Sister Love...

I'm so happy my girls have each other...

there is just something so special about the

sisterly bond...

{I should know, I have 7 sisters!}

~

A few days ago Elsie and Angelina were

playing with dolls together,

and I overheard Elsie telling Angelina 

about how she prayed for a sister for 

a long time

then God finally gave her one and how happy she is!

Melted my heart to hear her saying that...

My hope and prayer for these two girls 

is that they can grow up to be 

best friends...

always be there for one another...

to be uplifting to one another...

To always remember how blessed they are

to have a sister!

Walks...

Earlier this fall we spend a fair amount 

of time outside going on walks...

I'm sad now that the weather 

has turned too cold to spend 

much time outside...

Elsie usually is a pretty hard core bike rider...

she always rides her bike!

But sometimes she tries out her 

vintage roller skates!

She does pretty good on the skates...

but it never fails,

half ways down the alley she always wants to 

turn around and get her bike!

James loves his balance bike...

and he does so good on it!

I'm thinking that by the middle of next 

summer,

he will be ready for a big bike

with no training wheels!

I'm shocked to see how well those balance bikes work!

Picture over-load...

but he just looked so darn cute,

I had to put them all up...

even though he is in his 

Pj's!

Bath Time...

Since the time change,

our days have suddenly gotten very long...

so we are back in the habit of an

{almost} daily soak in the tub!

 

I find this daily soak just as relaxing for me

as it is for them...

sometimes I just dangle my toes over the edge 

and soak in the warm water...

or I paint my toe nails...

all three of the kids will play in the tub for a 

long, long time...

and I'm not about to complain!

Angelina gets a bath often 3x a day

{because she is a messy eater!}

so she gets SO excited when the kids get in the tub

with her!

We all

Love, love, love

bath time...

My OneYear Old...

It seems like that first year of life just flies by...

sometimes I look at my one year old baby 

and still expect to see the tiny 7lb baby she started out as.

You can so tell that Angelina is 3rd child...

this girl  can hold her own...

I have a feeling she is going to be quite the little 

spit-fire girl!

One day James had taken a toy away from her,

She screamed and took the toy back...

she then used that toy to whack her brother on the head!

I didn't know if I should have disciplined 

James for taking the toy,

or her for hitting!

Guess they worked it all out!

Angelina has a favorite place...

the little rocking chair beside her crib. 

If ever she is missing,

I find her,

all alone in the bedroom,

just rocking. 

Too cute!

~

Her other favorite thing to do is 

feed her baby doll.

She loves dolls.

She will find a doll bottle and a baby

and sit and feed and feed her baby!

Melts my heart every single time!

~

I have a feeling Elsie is going to take after her 

sister and be a bag lady!

She already loves to find a bag and fill it full of 

treasures!

She will usually just put a couple blocks in a bag,

carry it around for a few seconds,

then plop down and empty the bag again.

She is too funny...

and easily entertained!

Last week

{and this week}

Angelina has been working on teething...

last week the top eye teeth and molars popped through.

This week we are waiting on the lower

eye teeth and molars.

So she has kinda been a moody little thing!

But 

moody or not...

Angelina can brighten any day with her sweet little smile

and hug.

Perfect little lady...

Fall Walks...

I think I've fallen way behind on blogging again...

This post is about a fall walk...

but in all reality,

Fall is pretty much over!

While we have no snow on the ground 

{yet!}

it is cold out...

so we pretty much keep to the indoors now

except for quick outside jaunts...

It was almost the peak of fall...

and such a nice day...

so we talked Auntie Ceara into joining us

on some local trails for a walk...

These pictures make me long for fall again!

For now,

I guess we will be contented to find indoor projects

to keep us busy...

Pumpkins...

We are still alive!

I don't think I've ever been such a terrible blogger before!

I simply get busy with other things...

I only blog at night after the 

little ones are sleeping...

and lately I've been doing other things

like sewing and making lists and plans 

to make the next day get off to a good start!

 

It's shocking that Halloween is next week already!

We have been busy making 

Halloween costumes,

and doing plenty of Halloween crafts!

The kids have been begging to carve their huge pumpkins

for the last couple of weeks...

Last week I finally brought them up town and let 

them each pick out a little pumpkin to paint!

Since my last post,

baby girl turned 1!

We had a little birthday celebration for her...

and she got her first cupcake...

Perhaps someday I will post all the pictures! 

Fall is almost over...

winter is almost here.

Not sure how I feel about that!

On the up side,

right after Halloween is 

Thanksgiving...

then on to the 

Christmas festivities!

I love, love, love 

this festive time of the year!

Road Trip...

We have kinda been in the middle of 

little baby boom last month...

2of my sisters had babies born about 

2 weeks apart...

both boys!

Kinda Fun!

My one sister lives over 4 hours away in 

BlueEarth...

home of the jolly green giant!

The weekend after little 

Henry was born,

we went on a little road trip to meet the baby.

 

I was proud of myself...

I shopped, packed, loaded the van and 

drove the first two and a half hours

by myself...

We picked Jon up at work on the way.

The kids road super good...

the Dvd player is my Bff!

{as are McDonald fries!}

We got to BE late...
Jon, James and Angelina
were all sleeping by the time we got there...
don't worry though, as soon as the car turned off,
they were wide awake!
My sister, Ana, was kind enough to make some cute
little fruit and veggie platters
when we first got there...
Angelina repaid her kindness by 
promptly choking a piece of watermelon
and puking on the floor.
We know how to leave an impression!

The kids had fun playing with their cousins...

we swam in the pool,

went for a walk,

visited the jolly green giant,

went on a drive to see the farm country,

and

cuddled with little baby Henry...

Oh yes,

and zoned out in front of some cartoons!

They kids were pretty pooped out from staying up so late...

James stood in that exact position 

with the phone up to his ear,

for the length of an entire cartoon!

We thought maybe he would fall asleep,

but no such luck!

Elsie is the remote keeper!

Jon has a hard time with that one!

I only took a few pictures of Henry...

we were always so busy with kids and talking,

that taking the big camera out kinda slipped my mind!

He sure is a sweet little guy...

Wish we would've snuck him into our bags and 

brought him home!

We had a fun little trip...

Can't wait to cuddle little Henry again at 

Christmas time!

Sewing Lessons

We have been keeping busy this fall...

On the few chilly days we have had,

we have found ways to keep busy inside...

Like teaching Elsie how to sew!

 

Jon's grandma, Ardis,

always gives Elsie bags of all her fabric scraps...

so Elsie's goal is to sew them together into a 

little quilt for her doll.

Elsie is doing so good sewing...

she is very sure of herself 

and does some pretty good strait lines!

She is now good enough that 

after I help her get the fabric lined up,

I can walk away and she will sew the pieces together,

raise the needle and foot and cut the threads

all by herself!

She is slightly proud of herself!

James has also been trying to learn how to sew.

He loves to do anything that his sister does!

James has incredibly strait lines...

because he pretty much floors the peddle 

and goes so fast there

is no time for the fabric to slide around!

Elsie is now asking for her own sewing machine...

I have visions of the two of us sewing projects together...

Love their learning spirit...