February Fun

February brought some COLD weather to what has otherwise been a fairly mild winter, and with needing to be home for Caroline's naps and the basement still unfinished, we're all getting a bit stir-crazy around here!  Cabin fever, anyone?  Still, we have found lots of opportunities for fun around the Sustar household:

Our little Caroline is getting busier every day!  She is crawling everywhere now and is pulling up to stand at every chance.  Her other favorite activity is EATING...  the girl is insatiable.  Woe to the person who leaves her with an empty plate while here sisters are eating nearby!

Happy, busy girl

Bathing beauty.  She loves to splash!

I was lucky enough to take a dream trip back to my alma mater and attend my first Duke basketball game since I was a student!  The Blue Devils looked AMAZING and revenged a loss to Notre Dame by 20 points.  Just as special was watching the game with my senior roommate Jill, as well as visiting with good friends Peter and Doreen (and meeting their adorable kiddos!).  It's always wonderful to reunite with old friends and realize that although we're all "grown up" with kids of our own, we really haven't changed.

Back in Cameron = dream come true

It was SO amazing to be back on campus!!  Caroline was a great little traveler.
A big thanks to Winnie and Picky for the trip!

Doreen, Peter, Sonia, Neil, and Kiran were amazing hosts

Jill's historic home contained yearbooks from the early days of Duke,
including this one from 1937...   When Nanna was a student!

Our first real snow of the year came this month, and the girls loved every minute!  We put off shoveling our steep driveway and it turned out to be the perfect sledding hill (why didn't we think of that before?).  The older girls even spent the morning sledding by THEMSELVES, which was awesome in so many ways.  They really do grow up... sad and exciting all at the same time.

"You'll be out there soon, Caroline!"

Potty training FAIL: You'll notice in the photo below (taken before the father-daughter dance, one of the cutest events of our year) that Margaret is not wearing pants.  Yes, it was potty-training time once again at the Sustar house.  Again we tried the 3-day, cold-turkey method, which worked so well for Siena and Libby.  Unfortunately, Margaret was a different story.  It turns out she has amazing bladder control but a complete unwillingness to use the potty.  After EIGHT days with ZERO progress (even with an Anna doll as a prize incentive), I had to throw in the towel.  Just when I think I have all the parenting answers (ha!), I am completely humbled. :)  To be continued this summer...

A February post wouldn't be complete without a Valentine's Day photo...  Joe knocks his socks off every year for his girls.  They are blessed with an amazing daddy!