Spring Things at School

Today Tucker had a Mother's Day Tea at his school. He gave a me a planted flower in a pot that he decorated and a sweet card decorated with his fingerprints. We snacked on grapes, strawberries, and cookies of course. He was having a great time until he realized that once he finished eating with me he could go outside and play on the playground. Thankfully he posed for a picture before he had to go...definitely the sweetest boy around!


Caroline had a big day at school, too. It was Friends and Family Day and the kids performed in the Lower School Spring "Concert." Caroline's class sang about 5 songs. They did so well! Caroline was literally front and center and extremely focused. She kept her eyes on her music teacher and did every move exactly as she was supposed to. Finally, towards the end she smiled and had some fun. It was very cute and I was so proud of Caroline! She is the best little girl ever! (She is on the front row, third child from the left in the patchwork dress)

Oh Tuck!

Tucker hasn't been the easiest child since he turned 3 a few months ago. I guess this is what people say about "the terrible 2's." I must have been spoiled because the 2's weren't so bad for Tucker...he was super sweet and loving! Maybe he just feels like a big boy now and challenges Caroline (and me) on everything. Here is a quick story of an situation that just occured.

I am sitting in the chair watching Tucker and Caroline watch a new Curious George. Tucker comes over and sits in my lap, gives me a sweet kiss and says "I'm gonna marry you Mommy." I said "what did you say Tuck?" He replied with excitement in his voice, "I'm gonna marry you Mommy!" I give him a kiss and snuggle with him as long as he will let me hold him. All the while, I am loving this moment and thinking about how he used to do things like this all the time...well, at least sit in my lap and snuggle. About two minutes later he gets fidgety and kicks me. I told him not to do it again. Sure enough, he does it again. So, I popped him on the foot. He cries (mostly fake and only because he was shocked that I did it) and runs to Caroline saying "Mommy hit me" and pulling the pity card. She buys it, hugs him and says "come here sweet boy" in the most pitiful voice you can imagine. The she says "I'm sorry Tucker. Sometimes Mommies and Daddies have to do that." This of course in the most rational, adult voice you can imagine.

This occurred in about a three minute span...imagine how many more of these little scenarios happen throughout our day...and you wonder why the blog isn't updated more often.

SNOW!

Christmas 2010

Tucker and Caroline had a very Merry Christmas! Santa brought lots of fun things. Caroline got the Candy Land game, art supplies, Barbies, makeup and much more. Tucker got a Spiderman fishing pole, Ironman mask, trucks, trains and his favorite a Speed Racer Mach 5! They seemed to really understand this year about Santa. They went to bed well because they knew Santa was watching them and first thing the next morning they checked to see if Santa had eaten the cookies we left out. They were so cute on Christmas morning showing each other what they got. I love to see them so full of joy!

Tucker and Makeup

This is what happens when Tucker is left unattended for just a few minutes! He got into my makeup, specifically my mascara and smeared it all over his face. He also put mascara and lipstick all over my mirror...I was not very happy with him!

Boots

Caroline has been found several times now in my closet trying on my shoes. So far, the black boots are her favorite. She tried to convince me to let her wear them to school today because they are so "fashiony." I wasn't so sure black heel boots would go over too well in Pre-K, or in any grade for that matter. She then told me that the boots were "so romantic." I'm not sure where she heard that word or what exactly she thinks it means. Once Tucker saw her in boots he also had to find a pair of shoes to put on. I'm not sure if he picked out my tennis shoes or if he was assigned them by Caroline. Anyway, here are a couple pictures of Sassy Pants and Spiderman.

Peter Parker.

Tucker is still obsessed with Spiderman. The other day he put the Spiderman mask on and came running into Caroline's room. We were sitting on the floor playing and he jumped into my lap. I screamed and pretended to be scared and he said "Don't worry Mom, it's me Peter Parker" as he took off the mask. If you don't know, Peter Parker is the boy's name who then becomes Spiderman. So even when he is not Spiderman he still has to be Peter Parker. What's wrong with just being a sweet little boy sometimes?!?!

Do You Like My New Sweater?

Me: Caroline, do you like my new sweater?

Caroline: Yes and it looks great with your hair....and your earrings and your shoes and your shirt....you look like a princess!

***I think she was being extra nice because she was trying to convince me to play the polka dot game (aka Twister) with her tonight.

Speed Racer and Strawberry Shortcake

Last night we went to Trunk-or-Treat at Tucker's school. It was a huge event as it was open to the community. I had no idea it was going to be so big! Tucker saw the bounce house as we pulled up and said "Mom, is that my school?!?!?!" He was so excited! It was fun and well planned. There was a separate area for younger kids which was great since there were so many "older" kids there. Caroline and Tucker played some games, won some prizes and had a blast in the bounce house!

In the parking lot, church members set up trick-or-treating stations for the kids. When we first got there around 6pm, the line for the candy was ridiculously long. There was no way we were going to make the kids stand in line just to get free candy. By the time we were ready to leave around 7:30 there was no line...it was perfect! The kids got a little bit of candy and were happy!

This has been a fun Halloween weekend for the kids. They really got into it this year and said "trick-or-treat" without prompting and we even heard a few "thank yous." Although it was a little easier this year, I still miss the days at Sewanee when we could go around with all our friends. We knew everyone's house that we went to for candy. Trick-or-treating in the Woodlands was the best. My favorite part was dinner at the Carson's house and sitting by the fire pit outside while the kids sorted through and ate their candy. I knew I'd miss it, and I do.

Mom, Tucker and Caroline looking for candy!

The bounce house!

Caroline and Tucker waited patiently in line for the slide and fun house.

Speed Racer and Strawberry Shortcake trying to hug for a picture.

Caroline hopped over 3 pumpkins for a prize!

Tucker and Caroline in the bounce area for the younger kids.

Speed Racer could hardly see because of his hat...yet, he refused to take it off!!!

Football and Fire Truck

On Saturday the kiddos went with Daddy to the Hampden-Sydney football game. But, before they could go, Caroline had to put on her new cheerleader outfit. She was so excited!!! It was a chilly day so we insisted that she wear a shirt and pants under the outfit. She complied, but was not happy about it. She also had a pink H-SC hat. Tucker got a new H-SC t-shirt and hat. The t-shirt got dirty seconds after putting it on so Tuck proudly wore his new hat. When the kids got tired of the football game, they made a trip to see the fire truck. Lucky for them, they were allowed to sit in the truck and also try on the helmet! Now that's a good day!

Class Picture

This is a picture of the Pre-K classes at Fuqua. Caroline's teacher e-mailed all the parents a copy. Caroline is on the front row, second from the left. She was Strawberry Shortcake, red hair and all. It was really cute!

After school on Friday we went downtown for the Halloween parade. It was fun. The kids were more excited about seeing their friends and the other 5 million people dressed up rather than going from store to store to get candy. They got some candy, but thankfully that didn't seem to be a priority.

Apple Juice, Please

"Your sweet Caroline wants some apple juice."

This is how Caroline informed me that she was thirsty.

"My Mom Was a Little Bit Angry"

It was a quiet Sunday evening. Caroline was playing so nicely and doing her "projects." I was very impressed with how well she was using the scissors. She was making letters and snakes and all kinds of creative things with her "little scissors" and construction paper. It was going all too well.

Before long, she leaves the room and then comes back in with a smile on her face. She was pointing to her hair. I said "Caroline, what did you do" knowing exactly what she had done. "Well I just cut my hair" she said. I asked her why she cut her hair. "Well, it was just getting in my face." Ok, well maybe if she would let me brush it or put a bow in it we wouldn't have that problem.

Huge blonde chunks were missing from the front and side of her hair. It looked like a really bad attempt at bangs. Not cool. After all, it has only taken the better part of her life to get all her hair even. I was not happy, but I was thankful that school pictures had already been taken and I do acknowledge that it could have been worse.

I asked her what her teacher said about her haircut when I picked her up from school the next day. She said "Well, Mrs. Frank, Mrs. Tyree and Mrs. Johnson didn't really like it." I said "Oh really...did you tell them who cut your hair?" Caroline then said "Well I told them that my hair was in my face and I just had to cut it and my Mom was a little bit angry." At least she picked up on the fact that indeed, I was a little bit angry.

Here is a picture of the new hair cut. She did not want me to take a picture as she is now embarrassed and doesn't want to talk about it. She even asked me last night when she was going to get longer hair. Believe it or not, I calmly explained that when you cut your hair it doesn't get longer. Let's just hope Tucker doesn't get any ideas and try to rid himself of some blonde curls...

Progress Report

Caroline got her first "report card" last week. There were no grades of course, but her teacher did have a lot of nice things to say about Caroline. I thought I'd share her comments as this might be as good as it gets!!!

Caroline is a very sweet little girl who has adjusted well to our program. She is doing extremely well and enjoys all classroom activities. Caroline sits and listens at circle time and has made many friends other than Aubrie. Caroline is a bright and a very independent little girl. Caroline is a sweetheart and a joy to have in class. I look forward to seeing her smile each morning.

Yep, it's real....I didn't make this up!

Halloween...Not Yet!

No, it's not Halloween yet, but the kids spent all afternoon in costume. And no, they will not be a firefighter, ballerina, or Spiderman for Halloween. This is just a typical Saturday afternoon with the Krouse kids.

Smile Tuck!

On Friday we had a special treat in Tucker's class. We celebrated Fall by having a little party at snack. The kids had apple slices with caramel dip and sugar cookies with icing. The kids loved it! I was able to get decent pictures of all the other kids. Then it was Tucker's turn to smile for the camera. The following pictures are the best I got from him...(He should have been smiling all day since I let him wear his Batman shirt to school!)

Feeding the Animals

This week after school we met up with Courtney, Hayden and Hunter. They were feeding the horses and goats for their neighbors and invited us to come along. Tucker had no fear and climbed right up the gate to be eye to eye with the horses. At one point he even kissed the horse but unfortunately my camera was not ready. Caroline enjoyed playing with Hayden as we suspect there may be a romance budding. Hayden and Caroline had a tendency to "disappear" and the we would find them off in the corner of the barn alone. So much for the little brothers tagging along! After we fed the animals we went back to Courtney's house for dinner. Hayden continued to woo Caroline...at one point she had drawn a picture on the magna-doodle and he immediately said "Taroline, it's bootiful!" And then when it was time to get in the car and go home, he ran out after us to tell Caroline to call him on his cell phone. It was funny and Caroline loved the attention.

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Caroline and I went to the Pumpkin Patch on her first official school bus field trip. She loved being on the big bus with all of her friends! We had a short hay ride to the patch and then the hunting began. Actually Caroline followed her buddies Aubrie and Jack for a good while as she pretended to be looking for just the right pumpkin. Finally she found just the right pumpkin and then we found another one to take home for Tucker.

After the pumpkin patch we had a picnic lunch and then checked out all the farm animals. We saw cows, rabbits, sheep, chickens, goats and more. We met up with some of her friends and made our way through a short section of the corn maze. Caroline bounced around from one group of friends to the other. She was Miss Social...shocker, I know! We met up with her teacher again and went into the spooky house and then the bin of corn kernels.

It was finally time to go and while I was looking forward to getting home, I was not looking forward to the bus ride. It was not fun, but totally worth it to spend time with Caroline and see her having so much fun with her school friends. And yes, she picked out her own clothes for the field trip...