Two Hundred and Counting

Two Hundred. Yep, that's right - this is post #200 on this blog! All I can say is, God's been good!

Thankfully, Joy has been waking up happy recently, and is usually content to play in her playpen for a bit if I'm still getting Hope and myself ready for the day.
Hope loves to "see Joy 'wake?" in the mornings.
This was so cute - Hope was putting her hand on the playpen screen, and Joy was touching Hope's hand from the inside. Reminded me of the scene on Skylark.
Happy kid.
And this one loves the spinning top, we've discovered.
Looks like it could be some sort of instrument she's playing in this shot.
Playtime with the magnetic animals. :o)
"Smile, girls!"
I guess Hope thought the beach ball would make a good drum. I found them doing this together when I returned from getting something inside, or maybe Hope was just doing it and I encouraged her to share with Joy. :o)
And of course, whenever there's music there must be singing, at least that's what Joy thinks!
Surveying somethin'.
"Look out world, here I come!" She's not crawling yet, but she's sure figuring out how her limbs work.
Look at those two teeth!
Odd shot, I know. Doesn't it strike you as a picture that could be used for some sort of advertisement? Maybe for Super Store's sand lawn chairs or something. (Which happened to be on sale this week, that's why I bought 'em.)We finally got a day warm enough for me to dress the girls in their matching yellow outfits from Grandma Lorrie.
Sisters.
Had enough of sitting still, I guess...
...both of them!
"Uhh, us, Mom?" Hope's eyes in this shot remind me of my Dad.
I didn't notice that the girls were in the same position when I took this picture. Must be sisters.
Joy: "Uhhmmm, guys, my foot is stuck under this big white thing."
Who taught her how to do that???
Mmmm, Mmmm. "One more?!?" she kept saying. :o)

The girls playing with the beach ball. Hope started banging on the ball, and Joy joined right in.

After bath adorable-ness

Last night was mid-week bath night at our house, and since Josh had to work in the evening, I took my time with the girls and they played on our bed while I got them dressed and such afterwards. I was thankful that my handy-dandy camera was nearby to capture them playing. Hope has been singing for months now, I just haven't managed to get a good video of it. I couldn't decide which of these to post, so I just posted them all. As you can see, Joy is energetic to say the least. She's loves the freedom of no clothes! I must say though, she's an all or nothing girl - sunshine or storm; in other words, she can be completely happy and energetic one minute, and a weepy, docile child the next, at least when she's ready to fall asleep, that is. :o)

An evening at Jubilee Park

Sunday evening was just one of those freedom-breathing evenings that beckons everyone outdoors, and so, we went outdoors!
Nearby Jubilee Park isn't scheduled to be officially "open" until next year, but they just opened up the roadway leading into it, and the playground is done. :o) There's a bunch of picnic tables and grills and lovely pathways too.
Decided to try them double swinging facing the other way!
Joy wasn't as impressed as Hope at this new arrangement. :o)
Making shadows for Hopey to see.
See. :o) A built in sandbox is a nice addition to the playground, though it might not stay nice for very long if the woodchips migrate over into it.
A quiet moment to think.

A week to remember

This past week started out like every other week at our house, the girls and I doing things together during the day and all of us enjoying "Daddy time" on these free summer evenings. However, the week finished quite different than any other week, and you'll see what I mean by the pictures. :o)

I can't recall what I went into the sewing room to do, but we ended up playing with the serger threads together.
Of course, the most fun is crashing Mommy's creation....
And chewing - don't forget the chewing part!
Josh and I are doing some classical violin and piano music for a wedding in July for some young friends of ours from church. We're both glad for the excuse to get us practicing again, and we're thrilled to be doing something together, the only hard part is finding time to practice together, as Josh works during the day (duh) and by the time both girls are asleep at night we're usually tired out too! So, that leaves the brief period of time between supper and bedtime. I though I had a brilliant solution that would give us some free-handed time - we'd put Joy in a tub with some toys....
and we'd put Hope in the jolly-jumper, since she likes her chances to bounce around in it. Well, let's just say that once Hope saw Joy in the tub she thought she should be there playing with her, and once Joy saw Hope at the edge of the tub that's where Joy thought she should be, and started pulling herself up on the edge of the little tub over and over again. So.... there went that practice session. I think we got through one piece before deciding to just be "Daddy and Mommy," not "Josh and Erin." I think we did try to practice a bit more after the girls were down, but my brain was d-o-n-e and didn't want to read the music very well at all. :o)
Next day. Teary-eyed Hope pushing giggly-wiggly Joy in the Jolly-jumper. :o) Why was Hope teary eyed? Well, the time had come to say bye-bye to those diaper things and learn to wear big girl gear! :o) Let's just say that day one was a wet one. :o) I think she went through 5 or 6 pairs of pants!
Next day I got smart and put her in a dress which made for quicker access and a greater probability for success, if you know what I mean. Day two she spent several very long periods on her little seat, which gave her good results.
Random pictures of the Joy-Belle while Hope and I were eating breakfast.
The ever-ready grin.
And the squeeeeal, which can be either a happy sound or a not-so-happy-sound, depending on her perception of her current circumstances and level of attention being given to her.

Day number three. Playtime with the blocks before nursing time for Joy. As you can see, the potty was conveniently placed nearby, as a state of emergency could occur should Hope have to go while Joy is nursing. :o)
My happy little one, dancing around, free from her diapers! Hope calls her panties "good girl panties" because that's what we tell her and what she tells herself when she has success on the potty. :o)
We had company for supper both Thursday and Friday nights, and I guess I was busy preparing for that because I didn't take any more pictures to speak of. :o) Here's a snapshot of Hope with some of the Bayne's kids on Friday night. Hope had such fun playing with "children in the basement" as she said. Friday was her first accident-free day, including the evening time when our friends were over! Praise the Lord!!! We had such a blessed time of conversation and fellowship with our friends in the living room while the little ones played in the basement, their oldest going back and forth between being with the kids and being with us. God is so good!

I'm SOOOOO HAPPY to only have one in diapers now, (except for nap and bedtime of course). Hope did really good with it. Just another reminder to me that God does make all things beautiful in time! :o)

Here's a couple video clips of our little soprano singer/bass player. :o)

Happy Father's Day, Josh

Here's a peek at Father's Day at out house.

Hope and I made a poster for Josh. Hope's hand is the top one and Joy's hand is the bottom one.
A few pics of Josh and his girls after church, before naps.



My amazing hubby, playin' with his girls. Father's Day was kind of a rough day for me. Joy had been up lots at night, we'd had company, we had been out bathroom shopping with the girls all day in the rain on Saturday... etc etc... which landed me at that blessed place called "the end of the rope." I had just laid down and was starting to fall asleep on Sunday when Joy woke up and didn't want to go back to sleep, thanks to her nap during church. Let's just say I kinda lost it. Josh, bless his heart, got up from his nap in the recliner and came and rescued me, or perhaps I should say, rescued Joy. He took her and played with her while I had a good cry and then a good hard 40 minute nap. Talk about a father's love!!! It was a humbling place for me to be, but the Lord's mercies fail not, and I praise Him for the love and grace He showed me through my dear hubby.
The busy little one, trying to figure out the jack-in-the-box.
Goin' for the handle.

Another version of the game I posted in my last post... :o)