Kate's real birthday

Kate got an awesome gift from Uncle Bert and Aunt Leslie for her 4th birthday...a real mike. In the video clip below, she is singing some kind of made-up song while Zane stands by, almost twitching he wants to sing so badly. When she backed away from the mike, he saw his opening and stepped up to sing this song. We were all surprised when he started singing...then started laughing at his selection. Unfortunately, he wasn't standing quite close enough to the mike to be able to hear it really well, but I was glad I happened to be videoing. I didn't want the clip to be too long as it's sometimes a real pain to upload, so I stopped before he completed the song.



Here are some other pictures from Kate's family birthday party, starting with the princess bear cake that her mom made.


Figuring out how to cut the cake was tricky, so we did the best we could!



The kids' table...Zane can't be seen because of the high-backed chair.

I can't remember what this gift was, but they all look pretty interested.


They had lots of fun taking turns singing into the mike. Carolyn tells me that Kate has turned into some sort of disc jockey, making announcements, asking people to come over and sing, etc. She is really enjoying the mike. I don't know whether the amp came with it or if they already had it. Super gift for a child who likes to be onstage!

And, finally...we sing happy birthday to our little princess...well, one of them anyway.

Little cuties

Carolyn took some cute photos of the little ones.


I don't know how she got them to sit still long enough to snap a photo.


Jax looks pretty startled here!


Awwww!

A brief visit with Brent, Kate, & Carlee

Carolyn called me while I was shifting bags of groceries from the cart to my car this afternoon. She needed some eggs to make egg salad for lunch on Friday and wanted to know if I had any...which I did. She said Brent and the girls would come down to get the eggs when I got home.

They arrived, on the Mule, as I was putting the groceries away. Kate came in first and immediately wanted a glass of milk. She never got it because Brent and Carlee came in about that time so the girls ran off to the playroom. The playroom looks like heck right now because of the leak that had been giving us trouble. Things are moved away from that corner of the room and there's a square opening cut to give the plumber access to the pipe which was leaking. They had to pull off the trim at the bottom of that wall, so that is leaning against another wall...nails sticking out ready to snag someone. It's very messy and, if the past is any indication, it will remain looking like that for quite a while.

Brent, meanwhile, had given me a plastic bowl with a lid in which to place the eggs. I had the cardboard tube from a finished roll of paper towels, so I cut 3 small sections from it and slit them so that I could insert the eggs and keep them from rolling around and cracking during transport. I got the eggs ready to go and remembering the nails, etc. in the playroom, told Brent to check on the girls. He went out there and called the girls, who both came running back into the kitchen.

When she realized they were leaving, Carlee was not happy and was refusing to go...even after I complimented her on her pink leather big girl thong sandals. So, I told her she could carry something back with her. I looked around and saw the remaining section of cardboard tube...about 3 inches long and grabbed it and handed it to her. She looked at it and I thought it might work. I thought that for the whole 5 seconds or so before she gave me a disgusted look and threw it at me!

Luckily, I was able to find a replacement...a small pack of tissues, which must have been acceptable. Then Kate had to have something, so I found a Sonic atomic straw that came with a kid's meal on the countertop and gave that to her. Her dad told her not to open it, so she tore it open within seconds. We got it put back in the package, got sandals back on them, led them to the Mule and got them belted in. Then off they went!

When I walked back into the living room later, I saw that in the very short time they had been there, they had moved the little Elmo easy chair and the cushion that acts as a footstool into the living room. On top of the footstool was a toy from the playroom. I doubt if they had been in the house for more than 10 minutes, but it was a busy 10 minutes!

I was at the Garner's house for a short visit this afternoon, so naturally I needed to stop at the Bubela's on my way home. The girls were exuberant in their welcome, as usual. I always try to brace myself so they don't tackle me and put me on my back.

Carolyn was finishing up preparing their dinner of chicken enchiladas, salad, and fruit. I got there just in time to hold Jax while they all ate together. Of course, they asked me to join them...but, since I had no idea what I was going to give Wayne when he came in, I thought it would be in bad form to eat there. Turns out I gave him leftover smothered steak, noodles and fresh pineapple. I had started some sausage, but he came home too early for that to be ready.

After they finished dinner, I read to the girls...about 4 pages was all they managed to listen to before their attention was captured elsewhere. Brent or Carolyn put on a music video that Kate & Carlee really like, so they started dancing. Carlee was really into the music until I got the camera out. Then she started mimicking everything Kate did. They eventually danced for a little while, but you could tell they knew they were being filmed, so they acted goofy...or goofier, however you want to look at it.

4th of July at Port Alto

By the time Kate and Carlee got to the bay on July 4, Gage and Zane's pool had just about given up. The top and bottom rings were almost empty. It made it easy for Carlee to get in and out though, so it turned out fine. Kelly reinflated them later and it was a challenge for Carlee to keep from falling in or falling out. She got used to it, though, and had a good time swimming.

The families went on a boat ride with Virgie and Bo while I stayed at the house with Jax, who slept the entire time...gooood boy!

Kate and Zane both vie for Gage's attention. He tries to be diplomatic, but nearly 4-year olds don't get diplomacy and try to make him choose between them. He's pretty patient with them, I must say.

Carlee is a regular 2-year old, cute as can be most of the time...a little terror occasionally. When she gets mad about something, she usually just lays down wherever she happens to be. I haven't seen her scream or cry, so I don't know whether that's sometimes a part of her behavior. When I've been present, she just lies down and ignores you until she gets over it. At Schlitterbahn, it was in the middle of the walkway once and under a picnic table at the pool another time. It could be face down or on her back...whichever suits her.



I'll get around to posting some of the photos from Schlitterbahn. I don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to it.