Party Pad

Since Paw-Paw and Lady don't get near enough use out of their condo down the street, the kids and I have been going there on the weekends for our "parties." We bring back food and eat it along with a bunch of candy and rent a movie. Yep, that's the kind of party I go to these days.

 Kathryn owns the couch day and night. She won't let anyone sit on the entire left half ever.

 Later that night.

Nate sleeps crazy too.

 Nate thought it was hilarious feeding Mack tissues just to watch him shred them.

 Loads of fun for me.

Kathryn wanted me to sleep with her so of course Nate had to join us, so here was the sleeping arrangement for us one night, including Mack. Never mind we have a 3200 sq. ft. house down the street. Nate and Kate prefer us to be cozy in the condo

We went to the gas station to rent a movie and buy slushies, but they were remodeling so they didn't have the slushie machine hooked up. Instead, we walked out with $10 worth of Laffy Taffy. We had a Laffy Taffy tasting that night.

Another funny thing about renting movies at the condo is that it has an old TV there. You have to turn it to channel 3 to start the movie!

Road Trip

Kathryn came up with this road trip pretend play recently. We all joined in with her imaginative play. She had us all get in her car so she could drive us around. Her vehicle expanded to an SUV with third row seating to fit this big family and two dogs. It's an SUV, not a minivan. I just want to make that clear.

Dental Assistant

Nate takes advantage of Kathryn's independence and willingness to help others more than anyone else. Here is a prime example.

Found Fotos

I have so much stuff to catch up on, but I don't know when I'm ever going to get to all of it. Here are some pictures from one of Paw-Paw and Lady's visits recently. Here they are at the playground at Rocky Bayou State Park.

 Nate has specific names for all the playgrounds in the area. This one is the "diaper swing playground."

Darth Days

Nate lost interest in Star Wars for a few months, but I found a Darth Vader shirt at Gap on clearance and bought it. It revived his interest and he couldn't wait to get home from school to put the cape on the back and wear his mask.

 Nate and Kate shooting at each other.

 Big brother probably bossing her around.

 Yep, she looks mad.

My Date with Nate

Nate and I went out for the day. Just the two of us. By request, we went to Fuddpucker's to play on the playground after we ate.

 He signed his name.

 Nate Dogg. You can't see it very good. I didn't have a marker.

 Back to climbing.

After we left we went to the beach playground. When we walked up this is what we saw. I wish I would have waited on my Christmas card picture now.

 We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the beach.

 The water was a little chilly, but it felt so good up to our ankles.

We haven't been to the beach for a while so it was nice to get out there. It was perfect weather for just hanging out.

Of course, Nate didn't stay dry for long. He never does. He couldn't resist sitting down and playing in the sand.

 That just meant we had to stay and play for the rest of the day while his pants dried.

 He's come a long way from being that shy little kid who wouldn't dare try anything dangerous!

 I had to promise to bring him back next weekend to get him to leave.

 And a promise for an ice cream sundae afterwards, too!

Chaotic Christmas Card

Again this year, it was our intention to get a good family shot for Paw-Paw and Lady's Christmas card. Just remember when you receive their card we had the best of intentions. It's not easy getting four little ones, two dogs and not to mention six adults to cooperate for pictures. Part of the fun of the card, though, is remembering how fun and crazy the actual portrait taking was. At least for us it is. Recipients of the card are probably wondering what's wrong with us!

Joe and Ali.

Just hanging out.

Short term Florida family.

I like this one, but it's kind of dark.

Laura is instructed to just take pictures no matter what because we aren't capable of all standing still and looking at the camera. And someone pulled out their own camera and started taking pictures of the photographer? 

 This year I think we can place most of the blame on Nate for not coopering for pictures.

 There goes Allison. Not to mention Nate looks like a rodeo cowboy.

 Nate is about to break Mace's back.

Yep, it's a lost cause.

 I'm dangling Kathryn off the pier.

Steve had been drinking red wine all day long and I told him to go brush his teeth before we went out to take pictures, but he didn't. Now you know why even Mace's teeth look cleaner than Steve's.

 
Wrong side of Mace.

Nate is making a mean face because he hates pictures more than anything.

I finally noticed Nate was making a mean face from the beginning and I was caught yelling at him.

Then instead of a mean face, Nate is looking down because he's mad at me. This one ended up being the best one. Now you see all that went into getting this one shot!