Hannah :)

because she's been so neglected here... :)
Hannah is still the sweetest little one... :) we call her "bug" or "Bugs" - and Katherine calls her "Hannah Buggers" (which sounds like "Hannah Bugg-ahhs") :) it's cute... :)
she has this big, toothless grin when she smiles... :) still no teeth :) but you can tell she's working on them - lots of drool... :)
her hair is getting longer...to the point where it doesn't stick straight up any more... :) she wore a bow to church on Sunday and it stayed in... :) amazing... :)

she's all over the place with her crawling...and she's starting to pull up on various things... she discovered the kitchen floor in the last few days and is curious about it...it feels different, i'm sure... :) she just sits there and "pats" it... :) cute :)

her dark blue eyes...amazing :)

(love the Reeces speaking to us over her shoulder :))

and she has a way about exploring... she's a quiet one as she moves about in her surroundings... she always looks to see if momma's nearby, but she is content to explore... her favorite things right now are the tambourine, the little people who ride in the school bus, and anything her sister is playing with :) (hehehehe)

she is shy... she will warm up to you, but when she first meets anyone, she buries her head into my shoulder and just looks... :)

and when she's happy, she lets out a high pitched scream that, seriously, would rival Mariah Carey, i think...ear piercing! and, one of the many things i love about her...when she's excited, she will do this scream (not the high pitched one)...it's not an annoying scream... it reminds me of my dearest Aunt Debbie (who passed away in the late 90s)... she used to laugh like that...with screams in there... :)

Hannah is, without a doubt, a tremendous blessing... :) she's my Bugs! :) and we love her to death!!! :)

fall fun :)

we recently made the trip out to Illinois to celebrate my grandma's 90th birthday... :)
while we were there, the weather was AMAZING! :) and, the trees were well ahead of our fall changes here in Virginia...
the leaves covered the ground, and we had a blast playing :) Katherine was a little unsure about jumping and playing leaves in the beginning, but as you can see, she quickly caught on and had a great time :)

getting covered by grandma :) (my mom :))

3

today my baby turned three...
it's so hard to believe...
i can remember heading to the hospital to labor for over 23 hours with her in my belly...
only then, i didn't know she was a her :)
she was born at 5:41 AM and weighed 7 pounds, on the dot. :)
a perfect little bundle of love...
(pardon my picture...i was tired!)

she cried and cried and cried...a lot... :) for the days and nights in the hospital. i guess there was a reason why they gave us the room at the end of the hall :) and, she left the hospital with laryngitis, which is kind of funny... :) the nurses were all giggling when they'd hear her when we were getting ready to leave... :) they were probably laughing because they knew that her vocal personality would be a good indicator of her future... we don't call her "chatterbox" for nothing... :)

and today, my sweet Katherine is one of the reasons why i get up and smile each morning... :)
she's a spunky and determined little girl...

she's got the personality of her grandma Katz and her great-grandpa Kizer...and while i know her character will serve her well, she's a little girl with a mind of her own... don't try to change her path or she'll let you know that she does NOT agree! (and she will probably let everyone else know, too! :))

she's curious about everything and asks so many questions in a given day...
she loves to play... and she has so many things she plays with...
she loves to read her books and do her puzzles :) she can "read" several of her books to you, if you sit patiently and listen... of course, she never reads "on command," but instead, at times when you least expect it... :)

she loves her musical instruments...the bongo drums and keyboard...hand bells...anything... and sing...she LOVES singing... my favorite is listening to her sing to Hannah... :) and she also sings with the bongos... she taps out the beat of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" while she sings to her beat. :) the house is rarely quiet from her songs! :)

she plays with her shopping cart, happily shopping for "mommy customer" or "daddy customer" in her store. she brings you things like birthday cakes (cat food cans) and "soup" (a container of beaded necklaces) for prices like "fifteen hundred dollars." :) but she says, "please" so we give it to her and take our product. :)

she loves to copy me in that she carries a baby around and cares for her during most of the day. she wraps her lovingly in a blanket and puts her to sleep. she tells us all to "be very kie-it because the baby is sleepin'." :) she shares her juice and milk with her dolls in case they are thirsty, and she's even willing to put them in the bath tub at bath time! :)

she likes to play restaurant and will make you whatever you want...standing at the counter, oftentimes when i'm cooking, getting out random utensils to stir up her creation... :)

she loves to be outside...digging in the dirt, going between trees, playing on her slide, giving her "climbing frame" a try (thanks, "Peppa Pig" for teaching her British terms). she likes to play basketball with daddy, and going on a nice walk is another favorite past time. :) it's hard to get her to come in...and sometimes, fresh air and freedom in the outdoors is one of the only things that can soothe her soul...

(after blowing out her candles :))

she's still a very picky eater...this, of course, explains her tiny but strong frame. she can still wear 18 and 24 month clothes without a problem...altho the length on some of these tend to be a challenge... her height does not seem compatible with the clothes that fit her frame... :)

she has a memory unlike any toddler i've ever met... she can tell you what dress she was wearing in August when she visited her Bakki (great-grandmother, in chinese)... she remembers different things that i don't even put into my memory...and she makes connections about things that i find amazing...

she loves to watch TV when she's given the chance, and her favorite shows are Peppa Pig, Fresh Beat Band (or Beat Beat Band, as she calls it), and Bubble Guppies. and, she enjoys DVDs (DDDs, as she refers to them) sometimes, too, especially Laurie Berkner, Praise Baby, and Kidsongs DVDs.

the "big" present from Mommy and Daddy...a fish tank, sans fish, though... :) they'll be added early this week. :) in the meantime, she stands and loves her "blue and silver beads" at the bottom, and the "windy castle" (another Peppa Pig reference) in the middle for the fishies to swim in when they arrive. :) she has stated that she's only interested in blue and red fish... :)

a new book, "Clifford's Birthday Party" - how appropriate :) good message, too... :) we read it tonight before going to bed :)

a few more gifts tonight... an owl shirt :) and a new outfit for church - a monkey shirt and matching skirt :)

when i think of some of my defining moments in life, her arrival is surely one of my defining moments (towards the top of the list)...she changed my life in ways that i would have never imagined... all for the good, of course... :)

so today, i remember when my whole world changed...and when my heart grew in ways that i could have never predicted...in love and in vulnerability.

happy 3rd birthday, Baby Girl!! we will forever celebrate and love YOU!!

good thoughts...

think of all the beauty

still left around you

and be happy

~anne frank

good thoughts...

be sure to celebrate the many

small things...

bright days

good friends

and anything with sprinkles.

meals for 9.27.11 through 10.2.11

happy October :)
pumpkins, crisp leaves, frost on the windows, chilly mornings :) i love fall... :)

i'm not in the mood to meal plan in detail this week (again)... i kinda feel like i'm in limbo...had to do a little traveling last week/weekend...and this week is a layover week b/c the girls, my mom, and me will be traveling to see my grandma next week... that is really no excuse for a lacking plan for meals...but again, we're not doing major shopping (end of the month=not a lot of $$ for food) and we're dealing with what we have HERE to eat... :)
and, my parents will be here at the end of the week (so we can leave from here, my dad is bringing my mom down :))...so that will probably mean more eating out *blah* and less home cooking... *boo hiss*

plus, sleep has been a bit lacking...hannah has a touch of something (fever, and projectile vomit tonight :-\) and K has started to cough and was wayyyyy off on her sleep today and was very weepy before bed (she was up a lot and for long periods through the early morning, slept late this morning, so no nap)... so, i kinda feel like "survival of the fittest" over here... :) as long as i'm dressed and showered, i think i've accomplished something :) hehehehe :) i really have some things i'd like to do...so i hope things get themselves together a bit... :)

anyway...here's what we're eating this week...

Monday: homemade pizza
Tuesday: tomato soup w/ shells, grilled cheese
Wednesday: ?hamburger helper (homemade)
Thursday: french toast
Friday: grill out
Saturday: eat out (maybe)
Sunday: something home cooked...maybe chicken and noodles?

nothing like mood driven meals here... :) hehehe :) hope that you have a good week and that your life is a little more organized than this one here :) hehehe :)

:) ENJOY the changing weather! :)

meals for the week 9.19.11 through 9.25.11

here's somethin' to make you think....
on Sunday, there will only be 3 more months before Christmas...
that means approximately 90ish days left for Christmas shopping...
but it also means pretty lights, snow, and Christmas cookies :)
but first, let's get through the amazing season of Autumn, Halloween, and Thanksgiving... :)

this week is a wacky week for meals... i didn't "assign" a fare to a particular day... we're not grocery shopping this week (except for necessaries like milk, bread, fruit, etc.).... so, we're going to eat what's here...and we're gonna be HAPPY about it :) hehehe :)

sooo, here's what will be served here... :)

omelets and biscuits
spaghetti and garlic bread
french toast
fried rice (maybe)
ham sandwiches
and, if necessary, hot dogs and mac n cheese :)

i opened a jar of homemade apple butter from one of my fabulous 3rd grade students from my teaching days... and let me just tell you that it was fabulous... :) so maybe we'll just eat biscuits and apple butter for dinner one night... :)
or apple butter and butter sandwiches...YUM! (childhood favorite)
:)
what are some of YOUR favorite foods (comfort food?) from your childhood?
either way, i hope your bellies are full and your smiles are big... :)
have a great week... :)

heart work...

i saw this post and happened to read it... it's called Family Matters (http://blog.familymatters.net/2011/09/19/raising-kids-is-heart-work/)

so many good points here... :) and a great message, for sure... :)

Raising Kids is Heart Work

by Tim Kimmel on September 19, 2011

Every once in a while Hollywood gets it right. Unfortunately, when they do, people of faith have to accept the fact that for the rest of their waking life, they’re going to have to agree to nod their head and smile when some preacher evokes the same worn out line from some epic movie to make his spiritual point.

So, all of you faith veterans get ready to nod your heads and smile. The movie Chariots of Fire captures the center-stage drama as well as back story of the great Scottish runner Eric Liddell. If you haven’t seen the movie and you’re over 40 years old, shame on you. If you’re under 40 and haven’t seen it, put it at the top of your next NetFlix order. I’ll save the details of the movie for you to either remember or enjoy when you finally see it. But there was a powerful line in the movie when someone was quizzing Liddell about his amazing abilities on the track. Eric said, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.”

And man oh man did he run … for thousands of miles … in all kinds of conditions … against extraordinary competition.

When was the last time you ran really fast for a long period of time? Did you feel God’s pleasure? I ran the New York City Marathon. For the entire 26.2 miles from Staten Island, through Brooklyn and Queens, into Manhattan, up into the Bronx and finally through Harlem to finish in Central Park I can honestly say that I never ONCE felt God’s pleasure. For most of that marathon what I felt was the enormous urge to call a cab. Running is hard, hard work. Eric Liddell pushed his muscles, tendons, and blood pressure to their absolute extremes over and over again.

And he felt God’s pleasure in the process.

The reason he felt it is no big woop of a secret. I’m holding up two fingers that represent the two biggest reasons: he was doing something he was called to do and he was doing it for God’s glory. What I mean by “called” is that God gave him some abilities and arranged some circumstances that inclined him to rise to a great challenge. Doing it for God’s glory simply seemed liked the logical next step. He had been bought and paid for on a cross by the very God who had given him his gifts and opportunities. Pushing glory back in God’s direction seemed to him like the least he could do.

Raising kids is very difficult work. You’ve got to sweat like mad at your place of employment to make the massive sums of money it costs to finance them from birth through college. Then there’s the whole thing of being perpetually exhausted for 20 years. Add to that a typical kid’s love affair with testing your fear quotient. They over-tax your doubt and second-guessing tendencies too. Usually they figure out what lights you up and wear out their abilities to push all of your hot buttons in order to bring your frustrations to an instant boiling point … simply because they can. We can’t forget the uncanny ways they have of negating all of your academic credentials by making you feel royally stupid most of the time. Tear ducts endure a lot of wear and tear, and knees get calloused from having to assume a desperate parent’s prayer posture so much. Sometimes they actually drive you to point where, at least momentarily, you wouldn’t have any trouble seeing what you could get for them on eBay. This is parenting. It’s what you do if you’re going to raise kids.

If these demanding parts of the job are what you focus on, then most likely, you won’t feel much of God’s pleasure in the process. But guess what, neither will your kids. They’ll know that they irritate you. They’ll know you aren’t excited about the roll you’re expected to play in their life.

There’s a way to keep the nasty demands of raising kids from framing your attitude toward it and them. Don’t view parenting as hard work; view it as heart work. It’s the gritty and spitty stuff that fathers and mothers do in the process of transferring God’s love and grace to their children’s inner lives.

The heart work of parenting is our calling, and it’s the least we can do based on the heart work our Heavenly Father did when He moved all of heaven against the worst of Hell to buy our eternal freedom.

Sure, parenting is extremely demanding, but so is EVERYTHING that’s worth doing in life. Just ask Eric Liddell. When you’re surrounded by a mountain of dirty laundry, or trying to find the floor of your teenager’s room, or waiting up every weekend night for your son or daughter to get the car and themselves home in one piece, it’s hard to envision the up-side. But the heart work of raising kids pays off. It pays off for time and for eternity.

So, next time you’re wishing that Fischer Price also made Tasers, take that thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. Feel God’s pleasure in the wonderful role you’re playing in raising a member of the next generation for eternal greatness.

meals for the week 9.12.11 to 9.18.11

already greeting the middle of September! amazing how time flies! we'll be saying hello to pumpkins and crunching leaves soon! :) i can't wait.... :)

here's what we're eating for the week :) nothing fancy, nothing major...just food :)

Monday: bbq chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob
Tuesday: homemade pizza (didn't get to it last week)
Wednesday: fried rice
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: leftovers or french toast if we're out of leftovers :)
Saturday: having dinner with friends
Sunday: turkey burgers & mac n cheese

hope you all have a great week! :) enjoy every minute! :)

adore....

i love these girls with all that i have in me...
i know i'm blessed beyond measure...
:)
happy friday...

(these gorgeous shots are from our recent photo session with the incredibly talented Carrie Coleman of www.carriecolemanphotography.blogspot.com)