Look who’s walking!

Catelin started taking a few steps here and there a couple of weeks ago, but this past week she became much braver with her walking.  She walked across our family room and the boys’ room a couple of times – I tried to catch it on video….

Unfortunately all the film I got was her walking away from me.  This is what happens when I try to get her to walk towards me:

Is she the cutest or what?!

MJ’s first day of Pre-K

MJ started Pre-K at the “big school” last week.  On Monday, we had a meet and greet with the teachers; he had so much fun finding his cubby and becoming familiar with the classroom.  And he is very excited that Mia, one of his best friends, is in his class!




His first real day of school was Thursday.  We took some pictures with daddy that morning…




I dropped MJ off in morning carpool on my way to work.  I was choking back tears the whole time, but he was excited to start the day.




And off he went…and then my tears started flowing.  I am so proud of my biggest boy.  Welcome to Pre-K, MJ. 

Colorado

We went out to Steve’s parent’s place in Colorado for the first week in August.  John is the oldest of 5 siblings and they (along with their spouses) were all out there for a family reunion.  It was a great vacation.

I did not fool myself into thinking the plane flights were going to go well with three kids under the age of 4 and one of them being 14 months old.  Anyone who has had a child that age knows that it is the worst age to travel.  The trip out there goes something like this: drive to the airport, fly from Atlanta to Denver (3 hours), two hour layover in Denver, a 45 minute flight from Denver to Hayden, an hour long car ride to the lodge, and a two hour time difference.  The boys did awesome and I could not have been more proud of how well they followed directions, waited patiently in all of the lines, and sat quietly on the plane(s).  Catelin, however, did not do quite as well.  On the way out there, she did ok (minus the first hour of the flight to Denver when she was all over the place).  On the way back, we had to wake up at 3:30 AM to catch our first flight.  Catelin actually did great until we got on the plane from Denver to Atlanta...the one where we sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes with NO air conditioning.  The poor girl was so hot I had to strip her down to her diaper and pour water on her – she cried (and was inconsolable) for what seemed like two hours but apparently it was only 15-20 minutes.  My heart was breaking- I felt so bad for her.  After we took off and the air conditioning came on, she fell asleep for about 20 minutes and woke back up my sweet and very busy little princess.  

Anyway, the trip was great.  It was so fun to watch MJ in his element.  He absolutely loves the outdoors and animals so this was heaven to him.  The first morning we were there he decided to “call” some elk and wake everyone up:




I caught this picture of the boys enjoying the view:




Catelin was obsessed with going up and down the porch steps:




We drove four wheelers around the property and went for hikes along the way... check out my outdoorsmen!

 

MJ was “Gate Boy” and loved it:

 One one of our excursions Ty fell right in the mud!







Catelin had so much fun with all of the ladies... Grandma, Aunt Lee, and all of her great aunts took turns walking her around.






She also found her new favorite food….spaghetti!





And I love this picture of her sitting on the mantle:




MJ and Ty were busy looking for deer and wrestling with the “older boys.” 







We went down to the lake to go fishing and MJ caught his very first fish!  (A rainbow trout).  



Mommy also got one:


At one point, Ty looked at me with panic and fear in his eyes and started grabbing at his shirt and screaming.  I ran towards him just in time to see a bee fly out of his shirt – it stung him twice.  My poor little Ty Ty.  Thankfully he is a very tough kid and cried for all of two minutes.





We took Catelin out in the Ranger and she had so much fun. 






We had such a great time visiting with Steve’s aunts and uncles – it was so nice to spend extended time with them (instead of the usual quick weekend for a wedding).  




At Yellow Jacket Ranch the kids (and I) had fun on the swings and in the treehouse:








We also went over to Mike Mitchell’s property to play in the sandbox and check out his cows (they walked right up to our truck)!




The last night we were there we went on a “hayride” and got to see some beautiful views of the mountains and the ranch.