Kathryn's Rave

Our sweet friend Kathryn had a birthday this past Wednesday so last night we had an impromptu get-together in her honor-

Kathryn draped in her birthday glory

Celia's dance moves- we were rockin' Jock Jams '96

The Corbins, Howells, and Kulps enjoying the goodies

and sweet Benno lovin' Miss Kathryn

TrikeTime

The girls have been spending lots of time on their tricycles lately....

Here is Bennett



And one of Celia


lastly one of our little maniac!

School Days, School Days....

Today was a huge event yet again in the Kulp household, our little Celia went to preschool. This morning we woke up and enjoyed strawberry muffins and instant breakfast (her favorite) and then after a quick spin on the trike, headed off to Carmel Pres preschool. She wasn't nervous in the least. I got a little teary-eyed driving over there but amidst the shuffle there wasn't enough time to be sad. Celia did great! She hung up her bookbag and set her lunch on the bookshelf and she was off! Hardly a hug and a kiss before she bolted into her class-

We're still waiting for her bookbag to arrive from LandsEnd so for now she using the old hello kitty one which her enormous lunchbox will not fit into!

This picture was hard for Celia to take, she could hardly smile she was so excited! She was just outside the classroom!

guttercream social

Well in our final night with the Williams/Sharpe/Davis lifegroup (their kick-off) we enjoyed a nice gutter icecream sundae. It was truly reminiscent of 7th grade youth group but with adult interaction....here are some highlights.

Mary, Chris, Lindsey, and Shannon diving in

Precious Kate and Aaron Milheim who hosted the event

Brandon and Teresa (who opted for a personal gutter)

Luke and Dave with some whipped cream...

...it got ugly

We have loved our time with you guys and will miss you all as we start our new group this fall!

Bennett strikes back

We knew this day was coming and soon would be here, but the day has arrived. Celia has had approximately 22 months to beat up on her weaker little sister. We have seen many chokeholds, pushes, trips, and pancakes (completely laying down on top of bennett who has been previusly knocked to the ground) but we knew the day would come when Bennett would strike back.
Well the day has come, the tables have turned. Recently bennett has perfected a move I like to call "The paddle wacker." The PW works like this. Upon being assaulted by her older sister Bennett instively responds by spotting her target, turning her face to the side and letting the arms flail about, in hopes (and most often success) of landing multiple blows to the face of her older sister who is only about a head taller than her! All of this happens within seconds, and I must say it is very effective. Often it catches Celia so off guard, she reacts with a stunned face which quickly turns to crying, and then inevitably through the weeping she cries out "Bennett hit me." Well of course she did.
I must say that although all of this confirms Total depravity it is so shocking that it is bad but it is somewhat funny...good thing our church is beginning a new class on Fathering...Although I am teaching another class I will indeed be listening to those gems!!! I need all the help I can get!

more beach pics

shark madness

while we were here we also had a visitor almost everyday. so needless to say we saw less water time than years past. this might be the same hammerhead responsible for the 2 shark attacks on IOP thursday of last week. Thankfully no more have been reported. It was amazing how shallow he was. (and FYI the crazy woman you hear screaming is not me or my friends, honestly)

IOP take 10

This is the tenth consecutive year of beach time with some of my girls from Clemson and this year was extra-special because it marked our first extended hangout with the Gainors upon their return from SK. It was chaotic but the fellowship was sweet-

Here's a group shot of us all on the porch, the Burns family, the Kulps, and the Gainors. I love this picture bc it shows us in all of our stages. Brandy and I are both pregnant so next time the picture will be even more full!

Just for practice...

Just for practice Celia strapped in baby Amanda into Sam Hunt's carseat. She's getting ready for our new baby to come this March!

Reunion!

Almost 2 years to the day, Gray and Brandy Gainor returned home from Slovakia this time now toting 2 kiddos and they were able to stop by our place to crash last night! We had a blast. We woke up our girls at 10 for a 30 minute Gainor party and then pj'ed this morning for breakfast. It was a precious reunion!

Here Sarala, Bennett and I are building a tower. When the Gainors left I was 6 months pregnant with Bennett and Sarala was just 5 months old...now she's bilingual (well sort of)! Last night Brandy and Gray got to meet their precious goddaughter...it was awesome!

Celia smooching Jackson...he is adorable! We saw him last at Thanksgiving but he was such a new little thing. This was Celia's first meeting. She was smitten-

And a random one, but Uncle Sam playing with Jack....its just so fun to have them back!

Panthers' Day '07

This year we again headed to Bank of America Stadium to celebrate our beloved Panthers. Earlier in the week, Dave had actually carted Celia to Wofford College to see some training camp and attempt to get some autographs (if you have a child with you, you go to the front of the line.....hmmm). Anyway that only hyped Celia even more for seeing the Panthers. She was disappointed at training camp to not see the "black cat" but when in fact she met Sir Purr face to face she recoiled and went into hysterics reminiscent of the cow sighting at CFA not too long ago...Anyway it was a blast. Dave got to go on the field to attempt a field goal....attempt, but no field goal. We were proud though. We ate lots of popcorn and played with the Dirks and the best part was the Mamu and Pops were with us!

more milestones...

2 new milestones to share....Celia can officially get dressed all by herself now, tops and bottoms, which is THRILLING for us all. Here's a picture of her in her pj's.

And Bennett last night had her first encounter with the potty which was a huge success! She was freaking out excited! I don't think we're starting to potty-train for real, but maybe before bath time. She loved it!