carrie's into erasure

Erasure makes me MOVE! from James and Val on Vimeo

I had to hide behind the printer to film this so that Caroline would keep dancing! Sorry for the shaking from laughter. It looks to me that we have a tap-dancer in the making!

first swim meet of the summer

Seth, Rachel, and Caroline were troopers!! We snatched them from their beds at 6:15 am to get up, eat breakfast and be there for the first event at 7 am.
Eliza got a headache from this very TIGHT cap!
The line-up for the two heats of the breaststroke...Eliza's smiling!!
Once Carrie stopped eating, she actually napped in the tent, yay!
So, the summer begins! We were so excited for Eliza's first swim meet. She was only a little nervous at the start, and by her 3rd event, she was grinning! It should be a great season!

alright...my 7 favorites

Joanne tagged me a few weeks back, and I'm finally getting back to her! I'm going to list 7 things I would call my favorites, in the order they come to me....

1. Leftovers. I wish I had some to eat tonight, because I have no dinner plan. I love anything to eat that is instant.

2. Carnation Instant Breakfast. Breakfast is the hardest meal of the day to fit in. See #1.

3. Staying home. If I don't have anywhere to go, I'm happy. I'm definitely a "Puddle" versus a "Toot" (Holly Hobbie book, for those of you unfamiliar). I get really sick of packing up the kids and going places. Someday, I'd like to travel the world, but for now, if I don't leave the house, I'm happiest.

4. My iPod. James got this for me for my birthday and I LOVE it. I've surprised myself (and James) with the number of country hits I've downloaded off of iTunes. I used to listen to country all the time, and now I love it even more.

5. Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. I love their music. I love that they're married and not in the headlines at all with their personal dramas too...;)

6. Singing Faith Hill songs in duet with James. They have some pretty good duets. James sounds better than I do singing them though!

7. Roadtrips. I haven't been on a roadtrip in awhile, but I love them! I can't wait to head down to North Carolina in August and see some more of the coastline. I really want to make it up to New York and Boston on a roadtrip soon too. Roadtrips are great because you get to spend a lot of good talking time in the car, and see places you've never been. And with kids, they're much easier than flying!

8. Finding quilt shops on roadtrips. I know this makes #8, and I was supposed to limit it to 7 things, but this has just GOT to be mentioned. It just MAKES the trip!

Okay...I can check that off my list of things to feel guilty about. ;) I'm going to bug a few others who I'd love to see their list of 7 favorites! So...a call out to Traci, Jeanne and Alisha to post a blog about their 7 favorite things!

i couldn't resist

HE'S BACK!!! James FINALLY got back in town last night...what a LONG few weeks these have been. It started with the normal quarterly managers' meeting in San Francisco the day after Memorial Day, and then on his flight back home last Friday, he found out that he would need to get back on that plane and spend the next week in Los Angeles supporting the IT end of a litigation. He was home for just over 24 hours on Saturday of last week.

So...he returned last night and we all feel like we can breathe a little easier. Today he's been to Seth's Father's Day Picnic at school, and Seth will head into work with him afterwords. That'll leave me with just the three girls for piano lessons and swim team practice. What a relief!! I'd started to feel what I term, "quatrophobic": afraid of taking four children places. We are so glad he doesn't travel like this very often!

happy girl

Caroline has officially moved past feeding in the bouncy chair. If you've ever seen her eat, or heard me feed her while I've been on the phone, you know this is MONUMENTAL for her. She is ALL about food right now. You can't fill a spoon fast enough to fill her demands. So...for her to be sitting at the table with the rest of us AND be in control of how fast food is coming...life just doesn't get better. She's just so proud of herself. It's so cute to see.

We have 2 weeks of school left, and all of the year-end activities, parties, etc. that go with it. (Which means a lot of extra running around for Mom.) As much as I look forward to having a break from the school schedule, I'm sad to see this year end. Both Seth and Eliza have had GREAT teachers...and GREAT years. We would be hard-pressed to find this kind of utopia again, so it's bittersweet to see the year end. I will be relieved to not have to make lunches and get kids off to school for a few months though! :)