Here we go again!

Here we go again. Eli has his first day of 2nd grade. 2nd grade!!! What happened to kindergarten? E was excited for school to start. A class of 27 (way too big!), 17 are boys! There were many joyous reunions that morning. Friends he saw only 2 days previous greeting each other like it had been 2 years. I don't know how bones did not get broken.














We are still trying to find our groove, but my expectations for that are not high. I don't think that we ever found our groove last year - when to do homework, when to veg, when to play and when to eat.















It is weird not to have him around all day. We all miss him. Not that he is ever around long - he is a social butterfly.

So far so good. He likes his teacher, likes what he is learning and loves to be with all his pals.

How can you not love this 2nd grader face?














Caroline began a new dance program. She calls it her "temporary" dance. Contemporary. She asked how she was supposed to keep up her ballet and tap skills if she would be going to dance with bare feet from now on. I don't know. I mean, what if SYTYCD 2022 doesn't think she has good enough technique? But she loved it her new dance.


She is also beginning soccer. She is so excited and has practiced every day. It is her fallback to SYTYCD, I guess she can always try out for the USA Women's Soccer team.







We bought some soccer cleats with pink in them but there were too big. I asked her to try on Eli's old shoes and she said, "That is a good idea and if they fit we won't have to buy new shoes!" What? This coming from a kid who threw a HUGE fit in Target that day over something ridiculous that I would not buy.

















She was showing me her jumping skills. Who knew that cleats helped you jump? Joey came out in E's cleats and had to get in the jump action. He actually has an impressive vertical for a tiny sport.

















Many of you know about Caroline's lack of pants and short wearing. She hasn't worn them in 2 1/2 years - excluding leggings that go under dresses. Thus the skirt at soccer practice. I asked her if we needed to go shopping for a black skirt or if she would wear soccer shorts. She said she would only wear Eli's old soccer shorts and only for soccer practice and games. She also asked that I don't ask her to wear shorts or pants any other time.


btw - I have new plaques that are about to go up in my shop. If you want to take a look, go to we chirp.

Babies. According to Caroline.

Tonight we walked up the street to give our friend some beautiful booties that my mom made (I should have taken pictures...). Our friend has 3 wonderfully active boys and the 4th they decided to not find out if they were having a boy or girl. Enter Baby Butterfly. Really. No name yet.

Caroline was so cute. She said the baby was beautiful. Kept checking her out. Looking at toes. Checking out cheeks.

Cut to later when we were enjoying So You Think You Can Dance (who is your favorite? Caroline likes the "pretty" dances. She wasn't a fan of Shane Sparks tonight) she asked me if we could have another baby. I said, "Do you want one?" She said, "Yes, don't you?" She then said, "You should go talk to them." Me, "Talk to who?" CW, "Talk to the people that Kaphleen (Kathleen, mother of Baby Butterfly) talked to. Who are the people that Kaphleen got the baby girl from?" A few minutes passed. CW, "Mom, are you going to talk to those people? Where do we go to get ours?" So glad we don't have to have that talk yet. Yes, that one.

I wonder if she realizes they grow up and turn into toddlers like Joey. That may change her mind.

And, no, this is not an announcement of my body incubating.

At One With the Flowers

Ok, I'm finishing up a bit of projects so I will be catching up. First morsel?

This is what Caroline wore to school yesterday. I am quite certain that she wore this same dress on Wednesday, but does it matter? And who doesn't want a star on their forehead?And while we are talking about Miss Caroline, last week as I was washing the outside of our windows Caroline really wanted to help. I told her that it would really help if she would go around to each grouping of flowers and encourage them. I told her that they loved to be spoken to, involved in conversation. After she took a couple of strokes at the window she walked around our front yard and this is what I heard:

Tulips, you look wonderful today.
Flowers, great job growing.
Plants and flowers, thanks for being in our garden - we love you.
Oh tulip, that is a beautiful shade of purple.
We'd like to thank you for all you do to make our house look pretty.
Keep up the great work.
Plants, your green looks wonderful.....

It was really quite mesmerizing.

Save the cheerleader, save the world.

Easter

Easter was a good one this year. I tried to make it less about the baskets and while succeeding at that, we didn't do a great job of making it more about the true meaning. This touched me. I need to do better at focusing on what truly matters.

The pic below is prior to church. Joey wasn't going until after his nap. So we snapped a few after. Caroline is a huge fan of her sponge-curlied hair. She just sits and bounces while looking in the mirror.




We did do a little party for Joey's birthday with my family while at Easter dinner. Joey was way more interested in cupcakes than in his gifts. Loves those cupcakes. The kids were so excited for him and opened his presents while he watched on covered in his sugar-sweetness. Did I mention we love this boy? He is too funny.


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I forgot to mention some speak of this week:
"Mom, do you what is so serious about Easter?" asks Caroline.
"No, what is so serious?"
"Wolves."
"Wolves?"
"Yes, Easter wolves. They coffee (copy) the Easter Bunny and hide beautiful eggs."
"Mom, is that true?" asked Eli.

On Easter Caroline told my dad that the night before the Easter Bunny jumped on her head when she was sleeping. Later that night, I asked her more about it. She said the Easter Bunny jumped on her head, waking her up so she looked at the bunny who apologized so Caroline went back to bed. Eli said that it couldn't have happened, Caroline stands by her story. Eli then asked, "Mom, is that true?"
"I wouldn't doubt it."