First Time Using Scissors

Yesterday was craft day at our house and as I was getting together some craft supplies I found some chldren's size scissors that I used when I was little. I had not yet let Halina use scissors, so I thought I would let her try these out for the first time. She did great! She cut and cut and cut for about three hours straight! She told me she ws making a mountain. A mountain of tiny little peices of paper is what she did.

Halina and I made a scarecrow head together. She had so much fun glueing the pieces on and admiring her work as we went along. While we made the scarecrow head she kept asking, "what does a scarecrow do?". I told her they are for scaring big black birds called crows off of the corn crops. That seemed to satisfy her need to know. She then proceeded to take the scarecrow head outside. I went outside to ask her what she was doing. She told me she ws going to scare the bugs off our plants and the birds that came into our yard. She ran around the yard facing the head to each tree and shouting "boo." I had no idea how much fun the scarecrow head would be.

To the Mailbox

Halina chose her outfit this day. Blue spring dress, pink tutu (under dress), brown winter boots and giant orange bow (in hair). She is very insistent on what she wears. Once she has her mind made up it is almost impossible to change it. I think she gets that from her grandparents on both sides :).

It was fun to see her ride her scooter to the mailbox. It seems like every time she rides it she gets a little faster.

A Childhood First

Tonight at about 5:30pm we recieved a loud knock at our front door. I thought maybe it was Landon because he was outside firing up his motorcycle to head to a meeting, but instead it was one of the neighbor girls on her scooter. "Can Halina come out to play?" she asked. I was so tickled to hear that statement for the first time with my little girls name in it. Halina, standing behind me, was jumping up and down with excitement. "Can I, Mommy?" with her face a glow. "Yes, but you have to get some play clothes and shoes on," I replied with a little laughter in my voice. She has never been so cooperative! She quickly got dressed and ran outside to greet the two girls that wanted to play. The little girls are in 2nd and 3rd grade. They are quite a bit older then Halina, but she didn't have a problem keeping up with them. Well, except when they went further then Halina was allowed to. I only let Halina go two houses down in either direction. She is still just two years old!

For two straight hours they rode their scooters back and forth in front of our house, covered our driveway with hop scotches and rolled in the grass with lots of giggles and squeels.

My baby is growing up. I won't ever forget that first knock at the door for my sweet Halina. I still remember what that sounded like in my childhood home and the anticipation of hearing a neighbor ask if I could come out to play. This was definitely a treasured moment for me.

First Garden

Towards the end of June I bought a tomato kit to plant with Halina. The kit was made up of a five gallon pot, a packet of seeds and a bag of soil. Halina poured the soil in the pot, pressed about ten seeds into the top inch of the soil and then watered it. About a week later she accidently dropped it while trying to move it and about a third of the soil came out. I simply scooped it back in and hoped that something would still grow even though I couldn't see where the seeds were. About a week later three litle sprouts popped up. This was so exciting for Halina and I. After another three weeks the plants were about eight inches high and I think two of the stalks grew together. We were supposed to transplant them about two weeks ago so this wouldn't happen, but I kept forgetting to do so. It has now been about three months and the tomato plants are almost six feet high!
There are dozens of tomatos all over the plants. In my amazement I thought I might plant something else since these were doing so good, so I planted a red bell pepper plant. It too is doing very well and has about four peppers with several more on the way. As of yesterday I also planted sweet basil and lavender. I'd really like to have large garden, but I think most planting is suppose to happen in the Spring. I hope to do some deep reading on gardening before then so we can have a bounty of vegetables and herbs in the Summer.

Puppy Dogs, Cousins and Some Other Silly Stuff

Yes we love dogs! These adorable little guys are Kellie and Loren's (Landon's Niece and Fiance) new dogs. Charlie absolutely loved them! He was especially taken with Molly (see below). Probably because she is a girl and she wouldn't let him dominate her or push her around. Charlie really liked Jackson too, the cute little guy in the first picture, but Charlie really has a sweet spot for the females. Even moreso when they play a little hard to get!

This is Molly. She is Loren and Kellie's newest dog-child.

Halina and Cousin Katerina posing for the camera before they do some swimming. They are precious!

Halina and Cousin Zack making yummy chocolate brownies
Zack is so sweet!

Heading over to Beb's and Pop's for some family fun. Charlie loves to ride in the car. He usually sits on the middle console or on the back of the middle seat for best viewing. Halina looks so big in her car seat. She insists on getting in her seat and "sliding" out of it

Halina has always been a wild sleeper. Sometimes she puts a blanket around her head and calls herself Miriam or Princess Aurora and then stays that way for the whole nap. Landon and I thought it was so cute when we came in her room to wake her up from naptime. This is what we found.

Apparently she wanted her pillow on top of her head. She must have needed some peace and quiet. Don't we all!

Elise is getting a little bigger. I thought I would use some measurables for future references.

Back to MOPS

Yesterday, MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) had its first meeting of the year. This is my second year at MOPS and I have really enjoyed all that it has to offer. It has been a great place to make new friends, expecailly with other women who are in a similar stage in life and to do some fun activities. Oh, and don't forget the huge yummy breakfast that I didn't have to cook! I love that!

Halina really loves her Moppets class too. They do some crafts, sing songs, and have snack time. She has so many friends there and never wants to leave. I haven't put Elise in childcare yet, but am willing to give a try.

This year I am slso a table leader and am really excited about it. I have a great group of ladies at my table and I know it is going to be a lot of fun getting to know them.

Grace Based Parenting

I just started reading Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel and am really loving it. It is challenging my thought process on parenting my girls as well as my own relationship with God. Already I feel like it has given me so much more confidence and tools in raising our children with wisdom and love. I am very excited to learn more and apply it in our daily lives.

Elise is 5 Months Old Today!

Our baby is 5 months old today! My how time flies! It is amazing how much faster time goes by with the second one. Elise is a healthy happy little baby. She is almost sitting up and is talking up a storm. Some of her unintentional words are:

"Muh muh"

"Bu bu"

"Oh Yeah"

"Oh Wow"

"Oh Well"

She says these all the time when she is just laying in her crib. I've tried to catch them on the video camera, but so far we have not had any success.

Not quite stable in sitting up yet. We sure love that Boppy for so many reasons though!

Our 6th Anniversary

Yesterday, August 22, we celebrated our 6th Anniversary. We went on two dates this year, because we didn't want to be gone too long with Elise going through some seperation anxiety. Firday we saw G.I. Joe at the theater. We loved it. Both Landon and I watched the cartoon when we were kids. This was the first movie we have seen by ourselves since we have had children. Saturday night we went to Fugazzi's and had a fabulous dinner. One of our favorite places. It was fun to reminisce about the early days of our marriage. Those were some fun times.

A lot has happend since the day we said "I do." We have moved 4 times. Lived in 3 states in our first 3 years. Bought a dog. Had two beautiful little girls. We have learned a lot of great lessons along the way and have made a lot of great memories. We are both eager to enter our 7th year of marriage. We have both been told how hard this year can be. I am not entirely sure why it is so hard, but we are ready to press through and have another wonderful year of marriage.

Engagement photo. Jusr thought I'd throw it in.

Playdate With The Howard Girls

Yay! We love those Howard girls! Last week we went to their house for a playdate. Halina always has so much fun with Haley. This time they made cupcakes together. Halina thought it was so cool to crack the eggs all by herself. Now she wants to crack all the eggs we cook with. It takes her little longer, but she never gets any shell in!

It is so nice that the Howard girls are all so close in age. Halina and Haley are 6 months apart, Elise and Ella are exactly one month apart and even Jaimee and I are only 6 months apart.

In this picture is Ella, Haley (standing up), Halina, and Elise.

Backyard Beauties.

The girls and I have been spending a lot of time hanging out in the backyard while Landon has been planting trees, shrubs, and reviving our newly planted grass. It's amazing how much we are outside (even in the 100 degree weather) since having a backyard. Halina loves to play in the grass. Her imagination runs rampant when she gets to play in the backyard. She is constantly singing and pretending that she is Miriam and Elise is baby Moses.

Halina usually doesn't like me to take her photo, but once I start taking shots of Elise she is suddenly interested.

"Mom, please stop."

This picture cracks me up! I'm sure this is the same expression she'll be giving me when I try to take her picture as a teen.Landon has spent so much time in our back yard planting all sorts of things. It's amazing how much more interested in landscaping he is since he had begun this journey a few months ago. Charlie has really loved it too. He really enjoys rolling in the grass and hunting for lizards. Last year he caught 2 lizards, 1 mole and 1 bird. He almost caught a humming bird yesterday, but it was just a little too fast for him.

Halina's First Ballet Class

This past Wednesday my MOPS group put on a two day Ballet class to raise money for the MOPS program and to give kids an opportunity to try out a class without having to sign up for a whole year with a studio. At first she was really hesitant and just stood watching everyone, but by the end she loved it. On Day 2 of the class she was really into it from start to finish. I think we will sign her up this year, since she loved it so much.

Halina and her best buddy Haley. Haley was a lttle sassy in this picture, but she was still as adorable as ever.

Halina trying out her arobesque grand batma.

Halina with her friends Camille and Haley. They were being very good little 2 yr olds.