Lots of fun updates

It seems as if everyone is actually healthy now. Getting the ick out of here is a huge accomplishment. I could do without the kids throwing up for... well, ever from this point forward.

Arabel has decided that she is done with diapers. She asked for panties last week and we haven't turned back. She is currently only wearing diapers at night and nap time (though, we could probably nix the nap time diaper) or if we are planning on being out of the house for an extended period of time, just in case. She is doing awesome! We have had ONE accident in a little over a week. I am incredibly proud of her. We told her she could get her ears pierced when she potty trained, so she is continually asking about it. Rob and I made the same deal with Emma, she just chose to wait until last year. Arabel is also looking forward to being able to go camping with Grammy & Papa this year. They started taking Emma on a camping trip to Big Bear Lake for a few days when she was potty trained. Arabel has been talking about going and I think that it has been the final push to get her thinking about getting rid of diapers for good.

Emma celebrated her 100th day of school a week and a half ago. She took in 100 dried cherries for snack. All of the other kids in her class brought in 100 pieces of snack and they traded around to get a whole platter of different things. She is now counting to 100 by 5's and 10's. Rob and I are excited about conferences next week. We look forward to seeing how much she has learned and how much she has grown. I go in every Wednesday for reading group, so I get to see how she grows on a weekly basis. She brings home reading books everyday, we rarely have a book for more than a day. The idea is that they keep the book until they are able to read the entire thing perfectly. Most books she reads through the first time with no problem. I have her read them more than once, just for practice. I think that we are going to see a big difference compared to conferences at the beginning of the year.

I just got back from a trip to see my best friend in Maryland. She had a baby at the end of December and I was dying to meet the little guy. The temperatures were in the high 70's while I was there. I enjoyed a glass of wine, outside, while wearing a tank top and flip flops, in mid February!! Unfortunately, I flew back to Michigan the day after SNOMG part 2. I landed at the airport and was greeted with 8-9 inches of snow and bitter cold.  I am holding out hope that warmer temps are in the future for us. The kids are over winter, in fact they busted out their swimsuits and were modeling them the other day.