A visit from Uncle Matt

Matt came to visit for the day last Wednesday. We had a good time. Rhea was really excited that he was coming, a little shy at first, but then warmed right up!! She loved getting to play with him!

 Mrs. Potato Head

 Yum Yum

We set up the tent in the yard for her... she thought this was AWESOME!
Here she wants the camera.

A picture Rhea took 

(we have lots of pictures of her lap and the ceiling....
but she's getting it figured out)

Daddy and Lynden - they hung outside the tent

Smiley girl!

Today, 9/10/13 she got her first tooth. (Thus confirming the suspisions we had about her cranky behavior the last couple days) And she is officially scooting now - pulls with her arms and pushes with her toes. Once she figures out to get her belly up she'll be ready to go. Today Rhea was playing with her umbrellas and Lynden was watching intently (very normal), Rhea set one down about 2 feet from Lynden and I watched Lynden spin right around and army crawl right over to it to investigate it for herself.  Rhea didn't exactly love that so we'll have some lessons to learn on where to leave your stuff and more importantly... sharing! Eeek!

Blooper Pics

Whoa! Where has the time gone?!?! We celebrated Lynden's Half-Birthday a week ago.... she's 6 months old already! Ahh.... treasuring as much as I possibly can! Boy does she want to get after that sister of hers! She scoots now and can get just about anywhere she wants (within reason, like getting the toys that are out of her reach on the blanket). She tries to flip herself out of her carseat if I sit her in there and don't buckle her right away and tonight she tried to climb out of her tub! Eeek, when she really starts moving we'll be in for a treat I'm sure :-) It has been such a HUGE blessing from the Lord to watch these girls grow as sisters. They most certainly love each other. Every morning whichever one is awake first they look/ask for the other... so cute!! Anyways, in light of their "halves" I tried to take their pictures myself. This was a hoot!  [Nothing against fancy photography, just not in the budget] Here are some of the "blooper" shots.... Still cute, still our girls, love love love them! - Nice pics coming out in cards and I'm sure I'll get them on FB sometime too.

 R: "seriously?!" L: "this is fun!"

"Ok, nobody look"

R: "Cheese!" L: "oh look, a leaf!"

She rolls faster than I can snap the shot

Too much "cheese" Rhea

Whoops

R: "Look Mom, I'm Wynnen!"

She has the most beautiful eyes ;-)

Good job little one, I think we successfully avoided a 'good one'

"Mom, this is silly"

 Oh, and evening pit stop to the Christy Creme to reward Rhea for NO TEARS at church that morning. [We've been having some rather unpleasant issues the last several weeks, separation anxiety, not wanting to walk, etc.]

"OOOooooooooooohhhhh ICE CREAM!!

Yum!! Peach

And shared some fries with Dad :-)

They look thrilled don't they?!

L: "She won't print it if I stick out my tongue"
R: "Nope, not gonna do it"

They are such a delight!! We are super blessed parents, still lots to learn in every area but loving every minute!

Summer fun!

 Above is an update on our garden.... the potato plants are really rather tall now, hopefully there's some good spuds growing down beneath! We put up some fencing for the green beans and peas to climb on. We used a cinnamon roll style pattern for the fence which allowed us to get fence near all the plants without having to cut it (since it's borrowed from the neighbors). Works well for the plants to vine but it might be a little tricky to get in there once it's time to harvest some... we'll cross that bridge when we get there. So far the deer have stayed away, PTL!!

Alie and Rhea playing sandbox at Kay's house

Swimmin' Baby!!

 As promised, here's some coverage of Lynden's first swim lesson - I'm not a certified instructor or anything but I did some research on the web about infant swimming.... It encouraged letting them experience their own buoyancy... Mommy laid he back in the water and supported her back and head, she was a little tense the first couple times but then she relaxed and did all kinds of kickin' and splashin' and smilin' - Here she is cruising around with Dad. 

 I can't figure out how to embed the video here  so just click on the link and you'll be redirected :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toIcUO4HEL4

Boat Ride!!

Not only does she have sea legs for walking
but she jumps too!!

Watchin the waves...

Water slide!

Happy 4th of July!!

As promised, a couple pictures from the zoo. The girls get to travel wagon style :-) and Daddy gets his workout lugging them up and down the hills ;-) 

 Rhea was excited to go see the monkeys at the zoo. But when we got to the first ones (Orangutangs) she decided they were scary and she didn't like them. So we went to the cat house but it must have been nap time because almost all the tigers and lions were sleeping. From there we headed to the Budgee birds, that's our favorite.

 Joe used to have parakeets as he was growing up so he is the 'bird whisperer' in there to get them to come see us. After that a quick swing through the aquarium to see the penguins and turtles before it was closing time.

Car Wash -  Woah Woah Woah :-)

DATE NIGHT!!

 Wednesday night we took a date night! Mr Bill and Miss Nellie jumped at the chance to come spend time with the girls (especially since they didn't have to work the next day)! We drove the truck (yay) and went to Joe's Crab Shack in Omaha. We each ordered an entree of mahi and Joe also got a pound of crawfish on the side :-) It was a beautiful night, we had a great time.

fam-ah-wee!!

Bye Dad, See you later!
(wearing Miss Nellie's flip flops)

Happy 4th of July!!
Sisterly love

Parade bound!!

Catching candy with Daddy

* cousins *

One tired girl!!

Thanks for stoppin'! Tune in again next week for snippets of Lynden's first swim lesson (sort of).

Where is Thumbkin?

So after I made a quick list of the pics I wanted to add into this blog post..... I decided a slideshow would be the best option for this week :-) You know us, always have the camera going!

The first half of last week was pretty routine as far as our activities go. Lynden started rolling from back to front (and Mommy missed it every time the first 2 days, sneaky girl). I still let her lay on her tummy up on the table while Rhea and I eat lunch and today she almost put her head in the tub of sour cream ;-) Another note on Lynden, she officially is a fan of her thumb (or first finger). Right out of the gate Mommy encouraged a pacifier but gosh darn it if she isn't 4 months old and still set on the thumb! She mostly just chews on it rather than sucking it so maybe the appearance of some teeth will fizzle this out. She still takes the pacifier for naps and bed . I know, there could be much worse things so I'm just trying to go with it. Oh, and she found her feet this week too! Busy week for her :-)

Rhea enjoys MUCH pool time and has requested macaroni and cheese for every meal the last 3 days (yes, even breakfast). She loves to have Mommy sing songs all day and she will sing them herself if no one calls attention to it. Or she asks for me to play mucus on the computer (music). We haven't done too many fun art projects lately since we try to spend a good amount of time outside every day.

Thursday was super rainy in the morning so we went out to play in it for a little while, then we drove up to the Museum of Religious Arts in Logan, Ia. They have a display of paintings from Akiane. If you haven't heard of her story, please take a minute to Google it - amazing! She's been given an incredible gift straight from God. Her work was unbelievable. Then that night we went to a BBQ at Joe's boss' house.

Saturday was our nephew Luke's 1st Birthday party. That was a hoot - he really enjoyed his cake!!

Sunday evening Kay made a lasagna and brought it over for supper (my request, she makes the BEST lasagna), Al and Linda joined us and then we went out on the boat :-)

And today (Monday) we went to the zoo this afternoon! Those pictures will have to wait for next week's post.

Water Weekend!

What a weekend!! It was full but fun! Friday afternoon we helped Andrew & Loribeth move all of there stuff to Kay's house. For the most part the girls were very good while us adults lugged boxes and furniture around. Then Saturday evening was the Pontoon Parade here at the lake. Every year the neighbors line up their pontoons and 'parade' around the lake, then tie all the boats together on the sandbar. Everyone brings out food and we mingle along the boats. This year Bill and Janelle came out with us. It was a warm and windy night but we had a great time.

Ready to go!!

Yummy!!

We love Mr Bill and Miss Nellie!!

Wild baby hair :-)

The line up

Our summer boatin' baby!

A little snooze in all the commotion

 It was an hr past bedtime when we got back to the house, but both girls settled down well.... and we all slept like rocks after the abundant windy and fresh air!!

Pretty princess

 Since the boat was still uncovered and all set up we decided to take our supper out on the lake Sunday evening. It was wonderful! I made a stromboli, we sliced it quick and took off :-)

The corner 'seat of honor'

Yum!

Yes, Rhea is asleep. The gentle rocking of the waves
and lull of water noises must have done it

But woke up happy to enjoy a cupcake that she
helped Miss Hannah make that afternoon

This was such a peaceful and relaxing time out on the water!! All glory to God for the many ways He blesses us!!