Big News

So, on Saturday while we were enjoying our 11 hour car ride with a screaming Caroline, Andy gave his 2 weeks notice at work. He didn’t want anything posted on the blog until the partners had a chance to announce it to the firm.

He enjoyed his 8 years there and will miss most of his coworkers, but he decided 12.5 years in public accounting was enough. We are very excited about his new job, and the possibility of having him home for supper on a regular basis! He might even have time to mow the lawn during the week…

Now we have to find room to store all the junk he has in his office until he starts at his new place. Andy thinks we should haul it to Jenny’s this weekend.

His last day at his current job will be April 4th. He will start his new job on April 14th. He is taking a week off in between. His second week at his new job will be spent in Las Vegas for a meeting. Not a bad way to start! We are very excited about this next step in our lives.

Houston Trip

We were finally able to make our trip to Houston - in the van. It took us 8 hours and 45 minutes to get there. That includes lots of stopping for me and the girls. Once we arrived, it was time to walk to the neighborhood park for Tyler's cub scout meeting and cook-out. It really was a lot of fun. The kids did a lot of running and playing.

This is Tyler ready for his meeting.

The park is just around the corner from their house.
The girls were refusing to have their picture taken.

Caroline was able to bond quickly with Aunt Amy.

Caroline was even willing to sit down again long enough to have a cookie.

Caroline and Shelby are ready for the next day after a good night of sleep.

On Thursday my dad went and met up with an old friend for lunch, so Amy and I took the kids to the mall. We happened upon the Easter Bunny so we got their picture made. Caroline feels the same way about the Easter Bunny as she does Santa. She is not a big fan, and she was not going to get too close to him.

The kids pretty much spent the rest of the day builiding a fort in Shelby's room. They had a great time and entertained themselves for hours. They had big plans for them to all sleep in the fort. Shortly after this picture was taken, the fort fell.

A little while later Shelby comes downstairs and says "Kayla is homesick and she has water pouring out of her eyes." I thought that was cute. Kayla really did have water pouring out of her eyes. I have never seen her cry so hard. I think she was just overly tired. I ended up laying down with her until she fell asleep. At 3am she ends up in bed with me. And to top it all off, Caroline got up for the day at 5:30.

So now it is Friday. I can think of nothing better to do on Good Friday during spring break, on a day with such perfect weather, than go to the Houston Zoo. About 20,000 other people had the same idea. It was a nice day. I think the kids had a good time. The parents were too stressed out trying to keep our eyes out for all of our kids. I can't say we saw too many animals that day. It was just way too crowded.

Here is my proof that we actually did see a few animals.

After the zoo, Dad and Taylor took turns having a clarinet concert. I was pretty impressed by my dad. He could still kind of play. Sort of.

Meanwhile, Kayla and Shelby were having a blast in the backyard with the water hose and the swingset.

Saturday morning we headed out. We stopped by Terrell to see my grandma. My Aunt Stephany and Uncle David came over. Monica was still in town with William so we were able to see them as well. It was a nice, but short, visit. It was great to see all of them. Kayla knew everyone except for William. We have pictures of his family in our house so she knew who he was. But poor William was a little overwhelmed by me and the girls. We had a hard time getting him in a picture.

The car ride home was not one of Caroline's finest. It took us 11 hours to get home from the time we left Houston. This includes our visit in Terrell. Out of the 11 hours, I would bet that Caroline screamed for about 9 of those. My dad and Kayla were troopers. Neither one of them ever complained. Kayla was just about perfect. She was so well behaved at my grandma's and she was really good in the car. I was so proud of her. Caroline was not so good. I was glad to get home.

Thank you, Amy and Steve, for having us and allowing us to invade your home. I had a great time, and I know the girls did too. I was worn out after our 3 nights there, and Caroline really did me in on the car ride home. But there was not time to rest yet...the next day was Easter.

Stranded

It is amazing how stranded you can feel when you don't have a car. I don't have anywhere to be, but it is hard knowing you can't leave. My van died on me on Friday night. It was running and it just stopped and would not start again. Saturday I had it towed to the dealership. Andy talked to them on Monday and it needs a new fuel pump - which they don't have. They had to order the part from Dallas. It should be arriving today. They might be able to get it fixed before closing time. I sure hope so, and I know my dad hopes so. Otherwise, he gets to drive me and my 2 girls to Houston in his truck. We were going to leave on Sunday, but now we will be leaving on Wednesday - van or no van. Kayla is way too excited about going to see her cousins for us to actually cancel the trip. To be honest, I am looking forward to the trip too. I don't get to go back there very often. I guess I better start packing!

The Girls

Here are a few random things to post:


1. Kayla made us breakfast this weekend. She was very proud of herself. She did everything from cracking the eggs to actually scrambling them. This was her first time to use the stove. She did a great job and was very proud of herself. It is hard for me to imagine she is old enough to do some of the things she is ready for. I just can't believe she is that grown up. Here is the chef hard at work:

2. Gogurt is totally a finger food. I was not aware of this until I watched Caroline eat it. It was a big, big mess. I am pretty sure she was wearing a lot more of it than she actually ate. The good news is that it does not stain.

3. Caroline likes her B's (that is what she calls her binkies) - maybe even more than Kayla did. Andy got home from work last night around midnight. He always checks on the girls before he goes to bed. When he saw Caroline he just had to take this picture. I love it!

She is actually sleeping with 2 pacifiers in her mouth. I think that is hilarious!

SHOPPING!!!!

Our new Target opened over the weekend. I know a Target is a Target, but I was still very excited to go do some shopping. I probably went a little overboard, but Kayla now has some dresses for the summer. They will probably fit her next year too. I got size 7/8 so they are plenty big on her. Poor Caroline got a onesie and a pair of shorts. Oh, and she did get a potty seat. We are having the hardest time getting her to keep her diaper on, but she will not sit on the potty. I hope this helps.

We also have a Belks. I went in there and successfully came out empty handed. Andy was glad to hear that after my trip to Target. There are a lot of other stores coming in - Bed, Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Lowes, Starbucks, JC Penny, plus others and a Chilis. This is a lot closer to our house than any other shopping. I am very excited about it all.

Annie

Andy got me tickets to go see Annie for my birthday. We took Kayla to the show yesterday. We had great seats for a wonderful show. It was more like the Disney movie, so there were quite a few different things in it. I have not seen the Disney version yet. I will be renting it soon. Kayla had not seen the movie, so she asked a lot of questions...during the show (which drove me nuts). Her favorite part was a scene where Sandy runs out on the empty stage, sits there for a minute, and then runs off. She is just fascinated with dogs right now. She also really liked Molly. She thought it was neat that Annie was like a mother to her. Kayla will even quote some of the lines that Annie said to Molly. I am just amazed at the talent that so many people have. The kids in this show were amazing. The ten year old that played Annie was able to stay in character and sing her lines, all the while giving hand commands and treats to the dog.

It was a great afternoon. We even ran into Grandma and cousin Nic. That was an extra little treat, except that Kayla then wanted to go and sit with them instead of with us! Thank you Andy for a wonderful birthday. It has been almost a month now. I guess I finally have to stop celebrating.

Drawing the Line

I realize that it is great for Kayla to be independent and responsible for getting herself ready for school. But...I had to draw the line at this outfit. I just could not let her go to school looking like that. First of all, I hate that shirt. Someone passed it down to Kayla, and of course she loves it. But with that skirt! I could not do it. It was a struggle to get her to change, but she did. All the while reminding me that she likes to be colorful and that she picks out "way better outfits" than I do. We have to get back in the habit of picking her clothes out for the week together on Saturdays. This has been a long fashion week for us.

Kayla's New Quest

Kayla has a new goal in life. That is to prove to us that she is responsible enough for a puppy. I am not saying that she is getting one, but is she ever pleading. She has been begging me and crying for one EVERY day for weeks now. Andy finally got to witness it last night. We told her that we might consider it, but she had to show she was responsible. So right away she started cleaning house. She was even picking up Caroline's room. I can handle this!

This morning it was barely 7. In she comes - already dressed for school. She picked out her outfit, got dressed, fixed her hair, made her bed, and picked up her room. Last night she and Andy drew a little chart on her chalkboard: No---------------------------------------Yes. She put her name way down on the yes side. She put me somewhere in the middle, and Andy is closer to the "No" end of the chart. So, she comes in this morning telling all that she has already accomplished. Then she wants to know if either one of us needs to be moved up on the chart.

Anyway, it was a really nice morning in our house. It was great not having to be on her case about getting ready for school. I wonder how long we can milk this before we all have to end up on "Yes"

Here is how she dressed herself for school. I did not say a word.

(Not the greatest picture...she was rushing out the door to catch the bus)

Weekend at the Beach

Libby, Kayla, Caroline, Lexi, Mallory

Alyssa

It was a beautiful weekend. Kayla was outside in her bikini most of the time. Saturday she laid out a beach towel and pretended to sunbathe for a while. Then she was "swimming" on the trampoline, followed by "surfing" on the swings. We then had a beach lunch on the kitchen table, which was covered with beach towels. She said she was turning winter into summer. After the soccer game all of the girls on our street came over. Just imagine SIX screaming little girls. Five really - Caroline was more of an observer of the chaos. They had a great time. Libby went to church with us this morning. They both spent the remainder of the afternoon in bathing suits in the backyard. Hard to believe they are forecasting snow for tomorrow!