Welcome Baby Paul

Baby Paul Benjamin arrived healthy and hearty, on Saturday night. (August 18th) He weighed 8 lbs and 14 oz, and was 21" long. We all already love him so much. Lucy and Helen try to share their toys and books with him, but we have to limit the amount of "loving" they give him. :-)

Just Because We Like Our Puppies

I made this little video for my girls to watch, because they love our dogs. The song is not exactly accurate, as both our dogs are girls and they are labs, but I couldn't find a better song. (If anyone out there knows a good "doggy" song let me know and maybe I'll use it on our next video.)

Gardening with Daddy

One of the things I like the most about all of Ben's gardening and yard projects is watching Lucy and Helen follow him around. Especially Lucy. She just wants to do whatever Daddy is doing,

whether it's measuring boards to build a flower trellis

or digging holes to plant vegetables

Helen's never far behind Lucy.

Of course, another great benefit is the home grown vegetables, (a fresh salad every day) 

and the beautiful flowers from our yard.

 Yep, Ben's pretty amazing!

Everyday Adventures

Isn't it amazing how something as simple as making cookies can turn into an adventure with a two year old? This afternoon Lucy helped put in the ingredients into the mixer and then helped put the balls of dough on the trays. Of course when she's was done I did straighten out the rows of cookies "a little" before putting them in the oven.

Once the cookies were in the oven I peeked out the door to check on Helen, who was supposed to be happily playing at the sandbox. Well, I guess she just couldn't wait for the cookies, so she scrounged up an afternoon snack for herself elsewhere.

Yes, Helen always has chubby cheeks, but here they were extra chubby from the 12 pieces of dog food stuffed in. Needless to say she did NOT appreciate it when I extricated the food from her mouth.

Is there a moral here? Watch her better? Put the dog dishes out of reach? Hmmm. My conclusion is that maybe I should start buying the "made with real meat" type of dog food, so at least she gets some nutrients...

Big Foot

I'm sure every child since time began has at one point discovered the fun of wearing their parents shoes (or clogs or sandals or whatever the appropriate footwear of the age was)  Lucy recently made this discovery and there is never a day that goes by without her parading around the house "being" daddy or mommy. Helen just follows her around, still a bit wobbly on her feet but wanting to be in on whatever action Lucy is creating.

Girls being Girly

What is it about hair bows and little girls? Grandma Patty sent a package of bright colored hair bows and barrettes for the girls. (along with many other prizes, Thank you again Grandma!) and Lucy just kept wanting me to put in one after the other.

"Another one, please Mama"

Admiring the effect

Helen even wore one bow for about 2 minutes.

Happy Birthday Helen!

Helen Sue is one year old today. She was born on her Grandma Patty's birthday, which is pretty special. Helen and Lucy love each other so much, and Ben and I are blessed beyond words to have these two sweet girls and to be looking forward to the arrival of our next child at the end of August. The Lord has certainly given us far more than we deserve!

Here's a video from when she was brand new, only a few hours old. 

Now here's a video I just made. Helen is practicing taking care of her baby, so she'll be all ready to help when our new little baby arrives in a few months. Looks like she'll be quite a helper, doesn't it?