The Biggest News

Easter and all of that to come....

but much more exciting than that is that Emily & Michael welcomed Celeste Marie into their family a few weeks ago. When they were in town the first time, we were all sick and I had to keep a distance. Now that they are back for all sorts of baby showers in Raleigh we've had plenty of opportunity to get up close and personal with her and basically none of us can get enough of her.

Adison is giving away kisses by the dozen to her, and is also Johnny-on-the-spot to make sure her passy is in. (I think she feels a connection since they use the same passy).

Cole keeps talking in a sweet, quiet voice about how cute Celeste is, and how small her feet are.

Cole: "I really love Celeste, Mama"

Me: "me too, Cole!"

Cole: "and maybe we could have another little baby too!"

Me: "would you like some chocolate? I bet Grammy has Chocolate here somewhere"

But in all seriousness it has been a wonderful thing to see how the Lord chose Celeste for Michael and Emily, and to see them overjoyed together in adding to their family. We are so happy for them, and this exciting time in their lives.

Cole-ism

I've been meaning to write these down when he says them. And every time I've forgotten, until tonight.

(Cole and Kevin on the phone)

Cole: Daddy, you need to turn around and come back!

Kevin: Why?

Cole: Because you forgot your work purse! (briefcase)

Under the Weather

Adison came down with Hand-Foot-Mouth disease this weekend; what a horrible name for a virus...but what it amounts to is very high fevers, and little sores inside her mouth and some on her hands and feet (hence the name....).

I think she's past it now for the most part, with only a few spots left on her hand. And her mood is in full swing, buzzing around the house. Unfortunately for Cole, he caught it yesterday and spent a miserable day on the couch, and had to put up with his parents trying to get his 103 fever down most of the night. Thankfully his fever is mostly gone, although is appetite is still meager. And he has to deal with a sister who is dying to play with "O!" A crazy couple of days that left us stuck at home while Dean and Chris were in town. But I think it's on the way out.

Neither of these kids is much of a snuggler, so here's a picture of Adison resting on Daddy's chest in the middle of her fever.

For the Show..

I'm setting up a table at a consignment show I first went to last fall. At that show, I got a lot of positive response for my stuff, but no actual sales so this time I decided to have some pre-made stuff ready to buy. We'll see how it pans out, but I sure had fun making these lounge sets. I am CRAZY over that lemon fabric right now.

I also made some magnets, coffee clutches and headbands...

Funny Faces

Cole is VERY into what's funny these days. If you laugh at anything....ANYTHING during the day he will immediately ask you, "What are you laughing at? What did you just laugh at Mama?" He loves any opportunity to laugh, and his laugh is contageous.

Kevin had control of the camera tonight while I was putting Adison to bed and clearly they were having a good time.

Little Boy

Cole just isn't a little boy anymore...he is, but I keep seeing snippits of someone who will soon be 4, then 5, and I can't think about it past that. :)

Here's a little shot I took in the elephant room at the zoo. It's using my Random Capturing technique (hold your camera out at some weird angle and start pushing the button). Laugh all you want, but I have gotten some of my favorite pictures this way.

Afternoon Adventure

Kevin was tied up all day monday, so the kids and I set out for a little day trip in D.C. Kevin was nice enough to help get me on the subway, I was nervous about finding the elevator and getting on the train, but once we saw how easy it was, we felt like natives.

Kevin read in the paper that the National Building Museum has a kids play room of just building toys. Legos, blocks, diggers, dump trucks....the stuff a Cole dream is made of.

We got there and it was almost empty (becasue it was beautiful outside) and we enjoyed it for an hour. Next we headed for the National Mall near all the museums. I stopped and bought lunch for us (although I was the only one interested in wolfing down my hot dog in record time.) We ate at the National Sculpture Gardens which has an ice rink in the middle. What a perfect spot. The kids stretched their legs and we watched ice skaters who were enjoying a beautiful day on their breaks, it was really great.

After that we just walked around -- well, I walked around. Cole didn't feel like walking, and if I had let Adison out of the stroller I would have been RUNNING around. We looked at a few monuments and then enjoyed a quiet subway ride home.

I didn't take many pictures, because I only have 2 hands, but it was such a fun afternoon and made me ready for another visit soon.

Washington, D.C. Family Trip

Kevin had some business in D.C. Monday and Tuesday, so we made it a family trip and went up Saturday through tuesday.

We hit some mild weather and really enjoyed our visit. Sunday we went to the National Zoo, which I had never been to before and really had a great time. You'd never know a Zoo was plopped in the middle of a nations captial, full of buildings and buzzing with activity.

We went straight to the Elephant room to watch an Elephant get his bath. Cole was really fascinated by it (although I don't know what was more interesting, the elephant or the watcr and hose). Adison was thrilled to be out of her stroller and immediately started making laps.






A lot of the animals were out and moving because the weather was so nice, sunny and just a tiny bit cool. It was neat to see the Pandas.



Cole was fascinated by the Meerkats. One was digging furiously right in front of him.

One of my Favorite Things

With cool nights this month, we have been keeping the fireplace busy. I love fires. I just love sitting in front of it until my back is more than toasty...what a great feeling.

A few weekends ago we decided to do some special dessert after dinner and made s'mores in the hot coals. Kevin doesn't like marshmellows. Cole JUST likes marshmellows, so I had plenty of s'mores to myself. I definately ate one too many, but it was totally worth it. Kevin toasted this marshmellow and it was perfection.

A Moment in the Day

I like these posts, because it doesn't have to have a long explanation, just a snapshot of something during the day. Sometimes these snapshots are of something that happens often at our place, sometimes it's just something with a feeling attached to it that you dont' want to forget.

Here Cole is driving his car up and down Bou. Look at his lips, you can hear him making the car noise. Bou put up with it for about 25 minutes. I think it was like a little doggie massage for her.