Birthday celebrations

When your birthday falls on a Friday, you might just get two day's worth of fun out of it! We sure did over here. What a great weekend! I can't believe our baby is two! We love you, Caroline Ruth!

Chocolate chip pancakes on birthday morning began our 48-hour sugar binge . . .

The girls helping prepare the cupcake batter

Hard work is its own reward

Catherine with Suzanne at Caroline's birthday dinner at Nothing but Noodles

Caroline loves her noodles!

The finished minnie mouse cupcakes (Caroline's current obsession)

Blowing out the first round of candles

Momma, Daddy, birthday girl

They taste as good as they look!

Random dance party!

Birthday girl sandwich!

And then you come home and find a slide in your dining room! Oh boy!

The day after Caroline's birthday was a Saturday and we celebrated with donuts and juice at a local park. We invited her Sunday school class from church and few friends with babies born right around her birthday.

Riding a "Guck"

Sweet Mrs. Karla  . . . part of the family

Another round of singing and candle blowing

The sugar binge continues

Daniel, Caroline, and Catherine

 

Daddies are as much fun as playground equipment!

This is Minnie's car. You don't know it, but it is. Going to Minnie's house. To eat Minnie waffles. Or so says Caroline!

Happy birthday, little Squirt!

When Caroline was born, she was 6 lb, 6 oz of skinny little tininess. It's hard to believe that was two whole years ago. I know it's cliche, but it feels like yesterday. And now, I can't even call her "baby" as a term of endearment. She enthusiastically tells me, "No, buh-buh! Beeek guhl!" (Translation - not a baby! a big girl!) I tell you, it makes me smile and cry at the same time. Happy birthday, to my little Squirt. Don't be in such a hurry to grow up.

A baby as big as her lovey

Caro on her first birthday

Second birthday fun

Getting with the program

Catherine had her first ever school music program last week. Music class is her favorite thing about school and she just loves her music teachers. The kiddos did a great job! It was pretty darned adorable to see them dancing and/or singing and/or looking confused. Can you imagine getting a group of young three-year-olds ready to perform? I sure can't!

The music teachers prepared the kids for the performance by telling them what to expect. Catherine explained to me that they were not supposed to lift their dresses and show their bellies because they might have boyfriends someday, and moms and dads would be video-ing (her word), and that they would show the boyfriends someday. All the kids did leave their dresses and shirts down. Mission accomplished, music teachers!

To celebrate a fine performance (and getting out of school a few minutes early), we grabbed some frozen yogurt with a few buddies afterward. Let's just say, I think Catherine will be even more eager for her next music performance.

Catherine and her sweet buddy Abby

What's been going on

The beginning of March has been pretty quiet. It blessed us with a nasty stomach virus and a round of colds for everyone. One of my friends says that small children are pretty much bio-terrorists and I don't think that is too much of an overstatement, minus malicious intent.

Otherwise . . . well here we go. Catherine got to have pajama day at school. She has been eagerly anticipating pajama day ever since last year's pj day.

 

Here are a few shots of our favorite babysitter, Miss Kelly. The girls adore her. Caroline doesn't even cry when I leave them with her and THAT'S really something.

 

The girls got these little sunglasses as a party favor a few weeks ago and they've been a MAJOR hit!

 

One day we got out the paint markers. Here's what ensued.

Happily painting away . . .

Caroline using her favorite color . . . "Wab" (Yes, Caroline is a difficult language to learn. I've been taking lessons for about six month. My listening skills are improving.)

And then it was on her lips. I made the mistake of mentioning it and she came apart. I comforted her and wiped her up. But only after taking a picture. It was non-toxic and washable - no worries. Well, none from me.

The tail end of winter. I hope.

February has just about wrapped up so I wanted to post a quick update. I had a lovely time celebrating the third anniversary of my 29th birthday on the 15th. We enjoyed family breakfast and a stage-it concert for the girls with our favorite Slugs and Bugs team. Russell took me out to celebrate that night -- we went to Landry's and had some yummy jambalaya and enjoyed Andy Gullahorn in concert with some friends at a local brewery. Over the course of the day, I learned that I share a birthday with Jill Phillips and Randall Goodgame, which is awesome. It was a sweet day. I don't have any pictures, but I am documenting it here. It did indeed happen. :)

The rest of this month has been pretty quiet. Punctuated by bouts with runny noses, just one trip to the doctor, prepping clothes for consignment, and one night of very loud thunderstorming, February has slipped through our hands, as days seem to do when raising small children.

One of the highlights of the month was hiking last weekend on Rainbow Mountain. I'm the first to admit that we throw the word "mountain" around rather loosely, but it's probably the highest point on this side of our county (what a superlative, huh!) and it has some pretty neat vistas. There are tons of great big rock formations. The girls and the dog enjoyed climbing all over them and pretending they were all sorts of things. Here are a few of our photos.

Apparently, this is Minnie's house.

Mickey's house. This is the kitchen. Obviously.

The man and the only other male in the house

Add caption

See, I'm in a picture!

Daddy pointing out the airport, many miles away

I also dragged the camera out during bath time the other night and snagged a few images that are appropriate for public viewing.

This IS a happy face. In case you weren't sure.

 

Later, gators! See you in March!