Fun-filled weekend

This past weekend we made another quick trip home to visit the family. On Friday, Matt, Will and I went to Jackson for a visit, while Caroline stayed with Nana and Papa Buddy. When we returned Friday evening, we were quickly told about all of the fun they had. Caroline drove the boat, caught a fish, baked cookies, and lots more. She had so much fun, that I don't believe she had time for a nap....go figure...the grandparents not enforcing the nap! :)


Saturday morning, Matt couldn't let his little girl catch more fish than he did, so he went for a fishing trip in the boat as well. The picture below is the catch of the day.

Supposedly, the crappie (yes, that's how you spell it even though Southerners pronounce it croppie) Matt and Papa Buddy caught were "REALLY BIG". To the pro fisherman of the family (that would be me), I think they are small compared to Big Charlie. For those of you who have not been fortunate enough to meet Big Charlie, he is the BIG MOUTH BASS I caught in my grandparents' pond in Philadelphia. Since I knew no one would believe that I caught Big Charlie, I had him mounted. He currently resides in our bonus room. :)

While Caroline and Nana were at the bank watching the ducks and geese swim by, Nana filled me in on a little conversation that took place. According to Nana, it went a little like this:
Nana asked Caroline, "Caroline are you a duck?" Caroline replied, "No." Nana then asked, "Caroline are you a goose?", to which Caroline replied "No, Nana." "Well then Caroline, what are you?" Nana asked. "A sweetheart," my little darling said. "Caroline, if you are a sweetheart, what is Will?" Nana asked. "A big boy," his big sister replied. After hearing this, Matt and I were proud to know that our little "sweetheart" remembered that we call her our sweetheart everyday and Will our "big boy". How cute!

Saturday afternoon we traveled to Philly to see Pop and Mimi. Caroline got to ride Durango and then Matt, Pop and I went for a little ride. As we started out on our little adventure, I hesitated due to dark clouds nearby. However, the men in our clan thought they were passing by and we were in the clear. WRONG! Just as we ride up on the wild hog chasing my cousin Josh was embarking upon (that's another story for another time), the bottom dropped. Let me correct that....bottom dropped would not come close to the monsoon we experienced on our ride home. Sure, in my younger days, I would ride horses, 4-wheelers, etc. in crazy weather with my buddy Laura and sister Kristin, but now I have two small children who depend upon me. With all this excitement, my horse got a little disturbed, so thankfully my Dad rode close in front of me to keep my horse from flying back to the barn with me hanging on from his tail. My husband, the dear soul, left us high and dry (well, not really dry) and took off for the barn. You can imagine the welcome he got from us when we returned to the barn. I must say I was extremely proud of my Dad's new 4-year-old horse who did not miss a beat despite the crazy storm. Daddy, he may be a keeper...even if you are in the horse trading business!

Late Saturday evening we traveled across the county to visit my grandparents. We spent Sunday with them before we had to travel back home to Dothan. We ended up playing hookie from church in order to spend more time with them. In doing so, Caroline and Matt got to ride with Pappaw to check on the cows. She, of course, was tickled pink!

Happy Easter!

Sunday we all got dressed up in our very best to attend church as we celebrated Easter and Christ's resurrection. But before we got ready, Caroline and Will discovered that the Easter Bunny left them some goodies. Caroline got a DVD, colors and an Easter Ms. Potato Head, while Will got a Peyton Manning onesie and an Easter Mr. Potato Head. Daddy was glad to see that the Easter Bunny didn't forget him and left behind some Reese's Pieces...his favorite. It was a gorgeous day and the kids looked adorable if I do say so myself. After church, we returned home for an Easter meal before our weekend visitors had to make the long trip back to Louisiana. I was pleasantly surprised that my ham turned out okay. It was the first one that I flavored by myself with pineapple and whole cloves, so I was sweating it out until the end. We even had homemade strawberry shortcake, thanks to a recipe from Ms. Paula herself! After we filled our tummies and thanked Mamaw Kat, Pappaw and Aunt Erin for coming to see us, we quickly settled down for a nap. Here are some pictures from our day.

The Easter Carnival

This past Saturday our church held its annual Easter Carnival. Since Mamaw Kat, Pappaw and Aunt Erin were in town, they were able to get in on all of the fun too. Caroline invited her buddy Isabella to the carnival as well, so that made the day even more fun. We all had a good time enjoying the inflatables (yes, the big kids tried out the big slide), hamburgers, cookies, popcorn, sand art, crafts, music and bubbles. Thankfully there were plenty of inflatables so Caroline was satisfied with the amount of time she was able to jump around in the jumpy inflatable. (In case you're wondering, I don't know the proper name for it.) To top things off, the weather was absolutely beautiful.

Later that evening, Matt and I had the opportunity to go on a DATE. Yes, a date without children. We went to the Red Owl Plantation and truly enjoyed ourselves. We didn't talk alot because we just wanted to enjoy the silence for a bit.

Here are a few pictures from our big play day. I had to crop one of the slide pictures because I am trying to keep our family blog suitable for all audiences. Despite having on a skirt, Missy couldn't resist trying ou t the slide for herself, so we all got a little extra "show". :)

Poor Little Brother

Caroline loves stickers and her favorite place to stick them is on herself....well, that was before she discovered that Will didn't mind if she stuck them on him. Poor little brother....he is the guinea pig for all sorts of things these days. Tonight was the first time she stuck any on his head, but once she did, she couldn't stop laughing. It was obviously contagious because he joined in shortly after. It's a good thing he didn't have a mirror nearby or he might not have thought it was so funny!

Our Easter Package

Caroline and Will were pleasantly surprised to find a package at our front door when we got home today. Though it was probably intended that we wait until Easter to open it, none of us could resist. Pop and Mimi...thanks for all of the goodies! As you can see in the picture, Caroline was more than happy to show Will what he got and inform him that his was blue and hers was green. Caroline even has a new hat to wear at our tea parties and can save her cowgirl hat for riding horses.

Cat Got Your Tongue?

Yesterday Will just couldn't keep his tongue in his mouth. He obviously discovered this new trick and thought he was something special. Caroline really got a kick out of it and of course, I had to take a picture.

CUMC Easter Egg Hunt

Spring is finally in the air! Well, before I get too excited, I must disclose that this means pollen is too...ugh! Anyway, this past weekend was beautiful and we spent much of it outside. Sunday afternoon was our church's Easter egg hunt and Caroline was ready for the fun. Despite seeing several eggs at first, she carefully chose her first egg...the golden egg! She must have noticed it was different and immediately wanted me to open it to see what was inside. We ended up with a basket full of eggs and a tummy full of chocolate. If you're wondering what was inside the golden egg...it was a ticket which entitled Caroline to the prize of her choice. She chose a pink bracelet.

Tea Party

I'm a little late in getting this one posted, but if you knew the kind of week we had last week, you would understand. Anyway, last Monday I stayed home with the kids. Caroline and I decided to celebrate my being home that day with a tea party. She got all dressed up for the occasion despite still being in her pjs. I think the picture says it all....Meanwhile, Will got in a few zzzs as the girls had their girl time.

The Sweetest Touch

Last night as we were getting ready for bed, we performed our typical routine. Caroline took a shower (a new thing for her that she just loves), we said our prayers (in which she remembered to thank God for Mommaw and Pappaw's new puppy that she met during her last MS visit) and then I laid down beside her to help her fall asleep. I know there are some parents who have mastered the art of putting their child in bed and then letting them drift off to sleep by themselves, but I'm not one of them. Instead, I have chosen to rock my children to sleep, lay down beside them and rub their back, or do a combination of both. It takes alot more time, but I know these days will quickly pass, so I want to cherish every minute I can while they still want me beside them as they drift of to dreamland.

Last night Caroline was a little more restless than usual so I proceeded to rub her back to help her relax. This is something both my mom and Matt's mom did for us, so naturally we do it to our children. (It is amazing the things you find yourself doing that your parents did.) Anyway, that didn't seem to work, so I stopped and pretended to be falling asleep myself. Well, after a few moments, my precious angel decided I needed my back rubbed. Before I knew it, she had pulled the back of my shirt up ever so gently and began to rub my back. I was so touched by her sweet little gesture while at the same time I couldn't help but laugh a little about how much she copies our actions. Caroline is the sweetest child (of course I'm partial) and the love she shows us each day is immeasurable.

Mississippi News

This past weekend we got a chance to go home for a visit. It worked out well since my sister, Kristin (aka KK), was flying in from Ft. Worth, Texas for a visit as well. We had a blast visiting everybody and getting a little dirty down on the farm. Caroline got to feed the cows, drive the truck, see Mommaw and Pappaw's new puppy that decided to take up residence at their house and ride Cody. She even got to dye her first Easter eggs....unfortunately, Nana did not properly explain the technique before she gave Caroline the little blue tablet and instead of placing the tablet in water, Caroline decided it looked like a delicious piece of candy. You can guess the rest of the story. Nana and KK screamed for Caroline to spit it out, which scared my little stinker to death and thus the crying began. KK decided to try the blue tablet herself to make sure it wasn't toxic and didn't taste awful (in case you are wondering, she claims to be the "brains" of the family :)), and in the process dyed her teeth blue, something that Caroline managed not to do throughout the ordeal. Within a few minutes, everything settled back down and KK eventually got her teeth white again (thanks to Colgate). Here are a few pictures from the trip....

Where did Caroline go?

Caroline's latest passion is playing hide and seek. She's been doing it for a while now, but recently it has become one of her FAVORITE things to do. She especially loves to hide from Daddy when he comes home from work...which is typically in the same place each day. :) She'll run and hide behind his recliner and then say, "Daddy, where'd Caroline go?" Then, if he doesn't answer quickly enough, you'll hear her say, "I don't know." It is hilarious. I've been trying to show her some new hiding places and thus came the photo of us under the basket. She really liked that hiding place. If Matt comes home a little later in the evening and we've already started eating dinner, she'll close her eyes and say, "Daddy, where did Caroline go?" She obviously hasn't realized that just because she can't see us when her eyes are closed, doesn't mean that we can't see her. I am not about to explain that to her yet because I get too much of a kick out of seeing her do it.

Our Little Songbird

This morning, Caroline woke up at her usual time...6 a.m. I decided to put her in bed with us in hopes that she would fall back to sleep so that we could get a little more shut-eye, especially since our Little Fellow has been keeping us (or rather me) up at night. Well, it seemed to work for a little while, and then all of the sudden, she decided to burst into song. Instead of telling us to "get up", she instead serenaded us for quite a while. She sang, "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Moon, Moon, Moon", "Deep and Wide" and counted for us. Despite being a little tired this morning, I must say that hearing that sweet innocent voice sing was one of the most precious moments in my life. After she had sung her little heart out, she decided that Daddy would be the early riser this morning (much to my delight). She pushed on him as hard as she could and told him to get up. He reluctantly agreed since I've been the one with sleep deprivation these days, and soon the two of them were off to Chick-fil-A. Matt said she was beside herself she was so happy. Caroline loves getting out and about and equally enjoys a good chicken biscuit. He said she repeatedly told him how much she loved him while in the restaurant and ate all of the biscuit. I was so glad to hear that they enjoyed themselves while I was catching some zzzzs.

Later today Caroline had her friends over. We have several precious little girls who live in our cul-de-sac and they love Caroline's new little beetle car. Despite being older, Faith Ellen and Mabry seemed to enjoy spending the afternoon with Caroline. They made mud pies and played with play dough. Caroline was so excited to have big girls over. It was so cute to watch her interact with them. I can tell already that she enjoys being around people and isn't too terribly shy...hmmm, wonder where she gets that?

If you're wondering what Will has been up to this week...here goes. He is still recovering from an ear infection and I'm starting to wonder if the medicine has even worked. Perhaps it is not his ears that are bothering him now, but instead his tummy from that antibiotic. Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon. Friday he turned 4 months old and despite being a little under the weather, he seemed to have a good time with Mommy during our quick shopping trip. Caroline was at play school, so we took care of a couple errands. I have a feeling that I should enjoy these few shopping trips with him because he will probably take after his Daddy and not want to step foot in a mall if he can help it.

Earlier this week Will entertained us at dinner by laughing at Caroline as she ate. I held him in my arms as I ate to ease his cries, and in doing so, he got to see his big sister in action. It was the cutest thing...out of no where, he started kackling. She thought it was equally as funny and laughed back. So, for about 5 minutes during dinner, they laughed back and forth. In addition, Caroline is teaching Will how to put on his socks. The picture below catches them in action. Oh the fun they will have once he starts becoming more mobile!