I haven't mentioned much about preschool on the blog, but Vivian and Kate are still enjoying their time there. They both still go two days each week. I went in with my camera last week to sort-of show you what it's like for them...

Vivian's Playful Puppies class

I think when they are all there, there are 13 of them!

Kate's Dancing Ducks class

The little girl in the blue shirt in the front (Alyssa) is the friend that Kate plays with the most, so I've heard :)

She's growing so fast!

I'm getting spring cleaning fever a little early this year :) I did this about a month ago with the help and motivation of my organization guru friend Kristin. Check out how awful the girls shoes were in this cabinet in their room (I'm embarrassed):

And after:

Wa-la! And after a month, it still looks this way, I promise. It's a relief to do things like this, isn't it!?

Like I've said before, one project at a time... :) I have about 10 more like this one on my list!

After we got back to Jonathan and Joy's house from the museum and lunch, the littles took a nap, and Seth and Vivian got to make cookies with Joy. She found a recipe for cookies that uses verses in the Bible to hint at what ingredient to mix in next (for example, "how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey on my lips" psalm 119:103). We looked up the verse, read it, and they had to guess which ingredient to add. They took turns pouring them in. Very cool idea! And the cookies were a treat for everyone! Try it :)

Going to be friends for a long time...can't wait to see them again this spring or summer!

Here are some more pictures from our trip to the children's museum in Rocky Mount, NC that we visited last weekend (the weight lifting and astronaut pictures are from that day). While Aaron went fishing with his friends and brother Ben, we spent the day with Joy and her boys, Seth and Joel. The girls had been looking forward to this!

Some of these were taken with my phone, I'm sure you can tell...

Playing dress up

Doctor Kate checks Mrs. Joy's heart

Vivian thought it was funny to pretend the crocodile was biting her head :)

Handsome Joel had fun playing with the bigger kids

Concentrating at the Farmer's Market

Working out on the exercise equipment...I thought this was a cool part of the museum! Maybe one day I'll join a gym so the girls can know what these toys represent in the adult world! haha

Brothers tried to coordinate together on the eliptical...it worked for a few seconds!

I was impressed with the museum and the kids enjoyed it...thanks, Joy, for showing us around Rocky Mount!

My mom got a new job in December at the Girl Scout Council! She's been volunteering with the group for more than 25 years and now she's getting paid for similar things she's done before with them...woo hoo!

On one of Vivian's "special" days (Fridays) recently, I took her by the council office to see where Gramme works. Now she can picture what we mean when we say, "Gramme's at work!" (because they ask all the time, "where's Gramme?" :))

Seth

Vivian

Kate

Last week Mama Dot and Uncle Stephen were visiting at the same time, so we spent two afternoons over at Gramme and Papa's house. One of those days we took Angel for a walk in the woods.

Kate wimped out about halfway through and asked to be carried. Uncle Stephen to the rescue!

The older one was heard saying several times, "It's okay Mom, I got it" or "I don't need any help." And is it just me, or does that hoodie makes her look too grown up , too?

My brothers and I used to climb this tree. Some of the branches have since broken off, but it's still fun to see the girls sitting in our old "funny tree."

We know that Aaron bears the responsibility of being our kids' first glimpse into what the Father is like. His sacrificial and unconditional love, his kindness, his justice, his provision for our needs, to name a few characteristics.

And today I thought to myself: the extent to which these girls adore their daddy is such a blessing for me to witness. How much more of a blessing it will be when I can see their adoration and worship of the one true God grow! It leads me to pray more earnestly!

I am really enjoying this pregnancy! The only complaints are a little lower back pain and some indigestion, but I am looking forward to the progression of everything, especially feeling baby kick. I think I already have, but haven't been certain about it yet :)
For fun, here's a comparison picture from when I was 16 weeks with Kate (wow, huge difference!):

What a precious thing, those two little toothbrushes next to ours.

Our bathroom remodel is finished, finally! I will take pictures as soon as I get a few more decorations on the walls.

On Saturday night we all had a big date...Aaron and I went to downtown Roanoke to eat dinner, and V and K went to every kid's favorite place in the wintertime: Chuck E. Cheese :) Mattie and Scottie, the wonderful babysitters that they are, took them to play their little hearts out. It made going out really enjoyable for me and Aaron because we knew they were also getting a chance to get out and have fun. We are thankful that our girls look forward to having sitters every once in a while!

I wanted to share this video especially for my parents because every Thursday morning when we leave their house, this is where we go. Jill, our children's director, and Gretchen, our worship director, lead this worship time for the church's day care each Thursday morning and they invite the stay at home moms to join. The girls really love it. After singing about 3 songs like this, Jill teaches them about God. They are soaking in so much.

Sorry the video is blurry...I had it out of focus the whole time and didn't realize it.

Vivian has on a light pink shirt, Kate has on a darker pink shirt with a skirt over her pants. They are standing in the back. Other friends in the video are Julia, Mason, Seth, and Macy!

Give thanks to the God of gods,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who alone does great wonders,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

(Psalm 136:2-4 ESV)

My parents are putting a new roof on their house...not just any roof, but a metal one! My dad says he has dreamed about having this kind of roof for a long time, so they are pretty excited.

I have always loved this house and I think my parents did a great job designing it. We moved into it in 1990, when I was 7 years old. It sits on a hill behind the Cherokee Hills neighborhood and is wooded all the way around. Vivian and Kate love to be there and I'm thankful that they will grow up with a chance to play there.

Ironically, Aaron's parents designed and built a house very similar to this one when Aaron was about 12 or so. Our parents have great taste :)

We joined in on a few low country boils when we were living in Georgia, so we enjoyed reminiscing last night at Pastor Eddie and Anna Marie's house with another one! They hosted us for our February unity dinner, along with the Carroll family, and it was a real treat.

Low country boil: corn, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, all in the same pot, and then dumped out on a table for everyone to start grabbing :)

yummmmm

The little ones did okay at their own table together...lots of silliness, though :)

And the big ones did okay, too...our own share of silliness!

We love our church family.

On Tuesday night I had the great pleasure of going out with some girlfriends for dinner and ice cream. It was so nice to stuff myself and be encouraged by the conversation with such sweet friends. Happy February birthdays, Erin and Kristin!

We've had a good snow this year, finally! It started on Sunday after church, and finished sometime that night. It was beautiful but didn't cause too much trouble for the roads, so it was perfect. V and K were excited to play in it Sunday evening with Aaron, and then again Monday morning. Enjoy some pictures of it all!

On Monday morning we went over to Papa's to find a sled so they could try it. They gave it a shot at the bottom of the hill at their house. Kate didn't like it, but Vivian went several times.

Last Sunday evening we were all going a little stir crazy at the house, so Aaron started doing some exercises with the girls to get them moving. They've done exercises together as a sort of nighttime routine before, but never as involved as this night. It was so interesting to watch. I couldn't decide which video to include for you, so I added all of them!

This video shows the obstacle course he set up for them. They did this for at least 30 minutes straight. They were worn out and ready for bed after this!

...until baby gets here!

This past Saturday I spent the morning organizing V and K's room. Even though they've been sharing the room since June, Kate's clothes were all still in the other room. I moved them all over, so everything they have is together in this room. Kate's closet is on the left, and Vivian's is on the right. The cabinet holds their shoes and suitcases, and the drawers have everything from pajamas to hair accessories to toys. The room is not that big, but thankfully the two closets and drawer space make it easy for them to share! Forever! haha

This is what the hutch looks like now, for the nursery. Ready for little newborn clothes again! I was so relieved to have this finished! I have about 5 or 6 more projects like this before baby comes in August :)

We had an enjoyable Valentine's this year. Vivian and Kate were pretty into it. On the way home from our music class that day, they made up a hilarious game of saying, "Happy Valentine's Day, ______" and then filling in the blank with a random word like "tree" and then cracking up at each other. I was laughing from the front seat. Anyway, that gives you an idea of how aware they were of the holiday.

This little mailbox was my favorite part of the celebration. Thanks to some cute blank love notes that Kristin gave me a few weeks back, I wrote a little note to Aaron, V, and K each night for a week leading up to Valentine's Day. They were short and sweet (You are a blessing to me, You are a sweet, fun girl, I love to play with you all day, etc), but each evening when Aaron got home from work the girls were begging him to open the mailbox with them! But the best part about this was that our precious Vivian was able to read all the notes by herself this year. She was responsible for reading each one and then passing it out. It just makes things so much more fun and exciting and "worth it" when she can do it herself. I am excited about this new season with her: reading! It sounds so cliche to say this, but a whole new world is really opened up to her now and it's fun to watch as a parent.

And here is a picture of the aftermath of Valentine's Day. Before kids, I had no idea that a holiday could take over my whole kitchen. This picture features activities we did, valentines they received from two different places, and valentine projects we were still working on to pass out to friends. Wow. It was a little frustrating to have the extra clutter for a week, and I'm glad to have moved it all to the basement now!