Happy Playtime

It's so fun watching our kids play together! Yes, we most definitely have the occasional squabble, but it's not the overriding characteristic of playtime, and for that I am very thankful! :o) As it has been very warm over the last week (think at least high 90's), we've enjoyed indoor toys, and Little People and cars have been the favorites. Thankfully there's enough pieces that they can play "together" on their own when necessary. :o)

But amazingly, it often really is "together."

Ah, so nice and neat!

Sadly, it does not propagate itself! :o)

Sharing our afternoon's adventures with Daddy . . .

And showing off our very neat car showroom . . .

Have fun playing! :o)

Our nice little creek . . .

changes a good bit after a storm . . .

Mommy's plans for an evening romp in the creek had to be changed this particular day. However, I am not complaining, for we were thankful for both the rain and the break in the heat! :o) It was incredible watching the water though--it's such a small creek, but even at that, there was no mistaking the incredible force of the water rushing past.

Officially Started

I have officially "started." I haven't gotten any farther than this, but after hitting six different stores yesterday for a combination of grocery & school shopping, there wasn't much energy left, and I'm too tired this evening to trust myself with scissors and fabric.

So . . . first thing tomorrow . . . scissors and sewing machine, here we come! :o)

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary, Uncle Bryan & Aunt Janie!

We love you guys!

~

We were awakened last night to realize again the precious gift of both life and family--given daily by the hand of blessing from our Lord. Bryan and Janie were in a very serious car accident last night which could have had consequences the mind can't really comprehend had there been but a few seconds difference. By the Lord's grace, neither were seriously injured.

We are so thankful.

Hug your family today!

~

Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?

It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time,

and then vanisheth away.

James 4:14

Rearranging the Rocks

Since painting isn't really much fun for little people, we went down to the creek after dinner for some real fun! :o) Hannah served me "sand cake" for dessert. :o) Yumm, yumm! :o)

Peter actually wouldn't play in the creek for quite a while. He was helping Daddy mow the lawn. I asked him if wanted to come in the water and he adamantly shook his head and declared "Daddy." (He is saying "Mommy" and "Daddy" most of the time now, instead of "Mama" and "Dadda.") Well then.

Hannah enjoyed doing quite a bit of exploring upstream, and Peter had fun too, once he came to join us. :o)

The best spot to play is right past the little "waterfall." However, the bottom was filled with large rocks which made for very treacherous walking--especially after the sand got stirred up and the water turned brown. So, while Chris and Peter mowed and Hannah explored upstream, I worked on my own "little" project--clearing the bottom of rocks.

I had to do most of it blind, since the water quickly turned murky, but I just kept at it, slowly feeling for rocks (there were plenty to choose from), and when one wiggled, I'd work at it until I could pull it out and pile it along the edge. Surprisingly, I was able to tackle about 85% of them (under water=easier to move), and then Chris came and helped with the really big ones after he finished mowing. Together, we rearranged the rocks around the edges to help dirt and water stay in their designated locations.

And here's a picture I took this morning of our final product . . . I realize it probably doesn't look a whole lot different, but trust me, it's much better! :o) (The dark spot in the middle is seaweed, not rocks.) We can safely play and wade in the middle now--it only comes up to about mid-thigh on Hannah, and there's no more rocks to throw her off balance. :o)

And, if this doesn't characterize "Like Father, Like Son," I don't know what does. Peter parked his lawn mower by the shed, then waited for Daddy as he parked his. Chris started walking back up to the house, but instead of following Daddy, Peter went back to the shed and neatly reparked his lawnmower behind Daddy's. :o) I was glad I got to see it happen. :o)

Also, for those of you who wonder about the start of a day, here's Hannah's take on the matter. "My body is awake, but my self is not waked up yet." Yep. I can empathize with that! :o)

And so begins a very busy couple of weeks as we get ready for the start of school at all levels. And since I still haven't started my dress making project for Hannah, I really will be busy with that this week . . . so . . . take a deep breath, and hold on!! Here we go!

Painting in Progress!

Guess what we did on Saturday!! We finished painting the livingroom! :o) Woo-hoo!! :o) Let me say first off, it's a whole lot easier painting when you're not keeping track of little people at the same time, but we managed and the kids did as well as could be expected. We pushed the couches together to create a fort and they did enjoy that. :o)

I cut in the corners, windows, and along the floor, while Chris cut in the ceiling and rolled the paint. (I'm sure no one can guess how we determined that distribution of labor!) :o) The kids enjoyed his creative painting . . .

Then while they napped, we painted trim (I did the flat part, Chris did the detail work up next to the wall.) And then while I made dinner, Chris did about half of the electrical outlets under the kids' supervision. :o)

After a while, you don't really notice the unpainted trim or the unfinished outlets--they just kind of become a part of the background scenery, but oh, it looks so nice to see that crisp white trim against walls without pinkish edges because they need a second coat of taupe, and nice, fresh electrical outlets that provide . . . can you imagine!?! Electricity!! :o) So, this picture is a nice summation of what we accomplished. :o)

We've finished the trim around one window--we have the trim around the second window yet to do, and then the grills on both windows, but that'll come soon enough. :o) I pulled out my decorations and pictures last evening . . . it's so nice to have some of that "homey" stuff around again. :o)

Our Turtle Guesthouse

You can only imagine the kids' delight when they went outside to throw their balls while Mommy finished getting dinner ready only to discover a turtle hiding in the hosta. :o)

First I heard urgent cries of "Mommy!! Come look! Come look! Come look!" And then while retrieving my camera after expressing my mutual delight, I heard panicked cries of "Mommy! It's moving!" (almost in tears) "Mommy! I don't want it to run away!"

Much to the wayward turtle's chagrin, I'm sure, we decided to set up a turtle guesthouse after dinner that evening. :o) We named him "Herby," and then changed his name to "Harriet" when some research informed us that "he" was a "she" (based on the size of her tail.)

We set up a small "pond" and fed her a nice breakfast of carrots and cucumbers the next morning.

We most definitely enjoyed watching her walk around (looking for a means of escape, but we didn't mention that!)

And here she is up close . . .

Harriet visited with us for just a couple days . . . kind of like when we go to visit grandma--we stay for a little while and then we come home.

"Why did Harriet go home?"

"Because she missed her family."

"Why?"

"Because she loves her family . . . just like you love your family."

"Oh. . . . Will she come back?"

"Probably not, but that's okay. Did you enjoy having her visit us?"

"Yes." :o)

Wheew! It took some quick thinking to avoid the tears when we learned that the website's designation of turtles as "escape artists" was quite accurate. :o) But, we did enjoy the visit, and her escape prevented us having to make a decision of how long to keep her. :o)

A little of this and that

Been one of those "random" weeks around here. :o) Nothing much has happened that we really expected to happen when the week began, but it's been a good week nonetheless. :o)

Peter's still at the tools . . . and his vocabulary is growing along with his legs. :o) His most consistent word in the last week or so has been, "Why?" Spoken in a very sweet voice, it's the response to most everything . . . and I do mean everything.

Hannah's still taking advantage of lots of paper and crayons! :o)

They enjoyed the swirl sticks one evening . . . not the greatest pictures, but they nicely catch the perpetual motion we generally find ourselves enjoying. :o)

And Peter was oh so very carefully giving his penguin a ride on the tractor--complete with sound effects! "Vrrrrooom, vrrrrooommm!"

And here's one of the more random events of the week. We and our neighbor have driveways sharing opposite sides of a rather large mound of dirt and rock. For us is creates a blind curve which requires some caution upon exiting. However, for our neighbor, it limited his visiblity to the point that he couldn't turn left out of his driveway. So, he decided to hire a contracor to remove some of the hill. In order to improve his visibility enough to warrant the effort though, the contractor had to dig some of our land as well, and we gladly enjoy the benefit of somewhat improved visibilty without the pricetag of the heavy equipment. :o)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Bryan!

We love you and hope you have a wonderful day! :o)

Fun at the Creek

These pictures are especially for Great Grandma! :o) As soon as she learned that our new home had a creek she commented that she couldn't wait to see pictures of the kids getting wet in it . . . well, it's taken most of the summer, but last week we had the unusual opportunity to be home for a morning, so we headed down for some fun in the water! Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the morning! :o)

While Hannah explored, Peter mostly just sat and played. (At least partially due to the fact that Mommy wouldn't let him go in as far as he wanted since there's rocks, it's deep enough to cause trouble for little boys, and the water flows faster due to the small waterfall . . . mean mommy!) So after resigning himself to his position, he studiously poured water and sand from one spot to another.

Pretty serious business . . . until he discovered the joys of splashing Mommy! Then we began having fun! :o)

Ha ha! You're wet, Mommy!

Uh-oh! Water in the face!

Hannah had fun exploring! :o)

A deserted toy . . .

Record that yes, Mommy was in the water. :o) It rained very hard the night before, plus we were stirring up the sand, so it was pretty murky by the time we finished playing. :o)

Hannah made a barricade so we could toss toys in the waterfall and watch them sail without losing them down the creek--we almost lost one blue rubber duck regardless though. Mommy was trotting to catch up with it! :o}

Peter never really moved, but he kept sinking lower and lower in the water as he moved the sand . . . :o)

Oooh! Big splash! :o)

"Let me help you wash off that sand, Hannah."

"I want the sand there, Peter."

Good opportunity for lessons on patience . . . and consideration . . . Fun splashing!

It's hard to believe that Hannah starts K4 in just a couple weeks! I'm going to be busy attempting to sew a couple dresses for her, so if updates are a bit less frequent, that will be why. :o)

Have a wonderful week!