Happy 5th birthday, Claire!

We love you, dearest Claire Bear "Vader" Atherton.  For five years, you have been the wheel that doesn't squeak.  We love your joy, your exuberance, and your appreciation of the finer things in life (ie sleep). 

Happy birthday, sweet girl.

Lego Kidsfest in Raleigh

Claire had to be woken up on Christmas day.  But today, she woke up at 5:30 am, ready for the day's adventures.  Charlotte wasn't far behind.

They had their picture taken with a movie star (Emmett from The Lego Movie):

They raced Lego cars:

And they sat in a giant pile of Lego bricks and started creating:

They also enjoyed seeing some of the amazing things other people had created:

A Lego map of the USA.

Twintastic

Daddy was able to capture these moments of sweet sisterly cooperation.  It was almost a shame that they had to be separated for bedtime:

One with the Force, we are

"We need money, 'cuz we're four," Charlotte announced on the way to school Friday.  Where do you think money comes from, Mummy asked.  "The piggybank."

Claire is also quite the funny girl.  Daddy's back hurt this morning, and Mummy quipped, Daddy's getting old!  "Are you going to turn into Yoda?" Claire asked.

We're having a fun and busy weekend.  Louise took ballet class yesterday, and Charlotte & Claire went to the TriangleMommies birthday party, where they bowled, got balloon animals, had their faces painted, and generally ran around.  This morning, Louise & Charlotte made breakfast for everyone.

So you had a bad day...

Charlotte has had a rough fortnight.  Two weeks ago, she slipped in the shower.  Mummy thought, "oh, she's crying a lot, but that's Charlotte-ish," so we put her to bed.  When she woke screaming the next morning, Daddy took her to three physicians, who eventually concluded that she had fractured her collarbone.  Two days later, Mummy left town.

This past weekend, Charlotte was again grumpy.  This time, the culprit was strep throat.  Fortunately, the recovery time is much shorter for strep.  Today, Mummy again left town.  We're a bit apprehensive about what will happen to Charlotte before Mummy's next work trip.

Claire is less likely to get injured.  This weekend, she announced to Mummy after a whole hour outside on a 60F, sunny day, "I've been working hard outside for a long time.  I need to go inside now" (to watch tv or work on lego, presumably).

The following video shows the girls singing, "Jesus will take the chicken out of you, bwawk bwawk."  Might explain why Charlotte has wanted to stick to beef, pork, or meatless options lately.

So big

Easter celebrations continued on Sunday with Ellen and Thomas's 2nd birthday party.  At least, we celebrated - Ellen, Thomas, and Luke were quarantined on their back porch because of a stomach bug.

Today, Charlotte and Claire had their 4 year-old well-child visits.  Their growth continues to track as before, around the 75th percentile.  The vital stats:

Claire - 3'5.13", 43lb 3.2 oz
Charlotte - 3'5", 39 lb 3.2 oz

(that 0.13" makes all the difference).

The big 4

Claire and Charlotte were VERY excited to turn 4 yesterday.  "Look how big I am now!" Charlotte exclaimed when she came downstairs.  They celebrated at daycare with cupcakes, picked big sister up from school, and opened a large pile of wonderful presents: for Claire, a tool to help her read, tons of books, some costumes, a baby elephant, and other great stuff; for Charlotte, a tool belt "like Claire's", a Hot Wheels car launcher (that serves no apparent purpose but makes her very happy), bunches of books, and a near-life-size zebra.

Today, the whole family was together for Good Friday, and the festivities continued with a trip to the Greensboro Children's Museum, where Claire enjoyed the "real, live fire truck" and Charlotte reveled in the police car and mail truck.  (We have never observed a happier postal worker).  Tomorrow we'll have another birthday party, this time with the "street people".  It was hard to get to sleep tonight...

In other news, Louise was very proud to show off the chicken dance she learned at school:

Easter musical

Charlotte did it, she did it!  Claire had been practicing her lines for the preschool musical for weeks, but when she saw the assembled crowd, she fled backstage.  Fortunately, and to our surprise, Charlotte donned the costume and stepped into the role on Saturday:  MGP Easter Musical

Afterwards, there was a rock hunt.  Louise was proud that she could read the instructions and the list of colours (one rock of each) for her sisters.  

The busy day continued with a daycare friend's birthday party at the Museum of Life & Science, for Charlotte and Claire, and a ballet class for Louise.  (Louise loves ballet).

What job today

Claire, our queen of dress up, had fun deciding what job she wanted to do.  She looks happiest in community service roles, but she would probably make a very Newman-esque mail carrier.

NC Weather, part II

Less than a week after playing kickball in t-shirt and shorts, we had a snow day.  Charlotte was worried about "frostbites," so she wore lots of layers of clothing.  Not surprisingly, she enjoyed the cold weather the most, but all three girls loved sledding (and an extra day with Daddy).  They also helped the neighbours build a snowman, and Louise made a snow angel.  After fun in the snow, all the neighbourhood kids piled into the Howard house for hot chocolate.

Happy 2013

Happy 2013 to everyone. We had a good Christmas break - we took trips to IKEA, the NC Natural Sciences museum and playing with friends.  Louise's favourite parts of the museum trip: the dinosaurs and the opportunity to use a micropipette.  Charlotte & Claire loved the escalator.

We enjoyed having time together.  There were moments of sibling togetherness - Charlotte & Claire (at their request) shared a bedroom for 4 days (until Claire's mess started bugging Charlotte).  There were also other moments - "I don't want three year-olds at my five year-old meeting!"  But it was hard to go back to work and school after the family time together.

Disguises

The kids' personalities shone through their disguises on Halloween.  At one door, the kids all gave the customary greeting.  "Are you going to give me a treat?" asked the woman at the door.  Louise reached into her bucket and offered the woman some of her candy; C&C backed away nervously.  The music factory was all about the CANDY.

Charlotte and Claire have some interesting conversations.  Last week, in the back of the car, Charlotte asked Claire, "Can you hear me?"
      "No."
      Charlotte: "Why?"
      Claire: " 'Cuz I got my eyes covered."


Charlotte had a rough day yesterday.  "You're being rather contrary today," Daddy said to her.  "No I'm not!" she defiantly replied

Party weekend

Happy Halloween!  Here's a preview of the Halloween costumes, taken from a Halloween party Daddy and the girls attended on Saturday:







































Louise won the prize for best costume.  She went as "dressed up for Halloween."

C&C went to Burlington City Park for a classmate's party on Sunday and had a wonderful time.  They particularly enjoyed driving: