End of Summer

Some fun pictures as we've wrapped up the summer:

There's something magical about playing in a sprinkler, isn't there?

And playing in the rain.

With nothing to do one day, Michael suggested we have a party for dad.  So, we hung streamers, blew up balloons, made a cake, and had a party. Dad was sure surprised!

My parents came to visit a few weeks ago, and we went up to visit the Mercer Botanical Gardens in Spring.  Even at the close of summer it was beautiful.  It was our first time there and I'm so excited that, once we move, we'll be really close and can go whenever we want.

Funny Kids

My kids just seem to be getting funnier and funnier. It seems like every time I turn around, they have discovered some new way to laugh, play, and be silly. What a privilege it is to be invited to join in the merriment every day! In a lot of ways (though not all!), I feel like my job as a mother is becoming easier as my kids grow; their beautiful personalities are showing through more and more, and it makes my work so much more enjoyable!

We have a big grape vine growing in our backyard, and once we realized the grapes were ripe, we fought off the birds to get our share. --There wasn't much left, but we had fun picking what there was. We even went through the trouble of juicing them, but when it came down to it, there just wasn't enough to make a batch of jelly. Oh, well.

Michael and Sarah got to ride in an Independence Day parade at church. They even decorated their bikes for the occasion.

We recently celebrated Ada's 1st birthday!  Sorry, no messy cake-and-frosting encrusted face picture. She didn't really like the pumpkin custard I made for her. . . . So much for Mom trying to be healthy.

This girl loves to climb! She started with couches, then went to rocking chairs and beds, then kids tables, then the dining room chairs and table, and now, the step stool up to the bathroom counter.  It's a miracle she hasn't fallen yet. I guess she takes after her dad. --His amazing climbing abilities were just one of the reasons I married him. ;)

She has also discovered that playing in the pantry is a lot of fun!

What do you think of her new look?  I think she actually enjoyed having hair for the first 15 seconds.

How could you not fall in love with this face?

Sadie always keeps me laughing. She is all sunshine, even on the cloudiest day.  She has recently discovered the joy of making faces.

Michael remains the sweetest boy in the world.

His day just isn't right unless we go outside and spend some time swinging. (Toad usually accompanies him on these little excursions.) And while he is swinging, he makes two requests --"Mom, tell me a story about a mole." (Once upon a time there was a little mole named Moley who lived in a little house he called his hole-y . . . .)  and "Now tell me a story about a goblin." (Once upon a time, there was a little goblin who woke up one day and  . . . .) Everyday I am required to come up with two complete and original stories about a mole and a goblin. Everyday.  I must admit I'm starting run low on material.

Michael also loves crafts, and most days, we make some sort of something-or-other. 

This, if you can't tell from the picture, is a ghost-monster-dinosaur-dragon made completely out of pipe cleaners.

'Cause Catchin' Up is Hard to Do . . .

Three months worth of pictures and events in one giant post. We've been busy, to say the least.

Earlier in the spring, we went strawberry picking Yum!

Since then, we've been blueberry picking twice. Double Yum!!

The first time, we got to go with Aunt Adrian, and she was so sweet to invite us over for dinner afterwards.

Can I say again how much I LOVE having a yard for the kids to play in? They love splashing in the little kiddie pool we bought. 

Since this picture was taken, Adelaide has graduated to the "big" pool.  Within a week of buying the baby pool, I realized it was pretty pointless to try to get her to stay in it. The grass and dirt are just too tempting.

Adelaide is pulling up on anything and everything now.  She can stand and hold her balance for a few seconds, and she'll "cruise" around holding onto furniture, so walking independently isn't too far away.

I love Sadie's morning hair!  Every morning reveals some new configuration of spikes, swooshes, and cowlicks --and she doesn't even use hair spray!

Easter at Nana's is always fun.

At some point in the evening, I realized I hadn't seen the kids in a while.  I, of course, went looking for them, and found them like this:

We're still not sure how they contrived to get Joel and Brooke's two dogs into the same kennel, and then lock themselves in the other one, but they sure had a lot of fun doing it.

I made the kids little sock bunnies to go in their Easter baskets. They loved them!  :)

This spring we planted a "real garden" in a little raised bed in the backyard.  The first thing we harvested were our radishes.  The kids were super excited to try them out . . . unfortunately, they were so strong-tasting they were nearly inedible.  Oh, well.  Since then, we have garnered 4 tomatoes, 1 red pepper, and countless green beans.

Sadie is still in love with Thomas the Tank Engine --and her pink tutu.  It's the perfect combination, right?

We were able to visit Grandma's for a few days while Aunt Rachel was visiting with her fiance, Mike.

  Poor Mike, I think he was feeling a little ignored here.

Back at Nana's (Did I mention we spent most of April traveling?), Michael was a bit bored one afternoon, so during the girls' nap time, I helped him build a little boat out of Popie's wood scraps and then we went sailing in the river.

Sweet sisters!  I found Sadie in the crib with Ada; they were laughing and giggling hysterically. I can't wait for them to start playing together for real. 

One of Adelaide's favorite games right now is pulling all of the diapers off of the changing table and throwing them one by one on the floor.

My dad is working on a contract job here in Houston, so he stays with us during the week and then goes home on the weekends.  We love having Popie here!

We finally bought a membership to the zoo. Hurray!

Sadie dancing:

Michael in lego-heaven:

Adelaide enjoying her rice:

Does life get better than this?

Adelaide's Crawling

Watch out world!

Michael's Birthdays

What a kid! Michael is such a precious little boy. I can hardly believe he's now a big four year old. We are so blessed to have him as a son. He is so smart and so creative and so sweet and such a "good worker." He loves to help and to be involved in anything and everything. He loves doing crafts and simple experiments and is super-excited about our little garden. He is really into "outer space" right now and can name and describe all of the planets. He is already learning to read simple sentences using phonics (e.g. "The hot dog fell off the log.") And, he has already leaned to ride the bike (with training wheels) we got him for his birthday.

We were visiting family around Michael's birthday, so we ended up celebrating it three times. When I asked him what kind of party he wanted, he said he wanted a "monster-dragon-dinosaur-ghost party." In the end, the monster-dragon-dinosaur-ghost theme proved less important than the colors --everything had to be red and yellow, or orange, "because red and yellow make orange."

Party at Nana's:

Party at Grandma's:

Party at Home:

Sadie is as fun and funny as ever.

Adelaide is just about 8 months old now. She has been creeping on her belly for months, and wobbling around on all-fours for over a month. We've been expecting her to start crawling "any day now" for a long time, but she just hasn't gotten it. Today, sitting among our toy-srewn playroom, I finally realized why: she has no motivation. "Why go over there, when I have plenty of toys to chew on and play with right here?" Maybe we should start our nightly cleanup again? . . .

Months ago, I made a huge batch of Black Bean Soup. After eating it for several days, I froze the remainder in some small tupperware containers. This week, I decided to take a night off cooking and reheat the soup for an easy dinner. I emptied three containers into a large cooking pot, put the lid on, turn the stove on low, and let it defrost while I played with the kids outside. After 10mins or so, I came back in to check on it. It was starting to turn liquid, so I stirred it a little and went back outside. After another 5 mins or so, I came back in and realized that the smell emanating from the pot didn't quite match what I had remembered the soup smelling like. But it looked fine, so I stirred it again and went back outside. After another 5 mins., I came back in and knew something was just not right. I finally recognized the smell, and it wasn't black beans. It was chocolate. Apparently I had combined 2 containers of black bean soup with one container of chocolate pudding that I had completely forgotten about. When I mustered up the courage to taste it, it wasn't all that bad. I had heard of people making black bean brownies, so I decided to let it finish cooking, serve it to the kids and see if they liked it. It was a good plan, I think, only I forgot that chocolate burns --quickly! The next time I came in to check on the soup, what I smelled was not chocolate black bean soup, but burnt-chocolate black bean soup. I didn't bother tasting it this time. I pitched it and started making stir-fry.

Cute Videos

Just some cute videos to go with the last post.

Sadie always keeps us smiling. She loves her pink pajamas, or her "jumpsuit,"



and her pink tutu.




Michael, the Not-So-Automatic Leaf-Compactor.