Wow - has it been two weeks already?

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've posted. Time flies when you're having fun. Or incredibly busy. Or sick. Again. I have a horrible cold for the third time in six weeks and another eye infection. Sophie just finished her 2nd course of stronger antibiotics and is still coughing and dripping like a faucet. EJ, thankfully, has only missed one day of school in all of this, but did lose her voice for another day or two. And Sunday night, K came down with it too. Miserable. But we're sharing it like a good family should, I guess.

Okay, on to what's happened in the last few weeks.

EJ had a presentation at school last week about Native Americans. Her group covered the Northwest Indians:

I celebrated my 38th birthday (again, and again...and well, maybe some more). Honestly, the cake had a 38 on it! Of course, that was because EJ couldn't find the "4" candle anywhere, so she used 38 and then added a few. She and Sophie got me a lovely tea-themed gift (a new mug, some tea, and teacup ornaments for the Christmas tree) that she went shopping for with dad.

For Turkey Day, we traveled to my brother's family's house north of Philadelphia. Thanks, bro, for hosting! Hope none of you are sick this week. Everything was yummy! On Friday, we took a drive into the city. EJ has wanted to see the Liberty Bell for years, but usually we're there in passing and never have a few extra hours to make it into the city, so we made sure we got there this year. We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Ben Franklin's grave, Betsy Ross' house, and Elfreth Alley. And, we had a great cheesesteak for lunch with soft pretzels for an afternoon snack. Other than the frigid wind, it was a great day. EJ commented on the way back to my brother's, "That was even more fun than I thought it would be!" The girl loves history! I guess I owe a big shout out to the American Girl company for helping with that.

We drive back to New England on Saturday. On Sunday morning, Sophie decided to read the newspaper.

EJ is taking art lessons this year with an artist here in town who teaches group classes. Here is a picture of Sophie she sketched in the back seat of the van on the way home:

And this was the project in class she most recently finished. I think it's pretty darn good! This week, she started a drawing of giraffes.