Daddy's girl

I love that the two dogs are fighting over a stick in this picture. 

Animal Lovers

 Look at this boy. Don't you just want to snuggle up with him on the hammock chair? He's such a cuddle bug. He loved swinging in the hammock, "Nannie, push me!" he would cry out.

Although Dave is smiling, the horse has his entire hand in it's mouth.
(Joking of course.)

I love these 2 pictures of Lilia with the dogs. She loves these 3 Australian sheep dogs like they are her own. Her and Star (whom she's looking at) are best buddies. Star totally obeys and respects Lilia. It's so neat to see. 

Dave and I wanted to hike while at Tony and Patti's. They have 23 acres and the woods make up about half of it. There is a great trail that Tony had created because he takes the dogs out on a walk twice a day. Lilia ended up joining us and so then the dogs tagged along. It was great! 

Deuce-n-it

 Tony took us for an 8 mile ride in his former army truck from 1993. He bought it and rebuilt it. He mostly uses it to pick up hay for Patti's horses. We had a great time driving through one-lane roads and fording 2 creeks. That was a huge highlight for Alex and my dad. Alex's jaw dropped when he learned the truck could go through water.
Alex and I were up front in the cab nice and warm, while everyone in the back was freezing. Lilia ended up in my dad's leather riding jacket. We weren't prepared for a long trip. We just thought we were going across the lawn to park it in the garage. It was pretty cool! Definitely unforgettable!

Getting read to cross the creek.

Driving through the creek.

Adventures in a deuce and a half

How young does perfectionism seep out?

So I notice that I write about Lilia a lot. Here's one for Alex. This morning he we were looking through a bin we have for books downstairs when he found his Spiderman folder. He totally felt like his big sister in that moment. He grabbed an animal book and said, "Mom, here's my homework." When I asked him if he wanted a book that had real homework in it, he got all excited.
I grabbed a preschool workbook that practices tracing numbers. He was so incredible precise with each stoke of the marker. If he went out of the lines at all he scribbled over it and said, "That's not a good job."
As pictured here, he had traced the 3, but it wasn't perfect so he is coloring over it.
I was very sure to praise him for all of his work and remind him that isn't not a big deal to go out of the lines a little bit.
Oh Alex, we are so similar. Nannie would tell me how precise I would color in my coloring books. We both love puzzles and need that sense of completion; like how it bothered you when the monster I drew wasn't colored in. It had to be all filled in so you colored it for me. You are insanely observant; like yesterday when you asked me about a bicyclist you saw and you noted the color shirt she had on as well as the color bike she was riding. We sometimes butt heads but that's because we are so alike. I love you Alex. You're my little buddy.

Growing up

 Lilia was very motivated to learn to ride a bike with out training wheels on Monday night after watching a friend practice with her dad. After an early dinner we pack up the kids bikes and headed to Penn's campus.
Do you remember learning to ride a bike as a kid. Your dad would run along side and eventually let go, but you didn't know he did till you were at least 20 feet away. Then you back look to find him, loose your balance, and fall to the ground. After tears and blood are wiped away you call it quits or maybe you get back on.
Well that wasn't our night, thankfully. Dave never let go of the bike for the 20 minutes they spent riding up and down Locust walk, but at least Lilia didn't end the night in tears and totally discouraged.
Dave eventually crashed on the grass and the kids thought it would be fun to run at him and just jump on top of his chest. That was ok when they were 2! Not so much when they are 6 and 3 1/2. Dave didn't get hurt, Lilia didn't fall, Alex had fun biking and I enjoyed watching. Everyone went home happy. It was a good night.

Open Barn Day

 Philadelphia had a barn day on Saturday. There are about 6 or so horse barns around Fairmount Park (which spans an enormous area). Each one was open for tours, demonstrations, games and more. We visited one near the Wissahickon river trail called Monastery Stables, off of Kitchens Lane.
We had a great time, Lilia was beyond excited. They have a saddle club for kids and immediately was begging me to join. She's even asking when we can go back. Oh boy - I think we have a true horse lover on our hands!

 Believe it or not, the pet portrait function on my camera takes the best pictures of the kids, especially in motion. If that is an option on your camera, give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised!

Hey Cous

 So it's almost the end of Kindergarten and Lilia is beginning to read on her own. It's so fun, so empowering for her! Here she is reading to Ellie.

 I love that Alex - on his own - was playing with Olivia. He was playing peek-a-boo. That is too sweet!

Moms are the best

 I love my mom so much and I love my mother-in-law like she's my own mom. Both of them have wonderful Christ-like qualities that they portray to both me and the kids. They love well and serve us well. They are beautiful examples to aspire towards.

Lilia my biker girl

This picture is from our first month in China - September 2008. Lilia is only 18 months old.
As we lived in China for the next 10 months this is how we got around; on bikes with Lilia on the back.

First day of Kindergarten in the bike seat

Lilia has outgrown the bike seat. She mentioned just on Monday how it's starting to get squishy back there. We have moved on to the trailer bike.
After school yesterday Dave got everything all set up. Dave and Lilia rode around the block with me running along side holding her arm for security. She loved it and grew more and more confident with the rolling of the tires over the pavement.
This morning they rode off to school together (pictured right). They left with plenty of time to go slow and steady. They did great and made it to school just fine. Lilia is so excited; she loves the trailer bike. She can't wait to ride it tomorrow to school.

The Adventures of Alex

This boy LOVES to bike. Every where we go, "can I bike there?"
Last week Lilia left her folder at home. Alex and I took it over to school for her. He biked the whole way there and back. It's 2.8 miles round trip and all up hill coming home. Then the next day he bikes 20 minutes over to Bible study.
Dare I say we could be done with strollers? (As Dave and I both smile!!!)

"Super Siberian Tiger"

The Adventures of Lilia

 We were out at Penn Park (on Penn's campus) and Lilia was chilly. I gave her my sweater. She looked like such a model to me I had to take some pictures.

Two weekends ago we got to be with my parents for the weekend, which entailed hanging out with Patti and her horses. Lilia is so in her element on a farm. She spent most of the day outside with the animals. She loves their 3 Australian sheep dogs, especially Star, who has also grown quite fond of her.

Longwood Gardens 

Popsicle stick puzzles tutorial

This is a total Pinterest find. I am excited to try it out for our drive from PA to CO this summer. Here's what you need:

• Popsicle sticks, the thick kind. I got mine at Michael's
• Glue stick
• Pictures from magazines, old books, old calendars, or photos that your kids find interesting.
• Scissors
• A pencil/pen/marker
• Some way to make a copy of the pictures

STEP 1. Cut out the photos to the size you want them to be. It's also important that they fit on the stick.

STEP 2. Make a photo copy of each picture.

STEP 3. Taking one of the popsicles sticks, trace lines on the back of the picture to fit the width of the stick. (pictured right)

STEP 4. Cut the strips. ONLY do 1 puzzle at a time so you don't get them mixed up.

STEP 5. Have the copy in front of you for reference and began glueing the backs of each strip.

STEP 6. As you glue each strip, place it on the stick. Make sure you are "putting the puzzle back together," as you glue the strips. You want them to be lined up at the same end of the stick.

STEP 7. Once your puzzle is all glued together, draw a shape at the bottom of each stick as well as the copy so your kids can figure out which puzzle pieces go with which picture.

Step 6

Finished product; popsicle stick puzzle