Summer Outings

We have officially been on summer break for 2 1/2 weeks. During that time only one day has been spent at the house lounging. We have decided to make the most of this summer!

I have taken the kids to see 2 movies. Shrek the 3rd & Toy Story 3. Thomas loves movies and has been into them since he was a baby. Caroline on the other hand isn't. She can't set still and would rather do anything else that watch a movie. So when we tried out Shrek I was a bit apprehensive because it was just me. But, we made it through beautifully. Thomas sat on the edge of the seat the whole time-he was so into it he barely ate his popcorn-not like him! Caroline did as good as could be expected-and LOVED the popcorn. She definitely ate her share as well as Thomas's and most of mine too.....

Andy was sad he missed the experience so was excited when we went to see Toy Story. Anyone who knows Thomas knows he has been waiting for this day for months....he loves Buzz and Woody and is convinced his name is "Thomas Buzz Light Year Evans." So we went this past Saturday the day after it opened up. Andy was of course giving me a hard time about getting their early. I am glad I put his heckling aside and stood my ground-we got the last 4 seats together at the very last row of the theatre! It was packed. Andy and I were a bit disappointed it. We thought it was pretty sad and a bit dark for kids, but neither one of them seemed to notice and loved it!

When we were walking out you should have seen the like for the 12:00 show and we overheard someone on their phone saying all the others were sold out for the afternoon times....even more glad we went early!

Caroline has been taking swimming lessons and like last year-they aren't starting off so well. I went ahead and went with a group lesson this year-I am wishing I would have stayed with private, but of course my money is nonrefundable so I have 7 left and am hoping she comes around. She ended up coming around last year so I think she will this year, we will just wait and see.

Thomas is still going to Parker Chase 2 days a week...he loves seeing his friends and I felt it was important to maintain the relationships he has built with his friends and didn't come back from summer the odd man out. As usual each week is a different theme and he is still loving it as always-I am lucky to spend some on on one time w/Caroline during that time!

I will updated pics soon of our trip to Port Aransas. Andy is in St. Louis this week and pics are on his laptop!

I will try to be more diligent about updating this!

Sweet Motherly Caroline

All of our friends are always saying how well behaved and mild mannered she is. I am not sure that is in reference to the fact that she is nearly perfect or if they are referring to how calm she is compared to Thomas!

Caroline is by far the best mom to her dozen babies that I have ever seen. She loves to play with them and will get completely lost in them. But, we have a little problem. All of our babies live in a nudist colony! We had some friends over for dinner Sat. night and the 8 year old son finally asked "What is up w/the no clothes?" I tell people who give her dolls not to be offended, but the clothes are long gone as soon as we get the dolls! I try to keep them in a bin, but we have no idea what outfit goes on what doll. Caroline just likes to take the clothes off and feed/wipe and change the babies. She also loves to put them to bed and remind our company that they need to be quiet because her babies are sleeping. 25+ years from now (yes I am keeping my fingers crossed it will be that long) she will make an excellent mother.

Andy has been out of town this week and we were playing w/her dolls last night. She came to me and said one of her babies bit her (on the boob). I tried to explain to her that this was part of being a mom. She didn't like it and made her baby go to her room and shut the door. Of course she kept going back in every 30 seconds to discuss the situation. Funny thing was, every time the baby came out-the same thing kept happening. She finally came to me wanting me to give the baby a spanking. I tried to explain to her you really can't punish a baby for that...oh well-she will learn in time!

Should I be worried?

Being that Caroline is as girly as it comes she has a lot of dress up clothes. Unfortunately, it isn't Caroline that takes advantage of it as much as someone else we know (Thomas). Here are some pics of our favorite guy in some that I am sure he will want destroyed at a later date!

Last Friday night he came to me and he had two of his plastic bowls from his kitchen in place where a bra should be as well as all of his additional dress up clothes!

Caroline just laughs and laughs when she sees Thomas doing this which of course continues to egg him on! She keeps saying more, more with her sign language and voice...while rolling over laughing it is too funny to see each of them in their own little world.

Mother's Day

This is a little late, but better late than never! I spent my Mother's Day weekend in Austin at the State History Fair w/some of my students! This was Andy's first weekend alone with the kids. A little delayed I keep hearing from all of my friends, but Andy is great w/helping w/the kids all the time-and would have done it sooner had the time come! Anywho, I got home late Sat. night and went straight to bed!

I was woken up at 7:00 by the best sound ever..."Momma it is time to wake up, I have missed you soooo much!" I wake up to Thomas right over me! Needless to say I don't know who was happier to see each other, the kids or myself!

I was invited on the Thursday before to have tea/cookies in Caroline's room. It was so nice! She had made me some fun keepsakes that I will always cherish!

I didn't receive my homemade gifts from Thomas until Sunday morning. Along with a picture frame of him and a few other things was his survey of me:

1. What is your mom's name: Jennifer

2. How old is she? 2

3. What does she do? Play

4. What is her favorite food? Green Eggs & Ham

5. When do you like her best? When she pats me to sleep (who are we kidding-this is Andy's job)

6. Where does she take you? Disney World

7. What is her favorite movie? Toy Story 2

8. Do you have a message for her? Toy Story 3

I have laughed and laughed over all of these answers. Not quite sure if he was trying to be funny, but as usual he was!

Tomisms...

I never really fully prepared myself for what Thomas would be like. I always knew Andy was extremely witty, but I never anticipated Thomas being like that-and so soon! You know just never know what will come out of his mouth....

We go to dinner this past week and on our way home we pass a field full of lamas. I say Thomas look at those lamas-he says, "I can't go near them." So, of course I say why? Well, "They will bite the hair right off my head like Ricky!" (Ricky being Andy's dad). It was too funny!

Thomas has also taken to calling me Jennifer-all the time! I finally asked him last week, "Thomas why do you call me Jennifer?" His response: "Well, Andy calls you Jennifer!" Pretty logical-huh?

Thomas and Caroline spent the weekend in Tulsa this past weekend and had a great time-with Ricky/Bobin! Andy and I had a Surprise birthday party to go to so it was nice for all of us to get some time away.

We got the kids back this afternoon-I was so anxious to see them and snuggle-but they were both wiped out! Thomas took a 4 hour nap-anyone who knows Thomas knows he doesn't sleep and Caroline was snoozing away as well...always a good time at Ricky/Bobin's! Not quite sure what happened, but I know they had a good time...Thank you guys:)

Toy Story He**

It is official....I am here! For weeks now (ever since Christmas really), Thomas has been obsessed with Toy Story (thanks mom). He has officially gone overboard with it. He constantly runs around saying "To Infinity and Beyond" He also goes through spurts where he won't answer you unless you call him Buzz, then he will do whatever you say....other times he calls Andy Buzz and wants him to talk to him using Buzz's voice!! Will it ever end? I am all about pretend play w/the kids but give me a break!! I guess on the plus side he has a great imagination. Or, as he likes to say (another Toy Story quote) "Mom, I got some bad news and I got some good news." If I could just get him to eat dinner in Infinity things would be great.....

On that note: "To Infinity and Beyond!"

Happy Easter

This year I decided to go for a lake theme for our Easter Baskets. After two seasons for Caroline and three for Thomas on their old life jackets it was time for new ones. So, they both got new life jackets and swim suits as well as a variety of fun stuffed eggs! They were both really excited about their baskets.

We decided this year to stay in Plano. We always seem to be so busy and just needed a low key weekend! Our friends Katie, Kirk and Olivia (who is too cute)came and spent the day with us. Andy cooked steaks and we had scalloped potatoes, watergate salad and okra (at Thomas's request).

After lunch the kids decided it was time to hunt some Easter eggs. The guys went out and hid them and the kids were ready to go. Kirk told the kids that the one who got the most he would give them 2.00. It was as if Caroline understood exactly what he said because she goes and starts putting empty eggs into her basket before the hunt even begins. I think she may have a bit of her mom in her (very competitive).
Side Note: On Thursday when I went to get the kids at PC-Caroline's teachers told me she was great at hunting I just assumed they were being nice...but, she is really good!

So, back to the hunt-Thomas likes to find an egg, then eat all the fun things out of it before moving on. Caroline-likes to get as many as she can...it is funny to see the difference in the two....here are some pics from Easter Sunday!!