The Hazards of School

Ok, let's start with the hazards of school.  First of all formal "school" around here has thus far been VERY hit and miss.  We don't do it MUCH more then we do.  However... we did sit down and do just a little today.  Here Clara is working on the number "3".  We've just barely started doing any writing at all, so the neat ones you see there are either ones I did or she traced.  

Ok. Now for the hazards.

1. There is a great danger of giving yourself a green nose without knowing it.

2. Then if you have a rascally mother, you're in peril of having the green nose captured in a photograph before you've been informed that you even have it!  

3. And once you know about the colored nose, you never know what that information is going to do to your brain!!!  :-)  Talk about mad skills!

Hopefully, we gave you a smile!  Don't miss Stephen's post below.

Song About Worship

This is Stephen.  I ran into this artist and really liked the song and his video.  Enjoy.


Jimmy Needham - Clear the Stage from jimmy-needham on GodTube.

Moments

A few moments to share with you from the last week.

The other day Clara got dressed up in her favorite dress and then wanted me to tie a bandana around her waist... I figured it was part of the outfit.  However, awhile later I noticed that a little baby was tucked inside and it was being used kind of like a baby sling!!!   Clara loves to dress up and sing and cook and care for her babies.  And she still has LOTS of rambunctious energy!  

Ice cream bar moment!  :-)

And the precious picnic that preceded the ice cream bar. 

And a fun story from a couple weeks ago.  Stephen asked Hilkiah if "he was going to be an engineer?" It would seem that Hil shouldn't have the foggiest idea what Daddy was talking about, which made his response extra funny and ironic.  He said "No. Fuh-ball! (football)"  Then raised his little arm and gave his "Wooooooo!" cheer!  :-)

Some of the latest!

Yesterday was our latest check up for Baby I.  

Weeks: 19

Sono results: measurements were good, baby looked healthy, heart beat 144!

Gender: We chose to wait.  So.... we'll take any guesses!  :-) 

The appointment went very well.  I had been worrying about how it would go, because there were several things that we were wanting to do differently then I figured they would want... but my worrying  was for nothing.  The LORD REALLY means it when He says NOT to WORRY!!!!  In the morning I had been reading in the Bible where the Lord parts the Jordan river for the children of Israel and feeling that maybe He was speaking to me and that and I needed to trust Him to go before us.   I NEED to learn to trust Him!  We had no disagreements at the office.  The issues I was worried about were hardly even mentioned!  Thank You, Lord!  

The whole family was there for the sono.  Clara was positive she saw the baby sucking it's thumb.  :-)  Nobody else did....  :-)  Hil was saying "Baby. Baby."  So sweet!

Couple shots from today:  Got to love the outfit the girl put together!  :-)  

There are some tulips not too far from our apartment that we've kind of been keeping out eye on.  They were starting to bloom today!  What BEAUTY the Lord has blessed us with in this world around us!

Last weekend, Clara was gone with Daddy, so Hil got to help Mommy with baking more then he might have otherwise.  As you can see, the idea of placing the dough on a mat that is sitting on a slick surface wasn't too smart on Mommy's part.  Cute little assistant anyway, though!

Setting In Stone

Some people near and dear to us, namely our brother and lovely sister-in-love, have started a GREAT new business called Setting In Stone!  Check it out at:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/SettingInStone.

"Airplane"

This boy really likes seeing airplanes!!!  And "airplane" is one of his most well pronounced words.  Here's a sample.  

Exhaustion Personified

This adorableness happened at lunch today!  Sorry about multiple videos... my phone can only send videos if they're 30 seconds or less. 

And some camera time for sis!

Half a month has gone by and no posts!  Forgive me.  Let me catch you up a bit!  

First of all, a Baby I update.  We're currently at 17 1/2 weeks.  I'm starting to feel some little movements that I think may not be just bubbles!  The last several days have also been nausea free!  What a blessing!  This time around also seemed a little lighter then with the first two!  We had a second sono a couple weeks back and it showed a healthy, growing, moving baby with a good heartbeat!  Thank You, Lord!

Our other two munchkins keep us hopping and are such a joy... with plenty of challenges in there too!  Clara is so often coming out with something cute!  The other day I was looking up a Texas sheet cake recipe online.  After I told her what I was looking for she says "Is that Kansas food?"  :-)  

We also get told things like "Shh.  My babies are sleeping."  

Lately, when she remembers something she's been wanting to do and hasn't been able to yet she'll suddenly say "I forgot to go to the mall and ride the horses!"  Or "I forgot to ride in your car, Daddy!" 

Hil has been slowly adding to his list of words.  Many of them are single syllable, like "Wa" (water), "Pa" (pacifier), "Bay" (blankie).  However, one of his good ones is airplane!  Slightly mispronounced, but almost totally there!  He really enjoys kicking balls around and seeing vehicles: trains, trucks, motorcycle, airplanes.  A true boy!  

Ok, now for a few moments from the last few weeks captured in video and pictures.  First us if  a video of the kids enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather we had a week ago.  There's nothing super special about the video... but if nothing else the grandparents will enjoy it.  :-)  My finger was even in the way the whole time... sorry about that!

Next we have some father / daughter sweetness.  

So fun to watch a girl mother her babies! 

Gotta keep the baby warm!

This boy REALLY likes his ice cream... but doesn't like the cone.  Here he is working on getting the ice cream OUT of the cone.  He did quite a thorough job!  :-)

Yesterday

Yesterday was gloriously springy, and we were able to spend quite a bit of time out in the beautiful weather!  Here we are out for a walk in the afternoon with our two neighbor friends.  

Earlier in the day we even got to have our first picnic out in the yard of the year!  This is Hilkiah enjoying the picnic.  :-)  Yep.  He totally missed it.  Poor boy has been having a rough time getting over the flu and he started dozing on the couch while Mommy worked on lunch.  So, he slept while Mommy and Clara...

... enjoyed lunch on the grass near an open window, which enabled us to check up on the sleeping gentleman.

After a little rain in the morning, today is again beautiful!  Thank You, Lord!  This is the day that He has made!  Let's rejoice and be glad in it!

More About Our Twins

Hello all... I thought I'd share a little more info. about our twins, for those of you that haven't heard anything except our brief post with the picture of "Baby I".  Last week was our first prenatal visit.  I went in not knowing if anything was or wasn't out of the ordinary with this pregnancy.  It turned out to be an appointment of mixed emotions.  As standard procedure, they started off with a sonogram, which showed a healthy little baby, with a good heartbeat and appearing to be almost 13 weeks along!  They set the due date as September 5th.  However, the sonogram also showed that we had twins and one had died, they think at about 8 weeks.  I was able to see both sacks and tiny "Baby R", as we are calling our little one who past away.  The young lady asked if I wanted a picture, so we do have a picture of both babies.  In the weeks leading up to the visit, I had kept thinking it would be fun to have twins!  But the Lord knows what is best.  And we are blessed to have one who appears to be healthy and thriving.  

The office wants to monitor the pregnancy more closely.  You can be praying we'll have wisdom how to proceed.  

I think it is easier to have found out there was two after one was gone then it would have been to have known before hand.  God is good.  He gives and He takes away and He does what is best.

It was so sweet.  At one point we were talking to Clara about how there had been two babies but one had died. And she asked with a serious little face "so we can't have it?"  Too precious!  Thankfully though, we are able to tell her that there is still a baby there that appears healthy and well, and she hasn't taken the news hard at all.  

In other updates from here - we have ALL been sick this last week with the flu... but are blessed to be on the mend.  Cute story from yesterday.  Realizing that Clara hadn't had anything to eat in a long time, I asked her if she would like some mashed potatoes or rice (some of the leftovers that were available).  She responded "A crepe would be fine."  Knows what she wants!  :-)  

I love this picture!  It was captured a couple weeks ago at chapel.  First a word about Clara's unusual outfit!  :-)  She wanted to wear one of her flower girl dresses to chapel and Mommy's wedding veil, and her wise Daddy decided "Hey, why not?"  As for the actual picture, Clara said she wanted hold Hilkiah and he was willing to oblige her mothering.  I believe one of my friends said "You need a picture of that, Gracie".  And I'm sure glad I was able to capture the moment!  :-)  

Baby I Sonogram

This is Baby I.  He/she is actually the twin of Baby R who passed away about 6 weeks ago unknown to us.  Hang in there, Precious!  Lord Willing we get to meet you in early September!

Clara's "Fwavorites!"

Yesterday, while driving in the car, a little girl began announcing some "fwavorites".   Went something like this:

"Pink is my fwavorite."

Moment later...

"Yellow is my fwavorite."

"White is my fwavorite."

"Purple is my fwavorite."

"Not yellow."

Then today, when she had the special treat of getting to pick out some sunglasses... she said "Blue is my fwavorite."  :-) I guess it's a little girl's prerogative to change her mind... or to have many "fwavorites!"

More Fun Sayings from Clara

This is from her father:

1.  Clara praying:  "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for 'tecting us, and 'tecting kiah, and 'tecting momma, .....and .....and.....and Kevin, Jeanie, and Suzanna.  ...And save Sarah, and save Krista, and....and....*usually playing with a toy or tie laces, etc*  and.....and.....save Daddy [!].......Pray ask you, amen."

Incidently, Hil prays too.  Since he's the youngest he prays first and he puts his face in his two hands and mumbles for two seconds, and then looks up with a big smile as if he knew God just answered!

2.  Talking to her father who is looking at some king of tool (can't remember what)  "No, daddy, you can't use that here.  You need to go outside!"

3.  Momma was showing the cut she received while chopping onions, Clara pipes up from the couch:  "Momma, you need to be careful!"

4.  Clara while watching her mother eating a piece of licorice, "Little Grandpa has one of those."  Little Grandpa is her Grandpa M., and if you knew him, it would be funny that she'd remember he likes to eat licorice.  Also, if you knew Grandpa F., you would understand why he is known as Big Grandpa.

And none of this was put in her mouth!

Winter Playground

It IS possible to enjoy some playground time in the winter... even if it's 30 something degrees out and there a touch of snow still on the ground.  We had lovely sunshine here today, and managed a little playground time after nap time.  

A Conversation With My Daughter

This is Stephen and I had a conversation with Clara Belle that I would like to share.  It was last Sunday afternoon while the others were having a nap.  I was doing daddy things like trying to read something.  CB was doing some imaginary cooking.

C:  Can I make you more cakes? (For my birthday)
S:  Sure.
C:  You would like more cakes?
S:  Well, not really.  Daddy likes pies better.  Apple pie, pumpkin pie, even coconut creme pie I like.
C:  Oh, OK.....I need surgery for my baby.
S:  I'm thinking "Surgery??!!!  What's wrong?  Her baby?"
C:  Because I can't get pregnant.....but I don't need that because my husband can't get pregnant....yeah....only girls.....so I need to make more pies.
S:  *speechless*
C:  Would you like two?
S:  Yeah.  *mostly numb in the brain*
C:  And another one?
S:  Yeah.
C:  And another one?
S:  Yeah.
C:  And another one?
S:  Yes.
C:  OK.  *nod nod*

This Morning's Baking Class

Clara LOVES to pretend she's teaching a cooking class.  Sometimes she does it with make believe ingredients, and occasionally it goes along with actually helping Mommy with real food.  Helping Mommy was the case this morning.  She was squeezing fresh juice for a trial run of scones I was making.  Enjoy!  There's also a good shot of the "dishwasher" man!  Gotta love the "That's a good question."  :-)  Videos 2 and 3 maybe the best.

Work and Play

My little work crew!  I'm actually not too good at having my little people help out as much as I should.  But here's a cute shot of Clara putting away silverware.  She doesn't enjoy it, but she's good at it.  Daddy worked at teaching her to do the silverware when she was pretty young.  Last week I had Hilkiah help out with putting away dishes.  Among other things, he got to stand on the counter and put away stuff in the cupboards!  He really enjoyed it! 

Here's a shot of my little snow bunny, taken yesterday.

A Morning Smile For You!

Here's my little guy this morning!

Little Mommy

Here's little mommy, Clara, with our sweet little friend, Susannah!  Susannah was good sport!  :-)

The other day, the little mommy even managed to get Hil sitting on her lap... she wanted me to snap a picture, but I think I was in a hurry to get going and didn't take the opportunity.  

1, 2 and 3

Monday and Tuesday of this week, Stephen had to put in some late hours at work.  Thankfully, we are very blessed and that is out of the ordinary for him.  Well, Monday night, the kids had been down for some time, and Stephen still wasn't home.  Clara was having a hard time getting to sleep, probably due mostly to the fact that she had taken a nap that day.  So, she kept making noise, asking me questions, etc.  I was on the couch reading at about 10:30 when a little girl comes around the corner and asks me "Mommy, did Daddy die?"  Too precious!  You never know what's going through those little minds!  And Clara is always saying something new, funny or darling!

Kiah has been taking his time in the talking category, but is slowly adding to his word list.  One of our favorites right now is his word for Clara: "Yah-yah".   He has also been broadening his scope of foods that he'll try and that seem to strike him as edible, which is a blessing!  He loves playing with balls, tackling his sister, watching videos, and playing outside.  He'll also sit and look at books.

Clara has enjoyed doing some simple, 24 piece puzzles lately.  After doing the one pictured below several times with help, she sat down a few weeks ago and did it all by herself!  Seemed like she'd hardly started and she was done!  I don't know who was more please about it: her or Mommy!  Probably Mommy!!!  

We're sooooo blessed by our little people!  They bring us tons of smiles!  And yes, they honestly bring lots of challenges!  I thought discipline and training was going to be rather easy and straight forward... before I had kids.  I could totally see what OTHER people where doing WRONG!!!  And now... well, it's not nearly as easy as I thought!  I'm sure there are all kinds of people who can see the many things I do wrong.  May my many short comings encourage me to look to the Lord for wisdom, strength and all that is needed!  And thank You, Lord, for the MANY joys You allow to be mixed in with the challenges.

In the realm of baby number 3, Mommy has been feeling a little "blah", but the nausia has not been too bad, perhaps less then with the first two!  The other day I was sitting on the couch with Clara and we were both enjoying some hot chocolate.  I was in a slightly reclining position and sit the cup down on my stomach.  I was told "not to spill" and then was also quickly instructed "don't put it on the baby!"  :-)