Prayer and Almond Roca

Lucy is learning to say her "Lord's Prayer". She pretty much has is down, although with her particular two-year-old's dialect it's possible only her daddy and I can understand her :-)

(excuse the video quality and angle, Lucy and I were laying on the couch

together while I held my phone up to video. Not ideal circumstances,

but I don't often get out my real camera these days...)

Now this little girl knows how to enjoy her almond roca!

One little piece provided about 45 minutes of entertainment and enjoyment :-)

Christmas Wish List

All I want for Christmas? What could be better than...

Naughty or Nice?

What do I "deserve" this Christmas? Hmmm...

Certainly not a candy filled stocking.

 

Fall Fun

Lucy and Helen got to play in the leaves for the first time last week. Their good friend Joan came over and they all had a grand time in the leaves, then after playing outside we all came in and got warm and cozy. Here's another little video I made for my girls to watch.

Normal Life

Since I haven't posted for two months, and I probably won't have any "deep" or "content filled" posts any time soon (not that I ever have :-) I thought I'd at least get a few photos up of our normal, crazy, fun-filled life!

2 months old ~ Paul is a smiley boy ~ definitely my most easy going baby so far

Sometimes Helen just can't understand why Paul is crying

My "big" girls like to help in the kitchen ~ we were making carrot cake ~ yummy

Reading calmly with some of our cousins ~ this calmness is rare :-)

Paul getting to know some of his friends

"Cuddle-time" with Helen while the other two were napping ~ Very special!

Me and my three sweet children

And, of course, there is nothing more special than "lego-time" with Daddy!

 I am so thankful for baptism and the forgiveness of sins, which can come to me on a daily basis through my husband and friends. Because of this I can really enjoy the "little" things I do with my children, knowing that there is nothing I'd rather be doing then training them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

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?

Quiet Time

Lucy and Helen were very tired but they have too much fun together to actually lay still for more than a few seconds. Helen has always been a wiggle worm.



p.s. I never would actually expect them to get any resting done unless I put them in their cribs in their separate rooms. This separate room thing is a luxury we will no longer have once baby #3 arrives. I'm enjoying it while it lasts :-)

Never Lonely

How could I ever get lonely with these two sweet children following me from room to room. Sometimes they both drag their blankets around and settle down right by my feet - no matter what I'm doing at the moment. Although it's frustrating at times, trying to actually get anything done, it's pretty special!

Hummingbirds

Ben and I recently got a nice new digital camera. This was my first attempt at capturing video footage of the two lovely hummingbirds that visit our feeder. Hopefully more to follow, as I can squeeze in the video time in between normal life priorities!

How low can you go?

Ok, I know everyone is looking for something to believe in, but seriously, how low can you go? Ben and I got a good laugh out of this one...

your "SMELLF" huh?

One man's trash is another man's treasure

Or in this case

"One Daddy's weed is a little girl's treasure".

Lucy is already having fun exploring the yard this spring. Every piece of gravel and every stick is a new discovery for her. She loves the "pretty" dandelions that her daddy let her have. Imagine if we grown-ups could simply enjoy everything that we see, as much as this little two year old does!

Helping?

Lucy really likes Helen and "helps" her in everything :-)

Baby Dear - out for a walk

As you may already know from my earlier post here, Baby Dear is one of my favorite children's books. The other day it was actually sunny here, a small glimpse that spring really is coming. Lucy took her "Baby Dear" for a walk and I took Helen. Somehow the photo of us doesn't look quite as sweet and nostalgic as the illustration from the book, but we love our babies every bit as much as that mommy and daughter do!

Lucy's 2nd Birthday

Lucy turned two on March 30th. And yes, I'm terribly late on posting this! It'll be Helen's birthday (she's turning one on April 30th) before I know it. All along their dad and I have said we're not going to be those kind of parents that have crazy big parties for their 1 and 2 year olds. They don't need tons of toys. They're happy with one new book or sheet of stickers. Right. But it sounded so fun to have a lot of friends over to our house - to actually host a party and make special treats and make everything look fancy. We ended up squeezing 32 people (14 of which were 10 and under) into our little house. All my good intentions of taking photos of the whole party went to the wind once the guests actually started arriving, so I don't have any pictures of the whole group squeezed in. I got this video and photos from a friend, Ruth Hicks. Thanks Ruth! It was very fun, although I have to admit it was more for me than for Lucy. Although she has opened presents before she really didn't have any concept of what a "birthday" meant. When everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" to her the pressure was simply too much. (see the video below) However, once she saw the mound of presents and we let her open the first one she got the picture really quickly :-) A very memorable evening - but Helen better not get any ideas. We're NOT having a huge one year birthday party for her in two weeks!

Lucy opening her present from Auntie Missy

Helen enjoyed all the friends

A new kitchen set from Daddy & Mommy!

Our Family Vacation

We had a wonderful family vacation - a week in Maui. Although it rained and stormed for 4 days we still spent every possible minute on the beach. Our last 3 days were wonderful and the girls both really loved the beach; both sand and water.

Here is a little video I put together for Lucy to watch ~ IT's just Lucy and Helen and some of their little friends on the beach.

Hilariously Happy Helen

Yesterday Lucy was napping during lunch so it was just Helen and I. Helen was a VERY happy girl. She just kept going and going, but I only posted one minute of the video so you wouldn't get too bored. I love her belly laugh!

Helen Sue

"Little" Helen is getting pretty big these days. Sometimes if Lucy is napping I actually read books or just play with Helen and she loves it. She doesn't get as much one-on-one time with me as Lucy did (of course :-) but when we do play she sure loves it! She already has such a different personality than Lucy.

Big Happenings

New special pajamas made for Lucy and Helen by "Grandma Hicks."

Around here that's a pretty exciting event!

Matching is always fun

New Pajamas ~ Yay!

Helen likes them too

Lucy looks at the pictures and says each persons name

Bowling Fun

We went bowling on Saturday night with a group of friends. Lucy actually got to "push-roll" the ball down the lane with Daddy. We used the lightest weight ball they had but she still couldn't even hold it, so Ben had to help her pick it up, carry it to the lane, and actually "bowl". She had so much fun, although she never really cared or even watched to see if the ball knocked down any bowling pins. Helen was there but since she and I were taking to pictures I don't have any photos of her to post.

Simple Pleasures

After 3 months of living on soda crackers and ginger beer (with a little variation) I can't believe how much I enjoy something as simple as a morning cup of tea.

Another Lego morning

This morning as I was getting a very sleepy, groggy little Lucy out of her crib

she looked at me through those tired eyes and said "legos?"

Not "Mommy" or "Hi" but "Legos?"

Needless to say baths and breakfast got to wait.

We all (Helen, Lucy and I) played legos for a while and had a wonderful time.

They can be pretty sweet together, when they're not fighting over toys. Lucy can make Helen laugh in a way none of the rest of us can. I need to get video of it sometime when they are contentedly playing together and I have the camera out. (yeah, right!)

p.s. notice Lucy's lovely bed-head.

Plus, another benefit of legos...

Too cold to play outside?

Not for Lucy. She ran out to play in her sandbox as soon as I opened the door to feed the dogs. She was so excited I decided to let her stay out for about 20 minutes, but since it was so chilly I did put her sweater and hat on her. She loves her sandbox. It'll be fun when she discovers the real beach!

Right now

If dogs are mans best friend, then I think these would have to be considered an expectant mothers best friend - at least they are one of mine right now :-)

That's all I can manage to post for now, but I'll be back in the blog world in a while...

Lots of Snow

Over the last couple of days we've had a LOT of snow - at least for western Washington. My non-scientific guess is about 8". I don't remember having this much snow since my family moved to Washington about 20 years ago. So since Ben was home we built snowmen (Ben did all the work, Lucy and I helped by bringing out the eyes and noses) and we had fun in the snow with the neighbors. Still, for the majority of our time we were cuddled up inside. Lucy and Helen have loved having Daddy home, but I think he is ready to get back to work. He's not as good at "doing nothing" as I am. :-)

Our snowman family

Lucy got to hold the "noses and eyes"

Our kind of "walk" - Lucy couldn't have walked far in that deep snow.

The girls in their stroller / trailer

Lucy - BEFORE she got cold :-)

Here we are

 Ben put together a video today of some of the more "icy" photographs he took today, now that the snow has turned to wet hail and slush.