Little Puzzler

Sage is following in her big sister's footsteps. They both love puzzles and do very well with them, but Sage amazed me today when she put a 25-piece puzzle together all by herself! She's 2 1/2 and this was a box with pieces in it and no outline on a board to help. It took her a while, but she patiently turned pieces around and tried them in a few places until she found the right spot. I was so proud of her! I would post a picture, but I didn't have the digital camera. I did however take a picture with a film camera, but it will take a while to get them developed.

Roley Poley River

For those of you who were around when McKinley was a baby . . . Do you think River is on his way to her chunk statis?

It seems to me that no baby could be quite as chubby as McKinley was. He seems so much more solid, but River does have about three chins and some rubber band lines on his arms and legs. He's just so cute if you ask me.

Cute McKinley Stories

McKinley and Sage say and do cute things all the time. Unfortunately, I haven't been the best at recording them. There were a few days in February that I wrote down some cute things that McKinley said to or about River. These stories are kind of old now, but I wanted to record these before they get lost. I wrote on the back of a pad of construction paper that was handy at the time.

2/6/08
McKinley was holding River in her lap on the floor, singing a made-up tune:
I love your legs cuz they kick, kick, kick.
I love your arms cuz they move up and down.

I love your (?) cuz they don't do anything.

I love your ears cuz they hear.
I love your eyes cuz they see.
I love your teeth -- you don't have any teeth.
I love your whole body cuz it can rock.
Cuz everything can matter -- like dancing!
I love you!

2/9/08
McKinley to River: "So . . . What are we going to do together -- just you and me? Play a game?

2/11/08
McKinley picked River up when he started crying and I was in the middle of trying to make dinner or something in the kitchen.
Me: "Thank you for calming River down."
McKinley: "No problem. It's just a little stand up and rockin. I could do this all the time when he cries . . .(a few seconds later) . . . That's enough holding for now." (River is pretty heavy)

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

A few weeks ago on a Wednesday (when Roy doesn't have to work during the day), we went to the park down the street to take advantage of the perfect kite-flying conditions. We had been busy doing other things during the day so we didn't leave ourselves as much time as we would've liked. We were having such a good time, we stayed a little longer than we should've. Roy tends to time things extremely close and had to rush to work without eating, but amazingly made it there in time. It was a fun family activity.

Preparing Our Garden

Last year, we tried planting a garden and put a lot into it (we even brought in more soil) but it didn't do well at all. This year, Roy set it up a little differently and it has already been doing much better.


Roy tilled the ground and made it really soft and rich. The kids love playing in the parts we haven't planted yet. Roy is really determined to make it work this year.

You've all heard of making snow angels. Well, this is a dirtier version -- dirt angels.

River is getting so big and has a smile on his face most of the time.

Thanks Erin!

Well, it's been over a month since I last posted and I miss sharing events with everyone! Since I haven't been blogging, I haven't been on the computer much and therefore haven't been checking everyone else's blogs. Thanks to Erin and her suggestion to try Photobucket, I'm ready to start again. I need to figure out how to do slide shows and everything since there will be a ton of pics I want to share. :) We'll see how I do. I don't have a lot of time right now, but I'll post soon. Thanks a bunch Erin!

Hot Dog

After church today, the girls wanted hot dogs for lunch. I always cut the hot dogs in half lengthwise before placing them on the buns. Since Sage never eats a whole one, I cut hers in fourths (once crosswise and once lengthwise). I asked her if I could have one. She told me I could, so I ate one of the fourths. As I put the last little bite in my mouth and started chewing, she scouled and said, "hey". McKinley responded, "Well, you can't have it now." (pause) Actually you could, but you'd have to wait for her to poop -- but you wouldn't want it then."