What happened to order??

Friday, February 20th, 4:20 - we arrive home to a clean house.

Friday, February 20th - twenty minutes later, here is our living room:

If you are smiling, you must have children...

mArDi GrAs TiMe

This year I was wondering how Caroline would react to Mardi Gras. Last year, she celebrated attending her first parade by sleeping in her stroller. Mack and Jack were on a float in one of the parades, so the whole crew headed out to Carencro!

Caroline found a very Cajun way to pass the time while the Mardi Gras parade rolled through town...

I think Deacon just wanted a nap...

but Caroline did have an affect on Forest!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

After the parade, we all headed to Honey's for some play time & some gumbo.

Mack was immediately put to work by Caroline...

but she couldn't seem to find Jack!

She and Deacon had so much fun just sitting in this electric jeep that wasn't charged. It was cute. Of course, we hope Caroline settles down a little before she starts dating...she got a little wild in the car!
All in all, it was a great day. Fun playing with and visiting family!! Happy Mardi Gras to you!

So Tired

The day after her Valentine's Date with Honey, Nanny, Mack, Jack and Adam. Must have been some night!!

Valentine's Day

Sometimes I miss being in the classroom and having a place to use lots of cutesy creativity. Sometimes I miss the fun of making bulletin boards and cute cards and decorations. As a result of not having a lot of creative outlets anymore, sometimes I take way too long and way too much thought in a very ordinary thing. Witness Caroline's Valentine treat bags for day care:

Black construction paper cards. Photo on front with a little puffy heart glued on. Silver paint pen writing inside of card. Yeah, it could be construed as obnoxious. Here's the whole army just waiting to be loaded!

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The Valentine's present from mommy and daddy was given on Friday.

A tiara...

and matching earrings, of which she only wanted to wear one. And honestly, I bribed her to keep this one on for the photo. Also pictured here is her favorite gift of all, heart shaped peppermint patties.

Of course, this is AFTER several of the peppermint patties, and right BEFORE the hyper meter went through the roof! (You can almost see the gleam in her eyes!)

Just for fun, here is a photo from LAST Valentine's Day:

Hair is a good thing, isn't it?? What a difference a year makes!

365

Can't we just put her in a deep freeze? I looked at this photo tonight and was struck at how much Caroline looks like a "big girl". Stop the insanity! This is happening so fast...

Here she is unloading her groceries in her little kitchen.

Sitting on the floor and building blocks with daddy is a favorite...Not sure which of them enjoys it more!

More Photos from 365

365. Act Two...Still behind but liking the idea of catching up one day.

Working a puzzle with Honey.

Still working the puzzle.

Learning how to ride the plasma car, sort of. It was more like just scooting backward, but she sure felt like a big girl!

A very poor photograph of a very beautiful rainbow I saw on the way home during the week. I took this photo from the car window in traffic - not the best way to shoot.

Sitting in Honey's hospital room Sunday. Caroline was loving being with Mack.

Hide and seek. Sort of. I don't even know where she got the idea to close herself into the bathroom cabinet...

but she sure did a good job of it!

Ready to go in the morning with her bag of oatmeal rounds. I loved her outfit this day, but couldn't get her to put the bag down to get a good photo of the whole thing.

This night Mack and Jack were over after karate and they were working on building something with the new toy tool set.

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This was a mission. There was something (a big pink bow I think) in the bottom of this umbrella stand at Nick's house...It really got Caroline's attention and she set a plan in action.

Step One

Step Two

Step Three

Not pictured: Step Four (This would be where she gets aggravated, stands up, grabs the umbrella stand and turns it upside down and then throws it across the room. The bow came out. She was happy. Sigh... At least she can solve problems.)

Project 365 - The Intro

Okay, so I read several places on the web that "they" (whoever they are) are challenging "us" (people like me, a sucker for a dare) to take a photo every day for the whole year (365 days if your math is rusty) and post them weekly. At the end of the year, you have a nice memento of the year in your life. And probably lots of guilt because really, who can commit and actually take a picture EVERY day for a year and then remember to upload and post them.

Project 365 for us will probably be something like "Project Around 300 or So".

Yes, I'm already behind in my quest and haven't posted any pictures so far, but here are all the ones I've taken with short captions to help you understand the way I think sometimes - I'm pretty sure everyone needs help to understand the way I think, at least that's what I'm told.

Okay, this was actually New Year's Eve (still 2008 I know) but I couldn't resist snapping the photo. Kevin was trying to demonstrate to Jack how to swing. He also forbid me to take a photo, which made it impossible for me to stop myself from taking a photo.

New Year's day picking oranges. You already know all about that. But, hey, it's a picture.

She couldn't eat the oranges fast enough with her hands, apparently.

Kevin and I talk about how OUR lives have changed. Meet the two whose lives have probably changed MORE than ours. Poor guys. They don't know where to put themselves sometimes.

On this day, Caroline couldn't stop herself from hugging Jackson over and over again. It was cute and he was seeming to like it. . .

She noticed that he had something that she hadn't seen before. And then she took to swatting it. Over and over. And, no, Jackson still didn't seem to mind. We're currently working on a plan to stop this particular behavior.

Another new toy! Just what every kid needs after Christmas, right?? Her mother couldn't resist this precious little chair. Her father just shook his head when she brought it home.

Honey's birthday party.

So, we stayed at this furnished apartment in Houston when we went for mom's medical tests. Loved it, thanks to my Uncle for getting it. But the decorator liked the idea of decorating by displaying "collections" of things. This was one half of the living room wall. The other half had three other clocks. Only one ont he whole wall had the correct time. Yeah, that was fun.

This was just an interesting decoration in the apartment. A pear. Who am I kidding? I just really needed to get photos when we were there and I never had my camera when we were in the city! The Houston Medical Center area is absolutely beautiful. Water fountains, green grass, trees, sculptures. It is sad that those who see it are there for a reason that is less than happy.

Honey's house after lunch on a Sunday. Look how big she is in this photo compared to the one below that was taken in the same chair on her "Gotcha" day last May!

Playing football with dad, Mackenzie and Jackson.

Same Sunday at Honey's...the fun continues. Who could resist this??

More fun! What a life!!

Playing with the tool set she got for Christmas. In this photo, her daddy is teaching her how to fix the kitchen faucet. Hey, we buy toys that can help us, too!