Mostly just hanging out. Hehee
Nate's back to work today which is sad. We were very disappointed with the weather the last part of the week, we had so many plans foiled. So really all we did was just stick around home, adore Juliana and go the grocery store a lot. It was nice though - we miss you Daddy!
A month or so ago Mimi and Poppa took the girls to the circus. Being the fiscally responsible people they are they resisted the urge to buy the $20 cotton candy. So the next time I spotted some at the store I brought it home. rosie took one look at it and exclaimed "ROTTEN CANDY" ! Such a funny girl she is!
Jules first outing - a picnic at the park. It's like where's Waldo? Can you spot Jules?
This is what I woke up to this morning ... definitely a count your blessings picture. Again you have to hunt for Jules! Oh and no, they don't sleep with us all night long, they come in when they wake up and will usually fall back asleep. This is why we had to get a "King's Bed" (rosie speak) though!
The first time Jules got to play with Mama and her camera(unfortunately for me it only lasted about 2 minutes before we were found and she was woken up by her sister)! Poor baby is so splotchy, we think it's a reaction to our detergent. Got some more at the store to start experimenting and see if we can stop that nasty reaction. I managed to make most of them go away in PS, they were just too painful to look at!
We're back at home, feeling great and falling more in love every minute. Jules was born at home after another extremely short and easy labor. Must be that good hearty peasant stock in me. And while Rosie's labor was somewhat scary and whirlwindish, Jules came into the world all calm and peaceful right into Daddy's waiting hands, not even crying but looking at us wide eyed and alert. So far she's been wonderfully happy and content, already enjoying her sling and watching her sisters antics. I'm feeling awesome, much better than I could have ever thought.
I wouldn't say that we're unschoolers since we use a curriculum and have enforced school time(even though we're very relaxed) but I can totally see how it makes sense for some kids. Evie definitely being one of them. Try and force the child to do something and you're pretty much up against a brick wall but just sit back, wait and watch and she'll do it on her own. I found this sitting on the computer desk, I think it's copied from the bottom of the checkbook? Not too shabby since just a couple of weeks ago her letters were completely random sizes( and I mean like 2 inches followed by 1/8 inc sort of random) and we were battling over writing. This aspect of her personality I can handle but I don't know what I'm going to do about her thinking things have to be done perfectly or not at all. She's been very hesitant to read and she told Mom the other day it was because Rosie was better at it. What? Rosie "reads" by making up stories! Poor girl, I feel like she's setting herself up for a difficult life. Maybe it's just a rebellion against my totally non perfectionist self?
I'm hopeful next month it's won't be necessary to lean over to view my feet.
Opening up presents, love that tongue sticking out.
Counting all the money in her wallet - 6 of everything!
She loved her music box!
Such style! She insisted we eat outside even though we don't have anywhere for that set up yet. Luckily her Daddy has a redneck streak( I still don't know how that happened - Charleston boy raised all over the world on navy bases?) and thought to pull the extra van seats out of the garage. Yes, we are so classy... Of course this also meant everybody got to listen to me whine about shutting the garage door at the least or moving the chairs to the grass...
Mmmm, chocolate covered cheesecake!
E had a wonderful birthday, despite being sick. Bless her heart, the day actually started with a trip to the Doctor. But we got medicine and she's already looking better! I still can't believe she's 6! We have tons of pictures from her party on Sunday and her actual bday, it'll take me awhile to get through them.
In our front yard we have a monstrous old magnolia. I mean ginormously huge with the inside perfect for play and climbing. It's just one of those magical trees. The girls had played in it some but not enough in my opinion to fully appreciate what they had. So the other day I forced them into the interior and made them stay until it dawned on them just how cool it was. Finally, they declared "we have a jungle gym"! I wanted to reply "well, duh" but I refrained and now it's a favorite spot. I imagine when the weather warms up a bit that old tree is going to host quite a few tea parties and be home to multiple tents and hammocks, I only wish it was in the fenced inpart of the yard.
How cute are these?
Biking is just another of those things that proves you're not going to get this child to do anything before she's good and ready. She's just decided that she wants to ride her bike and go really fast and she finally figured out how to use her brakes. So of course this means that she wants to ride really fast down the driveway and then slam on her brakes about two feet away from the garage. We'll have to work on training wheels next.
Oh, and she wants to ride her bike ALL THE TIME right now even when it's freezing. Which is exactly what Meredith is saying. Can you tell? That's amusing to me considering the child would stay in a swimsuit 24/7 even in our basement that's not heated very well.
She'll always smile for candy though! At least what she considers a smile.
After a looong break from school we attempted to start up again after Christmas. Yes, I said attempted. Evie had started this thing where she was acting like she didn't know how to do anything and thinking it was funny. Very, very aggravating and of course it resulted in many battles. So I ordered a new phonics set and got two of everything so Rosie could do work too. We sat down today to try it and I didn't have a smidge of trouble. I guess having your little sister show you up is quite the motivation. It was very nice to have fun this morning instead of battling with her!
