January Miscellany

January, with its drab, cold  867 31 days, always brings lots of stir-crazed goofiness to our house.  Here's a sampling:

 

 Ben got to take his class "pet" Artie home for the weekend.  We decided we should have an Artie Party (Next Food Network Star fans, you feel me). 

 Ben and Noah have been intrigued by the Biltmore House (the largest home in America) for as long as we can remember.  Over MLK weekend, we took a quick trip up to Asheville, NC, to tour the house, eat some yummy vegetarian food, and swim.

You'll notice Jess and Eliza aren't in this commemorative photo taken inside the Music Room.  That's because E was not at all interested in the Music Room, the Banquet Hall, the Billiard Room, or any of the other 250 rooms on the tour.  She made this known in the way only a 2-year-old could -- loudly, embarrassingly, and carried-out-of-there-while-mumbling-threats-under-your-breath-ily.  We met up with them for snacks later.

I took Ben and Ava to the high school musical at the boys' school.  They were the cutest.

And speaking of Ava, Eliza has mad love and serious big girl adoration.

While E can totally rock a hat, I knew it was time for her 1st haircut.

There were sobs (read: shrieks of terror) until she realized that 1) it didn't hurt, 2) Dora was on the tv, and 3) there was a sucker waiting on the other end.

Ms. Lisa happened to braid her hair afterward, and ever since, Eliza has insisted her hair be braided.  Guess we're gonna go Laura Ingalls-style for a while.

 

And just 'cause it makes me smile (it's January - I'll take the smiles where I can get them), here's E jumpin' rope:

Yes, that might be Mr. Incredible (aka, our neighbor Josiah) you see in the background.