This is by far one of the coolest milestones we have hit.  A few weeks ago Lena wrote her name...all by herself, with no help whatsoever!  She was drawing at the desk in our guest room on her own (as she often does), and she emerged and produced this picture!  It is "a volcano that is erupting, but it doesn't hurt you."  And she autographed her photo!  Awesome.

We have been enjoying the beautiful weather lately by playing outside with the neighbors a ton.  It was hot a couple days ago, so we had out the sprinkler and other water toys.  I think Jolie is going to love the pool this summer.  Her skin was ice cold, but she kept crawling back into the water.  She loves it.

Chris just got back from a week long trip to London.  We all missed him a ton.  M and L wanted to send a picture saying "I love you" in sign language, and the first picture is what we got.  Regardless, daddy got the message.  

We took a trip one evening to one of the twins' favorite parks.  They still- barely- fit in the big swing.  We first took them two years ago, and they have always insisted that they swing in it together.  Jolie especially loved the slide.  M and L took turns going down the small slide with her in their lap.  Her favorite part though was trying to climb it.  She just kept climbing and climbing, but never made it anywhere.  She looked like she was on a treadmill!  It kept her entertained for quite a while.

The kids and Chris sent me tulips for Mother's Day.  Lena was so mad that she didn't get flowers in the mail.  She sat at the table with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face the entire time I was arranging them in the vase.  I told her to ask for some for her birthday, and she seemed ok with that idea.  At least it will be easy to pick out her present.

 Jolie almost got her first juice box.  Too bad Maddie had already sucked it down.

Impromptu picnic and walk at Inniswood Gardens on a beautiful day.

 They were being total posers today.

Today was M and L's last day of preschool.  It is so bittersweet.  They absolutely adored their teachers (Mrs. Denney and Mrs. Green), classmates, and learning lots of new things.  After every pickup they had tons to tell me about their day.  They both can identify every letter and number (A-Z, 0-10), and they know almost all of their letter sounds.  They learned about recycling, the seasons and weather, animals, teamwork, fine motor skills, and many other things.  This experience has been priceless for Chris and I, because M and L have had such a positive first experience with attending school.  There were no tears AT ALL!  Next year they will be going three mornings per week.  After an entire summer at home with mommy, I'm sure everyone will be ready to get back to school next fall!

Jolie's one year stats:

height:  29 1/2 " (75%)

weight:  21lbs., 12 oz. (75%)

On Saturday morning I ran in my third half marathon.  I made my personal best time of 1:59:13 with a pace of 9:07 per mile.  My goal was to finish in two hours, so I barely made it...but, hey, I made it!

I forgot to mention a couple weekends ago (right before our trip to Illinois) Chris completed a Tough Mudder race (also known as "The toughest event on the planet") in northern Ohio with a couple guys from work and a friend from high school.  It was over ten miles long, and there were obstacles to overcome every half mile. 

The girls think we both won our races.  We must seem pretty cool to them, right? :)

Sunday afternoon we had our neighbors over for another round of cake and opening presents.  Her new ride on toy is definitely one of her favorites from that party!