The Animals

We have animals just not by choice. We have these little bunny rabbits, we think from different families. One family lives under the deck:
And the other family lives under the shed.

Bitsy, we need your dead eye out here. Next time you come, please bring reinforcements.

April Thunder Showers

I'm not sure how it is for all the other Illinoisans, but these early morning thunder showers wake me out of my sleep. It was thundering and lightening so early this morning! I even felt blinded by the lighting (you could see it streak thru the closed blinds and thru your closed eye lids). I do love the sound of rain pitter pattering on the window, it's calming. I really enjoyed hearing the pouring down rain once we were all awake. This is the third down pour we've had in a month. I really feel for those who have basements, they flood a lot in this area. We don't have thunder storms in Washington (contrary to popular belief....Grey's Anatomy!). I wonder if I'll ever get use to it?

Saturday Chores

We have a long list of To-Do's today. Rake the yard, seed, finish on the fence, paint the bathroom (touch up), vacuum, laundry.....and the list keeps growing before we have a chance to scratch off anything. Really if you think about it, we only have one day to really work hard on the house inside and out since we are asked to make Sunday a day of worship and rest.
The girls were really good as we tinkered around. After Ella's morning nap, I put the girls on the deck as Casey and I got the grass ready to seed. Suzanna was making Ella smile as she'd go in and out of the play house.

As I was helping Suzanna off the big potty (yes, we've retired the little trainer potty, it was getting to be a pain cleaning out every time she goes) and she's been doing it for about a month now. When I got back to the kitchen to clean up lunch, Ella was under the chair. I love her smile and the way she was holding on to the chair for dear life. I think she was trying to get a good grip to somehow pull herself up. No such luck, that chair kept moving!

sweet and thoughtful comments from a 2 year old

As we were singing the Happy Family Song she inserted the following (her parts are italicized):

"I love Ella, Ella loves me. We love Daddy fix the fence, yes-sir-ree. He loves us and so you see, we are a HAPPY family."

(I think it's so sweet how she loves that Casey fixed that fence!)

Another thing I heard yesterday:

"I love friends Mama, I love friends."

When we went to wake Ella up from naps:

"Baby, wha-ca doin' on tummy?"

(All week I've found Ella on her tummy when I've gone in to get her from the crib.)

Sleeping Beauty

Husky Fan!

She's still wearing this Washington t-shirt I bought awhile back. This is her little proud face, or maybe it's her "Are you talking trash about my team?" face.
Whatever it may be, we've got ourselves a little Husky. Hopefully she'll have the chance to be graduates like her mama and daddy and uncles.

Wind Blown Fence

After those strong wind storms we had in February two sections of our fence blew down and snapped the fence post right off. We saved ourselves $300.00 by doing it ourselves. We toyed with the thought of having the fence company come out, but Casey realized it would take a trip to Home Depot, some elbow grease and 2 days of good weather. What a deal....go Casey go!
Okay, this is the picture you've seen before, but it's kind of a refresher.
The new post was cemented into the ground.
Whaa-laaa! Good job, sweetie!

Blanket Pile-Up

Ella just woke up from naps and I put her on tummy time. Suzanna thought it was really cute how Ella would put her head down on the ground. Instantly Suz ran to her bed and pulled off her blanket and put it on Ella's back. Suz took great care in placing it all the way to Ella's shoulders. So gently. It was really nice, that is until Suzanna had piled about 4 blankets on top of Ella.

Ella's head popped back up....oh I love Ella's quiet expressions. You can just read in her eyes what she cannot verbally express.

Window Coloring

I found these really neat marker like chalk for the window. Funny think about them, I bought them from the D.I. (my ultimately favorite thrift shop) a little over a year ago. I think they were only a quarter, although new they might be only a few dollars. Suzanna really loves crafts, I think this age group is really into that kind of creative stuff.
I love the lips.
Mimi, can you decode the message?

Prayers Tonight

Suzanna has been requesting to always say the prayer at every meal. It's been really cute to see what she thanks Heavenly Father for. This last week she's opened every meal with the thanks of Ashton's birthday cake and ice cream (that happened about 2 weeks ago).
Tonight her evening prayers were a bit different. She opened her evening prayers thanking Heavenly Father that Daddy is fixing the fence. I just love Suz. Very sweet little girl.

That Fence

Two sections of our fence blew down in February from that nasty wind storm we had. Weather has been on again and off again. This really has been the first time Casey has been able to start working on it. Look how deep it is! We knew one of the posts was grounded in cement, but we didn't know until we dug really deep that the second one was as well. It's been a few hour of work to just dig this far. We're scheduled for 60 degree weather tomorrow. We hope to get this project done before the rain on Wednesday and Thursday.

Happy Easter!

Easter

We have continued with the tradition of the Easter Bunny coming Saturday. I love it. I love that we can hunt for Easter eggs, color them, eat them and have this fun on Saturday and leave the celebration of Christ's Resurrection on Sunday. This year Suzanna found stickers, Little People (from her closet), French Peas (another thing from the closet), 4 M&M's and 2 Reece's in her eggs. I love how simple we make things because anything we do in her world is big. It was pretty nippy outside. But she enjoyed running around the backyard like a wild woman with boots. (She even napped today!)

Coloring Easter Eggs

It was so cute to see Suzanna waiting patiently for Casey to come over to begin coloring eggs.

New Look

Well, it was about time for a new look. With a bit of Carol's help (thanks little sis) and a cut here and there from my new hair lady....waa laa!

Sometimes In and Out

We're finally back into our daily walks.
Sometimes Suzanna rides in the wagon.

Sometimes she pulls it. She's like a little work horse. We're pretty surprised that she can walk the entire block pulling Ella (and that's with a burst of running sporadically). Go Suz!

Now that she can summersalt she does it all the time.

Funny Girl

This little one makes me laugh. Today I heard her reenact some conversations Casey and I have had via her Veggie Tale figurines. Who needs a tape recorder when you've got a witty 2 year old?

Spring Day At Last

Beautiful Spring Day at last!

Just a few pictures of our nice outside play with bubbles. Funny, one is over Ella's eye.

Her First Cookie Cutter

It's in...Ella's first cookie cutter (as Aunt Alisha calls them). And OOCH it is sharp (belive me on this one)!

A close up for those who need a closer view (lower bottom tooth).

The Cuckoo Clock

Finally, our cuckoo clock is back! This is the clock I got in the House of Cuckoo Clocks (back in the day) when I was stationed in Germany almost 10 years ago. That's my battle buddy Delgadillo.

We put it up in our first apartment before Suzanna was born. It got put back into its box and this weekend is the first weekend its emerged. As we put up all our things back on the walls we thought it was a pity we have these beautiful vaulted ceilings and no cuckoo clock to hang high. The chains are almost 2 feet off the ground, thus we have a lot of faith in our 2 year old NOT to pull it off the wall. So far so good. Suzanna loves the cuckoo and when the little bird comes out. We are really blessed to have little girls not ripping things here or there. It's nice to hear the cuckoo on the half hour and hour. It really brings back memories of Grandfather Clock, an old clock my parents bought in England many many years ago (he's older than all of us kids).

We both think that's the perfect spot for our little Cuckoo.

Love All Around

Its seems as though Casey is a hot commodity in this house full of girls. This is the normal pile up you'll see just 5 minutes after he comes thru that door.

Auntie Carol Came Into Town

Auntie Carol came into town, she's an adopted addition to the Murray Clan (this is Annie's roommate) whose dad happens to live in St. Louis. We got to snatch her away for a night and really had a good time.
She brought this fun elephant game that puffs out colored butterfly type paper and you have to catch it with the net (it's a game she and her brother played as kids). It appears as though the California Easter Bunny comes early! Suz loves the Little People....she really goes at it with the imagination and has plays almost nonstop with them. She hasn't' been able to put them down. Thanks go to our sweet Aunts in California!

We thought it would be nice to do something down town St. Louis with Carol. Casey found this City Museum which was just a block away from her Dad's place. The parking was tight one way scary underground that looked illegal. We paid $24.00 for Carol and I to get in (kids under 3 were free) and so we thought it would at least be something worth our buck. The building was kind of like a run down skate board park on the first level (check out the bottom left picture). Ella was stroller bound the entire time. The entire building smelled like an old attic with other weird smells mixed in there. I was thinking something out of some horror film. It was kind of a scary place for all of us. Carol went down the skater ram with Suz (felt like she got a splinter or two), ran around in the balls and went down the tube slide....and in the meantime working up a sweat. We were all getting hot....it felt like there wasn't much air circulation in the building.

We found a ball room which was fun once Carol joined in. But soon someone must have leaked a little and the girls were out of there. Well, Carol....you'll have to wash everything you wore today! The pain room was a good idea but the tables seemed to have 2 years worth of paint caked on the top. Suzanna enjoyed painting and I think she kind of thought it was an interesting place. Not sure if we'll return or ever recommend it to anyone. Carol, you definitely earned your Aunt Wings today! Thanks for sharing the last two days with us!

I'm blogging now and both girls are napping. Thanks Carol...this is the first nap Suzanna has had in awhile....good job wearing her out!

Giggles All Around

Today was one of those great mornings. It was thundering outside, the house is up to par, we made it to story time (on time) and both girls are in giggly moods.
We've had two people ring our door bell today. I'm not sure if I like it. I think I liked the knocking better....the door bell seems really loud for a quaint ranch style.

I No Baby

This came out of her little mouth today. She said it twice, and I got the second time on camera.

Oh, interesting tidbit.....we've been here a year and a half and just replaced the door bell this weekend. So, if you're in town you won't have to bang down our glass door.

Let's Get Down to Business

It's like we have a new home, nothing like a fresh coat of paint on the walls. We are rearranging the pictures on the walls, furniture, going through our drawers and closets and plan to donate, donate, donate! The only things that have moved have been off the walls (light covers, window treatments & pictures) but it took us all day to get everything back in order.

I think in all the shuffle Ella needed some attention so Casey put on my sling. Now that's what I call a multi-tasking-Daddy! Way to go, Casey! (Note the beanie....I woke up a few times smelling paint...by the way, thank you Jen for letting us spend the morning at your house...so I had all the windows opened this morning.)
Little sticky fingers made it a little hard to do anything quickly.
Of course big sister wanted in on the fun. Oh, Casey you've got your hands really full!

Ella's not sure here I think.

Waiting for Daddy

Today we had agreeable weather to play in the garage/driveway as we waited for Casey to come home from work. The girls were both anxious for him to come. But today is a different day, we had nice, nice weather.
One very curious little girl.

Let's Play Outside

I love St. Louis is the Spring. Perhaps Spring isn't officially here (it's supposed to get cold again) but today was a sample day just for us!
We hit 60 degrees today! Yes! Good thing Scott gave us the tip (Casey and Scott were deployed to Djibouti 5 years ago before both of us married. Now his baby girl and Suzanna are little friends. Oh, and Scott is the go-to person for weather!). Thanks Scott!
Suzanna enjoyed pushing her friend. I think Abby didn't mind at all.

Picnic at the park sounds great!

Little Ella loves it!