The Kahle Four

February

2011-03-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

Ben was invited to a ice hockey game by his good friend, Colin & the boys had a great night. I guess it was a little more violent than I remembered; Ben kept asking why they were cheating with all the pushing/shoving that was going on. One of the highlights of the night was watching them dance to "YMCA", love that they're still not too cool to bust a move! Colin's sister, Zoe, and Sophie had a sleepover the same night - Rod reported that a dance party went on at home, too.

My awesome husband installed all of the insulation in the sunroom one weekend, I was so impressed at how he spent his "day off" on President's Day. The man can't stop working!

Valentine's Day

2011-03-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

We had a pajama night for Valentine's Day & watched a movie, it was cold & a good night to snuggle in.

Catching up - NOLA Zoo trip

2011-03-22T13:26:00.001-07:00

I warned y'all that it would be all out of order! We made a trip to the Audobon Zoo in January & had a lot of fun seeing all the animals. As you can see, our kids ran into some problems with an alligator, I think Rod posed those shots! It was a fun whirlwind trip, we just went there & then met some family for dinner which was really nice. We love our little city but still having big places like New Orleans and Mobile in close driving distance, it makes for good variety.

Two years... but who's counting?

2011-03-12T12:51:00.000-08:00

Ok - so it's been a while! But I gave up facebook for Lent (and am contemplating giving it up for good) and am trying to cross things off my long to-do list. We got back from Disney on Wednesday and it was a great trip, we had so much fun running from one ride to the next trying to fit all of our favorites in. The kids were so excited to get to the Magic Kingdom, but also really enjoyed Epcot, which is our favorite. Sophie loved the princess breakfast and wore her special Jasmine costume that a very sweet friend let us borrow, while Ben pretended he was somewhere far, far away. Tower of Terror & Rock-n-Rollercoaster at Hollywood Studios were more his speed. As you can see below, he has really outgrown the characters & definitely wasn't feeling the Donald shot! Daddy enjoyed the beer in the "UK", and I think my favorite part was our tradition of everyone trying on the hats in all the different "countries" in Epcot... we looked goofy, I'm sure, but had a lot of fun.

So that's our most recent adventure; if I get inspired I'll put some older stuff up here to close the gap a little bit. Glad to be back to this blogging thing!

Disney

2011-03-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

Random stories about the kids

2009-03-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

About twice/week, I decorate Ben's lunch napkin with various drawings & messages. I would write my little "I love you, Ben! Have a great day. Love, Mommy" with the assumption that this is still ok - run-of-the-mill, even - in kindergarten. Not so, I discovered. As I was unpacking his bag yesterday, Ben saw the (unused) napkin & got a guarded look on his face. All of a sudden, he blurts, "Mom, all the kids laugh at me when they see that! It makes me so mad!" After some more gentle quizzing, I found that a) this does not increase his cool factor in the cafeteria, and b) he says he wants me to keep sending them, but wouldn't that be sort of a cruel thing for me to continue? I mean, it's hard enough being cool in kindergarten, what with the macaroni pictures & kid scissors. And just because it makes me feel all warm & fuzzy inside, I can't very well let him suffer for it. I guess I'll have to save my napkin-etchings for the dinner table.

******
Last week we had a ton of storms. On Saturday morning, the kids come tearing in the house saying "we found dead baby mice!" I followed them outside to the base of a tree, where we indeed found a baby *squirrel* and three other ones clinging to the tree. Their nest was insanely high, so we guess that they were knocked out of it during all the wind/rain. Of course we all ran inside, gathered some rags & the kids helped me transport them to a box. The kids disappeared into Sophie's room, and when they came out, said that they'd said a prayer for the babies. Man, I was so impressed with them!

We checked the 'net about how to care for the babies, stuck a heating pad under the box & I got in touch with Bienville Medical Hospital. They have a vet who helps rehab squirrels & then releases them into the wild once they're healthy. Meanwhile, Rod & the kids had a ceremony for the departed squirrel and said some prayers for him. On the way to the vet with the very vocal squirrels, Sophie decided to name them Dede, Foggles & Soggles. Then she said, "oops, I forgot to name the other one", and suggested "God", though we settled on "Godfrey". After handing them over, we went home & Rod & I told them how proud we were that they found the squirrels & helped them out. Our future little vets! Now Sophie has added "vet" to what she wants to be when she grows up - her list is a dentist, doctor, ballet teacher, and vet. Ben's is army man, fireman & vet. I think we'd better contribute a little more to their college fund.

Family Time & Audrey's Birthday

2009-03-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

We headed to Thomasville this weekend for Audrey's first birthday & to visit family. We stayed with my parents & enjoyed Mom's good cooking, rides with Papa on his motorcycle & of course Audrey's party. It was also wonderful enjoying my parents' patio with (gasp) no gnats! We're so used to it now in Mississippi that it feels strange to walk outside without insect repellant at the ready. Anyway, it was so much fun & afterwards we always say we'll get back more often. With school getting out soon, it might happen!

The kids cracked us up on rides with Papa, the helmet probably weighed more than Sophie. Ben insisted on helping tighten it for Sophie & making sure it was secure. What a sweet big brother. Mom & Dad enjoyed some one-on-one time while Rod & I slipped away to the gym. Getting to work out together is always a treat! We look forward to getting back.

Gingerbread Making & Family

2009-03-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

We had a little pre-Christmas celebration with Lois, Chris, Katie & Jan. Nothing fancy, our menu included Wal Mart pizza, but fun hanging out! Of course we had to get the shot of Katie sleeping, how could I not include that necessary shot?

The kids also made a cool gingerbread house with Rod. I think they ate half of the icing, so I'm glad enough made it on the house to stick together.

Our little actor & actress

2009-03-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

Our church had a Christmas program & as you can see below, Sophie was an angel & Ben was a citizen. He even had a line, too ("are there any rooms left?"). Of course we were exceptionally proud & right smack in the audience with all the other parents juggling camcorders & cameras. Loved it.

Lights, lights, lights

2009-03-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

So our church sponsored a trip down to Bellingrath Gardens. It was *gorgeous*. It took us about an hour & a half to walk through; the lights were amazing though I don't envy their electric bill. The kids loved it.

We also met some friends at the annual tree lighting in OS. It was cold, cold, cold that night, but worth it when the fire truck pulled up with Santa. The kids went right up to him this year & put in their requests. It's so funny to see how forthcoming they both were (or maybe not, considering there were presents involved)!

Sophie's Fourth Birthday!

2009-01-16T20:22:00.000-08:00

Additional pics from Sophie's birthday. Her preschool (which is Montessori) has a really cool birthday celebration - it's a big enough deal that it would really suffice as her *only* party (but of course we didn't leave it at that!). I didn't know anything about this until she went there, but here's the ritual in a nutshell: they have a candle on the floor that represents the sun, and we brought in pictures of Sophie as a newborn, 1 year old, 2 year old, etc. along with her coming-home outfit (so incredibly tiny!) and her lovey (a black cat from cousin Val). She got to carry a globe & walk around the "sun" as Mary Ann, the director, would say a few words about the different stages Sophie went through as a baby & toddler. Yes, I shed a few tears. Our good friend Christina came to watch & help us film, so it was like a paparazzi corner with me, her & Rod all filming/snapping pics at once!

After the ceremony, Sophie got to pick her friends to help hand out snacks. She had chosen goldfish, carrots w/dip, & cookies w/chocolate frosting & had helped me make them the night before. At her school, the kids handle all aspects of snacktime (sounds like heaven to me!) and they all pass out everything to the 38 students & 4 teachers. Then, amazingly, they just sit patiently and wait until *everyone* has been served before eating. Um, that SO does not happen at home!

We had a nice evening of pizza & a dance session after Rod got home. You can see that Ben is perfecting his air guitar & Sophie is already working her club moves. Rod & I were perfectly content to sit in the audience!

Golf

2009-01-16T17:10:00.000-08:00

I love this pic of our future golf pros! This is Ben & his great friend, Amelia, at one of their lessons. They always have a great time practicing & are learning the correct way to hold the club, how to stand, etc. Best of all they get to run around on the green & ride in a golf cart, so they are totally happy after that.

Holly Day Tea

2009-01-16T15:20:00.000-08:00

Sophie & I went to a tea in Biloxi with some friends; it was very yummy. Morgan & Sophie were so cute in the pic below & love how their dresses kinda matched!

Holidays

2009-01-16T15:01:00.000-08:00

First pic: St. Nick's Day loot (yes, it was the dregs of their pajama drawer... I was waaay behind on laundry)
Second & third: Christmas tree lighting at downtown park, seeing Santa & a group pic with friends
Fourth: Smiley Sophie
Fifth: Sophie singing in a performance at church

Thanksgiving

2009-01-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

We drove up to Ohio to see Miss Dorothy, Connie, Dine, Chad & Kent for the holidays. It was a 15 hour drive up there, but the kids did fabulous! We were very proud that we only turned the DVD player on for 2 hours of the trip, they really entertained themselves that much (with only minor squabbles). We had a whirlwind trip and enjoyed some very yummy food, went to a movie, museum & just enjoyed family time. Plus the kids were able to experience snow! Not much, but enough to touch. It was a great Thanksgiving.

Soooo tempting to take one of these little contraptions home...

Ben & Sophie - not sure what's up with his face

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SOPHIE-CAT!

2008-12-10T15:25:00.001-08:00

Pics of Sophie, one for each of her four years. I pulled these up earlier today thanks to her celebration at school. Yes, I cried when they pulled out the coming-home outfit that she wore... which usually stays in my top drawer so I can see it everyday. Anything goes on our birthdays; the kids can request *anything* so she asked for Pop Tarts for breakfast (actually the very first time I'd bought them... not to say we don't have junk, but just not that in particular!), carrots/dip/Goldfish/frosted cookies for snack at school, mac & cheese for lunch & pizza for dinner. We just finished up our picnic-on-the-living-room-floor dinner from Mellow Mushroom, aka "the best pizza ever", which was followed up by leftover cake from her party on Saturday. The kids just burned off most of that by dancing wildly to Christmas music, complete with air guitar behind the head from Ben & tap-dancing from Sophie. Her birthday night is complete!

Bedtime & Bonfires

2008-12-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

Every so often the kids decide they want to crash in the same room. If they're tired enough, it goes well because they just go to sleep with minimal craziness. If not, it could be a LONG wait. It's kind of funny to see because they both have so much *stuff* that they sleep with, there's barely enough room for them! And Sophie has this cuddling habit which Ben isn't fond of.

Anyway, pics below of their sleepover & of the bonfire our friends Cynthia & Tommy hosted a few weeks back.

See - only a few weeks ago! I'm catching up.

Ben & Sophie funnies

2008-12-03T13:19:00.000-08:00

Tonight as I was putting Sophie to bed, she interrupted our prayers by saying, "Mom, I have to tell you something." She pulled me in close, then said very lovingly, "you're the biggest mommy in the whole world!" Not exactly the words a girl wants to hear, but it was obvious she meant it to be a very big compliment, so I could look past that to its meaning!

Ben has a.... girlfriend. It's really cute but vaguely disturbing to me all at the same time. Isn't he still at the "girls have cooties" age? When he first came home & announced this, we had just realized that he had his first loose tooth (which he has since lost), so that was a LOT of growing-up things happening at once. Too much for this mama! Anyway, so we were chatting about what made C his girlfriend & why he liked her, and I now know two things. One is that he likes her because she wears pants. The other is that she plays trains & trucks with him. I asked him how this was different than what he did with his *guy* friends and he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Because she's a GIRL!"

Fairy House

2008-12-02T18:17:00.001-08:00

Ben was really into making fairy houses recently. You can't see much from the picture, but he constructed a really cool house complete with a bark roof & support beams (sticks) and had a blast gathering stuff to create it. Sadly, it was destroyed by a reckless Power Wheels dump truck, but we hope to build another one soon!

Family visit & Halloween

2008-11-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

Dorothy & Connie made the trip down to spend some time with us & with Lois & Chris. We had a great time! They got to have lunch with Ben at school & also visit Sophie at school. They were here when Ben lost his first tooth (sniff!) and the Tooth Fairy came - covered in another post ;) They also got to come trick or treating with us & to Pump It Up the next morning before heading over to Baton Rouge to watch Katie perform at halftime. Let's just say they got the whole Mississippi experience! We enjoyed having them here & are glad we got to squeeze so much in during one visit.

Random cute things that I want to remember

2008-10-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

As we were driving, Sophie pipes up from the backseat - with a very self-satisfied look on her face - " Jack (classmate) likes me a lot."

Me: "Really? How do you know?"

Sophie: "He smiles at me. He just gets a happy face when he sees me at snack time."

Oh my.

Weekend stuff

2008-10-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've decided to forge ahead with journaling & catch up with other details later (birthday weekend, for one). We've had an exceptionally good weekend, it was one of those times when the kids have been playing together nonstop (with only occasional scrapping), the weather's been perfect, and there were lots of fun activities to bring us away from the house... if we're at home, it seems like a bottomless pit of chores/projects/cleaning up calls to us constantly.

So,
on Friday the kids went to Mrs. Sarah's... our lovely babysitter who keeps our kids along with our friends' kids most every Friday evening for a few hours while we have a date night. Rod & I tried a new 'raunt here in town called Yellow Mouth Grill. They have *outstanding* fried artichokes with 2 different kinds of sauce (tiger sauce was our fave). There was a guy panhandling outside & I pleaded with Rod to give him $$. Rod, who, as most people know, is VERY practical, suggested we bring him dinner instead (so our $$ wouldn't end up buying a 6 pack). I agreed & we delivered a plate from KFC a few minutes later. Only then did we realize what jerks we were.... "Hey, we just finished a delicious meal from this nice restaurant, enjoy your 2 piece special!" But we did include a large diet coke, surely that counts for something?

On Saturday Benji had a soccer game & Rod took him to that, since I'd been to the last 2 games. He's enjoying it this year, which is all we expect from our kids in organized sports. He's not so much into actually kicking the ball & getting into the crowd of kids, but he runs his head off and has a great time. We have another golf lesson scheduled in a week, so we're just into the trying-different-things-out mode right now.

Later on that day we headed to Seward Farms, which hosts a huge corn maze & has various other activities during October. It is a guaranteed blast every year. Our favorites are the cow train & hayride. Ben led us through the maze! And Sophie & Ben made several trips running down the huge hills they have there. They conked out in the car & only woke when we rolled up to Bops, a new frozen custard place in D'iberville. They woke up REALLY fast.

I'm bummed because a good friend was in town & I didn't make it to her dinner because I thought we got back too late.... little did I know they were still sitting around chatting at 9pm that night! It was great to see you today, Katie!

Today, Sunday, we went to church & then the kids picked Mexican for lunch. They're currently sitting in the bounce house outside with 57, 839 stuffed animals waiting for chocolate fondue to be done in the crockpot. I've been trying to use it more often, inspired by A Year of Crockpotting. We tried a cheese fondue last night, which taught me that white wine that's been sitting in the fridge for 6 months is just not good. Even when cooked & piled with goat, gruyere & swiss. So I'm hoping for the kids' sakes that it turns out much better today!

And a big THANK YOU to Aunt Connie for hooking us up with all of the gluten-free baking mixes!! Sophie thanks you a TON and so do I, the variety of things you found is *amazing*! We can't find even half that amount around here. We're excited to try it out.

Birthday Surprise!

2008-10-23T14:30:00.001-07:00

My parents & Rod conspired to give me the best birthday present I've had: a weekend at The Grand in Fairhope, AL. My parents drove up from Thomasville to watch the kids while Rod & I spent two nights at the resort. I felt like we'd escaped to a different country! The hotel is really gorgeous, and the employees there were some of the nicest people. We got settled in & right away went down to borrow some of their bikes for a ride. We headed down the main stretch & stopped at a pub (sounds so much better than 'bar', right?) to have a snack. After our super-healthy hot wings, we headed back to have afternoon tea in the lobby & then explored a little more. The next day we went horseback riding at a nearby farm, which was a lot of fun. I rode Trigger, who was much more polite than Rod's horse, who apparently had just finished a huge breakfast. He wasn't at all shy about dropping gifts wherever he wanted, which was especially charming since I was directly behind them in line. Nice! It was still a very enjoyable morning.

We spent some time downtown & ate at the famous Panini Pete's. Then it was back to the resort to go kayaking. We had a nice dinner & spent some time on the swings afterwards. It was strange not having the kids with us, but we scoped out the pool and took lots of pictures to show them to get them excited about coming with us next time. And my parents were awesome about taking great care of the kids and taking Ben to his first soccer practice on Saturday, then on to a local kids' museum. They swam several times at home & did lots of playing. And my parents were still peppy when we came home on Sunday! Amazing. The kids really enjoyed having them here and missed them terribly when they first left. We were so glad to be able to enjoy being away, knowing they would be taken care of so well.
Thank you so much Rod, Mom & Dad for planning this! It was wonderful.

Slackin'

2008-10-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it's been a while. Really we haven't been terribly busy; life has settled down to a fairly predictable schedule now that the kids are both in school every morning. And what am I doing with my time, you might ask? Some *have* asked, in fact, so here's a little rundown of the variety of things that may occur on any given morning:

-exercising. I mix it up with step class, weights at the gym, walking the bridge, or jogging down East Beach. Lately I've found it hard to stay inside with the gorgeous weather, so the gym is happening less frequently.

-helping out AR (Accelerated Reading) testing at Ben's school. A bonus is being able to see him in the middle of the day, in his own little class environment. My heart melts at every glance of his sweet, proud face.

-coffee with friends, which we label as our group therapy session. Oh, is it ever!

-inevitable trips to Wal*Mart

-working from home (tutoring) or completing random projects around the house

I definitely get the most satisfaction out of helping with AR or doing home projects, so I'm working towards doing more of those things. Sophie's school is closed to visitors until after Thanksgiving to give the kids a chance to get adjusted before us parents come traipsing through. Although we'll be able to spend some time with her at the school's annual fall festival coming up this Friday; Rod & I will both be able to come. I'm on the committee so I'll be plying kids with cocoa & all the accoutrements so they'll be good & sugared up when they leave. Good times.

So I have to say things are sailing along at a pretty good pace right now. The kids both absolutely love school and we're ecstatic to see each other when they get home. I'm in fact a bit selfish about my time with them... they beg to go play with our neighbors' kids in the afternoons & I bribe them to stay in with me to do art projects, bake cookies, listen to music. Isn't it a mother's right to do twisted things like that?

Halloween Party

2008-10-18T18:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, my excitement has set in.... I'm almost caught up!

We had our 2nd annual Halloween party & I swear we should have had a prize for best costume because we had some GOOD ones! Our family was a little eclectic with Rod as a pimp, me as Carmen Miranda, Sophie as a cat & Ben as a fighter-dude. We had princesses, a cheerleader, pirates, pilots, witch, clown, nerd, Charlie & Lola, punk dude, geisha, Frankenstein, doctors, Princess Leia, the list goes on. The kids played on the 'Halloween trail' out back & ran around all night. We're already looking forward to next year!

50's Day & Tuesday Playdates

2008-10-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, this pic of Ben totally cracks me up because that was all his idea! About a month ago, his school had a 50's day so this was his outfit. Check out the attitude!

Second pic: I found a bike at a consignment shop for Sophie so she could keep up with Ben. She had to get the hang of the pedals being farther away, but she mastered it pretty quickly!

Third & Fourth pics: Two friends & I trade off keeping our girls after school on Tuesdays. I look forward to the days that I keep them equally as much as my 'off' days! They are so funny & cute together. The last pic really reminds me of Charlie's Angels, for some reason.

Navarre Beach - Fall Edition

2008-10-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

So we went to Navarre in the spring with my cousins & aunt; in September we made it there again with our friends Dale, Daralyn, Chase & Evan. But MAN this one was different! On the way, poor Ben threw up in the car. That continued every 5 minutes or so until we went to the ER that evening once our friends got there. The wait was too long so we never got checked out, but my *very* good friend Daralyn watched Sophie while we went. And that's not all! We had a great Saturday, went to the beach and the kids had a blast in the sand, then we went to the park on the mainland (check out the view below!). Then Sophie got the virus the exact moment I went for a walk on Saturday night. Daralyn again came to the rescue & helped Rod clean up, when I walked in everything was pretty much done (oops!). Of course their whole family came down with the virus the next week... we still owe them BIG time!

Pumpkins

2008-10-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

We went to Courtney Farms to get our pumpkin (which is still, as of today, sitting on our front porch!!) and the kids posed in their tie-dye Halloween shirts. It was my first try at dying shirts & it was a lot of fun... though fairly messy. I'd definitely classify as a patio activity!

Girls' Weekend

2008-09-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

So I said I'd keep blogging no matter how out of order, and so I will!

The below pics are from our second annual girls' weekend, consisting of aunts Melanie, Catherine & Marian, plus my mom, sister & her gorgeous baby, Audrey. Cousins Nola, Erika, Laura & Valerie made it, Valerie with adorable baby Levi in tow and Laura with pretty Kirsten. Of course Sophie came & reveled in all the female-ness all weekend. Lots of good food was cooked by the aunts & brownies were devoured, which is a long-standing beach tradition. It was wonderful to see everyone & we all had a blast!

Everyone except Laura, Marian & Kirsten! Me, Allison, Judi, Sophie, Catherine, Melanie, Levi, Nola & Valerie

Sophie snoozing in Bebe's lap

Allison

Sweet Audrey!

Erika & Melanie

Melanie helping Sophie into the water

Val & Levi, her twin!

Laura & cute Kirsten

Sophie's First Day of School

2008-09-28T11:07:00.001-07:00

Sophie started preschool! It was a month ago, but we'll just gloss over that fact. She was so funny, she chose her pose completely by herself, apparently feeling the need to spotlight her ears that day. She started a Montessori school this year & goes five mornings a week. I'm going to miss my little breakfast buddy. We still have our girly lunches often, though. She had a few rough mornings at first where she wasn't too keen on going with the teacher (we don't go in the classroom at all, they come get the kids from the cars). We started carpooling with a neighbor and it helps a bunch to have Colin with her when she leaves the car. But without further delay, here are the pics:

Emma

2008-09-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, a local 5-year-old girl named Emma was found at the bottom of her family's swimming pool by her brother, William, who is 8. She's still in the ICU in Mobile, AL, and though she's breathing on her own now, she still hasn't woken up as the doctors had expected. I can't imagine how tough this is on her family. Her father is a neurologist & was able to perform CPR on her right away, until the ambulance could get there.

I taught Emma in VBS last year & she is a truly wonderful little girl, we kept remarking on how sweet & mature she is. She would help us clean up, offer to help with the younger kids, just super, super sweet. Please pray for her to make a full recovery & for her family.

No Worries

2008-09-02T12:41:00.001-07:00

We got back today to a pretty calm Ocean Springs - yay! We have a few hundred leaves or so in the pool & some branches down, but that's it. We're very thankful we escaped major damage & hope that those in LA did as well. We heard that a shrimp boat wandered onto Beachview Rd., which is the main road out of our subdivision, sorry we missed that! Really we were lucky with the traffic, we had no major slowdowns coming home & the kids were entertained in the backseat with lots of coloring books/Leapad/Curious George DVD (we forgot all of our other movies, so let's just say I've had enough of Will Ferrell's voice to last me a lifetime).

We had a great visit with my parents & the kids absolutely did NOT want to leave. We also had some cousin time with Audrey & got to see Allison, Nick, Ryan, Melanie & Chuck. Happy (almost) 24th birthday, Ry-Ry! I'm definitely sending out your gift tomorrow.

Getting out while the getting's good

2008-08-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

We're headed out today, a little trip to my parents' courtesy of Gustav. I don't think much is going to happen in our area, but I do NOT relish the idea of sitting in traffic for 10 hours in case it turns our way! Some of our neighbors are going & some are staying, the families on both sides of us are staying as of today. Most of our friends are going or have already gone, and apparently traffic is pretty heavy until Mobile. Rod has worked hard to get everything that's not nailed down ouside, moved inside. I've got our files/pictures/scrapbooks packed up & we'll leave in about an hour. Hopefully it fizzles out & no one has to deal with this thing, especially those in New Orleans.

Will update soon!

Going Away/Baby Shower

2008-08-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

I always think the term "going-away party" is sort of amusing, as it always sounds like you're sort of glad the person is leaving. Of course that wasn't the case here! Jill, Andrew & the kids were leaving for Colorado due to Andrew's new job, so some friends & I gave her a shower at our house. We had a taco bar & some YUMMY food brought by different people. Rod brought our kids over to the R's house to eat pizza & let the kids play while all the ladies took over our house. Bye, Jill & Andrew! We hope you're settled in CO & are ready for your newest little girl!

First Day of Kindergarten!

2008-08-06T20:13:00.001-07:00

It was an exciting day around here: Benji's first day of kindergarten! I must have started taking pictures too early, because after the first getting-ready shots he said, "Mom, please wait until I'm dressed!". Rod kept Sophie at home and Benji & I left for school at 6:55 so I could walk him to his class, and he settled right in at the Lego table. I was a bit teary but managed to hide it, since he was nothing but excited to be there! He rode the bus home and told me that he loved school, that his favorite part was riding the bus and his next favorite part was seeing me when he got off. Sophie hugged him and told him how much she missed him today, and they chased each other with a balloon around the house nonstop for about 2 hours this afternoon. Nothing like a little separation to bring on some sibling love! He was so exhausted when we got him to bed at 7:30, as you can see he crashed out immediately. I think he's going to have a great year.

Boating

2008-08-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

Our friends invited us to go boating a few Sundays ago. We had a blast! We went tubing and I think the kids & Rod would have stayed all day out on the tubes. We also swam in muddy, 14 ft. deep water and that's something I never thought I'd do! It was great and the kids were thoroughly tired and crashed out early that night. Hmm, yet another reason to thank the Browns for inviting us!

Sweet Audrey

2008-08-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

When we were in Thomasville we were able to spend several hours with my niece, Audrey. She is such a beautiful baby, and has the longest eyelashes I've ever seen! She is *very* attached to Allison right now, and was at her usual naptime location. It's a running joke that I know exactly what Allison's going to say when I call her up & ask what she's doing: holding Audrey! Sophie and Benji love bringing her toys and talking to her, and she seems to enjoy hanging out with other people closer to her own size. They have a good time together now, but I can't wait to see them play in another year or two.

2008-07-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun seeing our friends again. Jim & Chris moved to Tybee from San Diego a few years back; I hit it off with Chris, and Rod & Jim were fast friends... we miss them! They are busybusy with their own company: www.sayitright.org. It's a nifty website, check it out!

Rod & Jim feelin' the love (or maybe the beer)

Me & Chris

Three little Indians

2008-07-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

Dolphin tour. We've done this every year since we moved away. Funny how we never did it when we lived there!

We got a sitter & went out for date night. We went downtown & went to dinner at Moon River, one of our fave restaurants, and had a yummy beer sampler and appetizers. Afterwards we hitched a ride on the ferry going across the river to the Westin, then came right back. Hey, it was free! We know how to be cheap tourists.

Benji and Rod went fishing with our neighbor, Craig, where Benji caught his first fish! He was so proud, and of course we were, too.

We went with our good friends to Cafe' Loco for dinner on our last night. Matt, Johnny & Benji were all mesmerized by crabs crawling around the bottom of the trash can.

Tybee - cont.

2008-07-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

More pics to come, but...

2008-07-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

I have to mention how much I am in LOVE with our new DVR. Seriously, besides the fact that we no longer get our local channels (which is *not* cool), it's the best thing ever & I don't see how we lived so long without it. So far I've recorded several episodes of Pop-Up Video, Twin Peaks, Big Love, and Seinfeld. Yeah, I'm all about the quality tv programs. I did also record some yoga classes, isn't that somewhat redeeming?

Tybee Island

2008-07-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, trust me when I say I have TONS of pics to post from our trip! So this will be the first bunch, then I'll be back with more. It was a fun trip, we had a list of activities we all wanted to do... Benji: fishing, Rod: bike rides, Sophie: Applebees (???), me: restaurants (as in, not having to cook!) and working out at the very lovely YMCA on Wilmington Island. I do like our Y here in OS, but MAN does the Savannah one have it beat! Walking trails, rockin' exercise classes, huge locker rooms, ahhhh... Anyway, here are some pics from the first part of our week. Still so strange being in our 'old' house, very surreal!

4th of July!

2008-07-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

We spent the 4th in Thomasville, on our way to Tybee. It was good to be back & even see a few old friends! We went to a festival where the kids had a blast jumping on bouncehouses & coloring. We stayed for the fireworks later & oohed and ahhed over them. Bebe' and Papa gave Sophie the cute outfit she's wearing. Below shows how Sophie & Benji took over Papa's chair with their toys - while he was still in it!

Impromptu "Camping" Trip

2008-07-14T13:05:00.001-07:00

A few weekends ago we were headed to our friends' place for the weekend, but D got *very* sick & had to spend the weekend recuperating instead (I'm so sorry, girl!). We headed over to Flint Creek, a state park about 1.5 hours north, for a night we could pretend to camp in a shack (with electricity & running water). It was pretty fun, I guess; I got out of cooking because Rod did everything over the fire. So I liked that part. I did not, however, like sleeping on a mattress that was as old as me and I also didn't enjoy crossing a parade of water ants on my way to the bathroom the next morning. The kids were entertained with the lake right outside the front door & we had a decent hike on Saturday, so all in all I'd call it a great trip.

Dr. B

2008-07-14T12:20:00.001-07:00

Dr. B in the house! Aunt Connie is a rockin' seamstress & makes the kids stuff whenever she can. For a long time we called Benji "Mr. B" (or B, Beans, etc.) so she made him a jacket and Aunt Dine embroidered "Dr. B" on it. The kids are always doctoring their stuffed animals, so this prop comes in handy. I've got to remember to let him wear it to his next checkup.

From Blah to Voilà!

2008-07-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

So my requested Mother's Day gift this year was a decorating session with Angie Simms from The Very Thing, a cool shop downtown. I saw a Katrina cottage that she decorated in a Coastal Living issue a few months back & since I'm pretty much obsessed with all things CL, that cemented my decision. It was awesome; I took the kids to a bday party & to the mall, so this is what the living area was like when we left:

And when we came back it was like this:

They also changed a few things in the breakfast nook & kitchen area, but the LR was by far the most rearranged. And they only ended up spending a grand total of $17 for a few items, so 99% of it was stuff we already had (Rod was pretty excited about that part). When they left I was kind of like, well duh, I should have *known* that would look better there. Because I was actually fairly happy with the house pre-Angie, but I was pretty much in love with it afterwards! I kept wandering around discovering 'new' things that I hadn't noticed previously. It was the best Mother's Day gift I could imagine... thanks Rod, Ben & Sophie!

VBS & Al Fresco

2008-07-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

Ben went to his preschool's VBS this week & they had a performance the last night. It was very cute (he's in the middle, white shirt, in the pic below), I always love watching the kids get up & perform in front of a ton of people & it doesn't even faze them. He did a great job! Afterwards we walked down to our fave Italian restaurant with our friends, Jim & Marian, and kids Patrick & Ronan. The kids amused themselves with throwing pennies in the fountain & benefited from Marian's mad paper-airplane-making skills. It was just a really nice, relatively mild night that makes me lucky to live in Ocean Springs... I might revisit that thought when the temps begin to stick at 98 degrees or more consistently in July/August. Sophie declined to be photographed this evening.

Circus & other thoughts

2008-06-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

We went with our friends, Luke & Amelia, to the circus at the Biloxi coliseum. I'm not a huge fan of circuses - the animals always make me a bit sad, though Rod tries to convince me that they live a charmed life - but I was excited to see Sophie & Benji's reactions to it. And they loved it! The kids especially enjoyed the tiger act, and called them "ice cream tigers" since they were beige & brown. There was a bicycle act where a dude rode a bike the size of a welcome mat & then it fell apart. Sophie & Ben just collapsed in laughter, they said later that it was one of their favorite parts. We went to the pre-game activities, tried on circus costumes & watched the tightrope-walker guys get warmed up for the real thing. Maybe they didn't quite warm up as much as they should've, because one of them did the teetering "oh I'm gonna fall!" thing when he was on the high trapeze during the actual show, then stumbled to land, straddling the wire. Ouch. Ben's not old enough to really grasp the implications of that, though I saw Rod wince & shift in his seat. I've since heard from other friends that the tightrope "slip" happened during their show, too, at the exact same time... so maybe it wasn't such an accident, you know?

They were having such a good time that they barely asked for souvenirs, which is pretty monumental. Because a bag of cotton candy, strategically placed inside a flimsy Dr. Seuss-ish hat, cost twenty dollars. TWENTY dollars! That's just wrong.

Sophie's Recital

2008-06-26T16:47:00.001-07:00

Sophie's first dance recital was on May 30th; my mom & aunt made the trek all the way from North FL/South GA to see her (and to babysit for us on Saturday/Sunday!). Soph absolutely loves her dance class, she had it on Wednesdays & would ask practically every day of the week if it was 'dance class day'. So after lots of practice (and a rehearsal at which she was completely terrified, poor girl), she got to wear her insanely-frilly costume, put on lipstick, and go dance in front of a packed coliseum. She had a blast & didn't end up hiding at all (as pictured below). In fact, she milked her time up there & ended up pirouetting three times as much as required... that's my girl!

Getting the works from Bebe'

"Please, Mom, lay off the pictures."

Sophie asked for a demonstration of Bebe's skills (on Aunt Mel) before having it applied

Sophie, looking pensive pre-show

No worries once she was up there!

Mid-pirouette. One of many.

Father's Day Slideshows

2008-06-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

These slideshows are always fun to make, I scanned a bunch of old pics for Dad's slideshow. I'd forgotten my obsession with flowered pants and white blazers - and conveniently forgot to add that shot, by the way.

Happy Father's Day to Rod & Dad - I love you!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Bonfire on the Beach

2008-06-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

Our friends, Jenni & Cynthia & their husbands, invited a bunch of us to a bonfire/crawfish boil a few weeks ago. It was very yummy & spicy! The kids ran around, made sand castles & were completely exhausted at the end of the night. It was a lot of fun.

Mmmmmmm!

Marian's baby must have been craving crawfish! (she's pregnant)

Swingin' with Dad

Picture of contentment... this is what both kids did for 4 hours straight

The Girls: Mirabel, Jill, Blake, Sophie, Marian, me, Katie, plus one cute boy, Warren... where were Cynthia & Andrea?

Isabella & Sophie - this was seconds before Isabella decided to sit down. In the water, of course!

All pregnant girls - except for me

Ben's 5th birthday: golf & jumping

2008-06-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

Dad & Rod - collapsed on the floor after a jumping session

Ben was all about Star Wars this time

So psyched about his new bike

Ok, we seriously didn't plan the coordinating shirts - they just happened!

Our chauffeur

Bebe' & Papa were definitely fans of the party location, we're thinking of getting them a moon bounce for Christmas

Easter & T-ball

2008-06-22T14:25:00.001-07:00

Ok, so since I'm posting in random order, here are some more March pics for good measure.

Dinner on the ground at Pine Grove in Madison, FL

Bebe' and Sophie coloring eggs

Egg hunt on the family farm - Aunt Carol always arranges fun activities when we come visit

Trip to Thomasville, Sophie & Ben's Art

2008-06-22T11:56:00.000-07:00

We went to Thomasville for Memorial Day weekend & had a great visit. The kids love playing with Papa & Bebe', and we all had some much-needed Audrey time (and Allison & Nick time, of course!). We missed Ryan this trip, but hopefully will see my busy younger bro soon. Lots of family came over to celebrate & officially meet Audrey, who is three months now, and we all ate waayyy too much. Pics are below... sorry, I'm a bit unorganized with my arrangement.

We love to go outside & play with chalk, it can keep us occupied for long stretches of time (especially the chalk highway in the driveway!). Ben does these cool, funky people drawings & Sophie is partial to sunshines and mermaids.

Ben & his new Darth costume - a gift from Allison & Nick - and Sophie & Bebe'

Last Day of School & Preschool Graduation

2008-06-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

My baby boy graduated from preschool! I can't believe it. It feels like it was just a few weeks ago that he was barely able to walk, now he's writing his name & unloading the dishwasher for me (ok, so I don't mind that last thing so much). At 5, he's just as I imagined he would be at this age when he was tiny: still VERY verbal, bright, funny, intense, creative & so sweet. Here are some pics from the last day of school & their graduation. Sophie had the best time singing at their program, too. Once Rod gets the video transferred, I'll post it.

The Graduate

Gamely posing for last-day-of-school pics

Sopherina Ballerina

On our way to graduation - love the expression on Sophie's face

Ben going to get the big diploma. Man, we were sweating this one...

Visit from family & Katie's graduation - May

2008-06-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

We are so proud of our niece, Katie, who just graduated from high school. She's headed to LSU in the fall & just made the color guard team there! Grandma, Aunt Connie, Aunt Nadine & Uncle Kent all flew down to be at her graduation and also to visit us. We got to spend Mother's Day with them at our house & had a nice visit all around. We really enjoyed it and the kids always love having them visit.

Story time with Grandma

Aunt Connie the photographer

Sophie's favorite pastime

Aunt Dine & Sophie cuttin' a rug!

Benji is SHARP dresser, I tell you. He would wear this outfit every day! We joke that he's really an old Southern gentleman at heart... bring on that seersucker!

Sophie & Benji *really* love to dance, I'd say it's a daily occurrence around here. Well, with Sophie, anyway. But Benji was also breakin' it down when Grandma, Dine & Connie were in the audience!

Camping trip - March

2008-06-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

So our camping trip was waaay before even the Navarre trip, but I'll throw up a few pics anyway. We went with our friends Jill & Andrew & their kids, Hannah & Rachel, to a campsite at Flint Creek. It's a pretty nifty park about an hour & a half northwest of OS, and I'm very proud to report that we braved the primitive camping area. Not that camping there was my first choice (can blame that on Andrew), but we survived the port-o-johns & lack of electricity... and late-night booty call that apparently went on at other campsites. Ick.

Navarre Trip - May

2008-06-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, backtracking a bit here, but I'll cover our mini-vacation first. Laura & Brian, my cousin & her husband, invited us to join them & their in-laws for a beach trip in May. We went down to Navarre Beach for a few nights and had so much fun! The kids had a blast the whole time & there were very few meltdowns, if any. Andrew is a month older than Sophie & this was the first time the cousins all had an extended time to play together. You see what you think, but Sophie & Andrew look like twins to me. Andrew was very versatile & got along great with Benjamin, too. The boys had a good time digging in the sand together and playing dinosaurs inside. Of course the adults all played together well, too ;) My Aunt Marian was there along with Brian's parents so it was a really fun group. A good time was had by all. Hmmm, I just noticed that in the 8th pic, there appears to be nude women frolicking in the surf. Rest assured, it was not me or anyone in our party.

TheKahleFour

2008-06-15T08:20:00.001-07:00

I used to love to journal and I miss it, so I've resolved to start again. Plus I'd like to keep our family and friends updated a little better about our everyday life (as thrilling as that is!), so a blog seemed the perfect solution.

I make no grand promises, but hope to post something new at least three times a week. So check back & you might see some pictures... hopefully!