Spring Break Activities

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!

A VERY Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

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!
Emma showing off how well she is sitting up!
Aubrie with Pop

This is Addison and Emma in the church cradle roll class yesterday. They are just 10 days apart.
And with Parker who is like a week older than Emma. These girls are going to have so much fun growing up together.
What a conversation they must be having!

Easter activities & Snow Day

Today we went to Easter egg hunt for our church. Here is Aubrie with her friends Jack & Kate decorating the eggs.
She was so proud!
Rackin' up!

Baby Anna Claire looks so much like her mommy!
Can you tell she didn't want mommy to take her picture on the swings?
She didn't want this one taken either! We had a great time, other than her being petrified of the Easter bunny. She cried until he was out of her sight!

I am finally getting around to posting about our snow day. We had like 5 minutes to play in it before I had to go to work! No fun! It was Aubrie's first time to experience snow and I really wanted to stay home with her and play in it!
We managed to get a picture together even though you can't really see us. The snow was beautiful!
Here is my other snow bunny all wrapped up. She had double ear infections that day and wasn't feeling well at all!

Michael's parents - "Nanny & Papa" got a new puppy - Lilly! She is so cute and the girls loved her visit!
This face is so funny to me! She wasn't scared at all - she was petting her and laughing!
"Mom, can you believe it?!"

Aubrie wants to help me with everything - dusting, laundry! I hope it stays that way! Here she is sweeping the kitchen - actually she was spreading out the dirt that I had already swept!

Oh well!
Riding on Daddy "the horse".
Last week was Texas Public School's week and each day the kids at NL had to wear something special. Can you guess what this day was? She thought these glasses were it! She was so upset when she got home because she said the kids teased her about them being too big....nooooo......you think?!

Okay, I'm officially a bad mom!

I like to think that I pretty much have it together as a mom! I'm far from perfect, but I try my very best! I got through with lunch today and came back to my classroom to get ready for my next class. As I sat down to look at the calendar on my desk, I saw "Kiddie Kollege" Easter party and egg hunt for today!!!! Yep, today! I looked at the clock in a panic and saw 11:50 and knew that if Aubrie's party wasn't already over, then it was close! I had totally forgotten! She only goes to school on Tues. & Thurs. and was out last Thurs. and Tues. this week, due to being very sick with high fever and double ear infections. Therefore, I didn't get a note or anything that her teacher sent home about the party. Soooo, guess what else I didn't do....send boiled eggs for the egg hunt! My poor baby went to school this morning empty handed and her clueless mommy feels terrible! I grabbed the phone to call Michael to see if he might have time to run some eggs to the school and he was there at the party - Daddy saved the day. He takes her to school and the teacher told him about it this a.m. He had been trying to call me on my cell, but it was on vibrate! I guess with both my girls being sick, I just didn't have it together like I thought! Hasn't Easter just come all of the sudden out of nowhere this year! The kids at my school aren't having Easter parties because of how it falls during Spring Break, so I guess that's another reason I don't have my head in the game! Am I terrible or what?! Well, I guess it's over now and there is nothing I can do to change that I'm an idiot! Maybe I can make it up to her this weekend at the church egg hunt! Thanks for letting me ramble and vent about this!

I am going to try and post some pics this weekend or atleast next week while I am out of school. Please say your prayers for us on Monday, the 17th. We are taking Emma to the neurosurgeon in Dallas for the second opinion. We'll keep you posted! God bless!