Emily's 5th Grade Graduation

You did it, Emily! I'm so proud of you & what you've become. You're a terrific student, a friend to everyone you meet & an amazing daughter to me and your daddy. You're now an official middle-schooler. A new school, new friends, new adventures. I can't wait to see how you succeed at Apex Middle School!

The Graduate

The nails had to match the dress!

Steven Halko (retired Hurricane's player) is uncle of one of the graduates and gave a FANTASTIC speech to the 5th graders

Robin Wahl, Weatherstone's principal, presenting Emily with her diploma

Lauren & Emily

Jenan, Amena, Emily & Lauren

PSI Rocks!

Emily & Megan's softball team is still undefeated! Go PSI! Both girls made base hits each time they were up. They're having a blast playing this year. Daddy's been assisting with coaching the team & is always out on the field providing positive reinforcement. Just minutes after the game ended, the bottom fell out. Here are a couple of pics from tonight's game...

Emily watching Megan get pads put on to play catcher...not the safest position to play, but I'm dealing with it!

Emily being told to play short stop...a much safer position!

Easter Morning

Coloring Easter Eggs

Birthday Pinata

Birthday Cake!

Buddy, Nanny
Elizabeth, Emily & Megan

Uncle Dave, Christopher, Aunt Trish

Elizabeth, Emily & Megan

Em & Lizzy's B-day Bash

Emily and Elizabeth will both turn 11 on May 1st & May 11th, so they decided to celebrate their birthday a bit early. Here they are decorating for their party...

Spring Break in NJ

Emily & Megan are finally home! I think the pics tell the story...

Something's Missing

What do you do when your children have taken off to New Jersey to spend spring break with their cousins? NOTHING...that's what! This is sorta how it's been with the Babe & I for the last few days.

Thursday evening:

6:00
Took dogs for a long walk.

7:00
Babe: "Let's go house hunting".
Me: "Right now?"
Babe: "Why not?"
Me: "You're right, we don't have kids!"

So we drove around Cary looking for signs & peeked in the windows of the vacant homes. When we got home we watched and adult movie. No, not that kind, but one that we normally wouldn't watch with the girls. "Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist" - I'd give it three *'s.

Today, we walked around Crabtree Mall had lunch ALONE together, & this afternoon we're going to see Benjamin Button...after our nap, of course!

Tomorrow we will resume house hunting. & who knows what else. I guess this is how childless couples live. I couldn't do it....I WOULDN'T do it. I was meant to be a mom & even though the Babe and I are enjoying our time together...& believe me, we are...I feel like something is missing. They'll be back Monday night & our lives will be hectic again, but I wouldn't trade the craziness for anything.

The Bunnies Moved Outdoors

Remember those bunny nests we used to make on the family room floor? I was somehow talked in to allowing the girls to build a bunny "fort" on the back deck last night. The girls pulled out old sheets, pillows & blankets and built a fairly sturdy fort. And to my surprise, my little bunnies toughed out the chilly temps & were still out there at 2:13 a.m....5:27 a.m... and 6:40 a.m....not that I was checking on them ;)

I felt so much better about Emily & Megan's safety when I saw that they had brought the Ugly Dolls out to protect them!!! No monsters would get past Ugly Worm, Peaco, Wedgehead & Ox!!!

Meg & one of her MANY monkeys

Weatherstone Spring Carnival

Saturday was Weatherstone Elementary's big fundraiser for the year...Spring Carnival.

Last year, Emily & Megan won the "Cake Walk". This year, Em decided to increase her chances of winning again by using the following strategy: buy tickets to the cake walk for your friends. Guess what? It worked. Her friend Lauren won!

Here they are perusing the cake table. The girls ended up sharing a box of spring cupcakes.

Robin Wahl wore a cape that had pockets filled with candy. So THAT'S why she's such a popular principal!

This was the first booth to run out of "prizes". It was called "Sand Art", but instead of using sand, they used colored sugar. Words cannot describe what happens when you give tubes filled with sugar to a school of children...I'm still trying to dull my headache!

Who knew that the assistant principal told fortunes on the side? Emily was told that she will live a long, happy & healthy life. Who could ask for anything better than that?

Contacts

Em and I are definitely cut from the same cloth. My mom & aunt often comment on how much Emily reminds them of how I was at her age. She may not have inherited my appearance, but she definitely got my poor vision! She's been going to the same eye doctor since she was 7, which was when he kindly placed glasses on her tiny little face. This week she went to the eye doctor and guess what? NO MORE GLASSES!


Emily got contacts! (please ignore the nails that need a touch up with polish) It's not easy touching your eyeball, but she's already a pro at putting them in and out. She now wants to go shopping for some cool sunglasses...Paris Hilton, watch out!

Can Lauren spend the night....

AGAIN? For the month of February, it appeared that we had adopted another child. And if that were to happen, I would be lucky to have Lauren as one of my own. Lauren & Emily are in Ms. K's class together and are definitely BFF's. Let's just say they "balance" each other out. Here they are enjoying Orange Crush from the bottle (they think that the way we used to drink it is a real treat!) and documenting their secret "crushes". (get the pun???)

Butterfly Rice Krispie Bars

Emily & I often talk about how she will know that I'm "with" her when I'm gone. I've explained that I'm always going to be with her because our bond will never be broken. Being only 10, she needed something more tangible. Like a rainbow or a star or something she could actually see. So, we decided on butterflies. When I'm gone and she sees a butterfly, she'll know that I'm with her. We purchased a butterfly cookie cutter and made tons of them...even though it's still winter and all the beautiful butterflies are still in their cocoons!

Megan had no problem with diving right in and decorating!

Emily made sure hers were just perfect :)