Family Photo Shoot

In honor of my mom & dad's (ie: Memaw & Pap-paw's) 40th wedding anniversary, we had our family pictures taken in October. We got the proofs back today, and Shannon Watson did an amazing job! Especially considering she had 13 people to work with, and an endless number of combinations of people to take pictures of. Now comes the hard part....deciding which ones are my favorite to hang up in our house, use in our Christmas card, etc, etc. I really love all of them!!

Happy Birthday, Baby Sister!

One year ago today, we heard Dr. Oldfield utter those 3 glorious words, "It's a girl!". I was so very convinced we were having another boy, I was actually totally shocked (and skeptical) when I first heard these words. For the record, it was really Jeff that said these words to me....he leaned down to my face, and with a tear steaming down one cheek, he said, "it's a girl, mommy". I didn't even realize how much my heart yearned for a baby girl until I heard these words. Thank you, baby sister, for bringing so much joy to our lives over the past year. You are the easiest, sweetest, most perfect, easy-going baby we have ever met. We love you more than you will ever know.

First Tooth!

Just 9 days shy of her first birthday, and Kirsten’s first tooth is finally showing through her gum!! I’ve been checking her mouth a lot lately because she’s been drooling constantly and yesterday I felt the first one.......it's one of her bottom ones. She doesn't seem to care, though. She's still as happy as she always is!!

Sad News Today.....

One of Jeff and I's good friends from Green Bay, Dave Mullen, passed away today. Jeff and Dave worked together at Schneider, Dave’s wife, Ann, is also our realtor in Green Bay, and lately, Dave has been helping us out with his handyman services at the duplex we own in Green Bay. He's also helped us out a lot with showing the property and all sorts of miscellaneous other stuff, too. He is an amazing person and friend. We saw Ann & Dave in August when we were in Green Bay for a visit and had lunch with them. While we were there, Dave also went to our duplex with me to check on both of the units to see what kind of shape they were in, and to meet some of our new tenants in person because I didn’t want to go by myself (and we didn’t want to take the kids with us, either). So, the viewing and funeral are both on Wed, Oct 28 in Green Bay, and Jeff is going to go. To make it even more bittersweet, today was Ann & Dave's 30th Wedding Anniversary. So sad for Ann and her family tonight.....

Wedding Bells

We traveled to Charlotte, NC this past weekend to go to the wedding of our good friends, Patrick & Becky. We arrived in Charlotte early Friday afternoon (Sept 18, 2009). We took a cab to our hotel, which was in downtown Charlotte, checked in, and took a nap! We then walked around a bit, made our way to a little restaurant with outdoor dining, had a late, leisurely, lunch, a couple of beers, and just relaxed! That evening, we went to the rehearsal dinner, and had so much fun catching up with friends that we haven't seen in a very long time (well, I haven't seen in a very long time - Jeff saw Patrick, Luke, and Matt at the bachelor party a few weeks ago). The next day, we didn't have to be anywhere until 4:30pm, so we headed out on foot again (my favorite part of staying in the downtown area of a city - you can walk everywhere!). We had a leisurely breakfast, and then I walked to a salon that I had called the day before, and got my haircut. Afterwards, Jeff and I decided to try to find a place to watch the Ohio State-Toledo game. We wondered if we would be able to find a place in the middle of Charlotte that would have the Ohio State game on? Boy, did we! As we were wandering around, we saw a giant, inflatable Brutus Buckeye outside of a bowling alley - http://strikecitycharlotte.com/. We entered, and were completely shocked at what we saw! The ENTIRE joint was filled with Buckeye fans! As it turns out, it's the location where the Charlotte Ohio State Alumni Association watches all Ohio State football games. I even won a door prize - some OSU chip clips!

After the game, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the big celebration. We walked down the street to The Charlotte City Club http://www.charlottecityclub.com/?vm=r. The wedding ceremony and reception were absolutely beautiful. We are so happy for Patrick & Becky, and we had the absolute BEST time on our trip!! Thank-you Patrick & Becky for including us in your special day, and thank-you to my parents for DRIVING to Nashville AND watching our kids for us! We could not have gone without your help! Thank-you! Thank-you! Thank-you! It is noteworthy to mention that today is Grandma & Grandpa's 40th wedding anniversary, and they spent it babysitting Dominick and Kirsten, and then making the 6-hour drive home to Ohio. We are celebrating with them next weekend, though....can't wait!!

P.S. Grandma & Grandpa said that Dominick and Kirsten were PERFECT the entire weekend. That is excellent news, because they don't know it yet, but we've been invited to a wedding in MEXICO in January, and we would really, really, REALLY love to go :)

Happy Birthday, Anneke!

Happy Birthday, Anneke!

We can't believe our niece, Anneke, is 10 years old today. We also can't believe that it has been an entire year since our trip to Alaska, which was the last time that we saw her (May 2008). Her cousin, Dominick, misses her, and her new cousin, Kirsten, can't wait to meet her.

We love her & miss her lots and hope to see her again soon! We made her a little video to wish her a Happy Birthday!!

Happy Memorial Day

Today seems like the perfect day to debut a picture of our recently hung American flag. It was a very cherished Christmas gift from my brother, Scott. He is a Seargant Major in the Army National Guard and was deployed to Kuwait with his Unit for most of 2008. He brought home a U.S. flag for us that was flown over Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, on 2 Sept 2008, in honor of "The Harpole Family".

Happy Memorial Day to everyone, but especially to the men & women that are our Veterans and those who have given their life for our country. We are very proud of all of them, especially Uncle Scott, Nana Kelley, and Uncle Joey.

Lazy, Rainy Sunday and Underwear

Went to church this morning, and went to Dollar General (Jeff's favorite place to shop since he works for them) on the way home to get some diapers, wipes, and a few other things. It was raining when went into church, when we came out of church, when we went into DG, when we came out of DG, and the whole way home, yet Dominick asked about 23 times during this time period if he could "pway outside" when we got home. We told him he couldn't, and when he asked, "why?", we told him "because it's raining". Well, the little guy is completely obsessed with all things outdoors, and is not deterred by a little (or a lot of) rain. As you can see, we did let him "pway outside", and he did not care (at all) that he was completely soaking wet. He was having so much fun, we decided that we did not care if he was soaking wet either (at least for a few minutes)...he's not going to melt, right? Well, he didn't, at least not this time...... While he & daddy finished hitting (whiffle) golf balls in the driveway (yes, both of them), I went in and fed baby sister some cereal and carrots....isn't she cute, even with oatmeal on her chubby little cheeks?

Other than that, we didn't accomplish much today, but it was nice to be a little lazy (even though it actually only rained in the morning). Oh, we did have one exciting event today....we went to Wal-Mart and let Dominick pick out some "big-boy underwear", and we're planning to start potty training tomorrow. Here's Dominick with all of the new undies he picked out.....I'm signing off to throw them in the washer so they are all ready to go in the morning. Wish us luck!

An Ordinary Saturday....

It was kind of nice to have a Saturday to catch up on things....went to the post office, mailed birthday gift to Claire (my godchild in Ohio), birthday gift to Anneke (our niece in Alaska), baby gift to Brea (just adopted a newborn baby), and some more Cocobonon treats for Julie at http://joyshope.com/ - lots more about that later. We went to the chiropractor. Went to Publix. Did Laundry. Made Lunch. Did More Laundry. Took a nap with Kirsten. Jeff took a nap with Kirsten. Dominick did not take a nap with Kirsten (or by himself for that matter). Jeff & Dominick cut the grass (ok, Dominick used his Fisher Price bubble mower, but since he seriously believes it actually does cut the "wass", and follows Jeff all over the yard behind the real lawn mower, I will give him credit for it). I also made dinner for our friends, Lorrie & Brian, who just had a sweet little baby girl, Avary. We all went to Lorrie & Brian's to drop off it off, and afterwards stopped at JoAnn Fabrics (yes, all 4 of us). We picked up a little item that I have been wanting forever.....

A Cricut!!!!

So, it was an ordinary little Saturday until this scrapbooking baby landed in our shopping cart!! I had convinced Jeff that the next time this little gem went on sale, 'we' should buy it, and it was on sale this week (today was the last day, hence the reason all 4 of us went to JoAnn's to get it because we were already out and about running some errands)....don't have a clue where I am going to find time to use it or what my first little project will be, but I am super-excited, nonetheless!

Way wiff me guys

Dominick was laying on the couch this morning watching Mickey Mouse, and I brought Kirsten into the living room and was getting ready to feed her. I had started to sit down in one of our recliners when he lifted his little head off the pillow and said, "way wiff me guys". So, of course, we did! If I have to be up at 6am, there's nothing I'd rather be doing than "waying wiff" my two little kiddos on the couch (along with watching Mickey and Minnie)!

Later today, we were outside playing this afternoon (this kid LOVES being outside), and Dominick said, "it's bwight in my eyes, mommy". I found a pair of his sunglasses in the garage and put them on him. He wore them the rest of the afternoon. He looked so cute, I just had to snap some pics of him - sitting in a lawn chair and putting "gas" into his car.....enjoy!