Some Weeks Seem Looong

 One week ago my dad took this picture as we were walking out the door for church. All my girls are in it...can you find Geneva? We actually all made it to church together!

 This week turned into the kind of week where you have many plans that all get canceled. Ever have one of those weeks? I made plans, but the Lord directs my days. This week I had to say "no" to lots of good things. Actually, I've had to that a lot lately. We've had some sort of nasty flu in our house for about a month. God is teaching me to find joy in the place He has me, even when I'm tired and not well myself. God has been good to me this week. At times, it felt like the nights weren't going to end (as I got up to take care of Geneva), but His mercies were new each morning! Geneva got the flu we've all had. It went very quickly into a bacterial respiratory infection. Once the doctors found out why she had a fever and bad cough, they gave her a powerful antibiotic shot. Good thing we have insurance because this shot is $1000 (yes, one thousand dollars!). We only had to pay $30 for the co-pay. Poor baby is still felling sick, but doing better. I know this is not nearly what some people go through with their children, but it was a challenge for me. A challenge to remember where God wants me to be and how He wants my heart to love Him through every challenge.

 Madison and Savannah are here singing to Geneva "to make her feel better". Too cute! 

They haven't seen the movie Frozen, but love singing "Let it Go". 

Their facial expressions crack me up!

We've also had a new addition to our kitchen this week...my white and shining refrigerator. I've been without a freezer and fridge for a whole month! Yes, it has been challenging. We packed our food in snow (thanks God for cold weather) in our sun room. A little messy and inconvenient, but that's another story for another time :)

We've never had a water dispenser on the door, so Maddie digs this. 

She said today, "I love this fridge. It's better than better."

Love these guys!

Snowy Walk

We are not used to all this COLD!!!! Our family has been sick for the last 3 weeks with some nasty congestion, cough, and all over tiredness. Poor little Geneva has it now. We've been cooped up inside between cold weather and not feeling well. It's been nice to have my parents here to help out! Despite it being in the low 30's, we had to get out for a walk. It was beautiful!

 Me and my love.

 Mom and I.

Thankful to God for the snow and my loved ones!

Bed Time Reading

It's been nice to have so many adults in the house to read to the girls! Each night there have been several stories going at the same time.

 Savannah loves being in Papa's lap reading Ladybug Girl. She likes the pretend girly stories.

 Maddie has been enjoying one of the Chronicles of Narnia books with Mimi. She begs for more chapters every night. 

 And Jesse enjoys playing with Geneva on the couch. We all have our places!

Valentine's Day

 Geneva loved chewing on her cards!

 My lil Valentine...

 My mom and dad and the kids and I built a snowman!

 After a family dinner, the girls decorated heart shaped brownies.

 My silly girl!

 Then they decorated Papa and themselves with stickers.

 Here they are checking themselves out in the window...too funny!

Mimi loves her Valentine snuggles!

Papa and Mimi Got Snowed In!

We are so happy to have Papa and Mimi here for a visit! Papa came via Russia, where he was doing a conference. They were supposed to fly out today to South Carolina to do another conference over the weekend, but they've gotten snowed in! The airport closed down, and there were no other flights in time for the conference. It's super fun to have them here for a snow storm.

 My little ones are thrilled to have story time with Papa and Mimi!

 Morning snuggles. 

(Maddie wasn't quite awake yet :)

 Mimi's had lots of pretend play with Savannah.

 This is Geneva's favorite spot. She rolled over for the first time today from her tummy to her back!

 We made meatballs and Mimi's famous Italian sauce for dinner. 

 Everyone put their artistic talent to work making snowflakes.

 Maddie made her first Rainbow Loom bracelet.

 Geneva's second favorite spot.

 We ventured out for a bit today- it had snowed 10 inches last night! Savannah went sledding on a few runs, then wanted to go inside for a warm bath! She wasn't up for the cold today. Our family has been sick the last two weeks with an awful cold/flu. Lots of sneezing, coughing, and stuffy noses.

 Thanks Papa for shoveling our walkway!

Maddie sledding!

Geneva Joy at Four Months

I can hardly believe Geneva is four months already! The time is flying by even more with three girls! 

 She loves being on her back under the play mat cooing and trilling at the star above. She gets a huge kick out of her sisters who make her giggle lots.

 She has BIG round eyes! 

 Geneva is weighing 12 ponds, 10 ounces and is 24 inches long. She sleeps from about 11pm- 3:30am, then goes back to sleep until 6:30am or so. 

 She's improving with tummy time- for so long she would just lay her head down and not even try to pick it up!!

Savannah calls her "Neva Joy", which is my favorite nickname for her. What sweet sisters they are!

Family Time

Life can be so hectic...everyone knows what I'm talking about. We have full days, and sometimes nights! So, our family took a few days to slow down and enjoy each other this past week.

This is where we stayed...

just kidding! 

It's actually Monticello- Thomas Jefferson's home.

On the tour, I was amazed to learn that he read in 6 different languages, invented a way to copy his letters as they were being written, and started a university. He was quite a hard working man.

They had a great kids room where the girls learned hands-on about life during his day.

 

Building with the blocks was a huge hit!

Here Maddie is copying his grave stone by rubbing a crayon over it.

You might recognize the back of his house from looking at a nickel.

We also took a family game day. Uno, War, pick up sticks, hide and go seek...you know, good ones like that :)

Another highlight was going for walks. The girls were so cute to watch.

Sister conversations...

Both girls cried when we had to leave! They had such a great time. One of their favorite things about our little trip was having Lucky Charms for breakfast...hahha!