Meg walking

Meg has been taking little steps for several days, but tonight she finally took several steps at the same time. We were at Nana and Grandpa's house celebrating Grandpa's birthday, and Grandpa got Meg to walk several steps to him. After dinner and birthday cake, we headed upstairs where the big kids made a fort of sofa cushions and watched "Bambi." Meg and Kate were playing in the hallway with Nana and Aunt Kim when Meg just took off walking! She was so cute and proud of herself - guess she just wanted to keep up with Baby Kate! On our way out, we took a picture of Meg giving Gigi a "high five" - it's their "thing."

Learning to walk

Jane Gray has been such a big help teaching Meg how to walk. And, when Meg gets tired of practicing her walking skills, Jane Gray strolls her in her baby stroller. They are quite the pair!

Meg dancing

Meg loves to dance, especially to the music of Jane Gray's princess guitar.

Busy Saturday

Gigi is in town, so we went to Grandpa and Nana's house to say "hello" and welcome her to Mississippi. We had such a nice visit - Nana read books to the kids and fed them lots of cookies, and Gigi taught Jane Gray some Spanish (Gigi was a Spanish teacher). We ate lunch together and then headed to Yazoo City for the afternoon. It was a warm, sunny day. By the time we got to Yazoo City and Daddy had chopped us some firewood, the day had turned rainy and cold. The rain didn't slow us down, though. We went fishing and caught a ton of bream. Charlie was so funny talking to the fish; Jane Gray loved "petting" them. Charlie was our ringer - he caught five "keepers;" Jane Gray and Daddy caught one each, and Mommy caught two. We caught lots more, but they weren't big enough to eat. When we ran out of crickets, we went to the house to warm up by the fire. Jane Gray, of course, stopped on the way to pick jonquils for Gigi, Margaret, Alice, and Alice May. After we had a snack and warmed up, we headed home. On the way out, we saw four does in the pasture. The kids were so excited! We got home, and Daddy cooked the bream for us. It was delicious, and Charlie was so proud that he had caught our dinner!

Liddy's birthday party

This afternoon, we all headed to Liddy's house for her 6th birthday party. The children go to several birthday parties a week, and Mommy never has her camera. But, this was a special birthday party for a special cousin - it was a Valentine's party, and it was so cute! The girls made necklaces and decorated hearts. They also played bingo with pink and red M&M's. It was a precious party for a precious cousin! It was also Uncle Paul's birthday, and the girls sang "Happy birthday" to him, too.

Lunch at Leslie's

Since the kids were out of school for Presidents' Day, Leslie invited the Futvoyes, the Hollingsworths, and us to lunch at her house. I think the kids had as much fun as the mommies. Charlie and Walker especially enjoyed each other's company - they were so cute dressed up as a dinosaur and power ranger! In this picture, Charlie is letting out a big roar. Katie thought he was so funny!

Valentine's Day

We had a lazy, fun Valentine's Day at home eating candy and playing outside. Meg is starting to try to emulate her older sister and brother. When we sat down as a family to watch the Charlie Brown Valentine's Day special, Meg chose to lie down by Charlie on the den floor. In the second picture, she is pointing to the TV, her favorite new trick. Meg also enjoyed sitting on the fireplace hearth with Jane Gray to warm up after the movie. She was so cute!

Jane Gray's Valentine's Day party at school

Mommy helped with Jane Gray's Valentine's Day party at school. We made heart cookies for the children to decorate, and the children exchanged valentines with each other. One of the mothers also read a Valentine's Day book to the class. Mrs. Pringle informed me that Jane Gray brought a Valentine's Day book (Puppy Love - a Clifford the Big Red Dog book) to class and read it to them this morning before the party. When I asked her about it, she told me that she thought of the idea on her own - she wanted to share one of her Valentine's Day books with the class. Before the party, Meg and I went to the Orchard to visit Margaret and Alice. I was so glad that I had my camera with me - Meg was hysterical eating Margaret's Nilla Wafers. She had one in her mouth and one in each hand. She was beaming! Charlie also had a Valentine's Day party at his school, and he brought home lots of Valentine cards and treats from his classmates.

Meg's first rodeo

Meg was a newborn when last year's rodeo came to town, so she and Mommy missed it. Today was Meg's first rodeo (or as Charlie called it, the "radio"). She was very fascinated by all of the activity. She loved being with her family and would occasionally turn around to see what was going on in the ring. She particularly enjoyed the tractors that cleaned up the dirt between the events. The Oak Ridge Boys were also fun - Meg loved dancing to "Elvira!" Jane Gray and Charlie also enjoyed the rodeo. They never took their eyes off whatever was going on in the ring and enjoyed cheering on the cowboys and cowgirls (Jane Gray even got to meet the "cowgirl princesses") and eating cotton candy. After the rodeo, as is tradition, we ate dinner at Cock of the Walk and then fed the ducks our leftovers. Charlie was so funny chasing the ducks and his cousins. It was a fun night!

Lazy Saturday in Yazoo City

Today was a beautiful, warm and sunny day, so we decided to go to Yazoo City to ride horses and fish. Mommy had been to a WIC retreat at Twin Lakes, and we were all excited about spending the afternoon together! The kids wanted to ride the horses first. Mo Glo was wonderful as usual; Jane Gray rode her all over the pasture, and Charlie enjoyed leading her around the ring. Meg even rode Mo Glo! The kids had a lot of fun, particularly when they came upon a doe and her baby sleeping in a gulley. After riding Mo Glo, we headed to the pond to fish. We got skunked for a while until Mommy caught the biggest bass you have ever seen! Daddy made her hold it for this picture. We then dashed to Louise to see the ducks flying at dark. We were happily surprised to see tons of ducks AND geese landing at Louise. We heard lots of honking and quacking, which thrilled the kids. We also saw an armadillo (Charles tried to catch up with it and hit it on its back, but it ran away too quickly) and several rabbits. Charlie was disappointed that we couldn't find the possum that Jane Gray had seen on her last trip to Louise.