A post in pictures, it's the only way to cover three weeks without crying!

First it was off to the Farm with Katherine's preschool. She loved every minute. She thought the school bus was awesome, and loved petting all of the animals. Well, not the goats, especially the one who almost knocked her over while she was petting a different one. We chose 2 tiny pumpkins from the field and all in all it was a great day!

I found a pair of Maggie's old overalls while switching clothes from summer to winter. (side note that managing the wardrobe for 3 little girls in this ever changing climate is a challenge!) She loves them, and is able to slide out of them independently for bathroom trips. But, she calls them "overalls-es." One day, Abby and Katherine were BOTH in "overallses" and she demanded a picture while holding Abby - because they matched. How could I object?

We brought the high chair up from the basement for Abby because it was getting too hard to sit on the floor and feed her in the bouncy seat. She has decided that she LOVES to eat. However, her flailing arms and erratic head movement make it difficult to simply feed her. It's more like a game of how to keep her from moving so the food gets IN her mouth. Honestly last week I let her play with her toes, because as she would open her mouth to put her toes in, I could block the toes and get the spoon in first. Fun times!
Last weekend (10/4) as I was getting ABby dressed, I realized I had grabbed this outfit without even thinking about it. All I wanted was a dress with long sleeves. But it is so much more than that. Mike chose this outfit for Maggie as a gift for her first Christmas. He got a matching outfit for cousin Zoe,and I remember Rita laughing at how he was scandalized at how much one little outfit, for one little baby, could cost. And yet, he had to have all the matching pieces to make it a complete look. Maggie was such a peanut that it took until Easter for her to fit into the outfit. He saw Maggie and Katherine wear it, but not Abby. It still just hits you sometimes how unfair it is, and how much I miss him.

Spontaneous sisters pictures here.
This one cracks me up. Very often, as we wait for Maggie to come home, Katherine wants to DO something. On days when she doesn't nap, or thinks 30 minutes is enough nap, she often wants to make cookies. Not great for my waistline, but an easy project and fun for all. On this particular day, I let her lick the beater. I went to move laundry and it occurred to me that she was still licking her beater and hadn't asked me to put it in the sink yet. When I went back to look, I saw why.
Sure she had licked her beater, but then she dipped in for more to eat!

Another picture of Overalls-es here. This one is great - Meg gave me this outfit for Maggie. But because she was such a squirt, she didn't fit into the corduroy pants in the appropriate season. I held onto them, and then Katherine wore the outfit, and now Abby. Note that Abby is getting so big! Hard to believe next week is 6 months already! She's cutting her first tooth, too!
Later that evening, Chris brought up the "Johnny Jump Up" Hilarity ensued. Abby giggled and laughed more than ever, which made the girls fall over laughing as well. Simple pleasures!
Last weekend we went to Green Bay for the day to see friends. It was cold (and snowy on the drive up) but the sun was bright, so we ventured out to a Wildlife Sanctuary. The kids favorite part was feeding the ducks. I was NOT thrilled but they mostly just waddled around eating the corn that was given to them. Katherine didn't like to feel the duck actually eating from her hand, so she would throw the corn, and then clap for the ducks when they ate it off of the ground.
Other tidbits...

Maggie's first parent teacher conference went well. She passed all of her intake screening with flying colors and was tested by the reading specialist to place her in the appropriate group for her advanced reading skills. She'll be her own group since there are no other students in either class at her level. Mrs Potter says she's a joy to have in class. We're just a little proud of her.

We've all had some form of the bug that hit Maggie so hard. I think we might just be seeing the end of it now - with me. I'll be glad to have everyone healthy again!

Abby rolled front to backa few times the other day. She still doesn't do it often enough - usually getting stuck on her front and just getting mad, but she's working on it.

And how about a few Katherine-isms?

After fighting with me about needing to wear a coat this week "When can it be summer again?"

In Green Bay, looking at fish in a tank, Ryan(5yrs) said jokingly "I think those fish like to eat Katherines!" She didn't miss a beat before saying dismissively, "Nope, they eat Maggies"

Driving with Chris, she pointed out that it was the same highway to go to Boom Booms. He reminded her that it was also the way to Great Great Art and Edna's, Phil and Steph's (in Green Bay,) Grandma Arline, and Gram and PopPop were just the other direction. She thought for a minute before asking "Why doesn't Great Great Arline have a boy too?"

I'm sure there are a million more stories to share, but this post is too long, the girls are done with naps, and my fingers are cold from typing. Time to snuggle and read stories until Maggie gets off the bus!