AbbaEllie

Ellie's latest thing is Abba. Ooooh does she LOVE that music. It has been a little disconcerting to hear her sing "Money money money... in a rich man's world."

Here she is singing Mamma Mia:

Flowers and Georgia

This weekend was the Southeastern Horticultural Society's Flower Show. So we packed the kids in the car and headed to Atlanta.

Two peas in a pod

And what was the biggest hit of the weekend? The hotel pool, of course!

Sadie loved the pool she kicked and giggled the whole time. And Ellie was a little jumping fish. When we ask her now the best part of our trip to Atlanta she says "the pool!"

Just hanging out, wearing tiaras and chewing on tags...

Our girls


Hello Love


Old Bunny is about to try out her new sling

Snow and Athens

Last weekend we woke on Sunday to SNOW!! Wooohoooo! Of course we immediately threw on all our layers and ran out to play in it. Ellie loved making snow balls and then stomping on them.

By 9am it had all melted. Ah well, that's the way it goes down here.

We headed to Athens, where the University of Georgia is. Ellie loved the bulldog statues that are dotted around town.

Getting crafty

When everyone was feeling yukky we spent a lot of time inside playing at home. Here we are making stuff with Magic Nuudles. They were a huge hit!!

We made sunglasses!


Twins?

Football

I know the season is over. (Well, it may as well be in our house.) But here's our little Eagles fan, all decked out, thanks to the Cherry Hill gang.

GO EAGLES!!


Superbowl? Schmooperbowl.

Thanks for a great trip. Happy Birthday Dad!

Michigan VI - Birthday celebration

Happy Birthday Granddaddy!


Granddaddy had several little helpers as he opened all his birthday presents.




Granny and Granddaddy

Michigan V - random shots

Sweet Baby


Ellie loves her Christmas dress. It is twirly!!


Check out those happenin' tights.


Granny time!


Sadie and Wes


Dinnertime!


Sweet Sadie baby


Peter and Andrew


Working on the crossword together


Heading home

Michigan IV - Cousin time!

The cousins had lots of fun together.

Snuggling in front of the fire


Enriching their minds


Playing with Co Co (please read in a southern accent)


Opening Christmas crackers

Michigan III - Julia's ears

For Christmas Julia got earrings. You know what that means? Time to pierce ears! And it isn't Christmas time if your whole family doesn't accompany you for the event.

The littler kids LOVED the accessory store.
This is Ellie (left) and Isabelle (right) trying on sleeping masks.

That lucky woman who pierces ears there. She had a LOT of help.

Michigan II - Power?

Our first couple days in Michigan were fairly quiet as everyone started to arrive. Here we are in church watching Granny and Granddaddy in action at a carol service.

Ellie sat in the big girl pew.

And Sadie did a great job listening quietly to the music.

That night there was a lot of wind and the power went out for a couple days. Brrrrrrrr. We had to cozy up and stay snuggly for warmth. Granddaddy did a fabulous job getting enough light and heaters running on the generator so we were comfortable.

Here's Sadie basking in the glow of the fire.

Luckily the power came on a few minutes after the arrival of Peter, Colette, and the cousins. Thank goodness - the one warm room in the house wasn't really going to fit everyone!

Michigan I - SNOW!!!! YAHOOO!

For weeks, no, months Ellie has been talking about snow. At Thanksgiving she asked me which was going to come first, Christmas or snow. I didn't want to have to tell her that snow might not come at all this year where we live. So instead I told her maybe we'd see snow in Michigan... and then I kept my fingers crossed. Michigan did not disappoint. Phew!

Nothing made me realize I have a couple of G.R.I.T.S. (girls raised in the south) more than when Ellie first stepped outside at the airport in Detroit. She took one look at everyone and asked me "Mommy, why are they breathing fire?"

Ellie loved every minute of the snow. She made a Frosty:

And she sledded...

...allll the way down the hill.

Sadie was smart and stayed up at the top of the hill.

She wasn't quite as excited about the sledding. She's not used to wearing so many layers. Here she is staying warm with Aunt Martha.

Wes and the girls

Wes and the girls watching football.

And Wes getting his hair done.

Driveway art

We did some sidewalk chalk art the other day. Here Ellie is tracing my shadow and patiently waiting for me to move my camera arm back in place - she wanted to draw me flying like an airplane. That's little Sadie's shadow with me - she was hanging out in the sling on my hip.

Woohoo! I'm SIX MONTHS OLD - today!

I can't believe six months has already gone by. Wow. Where on earth does the time go? Sadie is growing so fast! Here she is playing with one of her favorite Christmas decorations: a snow globe. Happy half-birthday Sadie!

Moment of bliss...

My sister is crazy!

Don't worry, Mama, I've got the wild one under control.

Holiday program!

Ellie's school had their holiday program this week. It was so sweet. They sang songs, said poems, did a yoga demonstration, and then we all did the hokey pokey. Unfortunately it was dark and Ellie was on the other side of the room, so our photos didn't really come out. Here's the best of the bunch: