Blog? What blog?

Hello again. I've been a little busy around here with, you know, life ... with four kids, running a business, starting up two new businesses, preparing to move, visiting with friends. And laundry. Don't forget about the laundry! So the blog has taken a back seat for the moment. But here are some pictures from Kate's birthday party at The Charlotte Nature Museum earlier this month. After much debate, and initially wanting to only invite the boys from her class, Kate ended up with an all girls party. Of course our boys and cousin Logan were there, but they don't count according to her. The party was lots of fun and everyone seemed to have a great time.

" Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!" I love how you can see her friends singing to her in this picture.

Katie and one of her best buddies, Maddie. 'Sorry' has been a huge hit in our house, it's a great game for Kindergartners!

Claire, another best buddy, and Kate petting a hissing cockroach. I love that all the girls got to touch things they would normally run screeching from. One little girl did step out when it was time to touch the snake. Jon joined her.

The whole gang enjoying some lemonade and cake.

Here are my girls getting to know a corn snake. This picture makes me smile. I love the expression on their faces and how Kate is helping Camryn. Kate often whispers to me "Mommy, Camryn is so cute! I hope she stays like this!" Me too, Kate, me too.

The boys getting a turn. Will, being my third child, and always having to bow to his older sister and brother's schedules had never been to The Charlotte Nature Museum. He really enjoyed it! I guess I need to forgo laundry and other duties and take him again soon.

He sure is the cutest little bug!

And there's my Katie-bug! She had a great birthday party!!

Celebrating Six

The azaleas at Latin are in full bloom right now. So pretty. We get to gaze at them everyday during car pool. Here are Cam and Will on our way into join Katie and her class for her birthday lunch.

Cam the Ham.

Here is what Katie wanted me to bring in for a treat for the class. "Worms and Dirt" for my nature girl. So fitting! (They were a huge hit with her friends!!)

Before we left we decorated the car ala Frances style. Frances has a passion for her kids birthday similar to mine ... borderline crazy. Thanks for the great idea Frances. Katie loved it and was the talk of the school!!

If I don't make a big deal of Katie's birthday then who will?? It's my job as a parent to set that bar high. Good luck to all future suitors. I have created high expectations and I will not let Katie settle for anything less. ;)

Repeat picture. This one was my fault. Oh well, feast your eyes again on those gorgeous children and blooms.

There's the birthday girl lining up for lunch with her classmates. I think she was a little excited!

Katie is the first to have a birthday on a school day. Ben is a summer baby. And up until this year we have always been on Spring Break for Kate's big day. But since Charlotte Latin is the only school NOT on break right now we got to celebrate in school on her actual birthday. It was fun. Although a little sad to have her gone most of the day.

My first baby girl.

The whole family was able to come celebrate at school. We even pulled Ben out of math to join us. Katie's teacher said that was the first time in her 20 years teaching that a family has ever done that. We are such trail blazers!

The crazy crew. Will and Cam were very popular among the 'older' kids. Katie's friend Merit asked if she could have Camryn for her own little sister.

Once Ben got home from school we opened presents. Here is Katie with Lanie (notice the matching outfits ~ thanks Mammie!). Lanie is Kate's first American Girl Doll. If you don't know what that is you don't have girls. If you do have girls and still don't know, just wait, you will know everything there is to know about American Girl dolls very soon.

Making a wish. I just wish it would all slow down. I realized last night as I was searching through old pictures of Kate that I don't want any more babies, I just want MY babies back. I miss that funny little blond toddler who couldn't pronounce 'r, or l' and slurred her s. She seems so grown up now. And she's only six!!

The Birthday Girl!

April 7, 2004

April 7, 2005

April 7, 2006

April 7, 2007

April 7, 2008

April 7, 2009

April 7, 2010.

Happy, happy birthday beautiful girl.

Happy Easter!!

I'm not really sure how a large bunny carrying candy and hiding eggs relates to Easter, but anything involving jellybeans is just fine with me!

Here are the four crazies on our way to Easter Mass. Little Camryn stayed home with Ma and took a nap.

Me and my little fam. Aren't we so festive in our Easter colors? Even the redbud was in Easter dress.

I'm not sure what's going on in this picture, but it makes me chuckle. I have a feeling it has to do with Ben asking me for something he knows he shouldn't have. Like more candy. Then there's Katie making a sadface face, Will looking at me and Ben and Camryn smiling for the camera. Oh, disclaimer. Ben dressed himself. I had an outfit like Will's picked out for him. But he wanted to wear his seersucker suit with a polo shirt. No comment.

Earlier that morning Katie has a Trader Joe's peanut butter chocolate egg. I love Trader Joe's.

Coloring eggs. And my table.

More 'on the way to church' pictures. Aren't they just the sweetest things. Especially in pictures when you can't hear them. Kidding ... mostly.

What a smart little cookie. After her basket got to0 heavy from finding eggs, she put it in the stroller and pushed it around the house to hunt for more. Love it!

"Peeps for breakfast, I think I could get used to this!"

I flunked the creativity contest this year and we did some good ol' fashion egg dying.

But we did make this adorable chick rolls with Ma. (Katie made hers into a turtle there in the background). They were so cute and soo YUMMY!

Hope you all had as much fun, and much less candy than we did. Happy Easter!

Let's Swim!

The pool is open for the season!! Woo-Hoo!! With two days close to 90 degrees we dug out our swimsuits, slathered on the sunscreen and hit the pool deck with full force. This warm weather may not last much beyond this week, but it's the beginning of summer for us no matter what happens in the next couple of weeks. The kids have Thursday through Tuesday off so we took advantage of the warm weather and lack of schedule and cranked up the pool heater. The days have been warm enough to swim but it's still getting down into the 50's at night. That means we have to heat the pool if we want to use it. Otherwise it's too cold even for my little fish.

Katie in her element. She is so at home and relaxed in the water. She almost becomes a different person. Her swimming skills didn't seem to waver at all over the winter, she is as fast as ever. Katie said she didn't want to play soccer this year because she wants to swim. Looks like we'll be starting swim lessons and swim team at MAC this spring.

Camryn in her personal-sized pool. She likes to be in the 'big' pool too, but would rather just play with the water toys. That works out well for me. It may be warm, but it's not warm enough for me to be hanging out in the pool all day. I'm just fine sitting in my chair and soaking up the sun while the little ones swim and play.

It took Will a few minutes before he would jump off the diving board and swim without any floatation devices, but he finally did. Today he was swimming from the deep to shallow end without any 'help'. I really think my kids might be part fish. How lucky they are that we live in a warm climate and have a pool in our backyard!

Playing on the steps with Ma.

I just love pool season. The weather, the constant physical activity, the hungry and tired kids at the end of the day, the extra sleep they seem to need after a day of non-stop swimming. It's such a great way to spend the day as a family. I can't wait for summer!!

After the Show

It was in the mid-eighties Friday. So after the show at Latin we hung around and enjoyed the beautiful morning on campus before heading back home to spend the afternoon in the pool. I think this is the earliest we've been in the pool. Ironic since we had such a long, cold winter ~ for North Carolina anyway. These pictures are backwards, chronologically speaking, AGAIN. I must be doing something wrong, but they seem to upload that way more often than not. Ugh.

Playing on the playground at Latin. Of all the schools we looked at before Ben started Kindergarten I was most impressed with Latin's multiple outdoor areas for the kids to play, eat, hang out etc. Private schools can be pretty competitive around here, so it was nice to see a school who felt that playing was just as important to kids' development as reading and writing. It's one of the reason we chose Latin and one of the reason we continue to love it!

Ben, Camryn and Ma playing in the sandbox. And where most of the sand in my mudroom comes from.

Will and Camryn in Ben's First Grade classroom. Ben has just thrived here in first grade. I am blown away by his reading level and his math abilities. He has grown so much this year in every sense of the word. I get emails daily from his teacher telling me what a great student and leader he is in the classroom. We are very proud of Ben and his accomplishments.

Katie and all her buddies. I hope these are life long friends of hers. Jon and I were both lucky enough to go to school with the same group of kids from Kindergarten through High School. I hope Katie and Ben are able to form life-long friendships like we have. There is something really special about still being friends with those who witnessed you growing up.

The lobster boy chowin' down on a cookie after the show. He was also in the front row of his performances. I will try to upload a video at some point, but he's hard to see. Ben LOVES to perform and was just adorable dancing and singing with his lobster claws. He also played the xylophone during one song. As you can imagine this was a highlight of his short little life.

Grandparents Day 2010

We kicked off the beautiful day Friday celebrating Grandparents Day at Ben and Kate's school. I wish I had some close up pictures of our little penguin (Kate) and lobster (Ben), but by the time the show was over and we picked them up in their classrooms, they had already changed out of their costumes. We did run into Kate's class entering the auditorium as we were walking in. I wasn't fast enough to snap a shot, but we were able to get a close-up look at our adorable black and white penguin. The show was amazing as always. This years' theme was The World We Share. Students were dressed as animals from different habitats all over the world. I am always impressed by the talent of the kids. Ben and Katie did a great job, and more importantly, had a lot of fun!

My Nikon is still on vacation being repaired so this is the best shot I could get with a point and shoot. Here are all the Kindergarten students. The girls were penguins and the boys polar bears. Their region was the north pole (I really hope you figured that one out on your own). They sang the cutest rendition of "New York, New York" to the theme of "North Pole, North Pole". Nothing like 100 Kindergartners trying to be rockettes to make you smile. You won't be able to see her, but Katie is in the very front row on the far left. The first penguin after the last polar bear. I'd be shocked if you could pick her out!

Here is the entire lower school student body at Charlotte Latin. TK through 4th graders. Ben the lobster is in there somewhere.

Our honorary Grandparent of the day, "Ma", and her youngest grandchild. (Camryn fell asleep in Ma's arm about half way through. It was so sweet.) We are hoping more grandparents can join us next year. Grandparent's Day is the biggest celebration the lower school does every year. They make a very big deal out of it and the kids are always very excited to show off their singing and dancing skills. The hour long performance is followed by a casual outdoor reception where family members get to mingle with teacher and administrators. The school is open for kids to show off their classrooms and all their art around campus. It's a wonderful event!

Toothless Kate had the school nurse pull out her very loose tooth on Wednesday. She's been talking about having Mrs. Earp pull out her tooth since school started. She was very happy to come home and report the events of the day. I'm sure the extra attention from her teachers and schoolmates added to all the excitement of the day. (Please ignore the snotty nose. I always do.)

Katie trying not to blink as I take her picture. She's famous for closed-eye shots. She is dressed in all black on her way to be transformed into a penguin for the morning. I hate to admit how good she looks in black. I don't think its a color that kids should wear really, but with her blond hair, blue eyes but dark eye lashes and eyebrows, it really looks good on her. Just don't tell her I said that.