My Monkeys at Monkey Joe's

Preschool has been out for the week.  With the 70 degree weather and no school, it has felt a bit like summer around here.  We have had playdates galore, including a trip to Monkey Joe's.  My parents have taken the kids there a couple times (somehow Charlotte was convinced they were going to be there??) but I have never been there myself.  Well, I was missing out because apparently adults can ride some of the slides if the kids "need help".  Those things are intense.  I needed some help getting up after being flat on my back at the bottom time after time.  And yes, I did ride them time after time.  We had FUN!

June, Kate, & Charlotte bumming a ride in the backseat of another little girl's mechanical fire truck ride. 

 Samuel (can you find him?) & Charlotte

 Hadley, getting some bounce time

 Lily Kate

 Charlotte

 And, in other news, Hadley is now officially a thumb sucker.  She prefers the fingers up over the nose method to the typical fist method.  Also, I heard her crying in her crib this afternoon when I put her down for a nap (which is unusual for her) so I went to check on her and found her on her tummy.  Which means that she has rolled over for the first time!  Take it slow, Hadley.  Take it slow.

Christmas Program

Last Night our church had the children's play.  It was precious, as always.  The painted backdrop threatened to fall and lots of kids waved at parents, but no one did anything crazy this year, which is saying a lot for a group of 35 kids on a stage.  

Precious angels, Sarah & Lily Kate

 This picture of Charlotte, our little sheep, shows how she spent most of the play.  She turned around and watched it, back to the audience.  It was a great, you can't really blame her, it was much more interesting than staring at us the whole time.  

 Here's our little sheep.  So cute.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

We just finished a great weekend packed with fun activities.  Friday evening we went to a drive through live nativity at a church here in town.  There were live donkeys and llamas, which was exciting for the kids.  It was set up so that we drove through each scene, tuned our radio to have audio, and never left our car the entire time.  I was most excited for us all to get a visual of that night in Bethlehem with Christ was born.  Since it was going to be a warm evening in the car the girls got to dress themselves in whatever cozy clothes they wanted.  Complete with coordinating headbands, nice. 

 Saturday morning we went to a friend's birthday party at our preschool playground (which is in their neighborhood)  There was a bouncy house, which made for and lot of toddler dog piles and laughter.  

 Then Saturday evening we went to our friends', the Powells', annual gingerbread house decorating party.  Here is Parks working hard on our Pink Palace.  

 Did I mention that our lovely hostess had a baby on Wednesday?!  This is an annual, much-loved, party, so there was no skipping it.  She made all of the gingerbread houses and the soup we had for dinner in advance.  It was impressive! 

 The Lanier's Ski Cottage

 The Thomas' School Bus

 This is the inside of the Phelps' winning house.  Can you believe this thing?  Yes, that's his Iphone set up as a moving fire place, a Christmas tree complete with wrapped presents, stockings hung, and food on the table.  The  Phelps are always so creative.  

 Here's our finished palace.

 Before the voting we each got to go around and tell the story that goes with our house.  Here is Caroline singing "the Wheels on the Bus" which added a huge cute factor and almost secured them the win.  

 Here is the brand new little man himself, Charlie Powell, just 3 days old.  Precious.

 Ben and Charlotte sneaking candy at the end of the night.  Charlotte and Lily Kate kept asking me when we got to eat the houses.  It seems like total nonsense to a little kid that we would decorate a cookie house with candy and frosting and not eat it at the end.  

 And to close up the weekend I made these this afternoon for Charlotte's class snack tomorrow.  

 Here's my helper.  Merry Christmas, hope you're getting into the spirit at your home!

Comparisons

Here are some shots of all three girls at the same age, 4 1/2 months.  To me it is very obvious who is who but, if you aren't sure, Lily Kate, then Charlotte, and then Hadley (pic from today).  Hadley definitely looks different than the other two, in my opinion.  Her forehead is different and her hair is much lighter.   Kate is clearly the chunkiest :)  They do all three have the same little chin!  To me, Kate looks most like me, Hadley looks most like Parks and Charlotte is the hybrid.  

What we've been up to...

Lily Kate's class went on a field trip to the bowling alley.  It was really cute to watch the kids interact.  I love seeing her with her friends.  She loves them.  There is lots of giggling, hugging, song-singing, and running from the boys.  So funny!  Based on her skill level, I'm not likely to recommend bowling as a hobby just yet, but maybe in a few years.

 Lily Kate also went to Maddie's birthday party.  Maddie had a daytime slumber party, it was a great idea!  They ate breakfast (complete with a cake made of stacked pink donuts!), read books, got pedicures, and watched a movie.  I love the idea & the girls had a great time!

 Not to be left out, Charlotte & Hadley are having fun too :)

Attempts

Every once in a while I will line the girls up and try to entertain them in some way while I attempt to get a good picture of the three of them.  I'm telling you it is an impossible feat.  It always makes me laugh to go back through them

 Silly face... eyes closed...

 crying...

checking out belly button??  "I'm over this" smile..... and lost one all together..

Family

"The big girls"

 Henry, Connor, & Will

 Parks & Hadley

Me & Kate

New Cousins

The newest cousins, Hadley and Connor.  Connor is just adorable.  I'm surprised he isn't smiling in these shots because he is giggling most of the time.  Lily Kate calls him "Big Buddy".  He's a sweet chunk of love!

Chattanooga Children's Museum

We had a wonderful time in Chattanooga with Parks' family this past week.  It was really a treasure for us all to be together.  We went to the Chatt Children's museum, which the kiddos loved.  

 Lily Kate and Lillian are inseparable, they are two peas in a pod, so similar in so many ways.  They really love each other.  We have started letting them video chat some on the IPADs and they will spend half an hour talking about their toys and what they did that day, it's really cute.  Lillian will be 4 in two weeks so she is just 1 year younger than Lily Kate.  

 Charlotte doing what she does best, dancing.  

 Hadley with Granmar (Parks' grandmother) & her Soni (Parks' mom) 

Introducing Eva

This is Eva Gerstmyer.  Isn't she precious!?  I have been dying to meet her.  On our way to TN we drove through Winston Salem to visit with my long-time friend, Lauren & her husband, Brad.  Their daughter, Eva Elizabeth, was only 2 weeks old.  When you have a 2 week old the thing you want most is the Carpenters with their rowdy kiddos to come stay with you, right?  They were very gracious to let us come visit.  We love them very much.  

Thanksgiving Preschool Program

I can't sing the praises of Lily Kate and Charlotte's preschool enough!  I love it.  They have great teachers and they love going.  Last Friday Lily Kate's class had a Thanksgiving program.  There she is in the center, all smiles.  

 Here we are visiting Charlotte in her class.  

 Lily Kate and Nadia, one of her buddies, at the "Pie Party" - now that's my kind of party.