Nellie, Quotes, & See You Soon

To my joy, my daughter already loves playing with her baby dolls. It's lots of fun to "play house" with my girly. On her first birthday, my parents gave Adriana a special baby doll named "Nellie" that was actually my first baby doll.

Kissing Nellie:

Eating Nellie's hair:

I also thought I'd share some recent Isaiah quotes...

Isaiah to his little brother who was acting up: "Elijah, I'm officially going to have to tell your dad now."

Isaiah to Uncle Tyler (with exasperation in his voice...I wonder where he got this from...): "Tyler, I don't want to have to tell you a third time to tell me a story."

Isaiah to the neighbor girl after being asked if Hannah was his babysitter: "Yeah, she's my babysitter sometimes; but sometimes she comes over and is just my aunt."

Finally, we're headed on a big family vacation with my family. As any other mommy knows, eights days of vacation mean many, many hours of preparation. Therefore, this will be my last post before our trip. I'm borrowing an idea from one of my favorite blogs and will be trying (note the word "trying") to post one photo a day while we're gone. Until then....

Four

On Sunday my littlest boy turned four. Elijah's favorite part of the day was...you guessed it...the food. He had been talking all week about the donuts and "special cereal" that he would be having at breakfast and was beside himself with excitement as I decorated his cake. The sheer joy my kids experience over their birthdays makes it so much fun!

My kids pick out how they want me to decorate their cake. After reading the book, Elijah wanted a "Charlotte's Web" cake.

Candles:

Presents:

Shuffling cards:

Playing with a favorite gift:

For me there are so many memories that flood back on a birthday, memories of my baby's actual birth day, making the day extra special (and often a bit emotional). Birthdays are such a wonderful time to reflect on the goodness of our Father in blessing me with such priceless gifts.

Water Park

We found out about a water park near us that was designed specifically for kids under the age of seven. We, of course, had to pay a visit.

Isaiah deemed it the "funnest" place he'd ever been to, and we all agreed that it needed to be a location for an annually summer visitation.

Time With Grandpa & Grandma

Nature

We spent our unusually cool Saturday enjoying nature. The boy's favorite activity was standing in shallow creeks and throwing rocks (thankfully not at each other). This results in the wonderful experience of getting as dirty as possible.

Checking out lily pads:


Running ahead of Mom and Dad:

Trying to eat sand:


Checking out the creek:

Walking

Blueberry Eyes on a Sleeping Beauty with a Marshmallow Aversion

Here are three random bits/photos about Adriana that have nothing to do with each other. I call these sorts of things "disconnected mommy thoughts". If you are not yet a mother, let me assure you that you will experience many of these when you become one.

~Adriana tried a marshmallow for the first time today. Her dislike for it prompted a new word as she declared the marshmallow to be "tucky!"

~I've been wanting to get a "sleeping photo" of her and finally got around to it.


~A photo from today that shows why my daughter's eyes remind me of big blueberries.

Blue Dancing

For anyone who missed seeing my eldest son stay on the dance floor during my sister's reception through every song (breaking only for a bite of cake), this video will show off a favorite activity of his. Like any other kid, my boys love music and love to dance. If you're in Northern Virginia and you pull up alongside a white Town & Country where everyone (including the baby) is bee-bopping, it's probably us.
I'm definitely no cinematographer, but here's a little video:

One small step for man...(or girl)

On Sunday, Adriana finally took her first steps! At 13 months, she is still not convinced that walking is the way to go; but we were just so excited to get 3 steps in a row out of her. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a photo of the big event; but here are a couple of other pictures from the weekend...

He loves to eat, and I love to photograph him doing so!

Farmer Boy

The boys and I are enjoying the Little House on the Prairie series and are currently reading Farmer Boy. I get a kick out of watching them imitate things that we have read. After a chapter about Almanzo training his calves to use a yoke, they came out of there room and announced that they were "Star" and "Bright" (the calves names). I had to applaud the ingenuity of using two belts looped together to make their yoke. And asked them to give me a "cow face" for the camera...

After obeying my commands of "Giddap" and "Whoa", I stayed true to the story and each of my calves were rewarded with a carrot.

Sledding

In the same way that boys and sticks go together, boys and boxes are a perfect match. In our house, boxes that need to be discarded hang around for a few days so that my boys can build, art-canvas, and bounce them to death. The "gourmet bell pepper" crate box that we acquired from Costco was an extra treat. It was a nice size and sturdy: perfect for them to push their sissy around the house with squeals of girly laughter as a reward. Then they hatched another plan. After being caught and forbidden to sled down our stairs, I overheard one of them saying, "This will be great!" As all my mommy sensors went on warning, I peaked around to find them about to use the box to sled off the cupboards that sit below our bookshelf (a 3 ft. drop). I stopped their arm-breaking attempt, and decided that a creative outlet for this sledding idea was needed. Thankfully our neighborhood has lovely hills:
Although hot chocolate is the traditional post-sledding choice, a frozen treat seemed to better fit the bill:

To finish this post off, here are a couple of recent kid quotes.
Knowing that I was making ribs for dinner one night, Elijah asked, "Mom, are you cooking ribbons?"
Elijah saw vehicles turning down the street that we take to our hair dressers and asked, "Why are all those cars going to get their hair cut?"
Finally, our personal favorite (though not at the time). Isaiah was talking to his Great Grandmother on the phone and innocently asked, "So, have you tipped over lately?"

Teaching

Watching your child finally understand something that you have taught them is such a good feeling. It's like when they finally grasp potty training; an oh-so-necessary life skill that you yourself (with the help of 245 M&M's) have taught them. Or, how about the first time you watch your child successfully dress himself! Another fun first that I love to teach is how to write their name. Isaiah has had it down for awhile now, and Elijah is almost there. Now they love to write it whenever possible; even cement and pail of water provide the perfect opportunity for practice:

Such basic things that, as a mom, I have the privilege of teaching my little ones. My personal favorite is watching their little minds and hearts slowly begin to take in the message of the gospel. It brings me so much joy to watch them use their pudgy little fingers to recall the five words that remind them of the truth: "Christ (pointing to their thumb) died (their pointer finger) for (middle finger) my (ring finger) sins (pinky)!" My daily prayer is that they would repent and believe in Christ's finished work of redeeming sinners. As a mother, I can think of nothing more fulfilling.

Making a Splash

Anyone who has come to my parent's pool with me knows how much fun it is. We took a trip there today to cool off. Poor Elijah was tired and grumpy and didn't want to go home when the time came. He provided me with a humbling mommy moment as I chased my screaming son around the parking lot, but Isaiah was just happy for the chance to splash around.

A Couch Headed For Garbage Land

Someone in our neighborhood was getting rid of their couch and set it out a few feet from our dumpster. Though I'm sure the home owner's association wasn't too pleased, I was happy for the photo op.

You've gotta' love all that chub

A Hot Afternoon

Yesterday the temperature was in the high 90's. We were at a playground and really feeling the heat.

Cooling off by driving with the top down:

Cooling off with some breeze from the swing:

Taking some time in the shade to measure ourselves:

Katie & Gabriel Michael joined us. I made Katie be my little model. It was wonderful to take pictures of someone over the age of 5- a photo subject that sits still!
Finally, the heat was more than we could handle. We headed for the water fountain, stripped off the boys shirts, and splashed water on them.

Climbing Trees

Big brother climbing trees:

Little brother trying to learn how:

Extra help getting started:

Getting the hang of it:

Don't look down!:

"Now how did those two do that?":