Happy New Year!

Yummy dinner at Bonefish and then a few dance moves in the parking lot. Can't see the license plate clearly, but we're gearing up for "our" game tomorrow. Happy New Year to all and, Go Seminoles!!!

Merry Christmas (a few days late!)

We were at my Mom's for Christmas. It rained most of the day, but that was really fine by us since we stayed in our jammies all day! We did shower and dress for Christmas dinner........probably only because my sister and her family were coming over!! :) Katey was beyond excited the night before.......more heightened when we heard Santa's jingle bells right outside the bedroom window!! I explained to her that Santa was probably just doing a "fly over" to make sure she was in Sarasota and not Tampa. She woke up 3-4 times throughout the night and then was up for good at 5! (ugh!) I finally let her drag me out of bed closer to 6 (again, ugh!) and let her tear into her stocking. Fortunately, she has the biggest stocking on earth so there were lots of little goodies in there to open, which took some time. I made her wait until 7 to wake my Mom up to open the other gifts. She got everything she asked Santa for (an animal book and a journal......easy child!) and then (of course) a TON of other stuff. Mom made (yes, made) all of the kiddies blankets which were the hit of the day. Can't believe it's over for another year........Katey has begged to leave the tree up for a while and since I don't have any desire to tackle that project any time soon, I said ok! :)

The Nutcracker, starring SUSAN! (well, to us!)

We went down to Sarasota yesterday to see Susan in The Nutcracker ballet. She was wonderful! The rest of the show was ok ;) but our star was SUSAN! So grown up and graceful!!! Katey, Maggie and Bruce were real troopers through the 2+ hour show.....!!!

Worth the trouble?

That's a good question. I thought it was a messy ordeal. Katey thinks it is perfect. So, worth the trouble? Absolutely!!! :)

Ho Ho Ho!

We headed over to the mall after school yesterday, hoping that the line to see Santa wouldn't be wrapped around and around like it was on Saturday. We were in luck and were 2nd in line. Katey snuck Rudolph out of the car and by the time I realized it, we were halfway across the parking lot........Friday afternoon, too tired to fight it. Santa seemed pleased to see Rudolph and Katey had a smile ready so all ended well. Same Santa every year.......gotta love the consistency.....and no questions about why he looks different! Hopefully will get a few more years of "Santa!"

5 Years from "Gotcha," is that possible?

Can it be 5 years since this wonderful child was placed in my arms? Seems like so long ago, yet just like yesterday. It has been the most fabulous 5 years of my life.....I will never question how God knew to pick this perfect child for me, just will remain to be thankful every day and cherish this little being that is mine!!! I wish all of my fellow "Getters," a most wonderful Gotcha Day.

Win or Lose, it's always GREAT to be a Seminole!!

Of course, winning makes it SO much easier! Katey and took a mini vacation to Tallahassee this weekend for, what might be (you never know) Coach Bowden's last home game. Personally, I think he'll come back! Katey was very excited to get to wear her brand new Christian Ponder jersey and loved seeing JJ and Michael, Ginger's boys. We had a fun visit, even though the game was stress-city. Guess we should be getting used to these types of games, but I long for the blowouts of old!!! After the game we headed over for the post game gathering at the Bowden's house. Everyone thought Katey was wonderful.....she was the definite hit of the day. Fun weekend, glad to be home and off to bed!!! Go Noles!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Happy to escape Tampa and head down to Sarasota to trick-or-treat with the cousins! We had a great time and were very happy that Halloween fell on Saturday this year!!

Who's Zoo-ing Who? :)

I'm trying really hard to plan at least one outdoor activity every weekend. It's hard since Katey is the only child....not as much fun hanging with Mom, especially when there are so many fun friends around. Last week we went to the park and met Libby and Ty, and yesterday, we went to the zoo and invited Keaton to go with us. Katey and Keaton went to PCUM together for 3 years and are now at different Elementary schools......Katey really misses her PCUM pals!! SO, I braved the zoo with 2 wild 6 year olds and we all had a really good time. They are at a great age where they really want to learn about the animals (especially Katey.......I think she might end up being a Vet) so we did a lot of reading and really studying the animals. We were there for about 3 hours (trust me, plenty of time!!) and then ended the day at McD's where they sat at a table by themselves and I was banished to a little booth a little out of the way......I could still see them and they felt so grown up so no biggie!! :)

5 years?

I can't believe it's been 5 years since I rushed home and this little angel was waiting for me in my email. Five wonderful years!!! Happy Anniversary to my fellow referral receiving friends!!! :)

Now we are Six!

I was jolted awake at 6am with a squeal and an "I AM SIX!" Katey was so excited about turning 6, she could barely contain herself! We got up, opened presents, ate breakfast and headed off to school so Katey could tell anyone/everyone she saw that she is SIX! After school, we continued our annual tradition (well, last year was the first) of getting manicures/pedicures. Katey feels like such a big girl whenever I let her get her toes done. The fingernails is a special treat since, by rule, I really don't like little girls in nail polish. I figure this will last about a week, and I can handle that. We then picked Greg up and headed over to Bonefish for a delish dinner. Since we already had "the" cake on Saturday, I took a cupcake which Katey and Greg split. All in all, a wonderful 6th birthday!!!

Early Birthday Celebration

The countdown is on! 3 days from now, I will be the Mother of a 6 year old! We started the festivities with a family party in Sarasota on Saturday. Katey was SO excited (to the point of being obnoxious!) when her cousins came over to celebrate. We had pizza and cake (not my best creation, but it was cute) and PRESENTS!!! It was a perfect beginning to "Celebration September!!" Tune in on Wednesday (the actual day) for more excitement.......

Welcome to Kindergarten!

Can't believe this day finally got here! After all of my fretting, it went off without a hitch. I picked Katey up from her after school care and the first thing she said was "I had a great day!" She loves her new school and says her teacher is the best. I think it's going to be a great year. On a different note, I actually got some work done today!!! :)

VPK

Sad to say that yesterday was Katey's last day at VPK. She had a great summer at VPK.......of course, it helped that her buds Will and Keaton were there with her. I really didn't think she learned anything new per se, just strengthened skills and kept the "socialization" going. I was stunned when she signed her teacher's thank you cards though.......her letters were near-perfect. So she DID get something out of it besides fun! They had a little program for the parents at the end of the day and Katey pulled a "Katey" and didn't participate. The children sang 3 really cute songs and Katey just stood there. (eye roll please) She said it was too loud........whatever!! :) She perked up enough to accept her "diploma" and eat 2 cookies.....again, whatever!!! The teacher said something about each child and Katey was named "class artist." Ms. Spencer said that they all learned how to make art out of just about anything that was lying around thanks to Katey. :) Katey is SO excited about being in Kindergarten (in a month!)......I'm the one who is getting a little nervous. She'll be fine..........will I?

FUN weekend!!

Ginny and Susan came up on Saturday to spend the day/night with us. Katey was SO excited that Susan was coming and she kept that level of excitement up all weekend. I think she thought she too was 8! We got to Busch Gardens when the gates opened and stayed until late afternoon.....it was fun and HOT! We followed Busch Gardens with a yummy dinner at The Outback and then a fun (first ever!) sleepover.....in their matching pj's. The girls giggled for a little while, but they were wiped out (as were we) and fell asleep pretty quickly. I think Ginny and I were asleep soon after! This morning we got up and went to see Ice Age 2....again as "twins,"and ended our visit with a trip to McDonald's. We were very sad to see them go but are excited about the next time they come up. GREAT time!!