the mccarter family: March 2008

Oh my goodness! The girls and I had such a good time on Spring Break last week! It made me soooo ready to be out of school for the summer and also glad that I chose teaching as my career so that I could be off with my kids several times a year. Monday we took Emma to the doctor as I said in the last post. Tuesday was the only bad day because it came a torrential downpour in Paris and we were going a little stir crazy. Luckily, the rest of the week was beautiful. Wednesday, Poppy watched Emma so that Mimi and I could take Aubrie to see "Horton Hears a Who" which she loved! She is at such a fun age! Below are some pictures from the rest of our awesome week!

Thursday we had a "date" with Melissa and her kids Cannon and Anna Claire and Modgie and her kids Jack and Kate (oh, and their Aunt Jacey too). Above is Emma and Anna Claire playing at our house while their Mimi, Grandma, and Meemaw watched them. The "big" kids and their mommies went to Aikin Elementary playground to play and fly kites. I hadn't flown a kite in YEARS - it was too fun! Perfect weather!

Aubrie & Kate were more interested in the playground than flying kites, but that's okay!

Posing on the dinosaur - still refusing to look at the camera sometimes.

I guess it was kind of silly to post this one, but I wanted everyone to see how high I got my kite! You can barely see it, but it's there.

Once I got it up, Aubrie wanted to hold it. She thought that was pretty neat!

WOW!

Isn't that face just priceless?!

Here, we are trying to atleast get them all looking in the same direction!

She had a ball on the slide!

After kite flying we went back to our house for a snack and more playtime. They were filthy at the end of it all, but look at how much fun they were having in the sandbox.

Emma watched from her bouncy!

Just a swangin'!

I guess Emma had worn Anna Claire smooth out!

Emma also tried out the baby swing on the swingset. She liked the swing, but not the sun in her eyes!

That evening we dyed Easter eggs with Mimi (a tradition that Mimi & Kaitlyn started the very first Easter Michael & I were married). Aubrie was much more interested in peeling them than dying them though. Once she peeled the first one, she went over and dropped the peeled egg in the blue dye! GROSS!

Can you tell Kaitlyn was tired of me taking pictures!?

Unforgettable memory making!

Some of the finished product! We ended up dying a total of 36! I was really looking forward to making some egg salad, but Michael threw them out before I got a chance! UGH!

I love the intense look on her face!

" See what I made, Mimi?"

Friday, we took Kaitlyn & Aubrie to an annual event that our church youth goes to - LTC (Leadership Training for Christ). Emma stayed with Mimi. This was Kaitlyn's first year to participate. She's actually still a little young, but I was helping with the Elementary Chorus group, so we decided it would be great experience for her. Here is Aubrie and her baby ready to hit the road!

Very excited!

We ate at Friday's at the West End Friday night. Here is Kaitlyn with Abby, Sam, & Daniel.

Prissy, prissy girlies!

Daniel had been chasing Aubrie around trying to get a kiss, but she wouldn't have it. She was playing so hard to get! When he finally gave up on her, this is what she did! They are so sweet together!

More posing!

I wish I had gottent his scene on video. They were both laughing hysterically!

Later that night, we had a quick practice. Here is our sweet little group of 14.

They made us proud!

Here is Kari Ann - their "real" director. I just went along for the ride, but a fun ride it was!

LTC was held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas. You can't see the girls faces, but this was the view from our window. These 2 little girls from little ol' Paris thought it was too cool!

They were wiped out from the days' events! And yes, Aubrie is hiding from the camera again!

When we got home Saturday afternoon, we got the girls outfits ready for Easter morning! No one warned me about how hard it would be to dress 3 little girls with matching accessories. By the time we bought the dresses, hats, bows, earrings, purses, pantyhose, and shoes, Mimi and I spent a fortune! Thanks Mimi! It is so much fun even though we do go a little overboard at times - especially in Michael's opinion! I think he is secretly hoping for one of them to be his "tomboy" and refuse all the girly things one day! The above picture was intended to look like Mini Pearl from Heehaw. The tag was hanging down just perfectly and it was so funny, but she kept reaching up and grabbing it. I tried several times to get a good one, but you get the idea.

Aubrie had climbed up on the little table in the foyer at church and was sitting posing for a picture. I wasn't even anywhere around. Someone came over and got me and told me there was a Kodak moment waiting for me! Oh - I could just eat her up!

Gran Gran called before church Sunday morning to make sure I was bringing my camera so that we could get a 4 generations picture. We have 4 different shots and they all look pretty much like this one - there wasn't one where all 3 girls were looking - oh well! Aubrie was definitely over her photogenic mood.

Daddy reading Aubrie a story before Easter lunch at Mimi & Poppy's house.

Uncle Ryan & Aunt Lacey came in for Easter. We hadn't seen them in a few months. I thought this picture was so sweet - I so would've cracked up if Emma had spit up right at that moment! J/K brother!

Emma loved Aunt Lacey's long hair.

Emma & her Great Uncle John having a heart to heart.

Emma with her Great Aunt Trinia.

I get this expression everytime I take a picture of her lately. She'll be smiling and laughing, but the flash from the camera is blinding and it sends her right into this "deer in the headlights look"!

We went home to hunt eggs and Aubrie wanted to wear mommy's shoes for the event. I didn't get any pictures of the hunt, but Michael got it on video.

We hope all of you had as wonderful an Easter as we did! I sure hated to have to go back to school on Monday, after such a fun week. I guess it is a good thing I like my job so much! We started off this week with Kaitlyn having pink eye in both eyes. Michael stayed home with her and while he was there he noticed waterd coming out of the refrigerator. Yep - the compressor on it had gone out and we had to buy a new one yesterday afternoon. Not in our financial plans right now! Luckily he was home and saw it and was able to get the food moved to coolers or we would've had to buy all new food too! God is good all the time!

The McCarter family would like to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day! We got GREAT news at the neurosurgeon's office today! She took one look at both parents' heads and said "I bet I can guess why this baby has such a big head!" Gee, thanks! But I was very thankful for my big head at that moment. She thinks that the growth will level out by 2 years old. She also said that she sees cases like Emma's a lot. We weren't surprised at the news, but want to definitely give God the glory HE deserves! Thanks so much for all your prayers!

Here we are in the waiting room today.

Gran Gran and Mimi had to come along too!

We took Aubrie and Emma to the park yesterday and Aubrie had a blast! Emma - not so much! She is NOT a fan of the wind!

Too cute!

Aubrie trying out Daddy's shades.

She REFUSES to make eye contact with the camera these days.

See? The wind was a bit much for the little one!

We went to see my grandparents yesterday after church. They have both been very sick. My Pop has been in the hospital for a week with pneumonia, but is home now. He still needs our prayers though! They both do!