New Room

Hannah and Norah somehow got it into their heads that they no longer enjoyed sharing a room. Hannah decided she would like her bedroom to be upstairs, and Norah could enjoy the downstairs bedroom next to ours by herself. A couple weekends ago the girls picked out some paint colors they liked, and last week Steven started stripping the wallpaper border from upstairs. Once that was finished and the holes were patched, Hannah picked yet another pair of paint colors, and Steven and Heather got to work. By Saturday afternoon, her room was two very nice shades of purple, and we had all her furniture up and the bed remade. So far she really seems to like it up there. She doesn't even notice the cats running around playing half the night. Good for her, better for them I think. She doesn't seem bothered by the fact that we are still awake and downstairs where she can hear us after she goes to bed. She is always soundly asleep when I check on her.

Norah is getting excited for her room now. She does have her own room, but Steven promised to paint it for her. Since her favorite color is green, I anticipate a lot of green, and hopefully some new decorations that are all her own. We're going to wait until after Mother's Day to paint her room, since Hannah's first communion is next weekend, and we'll need a weekend to recover from that.

My school is nearly finished for the semester. I have one more chaper to focus on in each class and then continuous studying for the final. I'll be totally done in about a month, and I'm tempted to start counting down the days.

The girls are on vacation this week, and Kat and I have been alternating who goes where on which day. So Monday all 5 were here, and Tuesday there... alternating every day. They haven't gotten to really do anything fun, which is a bummer, but we have had pretty nice weather, so lots of time outside!

Growing

Norah spent last Friday being tired, and the more I thought about it, it seemed like she had been tired a lot lately. I was really hoping she wasn't sick. Turns out she must be hitting a growth spurt. She has literally eaten everything at every meal all week, even asking for a snack before bed. Maybe she won't be the tiniest 5year old forever

Birthday Month

March is a birthday month here, and we are finally finished celebrating for the most part. Norah is officially 5, Hannah is 8, and Steven is old.  They were pleased to have cake and special dinners to celebrate.  Norah also got a trip to Boston to visit the science museum. Hannah wants to ride horses for her celebration, so we're waiting until it gets a bit warmer to do that.

Both girls are smart as whips, and are trying to coerce me into letting them go to a taekwondo tournament in Rhode Island. We'll see about that though, it's not cheap, and I'm not sure it's a necessity.

Strange Weather

After a week of temperatures in the single digits, and well below freezing overnight, this morning when we got up it was 60* outside.  Outside, it's only a few degrees warmer in the house. I realize it's the end of January and it obviously won't last, however I'm loving it anyways.

The girls had Taekwondo last night, and Norah got her last tape, so she's ready to test for a blue belt. They also did board breaking, so they each broke 5 boards with different breaks. Hannah is apparently ready for a tournament, so I'm looking into it. I have a video of Hannah breaking last night, I'll see if I can get it up here at some point.

Happy New Year

The girls had a busy and merry Christmas, and a happy New Year spent having a sleepover with Grampy and Mimi. They got more stuff than I could have imagined for Christmas, considering we bought them very little. There are a zillion legos, which is great, and as Uncle Donny tells them "you can never have too many legos."

They are finally back in a routine of school and the regular things we do weekly.  I still have a little less than 3 weeks before I go back to school. I'm taking Statistics and Meteorology this semester, and I'm hoping to keep my GPA up this time taking two classes that count!

A good student

Yesterday was the holiday party for the center where both girls take taekwondo. There were awards given out and food. I wasn't planning on going, because honestly, rooms full of people I don't know make me crazy. However, I got a heads up that Hannah was going to get one of the awards, and I figured she deserved some spotlight. Sure enough, Hannah got a rather large trophy for Student of the Year. I was told she was their obvious first choice. She is very proud of herself, and we of course are proud of her too!  Norah is a little sad that she didn't get a trophy also, but I think she'll get over it. Of course, there's always next year.

Much Better

Norah's visit with the pediatrician went well. She agreed with me that it didn't seem broken and said she thought it was a serious skin irritation. Hydrocortisone twice a day and a generous layer of aquaphor at night and her toe looks MUCH better than it was. Not enough to stop using it at the moment, but even she seems to feel better about it.

We are gearing up for Christmas here, with a load of gifts under the tree already, everyone is looking forward to the big day. We're deciding on a menu for all of the 3 gatherings being hosted here, and I'm hopeful we can have a fun, peaceful time at all of them!