Life at home

Josh's return from Denver brought a few new treats for the girls from Grandma, one of which was this colourful tunnel.

Being the great Dad that he is, Josh showed them how you were supposed to use it.

Hope was delighted, and went through many times. Joy had fun watching and shaking the tunnel as Hopey went. I don't think Joy has gone through on her own yet, and I think it's because she would have to crawl instead of walk to get through it, and she pretty much gave up crawling for good the moment she discovered she could walk.

Saturday night I fed the girls early and let them watch a movie while Josh and I ate supper together. :o) Movies are a nice reserve for special-need-situations in our house. Then it was time for their baths and off to bed. We had to jump up from supper several times to rescue Joy who liked to stand up on the chair. Smart little cookie knows how to get down on her own too, which rather surprised Josh who had only been away for 5 days!

Next morning Hope thought she should share her cheerios and oranges with her dolly who was still drying out from the bathing experience the night before. :o)

Couldn't resist adding this one... such cute little dimples. :o)

Joy with another special treat Grandma Lorrie sent - a pair of those dolly bottles with liquid that appears to "drain" as you feed the baby. :o)

Hopey likes them too.

Just had to see if it was real... though she's never taken a bottle or soother in her life, so I don't know why she would think she'd get something out of this one. :o)

Joy loves my pots and bowls. I put them where she can reach them inside one of the lower cupboards in our kitchen so she has something she can play with when Mommy's cooking.

And she loves talking on the phone. Don't quite know what she was signing "please" for, or that the person on the other end got the message, but it was a cute shot.

Trying for all she's worth to dig that Play Dough out of the container.

Hopey and I were making bibs for her baby dolls out of that foam crafting paper you can find for cheap at the dollar store. :o)

Gulp. Yellow and denim with little eyes cuter than the adorable buttons on the sweater.

Growing up so fast, she is.

Next morning upon returning from a moment down the hall I saw a small trail of diapers coming from the change table in the nursery to the hallway door, and a train of paper towel elegantly spread across the kitchen floor. The look on Joy's face and Hope's honesty confirmed what I already knew - Joy had been exploring again. :o)

Whatever Hopey does, Joy wants to do too. So, Hopey was having a little tea time with her dolly and Joy decided she needed to join in too. I think she looks a little perturbed in this shot because I had probably just told her she needed to use the cup I gave her, not take Hopey's away.

And she loves to try new things. :o) 

I let her use up the rest of the charge on the battery on the sweeper after I've used it, figuring she'll possibly pick up some more lint from the floor while she's at it. :o)

Playtime with little friend Micah, whose Mommy and Daddy came over for games with us.

Little kids are the best.

"Val (Micah's Mom) are you sure I need to sit her for another picture? I think I'm done with this sitting business..."

On cold winter days a perfect thing to do is make a tent indoors and let your kids have at it all morning long. Old bed sheets make great tent material! The good thing about the tent being made over top of the kitchen table is that lunchtime provides an obvious and natural time for it to be cleaned up again. :o) Hope had so many toys and books hauled under there I had to get her to clear a bunch away so I could sit and read to her in the tent. :o)

Mmmmmaybe we've been cooped up indoors for too long. To the delight of all, it was discovered that Joy still fits in the dolly stroller. Hope took her around and around and around and around the house in it after nap time one afternoon. I thought Joy had long outgrown the dolly stroller, but when I saw pictures of a friend's kids doing it I thought I should let our girls try it too! :o) 

When I would take Joy out, she would whimper and then nod her head "yes" when I asked her if she wanted to go back in again.

Made a little tunnel out of the tent bed sheet for their after supper playtime.

Oh yes - it works the other way too! Hope's about as narrow as Joy is wide, just with longer legs, which she happily tucked up so she could get a ride too.