Birthday duds and some sewing work

The Miffy doll I made Maria...complete with matching PJ's.

I had a pattern to sew this kite. It was super easy, but I am not finding it as easy to actually fly the thing...maybe I need a reminder lesson in aerodynamics?? Anyway, it looks like a perfectly functional kite!

Maria's flower birthday dress...she'll wear it Saturday for her party with the grandparents.

Anna's "sweetheart" dress for her party next month.

A nightgown I made for Maria.

A pillowcase turned nightgown.  Maria had fun twirling in it.

She hasn't really wanted to wear it though...maybe once it's a bit warmer this summer.

Earth Day

Hanging laundry in honor of Earth Day...and it was such a gorgeous day we had to take some pictures!

nom, nom...this cold wet pant leg tastes great!

oooo...the sun!

eating grass, perhaps?

sisters

Watching the flapping laundry.
We have plenty to praise God for; the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it...

Psalm 24

 ¹ The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
       the world, and all who live in it;  ² for he founded it upon the seas
       and established it upon the waters.
 ³ Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
       Who may stand in his holy place?
 ⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
       who does not lift up his soul to an idol
       or swear by what is false. 
 ⁵ He will receive blessing from the LORD
       and vindication from God his Savior.
 ⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek him,
       who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
       Selah
 ⁷ Lift up your heads, O you gates;
       be lifted up, you ancient doors,
       that the King of glory may come in.
 ⁸ Who is this King of glory?
       The LORD strong and mighty,
       the LORD mighty in battle.
 ⁹ Lift up your heads, O you gates;
       lift them up, you ancient doors,
       that the King of glory may come in.
 ¹⁰ Who is he, this King of glory?
       The LORD Almighty—
       he is the King of glory.
       Selah

Turning 3

Maria requested her meals for her birthday as cinnamon rolls for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly for lunch, and apple pancakes for dinner.  So, here is her breakfast complete with a candle.  So she got to hear the Happy Birthday song about 4 times, as we put it in her sandwich, pancake and her cupcake too!

One of her presents was a new kite.  Daddy and the girls were testing it out.

There it is, Dora, Diego and Boots.

Anna enjoyed tasting the dandelions!

and watching big sister run around.

Like the missing slipper?  It was found later, amidst toys in the living room.

Opening more presents, a princess flashlight.

An Ariel electric toothbrush.

Her cake request was a flower cake, but since we will have grandparents over on Saturday I figured we would make some flower cupcakes and save the cake for then.

We have plenty to praise God for; each new year we get to celebrate.

11 Months

Another month whizzes by. Anna is finally on the move. Maria isn't sure she is all that excited about that. It means she has to pick up the things she doesn't want little sister to get her hands on. It's amazing how one day she isn't crawling and the next it's full speed ahead.
She is amazed with mirrors and loves to look at herself and say "hi". She also enjoys looking out the windows or doors that look toward the school and saying hi to kids on the playground. It's very cute.
She has tooth number 5 popped though and number 6 is trying to come through, and boy have they been boogers. She spent the remains of one night in bed with us after I was up at 12, 1 and she still wasn't going to sleep in her own bed. In spite of the pain from those she is usually her happy little self, it's nap and bedtime that she makes it known her frustration. So, we are hoping that they make their appearance and end the pain soon!
She loves to eat just about anything, but let's you know she is done by hurling the food on the floor...NICE!
She is such a fun baby...we enjoy her so much.
We have plenty to praise God for; a beautiful child of God entrusted to us to raise.

Happy Birthday Sunshine!

Three years doesn't seem like a long enough time since you came into this world bringing your sunshine to our family and others.  You are such a blessing to us as your parents.  We pray that God uses you in a mighty way as you grow in His knowledge.  May you be a faithful follower all your days.
We love you Sunshine!

 We have plenty to praise God for; our Sunshine!

rhyme time

Maria has really started showing an interest in rhyming lately. She notices them in books, makes them up as we walk, or even at the table. I have even heard her talking to her "friends" in bed and telling them what words rhyme. Now, she often makes up words to go with one such as window rhymes with pindow. So technically they rhyme, but it's just not an actual word. She gets the concept of rhyming though, which is fun.


We have plenty to praise God for; learning new things.

who needs toys when you have a shoe

Sometimes the things that kids find fun aren't the things we imagine that they would love. Anna was having a blast with this shoe of hers...as you can tell by the video. We must have done this for at least 5 minutes. The other day at the store a toy we were buying for her birthday in a month had a plastic cover on the front of the box and I think she had more fun with that than she will with the actual toy. I joked that we wouldn't open the box, just let her bang on the front part. Maria often finds things to play with that aren't actually toys, or uses them in ways that we wouldn't have imagined, but I love seeing that creative part of her some out.



We have plenty to praise God for; the gift of creativity.

On the move

Anna finally got her legs and arms in motion and is on the go!  So Maria now has a new motivation to pick up toys, especially ones that she doesn't particularly feel like sharing. Now we must be more aware of what is within reach...why again are people so anxious for the wee ones to start crawling...?



We have plenty to praise God for; independence.

calling dad

Lately Anna has been doing this...alot. It's cute, but can get loud at times. Let's just hope she doesn't start calling for him during church service. In the video she only calls a couple times, but usually, without the video camera going, she repeats it over and over....Daaaadaaaa, Daaaaadaaaaa, and she has this funny inflection in her voice when she says it.

run, run

Maria and a friend anxiously awaiting the "GO" call.

Maria wasn't so quick at getting eggs.  They did two waves, the first time each kid was assured three eggs.  Then they released the kids again and they got as many as they could.  Well, it took Maria forever for her to get three the first time(she kept wanting to stop and open the eggs), and the second round she only got one more.  I would tell her "run, run", to go over toward more eggs and she would tiptoe/prance over there and by the time we got there, the eggs were gone!  Geesh, at least they didn't have money or some huge prize in them!  They did have a piece of candy or two and many had numbers on them.  Which meant that you got to take it to the prize table for a bigger prize, which was mostly candy.  

Done!

Checking out the loot!  Anna enjoyed the action from the comfort of the stroller.  We got home just in time to miss the rain, which it did most of Saturday.

a sunny day

( i love the drool running down her face!)

more Easter pics

We were excited to get this photo in one take!  Yes, Maria is not so into getting her picture taken lately.  

Thanks Grandma for the adorable dress!

We have plenty to praise God for; He sent his Son to redeem and save us from sin.

Blessings this Easter

Customize an ecard

a revolutionary new floor cleaning system plus arm workout

:) check out Anna.

doing the dye

Maria's favorite part was when you put the tablets in and they fizz.  She told me it was making soda, uh...Yeah, you won't think it tastes like it though!

Pink was a hit!

Anna even got in on the action...she was scooting all over the kitchen.  And doesn't Maria look like such an Unger in this picture.  It really reminds me of my cousins daughter Andra when she was younger.

Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest

Maria enjoyed waving her palm at church and at home on Sunday.

Check it out, a bow that actually stays in!

We have plenty to praise God for; Christ did save us.