There was a smattering of snow on the ground when we went out to wait for the bus this morning. Carrie was thrilled, running through the front yard in her sneakers (remind me to buy her some new boots soon!) and picking up the very packable snow to throw everywhere.
Anna’s not so sure about this cold, wet, white stuff. It’s cold. And wet. And did we mention cold??
Dear Carolyn,
I’ve been debating for a while now about whether to continue writing monthly letters to you. On the one hand, I’d like to think that when you’re older you’ll love to go back and read them. On the other hand, I think that in between now and then you’re going to be really embarrassed that I took the time to document your life on the internet. Although, rest assured, you are certainly not the only child who has a “mommy blogger” for a mom.
I don’t know what to do. I love writing the letters to you, and I think it would be really strange to just stop. Maybe I should write them a bit less often – your birthday and half-birthday? Or maybe I should write them on good old-fashioned paper…or not.
See, today you are 5 years and 1 month old. And I thought to myself that I should stop writing you letters on my blog. And I was really going to stop. But then I thought that you’d be looking through someday and get to the last one, when you turned 5, and wonder why I just suddenly stopped. So, I started writing to tell you that I was going to stop, and now there’s a whole letter full of angst about whether I should be writing you letters.
What will I do next month? I guess we’ll have to wait and see!
Love, Mommy
The other morning, Carrie piped up with, “Mommy, we made cards for the vegetarian in our class!”
Me: ….???…. You have a vegetarian in your class? Who is it? Are they sick?
Carrie: No, Mommy, the vegetarian. You know?
Me: Um, you mean a “vegan”?
Carrie: No. Maybe it’s not the right word. There’s a day for it, Vegetarian’s Day.
Me: (at this point I’m struggling not to laugh out loud) Oh! You mean you made cards for a veteran??
Carrie: Yeah, that’s it! For Veteritarian’s Day!
Denis and I then tried to explain to her what a veteran is, but I don’t think it quite sank in. I think she thinks there’s a day to celebrate not eating meat. Or possibly for being a veterinarian. Sigh.
So, Happy Veteritarian’s Day!
We got Carrie’s school pictures back today. She picked out both her dress and the background color. I can only take credit for her pretty brown eyes!
We did a bit of raking today!
Carrie’s class had a halloween party today, and they were supposed to wear their costumes. Instead of dealing with her long flowing ghost costume, Carrie decided to be a cat. Black ears, a pin-on tail, some eyeliner whiskers, and my cute kitty-cat headed off to school.
I picked her up so we could make it to the rehearsal for my brother’s wedding. So she got to wear her cat costume while practicing dropping rose petals for tomorrow.
It’s been a busy day, and tomorrow is going to be even busier. It just seems like the busier I am the faster the days go by…
We had a giant kids’ party today, featuring a Dora mermaid cake:
and sand art:
and presents:
And now, Carrie is officially five!
(Also, thank you to Greta and my dad for taking some of these pictures!)
Dear Carolyn,
Today you are five. Five seems so old, doesn’t it? Last year I was worried about you turning four, because it seemed like I was losing my baby. But this year I was excited for you to turn five. You’ve been excited too!
Since your birthday party is tomorrow, we spent the day doing other things. We started out with chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast – your favorite. After that, you had a friend’s birthday party to go to. Then you and I ran some errands to get ready for your party tomorrow and for Uncle Dan and Aunt Genevra’s wedding next weekend. After our errands, we hung out at home for a bit and opened your presents, and then you picked the local Mexican restaurant for dinner. They brought you your own fried ice cream for dessert!
We had an exhausting but good day, and we’re just about ready for the invasion party tomorrow. I still can’t believe my little girl is five! There are so many things you can do all by yourself now, and so many things you know. But you’re still my sweet baby, and always will be!
Love, Mommy
24 cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles…check!
Napkins…check!
Camera…check!
Time to go watch Carrie celebrate her birthday with her class!
Today I had a lunch date with Carrie at the school cafeteria. She was thrilled to have me there, and I hope I can join her another time. The other kids were funny, too – once I helped one of them open something, the rest of them suddenly had something that needed opening!
Then I read Some Dogs Do to the class. I don’t know why I get nervous reading to a group of small children, but I do. But I made it through and I think they liked the story.
I also went to the library to get an idea of what I could volunteer for. If I can get some childcare for Anna a couple of times a month I think I’ll go help out.