Canvas, paint, a one year old, and a three year old

So taking an idea from a very popular tv show at the moment, I decided to have Kate and Sam paint on canvas to hang up in the house. Sam, of course, being one, used his feet, hands, knees, and diaper to paint on the canvas. Katie used her brushes. And used them very well, I might add. Here are a very few pics of the kids. Sam covered in paint, walking around wielding his paint tube. Kate, concentrated, hard at work on her masterpiece at the table. I will post pics of the final masterpieces tomorrow after I get them up on the wall.

Sam's Birthday Party!

We had a small birthday party for Sam yesterday. It was a blast, we had a ton of food and a slip'n'slide and cake. Here are a few pics from yesterday. I didn't take many because I've been feeling photographically challenged lately. But I did feel I owed it to Sam to have pics of his party.











Oh and this is the newest member of my sister's family. A little daschund/chihuahua mix named Tank. Cute, huh?

Strawberry Picking.

On Monday we went to Washington Farms to pick strawberries. The kids had a blast and the strawberries were delicious. Sam insisted on eating them right there and then, and Kate got in on the action too. On a side note, it was so cold and windy that day, we needed sweaters. I thought it was supposed to be like at least 70, so I hadn't planned on sweaters for the kids. So Sam snuggled and Kate wore Aunt Natalies. :)
Enjoy the pics!!













And on a side note, Sam got a house and a table for the backyard for his birthday. They've really been enjoying the backyard (patio) a lot when it's not raining. :) This is what the patio looks like now. You think they're spoiled much?

Happy Birthday Sam!!

Sam's 1st Birthday was yesterday. It was a fairly quite uneventful day. I took the kids with me to the gym, we went shopping for Sam's party this coming Saturday and I let him pick out a toy at the toy store. Then Grandma, Freddy, and Natalie came over to wish Sam a happy birthday and we did birthday cake. No present opening really, because well, I can't bring myself to wrap the few presents we bought him only to unwrap them myself. LOL. Anyway, his doctor appointment is on Thursday, so I'll update then with all of his one year particulars. Hopefully, he won't be too much of a butt from the shots and will be in a good mood for his party.
Here's some pics from the cake lighting and eating. He was afraid when we sang to him. It was either that or the flame on the candle.








Oh and P.S., take note of where his hands are in the candle lighting shots. Yeah...that's where they are ALL the time. I'll be sure to bring these out when you come home with your first girlfriend, Sam.

Ok, so it's the lone dentist pic

I thought I had taken more than one, but apparently not. This is from my camera phone. Not bad really for a camera phone.

Let the guilt begin....

So last week I took Katie to the dentist, albeit late by like 6 months, for her 3 year, and also her very first, check up. I also new she had a problem with her left front tooth from the fall she had while we were in Washington before Christmas. The tooth had gone gray and from researching on line I had read it's possible for the discoloration to go away. Well, it hasn't, so I knew it was time to get it looked at.
As it turns out, the tooth is dead and has to come out. She also has an abscess in the root of that tooth which is causing her permanent tooth to turn at an angle. So she is now on antibiotics to clear up the abscess before they pull it out on the 19th. Yes, you heard me, my sweet baby with her adorable smile will be without one of her front teeth until the permanent one comes in. I was in such shock (although I knew it was a possibility) and Sam was being such a butt at the appointment, that I neglected to ask whether she would have a spacer or what until the permanent tooth starts to come through. In any case, when we talk to Katie about it we refer to it as "wiggling" it out. So if you see her and it comes up in conversation, please don't use the word pull. ;) Oh and because her permanent tooth is crooked now, it will mean she will almost positively require braces when she is older. All this because she fell and bumped her mouth on the stroller. Sigh...yeah, there are a few aspects of the whole thing that make me feel guilty.
I will post pics of her at the dentist from my camera phone soon. She did amazing with the whole appointment, no tears, no fighting. Just a sweet little girl. Who will soon be short one tooth.

And the last one...

...to get you all caught up. LOL
We went down to Jacksonville, Fl for the Dirty South Crossfit Qualifiers. Kim from our gym was competing and we wanted to cheer her on. As luck would have it, she ended up being injured, but competed anyways. She was an inspiration to us, watching her compete basically on one leg. She rocked it and would so have been in the top 7. Next year for sure. ;) And maybe I'll even be competing too. I wouldn't think I would make it to the top 7, I have a loooonnnggg way to go. But why not try? :)Anyway, here are some pics from the event. I have soooooo many more, that I will post later, hopefully.

The beach: a beautiful, restful place called Amelia Island

I'd been when I was a kid with my parents, but had not been back as an adult. We stayed at the Amelia Island Plantation, which was just great. It was pretty and quiet and relaxing. Everything a vacation should be. Mostly we hung out by the beach and the pool, but we did spend one day at Fort Clinch exploring. That is a very neat place to check out if you ever have the occasion to be on Amelia Island. Oh and the big event during our stay was the juvenile humpback whale that died out at sea and ended up being washed up on shore in front of our condo. Then a team from the University of Florida proceeded to do a necropsy right there on the beach. They took it all the way down to it's vertebrae. Not a site for the weak of stomach, I'm telling ya. Anyway, here are all the pics from that part of the trip. Oh and my favorite picture from the whole trip is Katie playing in the water, seemingly completely oblivious to the dead whale on the beach. She kind of was really. It was just kind of like, "oh, a whale, anyway....." LOL.

Claire's Birthday Party

Robin's little Claire turned one on Thursday and yesterday was her birthday party. The kids of course had a blast. Who wouldn't love a playdate with cake? LOL I got a little creative with the editing here, so forgive me. :)

I'll work my way backwards...

slowly...
So I had to post these pics, because it's cute. I didn't let Katie finger paint for the first time until she was about 14 months and it surprised me then how much she caught on to it. I decided to let Sam in on some painting action. He did like it. Although, he was more fascinated by the feel of it on his fingers rather than the appearance of the paint on the paper. He did still manage to paint himself a picture. :) And get it all over his feet, and his legs, and his face. LOL Katie was right next to him, of course. She would never miss out on a chance to paint.






The top part of the paper is Sam, the bottom part of course is Katie.

I'm a blog slacker...

I promise it never used to be this bad, but life has just been unbelievably busy lately. My head has been spinning for a few weeks now, but maybe I can be better about posting since things are hopefully calming down.
Anyway, on to the big news.....drum roll please......

SAM IS WALKING!!!! Yay!!!! Big hand claps!!!!

LOL. So here is the video to prove it. He started walking last Thursday and is getting better everyday. :)