Caroline woke us up this morning, looked outside and said, "Look! There's snow!"
I wasn't really expecting snow, maybe frost - but she was right! We headed out as soon as our coats were zipped!
So here we are in our pajamas and rainboots!
Archie's first snow experience. I think he liked it!
I've noticed everyone's really cute blog headers - how do I do one? I've seen a couple on Cutest Blog on the Block but they only have about 5 styles. Also, what layout does everyone use? I feel like my text area is so small and hard to read. Any help?
I came to a harsh reality recently.
My daughter watches too much TV.
I realized this after she broke the TV.
That's right, Caroline took a spray bottle to our TV (which has a DVD and VCR attached, so really, she took out all three at once!)
She must have sprayed it a lot because the stand it's on was soaked. She told us later she was trying to "clean the TV like Mommy" (awww) but Dave thinks she was trying to shoot the characters on TV. Regardless, it doesn't work.
So we brought down our little TV from upstairs and hooked the cable up to it and all is well, despite the fact that remote doesn't work on the little one (don't you hate having to get up to change the volume? Argg.)
But after a few days, I decided the TV was on too much anyway, so I proposed a "No TV Day" Now, this is a little embarrassing, seeing as I'm sure many of you have "no TV days" all the time, but for us it was a stretch, especially in the Winter. I'm afraid to admit that we've even been known to watch a Disney movie on Sunday (and of course, an occasional football game)
So the night before said day, Caroline and I sat down to write a list of things we could do in place of TV or movie watching.
Our list included Play-Doh, board games, baking, coloring, painting our nails and more.
Most mornings, Caroline wakes us up before we're ready to get out of bed. So we turn the TV on for her and sleep an extra half hour. I was nervous that the next morning she would wake us up and want to watch cartoons. But she actually said, "Mom, wake up! Let's play cause it's no TV day!"
We played Caroline's new favorite game: "Restaurant". It's so cute. She's the waitress, cook, and dishwasher all in one! I have wanted to buy Caroline a little kitchen for SO long! But they're really so expensive and I just could never justify it. A couple of weeks ago, Caroline and I went to take some old clothes and shoes to a consignment store and found this play kitchen! It was $15!!!!! I was SO excited! I was more excited than Caroline! It was pouring rain, and I hauled it out to the car and shoved it in! I think we've already gotten our $15 bucks worth of play time out of it!
Thank goodness that day the weather suddenly turned beautiful so we added "play outside" to our No TV list! This picture is a pretty good representation of what playing outside consists of: Sophie runs away, Archie chases Sophie, Caroline chases Archie and everyone gets some good exercise (everyone but Mom of course!)
On No TV Day, our kitchen turned into an Arts-N-Crafts studio! Caroline loves to cut paper with scissors and stickers are still a favorite, so this occupied her for quite a while!
So, all in all, No TV Day was a success and I've decided it will be a more frequent occasion. However, I did discover something about my daughter. Caroline is not very good about entertaining herself. It was very difficult to get any housework done, because she always wanted me to participate in whatever it was she was doing.
Any ideas on how to keep a toddler occupied so you can get stuff done without sitting them down in front of the TV?
This week, our Mom's group headed to the mall! (I'm ALL FOR playgroups at shopping centers!) They have a little play area and a carousel and a train ride.
That day was SO COLD! It was about 30 degrees when we left and the windchill was supposed to make it 6 degrees at some point in the day! As far as I'm concerned, Christmas is over so I should be able to wear shorts and flip flops now, right?!
Today was a very princessy day. We went to our local Chik-fil-A's "Princess and Pirates Party"! Then headed to a Princess birthday party for Caroline's friend, Hailey. All the little girls dressed up - it was so cute and Caroline has been looking forward to it all week!
Cinderlla was at Chik-Fil-A!
They painted a heart on her cheek and put sparkly eyeshadow on her and painted her nails and gave her a free icecream for dressing up!!! It was a great day to be a 3-year old girl!
This is Dave, not Susan writing this blog. I know, I'd be disappointed too. This is my first post ever, I usually just like looking at the pictures. But anyways, I'm know that there are some of you that are not in the "family loop" and so I just wanted to update all of you on Optometry School. Unfortunately, I don't have any good news at this time. As some of you know, I retook the entrance exam back in November and I got a 300 on it. I improved my score on all but one subject and got 310 or 320 on four of the six subjects, but a low scores on Physics and Reading Comp. pulled the overall down to 300. I talked to the director of admissions here in Memphis and he said that they were pleased to see I did better on it, but that I still need at least a 320 to get in. Your entrance exam score is very important to SCO, more important than one's GPA, because they feel that how well you do on it is an indicator of how well you'll do on your boards.
It was understandably hard and frustrating when I found out about not getting in, but it's been a little over a month and I'm doing better. I know that other schools are an option. With my good GPA and 300 test score, I might have a chance of getting in elsewhere. BUT, I have not and will not be applying to other schools. I know that it sounds nuts, but we absolutely love it here and don't want to leave. I (and Susan) spent a lot of time fasting and praying about coming here, it wasn't a decision that we came to quickly. We really feel like this is where we should be and SCO is the school that I want to go to. We have been sooooooo blessed since coming here and have made so many friends. I strongly feel that everything happens for a reason and that God has a plan and path for all of us. I will be an Optometrist, it is just going to take a little bit more time and work to get there. It's not what I wanted or ever thought would happen, but that's life. I will do this process all over again next year and work another year with my brother Ryan. In a time when there are so many people losing jobs and going through very hard times, this set back is not the worst thing that could happen and I am very very grateful for all the good things that I do have in my life. Again, we are so very blessed and I truly have no reason to complain. So that is my schooling situation, I thank all of you for your love and support.
Before we moved out here, David and I always talked about what we looked forward to when moving to a bigger city. (As long as we've been married we've lived in what we call "WalMart Towns")
Our list always included more shopping options, a zoo, museums, tourist attractions (in the hope that people might actually visit us!) and a professional athletic complex. Thus, when we moved, Dave wasted no time in buying some tickets to go see the Memphis Grizzlies play at FedEx Forum. Of course, we don't really go to see the Grizzlies - just the Lakers, Suns, and soon, the Cavaliers. We couldn't have guessed though, that Dave would have connections at work to get us free suite-box tickets to Memphis Tigers games also! So just in December, Dave has actually been to basketball games at FedEx Forum 4 times! He loves it!
I have been able to go to one Grizzlies game (vs. the Phoenix Suns) and one Memphis game. It is so fun! It is really cool to be able to see these amazing players that we always watch on TV in real life!
Yes, I felt like an AZ Wildcats traitor in my Memphis Tigers T-Shirt, but honestly the guilt melted away pretty quickly as I got swept up in the excitement of the crowd, and well, the box tickets come with free popcorn, soda, and hot wings! I'll say "Go Tigers" for free hot wings any day!
We've got tickets to another Suns game and hopefully this time Nash will actually be playing. (At least I got to see Shaq - holy cow, that's a big man) And tickets to a Cavalier's game (aka "the Lebron James Show") I'm actually pretty excited to see Lebron play. You see, I have watched an astonishing number of hours of SportsCenter on ESPN since I've married my wonderful husband, and I actually know a thing or two about sports now! And I think LeBron James is amazing. I think people will be talking about him in the future with the same respect people talk about Michael Jordan now. Dave got to see Kobe Bryant play, but I was home with a sick kid. Maybe next year.
... as I write this we're watching the first NFL playoff games of the season. Go Cardinals!!! I can't believe they won! We Arizonans no longer need to be embarassed of them! Now it's the Colts/Chargers game. Go Peyton!
I never ever ever ever thought I'd get into Pro sports. It's one of those things that my husband brought into our marriage, and you know what, I'm sort of glad. I think it's good for a couple to learn from one another and appreciate each others' interests. Besides, I've rubbed off on him too. He can sing along to the Les Miserables soundtrack with ease!
