Mallory started preschool last week!

She was so excited the night before, that she went to bed without a fight. After we woke up, I came downstairs and she was standing in the kitchen with her jacket on. She hadn't even brushed her hair or had breakfast, she just wanted to get there already! Daddy came along for the drop off and we both got a kick out of her expression when she was walking in. The typical Mallory "smirk." Hillary held her hand as they walked down the long hallway and into the classroom. She knew exactly what to do once inside, she must have been watching the twins intently all year. When I picked them up, her teacher's report was great. Mallory was very well behaved. She was surprised how different she is than the twins. Apparently, Mallory was first in line at every chance, whereas the twins are always towards the end of the line. She was anxious to get a chance to do everything! Her teacher also commented that you would never know she has sisters in the classroom because she didn't look for them or cling to them. She was busy, busy, busy! She asks everyday if she can go back to school, so the transition has been very smooth. And I get three quality hours with Rose two days a week. It's a nice break!

In Rosalie news, she has taken climbing to a whole new level (pun intended). She can now climb up onto our couch, the coffee table and the queen bed in the toy room. I guess Mallory's daredevil antics as a baby weren't bad enough - Rose is going to give her a run for her money and me a heart attack in the meantime. She said "butter" the other day. Actually she screamed "butter" at Nana Rich, who wouldn't let her stick her hands in the container - how rude!

Jay has been very busy with work this month. January is the busiest of all for him. When we have spare time after the kids fall asleep, we've been working on our upstairs bathroom. We use the bathroom toilet at least once a day. But the shower? It has been used ONCE. One time since we've lived here for oh, two and a half years. I'm still not sure why we chose not to use it because the shower is in perfect shape, but the bathroom needed some minor TLC. We're grouting the floor, replacing the toilet, painting the walls and vanity and working on some minor details. It's exciting seeing something improve so much with just a little elbow grease and love. Here are two before pictures...one of the multicolored walls and one with the nasty old grout. When we moved in we painted it a shade of blue. Six months ago I began to paint it green and then changed my mind, thus leaving multicolored walls. But the color I chose now was called "country white" so I really can't imagine you could go wrong with any shade of off white. The after pictures will follow...as soon as we finish! It'll be a slow process. : )