Friday, October 29, 2010

Goodbye, House!

Two years ago we were supremely blessed when we found this house.

Now we must bid it farewell throughout the next week. With a moving date of November 6th, we have very little time to savor our last few days in this house, and in this area. We are excited to move closer to church, and the new home we will be renting is absolutely wonderful. But for now, this is still home, and it takes very little these days to bring out my emotional/sentimental side.

The girls have undergone so much change within these walls.

We have introduced them to new things here,

celebrated Holidays together,

and shared wonderful times with family and friends.

We have had our share of rainy days,

and cozy evenings.

We have romped in your backyard,

And tramped all over the neighborhood.

We will always remember you with great fondness.

And we will go forward to our new home remembering that:

Unless the LORD establishes the house,
they labor in vain who build it.
Psalm 127:1

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

32 Weeks

If you've been wondering what circumference I have attained by now,
then wonder no longer.

And if you've noticed the picture quality
getting progressively worse every 4 weeks,

the reason is this; the larger I get,
the less inclined I feel to pose for longer than
about 30 seconds.

Especially if it involves standing on my feet
at the end of the day.

Monday, October 18, 2010

"Boy", I could get used to this...

Although I went to Michigan purposely to meet his little sister, I also spent a lot of quality time with my youngest nephew. He was of the belief that I came there specifically for him, and I wasn't about to argue with that! I enjoyed being his favorite aunt for the three days I was there. (don't even think about bursting my bubble, other aunts - you get to see him a heckuva a lot more than I do!) And as I watched train documentaries with him (it began with Thomas & Friends - but now he is only captivated by the real thing), gathered acorns with him, and trundled him around in his cool jeans and Carhartt jacket (his daddy works for Carhartt), I thought to myself several times, "Yeah, I could get used to this". Boys are awesome. My nephews are especially awesome. And handsome. But another one of these would be pretty nice too :).

Sunday, October 17, 2010

The only fall I will see this year *sigh*

Cider Mill
Farm Animals
Corn Box (I want one)
Nephew in Corn Box
Acorns of a respectable size
(none of the sad little live oak specimens we see around here)
Nephew gathering acorns
Trees changing color - actual green grass
Gorgeous Trees Autumn sky through Gorgeous Leaves

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Who says Florida has all the big bugs?

While in my sister's driveway in the middle of suburban Michigan last week, we happened across this very impressive praying mantis, who could give this guy a run for his money.

I took the risk of being devoured just to give you an idea of how big this guy really was.

Click on the first image to enlarge it. It always amazes me to see close-ups of insect faces; they have so much personality. Praying mantises appear to have rather pleasant personalities; kind of like your favorite science teacher, or Mahatma Gandhi. However, we know that appearances are deceiving, because I have personally witnessed a praying mantis devouring a live cricket in a most un-Gandhi-like manner.

Ethan proved that he is not one to be intimidated by carnivorous insects.

In fact, close supervision was required to ensure that both the mantis and the lamb would escape unscathed.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

ingrid and the burning bush


Do you think someone should tell her

her hair is on fire?
It doesn't really seem
to be bothering her.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

would have, if only

It would have been a beautiful moment
if only Theia's eyes hadn't been closed...

which is really unfortunate,

because, as you can see,
the moment didn't last long.

what's on your fridge?

:cardstock:
+
:ripped-up tissue paper:
+
:watered-down glue:
+
:foam paintbrushes:
=
:instant craft:

I don't know what you'd call it, but the girls enjoyed it, and it took Mama
less than 3 minutes to prep it.

Its a win in my book.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Rebecca Raelene

Rebecca Raelene

9 lbs ~ 21 inches

Beautiful, squishy little bundle.

Rebecca did not wait for me to arrive in Michigan to make her appearance. She didn't wait on much of anyone, actually. She came the day before my scheduled flight, three days before her due date, 5 minutes before her Aunt Robin made it to the birth center, and just barely after her grandma got there to witness the last push. It was a far cry from her big brother's birth, for which everyone, especially her momma, was very grateful. I was just talking to Penny today about how enjoyable second and subsequent births have been for us. We both put in our hard labor with our firstborns, and now we just get to rest on our laurels and bask in everything that is beautiful and marvelous about birth. I'm not saying that my other births, or Rebbeca's birth were without any challenge, but they presented a challenge that was fun and exciting to embrace, and was easily within our ability to achieve. We both felt awesome afterwards, and the reward is complete and overwhelmingly gratifying.

I will blog more about my short trip to Michigan later, but I've just been itching to share pictures of my beautiful new niece since I got home. I miss her already. I'm so glad I got to see her while she's still in her newborn stage, and that we get to go back in just 8 weeks (and that we get to come home with a squishy little bundle of our own :).

Monday, October 4, 2010

favorite of the week - large cutting implements for the diaper bag

I've been thinking about my favorite things this week. I think I might make this a regular around here. Do you have items that you have a weird emotional attachment to, or that make you feel clever or sophisticated (or otherwise) every time you use them, or that you feel you really couldn't live without, or fill your heart with warm fuzzy feelings when you look at them?

I was struck with a feeling of weirdness in the food court of Sam's Club the other day, when I opened my diaper bag and pulled out a rather lethal looking pair of kitchen shears, and proceeded to (very efficiently!) cut up hot dogs for each of my children. I tried to imagine to myself that all the people who were already staring at the pregnant woman out alone with 3 small children in tow were just admiring my ingenuity and foresight.

I mean, who carries these around in their diaper bag? (Answer: only exceptionally brilliant people, of course.)

I love these scissors. They are awesome for cutting up meat without dirtying a cutting board (I hate getting meat juice on my cutting boards), and I use them for cutting up the girls' food every day. They actually come apart and the large piece doubles as a santoku knife too.

I always kick myself when I forget to slip them in the diaper bag on days when we end up eating pizza or hot dogs on the run, or at a church function or birthday party (not that we would ever stoop to eating hot dogs or pizza. That would be unhealthy, after all). It gives me an immense feeling of satisfaction to reach in my diaper bag and come up brandishing these babies. Its about 16 times faster than trying to use a silly plastic fork on a paper plate. They have saved me from many public meltdowns from hungry children, and from personal starvation, since I can't eat my own food until all the girls' food has been properly cut up and distributed. I definitely recommend adding them to your baby shower registry ;).