Career Day

Caroline's class has been exploring all kinds of careers during the month of February and have enjoyed visits from various parents describing what they do for their career. Wonder why Gary, the software developer/project manager and Lisa, the CPA, were not asked to present?? That would have been riveting!! The month-long study culminates today with the children dressing up as what they want to be when they grow up. On Monday I posed the question to Caroline thinking she would say Dora or a mommy, however, I was pleasantly surprised to hear her say "I want to be what Gammy is". Gammy is Gary's mom and she is a pediatrician. I quickly thought about that idea and found a pair of children's sized scrubs for her to wear to school today. She also has a stethoscope that Gammy gave to Anna when Caroline was little and had a heart condition. Caroline also received for Christmas a doctor's kit from her cousins Blake and Drew. All of this was taken to school today. She was so proud of herself and told me that she thought she looked like Gammy. On her way out the door I said "Bye Doctor Caroline" to which she responded, "Bye Doctor Mommy". She was too cute!!

Caroline ready to "do checkups" as she called it this morning.

The excited girl.

Caroline meets the Firefighters

On Tuesday night, Gary took the girls to McAlister's Deli for "kids eat free" night as I had to work and Caroline had a make-up class at the Little Gym at 6:30 pm. Sounds great until after they ordered their food and took a seat in the back of the restaurant away from the other customers and Caroline decided to pull the fire alarm!! Gary immediately went and told the employees what had happened so that they would know it was a false alarm. Well, too late as the fire department quickly arrived in full garb and the big truck!! Gary was embarrassed but he kept his cool. Anna said she was embarrassed also (can we see who Anna is like!) because everyone was looking that them and giggling. Gary asked Caroline to apologize to the restaurant employees and the fireman however Caroline took the opportunity to greet the firemen rather than show remorse. I asked Gary if he took any pictures so that I could put them on my blog and his response was "it would have been totally inappropriate".....therefore you will have to imagine the red Zyriek faces and Caroline with the firemen..... I can only imagine what she will get into next as well as what her teenage years may bring!!

Anna and the eye chart

Anna accompanied me to the eye doctor on Saturday for my check up and her first eye exam. She was pretty apprehensive about the whole thing even though she had been with me before and seen how everything works. This time was for real in her mind. She did great! She charmed Dr. Lee and his staff without much effort. She MEMORIZED the eye chart and told me when I missed a letter. She thought it was strange that I could not even see the big fat E at the top without my glasses or contact lenses in. Anna will more than likely be nearsighted like Gary and me as she is one step in that direction. She does not need correction now at all but the eye doctor indicated she may in middle school which was when I first had to get glasses. Anna managed to convince me to buy her some cool sunglasses and the staff let her pick her own case to match. She was very proud of herself. All in all, Anna did great and ended up wearing her sunglasses most of the day....she had her eyes dilated and thankfully it was a cloudy day. She told everyone she needed her sunglasses to help her see better!! She's gone 2 days without losing them, but check back with me in a week and see if we still now where they are.

Anna waiting for the eye doctor to see her.

What's in a name??

Here is a transcript from a conversation I had last night with Anna while she was in the bathtub:

A: Mommy, what is my name going to be when I grow up?
L: Anna
A: No, mommy, my LAST name.
L: I don't know Anna.
A: Why don't you know?
L: Well, honey, it depends on who you marry. You have your husband's last name.
A: Really?
L: Yes.
A: Well, I am going to find somone with a GOOD name and one that is easier than Zyriek.
L: That sounds like a good plan.
A: Maybe I can have a name where I won't always be last.
L: There's something to having a unique name, Anna.
A: That something is called being last.

Hilarious. She was so honest and forthright in the conversation. Gary and I have had lots of conversations with Anna about having a name that is at the end of the alphabet. Not much "cool" spin we can put on being named Zyriek other than it is unique and if things are in reverse order you are first!

Who knows....maybe she will marry the owner of AAA Moving Company or someone with the last name of Aaron and then she can always be first!!!

Kids Tennis Day

On Sunday we took the kids to the Regions Morgan Keegan Tennis tournament to enjoy Kids Day. At 2pm, all the kids in attendance could come down on the court, get a free t-shirt and split up into teams with a coach for a few quick tips on tennis fundamentals. They eat got to learn how to hit the ball and hold the racquet. Then, each lined up and hit the ball against one of the pros from the tournament. Oh how we all wanted that pro to be Andy Roddick, but alas, it was one of the ones I have not idea who it was!! Anyway, Anna made contact with the ball twice and was excited. Of course now she wants her own racquet to try and learn a little more. Caroline was her usual self running all over the place and enjoying herself to the fullest. This was a great event and one that both girls really enjoyed!

Anna showing off her skills.

Anna in her debut hitting the ball with the pro.

Caroline is running all over the place with the practice balls.

Open House

The kindergarten students at Harding have their open house in February each year accompanied by a cute singing program. Tonight was Anna's program where each class provided a musical selection and then we all toured Anna's classroom to see all of her wonderful creations. Anna is the star student in her class this week (she's been waiting all year and because she is blessed with being THE last one in class, it's her turn!) and we turned that into a plus as now all the parents got to see her star student bulletin board. We had to "interview" Anna and she wrote her own responses on the paper provided by Miss Christy. Then she took some pictures of herself for the board and a treat to share with the class. Anna's class has been working hard and it is clearly evident in their great handwriting, coloring and reading skills. I am definitely impressed with how much she has learned so far and thank her teacher for all of her great instruction. Just a few pics of the evening which was shared by all her grandparents in town as well. We'll have to pull Gammy in one year!!

Anna's interview for Star Student

Anna with her teacher Miss Christy

Anna with Papa and Mimi

Anna with Grampa and Gramma

Caroline the princess

This is Caroline's newest fun thing to do....dress up like a princess and go around saying "I'm beautiful". I love that the crown and wand and shoes coordinate greatly with her school uniform...I definitely see a trip to Disney for us in a few years!!

Sweet and Sassy and Ear piercing

Anna was invited to her friend Hannah's 6th birthday party at Sweet and Sassy. This is a mini spa for girls where they paint your nails, do your hair and give you a tiara and a princess certificate at a birthday party. Anna has talked for about 6 months that this was where she wanted her next party. We thought this would be a good test run before reserving anything. Hannah had 9 girls including herself at the party. Gary accompanied her (I am convinced to get in good with all of the mom's, but he claims it was to give me a break!!) and captured the fun on film. The party was great, Anna had a good time, but all good times must come to an end. Anna's friend Betsy decided at the end of the party to get her ears pierced at the salon. Anna decided to stay with her and watch and be her comfort. Well, after Betsy's gushing tears, Anna was horrifed and I think we have successfully convinced her that we don't get our ears pierced in this house until we are 12. Anna's quote was "I think when I am 12 that it won't hurt as badly because I will be grown!" Betsy recovered well and according to her mom, Betsy claims she was crying "tears of joy!". Oh, to be a 6 year old!!

Anna is ready for the star treatment.

All the pretty princesses.
Anna watching Betsy get her ears pierced.

Valentine's Craft Night

I told the girls that we could have Valentine's craft night on Friday. I really wanted to get all of our valentine's made so that we could mail our out of town ones in plenty of time to make it to Texas and South Dakota on time! Anna was very excited and worked for about 2 hours to make her grandparents, cousins, teacher and a good friend their own homemade valentines. She had a very good time! Anna has been doing this for a few years and to compare her handwriting and creativity to those earlier years is amazing! Caroline made 1 valentine card and put so much effort into that she had to go watch Dora the Explorer to relax! Hilarious!!

Anna is just getting started.
Caroline making her 1 card for the night.
Anna's card for her Perry cousins.

Cheer trophies

Anna wrapped up her cheerleading season yesterday with a fun pizza party and trophy presentation. The girls did a great job and the season was over fast! It seems we can now reclaim our Sunday afternoons with nothing on the agenda for a while after having back to back seasons of soccer and cheerleading. Anna was proud of her trophy and enjoyed all the time with her friends.

Anna with her cute trophy
Anna and McKayla striking a pose

The birthday girls

Our friends the Desouzas joined us for a fun birthday dinner at Folk's Folly on Saturday night. Laurie's birthday was the 30th and mine is the 24th so it was a combined celebration. The waiter brought us out chocolate brownies with ice cream and a sparkler candle on top that would relight itself when you tried to blow it out. We ate too much but greatly enjoyed the company. Here's to being 29 forever!!

Nice dessert with a candle compliments of the restaurant

Laurie and Cyp celebrating with Laurie's dessert

The birthday girls!

Giraffe Day at the Zoo

As a HUGE birthday surprise, Gary arranged a Zoo "Edventure" at the Memphis Zoo that provided our family with a private tour of the giraffe living quarters as well as a private feeding of the giraffes. I have loved giraffes my whole life and have always wanted to be up close with one just to see what it is like. I never thought this type of thing would be possible at all. Gary, Anna and I were able to enjoy about 2 hours on Saturday with the giraffes and their zookeeper Richard. Caroline was not old enough as you have to be 4 to participate. The education specialist Magen worked all of this out with Gary in advance and it was literally one of my top 5 experiences in my life. So neat to be around them and to experience their height and breadth. Such a fun time. Gary wins husband of the year!!

Me with Angela Kate the 2 year old "baby" giraffe!
Gary meeting Angela Kate.

Me feeding Sarabi and Kenya

Anna finally got brave enough to try and feed two at one time!