28/28

Today was a cold, snowy, indoor fort kind of a day.  No big deal that I couldn’t walk easily from one part of the house to the other, the girls were happy and entertained, so it was worth it.  It was interesting to listen to them play.  Emily just wanted to sit and rock her baby in the fort, and Audrey was busy and wanted to keep building and adding on to the fort rather than stop to play inside it.  Two very different personalities.

Well, this is it for my February project.  It’s been a fun goal to post something new every day, and it was a nice way for me to record my life as it is right now.  Perhaps I’ll do it again another month.  Thanks for checking in!

27/28

Tonight was “when I grow up night” at Awanas, and Logan chose to dress like like a dentist like his dad.  I had to snap a picture of the look-alikes when they walked in the door tonight.

26/28

There’s almost nothing as peaceful as a sleeping child.  Emily takes wonderful naps and goes to sleep pretty well at night… it’s the mornings that are the challenge.  Since she was very little, she’s been an early riser.  She typically wakes up between 5:00-6:00.  Ideally, I’d like her to sleep until 6:45 or 7:00.  We have the cow that switches from a sleeping cow to an awake cow at 6:45, telling her when she can get up and start making noise, but she either doesn’t understand yet or doesn’t care.  If the girls didn’t share a room it wouldn’t be a big deal, but if both girls are up at 5:00, the whole family will be up at 5:00!  For months (or years?), I’d take Emily to the pack-n-play in our basement after she’d start making noise and let her talk or sleep or whatever floated her boat until 6:45, but now she’s getting almost too big for the pack-n-play.  So I just go in when she wakes, take her to the bathroom (she can’t open her door yet), and put her back to bed whispering, “Shhhh.  Betsy (the cow) is still asleep.”  Sometimes it works.  Other times it doesn’t. 

25/28

24/28

Today Logan is 7 years old.  He woke up and told me, “I still feel like I’m six, but today I’m seven years tall” and stood up as tall as he could.

Every year I put streamers (they call them “stripes”) on the kids’ doors for their birthdays.  They love to discover them as they open their bedroom door in the morning.  It’s a simple thing, but such a fun way to start a birthday!

23/28

 

 

 

   

 

Logan’s 7th Birthday Party!

22/28

Last night we got 4” of snow.  It wasn’t much, but surprisingly it’s the most snow we’ve had all winter.  After Logan came home from school, the kids spent two hours sledding, making snow angels, throwing snowballs, making a mini-snowman, and digging for buried treasure.  What fun!

21/28

Today I helped in Logan’s classroom during lunch break while his teacher had a teacher’s luncheon.  Logan had used 15 “fish” (classroom money) to have computer time during indoor recess this week (too cold to go outside today), so this is what he and two other boys did.

20/28

Last month, Emily started asking to sleep in a bed like Audrey’s.  (Note: When a child is old enough to verbalize that she is too big for a crib, it’s probably past time to get rid of the crib.)  We debated about getting two new twin beds for the girls, but when we saw a matching toddler bed on Craigslist we opted to go that route for a year or so instead.  With some new-to-us toddler bedding from ebay and rearranging some furniture, we now have a whole new feel to the room while keeping lots of space for playing with dolls and the dollhouse.

19/28

Rub-a-dub-dub, cute girls in the tub!

18/28

Spent the day with Grandpa and Grandma at Fair Oaks Farm where we saw the interesting milking merry-go-round.  The cows step on this moving carousel to be milked whenever they want.  Eight minutes later, after they’ve been milked and leisurely cycled around once, they back off again.  We also saw the birth of a calf and sampled some yummy ice cream!

17/28

Happy 60th Birthday, Dad Darling!

16/28

Getting ready for a birthday party…

15/28

Audrey loves making her monthly Kiwi Crate.  (If interested, click the link to receive $10 off your first Kiwi Crate!)

14/28

Five years ago we said hello and goodbye to our first daughter, Brianna.  Her name means “strong” and “she ascends” and I still think it’s fitting for the fight she gave here on this earth and the way she quietly left it.  Today we went to visit her grave and eat cupcakes at the local bakery, as we do every year.  As I watched Audrey and Emily simultaneously lick the frosting off their cupcakes, I imagine that Brianna would have done it the same way.

Brianna was deeply loved and cherished, even though our time with her was so short, and we are still blessed by friends and family who remember her with us. 

As I mourn the painful effects of this fallen world and what might have been, I cling to Christ who has given me a new appreciation for life, who has blessed me with daughters twice after Brianna, who has awakened in me a yearning for heaven, who has given me peace and joy after sorrow, and who has ultimately triumphed over the grave.

Brianna’s birth and death was the hardest time of my life, no question.  But I do have hope that God has a purpose and that he will work it out for good.  I have hope in the promise of heaven and in the Lord of Life “who died eternal life to bring and lives that death may die.”

13/28

All ready to hand out at school tomorrow.

12/28

First visit from the tooth fairy!

11/28

Finally!  Logan has lost his first tooth.  I say “finally” because that silly tooth has been loose since before Christmas.  He told me that he pulled it out right at the end of the school day when they were packing up their backpacks, but there was still enough time to get a tooth necklace and have his name placed on the tooth chart.  It makes me a little sad to see his new “I’m growing up” smile, but he’s so excited that it’s hard not to be excited with him.  I think he looks awfully cute with his little missing tooth!

10/28

Audrey has been learning her letters and sounds and even a few sight words by playing Reading Eggs online.  She’s proud to be able to read “I am a fat cat.”

9/28

Logan is playing indoor soccer this winter.  He takes his turn playing offence and defense, but the position he likes most is goalie.  He stopped 3 balls today and had a blast doing it!

8/28

Playing hospital.  Emily has casts (socks) on her “broken” arms. :)

7/28

Today was a book club day.  I rated this book 8/10 on our “how did you like it?” scale.  It was not a quick read, but the writing was beautiful and I enjoyed learning more about pre-revolution America and the interactions between the white and native cultures.  We had a great discussion.

6/28

Logan started Awanas in October and tonight he finished his first HangGlider Handbook, memorizing about 25 Bible verses in the process.  Now he’s proud to be a WingRunner!

5/28

Our little ballerina.

4/28

Making a Valentine poster at Library story time.

3/28

It was a special day today. We celebrated the baptism of my niece, Lauren Claire.

2/28

Two cousins enjoying the Butterfly House on a quick weekend trip to St. Louis.

1/28

Hi!  So here’s a quick snap of Emily with pig-tails.  Her hair is finally long enough, and she’s patient enough to let me do it.  :)

My goal for February is to post a picture a day.  It’s a short month, so I’m only committing to 28 posts (which, by the way, would be more posts than I did the whole year of 2012).  I think I can do it!  I don’t promise perfect photos or exciting updates, but I want to be more mindful of picking up my camera and recording these little moments.  They pass so quickly! 

Here we go!