Signing Time

Hannah is adding more signs to her "vocabulary" daily. She does the sign and usually says the word too which is great because then we know what she is trying to say. She doesn't need us to show her either, once she knows it she remembers it every time. Her signs aren't perfect of course like water is supposed to be a "W" (three fingers) on her chin and she just does 1 finger and eat is all your fingers together and to your mouth and she just uses one. But, who cares she knows what she is doing and we can figure it out :-) Last night when she was signing "more" she was also saying "MO". Cute!! Check out her crazy hair too - bed head from her nap :-)

Weekly Highlight - from Hannah's Perspective

Madison's riding lesson is the highlight of her week and has even become a highlight for Isaac and Hannah as well. I have shown the excitement of this visit from Madison's perspective and Isaac's perspective now it is time to see it from Hannah's.

I always bring her stroller and put her in it right away so I can help Madison get ready. She used to be content in the stroller the whole time, but not anymore, she is much to busy and curious to be contained for too long! Once Madison is ready I take Hannah out and let her run around the barn. She is like a little rocket going from place to place, cats, horses, goats, lawn mower, atv, cats, horses, cats and on and on! You can see the big smile on her face just looking at this cat.

Hmmmm . . . . . . where did that cat go!?

Once Madison gets her horse saddled and ready to ride they head out to the arena and I walk out there. When we get there I take Hannah out of the stroller again and she runs around in the grass and plays or watched Madison. If we make it there before Madison then the steers are in the pen and the kids love to feed them. This was the first time that Hannah tried - she copies whatever Isaac is doing.

Here she is trying to gather some grass for the cows - what a smart little girl she is :-)

Count your Blessings

When I was younger I remember listening to that song, "Count your blessing name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done". Whenever it said "name them one by one" my mom would start naming off the kids - Cori, Bekah, Amber, Nicole, Levi, Jesse, Laura, David, Karmen. Another memory was hearing my dad say, on many occasions, that he could have had a fancy car but he chose to have kids instead. These are memories that remain - years later - and just a few ways that my parents taught me, as a child, that children are a blessing. Now, I am reaping the benefits of this simple truth and enjoying "our blessings" and I couldn't feel more blessed than when I look at these three kiddos! Thank you mom and dad for showing us all the proper perspective on these gifts from God!

Fair Rides - So Fun

Madison, Andi, Isaac and Izyk enjoying some of the fair rides.

It was so hectic and crazy there that we were thrilled when they finally ran out of tickets (the kids - not so happy)

Isaac still talks about this spiderman - he wants one for his birthday :-)

What cuties!

More Jump Flip Jump Flip

Andi's turn!

Jump Flip Jump Flip

Madison and Andi couldn't wait to try this out. They had a blast and wanted to do it again and again :-)

Her flips weren't the most graceful looking :-)

More Time at the Fair

Last year at the fair Hannah was only a little baby so this was her first real experience. She had fun looking at the animals, although was slightly skeptical.

It is cute to see Isaac with the horses - he is very comfortable petting them and enjoys being around them. I am sure he gets it from Madison :-)

Madison and Isaac introducing Hannah to the love of horses - she seems to be buying it :-)

It was so funny because so many of the animals were really interested in Hannah's stroller and would stick their heads way out and try to bite on it. She thought it was funny at first but pretty soon she started crying :-)This sheep, however, is more interested in Hannah than her stroller

Hannah's friend Berlin checking out the fish

Madison and Andi - enjoying their fair treats and gazing at the fish

A girl and her dream . . .

Animals, Animals

The fair is always a blast for the kids - they want to see all the animals over and over. The highlight, of course, is seeing the horses.

Friends Forever

Madison met her best friend, Nicki on her 7th birthday - October 12th. They couldn't have been a better match - their blue eyes, blonde hair and most of all their love for horses. They have been seen together ever since and especially like to dress alike, do their hair the same and "ride" horses. Today they are going to see the movie Kit Kittredge.

A couple more friends are going to the movie with them, Alika and Allie

Madison and Nicki in their matching pj's reading a bedtime story.

Laughter

Laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life. ~Hugh Sidey

Hannah Banana

Hannah is using her signing alot more lately. It is especially handy if she wants to eat or wants more. :-)

Our Room

Another room we recently finished was our bedroom. I forgot to take a before picture but was able to find one I had taken when we first looked at the house to buy. It doesn't look anything like our room as far as the furniture and decorations but it shows the walls and curtains, which changed a lot.

We painted the walls and got new curtains

Here is the before picture of the other side of the room. This is from 2 years ago when we closed off a closet in the kid's room and opened it up in our room.

The new hole - soon to be a walk in closet

The finished product. It is so nice to have a closet! I didn't realize how much I had missed that til I had one again :-) We still need knobs on the closet and to paint the doors but otherwise it is done. We also painted that wall a darker shade than the rest of the room

Here is the inside of the closet - which as you can see is Hannah's "room" for now :-) It has worked perfect for that - she is nice and close yet far enough learn to sleep without us!

One side of the closet

the other side :-)

Looking into our room from the hallway. If only I had a before picture so you could truly appreciate (as we do) the change. Our chaotic, messy, too-white, messy and did I say messy room is now so peaceful and clean and simple. I love it :-)