Happy Birthday, Aunt Donna!

Today is Aunt Donna's birthday, and we are very happy that she's here to celebrate the occasion with us!

As you can see, the girls are very excited, mostly because they're about to eat cake! But they had reason to be, as it was quite delicious!

Welcome, Aunt Donna!

We are very excited that Aunt Donna is visiting us, all the way from NH! She arrived on Friday night, and look what she brought for us:

Cannolis & cookies from Mike's Pastries, our sentimental favorite bakery of all time, located in the North End of Boston. She made a special trip, all the way into the city, just so she could bring a little bit of heaven to us in KY!

Jordi was most impressed with the big bottle of maple syrup. She must have thanked Aunt Donna at least a dozen times so far!

Aunts are so great, they let you sit real close to you on the couch while they show you neat stuff (like baby pictures of their nieces) on their computer! Don't they look cozy?

Annual Pancake Supper

As today is Shrove Tuesday (the English equivalent of Mardi Gras), the Pullem family attended our church's annual Pancake Supper. It was a delicious affair, complete with all-you-can-eat pancakes & sausage, breakfast beverages, and followed by a festive king cake. We'd been looking forward to it for days, especially the girls!

Jordi decided that she wanted to sit with her cousin Emily at the big girl table. Emily & her friends are in the 4th grade, and they are always nice enough to include Jordi whenever she's around. It really makes her feel special!

Caroline, on the other hand, was stuck with us at the grown-ups' table. I don't think she cared much where she sat, though, as long as there was a plate of pancakes in front of her!

After pancakes, it was time for cake! This sticky coffee-cake type pastry is called a king cake, and is a traditional symbol of Mardi Gras (note the beads and coins on top).

As you can see, everyone thought it was as delicious as it looked!

Musical Caroline

"Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing... Caroline Pullem!" Usually, those words are followed by a Dance Show, but this week Caroline's been adding to her entertainment repertoire:

I took this picture one morning last week. Chopsticks make great drumsticks! Also, please note the sparkly attire!

This picture is from our visit with the Fords last Saturday. Richard broke out the bugle, since the piano is still off-limits. (Jordi still has quite an aversion to hearing the low notes, and gets pretty upset if anyone even suggests going near the piano while we're there!) But we had fun anyway, although the bugle needed a thorough de-slobberring by the time the girls were done with it!!

"Valentine's Day is just... SO great!"

The words above were spoken by Jordi shortly after she opened & started eating this box of candy from Nana & Grandad. When I asked her why, she responded, "Chocolates!" Really... who can argue can with that?


Caroline, on the other hand, is a bigger fan on lollipops. In fact, she was enjoying this one so much that we had to put her bib on! She gets really into it, and the lollipop syrup ends up all over: face, hands, clothes. It's a sticky mess, but still pretty cute!

We miss you, Daddy!

We made this card for Nana & Grandad (Mommy helped with the hard parts!), but we thought you'd like to see it, too. Hurry home!
love,
your angels,
Jordi & Caroline

Caroline's Big Face

Caroline has recently discovered that she can make her face look a certain way... on purpose! We like to call this her "big face:"

Cute, huh? This is something Caroline has added to her repertoire of ways to participate in family-fun time at the supper table. We often play a game where everyone gets a chance to make a funny face and make the others laugh; this is usually instigated by Jordi once we're done eating. Though what's even funnier about Caroline's "big face" is that when she first started doing it, she would put her hand on her face & feel around. We thought it was a bit unusual, but I guess she was just making sure that she really was doing something with that cute face of hers!

Girls' Lunch Out

After dropping Daddy off at the airport in Huntington on Sunday, the girls & I kept on going for a quick trip to one of Mommy's favorite stores: Target! (It's about 30 miles away, so we don't get to go there very often!) I took this picture of the girls having lunch there before we started shopping:

Isn't it nice to see sharing? Jordi likes to be a good big sister and assist Caroline, whatever the task at hand. Now, it's no guarantee, but making sure that little ones have a full tummy just might ensure that shopping time is a good time for all. It did the trick this time... we got everything on the list and had fun doing it!

Moments from Our Week

Although we've not had any momentous happenings this week, it's been fun-filled nonetheless. Here are some pictures to show you what I mean:

Winter continued this week with frigid temperatures and more snow. I took this picture on Wednesday of Jordi underneath the tree in the neighbor's yard. As you can see, this time it was a real snowfall... about 6 inches! We had to shovel & everything!

Caroline is not at all afraid to try flavorful new foods, especially if they have finger-sized holders in them! This week, we tried fresh raspberries. Caroline took to them right away, as you can see!

Cold weather means more indoor activities, like painting. This is a for-big-girls-only activity that we do just while Caroline naps, and Jordi really seems to enjoy it!

This morning, while I was getting ready, I heard Caroline talking about being in "Jordi bed" & Jordi responding that she would get in bed, too. When I peeked in with my camera, this is what I saw: two sisters, still in pj's, goofing around, & having a great time. What a nice way to start the day!

Super Sunday

Yay! We're back online! Our internet has been out since Monday, which it's taken me until today to post these pictures from the Superbowl party we went to:

Everyone had a great time at Susie & Jack's house, eating delicious chili & watching the game. But no one had more fun than these three! Susie, a Grandma-in-training, actually built a tent in her living room... it even had it's own lighting! Wow! I have to say, it was pretty sweet!

Meanwhile, outside the tent, Caroline found a new best friend, Mary Jo. Caroline loves to dress up & be a fancy dancer, and Mary Jo was happy to accommodate her by draping the sheet around her, over & over & over!

The girls rounded out their evening with a make-up session. Susie gave the girls a gift of a fancy pocketbook filled with lipsticks, glosses, nail polishes, & eyeshadows. To the girls, it was a dream come true! Their very own make-up! As Jordi said, "GREAT!"

Welcome Home, Nana & Grandad!

After a month in sunny Florida, Tim & Judy have recently returned to wintery Ashland. We were all very glad to see them again, especially Jordi & Caroline! We had a wonderful reunion dinner of Giovanni's pizza (what every true Ashlander craves after they've been away, right?) followed lots of fun catching up!

These oranges are from the actual orange tree that was in the backyard of the condo in Florida. Neat!

Here's Caroline modeling the hooded beach towel that Nana brought for each girl. Isn't she a cute little mermaid? Caroline likes hers so much that, the next day, she wore it around the house all morning!

Here's a picture of Jordi working diligently on another one of the many gifts from Nana & Grandad: a suitcase that you can write on! Jordi has taken the responsibility of decorating hers quite seriously, and she's done a very good job so far. As she told Nana, "It's exactly what I wanted!"

Yay! More Snow!

Today, we woke up to another day of white. Of course, the girls were very excited to get bundled up & head outside for another morning of snow fun!

Here's Jordi, striking a pose beside the tree in our front yard.

Caroline discoved yet another reason to like snowballs: they can be eaten! Jordi got a big kick out of watching her little sister nibble away. (Given Jordi's aversion to "cold" ice cream, it was no surprise that she wasn't interested in exploring the snackability of snow.)

Isn't that a cute face? I think Caroline would stay outside all day if I let her! She loves snow!

Out to Lunch

Most days, the girls & I eat lunch at home. But every once in a while, it's fun to splurge and go out to eat!

Here they are, enjoying their lunches at Burger King. What kid doesn't like chicken nuggets & french fries? These two are no exception!