The Hurst girls stayed with us for an extended weekend starting on Thursday, and we loved having them! Meg, particularly, loved being awoken by Genevieve and Liddy in the morning. Jane Gray loved camping out with Genevieve and Liddy in her room and watching lots of movies together. Charlie just loved all the action. By Friday afternoon, he was exhausted. He fell asleep on Genevieve's shoulder in the car while Mommy was running carpool! 
Meg's class celebrated her birthday today with frosted cookies. Meg loves her birthday crown!
Today, the first graders celebrated their 100th day of school by dressing up as 100-year olds. The Hurst girls are staying with us while Aunt Fair and Uncle Paul are in L.A., so Liddy and Jane Gray dressed up together. They were so cute in their dresses, gloves, jewelry, and silver-sprayed hair buns.
We celebrated Meg's 2nd birthday with a family dinner. Meg really enjoyed being the center of attention. She loved her cake - she blew out the candles and dove right in (notice that she's juggling a baby doll on her lap - she loves a baby!). She was so funny opening her gifts. She took her time with each one and was particularly thrilled to get a zhu zhu pet hamster, like the one her sister and brother got for Christmas. Her face was priceless!
By the time Meg woke up this morning, Daddy and Jane Gray had already left for work and school. So, Charlie and I serenaded her this morning in her crib with a hearty "Happy Birthday!" After breakfast, she received an email from Aunt Stacy with a clip of Ella singing "Happy Birthday." She and Charlie loved it! Meg kept saying "see, see," and Charlie would play it for her.
Jane Gray and Mommy stayed up late tonight decorating Meg's birthday cake. Mommy made the clowns, and Jane Gray did the flowers. We hope Meg likes it!
Mrs. Ludwig moved to Georgia over the Christmas break, so Jane Gray has a new teacher. Her name is Karen McIntosh, and she is wonderful! Jane Gray misses Mrs. Ludwig, but she is so excited about Mrs. McIntosh, too. Mrs. Ludwig wisely told Jane Gray that she was blessed to have TWO first grade teachers! Mrs. McIntosh brought a goldfish to the classroom to help the children with the transition. He is a Beta fish, and the class named him Alvin. Jane Gray is very proud of him!
This is what a visit from Pop looks like. The children are always so happy to see him and pile into his lap. Meg has been loving these animal books, so she got Pop to read them to her.
This afternoon, we were all watching the football game when we heard a faint knock on the front door. It was Paul Gregg and Wilson Cotten wanting Charlie to come outside and play. Charlie and Jane Gray immediately headed outside. The boys were so cute playing together, and it wasn't long before Sarah Gregg and Havens Smith were outside playing with Jane Gray. Daddy taught Charlie how to ride his bike. Meg wanted to learn, too, but her feet wouldn't reach the pedals, so Mrs. Baird and Snoopy played with Meg while the rest of the kids rode up and down the street. Mrs. Baird capped the day off with warm homemade chocolate chip cookies. We love our sweet neighbors!
After the cake decorating class, we hustled to Prep to watch Mary Stewart and the Spirit perform at the halftime of the boys' basketball game. Our neighbor, Richard Baird, plays, so it was fun watching him, too. We stayed for the girls' basketball game because Richard's sister, Betsy, one of our favorite babysitters, is on the girls' team. It was so fun watching them, and they played great!
Jane Gray and Mommy have been taking a cake decorating class together. It was Jane Gray's idea - she wants to bake Meg's birthday cake next week. Jane Gray is so cute in her apron learning how to decorate. And, she is really very good, especially making flowers. Most importantly, though, Mommy has loved spending some one-on-one time with just Jane Gray. It has been such a special time for us.
Meg loves to rock and sing before bedtime. Her favorite song these days is "Jesus Loves Me." She loves to sing it to her babies. Tonight, she cuddled up with one of her babies and sang and read her a bedtime story.
It has been raining a lot, but that has not stopped Charlie and Meg from playing in the backyard. They have loved stomping around in the mud puddles in these cute matching frog boots. Both are Charlie's, but he sweetly handed down the little pair to Meg.
Christmas brought two tickets to the Wizard of Oz play, and Jane Gray and Daddy were excited about the date. Charlie found out and desperately wanted to go as well, and Daddy just happened to learn of an extra ticket. Upon hearing that Charlie was joining us (while still on that pictured hearth), Jane Gray looked up with sad eyes and said "I thought it was just going to be the two of us". I eventually got over that statement and she eventually got over Charlie joining us. We had a great time - Charlie in my lap and Jane Gray's head on my shoulder for most of the show. Charlie loved the wicked witch and flying monkeys while Jane Gray loved Dorothy, Toto and the pretty witch.
Daddy had a hearing in Louisville, so since there was no school with the water issues and everyone needed a break from the house, we all set off to Louisville. After the hearing was over, we bumped into our grand-uncle's wife, Becky Griffin. She insisted we stop by her house (previously your great-great-grandfather Frank's house a few doors down from Margaret and Charles' house) for a visit. We had a nice visit while the kids explored the house and played in the back yard.
The City of Jackson is having, as the news media has dubbed it, "a water crisis." Basically, we have had a deep freeze, and there have been more than 100 water main breaks. Our water has not been shut off, but there has been only a "trickle" of water out of the faucet. Schools have shut down, and businesses have closed. So, we have spent lots of time this week at Nana and Grandpa's house. The children have loved our mini-vacation. They have watched movies, played on the computer, and played lots of Uno. This afternoon, Nana and Grandpa even took Jane Gray and Charlie to see "The Princess and the Frog." Returning to our normal schedule and school is going to be no fun!
On non-school mornings, Mommy lets Charlie watch a couple of his favorite PBS shows. Meg usually uses that time to shadow Mommy as she is trying to get some things done around the house. This morning, however, Mommy found Meg actually watching TV with her brother. This is huge! Meg NEVER watches TV. Jane Gray and Charlie loved the Baby Einstein DVDs, but not Meg. She has always been much more interested in what is going on around her than in the TV. So, either Mommy has gotten boring, or Meg has finally become interested in the TV. Either way, Mommy thinks it is great!
We have had snow flurries all day today! Charlie was so excited! He and Meg looked high and low for some accumulated snow. They found a bunch on the slide in the backyard and collected it in a bowl for a "snack." When Jane Gray got home from school, she did her homework and headed straight outside to play in the snow with Emma. Of course, there was not much snow left on the slide after Charlie and Meg got through with it.
We watched the Cotton Bowl at the Hollingsworths' house. After the first half of not much excitement, we took the party outside where Jet showed us how to shoot real fireworks - no one was injured despite the opportunity. The second half ended much better as the Rebs rolled to a 21-7 victory. Charlie and Jane Gray spent the day running around with the Hollingsworth, Waterloo, and Murphy kids while Meg took a little nap (which she was not too pleased about) before returning to the action.
