Back From the Beach

Last week we joined my parents for a vacation at Venice Beach, Florida. We had so much fun! For some reason, fossilized shark teeth have found their way to Venice Beach and all you have to do is look really closely to find them. That was a great part of the trip. We mostly just relaxed, ate, read, and did almost nothing. It was nice and much needed for everyone.


Oh yeah, we played pool too!



The shark teeth and maybe other fossils?


On our last night in Venice Beach we ate at the Italian American Club. We were by far the youngest people there, but we ate like kings for eight dollars a person!

Again, I Pick my Battles

This picture needs no explanation.

I Pick My Battles

Mary Kate has decided that she loves her swan float which she named "duck." She takes a bath with it and wants to sleep with it- but I had to draw the line somewhere. The thing is just to large to sleep with her, so we compromised. I put the "duck" to sleep on the floor next to her crib and cover it up with a blanket.

Ahh, the joys of toddlerhood. :)

Madelyn's Graduation

My sister,Madelyn, graduated from high school last weekend. We are so proud of her! She was the salutatorian of her class and graduated with honors. She is headed to UGA this summer. Yep, she is off to bigger and better things. Madelyn, we are so proud of you! May God bless you as you embark on your college journey! We love you!


Before graduation!



After graduation with my Nanny and Papa. What a transformation!

Brian's 3rd Marathon

Brian ran a his third marathon on May 19th. It was a trail marathon up a mountain for 26 miles! Mary Kate and I accompanied him to Sloppy Floyd State Park to hang out while he ran. Luke, Becky, Patrick, and Ben joined us for some fun while we waited.

Once again, I tried to capture Brian running across the finish line, but I just don't think I am fast enough to capture his true speed on camera. This will have to do. :)

Here is a sweet picture of Mary Kate and Ben eating lunch or dropping food for the bugs.

Big Girl Hair

Mary Kate is now able to sport some cute hair!

Mother's Day Weekend '07

Mary Kate and I went to visit my parents this weekend and we got to see my brother Jarred. Mary Kate hasn't seen him very much so I took this opportunity to snap a picture. She just looks frightened because my brother is the biggest guy she has ever seen! (Ha Ha, Jarred!)



Mary Kate got to go swimming twice(yes, it was freezing). She loved the pool! She got to visit with her "Mimi" and her "Granddaddy" which is always fun.

On Sunday, Nana came over for lunch but Pops was MIA. No really, he had to work unexpectedly. Personally, I think he was afraid I might make him eat something green or like a vegetable or something, so he stayed away just in case. Anyway, he was missed!

I meant to post this yesterday, but this is my prayer for all of you mothers out there in blogger-land.

My Prayer for Mothers

For all of you mothers at home with little kids may God bless you with extra patience, love, understanding, and grace.

For all of you mothers that have an empty nest (or an almost empty nest) may God bless you with peace and trust in Him.

For all of you mothers that have lost a child through miscarriage, sickness, or tragedy may God grant you extra peace and comfort.

For all of you mothers who are pregnant unexpectedly may God grant you peace of mind and a sense of humor.

For all of you who desperately want to be mothers, may God bless you with hope, perseverance, and endurance and may he answer your prayers for a child.

I hope all of you mothers had a great Mother's Day!

Brian and Jenny: Animal Rescue Rangers

Sunday night as we were getting into the car to go to church a bird had flown into our garage and couldn't find its way back out again. Brian got all heroic and tried to get the bird to fly out of the garage. It was determined to go out the closed window. The bird kept getting all upset and wouldn't go the right way, so Brian had to catch it gently and take it outside. He finally caught it and let it go outside. I was worried that it had a broken wing, but it flew away just fine.

Well, the next day as I was leaving for the grocery store and thinking about the bird, I saw our neighbor's cat pawing at a chipmunk. I stopped the car in the middle of the street and went running and screaming over towards the cat to leave the poor chipmunk alone. The cat grabbed the chipmunk and started running away! I grabbed a little kid-sized broom and started chasing the cat with it. It finally let go of the chipmunk and went running into the woods. I couldn't find the chipmunk after that, so I am hoping that it survived!

If you need any help rescuing animals, just let us know!

Goodbye to an Old Friend

This might look like an ordinary slipper to you, but to Aggatha Bojo it has been a dear friend and plaything. Brian gave me these slippers (yes, there used to be a pair) for Christmas 2002. I loved them. A few short months later, we brought home a cute little one pound yorkie. I would wear these slippers all the time. We first knew Aggie liked them when she would spring out from behind furniture to attack my feet while walking. We thought she liked them because they were furry. I tried to teach her that they were my shoes, but I gave it up when she peed on them. They became Aggie's slippers.

You might be wandering why we are deciding to retire these blessed slippers. Well, for one thing they stink to high heaven. They have been washed and bleached many times- they still stink. Aggie has horrible breath and I guess she slobbers on them when she plays tug-of-war. Believe me, it is high time to get rid of them. I have decided to give her my current pair in hopes that Santa will bring me a new pair next Christmas.

So, Aggie- here's to many good times with the old slippers and here's to many more with the new ones!

Sick as a Dog

Mary Kate has had some kind of funk for two weeks now. I took her to the doctor on Monday and he treated her for the croup and gave me an antibiotic and told me to wait until the next day to see if she was any better. Well, she wasn't, so we started her on the medicine. She is slowly recovering but is still very grouchy. All she did on Tuesday was watch Baby Einstein. Aggie decided to watch her for me so I could take a moment to reclaim my sanity. Thanks, Aggie!

First Prayer

When we put Mary Kate to bed we always pray with her before she goes to sleep. The other night Brian was putting her to bed and she said her very first prayer. She said "Hi, Jesus." Of course, Brian thought it was the sweetest thing he had ever heard. I thought it was sweet too, but I heard it second hand. I assure you, she is not always so sweet and spiritual as showcased below-one of her many fits. This one involved a piece of blue sidewalk chalk and an eyeball.

Before Easter and After

Sorry for the delay of posts. We have been out of town for a couple of weeks. We went to Texas for a week and had a great time. We came back and had Easter and then left for my parents house. Brian had a conference in Atlanta and my sister had two soccer games. She scored her first goal and we were there to see it! It was very exciting. We don't have any pictures of Texas yet, because we were goobers and let Pops take all of the pictures.

This is a picture of my sister and I after her first soccer game. She told me that it better not be on the blog so, here it is! I have to mention that she only scored one goal because she plays a defensive position. The coach put her on offense so she could score since it was "Senior Night."

Mustard-Head

Happy Spring everyone! We are having a blast playing outside and enjoying the beautiful weather.

We had mustard with our dinner the other night and Mary Kate just enjoyed playing with the mustard and rubbing it in her hair. Yuck!

Runaway Car

Today we were outside enjoying the beautiful weather. I was sitting on the hill on the phone holding for the next available representative who would answer my call in the order in which it was received, and Mary Kate was in the garage playing with chalk. The next thing I know I hear something rolling down the hill. I look over and Mary Kate is rolling backwards down the driveway in her little red car! I was a little freaked out at first, but then I saw her face. She was smiling and laughing the whole time! I didn't even know that she could or would do that.

In other Mary Kate news- her personality is coming out in full swing. She is pretty good at letting us know exactly what she wants. When she falls down outside she says "uck" which means clean off my hands! Today she was pushing her baby stroller around outside when she got stuck. Well, actually she ran over Elmo with her stroller and it wouldn't go anymore. She started screaming and yelling so I ran over to help her. I put everything back in the stoller including her sippy cup. She looked at the cup, and looked at me, and turned the cup around the way she wanted it. Picky girls!

Runaway Car

Chocolate or Vanilla

Lately, we have made two batches of pudding, chocolate and vanilla. Mary Kate has enjoyed helping me make it. Bet you can't guess which flavor she is wearing!

Picnic in the Park

Since we have been having such great weather, Becky and I decided to take the kids to the park and have a picnic dinner. The kids had a blast eating, making a mess, and stepping on everyone else's plates of food!



My cutie playing on the slide!




Patrick giving MK the ride of her life!


Ben sporting a cute expression and some baked beans on his face. MK was wearing them too!

The Children's Museum

About a month ago, we took MK to the Children's Museum of Atlanta. They have some amazing exhibits for little kids. She got to play in a huge water table, go grocery shopping, and play with lots of balls. She loved it.

Mommy

Mary Kate just started calling me "mommy" from "mama." It is so sweet to hear, except for when she is saying it over and over and hanging on my legs. :)

Weather Bummer!

The snow passed us by and landed in north Georgia. We didn't get anything but some sleet and ice which is not fun to play in. I was hoping for some fun in the snow with Mary Kate, but since it didn't snow, she is ready for spring!