Happy 4 years

Today is Conrad and I's fourth anniversary...four wonderful years and two beautiful children. God is good!

Home Improvers

We have been homebound for a few weeks and stretching our home improvement muscles. You need to know (if you didn’t already) that we are not handy people. Our standard line is “Four degrees between the two of us and we can’t...(fill in the blank: put together this grill, replace the furnace filter, put up a curtain rod)

I have a list of home improvements that I have wanted to do for years, and I finally got the nerve to try some of them...and they turned out great! We did some easy ones, like install a pendent light over our table, and replace our outdoor light fixture. Then we tackled the harder one: tiling the kitchen backsplash. We did pretty well, if I do say so myself. I watched “How To” videos for six months before we attempted it! I even got on a roll and bought a toy storage thing for Isabelle that was on sale...and put it together!

Next projects: Painting the kids bathroom (which Conrad did last night: purple, no less!), painting Isabelle's room, tiling the bathroom wall and installing hard wood floors. The last item, I’m still quite nervous about….

Peacful Waters

Life has been busy this month. Conrad has been marking the days since his Dad passed away with, “Wow, can you believe it’s been 40 days since…” And no, I can’t believe it. I think it’s always hard to believe that time marches on, in spite of our heartache.

The girls have both been sick with this and that over the past few weeks. Which means little sleep for Mommy…which means Mommy get’s sick with this and that too. My wonderful husband has, what I fondly like to call, the “Gift of Sleep” meaning he can sleep any time and any where. So the kids wake him up..no problem…he rolls back over and goes to sleep. Me? Not so much. He needs to catch up a little? No problem…he just goes to bed at 7:30 at night and sleeps all night…yes, I said ALL NIGHT. I would get so mad at him for this when I was pregnant that I couldn’t contain my spite. I would sulk around all morning and grumble about how he slept so much the night before…

But, the girls (and myself) are doing much better the last couple of days and we are looking forward to spending Memorial Day with my parents. Actually, it’s approaching Conrad and I’s anniversary and we are also looking forward to celebrating SANS children this weekend! Yeah! A date!

Grace Update

Grace is sitting up! She started a couple of weeks ago, but I’m a blogging slacker. I love this child. I know Number Two doesn’t get the fanfare that Number One gets, but she is such a joy. She’s sweet and patient and smiley, and she sleeps like…well, like a baby. Thank you Jesus for easy going children.

Tippy Toe

Isabelle has started dance class. Can I tell you how much we enjoy this?? Between her and I, we can’t wait for Monday nights! She thinks she’s as cool as a Russian ballerina performing Swan Lake and all of us parents sit at the sidelines and giggle and watch our little princesses with baited breath and a camera or two as the teacher tries to herd our little group of two and three year old girls. Have you ever heard the expression, “Like trying to herd cats?” She is doing a tap/ballet
combo. So far they’ve managed to practice tippy toe, tippy toe, and shuffle shuffle shuffle. Not to mention “Ballerina arms.” Her friend Addie and Addie’s brother Gage came in late and Isabelle starts shouting, “Gage, Gage, we doing Ballet Shoes” over and over again. We currently have Isabelle and two families with little girls who I assume are adopted from China, and Isabelle’s friend Addie is the only non-Asian in the group. They are all cute as buttons and I’m not at all sure who enjoys the class more, the parents or the kids…

The Great Outdoors

After being cooped up all winter long the girls and I are LOVING being outside. Everything is new for Isabelle again. Being so little last summer, she really doesn’t remember that much. Our daily ritual when I am home with them and it’s warm enough is to finish breakfast and head out to the yard to spend our morning. We blow bubbles, write with sidewalk chalk, ride Isabelles kiddie roller coaster her Oma and Opa got her, and ride her tricycle. We also pull Grace’s Baby bouncy toy out so she can have a little independence and enjoy the day.

We haven’t yet managed to get a fence, so my day also consists of chasing Isabelle down before she meaders too far from home. I have also created the “Invisable barrier” does anyone remember Les Nesman from “WKRP” and his invisible office walls? I take Isabelles sidewalk chalk and draw a line on the driveway. I told her that no matter what she isn’t to cross that line.
So she spends much of her time riding her bike to that line, and slowly crossing it with one wheel (only to be disciplined) or simply riding her bike to the line and starring at it. After a big rain the line disappears. She’s so excited to ride to the end of the driveway then! I get out the chalk and start to re-draw the line and she’ll give a devastating scream of “noooooooooo!”