Mr Fix It

Mimi got Carter a set of play power tools for his birthday and he LOVES them. It has been both a blessing and a curse. :) We always know where he is because you can hear the buzzing of the drill or saw, but the buzzing in constant and nonstop. :) It is hard to be annoyed by the noise when he is having so much fun. Just see for yourself.

Putting the drill bit in (hey I guess it is helpig with fine motor skills)

Look mom I got it in
ROAR...Here I come full force ahead with drill whirling and buzzing.

At the Car Wash

Matt decided it was a nice day to wash the cars and Ella Catherine decided that her car needed a wash as well. She had a BALL and we had an equally good time watching her. If only she would keep this enthusiasm as she grows and is old enough to wash our cars. :)Using the power washer

Gotta get the trunk

And the interior

A good thorough towel wash

oops missed a spot

Fun with daddy

We love getting the kids out early on these HOT summer days to get in some outdoor playtime. One of our favorite spots is the park. Nashville has so many great parks to choose from. This particular morning we were at the Red Caboose Park in Bellevue, TN

play time with daddy

So much funI love this picture! It is as if he is saying "move out the way sister, I've got this"
and there he goes

There is my heart right there on that slide! Matt and our two beautiful children

MoonPie Festival

One of Matt's co-workers and friends is from Beltbuckle,TN, the home of the MoonPie Festival. When we heard about the festival we had to go see it for ourselves, and it didn't disappoint. Just like the rest of the summer, it was very hot but we had a good time. Of course the best part of the trip was the mon pie and the cold RC cola. :) (which we ate in our air conditioned car.)

At the end of a long hot day, Ella Catherine was not so happy about posing in front of the Moon Pie Destival sign holding the cold RC cola and Moon Pie. Yet, we still had to snap the picture. Someday she will look back and laugh at this.

Carter and Matt. Ella Catherine was still traumatized from having to hold the cold RC Cola in the abve picture.

Carter's first bite of a moonpie. He and I shared a lemon MoonPie.

This is not such a great photo of me, but I love it. The look on Carter's face is priceless! I am cheesing it up and it is as if he is saying "are you done hamming it up mom I want some more moonpie."

Ella Catherine's first bite of a MoonPie (of course she chose a chocolate one). The moonpie made everything better!!

Matt eating his Vanilla Moonpie and drinking his RC cola.

Moving up!

On 5/14/10 Ella Catherine said good bye to the Honeybears and on 5/17/10 she became a Leaping Frog.

1st day as a leaping frog.

What a difference a year makes....

Wow, what a difference a year makes. We are so very grateful that Carter is a healthy happy little boy. He turned 1 on 5/20/10 and decided that he was done with only the occasional walking and decided to take off..literally! He walked from our kitchen to the front door the morning of his birthday and there has been no turning back. He is so very proud of himself as are we. It still shocks me a little when I see him walk into a room. Just seems like yesterday he was a baby and now he is approaching toddlerhood at an increasing speed. He had his 12 mo check up and he is 25lbs 2 oz (81st%), 30inches tall (72%). He has 8 teeth and is working on his molars. He has been off the bottle since he was about 11 months old and LOVES his sippy cup and whole milk. He is now eating what the big kids eat at school...no more baby food. Always a blessing and a curse. Trying to get all the veggies and fruits in is always a new challenge with the difference in textures. We are lucky that he likes food and is a good eater. As you can tell from his stats, he doesn't miss many meals. :)

His teachers and classmates threw him a little party at school on his birthday. I provided the blueberry muffins....no cupcakes in the infant room. :) Then we had a party at the house for family and close friends. He had a ball and we had so much fun watching him.

Annual Mother-son birthday picture.

His classmates made this cute banner for him. It is signed with all their hand prints/ foot prints

Sitting at the big table eating his muffins
Birthday boy!

The birthday cake His smash cake
Getting ready to dig in!

MMMM. Cake!
Taking his bike for a spin

Loving his new lawn mower. He pushes it all over the house.
The Crew: Erich, Ella Catherine, Carter and Reese.

Graduations

We had 3 big graduations in the family this year. Christopher graduated from Christian Brother's High School. Cori and Michael graduated from eigth grade. We are very proud of all 3 of them.
Michael receiving his History award at his eigth grade acheivements ceremony.

Michael, John, Chris and Debbie before Christian Brother's High School Graduation 2010

Lori, Kelly and Cori at St. Joseph Catholic school eigth grade graduation 2010