'Snowtober'

Snow in October? I never experienced that in PA... until this weekend.

This was our Halloween weekend:

On top of the 6 inches of snow we got on Saturday, we also lost power here for 48+ hours. We just got it back this evening.. right in time for Trick-or-Treat (I am so glad their trick-or-treating was saved!). Although it was a memory we will never forget to stay up until 9pm making up stories in the glow of our flashlights and playing "guess what Disney movie" by humming the songs, or taking a flashlight bath the other day in the "twilight tub of terror," it also wasn't much fun to be freezing cold and in the dark.

Hopefully the early snow isn't a foreboding sign of what the winter might hold for us..

Dynamics of the 'teams'

We always joke that there is a dynamic in our household of sisters that consists of 4 'teams:' 3 sissies all together. Maddie and Faith. Maddie and Abrie. And, Abrie and Faith...

...or, 'Dotch and Show Show.'

Faith and Abrie call themselves "the buddies." They're so fun together. These two instigate each other and know just what button to push on the other in a way that Maddie and Faith have never done. Faith is so doting, and Abrie can be unrelenting. They have different personalities, and yet have the same personality all at the same time. They really do complement each other well and are so sweet to each other.

This 'team' tired themselves out this morning! I took them to the historical society downtown (I was amazed at how much they really enjoyed it despite the children's hands-on exhibit being closed) and then to the city playground. They did their activities together (Abrie ALWAYS has to do what Faith is doing, and she loves to sit in the "big kid's chair" and cut with scissors like Faith) and then they BOTH fell asleep on the couch during their 'science lesson' (aka, some 25 minute DVD's I found at the library about the science of Disney Imagineering). Abrie's been on a kick recently where she wants to "rest" on the couch downstairs with her Dotch since that's what "big kids" do.

And, this was them the other day when they were hiding from Maddie:

I love watching the bond that my girls have with each other. There's just nothing else like it.

Past weekend highlights

It seemed like lots happened this past weekend:

Baby girl got her ears pierced!! She's been saying "I be like Maaa eee and Dotch" for a few weeks now, and she was so proud to show Maddie after school on Friday. Maddie thought it was the coolest thing. Faith was there and said she didn't like seeing the lady pierce Abrie's ears, but she was SUCH a help to her Show Show. And, Abrie? She did remarkably well and loves looking at her ears in the mirror!

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Girlies' perception of their beloved miss Taylor Swift has really grown a thousand fold since they found out this summer about her book donation to our Reading libraries. We unveiled her collection of books this weekend, and Dan brought them in for the Taylor Swift 'thank you' party. They were so excited to sign their names on the poster that is being sent to her.

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Maddie got her first ever bee sting on Sunday afternoon. Poor girl shrieked like it was nobody's business, but other than that she really was a champ about it!

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I suffered from the worst allergic reaction in my life. I'm almost 100% sure it was the crab meat from the 'ugly pretzel' we had while celebrating Dan's new job the other night at one our favorite restaurants downtown (Abrie devours that thing, so I'm glad SHE doesn't seem allergic to shellfish). Hives over my entire body, a cruel itch, and a face that was swollen--- what a pretty picture!

These girls

Uh... the classic head tilt that Maddie started (and was inevitably passed on from sister to sister)... yep, Abrie's got it down to a science:

I love these girls.

Abrielle Hope-y

Baby girl is so fun!

She's always been my precious little ham, but now she's been at an age now for awhile where she's just a riot. She's so much fun to be around and makes us all laugh.

Her new phrase that she talks about constantly is "one duck!" She refers to Donald Duck as "one duck." Whenever she draws something she says she is drawing "one... duck!" We went for a twilight walk/bike ride tonight, and Abrie kept smiling and telling me "one duck touch me. One duck (*puckers up her lips and does a kissing sound*) me!"

Princess 'Moneyville'

We were all set to spend a wonderful weekend with beloved cousins until Maddie started to feel pretty crappy on Saturday. She woke up telling me her throat hurt but didn't complain much about it, but by the time I was done with work she just wasn't herself. Faith and Abrielle were so upset that we couldn't go for our visit with cousins. Faith was almost in tears!

Our sweet Sharon invited us over for soup that afternoon, and it seemed to help Maddie's throat. We made a huge pot of shrimp corn chowder yesterday (and added clams to it), and it has helped our sick kids. Oh, yes.. it is kidS now. Faith started saying today how she wasn't feeling that great, and now I've been hearing her cough throughout the night. Those 1st colds of the year are something else!

Anyway, my girlfriends had been so excited to go dress up in their princess outfits to see their cousins (Rapunzel coronation this weekend) that we told them they could have a "princess day" here yesterday. They were asking the second they woke up yesterday to put on their dresses already!

They'd been looking forward all week to the new temporary exhibit at the museum- "Moneyville." They just LOVED it.

Maddie and Faith's favorite part was the station where you could make and print out your own money, and they collectively all spent the most time down at the little market area (which I figured they would!). Their second favorite area was a station where you could be a bank teller. Some of the stations were for much older kids, but the majority of the stations were perfect. There was even a station that Maddie really enjoyed where you could "balance" a budget!

This was the play market area where they spent most of their time:

Thanks to the library pass, the museum is always free which is even sweeter.

September, oh September

September really got away from me this year.

Dan and I literally spent the month in its entirety watching documentaries about September 11th almost every night in the window of space we have with each other before he goes to work. It was as though we both were awakened to the true brutality of all that happened a decade ago. It's ridiculous that it's been 10 years. It really feels as though it was just last week, or a few weeks ago maybe at the most.

September 11th overwhelmed me when it happened 10 years ago. And, Dan was working a generation on the flight line at good ol' Barksdale AFB that day (a real-life 2x/year exercise for "the real deal" with nukes being loaded onto B-52's), so I think he honestly didn't even understand the scale of it all for quite some time.

We're hoping to go visit New York City next year for the opening of the 9/11 museum.

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In other news, September was busy:

Girlies enjoyed the 9/11 concert held at the duck pond. I did talk to them *vaguely* about what happened that day, and why it is so important to remember that day in history. We talked a lot about the USA during the summer, and "America the Beautiful" and "The Star Spangled Banner" are 2 of their very favorite songs so they were MORE than delighted when they heard them being sung at the concert. It was also the first day that I was able to get 2 french braids in Abrielle's hair!:

Uncle Matt, Amber, Olivia, Hannah, and baby Kaitlyn also came at the end of the month for a short 1-night visit. My girlies were so excited! They just love baby Kaitlyn (Abrie is so precious with her baby cousin; she wants to help ALL the time and be near "the baby"). And, of course Olivia and Hannah are their Virginia best buds:

Maddie got Student of the Month for September and ate lunch with the principal that last Monday. She was beyond excited!
Faith and Abrie love doing their "work" here at home. Abrie of course wants to do EVERYTHING Faith does, so Abrie's been practicing with scissors lately:

These are the two "buddies" doing their "gymnastics!":

A sweet lady that goes to the library dropped off some stuff for the girls last week or so. We were thrilled to see some awesome games in the mix of stuff (and in such great condition too), not to mention the family was clearly full of Disney fans! So, we've been quite busy with lots of game nights lately (Princess Monopoly Jr is a hit these days):

AND... (how could I have forgotten?!) Maddie was the winner of a $100 gift card to Barnes and Noble!! Her 85th summer reading ticket was chosen last week at the Berks County Literacy Council meeting where they pulled the staff kids' winning ticket! I couldn't believe it; we never win ANYTHING! Maddie right away said she wanted to share her gift card with her sissies, and they had so much fun at the bookstore last week buying books;)