Kate's 1st Gotcha Day

I can't believe a whole year has passed since Kate joined our family.  So many things have happened in the last year, making it just fly by.

I wasn't very organized this year and didn't plan any sort of special treat for her Gotcha Day so we made do with McFlurrys from McDonald's.  She thought it was great.

 Opening her gift...dress up jewelry, tutu, shoes, and a purse

 This girl LOVES to dress up.  She's quite talented walking in those high heeled shoes, like she's been wearing them her whole life.

 After dinner we went out and blew big bubbles.

Classy.  As my mom might say, "The finer ladies don't do that."  Kate's clearly not a "finer lady" yet. 

We're so thankful to have little Kate in our family.  She has tons of personality for such a little lady. :-)       

Stickers

The kids have been really into stickers lately.  Not so much on paper, but on their bodies.  They laugh hysterically and run to the bathroom to see what they look like. 

 This is Grant as an elephant.

Grant as a cat...complete with a tail.  

Cooking Class #1: Ice Cream

Grant and I are taking a few kids' cooking classes together at Williams Sonoma.  The first one we did was ice cream.  The kids got to make an ice cream sandwich (then eat it), mint chocolate chip ice cream, and vanilla ice cream. 

They also got to practice separating eggs.  It was fun to get to see, smell, and taste the ingredients they used to make the ice cream.

Next class will be on packing a healthy lunchbox.  Should be fun!

First Day of Kindergarten

Thursday was our 1st day of school.  We were very excited to get started!

 Grant was still a little sleepy when we were taking pictures.

 Grant couldn't wait to get started.  Our science lesson for the day dealt with the 5 senses and he wanted to practice during breakfast.

Kate was excited, too, and had trouble staying away from Grant when we were working together. 

He found some new race car erasers that I put in his desk.  "Thanks, Mom--you did a great job at having a surprise for me!" 

He learned some new color sight words and drew shapes on the backs. 

 She's back!  Kate brought over a chair so she could watch Grant do some work on the computer.

 Aaaand...back again!  She got to sit there until she insisted on writing on Grant's paper instead of her own.

We had a great first day and are excited to learn together this year!  Hopefully we'll still be smiling by the end of next week.  :-)

I was concerned that Grant might get bored with the beginning lessons, but so far I've been impressed with the curriculum.  Day 2 he learned the 7 continents and what sorts of things found on each continent.  I don't remember learning that in kindergarten.  I think it will be a fun and challenging year.

Adoption Day!

Today we went to court to finalize Kate's adoption!  We headed to the courthouse early this morning.

 Waiting for the courtroom to open

Kate sharing one of her signature cheesy smiles 

It's final!  We were happy to get the same judge who presided over Grant's adoption 4 years ago.  She told us that this should be her last adoption since they are moving adoptions to another courthouse.  She was very kind and included Grant in the proceedings.  They ask the parents if we agree to the adoption and after we said yes she asked Grant as well.  He was very pleased to be included.  We are so happy to have this last major step behind us and just continue to enjoy our sweet little girl.

Backyard Silliness

Gotcha Day!

We celebrated Grant's 5th Gotcha Day in May and had a Minecraft creeper cake.  He was quite pleased.

 He wanted to get up early to open his gifts...Lego monster trucks

 Daddy and his monkeys

 Grant chose his favorite restaurant for lunch--Stonefire

 The afternoon wouldn't be complete without some Minecraft fun with Dad.

I found these little footprints all over the kitchen and it reminded me of how thankful I am for those little feet. Gotcha Day is always such a fun time reflecting on our little blessings.

Papa!

Granty and Papa...great pals

Kate is 2!!!

 The happy birthday girl

 Kisses from Grant and Daddy

 Bigfoot, the bearer of the gifts

She was very excited about the sprinkler from Gramma Jean 

 Grant loved Kate's new baby...Kate took much longer to warm up to the baby

 Thank you, Gramma and Papa with a beard for the Minecraft loot!  Grant fell asleep clutching his treasures.  (It looks like Kate's Hello Kitty backpack felt the wrath of his new weapons.)

Sharing Cereal

Nate gave the kids some cereal to share--I think we ended up with more cereal on the table and floor than in the bowl by the end, but they had a good time.

New Sunglasses