Easter

Here are some of our creative Easter endeavors-
Little marshmallow bunnies for the table...

Egg dying/decoration tradition....

Our little bunnies...

We woke up Easter morning to pouring rain/thunder and our power out. Ice cold showers with no hair dryer....yeah, we opted to not show up in ball caps and nasty hair...so church unfortunately didn't happen. The girls love, love, love to look for eggs. Something we did all week actually. So, they were happy to get their little baskets (filled with a cross that we give them every year & of course some goodies) and did that again. We ate a big ham, Josh made German potatoe salad from an old Foster recipe, and most importantly gave thanks for Jesus being Risen, yes- indeed!

Springtime this and that

Ask Josh- I have always loved delicate, teeny-tiny wildflowers that sprout up. And no, they aren't weeds! God's goodness and miracles are revealed everywhere. How could it be any other?

We have watched this little bird nest over our front window- the babies are getting ready to fly- and momma bird keeps their bellies full. It reminds me that I/we are the same really- trying to "feed" our babies to get them ready to "fly"!

We have had many cows (and a little calf) in our backyard lately. It's great that we have land/prairie in our backyard with farm animals that we don't have to take care of. We don't own that land, we just enjoy the view (but not the stink at times)!

I cherish everything about spring. Always have. I love more sun (I'm solar-powered ya know), sweet smelling winds (no allergies here), breaking out the flowery short sleeves, growth so fresh and new everywhere, playing outside... the list can go on.
I wanted to thank you all for the love and prayers these past weeks for me. It has been a tough few weeks and I am ready to be feeling like Stacey again. I want to choose to look for the rainbows (just like you say, Mom) in everything. Yesterday was one of those days when you say "it just doesn't get much better than this". Family, girls giggling (not like that is rare!), playing (not really rare either), a sunburn (yes, rare-on this pathetically white body of mine), a pizza picnic, sitting and gazing at the stars (and my hubby too!), relaxing by a fire... you get the picture. We plan on taking alot of time out to enjoy. Before we know it we are gonna be in the dog-dayz of summertime!

Hannah & Lauren Land

Lauren writes notes everywhere around the house- about everything. They are precious and crack us up so much. I actually found these lists of "My Wishes" on the girls bathroom sink and thought they were just adorable. I love how the girls flutter around the house and think up the craziest playtimes with each other. I am so happy that they have eachother and their amazing little world together. My hope is that they will always be best friends and so in love with one another. I will always remember the moments. These are all of the small moments that make up the love and sweetness of this life (that I must say- is going too fast).

"My Wishes"
1. talk to animals
2. reid minds
3. be invisibl
4. To fly
5. have a camera in my dreams, so in the moning I could wach it
6. to float on water. like jump in and I would float
7. I could meet the tooth fairy
8. I could get light from the sun like Iridessa (a fairy from Tinkerbell land)
9. I could go presto and my farot comershol is on the t.v.

Spring Break week-

The girls camped out in our backyard- and did get a small amount of shut-eye with a full moon and all the critters chirping! Mommy opted to enjoy a warm comfy bed all by herself after a little while...aaaahh. Then the rain came the next day. It rained here ALL week. Kind of a bummer.



Hannah was such a trooper getting FOUR teeth pulled at the dentist this week. Oh, it was much harder on Mommy! Here she is with the glasses she got at our dentist. You are such a SUPER STAR!
The next day we spent with girlfriends seeing the movie "Velveteen Rabbit" (precious!) at the theatre and then lunch & shopping. The tooth fairy left $10 for all those teeth... and she got to spend it along with some from distant fairy $ (aka Grandma's).

Josh was on a mission to build a bluebird house for our furry friends in the backyard-- and he had such lovely assistants.

What a BLAST it was bowling with special friends. We had the whole place to ourselves and started off with bowling and ended with ping-pong and fooze-ball while it poured all day outside.
Then to end the week off we went to Jumpin' Jacks bounce house with the Germanys as well...and um, enough said about that- just ask me what happened. uh.

Where did our baby go?

NINE THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT HANNAH...
1. We love how funny you are and your very sweet and tender heart.

2. You still have the cutest giggle that makes everyone around you giggle!

3. We can't get enough of your tight, warm hugs that brighten even the cloudiest days.

4. We love the way you give to others.

5. We love your shining confidence.

6. We love the way you can make friends so easy and how you lovingly take care of lil' sis.

7. We love the way you can take the smallest thing and create an entire day of play out of it. So much imagination!

8. We are proud of you working so hard at everything you do.

9. Love that every teacher you have every year wants to take you home with them! (but you're all ours!!)

Happiest Birthday, sweetheart. May God continue to bless you on His amazing journey for you. We are always so very proud of you and love you more and more every year that passes. (is that possible?)

NINE YEARS OLD?

Nine candles for Hannah!

Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Dick & Deb together celebrating Hannah. All of us tried ALL day (and night) to solve this 12 piece puzzle. "Whaaat?" you say. Really the most challenging puzzle ever.

Hannah wanted a Wii so bad for Christmas. Well, Santa couldn't fit it on his sleigh so we thought birthday instead. She was so excited to get it from all of her grandparents, us and some of her birthday money. It entertained us all weekend. Hannah woke up the next day and said "Mommy, I sure am sore from pitching!" The next day sore from boxing (Mommy too!). And last night Lauren says "Whew! Mommy I am sweating from so much fishing... can you get me some cold water?" No seriously---- and Wii love it! (I know- cheesy).

Here Hannah is wearing her birthday shirt that I paint for her every year and we rocked and rolled at a nearby skating rink with her (two!) best friends ever!

We had fun gliding and slidin'-- ha!

Be my Valentine

To start off Valentine's--the girls and I woke up and made heart pancakes for the main man in our life. (Yes- I do have a picture of Josh- a morning spiky hair "don't put that one on the blog" one that is!) We then played freeze tag at the park on the sunny day, got some great steaks at a market near here, rented a movie, made a trip to D.Q., got the grill started, turned up the tunes...
can I say P- A- R- T- Y?
I love all of my Valentines so much and it doesn't get much better than days like this.

Here are Lauren's best friends at school after a "sundae making" party.

Hannah and I at her class...with the softest teddy from her teacher...so sweet.

Wintertime...Springtime??

Who knew that in January and February months the days can be 30 degrees one day and then 70 the next. The girls wake up every morning asking if they should wear short sleeves or long sleeves! We have had fun playing freeze tag, fishing, bike riding, jump roping and stuff on these short sleeve days. Here is a picture of us at the lake when we had a short but sweet visit with Josh' brother. Hmmm- can you tell they're brothers?!

Almost every day these past weeks since she taught herself to ride her bike- Lauren has come home from school, put her backpack up, hot pink helmet on...and off on her bike sometimes until dusk. Her little legs petal up and down our driveway and she has the biggest "I am having the time of my life" grin on her face.

We had a picnic lunch and another bike-ridin' adventure this past weekend...


And some smoocharoos...

We're off once again...

Hannah rang the cancer bell at the park for HOPE (our Aunt Pat who just found out she has cancer) and Lauren rang it to CELEBRATE Grandma who fought it!

A lil' Lauren in January: some firsts

She was soooo excited about her EasyBake from Santa-

She watched her cake closely-

and yummmmo! Frosting and all...


We went to the lake and she was finally feeling comfortable about a hook on her pole- what a cast Lauren!

Power tools...no problem!

ooooh yeah and look at the great cart we made for the classroom bunny.


A budding artist with her first canvas to paint-


Just a couple days ago she decided she wanted to learn to ride her bike. So she did! (Mind you it was on one of the coldest days in over a year here!) Off she goes- shivering hands and all. Lauren has always been one of those kiddos that says "Mommy, I can do it myself!" and once she puts her mind to something she just does it. I couldn't be more in love with you and so wonderfully proud of you, Laur-Laur!

Happy New Year!