Mom, look what I made!

I just got my first hand-made gift from Amelia!
Yesterday, she played at her friend Hugh's house and they painted flower pots. Caitlin, Hugh's Mom, is always coming up with fun activities. Amelia is pretty excited about the pot. She LOVES to water the flower! Let's hope it survives the flooding it frequently gets.

I'm a proud mom... Picasso, watch out!

Who doesn't love ice cream?!

What could be more fun than sharing an ice cream with Dad?! Not much! Amelia and Lee were having way too much fun last night... I'm just glad they included me in their frivolities.

Loco for LocoPops

There's a new hot spot in Chapel Hill - LocoPops! They serve up wonderful hand-made popsicles in the craziest flavors... Mexican Chocolate, Pineapple & Blood Orange, Raspberry Hibiscus, Spiced Cherry Peach, to name a few. We'd never get Jon Kemp out of the shop... at $1.25 a pop, he'd have a ball tasting them all!

Amelia is a big fan of Very Berry and Cookies 'n Cream. I'm partial to Chocolate Brownie. Mexican Chocolate is another favorite... a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon to spice it up.

We met our playgroup at LocoPops the other day and it was a an instant hit. Not only did the kids love the pops, but the fountain/creek was irresistible!

Amelia can't wait to go back and she won't have to twist my arm.

For a few more pics from our first visit, click the thumbnail below...

Loco for LocoPops!

Meeting Georgia

Today we met the Butler's newest family member... their new puppy Georgia. She is such a sweet pup! They rescued her from an organization in South Carolina, bringing her home on Saturday. Three month old Georgia is part Golden, part Lab, and all love.

Amelia had so much fun playing with her and McCoy. Check out a few other photos from our doggie playdate...
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Meeting Georgia

Where's the snow?!

After days of gorgeous 80 degree weather (in March!), today it dropped down to 50 degrees. Brrrr! Warm to some folks, but with the wind, a bit chilly for us to play outside.

So, what to do when Amelia desperately needs a change of scenery?

Get out the snowsuit!!!

My dear college friend Heather shared a snowsuit with us that her daughter Emma had outgrown. Amelia tried it on... aside from being a bit long in the arms and legs - a perfect fit!

And perfect for playing outside on a chilly day!

Spring Cleaning for Cinderella

Last Sunday, we had a spur-of-the-moment early spring cleaning session... prompted by Carolyn. She's a big fan of our screened in porch. One look at it, covered in winter debris, was enough to make you cry. With the weather so beautiful these past few days, the porch was calling out for a cleaning... and mom heard the crys!

Amelia, not one to be left out, got in the cleaning act as well. She took on the deck that desperately needs some help. Check out our little Cinderella...

There's a TWO year old in the house!

Today is a special day... it's Amelia's 2nd birthday and boy, is the celebration on!



It's a gorgeous day (80 degrees!) and we've been out playing in the yard. This morning we made a quick trip to Toys-R-Us for some special birthday treats (a "Cozy Coupe" and basketball goal). With the weather warming up we needed some outdoor toys... at least that was our shopping excuse.

After the girls' nap-time (Amelia and Grandma), we went hit the road to the Science Museum and our celebration continued. Amelia loved showing Grandma all the animals... except for the duck who nibbled on her hand! Today's favorite critters were the Lemurs. As Amelia says, "so cute!"

Last Saturday (3/10) we had a great "Cars" themed birthday party. Amelia is nuts for Mater, Doc, Sally, and of course, Lightening McQueen. She's also a big fan of Nemo, but at the party store, Cars won out.

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Grandma, GG, Granddad, Great Aunt Joan and Great Uncle Chris were Amelia's special party guests. Such a great group with which to celebrate!

The festivities started off at Kidzu (our local children's museum) followed by lunch at Spanky's... just like last year.

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After a surprise brownie Sunday, we headed home for cupcakes and presents. By the looks of the present pile, you would have thought it was Christmas.

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Amelia received many fabulous gifts - a Thomas the Train set, Lego's, Muppets & Peter Pan DVDs, an MP3 player with speakers, puzzles, a sand/water table, super-cute summer outfits, and a sweet doll named Chloe, to name a few. She has a long list of thank-you's to write!

All day today, Amelia has been asking for a "special treat." The concept of birthday presents hasn't passed her by. Wish us luck tomorrow when there are no more special treats... can't wait to see her reaction!

Hard to believe we have a two-year-old! Amelia keeps us on our toes. She's running around at full-speed and talking even faster. Life is good!

For more birthday celebration pictures, click the thumbnail below...

Amelia's 2nd Birthday!

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On another note...

Lee left this morning for New Orleans where he's working the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament. Stay tuned for posts about his adventures down South and out West (San Jose for the Regionals).

Christmas in February!

Well, not exactly. It’s really just our Christmas 2006 recap... finally! I’m amazed at how busy the first few weeks of 2007 have been. Somehow it’s now February and we haven’t posted about our holiday festivities. Evidently, it's true what they say - time flies when you’re having fun.

We were fortunate enough to have not one, but TWO terrific Christmas celebrations last year and they deserve mention on the blog. So without further ado, here are our Christmas highlights...

Christmas #1 – celebrating with the Brinsons
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· Our own personal FAO Schwartz store under the tree!

· Riding the Santa train and meeting the big man himself

· Dreaming of being a NASCAR superstar

· Riding the special carousel and train at Hurley Park

· Seeing Martha Stewart in person... if you count only seeing her back

· Remodeling our kitchen... oops, it was lucky Amelia who got a new one!

Christmas #2 – celebrating with the Kemps

· The travel nightmare getting to CA... delayed six hours out of RDU; rerouted in-flight to Indianapolis - supposed to land in Chicago; DROVE to our connection in Chicago - four hours (1am - 5am) in a rental car with our new friend Greg, driving through a torrential downpour; lost cell phone at Avis drop-off - found it later; Amelia meltdown going through Chicago security; delayed out of Chicago; finally got on plane and sat for an hour at gate watching a movie (never a good sign!); plane broke down, moved to a different plane; finally arrived in CA almost 15 hours late!

· Surprise visit from the Lost Reindeer and Sweetie the Elf, his trusty sidekick

· 1st annual white elephant gift exchange - big fight over who got to keep "Elmo Goes Potty"

· Meeting Matt's great girlfriend Kendra

· Jon's bowling birthday celebration, including a dance-off

· Amelia playing with Maddie

· LEGOLAND!

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Click the thumbnails below for more pictures of our holiday adventures...

2006 Brinson Christmas

2006 Kemp Christmas

Best Friends Forever!

Guess who's a happy girl?! Amelia loves Gus. She loves to hug him, pet him, and especially, play with him. He's game to most of it... except the play part. At least, the kind of play she wants to do.

Every once in a while he'll comply with her friendly request. Like last night. She got in his "bed" and called for him to "come." It sounded so sweet. Unfortunately, Gus really only listens to Lee.

A little coercing ("dragging") by me, made Amelia a very happy girl. Gus, ever the sweet pup, patiently snuggled up next to her and the giggles began.

You can tell by his face that he's not particularly pleased to play the part of "horse." None-the-less, he's incredibly sweet and gentle to her. Such a good puppy!

(click on photos to see bigger images)

Chef Amelia's Valentine's Treat!

Amelia has made you a little Valentine's snack. Feel free to drop by for a taste!

She insists on doing things by herself these days. "I do! I do!" I made her a PB&J sandwich for lunch today, but she wouldn't have anything to do with it. Instead, she yelled "I do butter! I do butter!" I ended up eating the sandwich I made. For Amelia, out came a little bowl of peanut butter, one of jelly, a slice a bread, and the coveted holiday butter knife.

We made the mistake the other day of letting her try to butter some bread. We were out to eat and it was a desperate attempt to keep her from crawling on the table. Now everything that requires a knife to spread is "butter."

That's another thing, knives. She's hooked! What to do when you're 23 month old wants a knife?! Luckily, Gina gave me the great idea of letting her use butter knives. Thank goodness we have an odd collection of little dull knives.

Meal time involves much less eating these days -- it's all about the preparation.

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Happy Valentine's Day!

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