Tonight at dinner Kate said "a word" I have not heard in a while....

One I love and after she said it, I realized just how much I miss it.

"yesternight"

(We also used to have "lastday") 


Yep, she is a BIG girl.  

We had a big birthday today!  


Belle is 8 today and Dixie turns 9 tomorrow!

Wow, wow, wow....  

I want to post some of their puppy pictures.  But, I guess this shows how old they are....
All of those pictures were taken on a film camera and I need to scan in the photos!

I always used to look at Dixie and ask her, "When did you get so old?"  (Old looking that is.  She still acts like she is 10 months old.)  Then I realized we journeyed down this road together and I have rephrased my statement to, "When did 'we' get so old."  When she was a puppy she had such a carmel face and color on her back.  Now she is really white to blonde, especially on her face.  Belle now has a white muzzle and white above her eyebrows.  We put drops in her eyes and they both are on a joint supplement.  What can I say, I just love them and hope we have another 8-9 years.... I hope, I hope.  

I love my dogs.  Yes, they drive me crazy with their fur all over my house, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  They are always there full of love and affection.  The first time Kate ever laughed, was at the dogs playing on our back deck on West Seminary Ave.  Kate's first word was dog.  Stephen loves the dogs and is now really talking to them and making a personal effort to interact with them.  I always have told the kids, they are a part of our family.... and so we celebrated their birthdays tonight in the same way.

I swear, she is SMILING!

Hurry up, some one take this photo so I can wiggle my butt and eat birthday cake.  (It is VERY hard for Belle to hold still.)

Yep, I made them each a doggie peanut butter birthday cake with cream cheese for frosting and topped with bananas.  Yep, I might be a little crazy, but I don't care.  I love them :).

I just love all the pictures my friend Robyn took of Kate!
They are A-MAZING and that doesn't even describe them.
They captured her BIG personality and reminded me just how BIG my baby really is....

These are some of my favorite black and whites...

Katey-Kate

I know I am a little biased being her mom and all....  
But, don't you think she is just the most amazing girl???  
I do. 

My back yard is GREEN....  The snow has melted.  

Either the Groundhog at the Milwaukee Zoo was right.
(He did NOT see his shadow and spring is on the way.)

or....

We could still get more snow.  The latest snow of the year on record was May 11th.... (yes, May.)

One of my all time favorite songs, (and yes, it is a country one) is Find Out Who Your Friends Are.  
(There is a great duet version by Tim McGraw and Tracy Lawrence.)


The song always makes me think of my best friend, Cathy.  I always new (and still know) no matter what I needed, she would always be there for me and I would be there for her.  And even though she is not the country fan at heart like me, I know she gets it.  And I miss her :)    


That was one of my worries when we moved here.  No family and no friends....  
Who's going to be there? 


I still laugh at the thought of who I knew when I moved here..... David and our kids, our realtor, and only through f@cebook, my now great friend Robyn.  


Since moving here we have made some great friends.  Robyn, who I now know very well and not just through f@cebook, is one of my very close friends.  There is also some truth to the fact that "transplants" look out for each other.  You know that friendship is the only immediate family you have and to some degree they become family.  


A sunny Saturday morning, we run some errands as a family and then we go to meet our friends at a furniture store.  They have bought a new mattress for there house and we have a truck, so we are helping them out.  Right?


Nope, they helped us.


We are at a stop light driving through a not so good part of town.


Stephen, "I smell sum-pen."  


David, "My check gauges light just came on."  
and a few minutes later..... 
"I have no power steering."  (that's bad...) 


Thank goodness for the GPS.  We were within blocks of an Aut0Z0ne and we barely pulled in the parking lot.  


We called Jennifer, James, and Peyton, who are waiting for us at the furniture store, and within minutes they are there.  


Stephen and Kate are cheering "James to the Rescue."  
(James is Stephen's favorite Thomas the Tank Engine Train.) 


James looks up a towing service that is close to where we are and calls for a tow for David's truck.  Tow truck shows up and he only takes cash, James has cash.  Luckily, James drives a Pilot so 4 adults and 3 kids pile can into his car and get us home.


Yep, we have some great friends.....   

"You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are..."

(FYI, David's truck is already back in our garage.  It was a blown water pump, covered under the extended warranty.)  

We are on our way to school yesterday and Kate declares that she is getting a new tooth.

I am thinking, "Okay, I am sure it is something else, like a blister.... you are too young to be getting a new tooth or loosing any baby teeth."  

"No Mom, I am getting a new tooth!  Aubrey told me ALL about getting new teeth.  When you feel something new in your mouth, there is nothing else it can be but a tooth."
(I love how she remembered all about Aubrey's tooth experience from the past few months, yearning for it to be her turn too!)

We get to school and I look in her mouth.
I am in shock.  
The back of her mouth is swollen, to the point that her gums are swollen over her current last molar.   There are also little white points starting to emerge on one side.    

My response, "Does that hurt????"
"Nope!"  She says with a HUGE smile!  She is SUPER excited to show off her new teeth.

My 5 year old is getting her 6 year old molars.  According to Amy, another mother in Kate's class who is a dentist, she is an "early erupt-er."  When I picked her up from school she had showed everyone her new teeth, including the principal, office manager, all of her teachers, and friends.  They were all genuinely excited for her and she is just so excited!!!

We get home and go look in the mirror to see those emerging teeth.
I then joke, "Hey Kate, pretty soon you will be loosing teeth and I wonder if any are loose."
I jokingly wiggle her bottom two teeth and .....they wiggle back.
She is BEAMING!

Kate's bottom two front teeth are loose.

Somehow another huge milestone has come too fast and I am reminded again how my baby is such a big girl.

Amazing, smart, funny, full of laughter and smiles....
I am so proud to be her mom.
In my mind nothing could be more perfect or get any better at this moment....



(FYI - David got a stash of shiny "gold" dollar coins today.  We are ready and prepared for the tooth fairy to make her first appearance.)  

Tubing at Sunburst

Much Much family fun!  

I can't believe only a 1/2 hour away from us is a great tubing hill!  Kate of course HAD to have a yellow tube and Stephen, blue.  Stephen, Mr. Independent, was determined to pull his own tube whenever he could.    

We went with our good friends, The Lang's, James, Jennifer, and Peyton.
 

They also have skiing and snowboarding that seemed pretty busy with teenage kids.  (Pardon my "I used to live in Colorado" attitude, but compared to those mountains, you know... The Rockies, this was nothing....)  However, it is very cool that we could ski or snowboard that close to our house.

We took these pictures with Kate's little point and shoot camera....   (Not bad quality and it was nice having a tiny camera in my pocket, not over my shoulder.)

Kate was VERY nervous and scared when we got there.  She did NOT want to go tubing after seeing the daunting hill.

She did say she would try it and David went down the hill with her.  At the bottom, she was all smiles and never stopped for 3 hours!

Stephen was a turtle.... he would sit in the tube, tuck his head down and go down with me holding on to his tube.  He didn't pop his head up until we got to the bottom and then he would say, "Again, Again!!!"  (I think he liked it.)  

Big surprise, Stephen, had a major melt down at the top of the mountain.  For about 45 minutes we didn't know how he was going to get down the hill.  Yes, I wanted to just put him in his tube and go down the hill, but he wouldn't sit down!  Luckily, we got permission for him to ride down in the tube with me.  We got a snack and a break and about 45 minutes later we were tubing again with no problems.  

We had a great time!!!

I came into our family room the other night and everyone was together, watching the TV.

This is the madness of our house that I really love..... 

Belle, Kate, Sumter (above Kate), Stephen, and David

On other side of sofa, Dixie.

Shiloh, is above Dixie on the back of the sofa.

In dog bed, one cat.... Libbie.

I love them all..... 

Last night was Kate's school, Amy Montessori, parent / student night.  Kate was so proud to show off her school to all of us.  Yes, I take her there Monday-Friday, but you could tell that she knew tonight was special.  She wanted to not only show us things, but show us the right way to participate.

Like, if you want to play with a toy on the shelf, you have to pick up a carpet square first.  Stephen was REALLY excited.... I could tell he was thinking, "I get to touch all the stuff you always tell me not to touch?@!#??"

Stephen getting hands on experience at the paleontologist table ....

Kate's George Washington, with marshmallow curls.

Kate's Starry Night

The tree of Kindness Hearts.... Kate has earned quite a few.

We then all HAD to have snack, Stephen was all about pouring his own juice....
Watch out, he will be here in the fall.