Addendum for Wednesday, September 30

You know how they say that when it rains, it pours? Well, here's a second post for today. I forgot to include a very important photo - here's Katie's most recent school photo from April 2009:


Enjoy!

Update for Wednesday, September 30

Well, here we are again, on the brink of obsolescence.

It's been so long since the last post, that I can't believe I have to start with Katie's 4th birthday - waaaay back in February! We had our usual small family celebration that included her two best friends, our cousin Morgan and our friend Spencer Brown:

Auntie Rebecca and Uncle Dave joined the party, along with a very silly Grandma Teresa!

Auntie Liz and I - with the help of the internet - created a dino-cake masterpiece.

Katie also is a budding photographer - what follows is the world from her perspective:

Shortly after Katie's birthday, we learned that her Grandpa Russ died unexpectedly. While she lost her grandpa, she gained a new part of her family - her Grandma Patty, Auntie Cindy, Uncle Jim and cousin Jack:

While we were in St. Louis, we took the opportunity to take a family picture:

We also spent some time with Grandma Carol and Granny Lu and the kitties:

We also enjoyed a family day at the very excellent St. Louis Zoo:

And although we didn't take many photos since our trip to St. Louis, there were a few photos we managed to take. Here's Katie with one of our batch of new chicks in March:

Katie also took a number of trips with her Grandma to the San Juan Islands this summer. On one particularly fun trip, they were joined by our uncle Dave and cousin Morgan. They had a blast digging holes and playing in the mud while searching for clams:

Katie also spelled her name with stickers:

Miss Morgan can read now, and together they enjoy their books:

And she learned her very first signature recipe - Parfaits. The mantra goes like this - "Yogurt - Strawberries - Cream, Yogurt - Strawberries - Cream"

Here's our girl climbing trees at Grandma Teresa's house:

Katie and her Grandpa also spent some quality time together this summer. Here they are sharing breakfast and playing a fun game - quite possibly the only time I've seen Grandpa play a board game:


In August, we had a wonderful visit from Paul's cousins Mike & Liz from St. Louis. They visited the Seattle Aquarium:

Katie really bonded with "the big guy" over bubbles:

Here's one of the rare photos of Katie and her Mama:

Well, that's it for now. We've caught up with Katie Grace for the moment, stay tuned for further news.

Update for Friday, March 13

So, I'm trying folks. Here it is not quite one month from the last post, and I have a few photos to share with you. The first one is quite exciting for us - it's her first school photo taken in December 2008. I have about 100 copies of this picture that were supposed to be included in the family Christmas card. Well... better luck next year!

Here's a random picture of Katie. I don't recall the occasion, but she looks happy:


Every year, Katie and I join our friend Bridget for $5 mum day at our favorite nursery. We couldn't resist picking up a few pumpkins while we were there:

This is a very special picture. Our girl - on her own - decided to be Bob Marley for Halloween this year. As the time drew near, we carefully tried to position more traditional costumes - a fairy, a princess (gack), a pirate, etc., but she was adamant. Bob Marley carried around a portable music player with external speakers in her candy bag, and was a hit on the trick-or-treat circuit. We listened to her 4 favorite Bob Marley songs about a thousand times. Funny thing is that they're still fantastic! The guitar is a custom Auntie Liz creation with real rubber band strings that twang.

A little side note: the hat has become her winter standard hat... we don't leave home without it.


Another fine and wonderful day is when Katie gets a new bag of hand-me-downs from our good friend Hayley. Here she is trying all of her favorite pieces on: princess dress, gold shoes and winter gloves.


In October, we all battled the common fall cold. In November, it sent Katie to the hospital for chest x-rays. She had about 5 really wretched days of high fever, and hacking cough. The dino-mask treatment was part of a series of remedies that kept us busy around the clock:


But, she got to eat 'pockasils' in Mommy and Daddy's bed, with Luna. That's a treat:


Our Blue House Pharmacy. Note, there's kids medicine, and grown-up medicine - we were all sick:


The white-board to keep track of everything:


We were mended by December, and ready to play in the snow! Little did we know that we would end up snow-bound in the house for days on end with no way to get our cars out of the driveway! Note the Bob Marley hat:



Katie had the honor of putting the star on our Christmas tree - it was a really fun day!


We gave Katie a little fake tree for her room. She spent the holidays swapping ornaments from the big tree onto hers - and I kept taking my favorites back!


Here Katie and Daddy tried to make a snowman, but with dry, powdery snow, they ended up with a snowghost instead! We improvised facial decoration with broccoli eyes, carrot nose, and cantelope rind mouth. (I think the Bob Marley hat was in the wash that day).


Katie and Daddy make a beautiful gingerbread house each year from a fantastic kit that includes everything they need. It's a great winter day activity:


Why is it that the very best thing to a kid is a big cardboard box? Why do we even bother with the carefully chosen gifts?


This box lasted for ages:


For Christmas, Katie got a very special handmade dolly named (appropriately) Dolla from her Auntie Liz. She has curly hair just like Katie:


The one thing Katie asked for this year - repeatedly - was a big stuffy lion. Santa came through again! For the first few days the dogs growled and stalked it, but they grew to understand the giant stuffy.






Another box - this one from St. Louis I think:



Relaxing with a good book:

Playing with her dinosaurs - matching the pictures in the story with her critters:

It's February 13th and Katie Grace is 4 today! Thanks to the internet and Auntie Liz, we created this masterpiece the night before the big party. They got mini party hats before the big show:


Katie and her guests - Morgan and Spencer:


Cool birthday gift - ROMPER STOMPERS, GRRRRR!


Random pictures from this summer:



Swinging from the 'bouy tree' on the beach at Lopez:


The rest of the Halloween gang - Ketchup = Grandma, Mustard = Auntie June, Banana = cousin Cole, Elmo = cousin Aiden, and Bob Marley as herself:

Bob rockin' the portable cassette player - and yeah, I said CASSETTE!


The thinker:


Yes, Katie is obsessed with the computer, especially Skype-ing, but I really took this picture because of the way her legs are folded... those are the bottoms of her feet and her knees are pointed at the ground!


Grandma is a good reader:


Okay, that's it folks. I think I'm about caught up. I'm sure to find a few strays soon - they always pop up after I post. See you someday!

It's hard to call it an Update, when it's this old!

So, here we are at the crossroads. To continue to blog or not is the question. I maintain that this is a great way to share funny pictures and anecdotes, but the gross negligence toward posting seems to have driven away my loyal readers. I'll update today with some terribly old photos, and hope that old is still good enough.

Here is Miss Katie exercising with Grandpaw's weights:

Every kid does this with olives:

Miss K with Grandpaw's iPod:

Caught in the act - reading when the lights were supposed to be off:

Katie Grace Sticker Face:

Occupying herself on a Saturday morning with dry cereal and a book:

Helping Mommy unpack the Costco shopping:

Look who can reach the ceiling!

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery!

Two happy girls:

Picking blackberries on Lopez:

Hay Katie!

Picking flowers at Lopez:

Eating strawberries at the Farmers Market on Lopez:

Playing at the park:

Katie's favorite meal - CLAMS!

Hanging out in the kitchen while Mama makes dinner:

Kickin' it with Grandpaw:

Two happy girls!

SpongeBobSquareKatie:

The iconic ice cream cone enjoyed at the Zoo:

Playing on the Zoo toys:

Look who unearthed a turtle!

She couldn't figure out that someone else was controlling the water fountain!

Zoo-Tube:

Two friends in an anemone:

Tasty snack kids:

First serious injury involving glass and bare feet:

Pock-a-sil:

CLAMS again!

Enjoying the morning view at Lopez:

Going to summer school:

4th of July sparklers!

Cutie pie!

4th of July parade with our cousin Morgan!

Ready to go to work and school!

Marker-claws!

Guess what again!

First day of school!

Bison at the wild animal park:

Update for Friday, April 4

By now, all of you should be used to the erratic posting schedule of this blog. We're back with so many pictures to catch up since November (eek!!!) that I'm sure to either fill you with so much Katie-joy, or quite possibly bore you to the point that you don't even make it to the end of this post. We've got lots to cover, so let's begin with some old pictures that I don't think ever made it on the blog. I'd usually just let them go as irrelevant at this point, but they're so good that I just can't share:

Here's the tag-team duo of Grandma and Katie playing with arguably the best toy ever invented - the cardboard box:

And here's a few photos from last summer - I can't imagine how I didn't share them before. Paul went out on his pontoon boat, and Grandma and Katie met him at the lake for a short visit:

If we're going chronologically, the next event was Christmas. You'd expect a lot of photos from this day, but really there's only one thing you need to know . . . Katie got a trampoline from her Uncle Matt:

In preparation for the holidays, Katie spent a lot of time baking cookies at Grandma's house. She quickly realized that nobody at her house was going to take time to make cookies, so she learned to do it herself. The cookies were a hit, but my favorite were the chocolate dipped pretzles:

By the time we had recovered from the sugar coma from Christmas, it was already Valentine's day. Katie and our cousin Morgan spent a day at Grandma's house making valentines for everyone:




Once they finished their valentines, they set upon the task of making a birthday cake for Katie Grace who turned 3 the day before Valentine's Day. You've never met a sweeter pair of girls!

Later that evening, we celebrated Katie's birthday at home. It was a great party, complete with horn blowing clowns!

First there was this:

Which led to this:


Which led to this:
Here's a picture of two happy party-goers:


Katie got her first 'fishin rod' from Daddy, a great set of read-along books from Grandpa, and a darling little tea set from Mommy (who didn't really want to give it up):

The present that made the biggest 'splash' this year was her very own fish tank - which she promptly pulled over on her head the next morning 'trying to take care' of her fish. Did you know they make earthquake straps for almost anything?

A few days after Katie's birthday she had two special visitors in town - her Auntie Tara and Uncle Bryan from St. Louis. Auntie Tara earned mega cool points for all the time she spent playing with Katie in her room. We still talk about the 'cave' in her bedroom where the 'dragon' lives.



We also spent an afternoon at one of our favorite children's museum:


Speaking of birthdays, a few weeks later we celebrated the birthday's of Katie's Grandma and Auntie Liz. Note the combined ages of these ladies - we're not saying who owns which years! You'll note that Katie fine-tuned her candle blowing skills on the beautiful cake which she made with Grandma's help:



At the end of March, we took our first family vacation in almost a year - we spent a long weekend at Lopez just relaxing - everyone hunkered down with good books:

Katie and Daddy went fishing with her new 'fishin rod', and she learned the precise nature of getting skunked:

We braved the cold drizzle and explored the dock at low tide. Daddy was able to reach a really cool starfish that we loved for a little while before returning it to the sea:


What follows is a random collection of photos. We'll begin with a photo montage of what Katie does during a typical morning - eat cereal, wear princess shoes, and ride Luna:

We also have made more time for our friends. We went to the children's museum with Spencer Brown and his mom. The kids had a great time playing in the tree house and looking down through the 'hole' in the floor!

They played in the percussion room - a must for any kid:

...they made a stop at the face-painting station:

... and they learned about leverage by pulling ropes to lift bowling balls. I don't know how much leverage it takes, but it's a bit more than they've got at this point:

Katie and Spencer had a great time and finished the day with a refreshing cookie:

We recently were invited to a 'cowgirl' party for Miss Morgan's 6th birthday. We especially enjoyed painting little ponies:

The little pony party favors were fun too - we still like to line them up in Katie's room, and they often sleep lying down in a little plate:

It's been noted before in this blog that Katie loves to cook. Here she is one morning with Daddy - helping him make breakfast. As usual, it's eggs!


Speaking of eggs, I don't have any Easter photos to share with you. My camera died (again) the day before Easter. I do have a few photos from Katie's Grandma when they were decorating an Easter 'tree':

Let's wrap up this post with a photo under debate at our house - Paul says she's having a blast at the local reptile museum - I say it's thinly veiled terror. You decide:

That's all for now! See you..... sometime!

Update for Friday, December 21

So, here's a typical morning scene outside the bathroom door when I'm getting ready for work in the morning. Hilarious!



Stay tuned for Christmas pics soon!

Update for Thursday, December 6

Greetings everyone (the three of you who are still checking-in, Grandpaw, Auntie Tara, & Aunt Linny). It seems that my posting habit is to share a batch of photos right before the next special occasion. So, as Christmas will be upon us in a few days, and without further ado - may I present the sweet little lion:



Halloween is a special holiday at The Blue House. All of us have a surprising dedication to pumpkin picking & carving, not to mention the thrill of a large quantity of candy around the house (why is it that we buy 15 pounds of candy for 5 trick-or-treaters?)

As in years past, we all went out to our favorite local farm and wandered around their fields choosing just the right pumpkins. This year, we invited a few of our friends to join us - here's Katie bringing Spencer Brown and his Mom up to the barn:


We were lucky to arrive early enough to help the farmer feed his baby cows:



Katie & Spencer then hitched a ride down to the farthest reaches of the pumpkin patch (where we're convinced the best pumpkins reside):


The kids (big and little) picked out their pumpkins and then the little kids sat still for a series of funny pictures. I think Katie told a joke to Spencer that fell flat:







Daddy helped Katie put her pumpkins in the wheelbarrow and we headed back to the barn:





Once we got home, Katie went to take a nap, and the rest of us started carving. Here's our friend Bridget scooping guts:


And Auntie Liz with her usual gruesome creation:


Uncle Matt carved so many pumpkins, it had lasting effects on his brain:


Spencer and his Mom created a happy masterpiece:


When Katie awoke, most of our party had disbursed, but Bridget hung around and helped Katie decorate her pumpkin with markers and stickers:



They also had fun talking into the hollowed-out pumpkin, as it makes your voice sound echo-y:



Katie toured the kitchen, looking at all the carved pumpkins. After spending a considerable time reviewing Auntie Liz's work, she declared "it's a face":


So, I apologize for being photo-crazy for this post - I don't usually take great pictures, but the good lighting at the pumpkin patch, and luck with a new camera have made me a bit giddy. Toodle-loo from the pumpkin crew!

Update for Thursday, November 1

We've had a great summer! Our May vacation was about it for the summer fun budget, but we did manage to have a few special days to celebrate the nice weather. Here's a random assortment of photos for your enjoyment.

Katie has grown into quite a little chef. Her specialties include plastic donuts and carrots, invisible soup, and scorching hot pretend coffee. Here she is serving me and Auntie Liz a delicious breakfast of carrots and coffee. You'll see that Liz is smart - she's blowing on the coffee to make it cool:

Random photo - Katie loves her dogs. Here she is 'taking a cuddle' with Luna:

Paul and Katie were the proud keepers of a magnificent garden this summer. Here's a photo that Paul took on his cell phone that I find quite striking. I can almost 'see' her adult face in here:

In addition to zucchini, they grew tomatoes, green beans, swiss chard (blech), green onions, beets (never got brave enough to try them), turnips (meh), lettuce, radishes, spinach, spaghetti squash (yum), cucumbers, potatoes (fun) & these beautiful carrots:

We celebrated the 4th of July by solidifying a great tradition, we went to the Children's Parade in Carnation with our Aunt, Uncle and cousin Morgan. Morgan's big dog, Triton, pulls the cart with the girls inside!

Katie also spent a lot of time at the park this summer. Here are a few photos that her Grandpa took when he was here babysitting his favorite granddaughter. She especially liked the bike-ride to the park:

We also spent a fun summer day with our friends Spencer Brown and his Mom at Remlinger Farms. Auntie Liz came with us for a picnic, train ride, and a great day at the park:

It was particularly fun in the water ride when they figured out how to 'catch' the ducks!

More recently, we joined Spencer and his Mom at the Circus! I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, me or Katie, but it sure was a great day!

Julie & Katie were lucky to spend a quick weekend up on Lopez Island with Katie's Grandma Teresa. A nice walk on the beach makes it all worth it:

During the hot days of summer, Katie developed a fondness for eating whole strawberries (and getting them out of the fridge by herself). This girl can put away a clamshell of berries in one sitting!

Here's another fun photo - Katie and our cousin Morgan at the Blue House summer party. These girls love each other very much!

Other than a relatively quiet summer, we had a bit of concern when we thought Katie was exhibiting some seizure-type behavior. We ended up getting her a series of neurological tests - which earned our girl the nickname Katie Goopyhead - that showed no abnormalities. Long story short, it seems that Katie simply has an extreme way of showing surprise - by stiff arms, wide-eyes, and a grimace on her face. Nothing to worry about, and a good lesson in pediatric epilepsy (which is surprisingly common).

That's all for now. We're exhausted! The next post is forthcoming - Halloween photos have already been downloaded!