My Little Cailin

My little Cailin, you are 4 1/2 years old. You are loosing your baby face and starting to look like a little kid. You had a growth spurt or something, because toward the end of summer, you suddenly couldn't fit any of your clothes. You even looked taller.

You are so expressive. You make all kinds of faces. You are strong willed. I teeter between encouraging you to follow your own path and speak up and being so frustrated because you speak your mind and are determined to do what it is you want to do. You use words like annoying, frustrating, and humiliating. You haven't gotten it down when to use humiliating though.

You crack me up sometimes. You tell jokes too. You usually start out with, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" and I say, "I don't know." And you reply, "Because he was run over by an elephant" And then you say, "You get it, run over by an elephant." This makes me laugh. Ariel says you need a joke book.

You like to know what we will be doing during the day. I will list off the things that we need to do. You like to stay busy. No sitting around the house for you. You will worry me to death. You like to be outside exploring. You dance, this is your second year. You are in a pre-ballet and tap class. You also take swimming lessons. You are a pretty good swimmer. You are an eel (you moved up during the summer from pike). You can use the computer pretty well. You like to play on Nick Jr., usually Team Umizoomi. You also play on Sesame Street.

You like the beach, especially the ocean. You always want to swim.

You are a pretty good eater. Although, you definitely have your preferences. You always say, "I want something yummy." Which usually leads to asking will I take you to the mall to get chicken from the Chicken Man. It's the man that hands out samples from the Chinese Restaurant. Your favorite meal is Chinese. You ask for it every day, despite the fact we only have it every once in a while. You are always asking to go some where or do something. And if I say no, you usually reply that you would be able to just do it, if you were older. I don't know what to say to that. You try to sound out words and can count and do simple addition (thanks to Team Umizoomi). You always ask the time, which I have taught you to read the clock on the stove. You know your left and right. It came pretty easy to you, but then you were able to put your shoes on correctly when you were a year old. We love you Dear Cailin.

My Big Ariel

My big, little one, Ariel. You are 13 1/2 years old. You are definitely in the throws of teenage hood. You are tethered to your phone. You send a gazillion texts every month. You text more than actually talk on the phone. The friend's name that I hear the most are Cassidy, Tatiana, and India. You don't like having your photo taken. You hate skirts, dresses, and earrings. You have worn nothing but Converse and jeans for the last 2 years. You used to wake up early, now we are lucky if you're up before 9am. You are a voracious reader and like playing the cello. You are doing dual enrollment this year with our district middle school. You take orchestra and PE there. Most days you do the work I assign at home, but sometimes it's a struggle. You are looking forward to going to high school next year, although I'd like you to stay home one more year. Like probably every other teen, you are very concerned about socializing with other high schoolers next year.

You are a loveable and conscientious kid. You give lots of hugs and kisses. You sometimes recognize when I need a break from the babies and will take them to their room to play. You are quiet and need to warm up to people before you are yourself.

You run track and are pretty good at it. You seem to excel at sports in general. Your chore is washing dishes and keep your room clean, which most of the time you hate, but then you hate doing most anything asked of you. You are a bit of a slob (but then I was too at your age). You throw your clothes all over the floor and your hard worked papers you've spent the day working on seem to make it to the floor too. You favorite food is burgers and fries. You are definitely your father's child. Oh, I don't want to forget chocolate. You love chocolate; Herseys, Snickers, and brownies. I might not be able to get you to cook with me often, but if there's a box of brownie mix, you will be in the kitchen then. You love your little sisters, but they sure no how to get under your skin. I have so many dreams for you, but I think the hardest thing for me has been to let go and encourage you to follow your own heart. I hope that I am passing that on every day.  We love you sweet (most times) Ariel.

Mote Aquarium

Back in September, we went to the homeschool day at Mote Aquarium. They separated us into groups according to age, so Ariel went off with her group while I stayed with the babies.

 This was the best part of the day. We were given nets and allowed to catch some sea life.

Playing in the Rain

They played for about an hour AFTER it started raining on the trampoline and swings. Crazy kids!

Cailin Dance Recital

Cailin's Dance Recital

Cailin loves her dance class. We are so happy to have found Ms. Kelly and the YMCA. She is patient and always cheerful. Cailin did a good job dancing and she wasn't afraid of being on stage.

June 18, 2011

I've sucked the last half of this year at blogging and taking pictures. So, I took out my camera and looked at the memory cards and found some old photos from back in June. I have no idea what we were making, but it looks like they liked it.

Rylie (20 months)

I just realized you will be 20 months old soon. Sheesh! Where does the time go?! Your vocabulary is sprouting daily. You can say Air-yo (Ariel), Mommy, Daddy, hello, hi, bye, and stop. You yell stop all the time. And of course you can call people names (thanks to your big sisters) you call them ba-ba (a made up mean name by Cailin) and me-me (meanie). You let me know when you want something to drink by pointing to a cup and when I open the fridge you will call out juice or wa-wa (water).
You are a picky eater. You love all kinds of fruit and yogurt. You know where the snack cabinet is for the goldfish and crackers, your absolute favorite. You don't really like meats. And I have to hide the veggies in your food.
You take one long nap a day. You don't like getting your hair comb or washed for that matter. You sometimes will go off and lay down in your room and can be found just watching cartoons. You sing! It's the funniest thing. We may not be able to make out all the words you sing, but you definitely can guess the tune. The other day in the grocery line you were singing, "Where is Thumbkin?" Just as plain as day, Ariel and I turn around and you are dong the hand movements too. You have been singing your ABC's for the longest, thanks to LeapPad magnet on the fridge.
Teeth have been popping up in your mouth like crazy. You have about 10. You love to run and play. You can race. You say "ready. set. go." and then you will run.
You love books. You bring them to me to read to you. You love turning the pages and occasionally will let me read a page or two to you.
We love you sweet Rylie!

April 14, 2011- Jordan Farms

We took a trip up to Jordan Organic Farm, right outside of Tampa, to pick strawberries. Boy oh boy, was it hot!

Ariel was the champion strawberry picker. In the end, we gave both baskets to her to fill.

And she done a great job.

Cailin had a blast!

And this was her contribution before we gave her basket to Ariel to finish up. These were the net strawberries (minus the ones we had eaten already).

Rylie learned quickly how to pick strawberries.

But she was the champion strawberry eater too.

She ate everything she picked.

April 13, 2011

Cailin, I gave you markers and paper in the car to keep you busy. You literally painted yourself with them. Your hands were blue. Your mouth and teeth were even blue! Your shirt and pants were colored orange though. You had colored so hard that your chest was green. I sure hope those markers are non-toxic!