Sunset!
Last night, there was THE most beautiful sunset I have EVER seen in my life…take a look:
Isn’t it spectacular??????????
Wow, is all I have to say!
Filed under: Family on July 29th, 2010 | No Comments »
Happy Birthday, Annika!
Two years old. Already! I’m stuck between feeling like she’s always been part of our family and disbelief that two years have gone by. She’s still the sweet baby she once was, although her little personality has developed to be a little more on the sassy side. She loves to be tickled, to be sung to and anything girlie. If I thought Tasha was into all things girl, I was wrong compared with Annika! She has to have a bow in her hair to look pretty and is wearing a different pair of shoes every time I look at her. A few months ago, I caught her doing her makeup in my bathroom!
She’s the best hugger and loves to be held like a baby. And when she does something naughty, she pouts and stomps her way to time-out. It’s hard to keep our composure!
Last night, it was her turn to say a blessing on the food. As she was praying, we noticed she kept stopping and not saying anything for a while. Then when she did, it was really hard to understand her. We peeked and tried to contain ourselves, as we watched her shoveling blueberries into her mouth and trying to bless the food at the same time.
We had a small party for her last night….just the 5 of us. She was a little tuckered out before the party even started:
She fell asleep on the kitchen floor while I was frosting her cake. She slept through all the racket of making dinner and everything! She was one tired girl!
Being coy….or cute…not sure which!
Posing
Our little 2 year old
Pretend pouting…did I mention this is our Drama Queen of the house? Oh yes. Teenage years-watch out!!!!
Copycat!
Annika’s cake….not my best effort admittedly, but I didn’t have much time to do it, so I’m using that as my excuse!
Ammon and I have a love-hate thing going with this picture. We think it totally shows her personality, which is fun, but she looks more than her 2 years!
The birthday girl after she blew out her candles! Looking very demure, methinks.
Notice how Kevin can’t take his eyes off the cake? lol
Present time! Her very own baby doll. No more fighting over the babies with Tasha….
She was in love with this jewelry set, but that’s a little bit obvious!
Filed under: Family on July 29th, 2010 | No Comments »
Look closely!
These were our newest wild animal friends at our zoo here on Forest Lane:
Wild Turkeys! There were a bunch of them and their babies. The kids loved it!
Filed under: Family on July 29th, 2010 | No Comments »
Tasha
I just returned from a week in Idaho and I had taken Tasha with me. She was seriously an ANGEL. The whole time! The whole 9 or 10 hours in the car (including stops) and never complained once that it was taking too long or anything like that. While we were there, she played happily by herself 99% of the time, while Mom and I were preoccupied with other things. She was helpful and sweet and just the best Tasha ever! I’m so thankful for her goodness. =)
Here is a picture she asked me to take before we left:
Filed under: Family on July 29th, 2010 | No Comments »
Is 4 too young to drive?
Ammon wanted to test out the winch on his jeep to make sure everything worked ok. He hooked the cable up to a big boulder and the kids were more than happy to help.
Tasha was working the remote that causes the winch’s cable to pull the jeep. Like a giant remote control car!
Kevin was more than happy to steer the jeep for Daddy! What a cute boy!
Filed under: Family on July 16th, 2010 | No Comments »
Seeing through a child’s eyes
Ammon related this story to me the other day and I had to post it!
Kevin was playing with his mini, but real binoculars and says to Ammon:
“Dad, these things are broken….they make everything far away look really big”.
Filed under: Family on July 16th, 2010 | No Comments »
Just so I can remember….
I thought I’d post this so I can reflect on how easy life actual was with small children, in comparison to how life will be with teenagers in the house.
7:40-put the kids to bed
7:45-guests from church stop by to visit
7:50-Annika is yelling “MAMA!!” at the top of her lungs
8:01-Annika is throwing all of the wall hanging, wooden letters that spell out her name, across the room
8:06-Annika is running around on her bed, hollering out all the names of the people in the framed photos on her wall
8:07-Annika is out of bed, playing with the humidifer
8:09-Tasha comes to tell us that Annika is out of bed….AGAIN (Kevin was sleeping in the same room through this entire charade)
8:10-Annika is out of bed and playing with the night light
8:20-I decide to “fix her” and bring up the pack and play and put her in it, hoping she won’t get out.
8:25-We endure earth-shattering shrieks of frustration since Annika can no longer get out of bed, while attempting to chat with our guests…who lucky for us have 6 children of their own (not here, thank goodness!)
8:30-Ammon goes to check on our screaming, non-sleeping child after seeing the light on in her room, only to find her standing in the pack and play buck naked. Diaper and all-on the floor. Tasha has the diaper in hand and is about to try and re-dress her baby/alien-monster, sister.
8:40-We hear crying, but things have mostly calmed down….
9:30-We HOPE we just heard the last cries out of our supposed easiest child, miss angel baby….and dread dealing with her over-tired, cranky self tomorrow!!!!!!!
But…..are still grateful that she’s ours, for those moments where she is angelic and sweet and cuddily =)
Filed under: Family on July 15th, 2010 | No Comments »
Ghosts?
Tonight at dinner, Ammon and I were discussing with the kids our plans for tomorrow afternoon. Ammon suggested we go to the Ghost Town “Animas Forks” as one of our stops on our drive. We had previously explained to the kids what a ghost town was and thought they understood, but apparently Kevin didn’t get the full grasp of the conversation. We told them that no one lives there now and the people who used to live there had passed away by now. So Kevin asks, “Well, when did the ghost people live there, Dad?”.
Filed under: Family on July 15th, 2010 | No Comments »
It’s a date!
While we haven’t been super-consistent with the frequency of these parent-kid dates we began in the Fall, each one we have is a great success. Both the parent and the child end up feeling closer and have enjoyed some special one-on-one time. =)
Today it was time for Kevin and I to go on a little excursion. A lot of times, we let the child choose the date, but this time, I made it a surprise!
Kevin splashing around in the river that runs through “town”.
This river isn’t very fast-flowing, is relatively shallow and has plenty of sand/rock bars in the middle, making it perfect fun for a hot, summer day!
He said he LOVES these kind of dates!
Afterwards, we spoiled our lunch with some homemade, organic ice cream from a local natural foods store. They only had chocolate or vanilla, but that was just fine with us!
Filed under: Family on July 15th, 2010 | No Comments »