Saturday, April 30, 2011

Easter 2011 (better late than never!)

Our little family had a fantastic Easter weekend together.  
We have discovered that anytime we are together, 
it is a fantastic time!  We love each other.   
Cheesey?  Maybe.  But there ya go!!

We went to two Easter Egg hunts, had dinner at Grandpa and Grandma's house, the Easter Bunny came and we had dinner at home on Easter Sunday with Great Grandma.  Busy weekend!!  
Oh yeah, we also fit going to church in there!


Easter Egg Hunt #1
Grandpa and Grandma's house
 The cousins!  14 out of 18 of Ben and Emma's cousins.
We miss you Riley, Zackary, Nate and Thatcher!
Papa teaching Ben all about Easter egg hunting!
Mama and Emma
"Look at all of these things!  What are they, Sister?"
"Birdie!"
The Laurent Family
"Yummm...candy!"

The Easter Bunny visited Ben and Emma early on Saturday morning bringing treats and a new wagon!
"Wow..wow..wow!  Cool stuff!"

We like our bunny ears and our wagon!
Their Easter baskets had animal crackers and goldfish crackers, bubbles, a coloring book and crayons, a Sesame Street book, a walking egg, summer pajama's and Elmo and Cookie Monster socks.
They loved everything!

 Easter Egg Hunt #2 and indoor picnic
with the neighborhood

"More of these things, Brother!"
Wagon ride with Papa!

Easter Sunday we went to church and Ben and Emma behaved themselves and we were able to stay in the chapel for all of Sacrament Meeting!  An Easter miracle!


After church, we blew bubbles.
Ben and Emma (Mama and Papa, too!) love bubbles!


Aren't they cute in their new Easter outfits?

We are so grateful to have spent this special weekend as a family celebrating the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We are grateful for Him and we love Him.  Every day I tell Ben and Emma how much Jesus loves them and how we need to be kind and loving as He is.  i hope with all my heart that our children will grow to be like Him.





Saturday, April 23, 2011

His Sacred Name - An Easter Declaration




I Know That My Redeemer Lives

I know that my Redeemer lives;
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my ever living Head.

He lives to bless me with His love,
He lives to plead for me above.
He lives my hungry soul to feed,
He lives to help in time of need.

He lives triumphant from the grave,
He lives eternally to save,
He lives all glorious in the sky,
He lives exalted there on high.

He lives to grant me rich supply,
He lives to guide me with His eye,
He lives to comfort me when faint,
He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.

He lives to silence all my fears,
He lives to wipe away my tears
He lives to calm my troubled heart,
He lives all blessings to impart.

He lives, my kind, wise, heavenly Friend,
He lives and loves me to the end;
He lives, and while He lives, I’ll sing;
He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King.

He lives and grants me daily breath;
He lives, and I shall conquer death:
He lives my mansion to prepare;
He lives to bring me safely there.

He lives, all glory to His Name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same.
Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives,
I know that my Redeemer lives!


He lives...and I am forever blessed because of His sacrifice.
My Brother, my Best and Truest Friend, my Savior!

Have a blessed Easter!




Thursday, April 21, 2011

Easter 2011 Prep.

Last Easter, I was lazy.  The kiddo's were 5 months old and clueless and so I did nothing for their first Easter.  No cute pictures with bunny ears, no baskets...nada.  We did get them new outfits for Easter Sunday but they were way too big-
big, fat fail on my part.

ANYWAY....

This year, the baskets are filled, the egg dye kit purchased, Easter Sunday outfits fit and we even have cute bunny ears for an ultra cute picture that Ben and Emma had better cooperate for! :)  Is it all for this Mama's sake?  Yep...and for pictures!  

The weekend festivities include:

*Easter Egg Hunt and dinner at 
Grandpa and Grandma Pecks house on Fridays night.
* Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, picnic and games on Saturday.
*Easter dinner at home with our little family on Sunday 
and Church, of course.

Looking forward to it all!!!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

TINEWTF

Ben and Emma are doing so many fun things every day!  
I wish I could ingrain every minute of every day 
so I never forget how sweet my little ones are...
even when they are being little stinkers who do things like:

*pushing the screen out of the front window every day, 
sometimes twice a day! They love to climb up on the couch to look out the window.  Today they got so excited when they saw some birds that they started screeching at them and pushed the screen out in excitement!
*wake up every night between 2 and 4, staying up for who
 knows how long laughing and kicking your legs. (Emma)
*run in separate directions the second they are out the door, 
heading straight for the parking lot!
*eat dirt every single time they go outside! (Ben)
*knock on the wall when they wake up in the morning.  
This one is very cute, not stinkerish!
*spit water from their sippy cups across the room 
(this one isn't so cute!).  
They go through 3 or 4 outfits a day some days!

Ben loves Mama's hat!


 This girl...so cute!


*Emma (Ben, too) has always liked "feeding" me when she eats.  But she has a new trick.  Now she will offer me a mangled, saturated piece of food and then immediately puts it in her own mouth.  She thinks this is hilarious and so do I!  



*Ben is really becoming my little helper.  When he empties the pots and pans drawer, he will put them back when I ask him to.  He will do the same thing with the wipes container, the kitchen drawers and their dresser drawers.  
I love that he is learning how to follow directions.


*Emma has been twirling when she dances for quite awhile but now Ben has joined the fun.  Like the manly boy he is, he twirls (spins!) until he's dizzy and falls down!


*Emma has the cutest run.  I call it her "tinkling" run.  She looks like she is running on her tiptoes but she isn't.  It almost looks like she bouncing from one foot to the other and flapping her arms a little.  OK hard to describe, but adorable!


*They say each others names!  
Ben calls Emma, "Ma" just like Papa does and Emma calls Ben, "Be".  They also have their own versions of brother and sister.
So sweet...


Ben and Emma, Mama is slowly getting used to not calling you 
" my babies" when I talk about you.  You are "the kiddo's" or "my children" but not "my kids" because you just still seem too little to me to be kids!  You will always be my sweet babies, though.  
Babies, you are my little lovies and always will be!
Mama and Papa love you thiiiiiiis much!!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

17 Months!

Say it with me folks,' cause I can hardly believe it...
my Twinkies are
17 MONTHS OLD TODAY!!


THEN:
April 2010
The dreaded Bumbo!  They both hated it!
I miss Emma's mohawk!
They still carry this seahorse rattle around...very loved!


NOW:
April 2011


Playing with their baby summer hats that they 
refused to wear last year but now love to wear!  
Silly things!




I love to see them smile!


Mama and Papa are so amazed by everything that you are learning to do and the words you are learning to say.  You are growing bigger and stronger everyday.  We love you so much!!

Friday, April 8, 2011

TINEWTF

Rain, rain go sway, Ben and Emma want to play!
Emma's new favorite word?  
SHOES!  Pronounced "sshhhooez"
Look at those lips saying the "Sh" sound
Who knows what my boy was doing, 
but what a funny face!
Ben and Emma have been busy...
Dancing
 Showing off their bellies,
Zooming around on their 
Mickey and Minnie Mouse cars

and playing with "baa's" (balloons)!

 Ben and Emma have been busy!  
They are repeating everything we say 
and learning new things every day!

Emma is especially saying alot of new words lately:
Mama, Papa, apple (ppl), ball (bl), balloon (baaa), car (ca), brother (can't duplicate!), Ben (Beee), shoes, hi, bye, done and more.

"More" is her newest word.  She was relaxing with her bottle in her bed while I was reading to them.  She whined for a minute until she got my attention and then held her bottle out to me.  
I asked her, "Did you finish your bottle?"
She nodded her head and whined a little more.
I asked if she wanted more milk and she nodded her head and said so plainly, "more".  It was so sweet, how could I refuse her??

Emma likes to tickle her own feet and will say 
"tickle, tickle, tickle!
She will now point to her nose, ears, eyes, and teeth 
but can only say  "no" for nose. 

Emma is my little sidekick when I "get after" Ben.  I noticed this week that she mimics my "Mama voice" when Ben is being naughty.      She says "Ben" in the same tone of voice I do!  
I actually had to say, "Emma, I'm the Mama!" to her! :) 
Like mother, like daughter!

Ben is my little man of action!  
He doesn't say many words yet but he is working on it.  He says:
Mama, Papa (always in a whisper), hi, bye, ball and balloon (ba), choo. and bottle (ba).  He may not say many words but Ben can tell quite a story complete with facial expressions and pointing.  
He makes "da, da" and "buh, buh, buh" sound fascinating!

Ben is Mama's little shadow.  He follows me everywhere, especially when I go to the "forbidden" places like the bathroom and the laundry room.  He can be happily playing and hear me open those doors and be behind me in no time!  

He likes to "help" put toys and laundry away and then will immediately empty the toy bin or drawers!

Ben still gets the hiccups when he laughs and it makes him laugh even harder.  His laugh is contagious!

Ben and Emma, Mama and Papa love you so much!
You are our little sunshines!



 

Saturday, April 2, 2011

So Much For This Brilliant Idea...

Sooooo...the suction cup plates from Gerber?  
Not a great investment.....



except they do make GREAT hats!


Ha Ha...Team Twinkie-100 points 
Mama-Zilch

Nice try, Mama!