Creating...

A few weeks ago while thrifting,

we came upon some fun

stencils...just a set of three.

Then a few days later,

while thrifting at another store,

we found the whole set of stencils!

I remember having the same set when I was little.

Elsie has been loving the stencils...

especially the letter ones!

 Elsie spend all afternoon making this

special card for her

only girl cousin, Lydia...

but then something didn't turn out quite

as perfectly as she wanted,

so Lydia never did get the card!

 I love watching my girl create.

And I love her love of words.

She is always asking me how to spell something.

She is getting better and sounding out words

and figuring out to spell on her own.

I love the way little kids write the way

they hear something said!

 My little perfectionist.

Lord help us!

Life...

This will pretty much be a

wordless post.

This week is going to be a busy one...

dr appointments,

eye appointments,

being intentional about our time...

finding a balance between

being on the go and having fun

and enjoying down time at home and

enjoying the simplicity of a

slow paced life.

~

~

The moments we captured in these pictures

are the kind of moments that,

as they are happening,

I find myself wishing

time could stand still...

I love the simple fun,

the joy,

the way my heart feels so happy

that I think it could burst into a

million little pieces.

~

These moments are what life is all about...

and what a rich and

beautiful life it is...

Pizza...

Because of our

food issues

we don't go out to eat...

our idea of out to eat is a taco or fries in the car!

But a local pizza place recently started

serving gluten free pizza

with a vegan cheese option!

So we enjoyed pizza in a restaurant for the very first time!

The kids were SO excited!

We went after church one Sunday afternoon...

this pizza place has a balcony where we ate...

the kids thought that was pretty fun!

James was so excited that I really don't think he even

ate much of his pizza!

After Pizza,

we went and checked out the toy isles at

Target...

then grocery shopping

and home.

A fun little family outing...

And such yummy pizza!

Baking Soda+Water

This winter has been a very, very

L.O.N.G.

one!

Snowstorms in April is just not okay!

So being that playing outside is pretty limited...

{you know,

because the snow is now so deep the kids can't even walk in it!}

We've been trying to get creative inside.

 On this day we made

vinegar and baking soda experiments.

This kept the kids so busy...

in the end we used

half a big jug of vinegar and a whole box of baking soda!

 We started out nice and clean with eye droppers...

they would carefully drop a little

coloured vinegar into a dish of baking soda

and watch the little

volcanoes.

 That soon evolved into dumping

cups full of vinegar into the baking soda

and watching big explosions...

~

And that soon evolved into

dumping handfuls of baking soda in their cupped hands

then I would pour vinegar on top...

a volcano in their hands!

 Nothing is fun unless you can get good and

messy!

And around here we seem to be messy

90% of the time!



Half-a-Year...

Today,

Baby Girl is 6 months old..

half-a-year!

She is officially getting too big!

To celebrate my big girl,

I will give you

photo overload of this perfect little lady...

 Angelina is now rolling all the way over...

from back to belly

then from belly to back again!

She loves to be on her belly,

and is starting to figure out how how those

little legs work...

lets hope crawling is a little ways off still!

 Her favorite place to be

{other than the floor}

is the walker...

she goes all over in that walker...

she can now see something that she wants

then walk towards it...

so the kids find it fun to lure her towards them!

~

And she can sit up

unattended and play with toys!

We still put the poppy pillow around

her just in case she topples over though!

 Angelina is a little eating fool...

I have yet to give her something she

doesn't like to eat!

She gets 3 meal a day now...

breaks my heart to give up some of the nursing time...

I love cuddling her while she nurses!

She loves carrots most of all...

she even gets steamed carrots in her

mesh snack bag,

and she goes crazy for them!

 Just yesterday I noticed that she now has

3 teeth!

I thought she was starting to work on another tooth,

but she really wasn't that uncomfortable,

she I figured it would still be awhile before she got any...

and I thought she was working on a bottom tooth...

so I was surprised today to notice another

tooth on the top!

I won't complain that she snuck this tooth in without

being fussy!

 Angelina has the sweetest and gentlest disposition ever.

She is always calm.

She is simply always happy.

She truly is a perfect little girl!

 This past month Angelina has learned how to use a

sippy cup!

She loves drinking water and gets

excited when she sees a cup!

For Easter she got a nuby cup,

I figured with the soft spout she would do well...

but she never liked it...

instead she prefers a hard sippy cup like the

kids use!

 What a blessing this little one is...

The mere sight of her

smile and giggle

 can warm my heart and me smile...

We are lucky...



Crunches...

Angelina is seriously the

sweetest baby ever...

She is such a petite and feminine little thing...

 Apparently she has gone with me to

rehab at the Chiropractor one too many times...

 Every time she lays on her back,

she starts working those core exercises

and does crunches!

She looks so funny..

 I think her little mind,

she thinks if she pulls hard enough,

she will stand right up!

 Silly little lady...

she always brings a smile to our face!

Baby Yoga...

Angelina loves to be wherever the kids are...

she loves to lay on the floor

next to them...

she just watches them play

while chewing on her toes...

 Toes are Angelina's favorite thing to

chew on...

Wouldn't ya just love to be that

flexible!?

 Sometimes she gets so busy chewing on those toes,

that she pulls her socks right off!

 I love this

rolly-poly stage...

such a fun sweet girl...



Hand-Stand...

I think every child has the the same desire...

to do a perfect

hand-stand in the corner!

 When I was little,

I remember we had the perfect corner in the

living room for attempting

hand-stands.

It seemed my sisters and I would

take turns doing hand-stands

for ever.

 Our perfect hand-stand corner

is in our bedroom...

I often hear Elsie's

feet and legs slapping against the

walls...

every now and then I hear a

"hey, mom come quick my legs are way up!"

~

Fun simple memories...



Little Guy...

A few weeks ago we picked up

this fun little

musical instrument from the thrift store...

it's perfect for James,

he can sing at the top of his little lungs

and beat the little hammer things to the

wood with all his might!

James has been changing so much lately...

becoming more grown up

and turing out to be such a boy!

~

We have been teaching him how to be a

gentlemen to girls.

He always holds the door open for Elsie and I...

and he always has to help do the

'boy chores' like bring out the trash.

And he always has to put the lid down on the

potty when he is done,

"for girls"...

and he gets upset when daddy or uncle Colter

forget to put it down for girls!

One day while eating popcorn

James picked all the pieces into several little tiny crumbs...

then got a couple truck matchbox cars

and loaded all that popcorn up

and hauled it across the table!

One afternoon James took all the toy baskets

off the shelf in the living room,

then he pulled all the wooden shelves out of the shelf...

and he used them for lumber to

"build" himself a little fort.

Its sad to think that in just a few

short months my little guy will be

3!

He is growing up too fast.

Why do kids do that?

Kids...

I swear,

I've got some of the sweetest

little ones around...

{that is when they aren't driving me

bonkers!}

Elsie has become such a

Big Kid,

that it shocks me...

seriously,

where does time go!?

Now that Elsie has learned to read,

she is constantly reading texts over my shoulder...

and its annoying!

I aways text people while laying with the kids

for bedtime...

so now Elsie just reads whatever words she can

instead of falling asleep!

Gotta remember to keep the

Christmas lists hidden aways this year now that

she can read some words!

~

Elsie is a planner and a saver...

she has been saving her pennies and

working towards a goal...

an American Girl Bitty Baby...

she even did some jobs for Grandma B. to earn some money!

She now has enough and is counting

down days till we can go to the

Mall of America and get that new doll!

Now that the snow has melted

the kids have been out riding bikes...

it has become clear Elsie is ready for the training

wheels to come off...ya know

since they are upside down on the bike!

~

One day it was windy outside while the kids were

out playing...

the kids came in and Elsie said,

"oh wow, its so windy out our toys almost

got winded away!"

Both the kids love getting the special treat

of soda.

James calls all soda Coke...

so he always wants an

orange coke or a clear coke!

Always makes us laugh!

This year is the first year both the kids

kinda understood the meaning of Easter.

The kids have both been hooked on talking about

Jesus on the cross.

Every Sunday James fully expects to

see Jesus sitting in church.

~

James has 2 favorite parts in church...

putting money in the offering plate

{or the big bowl as he calls it}

and Communion.

He knows just how to cross his

arms as we walk up for the blessing...

and he looks so darn cute!

One day James was looking out the window

and jumped up and started yelling,

"See Easter bunny in tree!"

He was SO excited.

What he saw was a squirrel.

I didn't have the heart to tell him different.

I really do have the coolest kids.

They are at fun ages.

The excitement and simple joy and silliness 

of children is very contagious.

I have a very full and happy

Heart...