Red Hot Birthday Wishes!

Last Saturday I got the priviledge of giving nine three year olds a tour of our fire station and a mini fire education lesson as part of a firetruck-loving three year old's birthday party. Jeff and Kaitlyn came to help me since nobody else on my department was available. The kids were a blast. They loved trying on my gear and an SCBA mask and most of all climbing in and out of all the fire trucks. They also loved squirting some flames "sidewalk chalk flames" that I drew on the cement with our brush fire indian cans. My dearest daughter Kaitlyn earned a "medal" for good behavior that day. She just stood by the wayside with her doll and watched as Jeff and I were busy helping all of the other kids got to do fun things. At the end of the party she whispered to Jeff ... can I have a turn now. It almost broke my heart - what a precious and generous heart she has. I will never forget what an angel she was that day. Which reminds me - I told her she could pick out a new toy for being so good ... and we haven't been to the toy store yet. The parents of the birthday boy were so sweet and thankful for the fun time at the fire station. They gave Kaitlyn a huge piece of birthday cake and she was thrilled. Happy 3rd Birthday Isaac. Come see us at the fire station again soon!

My little angel!

All by myself!

A few weeks ago we actually spent two afternoons in a row playing at the same fun park nearby. Kaitlyn fell in love with the baby/big girl swing combo that they have there. Its like a baby swing but she can get in it herself and by the end of the first afternoon she could also buckle the belt and even walk backwards on her tippie toes and then lift her feet up to get herself going. "Dirdsie" came too ... you can sort of see her in the first picture in the higher baby swing.

When I grow up ...

... I want to be a big sister!

Recycling?

A few months ago I decided to start saving the cardboard boxes that Kaitlyn's flavored water juice drinks come in. I thought they would be perfect blocks for building things outdoors. One night last week I got them out for Kaitlyn. As I was taping the flaps shut, she decided she wanted to build a bridge. So I tore her off a bunch of tape and she went to work. It occupied her for almost 40 minutes and Jeff had a riot watching his little girl engineer a bridge!

Gift from Grandma

Last week Grandma Jo surprised Kaitlyn with a new Dora bike. I'm sure its no surprise to anyone that I had previously bought her a small bike with training wheels from a garage sale. But the rear tire kept going flat and so Kaitlyn couldn't ride it as often as she liked. Jeff picked the bike up from Grandma Jo's on his way home from work and we surprised Kaitlyn with it after dinner. She was ecstatic and has ridden it everyday since she got it. Thanks so much Grandma Jo!

Going on a Rock Hunt

Yesterday Kaitlyn and I decided to go on a rock hunt. She loves to pick up rocks and throw them in our ditch so I thought we'd have fun picking up rocks and also exploring them a little further. We bundled up (sure didn't feel like June!) found some buckets and headed on our search. After we found a dozen or so we came inside and filled a bin of water and polished each rock. Then we sorted them by color and shape before getting out our magnifying glasses and looking at their fine details. It made for a fun morning activity at home.

Pedal Power ...

Kaitlyn has been really into riding her tricycle and bike lately. In the past, she has not shown much interest and since we don't have a lot of level ground around us for her to ride on, I haven't really pushed the issue. Well recently, after riding bikes with her cousins at Grandma Jo's, Kaitlyn has fallen in love with biking. At our house, her favorite thing to do is to pedal down the driveway (not hard since it is at quite a slope) and then get off the trike and push it back up the driveway or run back up the driveway and have Mommy or Daddy push the bike back up. Or ... if she is really lucky ... have Daddy carry her back up the driveway. Spoiled or what?!