Happy Halloween!

We have had a fun day! Lizzie had a pumpkin parade at school today. She had to decorate a pumpkin based on a book character. She chose Snowball from the Annie and Snowball books. Making a pumpkin-bunny was fun!

We all watched Charlie Brown tonight while eating our dinner. Then we hit the streets to do a little trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood is not a Halloween destination - people don't drop their children here in droves. We think it's because it is too hilly! You have to really want some candy! We all enjoyed a chilly cardio workout and the girls got plenty of candy.

Anna Claire dressed up as "Super Girl." She is a great Super Girl! She is not very familiar with Super Heroes so she could only come up with "saving the world." That was her campaign slogan as she went door-to-door.

Lizzie, who loves options, had two outfits. The first was a ballerina outfit that she wore to Trunk-or-Treat last week. Tonight she wore her footie pajamas and added bunny accessories: rabbit ears, a nose & whiskers, & a tail.

They were both very cute!

Mini Vacation

We took an impromptu trip to Chattanooga this past weekend. Reserved our hotel Friday and left Saturday morning. We went to the Aquarium when we arrived. The girls loved seeing all the fish. Anna Claire's favorite was the penguins and Lizzie loved the river otters. We crossed the river on the walking bridge and the girls played in the fountain at Coolidge Park. Our hotel had an indoor pool so we swam after supper!

Sunday morning we drove up to the top of Lookout Mountain. We can now say we have seen Rock City! It really was beautiful! The rocks are amazing! I could live without the swinging bridge but the girls thought it was "so cool."

We had a fun trip! Lots of good food and family-friendly activities!

Hanz and Franz

"I'm Hanz and I'm Franz and we're here to pump (clap) you up!" SNL 90's

Big School Girls!

Don't they look so big???

Anna Claire is horrified at the thought that Lizzie is almost as tall as her. We are often asked if they are twins and Anna Claire will say, "No! We are 16 months apart!" Then she gives them a look that clearly demonstrates her seniority.

We bought new shoes this past weekend and Anna Claire asked the saleslady to re-measure her foot after Lizzie's was half a size bigger. For now there is still an inch difference in height...

First Day of School!

Anna Claire started 2nd grade and Lizzie started 1st today! I told my sister that I was glad and sad to see them walk into school. My mixed emotions may come from one child who's excited about school and one who would rather be with me.

They both had a fun day with new teachers and new friends! When asked by her teacher what she liked best on the first day of school, Anna Claire said, "It's you!" She LOVES her teacher! Lizzie's teacher will have to earn her love and devotion - I feel certain it will happen but it may take a few weeks.

Be Inspired!

Lizzie is so rainbow sparkly!

Softball in Sunday dresses

This morning in church a very talented girl sang a beautiful song with the choir. Afterwards Anna Claire leaned over and said, "I bet her throat is sore from all that yelling!" If anyone would know about yelling it's Anna Claire!

We played whiffle ball at a friends house last week - the girl's very first time. We were all surprised when Anna Claire was a good batter. We bought a whiffle bat and balls and practiced in our yard. Why bother to change out of your Sunday dress when you can just throw on a pair of socks and tennis shoes and start swinging?

Fancy Nancy

Anna Claire wore this ensemble to the grocery store today. She was hoping "people would gather around her and notice her."

Home, Sweaty Home!

We got home LATE last night after a 5 hour flight from Seattle and 3 hour drive home. Russ and I are tired today and I still feel like I am rocking back and forth like on the boat. I hope that goes away soon!

After a week in cool and cold temperatures, the deep south feels all right! Snow at the end of June seems wrong.

We had a great trip - one we will never forget!

Amazing Landscape

Leaving Skagway Nugget Falls - Juneau

Mendenhall Glacier - Juneau

Words cannot describe the beauty of Alaska! "The heavens proclaim the glory of God ... day to day pours out speech." Psalm 19: 1-2

The Last Frontier!

We have spent the last 7 days on a cruise to Alaska! In the words of my brother-in-law "Alaska is amazing but we are not cruise people!" Despite the line-dancing classes, Bingo, towel-folding demonstrations and buffets we had a great time. The trip celebrated mom's 60th birthday as well as remembering my dad who always talked about going to Alaska.

We enjoyed spending time with my brother and his family who live about 10 hours away. Our girls played and played with their cousins!

Thursday was the last day of school and we have started summer vacation! Anna Claire cried on the way home from school Thursday because she is going to miss her sweet teacher. When the vice principal put her in the car crying she said, "Anna Claire will be a teacher when she grows up. We're the only people who are sad to see the school year end."

Today we drove out to a local state park and played all morning. The girls were very surprised at the number of bugs in the great outdoors! We rented a paddle boat and the girls loved being on the lake, of course they weren't pedaling the boat:) Russ and I loved the warning on the boat that said, "Fast pedaling may cause tiredness in your legs."

Already???

Every Saturday our girls have a Saturday Night Slumber Party. They take turns sleeping in one another's room. Way fun!

Tonight is extra special because Magee, Russ's mom, sent them pajamas from American Girl that match their Bitty Baby pajamas! Does it get any better when you're seven and five and a half? And they look so adorable:)

It was also movie night at our house so over dinner we watched "Summer Magic" with Haley Mills. (Fabulous movie - I highly recommend it.) Anyway, the movie is set during the 1920s .

I went into the slumber party room to put something away and Anna Claire said, "We're playing with our babies. We're pretending we're in the olden times, like the 90s or 80s or something like that."
Seriously??? I laughed my head off! I remember thinking that the 50s were the olden times when I was a kid but I didn't realize it would all start so soon. I thought I had another 3-4 years before my girls called the 80s and 90s "olden" times!

Fancy

Today we went home from school by a lemonade stand that was raising money for Red Cross tornado victims. The girls were super excited to eat brownies and cookies in the middle of the afternoon! When we left the lemonade stand our local high school was just getting out and I made the mistake of driving through all the traffic. High school kids were everywhere; walking to their cars, to their houses, down the street.
This was the conversation that went on in my back seat:
Anna Claire: Are these all high schoolers?
Me: Yes.
Lizzie: They don't look very fancy. They look just like us.
Anna Claire: Well, this is not like Troy and Gabriella's high school! (High School Musical reference for those who have been living under a rock for the last 5 years)
Lizzie: Some of them, a lot of them just have on jeans and tshirts. Not fancy at all!

Mother's Day!

This has been a great weekend! I have been very loved by my family!

Also, we have had our funny moments thanks to Anna Claire:

She told me at lunch, "I hope you don't die on Mother's Day."

She decorated a pink bag in Sunday School for me and on the way out of church she said, "You can take that bag anywhere. But remember not to flush it down the toilet."

Role Swap

Saturday I was cleaning our house and when I got to the girls rooms they were helping me. Anna Claire and I were working in her room dusting and picking things up off the floor. She said, "I wish we could trade places." I said, "What do you mean?" She said, "I wish I were the mom and you were the little girl so I wouldn't have to do any work."

I laughed! It's not as if I were lounging on her bed with my feet propped up eating Bon Bons!

Please pray!

We woke to tornado sirens early Wednesday morning. After checking the local TV stations we went to our basement for 15 minutes. When we came back upstairs our home was untouched by the storm. We did not have power but after a run through our neighborhood I understood why. Trees and powerlines covered our roads. A house just a few doors down had a tree split it right in half! Fortunately the family was unharmed. And this was only the beginning...
Around 3pm tornadoes started popping up all over our state devastating homes and businesses and families. The destruction is so widespread! The hard part continues as search and rescue crews are still working to find people.
Please pray that we will carry the love of Christ to the people we have opportunities to minister to. This morning Russ is out delivering supplies to horribly damaged areas. My sister and mom are busily working to prepare food for those who are left with none. And my girls and I are looking forward to some friends coming over to play whose home has three trees on the roof. I am reminded of two verses:
"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and He saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18
"Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him; God is a refuge for us." Psalm 62:8
Thank you for your prayers!

Easter Highlights!

We had a great Easter! Our time was spent with family & friends. The girls enjoyed two egg hunts - one at my grandmothers and one at our house. They loved the beautiful dresses they wore to church Sunday morning. And most importantly we got to praise our risen Savior! "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses" Ephesians 1:7

Illogical vs. Logical

This morning over waffles, apple butter & bacon I heard the funniest conversation between my two girls.

Anna Claire: Lizzie, what row are you standing on for your spring concert, front or back?

Lizzie: The middle row.

Anna Claire: Well I always have to stand on the front row. I guess it's because I was born in the middle of the night.

Lizzie: Or it could be because you are short.

I laughed! On my side of our family I like to say that we are not "prone to logic." It is funny to see that in the next generation. Russ and Lizzie are often our voices of reason! In fact, I always have to credit the Holy Spirit for any logical & reasonable thoughts I have :)

Castles in the Sand

To the beach we come again

by the grace of God's great hand

We eat, we play, we jump in the waves

ride bikes, watch movies & walk each day

Castles are built everyday in the sand

and decorated with shells by small tiny hands

So it goes, our time at the beach

Away from life and the struggles that reach

Yet I notice that each dawn brings

plain, white sand with no castles to be seen

Where went our hard work down on our knees?

Shoveling & filling our buckets with glee

Much like real life we work hard each day

shoveling & decorating in many different ways

There's a lot of work to be done

Much like those castles out in the sun

But, each day brings reminders of God's love

Love that is faithful, constant & from above

We wake in prayer for each new day

with castles gone but sins washed away

The waves pound upon the shore

Small or big but always more

Every day life begins with demands

too constant & too much for our small hands

We feel so overwhelmed

when the tide of life begins to swell

So loving and faithful, God begins to reshape

The shores of our lives by His amazing grace

Another day has just begun

Let's start with praise on our tongue

For the One who loves us so

castles to build and waves to roll

Photos from the beach!

new bathing suits :)

Me and my girls!

Hunta and Lizzie!

Beach Pictures

Anna Claire knitting her first scarf!

This is the jellyfish that Anna Claire picked up thinking it was a shiny toy!

Spring Break!

For our pre-spring break (that's what I call it since it won't technically be spring until Monday) we went to the beach with my mom and my good friend from college, Claire. The girls have been anxiously waiting for this trip. We headed out on Monday morning and returned this afternoon. We had a fun trip except for the 30 minutes right after Anna Claire picked up a jellyfish in the water thinking it was a shiny toy!

Claire packed lots of craft activities for the girls to do on our trip including knitting, fusion beads, and making pot holders. Anna Claire LOVED the knitting and Lizzie LOVED the fusion beads!

We also ate yummy food from my favorite beach places, rode bikes, went on sea shell walks and jumped waves!

A lady we know was staying a couple of doors down from us and Anna Claire ran over to pet her puppy and to talk at her. When I went over to retrieve Anna Claire the lady said, " How did I not know you had a 3rd daughter? Anna Claire said she is taking a nap up in the beach house and that she is 15 months old." I quickly told her that Anna Claire is obsessed with calling her new favorite baby doll my 3rd daughter and that I had no plans for number three!

We are happily settled back home and Lizzie is so happy that I moved out her winter clothes and put her spring/summer clothes in her closet!

Soccer Super Star

Despite her wishes we signed Anna Claire up for soccer. She did not want to play but Russ and I knew she would love it after the first practice. Thankfully, we were right! She had her first practice last night and loved every minute. She talked incessantly at her coach. I'm not sure what he thought of that since he only has sons. The highlight of the evening was the fact that she has another Anna Claire on her team! She is very excited about her first game next week!

Blue Jean Queens

Amazingly enough, Anna Claire, who HATES buttons and blue jeans picked both to wear to school one day this week! She looked adorable. Lizzie, wanting to match, wore a similar outfit but held fast to her signature color: pink.

Opposites

This morning I came into the playroom and told the girls they needed to get dressed. Lizzie ran to her room in pure excitement over what wonderful outfit she might wear today. Anna Claire grabbed my hand and said, "Mommy, let's go to my room and get what you have picked out for me to wear today."
Later Lizzie said, "Mommy, I really like your shoes but let me show you a pair in your closet that I like better."
I am so thankful for the opposites in my girls! Anna Claire is so willful about EVERYTHING except clothes while Lizzie isn't too willful about anything except clothes!

Responsibilties & Happiness

Anna Claire eagerly assigned herself the job of feeding our dogs every day. After seeing the overflowing amount they got yesterday I think they won't need to be fed for the rest of the week!

We spent more time than we wanted to at Lowe's this weekend and Lizzie found her "happy place." Paint chips! If only we could get one of these paint companies to install one of these display cases in her bedroom. It would be "so rainbow!"

Valentine's

Happy Valentine's! We have had a great day! Anna Claire got to take Russ to school for a special breakfast - Donuts with Daddy. Unfortunately, poor Lizzie has an ear infection and did not get to go to school and missed her Valentine's party. To make matters worse, she picked her outfit for this special day right after Christmas! So Lizzie stayed with me today and "helped" me grocery shop. We also got ready for our fancy dinner. We have a cabinet in our dining room with beautiful china and crystal that we never use. Russ calls it the "cabinet of uselessness" and my sister says it's wasted on me. Well I had a great idea to have a fancy Valentine's supper complete with everything except silver. Table cloth - cloth napkins - candles ... I made pork tenderloin, baked sweet potatoes, black-eyed pea & avocado salad, fresh fruit, cornbread, and cookies with ice cream. We dressed up and let the girls pick out whatever "fancy" outfit they wanted to wear. It was fun! Lizzie LOVED it and Anna Claire tolerated it fairly well. We talked about manners, being polite, and the basics on how to act at a nice meal. I would not enjoy "fine dining" every night but we had a great time!

We also spent time reading 1 Corinthians 13 tonight and reflecting on true love - the love God has for us! Happy Valentine's Day!