Happy Kids and Water

Nothing beats happy siblings and about two hours.

I picked the kids up from our friends' Alannah and Alan's house and took them home to have dinner. I had an amazing time night fishing the other day with seeing fireflies, so I wanted to get out and show the babies and spend some time with them. We didn't go out to where the fireflies were, though, because we would have been out way too late. We went to Carter Lake, instead, I having had a positive experience there earlier today.

What ensued was fantastic. I filled up our Home Depot bucket with some water after confirming with the girls that they wanted to put some fish in it, then worked hard to comply. I got several bass and placed them inside. Eva would put her face over the rim, and say, "Fishy! Fishy! Dews a fishy!"

Ruthie has taken a great fondness to throwing rocks in the lake, and she was busy doing so most of the time. Eva, loving her big sister, very soon joined in. Ruthie would pretend that the rocks could fly, only to crash land in the water with a big splash. She would count, "1, 2, 3!" and so would Eva! Eva now counts, "1, 2, 3!"

They are getting so big.

They laughed and played and talked and played and oogled at the fish and played some more. With rocks flying into the water, it was pretty amusing to see how bare this one triangular spot around our position was after a while.

It was a gorgeous night, and we made some good memories spending time together. I got to show them different fish and enjoy their laughter and play, and they got to enjoy each other and the outdoors. Love it!

Happy spring

The last several months have gone by fast and I'm happy that spring has come and the sun is shining for many, many reasons. I've not been so great about taking photos since the beginning of the year, but here's the best of what I have:

Easter lovelies:

 

 

My little ballerina:

  

Tony's graduation:

Tony with his mom and dad. We are so glad he is done with his B.A. in Spanish!

 Ruth made Tony a pirate ship card for his graduation and told him, "Good job, dad!"

The last few months have brought job changes in our home. Tony is now the commercial account manager for the Terminix office in Omaha. I am also working part-time at a market research call center a few nights a week to provide a little bit more monetary stability during the transition.

Tony has also started an awesome blog about fishing: Spare Time for Fish. I'm really impressed by the blog, and it's entertaining even for those who don't care for fishing too much. Check it out. :)

I think my camera is pooping out because my images aren't turning out so well anymore. But it could also be that I let my daughters play with the camera sometimes, and I'm sure them dropping it/putting their grimy fingers all over it hasn't helped.

Anyway, sometime this week I will post a blog of Ruth's photos. She has some interesting perspectives and shots from her vantage point. :)

Happy Monday!

Wrapping up 2011

Here is a photo montage of the last month or so:

Ruth at her first dance recital. She loves being on stage!

Eva decided to climb into one of the plastic toy storage containers and Ruth was kind enough to push her around.

Ruth and Jack making their graham cracker gingerbread houses. We miss hanging out with Jack!

Eva with her Grandpa Gardner. Grandma and Grandpa Gardner and Uncle Mike came out to visit for Christmas, and it was the best present ever! I wish I had taken more pictures!


Ruth on Christmas morning in her new bunny slippers and firefighter hat.

Ready for church on Christmas day. And yes, I do believe Eva is picking her nose.

Eva in her bunny slippers


Eva and Ruth enjoying our 65-degree January day. Eva had a cookie and Ruth dug in the dirt. It was beautiful outside.

Eva is also quite the chatterbox. She knows a handful of words in sign language and can say about 15 words:
Nuh-no
Cookie
Cheese
Uh-oh
Kitty
Mom
Dad
Eva
Book
Shoes
Bye-Bye
Cracker
Bath
Bite
Look!
Tree

Eva is cutting her last two baby teeth right now, and she's not too happy about it. She loves dancing, books and copying her sister. At 15 months, she is in the 85th percentile for height and in the 40th percentile for weight. Ruth started another semester of dance and preschool. She is into singing, painting and dress-up right now. She's also getting taller and outgrowing her shoes! Last week was a rough one for the girls, since both of them were sick with a bad cold. Hopefully this week we will be able to get out of the house a little more.

Happy new year!