Big Sis Bragging

Now it's time for me to do a little bragging on Big Sis.  You can see that she's lost her first tooth, and let me tell you, that was a big ordeal.  You would have thought the kid was dying when that tooth fell out. And that was in October, I think.  I probably should have written that down somewhere. Oops.

Anyway, back to bragging.  I am super proud of my baby because she has just come home from staying in Wynne for FOUR nights by herself! We were there after Christmas and she decided to stay since she didn't have school.  Big Sis stayed one night with Nanny, two nights with Grammy and one night at Pop's house.  That's the longest she's been away from us.  I really wasn't sure we'd get her to come home; I think she really liked being the center of attention.  She didn't have to share hugs, toys or anything else with the twins for four days.  She stayed up way too late every night and got to spend New Year's Eve with her great-grandma.  Who could blame her?  And the rest of us got to spend a few days as a Party of Four, which was nice, yet kind of strange.

We are glad to have her home because we missed her so.  And now, we are trying to get back into our regular school routine.....that's making us all tired!

Edit:  Grammy reminded me that it was indeed Nov. 1, 2012 when Big Sis lost that first tooth. It just fell out while we were brushing her teeth.  Another cool thing? She put together her first 100-piece puzzle (by herself!) at Grammy's house after Christmas! That seems like an important milestone to remember for some reason.

Fall Road Trippin' & Apple Pickin'

At the end of September, I decided to take the kids on a road trip to Wynne. Lee stayed behind to get some work done at the house--things that are much easier to do without kids and extra hands around---like painting and cleaning the garage.  

We had a great Saturday at my dad's house. We started out watching the Razorback game, but quickly realized that was going downhill fast.  So, outside we went to pick some apples from his apple tree. Seriously, I had no idea the man even had an apple tree! The kids loved running around in the yard and playing with baby Allie. We picked more apples than I knew what to do with.

Photo credits to my sister here as I did not even attempt to get out my camera. Also realizing we have no photos of Karen or baby Allie this time.

The kids had the easy job, while the adults did all the work.

This kid ate A WHOLE APPLE!

Here's our bounty...sent some to Big Sister's class for snack time, shared some with my co-workers, made an apple pie, made apple nachos and still had plenty left over.

Little stinkers!

The joys of life in the country...the mower is a toy!  Big Sis and Pop were all smiles.

Boy Twin taking his turn on the mower with Pop. Girl Twin was not interested in riding at all.

Little ones with Grammy. We also enjoyed a quick visit from Aunt Pam, Aunt Nanette and Remy this weekend.  There's never enough time to see everyone!

Kids with my Nanny--their GREAT-grandma. Oh, how they adore her!

Overall, we had a great visit with everyone. It's not often that I take the kids that far on my own, but I guess I was feeling a little adventurous. And maybe a little homesick.  Oh, and I never take enough pictures.  It's just too much work to chase kids, that's why I let the aunts and grandmas do it.