Willows Easter Egg hunt

I had noticed in the front of our neighborhood an obscure little sign for a neighborhood Easter egg hunt this Sunday at 3 pm. (they could use some "Missy help" with their signs - but that's another whole conceited story)... anyway, I don't think the girls noticed b/c they never said anything about it. Well the girls and I watched an "old" Disney movie (Hunchback of Notre Dame - I was reminiscing about an old WDW trip) and it ended right before 3. As I glanced out our kitchen window I noticed (and so did Katie) a semi large group of people walking down the street with Easter baskets and I remembered the hunt, which was just down the street. I asked the girls if they wanted to go - and of course they did. It was quaint - maybe about 30 kids total, but I'm pretty sure this is the first year they've done it. It was low pressure and the girls got free candy, which was pretty much gone by the time we walked back home. Here are the photos: Its such a shame I can't get my girls to pose: Did I mention the "blow up guy" is our neighborhood association president? Hunting for eggs, I asked Katie to please not knock over any toddlers. Luckily they separated the little kids and the big kids: Katie find a shiny green egg:

Emma hunts for her own treats!

This is the last year Katie can hunt; they stopped it at 10 years old. Next year I guess she'll have to bargain with Emma for her candy!

Emma's Kindergarten fieldtrip

Friday, Mark and I both played hookie from school to go on Emma's fieldtrip to the Baton Rouge zoo. I figured with our upcoming budget cuts for next year, we'll never have subs, so I better milk it while I can. It ended up being a great day and we really enjoyed it. Here is one of only about 3 actual animal pictures that I took. Most of my pics are of my beautiful child, of course. The flamingos: Emma and her daddy:

This is really the only shot I got of the whole class. We kind of toured on our own with our little group, so this was before we got rolling:

Emma and her BFF, Addie:

At the entrance of the zoo:

Emma and Addie check out the otters. They were really active when we got there, so it was too cute to see them swimming around:

This is Emma and Addie with Russell who was assigned to Mark and I's group. He was about a head shorter than Emma and too precious. We fell in love with him and really enjoyed hanging out with him. He's Mark's new buddy!

Silly picture:

Emma, Cameron (who's mom teaches with Mark and I) and Addie at the playground. Emma doesn't know this, but there was a petting zoo right behind this that she didn't even know about! (tee-hee-hee):

Russell, Addie and Emma with Toni, who was officially in Addie's group - we all kinda walked together:

Mark messing around with Addie:

... then of course, Emma had to have her turn, and I think Russell is "defending her honor" here:

Emma and Aidan right before we leave. (He is her sometimes boyfriend!) Don't tell Daddy!

Carroll hits 500!

So Mark won his 500th career game today against St. Michael. This is a huge accomplishment in the coaching circles and we are very proud of him. Way to go, Daddy: Here he is with his team:

2 week catch up!

Not sure what I did this time, but just a warning that the formatting on this post is all out of whack. No matter how many times I "redid" the pictures and text, it was still funky. Next time, I'll see what i can do: So this post will be brief on words, but plentiful on pictures. As with most Spring semesters, the Carroll's have been very busy with dance, birthdays and baseball, baseball baseball! Here are a few pictures from the last 2 weeks of festivities: The Carroll girls dress in green for St. Patrick'sday, no pinches here! Emma had a day off from Kindergarten last Friday (for registration for next year's class), so twist my arm, I took a day off to play with my baby. We had a play date at the park with her friend Aidan. Are they too precious? That night we had a small gathering of coaching friends for Mark's 50th birthday. Here is a picture of Mark with his sign (which was originally Coach Nettles' sign 2 days earlier for his 40th). This is the only picture I could publish safely from that night: The next night on Saturday, Nannie Kim was wonderful enough to keep the girls so Mark and I could get away from DS and baseball to a wonderful bed and breakfast we found several years ago in Breaux Bridge. This was our view from our cottage: Here we are in front of our cottage sitting by the pond - not a bad shot from arms length: Here is our cottage, appropriately for us, named, "The Schoolhouse": ... the next day (Sunday), Katie had pictures at dancing. This is her jazz outfit, and her ballet one is behind us hanging on the door. (this is where the big money comes in for girls ) Boys would have been so much cheaper! Posing with friends, Breanna and Taylor: That Monday night we had our family celebration for Daddy's birthday (b/c he had a game in Zachary Tuesday night of his bday). Here are the girls lighting Daddy's favorite cake, vanilla with chocolate icing: Even at 50, Mark can still blow out the candles: Then, this past Friday night, Katie and I went to the Baton Rouge Ballet's 50th gala show at the River Center. I actually won these tickets when I filled out a raffle ticket when she did the Nutcracker in December - yeah Missy! .. and just for posterity sake.. this is what Mark does pretty much every other day now: .. and we sit on the other side and watch and eat nachos! Later!

Carroll hits 250!

... No, not my weight!

Mark got his 250th win at Denham this past week. We are very proud of him. But, even more impressive is the fact that he is fast approaching his 500th win total in baseball, which evidently not too many people reach. Anyway, here is the sign in front of school. We love you daddy/Mark!

Only in LP

The girls and I spotted this site as we headed to the bank yesterday:





That's right, a giant monster truck decorated like a dog. Only certain people in this world can appreciate this site. Evidently my family is becoming one of them!

Southdowns parade

Mark was playing ball in Monroe this weekend, so the girls and I make plans to go to the Southdown's parade with Nannie Kim b/c her house is just a few blocks off the route. It had been a few years since I had been to a parade, and I was very excited. The rain made it a little wet, so I didn't take too many pictures (not to mention that I didn't bother to check the battery on my camera, which was very low), but here are a few.

Emma and Mr. Richard (one of her most favorite people in the world!):





(cousin) Jason, Emma, Nannie Kim and Katie wait for the start of the parade:



... ditto with me instead of Nannie Kim:



Kim and Richard with Richard's brother and sister in law, Jimmy and Marie. Jimmy might be Emma's new favorite person. They were messing with her until she belly laughed - too funny.




That's all the pics. We had a good time and now I'm thinking about the St. Patrick's Day parade! Laissez les bon temps roulez, y'all.