Peter: 7 months

Peter is absolutely adorable. His current bag of tricks includes rolling around, sitting, flirting, eating, and rocking on his hands and knees. So much fun. I'm not too ashamed to admit that he's got me wrapped around his little finger.

Splish splash

I was so glad we left the house for carpool a few minutes early on a rainy day a couple of weeks ago. Helen was thrilled to get to splash around in our driveway puddle. Seeing her delight made me smile.

Dance cam

Caroline has been trying so hard to make the dance cam at the Grizzlies games. She hasn't made it yet, but we're hopeful.

Hair

I can't believe I did this: I made an appointment to get Helen's hair cut. It was so tangled and ratty at the ends that I knew it was time.

It was just a little trim - only about an inch. She still has plenty of hair!

Brushing has been much easier lately!

Treats

Daddy worked a week of nights recently. After his last night, he brought doughnuts home for breakfast. The girls were thrilled! (Alright - Mommy was excited, too.)

I don't winter well and the spring-like weather we had at the beginning of February was very welcome. This is how Daddy helps Mommy with dinner preparations when the weather is nice. Hurry up, spring!

Valentine's recap

We didn't really do anything extraordinary for Valentine's Day, but it was still special in a simple way.

Kevin was off of work, so he got to go to Caroline's class party. They had a great time.

Helen got still for 2 minutes and awkwardly fell asleep.

Dinner was my personal interpretation of surf and turf. I took my friend Laura's advice and made this awesome shrimp chowder recipe. It is ridiculously simple. I kept thinking, "This is too easy. Is this all I have to do?" And it was so delicious. Thanks, Laura!

The girls loved every bite.

And no day is complete without getting a few of these from my smallest valentine.

 

Hope your Valentine's Day was just as sweet!

Biggest sister

Caroline loves her little brother so much. I'm sure he loves her back. He just watches her, waiting for her to interact with him. She is so gentle with him - a little mama. I told Kevin recently that I'm really thankful she'll have such sweet memories of her little brother as a baby.

(I have no idea why Caroline has a "100" stamp on her forehead. It's a good picture nonetheless.)

Funny valentine

Helen is such a funny kid. Sometimes I get the giggles over her antics or silly faces. Then she usually gets giggly too, which leads to a huge giggle fit for the both of us. She is constantly entertaining us - saying funny things, making up silly songs, telling crazy stories. Helen is one fun girl.

She wants to know if birds need towels after they take baths in puddles. Her bedtime prayers are filled with thanksgiving for God, Jesus, Meh-wee (Mary), fami-wee, and doughnuts. Mommy's car is in danger of being caught by a giant crocodile. We throw snowballs at him to chase him off.

Helen made a Valentine for us at school. Other parents probably got "Mommy and Daddy" or "Sister" written on theirs. We got "Cinderella." The look completes it. I laughed and laughed.

There is nothing predictable about Helen. It's frustrating at times. But I'm learning to embrace her quirkiness and give her sweet little spirit room to shine.

Grizzlies

We have so much fun cheering for the Grizzlies! We love them - win or lose.

Everyone has Grizz gear.

This girl has turned into quite the fan over the last year. Her favorite player this season is Marc Gasol. Good choice. She chose him in a very calculated fashion. He is number 33; three plus three equals six, which is almost how old she is. Logical. We love watching her get into the game. She has most of the starting players and their numbers memorized. She cheers (so very loudly) at appropriate times and just generally enjoys herself.

I'm grateful for these family times. We have so much fun together. I'm incredibly blessed.

100 days

Caroline and her classmates celebrated their 100th day of school last week. It was a pretty big deal. They had to find 100 small items to count, had 100 small snacks, and had to dress up like they were 100 years old. So fun! We found a cane and some old lady glasses. I put her hair in a bun and sprayed her hair white. Here's my little old lady...

This past Monday the Senior K girls got to ride buses across the street to the upper school for a special 100th day chapel service. They sang songs for the older girls and participated in their chapel service. After the service, Caroline got to meet her high school senior. Caroline will be her flower girl at graduation in May. Her name is Hannah and she is really sweet. Caroline has been waiting and waiting to meet her senior and was so excited that the day had finally arrived. The day really lived up to her expectations. She came home almost floating on air she was so happy. That made me very happy. This is such a special time in my little girl's life.