Gettin our yardwork on

We took advantage of some beautiful weather today and worked in the yard (though there is so much to do that you can't even tell!). Griffin is such a great helper and did a great job playing. What a cutie!

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Cutest church nursery ever

I am pretty sure that we have the cutest church nursery ever. These boys run wildly but joyfully all around the place while cute little Ellie just watches contently. And soon enough we will have little Miss Cayslee joining the crew. Yay for more cute outfits and big bows ;-) 

First "bike" ride!

This afternoon, Griffin and I went to visit little Miss Lily Ann, Darrell and Sam. Lily is about two and a half weeks old, but Griffin hadn't been able to meet her yet so I thought it would be a fun after school activity.

Once we got there though, little man got distracted by their dog, Buddy, and a new toy Darrell was getting out- their bike trailer! Griffin watched a bit nervously as Darrell was putting it together and when I asked if he wanted to ride it he said No! Haha. But as soon as he realized it was on the back of a bike, he literally dove right in.

Darrell and Buddy took Griffin on a trail ride for about ten minutes and boy did he have a ball! As for Miss Lily, he did give her a squeeze and a few kisses. She is such a doll!


- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Chick a lay!

This past week, I had a minor procedure done to remove some scar tissue. Well, Morgan is such a great friend, she insisted on bringing us yummy dinner and taking the boy for a bit to give us a break. What a blessing that was! 

Griffin and Eli are just becoming the best of buds and play really well together. Morgan was superwoman for the night and took Griffin, Eli and 2 month old Ellie to "Chick a lay", as the boys called it. They had a ball! 

Thanks so much Morgan, what a blessing your friendship is to me! 

Going to the chapel...

And they're (Andrea and Ryan) gonna get married...


Today by cousin Ryan got married to Andrea. The wedding was in Nashville, so we were able to head down and join the party. They got married at Scarrit Bennett Chapel, which was gorgeous! Wish I had taken a picture, dangit. Anyhow, Griffin did really well during the ceremony (thanks to some icebreakers!) and was calm and quiet.



During the ceremony they had a cool personal touch I liked. The Pastor had asked each of them to send him a summary of their feelings for the other one and he read them today for the first time. It was sweet and a neat personal thing.

The reception was at Houston Station and looked great. It was pretty much bedtime so I figured Griffin would be a mess, but he didn't do too bad. He loved dancing, and also found the photo booth props... Haha!



It was a great night away with my loved ones. Wish we could do it more often.

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Mother's Day 2013

We had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend this year. I started it off Thursday by having a massage courtesy of my boys! (Thanks babe!) It was glorious. I spend all day promoting and booking massages, and rarely get them myself. So it was truly the best gift ever.
Friday we headed to Lousiville right after work to see Grandma, Papaw and Uncle Ed. It was a gross rainy drive for sure. But our new van has a DVD player, which we decided to use for the first time. Griffin loved it. Uncle D rode with him in the back.
We went out to eat with Grandma and played for awhile. Then headed to bed. Saturday morning we got to play with Papaw some before he had to go to sleep (he is a baker and works nights) then spent the day with Grandma and Uncle Ed. I love how much Griffin loves all of them and is so comfortable with them, even though he doesn't see them super often. It's a blessing really. I would hate for our short visits to be wasted with "warming up to them" time. He just runs right to them and loves all on them! Yay!
We drove back home late Saturday night and went to church Sunday. After church and lunch we headed to Gallatin to surprise my mom (or at least try to surprise her). My sister and I had planned to cook my moms favorite foods and surprise her when she got off. She had no idea we were coming down. She ended up going to her house first, where Mr.Pate and Ashley were helping my dad with something. So she was surprised but I didn't get to see the face. Oh well. She was still thrilled we were there and it was an awesome laid back visit with my family. I feel like every time we go to Gallatin there are a million things going on so we never just hangout. What a blessing quality time is.
We love our families so much. So glad we got some much needed time with them!

And a shout out to the Mom's in my life, I couldn't be more blessed!
My crazy momma:



My crazy mother-in-law, who treats me as her own:



My crazy Becky, who adopted me as her "darling daughter" a decade ago:



- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Fun Park Times

We are loving getting to spend time at the park lately. Griffin's daycare has a park right in front of it, so pretty much every morning and afternoon he asks if he can go play. We also have two parks within five minutes of our house, so we have been trying to take advantage whenever possible between rainy days.

The boy loves to swing, seems to love going round and round on the tire swing or merry go round, and is quite fearless. Love it.

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Happy Birthday Charli!

We went to celebrate Charli's birthday a few weekends ago, and had a blast! We had actually had a rough morning, so I did not have high expectations at all. But we got there just in time to see a clown show! Griffin loved it. We also got to bounce in a bounce house, play in a gym, and eat goodies! It was a Scooby Doo themed party, so we even got to dress up as some of the characters. Charli's mom is so creative.

It's really fun having a kid old enough to enjoy parties. And we had a blast visiting with great friends!