Samantha's visit

Our friends Victoria and Stephen stopped by for a visit this weekend. Their 10-month old daughter, Samantha, has recently started walking, and it was so cute to see her and Lilly toddling around the house together.

all the girls together

Samantha enjoying the swing

Lilly showing off her chompers

Samantha was mesmerized by the pinwheel

Maggie spent some time collecting little sticks and branches to put in her stocking from preschool

some quality "sister time" this afternoon

trip to Marbles Kid's Museum

My folks and I took the girls to the children's museum here in town last week. I forgot my camera, but luckily Granddad was there with his I-Phone to snap some pictures of Maggie in action.

old-school cardboard bricks

Maggie preparing a meal in the cafe

shootin' some hoops

driving the bus

dress-up!

Diggin' Dirt Island

posing with the trains

Christmas pictures

I'm finally getting around to posting Christmas pictures. Here are a few gems from Christmas morning...mostly of the goodies in the girls' stockings.

Princess Pea (from the show Super Why!)

magic wand...hours of entertainment!

silly piggy koosh

Pez!!!

fun blank notebook for doodling

"this octopus is a bit rubbery!"

an assortment of sea creatures

while the stocking was lots of fun, the big hits of the day for Maggie were the Play-Doh cake decorating set from Grandmama & Granddad and the rubber stamp set from Mimie and Pappy

very cool wooden grasping toy from Mimie & Pappy

awesome handmade wooden ferris wheel from some friends of ours...notice that Maggie has filled all of the seats with little animals

the ferris wheel in action

catch-up

Here are some random photos from the past week.



This is supposed to be the "time out" chair, but both girls seem to enjoy sitting in it too much.

Maggie insisted it was Snoopy's birthday and he needed presents.

My folks are in town for the holidays, and last weekend my brother was also in town for a visit. Maggie enjoyed showing Uncle Chris all her puzzles and Little People farm animals.

Lilly and Grandmama

Maggie's preschool had a little Christmas program today, and it was pretty freakin' cute hearing them all sing carols. The funniest part was actually when Maggie's friend Eli (standing up in the red shirt) raised his arms and was excitedly yelling "my mommy's here...there's my mommy..."hi mommy!!!" over and over again.

Maggie wasn't too enthusiastic about singing...this was her expression pretty much the entire program.

And then she went over to cling to her favorite teacher, Miss Nila.

Lilly really enjoyed the music!

first steps!!

Well, Lilly is now mobile...she took one or two shaky steps yesterday, and this evening she walked across the kitchen on her own! At 13.5 months, she "beat" Maggie by 2 months!

Pullen Park

We have a great park right in the middle of town that has been closed for nearly 2 years for renovations, but just reopened before Thanksgiving. The girls and I went today to meet Leslie, Eli, and Jacob, and we all had a great time. It is such a neat park to have so close to our house...and full of history. Founded in 1887, it was the first public park in the state of North Carolina and is the 5th oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. Along with several playgrounds, there is also a miniature train, kiddie boats, and a beautiful antique Dentzel Carousel that was made in 1900 (one of only 14 that remain in operation in the country) with a cool antique Wurlitzer organ from 1924.

miniature train that goes around the park

all aboard!


boat ride

antique Dentzel carousel...my favorite thing in the park!

Wurlitzer organ

I thought that Maggie would want to ride on one of the horses, but she surprised me and said she wanted to ride in the sleigh (but she looked longingly at the horses once the carousel was moving)

Lilly chose the giraffe!

first haircut (well, sort of)

Lilly hates having her hair "fussed" over (i.e. getting it brushed or having it put back while she eats), and Will and I were tired of fighting her to keep it out of her face and mouth during meals (not to mention how hard it was to clean up after meals or when she had a runny nose...gross!). So Will gave her "bangs" a quick trim earlier this week. They came out a little shorter than planned, but now you can see her cute little face and mealtimes are much easier (and a little cleaner)!