More Birthday Pictures

I ended up making Chocolate Carrot Cupcakes for Joe's birthday, with Chocolate Buttercream frosting. Mmmmmm...So good! Joe got to lick the paddle from the mixer after I made the frosting. Katie was totally jealous. For that matter, so was I!

Imagine It!

Instead of having a party to celebrate Joe's birthday, this year we went to the Children's Museum of Atlanta. It was wonderful! There was so much for the children to see and do. There was a huge section of levers, pulleys, wheels, and contraptions of all kinds. The children could make the machines perform different ways in order to transfer hundreds of hollow plastic balls from one place to another. Another area had all kinds of food-related stuff -- a plush "garden" area, animal puppets, and a grocery truck along will every kind of (toy) food imaginable! There was a water play area where the children could pick out rain coats to wear while they played. (Joe got soaked, anyway, of course.) This was Joe's favorite spot. Katie's favorite was where they got to choose smocks and then paint on a wall. The wall is plexiglass so when the kids are done it get's "squeegied" clean for the next group of kids.

Every 3-6 months, the theme of the museum changes, and unfortunately this session was Sesame Street. Joe's never seen it, and Katie only a couple of times several years ago. I think if they were familiar with the show they would have really flipped for the setup there. Joe liked talking on the phone to the characters. He liked Zoe, Elmo and Cookie Monster (no surprise!). All in all, a very cool place and both kids had a fabulous time!

Little Joe's Birthday!

My sweet, mischievous little boy is 3! I cannot believe it's been three years since Joseph was born -- although technically I have another hour before it's official. He was born at 9:05 a.m., shocking everyone (including his parents and the doctor) who thought he would not arrive so quickly! I was only in labor for three hours. I highly recommend that if you can manage it! :o) We'll have leftover ice cream cake (from Daddy's birthday "party" on Saturday)tonight. I asked Joe what he wanted for dinner and he said, "Chicken." When asked what kind he said, "Black." Hmmm ... not quite sure how to do that one!

Second Grade

Katie is starting second grade today! We're very excited and looking forward to learning lots this year. Today she'll start reading Aesop's tales, Red Sails to Capri, and More Stories From Grandma's Attic. Her first science book is one about dinosaurs. She's never had much interest in them, so I'm curious how that's going to go. I'll leave you with a picture of Kait reading a comic book -- Baby Blues, her favorite!

Happy Birthday, Handsome!

Today is Jeff's 30th birthday!! And of course, we need to extend the birthday greetings to his twin brother, Joe. Happy Birthday, guys!

Kid Quote

We were loading up in the van leaving the library the other day when Joe said, "Never mind that!" It was such an odd thing for him to say that I asked him to repeat it. He did, and added something I didn't understand. Katie translated for him -- he was quoting from "Miss Nelson is Missing" by Harry Allard and James Marshall! The line that he was saying is, "Never mind that!" snapped Miss Swamp. I just love hearing him talk!

Random Kid Stories

The kids are wearing the hats I brought back from Central Asia. They were made in Uzbekistan. Joe insisted on wearing his to Wal-Mart!


Both Kaity and Joe have loved taking books to bed since they were babies. In this picture, Joe had fallen asleep "reading" "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. He has blue fuzzy socks on his feet.


Katie made her own computer out of paper! It's complete with different screens, a "Yahoo Messenger" type thing (so she can IM her Grammie), and a mouse and keyboard.


One of the children's favorite places to play in our yard is in this trailer. This particular day, they had been out there for half an hour sitting with the umbrella over their heads!