Happy 1st Birthday

Time goes by so faster and faster as we get older. Not only am I getting older faster but my babies are becoming little indepentent people before my eyes. The days turn into weeks, the weeks zoom into months and before I realize it a year has come and gone. This year our little AbyKate has grown from a little bundle in our arms that we worried about every moment to a climbing exploring toddler. She is the most social of the three kids and has grown to love the world around her. Some of her favorite things are toothbrushes, her blanket

the park,

chasing the cat, Cleo and petting/screaming at the dog, Merlin.

She gets into everything

climbs out of everything

and I have to say puts her whole self into everything she attempts.

She seems to love her new life here in Texas. Some of favorite times are when we are lucky enough to spend the weekend with with Grandma

and Grandpa

She/we were lucky enough to spend her special day with them in Austin along with Auntie Lynne, Uncle Don and Cousin Bernie. After a confusing "Happy Birthday" (I think it was the candle that was confusing and interesting to her)

she dug in, giving it her all in typical AbyKate form.

It was quite amusing to company.

We love our little AbyKate more and more as the time flys by.

William is Reading!

We are so proud of William.  He has decided to learn to read. 

Last week we were shopping for a gift and I heard William behind me sounding something out.  "O-N, O-N ON!...O-F-F, O-F-F OFF!!!  Claira you move the switch this way to turn it ON."  I turned around and gave him a big kiss :)

One of our friends kids, Brodie age 6, once told me "its only childproof till you learn to read" Isn't that the truth!  Reading is the key to knowledge/power and truly a gift to explore.  I am so excited for William, his world is about to get bigger.

DreamCatcher

One of the first nights here in our new house Claira told us, "I love my new room." Well isn't that wonderful, but why? She not only told us why but proceeded to explain something that had puzzled us for a long time.
Last October she and William borrowed a Dora movie from the library. It looked like just the kind of video they would love; Dora as a princess and as it being close to Halloween it even had a witch. Shortly after we turned it on she ran out of the room screaming, but could not tell me what was so scary. So we just turned it off and returned it without another thought. Looking back this is about the same time her night terrors started. She would wake screaming and shaking in fear completely afraid of her room looking up and out the window like there were monsters.
She explained that the best part of her new room is there is no ceiling fan! Apparently she dreamed that a witch popped out of the ceiling fan and "fffewt" (you have go to hear her do the noise, too cute) out the window, broom and all. The dream is so vivid that when she wakes in the middle of the night she has a hard time walking through our living room because there is a ceiling fan.
Now what do you do? We live in the south, no ceiling fans would be a bit crazy! We decided to bring out the trusty Dream Catcher given to me when I was younger and having bad dreams. I had completely forgotten that it was near Williams bed because he had some bad dreams a while back and it fixed him up good. Sure enough after William sweetly explained how it worked Daddy helped them agree on a place in the room where it could 'filter' everyone dreams.

Thank goodness it seems to be working. With all the lack of sleep around here I was actually not opposed to the idea of taking out all the ceiling fans...loss of sleep makes you desperate and a bit crazy.

Support Us In The Memory Walk

     As a teenager and young adult I was a witness to the slow loss of my Grandmother.  Over the course of about ten years each of her loved ones stood by, only to be forgotten.  The light in her eyes slowly faded as, as one by one, memories of us regressed to the point we didn't exist.  But I still have memories that I can smile and laugh at. 

     One summer she was visiting and like all her visits she complained that in all her 30 years of living in San Pedro she never set foot on Catalina Island.  So my mom packed us up for the day and onto the boat we went.  We rented our golf cart, visited all the sites, ate good food, took lots of pictures and headed back.

That evening at dinner Dad asked, "Mom, how was your day?"

To which she replied, "Fine, we didn't do much."  Shocked and a little disappointed my mom and I just stared at her.

Dad then said, "Mom didn't you go to Catalina today?"

"I lived in San Pedro for 30 years and never went to the island." 

We showed her the pictures only to see her get confused.

     Years passed and living arrangements went from daytime 'friends' to live-in 'friends', until it was time to say goodbye to her own home and move her closer to family and into the Friendship House.

     Eventually the feelings of sadness and anger faded into acceptance.  This was our Gramie and we kept her company when we could.  It didn't matter if she didn't recognize us.  I know she could feel our love for her and usually we got a smile or two.  Maybe that smile was from the mints my dad always brought her.

     Currently more then 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's.  The Alzheimer's association offers care, education, support and resources in communities nationwide.  My Grandmother was lucky enough to have supportive sons both emotionally and financially to help her down the dark path of this disease.  But 78 million baby boomers are at risk.  I want to do my part to fight this disease and raise awareness.  Please make a donation to help the Alzheimer's association advance research into prevention, treatments and a cure so William, Claira and AbyKate don't have to watch their loved ones loose the light in their eyes.

     By participating in the 2009 Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk, the kids and I are committed to raising awareness and funds for Alzheimer research, care and support.

Thank you, 

Kelly, Andy & the Kids

http://memorywalk09.kintera.org/katy/gramielucy

Visitors

This little guy was visiting us around dinner time the other evening...not sure the type of snake but he was quite the dinner entertainment.  He slithered up the chair, around the chair, onto the table, around the candle where he took a long break...then down the chair where he was met by Andy's broom, up and over the fence he went!  So long little snake :)

Our favorite visitors from last week were Rachel and Shelby, Claira and my best friends from Mississippi.

 It was wonderful to have them here while Andy was working in California.  We didn't do anything special just the usual.  We took William to school every morning and Shelby was always eager to see what he was going to learn that day.  

On Tuesdays we have gymnastics and lucky Shelby it was 'Bring a Friend to Gymnastics' day.  They had so much fun, in fact I got a cute little card in the mail from her today that said the balance beam was her favorite part of the trip!  
I think Rachel's favorite part of the trip besides not having to cook or clean was the pools.  Everyday we visited one of our neighborhoods pools.  

She and her belly baby (Rachel is due with baby girl #2 Oct. 5) just floated around while the 4 kids swam, splashed, and wore themselves out.

One evening we went out to dinner, lucky me!, and then enjoyed some delicious ice cream 
while listening to live Jazz play in the plaza.

Good times were had by all! 

GoodNight AbyKate

Since we've been home

Since we've been home from vacations Wil has started summer school and is loving it!  They do lots of experiments, crafts, gardening, games and he has made a new friend, Ben, whom he enjoys playing soccer with during Recess. And today when I went to pick him up both boys were so excited to tell me about how they got to hold a tarantula and told me to listen very closely and I'll hear the cockroach hiss!  I didn't hear the cockroach hiss, because before I got the chance they began to tell me about how when they held him he had sticky feet and when you hold them upside down they don't fall off.  Boys!  I would never hold a cockroach...maybe the furry tarantula but NOT the roach!

Claira got a new hair do!  

and AbyKate has been working hard on perfecting her walking skills...check her out!