"Let's try it again"

We've been working with Hannah to help her learn to immediately say "thank you" (without prompting) when someone gives her a compliment. Our efforts to that end have turned into a rather fun game of exchanging compliments at random times throughout the day. The following conversation just took place this evening . . .

"I like your jammies, Mommy."

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome." (very brief pause) " . . . now say it to me."

"I like your jammies, too, Hannah."

"No, my flowers."

"Your flowers are very pretty."

"No, the flowers on my jammies."

"Yes, on your jammies."

(Very small sigh.) "Let's try it again." (Said with the best teacher voice that's ever come from behind the lecturn. Mommy bursts out into hysterical laughter. Hannah really doesn't understand why Mommy is laughing, but since laughter is infectious, she laughs, too.)

"I like the flowers on your jammies, Hannah."

BRIGHT smile. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." (Phew! Glad I got it right!) :o)

The fun thing about our game in general is that her compliments are completely sincere--whether it's about our hair or face or outfit or dinner or whatever, she's learned to genuinely express appreciation for special things about other people. And in the process, she's learning to say thank you rather than duck her head or ignore others' compliments. Ah, the joys of parenting! :o)

Great Grandpa LeClair

We would all greatly appreciate your prayers for Jenny's Grandpa LeClair. He had a heart attack this morning. Praise the Lord, Grandma heard him call for help, and the ambulance was able to get him to the hospital very quickly. The Lord even arranged for the heart surgeon to be there on a day when he usually isn't, and Grandpa was able to have stints put in within 45 minutes of arriving at the hospital. We are very thankful he is doing much better this evening, but please do pray for him as he recovers. We are so glad we were able to visit with them over Christmas!

We love you, Grandpa, and we'll be praying for you!

A Gnarly Loaf

Not every breadmaker loaf comes out looking beautiful . . .



And no, it does not taste better than it looks. Thankfully our first attempt turned out well, so there is hope for the machine. Really not sure what happened this time. (Yes, I added all of the ingredients and in the right order.)

Flying High

While Mommy and Hannah ran a couple errands this evening, Daddy and Peter went over to the track to try out Daddy's Christmas gift from Grandpa and Uncle Bryan. Peter really wasn't impressed on the ride over:

He was very excited, however, when he saw the contents of the big grey box. :o)

His squeaks of surprise and delight were lots of fun for Chris as he flew his new airplane for the first time. No pics of it in the air since you can't fly and photograph at the same time. :o)

Indoor Fun

"When the weather outside is frightful . . . "

(It actually hailed a bit on Wednesday during the wind storm. That same storm uprooted a tree across the street which is now resting precariously on another tree in lieu of falling on a neighbor's garage!)

What do we do inside with two busy munchkins????

1. Crafts

2. Chores

(Hannah helps Mommy with laundry by matching up the socks to make them easier to fold--doesn't she do a great job?!)

3. Construction Work

4. Dress Up
(Don't you love Prince Peter's pretty pink crown????) :o)

5. Dine Creatively

6. Splash, Splash, Splash

(We love our kitchen tools, Grandma!)

7. Be silly.

"Springtime" Fun

In contrast to the very wet day which is today, . . .

yesterday was almost spring-like with bright sun and temperatures nearing 70 degrees! We celebrated with a late afternoon trip to the park. The best part was that Daddy got off work early (right at 5:00) and was able to meet us there! Along with getting to spend extra time playing with Daddy, it meant that we could play on the "big" playground. Mommy doesn't try that with two kids by herself! (This park is wonderful in that it has a really nice toddler sized playset as well as super-sized playset for older kids. Hannah can navigate the big one reasonably well on her own, but it's definitely too big yet for Peter to run around by himself.)

Mommy is earnestly praying that the bolts hold! This section is really high!

Daddy definitely enjoys climbing around as much as the kids do. :o)

I suspect today's activities will be of a more "indoor" nature. Uno, anyone? :o)

First Wrestling Match!

I must admit that wrestling was not something my sister and I did much growing up. However, it was hysterical watching my two laugh and giggle as they rolled around. Peter's actually pretty serious about it (big suprise!) Hannah was thankfully laughing and having fun--I suspect that may not be the case as Peter gets a bit bigger. :o)

We're back!

We're back! 2,000+ miles and 84 rest stops (j/k! although it felt like it!) later, Hannah is as ready for our "next vacation" as she was for this one. (I think Mommy and Daddy need a bit of a break . . . )

We first went to NY where we really enjoyed getting to spend time with Jenny's family, including cousins Sam and Bryce.

Uncle Scott, Aunt Barbi, Sam, and Bryce were able to spend quite a bit of time at Grandma and Grandpa's house while we were there which was a blessing.

We also got to play in the snow a little bit, although we took the warmer weather with us and all of it melted before we left for MI.

Jenny was especially glad to get to visit with both sets of her grandparents, although pictures of her Dad's parents are still on the cell phone. (We forgot to bring the camera with us! Nuts!)

Peter and Jenny's first cousin, Nathan

After that, we traveled to MI through Canada where we enjoyed visiting with Chris' family.

Grandma would not be happy if I shared the funniest picture from this photo session--Peter trying to take off Grandma's nose--hysterical!

Lots and lots of driving (praise the Lord for our van!), but it was a blessing to be able to spend time with all of our family. Now to get settled into our regular routine again . . .