A house a home...

Paint swatches, trips to the furniture stores, and acquiring furniture inherited from our grandmothers; this house will start to feel more like home in the coming months. As of now it looks just like we did when we bought it. We are at a place in our schedules where we have a little more time and energy (well that could be debated) to think of how we can make this a home to us and our likings. It's fun to imagine. So the coming months will be full of changes, but good ones that aren't too stressful. :)

Ella Jane was peering into my eyes this morning and she told me that my eyes looked different. I knew what was coming but humored her and asked what looked different. She told me they were red. I laughed and said, "yes, mama is tired." Tired but able to see changes in Sara that are fun. She's falling into a ryhthm all her own. Still a bit of a sleeper during the day; very peaceful, and then up once at night. She's smiling now and it's so funny to just stare at her because she thinks it's the greatest thing in the world.

Matthew starts a preschool nature program tomorrow which I hope he's as excited about as I am. It sounds just like something he would love; hikes, snacks, playing outside etc. He'll be among 20 or so other kids for the remainder of the week for 2hrs. in the morning.

As many of you have asked let me just say that we are fine in regards to the weather. Dubuque is dry and not flooded. Cedar Rapids is underwater however and that is just 90min. away. Dubuque sits on the edge of the Mississippi which separates us from Wisconsin and Illinois. The river is definately higher and technically at flood level but overall it does not affect the city. We've enjoyed two days in a row of sunshine now and I think it's something we could get used to!

"Mama, why is the sky blue?"

It's that age old question and my little Ella Jane asked it of me yesterday evening when we were all in the van coming home from the store. Uh...well, because God decided that he wanted it to be the color blue. It seemed to satisfy her curiosity for now. Why is the sky blue anyway?

"I think I was just mistaken"...

This is a quote from Matthew at the dinner table tonight. He still had quite a bit of food on his plate and told me that he wanted to be all done. His tummy hurt and he was done eating. I told him to clear his table and he cheerfully asked for dessert. Mmmm... I reminded him that he just told me that his tummy was hurting and that he was all finished. Thus, the above quote.

There were four in a bed...

...when the littlest one couldn't settle herslef down and the mama brought her into snuggle, and then when the 2 yr. old woke up crying and made her way to climb in with the girls, and then when the 4 yr. old stood next to the mama in the dark of the night and whispered her name causing her to nearly jump out of her skin...when the mama finally said, I'm crowded, roll over...that's when Sara and I took to Ella Jane's bed.

If you haven't guessed yet, it's musical beds at our houuse. We all start off in the right place but then invariably end up somewhere else by morning. Such is this time in our lives.

Today we had a fun family day at a place called The Mines of Spain. It's a large park, hiking trail area honering Julien Dubuque; the founder of the city. Matthew loves nature walks and both kids really thrive on family outings; packing the snack, deciding what to wear, bringing the right hat, and then finding the perfect trail.

Above are pictures from the "hike", early morning hours with the girls, and Sara's bathtime.

The passy patrol...

It's funny, I think I bought about 6 pacifiers before Sara was born and we are down to one. I know they are here in the house, but where? Whenever Sara starts to fuss, I send one of the kids running..."who's on passy patrol?" It gives them a job and me a break!

Whinnie the Pooh...

Glorious. Sara and I were napping and the big kids were downstairs watching a movie. Or so I thought. Matthew woke me up all frustrated that he couldn't get the hair off of his hands. In my delirium I told him to go wash his hands while vaguely contemplating the question "why does he have hair on his hands?"

I woke to find Ella Jane's hair one big sticky mess and quickly got the dreaded answer. Honey! Once I put the pieces together I realized that they were covered in it. Did I mention they were naked? They love to be naked these days. So here they are all naked and sticky in front of me. As I was shooing them into the shower I asked "Were you trying to be Whinnie the Pooh?" Matthew, all mad, said "NO!" Little did he know the better answer here would have been YES.

Eyebrows and eyelashes

Sara, at 17 days old now is starting to get her eyebrows and eyelashes. Perhaps she's had these all along but they've just been too faint for me to see them? It's fun to see these parts of her develop and grow. She's getting to be a little beauty.

We had her first visit to the doctor today and she now weighs 8lb. 2oz.! She's gained a little over a pound and grown a whole inch. It's tough being a newborn. All that growing...

Roots and all...

She's still so tiny

The only one of our children to wear a hat as a newborn. MJ and EJ were born on 100 degree days in Southern Maryland!

Life as we know it...

So the other night Jim had the kids outside while he was mowing and I was feeding Sara inside. Every now and then Matthew would come in with a flower that he had picked from the yard and was so happy to give it to me. I told him how lovely they were and to put them on the counter; that I'd be able to put them in a vase after I was done feeding Sara. Well one thing led to another and pretty soon we were putting kids to bed and Matthew had asked if I'd put the flowers in a vase. Ooops. I quietly asked Jim, "Is there a lot of them?" He chuckled, " yep, roots and all."



I go downstairs to indeed find a nice pile of flowers from the yard with roots intact. Both kids wanted to help put them in vases and I realized that this was important for them to be a part of. So bedtime was a little delayed and each child has a nice little vase of beautiful flowers to admire.