Everyone I know seems to keep their digital photos organized in a different system. Some people just dump them into one folder, some people never clear them off their camera’s memory card, and some do it by occasion. I choose to keep them in date order, and the average folder (by month) contains anywhere from one to two gigs of photos. This means that I take a TON of pictures, all the time, any time. It is my absolute PASSION. Since this past March (seven gig) I have taken an average of four to five gigs per month. When I sit down to do my monthly blog entry, it can be a little overwhelming. For this month’s entry I have required one full night, plus several mornings from 4:00am until the kids wake up, plus many hours here and there to edit photos, collage them, and upload them unto blogger. Peter probably thinks I am crazy. He’s a smart man and he doesn’t say it aloud. However, I am sharing my laborious blogging efforts here and now so that someday when my kiddos read this entry, they will know why the house wasn’t clean and why Mommy didn’t make them homemade meals…ummmm…I mean they will know that Mommy loved them SO MUCH! 
OK, here goes the long-awaited month of September. So many wonderful things happened for us this month! This is not one of them.
Katy and Allen seem to be playing more together these days. They still fight, but their play is fun to watch. I find myself complaining that the only time they get along is when they’re getting into trouble together. This is somewhat true, but at least they’re doing it with laughter.
Hannah has so many different facial expressions! Last month she started eating solid foods and now she’s trying people food. She always looks like she wants to spit out whatever we put in her mouth, and often she does. Chocolate pudding, as it turns out, was a big hit!
School, school, school.
I joined all the other moms shopping for school supplies. I didn’t have an official list because Katy’s pre-school actually provides everything, but we wanted to freshen up our home supplies and what better time? We took our un-official” school photos just the night before Katy’s first day. I couldn’t stop pushing the button – they were so cute! And Peter was there to help me so it was awesome! I even sent an invitation to the local grands so they could see Katy go to her first day of class. 
Allen also wanted to go in and it was so sad to see him without his best friend. Katy always kisses him goodbye and tells him that he can go to school next year. Allen doesn’t know what that means but he looks up at his idol with trust shining in his eyes, and he believes.
Here is some random cuteness. We were late to church because I had to take their pictures, but c’mon…we all know they won’t look like this AFTER church!
Could Hannah be any cuter? I think not. She’s sitting up completely on her own. She’s also crawling around in a jerking motion where she gets up on hands and knees and throws herself forward, onto her chest. It looks painful but it gets a lady where she needs to be…which is mainly closer to artwork that was abandoned on the floor.
Oh, and speaking of artwork…why does the rest of the family look like they are orbiting around Mommy? Like she has a gravitational pull that is sucking them in? And why is Jaxson Kitty’s tail so long? Inquiring minds want to know.
Caught sneaking into Daddy’s sprinklers…
More random cuteness…
My sister Amy had a big move this month. She now lives in Hawaii. Guess we’ll just have to go and visit her. For some reason she picked living with her hubby over living closer to her family. Go figure. And technically Sarah is living in Louisiana because that’s where she is five days a week for work, but luckily she comes home to Texas every weekend. What is up with my sisters trying to move away from me? I miss them!
Here is Hannah learning to feed herself baby food. If she sees the spoon coming at her, she tries to wrestle it out of your hand. You can already feel her asserting her independence. Guess she’ll be borrowing the car when she’s about four, at this rate.
The months since we received Hannah in March have just flown by. She turned six months old on the 12th and Peter and I keep telling each other that we can’t imagine our lives without Hannah in it. There was a hole there that she has filled that Peter didn’t know we had. I knew it, but he didn’t. Hannah has many nicknames, just as the older two did: Hannah Banana, Hanny Bananny, Hinty Bininty, the Banana, Herself, Baby Sister and TGO are the ones that come to mind. Between you, me and the world wide web, TGO stands for “The Good One.” We try not to compare our kids to one another but c’mon…the older two are testing our boundaries hourly and Hannah just smiles, cuddles and gives us a sweet little laugh. She sure does light up with smiles when she sees her loved ones. Katy and Allen are her special favorites to watch, and they love to tickle her and proudly declare that they made her laugh.
One fun evening turned out to be our parent / teacher conference night at Katy’s school. We swapped babysitting with some friends and the kiddos all played on the school playground. Allen is always asking to do this, so he was especially excited. Lilly is going on payroll because she immediately takes over Hannah’s care. And Maggie and Katy can’t get enough of each other. We caught some photos before the rain came down, at which point we moved the party to the dvd player in the van. I love our van!
Katy’s hair has finally grown long enough for a pony tail again. We had to chop it after her eye surgery because it was so thin and wispy. Here’s Miss Bird with her new back pack. I was going to have her use the same one from last year, but I couldn’t find it when school was starting and I had to rush out and get her a new one. Of course, we found the old one the next day, but Katy loves her kitty back pack.
Here is a glimpse of our ice cream social from church. They had a paper air plane contest and the ones I made for our kids flew like they were made of lead.
Peter took Katy and Allen over to his dad’s garden for some tilling or something. I don’t know exactly what all they did, but I know I’m going to be happy when the final product springs up. Originally Katy didn’t want to go but when she saw her Juicy brother toting some awesome gardening tools in a bag, she jumped on board. If I can make the bathroom cleaning tools look cool, maybe I’ll get some help there, too.
Who looks so cute in the bath tub? Who’s our happy girl?
September was also a milestone for Hannah because her adoption was finalized by the court system. Yup. It’s legal and final. We took her to the temple, and then our traditional Pappacito’s luncheon. Kathy G. flew down from Minnesota (also tradition) for the big celebrations that weekend. We were surrounded by people who love us, and it was fabulous. Plus, Pappacito’s has the best chips and dip – yum!
The next day Kathy, her sister Amy # 2, and Amy’s hubby Aaron joined us in taking Katybird to her first Aggie football game. Katy has been to many other sporting events, but with ticket prices that amount to a fancy hair appointment (which I’ve been neglecting) we have skimped on our kids’ football experiences. Immediately after kick-off Katy started eating, and she pretty much continued throughout the game. Amy fed her cheesy nachos, we did the kettle corn thing, candy (sneaked it in, of course) and Coke Cokes. We won, but Katy didn’t care because she had a blast playing with Kathy G. and Amy, who are now some of her favorite peeps.
We also took the gang to Double Dave’s for some yummy pizza rolls. Out-of-towners always miss those once they’ve moved away. On the way in I noticed the children’s boutique store was doing face painting. Turns out they were handing out cupcakes, too. SCORE!
On Sunday Hannah was blessed and even more family came to support us. I didn't catch Jason & Kristin before they left, so I had to photo-shop them in. If Jason's shirt looks a little casual here, that's why. 
We were sad to put Kathy back on the plane. I even called her hubby and tried to convince him that she and her kids should move back here and he wouldn’t even have to pay child support. We could just form a commune and I would handle scrapping, easy crafts and photography. Kathy would be the working wife, plus she would do the cooking and cleaning. Dave didn’t go for it, but I’m not giving up just yet.
Whew!! We’re almost to the end of the month. Katy has a little piglet that she named Kalani (after her good friend Kalan, presumably) and she loves to role play with it. She pretends the pig is “Wilver” from Charlotte’s Web and she is Fern. I get to be the dad and Katy runs to me as I’m about to kill Wilver shouting, “It’s not fair! Don’t dead my piggy! You are a bad daddy!” I have tried to explain the scene to her, and to help her see why he’s not trying to be bad. She doesn’t get it, but she still has fun with the drama. She also makes me be Count Olaf from that Lemony Snicket movie, but she calls me Mrs. Colox for some reason. Or MacLeach from Rescuers Down Under. Maybe Katy will do Broadway?
Allen had his first official play date at the end of this month. He has patiently played alone while Katy attended school or dance class, but I thought it was high time for him to cultivate his own friendships. Turns out he’s just not ready. We picked up Gavin who is a bit older but the same size, but Gavin preferred to play with Katybird.
It was still so cute to see! My Juicy boy is growing up! He’s even peeing in the potty just before bath time. I might have to do a Potty Party like we did for Katy. One in diapers? Yay! Until then, I guess I have to put up with him experimenting. For example, he pooped on the floor one day. I thought that was bad until the day he pooped on my cell phone. Yes, when you call me I’m talking on the poop phone. Thank you, very much. Phones don’t grow on trees, ya know.
And finally, on the last day of the month we attended Katy’s Hot Dog picnic for her school. She ate with Mary Grace and her little sister, new friends from this year. Grammy and Papa came, and Mookie and Peter, too! The kids played most of the time while I chased them with the camera, so I didn’t get to visit with the folks at all. And Katy just ate chips and bun, no dog. Oh well!
I have collected some more recent “isms” that the kiddos have been spouting. Here goes:
Katy
*lizard = zizard
*surprise me = prize me
*Mommy, I want to grow up to be just like you = I love you
*I’m sorry, it was an accident = please don’t punish me
*After watching the Wizard of Oz with Mookie = What happens if you don’t have a howt? Or a bwain? Or a couwage?
*When the tin man is rusted = busted (b instead of r)
*My front name is Katy
*E.O.S. That spells piggy.
*Can I have a quarter for dat? = give me quarters for all those games and gumball machines (although she has been doing chores for them lately)
*Do you know how much I love you? Dis much! (with arms wide open when we’re good, and if I’ve been bad she just pinches her fingers together)
Allen
*Want somping else = get that healthy food out of here and give me fruit snacks
*More Daddy go? = Where did Daddy go?
*ba-berry = strawberry
*chunky arms = Lucky Charms cereal
*Don’t stay!! = Don’t leave me
*Bring Katy one = he wants me to give Katy’s vitamin to him so he can eat it for her
*Awen helping = taking wet wipes, wetting them in the sink or toilet and then wiping down the walls or my clean laundry
And I’m spent!
OK, here goes the long-awaited month of September. So many wonderful things happened for us this month! This is not one of them.
Katy and Allen seem to be playing more together these days. They still fight, but their play is fun to watch. I find myself complaining that the only time they get along is when they’re getting into trouble together. This is somewhat true, but at least they’re doing it with laughter.
Hannah has so many different facial expressions! Last month she started eating solid foods and now she’s trying people food. She always looks like she wants to spit out whatever we put in her mouth, and often she does. Chocolate pudding, as it turns out, was a big hit!
School, school, school.
I joined all the other moms shopping for school supplies. I didn’t have an official list because Katy’s pre-school actually provides everything, but we wanted to freshen up our home supplies and what better time? We took our un-official” school photos just the night before Katy’s first day. I couldn’t stop pushing the button – they were so cute! And Peter was there to help me so it was awesome! I even sent an invitation to the local grands so they could see Katy go to her first day of class. Allen also wanted to go in and it was so sad to see him without his best friend. Katy always kisses him goodbye and tells him that he can go to school next year. Allen doesn’t know what that means but he looks up at his idol with trust shining in his eyes, and he believes.Here is some random cuteness. We were late to church because I had to take their pictures, but c’mon…we all know they won’t look like this AFTER church!
Could Hannah be any cuter? I think not. She’s sitting up completely on her own. She’s also crawling around in a jerking motion where she gets up on hands and knees and throws herself forward, onto her chest. It looks painful but it gets a lady where she needs to be…which is mainly closer to artwork that was abandoned on the floor.
Oh, and speaking of artwork…why does the rest of the family look like they are orbiting around Mommy? Like she has a gravitational pull that is sucking them in? And why is Jaxson Kitty’s tail so long? Inquiring minds want to know.
Caught sneaking into Daddy’s sprinklers…
More random cuteness…
My sister Amy had a big move this month. She now lives in Hawaii. Guess we’ll just have to go and visit her. For some reason she picked living with her hubby over living closer to her family. Go figure. And technically Sarah is living in Louisiana because that’s where she is five days a week for work, but luckily she comes home to Texas every weekend. What is up with my sisters trying to move away from me? I miss them!
Here is Hannah learning to feed herself baby food. If she sees the spoon coming at her, she tries to wrestle it out of your hand. You can already feel her asserting her independence. Guess she’ll be borrowing the car when she’s about four, at this rate.
The months since we received Hannah in March have just flown by. She turned six months old on the 12th and Peter and I keep telling each other that we can’t imagine our lives without Hannah in it. There was a hole there that she has filled that Peter didn’t know we had. I knew it, but he didn’t. Hannah has many nicknames, just as the older two did: Hannah Banana, Hanny Bananny, Hinty Bininty, the Banana, Herself, Baby Sister and TGO are the ones that come to mind. Between you, me and the world wide web, TGO stands for “The Good One.” We try not to compare our kids to one another but c’mon…the older two are testing our boundaries hourly and Hannah just smiles, cuddles and gives us a sweet little laugh. She sure does light up with smiles when she sees her loved ones. Katy and Allen are her special favorites to watch, and they love to tickle her and proudly declare that they made her laugh.
One fun evening turned out to be our parent / teacher conference night at Katy’s school. We swapped babysitting with some friends and the kiddos all played on the school playground. Allen is always asking to do this, so he was especially excited. Lilly is going on payroll because she immediately takes over Hannah’s care. And Maggie and Katy can’t get enough of each other. We caught some photos before the rain came down, at which point we moved the party to the dvd player in the van. I love our van!
Katy’s hair has finally grown long enough for a pony tail again. We had to chop it after her eye surgery because it was so thin and wispy. Here’s Miss Bird with her new back pack. I was going to have her use the same one from last year, but I couldn’t find it when school was starting and I had to rush out and get her a new one. Of course, we found the old one the next day, but Katy loves her kitty back pack.
Here is a glimpse of our ice cream social from church. They had a paper air plane contest and the ones I made for our kids flew like they were made of lead.
Peter took Katy and Allen over to his dad’s garden for some tilling or something. I don’t know exactly what all they did, but I know I’m going to be happy when the final product springs up. Originally Katy didn’t want to go but when she saw her Juicy brother toting some awesome gardening tools in a bag, she jumped on board. If I can make the bathroom cleaning tools look cool, maybe I’ll get some help there, too.
Who looks so cute in the bath tub? Who’s our happy girl?
September was also a milestone for Hannah because her adoption was finalized by the court system. Yup. It’s legal and final. We took her to the temple, and then our traditional Pappacito’s luncheon. Kathy G. flew down from Minnesota (also tradition) for the big celebrations that weekend. We were surrounded by people who love us, and it was fabulous. Plus, Pappacito’s has the best chips and dip – yum!
The next day Kathy, her sister Amy # 2, and Amy’s hubby Aaron joined us in taking Katybird to her first Aggie football game. Katy has been to many other sporting events, but with ticket prices that amount to a fancy hair appointment (which I’ve been neglecting) we have skimped on our kids’ football experiences. Immediately after kick-off Katy started eating, and she pretty much continued throughout the game. Amy fed her cheesy nachos, we did the kettle corn thing, candy (sneaked it in, of course) and Coke Cokes. We won, but Katy didn’t care because she had a blast playing with Kathy G. and Amy, who are now some of her favorite peeps.
We also took the gang to Double Dave’s for some yummy pizza rolls. Out-of-towners always miss those once they’ve moved away. On the way in I noticed the children’s boutique store was doing face painting. Turns out they were handing out cupcakes, too. SCORE!
On Sunday Hannah was blessed and even more family came to support us. I didn't catch Jason & Kristin before they left, so I had to photo-shop them in. If Jason's shirt looks a little casual here, that's why. We were sad to put Kathy back on the plane. I even called her hubby and tried to convince him that she and her kids should move back here and he wouldn’t even have to pay child support. We could just form a commune and I would handle scrapping, easy crafts and photography. Kathy would be the working wife, plus she would do the cooking and cleaning. Dave didn’t go for it, but I’m not giving up just yet.
Whew!! We’re almost to the end of the month. Katy has a little piglet that she named Kalani (after her good friend Kalan, presumably) and she loves to role play with it. She pretends the pig is “Wilver” from Charlotte’s Web and she is Fern. I get to be the dad and Katy runs to me as I’m about to kill Wilver shouting, “It’s not fair! Don’t dead my piggy! You are a bad daddy!” I have tried to explain the scene to her, and to help her see why he’s not trying to be bad. She doesn’t get it, but she still has fun with the drama. She also makes me be Count Olaf from that Lemony Snicket movie, but she calls me Mrs. Colox for some reason. Or MacLeach from Rescuers Down Under. Maybe Katy will do Broadway?
Allen had his first official play date at the end of this month. He has patiently played alone while Katy attended school or dance class, but I thought it was high time for him to cultivate his own friendships. Turns out he’s just not ready. We picked up Gavin who is a bit older but the same size, but Gavin preferred to play with Katybird.
It was still so cute to see! My Juicy boy is growing up! He’s even peeing in the potty just before bath time. I might have to do a Potty Party like we did for Katy. One in diapers? Yay! Until then, I guess I have to put up with him experimenting. For example, he pooped on the floor one day. I thought that was bad until the day he pooped on my cell phone. Yes, when you call me I’m talking on the poop phone. Thank you, very much. Phones don’t grow on trees, ya know.And finally, on the last day of the month we attended Katy’s Hot Dog picnic for her school. She ate with Mary Grace and her little sister, new friends from this year. Grammy and Papa came, and Mookie and Peter, too! The kids played most of the time while I chased them with the camera, so I didn’t get to visit with the folks at all. And Katy just ate chips and bun, no dog. Oh well!
I have collected some more recent “isms” that the kiddos have been spouting. Here goes:
Katy
*lizard = zizard
*surprise me = prize me
*Mommy, I want to grow up to be just like you = I love you
*I’m sorry, it was an accident = please don’t punish me
*After watching the Wizard of Oz with Mookie = What happens if you don’t have a howt? Or a bwain? Or a couwage?
*When the tin man is rusted = busted (b instead of r)
*My front name is Katy
*E.O.S. That spells piggy.
*Can I have a quarter for dat? = give me quarters for all those games and gumball machines (although she has been doing chores for them lately)
*Do you know how much I love you? Dis much! (with arms wide open when we’re good, and if I’ve been bad she just pinches her fingers together)
Allen
*Want somping else = get that healthy food out of here and give me fruit snacks
*More Daddy go? = Where did Daddy go?
*ba-berry = strawberry
*chunky arms = Lucky Charms cereal
*Don’t stay!! = Don’t leave me
*Bring Katy one = he wants me to give Katy’s vitamin to him so he can eat it for her
*Awen helping = taking wet wipes, wetting them in the sink or toilet and then wiping down the walls or my clean laundry
And I’m spent!
