sweet caroline

This sweet girl keeps me on my toes.  She is so perceptive, thoughtful and tender.  She can use those dear qualities to be very sly as well.  I can't rush through life with her - for so many reasons.  Most importantly because she doesn't like to be rushed.   She's all about the relationship.  When she's not behaving well then it's pretty clear that I need to spend more quality time with her.  I think this little peanut has me figured out too.

piano recital

 Calista and Caroline had their piano recital this week.  They were so excited to perform and did beautifully.

 They have been so dedicated in their lessons and practice this year and I credit their teacher with a lot of it.  They adore her and really enjoy learning from her.  She has such a loving and gentle teaching style.

The girls will continue with piano throughout the summer.  We'll just go every other week instead to lighten it up a bit.  The twins love going to piano lessons because it's their time to work on their favorite "waiting" sticker books.

caroline's birthday

 Caroline celebrated her 7th birthday at her gymnastics studio with about 13 other little girls.  She was so excited about her party and counted down the days on her calendar.  She was all smiles and laughter the entire time.

 Her birthday gift from us was something she had wanted for a long time.  It was a heart locket with a cross on the front.  We were so glad to find one even though it arrived a few days later.  Lucky for her it just made her birthday last longer.  Happy Birthday to my sweet Caroline.

Day 307 - science

I've been doing the same science curriculum with both girls since it was recommended and I thought it made sense to simplify like that.  I've definitely been modifying it to Caroline's first grade level and she has done really well with it so far.  I do think that after we complete this particular ecosystem that I am going to move her over to the first grade science curriculum.   I think she'd have more fun and it would be more interesting for her.  I also think the twins will also enjoy the experiments and books that go along with it.

Day 306 - proverbs and her new bible

Caroline recently got a new Bible.  She has been going through it and highlighting all of the Proverbs that we've studied so far.  It made me smile because it's not something I would have expected her to do.  I think that between our curriculum, Bible Drill at church and Awana that she is getting comfortable with finding the books in the Bible.  That's been very exciting for her.  I love seeing her grow!

Day 303 - half birthday

Caroline is 6 1/2 years old this month.  Celebrating half birthdays is such a fun tradition and a great excuse to bake a cake.   This is one of her favorite non-dairy chocolate cakes.

Day 302 - a birthday tea party

Caroline looked forward to her friend's birthday tea party all week long!  I remember last year as we were leaving this same friend's party.  Caroline was in tears because she didn't get to spend enough time with her special friend.  This year the party was much smaller and much more comfortable for my sweet girl.  

Day 294 - caroline and math

I'm so happy to say that she loves it!  She enjoys the lessons, the games and the new learning  She is catching on so quickly and I am really proud of her.  This was one of her previous lessons but she enjoyed sorting the cards again today.

Day 274 - so much to clean

The best thing about having people over is how clean the house gets.  We worked hard to get some extra cleaning done today because our small group Bible study was meeting here tonight.  Ken was out of town on an interview and I still had clothing for the upcoming sale all over the place.  Plus, I decided to do the seasonal clothing shift this week as well.   Still a little too early but I figured what's a few more boxes.  Everyone helped and the house ended up looking good.  I realized later that Caroline vacuumed.  She had never done that before.  She used to run and scream in fear if she even saw me walking toward the vacuum closet.  She, of course, was extra sensitive to Courtney and Claire as they frantically ran from the vacuum.

Day 270 - fire station field trip

Our homeschool group went on a field trip to the fire station today.   It was a new experience for all of the girls so we were looking forward to it.  Calista and Caroline got to spray water with the hose but the twins were hiding in fear.  Calista is in the background trying to shield them :)  After much deliberation Calista also slid down the fire pole.  The other girls wanted nothing to do with that!

Day 266 - handshake game

Caroline loved playing the 'handshake game' in math today.  Animals and dolls were assigned a number and she would choose two to shake hands if their numbers together equalled ten.  This game was perfect for this little girl and her big imagination.

Day 245 - zucchini muffins

Day 242 - clubhouse jr.

Calista has been receiving Clubhouse Jr. from Focus on the Family for a few years now.   She has submitted her artwork a few times and has even encouraged Caroline to do so.  Every month when we receive the magazine she can't wait to read it.  Lately she has been reading it to Caroline which I've loved.   We received the September edition today and they dropped what they were doing outside just to read it.  I used to be like that with my scrapbooking magazines.

Day 225 - pepperoni?

This little girl never, never, ever eats meat.  Today, on her own, with no coercing, no pressure, no eyes on her......she ate pepperoni!  She not only ate it, she loved it and wanted more.  So now she'll eat pizza with her usual sauce and cheese scraped off but she'll add some pepperoni.  :)

Day 216 - sweet caroline

I'm not sure how this adorable little girl can have so much fun bothering her sisters.  She knows exactly what to do to get under Calista's skin and boy does she love to pester the twins.  She gets away with it many times because I just plain miss it.   I even have a hard time believing it sometimes.  She's not always like that though.  Just lately.  She's usually as sweet as pie so one would never guess she had any peskiness in her :)

Day 207 - training wheels off

She's ready!  She did it!  She's riding without training wheels.  

Day 177 - recital day

I can easily say that this was one of Caroline's absolute favorite days, ever!  She didn't sleep much last night because she was so excited and she is usually our one good sleeper!  The day was long ... basically 9AM to 9PM with a small break in between.  She hung in there with loads of energy, a great attitude and a big smile.

We were SO proud of her!  She danced so beautifully and gracefully.  I adored watching her on stage and could have lasted through another 3 hour performance just to watch her again.

Day 176 - ballet recital rehearsal

Caroline and I spent hours today (from 3 to 8:30 PM) at her ballet recital rehearsal.  It was a long time of waiting and watching since she was in the last act but I really enjoyed the alone time with her.  She is such a precious little girl and I appreciate our time together so much.

She is in pre-ballet so her class is the youngest to perform.  She adores ballet and has all of the energy in the world for it.  She never complained about the amount of time it took which is still so amazing to me.  She has a passion for ballet.  She has been telling us for 3 years now that she wants to have a ballet studio and teach when she grows up.

When her class went up to perform they were a bit overwhelmed with the size of the stage.  In the photo below you can see the look of frustration on the one little girl's face when the other half of the dancers did their final pose 10 feet away.  I don't think Caroline noticed.  It took a few tries but they did very well in the end.

Tomorrow is the big recital day.  She will have 2 performances, each lasting a good 3 1/2 hours.  Wow!

Day 166 - run, jump and roll

They were having a blast!

Day 165 - piano

Caroline plays the piano like never before.  Whenever she has free time she heads straight for that little piano bench.  She has never had any lessons; she just tries to figure out the tunes on her own.  This is definitely something I've seen growing in her lately.  On the night of the Open House she sat alone for a while listening to the older girls practice their piano pieces for the talent show.  The other kids were outside playing and she just wanted to sit and listen.  She said it was beautiful and I could see that she was truly appreciating their talent.

It excites me to watch the girls grow in their talents and interests.   It's not always possible to let them explore every avenue that sparks an interest.   I worry sometimes that I can't have them enrolled in gymnastics, piano, dance, swimming etc. and maybe they're missing out on something that they would excel in.  I tell myself (many times) that God has it all under control.  He knows what they need and will always provide.