Sophia Justice is ONE!! They grow so fast!

A baby girl... one of the most beautiful miracles in life, one of the greatest joys we can ever know, and one of the reasons why there is a little extra sunshine, laughter and happiness in your world today. -- Author Unknown

We celebated Sophia's birthday this Sunday. Can't believe she's already ONE!!

Taking care of these children is such a gift to me. I am so grateful for the privelage and wish I wouldn't have any other distractions so I could focus fully on these treasures. It has been a delight raising Sophia this first year. I cannot forget the anticipation one year ago as we waited for her birth. Being in no hurry has been the theme of Sophia's first year- from being "late" 10 days to taking her sweet time on crawling & walking.

We've had a great first year. Happy birthday sweet little Sophia. I adore all those moments: seeing you bond with your sister, your sweet smile & giggle, your favorite tongue game, spitting food at me, loving to fall backwards ... and so on. LOVE YOU! I bless you, love you, teach you, nurture you with my every breath.



Little girls, like butterflies, need no exucse. -- Robert A. Heinlein

House-Warming

We are blessed. MAN are we blessed. Our friend, Evie, and our church family threw us a house warming party. They warmed our house with their laughter & gifts; they blessed our house with prayer. Thank you friends for doing life alongside us!! YAY.

hook·y –noun unjustifiable absence from school, work, etc. (usually used in the phrase play hooky)



Last week, I played hooky. I needed it. I was looking forward to my mom's visiting us next week. However, during the time she was here almost every minute was packed plus I wouldn't get the chance to see my step-dad. So I rented a car & met up with them in Vegas.

We had a nice time, but it made me laugh because only once (to see the increidble flowers at the Belagio) did we leave Caesar's Palace! I felt like Princess Jasmine is Aladdin. I need to get out of these palace walls! (Of course those hotels are huge so I probably could've spent a week in taht thing with no problem!) It was a really nice time-- we took it very easy & relaxed: ate, swam, ate, watched tv, ate & explored at bit.

Thanks to my parents for letting us crash their party! It was fun.

Slide

A few weeks ago, I had the idea to lay a mattress on the stairs so Zoe could slide down. (I try not to be uptight & let my kids have fun. Some days this works better than others.) Well, there was no doubt that this act was indeed a hit! Many days we left the mattress on the stairs and we climbed or surfed up the slide. Are we a fun family or just nuts? That remains to be seen. Anyways...

Today...

I was a bit distracted. And before i knew it Zoe had a squirt water bottle full & she was squirting it down her "slide." Of course I had to take action as this was not good. But oh how these moments are so sweet! She was so upset. I can't believe she didn't think that was actually a good idea, but I do think her idea over rode any awareness of right and wrong. So today, she got her slide taken away. Maybe we'll bring it back out tomorrow, maybe we won't. We'll definitely have to buy that sweet (and sometimes naughty) girl a slip n slide for the summer.

loving life!!

Life lately has seemed so busy. You know, that kind of busy where even the little downtime you have needs to be used to catch up on all the little things. Thankfully for the most part, it seems to be seasonal.

However, today, I've been totally LOVING LIFE and loving spending time with my family. This morning started out wonderfully: Zoe played quietly in her room, Sophia slept in, Matt & I enjoyed coffee, orange juice and time together. We've been laid back most of the day & as I said in my previously post spent time outside using our imaginations :). But the best part is that we've been carefree, laughing & loving. YEA.

Cherry Blossom Snow Balls

It has been a hard-to-beat gorgeous few days!!! That's for dang sure! I had the most magical day with the girls. We spend a few hours outside eating our lunch and pretending. Sophia tried eating petals & leaves. Zoe & I imagined the cherry blossoms falling was snow. The picture above is her making snow balls. WonderFULL day.

Weekend Treasures

Hard to argue with these photos. We had a great Sunday afternoon at the park & of course we had our camera in tow.


Bubble sword

Sophia SWINGing

playing in the sand

"How big is Sophia?!" "SOOOO BIG!"