Cinderella

Yesterday, Abby "read" Cinderella to me, a book she wants read over and over to her constantly. It was the cutest thing to watch her "read" the pages of this story she knows so well. Fascinating to see the parts she leaves in (obviously important in her mind) and some she never mentions, usually the parts without much dialogue.

In order to persuade her to do it, I allowed her to take some pictures with our camera. So here are a few pictures of the event, including a couple pictures she took of me. I also uploaded the video to YouTube; all you have to do is click on the picture directly below. You'll notice, from my promptings, that she gave me the abridged version (about 50% of what she *first* read to me), but it's still absolutely precious.

Ladies' Retreat

We had the most glorious, relaxing, renewing ladies' retreat this last weekend. Our speaker, Dori Drabek, was awesome (check her out at http://www.pwoconline.org/Resources/Speakers/DoriDrabek.html). Part of her "talks" included hilarious character sketches (as you'll soon see). She took on several different characters and then delivered a powerful sermon afterwards. It was such a time of spiritual renewal and bonding among the women of our little church. Praise the Lord for His inheritance in the saints.

Here are just a few photos to commemorate the event.

Dori as "Sadie" the Cleaning Ladie

Dori speaks about Hannah, Faith, and Prayer


Pat Lopez and I
Vickie LoVasco and Mom


Our Precious Nina

Our Hike up the Mountain

Val, Cheryl, and Donna
(I joined the hike saying, "If Val can do it, so can I." She turned to me and said, "They'll have a hard time keeping up with ME." Haha! So true! She's an energetic one!!)

Linda's Snow Angel

It didn't take much coaxing to get her to do this. :)

Making Jewelry

Around the table (from left to right): Vickie, Chloe, Dori, Kim, Nina, Linda, Diana, Carolyn, Pat, Val, and me (the photographer)

Dori as "Edna" the Makeover Queen

Dori speaks on Martha, Humility, and Surrender

Dori as "Gloria" made-over

Some of us pose with "Gloria"

Dori speaks on Martha, being a bridge builder and sharing Christ's love with others.

Mom reads a prayer from The Confident Woman.

Precious Blankie

So cute this morning. We put Blankie in the wash this morning (Abby reluctantly surrendered this precious treasure), and Abby stood up on the stool next to the open wash machine and said, "I'll be here the whole time, Blankie." Then, when he started to sink into the washer, she said, "Oh, no, Mama, where's he going? He's alone!" I had to assure her that he had lots of other clothes in there to keep him company. ;)

Being a Mommy

Yesterday, I was trying to make dinner, while Abby was begging to help, and since it didn't have any toddler capabilities (all chopping, frying, etc...), I tried to steer her away from me.

Me: "No, honey, I can't have you help me in the kitchen, but you could help Mama by playing with Esther."
Abby: (Shoulders drop and whine begins) "Ohhhhh, it's toooooo hard to do."
Me: "It's too hard to do what?"
Abby: "To keep an eye on her."

Now maybe she's developed just an ounce more empathy for my job (though doubtful!).

Fun with Watercolor

Here are some fun pictures of the girls watercoloring today. You can tell Esther particularly enjoyed it. I think she had more fun painting her hands than the paper! Hahaha!

Abby's "Flower Garden" Picture

Playmates

Yes, I know Abby's still in her PJs, but I just couldn't help catch the two of them playing together today. This is what I often see when I round the corner to their room. It's adorable to watch!

Abby's Masterpiece

Okay. I know I'm a proud mama, but when Abby drew this picture of our family, complete with Daddy (with short hair), Mommy (with longer hair), Abby, and Esther (smallest one on the right), I was mighty impressed! Aren't you?

Esther Loves to Kiss

Essie LOVES to kiss right now. For some reason when she's kissing Grammy, she makes them extra LONG kisses, with sound effects and all. So fun to watch!

One...Two...Buckle My Shoe

Today for breakfast, I gave both girls a bowl of dry cereal. It happens to be a kick that Abby's on right now. "No milk in my cereal, Mommy. I just want it without milk." So I give her a glass of milk on the side and figure, Who cares, as long as she's getting milk somehow.

So for Esther, who isn't crazy about breakfast anyway, I figure dry cereal is just as good as nothing. :) I usually give her a few Cheerios or some cereal of the like on her tray after she eats a bit of banana. Well, the addition of the bowl was just too much fun for her. She was so jazzed about it, just kept smiling and babbling on about it. She always gets to "see" Abby with her bowl of dry cereal, but never gets one herself, until today.

She began copying whatever Abby was doing. When Abby ate one, Esther at one. When Abby picked up the bowl, Esther did too. Abby decided she was going to count the "Honey Bunnies" (a cereal Grandma Lexy brought to commemorate Easter), pulling them one by one out of the bowl. Esther decided she wanted to get in on the game. It went something like this:

Abby: "One..."
Esther: "Dwooooooo...." (Esther's version for two)
Abby:"Two, three, four, five...."
Esther: "Dwoooooo....."
Abby: "Six, seven, eight..."
Esther: "Dwooooo...."

Too cute.

Discovering Dandelions

Today was a gorgeous day, after much wind and chilliness these past couple weeks, so I thought today would be a good park day. Apparently, so did the bugs! It was rather fun, with the exception of the gnats and mosquitos whizzing about our heads.

Abby and Esther loved the dandelions, especially when I showed them how much fun they could be. Esther was tickled by it all.

The other fun thing was to see how well the two played together. I'm starting to see this

more and more, the two playing together (without much fighting), and it's a joy to behold!! :)

discovering dandelions

"You mean, all I have to do is blow?"

"Blow, Mama!" .... "Not the right kind of dandelion, Esther."

where's Esther?

mommy heart failure...again

"Uh, Abby, I can't breathe!"


weeeeeeeeee!!!

holding on the whole way down...such a big sister!

she's always finding things to balance on...