he's dead. This is what Caroline looked like when she discovered her pet rollie died...
One last picture with rollie before he is gone forever.
Digging a final resting spot.
Just a little deeper....
Just perfect...now may he rest in peace.
The perfect flower to adorn the grave of dear rollie.
Oh, and can you tell I got a new camera and am loving taking some new pictures?!...even if it is of bugs!!!This past week was my girlie's pre-K graduation. I can't believe she'll be starting Kindergarten in the fall. Oh, how fast she is growing up! She and I had so much fun getting her all ready. She just giggled and stared at herself in the mirror as I curled her hair and put lip gloss on her. She was genuinely sweet all evening (which doesn't happen often-ha!), which made for a memorable night.
This was her before we left for the program. She's modeling her new graduation dress. Click here for the whole story behind the dress.
Singing on the stage at the program. She was a very serious and timid little singer, but did chime in on every word of every song. But I could tell it was kinda stressful for her. She had a solo (just a few words), and did AWESOME!!! 
Ahh...now the fun part. Refreshments were served, and the stress just melted away!
She was so proud of her flowers I surprised her with. It was so cute to see how happy those silly flowers made her! I feel like she looks about 8 in this picture....definitely doesn't look like a fresh five year old.
Caroline and her BFF Sydney. These two are inseparable. I love to watch her chat and interact with her little friends. They all definitely act like they are five going on fifteen! It left a lump in my throat as I watched her playing with all of her little friends tonight. She has been in school with them since she was 18 months old....now they will all be going to different schools for kindergarten. There are a couple of her little friends that we will probably keep in touch with though.Today was girl's day out for Caroline and I. We went shopping for her a "graduation" dress. She has preschool graduation coming up, and is obsessed about a new dress. Here's how the obsession started........
In December, she had a Christmas program at her school. There was a note that went home informing parents that the boys need to wear slacks and the girls should wear dresses. Well, the note went home on a day that Tim picked up the kids. So.......it got thrown in his truck and I never even knew a note about proper attire even existed. Therefore, the day of the program, I sent Caroline in red and white striped leggings and a precious Christmas shirt and a big red bow. She looked absolutely adorable......
But---all of her friends had on "program dresses". She was the only girl there without a dress on. You can imagine the drama! And she has been traumatized ever since. I told her that day that the next program she had a school she could pick out any dress she wanted. Well, today was the day to make good on my word.
I went with the mindset that she could pick out any dress she wanted, no matter how much I hated it or how hideous it was. We tried on A LOT of dresses. And she finally picked the perfect princess dress for graduation (that will have a navy blue graduation gown over it ;) ). It DEFINITELY would not have been my choice.....but it could have gone much worse!!!
Anyway, here's some silly pictures we took before we left today.
....when all I had to worry about.......... was which dress up clothes I was gonna wear!!!!!!!
Oh, to be young and carefree again!!!.....and to not stress about posting a picture where you can see all the trash lurking under my couch. Couldn't crop that out! Oh well, that's just how I roll.
****BTW--I took Will to the doctor today. I noticed a rash on him last night. It didn't go away, so we headed to the pediatrician. It was strep throat......WHAT?! We've had strep throat PLENTY of times around my house. I know what the strep rash looks like. But, usually the rash is accompanied by sore throat, fever, crankiness, etc. So, I never anticipated it was scarlatina. Will's symptoms.....only a rash!! So weird. He doesn't act like there is a thing wrong with him. Good for me---bad for daycare. He has now effectively exposed his entire class! So, you might ask, is he going to school tomorrow? You better bet he is!!!! I mean, the damage is already done, right?....and he'll have already had 3 doses of antibiotics by the time he goes to school in the morning.
bright yellow pencils........
So........
My five year old students at school
can SIT QUIETLY AT A TABLE .....
and fill in the bubble answers to a standardized test....
for 1 HOUR AND TEN MINUTES.....Happy Birthday to my Little Miss Caroline! Wow, already 5! Here's a look back at previous birthdays...
This was her first birthday. What a cutie!
2nd birthday....I love that golden wispy toddler hair.
You can tell by the look in her eyes...age three is when she started to truly get her "sass" on!
4th birthday. This was the first time she had a party with school friends. It was so cute to see the developing friendships at age 4!
5th birthday...all grown up! She is becoming quite the little teacher these days. I'm still trying to decide if that's a good thing!?!I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of our Caroline Grace. I have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that my BABY is turning 5 this week!!!! I keep teasing her telling her that I'm gonna get out the fairy dust that will make her little forever. Seriously though, 5???????
This was the morning I delivered her. Everyone always used to ask me if I was sure there was only one baby in there. Little did we know at the time.....yes, this body can stretch WAY bigger! ;o
She was the sweetest, most scrumptious baby I've ever seen. Actually, she still is! It seems as though my baby is growing up faster than the speed of light! Tonight, out of the blue she asked me when she was going to get her adenoids taken out. What? I guess it was just a reminder that she is growing up!Caroline is turning 5 on Wednesday, and we had her party today. It was at Cheer Xtreme, and a great time was had by all! It was so cute to see her with all of her little friends running around, squealing, and having a girly good time!
Caroline has recently become OBSESSED with Hannah Montana. So, now when the kids play dress up, she goes with a lovely ensemble like this one, and struts around pretending to be HM. Too cute. Not so cute when we are leaving the house and she wants to go looking like this. NO WAY! Not my sweet little 4 (almost 5) year old. So she reluctantly changes back to "Caroline" for her real life. The battle over clothes has already begun. My baby cannot grow up! She just can't. Make it stop!.....What's next, halter tops and prom?!?
Warning: This post is kinda all over the place. But hey, I feel like a lot of the time my life is a bit like that!
Tim is out of town for a long weekend getaway. He went with my brothers and all my guy cousins to my uncle's cabin on the river. They go every year, and it is something he really looks forward to. I'm glad he got to escape for a while and have a good time. But.....we terribly miss him--or at least I do! I don't always let him know how much I appreciate him. I just take for granted what a great parent and husband he is. Then I realize just how lucky I am to have to have him around!....especially when I have to do this parenting thing alone!!!
My house has been like a war zone for the past 2 weeks or so. I think maybe the cold cold weather has finally taken a toll on us, because we can't go out and play and burn off energy like we need to. The kids are fighting like cats and dogs! They are griping, yelling, and screaming at each other all the time. Which in turn, makes for a very cranky momma! I know that my kiddos are not at the developmental stage yet where they fully understand sharing and taking turns......but I am running out of patience and energy to model it for them. I just want to scream!!!....and sometimes do!
On a more positive note, Caroline got her report card last week. She is doing great in school, and seems to enjoy it. This is her report card:
Did you know that Caroline and Jack are obsessed with "crafts". They are constantly asking to do a craft. Will does not like crafty things one bit, but doesn't want to be left out when the other two get so excited. Tonight they were begging for a craft project. So, we colored Valentine pictures and then glittered them. I remember glitter projects as a child and I always thought glitter was just magical. Well, so do my kids. They had a big time, and you can tell it by looking at the traces of glitter glistening all over my kitchen!
I'm off to get everyone ready for bedtime routine. Since daddy's out of town, Caroline gets to sleep in the bed with mommy. It's a MAJOR treat for her (and me too), because it doesn't happen very often!For Christmas, the kids got the board game "Don't Wake Daddy". You move your pieces around the board and try not to land on things that will cause you to push daddy's alarm clock. To make a long story short, daddy randomly pops up out of his bed and "wakes up". Then you have to go back to the beginning if you're the one to wake him up. Sounds fun, right?
Tonight we decided to teach the kids how to play. The boys were having a blast. Caroline, not so much! It seemed that every time she spun the spinner, she had to push the alarm clock and daddy always woke up. She was scared to death!!! The first few times he "woke up", she jumped and screamed....as the game progressed, she hysterically cried and would not take her turn. She decided to sit out and watch. Do you see the look of horror on her face as she waits in anticipation while Jack pushes the alarm clock? Every time he popped up she just cried and cried. Something tells me she's gonna have nightmares tonight!!!!
DramaticTonight at the dinner table Caroline said this out of the blue..... "Mommy, you know what happens when people get like a hundred?" Me, "What sis?" "Their face gets all soggy!!"
Priceless! A child's perspective sure is fascinating.
I can't believe the weekend is already over. Time flies when you're doing nothing. Today we have just hung out and been lazy. Me and the kids, that is. Tim had to work today. Yuck!
Sat. morning Caroline and I went with Heather and Katie Pettigrew to breakfast with Santa at the Holiday Market. We had a good time. Thanks for the tickets Erin! Although, Caroline would have absolutely nothing to do with Santa. She preferred not to even get close! She did love the clown who was there making balloon sculptures.
Sat. night Tim and I had a date. We went to dinner and a movie. We went to see Twilight. I enjoyed the movie, but of course not as much as the book! We had a nice evening alone. Those are few and far between. Thanks Sue and Larry for babysitting.
Now I'm off to get clothes ready for everyone for tomorrow, and kids ready for bed. The story of my life ;)
was the last time I heard these words, "All skate, skate slowly and carefully please, all skate." Do you know that they still say that?!? This weekend I took Caroline to the skating rink for her first time, and I took a trip down memory lane.
As a preteen and young teenager, I loved EVERYTHING about the skating rink.....Holding hands with a boy in a booth, Big Red, Pickle sickles, rockin music, dedications. I know all my fellow skating sisters are with me here. My favorite: the big round fountain like sink between the boys and girls bathroom. The sink is gone!!!!!! What a bummer.
Enough about me, Caroline had a great time at her skating party, although you wouldn't know it by the pictures. They were taken at the beginning of the party, when she was still warming up to the whole skating thing. She eventually got the hang of it, and I couldn't drag her away!
Caroline with her friends at the party.
This was right after we put skates on.......she was scared to death!
Finally getting the hang of it........still too nervous to smile yet!
