oZKWks-TyKGCVRWQZ9Y4pTVs-KslR66c4QWevjn1PSh/s320/IMG_8514.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545935133178454466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrP15CX4Fo7Wf9aoUcUp6dVDQjWn_LX-vt7RLFMwPkxB4rLE9tgxO9XkUAmEatb65_fCSXPFoBq1lAPYqrLtYLmF8s6lAEsXaW7YH9ZiS-QeJCWU-DOopuMGAAAD8BARew2ZmL1idWUoYd/s320/IMG_8611.JPG" border="0" /></div><div align="left">-I ran and completed my first ever <strong><span style="color:#6600cc;">5K</span></strong><br /></div><br /><div align="left">-Cooper participated in his first ever team sport. He played Soccer, thus officially making me a "Soccer Mom"</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545935159943516114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOndD8-Ru78IWVT9TQdEvqqsUfKYtYySoxKQSTJXvR_L4NulCbMG_n8gG74M6r54SFvIWcyWsMQx96bdlciLszA2EaPoDxbufsSGr7QgjdejchU4nzW2IyunUkGmHa1baaOu1oU6KnhnmV/s320/IMG_8851.JPG" border="0" /> It’s funny to now say I am officially a “soccer mom” haha. Cooper was great, he stood and listened and participated when the coach said Hi so and so, he was the loudest, and when the coach said clap for so and so for kicking, Cooper clapped and said Yay….what a great teammate. I think Coop was declared the coach’s helper right from the start, he’s so precious. Cooper also kept forgetting the Coach’s name so when Cooper wanted to get his attention Cooper would say “Um, Captain Coach”….hilarious.<br /><br /><p>Soccer week 2 consisted of sitting down and picking grass. Week 3 got better enthusiasm and interest came back. This went back and forth for the 8 weeks of our little season. Cooper never officially scored a game goal, but not for lack of trying. It seemed that each week the other team had at least one dominating player that would steal the ball from Cooper over and over and score, well our little green team lacked that one dominating great 3 year old player. Carter was quite a handful during these games, starting off each time cheering for Cooper then quickly bored and wanting to be on the field himself. Our little home videos are surely filled with lots of commentary between Carter and I asking him to sit down and hold on and it’s almost over. Fun first sport team experience and the start to my next 17+ years I presume.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545936228497544642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja1geypNYnhwmdnqwLW5kjh7yw7sPF9L_QxYO2VSg6x7sECCBYdXhT5r2Aw1Vn1pvW9osOn6Qt6eCHEdB3vzGDW7ACDtUrpVyttxNKyzhVqKgjtCFJWeI__Yaj93mIM4WMv7sRwfFDLmEO/s320/IMG_9011.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545936232189130946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cPBSrQ0yfcCXaTdqt9P8_rNobrxdxDWp86vtQm2noVViWfXaFtyJDCGv4elydX_HpZot53DjH0AwlskAxXBghBzMZAG1nit_wK7XjroPonppiTUfGuqes83uZxHEoKeSI9_EyrLIjDM3/s320/IMG_9026.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545936234614818338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLASxtZ9n3Hifklx7lY78Gl3Q7jMz-03nJZyyzjRY0DindhJVnPhfdv8XjnD1HPkbKJrqjcXIl8HyR3MfYqAPvxj544xUiQ_eMgJK1hclAG8T-HohjtDabjQEAvra5hQ3Y9dJLmOIvZfd/s320/2010-11-02_18.10.04.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545935152948731826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY43XqGyAHmc0LpvobU7WFu4OQh-bf7hVxXIzF-J2zV4PYLso6_US26BDJf8cQHwtO8eBLnqNR11Cr1Zbu-3KpOHtfi0equ1_YJtl7MOAQqz0rdYNgxpByKeyFSMXgwxXIDu3Izk0pZkdd/s320/IMG_8678.JPG" border="0" /></p><div></div><div><strong>Carter turns 2 and a trip to the Zoo</strong></div><br /><p>Carter had a sweet 2nd Birthday- I made and shared cupcakes with his little 2 year old class at school and our family of 4 went to dinner at the Japanese Hibachi restaurant for some Birthday entertainment....plus his favorite thing on earth this summer was "ka-keem" or what we call yumm ice cream.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545938880490423362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pk6bUcQkDuiPhRHBE-9nR17X3ksw52AaPGS2oGjOr34ZbRVsf78aGlJ6GAVc9fd-YdFAhPRwLMbTOT9yNYFOwWCOXTRcqDig5s7KEmvwQ2DhrCPWt7fIpim73sy0oFjP6lssC0PwL9iT/s320/2010-09-21_22.37.38.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>The weekend following, we went to the Atlanta Zoo and shared a fun day with a lot of our family and some great friends. It was exciting to have so many there to sing Happy Birthday to our little Carter, who I can’t believe has turned 2 years old. Many of the animals were hiding in the shade that day but we still made the best of it and now Carter looks at his zoo animals book almost every day remembering his fun Birthday. The weeks preceding his 2nd birthday were incredible, watching a pure transformation to an almost big boy. His looks and personality just grew up right before our eyes. Carter is just our silly little giggle box, slowly having very little fear to try new things. 100% rough, tough, temperamental, pushing on, pulling on, riding on things all day long boy.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545938893614437858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7GaeFKX7d1vSb9YqXAM8ZXrpPzO521Z6dehOLssLgYVaPKXkZTNObPVDIPionEK1pOvV2qWCn7GlbLvibP6JjgMBWnMKfAt5Qhzoz_WWA0tQTHHD2EwMWNVMERAybXVkB8gBOw00mtFs/s320/DSC_1494.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545945209869926706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioqZtQQYQugRBmWQBdWcNBN7WKOXglFO-do4i7reLVsTKMOv_87sEE_yRCt0CNPa_AY7OlaVsL2wsEFVVoLp2nQ35P8F1ALcAXGVThHZcvbRw3yWJOC-g0GR6BnM9Pe9TGalCkSoxGoqir/s320/IMG_8719.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545938887602046434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6SolyHugy3vQ_DN-bcsu0jhEm3yPvCFd9wfYnguCZpTaXLeKsxK4rtBvPKsRI1RcGzYF3j0SMxzR52sWkOPepq22vFGJOI33qN2oiKmRoCVfNXMQJs-9GdsO7Fnz3GKtcdjeBxTHX1QX/s320/DSC_1463.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545939586024311186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqxokAdTVdeA1Vnv-2vlpGjHehEk6nQszJYjWJXjti6Qxmo1bBYUEaBmco8my3eCRQHly8gF_F-th7-N9zGOyL6HkHpHGuC5MWYsF30UigNblYafbWO5J1u1cu3xZc6Dx8vOX_czZDQsTj/s320/DSC_1652.JPG" border="0" />2-year weigh in: 27lbs</p><p><strong>October</strong></p><div>-Patrick and I went to a GA game, which we missed out on all season last year. We spent the night in Athens and could barely even hang with the college kiddies- we did more people watching than anything that night, it was still a good time though.</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546142974632968450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixe3BXFOxVS1d3tUtapu_j2564I1M3p3z2czueCjNeoco826mNgdcLrEsYnQJHQ3wkbdJnSE03y6WPKW4G7agqlmRRPdqxU_mIg5Av2HHcKFd-BRt2VpTcymj3p22k1vk3FrEXN4qkBYdG/s320/66481_1603943374037_1099703157_31693329_6708028_n.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546142982926273122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85H5cMTtHWQj0kkbRM8kAMprrg2k2hKit3VLni7jKEzRKTKekX7vIawZ0QMZP_0ExYtyXx_mLU3seMCrUX_xVfohE8YFQfQr8bOT_AmRwxiMvw10z0FqVyYfUym59i5GXBzza5ZxLnMCm/s320/uga.bmp" border="0" /> On Monday morning October 11th, Carter climbed on to a kitchen table chair to reach a grape that rolled to the middle of the table. He then proceeded to slip off hitting his face on the table on the way down and landing face front on the floor. One of his little bottom baby teeth pierced right through his face just below his bottom lip. Baby blood everywhere all over him all over me, it was quite a scene. Thank goodness the chill factor of the family had not left for work yet and told me to stop screaming and freaking out. I called the pediatrician as soon as they were open informing them that my 2 year old had a hole in his face.....we were sent straight to the plastic surgeon's office since it was a face injury. The plastic surgeon then said it wa in a place where the mouth heals so quickly by itself he would probably do worse by upsetting the little buddy even more. Sure enough, a little tlc and neosporean and it healed right up. Some may see a little scar but hey it's part of his life story now.<br /><br /><div></div><div>-Cooper and I made a trip to the Antley's - we got to watch cousin Jameson play her soccer game and shop and just hang out</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546147826674098802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDh1p0Lrlzogs-LaQ7YFIwXlqkzQlf_sKGZlSka_mtotYYLFgkqM_8yKJJ1MpT_JQZCxHy8m4pyQIT6dSXP7KkSLmE8p7K1T20lMSACjZlv2dri4Qcrh1yds4K7t7r0_hU-N7eQeaARR1T/s320/968992657506.jpg" border="0" /> <div>-County Fair was in town, so we took the boys for a few thrill rides. We made the mistake of going the first crowded night, funnel cakes we did not get to enjoy.</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546147798112607858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2N5lEmUZCYw49vBORRgu-AaMF72yrqO42bjA0bvE-naL7TeZeL1NaDNJX4pAKrG8jjVWRxBn9NtHWw8Q4OKDSOjhEmutgzJQWHyUH6L5RS3NLvPm37E_7rYNkfq_POHkGoFtG2aF-x3NF/s320/413881657506.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546147162328308146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kpsFMgs_9LFifP_rnEG-H0myefdbTz1JeNRm0m1-sSpznv3pHzU3mTnj9-5XoKt4tnOmeSoaCgXkLanQTS1wZDK2t_Zh3zAOWg2zD1oPgfwmk_Xe1q0N-6e7XfccINOgvuemo27qtWBR/s320/123881657506.jpg" border="0" /> -Cooper came home from school one afternoon looked at me with a funny look and said "Mom, Emma is my girlfriend and she sings <em>All the Single Ladies, All the Single Ladies</em> from the Chipmunks", then he laughed hysterically<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546147157226952194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPga54XgPC4gBs1hK-gulEH04eK6JayOjUuhq7odzCH_mAWoyWNNceffXkPkqE2BbDIjqa4pB8TlmqGRhwVNsSMgMkmMH1BfWbi9A95pcmWRqBJTJJsiM5zse3gkduUWG5ZSXvT0Gx1okC/s320/232323232%25257Ffp63399%25253Enu%25253D3276%25253E8%25253A4%25253E347%25253EWSNRCG%25253D3572%25253A5%25253A5%25253C%25253B32%25253Cnu0mrj.jpg" border="0" /><em>Children of the Corn</em> <em>Maze<br /></em><br /><div>-Halloween cookies were made for school, only having to send husband to grocery store at 9:30 for more food coloring and icing.........oops</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546142985735214626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAj6D43VLmmQJn_JFkdv_Cvrg1FhmecO5dw801s1a_jJhjsPHRO7qNd8oPVlOdfRhfsv1N5bzQSn1hnRH13SV7WJ0E4aRp4MamywcAzlaifN6dvPS3a9f7GKbEYQB7E7Sn1QAd7o1DBEa/s320/786313967506.jpg" border="0" /> <div>-The Kisgens took a trip to NEVERNEVERLAND for Halloween</div><div>The kids love Disney's Peter Pan and Cooper always said he was going to be Captain Hook and then asked Mom if she would be Tinkerbell. I complied and Dad joined in the dress-up. Cooper was very specific as to how is costume would look, so he searched on the computer with me to find the perfect one. I almost thought Carter's Peter Pan costume would have to be returned for a second Captain Hook, but Carter finally took on his role and had fun with it! It was very funny to me when we were at Cooper's school dress-up party and there were 3 Spider-Man's in his class the day before trick-or-treat, Cooper whispered to me "Mom I want you to send Captain Hook back so I can be Spider Man"....sorry buddy a little late. He forgot though by trick-or-treat time.</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546157646007827378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OBbte1YiYNdb1LwE2EijIFPeDDgQlKwAEXYSefxBTCfgh4fl-e3cr4gpzD4YP0CsGPitMSuf4cneJAyyxfIrfdYvdKeFI-YBRq8pv_8x3M8HqFXcSoJzSNQPAOO3sRdi0fWG0Cabibrk/s320/Fall+2010+094.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546157649862195938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7nWR9tPMLdH1QWhT6qYRIV4UpAHwbteg4CbxmqwXgm_ri0rzB7vbDghsSLeOlXYalAHu-tc5s5bhc0QAI3Q2P5SHIT_3dtuk1WdgqP2_iLUsGMMlFoFsTqLwysquUyssuQ5T90wMdOXU/s320/Fall+2010+251.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546157655280624114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_mJva2D9Julq7vcmpCBHkxM23h0jP9TX18QlynzhvcBt2a6eZ7qcFNXJvJm4fuzkNARpcC15HvyQ9QEh9386tDYDnFyGUsF8amkDVz_SREEvQMG05bPT6Z5mS_ZXA51XIbb9Aw7-gdLQ/s320/Fall+2010+253.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546142989881419186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 239px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSjwghgecgpNmipE6OofIqwQ2-YfB3Z2YtaiawLAo8FvMp31ZprVQgWM9hEB2pHw-AS2XJ9p_idIjgXK5SI1SpaiJZw-y0Z7NT_wN2aTYXOsEhfy6mHSbKnYz81UN9DK8EQ-fO4VpHVPGz/s320/photo.JPG" border="0" /> Carter walks around the house saying he will sword you and so cutely calling his brother to come play "Hey Coop"<br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>November</strong></div><br /><p>-Cooper whimpers to his Dad and I one night in bed that he had asked Emma to be his girlfriend again and she said no. He then proceeds with, "Mom, will you please come in to my classroom and ask her for me?" <span style="color:#3333ff;"><em>Mom response</em>:</span> "Cooper does anyone else have a girlfriend? I don't think it is a big deal that she is officially your girlfriend. I know she really likes being your friend, I have seen how she likes to play with you." <span style="color:#3333ff;"><em>Dad response</em>:</span> "It's o.k. Cooper I had to ask your Mommy to be my girlfriend for a long time."</p><div>-Couples Mountain Weekend to Ellijay. We stayed in a gorgeous 5 bedroom house, hung out by the campfire, cooked and ate, and climbed all the stairs to the top of Amicalola Falls.<br /></div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546147058106144754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJi31KEdLjPSfBKkbkbNV6pMzsmTT9g7vGn48zDa1S-ZMW_d7eTYRvFb3yz6B2IEH2NWoTz9S1eJvnyxUibDeqxskkpJsbLbzE8k-1VuKzkWJIxi4gmIpEngMdL_sQ7vCd1ep99nrPfxr/s320/155235_1610449674108_1622240112_1433036_1806500_n.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546147831506241202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxD3MCCS7lknh1h660pw-1pxF4JCCJMs2QFd5iUby6E8KmM4ayAxkXARVc6sWX3Bgt6sKMdHDNNPkXen0JkQpK2Scg5jjU6vCm042nbT4C9oSfw59vuv5QK0QxaJv-ZsI9KHlUdiwlGIE/s320/campfire.bmp" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546147038556962530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoKjxTkf4GgBi8qJDw5acMDAumTEk-7FrFDILzF8QkF9jSqRRoBN8Bj6h0So72DB3AVdgbTZezSlBfGbJZHqmUmrxVANSBocP-tir8oRLhxRFyhj_OAPIkSXaU1dsklLEUQmES2jbj_5k/s320/448_IMG_0114.jpg" border="0" /> -We spent a fantastic Thanksgiving at home with the Kisgens<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545945218789690370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhasRLPyHuq9UWrhAy52yGmsi1maXItuKfu2cq7-_8sztkWS0IQaEo_g00g3zr5-ZEUvKPufx_KJU_k9-_ddKoxlwouVRfr67qf21pp7g7z6ofKvb4KjkRdWEE02J-y5bge_xredQPHoDHp/s320/IMG_6360.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545946669968916626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzObOyYYu62Cha2hqr_cVFhL3Edj4Em3LXDsuie7q2iwyxiKsbiRDX5crb7MX4s2vBe6Gqjvp-JDonHiJHxH21d3oAwh1iJD8JcbSacQ_ohoWNdd8okN5O5TEgoOUCw_vgdiXN1LvDFtU2/s320/IMG_6343.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545946674901590226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpnuW43mCqa0orkcOKa_irf5cMb_mlGtTdxpkzmLeQs0Ck2-sdBclmazbKesBQivtOUbywFrXALiVdb_FUZAf0OtcJ7mdYOrquq6KfGwnVAX65uHjR9tuhNdTc63RQM5Om_356DKqgC9j/s320/IMG_6344.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545945213557292866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-a3WN-Vnc3YO9hjIMLqDdSq2WFGP63OIQhby9eYMY5khdUv-8ER80kMJUwoT1uiw4LtQav9TsUHFzPloPV72PK4pJpFKwkijJ01CGa1zB7OBB5BWNuk-63XzW2wNzqxCsITR2yBX6Tt_J/s320/IMG_6298+2.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546159291691890098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovSHznIruK1sURK17XVOk7bI5TkfZhAyBOqV-pkY4n9GpurPqPAdpDWYAglUp8ziCq03XgWkRClik3EHM_XTOOLnfI5LAiTPAJSi_aHy6m6LfTj0BpaTtuRjnYbuIYeDICQ5CUttGdtXh/s320/IMG_6131.jpg" border="0" />-I completed the Ten Can Run 5K Thanksgiving Day beating my last time by 5 whole minutes. I was accompanied by Meredith<br /><br /><div>-I cooked my first ever Thanksgiving Turkey</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545945605227989458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMpvtr3ubRFOlSRVpLA9VDKsTC7DUnuyASbXCC9qapMSJBduWFgmJke1MmKIirW0KML0L2M_IEWiYV88Vc8HvxhkKJrMlYHbot6PuqH2g-dVrUoRRWapFX6cSWGa_hbvIAy8qosIbjY-04/s320/IMG_6232.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545945221731959666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXYMgJLR92Pq4vrFke3Z9dWDZ1GEr0iT6jX3vgH0U0kyEBhxieG-whQvvBpdCrocsvp6XvzsrA75yAgh08bV_sgMI6ijHVZhRSmNPAFuvMPVEyWKb7dZvlfLv6Zjtq03a17gQ7GXFAzHh/s320/IMG_6465.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545945227905789474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-nNrU-3Ud6JYJl67KHb-XQRviEvEyZI7T9Zi-DuYb8fFzoRwU9Bi4JIon8A9WE5wwUxWsC8HKxkE5b51KHbPMNNUQInmDB_RJUDylionEm7GUSPg4G0olsGknWLwe9hMY4aBnbH-r7fLI/s320/IMG_6499.jpg" border="0" /> -Cooper dialed 9-1-1 while spending the night with his Bump Bump and Doc in their hotel room. Pretty sure after the visit from the police man he will not be doing that one again.<br /><br /><div></div><div></div><div>The boys spent a lot of time with each of their grandparents the last few months and have enjoyed it so much. One weekend they were split, each with a different set of Grandparents (to 1. give the grandparents a break and 2. so Carter could have a big boy weekend)- they were happy to see each other afterwards. We are so greatful for the chance to not only share our children but get to enjoy our lives together as a couple.<br /></div><div>Simon the Elf (on the shelf) has made is arrival and the advent calendars gets its first open door.</div><div><br /></div><p>(Each night this week so far has been "Simon, I'm sorry for ___, please don't tell Santa I did that")<br /><br />The first Chanukah candle will be lit by our Pike family.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-78142349236037038342010-09-28T23:04:00.002-04:002010-10-05T22:19:11.017-04:00Bicycle Checklist<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepqhpgvKYImtBRfHzP_JkGb4phYLEEkfOefz9A7QLwOhTC35ziadkBpzMnGswbjNR4kDJYo9D1Hep6OAW8fHmXXy69VJssWTnrSHabgivF3ZB2qcYUQfku0rypgK6kiIBDkGksPzygh3g/s1600/IMG_8464.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524734723445758578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepqhpgvKYImtBRfHzP_JkGb4phYLEEkfOefz9A7QLwOhTC35ziadkBpzMnGswbjNR4kDJYo9D1Hep6OAW8fHmXXy69VJssWTnrSHabgivF3ZB2qcYUQfku0rypgK6kiIBDkGksPzygh3g/s320/IMG_8464.JPG" border="0" /></a> Sweet Cooper moved up in to a new classroom, with that came a little more responsibility from him to sit still and pay attention for longer periods of time and he was having a hard time with it. At this time, Cooper also decided he wanted a bicycle. It might have been a little advanced for a 3-year old, but we put together a plan for him to earn his bike. Cooper had a daily checklist and if he received all 4 checks at the end of each day, he received $1. Once he reached a goal of $20, we would help him buy his first bicycle (as a 3 year old having no concept of the cost of a bicycle and just so happened a neighbor whispered to us "does Cooper want a bike our son has grown out of his first one".....perfect timing). It took a little longer than 20 days to reach his goal, as there were some behavior gaps in there, but he did it. The last night of his checklist, I surprised him with a "Curious George rides a bike" book as a segway in to his final reward. The next day when he got home from school his very 1st bicycle was waiting for him with a shiny helmet he had previously picked out.<br /><div><br /><div>As he climbed on the bike, Cooper took on a new personality.....while riding the bike we were only to refer to Cooper as "Spiderman". He did awesome, took a few spills, but hopped right back on. The proud smile on his face was incredible. He rides it almost every day after school, we have attempted removing the training wheels, but not there yet.....no need to rush. We are proud of him learning the importance of his checklist items and pride in earning something himself:<br /></div><div>-Good Report at School</div><div>-Be Kind to your brother</div><div>-Eat all of your dinner</div><div>-Respect</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524734690886702034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmR7dseXGeOwUBQpXaMoAJSSg7yU84TGUw874Ih62QWUKDFpj2PeFderA4RswM7qJvaKbE7Y-3pw8626s3BwLSN_ZVQ0F1fmx2GCx9qWjrTwX75vns_PMrmuPrZf7r0ytcA6n1EELmlsmJ/s320/IMG_8457.JPG" border="0" /> <div>Here's a little clip of an excited little boy and his proud parents watching him burst with joy and pride (and do a perfect re-take on cue as a result of technical difficulties...he's pretty good at that):</div><div></div></div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz9EqOVG5_8pK6uk50_NLgYSPobzBnQ2rRpXzm4PStb8oppmQsZRGjyxSY0LDIxKnperYj2Um9OlpS_tMqx8w' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-22846715789182068722010-08-11T23:11:00.003-04:002010-10-01T11:24:05.249-04:00Who's Doing What?Cooper spent a weekend with his Bump Bump and Doc. We had a few days with just quiet Carter in the house. Wow, life was different for a few days. It was a few decibels lower and a few notches slower on the activity dial. Carter still enjoys playing by himself and does not often have the opportunity to have ALL the attention, so his demeanor was clear that he was enjoying life....although he did wake up each morning and ask for his bubba. It was sweet to closely watch Carter's new stage in life- the almost 2 year stage- still innocent but wanting to maybe do more. We really just stepped back and thought about Cooper at this age and remembered him trying to do new things for the first time and feeling so big and proud. The two certainly did not hesitate to jump right back in to their playful selves the second they saw each other...I think they feed off one another. They were certainly a handful the first day or two being home and back together, but welcomed craziness and chaos. Life would just not be normal without it!<br /><br />Words I live by: "Don't worry yourself if your children seem to act different around you the Mom than with others such as grandparents or teachers, they know it's o.k. to let it all out with you and you are there no matter what and they love you" I try and remind myself of this more than once a day ha ha. Read this from a monthly parenting article I get and have saved it in my inbox.<br /><br />Cooper says the funniest things these days- little adult sayings that I think he understand because they are usually in the right context, but we don't' know for sure. Either way, he always gives us splinters. A few of his sayings: "I Can't Believe It", "Mom, You're kidding me". Plus everything is "5 more minutes" "Mom, just 2 more minutes".<br /><br />Carter says whatever Cooper says but repeats it for us 10x, his vocabulary is incredible. He just loves and adores doggies of every kind, color, size, texture. It's also funny watching him start to take an interest in preschool shows too- Blues Clues and Wiggles becoming Carter's favorites whereas Cooper no longer has any interest in watching them. Carter is also starting to over-power his "big" brother in the occasional wrestling match.<br /><br />Lot's more to come.................Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-69569479200817783982010-08-11T22:57:00.004-04:002010-08-17T11:11:10.097-04:00Camp Annawannah We Hold You In our hearts....<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506394225837582866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRFU88aQ7jJpQINUmFLp-FdX_AytlLl8k3uv7izOiIfoSIqgD-8joJpaWii4pI2HKj8mzl7-44rb29YZ2b5phvhSg0RrYAuJ-LXvMvGwjDRUgnOJL85dB1KW5kP-9IqxXh9UXver8rrf5D/s320/BG5.jpg" border="0" /> <div><div><div><em><strong>Camp Annawanna</strong></em> <div><div><em><strong>We Hold You In Our Hearts</strong></em></div><div><em><strong>And when I think about you</strong></em></div><div><em><strong>It makes me wanna.......</strong></em></div><br /><div>To those of you from my generation, this theme song might ring a tune to your ear from a fun Nickelodeon show called "Salute Your Shorts", which was followed by the ever funny "Hey Dude" on Nickelodeon.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506394227209402066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjo7WEtdfbUP3ooTKa_OyZdJqwIm_D2PrMWRJDa2SCO3o1IXbD0Sk8U1wLBexL1okHMMkffD7Dlf0gVoCCZyGqg9RM11p5vx97iTf_KIX4B6G-8rxO8H6EnhebqHHzXwt2xItOWrdwgh4/s320/BG.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506394239108385234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpbJM3gBvNnyBJwlSGLcaMDZtt7Telb_3fmHqXA-kSx2x2ltpI-fC7fkoY7CE2FiAPHZpqRci880yOeMo8DeHAV_DZD5byAC3ji3URKkZLhq8y71Tl4LoeQ72YXF9SanVa9g7G_HCOwCpr/s320/BG2.jpg" border="0" /></div><div></div><div></div><div>Well this song also rang in our ears during my recent annual Girls Weekend. 5 of us traveled to a beautiful cabin in the Big Canoe area of the N. Georgia Mountains. We drank good wine, ate good food, shared lots of laughs, played games and did lots of outdoor activities- climbed the side of a dam workout, nature trails, picnic at a waterfall, lounged at the lake, beach volleyball, oh and a rock slide to name a few. Most of our time spent at the lake and doing our nature stuff is when one of us would just break out in song "Camp Annawannah we hold you in our hearts" and all laugh. Their were a lot of families with children around then this group of <em>whatever category we fit in to</em> ladies, and we felt like we were attending summer camp. </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506394246414097570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvEalj1PHSrtbF89_xYNzlgECGjZNbLT6XYlM0TRBU1Ll4MpWY3yP_pM0Jiw_HbbTFkvWWjSvCAUcm8pjbjtsIN2tY77S2PeHXN2T7qPpuTGtLoqo4amIhmIaO2VKjvRTEIOBiqOwAcYvo/s320/BG4.jpg" border="0" /> <div></div><div>This year's trip was vastly different from our Miami trip, but no less fun and memorable! Plus, I had not spent time with my lifelong friends in approx 7 months-yikes!</div><div></div><br /><div>I was having my oil changed the day of my departure and reading a waiting room magazine read this fantastic article about the 6 billion dollar "Girls Trip" industry. I will certainly always be a contributor to this and a promoter. It does something for the soul. Yes your family and children are so greatly missed, but the laughter and talks and talks and talks revive you, so that you can go home and be a better Mom and wife or whatever you are in life. The article referenced that it's like having a free 3-day therapy session, 100% agree. Love my friends and love the privilege in life to be able to leave life behind for a few days.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506394240775899202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSfz6auvPGh8tg7jOk-wqO-rFqKkol1kHx6U0JF4GcZlWMmeFnuaqQGYrIE0-cu8i0wnkRvYEF23PtaS8uMohAWuZpmoMQtQzwjKR7O51BS4AHep1VpJutExL9wDT4PyKhE2XRLldkP5Y/s320/BG3.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-67347241526766311052010-08-10T21:44:00.007-04:002010-08-13T10:54:59.014-04:002 Granparents, 2 toddler boys, 5 days<div>My mother has been asking me probably since January if she could keep the Grandson's for a week this summer. I just was not super excited about them being away from me that long and out of their regular environment. Well summer was in full swing and I finally said o.k. Mom why not, they will love it, you will be exhausted, I will have a quiet house.... sure sounds pretty good. I prepared and packed them for all occasions and worried my little head off that they were going to be a huge handful for my parents (aka GG and GG Steve), getting in to everything, not eating well, not sleeping well. Well I was happy to hear reports each day and the great stories when they came home. I still have yet to see many photos, but I am sure the ones my parents have in their heads will last them a long time. They went up on a Wednesday and I met them and picked them up Sunday. </div><div><br /></div><div>Between the exchange Cooper and Carter's grandparents left no day un-fun:<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>-Their make-shift room was decked out with Toy Story sheets</div><div>-They had many dips in the pool</div><div>-They visited Great Grandma</div><div>-They visited the "Wild Animal Safari" in Pine Mountain, GA</div><div>-They had a bouncy time at Monkey Joes</div><div>-They went to GG Steve's favorite breakfast place</div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>From each my Mom, Dad and Grandmother, I received sweet wonderful emails about how good our little boys were. They listened and knew when it was time to straighten up but most of all kept themselves and everyone smiling. I'm allowed to gloat from good reports, right? </div><div><br /></div><div></div><div>What did I do? Well I really only had one full night to do whatever as I was off to a weekend with girlfriends. I stopped off for a quick grocery store trip, did a super quick house clean, went to the gym, went and had a delic Sushi dinner, then read an entire magazine in a bubble bath and went to bed early. Wow it was a great night to myself!<br /></div><div>A funny picture from my Mom that was titled "new use for duct tape". <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504585246075069810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGk4ud-KyC-ead2QPjWNYq5vpJqiaiGYubeeG7_bEWccsd7mtUX729ytA8GKh17mJPYcbpq2xAqb0cMdgrdt6bNU_MW5ETLNKe8lxRdLJniNg15iLPcovkRAAlgXA19wDBASxcSQ-SFsvt/s200/0729000904.jpg" border="0" /></div><br />A picture taken from inside the car at the Animal Safari. They fed giraffes, buffalo, cows, etc.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504585249315264194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6vv35ePUeMHEnqE9RGEFX62ipIRO2XfXrrGw9LKyHoqjNSfd5cYdu01pngXQ0gL14y-kaT6Xw-p5uvLqj1vl5H6jXzjSahP1-3IKOMRxyswuLgNuZ91M4kMIy8U0etLRn0jY-EOBYTKs/s200/950730001218.jpg" border="0" />I suppose summer stays with the Grandparents are pretty standard, that's why those silly suitcases were made that say "Going to Grandma's" right?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-13268643200866555292010-07-28T22:26:00.009-04:002010-08-03T15:37:00.890-04:00Kisgens Host Houseful!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgpTjcCcfIGIgNizj31jEOjX5ilF4it56Speh5BZ-_ShK7CLKxbmjwsUm3Q-_fThN36VXrKIx2FRisdHkpW8T4ca6FL4EObbUA6n21oMYkYwkmdJ5tjxf8YawR6gCH2jhUhDwy1ALdYaRf/s1600/july3new.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499357846776586066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgpTjcCcfIGIgNizj31jEOjX5ilF4it56Speh5BZ-_ShK7CLKxbmjwsUm3Q-_fThN36VXrKIx2FRisdHkpW8T4ca6FL4EObbUA6n21oMYkYwkmdJ5tjxf8YawR6gCH2jhUhDwy1ALdYaRf/s320/july3new.jpg" border="0" /></a> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499356855968097394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ou_1SecgSWqCnVb1aHC9hoIcfHwbe4xuxrRD1-FYqnwT982oGWb9_VDr1NjptrO4Eku4VJ0R7Z3A43X1rxWxOmjpKPnE8ayZmEftU7zD8alLq0AHd7kqOT0xSnHjjk87CAtdnEXR9nHS/s320/july2.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499356874919337474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvuT69IKk3IMVKEtmwSo7TeiVl8MlMblG0fmIuSjbKexRLX5c8Ksv11EvAbTQu4OExn_am0B3QBqDU7tfeo6WNtGsYORwXjrAY9JLRz5TbnbqNwmnb2dA5a0Zp6t7amyNOS8gQ9m_owtKe/s320/july4.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJV324DuJK55iTLGtYjgnd5N3KKb-fD5ou8EF-auNOIhSRzoiNEmw90daXPkiWKQshrdiExpSq-rgy15y-TUdwVMioj4gnYCE-ZJTe8fMIR_-EI3cl4t-tF05ihn4eeVCRmuyCphzB1eo/s1600/july.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499356853969822114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJV324DuJK55iTLGtYjgnd5N3KKb-fD5ou8EF-auNOIhSRzoiNEmw90daXPkiWKQshrdiExpSq-rgy15y-TUdwVMioj4gnYCE-ZJTe8fMIR_-EI3cl4t-tF05ihn4eeVCRmuyCphzB1eo/s320/july.jpg" border="0" /></a> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499356882431488818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMOVuEbu2_3PFNq84nBdb6NJL-fZ_E0tDP36gP0ptLhLivgKXjmgBYpCyO9QnZ75V5k0v6to1nb9PCAr5MDV7UK-dAci5_5ZLUz9QKiZYrBsOvfiAOF62jXE5zGy5GbPVwSepUV0JCdh9v/s320/july5.jpg" border="0" /> <div>Our old gang of friends was in need of an overdue get-together. Each time we come to Atlanta, it's hard to see everyone with all of our growing families and moving away and social commitments...........so we thought we would bring them all here. Patrick organized a friend weekend at our house with the "guys", their significant other, and any children. A few were unable to join us but hopefully will the next go round. </div><br /><div>Patrick named the event: <strong>Kisgen Beer-B-Q 2010</strong></div><div></div><div><strong></strong></div><br /><div><strong>Guest list:</strong></div><br /><div>Louie (<em>wife Lauren had other obligation</em>)</div><div>Tony, Tasha, Baby Colson</div><div>John, Natalie and 1.5 year Gray</div><div>Ryan and his girlfriend Nikita</div><div>Tony, Jennifer and 1.5 year Brody</div><div><em>Yes, we all have boys, no girls, with our 2 being the oldest of the attendees.</em></div><div></div><br /><div>Our children were happy to entertain and share their home with everyone (<em>oh and us of course</em>). We ate, drank, smiled as the children played together, learned who each child would bond with, watched the guys do stupid things and laughed a lot at each other. It was an absolute blast!!!!</div><br /><div></div><div></div><div>No matter how long it has been, things never change.................we all live in different places, all have different types of jobs, all have different ways of parenting, all lead busy schedules, but all benefit from spending time together and sharing friendship. I know I know mushy mushy but I truly left the weekend with a smile on my face (well, and a hangover) from having so much fun now as families and not just young kids.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-42203262184558507692010-07-07T20:52:00.008-04:002010-07-08T00:10:51.795-04:00All Figured Out<div><div><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIfliyOCV_jamqkUyI7OJf55I2DqGjnuLKcXP8ZucDMFbH_jbPQ0md0QYWjbOBPwhGywZn-4vsR_UxfdufNBCC0ZsYpdf4nBKdmyXMnZWHtKGqj8xUl1sIRLCvB2apfa9PsW_UOiy3q1i/s1600/IMG_8133_edited-1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491377239056514530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 229px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIfliyOCV_jamqkUyI7OJf55I2DqGjnuLKcXP8ZucDMFbH_jbPQ0md0QYWjbOBPwhGywZn-4vsR_UxfdufNBCC0ZsYpdf4nBKdmyXMnZWHtKGqj8xUl1sIRLCvB2apfa9PsW_UOiy3q1i/s320/IMG_8133_edited-1.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><div><div>What have those Kisgen Kids been so busy doing that their Mom could not find time to sit in front of the computer and blog about it all?<br /><div></div><div>That's easy.........</div><br /><div>Exploring at a local animal sanctuary with friends, <em>Oatland Island</em></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491377218693561250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGOvAFsA9S6bIzvMzxUGMHoxhzYOJ0VWny0Rn_6lq9CMND82MyeQwS7gzs3dn-ZexOiU3sYeMD3eDfuOf-8aQO9fwfITHrC0wdaAG16_Cgi0nC99z27x_22-_lSmB5sdJAaCR3oJuwtn1/s320/IMG_8077.JPG" border="0" /> <div>Playing in the sprinklers with neighbors</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491377236657285810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjWhmPakNUEuRd-8SO1388lmwRM5Nb8EM8INpORv3i7xM0niOc9MObgpAA2qpGRld9xtCQkAL3QK_t2fHiEmMWofszUnY0iM2pMI73CC3qtlIralAO5AufSGlNr7FHwkALRb5pcgCGU0p/s320/0614001826.jpg" border="0" /> <div> </div><div>Cooper seeing his first movie on the big screen, <em>Toy Story 3</em></div><br /><div>Cooper going to his first live production, <em>Curious George Makes Meatballs</em></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491377810451771218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrG9tvtdrL-1NutgFZ9Gij8yWApgnUH1pkCJg9dF70f4okn1gABur4TAYx8VMThX3kuOELH4nHCvWhDi6tP9phDJLnQ-3QjSeHVJnjZddHhY1Otal7hLQ2_2USbjm386hpCbowdyCgc9_/s320/0623001917a.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div>Art Projects<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491377229100735506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJ9h6KFGN4pefsLWsqV4BSm_CiepbE7VJiKpC95sOHaJjTTfInpjgElNsuDxGydyKxmVW8VloviAYGzQgpAB9ao5nDT9BTSMR1zJnMwgzIK1my4qTbxgcVWvt8Jyihe1ZwtvXtMz8WRyQ/s320/IMG_8123.JPG" border="0" /></div><br /><div>Family Vacation to the Emerald Coast</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491380880141616674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjISnXkmjvObjv0OR4QXgRUOur-IeIXGzhxRxlNHeidFUCaZTF7SfyDDqb5XrSRvtjGqULQJ1ljfi80UsEHlch1gG377ul0pY_9NIrUK69LcaiGK2IPEH7paa-dPFxrsr9rjQ6-pWq7HXdB/s320/IMG_8216.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491380892827126930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmWz-aRotDd0FWyA8JR0wi4Er3N4YulJ_76LXTeVN0c4DZ3vHde2tEut2s-Li-fTWWNgAExLVjlSGYJKESq6vD-V019osM82mUd1qHSniYeOJgtgClLc_CC2hqiezZ8U5e_uE5rB8MRDU/s320/IMG_8232.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491380902492285602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TT1DETbah9Jj1dIQtuVkA6Y7l08kXVv79wsxEokzkqXgdZhaE7Ck0TjrLAF5s4PZLK2dbcPoIqZ6l0PrNt5wWWTKKg2zVsWar9TybKhqKxBjqkZUJpgGFgSykzu1XbsuTbEAFw6_tv_w/s320/IMG_8252.JPG" border="0" /> <div>Listening to Carter talk up a storm, always telling us "It Kared Me" "I Cwied" and "Come On" </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491377822201138178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFwRjhD9zzkXbgFeRcVkG_Uwyk8e-hLcDvlG6mOj_m7vRpfLnb_1l_jzsq3NhRBkYqITecu6mPHEwpuWF248aN-UlsbPYxN-KPYint9MnWIQYyEOa5-L9Ee3IVj3auzPny4VNq3OxK6Mg/s320/IMG_8172.JPG" border="0" /> <div></div><div>And watching and listening to Cooper figure out life. I title this post 'all figured out' because of a little something Cooper said during our family vacation down at the non-oil touched Emerald Coast of Florida. Cooper and his Dad were walking down the sidewalk and Cooper spotted this thing that looked so thrilling- it was a HUGE bungie swing type of contraption. Mom was not around at the time, Cooper wide eyed and curious looked over and excitedly asked his father "Dad, can I ride that?" His father replied, "Well I think you need to ask your Mom." Cooper's expression changed to disappointed and he said, "Oh, she'll just say no then." Poor kid has already figured it all out. I guess my way of trying incredibly hard to not always just say no but put other ideas or spins on things works to some degree, but he still understands what I have done.<br /><br />Each event this summer has been more fun than the last, I mean obviously nothing compares to Disney but close 2nds I suppose. Life is fascinating seeing it through the eyes of toddlers and wondering if they will love the things you do and then finding out that they do. Our two angel little boys (not in the sense of behavior haha) are becoming our very best friends in the world. I could tell a little tale from each little thing we have done and probably will at some point, but this catches you up to now. Hope you are enjoying summer as much as we are!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491380900166489538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnL2WHTtmEUdCT4NefGR_sVhp6CTT-QUn4Mfrs8eigkH-ddXcvnclKETlQhc8A-t2Ye__1p3u2vtfl0tR91sDHXqG04h5NxrbUzRdzKNg8s-kiAy4k1ILxVgjxt8JtVF8skDH_R-55rHh/s320/IMG_8249.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-67373023815696436752010-06-08T22:28:00.009-04:002010-06-14T11:45:31.061-04:00Memories of MaySweet Baby Brighton<img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CapYEwOCN7Z3teYtJ3EDz2D-Ou1m0a7bFgkLXUdndr1CvpFcAOT6pPdZBVnitBxLSYixG3pS6mliRPGcrFxUHyMhDTh0BDxCqMJ2cwAMKjT-_VuAsxICtWcAdLZZ1uYdh5Q4V5O6zr6J/s400/IMG_7890.jpg" border="0" /> <div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Myrtle Beach Fun</div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIGyAIKDMCJ6OCnqb-kF5cC-rppD-Kc7unasAWZ4DJOjV-yEaBZZ8zVsNlZGBIx0Yrq_QBvp5Bh9QJBoLjfo899gNp2E9ks1LGhIUIUsTw57vGssLRR_6ISb5n8yFHhukdkTRSyt5GrN6C/s400/IMG_7986.jpg" border="0" />Memorial Day with Wagoner's and rain........<br /><br /><div>One would think after Disney a family would take-it-easy for a few....well not these Kisgens. Patrick had a big show in Charlotte, I traveled to meet him while Cooper and Carter stayed home with a visit from their Bump Bump and Doc. During my trip to Charlotte, I had a fantastic visit with Season and the pleasure of meeting Brighton Max Flowe...who was born Feb 22nd. He was a pure pleasure to hold and listen to blurble and watch smile. </div><br /><div>The following weekend Patrick and Mickey were to golf all by themselves in Myrtle Beach....well Lacey, all the children, and I tagged along to invade their condo, but leave them alone. "The Dad's" (as Cooper and Jameson kept referring to them) golfed and the kids and moms played and swam and shopped. We had a great weekend! </div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_03KfM4lXvW8oTgSB0VPgeqyPnvx3NvUb4AxOvjIeu5wGLPy8nM78BkIWa8o4S9d3S2zAZWbrBCzZ6M22goXLubLTiTEDS8KuSQSFuv6RPKup70NMujqPUTo2cpoTHIueOLaqqJESbBz/s400/IMG_7994.jpg" border="0" /> <div>Next, Cooper got a real big-boy bed. He had been asking for one and was getting frustrated when I tried to lay in his toddler bed that I was pretty much on top of his legs. It was much anticipated by him and he kept talking about his big boy bed. So, I found the perfect new big boy bedding and we converted his once newborn baby crib in to a beautiful full size bed. Patrick and I put the bed together and figured out how to re-configure the bedroom while Cooper was at school one afternoon.........he was so happy. He laid in bed that night singing, "I got a big boy bed, I got a big boy bed". Every time someone enters the house, he gestures come here and takes them upstairs to show it off.</div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZhAcipo0su1AL_zxkmKzwBBt23CHfg-spyG7COe01JLhvJ1S_805-eLX9wjg-Zo9gh4PnYv9QeX31iHhGH61oLmaWtx1Ew5erHN8__GopPZDMl2K79A0nhlWcI9OqXtOxeKeNoXy0wV-/s400/IMG_8041.JPG" border="0" /> <div>Then came Memorial Day weekend. Our plans were no plans, well except to work a little in the yard and hit the pool as much as possible. Then we got a last minute visit from Tony, Tasha, and Baby Colson Wagoner. We still had pool time, lounge time, and yard time and enjoyed seeing how incredibly big and smiley Colson has gotten since we saw him last. Cooper absolutely adored him and kept calling him "my baby" and Carter, well Carter was interested for a second when he would see big brother with the baby then he did his own thing....or when I was holding Colson, Carter would do something crazy to get my attention back :) An outdoor all day Memorial Day Monday was rained out, as in most places, so we got in some R&R. It's always fun having such great friends around!</div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482653989603877810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5uRSvGblGcyc2NGnk8Q-nESakwYyaLdP6Kl298-oR13ivKmo5t5E-Pz7sxPi7uyRVDYtTqKliX-8_7lsKnZRRoqDQ5tuvgFPPMHgEzxKJ0FCe6e5hyphenhyphenw43CFF5xlsk-kfM5va10QvvmYZ/s320/BG.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482654000148409586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLclcpslgmxWFN8tQusfYWwoAcf7ZhlgoINIf4o8Muul9gXEKau1-Q3yOMJ1DkVET9C7yFd6hO8mm65tjrsJATlg3uEgR5hoAm6_jErX7RUyu4n5G-8xAwFmqk3R7Bxx4mKSuaG2qMURF2/s320/BG2.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482654009532247442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWy7SBTfp7wpmDoLklaGdw1b6q4c8nR0azRQrW4SE4KYQMi7oDt8y5ynR1OxxtPh0qEsIuAlx1ET_okHnc6uzS8cJipDKfRJSpI-v5nbDR9AtW8JSogisH3GdQukgc0uu5gT9cvpPuiOBa/s320/BG3.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijnNoPdlB2_gUKqI16BxMe2JKd7VDQ4ZSndwW1uok77kJhd1GJAbxz5sceJlgXVoJNyAflWv88V9NHJ3xgq5Wgg7TF7Zeuj7-Up5Z2r5V1AvU3GLBx5jqp7kW6GgZJot_sgV1BGlmLV3cg/s400/IMG_8054.JPG" border="0" /> <div>Our un-official start to Summer started off great. Having been around the two newest babies lately has made me realise that Carter is just not the baby anymore, I have been holding on to him but I think it's done....The Kisgens have only toddlers in our house.<br /></div></div><div><em>Here are two different links to photo albums if you want to see them:</em></div><em></em></div><div><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/sskisgen/May2010?feat=directlink">http://picasaweb.google.com/sskisgen/May2010?feat=directlink</a></div><div><div><br /><a href="http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=878182560408%3A571409592&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee">http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=878182560408%3A571409592&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee</a><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-13648287600027374132010-05-17T22:26:00.005-04:002010-05-21T13:01:39.923-04:00Disneyworld Adventure<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrGramNRHN50Wv9fBT0E8Hw3vEDrmsy7iOqT96xN9TS6EFXRtqEj6lgOwx2D9fs9n7HaUTEK1VHD8bDiOEIqM6XpPgGdtLMKHRfeygMj2OFN6YIQ4E2TWha4xRjg6V9NLvFNwzqOGSRbBC/s400/IMG_7575.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrGramNRHN50Wv9fBT0E8Hw3vEDrmsy7iOqT96xN9TS6EFXRtqEj6lgOwx2D9fs9n7HaUTEK1VHD8bDiOEIqM6XpPgGdtLMKHRfeygMj2OFN6YIQ4E2TWha4xRjg6V9NLvFNwzqOGSRbBC/s400/IMG_7575.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TsmXGCmgSMOc93fYlpiwA6lU4hAlKcyLZYW80K-SInyirUe44HoIxdxvBUL1bNSa-Dm3HQ0pAb0C99O8LmWtIX9eGu7LvkHwXZLV_C4Ift0FseZ1l6R73jJujFc0YKIqqDm_H6T0UyOE/s400/27765_422307286078_511221078_5183712_468118_n.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TsmXGCmgSMOc93fYlpiwA6lU4hAlKcyLZYW80K-SInyirUe44HoIxdxvBUL1bNSa-Dm3HQ0pAb0C99O8LmWtIX9eGu7LvkHwXZLV_C4Ift0FseZ1l6R73jJujFc0YKIqqDm_H6T0UyOE/s400/27765_422307286078_511221078_5183712_468118_n.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><div>We had planned a trip to Disneyworld to round out Cooper's 3rd Birthday celebration at the Magic Kingdom- schedules and non-night-parade weekends at the park pushed our trip back about a month. We traveled to Orlando Friday May 7th. The goal was for the kids to have the best time of their little lives thus far- the bonus was that the two of us as parents did too! Cooper got to wear a special Disney provided Birthday pin for his entire trip, the park staff did an excellent job of telling him Happy Birthday and a few extra special perks for his Birthday celebration, which we were told to expect. It made me feel happy to see him getting such special treatment. When our boys faces lit up at the sight of the rides, the characters, the castle, the parade.....they lit up our world.</div><br /><div></div><div>The trip started like this- we departed and stopped to get coffee before we hit the freeway, at that point we realized the kids Mickey Mouse ears were missing, but how they just had them while in the driveway. We drive back to the house and they are lying in the driveway! Who's trip to Disney could not begin without wearing Mickey Mouse ears? haha.<br /><br />Itinerary:<br /><br /><strong>Friday-</strong> arrive in hot Orlando and head to the resort pool around 2. The pool was huge rocks and caves with water slides and a kiddy area that had slides and water barrels. Cooper jumped right in and slid right down and Carter needed a little time to warm up. We hit the showers and headed out to Downtown Disney for dinner. Everyone was already tired so we did a little walking around and turned in early to gear up for the next big day.<br /></div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLkSjJ23xA-Qa7aTSZJcuvyQf6sHwVq0J4ib7NHTozkkCzjPPAEtnGkDWQcNmje4hjhazOoUbtK0laEmusfzVPcMleAqoqcl6YpC4Vgdsbls0rjzruqZE6UY9q1USXlXzxbW5SbVSE-Uu/s400/IMG_7600.jpg" border="0" /><strong>Saturday day</strong>- arrived at Magic Kingdom at 9:20- no lines for probably our first 3 rides....a nice way to get everyone excited. The boys fell asleep around lunchtime so we found food and air conditioning to re-charge. After everyone ate we were ready to get back out there. Meredith met up with us around this time and joined us for the afternoon parade. The boys were so excited to see her and it was nice visiting and having an extra set of hands and eyes. We hit maybe another ride or two then decided if we were going to come back that night we needed to head to the room for showers, dinner, and a possible nap.<br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUuT3LbqTFOC8Syu2qHTpkx2tO2qrQt02z0diQIKjzsRpwcgdAPjMZOQPeszoz0z3kkU5k-YLhOSVIIjSx3EMHBQofA4X4IL3JF89tm6vj5rQ7zHHhUk0rBz7BrCfTNnnVvxPtT8EvD788/s400/IMG_7626.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKczO0WDIkX-4kkuLDtiSdaZgpRIPH-LWyrEkRgR0cmblUIqwCzHLoj6K58DiOhBPcMHr5epC8X0Ks-u1VG1uJCrdl3zdaczg_NhGhN2OW97ICPA6LsbIaTw-zVhWzsmSK-WK9UjS2rlns/s400/IMG_7654.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi023_1UZ8s0RjJdQtY8wwgQOzptkH4Q1-fM2vulePNE-tO63Eu2txVQ_ZJD7QlXv9aXTjQYabSeVEv7NHt3wRlnV6Ye7cmW_2Baf5d2uuyJk4zuKP2JL0GrHNeTuKFgBst_siK1RyCC-Ni/s400/IMG_7662.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU65O_TOyL1Bs6AXb0fsL9QsOZ7NeyzyUmaVHFw7VSwQI7WcJT_ME6rmd9xZ5alUSVTAiOlKiydfBaPnnO125QuSCsLu8jFZWVLKgNm6l0IltShMb87uwMLLmU__SzlUBc8nmM-C6TyIc_/s400/IMG_7680.jpg" border="0" /><strong>Saturday p.m.</strong>- we headed back to the park around 8p.m. to find the perfect spot to watch the Spectromagic parade of lights and floats. We were all exhausted, but fascinated at the evening of lights and fireworks. Walt Disney Magic Kingdom truly is a magical place!<br /><br /><strong>Sunday</strong>- We had a Mother's Day brunch scheduled at another resort. It was delicious and fun- could not have spent my Mother's Day better than watching my children light up with joy interacting with Donald Duck, Goofy and Minnie. Donald even sang Happy Birthday to Cooper and he shared his cupcake with Goofy. Our Magic Disney adventure had ended but the fun and smiles stayed on our faces for days. On the car ride home, Patrick was already planning our next trip down. Haha he said, that was the first family vacation that the boys have really had so much fun and always had something to do, unlike the beach or something. Um well it is Disneyworld and that is kind of the point.<br /><br />We stayed at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort in a pirate themed room- the beds looked like pirate ships, their were treasure chests and barrels all around, the carpet looked like wood ship planks, and their was a carving of the pirates of the caribbean ship carved in our shower. (somehow I made it out of their with not one picture of our fun room)<br /><br />I think Patrick and I both thought Carter was going to maybe hold us back a little or not have much fun, but we could not have been more wrong. He truly came out of his shell, yelling for each of the characters when he saw them and repeating everything Cooper said about a ride we were on.<br /><br />Cooper was on a mission for a character he likes from a Disney book we read and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show named "Big Bad Pete". Of course, he is quite uncommon and we were worried he might be disappointed if he was never spotted. Thankfully, the day of Magic Kingdom Cooper decided he cared about seeing Donald Duck, so when we ran in to Donald it was very exciting. And by chance they have a rest area called Pete's Garage and that satisfied him too! Cooper has nicknames for everyone, it's hilarious. Hey, there's Pinoc or Hey Goof.<br /><br />We had several friend that had done this trip before his that offered tons of suggestions. This is a hilarious quote that came from our friend Meaghan that went the week before us: "I worried when my boys started crying or having a melt-down but looked around and realized everyone cries at Disney". It was so true, meltdowns were so little and there were times when I felt like having one from being so hot and tired and sore and cranky but we all pushed through. Many of you may think I'm crazy for saying this, but I really would go back tomorrow if I had the chance. <img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 341px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxC7v1Wb4b0iCPdj25yMtMqQpVIM5bomOWJmGG1RfHPT7sYbbv80_fxXp7GyIAAGCo1OD7w3m_wk5cc1TyzrtwUmXoXK8Jk-lqZx_L1BeoEJQxQC5sn3sUP2RRZ5MnT9Z1A7p8xFqICnQ6/s400/IMG_7785.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs25lsDmkVJKnzsLZphjHLWbMOVFSGS84x0SkwY_Ri81jSDCJ9vbg0JnCpQvTaWBUh0kStNmsCDvEua32U2wMHYM30ebrYvHsP-4dg2pXP61eKNqSUbBQDi9g4Pp44-JhTYjfwqyunmMDJ/s400/IMG_7882.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br />The rest of the photos can be found on our Picasa web albums site- just look at the top right of the blog and where it says "PHOTOS" click on it and it will take you to all of our viewable photo albums. <em>Photo disclaimer: I did carry my huge camera around my neck the entire trip but every one of us was so stimulated, character star-struck, and excited that it was very hard to get what I might consider good shots. You might think it's funny I say that when looking through the 289 pictures. The intention of taking so many is to go through, pick out the good ones and delete the rest.......right, how do you delete each little expression that tells a story? Anyway, enjoy looking at our fun trip pics!</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-88591211980892281002010-05-06T23:58:00.001-04:002010-05-13T16:43:04.528-04:00Tybee Stay-cation<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEingiB_1mkYl2YWgmw_A1RBxa16_Uu5SX7_m5fWpNkpkrxgzhRPW0qZMYRB1Smtuzo45BHfKHvc083_8zL3BclnWeMbQIzAs2OXFwJreJsnsnTR1WzWNvG4e9GZTnXry2v43McAazHlJrYB/s400/IMG_7512.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEingiB_1mkYl2YWgmw_A1RBxa16_Uu5SX7_m5fWpNkpkrxgzhRPW0qZMYRB1Smtuzo45BHfKHvc083_8zL3BclnWeMbQIzAs2OXFwJreJsnsnTR1WzWNvG4e9GZTnXry2v43McAazHlJrYB/s400/IMG_7512.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>The first weekend of May, the Shelton's had a little Tybee "stay-cation". Our stay was at a great little Tybee cottage steps away from the boardwalk and sand. Kim even flew in from Philadelphia to join us. We had local fare, naps, 7am seashell hunts, kite flying, amazing weather, and were joined by old family friends. The boys loved the beach house and had a blast on the beach....Carter not so interested in the cold water but there was no stopping Cooper from jumping the waves. Fun way to kick off Beach season 2010...and we didn't even have to take off work days (well Patrick and I). <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470857807970341234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 231px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7Hp7c8Dw2qW4xCMVDuI7iEcEyhGm6HRO6faxQb5HnSGmSgs52Z9Y-DU5BqgHOJ7lRrQn4X66ec8RqzYfBuXLWPFJC-_c1eJdrqic3TxM3j_plCk1uVyCzqjS36r8ZHoPpupZkePGDvjK/s320/IMG_7509.jpg" border="0" /></div><div></div><div><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrvGoigHtExFu2NS8o29BxlWTi6txx_ot0-ByZjr1dkpWPVBntaD3sDOYnSAySXDZd63fZJX1DPTHMirab0hKdiovWkfPhf4iSpzxdGeYlcbkwpPzvfARHklsy2nMQU3K8vd8tndWCcsP/s400/IMG_7506.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi96pGiSF_jJbXImSamXrn_g07Ujvc4wV6mKqNlFjTatFdofD4XUYpdnnJ6iIOchFdPkVKqkJbTupitbpkwfCNmFgaj18JS5VYY_Shz-KckzxnrLt9-Mp-7WUQhyxcslK7y3XNCf9Rawrsx/s400/IMG_7528.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhukphKqORnH3tr9Jf4DQZrApYixoHXO03oa9JKsJcIZ181X0156ZrWDiqaCI01McmwyrDU1bDZACTT0ZuviEfzgEN5K4Z_kcYOtACWeuc0y58XIetMBB7ZEOHMAZ9LiXy3hJAILdMqu5s7/s400/IMG_7533.jpg" border="0" /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-4217337182229696052010-05-06T23:42:00.005-04:002010-05-13T10:45:13.381-04:00First Camping Trip<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiiNSYbAvRXBQS0kHJlp3U1CMc9pgEjHdLPtIqd88zhRHln0ljl1Ckpk74d-fIW4ZAsdVR-VneuDqLlEqmTnzmouuM2mhEvF7XpgieSuSjGjVoAiPciwYktjj700XAajkzQjFp5DC28cvw/s1600/IMG_7471.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470080907108835874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiiNSYbAvRXBQS0kHJlp3U1CMc9pgEjHdLPtIqd88zhRHln0ljl1Ckpk74d-fIW4ZAsdVR-VneuDqLlEqmTnzmouuM2mhEvF7XpgieSuSjGjVoAiPciwYktjj700XAajkzQjFp5DC28cvw/s320/IMG_7471.JPG" border="0" /></a> I thought that with the arrival of nice weather (which we only get for 3 weeks or so before it becomes 90) in Savannah it would be a good time to take Cooper on a Father/Son camping trip. His mom got him a book about camping and we studied up on it (Curious George goes camping was his study guide) for a couple of weeks. I made sure to build the suspense leading up to the big day. So finally, a couple of Saturdays ago was our camping day. I got out all of the gear and we talked about our big adventure. He was very excited to sleep in a tent and knew we would be cooking marshmallows that night. We did not have far to go to get to our camp sight as Steph and I both decided the front yard was ideal because the back yard is sloped too much, so we got a great camping spot right next to a tree and about 2 steps from the driveway. Cooper was not a very big help setting up the tent, as all he wanted to do was get stuff out and play with it. It is probably hard for a 3 year old to envision a tent when all they can see are the poles and a big piece of fabric. But 10 minutes later, when the tent popped up, he was all about it! Camping had begun. We set up our sleeping bags and some lawn chairs, and got out the fire pit that Mars had gotten me for Christmas (thanks Marissa!) As dusk came we lit the fire and sat around talking and playing with flashlights and glowsticks. Roasted Hot Dogs and then ate roasted Marshmallows (Cooper preferred them raw, I like mine well done). We had a great time and even let Mom join us for dinner. When we were done we settled in to the sleeping bags. I was very nervous as to how this would go, thus the reason we camped at home. But I have got to say that Cooper was not scared at all and we both slept like babies. Can’t wait to do it again!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470080913132877858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66DMMaDZ_i1aGRwNsHBc2fgeZ81-D-_mSTl5O95-0zZTyuwj4FDRGKr7XaUUMvlJuyLy6OCgVBSJg3mWgWUHVaewVW3vxCMp4pcrJKKX9ur3ZLWUKDEyljCfMluCW6KZ2T5f0t4Nj0_iY/s320/IMG_7482.JPG" border="0" /></div><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470080920539627506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 199px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLFbjIyzmUnC-Lm_BGt5f37BKEn4u3kloVWkEmfJjQCKteqSv-eqdTnQtYmMNOYkuuAySGXtJphQl7Aq0O6AZ8ZUVeE_9kv6C96Pn7y_uP4OwhGbbwsfOkZ516raEsXVci48UOCVdYq_s1/s320/IMG_7478.JPG" border="0" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-72374785069263385902010-04-12T20:01:00.002-04:002010-05-13T16:44:30.058-04:00Date nightDelicious Asian Fusion Dinner for Two $62<br /><br />Movie Tickets for a 3D viewing $26<br /><br />Movie snacks to share $9<br /><br />Babysitter $10/hour<br /><br />Quiet Date night with husband.....priceless!<br /><br />Ha ha always wanted to do this b/c those commercials are catchy to me. So as you can tell it can be expensive to have a night out alone, but sometimes just the "ticket" you need to catch up with each other- outside of sharing your family life. After spending time clipping coupons, dining in, eating leftovers, and very little time alone...a little one night splurge was in order. Cheers to the opportunity and privilege of a date night splurge with my hard-working husband.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-6775526921285362472010-04-11T21:08:00.008-04:002010-04-13T11:30:16.027-04:00Did someone turn 3?<div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459468288942381010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 285px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 339px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQ9Sp8Bm5PjxUwg60LDHMjFF1AiDithFKFl9ylm7AtnrfF0W8WyBwwiLBXrgwRjSaIdHghM6hiKsa5JDSQi2731GFYvMm2wz1Sd-8LTr4Gv99D3VKbg7zonKQmHTHYiOry-35QrRbuHvh/s320/IMG_7274_edited-1.jpg" border="0" />This year, Cooper shared his big 3rd Birthday with the celebration of Easter on April 4th. Friends came over Saturday afternoon to celebrate with him. It was an awesome Birthday as his parents too, as he is of an age now that he knew the entire celebration was all about him...he knew his friends were coming over to play for HIS birthday and he knew there would be presents and he knew he was getting a special cake all about him. He was overwhelmed, but so incredibly appreciative. Oh what a blessing these children are and the pure joy they bring!!!! Cooper thus far in life is showing a true creative side that is fascinating, but most of all he loves life, loves telling stories, loves being loud and free! We are so excited for all the growing and learning we get to do together this year....<em>if we don't learn more as Cooper's parents, we will quickly be defeated!</em> </div><div><br />As you might have learned Cooper has been in "Toy Story" mania, thus he wanted his cake to look like Woody, not Buzz. Somehow I managed to get the only "Toy Story" cake available in all of Savannah/Pooler for a special little boy. <em>Due to the fact my cake decorator Mom was recovering from foot surgery she was unable to prepare this year's masterpiece for us, so we resorted to the pickings of some wonderful bakeries, but due to copywright laws they are only allowed to make what is provided to them and Toy Story is in the process of coming out with new and discontinued the old.....geez I tell you.</em> It was adorable and delicious!</div><div><div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459640945331875906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 230px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQVODUm3NNjGfvAupCXNCmn_cg-ElRxOf-P221Pgp7MkV0KDchX-EnTtbhKMJVwvrvLaDofY3HFhl94fsiRN_sv8olpHCjN6pKKlQp_G9WjcziGB-04stuXFudaxAJP7WuDXivTC3ke6n/s320/Untitled_0_00_02-13.jpg" border="0" />Cooper was given some wonderful games, toys, and other gifts for his birthday and knew that everyone cared about him and paid attention to the things he enjoys. One particular item that he had been asking for since probably the beginning of January was a piano. Everyday, "Mom I getting a piano for my Birthday". We decided a keyboard was a great alternative since it was not quite time for a Baby Grand to enter our home. I wish you could have seen his face.....but the video below is even better. Cooper quickly learned that a keyboard not only plays music like a piano but also includes a huge variety of pre-mixed beats. He taught us some new breakdance moves on his first day as a pianist. Enjoy! It was very hard for us to film this video, as we were holding our breath to not make background noise while holding in our laughter. Sadly the best floor kicks were beneath the video camera- I have no doubt he will be willing to show them to us again some time. <br /><p align="center"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyjbmd7DhAGaq3762M15QK2SYj9U94P-6KAUA4aG00EWJjBP-G65baLP79me0zKsEFOHBH1AUHcnGQnjTvjXg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><div></div><div></div><div>Easter Sunday was an incredible day! After church the boys had a huge Easter Egg Hunt with the neighbors and I prepared a feast. The boys had several Easter Egg Hunt practices- Carter was the <strong>winner</strong> in his class of 1.5 year olds for finding the most eggs (at a count of 22 eggs), so they were ready to tear off their Easter clothes and fill their baskets outside in the beautiful weather. Carter had such a busy day he fell asleep for what we thought was a cat-nap at 5:30....we kept checking and waiting to see if he was going to get up to join us for Easter dinner but he slept until 7:00 Monday morning.</div><br /><div>I think the "Easter pictures" closely resemble last year's attempts at brother pictures in their "Easter best"......they would not sit still or pose for the camera at the same time. I have been tempted to put them back in their Easter clothes and see if I might catch a shot again....no one would know but me, right? Love these guys with all the heart I have.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459469030292915554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 272px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0txXdwTA5ccLnHK2FwF6__S44YKHu4z9mUyWs7V9vSJR2GABAyr-KQfsUPa6L1jfwaIVskDHRL0hoEDsY-R3z07QT0doH81vTLdDqmxNDQlPxlGAt7Uv8nxOkjTBeRu8K7rabNgP997a7/s320/IMG_7322_edited-1.jpg" border="0" /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459469039249772914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyktsdE2B76lgUZFRajF-3N-JM74u7bRmdgPV80fizixJulTxPMagoTcUyL1FmG9k5LQ4f4-k-2k-IuOp38S1TicSCZ_yRjXtxDhIvOBxquHWp9pC57T5JbNvPXLKwwKGnKqsUNXcJmym-/s320/IMG_7347.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div>We Kisgens hope you and your families enjoyed each other and the wonderful celebration of life and peace!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-61923927716205791032010-03-29T22:46:00.012-04:002010-04-01T15:46:24.808-04:00March MinutesSome might call it March Madness....we just call it busy, crazy normalness.<br /><br />We made a visit to Macon to meet Baby Colson Anthony Wagoner who was born on 2/15/09 (I won the "guess Colson's actual birth day" money pot we made at the baby shower by the way...<em>and no it was no rigged</em>). He was so sweet and little, very good baby. My parents met us to meet Colson and to have the boys spend the night -Cooper and Carter wanted to meet little baby "cupcake" for a few minutes but we opted not to have them bombard the Wagoner's home with loudness andrunny noses for two days. A few moments stand out to me, and one was watching the new Mom and Dad figure out and take all the time of what all to bring, how to best do it, getting in and out of the car, etc etc just to get out of the house for a little while. I tried really hard not to just spurt out "you should do this" or "I did it like this" but let them figure it out. He's another little angel we get the opportunity to know.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LL8GQXBQ1PmVEOaGPb5Bsw?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2G8u6D763poQE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwIf1C9kmIfceU4F53BXuUjdGZccsk-NyTWWdYNHZeZyLJrpFhZxpK_-Aly9FRwSCzg6QbYEiemTD0t_cJ3xMGVsb6YzU1PqRho8Nrq099KGQ0u-QV6Xgq1rn8uGKxEbK9FufaQ5mjKPhF/s400/IMG_7223.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/p5lai61-pi-2wpMXQ1qv1g?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2G8u6D763poQE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbgCO2G8m7vs20IbtqVm5YN8hF7ErzS-6zZpFk3-BU06laJNRKicKMW_u1rqI7j15BWRlBYdMrEa6f_q_fPBSuMOhrSt4B6azzjbF3iFz_YdDUQivGNrhpfz2UL0GhMDA9hV9hoK_lM9H/s400/baby%20colson.jpg" /></a><br />A visit to Tuscaloosa, AL was long overdue. Schedules had conflicted and delayed a trip to spend time with Papa Kisgen (approaching 93). We were not too sure of how the visit would go with a nearly 3 year old and 18 month old taking over ALL of his personal space and neat and tidy belongings. Patrick and I stayed on our toes making sure nothing was destroyed, things were immediately placed higher or out of sight from little tiny hands. It was amazing, it was probably less than two minutes of entering Papa's apartment that those little eyes and hands went reaching. We got a wonderful tour of the Alabama campus, were treated to delicious local BBQ, and just had some quality time with Papa. The boys honestly seemed to be the craziest children I had ever encountered in my time as their mother most of the weekend, but Papa took to them well and was incredibly patient and kind. We left with Cooper and Carter just loving their Great Papa so much. We always leave our visits with Papa so incredibly thankful for having him in our lives, <em>and educated on more fascinating stories from time past.</em><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/C3g7jBKdE8UVZgoDmch0dQ?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2G8u6D763poQE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQxa8_Tqx88uNVbjzlOLbAxA0asrHDc40rPpp6uVOPK_RxoGA4GZMMOfa4KrIM68ybFPPrpsh0rwB7Q3UW60z6Bf7Lp6CkzgXaXtBx441avsfyG5llwfNDIR08JydGOqUOm9AsafmEU-x/s400/IMG_7234.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/FDIQVqsE2sA1s45iyXWz_g?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2G8u6D763poQE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwzELNkHCvewdir-YC7UXvQQo3EnXYLwGW89XXCxkdhlspzfZ1485yl68GC2RicVj6m2vrZ02q9H50zciJ3nKd2jDceV9cn-FZaxEy1z1YJlPdOaANBiJaGZ4MjIjq4vm5cdIUV_fee1rs/s400/IMG_7228.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I must tell you about Buzz. Cooper's first official toy he had been asking for and got to go to the store and pick out. It was a reward for officially completing potty training (number two had been a quite difficult accomplishment). A trip to the toy store was also necessary during the visit to Papa's as Cooper could not sit still or calm any longer and something needed to grab his attention. So without prompting from his Dad, Cooper kept declaring "I want Buzz". They walk in to the store and Cooper continues his "I want Buzz Dad I want Buzz" without even recognizing that he was in an aisle full of Buzz Lightyear action figures. When Patrick turned him around he was stunned silent. It was the most excited I had really ever seen him waiting for Buzz Lightyear to be taken out of the box. He has never really been attached to anything, so it's new to watch something actually grab his full attention.<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/OHkkxdqtUEktWrWYUB9fHw?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2G8u6D763poQE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6LjRZplNHtcGKt9oXigvHN3OX5HJEwthLh2C8gF9DDn5dBDEeSK40XJU1LgGJllN5jdOxhKA4Bc9Lw3j1sHs2pknQdtSUi0IkA58Ad7mDKDbcFO317xeQ4ioruhbXB74wkdIsTsi-MBs/s400/0321001352.jpg" /></a><br />We made a 2.5 day pit stop in Atlanta following Tuscaloosa (I had to work and Cooper and Carter got to visit Gammy and Papa...plus Marissa and all the doggies running around). Buzz was attached to Cooper for the first few days he had him and during his visit he looked over to Gammy and said "Buzz is the favorite toy I ever met". He continues to tell me that. I think Cooper and Carter fully succeeded in wearing out their Grandparents, but nonetheless enjoyed their trip.<br /><br /><strong>Easter</strong> festivities are under way and began with a frigid morning Easter Egg Hunt at Daniel Defense. Was a good time, with an appearance from the Easter Bunny and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. For me, the event began with a realization that it was 15-20 degrees colder than I dressed myself and family for, so drove back home to get jackets, pants in place of shorts, shoes in place of sandals, etc. I guess the 74 degree temperatures from the day before threw me off a little! Cooper and Carter quickly discovered that there might be candy inside the eggs this year!<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/agTIuEXro-gpdXavvekppw?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2G8u6D763poQE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQituQC3TNencoyFErwUXDXSXwu5OKUQaNj3-SfNysADxMSDc_10Vb2BLyqxJEwrvk4BIPBLH2BUcoteaqq4Cuhw3YsqvPDkB0DsTp-BUuQraBnVynsQZJRWDaawJCdPNnSGHfczseZPQf/s400/2010_03_27_1460_(2).JPG" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/fv2AcfSQMn25y5eTWlW3gQ?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2G8u6D763poQE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixku9rMqHnFdcYnY5269WlTlOaZ7ZdT86WUZ6udZ9GCNx9IeUvz61h7MfUrSu1dTd0ni21L5RjU6w7bIkTdQRHvobHjdAqmbsSiJxyDWf0ZNkkMKm-2NS22m2brwvxTLA8yfE8v5Dr-qPZ/s288/IMG_7238.JPG" /></a><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lkdUZKHN7gwIXOcjIN4Gcw?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2G8u6D763poQE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpC2hI_ketimtM_QppCyv_0lGY7sarewv0HU3J0r7170RkPT-UPMemXMjwZNsaFmXBupp5HLXf2rCCV9Oritm_pboXs-2jyAKuEPh7mqB9kPb7jDLtDlgkyBwjL7zXSpDXmR_CKCTeI9Qz/s288/IMG_7267.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/mOD_HXAPCzBTePGDhssgmA?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2G8u6D763poQE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0CzYnfTLW-3WSXvgyOrx_MqsDkG85hhYZ4wN4aABAO7L55sNDlO2DC8ElgX8nYlGaBXjlPuZ5yGcTJJgmAKHnWfd-pPhJsyxyfu0Hh4FOFHmfGoZIDXzy1C8pouuytLKSzAL3wdAu_aJ/s288/IMG_7258.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/QHcRr68pIEvW3YeXp5wktg?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2G8u6D763poQE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOuHHx9aJ-RWSv6KbPfwzzXbjX9tUiyEzQiMrWXnCDkM41P_eTE4g2ty4YqNkQUghyCZIupIv2Gf-V9x7y0EEdnbeeNoASFSyUENPXqi-cSs1JkMNwqOHgyc1IWMOO8RDqDNj6smNmMx6K/s288/IMG_7250.JPG" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-43836541498570052872010-03-25T22:19:00.003-04:002010-03-26T10:48:33.565-04:00Kisgen Recycle InitiativeSpring is in the air....thus some much needed spring cleaning. Savannah has only recently adopted curbside recycle pick-up, but Pooler has not quickly followed....so we said we would not let no curbside pick-up be a sorry excuse to not recycle. An entire side of our garage has looked like a random recycle heap for many months now and we could not take it any longer. We thought if our recycle system was more organized it might entice to work even harder at it, and so far we are coming along. If we all make little efforts here and there a dramatic impact can be made on the environment. I'm just posting this because I am proud to make just a tiny little bit of difference in reducing our carbon footprint for the future....and losing the eye sore that lingered in our garage. <br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452948934447390354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh_aU1iAuyLEQqhRa0Uvuh2sPHPFGC6G_0UEeJinEpjymIxOl0DdxCUhKUIdok3rixsRIblUnRedAjf1mH_cBRRBBdGoebCXbK3UVcgxQ79KCFhKYE3eb2U6b8xGCF2KURog9QE75V13nn/s320/recycle+1.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452948938814432306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8k6Xp5cscUuimr0oLzJ85v5r5_H1Yiw1aSHCnL-RxgBqbHawIk4ac1972GeIA3oPWyG2VsQo0ardDctYaSRPlkJIsd6DWBix9xa7nVO6QWKJA2Lapkv4HP3qwD7vVSHaXqh520Rrnchi/s320/recyle+2.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE!</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;">*I am quite ashamed I skipped this process for many years due to lack of convenience...my sister and I were taught the habits of aluminum can recycling at a young age. Our Papa and Uncle Harry helped others recycle their cans and we helped crush them. I would like to continue to pass along these good habits.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-16295668010206617922010-02-24T22:38:00.005-05:002010-02-25T16:14:08.955-05:00We heart February<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDU7arFE8mK34bnroG5bd8JXXa_azF5AzqrU1rTpJ1CwA9hBn1Docfy7pRi9UQtRUKzVQGQssCKs-n0r94ChhiZymjGrpKxTGR3pn3207s0jJJDUqBD4KvJ5mUzq_zSrVr2Jh9g_Cu3SGH/s1600-h/IMG_7151.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441123360842767858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 293px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDU7arFE8mK34bnroG5bd8JXXa_azF5AzqrU1rTpJ1CwA9hBn1Docfy7pRi9UQtRUKzVQGQssCKs-n0r94ChhiZymjGrpKxTGR3pn3207s0jJJDUqBD4KvJ5mUzq_zSrVr2Jh9g_Cu3SGH/s320/IMG_7151.JPG" border="0" /></a><strong>Festive Shirts</strong>: the boys were having a Valentine's party at school and I could not find little boys' Valentine's shirts so I thought <em>oh this will be easy I will just make some</em>. So I made my own appliques out of some fabric I had at home and stayed up til 1a.m. two nights before the party adhering them to the plain shirts and making sure they stayed. Well of course no task is as simple and <em>fool</em>-proof, so when Patrick was dressing them for school Friday morning and put the shirts on the boys the appliques started falling right off. I was so sad that my motherly craft skills had completely failed. On my lunch break I rushed to the craft store and back to the office- re-adhered the appliques in a completely different manner so they would be ready for their parties at 4:15. They turned out a whole lot sloppier and less cute than I hoped but at least they had festive shirts to wear to celebrate heart day/weekend. The night I stayed up so late I tried to use my wonderful sewing machine to stitch around the appliques but I almost ended up in tears trying to figure it out. I emailed Patrick the next day a list of schools he could call to get me some sewing classes for my birthday. I just think it's funny that I could not just post a blog that said "look at the cute little shirts I made!"...guess it would not be much to write about then hahaha. Pretty much story of my life........I MAKE THINGS MORE OF AN ORDEAL THAN IT HAS TO BE, KNOWING IT ALL WORKS OUT IN THE END IS USUALLY WHAT KEEPS ME FACING FORWARD.<br /><br /><div>Good thing I had done the shirts two nights before, b/c the night before the school party I was handed a list of the names of children in Cooper's new big boy classroom. It was completely a durh moment for me because for some reason, I was not of the mindset that each child in the 3-year old class gets a Valentine. I scurried to the store so no one would notice mine and Cooper's last minute efforts. Cooper got to stay up late and pick out which of his friends got what Valentine and signed his name to all of them. Cooper has a sweet crush on one of his teachers and refers to her as his girlfriend, so she got an extra special treat for Valentine's. I tried to catch him on video taking Ms Jessica her special valentine but he acted shy and hurried and blushed a little. </div><div><em>Cooper's Girlfriend story: <span style="font-family:georgia;">A few weeks ago I arrived to pick him up and all the teachers at school were rushing to tell me about what Cooper had said to Ms Jessica. He asked her to come over to his house and watch a movie. She asked if he was going to cook her dinner and he said, "No My Mommy will", "I make you cookies"</span>.</em> </div><div>Hope everyone was filled with love this Valentine's- a little holiday I have not made much to-do about until their are two sweet little boys that enjoy it.</div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyicEYTp7QPIllVxv1DtiuKsaDN7lcKmz2f7SzjVpZhTtWupTIM8JqopOCdObNwwceNZ59K2Uch0dF1lUWaug' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>(<span style="font-size:85%;">my squeaky Minnie mouse voice does not usually come across pleasantly in home video, so i apologize for the background noise, just thought our little love bugs are so cute at their little party</span>).<br /><p>I know many blogs this past two weeks have been about unexpected <strong>snow</strong> so I am going to share ours. The coastal part of Georgia, obviously, sees snow on incredibly rare (once every 14 year) occasions. I remember it once as a child when I was 7 but it was beautiful to watch fall for the less than 12 hours it was here. My fun, snow-angel filled dreams led me to pull out the entire storage bag of snow gear that never saw the light this winter season. We woke up Saturday morning and what was so pretty and fluffy at 11pm the night before was almost gone. It was enough though for two little boys to play in sloshy-cold wet snow and make a miniature FROSTY the snowman. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441123394947341202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ODrbCQMq9LZB3lwLS4LYrvqxzgrPER9_F7XJBNMAvUCRkFuyMru8wNlZwO0x8zwXQQ7o_JKwfXxy2pO4xlN-8hF9NyWQy1C-WOjKIY3rFR8ZZZMViR2lbWAZ8EBglZGm35UopzkqbTLE/s320/IMG_7090.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441123374718213682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg9ifImVP7qCvuRSC5jnQePZNduNSDY79u0s2M_-2SDvUHczc9MfqCFDzD-1PnJtGCcwVlcyv1tLt0boYQK_pZq5eTLiulGxkVtp9i-6VS8n9wf8kDue-eG0Iqaj8NlwjRouBIHn5SmVK0/s320/IMG_7088.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441123499019561426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2W6llvllqz1kwDg8BP-cpe33B8Tdsi58LJLX1bI722W-bEYoTTwQU8lZLZmU2iyVgTgvoqZ7I1UiToQO3BkUfSzmmzhyphenhyphenbwxWnTewjK_AGwzOMHQ9G3MmCidx9QYF4cZHPRcTwCd3iHiDP/s320/IMG_7128.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441123385393924130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHL8FR8U1KFixc0P2Y3XHuo0sLMILEFklnvqj5W_u0A2RmW6k2gsZJSEIKrRkcMDnpiiBaLbWP1XmP1ZpuL5h9a-EizzKTcN7vlBog-Ayshr6Oi24gjsjgcAwk0s-bfOvQnfOG4NYJRmsr/s320/0213000916b.jpg" border="0" /> <p>Hunter's 3<span style="font-size:85%;">rd</span> Birthday party was Saturday the 13th. The boys enjoyed playing and running around. We had not all seen each other in a while, so it was a nice friend and family day.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441123367941356130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 194px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3HIjBUO6yq9tCv5bFJBKk3iL75b2ezHZQ-uE1Gsuds6-zJDWqNnP6el0TZ0G9TLwq_ENGWfa9HFIOZt9tsbF64SDPQLfkgE4XAURmvMj1Vuz42K6vnCCroUIu2rfdm_d_OFStubpGSEUB/s320/IMG_7147.JPG" border="0" /></p><div></div><div><strong>Birthday Surprise</strong>: Friday night I was surprised when my parents were standing in the middle of my living room at 10:00PM. They and my sweet hubby had planned the surprise visit for me. We had a fantastic weekend together- Patrick and Dad kept calling it my "princess" weekend. A surprise babysitter even showed up at 7:00 Saturday night so my parents could go out to a nice dinner with Patrick and I and celebrate with me instead of them always being our babysitter...............which this does get a little side-mention. My Mom also gave me my first much needed sewing lesson!!! I used to totally make fun of people that made getting older any kind of big deal, um my title of this birthday was Hypocrite. Each year of life seems to be more wonderful than the last for certain, but I was not so excited to age this year...I have yet to figure out why though. <em>I owe our dear friend Kim a big THANK YOU for showing up with 7.5 week old twins in tow so we could enjoy a little night out- first babysitter fell through so she very graciously filled in (I know you read this Kim, so BIG THANKS!)</em></div><br /><br />To wrap up the month, Aunt Bobbie and I are attending Savannah Theatre's <em>Broadway on Bull Street</em> show to celebrate our birthdays together. What a treat and fun night together- so many memories of watching my Granny in her plethora of play performances!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-80365151760177875892010-02-18T21:48:00.006-05:002010-02-22T11:59:49.433-05:00Life with a 2.8 Year OldCooper has certainly been testing his boundaries, limits, authority, chain of command, charm, and attitude these days. We truly appreciate his found sense of "I do it all by myself" and are slowly learning not to try and help until <strong>we are asked</strong> to help, but that lesson has not come easy. I can not even so much as start to open the yogurt container without him stopping us to make sure I know to only start it off for him so he can do it all the way.<br /><br />We have also been amazed at how Cooper talks to us about book, t.v., or movie characters as if they are in our everyday life. Patrick decided to test this little creative memory he has. Patrick and Cooper have been "studying the U.S. Presidents"- the lessons started this past weekend. He learns one new one each night. Currently he is up to James Monroe- do you know what number he was? Each of the grandparents got a phone call over the past week with Cooper reciting from memory/pictures <em>with no assistance</em> the Presidents he had learned so far. <em>I think Patrick's memory is being jogged a little and doing a little re-learning along the way. </em>It is truly incredible to witness his growing pride and excitement.<br /><br />Cooper's other favorite past-time is coloring. If it is oddly quiet and I call out Cooper's name he says, Mom I upstairs coloring with my crayons or he brings them in to the kitchen to sit quietly and draw for me while I might be cooking or cleaning. He has definitely always enjoyed crafts, but just really getting to a sit down and concentrate for a while stage.<br /><br />Oh yes, thought I might add his quote of the weekend from Cooper's 2.8 year old mouth: "Be quiet, you going to drive me crazy today". Can't remember exactly if it was directed to Carter or one of us, but it was so hilarious. He is still my little sweet sweet love bug, just getting smarter and learning about real life every day.<br /><br />Short story: The other night the neighbor, who has no children but knows our boys very well, stopped by to grab a recipe from me. I seriously think her jaw was on the floor the entire 15 or so minutes she and I were <strong>trying</strong> to have a conversation. The boys were LITERALLY running circles around her and saying Ms Nikki watch, Ms Nikki will you come upstairs and color with me, Ms Nikki Ms Nikki Ms Nikki. She could only say "Wow, I have not really seen them in a while, they have gotten so big". I would love to know what she went home and said to Chris, and almost worried about it embarrassingly for a few minutes before I just decided to laugh. HAHAHAHA I think that is a perfect example of why I have not called or emailed or blogged many people over the past month or so..........................................whew I am pooped and by the time I am done giggling and convincing Cooper to go to sleep for the 11th time, my brain has absolutely nothing left.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-51325769634204808622010-01-20T22:52:00.002-05:002010-01-21T22:14:03.064-05:00Handy-Dandy Notebook<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAlPysfzXXP1Uhk0wvLbXrZ1phyphenhyphen5HtykryzrXeCj-WTZrPRLX6TvWbJMrRIdjgWewjODhxk9rRQgyyvWUKtPjEGJYjVCWStoPJ1hNT_n7PjbrPm15NfJwn-Rbd7BFvkXDqf3hsi2x3QoZ/s1600-h/cooper+handy+dandy+011810.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429394199935520322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAlPysfzXXP1Uhk0wvLbXrZ1phyphenhyphen5HtykryzrXeCj-WTZrPRLX6TvWbJMrRIdjgWewjODhxk9rRQgyyvWUKtPjEGJYjVCWStoPJ1hNT_n7PjbrPm15NfJwn-Rbd7BFvkXDqf3hsi2x3QoZ/s320/cooper+handy+dandy+011810.jpg" border="0" /></a> I did not mention in the previous holiday wrap-up anything about a "Handy-Dandy Notebook", but how could I have failed to leave it out. Santa delivered a real Blues Clues Handy-Dandy Notebook to Cooper for Christmas. The notebook and crayon did not leave his hands for any amount of minutes for several days....until he chewed the corner off and was distraught because his sacred notebook was <em>broken</em>. We tried to fix it and performed some clever little surgeries, but it was not up to par for Cooper. He would have nothing to do with it and came home every day saying <em>My Handy Dandy Notebook is broken can you fix it for me</em>, and when we would say <em>look! it's fixed</em>, his reply was always a quick "<em>No, not yet</em>". So we had to call in back-up. At one point Cooper tried getting Dragon (you know, from Shrek) to fly by the house and pick it up to take it to Santa to fix it- he walked out the front door and whistled and said "come here Dragon"- it was fascinating to see that little imagination at work. After Santa could not make the repairs perfect enough, a brand new notebook unexpectedly arrived. Cooper could not be happier, he again has his special un-chewed "Handy-Dandy Notebook" in tow and can spot clues all over the place.<br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">A fun little tale, from a very fun little boy, about a little notebook Santa never even knew he would pay attention too.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-26368778234943734882010-01-12T22:07:00.007-05:002010-01-13T23:22:39.154-05:00REWINDI have sat down at this computer many times over the past 3 weeks trying to get the creative juices flowing to write a "good" blog. Obviously, nothing ever came of it. So I thought, well I have to post something, so maybe if I start with a recap (really more of a timeline) of the holidays a few stories might come to me......here we go, let's see what happens.<br /><div><br /><div><div><div><strong>Dec. 19th</strong>- I was a bridesmaid in Allison & Matt's beautiful Christmas wedding- a weekend of sharing Allison's important day together, after nearly 13+ years of friendship. I consider myself very blessed to have Allison (and now Matt) in my life.</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426242586499923666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 233px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nS_iXKANUTXO1xr36H8FFDsim3urv0PWryUWLDMMWYfMZAnYhJ7K-DWuLHPFlrT502OsmeWQHGXPoSmcNb_focs6Lxds0g4ylS19IXC1GmSbEAirPgHS9CPJ2kNBH8xwOScOWAN4pPtO/s320/al+pre+wedding.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426243163385266770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg007pg2A4ejPOCckgehX5e4gXvYOicEcHfcxNLx5OJpc8MkjFBCv7wImSMkT5dAeL6YKOf-Od99_EVpbQZJ_7gbQkR5YQaUW5J4te0nrr5bOs-VBsqSdUefoTYZqgC83OeYaRP4oPKNMxJ/s320/al+wedding.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426242602187072162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 239px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8KFSc7Pq8DL0d5YdXvQeDF_UxHvoww0M7P4tA0kjqQF_3H5lOFCexZb36e7l_94iu2C-UQAcrHyGmM6qiMK35CgTeiBYtgk4ndI8RbdGKIcgYPUwRgLgWJl05N4JXkKpVtSRCUX_zOYn/s320/al+and+matt.jpg" border="0" /> On this day, cousin Molly and her Matt were married in Atlanta too- I was unable to attend but was present/witness via my family and spirit. I wish them all true love and happiness!<br /></div><div> </div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong>Dec. 20th</strong>- Our family celebrated Christmas with Pat, Deb, Meredith, Marissa, and Stephen in Duluth. It was fun watching the boys' eyes light up. Cooper got a little noisy light up gun that was the coolest thing to him, he kept calling it a "pum pum". We missed David by a couple of days, but did get to see Tom and Weesi. It was a wonderful weekend and the boys had a blast playing and going to see the lights at Lake Lanier with Gammy, Papa, Marissa, and Meredith and of course Bray-Bray and now Cocoa! Also see *Below* for a clip from our new flip video camera, if you haven't seen the flip you should really check it out. We love it!</div><div><br /></div><div><strong>Dec. 24th-27th</strong>- Celebrate Christmas at home. I stayed in my pajamas for a majority of the holiday weekend- that was fantastic. Our home was filled with cooking, gifts, and lots of laughter. My parents came to visit for a few days too, which made the relaxing weekend even better. Patrick got a lump of coal in his stocking (but was a joke by Santa b/c he was getting a smoker for Christmas). We got to eat his first attempt at smoked food and have a night by the firepit- wow what a great weekend and surrounded by all the joys Christmas brings. We enjoyed a nice relaxing Christmas followed Sunday by a wonderful Oyster roast at the O'briens :) </div></div><div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxs2GwPkLmamJEyD2AOZ0v4Mxhu9lq7Qz7P2Qjv4-vB8QlqPjCMZTQ1M7f6hhgreiKgh0sWhfgNRUuvDGaTsg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div> </div><div><strong>Dec. 30th</strong>- I headed over to the hospital to meet Sadie Grace's new twin baby brothers. Kayne and Gatlyn were born very healthy- Kim and the two babies all went home together within a few short days. <div><br /></div><div><strong>Dec. 31st-Jan. 3rd</strong>- We traveled to Myrtle Beach to ring in the New Year of 2010 with the Antley Family. It was soooo cold, we stayed in the condo a majority of the weekend, barely made it until midnight the first night and bed well before then every other night. Cooper and Jameson had a blast having run of the place for 3 days, with little Carter trying so hard to keep up. By time he would catch them, the big kids would be moved on to the next room or next game. Lacey and I did a little shopping, the guys conquered "blustery" golfing and we saw the beach for less then five minutes. Fantastic trip though.</div><div><br /></div><div><strong>Jan. 7th</strong>- Cooper had a re-evaluation with his speech therapist......he tested off the charts. At this time, he requires no more therapy sessions (not to say he will not in the future though). Cooper, we are so proud of you for your enthusiasm, patience, and amazing efforts. Thank you all so much for your continued concerns and support. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was also home with a sick Carter Thursday and Friday, but he is better now.</div><div><br /></div><div><strong>Jan. 8th</strong>- I traveled to Macon for the weekend to throw a Couples Baby Shower for Tony & Tasha, expecting Colson Feb. 22nd. Paula and Carl came down and graciously stayed with the boys for us. The shower was a lot of fun and I got to make/create/share with them some of the things I am good at. They got some fantastic baby gifts too!</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426255129885797890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGhdSotLhO9yohRIP8Zh_jTQ7fR1g3jAp3AJG2Zv5DqHkSxHYY0qL1XwkgdpkfXBHYBKFmQXJJ0nodkcVj_pvB-lXoXPm7pxR0HzErgdLw_3Rm1MzS5WD72cB95mWk4jfLnR1_QrdQZm4z/s320/IMG_6805.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426255145043471442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 247px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiryq0D9bBX_UQvvOCJqwyzkGnDQhkKdidzqHy104_Mxul8VS4FQbpk5lMfr5sL8-nHFM8CbUIjIbq6Yu7ZwE-TrFBG22myDaf608Mm-h9JkKhTC-hZb5OcpygWD8VYulSRAivundkW3Rp/s320/shower_wagoner.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426255136954991778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qUzUTV9jy9wev_bGSnF1nG3NmogI-CppJ_gsiQykzvlY6YshztZ7XlgSyGF9VttPjQeKiIkQkItqJKEUR-m8y1CMeXXDX386YUkJEvjT34no8XfYHWt1Mu216s_cx3P66jEzkDxoVpUA/s320/IMG_6838_edited-1.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426255143563372146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKaYvWU8a8lPGiL1Pl-joWdQTIePgQtlnbUNmIRFRevPCtGutqwyf_WuOYf65Yh_d2Z2JeZ9SjD5idPvvX-X5L_icl_ZzfDGAIn_UJpAHbxC_rDr_VmOkzRT3q1y7xKhsDIAIc7dojgjl/s320/IMG_6845.JPG" border="0" /> <div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/sskisgen/WagonerBabyShower?authkey=Gv1sRgCMT5iMCvzoL15AE&feat=directlink"><span style="font-size:85%;">http://picasaweb.google.com/sskisgen/WagonerBabyShower?authkey=Gv1sRgCMT5iMCvzoL15AE&feat=directlink</span></a> </div><br /><div>..............so nothing incredibly whitty or no funny story came out of this blog, but at least you are all caught up on the Kisgen Kids. January is pretty crazy for us around here, but our calendars appear mostly clear for a while. It's actually a strange feeling, but one to be very grateful for. R&R at home, here I come (well in February).</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494909642462539441.post-50310715956989127612009-12-16T22:51:00.002-05:002009-12-17T09:37:20.220-05:00Santa Sitings...pre-ChristmasThe Kisgen boys have seen old St. Nick 4 times and Christmas is not even here yet! They have been nothing but delighted and full of smiles and curiosity.<br /><br /><br /><div align="center">Santa Siting 1 the day after Thanksgiving at a hayride in Carrollton, GA<br /></div><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7F79uj_oAho25suO0wFr1J5hpEbndsDkcaU1o3i_5EOEwmP3OkKI8Cmlj8HC8qls_HBUd75HyGzIYcOX_AIGuuQjsTRK3T8CYK7m_wc0ty-XRZDkBvH-hy9Ic7BU6z511TtitwAsMt5pk/s400/IMG_6601.JPG" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2BwYPmqe_6yFhw-CwwOQTg5kKD_8nejTmgjhm27T4XQ3qWjOqC1bxbDUCnVfkA0PzKWLSHBXdV1u1NmqywiXWqhRKYWPrDR1MHbPFyDQ46CN0NhzACtEcOm5cOYP7altNZuTBCAQoo2Ep/s400/IMG_6603.JPG"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2BwYPmqe_6yFhw-CwwOQTg5kKD_8nejTmgjhm27T4XQ3qWjOqC1bxbDUCnVfkA0PzKWLSHBXdV1u1NmqywiXWqhRKYWPrDR1MHbPFyDQ46CN0NhzACtEcOm5cOYP7altNZuTBCAQoo2Ep/s400/IMG_6603.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="center">Our annual trip to Brewer's Tree Farm for family tree cutting</div><br /><div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 228px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp2mqSxfhjH1dksiZYuEJH1pKtr83mEGjyvEu1qMZLXu51T9AoV53sCgZA4ckeJFmv0nhfadsLu42XTAJjoo-Eow7SpltQ41Rh8ieVKrVKmRCOwlXNT8zcLvVP58wsXaiOShfmqCWBIfbm/s400/IMG_6645_edited-1.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><div align="center">Cooper got final say onwhich tree we were getting for our home<img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcJCT0qRNz4N441utmpnz1Fl2wkxSN-3xctx1uUevigIo8zl-1UNtyJ4szJquZMpff_ziHQkLpuNiG4eVuXc0EhbsLuPYzGWYql85oFY59X54OSfa-koOhUQG6P-zVKHhNUWfLUxfVKSf/s400/IMG_6665_edited-1.jpg" border="0" />The boys' school Christmas party- cute shirts courtesy of Aunt Marissa supporting a CF Family<br /><br /><div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCu4cXbN1MaL46kknfyqR6IvxqqSJhUpv_niHC5TLscL86PvknPMaZ70XZblOV7ze5TX3oATyglFSItVY7PloOcbu4E7fphtwQ3DQRxby54TRsBmFFLEAFQFLYrFuydlL3cYY-s0jxSPbX/s400/IMG_6669_edited-1.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><div>Santa Siting 2- he came to visit their school</div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVHCSLLmShpanfGjH6_n1R-MoOgwGim3AiXyqnZ5DL_oEnua_uP5CmpqfCcGG4q8dFJmHZiwDPbPwIzlQzPefG1BKXGfoe2pX146dYu_cy_PKb1B5EoZrUToid2xR2U3l7QuEf1WkBbuP_/s400/IMG_6672_edited-1.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 356px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVHCSLLmShpanfGjH6_n1R-MoOgwGim3AiXyqnZ5DL_oEnua_uP5CmpqfCcGG4q8dFJmHZiwDPbPwIzlQzPefG1BKXGfoe2pX146dYu_cy_PKb1B5EoZrUToid2xR2U3l7QuEf1WkBbuP_/s400/IMG_6672_edited-1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Santa Siting 3-Kids holiday Christmas party at our church, St. Anne's<br /><br /><div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_IUxNEEGeNcmOrO9ljZYDh_OwlMiqvkE0MC6XqkgJ0LdiMBxjs6sHW80VlYEBA2kDlE50qXMHNkJAk-GwNqSNEBhJmps2hz2BTppPT6Pvm3Ux8s2aqlcCoJr8OABQBUFVLaohAsZr52FQ/s400/IMG_6686.JPG" border="0" /> Santa Siting 4 and the Train ride after having their picture with Santa at the Mall<img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBMUNRlKTLYbS5NGJm6lARML-PbL0xsRsNGkdOcnTF8DG1jrE9D85oBNk_WGoPmJxtwA7Ic1PRLeU9QFKi2LKTpIPa28IXfzilYxNEf3qm7y9GS-pNvwertkPtBcQ0WBibtRCryGqhewh/s400/IMG_6724.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div></div><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 269px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_v7y_6yXDyKVw1zABjK5MAXghfeukyo29pcslgj2Id5rQVZ6-DpkZZzeo0mqG1k45iclfVlVaBTt1ebQqVDjfGQMEFMLSoItYa1xH5f3po8is_larIx3ocpepMMIIi_UusGzwMzaOAmQV/s400/IMG_6728_edited-1.jpg" border="0" />I have seen some crying, screaming non-Santa liking babies this year, but our were certainly not any of them. There is still more holiday festivities to celebrate and share with our loved ones. Hope everyone is cheerful during this joyous season of Hannukah and Christmas. I will admit, I am a Christmas music junkie-it has been on since the day after Thanksgiving...I can't get enough.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1