Fun with Caroline

Christmas Dinner

2010-01-07T16:19:00.002-06:00

Since Caroline wasn't going to be with me on Christmas day, I decided I was going to distract myself by making an extravagant meal for my family. I wasn't going to go to the grocery store, though, until Christmas Eve afternoon when Caroline was already gone...I was gonna trade one headache for another!! Well, the snow drift up against my garage was up to my waist, and no one on my block could even get into the alley! (I actually couldn't get my car out unil the 27th, and even then I got stuck...twice...trying to get out of the alley and a great neighbor helped me out!) Also...my brother was working, sister in law was out of town, dad had Christmas Eve service at the church he works out and my mom couldn't get her little car out...so there wen't my fancy meal!! Well...I still had a frozen turkey in the freezer, so out it came! I pulled enough together from my pantry to do a stuffing (even though I didn't end up liking it...), mashed potatos, green bean casserole and ginger carrots. Not too bad!

Christmas (eve) Morning!!!

2010-01-07T15:57:00.004-06:00

Santa came a day early to my h0use! I let Caroline sleep in my room the night before so she didn't wake up and walk into the living room without me being able to enjoy watching her:) She got an easel, a digital camera, some movies, some books and a bunch of little stuff from Santa. He decided to not go too overboard this year....I must say, I was very proud of him!! hahaha

She also enjoyed opening presents from Mommy and showing each and every one of them off for the camera....here is a sample!!

SNOW!!!!!! After Santa stuff, breakfast and opening presents, we went outside to enjoy the snow! Caroline enjoyed making snow angels and starting on a snowman. Once she sprayed water in my face from the spray bottle we had out there, I decided we were going to have a short snowman and call it a morning!!!

Cookies for Santa

2010-01-07T15:49:00.002-06:00

Santa came to our house a day early, so on the night of the 23rd Caroline and I decided to bake cookies for santa. We made some yummy oatmeal raisin cookies and banana, chocolate chip, coconut muffins (sounds strange...but they were great!).

Caroline also got to open a present that she could wear that night...new PJ's and house shoes!

Christmas at Jimbo's

2010-01-05T10:27:00.002-06:00

The kiddos also had a great time at Jimbo's house. Caroline got a bike and was a natural!! We had to drag Zoe kicking and screaming out of her car to go eat!

Christmas at CoCo's

2010-01-05T10:22:00.002-06:00

We had Christmas at CoCo's house with me and Caroline and Jace, Cyndi and the babies. Pop also came over. We had a great time opening presents and eating dinner.

New House

2010-01-05T10:05:00.003-06:00

Starting to Feel Like Christmas

2010-01-05T09:58:00.002-06:00

Getting into the Christmas spirit!! Caroline had fun making a gingerbread house again this year. She is so OCD, though, that everything had to be in a perfectly straight line and in patterns. She would not just throw the candy on there...she is SO my child!!

We also went to the Nutcracker, like we have every year since I was Caroline's age. She did much better this year than she did last year! She is now pretty insistent that she is going to become the Sugar Plum Fairy! CoCo gave Caroline a nutcracker before we went.

We didn't have much time afterwards for her to meet all of the cast, but she got to meet a few of the dancers...and she loved it!!

Basketball...

2010-01-05T09:54:00.003-06:00

So everyone knows I'm a bit (yes...understatement) obsessed with sports. Well, this time of the year is my absolute FAVORITE!! Basketball season is underway, football games are still going on...perfect!! Caroline and I went to the TTU v. Washington game...yes, just the two of us! We sat right in the middle of a bunch of students and had a blast. Caroline wanted to rush the court with everyone else, but I had to be the responsible mom and say no:) She loves going to the games...she knows the difference between offense and defense and can switch out what she is screaming during the game...I am SO proud!! hahaha

Looks like the Red Raiders are going to have a pretty good team this year. I'm excited for Big 12 play to start and we'll see what happens! We are definately already better than I expected us to be this year.

November

2009-12-31T16:51:00.002-06:00

Well...November was a little crazy! Caroline and I got moved into my new duplex, which I really like! My house was supposed to close 2 days after I moved in, and after 2 weeks of struggles, it all completely fell through...LONG story, but I am now a proud renter AND home owner!!! SO.....if anyone knows anyone who is looking for a cute starter home, let me know!! haha

Caroline and I are really loving the new kitchen....it has a good size island and we've been able to spread out and cook even more than we usually do!

Had a fun girl's night in November...always so fun to hang out with these ladies:):)

October

2009-12-31T15:55:00.004-06:00

Caroline is back in dance class and loving it! Her class had a family viewing night in October.

Caroline got moved up to the Pre-K in October also. At Miss Robin's Day School, the day care is in one building and the Pre-K is across the street in a separate building. They have a more structured lesson time and it is more like real school. Caroline was SO excited to move to the "big kid school" across the street, and has been doing great in her new class!! It is absolutely amazing to see how much she is learning!!

A contract finally came on the house...so packing began! As most people know, we were moving into two separate houses, so organizing while packing was important!!

For Halloween Caroline dressed up as her favorite book character, Fancy Nancy!

And had fun at Trunk or Treat up at Monterey with a bunch of her friends!!

First Soccer Game

2009-09-28T09:32:00.004-05:00

Caroline is playing soccer with a bunch of her little friends from church. It is hilarious to see all the little 3 year old girls trying to play. Caroline did ok, and had a blast during her first game! I'm excited to see these kids progress through the season. I think they will all learn a lot!!

Playing Dress Up

2009-09-28T09:05:00.002-05:00

One of Caroline's favorite things to do is play dress up! She comes out of her room in different outfits and poses so I can take pictures.

This is one of her many "sorority girl poses"...

She said that she was "Aunt Shanna" here, since shanna just got married...

And....she's dancing:)

Haircut!!

2009-09-28T08:37:00.002-05:00

I decided Caroline's hair was getting a little too stringy at the ends. I lover her long hair, but wanted it to have a little more shape, so Nana gave her a haircut.

This is her after church on haircut day...

Pre haircut...

Post haircut...

She looks so much older!!!

Game Day!!!

2009-09-28T08:04:00.002-05:00

Yeah!! Football season is back!! Before the first game, Caroline went to a birthday party for her little friend, Camden. She had such a great time playing with her little buddies!!

www.471040th.info OPEN HOUSE THIS WEEKEND

2009-09-11T11:18:00.004-05:00

We are having an open house at our house (4710 40th Street) this weekend...Saturday & Sunday the 12th & 13th from 2-4 each day! Please pass this information on to ANYONE that you think may be interested in a great little starter home or investment property! We have found another house that we LOVE, but can't move until we sell....

www.471040th.info

Where DID Summer Go???

2009-08-31T20:00:00.002-05:00

Wow....we had a fun and quick summer! We traveled a little bit, but not much (other than my weekly work travel), we did some major work on our house and put it on the market, and spent many hours (and many sunburns) at the pool! I'm so sad that the pool closed this weekend...I don't understand why they didn't stay open through Labor Day, but it didn't seem like anyone else up there this weekend understood either!

Caroline continued going to Miss Robin's Day School this summer, but during the summer they do a different theme each week and it is more like a summer camp than school. Last Monday, they officially started back to school, and soon Caroline will be moved to the pre-K. I can't believe how big and smart she is getting!

We are SOOOOOO ready for football season to begin! I have to work a few of the games (host donors in the suites, etc.), so it will be strange to be one of the ones dressed nice and acting refined during the football games for those particular Saturdays! I guess it also means that I am going to have to curtail the amount of "tailgating" I do before having to go up to the suites too! We got a seat for Caroline this year, so she'll be a cheerleader all season!! Where is everyone else tailgating? Now that the East Lot has reduced the parking lot by so much, everyone is spread out all over campus...Let me know where you are tailgating!!

Here are some pics over the past few weeks...

I was laying out reading and the lady laying out next to me was laughing and I looked at what she was laughing at, and it was Caroline lounging! She even had her head back on the float and her eyes closed. All she needs is a cocktail and she really fits in at the pool:)

We went to Wichita Falls (actually, Iowa Park) to visit my grandparents last week. Caroline had a blast at the park that is down from their house...she went three times in one day! They have taken out all of the old equipment and put in a brand new playground. It is very nice, but kind of sad that the equipment that my brother and I grew up playing on is no longer there (my brother is WAY mad about the fire truck being gone!!)

My PaPa wanted a picture of just Dale and I, and Caroline tried her hand at photography...not too bad!

Caroline and her Daddy and cousins...all of the kiddos love their Uncle Dale!! Funny side note...if you ask Caroline what her daddy's name is, she says "Uncle Dale"!

I just had to add this picture to prove that every once in a while I am domestic (well......as domestic as a boxed cake and canned icing is!).

Someone can SWIM!!!

2009-08-17T17:05:00.004-05:00

Can you believe THIS little girl can swim??? With her arms and legs and everything off the ground. Like REALLY swim!!! WOW....she's getting so big! Since I was always a swimmer, this just made my day yesterday!! She has been working on it for the past few weekends. She would try to swim and then stand up and think about what she was doing and then try again. We kept asking if she wanted to play with toys, and she would just say "no...I'm practicing." Well, yesterday it finally clicked and she just wouldn't stop! She was so worn out by the end of the day.

Shanna is now a SMITH!

2009-08-17T16:54:00.003-05:00

Shanna got married on August 8th!!!! It was such a great wedding...we had a blast! Caroline was looking forward to being a flower girl for weeks leading up to it! The morning of the wedding we got our hair done. She did so good sitting and getting her hair done...she acted so grown up! Congrats Shanna and Mike!!!!!

Me and the gorgeous bride:

The darling flower girl (one of many):

Caroline and Becca:

The Cox Family:

This has nothing to do with the wedding...but its a cute picture of Caroline and her little friend Emily when they had a "sleep over" at Aunt Cyndi's house.

Boston/NYC

2009-08-17T16:22:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago, I took the longest trip away from Caroline ever! I was gone for 12 days to the northeast, and even though I missed her like crazy, it was an AWESOME trip! I had to go to a conference in New Hampshire (at Dartmouth) for 5 days, so I had to fly into Boston. I stayed in Boston one night, then was in NH for 5 days, then in NYC for 5 days, then home. My trip home was CRAZY long!! Because of crazy travel schedules and REDICULOUS flight change fees (ugh....I hate all airlines but Southwest!), here was my schedule on the day I came home:

2:00 AM - Take cab from Aunt's apartment to Penn Station
3:00 AM - Take Amtrak from Penn Station to Boston
7:45 AM - Amtrack arrives in Boston, take cab to Boston Airport
9:10 AM - Flight leaves Boston
1:00 PM - Change planes at DFW and fly to Houston
2:30 PM - Arrive in Houston to LOST bags!!
2:45 PM - After dealing with baggage claim, RUN upstairs to re-check-in on a MUCH BETTER airline. Supposed to take the late flight, so try to stand by.
3:05 PM - Make it through the line to try to get on the earlier flight. They put me on a standby list and said "good luck getting to the gate by 3:30!"
3:25 PM - FINALLY get through security. Even though I have the "fly-by" pass, the TSA lady took more time than I have EVER seen anyone take looking at IDs!!! Seriously, I was behind only 3 people and it took like 15 minutes to get through the line!!
3:27 PM - Get to the gate in time to run on the plane!
4:30 PM - Land at Dallas Love but get to stay on the plane. The chancellor and vice chancellor get on the plane, as well as a few other co-workers to head to Lubbock. Again...I had been up since 2:00 AM traveling all day...I looked ROUGH!!!!!
6:10 PM - FINALLY HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a crazy travel day, but an awesome trip so totally worth it!! Here are a few pictures from the trip. I did a really bad job at taking pictures...in fact, I got NONE at Dartmouth!!

Boston Commons Park:

Mass. State House:

Something important on the Freedom Trail (I have no clue what it is...):

Mom and I in Columbus Circle. We have been here many times (we get off the subway here to get to my aunt's apartment), but it has been updated since last time we were there!

Mom, Aunt Shannon and me before going to see Hair! We had a blast....and Shannon totally dressed for the show:)

I went and saw Rock of Ages by myself on Sunday night. I had such a good time...really cool show! Then I went and walked around Times Square when it was done. I have been to NYC many many times, but this time, being totally by myself on Sunday night and all day during the day Monday made it a different (and great) experience!

St. Patrick's Cathedrial, across from Rockefeller Center. Reminds me so much of the cathedrals in Europe! After walking around here, I walked down 5th avenue and shopped a bit (really just looked around stores...had no room in the suitcase to bring ANYTHING else back!) and ended up at FAO Schwartz. Yes...I'm 12!

Since the last day of my trip was my BD, my aunt took me out for some really yummy indian food for dinner. I had such a great time!!!

Cute Caroline Pictures

2009-08-17T16:16:00.004-05:00

Here are some cute pics taken of Caroline over the past few months:

Caroline and her cousins...she loves being the oldest on this side!!!

We put stick on earrings on her...it kinda freaked her out. She didn't like me pushing on her ear to put them on. Maybe that means we can put of real earrings for a while!!!

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-08T15:38:00.006-05:00

I'm in Dallas again this week...it's pretty darn hot here! This is going to be a REALLY busy travel month...I'm here till Friday, then Austin, San Antonio, Boston, Hanover NH, , Newark NJ, NYC and back to Boston before the end of the month!!!! (yeah, all those New England ones are all one big trip...I'll be gone for 12 days!!!!!) There are four new posts so enjoy:):)

We had a busy 4th of July weekend! On Friday the 3rd, we spent pretty much all day out at the pool. They had a bounce house and Caroline had a blast just playing with her daddy in the pool! That night we went to a friend of my dad's house for a GIANT block party (the one that was on the news for having tons of people, etc.). They totally do a better fireworks show than McKenzie park so we get to see awesome fireworks and bypass the craziness on the night of the 4th...works for me! Then on Saturday we went to the parade and then just went home for the rest of the day. My dad ended up cooking steaks that night and we just watched some fireworks on TV:) Then on Sunday we went to church, ran a TON of errands and then spent the late afternoon at the pool even though it was overcast and windy. It was still good bribery:)

Don't make fun...I sound stupid in this video!

At the Grimes' party...

CoCo took the girls to dance to the band.

Caroline turned into a little groupie! She woudn't leave the band (the Caprockers...they do classic rock and are pretty good!). The singer got cracked up that he had a 3 year old groupie and threw her his gituar pick (and she put it straight in her mouth...gross!).

Becca and Caroline in their matching shirts at the parade.

Cutie girls!

Jace, Cyndi, Zoe & Jett

This was right before church on Sunday. I thought she looked SO grown up in this outfit!

Vacation Bible School

2009-07-08T15:29:00.002-05:00

Caroline went to VBS at my dad's church this year...and she had a blast! I'm so glad she was able to go, since you have to be 4 at our church. The first night they stuffed toy turtles for children whose belongings have been distroyed by natural disaster and our conversation about it went like this:

Caroline: I made a turtle.

Me: Really, who did you make it for?

Caroline: For families.

Me: Really, what families?

Caroline: For families who don't have any toys. I have nine toys so I don't have a turtle, but they have no toys so they get the turtle.

Me: Well, that is nice of you, and yes you do have a lot of toys.

Caroline: I have nine toys! (and then she proceeded to count to nine on her fingers the whole way home)

It suprised me, though, that she really got the concept of giving to others because she has enough! Wow...she gets more than I think!

Here she is dancing to the music...my little dancer!

She was showing me her dance after VBS. Oh, by the way...thank's King's for the pj's! This is the nightgown ya'll gave her for her bday, and i think it is the ONLY thing she's worn to bed since:) She is actually quite obsessed with the slippers too!!

Shanna's First Shower

2009-07-08T15:23:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday was Shanna's first wedding shower. It was so great to see so many of our Bunko friends and people from church there! Shanna got some fun stuff! We are throwing them a couple's shower/pre wedding BBQ at our house on July 19th...should be fun!

The Cox/Bennett/Morales ladies (almost time to add Smith in there too!). I love how you can see the sonic cup in the pic...that is SOOOO our family!

Me and my big girl!

Weekend with Becca

2009-07-08T15:16:00.002-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, Becca stayed Friday night and most of the day Saturday with us, and then Caroline went with them Saturday night. It had been a while since she spend an extended amount of time with Becca and she had SO much fun!! We went to Clay Cafe Friday night and Caroline made a "beautiful" plate (read: 15 layers of all different colors...hmmmm), Becca made a cute bunny with clothes on, and my mom and I made suprises that we can't talk about yet! Then on Saturday we went to The Falls ALL day!

She was concentrating SO hard on her plate!!

This was the first time I ever let Caroline in the "big pool" without me or Dale right with her. I figured with Becca in there and with me right on the side of the pool, it couldn't be too bad! It really boosted her confidence in the water.

Dallas

2009-06-23T10:25:00.003-05:00

I'm in Dallas now....nothing exciting to report from here! Definately nothing exciting from Oklahoma last week....we were actually in Norman the whole time, so ugh! I'll be back Thursday....and I'm looking forward to a pool weekend this weekend! Now that the house is finished and on the market, I'm going to avoid being in it to keep it clean, so we'll be at the pool from open to close:)

BUY ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-06-23T10:12:00.002-05:00

You know you want to!! :) Our house is FINALLY on the market, after about 6 weeks of working on it. Here are some pictures...I'm so ready to be able to sell it and start building something!!

The Living Room:

The Dining Room:

The Kitchen:

Master Bedroom:

Office:

Bathroom:

I Must Have Trouble on my Hands!!!

2009-06-23T10:09:00.002-05:00

I'll let the picture speak for itself.........................

No I won't......WHAT????? I walked in and Caroline was tying up her baby doll by the neck to her bed post!! I asked what she was doing and she said "tying up my baby like a present," which in my opinion was better than her saying "I'm hanging my baby, Mom" or anything else that it could have looked like she was doing!! She proceeded to play with the jumprope and baby for about a half an hour....oh goodness!!!!!!

Cyndi's BDay Crawfish Boil

2009-06-23T09:58:00.002-05:00

In honor of my sister-in-law (Cyndi's) BD, we had a crawfish boil at my dad's house. Cyndi is from Texas City (on the coast south of Houston) and her family does these much more often than ours (since this was definately the FIRST time I've ever particpated in a crawfish boil.......and possibly the last!). My dad had a ton of crawfish, shrimp and crab legs shipped in that morning, and then we all got together that evening. Caroline was a bit freaked out at first, but then she warmed up to the little guys! There was no way she was eating them, but she became a big fan of the one who escaped and was crawling all over the back yard! She did try one bite of shrimp, but after the look on her face while eating it, I knew she wasn't faking the "I don't like it" thing.....she hated it!! I ate a little bit of crawfish, but honestly I don't want to work that hard for a little tiny morcel of food that isn't as good as the shrimp or crab legs I could eat instead!! Cyndi, on the other hand, had a ton:):):)

Happy Birthday Cyndi (and Jace.....his was just a few days before)!!!!!!!

Even Pop came over for the festivities!!

Houston

2009-06-12T15:52:00.002-05:00

I'm going to try to start updating every week about where I travel for work....sometimes I guess its not that interesting, but maybe it will at least make me remember to post!! I went to Houston this week, and Dale joined me for one day. He went down there to take a test for a new job he's applying for (with TSA........hopefully he gets it and it will be more flexible around school schedules and he will be able to finish his degree!!!!!). We wen't to BJ's Pizza for dinner, because it is a scary obsession of Dale's. The cheesy smile on his face was rediculous when we just pulled up in the parking lot, so I told him I was going to post some pictures of him and his darn pizza!!

(I must admit, though, its probably the best pizza I've ever had too!!)

And, really, like I haven't seen enough paint lately.....when we get to our hotel room, this is whats right outside the door!!!

And last but not least (its not a good picture because it is from my phone, and yes, taken in traffic)......Houston traffic. I HATE IT!!!!! When I get stuck in Houston (or DFW, or Austin, or anywhere) traffic, it really makes me appreciate Lubbock even more!

So......I'll post again next week from the big facinating city of Oklahoma City (also my birth city.....but I don't really claim it).

Swim Lessons

2009-06-12T15:36:00.004-05:00

Swim lessons have begun!! Caroline was a little fish last year in the Mommy & Me lessons, so we really expected her to just jump right in.....well, it didn't quite start off that way!!! All the kids were gathering and there were like 3 different teachers over there calling out different names, to get them into their groups. Mr. Danny, Caroline's teacher, called her name, and she started freaking out!! She was saying "but I want the girl teacher, not the boy teacher!!!" loud enough for everyone to hear...embarassing!! I finally told her that she could go with her "boy teacher" or we would go home instead, and after standing there silently for about 15 seconds (she was REALLY contimplating this decision), she decided to go with the rest of the class. THEN, she had no desire to stay in the water. She'd get in to do whatever they were doing at the time, but when he took her back to the wall, she was out of the water to sit on the side and watch (remember.....my kiddo is the one who loves "laying out", so maybe its too much to ask for her to stay in the water for 30 mintues!). She never really went under, but she was ok to put her face in the water. So all in all, I think it will get better througout the summer.......just as long as she also gets her laying out time:):)

After swim lessons, she got to play in the water fountain that they have at the new leisure pool at Tech. She really had more fun doing this than the lessons.......so bribe time!! We told her that next time she could only play in the fountain if she stayed in the water the whole time with her swim class. Sure enough, Wednesday night, Co Co said she stayed in the whole time (Dale & I were in Houston, so Co Co took her).

And she came home and decided to be a cowgirl in a bathing suit. I asked her what a cowgirl said and she said "hee haw" and tipped her hat at me....so cute!!

We've Been BUSY!!!

2009-06-08T16:34:00.004-05:00

We've been sooooooo busy lately (thus, my lack of posting!)!!! There are 8 postings today, so make sure to look at them all, cause there are some really cute pictures and videos!

We are almost done with the house...FINALLY! We should have it on the market next Monday (the 15th) and I am SOOOOOOO ready to just be done working on it! I know it gets hard to keep a house staged and perfectly clean, but it has to be easier than the work we've been doing on it! We have painted the ENTIRE inside...walls, ceilings, cabinets, EVERYTHING!!! We have painted the ENTIRE outside...including trim, concrete footer, and the porch will be done this week!!! We've taken half of the stuff out of our house and put it in storage so we can stage it. I really hope it sells fast....but we'll see!!!

Here are a couple pics of the outside. I like our little flower garden in the front...looks a lot better than the bare dirt that was there!!!

Summer Is Here

2009-06-08T16:29:00.002-05:00

I love summer!!! I grew up going to a pool EVERY day of the summer...even the rainy ones! We would just sit at the clubhouse and order food and I'm sure get in the way...but I have always had the best memories of going to the pool in the summer. We joined The Falls here, and have only been able to get out there a couple times to go to the pool so far, but we are almost done with the house so should be able to enjoy the rest of the summer by the pool!

We ordered lunch on Memorial Day, and when I was bugging caroline about finishing her sandwich she said "Mom I can't...I'm laying out!!" The things she says CRACK ME UP!!!

Dance Recital

2009-06-08T16:15:00.004-05:00

We had such an awesome year this year at Caroline's dance class! She takes a combo tap, ballet & tumbling class...and I can't figure out which is her favorite. She loves the tap shoes (of course, fashion diva), seems to do the best at ballet (her gracefulness takes after her mom!! NOT), but has been doing cartwheels (or her version of them) all over the house for the past two weeks. Her dance recital was a couple of weeks ago, and her class did a tap dance to "When I Grow Up"...its a cute song! I've posted some pictures, and I'll try to get a little video posted once I get it from my mom. Caroline is going to miss Ms. Chelsea for the summer!!!!

Getting ready....the dressing room was PACKED and crazy, so we settled for the hallway!

Saving her good smile for the stage, I guess!!

Second in from the right...

You can barely see it, but yes, my child is picking her nose on stage!!! At least we know she doesn't have stage fright!!

Caroline and Ms. Chelsea

She LOVED getting flowers afterwards. When she came off stage, she told me "Mom...all those people were clapping for ME!!!"

Our Little Performer!!

2009-06-08T16:03:00.002-05:00

This was on Easter and I forgot to put it on the Easter post........what a little drama queen!! She loves to preform...even when no one is watching!!

Travel, Travel, Travel, Home

2009-06-08T15:52:00.003-05:00

For my new job, I travel about 3 or 4 weeks in a row (2-3 days during the week), and then take a full week at home. Sometimes I feel like I'm even busier on my home weeks, because I have so much catch up work to do at the office, and so much laundry, cleaning, etc. that needs to be done at home....not to mention fun time with the kiddo!! I absolutely LOVE traveling for work, though! Here are some pics of some recent trips...

I had to go to Albuquerque, NM for a conference, and drove to Los Alamos the day before the conference started to meet with some alumni. These pics are from the drive...

A couple weeks ago I was in San Antonio and had lunch with an alumni on the Riverwalk....I forgot how pretty it is!

BUSTED

2009-06-08T15:48:00.002-05:00

I walked into Caroline's room the other day and she looked back with this guilty face.....

Why you ask? Because she was applying "makeup" (glitter lip gloss) all over her face!!!!! I can't wait till she's 16....NOT!

School Picture

2009-06-08T15:45:00.002-05:00

Ok....this is a really bad scan of this picture, but it just makes me laugh! Caroline is the second from the left on the front row. REALLY kiddo...do you have to be the most dramatic in your class? YES she does!

Easter

2009-06-05T16:08:00.004-05:00

We had a fun Easter...Caroline had an Easter Egg Hunt at her school that Thursday and then we did an Easter Egg Hunt at Nana & Grampy's house that afternoon that the Evans family also came to!!

Here is Caroline before school on Easter Egg Hunt day...

The Cox side of the family cousins on Easter day...

Caroline's Easter basket...she got some goodies....

Zoe really just kinda wanted to look at the eggs, but she eventually got the hang of it!

The Tooth Fairy

2009-04-13T23:02:00.004-05:00

Well....Caroline had her tooth removed, and it was definitely split in two all the way up to the root. It was pretty gross!!! They gave her some meds to get her all loopy before she went back to get the tooth removed and it was hilarious!! She couldn't move her head and was just giggling and couldn't walk. I took a little video of it but I'm not going to put it on here cause of that recent YouTube outrage about the dad who put loopy dentist kiddo video up (if you know what I'm talking about...if not, I probably sound crazy). The tooth fairy visited her, and she insisted the night before that the tooth fairy brings "two monies", which means 2 quarters in Caroline talk. The tooth fairy is pretty cheap:)

All in a week's time.....

2009-04-06T10:09:00.005-05:00

A couple weeks ago I thought Caroline was going to completely fall apart!!! First, she cracked her tooth while messing around at Hobby Lobby (and yes, the MEAN mom I am fussed at her while her face was bleeding in the check out line, and the lady behind me was looking at me like I was crazy...). She was jumping up and down on the check out counter and came down on her mounth...it made her nose bleed and really busted her tooth!! Caroline told me that she doesn't like that store anymore because "the store hit her":) Now the tooth has completely split into two (there is a front and back half...it is REALLY strange) and it looks like it is going to have to be completely removed and a fake tooth put in. The dentist scared me and said that we could have the choice of gold or sliver for tooth, but he was just joking and it will be porcelin!! She goes in tomorrow morning and can't eat or drink after midnight tonight because they do put her under anesthesia.

You can see a little in this picture what the tooth looks like:

She was also pretty terrified to go to the dentist. I have no idea where that would have come from, but she was crying the whole way there (may have something to do with me waking her up mid-nap to go, but whatever!!). SO...I had to totally bribe her to calm down...she got an ice cream cone from Sonic afterwards, and I let her have it in my car. And for anyone who knows me well, you know we DON'T usually do ice cream cones (way too messy...I know, I'm really mean!!) and they are NEVER eaten in the car!!! By the way...she LOVED the dentist and I think she would have been good and liked it there even without the bribe once we got in there.

Then, her coughing spells got so bad (she has a mild case of asthma, and she doesn't wheeze, she coughs) that she was making herself throw up! This would happen every time she would run and play, or even when she was crying (which is a normal occurance now!!). So...we had to start breathing treatments on her. She kind of puts up a fuss when she does one, but we put on an episode of Dora the Explorer and she'll sit still through them.

Then she went to the ENT for a regular check up. He said that her tubes are still in there, but not functional (which would usually be OK at this point), but when they did a fluid flow test, there was absolutely no fluid flow in her ears. I don't really know what all of this means, but he said we have to come back in about a month to check again and decide if we have to go with tube set #3 or not...with our luck, we will!!

She goes tomorrow to get her tooth removed...wish us luck!!!!!!!!!!!

Caroline's 3rd Birthday

2009-04-06T08:39:00.008-05:00

Since it's been about a month since her birthday, its about time I get around to posting some pictures, huh!!! I've been VERY busy with my new job, so I'm going to try to catch up with some posting. Now that she's been 3 for a few weeks, I think I've learned that 3 is worse than 2. Her attitude, temper and drama have defiantely increased...but she's still a great, smart, fun little kiddo!

Ok...here is a look back at Caroline:

Caroline at 5 days...weighing only 3lbs. 13 oz. (I'll always remember how much she weighed that day because she weighted 3 13 on 3/13!! And yes, these are preemie clothes that are so huge on her):

And here she is at her first birthday party:

And at 2:

And now, she's 3!!!!!

Opening her first present of many...on the morning of her actual birthday (March 8th). It was a cute outfit that she got to wear to church that morning, and a Birthday ribbon that she got to wear all day.

That evening, we had all of the family over for a family party, since her actual party wasn't until the next weekend. She is showing off her new puppy that actually barks (Jack is his name), and her new bedding and pillow.

Aunt Shanna, Uncle Mike and Becca got her a baseball set, a golf set and a badminton set. She hit the ball the first time she swung and seems to really enjoy baseball!!

Then we had her birthday party the next weekend. Since she loves cooking so much, we decided to do a cooking party. First, the kiddos decorated their own aprons:

Then, they all made mini pizzas:

While the pizzas were cooking, they all decorated their own placemats:

Then ate:

Then they decorated and ate cupcakes...boy that was a lot of sugar! Most of the kiddos ended up with multiple different colors of icing, tons of sprinkles, mini M&Ms, AND mini chocolate chips on their cupcakes:

Last, Caroline opened presents and they played some more in the church courtyard:

I had to add this picture in here for you, Tierney! Caroline got a Belle wig and crown from her friend Brentley at her party, and it was one of the first things she wanted to put on when she got home. She thinks it is funny to put this wig on and look at her "black hair" in the mirror. She will say "Mommy...my hair is BLACK now, not yellow!!":

The next day we went back to the church courtyard for Caroline's friend Annie's third birthday...it was a fun weekend!!

2009-02-10T09:58:00.004-06:00

More Jett pictures...

James Calvin Evans III

2009-02-09T16:39:00.002-06:00

James Calvin Evans III (probably will be called Jett...we'll see) came this morning at 11:08 AM! The pitocin didn't even start until about 8:30 ish, so he came really quick!! He is 7 lbs. 9 oz. and 21 in. long. More pictures will be posted tomorrow...I forgot my camera cord at home!

Cox Family Update...

2009-01-22T10:42:00.004-06:00

Well...there aren't any pictures with this post (ugh, how boring!!), but I wanted to give an update on what is going on in our lives!

Suzanne Update: It's official!! I have a new job!!! I start as a Development Officer in the College of Engineering on February 16th...I am SOOOOOOOO excited! I think this is going to be an awesome opportunity and I have really enjoyed meeting everyone I am going to work with! The next three weeks in my current position I travel twice and have A LOT of things to go to get to the point that I can leave and feel that someone else could comfortably step into this position.

Caroline Update: She has moved up again at school! She is now in the mid-late 3's class, even though she doesn't turn 3 till March!! But...she is completely potty trained and they felt that she would do better and gain more from going ahead and moving up. So when they asked me if I minded I totally OK with it!! Also...bed and sleeping update - UGH!!! The waking up in the middle of the night EVERY night has started again!! She is still going to bed great, but waking up every night! If anyone has any suggestions let me know!!!

Dale Update: Since I am starting this new job, Dale may be looking at applying for some different positions within TDCJ. We'll update when he knows what he may do! We bought a home gym a few weekends ago at Play it Again Sports, and Dale has done so great at working out every night!! I have, however, really only used it as a clothes rack! Caroline wants to "work out" every night with her Daddy. And she HAS to put on "work out clothes"...she can't just stay in her clothes that she is wearing! Ah ha...I do have a picture of Caroline on the machine!

Trans Siberian Orchestra

2009-01-05T15:22:00.002-06:00

I decided at the last minute to get tickets for the Trans Siberian Orchestra since Dale loves them and the concert was on his birthday. Since we got the tickets so late, we were all the way on the side of the stage and couldn't see the front, but it was awesome anyway! We definately plan to go back next year and totally know where to sit now.

Big Girl Bed!!!

2009-01-05T14:44:00.003-06:00

Over the Christmas break, we went ahead and turned Caroline's toddler bed into the full size bed. WHY DIDN'T I DO THIS EARLIER????? She has not been giving us any trouble on going to bed, she has not gotten up in the middle of the night, and she has been sleeping much later since getting this bed. It's been great!!!! Plus, we moved her rocking chair and ottoman out of her room to make room for the dollhouse, and moved a few things around, so it didn't take up any more floor room than they way her room used to be. She looks so cute in her "big girl bed"!!!

5 Christmases!!

2009-01-05T13:46:00.010-06:00

We had 5 Christmases this year! By the 6th day, Caroline was totally expecting more presents!!!

On the 23rd, we went to my parents' house (Jimbo and CoCo) for dinner and did presents over there. Jace and Cyndi and Zoe were there too. Since Dale and Jace both work in Lamesa, on complete opposite shifts, this was the ONLY time that all of us could actually get together! Caroline really started understanding that we were about to open presents, and could hardly wait until after dinner! She kept trying to hurry us all up.

Next we went to Dale's mom's house (Nana and Grampy Steve) on Christmas Eve for dinner and presents. Shanna, Mike and Becca were there as well as Uncle Matt. There were money rolls on the tree for each of us. Once Caroline unrolled hers (it was 10-1s), she wanted to share them with everyone. She kept running around to everyone and saying "here is one for you." I finally had to take them from her since I knew she would end up loosing some of her money!! Grampy Steve got a Wii for Christmas, and I'm sure that is what we are going to do EVERY Sunday night before and after dinner from here on out!

When we got home from Nana's house, we had to put out cookies and milk for Santa (yes...all we had in the house was Oreo's because I forgot to get anything else and we didn't have time to make more) and carrots for the reindeer. I asked her earlier in the week if we should get food for the reindeer (I was planning on making "reindeer food" out of glitter and oatmeal) and she said "yes...carrots...reindeer eat carrots only." So, we put out carrots!!

Christmas morning Caroline was a bit confused that Santa didn't eat ALL of his cookies (there was one partial left)...maybe next year he'll eat them all...oops! Caroline kinda got a killing from Santa...Santa went wwwaaaayyyy overboard as usual!

After breakfast we opened the rest of our presents and then spend the rest of the day cooking a Christmas feast! We had Jimbo and CoCo and Pop, Cyndi and Zoe (Jace had to work Christmas), and Nana and Grampy over for dinner. Dale cooked an AMAZING turkey, and we did salad, mashed potatos, green bean casserole, brussel sprouts, stuffing, rolls, orange jello salad, and gravy and by the end of the day we were TIRED! No one ever warned me how tiring (and expensive) it is to cook a big holiday meal! That being said, I think even though we cooked all day, I enjoyed having it at our house and Caroline getting to actually play all day than having to run all over the place.

On the day after Christmas we went to Dale's Nana and Grandad's house with his whole side of the family (except for him...he was hunting with my dad). I don't have any pictures from there.

Then, on Saturday the 27th we went to Dale's dad's house (Grandpa and Deidra) for lunch with them! Caroline got a bunch of dress up stuff that I don't think she's taken off yet!!!!

All in all, we had a great Christmas...or 5 Christmases! It seemed a bit less stressful this year, we had a great time with family, and everyone got what they wanted (or at least I did:))! Can't wait till next year (uh...yes I can!!!)...

Santa Land

2008-12-22T10:56:00.002-06:00

I took Caroline and a friend's son, Caleb to Santa Land on Saturday night, and my brother and his wife and baby joined us. It was quite an experience! Was it worth standing in a freezing cold line for an hour and a half to see santa....according to Caroline and Caleb the answer is YES! At least they enjoyed!!

Dance Observation Day

2008-12-22T09:31:00.004-06:00

Caroline's Christmas Dance Observation Day was last week. We had a great time watching her dance and be overly dramatic (I SOOOOOOOO don't know where she gets that part!). She had a huge group of family that came and watched her (me and Dale, CoCo and Jimbo, Nana and Grampy and Uncle Matt, Aunt Shanna and Uncle Mike and Becca), so THANKS everyone for coming!

Recently when we (or santa, or ANYONE for that matter) asks Caroline what she wants for Christmas, the only thing she will tell them is a Teddy Bear. I finally know where that comes from! One of the dances they did is "I want a Teddy Bear for Christmas"!

She also did a gymnastics portion and was so cute doing little rolls and flips! She has so much fun and dance class and talks about Ms. Chelsea all week long! We can't wait for it to start back after the holidays!!

Ms. Chelsea introducing Caroline...

Caroline making sure EVERYONE had their eyes on her...

Straddle Roll...

The Nutcracker

2008-12-22T09:21:00.003-06:00

Going to see the Nutcracker truly makes it Christmastime!!! My mom's mom started taking me to the Nutcracker when I was really little, and I have only gone one or two years since then without going. We decided to take Caroline this year, and she did pretty good. Before it began, my mom decided to tell her the story of the Nutcracker, which included the part where Clara gets scared by the Rat King...so Caroline was really scared when it first started because she thought the whole thing was going to be a "scary show". Then, the part where the Rat King and Nutcracker fight ended up being her favorite part! We had a minor meltdown right after the second act started, because Caroline decided that she wanted to go dance on stage too and I had to hold her from running down the aisle! Once I got her settled down, she sat through the rest of it pretty quiet! She got to see Clara afterwards, and has talked about the Nutcracker every day since!!

Church Christmas Party

2008-12-22T09:16:00.004-06:00

A few weekends ago we had a Christmas party with all of our friends from our class at church. WOW there are a lot of kids!!! We had a great time and are so lucky to be in such a great group!! The kids did a book exchange and Caroline loves her new book! Thanks, Tierney, for some of these pictures!!!

The 2 year old girls...they are all going to be such a handful someday!!!

Gingerbread House

2008-12-22T09:13:00.001-06:00

I got a gingerbread house for Caroline to put together and decorate, and used it as a bribe all day a few weekends ago to go shopping all day. All day long I told her that if she was good then we would go home and do the gingerbread house. Little did I know (I totally should have thought about this, though), you have to put all the house pieces together and then let it sit for a few hours before you can actually decorate it! OOPS!!! Well, while it was drying I let Caroline help me put Christmas "orDaments"on the tree, and she enjoyed that as well!

Carol of Lights

2008-12-22T09:07:00.003-06:00

My Dad was a Saddle Tramp, so I have always kinda been in awe of all of the great Texas Tech traditions...Carol of Lights is definately one of my favorites! This is the first year I got to take Caroline, and even though she got kinda fussy while we were there, she has been talking about the Texas Tech lights and the big Christmas Tree. When we were walking back to our cars, she kept screaming "Polar Express" and pointing at the big tree...and when you look at it, it does kinda look like the big tree on the Polar Express movie!!

Its Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

2008-12-04T15:21:00.003-06:00

I love Christmas...and Christmas decorations:) My Sue Sue (my mom's mom) had a bunch of Nutcrackers and always took me to the Nutcracker and ever since I was a really little girl I have loved decorating for Christmas. Here are some pictures of the house thus far...

Crazy Hair Day

2008-12-04T15:04:00.003-06:00

Caroline's school is doing a food drive for the South Plains Food Bank and each day if the kiddo brings a can of food they can participate in the "day". Monday was Crazy Hair Day and since Caroline is usually the only one to show up participating (like she even notices), I decided to just put a couple crazy bows in her hair and go with it like that. She kept telling me "Mommy, my hair so pretty..." if she only knew:) She also got to have hat day at school where she chose to wear her thick toboggan with little fuzzy balls on top and then Wednesday was sunglasses day.

Our Little Diva

2008-12-04T15:01:00.002-06:00

That's our girl!! There are a few dresses that Caroline has that were mine when I was a little girl and she loves them! She calls them her "new Church dresses" even though they are like 25 years old! These dresses were from when I was like 4 or 5, and they are actually kinda short on Caroline...MOM...did you let my butt hang out of my dresses when I was a kid????

Thanksgiving and the Day After...

2008-12-04T14:21:00.003-06:00

We had a really strange Thanksgiving this year...it was quiet with very little family!!! Dale had to work, so I went over to my parent's house and it was just my mom and dad, me and Caroline and my Pop. Since it was only a few of us, we decided to forgo the regular Thanksgiving meal and we had my mom's awesome shrimp casserole instead...yummy!!!

So, I lost my camera a few weeks ago and have felt like I lost a leg...it is REALLY hard to function without my camera. There was an awesome camera on sale on the day after Thanksgiving at Wal Mart for like $100 off the regular price. I decided that I was going to turn into one of the crazies on Black Friday and get one...and turn into a crazy I did!!! My mom (who has DEFINATELY never done the black Friday thing) and I got to Wal Mart at 4:30 and it wasn't supposed to open until 5 and there were already a ton of people inside there. I got to the camera counter and figured that the camera I wanted was already gone, but can you believe it, they COULDN'T FIND the camera I came for...it was the camera on the front of their add...their BIG sale item and they couldn't find them! GO Wal Mart...aren't you organized:) But, I became persistant and waited as they found the pallet of cameras and brought them over. Then, since it was so crowded the guy with the pallet decided to open them at a different spot so he didn't have to get through the croud with the pallet and that made the front (ahem, where I was) the back of the line...so we became crazy and pushed our way through!! I've never felt so darn crazy in my life, but at that point it was all about being defiant and getting my darn camera...AND I DID!!

After a few EARLY hours of shopping I had to go back home because we had a drain pipe corrode under our house that we had to fix. This is the drain pipe that the kitchen sink, disposal and dishwasher drain into, so there were who knows how long worth of disposal food and water under the house...GROSS! Dale had to get down in it but we realized the pipe was too damaged and we (AKA, Dale) had to replace the whole thing...some pictures are below. I must say I'm pretty proud and impressed with Dale getting this done and saving us about $1800!!

Yes...this is the standing water/mud/cest pool/compost pile/whatever you want to call it that was under our house. It smelled SOOOOOO bad!!!

Dale had to get under the house by cutting a hole under the kitchen counter and climbing under cause we couldn't get past a big beam to get to the kitchen side of the house through the access.

2008-12-04T08:42:00.003-06:00

I was "tagged" and so here are my lovely answers...all of my friends who actually blog have already done this one, so I'm not gonna pass it on.

8 SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH:
1. Desperate Housewives
2. Brothers & Sisters
3. Law & Order (especially SVU)
4. Sex & the City reruns
5. Grey's Anatomy
6. ER
7. Private Practice
8. Jon & Kate Plus 8 (just a reminder that I just want one!!)

8 RESTAURANTS I LOVE:
1. Carino's
2. Yamagata
3. Double Nickel
4. Las Brisas
5. ROSA'S!!!
6. One Guy
7. Durango's
8. Home Cafe

8 THINGS I'VE DONE TODAY:...It's too early to already have done 8 things:)
1. Got Caroline's dance class bag packed
2. Faught with Caroline all morning about getting dressed and hair done (she is NOT a morning person)
3. Ironed my dress for my work Christmas party tonight
4. Emailed invoices
5. Drank a Skinny Vanilla Latte from Starbucks (mmmmm)
6. Scheduled spring interviews
7. Read the newspaper (is it bad that I enjoy the UD better than the Lubbock AJ???)
8. Talked about the TTU Defensive Back who was arrested by the DEA in the middle of the night

8 THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO:
1. Our work Christmas party tonight!!
2. December 22 (the day we get out for Christmas break)
3. Carol of Lights
4. Our Bowl game (even though it will probably be the Cotton Bowl)
5. Basketball season to really be underway
6. Caroline getting to go see Santa since she is kinda obsessed with him right now!
7. The arrival of another new nephew (one was just born a couple weeks ago and there is another due in February)
8. The Nutcracker

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST & THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR
1. I wish for this Christmas season to not be too hectic with so many houses to go to...BUT
2. ...I'm thankful for so much wonderful family that we are lucky to be able to spend time with!!
3. I wish for Christmas to be a bit less materialistic...BUT
4. ...I'm thankful to be in a position where we can provide eachother with great presents.
5. I wish for my wonderful daughter to keep developing into a great little girl...AND
6. ...I'm soooooo thankful that I've been blessed with such a smart beautiful little kiddo!
7. I wish to be able to help Family Promise (an organization I volunteer with) through Monterey...AND
8. ...I'm thankful to be able to help these homeless families who have such wonderful kids!

Polar Express

2008-11-18T12:29:00.004-06:00

My mom got us tickets to take Caroline on the Polar Express and we went this Saturday night. We were really excited to take her, because the Polare Express is one of her favorite movies and we thought she would really enjoy the whole train thing. Wow...we were right! She had an absolute blast!

The "man" putting "holes" in Caroline's ticket. On the movie, the little boy's ticket flies out the window, so Caroline held on tight to her ticket so it wouldn't "flews" out the window!

Being served hot chocolate and cookies...

Caroline was NOT scared of Santa this year. In fact, when Santa was done talking to her, she was kinda mad that he left!!! When he asked her what she wanted this year she said "um....well....just nuffin (nothing)"!

Caroline showing off her bell from Santa.

After Santa left, the Elves got the kids to get in the aisle and do an "elf dance" with them. Caroline wanted her Daddy to dance too...

Thanks CoCo!!!!!!!!

Holiday Memories, family pictures and the Polar Express all in one day makes for a very sleepy 2 year old!!!

Holiday Memories

2008-11-18T12:22:00.003-06:00

This weekend was Holiday Memories at our Church...its a breakfast and then shopping all afternoon! Our family usually decorates a few tables for the breakfast (we have to do two cause our family is so big we fill up two tables). This year I have been so busy that I didn't get to help Terri and Shanna (other than providing nutcrackers) actually decorate...but we did an adult table and a kids table. I totally got put at the kids table at breakfast:) I didn't have anyone to watch Caroline that morning, so I just brought her along because we had an extra ticket for her. She did so good!! She was really quite through the program and well behaved and ate all her breakfast...she is growing up so much!!!

TTU v. OSU

2008-11-18T12:15:00.003-06:00

Hello...how fun is football season so far this year!!! We had another great game vs. OSU...victorious again:) Caroline fell asleep on the way to tailgate, and Grampy Steve had to carry her asleep all the way from where they park on Broadway to where we tailgate in the East Lot, and as soon as they got there she woke up...figures! I'm going to be going to Norman, OK for the OU game...I actually have to go for work! I wasn't going to argue that work trip. Let's hope for a GREAT game!!!

Playing Outside

2008-11-18T12:12:00.001-06:00

Is it really mid November??? I am so excited that we have still been able to have so much fun outside time, and it hasn't been too cold or wet outside yet. Don't get me wrong...I would love to have a few feet of snow on the ground outside, but I hate it when it is cold and wet with no fun snow to play with. So, having days in the 70s is definatly the next best option!!

Sassy Caroilne!

2008-11-18T12:08:00.004-06:00

Caroline is so sassy!!!

She is still LOVING her dance class! She talks about it all week and keeps trying to teach us dance steps..."No mommy, a shupple (meaning shuffle) step is like this"!

More TTU v. UT Pictures...

2008-11-18T12:02:00.004-06:00

Just a few more pictures from that wonderful day:)

Caroline is trying to teach Zoe how to be a good tailgater!!

Black Out!!!

This has to be one of my favorite pictures...the grave next to the longhorn and Caroline and her guns up!!!

GO TECH!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-05T13:17:00.004-06:00

So...I'm just now geting my voice back!! I have never had such a great time at a football game in my life as I did on Saturday night...and I can't wait till this weekend!! We were on campus at 7:00 Saturday morning for the Saddle Tramp Reunion breakfast (my dad was a Tramp) and started tailgating at about 11:30. By game time we were REALLY ready for an exciting game...which they totally provided!! That safety really set the tone of the game. Part of me wishes that I ran down and rushed the field with the students, but then another part of me just loved standing there and watching the craziness! Even though I know that we will rush the field when we have such a huge win, I wish our fans would make sure the game is actually OVER before they do it (like 3 times!!!). We are having a cajun tailgate this weekend in honor of LSU (if LSU beats Alabama and we win, we should move to #1)...go Tigers and WRECK 'EM TECH!!!

I know this has nothing to do with the game...but how cool is it that Matthew McConaughey was at the game!!

What a crazy scene!!!

A student of mine took this picture...I think it is awesome!!!

ESPN College Gameday

2008-11-05T13:09:00.002-06:00

HOW EXCITING!! ESPN College Gameday was on campus this weekend, and on Thursday and Friday we got absolutely NO work done on campus!! On Friday afternoon, a coworker and I decided to skip out on work and go over to the Friday afternoon taping of College Gameday. We only saw Desmond Howard and Brett Musburger that day, but I think the rest of the Gemday guys came out after we left. I really wanted to see Kirk Herbstreit (even though I disagree most of the time with him...he still looks good:)), but no luck! The Gameday people have said that we had as many people at the Friday afternoon taping as they usually have on Saturday mornings...GO TECH!!!

Jack-o-Lantern

2008-11-05T12:54:00.006-06:00

A few nights before Halloween we decided to carve the pumpkin that Caroline picked out at the pumpkin patch. Dale let Caroline pick out the pattern from a website he was looking at, and of course she picked the most intricate of all the patterns. We thought that she would enjoy helping clean out the pumpkin, but once she realized that she was going to get her hands dirty, she only wanted to watch! She enjoyed helping me bake pumpkin seeds (which were pretty darn good!!). I must say that I am impressed with Dale's pumpkin carving abilities!!

Bedtime...AHHHH!!!

2008-10-29T15:22:00.003-05:00

Bedtime has been the biggest struggle we have recently had with Caroline. When she was a baby (until we moved her out of the crib) she was a GREAT sleeper, but ever since she had the freedom to get up out of her bed, she has NO desire to go to sleep or sleep through the night! EVERY night we have a huge battle (usually lasts more than an hour) to just get her in her bed, and lots of times it ends in me just buckling and staying in there with her. Then, she usually wakes up in the middle of the night and I just put her in our bed instead of fighting her in the middle of the night.

The past week, though, I think we have turned a corner! She's done a really good job of going to bed since Sunday night and she's slept in her bed all night all week. In fact, I've had to wake her up each morning (which isn't easy...she is SOOOOOO not a morning person, much like her mommy). I've found her in a strange position every morning, but if that is what is going to make her sleep ok, then so be it!!! Last night she INSISTED on going to sleep with her feet on her pillow and her head at the end of the bed on her blankets and she DIDN'T want covers!

Trunk or Treat

2008-10-29T15:17:00.003-05:00

Sunday night our church had Trunk or Treat, and Caroline got to wear her Halloween costume. Even though she USUALLY wants to dress up and wear costumes, tutus, etc. all the time, it took an act of God to actually get her in the costume Sunday night. She is dressing up this year as a bumble bee, but she also wanted a tutu so I made her a yellow and black tutu to wear over the bumble bee outfit. Cyndi brought Zoe (the pumpkin), and Becca (the hippie) was also there. Caroline enjoyed getting candy from all of the trunks (except the one with the zombie that scared people...she was pretty freaked out by that one).

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-29T15:05:00.004-05:00

Well...everyone else has their Pumpkin Patch postings up, so I better add mine too:)

We took Caroline and Zoe to the pumpkin patch this past weekend to try to get some cute pictures of them together...but its not so easy to get pictures of a toddler and baby together with BOTH of them looking at the camera and smiling and looking cute! But they did have a fun time out there looking at the pumpkins and playing with and riding on the wagons.

We let Caroline pick out a pumpkin to buy and we are going to carve a jack-o-lantern. We have worked to convince her all week that it is OK to carve the pumpkin, not eat it. She has a Dora book where Dora's grandma cooks a pumpkin pie from the pumpkin that Dora got for her, so Caroline keeps telling us "no cut the pumpkin, you have to COOK it." She did like pulling her pumpkin around in the wagon.

Jace, Cyndi & Zoe

2008-10-29T15:02:00.003-05:00

My brother, Jace, and his family have now moved back to Lubbock! It is great to be able to see them on a regular basis now, and Caroline absolutely loves having "her" baby Zoe around to play with. She is such a big helper with Zoe! I had missed Jace so much, and it is so great to have him back around again to annoy all of the time:)

They are going to get in soooooo much trouble together someday!!!

Go Raiders!!!

2008-10-29T14:41:00.004-05:00

It is funny how our life revolves around TTU football from the end of August to the end of December (or HOPEFULLY the beginning of January this year!!!). If it is a home game weekend, Friday night is taken up by preparing for Saturday's tailgating, Saturday is obviously taken up ALL DAY by football, and then Sunday is recovery day from a long few days before. If it is an away game, Saturday is all about making sure we are around the TV for that game (and any other that we find mildly important...which ends up being about every game on TV). Caroline has come to all of the games with us thus far...but she doesn't get to come along to the Texas game (darn...a childless game...what will we ever do with ourselves???). She has done great at the tailgating and the games. She gets a bit bored, and has to "go potty" like 20 times during the game (making me miss the AWESOME end of the Nebraska game), but all in all really likes going to Tacky Tacks (which means Texas Tech in 2 1/2 year old language) games.

Nap Time!!!

2008-09-11T16:20:00.004-05:00

I can't get Caroline to take naps anymore at home on the weekends. She takes them just fine at school every day, but I just can't deal with the fight at home!! So, instead of nap time, I try to make her at least sit still for a while so I put on a movie for her. Most of the time, I'll come in and find her asleep in front of the movie, or in some other random position or place in the house!

LUNA Dinner

2008-09-11T16:11:00.003-05:00

Dale and I went to the Dancing with the Stars and Stripes Benefit for LUNA (Lubbock United Neighborhood Alliance) with my Mom and Dad last weekend at the Lubbock Club. Since Dale had to get up really early for work the next morning we left right after eating dinner, so we had to miss the big band music and dancers! BUT...I got to drop Dale off at home and meet Shanna and Mike at Beef O'Brady's to watch the Tech game...poor me:)

Sunday School Class

2008-09-11T15:19:00.005-05:00

Caroline started going to a big girl Sunday School class a few weeks ago at church! It is so strange to drop her off in a real classroom instead of the nursery. She is really growing up!

Caroline is so bossy! She grabbed Annie and Elise's arms and made sure they were in the picture!!

Dance Class

2008-09-11T12:51:00.005-05:00

Caroline has started taking a dance class for toddlers at the same place that Becca does gymnastics. She ABSOLUTELY loves it! She talks all week about getting to go to dance class, and it has become the best bribe:) They do 20 minutes of tap, 20 minutes of balet and then 20 minutes of tumbling. She is the youngest in her class by about a year and is sometimes a step behind the other girls...but it is SO cute!! Her teacher is named Miss Chelsey. After dance, Caroline lines up all of the pillows in the house (like the little color squares they have to sit on at class) and pretends that she is Miss Chelsey and helps her babies dance!

Happy Anniversary!!

2008-09-11T12:48:00.002-05:00

Dale and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on August 16th. We went to Double Nickel for dinner and then went to a movie afterwards. Sometimes it seems like it has been a fast 5 years, and sometimes it feels like a lifetime:)

Becca's Birthday Party...She's 8!!!!!!

2008-09-11T12:33:00.005-05:00

My neice Rebecca and I share the same birthday, and this year her party was at a skating rink. First of all, I CAN'T SKATE...and the sight of me out there trying was pretty funny. I forgot to take my camera and asked people to send me pictures, and I got plenty of pictures of Caroline, me and Dale, but none of Becca...and it was her birthday:) Sorry, Becca!!

I was SO impressed with Caroline...she did a better job than I did on skates!! She felt like such a big girl to be doing the same thing as Becca and her friends.

Dale is really good at roller skating! I was suprised to see him out there going fast and spinning around and skating backwards...he's the next Johnny Weir (for anyone in my family that gets the joke...I'm laughing right now to!).

Caroline just sat there and stared at the cake while Becca was opening presents. I'm glad that Nana saw her sitting there, because Becca may have returned to a toddler with a face full of cake if she didn't:)

Crazy Week at School

2008-09-11T09:36:00.006-05:00

While I was out of town the last week of July, it was "Crazy Week" at Caroline's School. They had Crazy Hat Day, Crazy Hair Day, Crazy Snack Day, Crazy PJ Day, and Crazy Costume Day. You can't see her hair great in this picture cause it was taken on a phone, but Aunt Shanna took pipe cleaners and wrapped her hair and ribbon around them and they were sticking out all over her hair!! She just wore a cute pink & camo hat on hat day and got to wear last year's costume (the outfit that Co Co brought back from China Town in San Franciso) one last time...it was REALLY small on her:)

Astro's Game!!

2008-09-11T09:26:00.007-05:00

I have had to travel all summer for work...I feel like I lived out of a suitcase half the time this summer! One of the fun trips, though, was an event our office hosted at the Houston Astro's game at the end of July (I know, I'm just getting around to putting all of these up!!). We hosted a Business After Hours event for Houston area employers that recruit TTU Business students.

Houston Won!!!

This is a group of our students that we brought along to help us with the event...and Brandy:)

Laura and Brandy, two of my co-workers.

Tammie, our Director, and Dr. McIness, the dean of the Rawls College of Business.

Barry and I finally getting to sit and eat. We had about 100 employers there to entertain!!

Kenny's Corral

2008-07-14T13:36:00.006-05:00

On Saturday, Dale took Caroline to Kenny's Corral where Hearts and Hooves was having a thank you picnic. Hearts and Hooves is that organization where a few of their miniature horses were attacked by pit bulls. They live right by my paren'ts house. They had money left over so they hosted a big picnic and people brought canned food to benefit the South Plains Food Bank. Caroline loved seeing the animals!

This was the first time Caroline really saw camels...she laughs every time we say the word "camel" now!

Western Day

2008-07-14T13:28:00.002-05:00

At Caroline's school, every week in the summer is a different theme. Last week was Western week and they dressed in "western duds" on Tuesday. CoCo made this bandana skirt for Caroline, and made hair bows and a hat band out of the same material. She wouldn't wear her little cowboy on the way into school, but by the time I picked her up she wouldn't take it off!!

Zoe and Caroline

2008-07-14T13:14:00.007-05:00

We had a great afternoon with Jace, Cyndi and Zoe.

Caroline kept getting in Zoe's face and waiving at her.

CoCo and her granddaughters.

Caroline loved Zoe's toys...why do we spend good money on fancy toddler toys...these darn links did the trick!!

Caroline laid next to Zoe on the floor and started to imitate every move she would made.

Caroline tried to hold Zoe, but Zoe didn't seem to like it too much!

She obviously still fits in her old Bumbo chair!! She kept saying "my chair" and sitting in it...poor Zoe couldn't even have her own chair!!

Waiting on Zoe

2008-07-14T13:05:00.015-05:00

We told Caroline on Sunday morning when we got up that baby Zoe was going to be coming, so she was looking out for her all morning. To pass the time we played outside and went to the park...the same park that Jace and I played at when we were kids.

Caroline made some friends at Granny's house.

Ok...any of you who know my "issue" with birds (really, anything with a beak) know that I was all the way on the other side of the park while they were feeding the ducks. Caroline kept looking at me like "why aren't you over here mom..." and I kept yelling back "I'm just saving your spot at the slide." There weren't any other kids at the park, but she's two so that sounded a lot better than saying "Mommy is terrified that those ducks are going to peck her feet!!!"

This was Jace's favorite thing to play on at the park when we were kids.

Speeding Ticket...REALLY???

2008-07-14T13:00:00.002-05:00

We went to Iowa Park (little town outside of Wichita Falls) on the 5th because my brother Jace and his wife Cyndi and baby Zoe were driving through on their way back home to Houston from Oklahoma City. Since Caroline and Zoe had never met, we decided to go to IP and stay with my grandparents so we could at least see them for lunch. On the way to IP, Caroline got sick in the car...really sick...I didn't know that I would be so squeamish around throw up - but I AM!!! Thank God CoCo was there with me, or I would have left a car seat and clothes on the side of the road!! Anyway...after the getting sick incident, we were almost to IP so we threw Caroline back in the car (after getting her naked on the side of the road and trying to clean her off with a bottle of water and a extra T-shirt CoCo had in her bag) and I just took off. Sure enough, next thing I know there are lights behind me! Caroline continued to vomit while the police officer came to the car and gave me a ticket...even a puking kid couldn't get me out of that one! The only other ticket I have ever gotten was coming home from my Granny and Pa Pa's house in IP, so I told them that I may never come back!!!

4th on Broadway

2008-07-14T12:53:00.009-05:00

Every year we take the girls to the 4th on Broadway parade (I must admit...I'm a dork...I LOVE parades). This was the first year I can think of that the WHOLE family was together for the parade. We had me, Dale, Caroline, Shanna, Mike, Becca, Jimbo, CoCo, Nana and Grampy Steve all sitting together! The girls really enjoyed the parade and then we hung out at the street fair for a few minutes. Caroline had no desire to stand in line for any of the kiddie stuff, all she wanted to do is listen to music!

Caroline fell in love with some puppies that were being sold at the parade!

My little brother drives a Scion like this one and we have always kind of made fun of it (ok, really made fun of it) so this picture was for him!

Caroline is kind of obsessed with jumping right now...off of everything!!

We were going to go down to Mackenzie Park for fireworks, but Caroline crashed out on the way to One Guy for dinner and we couldn't wake her up! She was a just a lump...so we went home instead...I guess that is life with a 2 year old!!! Happy 4th!

4th of July Party

2008-07-14T12:48:00.007-05:00

We went to a big party on the 3rd with my parents. The people hosting the party go to my dad's church and there were TONS of people there. There was supposed to be a band and a F1 Bomber fly-over, but the band and the fly-over had to be cancelled because of the rain. We had good food and there were clowns and people doing baloon animals for the kids, and once the rain let up it was nice to just sit and relax! Once it was dark, they had a 90 minute firework show...it was one of the best I have ever seen!

Caroline was concerned that we weren't going to be able to go to the "picnic" because of the rain!

But we made it!!

A Year with Frog & Toad

2008-07-01T11:23:00.005-05:00

On Friday we had a Girl's Night Out to go see A Year with Frog & Toad. Me, Caroline, Shanna, Becca, CoCo & Nana all went. The girls really enjoyed the musical and Caroline actually stayed interested in it throughout the whole two acts! I always knew Caroline was a huge drama queen...I just didn't know she would also appreciate drama!!

Floatin' the River

2008-07-01T11:17:00.006-05:00

On the weekend after CoCo's birthday, we all went to New Braunfels to float the river. Aunt Shannon's boyfriend (Lawrence) and Jace and Cyndi all met us there so there were 8 of us all together. We got to spend some good time with Jace and Cyndi, but most importantly with Zoe! She is getting soooo cute and really responsive! She smiles and coos and laughs - what fun!!

Happy 50th CoCo!!!

2008-07-01T11:12:00.004-05:00

CoCo celebrated her 50th birthday on June 19th! Aunt Shannon came in to Lubbock from New York and they were all able to spend a little bit of time with Pop! Caroline loved getting to know her Aunt Shannon (or Aunt Shana-na-na-nan) as she would say.

Happy Father's Day!!

2008-06-24T15:40:00.009-05:00

We decided to skip church on Father's Day (I think there were a bunch of us that did that!!) and Caroline got up and cooked eggs and toast for Daddy. Then we went out to Dale's dad's house in Levelland for lunch where we hung out with his dad and granddad, and much of his step-mom's family. Dale's dad has goats and chickens and a bunch of dogs and Caroline isn't scared AT ALL of the animals. In fact, she wanted to go into the pins with the animals. Since I DON'T DO animals, I sent her in with Dale!!

After lunch, we came back into town and I cooked dinner for my dad. We took it over and ate at their house. My mom brought my granddad from the rest home and we had a great dinner! Since Shanna and Mike weren't back from Chicago yet, Becca came over and hung out with us that night too. Caroline got to spend father's day with her daddy, Grandpa, Jimbo, and Pop!

Caroline and her daddy

Caroline, Becca and Jimbo

Caroline and Pop

Caroline and Jimbo

More Swimming

2008-06-24T15:32:00.006-05:00

Caroline is having so much fun at her swim lessons. They are over this Wednesday, and I'm sure she is going to be sad that she isn't going to get in the pool as much, but we are going to try to take her to the pool a few more times this summer. She is such a fish - she loves going under the water and jumping in the pool. She makes the movements of doing the "doggy paddle" but she can't really swim. She can hang on to the side and pull herself out of the water ALL BY HERSELF, though!! She has enjoyed having her friends Annie, Elise and Brent in her swim class!

Business After Hours

2008-06-13T10:44:00.003-05:00

Last night we went to Business After Hours at Main Event. I usually don't take Caroline to events like that, but I figured that since it was at Main Event she wouldn't be too bad...but BOY was she clingy to me! My mom got her hair cut yesterday and Caroline wouldn't even go to her since she looked so different!! Caroline's friend from her old daycare, Allie, was there too so she had a good time getting to play with her.

Family Pictures

2008-06-12T10:52:00.007-05:00

After church this last sunday we decided to go take some family pictures on campus since we were all matching! It is HARD to get a two year old to sit still for a picture...any suggestions??? We ended up getting a few cute ones...my favorites of Caroline are just candid pictures, not posed. It was easier to get her to stand with her guns up than it was to just stand still...she's my little Red Raider!!

Swim Lessons!!!

2008-06-12T10:44:00.005-05:00

Caroline started swim lessons at the beginning of last week. Two friend from church are also in her class and one of my co-workers and her son are in the class too!! I think pool water is like a stimulant for Caroline! When we get in the water she just goes crazy. She doesn't want me to hold on to her, she wants to go under the water over and over, and she REALLY loves jumping in the water...even off the diving board! Hopefully we will have some more pictures next week!

Baby Zoe

2008-06-12T10:39:00.007-05:00

In February, my brother and his wife (Jace and Cyndi) had baby Zoe. She spend a little bit of time in the NICU, but is now growing into a healthy, happy and CUTE little baby! I can't wait to see them again...hopefully sometime soon!!

Yoga

2008-06-12T10:35:00.004-05:00

I have a yoga mat and yoga blocks that are many times strung out in the living room. One day, when I was trying to do a yoga video, Caroline decided that she wanted to also! She concentrated so hard on trying to do everything just right...it was too cute!!

RCOB Family Picnic

2008-06-12T10:33:00.004-05:00

We took Caroline to the Rawls College of Business Family Picnic. She could care less about the big bouncer, snow cones, food, playing games...all she wanted to do is play with her friend Caleb and his new puppy, Miko!! Caroline LOVES Caleb!

Foam Curler Lessons Needed!!!

2008-06-12T10:27:00.007-05:00

I remember getting foam rollers in my hair when I was a little girl...how hard could it be? Well, Caroline actually sat remotely still while getting them in her hair (which must have been an act of God which any of you who have tried to do her hair would know) and looked oh so cute with them in!!

But the next morning I realized that I may have put a few too many curlers in her hair!!!

It ended up looking OK...but not as cute as I had hoped! I definately need to be taught how to use them correctly before I make my daughter look like she stuck a fork in a plug again!

Now I Like to do Laundry...Kind Of!!!

2008-06-12T10:08:00.011-05:00

We painted our laundry room green and white. We are going to use this same color green on the top half of our kitchen, but go a few shades darker on the bottom half. Actually having a laundry room that I don't mind standing in helps me want to do laundry (and if I keep tellilng myself that, it may just come true)! We are going to put a curtain up over the open shelf side because I don't like being able to see all of our stuff...and electrical box!