Friday, June 2, 2006

Beginning of Summer

Katherine is just our little toy - I think she might be the most spoiled kid in America! At every moment she is awake, there is someone in front of her, talking, smiling, making goofy faces, jumping up and down, teaching her how to read, talk on walkie talkies, trying to braid her hair, showing her how to play star wars, or how to dance in a dance recital... just to name a few activities...
Katherine eats a fish...































































We went with a group of friends to the Concert in the park to hear Trout Fishing in America... Jonathan perfected his "punch dancing". We also enjoyed a great day at Sea World, compliments of Grandpa Donohue!!








Read more…

Jonathan's Spring Program

Jonathan had his spring program at the end of may. He enjoyed going to "school" two days a week at our parish's child development center. His teacher, Mrs. Tricia, was perfect for Jonathan. He invited her to come home with him to play dinosaurs several times! Jonathan doesn't know the definition of stage fright... he had a ball up on the stage, singing and dancing his heart out (his music teacher says he's got rhythm!!).











Jonathan and Michael Pettibon are a pair to be reckoned with! Their favorite games always include swords, running into things and wrestling... they weren't in the same class at school, but get together often to play at each other's homes.






Jonathan ate lunch with his friend Victoria. Victoria invited Jonathan to go on vacation with her this summer...









Jonathan, Daddy and the wonderful Mrs. Tricia

Read more…

Emelie's Dance Recital

Emelie had her dance recital on May 26th... and she did and outstanding job. For her jazz dance, she was a zebra, a princess for ballet and, get this... she was an Aggie band member for her tap dance. Needless to say, the crowd went WILD when these little 6 year olds came marching on stage at Rudder Auditorium to the Aggie War Hymn!






It was a long day, but totally worth all the hard work Emelie put in and all of the patience that Jonathan contributed - at the recital, and all those afternoons sitting in the dance studio hallway for an hour and a half coloring in his spiderman coloring book! He's quite a fan. Katherine slept the entire time (thank goodness) except to wake with a start to all the "whooping" at the end of Emelie's Aggie dance!








Emelie and her zebra friend, Bethany.

















Check out those ears!














Run....!












A very tired ballerina
































































"Now forming at the North end of Kyle Field..."































In front of Rudder Fountain on the Texas A&M Campus.






























Read more…

Emelie's Kindergarten Graduation

Emelie graduated from kindergarten at the end of May. The school had a wonderful ceremony which was very touching. The children worked very hard to prepare their program and sang several songs for the crowd.

Emelie's Class...
















Emelie's Teacher, Mrs. Runyon and Katherine




















Emelie and Hannah after graduation!















Emelie and Jonathan















Emelie and her principal, Dr. Miranda




















Emelie and her friends: Hannah, Celeste and Bryson















Emelie and Mrs. Runyon




















Graduation Ceremony















Waiting for the Ceremony

Read more…

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Thanksgiving 2005

Backtracking a bit - we had a great Thanksgiving with the Gulde family this year. Mom and Dad Gulde came all the way from Florida, and we also had Chris & Karen with their boys and Lisa & Tony with their kids. While fitting everyone into our house was a challenge, we had such a great time, I can honestly say that I'd do it again!







It was great to have the cousins together, to watch them play to hear them talk about their life, their friends, their classes and to realize that (with a bit of awe) that once again their is another generation of classy Guldes has entered the world!






Anyway, Curt fried a turkey without burning down the house. We had a fire in the backyard and roasted marshmallows, some of the fam went to the t.u. game to see the Aggies get defeated once again. We watched movies, wrestled, ate lots of really unhealthy food, talked and played. Couldn't have been better







Read more…

Welcome Katherine Therese Gulde!




We are glad to introduce you to the newest member of our family! Katherine Thérèse is a delight to us all and we are very blessed to have her in our family!






Jonathan and Emelie are thrilled with their new sister. Jonathan loves to kiss her little head. The other day, she was fussy at the end of a nap in her bouncy seat, and I went in to check on her. Jonathan had put his favorite stuffed puppy, Scruffy Gordon (he named him) on the top of her head! Needless to say, we do have to watch Jonathan with her – but all he does is done in love. Emelie is so helpful with Katherine. She loves to hold her and read her books. She’s a natural mother hen! She even has the mommy coo down pat!


Emelie just began her second semester of Kindergarten at St. Joseph Catholic School. Her reading and writing are really terrific and she loves school! She even read the prayer intentions during the All School Mass during Thanksgiving week! Her favorite class is P.E. (is she really my daughter?) and computer class is a close second (she’s definitely her father’s daughter!). She is also enjoying her dance class each Wednesday. She has a new teacher this semester and I think she has given her new inspiration – she now wants to be a ballet teacher when she grows up.



Jonathan is enjoying his 2 day a week class at the Child Development Center at our church. There are only 6 children in his class, so he gets lots of attention from his very fun teacher! He really enjoys art, often impressing us with his drawings. His all time favorite activity is getting into mischief with his good buddy Michael Pettibon. Those two are quite a pair! Jonathan still looks forward to 3:30 each afternoon when Emelie comes home. Although he has enjoyed having his run of the house this year since she’s been in school, I think he’d still rather have Emelie home all day. They are sharing a room right now, which offers many opportunities for laughter and frustration. Last night we caught Jonathan playing legos in the dark at 11:30 pm!

Curt is still working hard at his job at the TAMU Health Science Center. He was recently promoted to Senior IT Manager over the entire Health Science Center. I am very proud of him! He is also training to run his second marathon on February 19th in Austin. He has trained with 4 friends from the neighborhood and has really enjoyed it! Just Saturday he ran 20 miles, and most of it by himself. Jonathan said he wants to run the next marathon with him. We’ll see.

And me... I have been very busy with... ummm... Katherine! Negotiating her and school schedules and meals and cleaning (not to mention my design work) has been quite a challenge, but a joy all the same. Number 3 is definitely different from #1 and #2, but still a delight. Katherine just fits right in with the family.

Curt and I had a revelation when we pulled into the driveway, bringing Katherine home from the hospital. We knew there were two children waiting behind that door that were so excited to get their baby sister home – more excited than they were about the gifts under the tree at Christmas only a few weeks before. Children are certainly a gift from God. Katherine has reminded us all of that!

Read more…