Laptop!!

I am posting this on my daddy's laptop because I feel like it. It is totally awesome. I already posted a post today, but I kinda got bored...it is almost my bedtime. C ya l8er!!!!!

One eye to the microscope; I love the face contortion!

By the end she was skating on her own and having a great time!

Not hanging on the wall, but hanging on to Mom.  Getting braver!

Just starting out ice skating at a Girl Scouts event - hanging on to the wall.

Something I hope to instill -

"My riches consist not in the extent of my possessions but in the fewness of my wants."

~J. Brotherton

Caroline and Sophie at the class Valentine's party.

So proud of her penguin diorama project - she got an A!

Clowning around while shoveling some of our pathetic snowfall.

It's been busy times around here lately - Caroline spent lots of time outside this weekend taking advantage of the fabulous weather.  Last week was Spirit Week at school, which meant a week full of "regular" clothes instead of uniforms, which makes the entire student body lose their minds.  The hardest one to participate in was "Mismatch Day" just because Caroline knows which colors go together and which don't, so wearing a purple argyle knee high and a flowered knee high was very hard on her fashion sense!   In her second grade reading class they have been working on book reports, which annoys Caroline.  She wants to read because she LIKES it, not because she has to answer some details about it.  Later this month she'll have a sleepover with one of her girlfriends, and attend the Girl Scout St. Patrick's Day dance.  She'll do almost anything for the Brownies that will get her a badge.

Living With Benny Hill

Help me Sweet Baby Jesus - Caroline has discovered the pratfall.  Admittedly it was amusing the first time or two, but the 749th time of falling to her knees or crashing onto the sofa doesn't elicit giggles anymore.  And it's always accompanied by the requisite soundtrack - AAAAAAAggrrrgh!  Waaaaruuggggh!  etc.  Naturally she must work on this technique at a time when we have other things to do, leaving me standing there with gritted teeth saying "GET. YOUR. SHOES. ON. NOW. oryoucangotoschoolbarefoot!"   And the answer is always "I really fell!  It wasn't a trick!"  It happens at bedtime too - 

C going up the steps:  [collapse on stairs]  OOOOOFFF!

M gritting teeth:  Wow, you must really be tired - guess that means we can't play Scrabble before bed.

C:  It was just an accident, really!

M:  It's not an accident the 12th time - get moving.

C:  [collapse on stairs]  Oooops, I just tripped!

It's not good for my dental work to sound like a harpy, but I swear the next time she's going to school barefoot.

Five Loves....

Another blog that I frequently read (www.unpinkmom.blogspot.com) had a challenge to post about five things you happen to love today, outside of the obvious like husbands and children and pets.  So here are mine.

1.  Hot tea.  There's nothing better on a shivery cold morning like today was.  I especially like fancy weird flavors like almond cookie and chocolate strawberry.   (although today I just had mint)

2.  Bal A Versailles perfume.   I've never seen a store that sells it, but James and my mom keep me supplied when I am running low.  

3.  My crockpot.  Another blog I read was all about this woman's challenge to use her crockpot every day for a year.  She just completed it, but reading about the different things she tried(who'da thunk you could make Shrinky Dinks in there?!?!)   made me want to use mine more.  Next up, chicken and dumplings in the crockpot on Saturday!  

4.  Bath & Body Works scented glycerine soaps.  We buy them by the ton when on sale, it's just such a nice smell (particularly the cucumber melon) and I feel like they wash off better in our water that's so hard it's a solid.

5.  French fries.  I cannot think of a more perfect food.  I believe I could eat my weight in good french fries.  With ketchup, with gravy (don't give me that face, it's a local thing!), whatever, it's all good.

Oh, the drama....

Caroline's sixth tooth came out tonight, with a bit of help from all of us.  At this point I wish I understood why it is such drama for her.  So far she's swallowed a tooth, pulled out one herself, and we've done the others.  But each one is accompanied by some trickery and hurt feelings.  I think the problem is that as the roots of the teeth dissolve, they are very sharp and so as they loosen up they are constantly poking her and causing pain and bleeding.  But no matter how many times we go through it, she is certain that it's going to hurt worse than ever and won't let us near her.  James has tricked her twice (by getting her to hold on to the loose tooth and then jerking her arm to make her pull it out), and now she's just so frustrated about it she won't even let him LOOK in her mouth, let alone help.

So this bottom lower-right tooth has been hanging on for so long that the adult tooth grew in behind it.  It finally loosened up to the point that today it was hanging nearly horizontal.  I told her that she simply could not go to bed with it hanging, I was afraid it would come out in her sleep and she would choke on it.  So she could pick Daddy or me to help, but it was coming out tonight.  Naturally this made her HYSTERICAL so once she opened her mouth to cry I stuck my finger in and simply swept the tooth out, it was so lightly hanging on.  

Once we celebrated and I got her to bed, I said that I was sorry for tricking her but that I was only trying to help her.  Caroline said "Mommy, you didn't do anything to trick me."  I said "do you think I like talking meanly to you?  I knew that if I did that I could get you to cry and I could get to your tooth."  After a moment of puzzled shock, she said "I didn't even think of that.  You're just EVIL!"  hahahahaha

Maybe a year....

is about how long we have left to believe in Santa, I think.  Caroline's questions have gotten more and more specific about the hows and whys.  She refused to see Santa at the mall because "I know that's just a helper in a suit.  Santa can't be at all the malls at once."  How does Santa get all the way around the world in just one night?  And there's not a sleigh in the world big enough to carry everybody's toys!  How does he get in our house if Daddy locks the doors every night and we don't have a chimney?  I asked her if kids at school had been "talking" about Santa, but she said no.  I think my plan of action for now is to wait until she outright asks, because so far she has been content when I said I didn't know the answer to whichever question.  I remember my mom telling me about Santa although I had privately had my suspicions for a bit and I wasn't damaged or unduly harmed by the deception.  Heck, she still addresses presents to me from Santa!   :-)

Have a holly jolly.....EVERYTHING!

Yes, well, we've fallen off the blogging wagon just a bit.  It's hard to keep up on this with a busy  7 year old's life!  Just imagine how far behind it would be if we had more kids....hahaha    So here's what we have been up to lately.  This will take a couple of posts to catch up, so make sure to look at everything.

When there's a bargain at post-Christmas sales last year, Caroline gets her own Christmas tree in her room this year!  

Caroline wanted to learn how to make scrambled eggs.  And no, we didn't tell Daddy about this until he saw the picture!  She needs to be about two inches taller to reach the stovetop well.

Thoughts on bedtime....

Caroline and I were playing Scrabble for her bedtime activity tonight.  As things dragged along I said okay, she could make one more word then it was bedtime.  So she started digging through the letter bag to look for an S to make whatever word. 

Mommy:  No, you can't do that, it's cheating!

Caroline:  Mom, it's almost bedtime, it's okay to cheat.

At least she understands the time limitations....