From ten down to six

Everyone but Andrew had to leave us that week, on Wednesday, I believe. They went back to Swift Current to spend some time with Lorrie's parents. Lorrie ended up staying on in Swift Current for a while, and Angie drove her two youngest siblings home to Denver. 

 There was lots of time for snuggles.

 And everyone soaked it up. :o)

 We are so blessed!

 A bit of time with Daddy on the couch after supper.

Philip loves those maracas!

Andrew stayed with us for another ten days or so, commuting to the CX Canada office with Josh for work each day. We really enjoyed having him around in the evenings!

 Hanging out in the jolly jumper while we ate supper on the lawn.

 The winters are long here, so we soak up every minute outdoors we possibly can in the spring/summer/fall.

 Sunlight is the best!

 The higher the better, you should hear him giggle.

 I did dishes while Josh got the girls ready for bed one night, and Andrew was good enough to entertain Philip for me. :o) Guy time. It was good. Philip got quite the concert. Uncle Andrew can sure sing!

 A friend from Denver, Cheri Hamvas, blessed the kids with these outfits. We had to go out and run some errands, so I had fun dressing them up, and they had fun wearing their new ladybug clothes...they had seen them in the drawer and had been asking for a while when they could wear them.

 An impostor in the jolly jumper! I think Hope was responsible for this arrangement. :o)

 Lunch outside. It's how me and the little ones like it. Keeps the kitchen a lot cleaner, that's for sure!
On these summer days, I have taken to cleaning the kitchen just twice in the day - after breakfast and at suppertime. The kitchen will always be there, and it will consume as much time as you will let it. And yes, I like a tidy kitchen, but I like to give my attention and energy to other needs too. Like the children. :o)

 Joy put this together on her own, and was quite happy with herself. She ate all three at the same time.

 Hope had to try it too. Somehow it just doesn't look the same on her. :o)

Philip's first taste of watermelon. :o) He loved it like a true Langemann, though I am learning he doesn't like it when it's cold. :o)

 Walker time on the front patio.

 Sigh... I could just take pictures of him and kiss him all day long. :o)

 Munchkin and her sidekick. Oh yes. All of a sudden, on their own, they have named imaginary playmates, and they are starting to name their dolls too. Hope's imaginary friend is Martha, or "Marfa" as she says it, and one of Hope's dolls is Sopia. Joy's play friend, which is sometimes also her doll is Heidi. Heidi came first in their little world, and then the others joined. :o) They are growing up, these two little girls of mine.

 Some of Philip's first real food - potato. He loved it. He is turning out to be like Joy, preferring what he can hold with his own hands and mulch with his two little teeth, rather than the pureed stuff. It's easy, because he feeds himself. It's hard, because he doesn't get much actual sustenance from it, at lest not yet. But that's perfectly okay right now. He still nurses great, and is bigger and rounder than both his sisters were at this age. :o)

 Just starting to sit up on his own.

 We put the XL puppy around him for support,

but he soon got it where he wanted it.

 Their makeshift sandbox makes them so happy. Hope's favourite thing to do in the sandbox is make "ginger cake." And Joy, I'm not sure that she has a favourite. She just likes the sand. At the end of each day, I dump the sand back in the bucket, and put it away in the garage, safe from neighbouring kitty cats and the little things they like to deposit in soft, clean sand. :o)

 Every good meal ends with a washcloth! :o)