:: spring break recap :: slides, bikes, friends and birthday parties

we had a pretty laid back spring break.  i was so happy to have this one home with me for a week...


i miss her when she's at school.
'
we spent lots of days taking picnics to the park...


they can always find fun there.


bro included...


carson worked on his bike riding skills...


and emma where to help out when i thought my sciatic nerve would put me under.


he was so proud of his progress...


we had lots of popsicles outside...




and in case you haven't tried these pops from trader joe's...run don't walk and pick up a box....or two.  it's raspberry+lemonade+strawberry and about the only thing i could stomach eating for about two weeks straight.  so good.


we had birthday parties...


and wherever there's a train, carson is completely happy...


they had so much fun.


and in the end, minnie came for a visit.  and then i missed disney world all over again :)

Kindergarten Meet the Teacher

Emma loves to craft and was dying to make a gift for her new teacher, so we went with the alphabet flowers, courtesy of pinterest :)


There was lots to do at Meet the Teacher night.  I was so glad that Rob was with me to corral Carson.  Sometimes there just aren't enough hands :)


Emma was so lucky to have one of our neighbors in her class!  Since we were brand new, we were so excited to already know someone :)


Her teacher was super positive and sweet :)  We are looking forward to an awesome year.


And, we couldn't leave without a pic with the Chick-fil-a cow.  Carson thinks that every time we go to Emma's school....the cow will be there.

Double Celebration!

Friday night was dress rehearsal.  Saturday night was the recital, and Sunday afternoon was recital...round 2.  So, by Sunday night, we were beat :)  To celebrate Emma's hard work at dance, we took her to dinner and let her pick...Grimaldi's was where her spinner landed.


The kids had a blast coloring...


Playing with pizza dough...


And eating dessert.


Emma picked oreo cheesecake :)  Little did we know that during the Sunday afternoon performance and our dinner at Grimaldi's...we got an offer on our house!


So, we were really celebrating double, but didn't know it yet.

My cell phone was on silent from the recital, and I forgot to turn it back on.  We waited so long (a whole freakin' year) for the offer, and didn't even find out until the next day...ha!

All because of me :)

Burning Love :)

Emma's very first year of dance was ending, so I stopped in for a few quick photos of her ballet class...


Her recital was about three days away, but her recital routine was tap, and ballet is her favorite, so I wanted to remember that :)


Dress rehearsal was Friday afternoon...


They were precious.


Little red firefighters that tapped to Elvis' "hunk a hunk of burnin' love."


On Saturday, Aunt Lindy came to watch Miss Emma perform.  We were all so excited that she was coming and ended up being our good luck charm :)  More on that later.


I was so proud of her...




And, I still love backstage :)




Mr. Carson did quite well in the audience.  He waited for his sister to perform and clapped his little heart out when she was all done.  He may have even shouted "Memma"  when the curtains opened!








The boys brought Miss Emma gifts...


It was a fun weekend!

the very beautiful butterfly

our very hungry caterpillars finally turned into very beautiful butterflies.


this one had just hatched.  his wings weren't quite completely unfolded yet.


and he hung out with miss emma for quite some time, which she just loved.


it has been so fun watching our caterpillars grow.  i highly recommend buying a couple of milk weed plants for your little ones!


while emma played with her butterfly, bro slicked up his lips with some la la loopsey chapstick.  oh my goodness does this boy love some product :)  hilarious.


and, he thinks he can drive the jeep him "self" now.  yikes.  when he says "self," it sounds like he's saying, "elf."  either way, he doesn't want anyone's help.  he leans back...mashes the pedal that he can barely reach, and just grins.  he has no clue what he's doing and he doesn't bother steering either.  heaven help me.

the very hungry caterpillars

last fall, i bought two milkweed plants at home depot.  i stuck them in our yard and nothing happened.  well, fast forward six months and we ended up with just what we wanted.  the milkweed attracted monarch butterflies, they laid eggs, and now, we have more caterpillars than we could ever want.  so multiple life cycles of caterpillars & butterflies, without the $25 kit....it's a win for everybody!


in case you can't tell, miss emma LOVES them!


bro loves them too, but has on occasion squished a few, so we like when he keeps his distance :)


can i say that the book is right?  oh my goodness are they the very hungry caterpillars!  they really do eat and eat and eat.


we are hoping they quit eating soon and turn into beautiful butterflies!