Aspen's Pretend Sleepover

Aspen's party this year was a pretend sleepover at our house. As is our tradition, Aspen was allowed to invite six friends, and they arrived at 5 o'clock bearing sleeping bags and a stuffed animal. In addition to eating pizza, cake, and ice cream, we played several slumber party-ish games. We played musical sleeping bags, sleeping bag (potato sack) races, hide and find stuffed animals, and sardines, all under the light of the kids' personal flashlights. We had a great time, and Aspen described the party as awesome.

Aspen's guests were: Sean (gray shirt, standing), Oakley (pink shirt, standing), herself, James (next to Aspen), Ryan (next to James), Cassie (gray shirt under...), Brooke, and Vivian (at the far right).

Jane, again

Check out Jane's creation this year (Jane is our personal cake maker, a friend of Grammie's from Kingsport). Pretty awesome, huh?

Happy birthday to us!

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Oakley and Aspen both had great Valentine's parties this year, and Jenn was there to photograph both of them. Enjoy the albums here...

From Oakley's Vale...

From Aspen's Valen...

Lindy Couture

Dress selection and application by Aspen...
Shoe selection and application by Lindy herself...

Aspen & Drake the Dragon

Here's a quick shot of Aspen with our weekend visitor, Drake the Dragon. Drake has spent the weekend at home with many of Aspen's classmates, and this is Aspen's turn. Drake had a great time with us...

Snow Comes to Nashville

That's right, we got an actual snowfall of a sort in Nashville. And I was nowhere other than... Las Vegas. But, at least the girls go to enjoy it! Check out the set of pictures by clicking on the picture here...

From Snow 2007

Aspen's Snapshot

What a sweetie... Aspen is always laughing and having fun. Kindergarten suits Aspen very well. She is so excited this week because of her coming sixth birthday. She'll be having six of her friends over to the house for a pretend sleepover party. Flashlights will be all over the place, as will some sleeping bag and stuffed animal related games.

Aspen makes friends with everyone, and the demographics of her party proove it... old friends, new friends, boys, girls. They're all represented. We're going to have a good time, and Aspen's going to have a great one.

Aspen is doing great with her reading, too. While she's reading just very simple books for school, she can generally get through almost every word in a Franklin or Angelina book. I think it's very cool.

Oakley's Snapshot

Oakley is a spunky one. She has a mind of her own, and while it's sometimes frustrating, we like that about her.

Oakley loves her older sister, and they really are the best of friends. Even though she's afraid of foxes, Aspen, Oakley, and I ventured into the woods for some exploration this weekend. She loved it. We were climbing on a fallen tree when Oakley, from about 18 inches up, fell through some branches onto the ground. She was tough, crying only a bit, until, from about 4 feet up, I fell through some branches. That was enough to scare her. Well, for a couple of minutes. Today, she talked me back into the woods for some more exploration.

Oakley is also floppy. Literally. She's really flexible. She can touch her toes to her head... by bending backwards.

She's a smart one too. Watching her sister learn to read has influenced the Oak. She knows all of her letters and can write the names of all the kids in her day school class. And on top of that, she can read a lot of words... In 18 months when she starts kindergarten, she might be ready to teach it.

Lindy's Snapshot

Before we get to any "event" pictures, I figure I owe you a snapshot of each of the girls right now. We'll start at the low end...

Lindy is 16 months now, and she's pretty cool. She laughs a lot, and she's starting to figure out how to tell us some things. She definitely wants to be bigger than she is. She loves cheese.

Perhaps my favorite thing about Lindy is how robust she is. This girl is just tough. She also has great balance. When we're wrestling on the floor, she climbs onto me, stands up, and "dances".

Delinquent!

OK, I admit it. I've been delinquent. I could offer several excuses, but I suppose they would do me no good. Barring an interuption, I'm going to post a few pictures and at least one story. Enjoy!

What got me thinking about it tonight was the fact that Lindy said the word "apple" very clearly and appropriately. It is, albeit, one of like 6 words she knows, but she nailed it (while pointing at it in a book).

Other words she knows, you ask? Hmm, "momma", "dadda", "ukley (Oakley)", "ah-en (Aspen)", and, what may be her favorite word...

Gas.

She's been known to laugh heartily at the sound of it. Today, she proudly patted her bottom and announced it.

Two proud parents are we. OK, maybe only one.