Oh the weather outside is frightful... and so is our schedule

(I had most of my post written, then hit a wrong button and poof! gone. I'll try to reproduce what I just had.) Lately it seems that we've been on the go, go, go. And I know it's not going to get any better with the Holiday Season coming. We've all had a nagging cough (Derek's has been longer because of his allergies) for about a week. No other symptoms, just a cough. Sunday night, Brooklynn started a low grade fever, then yesterday afternoon she was fine. Then Annabelle got a fever and a weird rash. I called to get an appointment - they gave me one for tomorrow. The rash just got worse this morning, so Derek called. He's always so much better at convincing them to get an earlier one. He's taking her this afternoon. We think we know what it is... hoping not. But if it is, we'll just "flop with the mop". We got our first substantial snow yesterday, and it's snowing right now. The girls are so excited. And, yes it's pretty. But I do NOT like driving in it. I was up off and on with Annabelle last night so I got a little bit of a late start for this morning. I thought I was volunteering in Madelyn's class like I usually do on Tuesday, then I realized that "Nope, not this Tuesday." There's one Tuesday a month where another mom comes in. So, I get a little bit of a reprieve. Ahh... Madelyn has lost two teeth, which you probably saw in the last post. She lost them one day after the other. She's convinced that a bunch of other teeth are loose too, but they aren't. She's doing so well in school. "Above average" in almost everything. Proud parents right here! Adriauna isn't crying anymore when we drop her off at preschool! She told me yesterday, with an excited look on her face, "One more day until preschool!". So happy that she's come to that point. Even at church, the junior church teachers are saying that she's "come out of her shell" and talking so much more. She's learning all kinds of fun things at preschool. Brooklynn is doing great with her neck. No more swelling! Praise God! Her vocab has grown so quickly. She so wants to go to school with her sisters, she even wakes up (at 6:30!!) with them. She doesn't want to miss anything they do. Annabelle is trying so hard to crawl. I think she's getting frustrated because she can't get to where she wants to be. She moves around in her own crazy way, shifting her body back and forth. She pulls her knees up then scoots along. And rolls everywhere! I can't believe she's going to be ONE on THURSDAY. This year has flown by. I've been gearing up for a book fair (my first one) with Usborne this Thursday at Madelyn's school, during Parent Teacher Conferences. The anticipation is growing and I'm so excited. It's a little discouraging because it's on Annabelle's birthday, but we are going to celebrate Friday, then a week later with friends. A friend from church and I started a mom's morning Bible study, one day a week. From the women that come, I only knew one other before. She's gotten all these moms to come and it's really great. We are all doing life together. Some are first time moms, "experienced moms", multiple kid moms... And we get to talk about our kids, our frustrations and most importantly talk about our God and how he enables us to be mothers to these great blessings that He's given us. Last Thursday was my 30th birthday! We went out to eat with some friends then Derek said he had a big surprise for me on Friday. I was hoping that my parents would surprise me and come up for the weekend. We hadn't seen them since August. My wish came true! I had some clues that I was right, but the girls were so excited when they got to our house. It was a relaxing weekend. We didn't go anywhere except for lunch after church, then they went home. I think that about sums up our life right now. I know I'm probably missing something big... Hope you are all having a great week!