January 14

After a couple of boring very quiet days around here, we finally had a day full of activity. Once Caleb was safely on the bus, the girls and I headed over to my friend Jill's house to visit with her and her sweet little ones. Naomi is a month younger than Lily, and Lydia is a month old today. Daisy was pumped to play with all of the toys, and I'm not sure whether Lily was more excited to play with her friend "Mimi" (what she calls Naomi), or to look at the sweet baby.

We left in time for lunch at home, after which Lily went down easily for a nap. Praise the Lord! Jill's girls must have worn her out! Daisy acted like she was going down for a nap, but I suspect she didn't sleep at all. It didn't matter, though, because she got some rest in her room. Once the girls were all down, my friend Jessica brought her daughter, Stella, over to play while Jessica had an appointment nearby.

Stella and I had a lot of fun, but I confess that I was quite relieved when, after an hour of playing with Stella by myself, I heard stirrings in Daisy's room. I hadn't told Daisy that Stella was coming over, so she was over-the-moon excited to see her friend playing in our living room!

See what I mean? Daisy was so tickled that Stella was at our house!

Eventually Lily woke up; her nap was only two hours, but I'll take it! Like I always do when her naps are short, I let her fuss a little bit before I went in to get her. I suppose I always hope that maybe she'll settle down and sleep a little more. Stella, however, was not impressed with my parenting skills. She kept pointing out that Lily was crying, and was pretty peeved that I wasn't tending to her right away. Funny girl! 

After a few minutes, though, we all went in to get Lily, and she was so excited about the party that entered her room when Daisy and Stella came in! 

Eventually we made our way to the front of the house, where a jam session broke out. 

Seriously, how cute are these girls? (Also, I love that Daisy is referencing the book Group Piano while all three of them sit at the piano. How appropriate!) 

Stella ended up abandoning the piano for the ukulele, and then they all abandoned the instruments to dance with ribbons.  When Jessica returned to pick up Stella, Stella was adamant that she wasn't ready to go home. The girls were pretty sad to see their friend leave, too! Luckily, it was just about time for us to get Caleb off the bus.

When we got back home, Caleb asked if he could play outside. 

It was 30 degrees out.

But since 30 is the warmest it's been in a long time, I said yes, and Lily and I watched the big kids out the kitchen window while I made dinner. Lily was pretty mad that she couldn't go outside and play, too.

Happy children!

That red bucket that Caleb is standing on usually functions as a bird bath/watering hole, but it is frozen solid. Caleb and Daisy took turns practicing their "ice skating" on it. 

Yes, Mom. I realize that they could have gotten hurt. I wrestled with that fact myself, but decided that Caleb was being bold, exploring, and taking initiative, and I didn't want to stifle that by telling him to stop or be careful. So instead I smiled and took a picture, and Caleb and Daisy were so, so happy.

Then I burned the heck out of my thumb while making dinner, and now I'd like to have my whole right hand amputated because it hurts so badly. So it goes.