Friday night we planned a fun Mother/Daughter and Father/Son date night. Unfortunately, it turned into a girls’ night out when Daddy came home from work to find his date conked out! Poor Carter is trying to give up naps, but sometimes he just can’t make it!

Raine and I had fun at the Artisan Theater watching “Pinkalicious” — a VERY fitting musical for little Miss Pinka-Roo!

Saturday morning the kids and I went to a nearby park for a walking town hall meeting with Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price.

I was very impressed with the Mayor. She handled tough questions from local residents without giving any lip-service. She was very knowledgeable and well-spoken. I will definitely vote for her again.

Raine’s vote was locked in when the Mayor took her hand and they skipped off across the park!

2/22/13: Just heading over to pick up the mail . . . with style!

2/4/13
M, pointing out a newly-bloomed daffodil in the backyard: “Rooey, look. I think we have a flower back there.”
R: “Yeah, you’re right! There is a flower back there. Look Carter, we have a flower. It’s summer!”

2/16/12: Raine jumping rope.

Disclaimer: I’ve said this before, but it is worth repeating: I DO NOT have any say in Raine’s outfits!

2/4/13
C: “I’m really tough.”
M: “Oh yeah? You’re really tough?”
C: “Yeah, I’m really tough like Daddy.”

2/15/13: Yes . . . those are backward!

2/11/12
R, singing the Wheels on the Bus: “The swipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish; swish, swish, swish; swish, swish, swish. The swipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish, all through the town.”

3/1/13: I have zero fashion sense. I admit it, I embrace it, it works for me. Raine . . . well, she has her own sense of style. I have decided to steer clear of it because I know I would just stifle it. So this is what she wears: boots, hot-pink leg warmers, stripes with prints, and a sequin tiara to top it all off!

2/12/13
R: “Mommy, can I make some foam shapes now? I made a real craft.”
M: “No. I already told you, ‘no foam today.'”
R, giving me a big ole crusty face: “Well then . . . Daddy’s nicer than you now!”

3/1/13: Playing together out back — their favorite thing to do. Usually, Carter is the dog and Raine is the mom.

2/17/13
M: “Carty, is that poopy in your underpants?”
C: “No. It’s skid-mark.”
M: “A skid-mark IS poopy.”
C: “No. Pee pee is pee pee. Poopy is poopy. Skid-mark is skid-mark.”

2/7/13: Carter has started putting holes in the knees of his pants. This is officially the first hole . . . the first of many, I’m sure.

2/21/13
R, as we drive across the bridge over the creek behind our house: “Mom, I think there is a whale in the water down there.”
M: “A whale!?!!”
R: “Yeah, I just saw a fin sticking out of the water.”
M: “What kind of fin?”
R:” It was black.”
M: “A black fin? Like Shamu?”
R: “Yeah!”
M: “So you think there is a killer whale down there in that six inches of water!???”
R: “Yep, there is a killer whale down in the water. I saw it.”

Every time we drove over the bridge after that, Raine would look for the killer whale. About a week later we were driving over the bridge and this conversation took place:
R: “Still no killer whale but I saw two rabbit ears.”
M: “Oh yeah? There is a rabbit down there now?”
R: “Yeah. Maybe the rabbit ate the killer whale.”
M: “What!?!! You think a rabbit could eat a killer whale!?!!”
R: “Yep, that’s what happened. The rabbit ate the killer whale.”

Raine is such a social butterfly. Her teachers are constantly telling me how much her classmates all love her. I picked her up the other day and at least eight of them had to give her a hug before she left.
2/27/13: she brought home a whole stack of papers that her classmates had colored for her. These are the portraits of her that some of her friends drew.

And a little note about the tiara, she saw it at JoAnn’s and just HAD to have it. I told her she could buy it with her own money if she had some — thinking she didn’t have enough — but, as you can see, she did. And she has been wearing it ever since! EVERYWHERE!
Repeat: “I will not interfere. I will not interfere. I will not interfere.”

Carter is definitely NOT a social butterfly. He refuses to say a word in social settings — school, nursery, the grocery store. So imagine his teachers’ surprise when he busts out singing “We wish you a Merry Christmas” during lunch the other day. He sings constantly at home — “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” “C is for Cookie,” “ABC’s,” and “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” are his favorites. They are always sung way off pitch, with his voice cracking, and with dismal pronunciation . . . but oh so cute!
1/17/2013: Give the kid a ball, however, and watch out! He will be your best friend if you have a ball.

Grandma and Grandpa Anderson flew down from Utah to visit for a few days this past week. They arrived on Halloween, just in time to help Raine carve her pumpkin.

We kept them busy with projects while they were here . . . nothing photo worthy. But we did manage to squeeze in a trip to the zoo.

One of the flamingos stood up from its nest just long enough for us to see the new baby she was sitting on.

We lucked out in the petting-zoo too. Raine has been itchin’ to pet a chicken again and she finally got the chance.

Just a little sibling love at the alligator shack.

Of course the kids had to take Grandma on the carousel.

We stopped to see the turtles on our way out.

This last photo is going into the history books . . . Grandpa painting Raine’s toenails!

Let’s be clear: Grandpa is NOT a “beauty-parlor” kinda guy. This is a result of him distractedly saying “uh-huh, OK” to Raine while he worked on his laptop. She was talking a mile a minute — explaining the universe and how to solve its problems, or something like that — and he was busy reading something or other and pretending to listen by agreeing every so often. Well, at some point the topic turned — unbeknownst to Grandpa — to Raine’s need for a mani-pedi. She was telling him how Momma hadn’t kept on top of her chipping paint and then told him that he could do it for her. As soon as he agreed Mom and I looked up with eyebrows raised, not believing what we had just heard him agree to. Sure enough, he was oblivious, but there was no going back now. Raine had a commitment and she was not going to let him back down nor forget. And so we had a Kodak moment that will never be repeated!

Raine had her annual checkup today. She is 42 lbs (90%-ile) and 43.5 in. (above 97%-ile).
An interesting side note: my mom recorded a few of my growth stats in a journal — okay, so there was really only one entry, but that one just happened to be when I was the exact same height and weight as Raine is now. The big difference was that I hit that size three weeks before my fifth birthday and Raine hit it a week after she turned four!

Quite a while ago we decided to send Raine to private school so she can start kindergarten next year, rather than waiting until she meets the public school age requirement. We hadn’t mentioned this to the pediatrician and so were surprised when she suggested that we start Raine a year early. Raine won’t have the issue of looking younger than her peers and she certainly has the cognitive skills to handle it. The doctor was very impressed with her drawing skills during the accomplishment screening — she drew a perfect triangle and a lovely picture of me, among other things. It was nice to hear that a trained professional thinks she is as smart as we do!

After that, the nurse proceeded to use Raine’s legs as pin-cushions, immunizing her against every illness known to man. Poor Raine had more band-aids than exposed skin when she walked out of there, but she handled it like a CHAMP! This girl is tough as nails — unlike her mom who used to turn green and sink to the floor after even the smallest shot!

A funny side note: after the nurse took all of Raine’s vitals, she asked me to help her pee in a cup. I got Raine into the bathroom and tried to explain what we were going to do . . . but Raine just looked at me like I was INSANE! That was the most ludicrous, neanderthal thing she had ever heard of and there was NO WAY that she was going to put her pee into a cup for someone else to look at. The absolutely appalled look on her face made it impossible for me to negotiate with her with a straight face . . . and so I lost that battle and we returned the empty cup to the nurse. Maybe next year.

I attended Raine’s tumbling class for the first time this evening and saw first-hand just how much fun they are having. Raine put on an impressive performance, participating in all the activities and even doing a few firsts. I wish you could see her face in the videos because she had the biggest smile on it the entire time we were there.

The class starts with warm-ups and some group activities like the parachute . . .

. . . and the bear crawl (this one is still a work-in-progress).

Then she did the vault. Her face as she ran down the mat was priceless, she could not have been happier.

Next, it was time for the obstacle course. That “wall” is higher than it looks, but tonight Raine made it over without assistance for the first time. Just look at the determination on that face.

Here is a short video of the end of the course.

Next we headed over to the bars to do leg lifts. Raine has only been able to do the bars since she got her cast off, but despite the late start she is doing very well on them.

Finally, it was time for the balance beam. Raine did great on the narrow beams as you can see in the video — although she is easily distracted — but what I didn’t manage to capture was her walking unassisted on the wide beam. This was the first time that she mustered the courage to do it without holding Daddy’s finger.

This class has been such a blast for both Raine and Daddy. I am excited to see just how much more she will learn in the final two weeks.

It is that time of year again, when the sides of the road are the prettiest sight around. So we took a trip out to Cedar Hills to take some photos and do a little bike riding.

First we had a picnic on the grass in the sun.

Then Raine and Daddy took a walk to see the ducks, dogs, and everything else they could find.

Then it was finally time for a bike ride.

Our first stop was the bluebonnet field.

These bluebonnets were a lot taller than last year. Here is Raine standing in them.

And here she is last year sitting in them.

It has only been a year, but I hardly recognize that little baby! She is such a different little girl now — with a lot more attitude for sure!

Raine has quite a few favorite words these days, most are directly related to her favorite things — dogs, cats, us, food. It is impossible to capture her on video saying them impromptu so here is a sampling of prompted words. (By the way, she HATES the camera. Nothing will make her clam up faster than seeing that little red light flash. That’s why this video is not very well done, I was holding it down low and trying not to look at it too often.)

And here are a couple clips from Raine’s cat chase back in March. Again, she would say “meow” all day until I pulled the camera out. This was the best I could get.