Weekend Fun at Home

BMFR Fun!

Summer Fun!

Bindel Cousins

Finally, a shot of all the girls!Mary Elizabeth (five months), Caroline (four years), Mary Clare (15 months), Georgia (two years), Kate (3 1/2 years), and Sarah Jane (three months)

Understanding killing

Knowing of the predator / prey relationship in the animal kingdom and having some awareness of war, Caroline asked, "When armies fight and kill people, do they eat them, too?"

It was a dinosaur birthday party

Thanks, Ketan. More pics at Uma Puma.

Punk Princess

She sat and ate pizza as the first band performed. When the girl band was setting up to take the stage, she decided she was ready to dance. It was 7:50 when they did a quick sound check. And my little pumpkin decided she needed to go home and go to bed. She did learn from the first band how to shake her hair while she dances. I expect we'll see that move quite a bit from now on.

Four is the Year of Wheels

She also got a pair of skates from the Foleys but hasn't quite mastered balancing on those yet.

Four Year Stats

41 pounds
41 inches

75-90% for both -- pretty consistent with the past years.

Two pokes that produced a little scream and attempt to pull away from the nurse, but a quick recovery once the bandaids were on.

Happy Birthday, Caroline!

We started the day with pancakes.

And she spent most of her party like this.

The featured attraction -- cake!

She is FOUR!

Caroline's greeting to most people at church today was to just walk up and show them four fingers. Most caught on quickly and knew to wish her "Happy Fourth Birthday!"

Last Day of Being Three!

So we went ahead and let her have her present from us this morning. Since Poppy and the Satoros are coming tomorrow, and she's having her party in the afternoon, she'll have plenty of other gifts and people to occupy her. She's having fun playing with the dollhouse, but she has mentioned a few times that she really wants a bicycle. :-)

Sprinkler Park

Last Day of Preschool 3

My, how she's grown! Fading babyface, longer legs, thicker hair.

This picture is not indicative of her feelings about the last day of school. She is pouting because I poked her with my thumbnail when fixing her hair, and she likes to lay the drama on thick when she's been wronged.

Thoughts and Words

This week at the library, Caroline asked if we could get a book on hot lava. I got to the volcano section before she did and perused a few titles, narrowing it down to two that did not seem to have any major sections on Pompeii. I just thumbed through quickly. Most of the books had pages and pages on the disaster, and I just was not sure how Caroline would respond.

Last night, after John read her books to her, he told me there was one page in the volcano book that fascinated Caroline. He said they had finished the volcano book and were reading the second book, but she held the volcano book in her lap, open to this page. And she kept stopping John to ask about those people. Yup, the Pompeii page.

First thing this morning, she told me she needed to show me something in one of her books. Again, Pompeii.

***
Another mis-used word to add to our list.
Cartoon
For some reason, Caroline calls antennae ¨cartoons¨. It applies to pipe cleaners (which we have used to make antennae), car antennae, etc.

***
A few weeks ago, while grocery shopping in the frozen foods section, Caroline saw corn dogs and asked if she could have them. I said, ¨ÖK¨ and bought them, not thinking much of it. When we got home, I realized the power of my words and that I must say this to her often. She ran in to John, so excited, exclaiming, ¨Mommy bought me corn dogs and they weren´t even on our list!¨

(I was afraid that my ¨it´s not on our list¨ refrain would become impotent after that, but a couple of weeks´ shopping has not shown that to be the case, thank goodness!)

She swims!

She's counting the days

Caroline opened a few birthday presents from family this weekend, including a card that had a tiara in it. (She prefers tiara to crown.) She has worn it to the library and to school. The dot on her nose is the injury sustained doing a handstand on carpet. She looked like a little breakdancer, jumping from standing onto both hands, holding it for a moment, and then crashing onto her face.

Caroline and Kate and Grandma B's canes. Who needs toys?

Our family at Joshua's graduation

Caroline with cousins Sarah and Stephen

A priceless and rare picture! All of one set of cousins together. These are all Carolyn Bindel Fitzgerald Robinson's grandkids.

Hey Batter Batter

A swing and a miss

Mother's Day Tea

Caroline's class hosted the moms for a special Mother's Day Tea. Playing on the theme, "If mothers were flowers, I'd pick you," (which Caroline revealed to me last week by asking me, "Mom, if you were a flower, why would I pick you?") she made me a placemat, a beautiful fired clay vase, and a picture frame. The class also make a book of why they love us. Caroline loves me because I help make her food.

At the tea, she fixed my food. This is the sweet plate my big girl made for me.

Momma and her girls -- a happy day, indeed!

Singing for the moms and squishing up that baby bumble bee. I'm so proud of her. :-)

1...2....3....4

Since Caroline's birthday falls outside of the school year, she celebrated turning four in chapel this week. She has been looking forward to this all year--probably since the first kid had a birthday at the school! A month or so ago, she got a baggie and put four coins in it and hung it on the shelves by our door so we wouldn't forget it. At the end of the chapel service, any one celebrating a birthday goes forward with the coins, one for each year. The priest counts with them, in their choice of English or Spanish (Caroline chose English) dropping a coin in the basket to see how old they are. Then the whole school sings them Happy Birthday and prays for them.

Learning Chess from Daddy

She already knows more than I do. Yesterday, she taught me the names of the pieces.

These girls know how to have fun!

There were not many moments of the weekend spent not dress-up.

Self Portraits

Grown-up fun

Caroline find an old phone in a desk drawer. She uses it several times a day to call people and check in.

Nana left her reading glasses at our house. Caroline has claimed them as her own. When she wears them, she is Cindy and she is five years old.

Campin' Out

Last weekend, Megan and Caroline had an indoor campout -- sleeping bags and a tent in the house. So much fun!

Slinging our babies for a walk

(and I am as tired as I look, though I can't blame the baby. I stayed up late doing nothing at all productive.)

Barbies

Caroline paused at the Barbie endcap display at Target today, and I told her I had some of those at home from when I was a little girl. I pulled them out when I got home (they were dressed.) It took her no time to figure out how to strip them down and put them in what she calls "ballet positions."

Sweet Girl

Looking so grown-up!

She reads (does this count)?

Caroline got the Bob Books in her Easter basket. Today she read Book One.

Mat. Mat and Sam. Mat sat on Sam.

I am so proud!

Happy Easter!

Bright and Beautiful

School Egg Hunt

(Might be time to retire this outfit. Or at least the shorts. 2007 and 2008)

Many Moons

As Princess Lenore does in Many Moons, Caroline covers the moon with her thumbnail.

Fun in a Box

I brought home a new, larger basket to store our growing collection of blocks. She did play with the blocks for awhile before turning the box into its own toy.