Happy Monday!

Don't go Gigi!

Today we waved bye-bye to my wonderful mother who has been in Corinth for two and a half weeks helping us adjust to Emily's arrival. In between loads of laundry, cooking dinners, and holding Emily, she kept Jack and Kate thoroughly entertained and distracted from the major life change going on around here. We couldn't have made it through these last two weeks without her and we miss her already! John's chances of having clean socks have decreased by half, Jack and Kate will be bouncing into our room at 6:30 tomorrow morning instead of Gigi's, and most frightening of all ... The children now outnumber the parents. Wish us luck!

Jack and Kate meeting Emily for the first time

Baby Emily

Less than one week old and already the object of so much love and affection. John and I can hardly put her down, Jack declared "She's the prettiest one yet", and Kate showered her with kisses. It's safe to say that we are head over heels in love with baby Emily around here.

Pirate Party

How do a grandmother and two aunts keep two kiddos entertained on a Sunday afternoon? With a pirate party of course! My mother and sister planned a pirate party complete with costumes, treasure map, treasure, games, and cupcakes . . . Jack and Kate had a BLAST! We buried a treasure chest full of Mardi Gras necklaces and gold coins in the backyard earlier that day. After explaining to Jack that a good pirate left them a treasure map leading them right to his loot, they were off on a big adventure. I love the genuine excitement in their faces as they uncover and open the treasure chest. It's as if Jack was trying to decide if this had been there all along and he just never knew about it. (He has since decided that I buried the treasure and that it all came from Walmart . . . not from a pirate. I knew we couldn't fool him for long.)

The Solar System

Ever since Mickey Mouse had his first Space Adventure, Jack's love of all things "space" has been growing. Planets, spaceships, moons, asteroids, comets . . . you name it and Jack knows something about it. In fact, I think I know more about each planet now than I ever did in school and I'm quite sure that we have the only two year who can name the planets in order starting with Mercury and ending with Pluto. Although Jack is quick to correct because Pluto is no longer a planet. (Bonus points if you can tell me what kind of planet Pluto is considered!) This is how much we talk about and read about space. So my sister, the master knitter she is, decided to knit Jack his very own Solar System to hang from the ceiling in his room. It might be one of the coolest things I've ever seen made out of "knit thread" as Jack calls it. Jack goes to sleep staring at it every night and I can only imagine what kind of space adventures he has had in his dreams.