Gala

Tonight Mom, Mr. Archie, Andy and I enjoyed a fun evening at the heartbeat gala.  We got to chat with friends and enjoy yummy food and an awesome speaker-Gigi Graham, Billy Graham's daughter.  We are so thankful for our local crisis pregnancy center that educates young woman who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy.

Scotty Bucks Store

Caroline's school awards Scotty Bucks for good behavior.  4 times a year the students get to go to the scotty bucks store to 'buy' things.  Caroline has 11 scotty bucks to spend.  Her sweet little self spent $3 on this awesome gift for Maggie.  Gave $4 to her friend Kylie to buy lunch with a teacher and friend.  They decided Caroline could be the friend since she gave her almost half the money. :-)  She gave her friend McCall $1 towards a picture frame for her grandmother.  She used her last $4 to help purchase a soccer ball for their class.

This kid, her heart is SO BIG!  She didn't think anything about the fact that she really didn't purchase anything she wanted.  She was thrilled that she helped so many others.  It comes naturally to her and I give thanks to God for her heart for others!   I honestly had tears in my eyes when she gave this gift to Maggie.  They fight pretty often about little stuff but this sweet act of kindness reminded me that she really does love the little girl who she says annoys her!

Basketball Game

Yesterday Caroline had her follow up head check for those persky lice that invaded our home earlier in the month.  So very thankful that all was clear and they are GONE!  Both girls want to know if they will ever get to wear their hair down again and not in a pony tail or braids...maybe, maybe not!

So to make the best of a yucky situation, we scheduled the appointment around a USC basketball game.  We had a blast!  It was a great game.  We lost but thankfully it was only by a few points so it was an interesting game.  Maggie has decided she wants to be a cheerleader so she can dance in the dark.  (cause they danced at the beginning without the lights)  A college kid directly behind Caroline won a free t-shirt in the t-shirt toss. He tapped Caroline on the shoulders and asked if she would like to have it!  HOW SWEET! :-)

The girls changed into PJ's in the van and were asleep about 15 minutes later.  We brought them in and put them straight to bed.  We all had a great time!!  Thankful to make a not so fun event extremely exciting!

Guest Reader

Today I was invited into Caroline's classroom to read.  She may or may not have been a little to embarrassed to introduce me or take a picture with me.  So we snagged a picture at home.  I was so thankful to be able to see her friends and her teachers.  I try really hard to NEVER take for granted the gift of the flexibility in my job that allows me these opportunities.  I'm also so very thankful that Andy works hard to support us and my decision to work part time.  I hope our girls always treasure these moments as well.

Charlotte Motor Speedway

On Monday's every week Caroline is bused to another school in our district for enrichment.  They get to do lot of fun, higher order thinking activities.  Today Caroline and I loaded a charter bus at 7am with her friends for a trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Once there, the students attended STEM classes in suites at the racetrack.  The pictures were tricky because of the fabulous natural light from outside.  The kids learned about track and friction, how surfaces and angles effect the race cars, etc.  It was a fun trip for everyone.  We ended the day with a trip around the actual NASCAR speedway in a 15 passenger van.  Who knew a 15 passenger van could take the curves at 65 MPH or more.  The kids thought it was great, momma here was a wee bit nervous!  It was a fun day but an exhausting day.  I got sick on the way home and prayed that the Good Lord would help me make it home.  Thankfully he did and I immediately felt better as soon as I got off the bus.  I feel pretty certain I will be heading to bed early tonight! 

Happy Birthday Mary Claire

 Today we got to celebrate sweet Mary Claire's 7th birthday with a baking party!  The girls got to decorate chef hats, cookies, cupcakes and make cupcake pops to take home.  Can't believe this sweet, spunky little girl has been making us smile for 7 years!  We love you MC and are so thankful we get to celebrate another year of your life!

Another reason we LOVE Chick Fil A

The week before Christmas, our local Chick Fil A started advertising their blue ticket deal.  If you bought Chick Fil A on December 26, you would receive a blue receipt.  You could bring the receipt back anytime before February 28 and receive the same exact meal for free!!!!!!  I love a deal and this was perfect!  Two meals for the price of one!  Well a few weeks ago, I was exhausted and I remembered we still had our blue ticket.  The girls traded in their kids meal toy for ice cream.  It was the perfect treat for everyone!!

Maggie's 100th Day

Today Maggie celebrated the 100th day of school.  They did all things 100!  She loved her hat the most!!

Sweet Caroline

Today is theater day.  Our sweet friend Chris has been taking Caroline and Catherine every week.  I told her today to get her stuff together and wait for Mr. Chris.  We are so thankful for his help, I definitely don't want him to have to wait for her.  I looked at the door and saw this...I thought this was a precious picture.  So thankful for the little lady she is becoming and yet she still looks like a little child!

Seriously...she's only 4?

This morning at breakfast Maggie told me she was regular yogurt not the frozen yogurt.  She said the frozen yogurt hurt her tooth.  I asked her which tooth was bothering her and she showed me.  Y'all I was SO SURPRISED to find that she has a permanent tooth coming in behind her front bottom baby tooth.  I was SHOCKED!!  Our pediatric dentist is going out on maternity leave next week so I called to see if they could take a look at it and let us know what they thought we needed to do.  Mags was such a big girl sitting in the chair all by herself.  This was a first!

Dr. E took a look.  She said it was a little early for permanent teeth but nothing to be alarmed by.  The biggest thing now is to watch for her molars coming in a little earlier as well.  Maggie was instructed to wiggle her tooth to try to loosen it on her own.  If it's not out by April, Dr. E will pull it.  Maggie thinks it's pretty neat that she has a loose tooth. :0)  She is wiggling it every chance she gets!

Dad's Night

Somehow I missed posting this sweet picture!  We had Dad's night at school in early February.  Maggie insisted that I not attend because it wasn't for Mommy's.  I informed her I didn't have a choice, I had to be there.  So I made sure not to "interact" with them.  Maggie and Andy enjoyed hanging out while Caroline helped one of the teachers with her game. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had so much fun today celebrating Valentine's Day!  The girls are at sweet ages to enjoy the simply things we do!  It's funny to see Andy and I respond to Valentine's based on our love language.  I love acts of service and he loves gifts.  I planned meals and special messages while Andy showed up with cards and flowers. :-)  We made a good team!  At each meal, we discussed things we love, people we love and things that make us feel loved.  I'm so thankful for these sweet moments together!!

Breakfast

Maggie's Valentine Celebration at school

Andy brought each of us a rose...3 different colors for 3 different girls!

Andy and I started leaving hearts on the girls bedroom doors on February 1.  We've left a new message each day.  They have been so excited to see what we wrote...and even reminded us when we forgot to put a new one up. :0)

Breakfast for dinner-pancakes with sprinkles and sausage

A 4 year old Beauty Salon

These sweet girls have been together since Fun Ones.  They argue with each other like siblings but love each other dearly!  I happened to walk by Maggie's room and saw this little pampering moment happening!  Maggie was finished with Hailey's nails while Eden Caroline was still working on her toes.  Another reason I love our PLAY centered preschool!!  It allows their mind to create things we could never think to "create" as educators.

Imagination...

The girls LOVE playing with the doll house that was Caroline's.  However, often times, they don't have enough room for the "rooms" they both agree on.  Last night I found this.  Caroline said "We ran out of room over here."  I love seeing their imaginations at work!

An extraction...

 After Caroline's check up/cleaning in January, we were referred to an orthodontist.  We are pretty sure braces are in her future...boo hoo!  The orthodontist, who we loved, said we don't have to come back for 10 months but she wanted Caroline to have a tooth pulled because the permanent tooth was already coming in behind her baby tooth.  Dr. E thought it might come out on it's on but she is about to go on maternity leave so we felt like it needed to come out instead of waiting 2-3 months.  So we scheduled the extraction today hoping it would come out but it was firmly planted.  Anyway, I signed Caroline out about 45 minutes early and we were finished and on the way home before school even got out. Both girls were relaxed and chilling throughout the entire process.  Me on the other hand...not so much! :-)  We love our dentist!  They gave Caroline a card for a free ice cream for the ride home!  She was thrilled.  Mags asked if she would share and she said "NOPE!"  Mags said "God says we should share!" :-)

I don't need my bookbag...

Last week when Maggie's class had their field trip, she insisted that she didn't bring her bookbag to school.  However, I was pretty sure she brought it to the car.  I told her to look again and sure enough, she pulled it from behind the backseat.  As we were walking into the school, she looked at me and said "I'm taking it to your office.  I hope Mrs. Cooper has her door closed so she won't see that I brought my bookbag."  Well as the morning went on, guess who was the only kid with a bookbag??? :-)

The Rodeo

We surprised the girls with a dinner date.  As we were riding by the civic center, Caroline saw the horses and was so excited and a wee bit sad that we weren't going.  We had a brief discussion about the rodeo we turned in the next entrance.  Both girls were confused about what was happening.  We parked and said "Guess what?  We are going to the rodeo!!" They were thrilled!  And were even more excited when I pulled out their cowboy boots!  They loved the show.  Maggie said "If I had wild horses like that (trying to buck folks off) I would not ride them!   We stayed until about 10:15...the girls could have stayed longer but we were tired and knew we had church this morning.  Both girls were asleep within 5 minutes of getting in the bed.

The Daddy Daughter Dance

Caroline told Andy a few weeks ago that as much as she loved the rodeo, she really wanted to try to go to the same Daddy dance as her friends.  Andy agreed and even asked Maggie to go with them.  They were all 3 super excited!!!  The girls picked out their dresses and accessories and couldn't wait.  As soon as we got home from school Friday afternoon, we began taking showers, washing and fixing hair and painting nails.  The girls were so giddy and I loved every minute of it.  Maggie wanted her hair curled...we tried but it was just to fine to hold.

Andy bought both girls a corsage and treated them to dinner at Outback.  They danced the night away and poor Mags was asleep before they got home.  I am so thankful for a good Daddy who loves his girls!  

Once they got to the dance, both girls found friends and had a blast!!!!