Happy Birthday Aunt Kotzie - 100!

Happy Birthday to Mary "Kotzie" Denny. She is my great-great Aunt through my Dad's Mom. She turns 100 years old on June 4, 2010. She was even recently interviewed by the local paper, The Record Courier. Sitting with her is my Grandpa Williams.

We took Lots of pictures...check them out.

Happy Birthday to Maverick King as well - he will turn two on June 1. Happy birthday little dude!! Happy day to Mommy (Nikki) too.

We celebrated this weekend and it was so much funny. Aunt Holly and Uncle Daddy had everyone over to swim and party. Lots of good food, lots of cousins and lots of sunshine for everyone. It is a rare occasion to get together to celebrate and very nice to do it for a happy occasion.

My kids were fish. From the time the arrived to the time we left - swimming. We took only minimal breaks for snacks, nap (Nora under the tree)...

...and dinnertime with the bribe of cake if they ate their main meal. Dylan and Nora both swam with water wings. Dylan tore up the slide and Gavin dunked basketballs off the side of the pool Michael Jordan style (dated myself).

Nora was swimming in the "deep water" with Daddy...big girl.

Cool airborne picture.

All of my Grandpa's great grand kids were in one place at one time and even cooperated for some picture taking. Nora is the lone great-granddaughter out of nine, at least for now.

Robert, Mark, and Scott Sobnosky; Hayden and Elliot Whitmyer, Maverick King; and Gavin, Nora and Dylan Vitale with Robert Williams and Mary Denny. May 30, 2010.

Trip to the Park and a Picnic at Home

Nora the explorer at the park...

So hot! I need a drink..."I do it."

Saturday was beautiful! Hot, sunny...good day for a park trip and for a picnic. We did both.

I am really enjoying Dylan at the park this year. He is so much more free to roam and try on his own this year. I watch his every move but he is so independent. He LOVES slides and all of the climbing that goes with it. He tries desperately to keep up with the big kids. Little legs only move so fast.

Gavin has taken his independence to a new level as well. He quickly found some kids near his age to play tag with and was all over the entire playground. We played at the park for more than an hour and they were all so tired they ALL took a nap. Very little push back and were asleep in minutes. Amazing. It did help to have the bribe of fireworks, picnic, fire and playtime with Hutchinson family.

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We indulged Pete's inner-pyro this weekend and stopped at Prism fireworks. Nothing giant but some good rockets, small mortars, and some fountains. Eric and Carrie Stopped down with their girls and fun was had by all. The kids had a blast. We had a campfire and fireworks after dark. So much fun!

Nora - Preschool Graduation

Nora finished preschool. How is that possible? Graduation and a play about Jack and Jill's Wedding. It was a lovely story that involved many nursery rhyme stories, like the Three Little Pigs, Little Boy Blue (Gavin's part last year), Jack in the Box, Miss Muffit, and Three Blind Mice. Nora was a wonderful Blind Mouse - decked out with red, heart-shaped sunglasses and a cane (water squirter). This particular class is a little crazy. They tend to be a bit wound up. The kids did sing their song and performed the parts pretty well.

Nora was looking very beautiful. The church, where the play was performed, was very hot. The kids were getting hotter by the minute. By the time the play had finished and the graduation was taking place, Nora was sweaty. Hot Nora only equals grumpy; hence, the pout.

I had to wrestle her in for a picture with Mama...

Preschool holds a reception as well. There were over 100 people in attendance this year plus the 21 kids . They had a very nice lunch, cookies donated by parents and had wedding cake. The kids danced and played. They love the Hamster Dance, Barbie Girl dance and lots of other fun wedding-reception songs.

Nora and Daddy danced a very nice slow dance together. She was nothing but smiles the whole time. I guess I should have picked another picture...

First you see it, now you don't!

Third tooth is gone! Gavin apparently likes to things his way. He likes to hold on the wiggly teeth for as long as possible (forever) and he likes to lose teeth at school. This time, he lost his tooth on the bus, for the field trip. Other than some minimal blood and some scramble to find a tissue and a baggie - he was fine. He is officially on Ms. Weaver's first list for Kindergarten: (1) first kid to lose a tooth in class, and (2) first kid to lose a tooth on a field trip.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow

Nora and I had a girls night out. We went out Friday night to see Annie at the Bynum Theater, downtown Pittsburgh. We went out to dinner together and then off the theater. It was really nice. We lucked out and the weather cleared and it was a really nice evening to walk around downtown. She did pretty well with the late night. She sat in my life for the last ~20 minutes of the show and I am pretty sure that she didn't make it out of downtown before falling asleep. She hung in there as long as she could.

Since the show, she has been singing a few of the songs. The obvious is "Tomorrow" but she is also singing "Hard Knock Life" and "Maybe". It is too sweet. Nora has a gift to be able to hear a song and learn it quickly. She has an ear, as they say. I love it! It has been fun to sing along with her.