Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving this evening with Gram, BB, Aunt Char and Uncle Charles (who are now official New Oxford, PA, residents!)- it was a very nice Thanksgiving and we send our love to all of our family and friends as well!
Kaitlyn is still trying to learn to walk:
The family picture which won't be on our Christmas card:
Kaitlyn and Aunt Char:
Paul III and Kaitlyn waiting for dinner (one of them was more content to wait!):
Yes, their outfits were matching (daddy's idea):
Gram and Paul III up to no good:

Halloween- take 1

Tonight was the Fall Fest party for Paul and Kaitlyn's daycare- what a fun way to finish the day! It was a beautiful day for a walk across camps from the Growing Place to the 'big party' as Paul described it.
In case you can't tell, Kaitlyn is a strawberry this year and Paul is a "worker"- the slow/stop sign that is used to direct traffic at a construction zone.

There were tons of fun games for the kids- Paul spent a lot of the time with the play doh but also made a pumpkin face.
And this may be my favorite picture from the night- as you can see, Kaitlyn is "active" ... poor Gram got the bad end of this deal :) and i was laughing while taking the picture:

More vacation memories- Raquette Lake

Somehow vacation already feels like a long time ago, so here are more of our fun memories to keep our great times fresh in our mind...
Paul III and his "tree" at the Moose Lodge Chip and Putt- the tree has grown quite a bit and is already much taller than Paul:
Kaitlyn and her new tree, also at the Chip and Putt:
Gram, Paul III and Mommy headed in Gram's boat to the library in town:
A picnic lunch at the leantoo:
How many people does it take to get a 5 1/2 month old into a bathing suit:
And a picture which we somehow captured of our vacationing crew:
Paul and Gram digging (I also thought this was a neat, artistic picture):
Paul "cooking" with pine cones- note the "burners", "stove items" and "apron" (the apron was also on during the tree picture... much to daddy's dismay!):

My favorite things to do on vacation

Paul III:
Dig in the sand- at Lake Sunapee, NH
Dig in the sand- at Raquette Lake, NY
Drive the boat (at Raquette Lake, NY)
Eat!! Ice Cream and Birthday Cake (an early treat for mommy) with Gram and BB at Raquette Lake, NY
Make yummy ice cream sandwiches from Oreo Cookie crumbles with Nana
Dig in the sand with Uncle Chris in NH (notice a trend here?)
Kate:
Hang out at the beach (taking after mommy!) in NH.
Sit up on my own (don't you dare lie me on my back... I want to sit up- and will let you hear about it!).
Go for a swim- even though the water was chilly, I did well.
Do standing up exercises with Pop Pop (not pictured, but this one was cute anyway)
Paul Jr. and Leigh Anne:
Spending time with our families (Kate was already asleep on this gorgeous night at Raquette Lake when we went for a post-dinner boat ride)

Raquette Lake trip

We had a great few days at Raquette Lake for the fourth of July (despite it raining almost every day and barely making it above 60 degrees the entire trip) with Gram and BB, and little Paul has a bug-bit-bitten face to show for it!
Kaitlyn enjoyed her first trip to camp (and was a great car traveler) and seemed to enjoy the new sites, sounds and fresh air. She "chatted" for quite a while to everyone at the 4th of July picnic at our camp.
Paul talking about a boat ride (one of his favorite things to do) while sitting in one of the rocking chairs on the porch.
Daddy and Paul reading the New York Times on Sunday afternoon.
Kaitlyn and Paul doing tummy time together.
A picnic on the porch with Gram, Paul and Kaitlyn.
Paul shadowing his buddy, BB, at his desk.
Little Paul testing out his Moose Lodge hat on Kaitlyn.
Gram, BB and Little Paul on a John Deere Gator ride- covered up to protect themselves from the bugs and the rain.

Happy Father's Day

Today we celebrated Paul's third father's day- ironically, it was the day before Father's Day last year when we learned that Kaitlyn would be joining our family! Unfortunately we spent part of our day at Lowe's looking at dishwashers (and riding tractors for Paul- he had a blast, of course)- ours has a nice puddle of water in it when it finishes running- and not having a dishwasher is NOT an option in our house :) So we're resorting to removing the excess water ourselves until a repair man can check it out.... daddy did successfully remove the drain valve yesterday to look for a blockage (I got very, very scared when I saw the "Do It Yourself" book come out)- but he managed to put it back together successfuly.
So pictures... breakfast after Paul and Daddy's Sunday trip to the "donut store".
Kaitlyn playing this afternoon- and almost rolling onto her belly.
Hanging out with Mom and kids.
Gram and Kaitlyn chatting with little Paul last night.
We enjoyed a nice dinner tonight with Gram and Uncle Ryan- hope everyone had a great weekend!

Happy Mother's Day

We had a great mother's day and at times couldn't believe that we have two children to celebrate with on such a special day! We all got to do some of our favorite things- daddy went to the "donut store" (7-11) with Paul, Mommy got to go for a run (albeit a short one!), little Paul got to pick out some new flowers with Gram at a huge nursery/greenhouse nearby and then plant them, and Kaitlyn.. well.. she ate, slept and played.

Easter - take one

We headed to Gram and BB's on Saturday night for an early Easter celebration. With an easter egg hunt, of course...Wait- there's something in these eggs! Cheerios!

Paul shows the proper way to eat what was inside the easter eggs...And here's what happens when we tried (unsuccessfully) to take a family picture... Daddy's eyes were closed, Kaitlyn was looking in the wrong direction (but at least awake!), Paul wanted desperately to go look for more easter eggs in the front yard, and mommy was doing all she could to keep Paul in her arms.