A Visit from Grandpa and Grandma

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit us this weekend, and it seemed like they brought the beautiful weather we've enjoyed over the last two days with them! We spent a nice few days hanging out indoors and out, and Caroline had the special treat of attending The Little Mermaid with her grandparents and Daddy.

Snug as 4 little bugs in a rug (or on a couch).

Caroline was SO excited to be going to the play with her grandparents and Daddy!

Caroline was hands down the best dressed of this crew ;-)

We spent the entire day Sunday outside. It was fabulous!! 

Caroline swinging like a champ on the monkey bars at the Collegiate playground.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lots of love from Caroline, Julia, and Margaret!!

Picture Post

Just a handful of pictures to share today. We have been busy around the Hepper house lately. The girls have been busy trying to get back in the swing of regular school days and activities (which are sure to be disrupted by the impending snow storm tomorrow), Mommy has been busy working on Noah's (the gala is this weekend...hip hip hooray!!!), and we've all been busy being sick. :-(
We've had more than our fair share of colds and stomach viruses lately, and I think it's safe to say we are all sick of being sick!!

Margaret shops for valentines while waiting for her medicine at CVS. Double ear infections discovered at 7:30 at night are never fun :(

Burrito love at Moe's

Julia and Margaret hamming it up together while home sick from school last week.

J and M posed almost identically to watch the Olympics...or the "Yimpics" as Margaret calls them.

Men's figure skating was not exciting enough for these two snoozers.

3 sisters, hard at work.

Caroline trying out her "reading finger." 

Caroline and her "family." 

Miss Margaret

It's a good thing this blue-eyed toddler is so lovable, despite her mischief making ways...

Julia was supposed to be napping, but instead decided to take the box of baking soda out of her diaper pail and hose down her room with it (this picture only shows part of the fun). Thank goodness I had just emptied the pail...I don't even want to think about the other kind of mess I could've had on my hands.

As you can see, Julia was very apologetic about it afterwards. Excuse my harsh tone of voice...I was not a happy momma!

The (Beginning of the) End of an Era

I won't even mention last week's "Snow Day, Round 3" because I just can't think, talk or write about snow any more.
Sooo, on to happier, more exciting things!! Last weekend, we began the process of moving the twins from their crib into their "big girl beds." It's a big milestone, and I feel a bit sad about this official acknowledgement that the twins are no longer babies.

Now I do realize that most parents would think that I am a complete fool for letting the twins go into beds well before they are 3, but the reality is that both Julia and Margaret can easily climb out of their cribs and open their bedroom doors. So, it didn't make any sense to prolong the inevitable. Margaret got her bed first because we had it in the attic. It's Caroline's old bed. Julia will be getting 2 twin beds in the coming weeks when Marmee and Grampy ever so kindly drive them up from Atlanta for us!

Margaret made the transition from crib to bed like a champ!! She went right to sleep the first night and ever since then has gone to bed (and stayed in bed) without any problems (I have no such hope for Julia, unfortunately). We are thrilled that Margaret is loving her new bed, and we can tell she is feeling very grown-up these days. Poor Julia is feeling very jealous these days and is trying her best to be patient while waiting for her beds.

Margaret's last picture in her crib!

They've gotten a whole lot bigger since...

...this picture was taken (1.5 yrs)

Margaret helps to assemble her big girl bed.

The new bed is up and ready!

Margaret all tucked in and ready to go.

                                                                          Success!!!

And even though Julia is jealous of Margaret and her bed, she's not holding it against her.

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Snow Day, Round Two

After our nice holiday weekend with visitors galore, I have to admit that I was looking forward to shipping the girls off to school last week. I needed to grocery shop, do laundry, clean, and frankly, just be alone. Alas, Mother Nature had different plans in mind, and my much anticipated free time was not to be.
We were out of school for 3 days, but we made do by playing with our neighborhood buddies, going bonkers in our bounce house, and crafting our little hearts out. The only thing we didn't do on our snow days was play outside a whole lot. The girls went out with Paul on the first day and then with our neighbor the following day. This Mommy was no where to be seen outside on any day!

We waited nearly the entire day on Tuesday for the snow flakes to start falling.

It wasn't until Wednesday that we had enough snow in which to play.

Back inside, the girls had tons of fun playing with peanut butter play dough.

H is for Hepper!

Not surprisingly, Julia had alternative plans for her play dough. Good thing it actually is edible!

Margaret was so proud of her "birthday cake." 

We hit up Chick-fil-A for lunch on Thursday.

Daddy was home earlier than usual most night last week because of the snow. The twins took full bedtime story reading advantage.

Blurry but cute picture of the three C's: Caroline H, Caroline B and Campbell.

Wonderful Weekend

We had such fun over the last weekend! We had two Darden reunions at our house: one that was planned for a while and one that was thrown together late in the week. On Saturday, the Rayborn, Garrett, and Phillips families descended on our house for lunch, play time, and catching up. On Sunday we hosted our last Darden family for playtime and dinner. The whole weekend was so fun. It was just like old times in Charlottesville, except with a lot more kids!

This cutie pie is Maddox, aka, Olivia Jr. :)

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Margaret chatting Mason's ear off at the dinner table. 

Caroline and Mason working together to build a marble run.

Julia putting on a post-breakfast show for her guests.

The Heppers and the Phillips 

First Snow of 2014!

When I woke up yesterday morning I was shocked to see snow on the ground and still falling from the sky! I like to consider myself a fairly informed person, but I had NO idea that snow was in the forecast. For those of you who know me well, you know that I despise cold weather. And snow? Snow is not my thing. And of course it happened while Paul was out of town.
Normally he'd be all over it and outside with the girls before I could fire up my first round of coffee. But not yesterday morning. I had no choice but to put on my big girl mommy pants and deal with it. I suited up the girls and let them loose in the backyard so they could have their snow fix. All in all, it was relatively painless, and I didn't actually have to spend that much time outside myself. WIN!!

Caroline and Margaret scoping out the snow first thing in the morning (and yes, Caroline was already in a dress up costume)

Attempting to catch a snowflake on her tongue.

Margaret looking super cute in her hat. She was not a snow lover. The apple didn't fall far from the tree with this one.

Julia suited up and ready to go outside! 

Our winter wonderland 

Julia enjoying the snow.

Caroline catching snowflakes 

Caroline and her teeny tiny snowman.

Off to school with hot chocolate!!!