egg hunting

So, on Sunday after naps, we let the kids hunt for Easter eggs. We only did one round, though, since Nathan wasn't feeling too good. I think that was enough for them, though. Since Caroline was itty bitty last year, this was her first Easter egg hunt. She caught on quickly and did very well.








(Grandma and Granddad were very nice and left one area of high weeds in the yard - great for hiding Easter eggs in!)

all dressed up

Today, of course, is Easter. And what would Easter be without getting dressed up for church? Well, the kids had some nice Easter gear so we took lots of pictures. After getting Caroline dressed this morning, she found the basket of Easter eggs (plastic) and sat down to play. This picture is from that photo shoot.


And just in case their clothes didn't make it through church because of some unfortunate mess, we got a picture on the way out the door. Nathan had to be woken up this morning so his hair was still wet from his morning bath.


We did, however, get a few this afternoon before lunch. I'm sure there will be more of all of these to view over on Dropshots.


And last but not least, a family shot. (No, Matt isn't wearing a blue suit with a green shirt. It's really black. Odd reflection, I guess.)

getting out

With the nice weather lately, we have been trying to get out for walks often. Sometimes we walk around the neighborhood. Sometimes we go to the park. Everyone loves to get outside!

painted lady

Mema and Papa gave Nathan a Painted Lady Butterfly caterpillar. Their church gives them to the kids to watch and then lets a bunch of them go on Easter morning. Well, the one Nathan got almost immediately became a chrysalis after he arrived at our house. We've been keeping an eye on it. On Wednesday, we moved it from the little cup it was in to a larger jar where it would have room when it emerged. It wasn't so fond of the move. In the process, it began flinging itself back and forth violently. I was actually a little afraid that I had hurt it. It eventually calmed down. I think it was just "protecting" itself. Anyway, I was hoping that we would be able to watch it emerge, but...last night while we slept, it became a butterfly. Around lunch time, he was fluttering around the jar, so we decided to let him go. He was pretty. Now we're in the process of making pictures to remember it. Kids are funny.

gimme gimme gimme

I was reminded today that I have not updated on Caroline's eating. The last thing that was posted said that her eating had calmed down. Yeah...well...that only lasted a few days. About the time I posted, she jumped right back in. She eats and eats and eats. It's a wonder that she doesn't weigh 900 pounds!

a duck and run moment

Last Thursday afternoon, the kids and I went on a walk around the neighborhood. As we were nearing the end of our walk, we spotted an older lady walking toward us. Nathan commented that there was a lady walking and I acknowledged his comment. As we got a little closer, Nathan started another comment. I just knew what was likely to come out of his mouth and quickly tried to stop him. Since we were getting within earshot of the lady, I tried to be discrete in my attempt. As you can probably guess, I failed. Next thing I knew, out of Nathan's mouth comes a very innocent statement of a logical observation..."Mommy, maybe that lady is walking because she wants to exercise because she's fat." Sudden embarrassment for Mommy. By this time, we were about to pass the lady and I gave a polite "Hello" as did she. You could tell from our expressions, however, that I was embarrassed and she knew what had been said...but neither of us had to verbally acknowledge it. Thank goodness for that! Once we got out of earshot, I explained to Nathan that he shouldn't say anything about people being fat when they could hear. I acknowledged that he was correct, but explained that nobody wants anybody else to say that they are fat. He didn't really understand. To him, it's just a fact. Some people are fat. No big deal. I think...I hope...that he at least got the point and will be more discrete next time. Here's to hoping!

caught reading and writing

a new hairstyle

Caroline's hair is getting pretty long these days. It has really been getting in her eyes. Usually we don't worry about it at home, but we try to put barrettes in her hair when we go out. However, they don't usually last very long. She pulls them out pretty fast. So, we decided that it was time for a new hairstyle. We haven't perfected the look, but she seems more willing to leave them in.

a trip to see snow

On Friday, Matt emailed me and said "I noticed that it's supposed to snow in North Georgia tonight. It would be fun for the kids to get to play in snow. Maybe we should randomly drive up there tonight and play in the snow in the morning just to do it." So, we did. We spent the night at the Unicoi State Park Lodge. When we headed to breakfast in the morning, it was snowing. Here is a picture of the kids just before we checked out. It's a good illustration of the difference between then. Caroline loves the wind in her face. Nathan can't stand it.


We drove up to Brasstown Bald because Nathan wanted to "climb up a mountain." We figured that we would ride to the top and then maybe let him go down and back up the trail a little bit. Anyway, when we got there, the road up the mountain was closed. So...we headed up to Hiawasee for lunch. Here is a picture of Nathan in the blowing snow while we were waiting on Daddy to get Caroline out of the car.


After lunch, we went over to the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds to play in the snow. It wasn't snowing where we were playing, but it was still snowing in some of the surrounding mountains.


Caroline really wanted to get down and walk around in the snow. Mostly, she just wanted to be free. Well, not 30 seconds after Matt let her get down, I turned around to see the following scene. She had apparently fallen face down in the snow. Part of the problem is that this coat is one that we bought for her for next year and it is WAY too big at the moment.


Nathan had lots of fun making snowballs and throwing them at everyone. Even Caroline was attacked.


It was quite cold when we were playing. There was a good bit of wind where we were. We didn't stay out too long and we did the best we could to stay warm while we were out.


Daddy also did his fair share of snowball throwing. In this case, he was taking one more shot at Nathan...after previously putting a snowball on his head. Nathan was busy sticking little snowballs to the ice on the side of the car.


After playing the snow, we did some more driving through the mountains and looked for a mountain to climb. We never did find one, but we did get to see a waterfall. We headed over to Toccoa Falls. Since it is a very short walk to the falls, it was a good stop. However, while we were there, we discovered (don't ask how) that we had forgotten to change Caroline's diaper all day.


After visiting Toccoa, we headed home. We were going to try to stop and see some family in the Winder area, but Nathan ended up getting sick. We think it was just some motion sickness, but we didn't want to take a chance and get somebody sick. Anyway, we had a good trip. It was nice to just do something spur of the moment and get to have some enjoyable family time. If you're interested, there will be more pictures from our trip over on Dropshots.

yummy cuddles

For a while now, I have been getting lots of yummy cuddles from Caroline. It's so great! She'll climb up in my lap or get me to hold her and then stick her thumb in her mouth and lay her head down. I love it! I try to take as much time as I can to let her cuddle. Nathan was never cuddly and Caroline hasn't been much to this point. I think some of it may be a result of not nursing. I think this may have become somewhat of a substitute for that time. She doesn't really cuddle with anybody else. One of the reasons that I try to take the time to let her cuddle is that I want to foster a loving relationship with her. I know that mothers and daughters can often butt heads. I fully expect that will happen, but maybe some cuddles along the way will keep it to a minimum. :) If nothing else, I enjoy it and Caroline enjoys it, so it's worth it!

don't forget

There are more pictures located on Dropshots. The link is over on the right. Mostly, I just put additional pictures from the sets that are on here, but occasionally there are extras. Just wanted to remind you.

ant progress - day 9

Well, after several days of not doing much, the ants are back to work. For the last several days, they haven't been doing much digging at all. They mostly just huddled together in the bottom of the tunnels. There were usually a couple moving things around at the very top, though. I was actually a little concerned. Anyway, they decided to get back to work last night. So, here's a new picture of their progress. The new tunnel is the horizontal one across the bottom.