this could take all day

August 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Editing away...

What a good Papa my girls have. Here he is agreeing to let Dani "paint" his nails. Not too much longer and the shoes were off and she was doing his toenails too.

Hard at work painting.

I love this ladybug that Daisy drew on her coloring page.

This is the area in the rec room above the girls' little table where we hang their artwork. Just two curtain rods we were given and now that I see them here I'm thinking we need to take them down and spray paint them! Also, on the rod is our sanity saver. That picture of Dani has one of Daisy on the other side and it gets flipped over for whose turn it is to pick the TV show or movie to watch. The girls love running to the rec room to find out who's turn it is!

January 28, 29, 30, 31

Two favorite camp friends came down from Bellingham for a few hours on Friday afternoon so I could run an errand and get some packing done. Of course, Daisy quickly talked them into her favorite activity. (And I have to say, hearing Dani attempt to say GoobleGobble and Potpourri is about the cutest thing on the planet.)

After a long day of moving my sister snaps a picture of us in front of our new home. Can I get a YIP-EEE?!

Lunch on a Sunday after moving? Leftover pizza. Darin thought it was pretty funny that I dabbed the extra grease with a shop towel. You gotta do what you gotta do when most of your worldly possessions are still in boxes.

One of the biggest perks of our new house? Our backyard park. Miss Daisy woke up her first morning here asking to go. I envision lots of hours practicing pumping on these very swings.

 

a little tour

It's been over a month since we moved Dani into Daisy's room. While she still naps in the guest room frequently (they're not quite on the same nap schedule) they're room sharing has gone much better than expected. I love standing in the middle of their room as I check on them each night and just listening to the sounds of their breathing. Overwhelmed with gratitude.

We did a little re-decorating when we moved the crib in (and the big armoire out) with a butterfly theme. And since photos were hard to capture the feel, I decided to do a little video tour for you.

And then I realized I forgot my favorite part! Darin made this beautiful mobile to hang over their light.

   

I need a little something else for Dani's wall and a bookend or two, but am not in any hurry to buy anything until I find just the right things.

Thanks for stopping by!
 

30 pounds on your chest

When Jen and Amy and the kiddos arrived on Monday they were all very ready for lunch and then an attempt at afternoon naps. Since poor Sam had broken his arm, he was having trouble getting comfy enough to sleep, and his nap was shorter than his Mama would have liked.

So the two of them curled up on the couch and Sam cozied up and fell back asleep.

Problem is, this cute kid isn't so much of a baby anymore. And 30 pounds asleep on your chest gets uncomfortable fast.

And yet, there's his lovely Mama making due, giving up her breathing room and feeling her arm ache. We all make sacrifices sometimes.

Soon enough, Miss Jen, you'll have a small one on your chest again. And what a blessing that will be.

a conversation I won't soon forget

Last Thursday, on Darin's last day of leave, we took our new little family for an outing to the dizzy park in Port Orchard. Dani and I were happily sitting on the park bench nursing away under a lovely coverup (thanks Auntie Jen!) when a little girl walks up to me.

LG: "What's that?"

Me: "A baby."

LG: "Can I see?"

Me: "Not right now."

LG: "Why not?"

Me: "Because she's eating."

LG: "Oh. How?"

Me: "She's breastfeeding."

LG: thinking "How does that work?"

Me: thinking...how best to answer this..."She drinks milk from my breasts."

LG: "Oh...Can I see?"

Now, any good La Leche League mama would have whipped it out and given this little girl an anatomy lesson. Me, I was a bit freaked out about sharing with the rest of the park. I was desperately searching for a mother to come and save me, but no mother was to be found. So I told the little girl no, and sent her back out to play.

Darin told me later I should have told her to "go ask you mother" and seen what sort of reaction that garnered from said mother.

And here are some fun pictures Darin took from our afternoon outing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And look at me. Officially the mom of two sweet little girls.

 

duckies!

While out clearing in the paintball course a few weeks ago Darin accidentaly scared off a mother duck protecting her nest. We were all really surprised at a nest in these woods, since it is quite some distance from the lake.

Last Wednesday afternoon we went back to see if any had hatched. Mother duck was gone but had carefully covered up her nest with down.

 

And here's another shot Darin took where you can kinda make out an egg.

 

On Saturday Darin had to get up early for work and just happened to catch the Mama and her 10-12 duckies walking down the path by our house. Amazing! They were just brand new and the Mama knew just the path to take (NOT down the road) to get her babies safely to the lake.

Darin ran for the camera and was able to catch a few shots. Remember, these are taken from inside our dining room.

 

Let's see if we can crop & zoom.

 

And there they go down the path. (If you've been to camp you'll know the path leads through cabins, down to the big field, and by some more camp buildings before finally landing at the lake. Darin was able to catch this crew in the big field later that morning but without the camera in tow.)

 

 

Add this to the reasons its so darn cool to live at camp.

Daisy's bathroom, aka Guest bathroom, aka Second Bathroom

Everytime I walk by this little room it makes me happy. How could it not? All those bright colors and fun stripes. Thanks to my favorite store, once again for providing just the right items to fit my vision.

Now for a coat of paint, and we'll be set!