Tubby Time!

Anna Kate got to take a bath in the big tub for the first time, and she LOVED it!!!

Rainbow!

A few evenings ago, we discovered a beautiful rainbow.  It was huge and vibrant!  We rushed to get the camera, took a picture, and this is what we got.  Ha!

I messed around with my camera a bit (sure wish I knew how to use that thing!), and the rainbow showed up a little...still not like it really looked.

Kept messing.  There's Lydia's fake smile again. :) 

These pictures just don't do it justice.  Lydia loved it, and now, every time we go outside, she looks for the rainbow in that spot.  She also kept asking to go dig for buried treasure.  I guess she was thinking about the pot of gold.  Funny girl!

The Sandbox!

Here is the awesome play place I was telling you about yesterday!  I wish it was here in Dayton!

Each station had dress up clothes to go with it.  Cute!

There was SO much to do!  We stayed for hours!  Anna Kate even got in a nice nap while we were there.

And so did Jessica!  Ha!

Moon Sand!

Hello friends!  Today I would like to share a recipe with you.  On our family vacation this summer, we discovered an awesome indoor play place called The Sandbox (www.thesandbox.org).  From the outside, it looked like a normal little house, but inside, each room had been transformed into a really cool play station.  For example, one room had an awesome pirate ship, one had a climbing wall, one had a fort...you get the idea.  Maybe I will post some pictures from that tomorrow.  Not sure if I have them.  Anyways, let's get back to today's topic.  One of the rooms had a big table/bowl full of a magical type of sand.  You could form it into balls...it didn't stick to your hands...it was just magical really.  So when I got home, I looked it up on Pinterest and found lots of recipes to try.  I don't think this recipe quite nailed it, but the pictures of Lydia are cute, so I'm going to post it anyways.  :)

Speaking of Lydia, here she is now, modeling with the ingredients.  By the way, this is the face she got in trouble for at the photography place last week.  The lady told her to smile.  She did this.  The lady then told her to shut her mouth.  She did, and then she melted into a small heap and wept.  Lovely.  Now...back to the moon sand.

To give this recipe a whirl, you will need:

4 cups of play sand

2 cups of corn starch

1 cup of water

(I halved the recipe...thank goodness!)

Mix your ingredients together.

And there you have it, folks!  Time to play!  Lydia didn't quite get into the magical qualities of the sand.  She played with it like normal sand, so it kind of felt like a waste of time.  But, she did LOVE it!!!  Probably because I made a huge mistake, which you've probably already noticed.  I made it inside!  What was I thinking!?  I'll tell you...I was thinking it would be so magical that it wouldn't make a mess. Ha!

We had sand in our house for days!  Maybe even weeks!  It was a real mess.  So, if for some reason you decide to try this out yourself, don't do it inside!!!

When I regain my courage, we are going to try the other recipe that I found.  It uses flour and baby oil.  I'm hoping it will be more like what we were going for.  I'll let ya know!

5th Wedding Anniversary!

Last month, Joel and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary!  It doesn't seem like it has already been five whole years!  And we have two kids!  Hard to believe!  Seems like it was just yesterday Joel was feeding me this chocolate cake.  

We watched our wedding video together, and Lydia got to see it for the first time.  She loved it and talked about it for several days afterwards.  That was fun!

Joel got me these beautiful roses, a journal, and some earrings!  

I got Joel a ladder that he had been wanting for a long time, along with some other trinkets.  Lydia wanted to pose with it and thought it was simply hilarious to add her shoes to the display.  Ha!

I sure have enjoyed these past five years!  We have had some great times together!  Joel is an amazing man!  I could go on and on, but no need to get mushy here.  I am incredibly thankful for Joel and for our sweet girls!  Can't wait to see what all God has in store for the next five years!

Snoozing!

Happy new week to one and all!  Here are a few pictures of my sweet little family snoozing.

Lydia almost always comes to join us in bed at some point during the night for a family slumber party...not good, I know.  But I must admit, I do kind of enjoy listening to the sound both of my babies breathing ever so sweetly.  Joel probably would not agree with me.  Lydia tends to snuggle up to him and hog the bed.  On this particular night, she even brought her own pillow.  Maybe one of these days she will stay in her bed all the way until morning.  By then, Anna Kate will probably be crawling up for a nice family snoozle.  ☺️

Photo Shoot!

Each year, Joel's parents take Lydia for a professional photo shoot.

Anna Kate got to join in on the fun this year.  

Let me just say, it did not go very well.  Ha!

Lydia melted down into a little heap when the photographer criticized her smile.

Lydia doesn't take any form of correction very well...no matter how gentle.  

Anna Kate, on the other hand, was posing like a professional! 

She could have stayed and smiled at the camera all day long!  :)

Oh well, maybe it will go better next year, but I'm not getting my hopes up!

By the way, Lydia is going through a sticker/bandaid phase.  

Man alive, she would cover her whole body if I would let her!

I should have ripped that sticker off her arm before I took these pictures, 

but I hardly even notice them anymore.  Oops!