Four

This girl is four today:

Four.  Four!  Four?!!?  FOUR!!!!!  I keep telling her to stop growing but she just won't listen.

Cate at four is a bundle of happiness, questions, energy, drama, giggles, big sister-ness, sensitivity, creativity, and joy.  She is just as happy playing make believe or doing her workbooks inside as she is running around on the playground or riding her bike outside.

Her obsession with My Little Ponies came out of nowhere several months ago, and she just can't get enough.  Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle are part of everyone's (including Charlotte's!) vocabularies and even Rhett can name the ponies by their "cutie marks."  Sidenote: This was not something we could have ever predicted four years ago.

Cate could care less about sleeping or food, although she does have a love of strawberry ice cream.  She is smart as a whip and memorizes songs and books with ease.  <--- She gets this from her Dad.  Cate has blown through all of her preschool and Kindergarten workbooks and is now onto 1st grade where she's learning about time, money, seasons, etc.

A homebody at heart, Cate's best day would be all of her family members together with her at the same time.  She doesn't like to be alone.  When someone she loves isn't with her and she thinks about them, Cate asks me, "what is __________ doing right now?"  She is a sweet girl and we've loved watching her grow.

Just like last year, I polled Cate on some of her favorites and her responses are below:

Favorite Color :: Pink
Favorite Toy :: My Little Pony Wedding Castle and the sparkle ponies
Favorite Fruit :: Mango
Favorite TV Show :: My Little Pony
Favorite Movie :: Tangled
Favorite Thing to Wear :: Any pink shirt
Favorite Animal :: Cat
Favorite Song :: Round Here by Florida Georgia Line
Favorite Book :: Fancy Nancy
Best Friend :: Vivian
Favorite Snack :: My Little Pony fruit snacks
Favorite Drink :: Pink Lemonade
Favorite Breakfast :: Pancakes
Favorite Lunch :: Grilled cheese and fries at the pool
Favorite Dinner :: Noodles
Favorite Game :: UNO
Favorite Thing to do Outside :: Ride my pink bike
Favorite Holiday :: Christmas
What Do You Sleep With At Night :: Yellow Blanket
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up :: Seventeen

Happy 4th, Cater Tot!

This

"For every stoplight I didn't make, every chance I did or I didn't take

All the nights I went too far, all the (things) that broke my heart

All the doors that I had to close, all the things I did or I didn't know

Thank God for all I missed, cause it led me here to this."

-Darius Rucker, "This"

How to Survive a Road Trip with Young Children

We are finally adjusting to life after our glorious beach vacation last week.  Our little family had so much fun visiting with Rhett's bigger family and the trip positively flew by.  The rest of the family left a bit before we did, and once they were gone Cate cried and cried that things were ending.  Sad as it may be, that is the mark of a good vacation.

While I was suuuuuper anxious about the drive to the beach given traffic on 95, near Virginia Beach, and across the bridge to the Outer Banks, we breezed up and down the highway the entire time.  THE ENTIRE TIME I TELL YOU.  Our drive was downright pleasant!  I can say that because 1) We had zero meltdowns and 2) Rhett drove the whole time.

You may recall I had a lengthy list on how I might try to keep my girls happy.  Most of that I ended up bagging simply because between me, Rhett, the girls, and our sitter, Sarah, our car was packed to the gills.  We had no space and something like a cookie sheet for Charlotte to play with magnets on?  That was deemed, among several things, as a non-essential item.

Here were the keys to success:
1. Early Departure Time
When we left for the beach, we got the girls out of bed at 6am (Cate's normal wake-up time), took a quick bathroom break, and put them in the car.  This was good because the first half hour of the trip was spent "waking up" and talking about what we were doing.

2. Food
The girls ate all but one meal (I'll get to that) in the car.  This took up a ton of time--we had trail mix and other fun snacks they enjoyed eating.  In order to curb the crumbs, I put beach towels down under their seats and on the floor.

3. Movies
What would I do without in-car entertainment in the form of my iPad playing Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo?  We watched one movie on the way down and another on the way home.

4. New Toys
Each girl got one nice new toy--Cate got a Strawberry Shortcake activity pack and Charlotte got a Minnie Magnadoodle--which they played with A LOT.  I did try wrapping up Dollar Store toys as well but this sort of fizzled.  The novelty of the cheap toys wore off almost instantly.

5. Regular Breaks
With Cate, we have to make potty stops so this is a requirement.  But, I found that stopping every two hours or so really broke up the drive well and gave everyone a fresh start.

6. Sunday to Sunday Rental
No brainer--traffic is way better on Sundays.

So, nothing novel in my list, but I felt fantastic about the drive.

One other note--when we left for home, we took off right after the girls' naps on Saturday.  We weren't planning on that, but they took really short afternoon naps, and it just felt like time to go.  Because of the timing, we did end up stopping and eating at the Cheese Shop in Williamsburg, VA for dinner so I could consume my weight in house dressing so the girls could run around.  While it did add 30 minutes to our drive, it was so worth having dinner somewhere other than the car.

Three cheers for a successful drive!

Our captain

Cate was ready to get this party started.

We left our house at the crack of dawn--Charlotte's pacifier had not even been removed yet :)

Taking out the Trash

When I was a girl in my early 20's, I vividly remember visiting my grandparents house and seeing a couple of other family members pull up, open the back doors of their car and unload their very young children.  I witnessed something I'd never seen up close--my eyes saw food crumbs blanketing their back seat.  I was aghast.  These people, members of my own family, people I knew to be normal and clean and put together, were driving the messiest, grimiest, most unsanitary vehicle I'd ever laid eyes on.  I was horror stricken!

To be honest, there were probably just some minuscule Cheerio crumbs dusting the floor mats from their long drive where they wanted five seconds of peace and quiet that can only be brought on by snacking children.  But, to my untrained eyes, the whole thing was downright unsightly.  Fast forward ten years and...uhhhhhhh...my perspective might have changed a teensy tinsy bit.

It started so innocently.  I did have a rule about not eating in the car, but once Cate was snacking on finger foods, it was almost too easy to calm down fussiness with a few puffs here and there.  Then came the Cheerios and Goldfish.  And now, with two littles, I am practically serving five course meals to them in the backseat.

Oh sure, I have my excuses--sometimes we are in the car during snack time, sometimes there is enough whining that I give in--but no matter what, it totally makes me realize that old quote about how you need to walk a mile in someone else's...was it shoes?  Mocassins??  Whatever the footwear, kids eating in the car=glorious silence.

I can't even post pictures of how grubby my car was recently, I would die of embarrassment.  Last week though, I went through over half a box of Clorox wipes when I wiped down the inside of the car with the girls.  I also had it washed and even got out the vacuum!  We found puffs (Charlotte hasn't eaten those in ONE WHOLE YEAR), a random sock (mine--wierd, right?  I don't take my socks off in the car), roughly 100 crayons, and a Cheeto (?????????).

While I will never judge another parent for a dirty car again, I think I've put my grimy days behind me.  Awhile ago I saw someone put something on Pinterest about getting a plastic cereal container and sticking it to the front passenger side of your car near the floorboard.  They'd even attached them with some handy velcro command strips.  From there, you can put a plastic grocery bag in, put the top on, and have a sealed trashcan in your car.  Brilliant!

I tried the idea using what I had--a small trashcan sized cardboard box and Target bags, I'm fancy like that--and it has made my car SO MUCH CLEANER.  My early 20's self would approve :)

Mine

"She is the best thing that's ever been mine"

-Taylor Swift

Both of you are--we love you Cate and Charlotte!

Purple Obsession

Two weeks ago, Rhett remarked that being with Charlotte is like playing a constant game of I Spy.  And that is exactly what it's like.  She has a sole focus, a purpose in life--to find and love all things purple.

You can be taking a walk or driving in the car and all of a sudden Charlotte will squeal, "Purple! Purple!!  PURPLE!!!!!!"  And you have to quickly scan and evaluate your surrounding in a Jason Bourne kind of way to find the purple thing immediately.  If you don't, she gets frantic because, lazy mom and dad, whyyyyy can't you just seeeeeeeee what I'm talking about??!?"

"Charlotte, is it purple flowers?  A purple sign?  Someone wearing something purple?" Rhett and I will quickly ask.  "PURPPPLLLEEEE!!!!" is the response.  Sometimes we land upon the correct answer and she gives us a flippant "Yeah" as in, "Yes, you pass this time."

Her love is so strong she has worn out every purple piece of clothing she owns so I bought her these shoes for when she outgrows her current Cate hand-me-downs:

Pretty sure we've got a winner here, fellas.

On the one hand, having a love so strong can be tough, but on the other, it is really easy to make sweet Charlotte happy.  Give her anything purple, and she is yours :)

Thought of the Day

Believe

Little Cate has been doing swimming lessons for the past two weeks.  She wants so badly to swim, but her fears often get the best of her.  I'm trying to remind her that I know she can do it, but she has to think she can.  

Here is Cate during her lesson at good old Spring Hill Rec.  Sticking to the shallow end, no doubt.

We'll get there one day!