Twirls 'n Curls

but they sure are cute! Someone gave us a pint-sized rocking chair when Linsey was little, and it has tracked more miles than our minivan. The girls are at wonderful ages where they play together for at least an hour at a time. That means I actually have the chance to do dishes once in awhile!

It all started when Hannah got out the chocolate frosting, and I thought, "Hmmm, that looks pretty good!" Not wanting to start my daughters on the lifelong habit of eating frosting from the can with a spoon, I got out the more acceptable graham crackers, and we frosted those. Oddly enough, Hannah didn't get ANY on her clothes! (I think she wiped her hand on Linsey!) I'm starting to have more time when I feel well than when I don't, praise the Lord! And the girls have been very good while I've been sick. Dora the Explorer has been on a bit more than usual, but I figure if we're going to live in California, they should probably learn a little Spanish anyway!

What do you do when it's too cold to swim in your "pool"? (yes, we're cheap, but they didn't know the difference all summer!) You turn it into a boat, of course! They had fun playing in this one for quite awhile, till Hannah realized they didn't have any food, drink, or room service. Then she wanted O-U-T!!

We lost our heads... We wouldn't sleep in our beds...(that's a fort) We just laid back and had fun!! Tom went to Arkansas for a week, and we missed him soooo much! I'm so glad he's back, and so are our blondies!!

I had the privilege of hosting a princess playdate a week or so ago with Linsey's best bud, Savannah. She is not quite three and a bundle of energy, and we had a ball! Here are a couple of our favorite pictures - Hannah jumped right in too!

and ready to go! It seems the girls have the packing ability of their mother - they don't want to leave the house without about 3 bags apiece, all filled with random things "just in case" they need them. I guess the nesting instinct starts early in some women!! We have been having a ball in the slightly cooler weather (90's as opposed to 100's), taking more walks and making trips to the local stores. We also had our first "field trip" last week to the fairgrounds about an hour from here. We went with a local homeschooling group; they said I could tag along whenever I wanted to kind of get my feet wet with the whole thing. (Linsey and I are starting "school" a few days a week because she really wants to learn!) The girls absolutely LOVED the animals, and neither of them were the slightest bit afraid. Even Hannah had fun feeding the goats out of her hand. It was a special school days time, so there were lots of educational exhibits but no...

When Linsey begged me for the $2.49 butterfly wings, I agreed with little reluctance in my mind. What could go wrong? She anxiously waited until we got home, asking at each stop if she could please put her wings on. When we finally got home, she excitedly pulled open the package and put the wings on. She got an expectant look on her face, closed her eyes, and jumped really high twice in a row. Then her eyes popped open, and with a surprised look on her face and a trembling voice, she said, "Mama, how come they don't work? How come I can't fly?" Those innocent eyes were toooooo much for me. I sat for about 30 seconds, trying not to laugh out loud and biting my lip. Growing more desperate, she repeated over and over, "How come I can't fly?" Never had it crossed my mind that Linsey expected to be able to fly with her new butterfly wings! Finally regaining my composure, I explained that God didn't make people to fly like birdies, but we could...

Our church's 70th anniversary celebration went great! We had many former preachers and members in from out of town, as well as quite a few from Boron that don't come very often. It was so good to see everyone. We opened a history room (pictures to come), had a potluck dinner, church tours, and lots of other special activities. The Lord really blessed, and we are so proud to be in a church with such a wonderful heritage here on the West Coast!

Princess Linsey LOVES all her dress up clothes - this one is from Aunt Susie in Chicago. She also plays for hours on end with her stuffed animals, especially the small ones. She can't wait to be a mommy...oh boy! Maybe in thirty or forty years, now I understand how my mom felt! Happy Monday, we had a great weekend!

We had a ladies' craft night on Thursday, and Linsey was so happy to be a part of it! She painted three ceramic ornaments...future Christmas presents for the grandparents, no doubt! And the sad thing is, her painting ability rivaled mine...

For my birthday (July 4) this year, I threw myself a party- at least, that's what Tom says. That's right! I was tired of throwing myself a pity-party because no one was over for my birthday, and my husband does not believe national holidays that are also his wife's birthday are any reason to have time off, so he always works a full day. (That sounds much more sarcastic than my original intent, but moving on...) Anyway, after my pity-party last year, I asked him if we could have a cookout this year, like we always had growing up. He said sure, as long as I did the inviting, so we had a couple of church families over for a cookout. One of them didn't even know it was my birthday, and THAT WAS GREAT! I just didn't want to be alone again...er...the only person over 4 in my house all day on my birthday. This is a picture of Linsey with Jordan, the 2 1/2 year old who came over for my non-birthday party. They have been in the nursery together since Jordan was born...

  When Tom comes out of the shower, he usually sits down and reads for a few minutes before breakfast. That's the girls' cue to jump on his lap and "read" with him...it usually finishes with Linsey saying something like, "Daddy, put that book down so we can snuggle!" Some guys have all the luck :)

  This was taken on Father's Day right before the morning service, I couldn't get them all to smile at once so finally we just settled for a less-than-perfect picture for memory's sake. Linsey is wearing a dress Aunt Jane bought for my niece Bekah, and Hannah has the matching one on that used to be Linsey's. Gotta love hand-me-downs!!

  Chan took this picture, it's one of the few I have where both girls are actually looking at the camera!! They're starting to play together a lot more, which means more time to get things done around the house for Mommy - yea! The Corders left today, we had a great time and miss them already. Have a good week!

    Kristin Homer and I took the kids to the park a couple of weeks ago, before the seats started to melt in the sun...Hannah and Caleb both loved the swings, it's a good thing there were two! And Linsey is officially a big girl, she can pump all by herself. How old are they when that starts working for more than like 10 seconds?

Linsey has undertaken the challenging task of helping me keep our flowers alive in the 100+ weather this summer. We call the lavender plants we bought at 2 inches high our "babies" - so far three have died, not such a good track record but I seem to do better with live babies! Phew...oh, and here's Sheilah, our goose, and Shelly-Chan, our turtle.

After a VERY long day at church, Hannah couldn't even keep her eyes open long enough to finish her lunch. Later, I was praying at bedtime with Linsey, and she started talking in gibberish. I told her how praying is very important and we need to use real words when we talk to God. She replied very seriously, "I know Mommy, I speak angel ."

Songs from Linsey: Mary had a little lamb...its fleece would slide in snow. Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my cart every word... Favorite Quotes: Daddy, you skate like Rodney Mullen! You're a very good mommy, you know that? And you know what else? You're a good cooker too! (Playing Candyland) Q: Linsey, how do you always get double squares on your cards? A: I just cheat,that's all. Hannah's New Words TJ, done, more, this, shoe (she loves shoes! She'll find one of Linsey's and carry it around all day.)

  She made it out alive, but just barely! After ducking twice to escape the earring gun, the lady finally pinned Chan down and gave her two beautiful holes in her head. Can you believe we actually pay people to do this? Anyway, it's done, and she's slowly getting over the trauma...

can be your best friend, or your worst enemy...I've tried several times to update this blog over the past couple of weeks, with no luck. Hoping today goes better! Hannah has decided the best place to be is on Daddy's lap, and she can be found there most of the time. She'll settle for Chan or Michelle, but Daddy's the best! He just got home about an hour ago from an overnight conference, and Hannah hasn't let him put her down yet...surprisingly, Hannah being so snuggly makes Linsey more affectionate too...it's a two-for-one deal!!

Celebrating the small successes in life... 1. Linsey has learned that she must stay in her bed until she sees an 8 on her clock in the morning (we taped off the last 2 numbers!) 2. The girls have started playing together, rather than Hannah crying whenever she sees Linsey... 3. The Legos were put away, and no one has missed them... 4. Hannah has stopped launching her food off her high chair when she's done eating. 5. Linsey can get herself completely dressed, as long as nothing is inside out. One negative - the other day I came in and she had changed from her pretty dress to a tutu and high heels!

Tom got a new skateboard last week, so all the girls piled on for a ride.. PS I also got a cute video I'll try to upload tomorrow...

Happy Friday to all, and to all a good night!!

I'm realizing that I try to change too much stuff at once on this page - it's like a total upheaval every couple of weeks. Now that the girls aren't growing quite so fast, we just don't take quite as many pictures. Maybe when Hannah has more hair... Anyway, I'll try to keep posting new stuff and keep some stuff the same, just so I can do it a little more often. I know ya'll just want to hear about our wonderful, exciting lives, even when there aren't 40 pictures to prove it. :0)

We decided to start Hannah a little early on piano lessons, and she's doing beautifully, as you can see. (Check out our exclusive video!) She has a natural, delicate touch and plays mostly by ear, though sight reading is coming soon. We tried the harmonica first as it's a smaller instrument, but she ate it...

Aunt Michelle gave Linsey her first haircut on Saturday - pictures are coming!! Linsey had more than enough candy to keep her still the whole time, and she hasn't stopped looking in the mirror all week. Women!!