A Spring in Our Steps

I think we're all feeling a spring in our steps with the beautiful weather we're having.  Saturday was perfection.

Any day where you can eat all three meals on your front porch, is just amazing. :)

 Paige was in her own little world eating her her food.  Yummy and adorable. :)

 These two sisters are a mess.  Sometimes they aggravate the mess out of each other.  And other times they are the best of friends.  I love it when that happens! :)

 Are these four kids cute or what?!

 I just had to take a picture of Paige and her lion's mane. :)  That girl and her crazy head of hair...

It reminds me for the world of cute little Merry Grace when she was little. :)  Same crazy hair, different kid.  Love it!

 

After breakfast, we headed to the park for Ian's baseball practice and Elise's softball practice.  Paige entertained herself by playing in the dirt.  Hey, if it makes her happy, I'm all for it. :)

And when we got home after the park, we enjoyed lunch on the porch.  

We also cleaned up some in the yard, planted some flowers and soaked up as much sun as we could.  If every day felt like yesterday, I might never come indoors. :)

Lepruchans

Yes, they struck our house this year.  Some years we've gotten off the hook.  Maybe the Lepruchans just overlooked us.  Or maybe they were luring us into a false sense of security.  Or perhaps they were just tired from all the work they do all day.  :)  Whatever the case, they got us good this year.

They messed up our kitchen...

 Wrote messages on all our windows and mirrors, and sprinkled gold confetti stars all over the house.

I'm thinking about next year requesting that they just trick us really good and clean the house from top to bottom.  What a trick that would be!  No one would see it coming! :)

And to celebrate our good luck day, we ate rainbow colored pancakes for breakfast.  The lepruchans also left treasure hunts for each person, with a bag of gold (or chocolate candy wrapped in gold paper, which in my book is almost as good!).

We had fun celebrating and all made sure to wear green, even those of us who don't look so great in green.  :)  And Merry Grace won the green award by wearing 11 different shades of green, even down to her socks and panties. :)  Happy St. Patrick's Day, Y'all! :)

Pleased as Punch

That's exactly how we all feel about our new niece and cousin.  We're soaking up as much time with little Isabella as we can.

We made trip after trip to the hospital to see her.  Do you think she feels loved yet?  Honestly, these little girls couldn't possibly be any prouder of Ella, if they'd given birth to her themselves. :)  Paige has been begging to changer her diaper, but Merry Grace is calling dibs.

And now that she's home, we've dropped in as much as we can.  I really can't get a moment's peace from these girls unless we go see the baby every few days. :)

Today we dropped in for a visit and the menfolk of the family finally got to meet her.  Cory has been sweet to watch different ones of the kids while I have gone to see the baby.  And Ian knew he didn't have the patience to be still enough to go to the hospital.  (When I had Paige, he was quite rambunctious and ended up raising my bed over five feet off the ground. :)  We decided those are some of the gifts we won't be sharing with others.)  But they both got to hold her today and they loved it.  Ian kept snuggling her and saying, "Isn't she just so cute?"  Cory got to see her ball up her little fists and put them under her chin.  I think she already has him wrapped. :)  Paige and Merry Grace also got to help with diaper changes today.  Two to be exact.  And one was a poopy.  They were positively giddy.

But Ella is sweet and beautiful and lovely and we can't get enough of her.   I think her parents are wondering if we've moved in. :)

For All the Mothers....

This is one of my favorite messages ever.   I cry every time I watch it.  And I feel uplifted.  It is beautiful.  It reminds me of why I do everything I do.

Its So Fluffy!!!!

Have you seen "Despicable Me"?  If so, you probably remember this cute little clip from the movie:



But I doubt she could be any cuter than THIS little girl:



It makes me laugh. Every. single. time. :)

Pedicure

You're looking at the best pedicure ever...

Because those toes were painted with love...

By this little imp.

And I have absolutely no plans to repaint. :)

Beautiful...Just Beautiful

My brother and his wife welcomed their first baby into the world yesterday.  Little Ella was 8 days late and we were beginning to wonder what on earth she was waiting for.  But when she finally made her appearance, we soon saw that she'd had to spend a few extra days growing her hair!

Can you believe that?!  

So yesterday afternoon, Elise and I stopped by to hold this sweet little darlin', so fresh from Heaven.

And, of course, she already has us all head over heels in love.  We held her and kissed her and loved on her.  

And since that wasn't nearly enough time, I took Elise and Merry Grace back today and we got some more love from that sweet little girl.  

One thing we know for sure, this is one lucky little girl, to be coming to such sweet parents!

(Don't you just want to eat her with a spoon?!  I wonder if she's tired of my smooches already...)

Baby Dolls

My girls LOVE playing with baby dolls, and Paige is no exception . The baby doll clothes have been a big hit and I think they play with them even more, if that's possible.  Almost every errand we run, there is at least one baby doll in tow.  A couple of times, both Merry Grace and Paige have carried a baby doll stroller and pushed their babies through the store. :)  I absolutely love it. :)

And if you're wondering why this particular baby is covered in baby wipes watch the video below.  :)

Little Miracles

Life gets so busy sometimes, as we hustle and bustle through the routine of school, work, church, keeping house, running errands and caring for the family.  And then, somewhere in the midst of all that, something happens to remind me to slow down and thank the Lord for the goodness in my life.

One month ago, I bought this rose, along with some others, for my sister in law's baby shower.

Most of them wilted within a few days.  But not this one.  It stayed beautiful for a full month.  It finally began wilting yesterday after exactly one month.  As it outlasted all the other flowers, I didn't think much of it at first. But the longer it stayed fresh and full, the more I had to take notice.  It might just be a rose.  It might just be a coincidence that it lasted so long.  Or it might be a heavenly gift to remind me just how beautiful life is.  And that is what I'm choosing to believe.

"We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the  troubled times in which we live." ~ David A. Bednar

Its All Good

My house is a mess, but these little cuties have new outfits for their babies, thanks to THIS blog.

I'd say it's been a good day. :)

Bring on the Sun

Is there any better way to spend a beautiful winter day, that feels every bit like a perfect Spring day, than on the front porch, relaxing in the porch swing?

 If there is, I can't possibly imagine what it would be.  (And after the yam incident from the previous post, there was also a problem with her shirt, and Paige ended up in just her undies.  Ahhhh....to be so carefree....)

Love these kids to pieces.  Love, love, love, love!

It was a nice enough day, that Ian even had a run in with the water hose.  (Notice all those sparkling droplets in his hair. :))

Sassy-Frassy. :)

And that, my friends, is a little piece of Heaven on Earth.

Use it up...

Every so often, the pantry needs a good purging.  No matter how careful we try to be, there is always some food that gets overlook and hangs around beyond its expiration date.  What better use for it, than a recipe for the kids?  Sunday afternoon the weather was beautiful, so the kids took the old food I had saved for them and got to cookin'.

 This girl is just too cute for her own good. :)

 America's next top chefs hard at work.

The girls take their food prep seriously. :)

It only took about two seconds into the food prep before this one had spilled yam juice on her pants and quickly stripped them off.  It didn't slow her down one little bit.

 I love kissing this little darlin's sweet cheeks.  She's so used to it now, when I say I want to smooch her she just sticks her cheek on over my way.  She knows its coming.

My Lisy adding "Lisy" brand seasoning. :)  She thought that was cool.

Be forewarned.  The following picture is the finished product.  This one is not for the weak stomached.  Consider yourself warned...

Ta-Da!!!  Yum Yum!!!  (Its the banana peppers that really throw me for a loop.)

And this is what happens when you dump the finished product in the front yard.  Yes, some clean-up required. :)

Tea Time

With lots of little girls, you can be sure we have a tea set.  Or three of them.  And we love having tea parties.  Or, more appropriately, hot chocolate parties.  Sometimes we have lemonade, root beer or water, but hot chocolate is definitely our favorite, mainly because there are so many fun additives.  At this particular tea party, the kids had marshmallows, M & M's, homemade whipped cream, sweet cream, chocolate chips and sugar.  

 Paige isn't the neatest party goer, but she know how to clean up after herself. :)

 Apparently, she's just following in the footsteps of her big sister. :)

 Even Ian will have a tea party, although he's mainly in it for the food. :)

Elise is usually the orchestrator of the tea parties and provides excellent service to those who attend.  I'm usually the kitchen staff and the other kids are guests.  As you can see, its fun and delicious! :)