Happy Birthday...EVERYONE!

And here are two reasons why couples need to have great communication! My superintendent is turning 40 tomorrow and I volunteered to make a birthday cake for his surprise party at work. Well...my husband volunteered me to make a cake for someone at his work...on the same day! Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), I spent my entire evening decorating cakes. (But I enjoyed it-don't get me wrong!) I think I was finally finished around 9:00 PM. Shew!




HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYONE! SURPRISE!

Too Cool For Mornings

As you know, sunglasses are her new favorite thing. They spice up any old outfit in a flash!

Susu and Uncle Tony gave us this way fun picnic table AND a cool play gym with a slide. We have finally agreed on where they should go and look forward to our many weekend mornings and weekday evenings outside. She is quickly getting the idea of how slides work and I love the giggles that come with her sliding!

She's just too funny in her shades! I think she has 3 pairs and she loves them all! She'll wear yours too!

Evening Fun

Nighttime at the Venable household is always a relaxing time that results in all of Sidney Kate's toys being tossed about. Here you can see poor Indy has just given in to the mess...poor fella! He once had a chair all to himself...then Buster came and he had to share...now Sidney Kate is here and he doesn't even have a chair! I guess the doll is somewhat comforting to him...



She's one entertaining chick! Tonight she was practicing, "Go Wolfpack" (her version was all jibberish) and "Twwwwwwwo".

Go ahead and take a close look at her eye color. It isn't blue and it isn't brown...they are looking mighty green these days...maybe if you click the picture it will be large enough for you to compare to Kevin's. Her right eye has one brown spot...but I don't think they will be brown like Kevin's. You would think they would be a color by now! 14 months!

Sidney Kate's Shades

Sunglasses have become one of Sidney Kate's new favorite accessories. She has learned to put them on her head to hold her hair back, clean them with her shirt and put them on (almost).
This was taken as we were playing outside after work this week. She had a good time walking around talking.

GG bought Sidney Kate a CAR! And she loves it! She will let you push here all over the place without fuss. She waves to everyone and no one and talks all the while. She has figured out that she doesn't even have to hold her water; she can put it under the hood and call for it (WaWa) whenever she wants it. The girl has it rough!

These are her major play sunglasses. She has managed to get them pushed up on her forehead...but they are a little upside down. We get such a kick out of watching her do things! (Notice her bucket...hahaha)

After wearing them on her head she pulled them down to wear for real...they don't fit so well this way do they? :-D

Happy Retirement Ray!

Ray Russell retired from Renfro this week...HAPPY RETIREMENT RAY!
Guess who made the cake!
I was rather pleased with my first attempt at a golf course. I'm looking forward to making my next cake already! I need to do a little research though...I think it's set to be a pool table. I'm also really wanting to take the summer cake decorating class at Surry with Kevin...does anyone happen to know when that is? :-D

Happy Fathers Day, Fathers! Part II

For dinner we went to Grandma Mary and Papa's house for a cookout. The whole gang was there-Keith, Emily, Rylan, Chase, Emily's parents and mine. Sidney Kate started things off right by moving around the furniture, she wanted to make sure there was enough sitting room...and playing room.

Here she is enjoying a nice moment with Rylan. I think this is where she found out that he had a girlfriend...and it wasn't her!
She didn't mind though, he's her buddy! ("Ri Ri!")

Rylan discovered the joy of playing with ice and Sidney Kate was quick to follow. She was super excited over everything he was doing.

Somehow we went through the whole evening without getting a picture with Grandma Mary and Papa...oops!

Happy Fathers Day, Fathers! Part I

After church we did lunch at our house with Grandma and Papa for Fathers Day. I'm not quite sure why this picture seems so far away...I guess I need to train my husband a bit in the art of taking pictures (he can cook, clean and balance the checkbook-you'd think he could take a picture!! snicker snicker!).

Daddy's girl...I'll say that to make him feel good for the day.

We'll do anything to get her to interact with the camera these days...that includes waving at it!

"My Babies and Me!"

Grandma Mary and Papa bought Sidney Kate a beautiful pink dress with a doll in a matching dress! My major goal was to get a good shot of her and the doll together...I tried!

She looks like she's going to tip over...

She really likes the doll...you just can't tell because she's dragging it by the hair most of the time or trying to pull her bows out.

After a few days we noticed that Sidney Kate had another doll with the same type of dress (a gift from Grandma Hauser). So now she has a baby doll and a big girl doll. She did kiss them and then throw them on the floor, but I managed to catch this shot before she did all of that.

Poor thing!

Talk about B E A U T I F U L!

(I can say that right? Being the mom and all!)

She's been paying attention to Gary in church.

Pictures I'll Pay For Later...

I don't even have to explain these...

Relaxing...

After Derek's big party we stopped by Grandma and Papa Hauser's for some relaxing family time. We all napped in some form or fashion, played Yahtzee and rode motorcycles (gasp!! Kevin and I both did...). While we waited for the other to finish their ride we sat in the hammock and relaxed.
Here we are with UB.

One tired puppy! She just woke up from a nap but I don't think she got to finish it...

Happy Birthday Derek!

Cousin Derek is the big 4!! Wow time has flown by! To celebrate Derek turning 4, his family and friends gathered at the church playground. Here is Uncle Chad holding Sidney Kate. He took her down the slide, which she would have really enjoyed had she not spotted her Momma at the bottom. (Her new stage...cry when I see Momma-even if I'm having fun!)

She didn't cry with Daddy though...

What better way to get all the kid energy out than to hit something? It all started with one bat, then the other kids found the bats that stay at the playground...next thing you know you have 4 or so kids standing around the hat beating it to pieces. Luckily no one got hurt...I have a video that I'll load later.

Before the big kids got all of the candy beat out of it, Sidney Kate took a few swings.

Moving On Up!

Friday was Sidney Kate's last day on the baby side! (When I say baby side I mean side...the 0-2 year olds are in one room separated by a book shelf.) But this is a big deal for us mommies! Our little ones are moving away from the people that have loved and nurtured them for their first many months! They learned how to eat, roll over, sit up, crawl, walk and babble with these people! How will they ever grow without them? (These are my crazy momma thoughts coming out!)

This is what Sidney Kate will get a full day of Monday, sitting in little people chairs! She has been visiting the BIG KID side for sometime, getting use to the area and new teachers. Apparently she has already fallen in love with the chairs. They are so close to the ground she can back up in them...adorable!

Sitting herself down...precious!

Kym and Ms. Shirley are the wonderful women that taught Sidney Kate sooooo much! I know she will miss them terribly, but will only have to look over the bookcase to see them! Shew...we're lucky! I'd hate to think the horror that will happen when she actually has to leave that room!!

**You know your daughter loves daycare when she jumps out of Daddy's arms to go to these ladies...Kevin said she did that every morning and didn't mind him leaving. Now that's a daycare you want to leave your baby with!!
Thank you ladies-YOU ROCK!!