Mommy Guilt

A friend of mine commented on one of Caroline's birthday pictures that we needed to dump the sippy cups since Caroline was 5 years old. Made me laugh but made me have a huge case of mommy guilt. What was I doing to my child?? She loves her milk and I am not really in favor of her spilling milk and giving us a smelly reminder for weeks to come. She has been using regular cups for over 2 years but in the morning when she is who knows where in the house drinking her milk, we have always given her  cup with a lid. Some have straws and some are the old fashioned sippy cups. At meals she always has a regular cup. So to resolve my mommy guilt, we collected all the sippy cups and threw them in the trash. Caroline did not seem to care at all and we have moved on!! Thanks for the nudge, Rachel!!

not too many to consider!!

goodbye!!

Clown Day

Last week was "C" week in Caroline's class....Thursday was clown day. Such fun!

Landform 101

Anna's class had their first project due on Monday. There are six such projects throughout the year. We were even given the list of projects and their due dates the first week of school. This project was to research, report and construct a landform. The students were assigned a landform by Mrs. Fussell. Being Zyriek....we could only anticipate what Anna would be assigned. She was thrilled to get fjord. What's a fjord you say? That is exactly what I said when she came home on that Friday afternoon last month! According to Webster, a fjord is "a long, narrow arm of the sea bordered by steep cliffs: usually formed by glacial erosion." Well. that just clears it right up! Anna was glad to get something she could learn about. Gary had already said he would help with the craft portion of the project which was a relief to me because I am not crafty!

Anna and Gary did a great job researching, locating a great picture to use, and building the actual model of a fjord. They used the recipe for dough that the teacher sent home. Gary said he was going to bake the fjord in the oven when Anna brings it back home! Yuck!!

 Glad we started early and paced ourselves. That was a relief to not have to worry about it the final weekend. Anna told us about her favorites in the class which included a swamp with real dead bugs, a clif with real water and a marsh that was actually grown by another student in the class. On to project #2, which I think is just a book report!

kneading the dough

not so pretty at this point

the dough in the carboard containers set out to dry

the fjord, complete with various paint schemes for the cliffs and the greenery and the snow plus the water in between from the glacier!

Quotes by Caroline

Gary shared the following conversation he had with Caroline last night....

C: Mommy has a fun job doesn't she?
G: Yes, she does.
C: She helps the sick kids.
G: Yes, she does.
C: You have a boring job.
G: Uh, I guess.
C: You need to get a fun job.

Later in the car....

C: There is a picture of Elvis on that sign. He's dead.
G: Yes, he died.
C: His heart brook. (not broke, but brook)
G: Brook?
C: Yes, he loved his music so much his heart brook.

Today after the small fry tri:

C: That girl was beating me on the bike and I did not like that.
L: That's ok. You did great.
C: That's not ok. That is why I had to run fast and knock her down during the run.
L: You did not knock her down.
C: I know but I wanted to win so I kept on going!

Small Fry Tri

Caroline has been begging to do another triathlon....little kid version. She knew Anna had her big kid triathlon last weekend and kept asking. Luckily Germantown had their Small Fry Tri this weekend at Farmington Park. For a $5 entry fee each child received a t-shirt, drawstring backpack, frisbee, and a few other fun things, not to mention a real race number. Caroline had her strategy together and did great! She was not thrilled that someone in her heat beat her on the bike so she put on the pressure during the run and ended up first in her group. She was so proud. The Germantown Fire Department provided the "sprinklers" for the swim part. Last year it was simple lawn sprinklers. This year it was a hose from the fire truck. The kids were soaked by the end but all loved getting a medal and finishing the race. So glad the Parks & Rec department puts on this event. Great encouragement for the little ones!

ready for the race...we did tighten the helmet later

cheering section of anna and mimi

the zyriek girls

sweet sisters

at the start line

ready for the run...with the helmet still on!

proud of her medal at the finish!

Caroline is 5!!!

How did that happen?? Caroline is five? My "baby" is now five years old? Crazy indeed. I feel like we have been celebrating for days. Gary's mom arrived on Thursday for her 6 day visit form South Dakota. Caroline's party was on Saturday at Build-A-Bear which was fun. She woke up today and wanted to know if a) she was tallker and b) she would know how to read. Hilarious that she thinks like that. She was excited to have her favorite breakfast, donut holes and celebrate at school with friends. She took a cookie cake for a special treat for her class and got to wear the birthday vest. She picked Moe's for dinner mainly because she likes the chips and cheese dip! Fun day exactly the way she wanted it to be!!

just woke up and ready for breakfast! love the sleepy look!

hey, i'm 5!!

proud to be wearing the birthday vest at school

caroline got an ipod from gammy...picked the case herself and was so excited!

Build-A-Bear Party!!

Caroline's 5th birthday party was Saturday and she invited a few of her closest friends (Ha!!). I think Build-A-Bear stock went up 10% after our party. It was a lot of fun for all the kids to pick out and dress their own animal even giving it a name. Thought it was cute that her friend named her bear Caroline so she would not foget where she got it!! Fun to have all of Caroline's grandparents at the party to help celebrate. Caroline's birthday is not until Wednesday but I am sure we will be celebrating for a week!!

So excited to be 5 years old!

Blair with his son Benjamin

The Zyriek Family

Caroline leads the way to stuff her bunny

The gang with their animals!

Big sisters had fun too

Love Muddy's cupcakes afterwards

Cute cookies we gave the kids

Kids Triathlon

Anna competed in the Memphis Thunder Kids Triathlon on Sunday for the second year in a row. She was excited to be in the 8 year-old category and to see how her improved confidence would show in her race results. She was a little nervous but more anxious to get going.

She did great! Her swim, bike and run times were all faster than last year equating to 12 minutes faster overall. Her category had the most participants and therefore her results were not as high as she had hoped. We we thrilled. She was 16th in her age group out of 25 8 year-old girls. If she would have had this time last year of 27:40 she would have been 4th in the 8 year-olds!! Crazy in that it is all who shows up and how many are in your category. While she would have loved to have been at the top of her category she was very proud at how well she had improved and how much confidence she had the whole race.

She was all smiles on each leg of the race! So proud and looking forward to keeping her confidence building for more events.

ready to get this party started!

riding steady on the bike...most improved over last year!

all smiles on the start of the run

crossing the bridge...finish line in sight!

finishing strong....12 minutes faster than last year!

anna with grampa and gramma

proud parents!

Shaving Cream Monster

The girls were quietly playing school upstairs and then I hear giggling and this is what appeared in my kitchen....guess they were playing home ec class!!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great labor day weekend and enjoyed having family in town from Dallas and some time to relax with the kids. James and Lydia flew up from Dallas with their boys Blake and Drew. The girls have been so excited because we have not seen the Perry family since last Halloween!! Our schedules have not syched very well over the past year and it has been too long. They arrived Friday night and we had dinner at our house. The kids loved playing while the adults watched the Baylor/TCU game. Lucky for all involved, Baylor pulled off the upset even after squandering their huge lead. James was on cloud 9 the rest of the weekend.

Saturday we met Dad, Blair & Kim and their two boys with our kids and the Perrys at My Big Backyard. Always a favorite with our family and even though it was a hot day, we enjoyed the time together and just watching the kids play. We spent the afternoon and evening at Dad's house. Eating WAY too much food and watching a lot of football. Auburn pulled off the win even after looking dreadful and was down by 10 points with 3 minutes to go. Gary was cool and collected the entire game....he's still on a high from last year's National Championship Game in Arizona!!

Sunday was Dan's birthday and after church we celebrated with a BBQ lunch. It was raining most of the day and we knew we needed to get the kids doing something so we loaded up and took them bowling. They had a great time. Caroline was sad she did not score any strikes, but she had several spares and lots of 9's. With the bumpers up and using ramps, the kids scored better than the adults!! Dinner and a movie at home kept the kids enjoying themselves.

The Perry's flew home on Monday and we were off to the Delta Fair with friends....see separate post on that fun!! Great weekend. Lots of friends and family and fun times. If only I had taken off Tuesday to recover!!

Caroline showing her balancing skills at My Big Backyard

Blake (7), Benjamin (2), Anna (8), Drew (4 1/2), Caroline (4 1/2)...Graham (3 1/2 months in the stroller)

Great way to cool off on a warm summer day!

Ready to show off their bowling skills!