More Thursday night entertainment

Lily has now started singing and dancing for us every day. My parents took Lily to Costco with them the other day, and apparently she was entertaining everyone there with her musical stylings as well. When she feels the rhythm, she just has to let it out right then and there. Below is one of the songs that they have been singing in music class at school.

Not quite the same old song and dance

Just a little highlight from our Thursday night entertainment....

I'm not quite sure what got into Lily today, but she actually walked into her classroom doing something very similar this morning. I can't deny that the girl has character!

Another edition of "Lily Says"

It's about that time again, wouldn't you say? Time for some more Lily quotes. She's come up with some real gems in the past few weeks, so without further adeiu...

• One day, Lily was setting the table for a pretend party. I thanked her when she gave me my plate, and she responded, "It's my pleasure".
• One evening, I was cooking dinner which included onions (as it very often does). Lily waked into the kitchen and announced, "It smells like onions in here. I don't like onions". I was talking on the phone to Ingrid at the time and when Lily got on the phone with Ingrid, Ingrid informed Lily that she does not like onions either to which Lily stated, "Well, if you don't like onions, then don't come to my house".
• Lily came into the house with dirty socks after playing in the garage. Carl asked her to go back to the laundry room to take off her socks. Lily smiled and said, "Okay, but I love you, Mister".
• And now for the winning quote of the past few weeks... We took Lily to see Sesame Street Live a couple of weeks ago. During intermission, Lily had to go to the bathroom. As is always the case at these events, the women's restroom had a line out the door while the men's restroom was virtually empty. So, Carl once again got stuck with the task of taking her to the restroom to avoid the lines. As Lily was wiping herself when she finished, a little piece of toilet paper got stuck. Lily thought this was very funny and while giggling, loudly announced, "Daddy, that doesn't go in there!" Poor Carl was mortified. I couldn't stop laughing when he told me about it.

Family fun on V-Day in St. Joe

After visiting Tori on Friday (who was off to Seattle later that day), we headed to St. Joe to visit my sister, Suzanne, and her family. We didn't really plan to visit on Valentine's Day; it just worked out to the best timing for a trip. We had so, so much fun there, and it was truly one of my favorite Valentine's Day weekends ever. I told my sister (and I'm only half-kidding) that I'm going to vacation at their house every year. Even though my mom, dad, sister Anglea, me, Lily and Carl all descended upon their house at the same time, their 5-bedroom house easily accommodated us all. We were able to relax, laugh a lot and even do some redecorating (which we all loved) with every meal made by my mom and dad - no worries. The best kind of vacation, really.

Angela and mom with the girls in their matching outfits (provided by Grammy)

At the theater, before the play

The girls at intermission

Lily and Mary enjoying their M&M's

Mary with her mommy

Mary with one of the pirates in the play who also happens to be a judge that Suzanne works with (gotta love small towns!)

Lily and Mary with a not-so-scary Captain Hook

We were amazed at how well the girls held up during their first play, Peter Pan. I don't think that any of us expected that all of them would make it through the entire play, but they surprised us all! A great evening was had by all. Thanks, Suzanne, for the very fun experience!

Going to Kansas City...Kansas City, here we come!

We went to visit my friend Tori and her daughter Sophia on Friday. It is so nice to be able to make these visits that just were not possible from Baltimore. We are looking forward to visit from them next month...hooray!!

Our favorite KC girls

Two sweet little girls

Lily takes on a big sister role

Kisses until next time...

Playing dress-up with cousin Abby

My mom made her famous chicken and dumplings for dinner one night, so you know that all the kids and grandkids came running (all those that live in town, of course). Lily got some great playtime with her cousins Courtney, Nick and Abby. As you can see, Abby and Lily had a ball raiding their Aunt Angela's extensive closet.

At the park

As is common this time of year, the weather can be cold and snowy one day and then warm and sunny the next. These pictures were taken on a beautiful Sunday spent at the park, complete with a picnic, playing on the playground, and feeding the ducks in the pond.

Showing her spunky side

Lily with Carl, rocking the boat as usual

Lily feeding the ducks under Carl's watchful eye

Lily quickly became popular with her new feathered friends

Snow!!!

We had one really good snowfall this winter that probably amounted to somewhere around 6 inches. On the night it began snowing, Lily wanted to run around in it for a bit while Daddy started shoveling the driveway.

Much to my amazement, we actually got a snow day the next day. Ya-hoo!!! The following are pictures in our backyard from that day.