Katherine's Birthday Party

We had Katherine's birthday party on Saturday, and it went well. We had a Sesame Street theme, and from the time we picked up the cake at the grocery store, she wanted nothing more than to get her hands on the toys that were the cake toppers. (I think those are some of her favorite new toys.) She wasn't sure what to think of the whole party thing until her daddy picked her up and everyone started singing "Happy Birthday." Her little face lit up all over. All-in-all, I think she had a very good party day.

Stucco & Skylight

Stucco work on the addition was done on Thursday or Friday, and the bathroom skylight was installed on Saturday. They got a lot done today, but no pictures yet.

Katherine is Two!

Our sweet Katherine turned 2 years old on Thursday. It is hard to believe that she is already two. Time has flown. She is such a sweet-spirited little girl, with an adorable smile. She is somewhat shy around strangers, but warms up to you when she gets to know you. She already recognizes lots of letters and numbers, and loves books, cars, playing with her big sister, and loving on her baby brother. Her vocabulary is also growing by leaps and bounds. We'll have her second birthday party tomorrow, so there should be lots of pictures.

We love our Katherine! Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

The Day She Was Born


At Her First Birthday Party


Two Years Old!

Random Photo Thread

The slideshow below is just some random pictures of things going on around here lately. The other day the girls turned the block wagon upside down and decided to use it for a slide. They had a great time with that! All of the kids are growing so fast--Malcom is sitting up in the baby chair, Katherine is working puzzles (and knows lots of shapes, letters, and numbers), and Mary Joyce is starting to write letters. It is so much fun to watch them learn these new things. :-)

Word of explanation of the "Great Sticker Incident"...

I was in the family room, and the girls were in their bedroom playing. I suddenly realized that things were waaaaay too quiet, so I was about to go back and check on them. About that time, they come bursting into the room, and Mary Joyce announced, "Mama, we got stickers!" And, they did...

Construction Update

We are well into the construction process now. The roof is up, except for the shingles. The inspector came today, so they should be starting with the shingles soon. They have also blocked of the windows in the girls' room and the bathroom since that wall will now be an interior wall instead of an exterior one. I will be glad when they get that work finished off. Not much on the plywood look, but it does mean the work is getting done. All of the electrical wiring was done this weekend, too. The contractor tells us that drywall should be up by the end of the week, and everything should be finished in about 4 weeks. We have been VERY pleased with his work so far. He is doing everything he can to get this done as quickly and as well as possible. Photos are in a slideshow below.

We Have Construction!

We are now officially living in a construction zone, and we're actually happy about it. Work on the addition to the parsonage has finally begun and is moving at a pretty good pace. Here are some pictures, so far...

This is what the back of the house looked like prior to construction. (This was made before they repainted the outside of the house.):


Getting the ground ready:




Foundation:


"Before" picture of the home office. This was made before we moved in--note the tiny little Mary Joyce in the corner of the photo:


Home office after demo:




Construction of the External Walls (This is the common method of construction down here due to the building codes.):






From the Inside:

3 Months for Malcom!

Our Malcom boy is now 3 months old. He is growing so fast, too. :-) He is holding his head up pretty well and is now sleeping through the night! (It is amazing the difference that being well-rested can make.) He is a very smiley boy and has the sweetest little baby babble--he loves to watch his sisters and will be right in the middle of everything before we know what happened. Such a precious addition to our family!