Election 101

Catherine ran for Vice President of her class, despite this lovely poster, an incredible speech and her general enthusiasm, she was not the victor. Still, I am very proud of her!

Football 2010

Catherine visits Kenan once a year and here is our annual visit. She went the first time at 2 years old, although Jake is 2, he was not invited this year. The boy cannot sit still. It was a fun day, beautiful fall weather and the Heels won (barely). Hope to be visiting one or both children in Chapel Hill someday, it is just an idyllic place.

Future Quarterback & Homecoming Queen???

My neighbor's son with Catherine, they have been friends since they both arrived on the earth, I just loved this photo. It almost physically hurts me to see that they are on the verge of being 7 and 8 years old. Time flies....

New Pictures

Worst Blogger in the world award....don't know if anyone will even take a moment to look at this. I am just so busy that I never do this! But, for me it is fun to go back and see old pictures of the kiddos - so I am going to try, try again.

All is well for the Pruitt's! Sweet little ones loved Halloween, for the most part. Jake was a little creeped out by the spookiness of the evening.

Happy Day

Had a great day with family and friends, so grateful for this time in life. Sweet husband, good kids and wonderful friends!!!

THANKS!

Catherineisms

Just pulled out the iron, Catherine says, "Mom, why do you have an ironing machine if you don't iron." GREAT QUESTION!

****************************************************************************

Last night...Catherine says, "You know I broke up with Sam at the start of the year." I say,"Yeah, I know, what about Wilson."

Catherine, "Well, I am done with Wilson now."

Me, "OH."

Catherine, "Now it is me and Adam."

Me, "My goodness Catherine, three boys in one year of kindergarten."

Catherine, "Well, you know it is just the life cycle of boys."

CRACKED ME UP!!! Hope she always has this healthy of an attitude about relationships!

Horsing Around

Catherine is loving taking horse back riding and I am so proud of her. She is dedicated and enthused about riding, lots of fun. We took her to see Cavalia, see link below:

www.cavalia.net

She was thrilled by this show, and I was awed by it!

Jake's Progression

Sorry so long since I wrote. We had the furniture market, which was very busy and then lots of follow up! Everything is going great, work is picking up, which is fantastic!

Here's a vignette from our home today:

This afternoon, Jake squats down in front of me and says to me, "Mama, Poop."

I said, "Are you pooping Jake?"

Jake says, "Yeah, Mama."

I say, "You want to go poop on the potty?"

Jake says, "No, mama!!!"

Proceeds to do his business in his pants, but he is starting to get it!

The whole thing spells progress.

Riding on the boat

Even though Catherine still has a weird fear of the boat, Jake loves it. Here is a picture of a lovely boat ride. Jake wanted to DRIVE THE BOAT!!!

One more thing...

Catherine told me tonight she'd make an Easter Basket for the bunny. She put together candy and added them together and wrote a letter...

I will translate the letter posted here:

Dear Easter Bunny,

What is your name is it just easter bunny

Love

Catherine

PS I hiding a basket

SHE CRACKS ME UP......

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY!

WITH LOVE

THE PRUITT CLAN!

Wow, it is April!

Seems like this is the time of year that everything starts going so fast. With lots of events coming up at Catherine's school, including an Earth Day celebration that I am not much help for, due to the gardening component - a gift I was not born with, contrary to the rest of my family. Plus - furniture market is right around the corner and then we have two trips planned in May, I almost feel like I cannot keep up!

Thank goodness I have Catherine, who is a big help and mini-mom to Jake. Pictures shown here are from the other night...she and Jake played - "pretend we are at the beach." They put on their swim suits and got beach towels and had a beach party in the family room. They were so cute, Bryan and I actually sat and relaxed just watching them - they were fully entertained by each other, that is the way to run the show!!!

Cloning 101?

Bryan often says I am cloning Catherine, there was evidence of that this week, when she disappeared into the bathroom and came out looking like this picture and I asked her what she was doing...she says, "Mom, I am playing Elphaba." We proceeded to sing and dance to "Defying Gravity" and "Popular" on youtube. She is my broadway baby!!!

Please note Jake in the background in his shirt and diaper - no pants - this is the south after all! :-)

Catherine's Take on her brother...

At dinner tonight, Catherine says, "I am glad I have a brother, because even if I had no friends or no friends around, I always have my brother." Then she said, "And he plays Sleeping Beauty with me, he kisses me to wake me up!"

This is the whole reason for siblings.

This picture is an oldie, but a goodie of the two of them.

The Magic of the Kingdom

There really are no words to describe how much fun we had in Orlando at the Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot and the Animal Kingdom. The best way I can describe it is from the words of Catherine...last night when I was putting her to bed, she said, "Mommy, that was the best vacation of my whole life!"

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/ecardviewer.aspx?id=e707febd-054b-4f9d-9165-f28b603829eb

Catherine Turns 6!!

What a wonderful celebration of our sweet 6 year old, we had a fantastic weekend beginning with Catherine's birthday on Friday the 19th! I was the mystery reader at Catherine's school and shared cookies with the whole class at lunch and then took her out a little early for a visit to the pedicure place! That night we went to dinner with family and then Catherine got to go to the Daddy/Daughter dance at her school, she was thrilled! She looked beautiful, so grown up!

Saturday AM, Catherine had 5 good friends over for a pancake breakfast and games (Bingo, etc.). So much fun, and the girls were wonderful with one of the highlights all 6 of them dancing to Catherine's new Taylor Swift CD!!!

Saturday PM, we had a family dinner with all Catherine's grandparents, it was such a treat, we are so grateful!

Here are some photos highlighting the events (I will leave out Catherine's upset stomach that hit on Sunday evening, focus on the positive - she is doing fine now, but the stomach bug is nasty)!

Jake Post!

Need to give Jake some love after all the posts about Catherine. This is Jake in his toy basket in his room, right after his bath. He loves his bath every night, then playtime in his room for awhile before bedtime. The other night, he just started clearing out toys from this basket and then taking his blankie and a book and climbing in for some reading time. He says "BUK, BUK." This means book in Jake "speak."
One more funny Jake story - the kid does not eat much lately, ever since he got a cold he has no appetite and has been subsisting on a liquid diet (too bad I don't follow the same program). This morning, I gave him some frosted mini wheats - usually a favorite. He said, "DOWN, DOWN!!!" I took him out of his high chair, even though he did not eat any of the breakfast at all! Then he went to the pantry took out some Lucky Charms, normally we don't have these (Bryan bought them as a "treat."). He came back to his high chair, handed me the Lucky Charms, I put some out for him and put him back in his seat. He proceeded to eat ONLY the marshmallows! Tricky little guy!!!

Snow Again, Etc.

Oh my goodness, more snow. It is almost unbelievable. But today was really exceptionally pretty. This picture was from early this morning....but as the day has gone on the sun on the 3 " of snow has been gorgeous. Just beautiful...

We had two sick ones this week and I am grateful to say they are both on the road to recovery. BUT I am not a great stay in the house mom, I have been eager to get out and about. I feel a little stir crazy and grumpy in the house all the time and I know that is not my natural mood! So glad everyone is feeling better.

I love the picture of Catherine, Bryan and Jake out on the front porch from last night. Catherine was so awed by the snow last night and wanted to sit outside and watch it fall. Jake was still not feeling well at all, but we wrapped him up in the blanket. So glad for this family!!!

What a sad start for the Olympics with the death of the athlete from Georgia. Even still, I think the Olympics are just amazing! The best athletes in each country having a chance to compete against the best athletes in the whole world - really outstanding. We tried to watch the opening ceremonies, and saw about half and then got too tired. So we taped them and will watch them today. So much fun watching the opening ceremonies with Bryan who had a running commentary, which had me laughing, which felt so good after being a shut in for a few days.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Dinner at the Pruitt Household

I love this picture of the little ones. Jake is becoming a little man and loves playing with his big sister.

Dinner at our household is not as Norman Rockwell as I would like to claim it. After making what I thought was a good dinner, chicken, broccoli and rice, both kids turned their nose up at the eats. Jake ate nothing and cried out "DOWN," most of dinner (which is what he says when he wants to get down) and Catherine cried that the chicken was too crispy, she did not like the rice and the broccoli NEEDED cheese. I thought, while making dinner, we'd have a lovely night - ughhh. Catherine cried at the table too, but never could explain what she was crying about. The vision of the family dinner and the reality were very different.

Still by bedtime, everyone was settled and happy. Stories read, PJ's on and peaceful little people!

Happy Wednesday!

Catherine - isms

Tonight, I was reading a book to Catherine about horse care (one of 21 books we took out from the library about horses). The book said once a year, the doctor comes to check on the horse and give him a physical and shots...Catherine says, "But where do they put the band aid after the horse gets its shot?" Those of you who know Catherine's obsession with band aids will find this very funny!

Another one...we listen to a lot of Broadway musicals here and one of our favorites is INTO THE WOODS. I just saw that it was coming to CPCC's Halton Theater this summer. I told Catherine and said I was so excited and maybe we could go, since she knows the music. She says, "Mommy, is it scary?" I said,"Not really, most of the stories are stories you already know, like the big bad wolf in Little Red Riding Hood." She says, "We can just fast forward through the scary parts." I had to explain to her that live theater does not really work that way.

Love that girl...

SNOW DAY

Catherine was outside in the snow by 7:06 AM and back in again by 7:18 AM, seems she is a true southerner. She will go out again, it'll be that way all day long. Here are a few shots. The news says we got about 6 inches...I don't know if I agree, but it sounds good. Now it is sleeting!

I need an intern...

In honor of SNOW DAY, here are two old photos. My mom, with our family dog Brutus (Emily, Ginger and Courtney, you will re-call the recent story about this sweet dog). Also, a picture of my beautiful sister Pam back in the snow, when we lived in Illinois!

We are all very excited that it is snowing, for us it is a novelty and so beautiful. Catherine is looking forward to sledding tomorrow AM. What a place to live, where Thursday it is 62 degrees and Friday we are having Winter Blast 2010!

Today, there seemed to be a lot on my plate and I got to thinking it would be so nice to have a "domestic intern." Doesn't this make so much sense? I could have them do some of the menial, tedious tasks that I just feel like I cannot fit in the day. Certainly, they'd come in handy for childcare too, but really they could even make phone calls for me and other work associated tasks - not to mention run an errand or two for me. Seems like a great idea and I am thinking I may start this program at the local high school. Interns are great, because unlike an assistant, you don't have to pay them, but they earn by the fact that this is a learning experience. It may keep today's young women in school much longer and have them more driven to succeed. It may even increase the percentage of women going for a Masters degrees or a Doctorates?

Enjoy the snow!

7th Heaven

Catherine has been talking horses for so long that we finally broke down and let her have a lesson. It was a great start! She was delighted, if not a little nervous when the teacher said they'd try a trot. I thought I was on the horse as nervous as my stomach was...

Overall, it was a great start! She was happy (and safe)... The ride out to the stable (13 miles from us) was pleasant, just me and Catherine singing songs together on a beautiful 65 degree day. I was fortunate that my mom kept Jake while we went to the lesson. Here are a few shots...

Jake's First Haircut...

First picture shows the new hair cut, precedeing pictures show the terror and anxiety of the "first" hair cut. Needless to say, he did not enjoy it. In the final picture, you will notice Catherine's hand...she was blowing bubbles to try to distract him (with good intent). Too bad, most of the bubbles were going straight into Jake's eyes. The animal crackers that Jessie (the hair dresser) gave Jake did not solve the problem either, they just came out on his chin in a mush ball. Even still, he did look awfully cute when it was all done and he even got to keep his "trademark" curls!

Happy Day

So glad to see my girl smiling so big! What a change, we had some adjustment issues getting going in kindergarten, but she is ready and willing to go now. This is such a relief. I love this little girl!!!!

A few pictures from our visit to the beach after Christmas!

Happy New Year!!!

Just thought I should add to the magic of Christmas...Catherine woke on Christmas morning beyond excited! She showed up in our room at 6:20 AM. C: "Mommy, Daddy, do you think Santa came?" Mommy: "Catherine, why don't you go downstairs and check." Less than 1 minuted later, Catherine comes charging up the stairs and runs into our room, "Mommy, Daddy, Santa CAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!" We told her she had to wait until 7 AM to go down and get the stockings started. On the way down the steps at 7 AM on the dot, she turns to me and says, "Mommy, let's go open presents for baby Jesus." Made me laugh!

Happy New Year to all of you!

One of the reasons I love Christmas!

Catherine got a Diary for Christmas and shared this entry with me... For those who don't speak kindergarten spelling, it says "Is Santa real Yes!" There is a true excitement in this short message that shows how the whole month of December felt so magical for her and in turn for the whole family. I especially like the exclamation point after the YES! What a great holiday we all had!

Giving it another go!

I have been off line for several years with this blog! I have decided to give it another go! In the years offline...there has been an addition, "limited edition Pruitt offspring #2," as Bryan likes to call him. Jake, now 18 months old. We are having a wonderful adventure with these two little people. Here is one of the sweeter moments and tells the whole story, the two of them make our world go round!!!!