Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, everybody!  Charlotte, Peter, and I are thankful for all the mothers in our lives.

First of all is Niki - Charlotte, Peter, and I are so lucky to have Niki in our lives.  She is the frosting that holds our little cake together.  Her innate combination of morality, openness, integrity, whimsy, and sweetness inspires our family and causes all of us to be become the people we should be.  Charlotte, Peter, and I are who we are because of Niki, and we will always be thankful for that.  It is fun being a parent with Niki.

We are thankful for all of the mothers in our family.  Meem, Grandma Jane, Granny Great, and Grandma Stringer set incredible examples for us.  Our mothers, Barb and JoAnn, brought us up and their love and support are just as important to us now as ever.  Our sisters, Erin and Stephanie, are wonderful mothers to Sonia, Quinn, and Maisie.  And our aunts, from Pennsylvania to Traverse City to Prescott to Lake Havasu to Arroyo Grande, all show us what is possible.

Finally, we are thankful for the other mothers we love -- Alicia, Kym, Lauren, Melissa, Joslyne, Kaye, Dawn, and countless other mothers who have been and are part of our lives.  We wouldn't be who we are with out you!

Love,

Corey, Peter, and Charlotte

Stringers in April

We have behind in posting mainly because we have had a nutty month - lots of guests, lots of work travel, lots of home remodeling (more on that later), and lots of fun with friends.  Unfortunately, we left the camera behind most of the time.

Here are a few things we have been up to:

On Easter morning, the kids followed a trail of eggs to find where the Easter Bunny left their baskets.

MMMMMMM!  Easter treats!

Rocky tried to find some treats among the eggs, but alas the Easter Bunny forgot him.

I took the kids to an auto show at the Nissan headquarters.  Charlotte got into the spirit!

A Hudson Hornet just like Doc in the movie "Cars"!

Charlotte and Peter were as perplexed by the Bricklin as everyone else in America was.

The kiddos reflected in the door of a Deuce Coupe.

Charlotte at Monkey Joe's.

Petey at Monkey Joe's.

Sweet Charlotte.

Sweetie Petey.

More on our April adventures later!

Even more fun with GG & GG

Granny Great made the kids a cute Cat in the Hat mini-quilt, and we decided we needed to make a kid burrito with it.  First ingredient: one Peter, extra squirmy.

Second ingredient: one Charlotte, long and lean.  Then, wrap up the burrito and watch it giggle!

The kids decided they wanted to read books and take a nap right there.  I wasn't fast enough to get a shot of both of them under the quilt, but Peter actually stayed put for quite a while.  That tipped me off that perhaps he was ready for naptime.

While Peter napped, Charlotte and I filled up a whole bucketful of water balloons.  After Rip Van Peter woke up, we threw the kids in swimsuits and let them loose on the bucket.  (GG & GG gave Petey that cute new octopus swimsuit.)

Whoops -- despite their best efforts, the kids were almost incapable of popping the balloons.  I probably didn't fill them up enough or something.  (Notice all the unpopped balloons lying on the ground.)

Charlotte gave up trying to hit anyone with a balloon and started throwing them straight up in the air.  Can you find the blue balloon above her?

Whoops -- one of the balloons actually landed on her head.  I know this shot didn't focus on the right thing, but I thought it was hilarious that my timing was so (accidentally) good.

With a little help from the grownups, all 40 balloons eventually popped.  The kids jumped on the neighbor's trampoline for a while with a sprinkler spraying on them, but when Peter's diaper exploded (yup, I didn't put a swim diaper on because I didn't think water balloons would get him wet enough) all over the place we dragged the kids inside for baths.

Before dinner, Charlotte put on a puppet show for Granny Great and Peter.

Then Peter wanted a turn as the puppeteer.  He couldn't figure out how to work the puppet's mouth from within, so he used his other hand to open and close the mouth.

And then Grandpa Great took the trash out.  Strangely, we haven't seen Peter since then.  Remind me to look for him at some point.

Granny Great threatened to put Charlotte and Peter (and Rocky!) in her suitcase, but luckily they wouldn't fit.  GG & GG headed back home the next morning.  Thanks for visiting, and come back soon!

Great fun with GG & GG at the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens

On their way home from wintering in Florida, Granny Great and Grandpa Great swung through Tennessee for a couple of days to stay with us.  Corey had to work, so the kids and I decided to take GG & GG to the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens to explore.

The sculpture trail was a big hit with the little adventurers.

These sculptures are "windharp chairs".  The kids were a little confused by them.

You could walk into this sculpture, which features a hole in the ceiling of a round building.  Keeping the kids away from the black sand in the middle was quite a feat.

Clowning around on the back patio of the Cheekwood mansion.

Snack break!

Charlotte wanted to live in this little structure.

Granny Great was steering Peter away from some crazy wet mud that he had his eye on.

When we got back to the car, Peter declared his love for the Big Red Van.

We stopped for lunch on the way home and Granny Great kept Charlotte entertained by drawing the outline of a person or animal and having Charlotte fill in the features.  These are the things an experienced great grandparent can teach a lazy mom like me!

CHEESE QUESADILLA!

More fun to come!

No cavities!

Charlie Jo and I had dentist appointments on Monday, and neither of us had cavities!  Peter came along for the ride, of course.

Charlie Jo was a total pro and was more interested in watching Sesame Street on the TV in the exam room than worrying about what the hygienist was doing cleaning her teeth.  (She is clutching a stuffed starfish outfitted with some false teeth for kids to practice brushing on.)

Peter fell in love with the stuffed monkey (who also sports dentures for brushing practice -- he has long been a favorite of my kids) and hugged him while he patiently waited and watched the TV.  The hygienist was blown away at how good my kids were during my cleaning -- I guess it is handy sometimes that my kids turn into complete zombies when a TV is on anywhere nearby.  I don't often get compliments on my children's behavior, so I savor it whenever I get one.

As we left, I made an appointment for Peter to get his first-ever cleaning when we all come back in six months.  His final two-year-old molar is coming in, so he should be ready by then.  Let's hope Charlotte's excellent example of cooperation at the last two appointments inspires Peter to do the same in October!

Palm Sunday fashion show

A night at the movies?

I have no idea why this happened or where Charlotte got the idea from, but as we were unpacking groceries she set up the toilet paper package as a "movie screen" and some chairs as theater seats.  Then, she sat Peter down and starting singing and clapping.  He was confused at first, but soon he joined in on the game.

This went on for about 5 or 10 minutes . . .

. . . then ended as mysteriously as it began.  Those children are so odd.  Amusing, but odd.

Most organized Easter egg hunt ever

Charlotte's preschool Easter party and egg hunt was last Thursday.  Peter and I showed up and found Charlotte's class playing on the playground before the festivities.

Peter and I joined everyone for a little fun.  A couple of the boys Charlotte was playing with took an interest in Peter and Peter started hamming it up.  Charlotte told Peter to dance to show all the kids his move, which he did to the kids' great amusement.

Charlotte's beloved Miss Sally then led the class around to the hunt site and reminded the class of the "procedure".  The other moms and I looked at each other in amazement -- you mean this wasn't going to be a free-for-all hunt that was over in 2 minutes flat?

That crafty Miss Sally had a method for keeping the hunt under control while maximizing hunt time and the child exercise quotient -- each child was allowed to pick up exactly ONE egg at a time.

Then, the egg was to be returned to the "nest" (a wicker basket) unopened before another egg could be procured.  Charlotte and her classmates had been practicing this, and they did an amazing job.  Imagine the self-control that takes for a greedy four-year-old!  Peter, however, just kept opening the eggs and dumping the contents on the ground.  Oh, Peter.  Miss Sally just laughed and said that every year there is always a younger sibling who does the same.

After the hunt, the kids returned back to the classroom for lunch.  I took this photo of Charlotte actually drinking milk (something she refused to do until she started preschool and was given only this option for lunch) because I never thought I would see it happen.

While the kids ate, Miss Sally distributed the eggs among the kids' "bunny bags" that they had made earlier in the day.  Charlotte happened to be the "Star of the Day" (the kid who gets to lead everyone in line, distribute the milk cartons, and do other little jobs for the teacher), a fact she was SUPER proud of, as you might imagine.

Now, Charlotte is on Spring Break.  Is she heading to Key West with her sorority like Mommy did in college?  Um, no.  We're preparing for the arrival of Granny Great and Grandpa Great on their way home from wintering in Florida.  More fun to come!!