Getting Exposed

Brian is eager to expose our girls to athletics early and often. Obviously, they get more than their fair share when it comes to football and basketball, but he also wants them to know there are lots of other good sports girls can play.

Case in point...he took us all to the State women's softball game last Saturday. That was a first. If you're wondering how he convinced Collins (and me) to do this, just know there was bribery involved.

Oh how I hope our girls are athletic and that they receive a scholarship to play a big-time sport at a major Division I school. Their Daddy's dream will have come true. :)

Collins was surprised to see Mr. Wuf at a softball game...apparently he is not just a football and a basketball wolf. Addie was not happy to see Mr. Wuf at all.

I have to admit State's stadium was impressive as was the speed/strength that the girls threw the ball.  

Lucky for us gals, Howling Cow ice cream (the yummy kind they sell at the State fair) was right across from the stadium. We probably made it through three innings before jumping ship for some ice cream. :)

I agree that we should encourage the girls to play sports. I just hope his plan works!

Art Museum Field Trip

I don't think the five-year-olds were "wowed" by a class trip to the art museum last week, but I think it was good to take them. After viewing an oil painting, a bronze sculpture, and a tile mosaic, the docent asked our group if they would want to come back and see more art another time. Cute little Jacob quickly answered, "no!".

Collins's interest was a little bit piqued when we did our own little tour after the field trip was over. Maybe she will want to come back again some day (as long as she doesn't have to wear that "yucky" Raleigh School t-shirt). :)

Climbing Higher

Collins is constantly scaling something. Whether that be the stair railing, a chair, a piece of playground equipment, or a tree, she is always trying to figure out how to push the envelope and climb a little higher.

So it should have come as no surprise that she wanted to decorate the Easter egg tree from a new place this year- from up in the tree!

 

Our eggs got a little higher this year thanks to Collins!

The Cat in the Hat, and The Cat on the Roof

While Brian was off skiing in Utah, the girls and I ate lots of takeout, attended some fun birthday parties, and then headed to Hickory in search of some play time with the Grandparents.

Collins was really sad to see Brian go. After we dropped him at the airport she said, "Let's not talk about it because it makes me too sad." :( So we changed the subject to aviation, and watched some planes take off from the RDU Observation tower. Then I cheered her with up with Bojangles. :)

Our first adventure in Hickory involved a very active lunch with Poppy and Nana and then a fun play experience for Collins. Dad and Heather took her to see, "The Cat in the Hat", and she loved it! 

While they were busy with Dr. Suess, Addie was busy getting ready for Spring. She was pretty excited when Mimi set up the first Easter Egg hunt of the season. 

When Mimi suggested that Addie make a pretty bouquet for Baba with some of the new flowers in her yard, Addie took her job very seriously. 

Baba was treating the whole family to a spaghetti dinner later that night, and she definitely needed some flowers for the table. 

As soon as we got to Baba's, the girls went in search of Charlie the cat. Turns out he is not an easy cat to find, even when you "meow" a lot. After some extensive searching, we found Charlie in an unexpected place- on top of Nelson's (the neighbor) garage. And he was stuck up there! It was quite the excitement when Eric (cousin) had to perform a daring cat rescue with the ladder. The girls watched in amazement as Charlie was brought to safety. 

Needless to say, we needed lots of spaghetti sandwiches and frozen strawberry delight to take our mind off Charlie's whereabouts.

I have such fond memories of Baba's house from childhood so it was neat to watch the girls explore/play there. Kristy had a hard time finding them in hide-and-go-seek!

We decided to play hooky from school on Monday (Leap Day), and that turned out to be a good choice. There were lots of smiles to be had on that beautiful warm day!

It was the perfect day for a picnic at the park, an impromptu Easter egg hunt, and getting wet and dirty in the creek. 

Addie did not listen of course and got completely soaked. But if you could have heard her cackling at herself as she got wetter and wetter, you would have let her keep going too. :)

We weren't in Hickory long, but we had a lot of fun while we were there. That's why it was a hard pill to swallow to come home to find an ant problem and then THIS....

No it's not a murder scene, but it was probably just as messy, While I was dealing with the ants, Addie somehow got the top off the red food coloring and dyed herself and the kitchen bright red. Ugh...Brian come home soon!

He finally did on Tuesday morning after having a great ski trip. On one single day, he skied seven straights hours and skied 35,000 vertical feet (not one to take it easy on a bum knee). His legs weren't happy with him, but he'll tell you the pain was worth it.

The Morning Sanity Challenge

"YUCK!" This is what Addie yells at me in the morning when I select an outfit for her to wear for the day. If it is not a tutu or a bathing suit or a broncos cheer leading uniform, she does not want to wear it. And she certainly does not want to wear any pants ever.

Frankly, I dread getting her dressed every day because I just know a meltdown is going to happen. If I want her to get out the door in any kind of decent outfit, I have to hide the clothes I'll know she'll choose and be strategic about what I suggest. And forget a bow in her hair. She will tear that thing out in no time.

Is is normal for a 2-year-old to be so opinionated about what she wears? And doesn't she get cold making pancakes in a bathing suit in February?

Sticky Lessons Learned (We Hope)

We had a shocking first with Collins recently. She deliberately disobeyed us...twice. Is it really possible that our sweet rule-following perfect first child is perhaps not perfect?

The first instance happened the day after her fifth birthday. That gave me some pause...is this what we have to look forward to with five? She was playing alone in her room (asks to do this on a regular basis because she loves to imagine with her doll house or do art projects at her desk) when I walked in to check on her and saw a bunch of opened candy wrappers on her night stand. Keep in mind, she had just asked for something sweet and I had told her no (sweet overload from her birthday the day before).

So imagine my shock to walk in and see her downing some chocolate candy while playing with her doll house. I had just told her she couldn't have it, and she decided to go upstairs, shut her door, and eat it anyway. Talk about mad...

So we talked through why this was bad, and how trust was an important thing. We thought she understood, and then scenario #2 happened a few days later...

Again, she was "playing by herself", and I walked into her room to check on her. As we were talking, I thought she was acting a bit odd and even asked her, "You aren't eating candy are you?" and she said she was not. So I let her continue playing.

Later that night as I was putting her to bed, I noticed all these sticky spots on her nightstand. I was momentarily confused until I realized that the splotches were actually honey and that my child had been guzzling from the honey bear behind my back. She had had a cough overnight, and I had taken the honey in her room to give her a spoonful to help her cough, and I had left it in there. Turns out the honey-obsessed little girl could not resist the temptation and had some more during her "alone time".

Talk about REALLY mad....I could not believe she would make the same mistake again after our talk.

Oh, Collins. I hope we will look back on your first real defiance someday and laugh. Your uncontrollable sweet tooth got you in big trouble. (Her punishment was no "alone playing time" for a week and no desserts for 3 days.) I certainly expect that this will not be the start of a new behavior pattern because we all know what a good girl you are.

When a sticky parenting situation presents itself, I normally turn to a reliable source for advice: the Berenstain Bears. If only I could be as wise as Mama Bear. So when I don't know what to say or how to handle something, I make sure we have the right bear book from which to learn our lesson.

Here are my latest purchases.... (being afraid of the dark is not a real fear but she is trying to talk herself into it!) sure hope she learns her lesson!