Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Siblings

My little brother and sister






Yesterday and Today

Yesterday morning, Claira walked around the house in search of Jason. She'd scrunch her shoulders up, hold out her hands, and ask me, "Da-da?" I'd tell her he's at work to which she'd respond, "Oh!" and go about her merry way, playing for a few minutes before she started her search all over again.

Today, I'm currently sitting in the living room with the laptop, and Claira keeps walking by, waving to me, and saying, "Hi, bebe!" then running away in a fit of giggles. She's definitely developing her own little sense of humor.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Happy Father's Day!

For all of the dad's out there...most likely to your husbands! But, especially to my dear husband, who spends his days outnumbered and doesn't mind tea parties, being sshhed when dolls are sleeping, and has been known to paint Elsie's toe nails for her. I'm so thankful for him!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Thursday, June 11, 2009

for you, Mama

My mom has been bugging me to post pictures for weeks now...so, it's time for a picture overload! Love you, Mama, and I'll see you tomorrow!











Monday, April 27, 2009

Dress Codes


Didn't you get the memo? High heels are all the rage for cartoon watching and slipping and sliding through the kitchen. Stay tuned for more of the latest toddler trends!

Okay, seriously...Claira walks better in high heels (that are way too big) than I do!

Here's another one...just because this girl rarely smiles for the camera! The girls tend to camp out on the couch in the early evening while they're waiting on Daddy to come home.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Professional Shopper and the Bookworm

We have one of each taking up residence at our house now. Those are Elsie and Claira's current professions. Elsie's favorite thing to play right now is house...whether it be with the dollhouse or with her baby dolls. Claira usually fills the role of whomever Elsie needs to boss around. Today, Elsie has been very busy with important phone calls and keeps reminding Claira to make her appointment at Target where all the best shopping is. Then, she sighs and goes on and on about how much work it is.
Really though, the Target love? She gets it honestly, from her Mama!
Claira has fallen in love with books over the past few months, and they are now her constant companions. We read the same 3 or 4 books 87,000 times a day, until she falls asleep with at least one of them in her arms. It's not so cozy nursing her to sleep with a board book or two wedged between us, but I'll admit that it's pretty sweet so she gets away with it.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Circle of Life


If you have a four year old, you must know by now that it's quite a chatty age. All of that talking inevitably lends itself to interesting conversations. Today, we sat around the kitchen table, Jason and Elsie eating their "pasta and red sauce" while Claira and I ate shells-n-cheese with andouille. The food was delicious, but the real entertainment was our four year old. For some reason, Elsie was talking about chickens...

Elsie--"Farmers give their eggs to the chickens. That's how chickens get eggs. The farmers have to give them the eggs."
Mommy--"Where do the farmers get the eggs?"
Elsie--"From the store. If they run out, they have to buy some more."

So, there you have it...the circle of life according to a four year old city girl. Oh, and don't worry too much...Daddy made sure to enlighten her with new revelation about where eggs really come from, where the farmer gets them, and where the store gets them.

Right this moment, Elsie's sitting behind me painting a card for her great-grandma Eileen, and I asked her where eggs come from. Her response was, "Eggs come from chickens, and then they give their eggs to the farmers so we can buy them." See, homeschooling!

Monday, March 23, 2009

16 months

Last night, Jason brought in a tote of Elsie's old clothes for me to try on Claira so that's what we did this morning. Let me tell you, there's nothing like opening a box full of things that don't fit your "baby" anymore to bring on the memories like a flood! This was one of my favorite outfits on Elsie, and I have to say that Claira looks just as cute!

Elsie, 16 months:



Claira, 16 months:

Thursday, March 19, 2009

My girls

I know I have some catching up to do. We've had a busy week, and it's not quite over yet!
In the meantime, here are pictures of Elsie and Claira from yesterday and today. Just thinking of all the grandmas...


Saturday, March 14, 2009

Observations: Week 1

I'll admit that I was a bit surprised for so much activity the first week of our planting project, but we're thrilled about it here. I especially love that it really gave Elsie a good opportunity to try out her observation skills, comparing and contrasting. I was even more impressed by her ability to make observations and compare the different plants all on her own. All I had to ask is, "What do you see?" and she gladly told me what she saw in each pot and how it was alike or different from another pot. I love this kid. She's really going to make this homeschooling adventure of ours a joy for me. Anyway, here are her observations this week, in her own words.

Zinnia: I see a plant. It growed. A zinnia growed! It's green. One zinnia is bigger than the other, but they both have two leaves.

Isn't this the cutest illustration of zinnia you've ever seen? I think so!


Sunflower: I see nothing. It's just dirt.


Basil: There's just dirt. The basil and sunflower aren't growing yet.


I'll update again when there's more growing to report!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Photo Wall


If you don't have one of these in your house yet, you might want one soon! If I could choose only one theme to decorate my entire house in, it would undoubtedly be photos of our little family. I'd say I've always been interested in photography, but starting a family with Jason and being blessed with our two daughters has given me a greater desire to capture all of our little moments of life on camera. Of course, the digital age has left me, like many others I'm sure, with a computer full of images and very few prints. So, what could be better than printing a few pictures you've taken and hanging them on your wall? I'll tell you...print them BIG! You won't be sorry! This is by far my favorite wall in the house now. I LOVE to look at it.

I got a bit of inspiration from my friend Jennie and printed up a few of my own pictures to start a photo wall of my own. I'll admit that I just picked a few favorites and didn't think much about how they'd all look together. Once they got here, I ran to Ikea for the photo ledge and several frames, trimmed the photos a bit, and put it altogether. I did have a little extra room so I grabbed that black and white photo of Elsie at 8 months, that was actually taken by Jason's Aunt Christina, and it fits in perfectly. I'm already brainstorming for ideas for a wall in the kitchen and one in our hallway that you can see from the living room so feel free to leave some ideas or links to the photo displays you have at your house!

Partners in Crime

Thursday, March 12, 2009

But he'd found this



Jason and I had two very different church beginnings. I didn't grow up in church but started attending after I got saved at 19. He did grow up in church and has much of the background that goes with it. When we met, my Bible was in a well-loved, sorry state. It was falling apart, and there were entire sections that I could remove completely. We hadn't been together long when he gave me a Bible he had received many years before. He wasn't using it, but it had his name engraved on the cover, and I found this written on the inside...



Sweet, huh? I thought so too. And so, this book with his name on it became my Bible. Many others made their way into our home after we got married. We have quite the collection of different versions now, but this was still my first choice for a long while. It was misplaced when we moved here a little over a year ago, and I looked for it a few times after we first moved with no luck. Another Bible was purchased, and I haven't thought much about it in a long while.

Then came Monday with our flooded basement and met me with something to treasure again. A couple of names and a few question marks scrolled in a Bible. Things were lost on Monday. Jason and I both lost things that we loved as children and carried with us into adulthood. In the middle of that, something else was preserved. At some point in the early afternoon, Jason made his way up the stairs and presented that Bible to me once again. His words were blurred as I really took in the sight of something I'd held in my arms so many times before. He'd just thrown out a box of books all ruined by the waters, but he'd found this at the bottom. Dry. Not wet. Not damp. Dry. At the bottom. He held it out to me, and I took it in my arms again, opening it to the page I'd seen so many times before.

My list of valuables here is short. There are things that matter to me that won't turn my world upside down when they're gone. In this life, things are lost and stolen all the time. But Monday, God gave something back to me that I'd lost in a way that meant so much more than if I had just found that box a year ago. On Monday, we had a flood. It was followed by a promise, and what we lost couldn't make me happier than what was found.

Dried up

Mostly, anyway. Our laundry room is in the basement. On Monday, I went down to find clean socks for the girls and was met with wet feet when I stepped off the stairs. I looked to the left and was met with the picture I posted a few days ago...no, that's not shiny floors, that's our carpet covered in water! I peeled my wet socks off, ran up to the landing to slip on Jason's crocs, then went back downstairs to survey the damage. Water was every.where. So, I ran back upstairs and grabbed my phone to call Jason. He came home right away and got to work pumping water out with our shop vac. Our main sump pump wasn't working, and he couldn't get the back up pump started either. Fun, huh? Luckily, it wasn't long before we had company and more help to search for a new pump as well as a couple of rented commercial carpet cleaners to suck up all of that water. I'm so thankful to all of the guys from church who spent the evening helping Jason carry things out of the basement and clean up the water. We were still pretty damp down there for a couple of days, but we have a working pump again, and it feels pretty dry down there so we'll get stuff back into place this weekend, hopefully. I know the girls have missed their playroom!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Saturday, March 7, 2009

How a Garden Grows

I had hoped today would be nice enough to have a park and picnic day. Since that didn't happen, we did one of the next best things. Elsie and I planted a little indoor garden. There's not much to it...I bought a kit that came with basil, sunflower, and zinnia, which is a strange combination if you ask me. Since we're just in it for the fun and observation of it, I figure it'll work out perfectly. I bought her a "science journal" (notebook) so we can make observations and take notes to compare and contrast how they grow. See what PBS does to a mom? Too much Sid the Science Kid, I think. Still, I'm curious to see what Elsie will come up with all on her own. I'll be sure to post our findings when there's something good to report!




Thursday, March 5, 2009

According to Elsie

The difference between big sisters and little sisters is a little something like this:

Elsie to Claira:

"I'm the King of the Jungle! ROAR!!! And you're just a little kitty, meow!"
"ROAR!!! meow! ROAR!!! meow! ROAR!!! meow!"

Yep, we're talking in parables at our house today. I just thought you'd like to know.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Day By Day

It's Wednesday, and I'm feeling pretty good today. My agenda for the day is to enjoy it and go to church tonight...which definitely falls into the enjoyment category I'm currently promoting. So here are my lovely girls on a Wednesday in early March.





I've known for quite some time now that I've been ignoring the blog. I've known that it's probably time for it to evolve along with my life. So, this is my effort to include it. In the coming months, I'm sure my words will be few. I hope the posts are not.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Elsie turns 4!

Yes, that's right, my sweet pie is officially no longer a toddler. The truth is, I haven't considered her a toddler for some time now. The toddler clothes certainly don't fit anymore! Still, now her age has even caught up with her, and I'll admit that it's all passing by way too quickly. That's my excuse for months without posting anything here! Our days are definitely keeping us busy! Still, I know there are grandparents just itching for an update here, especially since we're not big on road trips during the winter...so, here you go! I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Doesn't she look so grown up?





Her birthday invitation:


the cake!



enjoying sandwiches with frilly toothpicks (they definitely taste better that way)



making fancy butterflies:


make a wish!


trying out her new bike: