Swings and Security

Going back to when Anne was a baby... when she was 6 months old we went on a trip to visit friends at a lower elevation, which really exacerbated her cold symptoms- the poor girl was so stuffy. When we checked on her that night she had taken her dolly and propped her head up on it to use it as a pillow so she could breathe better. Amazing ingenuity for a 6 month old, thought I. Well, she never again slept without that dolly until she was probably at least 3. Seeing the benefit of having a "sleep friend" (Peter didn't have anything- as the books tell you is right, due to SIDS- and he was a terrible sleeper), I introduced a floppy white bear from Marmie (my mom) to Elijah as soon as he was sleeping in the moses basket and not the car seat (another story). Again, he loved it and was a great sleeper, as least at nap time. When I knew we were having twins I started looking for animals for them, even though I knew they would have each other to sleep with for awhile at least. But I couldn't find ANY that I liked. I looked for MONTHS. Sigh. Then one Sunday, shortly before the girls were born (or maybe shortly after- my memory is rather fuzzy these days), an older lady that I've always liked handed me a gift bag which contained the PERFECT little animals for the girls' sleep friends. See? God hears even the prayers we think are so trivial. So Berea has the sheep and Tirzah has the cow. 

And they love them. :)

 

 

And here's a cute one of the girls at church yesterday...

 

Twinsies Time

The twins did not get to go in the mud puddle with the older kids, but had plenty of fun exploring on our front "porch"- a small strip of cement sidewalk. Well, Tirzah (in the orange) did do a face dive onto a rock at one point but recovered quickly. Berea (in the green) is a lot like Curious George: "...a good little monkey, but always very curious."

Captions are underneath the picture it corresponds to... Enjoy! :)

"I'm so happy, I could scream!" (which is what she was doing- she reaches amazing heights in her screeches)

"Hey, what am I missing?"

"Oooh- mud! Fun!"

"Hey, wait for me!"

I can never get them to sit still long enough to take a picture of them together smiling.

At least they're both smiling...

Time to explore!

"Hmm- I wonder what this is?"

"More importantly, what does it taste like?"

"A little grainy with a touch of worm, maybe..."

"Well, if Berea can do it..."

"Oh. No. That was nasty."

"Ooh! How about a pine cone?"

"Or these irises look interesting..."

P.S. Berea is now walking like a pro and picking up speed. Tirzah took four steps last night! Amazing progress. Neither one says anything yet- well, except just babbling. I hear twins can have language delay, so no worries. I have enough other kids to talk back to me. :)

Monsoon Mud Madness

 

Our neighborhood didn't get flooded with mud like another close by, but the kids do enjoy a good mud puddle. We were thrilled to have a storm that last at least an hour yesterday! We love monsoon season!

Oh, I could just kiss this face!!! I love this boy! Of course I love all my kids to pieces, but some kids can just push your emotions to extremes (when he was good, he was very, very good and when he was bad, he was horrid- that about sums up this kid). 

I just had to post the silly face- yes he was posing with this face.

A Few Videos (Finally got them to upload!)

Bouncing Berea

Silly Tirzah

Cannon Fire from the Pioneer Museum (it seemed a LOT louder in person!)

Anne, enjoying herself away from the crowd at the Army Band concert

Festivities!

We had a busy weekend! On the 3rd we helped friends move, went to a neighbor's birthday party, and had some folks over for a BBQ dinner! But no pictures. On the 4th after church and lunch we went out to our local Pioneer Museum where they had some Civil War Re-enactors with a live cannon demonstration, as well as the actual museum and adjoining old cabins that contained a lot of interesting local history.

Peter got to hold the swords as well as the pistols.

This soldier showed us all the different steps they had to take before even shooting the cannon.

Logging was a huge industry in Flagstaff for a long time. Yes, Elijah's shorts were unbuttoned the entire day.

These wheels were used to haul trees.

The museum has a room designated for kids to play in- definitely the highlight of the trip. :) Lots of dress up stuff and old fashioned toys.

The Vaughans joined us toward the end and we showed them the caboose, which also was very interesting (the inside still had seats, a bathroom, old telephone, etc.)

The girls seemed to enjoy their rides.

Today, the 5th, we hauled our family out to Fort Tuthill Military Museum where the 108th Army Band of the AZ National Guard treated us with some really great music, including Michael W. Smith's Freedom. For some reason this whole weekend, every time I tried to sing our Star Spangled Banner I would choke up, thinking about where we once were as a nation spiritually and where we are now. I feel God's patience to a much greater extent I think. Anyway, unfortunately the kids' interest lasted all of about 30 seconds. Elijah was more whiny than I have ever heard him, and that's saying a lot. The twins were also ticked off at being stuck in the stroller, so my amazing man took them for a stroll and the bigger kids took turns going with him. Oh yes, as soon as we got to the parking lot, Anne jumped out the back of the van and tripped, hitting her head on the stroller (I'm glad it wasn't the asphalt!), leaving her with a big knot on her forehead. Anyway, moral of the story...next time we'll find a babysitter and enjoy ourselves!

Shortly before leaving for aforementioned activity, I discovered the twins had found an ink pad and had properly inked themselves as well as the floor. Their new nickname...The Monsters Ink.

Tirzah says "Who, ME?"