Sunday, we had a birthday party for another one of Katie's little boyfriends, Lucas. Of course we got there late ... what's new?! We missed out on singing Happy Birthday and cutting the cake, but Katie still had a great time playing with her buddy. They had a bounce house in the backyard which makes ANY birthday party a blast! The party was shark themed and the cake was awesome! I wish I had a picture of it, but I missed out ... The top layer was shaped like a shark, and when you cut into it was Red Velvet cake. Always fun when you get the blood and guts effect with food. Connor stuck to the Cheetos. Actually, he and Bella stuck to the Cheetos. Bella had fun with a "baby" there. She was too sweet, bringing him his sippy cup when she thought he was thirsty. She was very solicitous of him.
Connor was playing around me when I was at the desk and I had to snap a few pics. These are Photoshopped however ... he had some serious booger problems going on and I could not subject you all to that!!
Connor is working on his Elvis Snarl at a very early age!! We are SO proud!!
Connor and Daddy had a little playtime. Well, first Chip sat on the rocking .. uh, plane to see if he would fit, and he refused to let me take a picture. But when Connor got in on the fun it was totally acceptable to takes some pics! Hard to tell, but Connor was having a great time with his Daddy :)
Tuesday night was Katie's First Grade Program. Last year, Katie barely moved through her whole program, she might have sang ten words the whole time. She definitely had no expression on her face. But this year she was AWESOME! She sang her little heart out and she did all the hand movements. The whole crew did a great job. The program was titled "America, My Home" and Katie has had a really good time learning all the patriotic songs. For the past few weeks Katie has randomly started singing some of the songs. It was absolutely adorable and I wish everyone could have seen the enthusiasm these kids have for singing about America! They have really instilled a sense of American Pride in the kids this year as they have learned about our country. It also helps that they were starting to learn about the United States during an election year. The mock election they held was a huge hit!! And yes, Obama won on the Elementary level, too!
After the program Katie picked where to eat. Actually, she told me that she was supposed to pick where we eat because it was HER day! Last year after the program she was allowed to choose, and she has a memory like an elephant! She chose The Grand Buffet. She knows the only way to get me to voluntarily take her there is to trick me into it. Amazing how quickly kids learn to manipulate! (yeah, she has known for a while ... ) The whole reason for Katie to go to the Chinese buffet is this .. she loves to eat OCTOPUS! It has got to be the nastiest thing I have ever watched anyone eat. I am surprised that the people around us did not start to gag as she chowed down on octopus and crawfish. She also tried an oyster, but she was not impressed. They did have fried froglegs, but she took one nibble and made a face. She said that they tasted like "dead frogs" ... REALLY? You don't say, Captain Obvious!! 
Some buddies that had moved away came by for a quick visit, and what else would I do than throw Rockband at them? Not really ... it was her idea, I SWEAR! Connor was unimpressed with our playing and the jam session was cut short, but we still had a great visit. Steph and I got to hang out while the boys spoke Geek. We miss you guys!!
And a little fun with the macro filter! Weeds never look this good from far away, but there is not much in nature that God did not make beautiful. I have never noticed how intricate a dandelion really is!
And while I snapped pictures of weeds, Connor practiced for his first home invasion. He never actually made it into the house though. Good thing too because it needs to be cleaned and sprayed before we can really turn him loose.
And yes, he did eat dirt ... that boy can get into more trouble in two seconds than most kids get into in a year! But seriously, who can resist that cuteness?? Try not to fall in love because he is all mine ... at least for about 10 more years until he discovers that girls don't have cooties.
and mowed ...
After the party we headed out to do a little dress shopping.
Katie tried on seven different dresses, and then decided on the very first one. We went to JC Penney, which is where we got her dress the year before. This year we had to narrow down our choices to those that could be worn with the white "clip clops" that she had picked out in Payless. She did say before we even started shopping that she wanted white shoes and a white dress. Although she did specify "skinny" straps, and her dress fell a little short. I think it was the big jeweled brooch thing that was the true winner. Katie looked adorable in each dress, but there were two that were our clear favorites. The pink...
And the white, that ended up being the winner!
We were not the only ones that loved this dress. Katie's best friend Mia ran home and told her Mom that she wanted one, so they called to see where she got it from. They even went looking for it today, but there were no more in their size. Kaitlyn also went home raving about Katie's dress. Katie definitely got the reaction she was hoping for, Jaw Dropping Jealousy!!
And then we sent them off to the dance. Connor and I took advantage of having the camera on a tripod, and took a Mommy-Son pic!
They had a great time!! 
