Fun at the Children's Museum

Recently, we joined the Smiths at the children's museum at Fair Park. It was Caroline's first time to go this summer and Matthew's first time to enjoy all the cool things the museum has to offer.
Matthew is a little obsessed with balloons so he loved this "science experiment" that blew out hot air to send balloons to the ceiling. He was really upset he couldn't have one though!
 

 

 

Gray and Matthew driving the fire truck. Gray is being awesome and throwing up a "sic 'em"
 (sorry, Erica :-)
 

 

Saylor and Caroline driving the truck. I snapped the pic before Saylor was looking. I'm a horrible photographer!
 

The water room is always a big hit!
 

 

 

 

Ready...set...throw!!
 

 

Sweet buddies petting the goat. I'm pretty sure they both thought the farm animals were real. It's hard to see in this pic, but Matthew has the biggest grin on his face:
 

 

 

Harvesting the food:
 

REALLY cute pic of Gray:
 

4 Years (& 3 months) Old!

All About Caroline at 4 Years Old!!

What is your favorite color? blue, pink, purple, and red
What is your favorite animal? a dog
What do you want to be when you grow up? a mommy & a speech therapist
What is your favorite movie? Madeline
What is your favorite tv show? Strawberry Shortcake
Your favorite book to read? my Bible stories
What is something that makes you happy? my friends
What makes you sad? having to go to sleep
What do you like to do with daddy? go on daddy/daughter dates & wrestle
What do you like to do with mommy?  go on mommy/daughter dates
What is your favorite food? pancakes & cereal bars
One food you really dislike is... tomatoes!
What is your favorite song to sing? songs I make-up


Your favorite game is... Headbanz
What is the best thing about being a big sister? playing with Matthew upstairs
What is your favorite thing to do with Matthew? play legos
If you could go anywhere in the world, it would be to...Africa
Your favorite snack is... fruit snacks
If you had one wish in the world, what would it be? to see the stars at night (random!)
What is one of your favorite memories? going to the beach in Florida
Your favorite season is... summer because I get to go down the slide at the pool & swim with friends
 

A few things I don't want to forget about Caroline at age 4:

• The biggest one is...she is reading! She started reading BOB books after Christmas and her reading took off from there. We didn't work on it too much with her...she was just SUPER motivated because it's what she wants to do more than anything else.  It's quite an obsession right now which is how/why I think she learned to read in the first place. She loves reading all of the Level 1 Fancy Nancy books, Dr. Seuss books, and little stories out of her bible. She's also very into writing and loves making lists, writing notes, drawing calendars and spelling her friends' names.
• She is in dress-up clothes all.the.time.
• Caroline still calls toilet paper, "paper toilet" and says "record" for fast-forward
• Says "am I" instead of "aren't I"...Ex. "Mommy, I'm going to play at Lucy's house, am I?"
• Calls potatoes, "tomatoes"
• Wants to marry Matthew and Daddy when she grows up
• Loves to pray, say her bible verses, and talk about "God and Jesus" (their names always go hand-in-hand :-)
• Every night, after we tuck her in, she says the same thing..."Goodnight, I love you, I'll miss you, I'll come cuddle with you when my clock says day." (she has a clock that lights up when she can come downstairs in the morning)
• Caroline loves her friends dearly and asks to have a play-date everyday
• She loves playing chase, legos, and "school" with Matthew. Caroline is always talking about what she wants to teach him. I'm so proud of what a great big sister she is!!!
• A few funny things Caroline has said recently: "Mommy, there's a spider, you have to DEAD it!" (instead of 'kill'); "Mommy, you can't come with me and Yaya, you're going to be too tired from parenting"; in bed one night, "I have to separate Rapunzel and Bunny because they get in trouble for talking too much"; "Let's dine al fresco tonight"

At age 4, Caroline is:
 sassy, fun to be around, chatty, easygoing, sensitive, very bossy, enthusiastic about things she loves, playful, silly, funny, kind-hearted, compassionate, stubborn, & independent

We are working on:

manners, speaking kindly even when frustrated or upset (I tell her I'm still working on this one too :-), being respectful, no sassy talk, and not being so bossy!

Overall, Caroline is such a fun 4 year old. I love love love this age!!! It's just easier. We can see, more and more, the little person God is shaping her to be. Matt and I really enjoy spending time with Caroline because she is just a joy to be around.

 Caroline, we love you to the moon (and around every star then back to the earth then back to the moon again... as Caroline says)!! Always remember our 5 things: we love you, we are proud of you, God made you so special, you make us very happy,and we are so lucky to be your mommy & daddy!!

Summertime

Summertime! No set schedule, lots of time at the pool, lazy mornings, snow cones...I just love it! Our summer is flying by. I can't believe it's the middle of July already. We have not experienced too many lazy days of summer yet as our June was super busy. But we're starting to get into our lazy-groove this month. Here is what we have been up to this summer so far:
Theater Camp, VBS, crossing many things off our Summer Fun List, lots of time at the splash park and pool, fun playdates with friends, seeing Madagascar 3 at the Studio Movie Grill, starting some daily chores with Caroline, lots of indoor arts & crafts/playdoh-time for indoor activities (it's HOT!), enjoying snow cones/popsicles, time in the backyard playing with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and the kiddie pool/sprinklers, Mimi & Yaya Summer Fun Days, and more!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We still have a lot more snow cones to eat, swimming to do, and summer fun list activities to complete. Summer please don't end too soon. We're lovin' ya!!

Sweet & Salty

 

Although this boy can make me want to pull my hair out most of the time with his screaming fits and tantrums, when he gives me this grin (usually with food on his face in some form or fashion) it makes me melt. There is a reason God makes toddlers so adorable! Thankfully, there is some sweet mixed in with the salty. I love my little man!
 (Lord help me make it through the toddler phase)

Beach Trip Part 4

Last batch of pics!
 

 

 

Caroline spent a lot of time in the pool. Her swimming really improved! She even learned how to come up and take a breath while swimming back and forth from me/Matt/Yaya to the steps.
 

 

 

 

 

This was as close as Matthew got to the water. He had a scary experience at the beginning of the summer in a baby pool and has been deathly afraid of any big pool ever since. I hope he isn't scarred for life :-(
 

 

 

 

 

 

Heading home...a certain someone was WORN out. He slept like this most of the ride home. Such a guy, haha

To say taking a trip with a 4 year old and (especially) an 18 month old is stressful/challenging/tiring is an understatement. However, the memories we made and the fun we had in the midst of all the chaos were so worth it! So thankful for our beach trip 2012.