What to play with next?

Modeling her new dressup clothes...and her favorite part...the jewelry!

Whipping up something tasty in her new kitchen

Cheese!

Going to the grocery store...as soon as I get the hang of the pedals.

'Tis the season

We have had such a fun Christmas season....preparing for Christmas and celebrating it! We watched our nephew, Mark III, play the cutest role in his Christmas show---he was Santa! We helped decorate Christmas cookies with friends. We celebrated Christmas with both sides of the family....and Santa stopped by our house! It's just been a whirlwind around here and we've loved every minute of it.

Making sense of our world...

I've been meaning to post a few comical interchanges with Hannah Kate recently....

1. This morning while I was getting ready in our bathroom, Hannah Kate was perusing through her dad's closet. Hanging to the right side of his door are his ties. "Daddy's bibs!" I heard her announce proudly as she tugged on them.

2. A few weeks ago, I was hurriedly trying to get everyone moving towards the door and out in time one morning. I always call, "Come on, Hank" to get him headed for the laundry room, where he stays while we're gone. And he wasn't coming so I kept prodding, "Come on, Hank". I scooped up HK's bag, her jacket, her milk, her breakfast, my purse, my jacket and was looking for my keys as we swept through the kitchen. I was also toting HK in my arms....when she spotted a little crucifix that we kept on the kitchen counter. "Come on, Jesus" I heard her say and her little fingers grasped Him up during our exodus. "That's right, Hannah Kate. We do need to ask Jesus to come with us this morning," was all I could manage to get out. Profound.

"Happy Halloween!" said the peacock...

We had such a fun day yesterday with Halloween! Hannah Kate is still recovering from the sugar induced coma that she experienced last night due to 7 suckers in a row and not too much real supper (plus the cupcakes and cheese puffs and candy bars and smarties and ....) but boy did she have fun! And she was in great spirits the whole night. She had a Halloween parade and party at school yesterday afternoon to start off the high-fructose-corn-syrup "high". She posed for a quick second with our friend Tri after the school party. We stopped by daddy's office to trick-or-treat with Mimi and Papaw. Mimi was so smart to load up a little bag with banana, apple, and pear- sprinkled in with a few sweet treats for us! Then home to help pass out candy for some trick-or-treaters at our door. (some for you, some for me, some for you, more for me -kind of system) And finally to celebrate a birthday for our friend Caroline! She even wore her peacock hat all night without fretting with it (even "no, daddy" when Daniel tried to take it off- boy did she get into costume!) An overall 5 sucker (star) night!

Heading Home for Homecoming

(Pictures are in reverse order...still can't get the hang of uploading them the right way....sorry)

We went over to Columbus for a lovely fall weekend. It was suppose to be a nice laid back visit, but, as we seem to do it, there was little time for resting. We went persimmon picking Saturday morning at a local orchard. It seemed that most of them had already been picked but mom and I found two good bag-fulls to bring home (as well as some home-made granola that the best Fran in the whole world made with love!) While HK was napping, Hook and I, as well as my dad, brother and nephew, went out for some target practice to sharpen our fierce shooting skills! Saturday afternoon we took a drive over to true Maroon country for State's Homecoming festivities! I haven't been over for a game in a while and was wow-ed away by all the new tailgating....as we were walking around, soaking in campus and people watching, we saw the Maroon Band march by headed into the stadium....HK had to march behind them for just a little ways. (She raises her knees up and coaches herself-"march, march" as she does it) When we made it into the stadium, Hannah Kate finally realized why we've been shouting "Go Dawgs!" and shouted it with us and the other bazillion (ok, not really, but a fabulous sea of maroon) fans. Then Sunday morning we were able to celebrate with our friends Jamie and Carrie as they baptized Hank. Thanks so much for including us, guys! (I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of that precious little man.-Please send me some that we took)

Happy Day Sweet Mattie!

Happy 9th Birthday to our cousin/neice Mattie(yesterday! I've been trying to upload this video for two days!!)! You are growing into such a sweet and smart young lady. You make us so proud!

Roadtrip to Iuka

We loaded up and headed to the northeast part of the state this weekend to visit with lots of family! First stop was Columbus for Friday night to see my parents. Hannah Kate was helping Gigi get an apple for breakfast and she looked just a touch sneaky in this picture!
It was such a pretty morning on Saturday. Hannah Kate and Gigi started the day out walking around the yard listening to the birds sing. She decided that she needed to be closer to the birds so we perched her in the tree to sit a spell.
Then we loaded up and headed up the Natchez Trace to I-U-K-A! Grandmother Hooker, Lee, Shelia, and David were waiting for our arrival. Mark III, Mary Glenn, Mimi, and Papaw had arrived earlier that day. The Hookers were having a reunion picnic on Sunday so it gave us all a nice excuse to head up to visit. G-mother Hooker gave HK a tutu and we were finally able to peel it off of her as she drifted off to sleep that night.
Sunday, we had a Hooker family gathering in the mineral springs park downtown. It was ideal for the kids with lots of play area and great slides! There were the nicest playgrounds hidden in the shade of these great oak trees. And, according to Hooker, there used to be 7 mineral springs that ran up in the park... we could still see where they used to flow out but now it's just city water.

There was even an old covered bridge adjacent to the park. It was such a quaint little town with lots of aesthetic value. Very cute place to visit. And lots of generations gathered to spin yarns and share the Sunday afternoon.

Fair Play

Tuesday night we went to the Parish Fair at our St. Joseph High School. It's a super big fundraiser for the school with a spaghetti dinner and lots of activities outside to play and win! We ate spaghetti with the Avis clan and then ventured outside to dive in to the action.

Well, Hannah Kate spotted the blow up area and her eyes lit up. She wanted to play and slide just like the big kids. She was the smallest one around but was determined to have her turn. Some of the little ones that we knew decided to help her up the slide (she was bottle-necking traffic on the big climb) and she slid down all by herself.

We went on a little train ride, cake-walked and then Hannah Kate took a little trip on the back of a pony. A pretty great reward for getting her 18 month shots like a big girl!! (Hope she doesn't expect a blow out like this every time we're good at the doctor!)

Celebrating the big 1!

HK and I went to Meridian to celebrate Emma's 1st Birthday! It was such a good trip. We did so much in two days! (I'd love to write more...but I'm tired!) Highlights:

• Feeding the ducks


• Playing at the neatest indoor playground


• The cute caterpillar cake!


• Birthday Girl and her cake

This video was just suppose to be Hannah Kate and my dad looking at the ducks...much to my delight, we caught so much more!

And when you are 1 your have just begun...

Happy 1st Birthday Emma and Aunt Natalie!

We love you and we'll see you tonight!

Ready to float...

Well Gustav luckily missed our Gulf Coast...but our Delta sure is seeing some of the rains! As of yesterday, you can rename our street Kathleen Canal. But we are blessed. The waters never came into our house, unlike so many of our neighbors.

Some neighbors, Conley and Taff, put a boat in for a little ride this afternoon and they had an easier time touring than the cars. To Hannah Kate, it just seems like we have lakefront property! We had a day off from school today and a little power outage to wake up to but tomorrow should put us back on the path of normalcy.

Go away Gustav!

Our gulf coast needs a break! Still reeling from Katrina, just 3 years post-devistation, much of my family is still recovering from complete destruction. My grandparents, both 87, lost their home a block from the beach in Gulfport. Two of my aunts have both relocated due to devistation to their properties in Pass Christian and Long Beach. My Great Uncle Dick only had a slab visible on his property beachfront Gulfport. Please say a quick prayer that damage is minimal and our Gulf Coast progress in not desimated. Side note- Nana and Pa have evacuated safely to Columbus to weather out the storm. Glad to know y'all are safe and with family! Wish we could be with you!

Hats off to the weekend!

Since school has started back and free time seems to be sparse, we sure do look forward to Saturdays and slow paces. I had the best surprise yesterday when I went to pick Hannah Kate up from school and found her art project. Apparently the one year old class made the most precious hats to wear. And Hannah Kate wore hers all the way home Friday afternoon (via our stop by daddy's office to show off this fabulous crown!) How can you not smile when looking at this beautiful piece of art?

You never know what you will find...

When Carrie and I get together! My great friend Cares7 (that's her fun nickname...since once upon a night at the Purple Parrot) and her friend Josh came to play with us this weekend. She's a Natcheezian and he came down from Oxford for some good times in the big Delta. We had a relaxing weekend with lots of giggles. (and some great food....thanks for the doughnuts, Josh!)





I guess it's a matter of opinion...We decided that we were more appropriate than the things it was posted for.

Welcome sweet baby!

I also wanted to share that my friends, Carrie and Jamie Baucom, welcomed their little boy at the end of last week. James Henry "Hank" Baucom was a few weeks early but came in very healthy at 9lbs 4 oz! The first few pictures were taken the weekend before last at her shower in Columbus. She had such a round, cute belly! Jamie sure does look like a proud papa, doesn't he? We can't wait to meet you, Hank!

Playing at the park

To beat the heat Hannah Kate and I have been visiting the park during the mornings this summer (while the playground still has a touch of shade) and she has really enjoyed the slides, swings, and crawling tunnels. I finally remembered to take my camera this week and grabbed a few shots of her having fun.