Easter Dresses

Clara and Sarah-Jane modeling their new Easter dresses

and one more of SJ because she is just so darn cute

Easter Egg Hunt

2nd annual Easter Egg Hunt/Brunch at our house

Enjoying the spoils

Shakori Hills Music Festival

Took the whole family and met up with my brother, Sean. Heard the group Spirit Family Reunion (guitar, banjo, bass, drums, and washboard... yes, that's right... their 5th band member played the washboard with two forks... very skillfully, I might add). Loved it!!! Bought their CD but lost it on my way to the parking lot. Sometimes it is sad to be so absent-minded!

Greg and the girls square dancing in the children's tent

face painting

5 on Friday

1. Friday night family picnic and frozen yogurt treat

2. "Bunny Day" at the Science Center.

3. Preschool Easter Party at our house. Clara and her friends (along with SJ) dressed up like bunnies, did some Easter crafts and games, and made Easter cookies(you can see Clara's swollen/red eyes from her allergies)

4. Sickness tally this week (since it is a running theme, lately):
Clara: bronchitis (caused by some terrible seasonal allergies) and a UTI
Nicolle: migraine

5. One of my favorite things: Clara will stand on a bed or a sofa and say "Now I am just the perfect size to hug!" She is just at the right height to wrap her arms tightly around my neck... it is the best.

5 on Friday

1. Hosted/taught Clara's preschool class on Tuesday. We learned about the Food Groups and the Food Guide Pyramid, then read Gregory, the Terrible Eater, and fed "Gregory the goat" meals which included something from all of the food groups. She and her friends had a blast in the backyard treehouse.
2. Sarah-Jane got sick (AGAIN!). She had a fever of 105 degrees and I was quite worried. Dr. said it was just a virus, and she is now feeling better. This poor girl has had a rough winter full of viruses. I thought they were supposed to go away once the weather got warm?!? So far, no such luck.
3. Took Sarah-Jane to the ER, but just the waiting room. :) She hurt her wrist at home on Sunday night, and was in a LOT of pain, so I immediately put her in the car and headed to the hospital. As soon as I got there, she was back to normal... happy, smiling, and putting weight on her arm. I sat in the waiting room and hemmed and hawed for a few minutes, trying to decide if she needed to be seen. I called her Pediatrician on the phone, and he assured me she was ok and did not need to be seen at the ER, so I high-tailed it out of there before they could bill me for hundreds of dollars. (I'm sure there were some people there who thought I was c.r.a.z.y!)

4. Our Azaleas are in bloom... always makes me happy.

5. Accomplishments this week: I stained our swingset and painted the railing on our front porch. Both jobs took longer than I thought they would (of course!) and neither turned out as nice as I wanted (notice how I am not including photos of either project).

5 on Friday

1. Greg and I got the stomach flu.
2. Huge storm on Monday night which left us without power until Tuesday afternoon.
3. Had out of town guests. (#1 + #2 = bad combination with #3)
4. Got our deck stained (love how it looks and especially love that we didn't have to spend every Saturday for several weeks working on it).
5. Loved General Conference. Especially this message, with practical parenting advice. Can I get it imprinted on my right forearm, please?

Urban Race-Winston Salem

Our costume was a tribute to Jet and Cord, our favorite contestants on the Amazing Race.

GO COWBOYS!!!

Team name: Giddyup (Greg chooses a Seinfeld reference each time he does this race... previous team names include "These pretzels are making me thirsty" and "The very pants I was about to return.)"

We placed 7th out of 77 teams and had a fantastic time!

5 on Fridays

Stole this idea from my sister-in-laws. They do "ten on Tuesday," but I'm not quite that ambitious. :)

1. Survived week 2 of Greg's busiest semester, yet. (He usually takes one class for his MBA at a time, but right now -for 7 weeks- he has 3 classes at once). TGIF

2. Hosted book club on Tuesday. The book I chose was A Girl Named Zippy by Havel Kimmel . (Thanks for the recommendation, Mom!) For our discussion, we all brought old childhood photos and/or a funny story from our childhood.

3. Clara got a haircut. Her long curls were adorable, but very difficult to keep tidy-looking. I love the result! She calls it her "Hannah hair" bc she has a friend named Hannah with a similar haircut.
4. Clara calls Sarah-Jane "babe." It is her own little nickname that she made up all by herself. SJ answers to it and I think it is adorable. "C'mon babe, let's go play!"

5. Started a new "semester" of preschool music classes at my gym, with some cute new toddlers. I'm to 3 piano students, also at the gym. I love teaching!

March Madness 2011

Greg got tickets from his company to the ACC tournament last week. Thanks to a good friend who watched our kids, we had an afternoon date and got to see Carolina play Miami.

It was a fantastic game, complete with a huge comeback and a last second winning shot.

We had great seats... we could see Roy Williams yelling at his players and everything.

See how good our seats, were? The very back row...only the wall behind us, so no one could shout in our ears. :)

If any of you want to fill out a bracket with Greg for the NCAA tournament, here is the information: Click the link below (or cut and paste the link into your browser's address bar).

http://sherwoodbracekts.mayhem.sportsline.com/e

Our Group password is: ASUrules

You must fill out your bracket by tomorrow (Thursday) at noon.

a fun Friday afternoon

The weather was beautiful.
Sarah-Jane took an early nap.
We decided it would be a great day to visit the science center.

Clara loved petting and feeding and brushing the animals. She was a cute little mother to them.

The goats couldn't quite reach the food SJ was offering... since she wouldn't get closer than about 5 feet away. She still tried her best. Cute, cute.

All before 9am

Disclaimer: I promise I DO watch my children.

On Monday morning, Sarah-Jane got into my craft box and spilled paint all over the bathroom.
(Why do I even have a craft box, since I hardly ever do crafts?... good question)

A few minutes later, (while I was taking a VERY quick shower) she pulled out the grease catching-tray on my griddle and spread bacon grease (luckily cooled) all over the 1st floor of our house. I mean all over. Little greasy footprints were everywhere... even in my bed.
(Lesson learned... take my showers at the gym, while she is being watched.)

While I was mopping the floor, stain-treating the carpet, and washing the sheets, her big sister went to the bathroom, didn't flush, and left the door to the bathroom open.. Can you guess what happenend next? Yup, wet toilet paper was pulled out of the pee -filled toilet and strewn about the bathroom.

I looked at the clock. 8:50am. It was the start of a very long day.

Good thing she is so cute and cuddly.

little love notes

a surprise, hidden away for you

and one from me, too:

you didn't know that i heard
it was early morning
i was grumpy (redundant, i know)
worried about caring for 2 sick little girls and teaching with you away
you prayed they would feel better
AND THEY DID
thanks for taking care of us even when you are gone
thanks for not letting me take myself too seriously
and for reminding me to look at the bright side
and for making me have fun
you may not know it, but i heard

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday, Greg! Love you more than I can say!!!

(Let's make it a tradition, shall we?)

Clara at 4

boisterous, dancing, girly-girl, pretend-player

37 lbs
41 1/2 inches tall

Favorite Quotes:

• This is going to be the best (insert whatever we are about to do) ever!!! I.e. snack, swim lesson, party, school day
  
• I just very very love you.! OR I just very very want to!
• Why?!? (Usually in the context of "why not")

Newborn Clara

Favorite Activities:

• Drawing
• Hide and Seek
• Dress-up
  
• Board Games with Mom and Dad
  
• Swimming
• Library books
  
• Any kind of pretend play (especially involving planning and throwing a party)

Funny Quote: I asked her if she wanted French Braids, and she said, "No, I want toast braids." Get it?... French Toast, ha!

1 year old Clara

Interview (question ideas stolen from Andrea... thanks friend!)

What's your favorite treat? blow gum (sucker)

What's your favorite game to play? Candylane (Candy Land)

What scares you the most? ghosts

2 year old Clara

How tall do you want to be when you grow up? as tall as Dad

What job do you want to have when you grow up? to make nachos

If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Macaroni and Cheese

If you could choose a different name, what would it be? Tinkerbell

3 year old Clara

Favorite color: pink and blue and red and orange and white
Favorite TV show: Cat in the Hat
Favorite movie: Cinderella
Favorite pastime: bouncy castles
Favorite animal: doggy and kitty-cats
Favorite book: my science journal (way to go, Ms. Shelley!)

4 Years Old!

Milestones achieved over the last year include:

• learning to swim
• learning to read/sound-out/spell (straightforward 3 and 4 letter words)
• learning to write the letters of the alphabet and the numbers 1-10