Katie's Letter

Katie got a very important letter in the mail today. For her, any mail is important....but this was her Kindergarten Assignment Letter! It's official....In less than a month we will have a Kindergartener.

Drum roll......Morning Kindergarten with Mrs. Lehman at Mill Road Elementary!

So, within her assignment letter was a welcome letter from Mrs. Lehman. Naturally Katie wanted to write back. I scanned her letter to share with you all, though the colored pencil didn't scan incredibly well.

Dear Mrs. Lehman,
I can't wait until
Kindergarten starts!
What is your favorite
color? Mine is
yellow. I love

to dance.
Love,
Katie Hook

Picture of Purple Katie going to school with a rainbow in the background.

Happy Birthday Doug!

Happy Birthday, Doug! We hope you have a fun day and that we get to see you when you get back from your work trip.

Katie wrapping Doug's present with her special decoration....

shots of the card she made him, though the crayon she wrote with didn't show up in the pictures, but she had very nice handwriting.

Movie of Katie explaining the card:

Whitaker Center continued....

Four going on Five

Just two shots of Katie before she left for a birthday party on Saturday. I can't believe that in less than a month she will be FIVE! School starts in September and we are still waiting to find out which elementary school she will be at, and whether she is morning or afternoon.

On a side note, I am so excited that she will now let me french braid her hair...I am still at the amateur level though...my mom was a master french-braider...she could weave ribbons through it while braiding while on a bus trip to Washington D.C.

Katie's quilt is finished!

Katie is being shy about getting her picture taken--she is under the covers in the 2nd picture.


You can't really see the quilting (all done on the machine), but I was pleased with the binding...I didn't even take a picture of it though...I was constantly bugging John with how happy I was with the mitered corners...there are lots of mistakes that I see in it, but I am so happy with it...I can't wait to start another quilt.

Whitaker Center

(If you click on the collage, it will enlarge so that you can see the smaller pictures better.)

Pappa came down to visit the girls this week, and we made a trip into Harrisburg to visit the Whitaker Center--which has a science center, a toddler play area, and IMAX theatre. We skipped the movie, spent a bit in the science center, but it was tough to tear the girls away from the play area. There is a toddler area with lots of foam things to climb on, a 2-story building to climb in and 'build' with foam bricks, a grocery store, stage with puppets and dress-up, ambulance, and water table.

The two pictures on the left are of the girls in the midtown market grocery store, top center picture is of the girls in the ambulance, top right is Maggie in the toddler play area, then pushing a cart with a brick, and a shot of the water table. I wasn't able to get many pictures of Katie because she was in the building most of the time. It was so much fun, I would love to get a family membership to go all the time, except the cost to park (5 dollars a visit)...and the joys of travelling into the city....something I have only done on my own about 10 times. Bonus: if you park in the Walnut Street garage, you won't even need to walk outside...it is connected to the WC.

We'd like to go back and if anyone wants to come with us, it would be best to go before the end of September. They are now celebrating their 10th anniversary with special pricing...only 10 dollars for the whole science center AND a IMAX movie ticket. If you want to just go to play in the toddler area...only 5 dollars a person! Right now they have an exhibit on Forces of Nature with a spherical projection screen, a tornado that you can touch and stand in, and a booth that will let you experience hurricane force winds.

Fun and Chores

Example A: trip to Elizabethtown Library to play in the kid section = fun

Example B: Merry Maids = chores, girls getting to use the swiffers = fun for both girls and Mommy. They work for cookies. = )

Bathing Beauties

Yes, I know I have been slacking a bit with pictures, but here is a shot from last week after visiting Lori and Andrea and going swimming. Hard to believe, but it was our first trip swimming this year, joining a pool is so expensive and not many pools have public swim times.

Katie had a great time, working up the courage to go down a slide into the pool, and Maggie LOVED floating for hours in the water.

We ended going to the pool with Dad when he was down this Thursday, and the girls got to have a blast in the baby pool (Maggie made no fuss when she put her face in the water.) She was constantly squatting and splashing, just so happy to get all wet. We took the girls in the big pool and I discovered Maggie's new favorite is being held under her arms facing me as I walk back in the water. She lays practically flat and to my complete joy, she was doing breaststroke kick!

Trip to the Pitcavages

We were too busy having fun catching up, so I didn't take more pictures....but here is Lilly, Katie, and Maggie in the tent playing.

On our way home, the girls needed to stretch a bit, so we went to Chick-fil-a for a treat and some playtime.

Thanks for having us, we had a great time!