Caleb Loses His First Tooth

Caleb's bottom two front teeth have been about to fall out for awhile now.  We said tonight's the night for at least the loosest one to come out!

Dad tried tying some floss round it for Caleb to mess with.

 He wasn't really too sure what to do after that.

 He's starting to look a little worried.

 Then he decided to go brush his tooth to get it out.

 And finally, he resorted to using a baby washcloth to wiggle it around, until……

It finally came out!!!!

He wants to know how the tooth fairy can see where his tooth is when it's dark and if she only comes once everyone in the house is asleep.  I think we'll only have a couple more days until the next one gets pulled too!

Field Trip

 Caleb has been looking forward to this day for a long time.

It's field trip day!

First they went to the post office for a tour and to mail their Flat Stanley's to someone special.  

No parents were allowed to chaperone, but his teacher sent me these pictures.

 Waiting in line with his friend Ty'jire.

He looks a little scared passing his letter off :o).  

Adarrah, make sure you take Flat Stanley to a lot of cool places!

 Then they took a little trip Down Under…..to OUTBACK!!  

I don't remember taking any field trips to restaurants like Outback!  

They are learning about Australia and what better a place to get a little taste of the island, than with some shrimp on the barbie - or chicken fingers.  

I can't wait to hear all about his day, but it looks like he had a great time!

Spring Pictures

Could she get any cuter?!

There's no way that's the same girl that was throwing the completely absurd tantrum in public last week.

Today was spring pictures at school.  Why would I get spring pictures when I just got fall pictures?  But, when they handed me the proofs, I just about died.  They are super cute!  We'll have to ask the boss if we're spending any more money on school pictures or not :o).

 See the scar on her lip from the pvc pipe incident.  

 For some reason, I think she looks like my sister in this photo.

Still Working...

We're finally finished with the tile around the fireplace!!

Now, it's onto drawing up our design for the mantle and getting that started.  

 The lighting in this house is terrible, especially at night.  We had just about every flashlight, shades taken off of lamps, and houselights on.  

 We laid out the surround tile on the tape I laid out on the floor, just to make sure all of our measurements and pattern would work.

 All finished.  

 Saturday morning, Caleb went to Sheppard's karate birthday party and that night we had some friends over for dinner.  Yesterday, we skipped church and drove to the outlet mall so we could get some Easter clothes.  Spring temps are here, so I'm feeling like we need to get out and plant some flowers and get our garden boxes ready for some planting too.

Showing Off Our Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Project Weekend

Friday night, the girls had their own sleepover in Amelia's room and the boys had their own sleepover in the tent in the middle of the living room floor.  

We decided to tackle our fireplace project by ourselves this weekend.  Shawn worked the entire day on Saturday putting up new drywall and cutting out the hardwood floors, which we were a little scared to do.

 He decided to take it slow and steady and do it by hand.  It took him a lot longer, but at least there were no mistakes.

 The kids played great all day long.  

As the day drug on, I guess regular toys got boring and they pulled out pillows and blankets and tried to step on only the floors - and if they stepped on the blankets, then they were out.  Out of what, I'm not sure.  

They helped out dad a bit before bed.

 They decided to have a sleepover in Amelia's room, on the floor.  Caleb read her a Pete the Cat book...

 …and Amelia "read" him a Berenstain Bears book.

 Then they decided to act goofy for a little bit.

 Sunday, we went to church, Outback for lunch and Lowe's - of course to get a few more things.  Shawn got the thin set and backer board down so it could dry overnight.  (We hope to lay the tile on the hearth tonight).  

Since it was such a nice day, after Shawn got finished, we took a bike ride to the play at the Turtle Park.  

Caleb also brought home his report card on Friday.  He is definitely getting better with his reading - and not because he can't do it - but because he really doesn't care and gets tired with it easily.  His new chosen profession (although, I'm still hoping for a "cooker" in the family) is author.  He loves to write his own books which are really just drawings and sentences like, "I like mom.  I love you.  I want Amelia."  Pretty cute.

Spring Weekend

Last weekend was a hard weekend for us.  We don't know why, but we were itching to get outside.  So, we planned to go on a hike.  Saturday morning we headed a little east of the base to the Neusiok Trail (new-see-awk).  It is actually a 22 mile trail and is part of the Mountain-To-Sea trail that starts in Asheville and runs all the way to the coast off of Ocracoke.  

 It was a pretty chilly morning, but once we got away from the water, it wasn't too bad.

 There was a moment when I though we might have to turn around early...

 Caleb and I taking a selfie while Amelia was throwing her fit:o)

 Caleb leading as usual.

 Dad carrying them over the many puddles along the way.

 This looks like a good place to stop for a snack….bullet holes and all.

 On the way back, Shawn got a call from work.

 And Amelia decided to take a rest.

 We walked along the beach a little on the way back.  Caleb's checking out the water temperature - freezing!

It was a great morning hike!  

Sunday, Shawn didn't feel well and skipped church, but the rest of us went.  After I picked Caleb up from class, he informed me that his stomach hurt.  No sooner did we get outside, that he threw up in the grass.  He rested on the couch the rest of the day and like any good mom would do, I sent him to school today.  He only threw up once and he never had a fever, so I figured they'll call me if he gets sick again.

We also realized this weekend that if we don't make plans to go to a Blue Angel's show this summer, we'll never see our friend Nate, fly as one.   We are going to Beaufort, SC April 10th-12th so we can catch a show.  It's about 5 hours from here, but that week is Caleb's spring break and Shawn might just take that Friday off, so we can drive early.  We called up Nate and Janelle and he's hooking us up with some tickets for the friends and family section for the Saturday show.  We are REALLY excited!