First off, I was so blessed to have been able to go out to Oklahoma back in February to spend a few weeks with my family. Chris took me and the girls out and dropped us off, then came back and picked us up later. We had a great time visiting my folks and siblings, and it was hard to leave. I also enjoyed getting to sit under Sister Connie Wilson’s preaching (she’s their pastor) and my Uncle Don’s teacher (he’s the general HQ coordinator for ABM, an an awesome teacher). I really recieved a blessing and a refreshing. We had a lot of good times going out and just hanging out. But I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Trip to Grandma and Papa’s 2-2009

Next up, I have added a gallery of the pictures taken when we had our first real snow in almost 10 years! It was so beautiful, and the girls had a lot of fun, considering it was one of the very few times they have ever seen snow in person. Everybody got out and we had snowball fights, made a snowman (he’s really short, because the snow was only about 4 inches or so), tried to sled down a hill, and just had a good time overall.

Snowstorm 2009

Finally, I have added pictures the girls’ birthday party. Everyone had so much fun with their animal masks, the craft, a special song by Eliana and Lydia (will load video later), presents, and of course, Cake! Eliana and Lydia were totally surprised by their bikes, and they told me over and over that they had a great time. I love throwing birthday parties! And even though I was dealing with a broken arm, it was a pleasure to have entertained everyone.

Eliana and Lydia 2009

Here are a few videos from the party:

We’re going to have tons of fun, but only if we can get everyone to come! Bring your own mask, or wear one of ours! There will be cake, games, music, crafts, food, and presents!! Oh, about those presents, don’t worry about bringing one, this party is all about having fun with our friends, so just bring yourself! If you do choose to bring a gift, then they are interested in clothes, books, and outside toys. They both wear a size 5/6.

The items for the treat bags came in the mail today, and we put them together. We also planned the menu, the activities, and the decorations. They are so excited. It’s hard to see them so far from being babies, but it’s fun for them to get more and more involved in the party planning as well as daily things like chores, making meals and such.

I have a TON of pictures I need to put up, but work has kept me so busy. Hopefully I’ll get to them over the weekend and this coming weeks so that we’re all up to date before I post birthday pictures next weekend.

She’s still just as pretty as she is in the original photo:

But you gotta admit that the extra focus brightens her up a bit more.

In other news, I’ve added two new pictures the Chloe’s gallery. Papa, you’ll want to see these for sure.

Here are a few new videos on YouTube:

Lydia pretends to eat a pumpkin:

Chloe having fun:

Chloe says hi:

Girls singing at church:

Eliana playing torpedo ball:

And one last goody… I’m finally working on an update to the site’s design! Here is what it looks like in Photoshop so far:

I had folded a small load a little bit ago, and told the girls to take their clothes to their room. Eliana pouted and I had to forcefully tell her a second time. Lydia cheerfully grabbed the first pile and was soon back for a second. When she had finished with hers, I let her take the two items of Chris’ and put them away, and when she got back, she started to get the hanging clothes from another load that are draped over the couch, and try to take them. So now we’re going to go get the load of sheets from the washer and take them out to put on the line Chris put up for me. It’s a nice warm, breezy day, perfect for making fresh bedding.

Then last night, I was on the phone with Dad when Debra beeped in. She tried two times, so I got off the phone with Dad and called her back. She told me that Lydia had put a crayon in her nose and the tip of it was broke off and they couldn’t get it out.  I wasn’t worried in the least, I started laughing. When I was about 3 years old, I stuck beads up my nose, and Mom and Dad had to take me to the emergency room. So they were trying everything. They couldn’t get it with tweezers or with a bulb syringe because it was too small. So I said, what about a turkey baster? They tried that and it did move some, but then she sniffed it right back up. Amanda said that she just wanted to get up and go watch cartoons. So Chris took her to the after hours clinic, and they got it out. Poor baby, she just wanted to watch cartoons, who’s worried about some nose problem. lol

Speaking of cartoons, I saw a commercial on Noggin just a few minutes ago that said starting December 31st, Noggin will run 24 hours a day! That’s great news! Now if they are wanting to watch TV no matter what time of day it is, I absolutely know for sure that it will be wholesome, educational shows. Yippee!!

On the way home, I asked the girl if they’d like to take all of our stuff and put it in that house to live. Eliana was all for it, but Lydia doesn’t like the idea at all. I can’t figure out why. She says she wants to stay in her “old house”. I explained to her that it was too small, and we needed more room, and this house had a great yard to play in… she still wants to stay in the old house.

We first moved here when I was 5 months pregnant with her. We went to Georgia for a little while when she was a couple of months old, but came back right after she turned one. So she’s lived here in this house almost her entire life. Chloe has too. It’s funny, because by the time I was 5, I had moved probably 3-5 times, and that’s how it was my whole life. Being here in this house will be my second longest tour ever, and it’s only been 4 years since we first moved in.

I don’t know if the house is what we need or not, but it sounds good, and it’s exciting to think we might finally be able to get something that doesn’t feel so temporary. Lydia will just have to get used to it.

When they were done eating, we let them loose on the playground. They had never been to this new one before, and there were a lot of other kids, so they were a little shy about it at first. Looking back, they never did seem to play with any of the other kids. I guess because Chris and I were following they’re every move, making sure they didn’t attempt any of the big kid stuff, especially Chloe.

They had a lot of fun. Chloe went up and down, stairs, slide, stairs, another slide, stairs, the really tall slide. There was probably about 10-12 different slides. One of the bigger ones she attempted was a yellow one that went over my head about 14 inches. It was smooth and had curves from side to side. Fearlessly, she plopped down and let herself go. She came down too fast, bouncing from side to side, and at one point I thought she might flip head over heels. But she was fine, she laughed, and ran around to do it again. It took my breath, but she had a blast.

The crowd of children started to diminish and the sun was getting lower in the sky, and also right in our eyes. All three girls decided to swing. Lydia was having trouble with a regular swing, she kept sliding out, and so I was afraid to push her very high. I put Chloe up in a baby swing and Lydia decided that was her best option, once she saw how high Chloe was able to swing. At one point I lifted up Chloe as high as I felt comfortable with and let her go really hard. She squealed and I said, “Super Chloe!”. Lydia said, “do me, do me!” So I pushed her really hard, “wheee!” Lydia was excited and she called out loudly, “Super Me!”

Eventually, I was able to push Lydia and Chloe in alternates. I was getting a pretty good workout on my biceps and triceps. We were in perfect rhythm. As one girl reached the limit away from me, the other was reaching my hand to push. Back and forth I pushed them for probably 15 minutes.

We coaxed the girls back to the van with the promise of a drink, and headed home. They had a lot of fun and took really good naps.

Super Chloe, Lydia, and Eliana got to fly high for a couple hours, and that was better amusement than money could ever buy.

Tonight, Chris went to town and got Yi Cuisine and brought it home. I gave the girls some of the soup and a little rice and two peices of seseme chicken. Meanwhile, the TV from their bedroom is still blaring with cartoons. Lydia ate most of her soup, and her chicken, and a couple of bites from her rice. I asked if she wanted more, and she said no, she was full, and dismissed herself back to the cartoons. In about 20 minutes she came tiptoeing back through the kitchen, “Mommy, I want some more chicken.” So I gave her three big peices and sat back down. 10 minutes later, “I’m still hungry, I want some more chicken.” So I gave her a few more pieces. She finished it all up and sat on the couch with me, and was asleep in about 30 minutes.

It makes me worry that she may be going to bed hungry at times, because she becomes consumed with the anxiety of missing her precious cartoons. But I suppose that as long as she is healthy, and happy, then she’ll be fine. After all, she’s proven that she knows how to ask for more, even though she was supposedly full.