The Weekend

We have had a good weekend. Raphael and the girls took a quick trip to SamClub, so I thought I would post a few pictures

I haven't been blogging much lately because life has been busy and because my favorite website for editing pictures, Picnic, went out of business on April 19th. I knew it was coming, but it was kind of sad and it has been frustrating to find a new site that I like as well, so the pictures have been sitting in my camera. And then Blogger just changed the look of their website and it is kind of tricky to figure out the new format, so I have been lazy and not  blogging. Hopefully, I am back on track again!

So here was the weekend. The Lord blessed us with beautiful weather! Sunny skies and no humidity, so we took advantage of it and spent a lot of time outside. I planted the garden and Rebecca "helped" me a little bit.  We have strawberry plants for the past few years and I haven't been getting too many berries this year. This weekend I discovered why---Lola! I saw her eating the strawberries. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself. And then she started digging up the the plants. Raphael put up a little fence to slow her down.

I planted a blueberry bush last spring and it looks like we might get some blueberries soon.

Raphael was working on cleaning up the yard and a few other projects. We kept Rebecca busy with the garden hose and a few toys. She had the best time and was very content and happy.

We did a little landscaping work in the front of the house. Raphael trimmed the hedges and we relocated some to the backyard. The shrubs in the front were just getting too big and crazy. It looks a lot better now.

After living here almost six years, the time came to fix the fence and deck and then paint. Raphael has worked hard and got it done. Now it looks really nice and hopefully will last a long time.

We roasted marshmellows, played in the yard and this morning we ate breakfast outside on the deck. After church we grilled steaks and had corn on the cob. Rebecca finally tried a piece and loved it! She ate three pieces of corn.

That is about it! Great weekend with the family!

What's That You Say?

Since our girls are almost five years apart, sometimes I forget what Rachel was doing/saying/playing at age two or three and then Rebecca reminds me!

She is growing up, changing everyday and talking non-stop. I have been writing down some of the funny things she says---

If she sees me drinking a Diet Coke she will ask for a drink of my "Diet coat."

In the car when the girls watch a movie we have headphones they can wear and sometimes Rebecca will ask for "hellophones"

Whenever we see a water fountain, we have to stop at the "water mountain" so she can have a drink

At the mall we take the elevator sometimes and she calls it an " allijater"

She kept asking me for her Easter "bassit". Rebecca says the word basket exactly like Rachel does.

Today she wanted to wear a dress with "cocodots"/polka dots.


Some of her favorite sayings are :
"trust me"
" I changed my mind!"
"Ok, Mom if you say so....."
" Mom, I have a question for you"
" Are you kidding me?"

I want to remember that at age three Rebecca:

 ~ weighed 33 pounds!
~ pulls up a chair to the kitchen island and helps me cook dinner almost every night
~ LOVES her big sister and most days they play well together
~ likes to eat, especially spicy foods. Asks for chili at least once a week. Eats lots of raw vegetables
    and really likes mini bell peppers, onion, and cucumbers
~ knows her colors, numbers and most of the ABC's
~ likes to "read" books to me before she goes to bed
~still in enjoying Dora and Diego
~ uses a lovey whenever she goes to sleep
~ most days is not taking a nap, but is having "quiet time" in her room each afternoon
~ still sleeps in a crib! but that is changing once school is out
~ wants a piggy back ride upstairs each night from her Daddy
~ has been playing by herself lately and I love listening the conversations she has with her toys

We love you Rebecca!

               All pictures were taken by Elizabeth Sanders Photography.

Tanglewood Farms

During Spring break the girls and I went to Tanglewood Farms to check out the farm animals. A few pictures of our visit.

The baby goats were adorable. I love the one sitting inside of the water bowl.

Giant chair!

                                                                 Fun day at the farm!

Easter 2012

We have had a wonderful Easter weekend.

 Yesterday, we dyed Easter eggs. This year I decided to let Rebecca join in the fun and help.  She did great and loved it.  I saw an idea on another blog to use Kool-Aid to color the eggs instead of the tablets with vinegar. It worked great and smelled nice too.

This morning we had Easter baskets for the girls and they looked for Easter eggs. Rebecca was really into it this year. She went through her baskets and examined each item and told us all about what she had.

Bunny ears!

We went to an amazing service at church and then home for Easter lunch. We had another beautiful day, so we ate outside and enjoyed the day while the girls ran around playing.

                                                                 Our little bumblebee!

              I tried getting a picture of the girls, but Rebecca wasn't too interested in pictures.

Glorious Day

Some verses from a great song by Casting Crowns "Glorious Day" to remember why we celebrate Easter.


One day they led him up Calvary's mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He

Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer

One day the stone rolled away from the door

Then He arose, over death He had conquered

Now He's ascended, my Lord evermore

Living He loved me, dying He saved me

And buried He carried my sins far away

Rising He justified freely forever

One day He's coming, oh glorious day.

Happy Easter.

A Hunting We Will Go

We went to my friend Meredith's house on Friday for potluck lunch and Easter egg hunt for the kids. Meredith lives out in the country and has lots of room for the kids to run and play. The little kids had a lot of fun finding the eggs and it was fun watching them.

                                                          Sweet Ely- it was her first egg hunt.

                                                    Arwyn- love her pigtails!

                                            Rebecca and Katie checking out the candy.

                                                         R.J. is the cutest little guy ever.

Peeps

We are in the middle of Spring Break right now. The weather has been perfect and we are taking advantage of it-- lots of outside time and enjoying the perfect days. 

I remember when we lived in Washington and watching the Masters golf tournament on TV.  They were showing pictures of the golf course- all the azaleas and trees in full bloom, the pretty green grass and blue skies and temps in the 80's. I thought " I would love to live in a place where it is eighty degrees in April." Little did I know that just a few months later we would move to Georgia and get to have warm weather for months on end.

Our beautiful days are giving us perfect evenings. Rachel has been begging to roast marshmellows and make Smores for awhile now, so I made a fire and we had the first Smores of the season.  We tried an idea I had seen on Pinterest and used Peeps in place of the usual marshmellows.

The Smores tasted good. Rebecca prefered to eat just Peeps and chocolate :)

Field Trip

The girls are out of school this week for Spring break. We don't have any big plans, I am trying to keep us busy, but not too over scheduled.  I did take Rebecca in for her three year check up this morning. All her stats look good and she didn't have to get any shots!

After the doctor I decided to take the girls to the park for awhile and then we went to a garden supply/nursery place.  I had seen an advertisement for it in the Sunday paper and thought the girls might find it interesting.

There were ponds and fountains everywhere. Rebecca loved looking at all the fish. We even found a few turtles sitting in the sunshine.

They had all sorts of goldfish and koi for sale. One of the fish was selling for over $200! Not sure what was so special about it.  They also had tadpoles and itty bitty mosquito fish for sale.

       So many beautiful flowers and plants. I need to go back by myself so I can focus and maybe get some plants for our patio.

 We finished with a walk through the butterfly house. Tons of butterflies everywhere. One landed on my hand while I was taking a picture.

                   I let the girls take home a flower. Hopefully we can keep them alive!