MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Favorite Picture

I've been going through my pictures lately and I keep coming back to this one as one of my very favorites. I thought I would share it with you. The girls and I are so lucky to have such a special guy in our lives.

Fishing at Medicine Lake, CA

A Little One on One Time

Today I was thankful to get a little one on one time with Hannah, my little crafter. Much of her crafting is self guided and involves paper, glue, scissors, tape, crayons, colored pencils, and markers. She enjoys this type of activity and I'm sure it fosters her creativity but sometimes it's nice to see her make a more advanced project.

She needs to make a presentation at school tomorrow on making or doing something. She likes playing with her dolls so I thought it might be nice to help her make a doll pillow. I figured it would be much easier to talk about something if she had just completed it and it was fresh in her mind.

I gave her the freedom to choose the fabric and thread color. We did have to talk about why we choose a particular thread color. She cut the piece out using my sewing scissors. I pinned it together and she helped me guide it through the sewing machine. I left stuffing the pillow up to her and she loved it. She decided when it was just full enough. I finished off by hand stitching the open with a little bit of help from her. What a joy to spend time with my girl and expose her to a new skill.


She is so proud of her creation. I think I will be finding it in her bed for many nights to come. Hopefully we can remember to get it out and take it with us in the morning!

They are Growing Up

We planted a new field of alfalfa this year and I wanted to get some pictures of the girls in it before they cut it. I just barely made it since they are going to be swathing it tomorrow. I had hoped to get some nice, portrait quality, pictures of the girls but I'm not sure I succeeded.

They were constantly distracted by their hunt for lady bugs..a good sign in an alfalfa field since they eat the aphids that eat the hay.

Being goofy was higher on their priority list than giving Mommy a real smile.

Keeping Helena in the frame of the camera, in focus and smiling was a HUGE challenge, while keeping Hannah out of the picture.

It was fun but I think we will go back out again sometime and try again.

Happy Father's Day:Making Memories

Upon Hannah's request Ben has opened up a playground manufacturing division in the shop to meet their play equipment needs. Last year's request was a tire swing. I'm not sure where she had seen one but she was sure that she needed it. Maybe it's because she lives on a homestead that's over a half a century old and she had seen that there was no shortage of materials laying around. We were happy to get a swing put together so cheaply and they are thrilled to have it to swing on.

This year's request was a seesaw. It has been in the works for months but this weekend the final touches were put on and the girls got to help. Here they are painting the base of the seesaw. I didn't realize when I sent them out with Daddy they would be using John Deere machinery paint. When they finished painting and came in every exposed body part had pain on it. I hoped they wouldn't be putting black highlights/streaks in the hair until they were much older but I suppose the ones they got that day won't last forever.


Old clothes and boots were definitely a requirement. Brushing their hair before heading to the shop was not.


They all worked together to paint the underside of the seesaw. Helena never had a shortage of paint on her brush. Even after my attempt to move the can of paint well out of her way and she still found it, Ben decided he would pain the top on his own later, lest they might not have enough paint to finish.



While Daddy was trying to jam bolts for the handles through holes that had been filled with paint, Hannah gave me a tour of the seesaw. She showed me where her Daddy cut out places for her legs to go on the seat. She showed me where they are going to grease the pivot point once they get it together, amongst other things.


Here Daddy helped Hannah tighten up the handles. All that we have left to do is set in the ground, though they could probably use it as is. I'm pretty sure that these girls will never forget that their awesome Daddy made them a seesaw the color of a John Deere tractor and let them help build it.


Happy Father's Day to a wonderful Daddy!

Happy 4th Birthday Hannah & Happy Easter

Hannah not only gets to share her birthday with her Papa Lee but it was also on Easter this year, which made for a very busy day. Hannah wanted a giant cupcake this year, which I was all for since it was a lot easier to make than some of the other cake ideas she had come up with. I think it even turned out well considering all of the "help" that I had making it.



Waiting patiently while we sang her "Happy Birthday."

She received many nice gifts and was happily trying them out with a cheesy grin.

After birthday cake and ice cream, the girls had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard. Hannah was an expert this year and was beating Helena to most of the eggs. The adults took action and started picking Helena up and running her to an egg so that she could get some before Hannah found them all. We even broke out our best defensive moves to keep Hannah away while Helena picked up an egg. We weren't always successful.

Helena also had a lot of fun trying out Hannah's new gifts. It looks like she's ready for an adventure of bird watching, spelunking, and firefighting.

Happy 2nd Birthday Helena!

We were blessed to spend Helena's second birthday with family and friends tonight. Helena loves BOZ the Green Bear Next Door. They don't make whole lines of party supplies for this guy so I had to get a little bit creative with the cake.


She had been waiting for HOURS to open her presents. I even managed to keep Hannah away from them long enough for Helena to actually open them on her own.


It was fun to watch her open her presents because she was so happy and excited to see what was inside.

Getting ready to blow out her candle. After a few attempts and an adjustment in her strategy she got it done.

It isn't easy to be the older sister at the birthday party but Hannah did well. She managed to let Helena do everything on her own. They got pinwheels today and Hannah was so excited she stood out in high winds to watch them go. Everyone else watched from the house. :)

Daughters After My Own Heart

Hannah loving her Oregon State t-shirt while having a snack and reading a bull sale catalog.

Helena waking up from a nap with curly hair girl bed head.

Grateful

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to focus on making dinner when I have this to look at out my kitchen window. I couldn't be more thankful that I get to live here.


"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
Psalm 19:1 (NIV)

From Their Perspective

It's fun to see how the personalities of each of the girls develops. Hannah still dresses herself in silly things sometimes but now Helena has gotten in on the action. This particular night she was sporting a pair of green and white gingham shorts and an orange corduroy skirt for a shirt. She wanted to wear the orange diaper cover too but I wasn't sure where to put it. Now in retrospect I guess she could have worn it as a hat.


The girls have their own nativity scene to play with. One evening I thought I would help Hannah set it up in a traditional way. We started out in that direction and then Hannah's free spirit took over. Baby Jesus needed a cattle truck in case he wanted to haul his animals around and I guess a hay truck to feed all of the animals present at His birth. Peterbilt, Mack Truck, and John Deere are definitely not brand names found in a traditional nativity but they work for this little farm girl.