Ellie-isms Part II

The lines from Ellie just keep-a coming!

(beware: potty language ahead. if you're eating, put the food down.)
The other day after having a poop in the potty, Ellie decided to look in and see what she'd done. "WOAH!" She exclaimed, "Looks like BEEF!"
On another occasion, Ellie walked upstairs without her shirt on, looking down at her torso. "Look at my nipples, Mommy!" she says, "They're so cute and bright!"

Yesterday was one of Joshua's worst days ever. I've long since stopped trying to figure out WHAT exactly ails him on days like yesterday, pray for loads of patience, and do lots of cuddling. Well, I must say, my patience was wearing rather thin as he continued to fuss, and then Ellie began to fuss too. So in desperation I said to Ellie, "Ellie, I think you need to pray for me. I think I'm going to lose it!"
Ellie didn't miss a beat. She folded her hands, sang a loud rendition of "Jesus loves me" and then prayed, "Lord Jesus, please bless my mommy. And Doshua. And please give her peace."
AMEN! I couldn't have asked for more myself.

The other morning I told Ellie she could dress herself:

And this is what she came up with!

Everything lately is, "do it myself", which is actually kind of nice...especially because we're having to help Ellie less and less on the potty. This is Ellie's pants put on by herself...inside out. Nice plumbers crack, too.

I absolutely love this age.

Little Monkey

Joshua is also at my favorite age yet! He's in one of those spurts where he seems a little bit different every day, and we are totally loving this little dude we're discovering!Josh loves to sit on the couch in the morning and 'read books' while he waits for his bottle.

Trying out the scooter. As you can see, his cranium is too large for a lot of hats. Large heads kind of run in our family.

Sitting at the table like a big boy is a new favorite.

As is mowing down on baby mum mum crackers! He has a bit of trouble with his fine motor movements, but eventually manages to get some into his mouth.

Yumma! He broke tooth number three last week and seems to be working on four. I often ask God why he created the first year of life to be so painful. So far I haven't gotten an answer! :)

Chilling with Daddy on the patio.

Joshua is definitely more of an observer than Ellie was...he loves to watch the world go by. He still adores huge hugs and wet slobbery kisses, can be ABSOLUTELY miserable some days (like yesterday), and then a complete angel the next (like today). And he's just...my little monkey.

Summersaults

Ellie seems to have a little gymnast inside just itching to get out. She is often discovered in the following position:Wrong way!

That's better.

And she's over!

"I did a fwip, Mommy!"

A Wedding Day

Saturday was a pretty sweet day for Rob and myself. Not only did we get to witness our long-time friend, Phil, get married to the woman of his dreams (Jhoanna), but we got to spend the whole day together - alone!! My mom and dad watched Ellie and Josh while Rob and I trekked off to the city for our day long 'date'. An additional bonus was getting to spend time with our good friends Andrew and Ruth and their kids who were also a part of the wedding party.

Simeon and Chloe, the two friends that Ellie always includes in our 'Little Girl Ellie' bed-time adventure stories, made one CUTE bible-bearer and flower girl couple!

This is their little brother, Ezra, on his Grandpa's shoulder, flirting with the old ladies in the row behind him.

The bride and groom with all the little ones. (Phil is in the Navy, by the way.)

After the ceremony I attempted to take some family photos of the Micklefields...

...and then kidnapped Chloe for a ride to McDonalds. It's funny how fast you end up missing your kids when they're gone!The McHappy toy was probably one of the most memorable moments of the day for Simeon. :)

Eat up, Chloe!

After bumming around the mall for a couple hours, we went to the reception where Rob and I were happy to find out we were seated beside our other long-time friend Tyler and his girlfriend Doris, who I just really like.

We were pretty tired by this time...not used to having so much time to ourselves!

Doris and I had way too much fun sharing our dessert. I skipped the graphic photos. :)

Here's Rob and I before we headed home, taking a moment to contemplate the graveness of our own wedding vows.

And then the moment passed.

Rob is doing that to my hair.
Which I cut, by the way, because Joshua kept yanking out fistfuls.
It was time for a change, anyways.

Mom turns...40?

This week was a week of parties for us. Two of Ellie's friends (Mia and Azelin) had birthday parties which were tons of fun. Then on Sunday we celebrated my mom's "special" birthday. It's a very significant number. I won't say which one, lest I not survive the beating. What a perfect day!

After a perfectly miserable rainy, stormy weekend the sun shone brightly, the wind died down, and it the temperature was just right!

Mom suspected something was going to happen (since we all ignored her birthday on June 30 and suddenly my sister Leila from Regina was out), but she didn't really know we'd planned a BBQ at a nearby lake. We decided against a big party because Mom is more a small family party kind of lady.

I couldn't be more grateful for my mom. Not only does her love for her grandkids bubble over all the time, but she's one of my best friends.
It was so hard to find a gift that would show mom her value! We settled for a vase, but then put our heads together and made her a list of 50 things we loved about her. (oops, did I give away her age? shoot.) She, of course, had to read it later because she hates crying in front of us. :) Mission accomplished!

Here's some more of the good time had by all (not a lot of comments needed):

(Time out. :)

Happy Belated Birthday Mom!
I love you so much.