Last of 2014

Here are some pictures and video of the girls from the past couple of months. I've gone upstairs because it's been "too quiet" several times recently to find Meredith "reading." it's very cute. She also loves any baby doll she can find. Here's a video of her "rocking" her baby.

We loved this Christmas, loved not cleaning, loved not cooking, and loved no trips to the ER! I didn't take many pictures, but Cassie has a lot on her blog at cassietwentythirteen


We did take a crazy trip to the Biltmore as a family. And by crazy, I mean insane. What were we thinking?! The girls absolutely loved seeing the big castle and running around the enormous Christmas tree on the lawn, but that was it. Didn't understand waiting in lines to walk around a huge house, and ended up taking more time in the restroom than the actual tour. They started chanting "We scream for ice cream!" over and over, so we bought them some chocolate with sprinkles and hit the road. In the car, Barak was talking to me about something, but Caroline wanted to interrupt. He told her to be patient while he finished what he was saying and Caroline told him, "Dad, sometimes girls just gotta talk!" We will wait a few more years to try this out again, although Barak and I would love to go back on our own :)


All three of the girls were in the preschool Christmas program this year. Meredith's class were the animals at the manger. She was a cat. A very hot cat (She wore a hood with ears on stage). She began to wimper once she saw Nana. I think I would have, too. It sounded like a plea for relief.


Laney was an angel (beside Asher) and Caroline was a star. They both walked out with their classes and sang a couple of songs. Both did really well - meaning, they actually sang and even after seeing us, just waved, smiled, and stayed on stage.


The day before the program, Caroline had a birthday party in her preschool class. It was very sweet, and the kids loved the cupcakes. We had a family party at home, too.

Our family photos for the Christmas card were less than perfect. This wasn't the one we sent, but it's close. Several days after we took the shot and sent them out, Laney wanted some re-takes where she wasn't crying... she had some gems.

I took Laney to see the Nutcracker with a couple other of her friends (Kate and Annabelle). She loved it so much, she spent more time dancing in the aisle rather than in her seat. She is wearing a hand-me-down ballet leotard in this picture, and kept it on for two straight days. Even wore it to bed, which is amazing because she always insists on wearing pajamas to bed (on nights when I haven't done laundry and try to convince her leggings and a tshirt are the same thing).



This is after the performance, she got up on the stage and had "her turn."


We loved decorating the tree this year. The girls totally loved it. And loved playing with the ornaments. I only put up ones that didn't matter if they broke, or were purchased from the dollar store this year (thanks, Nana and Papaw).








Laney at the dentist.



Caroline "spying"

Fall is here

Laney was super proud of her tower this day, so we took a picture. She is so fun.


The bottom two drawers of this dresser have been broken for a couple of years, and I just now did something about it. Really, all I had to do was take the drawers and tracks out of the bottom and slide in some baskets. The dresser already had flat boards between the two spaces. The baskets were where I had classroom books stored. I got rid of the classroom books and replaced them with clothes. (The post-it notes are for the Wests who were coming in that weekend. It helps for them to know where everything is).


I stacked kids' books in the drawers and have found that, even though it's not as pleasing to the eye, the girls can see everything and they don't make a mess every time they want to read a book on a shelf.


Meredith LOVES shoes. She has started saying "she Ah?" which means "shoes on." These are Caroline's shoes that she had on for a good part of the evening.


We took a cue from Cassie and let the girls decorate some boxes.


Highlights! Delane subscribed for the girls. It brings back so many memories. They make magazines for Meredith's age, too!


Barak was planting grass in our front yard, and got an extra bail of hay for the girls.


Big hit.

Last bits of summer

Here are some recent library pictures. 

Laney is in the gray. The book was about fall, so the librarian had the kids throw leaves when she said certain words.

Meredith definitely walked into the middle of it and was very happy.


She can climb up the toddler slide and slide all by herself. She loves it.


This was one day before pre-school.




The girls have created what they call a "cave" between Caroline's bed and the loveseat in the corner. They really really like playing in there.


Feeding the chickens.








Caroline sometimes thinks she is Lincoln's mommy.