Beach Day

It was up to 92 on Wednesday ( aka girls day ) so we packed up the car and went to the beach. I was actually ill prepared for the beach but we did OK. Definitely had the sun screen - some towels , buckets and change of clothes. Could of used the stroller and an umbrella.
You could not believe how cold the water was. It literally hurt your feet if in the water for more then 30 seconds.

Had some great waves. And the beach was packed - just not a lot of people in the water.

Katie was having fun running up and down being chased by the waves

Almost looks like she is surfing here

It was a good day. Walked back to the car with ice cream in hand - good way to end a day at the beach

Easter

What a wonderful day. Katie woke up to an Easter egg hunt inside. We hid plastic eggs filled with toys and a basket filled with dresses and her princess band-aids that she wanted. Thank you Easter Bunny she said - what a good kid.
I picked up these HUGE Easter eggs saturday morning at a garage sale. I hid them around the backyard. It was a little damp and foggy but I think she had fun finding them.

After breakfast we loaded up the car and drove to Long Island to my brother Scott's house. Katie put on her Easter outfit when we got there. She was very happy to be in her dress and stayed it in all day. What a cutie!

Scott had hid some Easter eggs for the kids. They found them all then took turns hiding them again.

Scott recently adopted this small horse from the shelter, Jessie. What a wonderful dog.

The kids dyed some Easter eggs.

Afterwards it was an Easter egg spoon run. Katie could not run enough that day. Here you can see how excited she is.

Not sure if you can see it close enough but she is holding the egg on the spoon - not technically legal.

All in all a great day. Katie had a blast and its always good to get the family together.

Happy Easter Everyone

Sorrow

Why do bad things happen to good people? Bills' sister Cindy passed away last week. She had been in the hospital for several weeks slowly recovering from a brain aneurysm ( which in itself is a miracle) when she went into cardiac arrest. It is still hard to believe and I imagine will be for a while.
The most difficult task was telling Katie. We told her she was with the angels. She cried for a few minutes then seemed to be fine. She has since been asking questions here and there about her and we have been trying our best to give her the answers she needs.
I can not believe how difficult it is to see a child hurt. Thankfully it has just been small scrapes and bruises, but to have to tell her something that you know will hurt her is just painful.
We will all miss you Cindy

Puppy sitting

We puppy sat for a friends dog last night - Katie had a lot of fun - I think the puppy did also. Little thing, only weighs 1 1/4 pounds.

Curled right up in Katie's lap.

How cute.

Snowmageddon

We have been having a very white February. It started with just a light snow. Katie had fun making snow angels.
You can still see some grass. - That didn't last long.

It was good snow for making a snow man - which she started but never finished.

Last weekend 2/6-7 it started snowing - dropped almost 2 feet. Katie had some more fun. It was getting a little deep and a little hard to walk in. Too deep for snow angels!

Jibe was holding her own. She had to do a lot of bunny hopping but she did manage to get around the whole back yard.

The latest storm dropped another 12-16'' of snow on wednesday. Jibe managed to get a path under Katie's play set which wasn't too deep. She still likes being outside in it. Although I thought I was going to have to carry her in a few times.

All the snow does look pretty. It almost comes to the top of our fence. I can't remember ever seeing so much snow at one time.

Bill did a great job with the snow removal. Definitely getting his moneys worth out of his new snow blower.

The plow push the snow right up into our driveway. The drifts are over 4 feet high. Makes it a little challenging to drive out.

Katie is all excited to go to school.

Another perspective of how deep the snow is.

And our big snow mound. I think its going to be around for a while. At least the sun has been shining.

I asked myself "Why am I driving in this" Really wished I could of stayed home with Katie for one more day.

I do love how the snow hangs on all the tree branches - very pretty.

Girl and Dog

My parents brought their dog Emma up for the holidays ( they brought their cat also but she just hangs out in the guest room). Katie has a lot of fun with Emma, and I have to admit she is a pretty cool dog. Although she does have an unexplained obsession with balls. She also has a bad habit of getting the ball stuck under objects that she needs help removing them from ( which I think is part of the "game" for her)
Well she lost a ball under the couch and here Katie is trying to help her recover it.

Unfortunately they we unsuccessful and I had to step in. The ball was recovered and playing continued - until Emma chased the ball under the couch again!

House for Sale

Well I finally told Bill we are moving. I can't stand being 40 minutes away from Katie. We have been looking for house and found one we both like in New Egypt. In order to buy that house we need to sell our house. So we need to repair all the things that we have been putting off. Bill has been great about it. Last weekend he tore up the floor and replaced it with a new one - it needed it. Katie was a little distraught about replacing the floor.
We painted the floor after pulling up all the tiles. We all wrote our names on the paint before placing the new tiles.

Katie chose different colors for her letters - she is getting really good writing her name.

The finished product :)

Another view

We moved the TV up to show off the HUGE fireplace. Starting to get a stiff neck when we watch TV but it'll be worth it if it sells the house.

Now we just wait and wait and wait. I have been told by a few people that we are going to have a tough time selling our house right now. Unfortunately there are a ton of foreclosures in the area, bring down the price of our house and that winter in general is a slow time. Hopefully the tax credit will inspire some people.
Wish us luck