goings on

What have we been up to recently?  Well I, for one, have been happy to be getting back into a routine.  Here's a brief rundown on what's happening in our family:

Abby - good heavens, that girl is growing so fast!  She's been giving away her special coos to her little bear mobile above her bed, and to mommy and daddy and our house helper.  In fact, our house helper got a real smile from Abby before I did --- but I'm convinced it's just because there's such a big contrast in our looks that it evoked a quicker response...or something like that...   Anyway, she's surprising me with her little milestones - holding up her head, smiling at her toys, watching me intently whenever I leave her room  =)  Last night I went in her room to wake her up so I could feed her before I went to bed, and I found her (wide awake) staring in wonder at the white christmas lights that are tucked into the greenery on the top shelf of her closet.  Just staring away...

Samantha - She's been going back and forth on whether or not she really wants to be a big sister.  She told me the other day that she didn't want to be Abby's big sister anymore, she really just wanted to be a puppy (role-play taken to the extreme happens in our house frequently)...but then, she'll surprise me and I'll see her sneak away to go sit by Abby and sing her songs or read her books.  She's been loving our mornings where Emma goes to preschool and she has mommy and abby all to herself...

Emma - She has resumed going to preschool three mornings a week, where she dodges the mean looks of a certain boy and sings songs and makes weird origami things with her best friend (who has been sick since we've returned home).  In the afternoons, Emma has started learning how to read!  We're 16 lessons through a 100-lesson course and she is doing really good.  She was really surprised when she discovered she could read the sentences - see me eat, mad at me, read it!  We're using the "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" book, and so far it seems to be working well for us and our time. 

She is also working on writing her letters, and sometimes if she messes up, she puts an x through it to show that it's not right.  One evening she was showing josh her letters, and she pointed to an "e" that she had x-ed out.  She said, "Daddy, don't look at that one.  It's x-rated!" 

 Now that she is four years old, she is old enough to start some sort of extra-curricular activity here, like rollerblading or ballet lessons.  She told us this weekend that she thought rollerblading looked boring (a blow to her mama's heart! I loved rollerblading!) and that she'd rather go to ballet class with her friend clara anne.  We'll see how all that works out.  

Hubs - has been busy since coming home...he's found newfound motivation to eat healthy and exercise (a motivation that seldom visits my door!) and also has started studying language a bit more (as if it wasn't good enough already...)  He's still been meeting with his deaf friend a couple times each week and has seen really fruit from that.  

Me - me, me...I'm pretty much the same.  Still drinking coke, still eating chocolate, still loving to sleep late.  I've recently read the book "the mission of motherhood" and I found it supremely convicting.  Sure, I'm good at meeting my kids' needs, I'm good at planning stuff for them, but how often do I sit and play with them?  doing something they want to do?  or how often do I put them on hold so I can run and do the dishes or tidy up or write that email?  Too often!  So my motto this week (I had to choose only one area to work on after reading her book...because I became aware of way too many areas to work on!) is " I have time".  I really do. I have time to read a book one extra time for them.  I have time to stop what I'm doing to watch samantha slide for the six billionth time.  I have time.  The dishes can wait.  Email can surely wait.  Whatever I'm doing is not that important, but my kids are. 

Anyway, here are some pictures from this week:

One extra picture from after the wedding last week (and one of the times when they agree about who gets to ride the bike!):

reading books with our house helper:
dress up continues, but this time they found MY clothes on the floor and decided that was a great change!  Those girls are so silly!
Even though the lighting on this picture is wierd, it was actually the first picture I snapped and I  was afraid the moment would be gone.  I loved how emma grabbed samantha's shoulder and samantha leaned in - they really like each other!  =)
This week, our house helper taught emma how to "wash" the dishes, and since then, Emma can't get enough!  She brings her little stool in, puts on an apron, and washes away.  It's so funny.  She asks after every meal if she can wash the dishes, and gets a little irritated if I say no.  Now, if I can just channel that energy long enough to last until she's in her teenage years...


Ahhh, friends...one of my favorite things about my life.  We love playdates, we love surprise visits, we love having friends.  Here are two of emma and mantha's playgroup posse:
That's all for now...now you all know what's been up with us...