Sunshine is the best medicine!

On January 14th we made our annual escape to Florida! 

 The girls and I boarded the plane and haven't looked back since!

The LONG flight to warmer weather!

Day 1-

Annabelle turned 16 and grew legs....

One of the joys of being down here for a few months is Family Time!

Playing with cousins at the park!

Getting ready for bed together!

Piper soaking in the sights and smells!

Sweet Annabelle

She has mastered the TA-DA!

Sister Hugs

A beautiful Saturday Morning

One thing we know, Annabelle can not rundown a seagull...though she tries...

shhhhhh

don't tell anyone this is what Piper and I do while Adam works and Annabelle is in school

our secret

This week at the Olsen's...

Annabelle waked in the door from the car reading her Nancy Clancy book, then plopped on the carpet to finish....Piper is just being silly in the background...about to rocking chair surf...her latest stunt!

I didn't take very good pictures this week....but I'm guessing in FL I'll be a lot more photo happy!

We were laughing yesterday morning after Annabelle went to school and we were having breakfast.  There was a point when Piper was standing on the table, eating scraps of food, playing with Adam's phone and watching TV.  NONE of these behaviors would be acceptable for Annabelle...yet we were taking pictures and saying how cute she was..... Second babies....

Note to selves...get more strict!

Annnnnnnd...,  The Grossest Baby in the World Eating Beet Hummus.

CAUTION:  THIS IS GROSS but kind of funny....

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I get a D+ for taking pictures over the Christmas break...too busy chasing and feeding and cleaning up after these adorable kiddos!  Looking back in my phone, here are pictures from the last few weeks!

In October the school asked us to put on some Christmas clothes and head down to the Church to take a photo for a Catholic Publication..they needed a family with young children for an Advent Article.  The school ended up using the photo for their Christmas Cards...so our faces were mailed to everyone's house!  Ha!  

Here's the photo

Pipes!

Silly Sisters Being Adorable....

An unusually warm December day...the beanpole..AKA...Annabelle learned how to rollerskate.

The trip to the park was iffy at best-  after skating for a bit she has it down!

Super Dad!

A monumental day in the life of a 6 year old.

Her first slumber party!

She fell asleep at 12AM!!

Church the next morning with her was superfun.

She melted in the pew.

Good news was she rebounded by mid-day!

Art Time!

The (unretouched) faces of a very happy couple!  The day Adam's promotion to Head Trainer became real!

His name and position scrolling on the ticker!

The Four Pictures I took of Christmas....

Cookies with Grandma Mary.

We are glad Santa's tolerance for cookies is high....the recipe lied...NOT the best sugar cookies ever....I think decorating is the best part anyway!

Christmas Morning!

Post-Christmas Bowling

I took Annabelle and Emmersen to the Children's Museum in Appleton, and they had a blast!  So did I.

Boxing up Christmas....the kids took the boxing part quite literally!

A little helper...or the opposite of!

Tonight is New Years Eve....Looking forward to the Joys and Adventures of 2016!

DUMPLINGS!

Oh my...Piper is just the happiest, sweetest little dumpling around.  Pair her with Lydia and you've got double dumplings!! It's a bizarre 70 degrees today, so Ali and I took the littles to the Zoo...they were adorably adorable!

 Littlest Human

So long sun....We will miss you!

For this month's Daisy Meeting, I had the girls make Thanksgiving Turkey Cards for the senior center.  Annabelle was happy to drop them off.  Less happy once we were inside and 35 great-grandmas and grandpas wanted to talk to her and tell her stories.  Lesson learned, Annabelle is NOT the best candidate for spreading cheer...!  She had the best intentions though!  I was proud of her...even though she was soooo uncomfortable, she handed out the cards to each person, and gave the biggest smile she could muster.  They loved the cards, and I'll be sure to bring some of our more vivacious girls for the Christmas drop off!

The sun came out for Thanksgiving...and we were Thankful for that!  

Turkey's on the pig...good music, beer and snacks.  Winner!

On Sunday Annabelle and I had a date day!  We did the Zoo, History Museum, Art Museum and Brunch.  It was a great way to beat the cold, grey skies that have taken over Missouri.  Blech.

Pinky Up

She instructed me to take the photo while she posed.  

I think she'll have the sullen teenager thing down pat.

Pipes and I took a trip to the Zoo earlier this week.  It's so empty now that you get uninterrupted animal time!  The funniest part of the day was when an Ape walked up to Piper and high-fived her through the glass.  It was kind of awesome and she knew it!

Early morning Bailey Lovin'

Piper and Lydia's lunch date!