A quick Florida weekend...

Kalee's fall break from school was last Friday and Monday, so we decided to take a quick trip to Florida to check in on our Andrew. Neither of us were looking forward to the drive (Rich had flown down earlier in the week for work), but it was well worth it! Andrew is just the cutest baby and has such a great personality. He can be quite serious, but when he breaks out his smile it just melts your heart! We also were able to squeeze in some visits with friends, which was great...now I just have to recover from exhaustion!!! I can't wait until Christmas - we'll be back in FL for a full week and will have much more time to spend with everyone.

We have been working hard at staying healthy...and it paid off! The amount of time that we got to spend with Andrew was just wonderful, especially for Kalee! I'm sure she got tired of hearing "Go wash your hands...and then use the hand sanitizer...don't touch that...take it easy", but she took it all in stride!

Kalee and Savannah

Baby Rachel...I love this picture! She's just chillin' at the picnic! Breakfast with Uncle Stevie

We went to watch one of Michaela's soccer games, which was a lot of fun, even if we did get rained on!

Two of my favorite girls...

And, of course, Annabelle. She can brighten anyone's day! I taught her a new saying and I am sure she will have it down perfectly by the time she is up here for Thanksgiving.

Hey girl!

Pumpkins and Cheerleading

So, one of the reasons that I love living in Georgia is all the different things we get to do here...one of which is picking pumpkins from a "real" pumpkin patch! We had fun doing that on Monday evening! Kalee also won the coveted "spirit stick" at cheerleading last night. The coaches give out 2 a week, so Kalee has been patiently (ha ha!) waiting her turn!

Another great weekend!

Friday evening we went to First Friday in downtown again - Kalee had a blast, doing a lot of the same things as last time. She is now a pro at the rock wall! Saturday morning my cousins, Matt and Meg Bilotta, came over for a short visit. They were in Athens for a wedding, and we were so happy to see them! Kalee was extra excited. She remembers going to their wedding a few years ago, so she couldn't wait. Meg helped her with her back-bends and Kalee just thought she was the best ~ she talked about you, Meg, all afternoon! Then, after our visit with Matt and Meg we went to Kalee's school for the Fall Festival. Kalee got to play all kinds of fair games and had her hair sprayed purple. Sunday evening we had a bonfire in the backyard. Fun Times! No wonder I'm always tired on Mondays! Here are some pics from the weekend.

Kalee was showing Meg all kinds of gymastic moves...she finally convinced Meg to show her that she really was flexible enough to lay on the ground with her legs bent back! Too funny! It hurts just looking at the picture! Kalee was equally amazed at Matt's lack of flexibility. She told me later - I think he really can touch his toes...he was just pretending not too!

After the fall festival we went to lunch. On the way home, Kalee challenged Rich to a wrestling match and told him that she was going to "hit him like a pinata"...out of nowhere, that is what she said. It was hilarious - she didn't even have to think about it, she just said it. This girl is too much!

Apple picking...and a visit from Anthony & Chase

So my brother & Chase came up a couple weekends ago ~ we were sooooo excited! We are getting spoiled with all the Chase time we have had the past couple months. While they were here we went to pick Apples in the North GA mountains - it was a very nice day (but was a longer than expected drive to get there!!!) On the way, we drove through a town that had put out scarecrows EVERYWHERE...they had them lined up along fences, some were posed in front of business' (a bride and groom outside of a church, a guy on a toilet outside of a plumbing co, one was halfway up a power pole with a rope around his waist while another one was attached to the rope on the ground - as his safety guy!) It was too crazy. We later found out that this town was applying to be in the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest collection of scarecrows - they won. They put out more than 4,000 scarecrows. Really bizarre!

Kalee and Chase had fun, as always. They wanted to go slide down the rocks at the CREEK, but Anthony didn't want to risk taking Chase back home with bumps/bruises again - Kalee accidentally broke Chase's finger the day before he went home last time (Chase wanted to sword fight, so Kalee went right along with it and smashed his finger with her sword - a tree branch...), so we skipped the rocks! Anyway, above are some fun pics from one of the days!

Kalee, Kalee, Kalee...

Kalee lost her 3rd tooth this weekend...unexpectedly! She was in her room and was supposed to be getting ready for bed - only she got distracted with practicing her high kicks (who wouldn't?)!!! Anyway, out she comes, hysterical, and tells us that she accidently knocked her tooth out...how, we ask...and then comes the high kick explanation. She goes to the bathroom to wash her mouth out, and is still hysterical...she doesn't know where the tooth is...owwwww, it hurts...and worst of all...I LOOK WEIRD!!! She went on and on for about 15 minutes, with the deep gulps of air type of crying. Finally, she admits that it doesn't really hurt anymore, but the problem is that she looks weird - in her words, she has an L shape in her mouth - oh no!!! But, daddy to the rescue. After trying to convince her that everyone loses teeth and she doesn't look weird (which does NOT work!) Rich told her about her beloved Uncle Stevie and how he didn't have any of his front teeth for a while - and then all was better with the world!

Kalee has also mastered (well, almost) the headstand this weekend. Actually, I guess mastered might not be quite the right word...she gets it right about 1 out of 5 times, but she sure is a riot to watch!

Isn't he just beautiful?????

Some of you have been asking for an update on Andrew, so here goes - short and sweet! He turned 9 months old on Tuesday and is doing wonderful! Steve and Betsy report that the dr's are just amazed at his progress - in every way. He is truly a little miracle! They have all settled down into a "normal" routine at home - and he is enjoying doing all the fun baby stuff! He still receives his feeds through a tube that goes directly to his stomach, but Betsy has also been giving him some baby food through his mouth, enjoying all the great looks that baby's give when they taste something for the first time! He will need additional surgery(s), but in the meantime he is just growing stronger and bigger with each day. And, I'm sure you noticed the cheeks - aren't they just the best?!!! Can't wait for Christmas!

A day at Six Flags

Kalee and I went to Six Flags last Sunday, just to ride all the kid rides. We had a blast. The weather was beautiful (high of 77), and the park was relatively empty! We walked onto every ride (we even rode the log flume water ride 3 times in a row, without having to get out of our log), except for one - the best kid roller coaster, of course! Kalee said her favorite rides were the log flume and Thunder River, a white water raft ride where you get soaked from head to toe! I cheated on that ride...I bought a poncho! Anyway, here a few pics from the day.

We've got House Plans!

We have finally gotten the final plans completed on our house ~ Rich is excited and I am nervous! We will meet with the builder sometime next week to get a final price from him and go over all the specifics. We are hoping to do a few things ourselves, to save some moola! Good thing I like to paint!! Here are some pics...

Main Floor

Basement

Cheerleading - night 2!

See, told you it was cold! Kalee even had to wear her long sleeved under shirt.

Some random things...

Cool weather has arrived - ahhhhh, so nice! I left for lunch today and put on my light jacket when I stepped outside. Poor Kalee, though...she left for school in a tank top and I noticed she left her jacket on the chair!
Anyway, the real purpose of this post is the video(s) below...for those of you who know and love Kalee...you need no explanation! For those of you who don't know Kalee as well (but still love her!!!) I don't have an explanation to give you! This girl is too much!! But, so much fun to watch!

Uncle Steve - Kalee must get her rapping ability from you!

Grammie T - notice the belt around the shorts...the outfit would not have been complete without that final item! Also, notice that she is doing all this dancing around in little wedge heel shoes. Where does this come from?????? Take comfort in the fact that she is no longer allowed to wear the shorts (hootchie shorts, as we call them) out in public. Although, she swears that they are not too tight! I also had to remove a pair of pants that fit last fall, and are now so tight that they appear to be a second layer of skin! Again, she just thought they were the best thing and just strutted around like she was on a catwalk! I laugh just thinking about it!