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.