Fall is for Planting, Pumpkins, and Playing

 After we committed the ultimate "crepe murder" last weekend by taking down our very mature crepe myrtle trees, we decided to fill the newly bare space in front of our house with a couple flowering (and much smaller) shrubs. We went to Sneed's nursery to pick out the shrubs and were surprised to find a great pumpkin display in addition to all the great plants Sneed's stocks. The girls were in heaven and wanted to take home every pumpkin in sight!

Let the selecting begin!

Every pumpkin and gourd you can imagine is at Sneed's

Quick, NO ONE smile at the camera!!

Checking out the Koi pond.

Back at home, the girls were eager to "help" Daddy.  Caroline's buddy, Campbell, came over to assist.

Mommy put the girls to work pulling the summer flowers out of a front bed. Pansies will go in this weekend!

Not everyone was interested in helping.

Aside from planting and pumpkins, the girls have been doing a lot of playing! We are in a sweet spot of both independent and group play in our house. The girls are happy to play alone and happy to play with each other. There is a lot of imagination, cooperation, and happiness to be found when the girls are at play, and I LOVE IT!

Margaret playing doctor to Dog-Dog.

This closed door made me nervous... 

...but there were three happy girls having a dance party inside...

...and this Mommy was NOT invited! Julia promptly slammed the door in my face after I took this picture.

Julia and Margaret camped out in their cardboard house beyond their doorway toy. 

Caroline engrossed in play. Duplo play sets have been a huge hit with her lately.

A Slow Weekend

After a busy and tiring first week of school, ballet, and gymnastics, a couple playdates, and a party for Mommy and Daddy, this handful of Heppers was ready for a slow weekend. Thankfully our calendar was clear, and we took full-advantage of the free time. We played outside, went to the playground, and even did a little baking. I did make Paul cut down two trees on Saturday, so I guess the weekend wasn't completely low key for everyone. But he did a great job, and we think the end result is well worth the work!

Caroline's first day at ballet with buddies Ava and Mary Michael.

Noah's Children had a fundraiser at Sweetfrog this past week.

We were only too happy to join in.

A little Saturday morning cartoon watching.

Paul at work (and the before picture).

After - I am SO happy with the results.

Can you spot my little people?

Caroline cruisin' to the playground on her bike.

Working hard to get up a hill.

And she's off!

Margaret had a blast at the playground. 

This girl can climb!

Julia commandeered Caroline's bike for the ride home. 

Helping Mommy make muffins. Julia LOVES to be a part of the baking process...

...and gets very upset when it is no longer her turn.

Happy helper Margaret.

Julia dressed herself to take Isabel for a Sunday afternoon walk.

Margaret wasn't quite ready for the weekend to be over. She came back downstairs after bedtime for some extra snuggles with Mommy.

Back to School 2013

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's back to school we go!! The summer is officially over for us, and we are back in school! The girls are excited and ready and so is Mommy!
We took our back-to-school pictures last week because I thought that the girls would pose more patiently and nicely if we weren't in a rush to get to school. And I may or may not have bribed them with Twizzlers to assist in my endeavor.
In the end, I still didn't get the perfect shot - the one where all three girls sit and smile nicely together in the same picture. But, hey, that's not exactly surprising, and the girls still look pretty darn cute. And yes, Margaret insisted on wearing her sunglasses throughout the photo shoot.

Margaret and Julia looking great.... 

...and now Caroline smiling at the camera

Individual shots of each girl...

And because I just couldn't help myself, I did take a few pictures this morning, the actual first day of school...

Meet the Teachers Day: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:

Today was "Meet the Teachers Day" at First Presbyterian Preschool. We were up and at 'em early in order to make it out the door by 8:45a sharp. I'll admit, even though we got up at 7, it was a little tough to get all three girls to eat breakfast, get dressed, brush their teeth and coif their hair in time. Hopefully we'll streamline the process and be better on Monday for the first day of school!

We spent 2 and a half hours at school, meeting our new teachers, visiting with friends, and playing on the playground. Then we loaded up, grabbed some Chick-fil-A to go, and headed to another playground to meet up with some other friends. By the time we got home at 1:30p, the twins were zonked (and so was Mommy). Thankfully it was nap time, so we all took a nice siesta before playing outside all afternoon. It was a great day...or so I thought. 

The Bad:

I had just decided to go inside to make the girls their dinner when Julia (who was sitting in my lap) looked at me and said, "my belly hurt." Seconds later, she started to projectile vomit. All over me and in my hair. It was unpleasant to say the least. We both required baths, and despite a brief period of happiness while in the tub, it was clear that Julia was feverish and definitely unwell. 

The Ugly:

Right about the time we got out the tub, Caroline started crying and complained that her ears hurt. She has a history of ear infections coming on very rapidly and has been fighting a cold for over a week, so I called the doctor right away and made an appointment for an hour later. As soon as Daddy got home, I handed off a sluggish and hot Julia and a "not a care in the world" Margaret and took Caroline to the doctor where she was diagnosed with an "ugly" double ear infection. We got the ear numbing drops and a prescription and made our way home for bed. 

All in all, it was still a great day and by 7:30 all the girls were snug in their beds and fast asleep.  Fingers crossed the rest of the weekend is smooth sailing!

Here are some pictures from our day...before everything went downhill...

Margaret and Julia: bright-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to meet their teachers.

Julia

Margaret

Caroline

Caroline styled herself fabulous for school. 

Margaret and Caroline jumping right into an activity in Caroline's room. 

Caroline and Miss Rosie getting reacquainted. Miss Rosie was Caroline's Group I teacher.

Julia getting busy in her classroom.

Margaret was very excited to see the slide in her new classroom. 

Out on the FPP playground, Caroline surprised me with her monkey bar skills. Sometime in the last week or so, she's mastered them!

After lunch at our 2nd playground of the day. Julia chows down on a cupcake....we would see it again later. :(

My trio of girls hanging out in the train.

Julia and Margaret on their favorite piece of playground equipment: the rolling bar slide.

Caroline enjoying a popsicle on our back porch...before all the illness descended.

Oh hey, Mom. Sorry about that little mishap outside. I didn't mean to get sick all over you.