AHHHHH, April

Yay! I am so excited to see April arrive. Not only do I love springtime, but it also means that I'm one more month closer to summer break!!! We've had some beautiful weather the last two days but Thursday was a very rough day here. We had several tornadoes in the area that did quite a bit of damage. One of our neighbors' roof was damaged by a tree. Our road was blocked by a large fallen tree, but someone cut it so we have a one lane road. On my way to Karaline's sitter and work I saw lots of other houses with trees down, too.

We actually had to go into "duck and cover" mode at school. This was quite an event seeing as though we just learned about various kinds of weather last week and the kids were fascinated with the tornado. I guess we were having a true "teachable moment!" Overall they handled it well. Of course most were frightened, but they relaxed after a little bit. I read them a story and then brought the CD player out and played our favorite CD. We were out there for at least 30 minutes. I was worried about Karaline and couldn't get through to her sitter, Lynda. I was able to get through to Sam's Gram who called Lynda and all was well. She did have some damage to her yard and fence, but they were fine!

As my good friend, Meg, said, "March went out like a lion!"

Spring Break

This past week was my spring break. It was WONDERFUL! Monday is going to be a sad, sad day in the Oglialoro house. It's going to be like January and returning to work all over again. Karaline and I have had lots of fun doing nothing much. Each day we ran errands and went out and about, but overall we just hung out. I could definitely get used this life!

In other news, Joey went on our church's Men's Retreat this weekend so my mom and LJ are coming down for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing them (and them seeing Karaline!). I hate the distance between us...it's difficult for me to travel now and hard for them because of my dad's health.

Please keep us in your prayers as we have some big decisions that are in the works. We want to make sure that we are doing what is in God's plans.

Potato Soup Recipe

I really appreciate it when people I blog stalk post an easy, yummy recipe, so I decided to return the favor :) One of my colleagues passed this recipe to me, and it is sooooo easy and delicious!

Panera's Potato Soup:
4 cups peeled and cubed potatoes (I use red potatoes, but it doesn't call for a specific kind)
4 cups chicken broth
8 oz cream cheese ( I use the kind w/ chives and omit the onions)
small chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon of red pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes in the broth with the seasoning. Once the potatoes are cooked, smash a few. This will release starches and help to thicken the soup.
Turn heat down.
Add cream cheese in and stir. Continue stirring periodically until cream cheese is mixed through.

*Joey wants me to add hamburger next time. I'll let you know how that turns out :)
*We also added bacon bits and cheese on top. YUM :)

Lent

This year for Lent, I decided to give up Facebook. This was an easy decision for me to make seeing as though I often get sucked in to all of the gossip it holds. I will miss posting pictures of my sweet Karaline for friends and family to see, but I will update more on here. The time that I used to spend on Facebook will allow me to do something more productive.

Joey gave up his debit card. He has a habit of stopping each and every work day at a 7-11 on the way home. He's gotten better at what he buys (now only a drink refill), but it still adds up. He's been talking about giving me his card, but instead, yesterday he cut it up! For those of you who don't know him, my husband is the MOST EXTREME person you will ever meet. This is just one example of this.

In other news, Karaline is now 4 months old... time goes so quickly!

Daddy's Girl

Karaline is definitely going to be a Daddy's Girl. Anytime Joey enters the room, Karaline instantly smiles, laughs, and coos. It melts my heart to see them together. The other night while Karaline was fighting her sleep (a trait she got from her Dad) and Joey was sitting on the porch, I opened the blinds to show him that we were still awake. When Karaline saw him, she began to laugh and smile. I'm LOVING this time in her life!

We went to the doctor yesterday for her 4 month check up. She weighs 16.7 lbs, is 24 3/4 inches long, and can start eating foods! CRAZY!!! The shots of course break my heart, but as always, she was a gracious baby.

Milestones we've reached:
*rolling from tummy to back
*putting paci in mouth
*scooting around on play mat
*reaching and grabbing for toys
*attempting to roll from back to stomach - getting caught by shoulder.
*gives kisses and LOVES getting them!

I'll leave you with a new picture of my beautiful baby.

Rolling Already!

Saturday we went to see Nikki's volleyball team play in Orlando. It wasn't the original plan, but with traffic and bad planning on my part, it's what happened. :) The tournament was pretty amazing...there were 25 volleyball games going simultaneously. Karaline was on stimulation overload!

Karaline got to see Aunt Nikki again and finally got to meet Nana Robyn, too! I'm soooo happy we were able to see them :) Here's a picture of her with the team.

Once we made it home, we put Karaline on her playmat on her tummy. We've been doing tummy time for a while now, but on Saturday, she propped herself up on her arms just like we would. I was already amazed by that but then she had to go and out do herself by rolling over!!! It wasn't a mistake either...she really rolled from her tummy to her back so gracefully. It's completely bittersweet....she's growing far too fast for me! She rolled again today, too! I keep telling her to slow down but she's not listening :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Lots of Love and Alligators

Sam came over on Friday to take some Valentine pictures of Karaline. I absolutely LOVE them. Basically, Karaline is the most beautiful baby ever!!! It really makes me want to get a good camera. I'm going to start saving for it now :)


Here are a few:
In other news, the Alligator Man visited our school on Friday. He brought lots of critters with him~ an alligator, a weird lizard, a scorpion, a tarantula, and a huge snake. A few of my kids freaked out when he brought out the alligator. One was crying so hard that he had to go inside and sit with our director. I held part of the huge snake and alligator. I am not a fan of these things, however, I had to show my kids that I was brave and that these animals were not going to hurt them. Here's two pictures from the visit: