Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!

The girls and I had a great time at the Darden Family Christmas party on Thursday (Mark was out of town). It was Jane's first real exposure to Santa and as you can see, she is not too pleased.

Not much new . . .

Not much new to report these days. The story of our lives the past little while has basically consisted of poop and vomit and vomit and poop. We've had a virus going around the family -- I'm the only one that has been spared so far (knock on wood). Hopefully it will pass quickly.

I remember as a child not being able to hardly wait until Christmas arrived. Now I find myself wishing that the Christmas season could last longer so that I can savor the feeling and the spirit of it all more. It seems to pass more quickly each year (especially in the years, like this one, when I've been a little late starting my Christmas shopping). It's magical, though, to have children and see Christmas through the eyes of a child again!

Look-alike Meter

I thought these results were quite interesting since everyone, and I really mean everyone, always makes comments like, "Your children must take after your husband" or "The girls looks sooo much like Mark." Hmmm.

Our Celebrity Look Alikes

I don't know why I find these gimmicks so fun. My friend (thanks, Lauren) had these on her blog and I enjoyed seeing who the girls and I were matched up with (Mark refused to be part of such frippery -- he came out most like Ben Stiller, by the way).

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Who knew we had our own little Hermione.

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Now if we could just teach her to sing and tap dance . . .

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Perhaps we should start calling her Baby Posh?


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This requires quite the stretch of imagination and a severe suspension of disbelief.

Ode to My Husband (aka: A Really Bad Poem to a Really Great Guy)

Seeing that his wife was getting more than a little bit frazzled,
He came up with a plan that left her quite bedazzled.
"Go away for the weekend," he said. "Sleep in, get some rest!"
"I'll take care of the girls and clean up this big mess!"

So with much coaxing Amy finally took flight
Leaving Mark with three girls for three days and three nights.
She visited her parents in D.C. and slept in till 10:30
Went shopping, to museums, leaving behind all of her duties!

It was such a success for all who were involved
That a tradition of such is sure to evolve
For one mom who was droopy and tired
Has now returned happy and somewhat inspired!

Ok, really bad poetry aside, I can't thank Mark enough for his idea for me to go away this weekend. I feel so much more energized and rejuvenated! It was so nice to be able to do some Christmas shopping without kids running away from me and without being afraid that they would see the things in the cart that are supposed to be from Santa. It was so refreshing to wander through an entire exhibit at the National Gallery without interruption! It was a much needed break. However, the best part was coming home again and seeing Mark and the girls -- who had a great time together while I was gone!

Happy Birthday Jane!

We celebrated Jane's first birthday on November 6th and it's hard to believe that it's already been a year since she was born! She brings so much fun and joy into our home! She has such cute little ways about her and a great sense of humor. Unfortunately, we didn't see much of her good humor on the big day -- she has been pushing through three very painful teeth, poor thing. She's also still been adjusting to daylight savings time so she was pretty zoned out during her little birthday celebration. We can only attribute her leaving alone her pink cupcake in favor of a breadstick to a momentary lapse of judgement due to her muddled teething brain (can anyone really believe that a Ward-McLaughlin baby would opt for something over sugar?)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The girls at Darden waiting for Mark to get out of class so that they can go trick-or-treating. Jane obviously has other ideas of what she'd rather be doing instead of taking pictures.
The UVA Lawn
Millie on the front porch swing in her mermaid pose. We loved the wig, she didn't, so we compromised. She happily donned it so I could get some pictures, and then she didn't have to wear it trick-or-treating. It's especially poofy because she while we were trying to get it to work, she kept pulling it off.
A sweet Ariel, without the wig.
Abby was in seventh heaven all day.
Mark was able to coax a smile from Jane even though she was under the weather.
The girls playing in the leaves on our way home from trick-or-treating.

Halloween this year was one of those great days! We had so much fun all day long. In the morning Abby, Jane, Mark, and I went to the Darden Halloween Party where the students and staff lined the courtyard for the kids to go trick-or-treating (forgot my camera). We then met Mark in the early afternoon to head over to trick-or-treat on UVA's Lawn. This is such a great UVA tradition! The Lawn is the quad behind the original Thomas Jefferson-designed UVA rotunda and is surrounded by collonaded walkways that lead to the original dorms (if I've got my facts right). Students and staff sit in each of the doorways and hand out candy. It's a madhouse, but a great one-stop-shop for trick-or-treating (the kids were able to get a serious haul in about 40 minutes) and it all happens while it's still light outside! It was a golden fall evening and such a festive atmosphere. I then took Millie to a party at her friend from school's house where she had a great time decorating pumpkins and goody bags and, of course, eating more treats!

Fall Fun

We had such a great time tagging along with my parents a couple of weeks ago at the Marriott Ranch Family Western Picnic -- a yearly missionary event sponsored by the church to which they invite various foreign dignitaries to become acquainted with the church. It was a magnificent Fall day and the ranch was beautiful surrounded by the green rolling hills of Western Virginia. We had such a great time (poor Mark was at home in Charlottesville busy with finals) watching the BYU folk dancers and Living Legends (while watching the cloggers Abby giggled and said, "This is so fun!"), eating good food, going for rides in the pony cart, decorating pumpkins, and doing crafts. Abby seemed to be most excited about getting her picture with any folk dancer in costume she could find (apparently she remembered our quest to get our pictures taken with as many characters as possible at Disneyland).

Dancing Millie

Lately Millie has been taking ballet with one of her good friends, Mae, who recently moved here from our ward in Boston. I took these pics at a parent observation day last week and it was so fun to see all of the little girl ballerinas! (Things not shown: Jane trying to run out onto the floor to join the dancers at the every opportunity and me getting reprimanded by the very lovely, very proper ballet teacher for forgetting to remove my street shoes)

Abby Turns 3, Grandma Visits, and Millie is 5 going on 15

It's hard to believe that Abby is already three! She has eagerly been looking forward to her birthday and all week, kept calling down each morning, "Mom, what day is it today? How many more days until Saturday?" Saturday finally arrived and we had a great day!

Abby celebrating her birthday at preschool.

Let's eat cake!
The party princesses show off their booty from the treasure hunt.



We had a fun visit with Grandma McLaughlin. We enjoyed going apple picking at Carter's Mountain Orchard, shopping at the mall in Short Pump, and just hanging out.

Millie is 5 and apparently going on 15. She has discovered the power of language as evidenced by this sign she recently wrote for her door (I was hoping that "Keep out" signs wouldn't appear until the teenage years, if at all). She was frustrated with people (namely sisters Abby and Jane and Abby's playdates) messing up the room she so meticulously keeps clean (about 80% of the time) so she took it upon herself to write this sign. Unfortunately, since she happens to share that room with Abby, it hasn't had much of an effect.



Millie is relishing her status as Kindergartener and Bus Rider. I finally took a couple of pictures.

"Hello! Hello! Hello!"

This is Jane, here. I thought it was high time I made a blog entry. I am almost 11 months, but I like to think that I'm every bit as big as my sisters . They adore me, by the way, as does everyone (at least that's what they're always telling me). I must confess, with utmost humility of course, that I am adorable. I can't help it. It just comes with the territory of being a baby. I am who I am.

Lately, I have been perfecting the art of walking and am slowly working my way into the world of talking. Walking is fun. I would prefer running and I am doing my darnedest to run, but I guess I'm a little over-ambitious. Yesterday I fell and gave myself a fat lip (scared Mommy half to death -- she's rather dramatic by nature), but I'm a fast healer and don't let anything slow me down.

As for talking, I've got "uh oh" down pat and have added "Hello!" to my lexicon. One of my favorite things to do is walk/run through the house with my arms outstretched yelling, "Hello! Hello! Hello!" with a big (and very cute, I might add) smile. I wish I could share it with you all, but although my Mommy was able to get it on video, she is unfortunately too technologically illiterate to figure out how to post it on the blog.

I have a lot of things I'm interested in these days. I'm fascinated with the cats, Woody and Oliver, who live under our deck outside. I love to stand at the back door and watch them. I love noodles and trying new people food. I love books and like to turn the pages. I get very frustrated when doors are shut in my face or gates are put up in front of me. They say it's just for safety, but I know that they just want to keep me away from something exciting. I love getting into whatever my sisters are playing with. My favorite person in the world is Daddy! I can't take my eyes off of him when he is in the room (Mommy often seems to have a similar problem).

Anyway, life is good. People are always around to take care of my every whim. Occasionally, my sisters accidentally trip over me or bump into me, but overall things are great.

Recent Pictures and Things

Abby is so proud of her tote bag she made in school -- wants to carry it with her everywhere.
Beautiful princesses! Abby playing dress-ups with her friend Lucy Evans.
Jane not wanting to miss out on the dress up scene
Oh how I love my spaghetti!




It's beginning to feel like Fall! I can't help but get excited for apple-picking, all sorts of treats made with pumpkin, crunchy leaves, jackets, Halloween . . . It's my favorite time of year!

Jane is now walking! I wish I had a picture, but I can't seem to catch her at the right time. She's as pleased as punch about her new skills. I'm hoping I'll be able to keep up with her. I don't have much news, otherwise, things are just as busy as usual (will things ever slow down?). I'm am pleased to announce, however, that I am now a published authoress -- nothing at all grand, but published nonetheless! I submitted an essay I wrote in college to an anthology called Eighteen Months: Sister Missionaries in the Latter Days and the book was just published. It was fun to see my name in print and great to read the other essays in the book. It really brought memories of my mission back to life. These memories are closer to the surface these days, as well, as I read about my youngest sister's missionary experiences and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve!

For Jane Austen Fans

Take the Quiz here!

I took this quiz from a link on my friend's blog and it was fun so I thought I'd post it here. I am happy to report that it said that I am most like Elizabeth Bennett!

Abby's First Day of Preschool

Abby started preschool yesterday at the Charlottesville Day School! She was so excited -- we got out of the car and she said, "School is going to be fun!" Despite being my child who usually takes time to adjust to new things, she went right in and started playing. We were so happy that she loved it!

Heigh Ho, It's Off to School We Go!

All ready for school!
The clothes Millie laid out for the second day of school -- notice the crown, necklace, bracelet, purse (which contains her choice of small, stuffed animal of the day), and oh-so-practical shoes! Fortunately, she could see how the shoes might not be the easiest to get around in and agreed with me that the crown does tend to slip off easily!

Little Miss Jane with one of her new friends, Claire Vance (friends who have just entered Darden this year). Such cutie pies!


It's hard to believe my little Millie is now a full-fledged Kindergartener! It was rather exquisite torture dropping her off the first day (of course, for Mommy, not for Millie) with her oversized backpack looking like it would tip her over and her Hello Kitty lunchbox. We loaded up the family to drop her off together and then I walked in with her. Halfway in, she dropped my hand and started running to the door, so eager was she to get there! On our walk to her classroom she proceeded to lecture me, with an arsenal of very persuasive arguments I might add, on why she should be allowed to take the bus ("A lot of the kids that just got off the bus were little like me, so why can't I take the bus?"). Needless to say, I have since waffled and she is now a regular on Bus #146 and is in 7th heaven about it. I have to admit, it is nice to just walk down the driveway to drop her off and pick her up -- even if our neighbor, who was waiting outside with his children yesterday, came over to tell us he had just seen a black bear rambling behind our other neighbor's house (ah, the joys of living in the wild!).

Abby is eagerly awaiting her preschool debut this Friday and hasn't stopped asking multiple times a day when Millie will be home. I'm excited for her to have a chance to have this new experience. Jane is becoming busier by the minute. Today she stood for about a minute on her own -- I live in dread of the moment, sure to happen much sooner than anticipated, when she is able to run around rather than crawl. I'm not sure how I'll keep up! Mark started back to school this past week and is really enjoying his classes. It's hard to believe he's already in his second year!

I have been enjoying having a little more time to read lately, now that things have settled down a little. I just have to make sure to keep the lines clearly defined between the books and reality. A few weeks ago, after I finished reading Harry Potter and having been totally immersed in the world of magic, I returned to Charlottesville without Mark and feeling a little nervous about being home alone at night in the woods, I thought, "Oh, no need to worry. I can just cast a protective charm around the house and I'll be fine!" The scary thing is that for a moment, that thought actually brought me some comfort! Pretty pathetic, no?