extremes in weather

The last two weeks have been kind of crazy.  We were at my mom's and it was warm enough to play outside in a tent that we found looking for something else.  Isn't Nana silly?!

Catherine also helped Grandpa fix the sink.  I think my dad was having some serious deja vous.

Then, whatever nasty sickness I had the girls got.  Catherine wasn't that bad, just really tired, but Samantha got it bad with a fever, my poor little thing.  Her nose ran for over a week.

But they got in some good snuggling time with their Daddy.

So pitiful!

And then it snowed!!!  We had snow suits that were just the right size of the girls from Shalana's twins so we stayed nice and warm.  Also, these mittens from my aunt matched the ones Dave and I had gotten when we went to the Olympics in 2010 (can't believe that was 4 years ago!).  They were huge but they are fleece-lined and kept our hands nice and toasty.

We didn't even have to explain to them how to make a snow angel.  Samantha was not a fan of lying down in the snow but Catherine did a great job.



Sledding was Sam's thing, and taking off her mittens to feel the snow.  She didn't mind walking on the deck where the snow made crunching noises, but Catherine absolutely refused.

Catherine's favorite part was throwing snow balls, especially at Daddy.

Got him!

(Insert maniacal laugh here! )

The problem of having a huge car, but with the baby coming I'm glad we did this rather than a 'normal' car.

As close as we got to sledding.  Hope everyone else has as much fun on their snow day!

January silliness

Look at my strong acrobatic girls!  They call this 'swinging'.  We had a lot of fun hanging out just us girls over Christmas break.  Lots of fairy tea parties and costumes (hence the tutus during the bowl game) and endless games of Candy Land.  It was wonderful!

Can you see Catherine?  She did this to my dad while we were in NY, only she hid behind the curtain on the other side of my closet.  This time she was behind my clothes and was silent as a mouse.  She thought she was so funny.  I was just glad she was wearing neon bright socks or I wouldn't have seen her.  As it was, I didn't see her the first time I looked in the closet, my only hint was her stuffed animal on the floor with my shoes all in a row.

Samantha has been up to other tricks.  There have been several nights when she was too hot and unzipped her pjs.  Then she got really hot and took them off completely, then went to the closet, got princess boots, and went back to bed.  Fortunately, in our search for her pjs and a blanket (all of which were underneath her) we discovered that she had also taken off her diaper!  The next night we made her promise not to take off her pjs and she didn't…but she did take off her diaper and put her pjs back on.  We checked her, saw pjs, and didn't look any further and she woke up soaking wet.  Sigh.  Now we pat her down every night once she falls asleep.  

I will say I love these girls to pieces, but they do keep us on our toes!

Touchdown!  Go Gamecocks!

Story time at night is my favorite time of day, whether I'm reading or Dave is.  I just feel the love emanating all around us.

Uncle Mike, Aunt Alyssa, and our new cousin Lily gave the girls a lot of fun play dough stuff for Christmas and they absolutely love it!  They roll logs, make gum balls and lollypops, and use the cookie cutters.

We're doing a better job potty training, especially Catherine.  She stays dry most of the day and we are so proud.  Samantha is so excited when she does 'two things!' on the potty, and so are we!  Catherine was such a good big sister when Sam and I were sick.  She stands by Sam's bed and says 'shhhh' and told me I needed a check up.  We're still working on the attitude she gives us when she is in trouble or when she doesn't listen to directions.  Wonder where that comes from?

Samantha has been using the strangest phrases recently!  She says 'whoopsie!  Sorry 'bout that!' and 'hi ya cowboy!' and 'coming through'.  She gets so excited about little everyday things and it always brings a smile to our faces and shows us the joy in the small things, too.  For example: we have these glow in the dark bears my aunt gave them.  They love them every night and when I get them from the window where they've been charging all day she loves to make it dance and says 'Oh!  You found my glow bear!'  Every time.

Then we went to a family party and got dressed up and took a bunch of pictures.  Here's one with cousin Paige, but when I get more, I will.

Holiday fun!

Merry Christmas!  They girls were so excited to see what Santa brought them.  We opened presents at our house, jumped in the car, stopped for donuts, and went to Nana and Grandpa's for more.  They were so sweet, saying thank you and telling us what was their favorite toy.  They wanted to play with one toy and not open any more so we were able to have the adults appreciate their presents between the girls sessions.

They got Tinkerbell and Periwinkle dolls.  I was so happy to give these to them because these fairies are sisters born of the same laugh with lots of similarities but a lot of differences, just like my girls.  They got lots of books that they devoured, fairy houses, huge puzzles, dolls that they named Sally and Maggie, a Mr. Potato Head that they love but only put together properly and get mad when you put it eyes in the mouth spot and such.

Here they are dancing to my parent's musical clock.  It plays music and has moving parts on the hour.  They LOVE this thing, it is one of the first things they look for when they get to the beach.  So, my parents bought us one for Christmas so the girls can dance every hour at our house too.  I can't wait to move and put it up!

My dad, being the man that he is, bought them a keyboard and a recorder for them to make lots of music (noise) with.  They really like both of them, and they aren't too bad at controlling their volume when you remind them.

Helmets for our tricycles!  Samantha is still working on her pedaling but Catherine is just motoring along.  She does, however, need to work on her steering.  Isn't that the cutest little face under that huge helmet?  It will fit her for years and it was the smallest one I could find.  She's wearing her jacket hood under the helmet to help it fit better.  Sam's is still big but better.

And last but not least is our favorite holiday picture.  My mom was watering the tree and Catherine saw her and thought she was stuck.  She started to pull her out and Sam joined in to help and my mom was laughing so hard she couldn't get up and out even if she wanted to.  Hope everyone else had a holiday full of smiles!

Christmas Preparations

Christmas card pictures, lights at Aerlie Gardens, Santa train, face painting, reindeer noses, a real tree, and cookie baking.  We've done a lot since Thanksgiving and it has been so much fun now that the girls are old enough to really begin to enjoy the holiday season.

I have found a way that Catherine is not my child: she doesn't like chocolate!!!  Seriously??!!  But pumpkin pie?  Oh yeah.

So much fun at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington.  It definitely showed the different personalities.  Catherine took it slow and walked with Grandpa, taking her time to look at the 'sparkles'.  It was also very difficult to tear her away from the trains.  Samantha, on the other hand, pulled my mom everywhere, pausing only to say "Oh!  Look! How pretty!" and then move on.

Then the Santa train at the science museum.  Samantha did NOT want to get on the train and cried about it until we started moving.  She was good until Santa saw us and then moved on.  When he left she lost it again, even when the elf gave them Rudolph noses.

 

But I was amazed that they sat still to have butterflies painted on their faces.  So pretty and they were so excited and in awe.  Then my secret santa gave us matching santa aprons to bake with and Abbey helped them make gingerbread houses.

Then we decorated the tree.  I was excited because we hadn't done one in a few years and the girls were so excited that they got to make the tree 'sparkly'.  We only broke 2 ornaments, not bad.  

So, Santa: check.  Stockings: check.  Tree: check. Gifts wrapped: mostly.  Cards: ordered. Sparkly lights: check.  Christmas spirit in full swing at the Clark house!