Well, Hello Summer!

We ventured outside to enjoy the weather. I lathered up the girls, put hats on and tried to stay in the shade. Grace loves being outside. She loves to sit in the grass and she pulls at it with both hands. It's hilarious to watch.

I didn't feel like getting the big pool out and Abby wanted some water so we got the sprinkler out and filled the baby pool. It worked out great, she could splash, bring water to Maggie (the dog) and of course water the lawn.

This picture cracks me up. Abby was sitting on my lap and she bent over backwards to hang her head upside down. Grace immediately put her bottle in Abby's mouth. However, by the look on Grace's face, she's none to happy about it even though it was her idea. :)

Congratulations Abraham!

Our dear friend Abraham graduates this year and today was his graduation open house. We had a blast! Abby played with her cousins, Grace charmed everyone and I worked in the kitchen all night.
Abraham is a refugee from Liberia and came to the States when he was 11 years old. He couldn't read a stitch of English when he arrived and now he's graduated from high school. We are so proud of him!! He's been living with my parents and both of my girls ADORE him! Abraham and dad filling the ice chests with drinks for the party. It was a hot day and we had to refill them over and over.

Jodi and I were in charge of the kitchen. We had to keep the food hot, ready and moving. It became one HOT kitchen, but we had a great time.

Abraham is on the left side with some of his guests.

Grace stayed close to family, but still managed to charm everyone. And thanks Aunt Beth for the super cute outfit.

9 months old!

My baby turned 9 months old today. She continues to fill my heart with joy. Thank you Lord for such a beautiful daughter!

Class of 2023

Today has had it's ups and downs. The ups were quite high and the downs were very, very low. It all started right after midnight when Abby woke up screaming with a high fever of 104.3. I immediately gave her tylenol and ibuprofen and lots of cold wash clothes. She finally fell asleep about an hour later, but I stayed up to type up some lesson plans. I knew that I would be staying home with a sick little girl.
We were able to get into the doctor right away and they ruled out strep throat and ear infections. I guess it's just a virus. So we headed home. As soon as we walked into the house Abby threw up on the rug. The force of the vomit started a nose bleed, so we did laundry Ah...the joys of motherhood.
Her fever went down below 100 with the medicine so we a pretty good day, but man you could tell when the medicine was wearing off. I was concerned that Grace would catch it so I kept the girls on opposite sides of the room. So far Grace seems fine.
Today was supposed to be her last day of preschool. She didn't get to go, but I headed to her class to pick up her report cards, books, and extra clothes. Her report card was great and her teacher encouraged us to try real hard to make it to preschool graduation tonight.
We loaded her up on medicine and did go to her preschool graduation. It was so cute!! I was so proud of her!! We decided to wear matching outfits tonight. We wanted everyone to know that we belong together. Her class did the pledge, sang a few cute songs and then they handed out the medals and certificates. It was so adorable. Abby was quite serious while on stage and very focused on her motions and words. It was fun to see this side of her.
I can't believe that I am the mother to a kindergartner. Seriously when did that happen? They were introduced as the class of 2023. Doesn't that sound so far off? But then again, I thought preschool sounded quite far off. Here's my preschool graduate. I'm so proud of her!!!

Here's the video of Abby getting her medal and her certificate. The medals were pictures of their happiest faces. Her face has the biggest smile. :)

Summer lovin'

I can't believe it's May 23rd and 90 degrees outside! Only in Michigan do we get this kind of weather. We're not ones to take good weather like this for granted, so after naps I packed the girls up and headed to the beach. There was a little wind so I thought it would be slightly cooler at the beach. I didn't have Abby put on her bathing suit and that was a mistake. Even though the water was only 55 degrees, Abby wanted to play in it. So...I let her play and play and play. She got completely drenched. I mean, COMPLETELY drenched. This is how she started and you can guess the rest. She loves water. She would jump and jump and then run to build a sandcastle and use her sand toys, and then back into the water. The beach was packed! I couldn't believe how many people were there. We had to wait in line to get in and I worried that it would be full, but we got a great parking spot. We ran into so many people we knew.

Grace loved it too. This wasn't her first trip to the beach, but it was her first time to actually sit on the sand and play. She ended up covered in sand. I think I might have taken gallons and gallons of sand home in my car. Don't you just love her hat? And the sand ring around her mouth?

As soon as we got home it was into the tub with these two. They still can't get away from the water. :)

Polly Pocket Fun

This afternoon we headed over to my parents house. My mom is in the middle of planning a graduation party for our friend Abraham. The party is actually next week but we spent the day making all sort of food and desserts for it. While we were in the kitchen cooking and creating, Grace was taking a nap and Abby wandered outside to "help" Papa with the lawn. I'm not sure if she's actually providing help or just having fun, but then again...who cares. There are smiles on both their faces. We love you Papa!

Today Abby got a new Polly Pocket Lagoon set. She loves it and has been playing with it all day. It comes with several different accessories. It even has a part that when filled with water creates a waterfall complete with lights and a flamingo. Three of the parts can be filled with water and I think that might be the best part. Of course, mommy has made a rule that she can only play with it at the island. We've had several spills already. Grace also got a new toy. I had just talked about getting her a Jumparoo two days ago. Today we got one! She loves it! She's been trying to jump and bounce in her exersaucer, but this is so much more fun. When I first put her in it she wasn't sure what to do, but she quickly figured it out. It's a big contraption, but I don't think it will last for months and months so that's good. For now, my baby can bounce.

Teachers are Superheroes!

Today we celebrated superheroes at school. It was so much fun! Both the kids and the teachers dressed up like superheroes. These are the fun parts of my job.

My Little Swimmer and Kindergarten Bound

Last night Abby went to Meet the Teacher Night at school. She was so excited to find out who her kindergarten teacher is. She's so excited at who she got! And I am too. Her classroom is right next to mine so I'll get to peek in on her often. Yeah! She also got a kindergarten bound t-shirt. She was so excited she had to wear it home and then wore it again today.

She's also been in swimming lessons for the past month and she loves it! My awesome mom has been bringing her each Monday and Wednesday. Today was the last day so I sent my Flip video with her and she captured some cute pictures. I watched them with Abby tonight and she had to reenact it all. This is when it's hard to be a working mom, but I'm so thankful for my mom who does these things for me. Don't you just love the way she jumps into the pool so unafraid? That's my brave baby!

Problem solved!

As most of you know, I spend most of my summer outside in my front yard, and I love it! Abby rides her bike, swims in the pool, and draws with sidewalk chalk, all while I sit in my comfy lawn chair. Well, this summer we have Grace. I had a dilemma. Where can Grace safely sit and not get into trouble while outside. I had resigned myself to putting her in the wagon and I may still do that this summer. But! While out garage sale-ing I found a great chair for Grace. Yeah!! It looks like a lawn chair and it folds up so small. It even comes with a place to hang toys. And the best thing is you can strap her in. She's sitting it in with Abby and apparently loves it too. See, problem solved!

Abby also got 2 new princess outfits at the sales. This one is Ariel and the other one was Snow White. She was so excited that she needed to change into both of them in the car.

Last year Abby had a pair of pink cowboy boots and she loved them. She even wore them while horseback riding at CranHill. But she outgrew them and I had to pack them away for Gracie. But tonight we found another pair of pink cowboy boots! More fun is on it's way! Can you just see it a princess with pink cowboy boots. :)

I like to be with you!

Today is Mother's Day. I like to think of this day as a celebration of God's blessings in my life. This is the day that I can celebrate the fact that God has allowed me the privilege to be a mom.

That fact is overwhelming.

I'm not a mom by traditional means, but I'm a mom none the less. God says he will give you the desires of your heart. I desired to be a mom and to have daughters. In His good grace, he has granted me that desire. He chose me to be a mom to 2 of the most incredible girls.

It's the day when I'm reminded of his faithfulness and grace.

Abby and Grace gave me a Mother's day card and on the inside of the card Abby wrote "I like to be with you." That's probably the best thing a daughter can say to her mom. Abby, I love to be with you too!
This is the card Abby brought home for me from preschool. It's a cute purse that you can open and it has a cute poem inside. She was so excited to have me open it that she gave it to me right away instead of waiting for Sunday.

This is one precious daughter! A true gift of grace. I love you baby!!

Can you believe Abby is four and a half. I've been a mom for over four years. It's been the best four years of my life. I love you sweetie!

We headed over to my brother's house for a Mother's Day dinner. It was a great dinner and the kids always play together so nicely. In fact, I had about 20 minutes when I didn't have a child on my lap or a little one wanting my attention. For 20 minutes I was able to just sit. Ahh....

Our Jessie's back!

College is done for the year and our Jessie is back! She's not staying as long as she did last year, but she's here for a few days and she has made 3 women happy. We love you Jessie!

Tiptoe through the Tulips

The girls and I headed downtown tonight for the traditional dancing. My teaching partner is an alumni dancer and we love going down to watch her. The park was packed and we ran into lots of people we know. One of my favorite things is to dress the girls up in their Dutch outfits and take pictures by the tulips. I know that biologically they don't have a single drop of Dutch blood, but I'm doing my best to nurture it right into them. Aren't they adorable in their outfits? For some reason I couldn't find Grace's hat, but they look great anyway.

This picture is my favorite one of Abby. She has the longest lashes and was gazing right into this tulip. The flowers were in full bloom in the park and it was gorgeous!

Yep, this is my Ethiopian-Dutch girl. Yep, she makes me smile.

Abby even had a pair of wooden shoes. They were a little (alright, a lot) too big for her, but she loved feeling like she was one of the "real" dancers. I think she lost her shoe at least a dozen or more times while walking around, but then again, that's half the fun of wearing them.

Here's my teaching partner, Misha, and Gracie.

At the end of the dancing they invite the children to come out and dance for the last 30 seconds and Abby was thrilled. In fact on the way to our spot she asked if she would be able to dance with Misha again. She loves going out into the street and dancing. I can't wait to see if she chooses to dance in high school.

Happy Birthday Uncle Dave!

Today's had it's up and downs. We started the morning off great. The girls woke up happy and Abby was adorable all morning. We got groceries, did laundry and cleaned the house. Abby decided she needed a rag of her own and followed me around cleaning right beside me. It was so cute. Grace has definitely developed stranger anxiety and is happy just being home with momma. I'm only too happy to oblige. After lunch, came naps and then came chaos.
Abby woke up from her nap pulling on her right ear and crying. Not again! We just got over the ear infections last week. After a call to the doctor, which was closed because it was Saturday, and then a call back from the nurse, we headed off to Urgent Care. Yep, an ear infection. Ok, off to the pharmacy for a stronger prescription. Abby loved the last medicine because it tasted like bubblegum, this medicine is awful! She hates taking it and it's such a struggle to get it down. The next 10 days are going to be difficult.
Then it was off to my parent house to see our friend Abraham off to prom. He looked so great! My sister and her family were also there. They're in town for my brother's birthday and only came down for the day. We didn't get to see them until about 4:00pm, but then by 5pm we were out the door to my brother's birthday party. He's turning 40 this year so we had a big bash.
It was hard to have both girls happy at the party. Abby needed lap time because she was still struggling with a low grade fever and ear problems. Grace always needs lap time, but she was extra clingy tonight because she didn't know a lot of the people at the party. My parents and my sister took turns with Grace which was great.
Now I have Grace sleeping and Abby crying with the chills. Yep. A day in the life of a mom. Here's our friend Abraham. Doesn't he look good???

My brother's party even had a kid's table. Here are all 7 of the cousins decorating their critter pencil creatures.

Abby perked up later in the evening once the medicine began to take effect. Abby and Sophie giggled over juice boxes.

Sophie, Julia, Aunt Beth and Grace enjoying the birthday party.

Happy Birthday Dave!!!

Good Morning May

My two precious daughters.