Happy 3rd Birthday Briella!

We had a weekend long celebration for Briella's birthday. Having a birthday on Sunday just kind of throws things off a bit. So Saturday morning Stephan took Gideon to run a few errands and Briella helped me make her mooonkey cake (she says "moon" and then "key" even though we've tried to get her to say "monkey") . While decorating the cake she said these things repeatedly "Is this my mooonkey cake?" "Make eyes for my mooonkey" "I free" "We will share it") Can you guess what I was saying repeatedly?? (yes,but we will share it, say monkey, pretty soon, it's THree). Later we all walked to the farmer's market, and then we let her open her presents (a few strawberry shortcake dolls with clothes, a doll seat/carrier, Steve Green CD's, and Memory). She was excited about each gift, but first started playing with the carrier, later she wanted to play with "my little girls."
After lunch we broke into the moonkey cake and she mostly ate the frosting . . .



Our favorite three year old seems to have grown up overnight. She notices and remembers so much more and it is amazing to me what she thinks about. She is excited to start Sunday School next week and keeps reminding me "Mrs. Koetje will be my teacher." She loves to help me do things and insists on doing more things herself. She wants to know everyone's name and is somewhat confused about who is her cousin and who is her friend and who is a stranger. We are so thankful for such a blessing.

My Quiet Book

So about 6 months ago I was inspired by this cute Quiet Book with a tutorial, so I decided to give it a shot. There were lots of ideas on line and a friend had made a few so she sent me her ideas and even some sketches (Thanks MR)! I bought felt, ribbon, beads, and cut out all these shapes . . . then the project sat there for a long while and then last week I decided I should just finish! And I did. I'm quit happy with how things turned out, even though I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to sewing and I can see room for improvement.







We took it to church on Sunday and Briella enjoyed it, mostly the buttons and the beads . . . they are looking 'loved' already.
I have a couple of other projects in the works, plus some patching for Stephan . . . I might need a better sewing machine if this keeps up :)

Gideon's First Haircut

My sister helped me cut Gideon's hair. He was starting to get tails behind his ears . . . plus he had some extra long ones on top that were looking a little nappy, especially after sweating during a nap . . . he is looking cuter than ever :) Thanks Jen!

Guess Who?

Here is a little game for you to play. I already win because I have all the answers, but don't let that take the fun out of it--fight for second place!!

We're learning lots over hear, some lessons are harder to learn than others, but we're learning. Guess who is learning what . . .

"flutterbys" is another word for butterflies
Slides are meant for bottoms, not feet.
The number of people in your home directly corresponds to the number of times your floor should be swept daily.
Waking up at various hours of the early morning gets tiring and requires bedtimes before 10pm.
When you're really tired having a meal in the freezer (or better yet, brought over by friends or family) is such a supper saver and WAY better than PB&J.
Anything remotely roundish can be called "ba" and thrown down the steps or even just on the floor.
Being outside is WAY more fun than being inside and you can get WAY dirtier out there.
Crashing lego towers is WAY more fun than building them.
Building lego towers knowing that they will be crashed is still fun when you get older than 2.
Pretending there is a kangaroo in the house can keep one acting strange for hours.
Assuring others that kangaroos are at the zoo and not by the toys is not as easy as you might think.
If you haven't cleaned your toilet in say two weeks, it may take more than a couple of minutes to remedy the nasty situation.
A couple of 2-year olds can have an extended 'conversation' using only giggles.
Some nurses are much better than others at drawing blood.

The Park with Grandma and Cousins

This morning we met Grandma B at the park with some cousins, we had a fun time and only a few bumps and falls (all Gideon's). It has been less humid these past few days and that is such a relief---it isn't unbearable to be at a park for a couple of hours, so we took advantage of it!




Snack time. Briella and Ellie have become little buddies after playing 2 of the past 3 days, it is fun to see them interact as they grow.
On his first attempt down this slide Gideon tried to walk down and ending up somersaulting until I could catch him . . . it worked much better with Kate :)

Garret says Gideon is his buddy . . . I have a feeling in a few years Gideon will be climbing and running as much as Garret did today at the park -wow!

Gideon is 'talking' more and more

Briella's fingers make a close up appearance in her attempts to get some attention :)

WW--Morning Snuggle Time