Ouch!

Bright pink splint. All taped up. One broken nose. Ouch! It's a crazy story if you'd like to know it. Two weeks back our family was taken down...by the stomach bug. It was a terrible week: first Corinne, then two days later E & S. And finally me (Brett was the last man standing and never did get it). The night I was up puking I fainted in the bathroom between several such trips to get sick. I'm not sure what got my nose as I went down, but we think it must have been the slightly ajar shower door. A gash on my nose and a broken bone on one side. It all led up to surgery yesterday to repair it. All went well and I'm actually doing really well--no pain at all. Just a "Miss Piggy" nose, as the girls call it. 10 days of this and you might recognize me again!

Crazy Sock Day

Ellen and Sophie had "Crazy Sock Day" at pre-school last week. I was so glad that these fuzzy red too big reindeer socks finally had a legitimate use!!!

Love Note

Corinne loves to write little love notes to us. One night recently I was headed out for an evening and told the girls goodnight as they were getting ready for bed. Brett put them to bed and later when I came home to a quiet house I was getting ready for bed myself and found this sweet little note on my bathroom sink. Corinne left it for me to find. Gosh, she is the sweetest. I love her little notes.

The Missing Puzzle Piece

Sophie loves for me to re-tell the story of when she snuck off with a puzzle piece...So here it is:
One day about 2 weeks ago Ellen, Sophie and I were working on a Barbie puzzle together (thank you, CT cousins) while Corinne was at school. Ellen and I were hard at work on it when Sophie wandered off. I assumed she was going to get something and would be back, but as Ellen and I finished the puzzle there was still no sign of Sophie. And we put together our entire puzzle but there was one little puzzle piece that was missing! Ellen and I looked under couches, tables, and between cushions but no puzzle piece. We gave up and decided instead to go on a hunt for Sophie--she had never come back! Our hunt led us upstairs to the girls' room where we found her asleep on her bed. Soundly. With the missing puzzle piece tucked into her hand. That stinker. Ellen so sweetly tried to wake Sophie up by poking at her eye...nice!

New Fans

We recently took all three girls to the UC basketball game. C has gone several times before, but it was a new experience for E and S. Once they got used to the noise and crowd (and discovered the Bearcat mascot and the cheerleaders/dance team) they were loving it. We stayed for the entire game (it was a close one) and more importantly (to Grandpa) we brought home a winner! That's E standing on Brett's lap.

It's Been Awhile...

It's a new year, but I'm not sure that my blogging is going to become any more frequent in 2014. Life is full. It's here, there. It's busy. It's hard to know where the time goes most days. But I  *love* the stage we are in. I'm thankful for my family. Brett, the girls. And all of our family and friends far away and here. All dear to us. So no real updates, just pictures of the girls. These will have to do for now. (Do I still need to label E and S? Don't they look so different these days? Just in case, it's E on left in top two but S on left in bottom picture)

Six!!

It was a really special day today celebrating Corinne's 6th birthday. She is so dear to us and to E and S. We all desperately needed a day of down-time, time at home together and time to just "be". It was perfect for our little introverted home-body Corinne on her birthday. She had her first "friend" birthday party last weekend at a local spot (the party was free! long story...) and so today was very low key, just the way C prefers. I recounted the story of Corinne...how she entered our lives, from finding out we were going to have a baby to who came to hold her in the hospital after she was born. She loves that story and so do I. We got out pictures of baby showers and baby pictures and just remembered and celebrated all that makes Corinne so special. How can she be six? I love the person God has made her to be and the way she is growing into her own unique person.

Family Photo Opps

 

I love this time of the year! And this Christmas we had lots of time with family and friends to celebrate Christmas, birthdays, and the blessing of being together. Brett and I have made Krohn Conservatory a family tradition at Christmas and this year Brett's parents met us there. We also went to our church on Christmas Eve and it was such a blessing to have ALL of our (in town) family, on both the Grigsby and the Schatz sides, attend the service with us. I am pretty sure we took up one entire (and very looong) row. I just love it! (top photos: Sophie in pink sweater; bottom photos: Ellen in maroon polka dots)

Showtime!

A few weeks ago I took the girls to see "The Day Before Christmas" at the Taft Theater in downtown Cincinnati. It was E & S's first trip to the Taft and they loved the show. We actually had 4 seats and yet somehow E and S each took part of my lap (I had one on each knee) and Corinne beside me! Ha. It's a good thing the shows are only one hour long because I don't think I could have handled that position for much longer. But we had a great time together and the girls still talk about the show, the songs, and the characters. It's a fantastic experience and such a quality theater company, I'm so thankful we've had the opportunity to be part of it.

Angels

I am in complete denial that we went to see Ellen and Sophie in their very own Christmas program at school. Their school. For them. Not for Corinne. It truly does blow my mind! But we did. Ellen and Sophie are really enjoying pre-school this year and we recently took Corinne (and grandparents) to see Ellen and Sophie in their Christmas program. It was beyond precious to watch them. Ellen (red dress) definitely loved singing and doing the motions and just generally being on stage. She waved many times to us in the audience and seemed to be right at home. Sophie did great, too, but was clearly more reserved, stoic even, and wasn't nearly as expressive in the program. That seems to fit perfectly with how their teachers describe them in the classroom. It is all so interesting to watch the two of them develop and grow. They are best buds. And yet they are so very different from one another. We love our angels.