Ava's 3rd Birthday Party

Shannon giving the girls tat-oo's.  Kate was admiring Ava's tatoo.

Kate waiting patiently (hoping Ms. Shannon will give her another tatoo).  

Kate with the sweet birthday girl.  She got to sit by Ava during the Fancy Nancy party and have lunch together!

Kate & Ava swinging after the party was over.  They LOVE to swing together.  I have this exact same picture from last year after her birthday party.

We went to Nashville for Ava's 3rd birthday party.  She had a Fancy Nancy party.  They had so much fun!  Kate loves spending time with Ava.  She thinks of Ava as her little sister and Ava thinks of Kate as her big sister.  They get along great together and hardly ever fight or disagree.  It's such a wonderful relationship!  I am so glad they are so close and love being together.  It's really special since Ava's mom, Shannon, and I were best friends in middle school & high school.  It's great to see the girls having such a strong bond too!

Lunch Boxes

Kate & Kitely with their lunch boxes from this year.  We had to take one last picture before we threw them away.  They loved these lunch boxes we got for this year.  Kate's said "KAT" and Kitely's said "KIT."  They were really cute but got very nasty.  We just couldn't use them anymore.  :(

Father-Daughter Dance

Kate & Daddy ready for the dance!

Kitely & Kate dancing together.

Kate, Kitely, & the other Kate dancing together.

Kate & Jarett went to the dance with Kitely & Phillip.  They had a great time.  They took the girls to Jason's Deli for dinner (Kate's favorite).  At the dance, Kate loved dancing (mostly spinning in circles).  She also loved the chocolate fountain (dipping chocolate chip cookies in it and marshmallows in it).  While they were dancing, they found a friend to dance with them.  Kate called her "the other Kate" and they had a great time together.  They actually used to go to school with her last summer.  It was really fun for them all!  I'm so glad that Jarett & Kate were able to have this time together.  They loved it!!

Kate's Tent & Sleeping Bag

Kate wearing her tent & sleeping bag outside.

She's off on a "camping trip."

Daddy set Kate's tent up for her in our living room with her sleeping bag while I was gone on a scrapbooking weekend.  She had so much fun with it!  She loved playing in it.  It was a big Daddy treat!  She always looks forward to Daddy treats that she gets when Mommy goes out of town!  They had a great time!

MOPS Retreat

What a beautiful view!  For our MOPS retreat, we went to a cabin in Gatlinburg for 2 nights.  This was the view when the sun was coming up on Saturday morning.  It was so nice to get away with some wonderful friends.  We had a great time just shopping, hanging out, eating, playing cards, and watching movies.  Thanks for a short break from reality girls!

Snowman!

Jarett & Kate rolling her snowman together.

Kate standing on top of the bottom ball.

Kate & Daddy posing for Mommy.  I love this picture!

Kate & Daddy with the snowman finished!  The next day, Clay & Paul brought over a scarf and hat for the snowman.  Kate LOVED her snowman!  She was so excited that Daddy got home from work early on the snow day and they got to go outside and build a snowman.  She also got to have hot chocolate afterwards.  What a great day for her!

Winter trip to Nashville

Kate & Ava with their self portraits.  We took the girls to Cheekwood Art & Gardens in Nashville.  They have a free art project for kids on Saturday's so we took the girls.  The project on that day was to create a self portrait (interesting).  It was really more of a Mommy project.  But they had fun and really enjoyed it.  (They loved wearing matching shirts too -- so cute).

Ava & Kate watching "Fly to the Moon" after a busy day (and no nap for either of them).  Ava was an LSU cheerleader and Kate was Cinderella.  They were pretty much in costume at any point that we were at Shannon's house.  They had such a great time.  And Kate loved the movie (although she really didn't want to watch it).  So sweet when they are calm!

On Sunday, we took the girls to the park because the weather was so beautiful!  Ava & Kate loved swinging and stayed in the swings for most of the time.

Kate & I went to Nashville for the weekend while Jarett had inventory at work.  I knew he'd be working most all weekend so I figured it would be more fun for us to go visit Shannon, Greg, & Ava.  We had a great trip.  It came at a good time for the Meadow's also.  One of their sweet dogs, Minnie, had to be put to sleep Thursday night before we came.  She had a very aggressive form of cancer.  So it was good to give them a distraction for the weekend also.  Thank you Shannon, Greg, & Ava for letting us come visit!  We had a great time!  

Kate throwing snowballs with Daddy

It was really cold by the time Daddy got home and we ate dinner.  So Kate got all bundled up to go outside and was sooooo excited!

Most of our snow had melted that day by the time they got to play but she didn't care.  She just loved being outside and throwing some snow at her Daddy!  Kate loves the snow and we don't get much of it.  This was the first year she's really had any snow to see at all!  (This was the snow from my last post in January).

It's Snowing!!!

Kate after running circles in the snow.

Kate was showing me snow on her gloves.  She was trying to make a snowball.

Kate just loved the snow.  She thought it was great!

Pure joy!!

We had a snow day here in Knoxville today, Tuesday, January 20th.  The schools were all closed because the roads were a little slick this morning.  Kate hasn't ever really seen snow.  So, she was very excited to see the snow this morning.  It made her very happy!  Even though, there wasn't much of it, it didn't matter to her.  She ran around in circles and loved picking it up.  She asked if she could play in the snow with her Daddy when he got home from work.  Hopefully, there will be a little left in the back when they get home.  She went to school late this morning.  I'm sure they are having fun today!  Enjoy the snow day!!

Kate cheering for UK

Kate posing in her cheerleader outfit (she requested this picture).

Her sweet look while making me breakfast in her kitchen.

On Friday, January 16th, Kate's class at school had a day where they were suppose to dress up in their favorite sport.  Well, cheerleading isn't her favorite sport right now but she loves her UK cheerleading outfit.  She was so excited to wear it to school.  Nevermind the cold weather, she wore it all day long!  She wanted to wear it again on Saturday.  She loves to show her UK pride!!!  Hopefully, we're raising her right and she won't ever stray from her blue roots!