Movie Day

On Friday Mom, Casey, and I got really brave. We loaded up 5 children age 4 and under and went to the movies to see The Smurfs! Let me be more specific. We had 5 car seats in Casey's Armada :) :) These little ones were very, very well-behaved. All hands were on deck, so I was only able to snap some poor quality cell phone pics, ha.

Brantlee, Blair, Fischer, Collin and Baby Tate in the back. Tate was seriously the quietest one there- didn't make a single peep!

Excuse the blurriness. I didn't want to look like a psycho taking a whole bunch of pictures so I just took this one. They looked so cute waiting for the movie to start. Too bad you can only see 2 of the children, ha.

The movie was very cute, and I they all really enjoyed it. But it wasn't animated like the kids are used to. When we asked Collin if he liked it, he said he did, "but it was a little bit peopl-y." We translated that to mean there were more real people than he thought there would be- ha! Good times!

School supplies

The start of preschool is just around the corner, and Collin has been so pumped about buying his school supplies.  Last year he had a hard time starting school for the first 2 weeks or so.  Hopefully this year will be easier on him since he loved it so much last year. 

His take on starting school again, "Well...I'm not excited, but I'm not gonna cry."

HA! Fair enough.

I forgot to post a picture of him blowing out some candles on his actual birthday on the 19th.

Wardrobe drama

I knew that having a girl would one day mean wardrobe/clothing issues. But I had no idea it started this early. Everyone tells me that "it only gets worse the older they get," but I honestly don't see how???

While this is intended to be a funny post, getting Brantlee dressed to go ANYWHERE is nothing to laugh about. I honestly dread it every time. Here is what we struggle with ...so I can laugh about the real struggles when she is 16 ;)

• It doesn't matter what I pick out the first time, she isn't going to approve of it. That's a definite. Everytime. And that brings me to the next point.
• I have followed the advice of several people and I now pick out 3 different outfits and let her choose. If I don't, then she storms to her dresser and pulls out something crazy that doesn't match and/or fit. Simple, right?  BUT the outfits I pick out to let her choose from must meet certain criteria. This brings me to the next point.
• The top/shirt/dress she wears MUST have sleeves. End of discussion. And I can respect this! However, I wasn't aware of this issue in April and May when I purchased many sleeveless outfits and shirts. This issue came up somewhere during June. And there just aren't too many sleeved little girl clothes for the summer!
• Solution: I have purchased little solid-colored fitted t shirts to layer under some of her sleeveless things. So far so good. But let's discuss shoes.
•  Flip flops or "shlip shlops" must be worn everywhere. And again, I get that. But sometimes a little girl needs to wear some cute summer sandals. If she notices anyone else wearing flip flops and she isn't, it is bad news. 
• Now on to sleepwear. Up until now, every day was a new day about what she wanted to sleep in, and not just any pair of pj's would do. We have recently introduced B to the night gown, and she is hooked. It is precious and too funny.  She wears it all the time and would wear it out places if I let her. It has even replaced her Minnie Mouse dress! (gasp) The problem is that I only bought one.  Note to self: Go back to Belk today and see if they have anymore in her size :) :)

Here are some pictures just to further explain.

What we have here is a classic meltdown getting dressed.  Although this outfit has sleeves, I think she wanted the Hello Kitty nightgown. But we were going to night church, so that wasn't happening. Had to put my foot down.

Whew!! A sleeveless outfit AND sandals. I bought this outfit over a month ago, and it has taken me until now get her to wear it. It wasn't easy either.

If if was up to her, "fawy" and "pwincess" attire would be worn everywhere we go. So if you see us around somewhere and we look like this....

And here we are in the night gown that has Brantlee lovestruck!

Yes, we play in it outside in the afternoons. Don't judge.

Now let me make something clear. I am in no way trying to create a little girl who thinks she has to have perfect clothes and matching shoes everywhere she goes.  I really do want a daughter who thinks individuality and inner beauty are important. However, she is a two-year-old little girl, and I get a window of opportunity to dress her in precious little clothes. (And snap as many pictures as I can.) That's it, a blink of an eye! Is that asking too much?

A typical weekend night

If there is one thing the Cragers like to do, it is dine out! When the kiddos were younger (not that they are very old- ha) it was nearly impossible to go out to eat anywhere. Don't get me wrong, it's no piece of cake now.  But it is fairly enjoyable and much easier than it used to be (if you don't count the 5 to 6 times we visit the restroom for one person or another). When we can convince Collin that our meal does NOT have to involve chips and cheese dip at a Mexican restaurant, we try to find somewhere different to eat. Last night it was Gold Pub & Grill. It was very good, and we got to eat outside, which is ALWAYS a plus with kids. This would be a fun place to go to with adults... any takers??

The kids and I had some yummy pizzas! (Mine had seafood on it!)

Kyle had the BEST burger he'd ever tasted. It was stuffed with cheese and bacon. OH MY! Good thing he just signed up to run the St. Jude's MARATHON in December-ha! I'm serious!

Then it was off to the jumpy place, Sam's, & and Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream with gummy bears on top (a new obsession the kids have.) It was a fun little Friday night :):)

The good stuff

A not so hot trip to the park this week!

"I'll turn you into a princess, Mommy."

Scooter-riding practice- he wakes up ready to ride and is usually in his pj's riding before breakfast :)

A highly supervised, yet "I do it!" fingernail painting session :) :)

Ahoy Mateys!

We celebrated Collin turning 4 yesterday evening with a fun pirate party! So many friends and family came over, and we were so happy and grateful for every person who came.  It was HOT, but not as bad as it could have been. Just the low to mid 90's... piece of cake ;)

Collin is so willing and proud to pose for pictures such as these :) Cracks us up.

At the party we had treasure and gave it to our friends!

We had some really friendly and cute pirates show up. Here are just a few of them. (There were about 16 or so of them!)

Kaden

Karsen

Colby

Lil Sister Brantlee (who wore her pirate get-up the.entire.party.)

Happy Birthday to YOU, Collin.

Where did time go? Four candles!

Making a wish, maybe?

Collin has some very sweet, generous friends. He loved every single gift.

Then it was time to bust the pirate ship pinata. Fischer was giving it his best shot!

Nana Lea made (not bought) this tee pee. Too cool!

Winding the party down at dark.

All geared up riding his new Spiderman bike today.

Scooting around on his new scooter that Mee Maw and Paw Paw gave him. He's already gotten the hang of both of these riding toys. After a pretty decent wipe-out on the scooter at his party (OUCH!), we decided our gear was a must.

Got fish? Well, we do! Lolly and Poppy got C an aquarium. He got to pick out the fish and all that goes inside.  This will be an exciting adventure, I'm sure. We started out with Fred, Harry, Goldie, Ugh, & Spot.  We are sad to report that Fred did not make the transition into his new home at the Crager residence :( :( So now we are down to 4. But both kids have taken the news well. Of course, they are so eager to feed the fish. We have to watch them close so that our fish don't think they live at a buffet- ha!

Cousin love! This is the first time all four have been photographed together. Pretty good picture, I thought.

Happy, happy 4th birthday Collin. We love you!!

A little update

We've been laying low around here lately, still enjoying summer, but certainly not the heat. I'm not sure where the last couple of weeks have gone! Well, actually I do.  I'm taking 2 classes at William Carey for the month of July (yikes), and that is keeping me pretty busy.  I've still managed to take some random pictures of course.

Their new Hungry Hippos game - such a hit!

I honestly never thought the day would come when they would gladly embrace each other for a picture. Don't they look so old?!?!

We went to the Pierce's for a fun playdate and slid on their water slide.

Collin is turning 4 soon, and our friends Harrison and Hudson can't make the party. They were so sweet to throw Collin a "mini" party the other night with candles and cupcakes.

And presents!! How sweet of them!

A couple of pictures before church.

"I spwinkle you with fawy dust." Thanks B!

We celebrated a very special lady's birthday at Mi Casita on Sunday! Mee Maw turned 73. She loves these great grandchildren so, so much. It was such a joy to watch them help her blow out the candles!

Such a beautiful, special woman :) :) I couldn't BELIEVE they actually put the cream on her face!! Even little great grandmothers don't get spared?!?!? She loved it tho.

Tate wanted to blow out the candles too. Maybe next year little buddy.

I think B had been awake about 10 minutes before she asked me to help her "skate" around the living room. Who gave her these things?!? Oh wait... Santa did ;)

Beating the heat at home.

Playdate with Karsen, Kooper and Luke (somehow Luke escaped the picture)

We are in pirate party planning mode! Collin's birthday party is Friday. Karsen and Kooper gave Collin his present a little early, and we havn't stopped playing with this pirate playset yet. 

Collin scared the daylights out of Kyle with this pop gun - so funny! He was sooo not expecting this when he got home from work- ha.

A little painting on a hot afternoon indoors.

Okay enough blogging! Back to party planning and paper writing!