Fantastic Four: January 2012

Superhero.

We got some great shirts in the mail the other day for the boys (thanks, Sara!).
Sam is basically living in his superhero gear and Nate is not far behind. Only thing is that if we tell Nate that something is superhero related, he doesn't know enough to see if it's true or not (yet). Which can lead to some pretty funny outfits...And yes, it is a silicone bowl on his head and the Oreos smeared on his face give him extra superpowers. In case you were wondering.

One of Those Days...

Today as the bus pulled up, I giggled to myself about the little girl sitting in the front seat wearing sunglasses. She was cute, but a bit eccentric for the school bus.
Turns out she was mine!
Caroline got to go to the prize box at school (still not quite sure why)...but is quite proud of her reward.

If You Liked It ...

My children love Beyonce. Really, really love her. Ever since they were able to sneak a peak of this Justin Timberlake video. Frankly, I HAD to show them the real thing. And we listen to it. All. The. Time.
Okay - I know how annoying it is when people put up videos of their kids like this. However, being the spawn of two geekalicious people, I thought it made this particularly entertaining...

Happy Birthday, Caroline!

Wow - it's January seventh and we're sitting outside without coats on. It's 65 degrees! I know this whole global warming thing is a real bummer for the polar bears and permafrost but I'm thinking I could get used to this.
Caroline has had a wonderful pre-birthday birthday celebration today. She got her ears pierced, a new balloon, a new outfit for her dolly Sarah and lunch out at Red Robin. In her own words, "My day is overfull. It's GREAT!!!"
Hard to believe it has only been six years. As challenging as having a 5 going on 25 year old can be we can't imagine life without her.
Happy Birthday, CJ! We love you very much!
Here is the chronological order or Miss Caroline getting her ears pierced today. It was pretty amusing. =-) But she did it and is SO very proud - "I look like a Princess. It's what God gave me, I just made it better."

Here's the play-by-play from the mall this morning:
Hmmm...is this what I REALLY want?

Seriously? You're putting that next to my ear? I think I have to think about this a little more...

Feeling a little better about things when sitting on Dada's lap...

Ugh...Good feeling gone.

Are you kidding me??? This s**t hurts!!! What was I thinking?!?!?!

Pain is temporary. Princesses are forever. Lollypops apparently assist in the Gate Theory of Pain Control - who knew?

Recap

Well - Pops got the message (Thank you, Pops and Nina for your expertise!) from reading the last post and promptly sent out some great pictures that we (okay - HE took the really good ones) got this weekend.
So with the kids watching "Thomas the Tank Engine", I'm going to try to get as many of these up as I can.

This is what we got to wake up to in the morning (we had an unobstructed view of the water from the crow's nest on our roof)...

With the weather being so gorgeous, we got to spend a good amount of time at the beach. The kids had not been to the ocean before (I think the venture to see Plymouth Rock doesn't count - Plymouth Harbor is like a big salt lake) and they were really diggin' it. Pun intended. The official pastime was digging trenches. They became houses, pools, castles, beds - you name it. You could tell where we were on the beach - it looked like the Western Front.
It was a blast. Even if Nate did come home with two pounds of sand in his diaper...

We also went to Duck Donuts. A beautiful sight to behold. Like Krispy Kreme - only better (and more artery clogging)...you actually get to pick out your topping and glaze. Mmmmmm...

We went to Jockey Ridge (we did not see Jim Palmer). It was really amazing. Our legs were really sore for a few days from walking in the sand...

Jennette's Pier was fun, too. We got to see fisherman catch Spiny Tailed Dogfish (they looked like miniature sharks) and skates. We also got to talk to some locals who gave us the scoop on where to (and not to) go.

And here are a few random shots taken in the cottage...
We are really, really looking forward to going back. =-)

Happy New Year!

Caroline is back to school.
Jim is back at work.
Both Sam and Nate are taking naps.
Wow.
You think that would put me in a position to do something productive. But, no. I'm blogging and listening to some Van Morrison. It won't be for long, though - the house looks like a toy bomb exploded inside it. At least dinner is in the crock pot.
Nate is still pretty grumpy. We had to take him to Urgent Care yesterday. Strep and an ear infection. I'm not sure if it's sympathy or the real thing but my throat has really been hurting today, too. Sam says, "I feel fine but Caroline hurt my feelings, Mama. I think I need to go to the doctor, too."
We have been busily trying to put the house back together again after this past week. We had Grampy and Grampa down for Christmas and then we met up with Nina and Pops in the Outer Banks.
It was an amazing week.
Santa (and everyone else) was more than generous and I'm still trying to manage the aftermath.
I think it may be tough to get back in the swing of things.

The Outer Banks were amazing. I know now why it has this sort of cult following. Hopefully my Dad will send some pictures when he gets a chance - but for now, I'll put up some that were on our camera (definitely not as good but you'll get the point).
The weather was gorgeous (mid 60s) and the kids got to spend lots of time at the beach.