The Bobbsey Twins

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time. Will and Drew are Ella and Sadie's best boy buds. They have been friends since infancy, and when they are together it's one big (blond) lovefest. Ella and Will often get married (or talk about getting married when they are seven) and Sadie only calls Drew, "Drewy."

Just three days ago their beautiful baby sister, Grace, was born. And while she won't have a Bobbsey counterpart, I do love looking in her closet and seeing my girls' tiny clothes ready and waiting for her to wear.

Last week they came to Ella's recital (and brought her a flower).


{Drew definitely wins the Best Expression Award.}

nibblet

While I'm sorting through the many (many) pictures from Ella's dance recital (in preparation for a proper post) I thought I would share this tasty treat of my younger child.

Sadie, in one of her fabulous ensembles...


{the toy box on which she is standing doubles as a stage. naturally. plus, my brother made it which is extra awesome}

What? You want just one teeny glimpse of dancer Ella?


{pic taken by my good friend, Krista}

more to follow...

matchy matchy

It took me two-and-a-half years to put my children in the exact same dress. My impetus? Sadie Osenga. She is in a phase where she wants to wear exactly what Ella is wearing. If it's not directly from Ella's closet, she needs (lots of) assurances that Ella actually wore it at some point (and preferably, if Ella states herself how much she loved wearing it).

(I do realize her feelings on this will drastically change in a few years.)

So I picked these up, and think they are gosh-darn cute summer dresses. Simple, with a slight retro feel. Just how mama likes it.

We love sidewalk chalk. Today's art was all caterpillars, butterflies and ladybugs...



Then we moved on to sisters-hugging-in-the-sun pics...


{Note Sadie's exuberance when I told her to hug Ella in this last one. Does my heart good.}

Sadie the theologian

Andy, the girls and I were strolling to lunch today with a couple of friends, and Sadie starts telling us how much she loves God. Someone asked her what her favorite song about God was and she said "Jesus Loves Me."

Then she said...

Jesus is God's wife!

And then she got laughed at in her sweet little face.

Maybe we'll tackle The Holy Trinity Talk, um, next week.

nostalgia on mother's day.

the babies that make me a mama...

elizabeth claire






sadie caroline

a rain romp.

Today it rained all day long. All day. I had a wild moment of inspiration midmorning, and actually encouraged my children to don their raincoats and galoshes. Then out we went to play in the rain.

mama duck leading her ducklings...

we found a perfectly deep puddle with just the right amount of grass and mud...







a view through my umbrella...



my sweets...



The lightning and thunder ushered us back inside too soon for our liking...I have a feeling there will be plenty more rain romps to come.

my husband knows me so well...

...he sent me this link today. doihavepigflu.com

I feel so much better.

comfort

* Written about three weeks ago

Ella's emotions have been on her sleeve today. Most likely has to do with her non-nap. And being a girl. And being my girl.

But even in the sadness, there is sweet comfort. I walked into the bathroom as Andy was bathing the girls. Sadie was singing, "I love youuuuu, Ellaaaaaaa." Over and over. In her sweet, high voice. And slowly Ella's tears stopped.

Later she was wrapped in her towel, and I was rocking her and rubbing her back. Up and down her spine. Over and over.

"It sounds like, 'It's ok, it's ok, it's ok,'" she murmured.

It took me a second to realize that in the rhythm of my hand on her back, my child heard words of comfort from her mother.

I am filled with gratitude for this moment. Not only that she experienced it, but that she shared it with me.

right now

The children are tucked in their beds. I am sitting in the living room. It is dusk outside, and it is our only light. The windows are open. The breeze is wafting through in a lazy rhythm. A neighbor is mowing his lawn, and the smell of freshly-cut grass and wild onions is riding in on the breeze. A white dogwood gleams within the otherwise muted colors of early evening.

spring.

Prayer for a Child

For her second birthday (in December) Sadie received this sweet book.

Awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1945, it is a simple prayer that covers all the comfort basics of a small child - family, friends, soft bed, bread, milk, etc. Even a "little painted chair" which we have (and I wrote about almost three years ago!).

The cadence of the words is perfectly soothing for right before bed. And while the book really can apply to either gender, I love that the girl praying has a cherub face and blond hair. In fact, Sadie started requesting a "white bow in my hair like the Prayer Book."

Sadie loves to turn the big pages and recite the whole thing.



I came across this site that had a bit of history on the book. The poem was first published in 1941, and appeared in an old NYC magazine called This Week. I loved this copy of the page.

snippets from today

* As I'm changing Sadie's clothes, she looks over my shoulder and exclaims, Mommy! You put God on my monkey! I look behind me and someone has, indeed, stuck a picture of Jesus on the monkey's foot. A Jesus-with-His-arms-spread sticker that says "Jesus is Risen."

That monkey now has a name. Andy has been (not so) subliminally trying to get Sadie on board with the moniker for a couple of days. It worked. Just today Sadie has started holding her monkey up to people and proclaiming This is Keith Richards!

Yes. Keith (Rolling Stones) Richards.




* The girls are playing outside until Ella rushes in to breathlessly report, Mama! Sadie's crying cause a worm ate her head!

(I'm pretty sure I snorted.)

I went outside and Sadie was whimpering in the grass, hand to her forehead.
It just bit her forehead, as a matter of fact. It's a tree worm, Ella further explained.

Oh. Got it. I guess "tree worm" is the correct term for these...

{image and description found here}


I love how their little minds work.

a spring swing

What's a girl to do when a pretty new dress arrives by post? Why, put it on and go swing!







{thank you, Nana!}

throw it on in!

At about (oh) 5:15pm I started racking my brain as to what we should eat tonight. I haven't gone on a grocery run in a while, and had nothing that screamed MEAL. But then I remembered my new friend Flo (who, along with her girls, will get a blog post of their own soon) put together this wild and crazy (to me) salad at my house the other day. I was inspired to make my own creation, and was so pleased with the results, I decided to share what I threw in my bowl...

* garbanzo beans
* fresh green beans (snapped into a few pieces)
* broccoli florets
* grape tomatoes (halved)
* chopped red onion
* feta cheese
* tossed with some Ali O's Haphazard Balsamic Dressing (I got out a tiny bowl and mixed 1T balsamic vinegar, 4T olive oil, and a sprinkling of salt, pepper and garlic salt. Maybe I should rename this Retain That Water Dressing)

Now that I look at the ingredients, it really doesn't seem very unique. But I think it is because I made it without a recipe (which I never do) that I deem this Worthy of the Internets.

loveys

A shot of my sweet girlies at a friend's house this Easter afternoon. They had just finished a massive egg hunt.

{picture by the fabulous documenter of all things Neighborhood Fellowship Group, Suzanne Williams}



Ella and her buds - Liv, Will and Max. This foursome has been together since they were 3-8 months old!

{also captured by Suz}



Liv, Will, Ella. I think Max had already gone home for a nap - but he was equally as bald and blue-eyed!

{pic by one of us mamas}

ski trip

Due to the current cold snap, I am inspired to post some pictures of our family ski trip to Colorado.

My parents, brother and sister-in-law (who now live in the Denver/Boulder area) and our little unit went to Keystone, CO, in February. I was going to write this whole, elaborate post, but this will have to do. It was great to be with family, and Ella skied for the first time!! She was a total natural. She and Andy took a little "Daddy and me" lesson, and it was really cute. Here are some snapshots of our time....

getting fitted for boots and skis. I look like I'm in high school...



one of my favorite pictures of the girls. Ever. their personalities are perfectly captured...



learning how to put on a ski...



riding the "magic carpet" - that was all the ski instructor needed to say, and Ella was ON...



she loved pointing her skis straight down the mountain. i am running in ski boots to try and intercept her since she did not enjoy stopping on her own...



look at my baby go!!!...



Sadie wanted in on the action...




At the end of the lesson. Ella is clearly done. Sadie clearly wants Ella's skis...



here's a Cabbage Patch doll in a snowsuit. oh wait, still Sadie...



Nana and Ba, Ella and Sadie



Andy, Clay, Sarah and Cool Girl, ready for an afternoon of skiing and snowboarding...



Good times. Good times indeed.

Sadie-tails

I have been begging. Pleading. Trying. For almost a YEAR. And this morning she let me. She ripped out only one side the first go round. Then when I got them both in I whisked her to the mirror, and the whole family exclaimed for a good five minutes. Daddy grabbed the camera...





Suddenly she wanted her monkey. Badly...



All better...