Pre-Party Pottery Painting (how's that for alliteration?)

Today we kicked off Morgan's party festivities with five of her closest friends at the Wow Factory in Morgantown. This exclusive pre-party event included each guest creating a handprint tile mosaic and playing in the party/play room of the store. Patrick won a party for up to 8 kids back in March, and I couldn't think of a better time to get all of her friends together.

The birthday girl started off the painting, getting her hand painted a lovely shade of pinkish red.

After all the kids had their handprints down, they enjoyed putting polka dots and "hair" on their handprints, which were going to end up being princes and princesses. Morgan's Mutti and Papa joined in on the fun.

When the kids were done, they got to paint the back of their tiles before the day was over. They got a quick tour of the firing area, where their handprints would be set into the tiles.

Then it was off to the park to meet the rest of Morgan's friends for her big birthday bonanza bash (woah, alliteration, two for two!).

Father's Day Weekend

What a wonderful Father's Day weekend we had! This year we traveled to Germantown to see my brother and his wife, met up with our dear friends Jim, Lori, and James Risk, went to Baltimore to spend some time with them, and took the kids to see Storybook Live! (a Nickelodeon sponsored show featuring Dora the Explorer).

We went berry picking first thing Saturday morning at Butler's Orchard, which is near my brother's house. Morgan and James were SO excited to see each other! It had been many months since they had been together, but they both ran up and James gave Morgan the biggest hug. We hit the fields to gather black raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. Everyone had a great time. The strawberries were at the very end of season, so we didn't get many of those, but we had buckets full of blueberries!

Ms. Bossy Britches, pretending to be cute :)


Morgan, showing James how to pick the berries.
Gathering Strawberries

The Risk Family

Best Friends

Picking Blueberries

Morgan couldn't resist the fresh berries.

After we spent TWO HOURS picking berries, we headed over to the South Germantown Rec Park to the great playground they have there. We had a picnic lunch and the kids got to play on the castle and equipment for about 45 minutes. They had a BALL, as Morgan does every chance she gets to go to the park.

Daddies pushing their babies

We hit the car and headed to Baltimore after the park. Morgan enjoyed watching Bolt on her DVD player as we traveled. That is one purchase I will NEVER regret getting! After a brief stop at the Risks, we got back in the car and headed into the city to see Storybook Live!

Morgan and James were so cute holding hands. Morgan wanted James to sit next to her in the theater and they had a great time watching the show. It was definitely geared toward the kids, because the adults thought it was HORRIBLE! Actually, I would not recommend it. For the prices we paid, the costuming and acting was just terrible. But I digress....

Everyone sacked out early on Saturday, after a long but exciting day. Father's Day was spent just hanging out and enjoying the company of our very dear friends. We sure do miss them! We headed home around 3:00 and when we got home Morgan capped off her Daddy's day by falling asleep in his arms. It was so cute.

We have another busy weekend ahead as we have a BIRTHDAY PARTY for a certain almost 4-year-old. Mama is in a total panic, but I know it will all come together by Saturday. We hope you have a wonderful week and look for lots of blogging and pictures next week!

Doughnuts with Dad

To celebrate Father's Day, Morgan's day care had the kids do a craft with their dads at home, then invited all the dads to Place of Grace to have doughnuts with their children.

Here are Morgan and Daddy, working hard on their boat.

The kids got to float their boats at the school during the party and got to show their dads around the classroom. Patrick had a great time and said Morgan loved showing him around. What a great way to kick off the Father's Day weekend!

First Day of Pre-K!

This morning was very bittersweet for me....Morgan is officially in Pre-K! She is so excited to be in the Pre-K class and officially named herself a Big Girl this morning. It's hard to believe she's almost 4. Everyone who told me that time flies when you have children were so right (not that I ever doubted that but I am officially on that wagon...). Here's our big girl ready to go to school!

She's all smiles.

Heading in....my big girl!

Busy Little Bee

Morgan had yet another fun-filled, busy weekend. I think this weekend when there is "nothing" scheduled she won't know what to do with herself! I see some backyard pool time coming.

On Saturday night we braved the thunderstorm and headed to Pittsburgh for a Pirates game. Thankfully it didn't rain at all during the game. Morgan had a wonderful time texting and taking pictures with Aunt Pattie's phone, eating her standard ballgame fare of nachos (sans cheese this time, not sure what that was about), and cheering the Pirates on to a win!

After the game, Collective Soul held a concert on the field and fireworks were set off. Morgan really enjoyed the fireworks and seemed to really like Collective Soul as well. We head to another Pirates game in July, and Morgan is already excited to see her Aunt Pattie again.


This really is Collective Soul....if you hold your magnifying glass and mouth just right, you can see them!

On Sunday we all participated in a 5K walk to benefit the local food pantries. Morgan was excited to be able to ride in her wagon during the walk, and it was her first time on the Rail Trail (old railroad tracks that were turned into a nice bike path).

She's ready to go!

Team Tenney

Showing off her new "kicks"

Enjoying the scenery at the ampitheater before the walk began.

Getting close to the finish line...with Bailey riding along.

While we were walking, we encountered a homeless man sitting alongside the trail. I didn't think anything of it until Morgan and I were talking on Thursday (yes, 4 days after the walk). She brought up walking, and her wagon, and she said "Mommy, do you remember the dirty man on our walk?" I had to really think about what she was talking about. After about 30 seconds and her repeating the question, I realized she was talking about that homeless man. I couldn't believe a) that she noticed him enough to remember him many days later and b) that she found a rather descriptive, yet as nice as an almost 4 year old could say it, way to tell me what she was thinking. We talked about this man, the fact that he didn't have a home and that he lived under that bridge we were walking under. She asked a lot of questions: why didn't he have a home? Why did he live under the bridge? Why was he dirty? When I explained to her that he didn't have a bathroom like we did to wash up in, she said in her very innocent way "But Mommy, why didn't he take a bath in the river? It was right there by his sleeping place." My heart ached for her little brain. She was clearly doing much more thinking about this gentleman than I had even understood. Morgan constantly amazes me with the things she remembers and talks about. It is clear that we don't give her enough credit.

In other news....today is Morgan's last day in the 3 year old classroom. On Monday she makes the big move to PRE-K! She is very excited about this change at school. She's now the "big man on campus" and she knows it :) I have been having a hard emotional time with this change. I didn't take it too hard when she turned 1, but this move seems to be indicating so many more changes...she's going to be officially enrolled in pre-school, which means in one very short year she will be starting school. She's certainly not a baby anymore. So this weekend I will be hugging her a little closer, wishing that time could move a little slower, before these big changes start happening so fast.

Have a great weekend!

Memorial Day Weekend

What a beautiful Memorial Day weekend we all had! We traveled to Webster Springs to spend the weekend with Great-Grandma June and Great-Grandpa Ralph. While we were there we also celebrated Great-Grandpa Don's birthday.

Morgan had a wonderful time with Julia and her grandparents. Going to Webster Springs is always a fun time. Morgan got to help in the garden, play in the sprinklers, read books with Grandma, and of course play (and sometimes fight) with Julia. It's fun to watch the girls play together. They have always been great friends. Even when they fight it only lasts a few minutes then they are best friends again. Sure does illustrate an example to the adults that little things should not come in the way of true friendship.

On Friday while we waited for Aunt Amy and the kids to pick us up, Morgan helped her Daddy string a weed-eater. She also chased the butterflies around the yard, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Don't you just love her hat??

The girls spend a lot of time digging up the gravel leading up to the porch. I think Ralph will need to get a grader to get it all back down and level!

Julia brought Morgan a new Barbie, who hit the pool with Morgan immediately.

Every Memorial Day weekend Webster County hosts the Woodchopping Festival, which is the Southeast US World Championships. There were competetitors from WV, PA, OH, and even one from Brazil! On Friday night we went to watch the Fireman's Parade. Morgan looked adorable in her red, white, and blue!

She loves her Aunt Amy!

Like last year, Morgan held her ears through most of the parade. She loves the fire trucks but hates the sirens!


Saturday we went to the Woodchopper's Parade, which was very tiny this year. Morgan, Julia, and Aunt Amy hung out close to the road so the girls could grab candy being thrown from the floats. Morgan was very timid, waiting until all the other kids had left before running out to get whatever candy was left behind.

Morgan got to spend time with her Great-Aunt Lola this trip, which is always fun for her. Overall it was a great, albeit hot weekend. We were sad to leave yesterday.

Pool Fun

After getting a week of smiley faces at school, Morgan earned a new swimming pool for the summer. We finally had a decent day to put the pool up, and although it is small, Morgan had a great time playing in it. We are looking forward to many, many more pool days this summer!