Uncle Joe comes to our house

The basement no sooner got it's gutting job completed than we had a most charming visitor come to stay with us - Uncle Joe! 

And with him came these adorable dresses for the girls made by the sister of his fiance, Rachel.

It was bedtime when they opened the package, but we slipped their dresses on over top of their pajamas, since they were so eager to get into them, and they wore them for a few minutes while brushing their teeth.

Uncle Joe came to build us a new deck, but it rained the first couple days he was here, so after the materials were ordered, he had some spare time in which he discovered this fun little thing called "Face Time" on his itouch, and spent many happy moments "face timing" with his beloved Rachel who was back in Denver.

He was a good sport, and let Hopey in on the fun too, though she tired of it much quicker than he. :o)

Gazing at the mess he just made for himself to clean up! While the top boards were rotting, the boards used in the framing were actually still mostly good, and he was able to re-use a bunch of them!

Feeling all special in her dress, and having Mommy-time while Hopey was away at a preschool class at church.

At the end of the week, we got to go and see the little ones and what they had been learning.

Hope kept her eyes on her teacher and her little face was lit up like a Christmas tree.

She was soooo happy!

I think she enjoyed it immensely. :o)

The knee zig-zag thing was a little confusing. ;o)

Beautiful twirl from a beautiful heart. :o)

The finale of the recital was an obstacle course where the kids went through tunnels and crawled through a few hoola-hoops. Joy saw that being set up and was very hard to keep on my lap. I managed to contain her by saying that maybe after the big kids were done she could go through. Hopey came and joined us after her turn was done and heard me tell that to Joy. I didn't realize the maze was going to be picked up so quickly, and all of a sudden I heard Hope crying, with Joy joining in. Hope was saying, "No, I don't want them to take it down - Joy didn't get a turn. Joy needs a turn." It quickly drew my attention back to what was happening, as I had been visiting with the lady next to me. Sure enough, more than half the maze was picked up already. I saw one tunnel still set up with a little girl still in it, so I quickly asked Hope if she would like to take Joy over there so she could go through. This was how they did it. :o) Gulp. So glad they love each other (and show it most of the time!)
At home Hope has recently been caught crying saying "But... I need my sister wiff me. I need a sister to do it wiff me," as independent Joy often tires of whatever they are playing far sooner than Hope does and walks off in search of some other form of fun. :o) 

Hope was delighted to have another lap available after meal times, as both girls notice the large baby bump that fills a good portion of Mommy's lap these days. She very kindly asked Uncle Joe if she could sit on his "yap" and brought a toy to play with while there. I missed it, but Joe made this cute little formation with the words "I love you" and/or "Joe loves Rachel," of course thinking of his fiance. :o)

Meanwhile, Daddy was trying to keep Joy busy with some Duplo blocks, so as to preserve Hopey's game with Uncle Joe.

"Crashhhhhh! Whoa!" The best part - of course!

Hope can often be heard asking "Can you show me how to do it?" Having Uncle Joe's construction eye and mind available for her frequent question was most appreciated, as I find I often run out of ideas if I don't think ahead. :o)

Doesn't that just say J-O-Y? :o)