Girls Afternoon

Rather than schlepping the girls to Ben's basketball game in Huntersville this afternoon, I decided to take the girls out to lunch and to get mani-pedis. Since Charlie had a birthday party, Abby and Amelia were free to join us and the girls had a blast!

Morning Chats

Our usual breakfast routine, after the older kids are out of the house. Caroline eats her breakfast on the kitchen counter while I clean up and get ready to drop her off at preschool. Here she is, telling me (and this is a recurring theme lately), that when she grows wings she is going to fly to Cinderella's castle (aka Disney World) to visit Cinderella and Rapunzel again. (Because, I mean, growing up does involve growing wings at some point, doesn't it?)

Weekend Wrap-Up

Another busy weekend come to a close. Ben's basketball team won a harrowing 1 point overtime victory over the only other undefeated team in the interfaith league, Charlotte Christian. The girls and I went to see Paddington, and Joel took Ben to see Selma. An odd choice of movie for a 10 year old boy, but he had been asking to see it. Joel said he watched it attentively and had intelligent comments/questions at the end. He seemed to follow it very well, apparently having been prepped very well in his 5th grade social studies class. He seemed to want to talk through some of the violent parts afterwards, but hopefully didn't sustain too much psychological trauma :-)

Here is Caroline getting ready to dig into last night's kale, white bean & quinoa soup.

For everyone in the Northeast getting ready for a winter walloping, stay safe!

Hard at Work on the Summer Vacation Plans

The middle of winter is a good time to start thinking about summer! Finally nailed down a rental house for our June Hilton Head vacation with Mom and Dad, that is also big enough for the Robinson clan to join us. Though it's not in our preferred Palmetto Dunes location, it is 150 yards from the beach and has a bike path right out front and (most importantly) six bedrooms and a pool. It will be a new experiment (hopefully successful!) to not be in Palmetto Dunes this year, our 5th year in a row vacationing at Hilton Head.

Besides the Hilton Head vacation, Ben will be spending three weeks at Teen camp at the JCC, one week visiting Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathleen in Philadelphia, and two weeks at a  video game design/ computer programming camp at Charlotte Latin School. (Somehow I found the only day camp in Charlotte that is actually more expensive --but just slightly-- than Teen camp at the J. Don't ask me how, but I managed it). Rebecca will be spending six weeks at Camp Mindy at the JCC and one week at overnight camp at Blue Star. Joel and I will hopefully be spending a week vacationing by ourselves (maybe Wild Dunes?) while Becca is at Blue Star and Ben is with his aunt and uncle, provided we can make arrangements for Caroline.

And now... back to the winter doldrums :)

Thanks Jessica!!

For a matching hat and scarf to go with her coat! She loves them!!

Enjoying a Warm and Sunny MLK Day

My Smarty Pants

I am sure I do not remember Ben or Rebecca knowing so many letters after having just turned 3. At preschool her teacher is doing a great job not only teaching letter recognition but also teaching the sounds that go along with the letters. She uses hand and body motions to connect with the sounds to make them easier for the kids to remember. For example if you ask Caroline what sound a "C" makes she will make the sound while holding her hands up to her face and making a motion like she is clicking a camera. And if you ask her what sound an R makes , she will make an R sound while moving her arms as though she is a robot :) It is adorable. And brilliant! What a great teacher we have this year! Caroline can recognize probably 20 letters now and make the sounds for many of them, and she recognizes numbers 0 through 9 as well.

Yearly Checkups

Rebecca and Caroline went for their yearly checkups before school this morning. Becca measured at 48.5 inches and 52 pounds, which is 50th percentile for both height and weight. Caroline measured at 39.25 inches and 37.2 pounds, which is 90-95th percentile for both height and weight. Caroline had her vision checked for the first time, and she was a bit confused by some of the shapes on the shape chart so every time she didn't know what one was, she just said "shape". The nurse gave her a 20/20 anyway. She also demonstrated that she knew many of the letters on the regular eye chart, as well. 

Rebecca had a good checkup as well, sucking up to the doctor by replying, when asked what she enjoyed most about school, "I enjoy doing equations in math class." (If I asked her the same question she would tell me she doesn't like school, or she only likes recess, or something like that). The doctor was very impressed :P

Deja Vu

Happy Birthday Amelia!!

My Little Pony party! Complete with a little pony-- awesome!! Happy birthday Amelia!!!

More Adventures in Dining

Sweet potato and black bean chili. Caroline happily took a few bites before pronouncing black beans to be "disgusting" (her new favorite word at the dinner table it seems). 

Finally Hat Weather

Clara's Chair

Clara seems to have adopted the arm chair in the living room as her personal napping spot. 

Soup of the Week

Tonight's soup of the week was Moroccan red lentil. Here is Caroline finally getting up the nerve to taste it after a full 15 minutes of swirling her spoon around in her bowl. 

  

And the totally-unimpressed-but-I-suppose-I-won't-spit-it-out-face:

Annie!