Thumb sucker?

Maggie at 7 weeks is getting her hand to her mouth more and more.  I think we may end up with another thumb sucker!

Crazy Hair Day at VBS

This week is Vacation Bible School at church and Clara has been having a wonderful time!  She loves the music, Jesus stories, crafts, games, and, of course, the snacks!  Today was crazy hair day so I put in a bunch of ponytails this morning.  It was a beautiful day so we enjoyed lunch on the front porch.

Maggie has also been at VBS hanging out with me in one of the activity rooms.  She is really content to be in the sling and sleeps through commotion and activity of the children.  It has been fun for me to be there and to interact with the kids and adults.  

Twins

Matching outfits compliments of Amy!  Clara was excited to be twins with Maggie.

The Art of Milk & Cookies

Tonight Matt introduced Clara to the fine art of dipping chocolate chip cookies in milk.  Good times were had by all!

Books in Bed

For about a week now this is the scene that we walk into in Clara's bedroom in the morning.  After stories and songs at night she proceeds to have her own story time.  Two nights ago I heard her in there an hour after I had tucked her in still "reading" and telling stories to herself.

I'm thankful for her love of books and am now on a mission to get her to bed earlier so she's not exhausted in the morning!

Alert

Maggie is getting more and more alert with each day that passes.  She is becoming increasingly aware of the voices around her and is beginning to follow them with her eyes across the room.  It is so amazing how quickly she is growing a changing.  Each day I tell Clara how grateful I am that God has given us two very special girls!  

Fudgesicles

This past week Clara and I made fudgesicles.  I rummaged through the cabinets to find the popsicle molds that I bought years ago with high hopes of yummy popsicles and finally put them to use.  The best part was watching Matt and Clara sit on the front steps eating them together.  When Clara got to the bottom of hers Matt helped her fish out the last big bite!  It was pretty cute and resulted in an empty popsicle stick, a chocolate-covered face, and a happy girl! 

Road Trip

Last Friday the four of us ventured out on a road trip to Yakima to scout out a few things for the upcoming high school work camp trip and to visit with some friends from seminary.  We made the final decision to go the night before and I was quite impressed when we were out the door by 8:20am (8:00am was our goal departure time).  We made a few stops along the way and the girls did great.  We enjoyed lunch in downtown Yakima at a restaurant in a parked and converted train car with our friends from seminary and their children.  Then scoped out the church where the high school students will be staying.  The church has a garden, which had ripe strawberries, and a playground, which made Clara very happy.

On our way back home we stopped off at a state park where Clara and Matt played in a stream and chased two rabbits across a field.  Clara was truly delighted with this!  We stopped in Hood River for a great dinner at Big Horse where we enjoyed a window-front table with a view of the Columbia River.  It was a great (almost) end to our adventurous day!

 Clara playing in the stream with a stick.  Later she even put her feet in..I was shocked!

 The 2 bunnies eating grass across the field have been spotted. (Note Clara's bare feet. Again, I'm shocked!)

The full speed bunny chase!

Restarting

Well it has been over 16 months since my original post.  I have been inspired by many friends who have blogs and use blogging as a way to share with those near and far, reflect on life, capture the moments that might otherwise go unnotcied.  In am effort to do all these things, I am going to try again...restart, if you will.
I can't promise that posts will be long, eloquent, or polished, but I'll give it a try!