Like Grandmother, Like Granddaughter

Nanna was here visiting last week. When she arrived at our house and AP saw what she was wearing, she ran to change into her shirt that matched Nanna's perfectly!

And, of course, C was there too, but not bothered at all by their silly matching shirts. He had jumping to do.

Best Day

Last week we had a string of really cold days, so when the weather warmed up a tiny bit, my kiddos were begging to go to the greenway. They LOVE the greenway.

See those smiles :)

Of course, AP had to bring a stroller and her baby.
I love this pic of little sister looking up at her big brother.

As we were walking the kiddos declared the day to be the "best day ever!"

Flutter Shy

Last weekend, AP got to bring home the class pet, a hermit crab named Flutter Shy. My prayer from the moment AP got in the car with the crab was that we would not kill it over the weekend.

Well, about 30 minutes after we got home I find AP with the hermit crab under a stream of running water. The crab is on its back and the shell is filling up with water. I freaked! I knew for sure that Flutter was drowning. AP tried to convince me that they do that to the crab at school all the time. I sent a frantic message to her teacher to be sure, and AP was right. Apparently, hermit crabs like "baths". Tragedy averted.

I am happy to report that the crab made it back to school safe and sound Monday morning. It may be the cleanest crab ever since it got a "bath" every day.

And, just because, here is my riding partner on our 3 minute morning commute to take the kiddos to school.

He loves his morning rides!

First Stripe!

Last Wednesday, C tested for his first stripe in karate. Basically, he had to show that he was learning the steps of the first kata. A kata is the Japanese word for "form" or a series of movements that they learn.

I know C looks much larger than the boy next to him. That's because he is! In karate, you move up in belt (and class) by the number of hours you've had in the dojo. Of course, you have to pass the test for each belt, but you aren't eligible to test for a belt until you've had a certain number of hours of instruction in the dojo. So, there are some guys that are smaller than him, but that have been at it longer that have much higher rank than he does. But, there are also kiddos his size or older that are right where he is.

He is very proud of that first stripe!!

Country Music Hall of Fame

Last weekend on a rainy Saturday we decided to take advantage of free admission day at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

I was surprised at how into the history that the kiddos actually were. C read all the signs about the pieces that were there. AP asked lots of questions about what things were real and if people were still alive.

One cool thing that was going on that day was a demonstration of how Hatch Show Print, a famous maker of concert posters in Nashville, makes their posters.

Both kiddos got to make a poster using the press that they still use in their store.

I think my favorite part of the museum is seeing all the cool cowboy boots.

At one point, I let AP carry my camera around. I thought it was interesting that the 2 things she took pictures of were Taylor Swift's dress

and Zac Brown's crocheted beanie. Pretty funny. She has been asking if we can go to a ZB concert.

They also had a Musical Petting Zoo that afternoon, which meant that the kiddos got to take a shot at playing the instruments.
Here is C on the autoharp

and AP getting a dulcimer lesson.

They also played the triangle, guitar, mandolin, banjo, and violin. I asked the musician who was manning the guitar station if his ears were bleeding yet and he said they were! It was a really horrible sound when all the kiddos were playing loudly not quite the right way :)

The kiddos wanted to pose in front of their favorite Batman building on the way out. We had a fun afternoon learning more about our city and its history.

Big Girl Room

AP has been asking to change her room to "zebra" for about a year. But, there's just something about zebra that looked just too teenagery for a little girl's room. But, when I saw this bedding, I knew it would be perfect. It still looks sweet and innocent to me :)

So here's a few pics of her newly decorated room....

Unseasonably Warm

Although, as I type it is rainy and yucky outside, it has been unseasonably warm the last few days. We have had several spring-like days that were great for spending the day outside.

AP has started working on some softball!

C drove around us in circles in his go-kart until AP was done practicing and could jump on with him!Bring on spring! I'm totally ok with skipping winter weather completely!