Star Student

Catherine Ellis was Star Student the week of March 16th at school - so much fun!  She counted down the days until her big day and we worked hard on her poster all weekend making it look just right.

Getting ready to present her Star Student Poster with all her favorite things

At this point in the year, many of her friends have had the opportunity to shine and she wanted to shine just as brightly, though I tried hard to convey to her that her Mama wasn't nearly as creative and crafty as other Mamas - but nothing deterred our girl.

After sifting through pictures upon pictures she selected 12 of her most favorite to print, then insisted we use glitter to decorate her awesome poster.  Glitter we did! (make sure your volume is turned up - our girl is a bit shy it seems in front of the group)

Most special of all, Meme and I got to join Cat at school to see her introduce her Star Student poster to her classmates and have Meme read one of Cat's favorite books - Fancy Nancy.  It was magical! Meme loved being back in the classroom and interacting with all the children.  Cat was super proud we were there and it was fun to be a part of her day.

Meme and leprachan Catherine Ellis

I should probably also mention that it was St. Patrick's Day - that's why you see CE dressed with her St. Patty's Day costume - she's the prettiest little leprechaun I know!

Introducing Meme and her book, Fancy Nancy

Reading to her classmates

We even joined her for lunch afterwards - and quickly stuffed our bellies with goodness (their lunch is 25 minutes - which seems SO fast!).  It was a wonderful day to celebrate our star with her friends!

 Selfie at lunch - fastest lunch I've ever seen Catherine Ellis eat!

 Love her so!

February Round-up

February round- up in March - that's how we're rolling in 2015 - just a wee bit behind, but having a blast!  February was a busy month getting back into the swing of things after a great Christmas vacation and time with dear family and friends.

We kicked February off with a visit from some sweet, sweet friends that we don't see often enough. We spent the day roaming the streets, eating good food and playing outside.  Ain't nothing better!

We celebrated Valentine's Day - the girls both had fun celebrations at school and I once again acted like it was a contest to see who's mommy made the cutest Valentines, because let's be honest, a 5 and 3 year old do not make their own Valentines.  Let's just say, I think I came in a close second.  There were some awesome homemade Valentines out there this year.

Next up, Catherine Ellis celebrated Community Helper Day at school and she went as a firefighter. The Cain family sure loves some local firefighters and firefighters to-be.  Sweet Wyatt lent his awesome firefighting outfit to Catherine Ellis for the day - isn't it adorable?

Firefighter Cain

And last but not least, Daddy and Catherine Ellis had a date to see Cinderella at the Alabama Ballet.  They had a wonderful time and Catherine Ellis was thrilled to get some one-on-one time with her most favorite family member ever (her words!).

Daddy and CE headed to the ballet

Getting ready to see Cinderella 

Chili Cook-Off

We look forward to The Exceptional Foundation's Chili Cook-off every year.  David started volunteering with a local brewery that needed a team to cook three years ago and it's been a blast each year.

The Good People Brewing Cook-off Team (and tiny helper)

We always see lots of good friends, sweet puppies and eat good chili.  This year was no different - it was another beautiful weather day - sun shining, temps just right and lots of fun to be had.

Team Cain

Caroline and the sweetest boxer puppy 

Last year Good People won the People's Choice, but this year they didn't place - that's okay - it was still a winning day in our book!  Doesn't get much better than good weather, great friends and a good cause!

 Steph and CE - love them!

 Matt and Ray Ray - we sure do miss the greatest neighbors ever!

 Cutest motley crew you ever did see!

Happy Birthday Meme!

We had a blast celebrating Meme's birthday!  It was a girls weekend full of lots of girl time, food, and visits with family.  The girls and I had been looking forward to it for weeks.  We missed David, but he was out having a blast shooting things with some good friends - aren't they a good lookin' bunch?

We started the weekend off with a surprise lunch for Meme with some of her dearest friends - it was so much fun to spend some time with people that love Meme and take such good care of her.  It didn't hurt that it was at Russell Crossroads - such a gorgeous place!

Next we headed to Auburn to eat a yummy dinner with Andrew, Kim and Lily.  The girls were most excited to see sweet Lily - who is the best baby ever!  Such a good time with our family.

We sure love Meme and can't wait to celebrate many, many more birthdays!

Finally!

Alabama has turned into quiet the winter destination the past couple of years.  It's the only place in the south you can get record snow storms and 70 degree weather with possible tornadoes within a week of each other!

Earlier this week we were warned that a huge snowstorm (huge for us is two inches, let's be real) was on the horizon and we needed to prepare.  Temperatures dropped, schools delayed and next thing we knew we were bracing for six inches of snow.  The girls were SO excited.  I'll admit David and I were too.

After our escapade last year, I'd much rather be home in the snow and ice, than out trying to get home.  So I was thankful the schools closed and my workplace.  David was able to work from home - so we were ready for some snow.

And it rained.  And rained.  And rained.  It was a freezing rain with some ice here and there.  We were about 25 miles from the bigger snow 3 inches and in many places 6-9 inches.  We were so sad. But just as we were giving up, it started to snow at 7:15 p.m. last night and the girls were beside themselves.

SO excited!  FINALLY!

We let them play for a good 20 minutes while it was coming down hard and beautifully.  Then off to bed.  We told them we'd play in the morning.  We got enough to dust everything pretty well.  But not enough to last past 6:00 a.m.  Bummer.

Using snow from Daddy's truck to make the snowman

But we made the best of it and played (David and the girls, I don't do snow).  They even managed a snowman.  Sweet little, pitiful thing!

Aunt B, Uncle C, Pop, Gran, Stace, Jamie and Carrie are all still snowed in and schools/businesses closed.  We wish we had some of their snow, but it will be nice to have one normal day this week and start to get back to our routine.  We've loved every minute of delayed school/work start times and playing together!

Sweet things and their wee snowman

We can't wait for the next snow - but until then we'll enjoy our 70 degree temps and rain next week!

Mama was thrilled her snowman was still alive after school!

Run Cat Run!

Catherine Ellis is loving kindergarten - and running has been a big part of her kindergarten year.  She started off the school year running in PE - a few laps here and there each time she went - and next thing you know, she'd run 25 miles!  Her school participates in the Mercedes Marathon - a local marathon in downtown Birmingham that gives children the opportunity to fall in love with running.

Ready to run!

Proud mama

You'll remember Catherine Ellis and David ran in her school's fundraiser - Turkey Trot - in November and she ran a fast mile!  She's been running for a couple of years with me in 5K's (largely riding in the stroller, but as she's gotten older she wants to run some) so I think we've sparked a love for her - and if nothing else, it's just plain fun for her right now!

Waving to Daddy and Caroline

Getting ready to line up

And fun we had last weekend!  Elementary aged children run the Saturday before the marathon on Sunday morning - it's all fun!

It was a bit chilly and windy but her gear kept her warm!

Lining up with the kindergartners

Catherine Ellis ran the Turkey Trot with David - so this was her very first race all by herself.  I didn't think a thing about it until I saw a ton of parents running with their wees.  I didn't worry though because I knew she could do it - it was just a mile and if she ran super fast, it would be over in just a few minutes.  And fast my girl ran!

Running hard and fast (by herself!)!

We talked about running and not stopping (unless she just had to). David followed her for a bit on the route and snapped the picture above. She's got her hands in her shirt because it's cold, but it didn't slow her down.

Catherine Ellis started in the second pack of kindergartners (there were three) and she ended up being in the top 10 that finished.  She was the fourth little girl to come in!  WOO HOO!.

Listening to directions about starting slow so no one falls

There she goes -she's the little white headband to the right of the middle 

I was waiting for her at the finish line - and as soon as I arrived, I knew we had a problem.  There waiting for them to finish were Aubie, Big Al and Blaze (UAB).  Catherine Ellis is scared to death of mascots - has been since the day she was old enough to recognize one.  I was afraid it wouldn't end well.

But she surprised me - she rounded the corner, saw them and kept running until she got within a few feet.  Then came to a dead stop and starting crying.  There was a sweet volunteer on the other side of the gates (I was on the parent side, too far away to help) and she held Cat's hand while she ran past the mascots.  As soon as she got past them she was fine!

Finish line in sight!

We were all SO proud of our Cat Cat!  She did great!  She's ready to run again next year and Caroline says she'll think about it (good thing she's got a few years!).

Proud little

High fives!

Sweet Daddy and CE

Maybe 10 years from now, you'll be reading about the track star we have on our hands - we can't wait to see what the future holds for her!  

Lily's First Birthday!

Our precious niece, Lily, celebrated her first birthday a couple of weeks ago.  Time flies when you're having fun.  She's crawling and toddling all over the place.  Such a fun age!

We headed to Auburn to spend a Saturday celebrating her and visiting with our family.  It was so much fun!  The girls can hardly keep their hands off Lily - they love a baby.  And she loves to play most of the time, such a good sport.

We had lunch, cake and even a hayride!  Thank you for inviting us to your big day Lily.  May this be your most fun year yet!

While in Auburn we got to see the Evans and our friend, Dalton and her mommy.  We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening celebrating another sweet friend, Mary Bentley.  Yay for all day birthday parties with friends and family!

Soaking up the Sun

It's been a dreary winter thus far - the sun's had a hard time finding it's way through all the rain and clouds, so when the sun does come out - we soak it up!

A few weeks ago it was a beautiful, mild winter day and the sun was shining bright!  We hurried our morning errands so we could head to the Zoo to soak up as much vitamin D as possible with our sweet Solomon ladies!

We hit the train first - always a crowd pleaser!

 Love this!

The Alpine slide was up next - Allison and I joined in on the fun too - it was quite the slide and the girls loved it!

 CE ready to slide

 This wee is always up for a thrill

Wildest wees of all!

And last, but not least, me and my scared of heights self - but I went!  I couldn't be the odd lady out!

We visited the rhinos, elephants and fish as we made our way to merry-go-round.  Another crowd favorite.  I think we rode six times and switched animals and mommies each time.  Lots of fun!  It was the best day!

We can't wait to go back again!  We love the Birmingham Zoo - and thanks to Meme our membership allows us to go anytime we want!