Out of the Mouths of Babes

Thursday is almost past, and that means that day 6 of John's 10 day road trip is also just about complete. He left last Saturday for some speaking opportunities in Tennessee, and so the girls and I have been keeping each other company these last days. We've done some really fun stuff together, including going for walks in our new double stroller, fixing puzzles on a rainy day (today), and cuddling up to read stacks of books. But there's no doubt, we really all miss John.

Clara Anne has been asking for "Daddy" repeatedly, and every time the phone rings or there is a knock on the door, she gets excited, just ready for him to talk to her or walk in the door. The significant events in her life (wearing a new skirt, going to the bathroom all by herself) have been marked by an eager "Go tell Daddy!" only to discover afresh that Daddy is not here. I have been a little sad for her as she keeps wondering where Daddy is!

On Monday, I was washing some lunch dishes as the girls played for a few more minutes before nap time. Clara Anne was busily putting on her shoes and her backpack, and then came over to me and announced "Go to (Asia)! I want to see Daddy!" I tried to convince her that Daddy wasn't there, that he is only a few hours away, but to a two year old, it doesn't really matter where as long as he isn't HERE. So just as I was thinking, "Maybe I just need to give Clara Anne some attention; maybe that would help her not miss him so much," Clara Anne said "Mama, please give me some (at)ten-tion. I need some (at)ten-tion." She said it in such a bashful voice, I could hardly believe what I was hearing! Where did she get that phrase?! And how did she learn how to use it in the appropriate setting?!

Needless to say, that got my attention and so we very quickly sat down and read some books together. The recent favorite: "Guess How Much I Love You" which we have had in our collection for quite some time but seems to be Clara Anne's first pick this week. I do love reading with her, and lately with our busy schedule, it really feels like a luxury--we both truly enjoy it.

John will be home again next Monday, PTL! He will have three very happy girls to greet him! The only downside--I guess I will have to start cooking some "real" food; crackers and cheese, grapes and yogurt will probably not qualify as dinner in his book!

In other news:

Last night I was so happy to have joined in the choir rehearsal at our home club. Probably my favorite conductor in the whole world, Chip Stam, leads that group with a wonderful mix of fun, excellent music, and great technique. I didn't realize how much I missed being a part of it until I was there last night again! Chloe stayed down in the nursery during the rehearsal but Clara Anne was with me--alternately sitting quietly and listening, holding her music as if to sing, and getting up off her chair to dance along. She enjoyed herself thoroughly! Midway through the rehearsal, we were all treated to a big surprise put on by two tenors: One of them (he happens to be blind and amazingly musically talented) moved to the piano and started playing some "Hoe-down" music, and the other picked up a length of rope and started doing lasso tricks! (Did I mention that these were tenors?! Leave it to the tenors!) Apparently this was all worked out beforehand and was meant just for our enjoyment! Only in the Clifton choir would such silliness take place! By the end we were all clapping along and singing "I'll Fly Away" in a hoe-down style. Fun times!

On Tuesday Clara Anne, Chloe and I took out our new stroller to the prettiest place in Louisville, in my humble opinion: the Cave Hill Cemetary. It sounds a little morbid to visit a cemetary voluntarily, but in fact Cave Hill is a truly lovely place. It is like a very quiet garden, with curving walks, well-maintained plants, towering trees, several ponds and wildlife, and benches here and there to sit and appreciate it all. Cave Hill is also an arboretum so the plants are all labeled--which I appreciate since I am curious, but fairly ignorant, about those types of things. Tuesday morning it was warm, quiet, and lovely on the cemetary grounds. The ducks and geese flocked to us when we started tossing out some stale bread, and the only noise was that of a lawn mower humming in the distance. I got some great exercise pushing the girls all over, Chloe got a good nap in the stroller, and Clara Anne and I enjoyed the quiet, birdsongs, fresh scents, and pretty scenery. Unfortunately the dogwoods and redbuds are all leafed out now, and the daffodils and iris are done too, so it was mostly just green everywhere, but we'll go back next week to see the peonys open up. Lovely, lovely, I tell you. Any of you readers in Louisville, don't miss out on Cave Hill! It's a treasure, a quiet place right in the city!

And finally, just a note about Chloe! Our happy younger daughter seems to have gotten the short shrift in the blog coverage lately, sorry about that Chloe! She has been such a sweetie lately; giggling like mad when Clara Anne plays with her, giving me a HUGE grin whenever I come around her side of the car to get her out of the carseat, pulling up and standing next to the furniture with a big smile on her face. Tonight she was playing peek-a-boo with me as I sat in a big armchair--she kept pulling up, smiling and giggling at me, then sitting down again, then pulling up, giggling again, and then disappearing by sitting down. She loves to get her hands on whatever Clara Anne is playing with, especially puzzle pieces! (Of course that annoys Clara Anne to no end.) But Clara Anne still loves her sis and lately always begs me to let her feed Chloe. I have a great picture of Clara Anne feeding Chloe yogurt--I will post it soon, I promise! It isn't hard to get Chloe to eat--I usually have a hard time getting her full! All of that physical exercise lately seems to create a bottomless pit in her tummy. This morning I even caught her trying to eat some lint off the floor! I managed to fish that out of the mouth of that babe later.

Speaking of which, those crackers and cheese didn't really fill me up at supper. I'm feeling hungry! Maybe I need a midnight snack . . . something more tasty than lint . . .

We're still alive!

Oh my! I must apologize for my long absence from my blog . . . we have been in the midst of a whirlwind! After Easter, we spent a week in Richmond, Virginia, meeting with others who normally live overseas and are now back in the States like us. The meetings were good and helpful, but the really great times were spent with others in our free time, connecting and hearing many stories from life around the world. It didn't hurt that I managed to make it to Starbucks with women friends three times in three days, either!

On Monday we drove here to Louisville, Kentucky and arrived in the evening of a warm, deliciously sunny day. How wonderful to be back here again! The red brick and ivy of the campus was a sight for sore eyes. Even Clara Anne seemed to sense that we were coming "back" somewhere and said as we drove on the campus and past our old apartment (of course she wasn't born then yet!) "Are we home, Mama?"

This week has been a flurry of activity--getting settled into our new apartment, speaking in classes and going to chapel, going back to our home club, getting together with friends old and new . . . it seems every moment has been full to the brim. But "full" in a very special, wonderful, heart-warming way--I am so thankful.

Tomorrow night we get to participate in a lovely event called "Parent's night out." All of you who are parents know what this means! It's hosted by the singles group of our local club and so it will be safe, fun, and in a familiar place--the nursery. And, it's perfect timing--John leaves on Saturday for a 10 day speaking engagement in Tennessee, so I am excited for our date! The girls are doing well adapting to yet another place, thankfully. Clara Anne is battling a cough but seems to still have plenty of appetite and energy.

Ok, it was bound to happen . . . our first "reverse culture shock" moment. We left the girls sleeping under the care of our friend Robert on Tuesday night to go to Super Wal-Mart and find some things for our house and (empty) pantry. We thought we knew where super walmart was, having gone there only about a thousand times when we lived here. Unfortunately, as it turned out, we weren't really sure, and took one road after another, driving around searching for it for more than 45 minutes!!! Argh! Finally we found it and went on a shopping marathon . . . I didn't realize how much stuff we needed to get set up here! It was about 12:30am before we started checking out, and after chatting extensively with probably the slowest checker in wal-mart history, we left the store at 1:15 am. This is after a 10 hour drive on Monday, an early morning and a super-full day on Tuesday. I was one tired mama. The worst part was that we had no phone and so no way to contact Robert and tell him we were running so late. I'm afraid we caused him some premature gray hairs! We took him out for supper on Wednesday to thank him!

Well, enough for tonight. I just wanted to check in and let you all know we are alive and well! I am way behind on posting pictures...maybe next time! Thanks for reading!

He Is Risen!

Happy Easter to everyone!

I hope that you all have a wonderful day, celebrating in a special way our Lord's death and resurrection. It is because of Him that we can live in joy and hope, not being afraid of death or enslaved to sin. Praise Him that the power that raised the Son from the dead is alive in us who have received him, today!

We are in Princeton, West Virginia, speaking to a group here this morning. We arrived Friday night amidst snow flurries and were surprised to see some accumulation on the ground yesterday! The snow continued on and off and the temps have not warmed up much. Glad we've had a warm and comfy place to stay the past few days! We ate at the Cracker Barrel on Friday night and it was so cozy and fun--they had a HUGE fire roaring in the fireplace. What a change from the 80 degrees we experienced a few weeks ago!

Blessings on your Easter celebration. Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed!

I Didn't Think it would be THIS soon . . .

Our road trip behind us, we had a wonderful day and a half in Richmond with our friends Brad and Amy, who are getting ready with their children to move to our city in Asia. They are ready to go and will arrive in a matter of days! Since we're not there right now, it was wonderful that it worked out to see them on this side of the ocean and spend some time with their sweet family. They have three children, Savannah who is 4 (almost 5) and Alex and Peter who are twin 2-year olds. Needless to say, Clara Anne immediately felt at home and started copying Savannah's every move while simultaneously watching the boys (with all their energy) run circles around us.

This is really Clara Anne's first exposure to little boys. Most of her little friends (Emma, Samantha, Pingping, Dingding, Elizabeth and Anna, etc) are all girls. Even the cousins that she's met so far (Marin and Annika) are little girls! Even at our meetings, it seems like most of the children in her class were girls. So until the other day, we had not really talked to Clara Anne about the difference between girls and boys.

But then . . . one of the twins needed to "tinkle." He made his way to the bathroom and unbeknownst to me, Clara Anne followed him in. He didn't seem to care at all and so Clara Anne stood watching with great interest as he stood to use the toilet. It was at this point that I found her and insisted that she give him some privacy, but it was too late! She immediately wanted to go to the bathroom herself, and pulled down her pants and stood in front of the toilet saying, "Do it THIS way! Do it THIS way!" I told her that it wouldn't work because she is a girl, not a boy. I finally got her on the potty, though she protested the whole time.

So then John and I told her that she is a girl, and Mama is a girl, and Chloe is a girl, but Daddy is a boy, and Peter is a boy, and Alex is a boy. Daddies are boys and Mamas are girls. Hopefully this simple concept is sinking in!

Well, though I didn't expect to have to address this topic so soon with Clara Anne, it's probably a good thing! I know that Peter and Alex will become her good friends, so it's probably best to have the ground rules established--like giving them some privacy in the bathroom!

The Mikado

Last Saturday night we were so excited to attend a performance of The Mikado, put on by the Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company in Minneapolis. We were especially excited because the title female role of Yum-Yum was being played by John’s twin sister Sarah. Sarah has a beautiful soprano voice and is a great actress, so we were really excited to see the show.

I did have a few mixed feelings going in, though. Why? For one, attending a live music performance meant that I had to leave my two year old and my nine month old with someone else! In Asian life, that was pretty hard to accomplish, and we are still new enough in the States that we have only just had my mom and dad watch them a few times when we were gone and they were awake. It’s like there’s a scale: leaving them napping with someone else there and you run out for an errand=not very hard. Leaving them sleeping but about to wake up is a bit harder, leaving them during a meal even more so, but the ultimate to me is leaving them for the dinner meal and then trusting someone else to put them to bed. Bedtime is the time of day when I think kids need their mamas and daddies the most—to complete the (almost sacred) bedtime routine that no one else can do satisfactorily!

But, if we wanted to see the show, this was going to be our only option. Thankfully, John’s sister Mary was happy to watch the girls, so the trust factor was no problem—we knew she’s be great! But on Saturday, we had brunch altogether in the Twin Cities with more family—John’s brother Andy, his wife Laurel and their son Julian—which meant that we were away from Mary’s home and she would need to make the 1.5 hour drive home with the girls by herself. So this was way off the scale in my book—sending them off with Mary alone, first to ride in the car, then have supper, and then go to bed all without me! In my mind, the possibilities of them misbehaving, crying, or generally being difficult were endless, mostly because they had just so rarely done this before. Needless to say, I was doing a lot of praying!

We had a wonderful dinner at Chipotle with John’s mom, followed by a Starbucks latte (oh, I do love eating in America!), and then made our way to the theatre. Occasionally a worry about the girls would surface, but I was trying to just relax and enjoy the opportunity to be out!

Happily for us all, the show was wonderful! The theatre was quite small, seating about 200, so our seats in the fourth row were truly up close and personal with the singers. The Mikado is probably Gilbert and Sullivan’s best operetta, set in Japan but with their characteristic British humor, poking fun at the society and politics of their day. It was fun to see it brought to life!

There were some really strong performances among the cast, but our (truly unbiased) opinion is that Sarah was the shining star. Her excellent vocal abilities were matched by a magnetic stage presence; she had a lot of energy and a sweet, funny portrayal of Yum-Yum. Her solo in the second act elicited a sigh from the audience before the applause! And she was beauty itself in her gorgeous costumes (originally from the New York City Opera). We were so proud of her!

So what happened with Mary, Clara Anne and Chloe? Well, the girls were pretty good for Mary, except that when it came to bedtime they didn’t want to go to bed. Clara Anne played in her bed and disturbed Chloe, and then Chloe cried until Mary rocked her to sleep. They both were sleeping by 10pm, but Mary had a few challenging moments! I was just thankful that when we finally arrived back at Mary’s house about 1am, everything was all quiet. (Visions of screaming children were still dancing in my head!)

So, all’s well that ends well, in the Mikado, where Yum-Yum ends up with her dear Nanki-Poo, and in the household where the children finally go to sleep!

Road Trip!

Well, John and I (and the girls) have completed the first day of a three day road trip from the northwest corner of Iowa all the way to Richmond Virginia. We actually had a pretty good day, though it did not start out so well. John was up super late doing emails and urgent office work last night, and that was after we had already stayed up late unpacking from our Minnesota trip and repacking for the next 3 months. So we were a little short on sleep to start out. And then we had some details to take care of--we rented a car to get from Iowa to Richmond, but first had to turn in our loaner car that we've had for the last month. So John packed the loaner car full, only to arrive in Sioux Falls at the airport, get our rental car, and unpack and repack everything so that we could return our loaner car. Though we intended to get an early start, by the time all of that was done it was after 11am. Chloe was crabby, wanting her morning nap, and we were trying to decide if we should just have a good lunch first and then get on the road.

Now, you should know that John and I love road trips. There is something refreshing about being in your own car, setting your own pace, having time alone to talk, read or listen to music or books on tape. Road trips are especially fun when you have a nice car to drive! So we were looking forward to today and the nice rental car. It is a 2007 model, a Chevy Impala (I think, I'm not too clear on that stuff) and it has lots of space, lots of power, and drives really smoothly. There are other bells and whistles, too, but the newest fun "toy" that we had never used was a Global Positioning System attached to the front dash. Then John had a great idea, let's look for a Pizza Ranch nearby and have lunch before we get on the road!

Now, you should know that eating at Pizza Ranch is one of my very favorite things to do. Their pizza is better than any I've ever had--the crust is somewhat chewy but not too thick, not greasy at all, and they are super generous with the cheese. I love their "Ranch Sticks" (cheese bread) which they serve with lots of marinara sauce. They also have this really tasty broasted chicken (not exactly fried, but I'm not sure how they prepare it--it has crispy skin) that I love, as well as dessert pizza. Basically, I love it all. And it's a great deal to eat their lunch buffet--only about $6 for all you can eat and drink. I also especially love Pizza Ranch because I have lots of nostalgic memories of eating there in high school after basketball games, after school with my friends, or whatever. The original Pizza Ranch was in the town where I went to high school, and now they have expanded all over the upper midwest, so I guess I'm a bit biased for the hometown brand, too.

So before we came back to Iowa we taught Clara Anne how to say "Pizza Ranch." She now knows their logo and as we've been driving lately through small town Minnesota and Iowa, she has actually recognized a Pizza Ranch out the car window and informed me, "Mama, there's Pizza Ranch! I found it! Let's go there! I'm hungry!"

Back to my original story (I think I have chased a few rabbits tonight!), we decided that since we had this new GPS, we could just use it to help us find the nearest Pizza Ranch and eat there for lunch! The only problem was, we couldn't figure out how to use the thing. At first it seemed like it was working, but it wasn't giving directions! We drove around a few blocks trying to get it going, and finally discovered our mistake. AHA, now we had it! Pizza Ranch, here we come!

We started following the map and the verbal directions (it was in the general direction we had to go, anyway), and soon found ourselves on the edge of town. Hmmm, that seems strange. Wonder where it could be out here? We even were directed to take a gravel road! That seemed really strange, but then we remembered selecting "fastest route" and so thought maybe the GPS was directing us down that road for speed purposes.

Finally, we turned down another gravel road as the GPS was saying we were only .2 miles from our destination, then we were directed to make one more turn, and . . . I'm sorry to say that it led us into the midst of a rural housing development! We were literally out there in the cornfields with these newly built homes here and there. This was not a happy moment.

John is frustrated because the stupid gadget led us wrong, Clara Anne discovers that we are not immediately arriving at Pizza Ranch and begins to wail "Pizza Ranch, Pizza Ranch!," and Chloe continued the screeching that she had been doing for the last half an hour as we were trying to find this nonexistent Pizza Ranch. I didn't know what to do and was about to cry myself when John took charge of the situation, thankfully. The thing is, with the girls in their carseats and the car packed so full, I can hardly reach them back there, so we had to stop the car, John held Clara Anne while looking at the map, I nursed Chloe and she settled down, and then we finally got on our way.

We did stop at a Pizza Ranch a few towns further down the freeway, and then were able to do the entire rest of the trip with only one quick potty/nursing break. And even as I write, the girls are asleep, so we can all get some good rest before continuing our journey tomorrow. Happily, the GPS has not led us astray again--I don't have any explanation for what happened that time, but hopefully it was just a fluke.

I'll leave you with a few recent pictures--I have lots more but blogger will not pull them up for me tonight, so they'll have to wait. This first one is Clara Anne talking on the phone to John when he was gone for a week, speaking at a conference. She liked to sit in her rocking chair and cross her legs (like Mommy does) while on the phone. I often prompted her to say "I miss you Daddy," but that has come back to haunt me: now in random circumstances she will go up to John and say, "I'm sorry Daddy. I miss you." We are not sure why she put those two sentences together, but my best guess is that she doesn't really understand the "miss you" concept.

And this is a scrapbooking photo. We can really make a mess, can't we?! Clara Anne loved to "help" so I would give her some extra pictures, scraps of paper, and stickers, and she had a great time. Thanks again to my mom for all her hard work on our album!

And now, it's time for me to catch up on some of that sleep I missed last night. Good night!

The Dora Invasion

Last fall, when Emma came into Clara Anne's life, she brought the love of Dora with her. At that time Clara Anne had only a very faint idea about Dora, but then we received a Dora sweatshirt and pants outfit that Clara Anne was suddenly excited to wear. Combine that with Emma's various Dora items and Clara Anne was hooked, though until we came back to the States I think she had seen a Dora DVD exactly twice.

But since we've been back, I'm afraid to say that Dora has explored her way into every nook and cranny of our home. It started innocently enough; maybe some of you remember the saga of the Dora toddler bed we ordered, which Clara Anne has been sleeping on since the beginning of February. Then back in the States, we added a few small items--first it was the fun Dora toothbrush and Dora band-aids that I found at the dollar store, then it was the Dora panties that were such a treat to wear, then it was the Dora sneakers that I saw at the consignment shop.

It didn't help that soon after we arrived, Clara Anne discovered that Dora was on TV every morning at 10:30, so she persistently asked to watch it. If I let her, she would get so excited as the theme music would start and then lose interest as the show progressed. But every day, without fail, Clara Anne would ask for Dora, wondering when she could watch the show again!

We took another significant step in Dora-izing when we stopped briefly at the kids' consignment store again and saw a super-fun new toy: a Dora pop-up tent. The price was right ($10) and so we decided to go for it. The store owner told us it had only been in the store 3 hours! Amazing! Clara Anne was SO excited when she saw it and even at this moment, I am a little embarassed to admit that Clara Anne is wearing Dora pajamas, sleeping in the Dora bed, with the Dora tent over her head, after brushing her teeth with the Dora toothbrush. Oh my!

The kicker is that yesterday we actually bought a Dora DVD. I never thought it would happen.

The crazy part of all of this is that Clara Anne has not asked for any of this stuff, but John and I seem to love to buy it all for her! We seem to have no self-control! It reminds me that the Word is true..."If you who are evil love to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give you good gifts..."

So the Dora invasion continues. We're not too upset though; just going to have to keep a handle on that TV watching. Enjoy Dora while you can, Clara Anne!

Recent Reflections

Greetings to you all from the bustling metropolis of Winthrop, Minnesota! Just kidding--Winthrop is probably just over 1000 people, but it does happen to be the home of John's sister Mary. We have had a whirlwind week with some memorable moments and are glad to have made it here to visit briefly. Here's some highlights of the last week:

Enjoying some 80-degree weather in Rock Valley--in March!! It was such a treat to simply step outside, into my parent's lovely backyard, toss the Frisbee around, and let the girls play and run on the grass. Though, strangely enough, grass was such a new sensation for Clara Anne that she insisted on putting her shoes back on. Chloe had a great time playing on a blanket on the grass in the sunshine. John also took Clara Anne to play at the new kid's playground equipment at the public park, and so we have added some new words to Clara Anne's vocabulary, like "slide" "merry-go-round" and "swings." Fun times in the glorious weather!

My brother Mark and his wife Beth stopped through Rock Valley on their way to a week of vacation with Beth's parents. Clara Anne was so excited to play with her cousins again, and we let her stay up late and savor every moment. Then John and I did a little savoring of our own and stayed up late talking with Mark and Beth. Time shared together is more precious than sleep! What a blessing!

Last Saturday we had dinner and stayed over with some great friends who have five children. Clara Anne and Chloe felt right at home, right away! I helped to prepare some food in an authentic Asian style; it was so fun to eat with chopsticks again! We had a wonderful time sharing together and again went without some sleep in order to prolong the conversations. Unfortunately, when we went to bed around two am we disturbed Chloe who then woke up and played until . . . 5am. Yikes! I never knew she could play in her crib that long! Does she do this every night and I just don't realize it since we're not usually in the same room?! The worst part was that we had to get up at 7am to get ready to lead a service--John sharing the message and me leading all the music. Thankfully, when we are weak, He is strong! The service went well and we enjoyed our time with the brothers and sisters. They also had a fabulous potluck for us afterwards, with my favorite: roast beef and mashed potatoes! Yummy!

Monday evening marked an historic moment when Mom and I put the final page in the scrapbook. WHEW! I just hope my mom will still enjoy scrapbooking after this project--it sure felt like work to me! We basically worked on it every spare moment for a week. PTL it's finished! It had to get done because on Tuesday we needed to do some shopping and on Wednesday morning we drove up to John's mom's home to visit for a few days. So it got done at the last moment, hallelujah!

After a relaxing time at John's mom's home the last two days, we drove today to Mary's house. Tomorrow we will see John's sister Sarah and his brother Andy and family. We have been keeping quite the pace!

This post wasn't very interesting thematically, perhaps, but it gives you a glimpse of our recent activities. I would like to ask you to keep on remembering our kids as we take them through so many transitions. Clara Anne, recently in tired moments, keeps asking to "go home." I was showing John's mom some pictures yesterday of our home in Asia and when Clara Anne saw them, she immediately recognized them and said, "I need go home. Help, please. I want to go home." I am honestly not sure how to deal with this other than to "talk up" the things we are going to do next and reassure her that we are going to stay here for awhile. Plus, after this weekend, we go back to Rock Valley for one night and then drive all the way to Richmond, VA. Lots of transitions ahead! We all need some supernatural grace! Thanks for thinking of us!

Pictures next time . . .

Scrapbooking Mania!

John has been out of town most of this past week (he returned yesterday, hallelujah! We ALL missed him greatly!). While he was away speaking every night, staying very busy, my mom and I have been on a mission: scrapbooking. John and I planned to do a scrapbook of our last three years in Asia, and had all the pictures chosen and all of the pages planned (mostly) before we even arrived back in the US. Our goal was to do the scrapbook the first week or two so that we would have it at the ready for friends and family to see what our life has been like these last three years!

However, just a few little things interfered with the scrapbook mission: jet lag, getting unpacked, having some special responsibilities already the first weekend we were back, etc. So the scrapbook got put off. Finally, when John left on his trip I knew it was now or never.

Thankfully, my mom is a scrapbooker extraordinaire. She has created many amazingly beautiful and meaningful books, especially as she has gotten more "into it" in the past few years. She has supplies galore and a real knack for choosing paper colors to make photos come alive. Since I hadn't done any scrapbooking for three years, I was out of touch with all of the new techniques, papers, designs, etc. that are now being used--but she is familiar with it all! So I am so thankful that she has been helping me this week.

My days have looked like this: get up, get the girls up. Breakfast. Clara Anne and Chloe play while I try to do a little scrapbooking. Put Chloe down for her nap. Continue scrapbooking. Give Clara Anne a little attention while also trying to scrapbook. Lunch. Put both girls down for their naps. Continue scrapbooking. Late afternoon, spend some time with the girls while giving my mom further direction in the scrapbook project. Supper. Bedtime routines with the girls. More scrapbooking until 11:30 or 12am. Sleep. Repeat cycle.

I told my mom this morning that I hope she still enjoys scrapbooking after this marathon project of 60 pages! Even now, we are on page 45 and so we have just a few days left to finish it before John and I begin some more traveling. We hope that many of you will be able to see the scrapbook before the summer is out! It looks quite nice so far, I think, but we still have a ways to go.

So there's my excuse for no blogging earlier this week! I even feel a bit guilty now for dashing off this post--so I'd better go and get back to my scrapbooking!

Um, really?

Clara Anne and I have been having a good time looking out the windows at Grandpa and Grandma's house. They have a lovely breakfast nook facing east with lots of windows, and there are numerous tall windows in the living room so that you feel like you are sitting outside, almost. There are some neighborhood cats that wander through occasionally, and lots of birds (including a beautiful blue jay that likes to eat the cat food my dad sets out) and a few squirrels too. So we're always on the watch for what we might see out the windows.

Yesterday morning at breakfast Clara Anne suddenly pointed and said "MAMA! I see a penguin!" Not wanting to stifle her creativity, I merely said, "where, Clara Anne?" "RIGHT THERE!" she exclaimed in a super-excited voice. She pointed out the window and I said, "Clara Anne, I don't see it. Where did you say it was?" "Right there, Mommy! Penguin! Right there!"

Ok, Clara Anne. If you say so. What's next? Elephants in the back yard? :)

Photofest!

As promised, here are some photos from recent weeks, in reverse chronological order (since that is how blogger is working for me tonight!): the one above is the girls having fun opening presents, a few months late! They had a great time! Below: unpacking--what a mess! It took us awhile to get all of that organized!

On our travel day, having Starbucks after checking in. I think it was about 4:30 am. The girls, however, didn't care a whit--they just thought it was time to get up when we woke them up (at 1am!). Here they look perfectly happy. Too bad that didn't last the entire 20+ hours of travel!

On the plane--we were so glad to have four seats and the whole middle row to ourselves. Chloe even sat in her own seat sometimes!

In Bangkok we visited an amazing acquarium, can you see the fish swimming behind John and Clara Anne? "Fish, fish!" Clara Anne kept saying.

One of the loveliest pools that we've been to in Thailand--it's gorgeous, as you can see! We went swimming several times a day. Clara Anne did great with her floaties on and even loved jumping into the water by herself!

Our sweet Chloe girl loves the water too!

A more panoramic view of the pool.

John and I, oceanside! We had lots of opportunities to sink our feet in sand during the month of February--I loved it!

My dad has lots of great pictures from our homecoming but they're not digital, so I will have to find a way to convert them to share with you all. And our camera battery was dead the last few days, so I don't have many of Clara Anne and Chloe with Grandpa and Grandma. I'll have to remedy that this next week! Hope you enjoyed the photofest!

English Explosion

Now that we're back in America, hearing English all the time, Clara Anne has had a language explosion. She has started to speak more and more in complete sentences, as well as incorporating lots of short phrases and colloquialisms into her speech. Here's a recent sampling:

"See that, Mama? I scratched it. It itched. See this one? I scratched it." spoken in reference to several mosquito bites received on our vacation that are still lingering

"Mama, wash my hands please." after washing. . . "That's better."

"Go punish Doll. Too crabby and fussed and whined. Naughty Doll."

"I'm all done. Tummy full. Get down, please."

"Play toys little bit more." in reference to being told she needed to get ready for bed

"OH, MY, MOMMY! THANK YOU!" when she saw the new Dora panties we bought for her

My favorite moment from today was when Clara Anne had been reading some books with Grandpa, and blanket was right near by. It was almost naptime, and instead of wanting to get into bed, she just spread her blanket over Grandpa's chest, settled herself on his lap, and snuggled in. I was sorry to have to disturb her!

Chloe got a new toy yesterday--a small activity table that she can stand next to and play with the items on the top. I found it for $5 at a kid's consignment store! She is having a great time with it and played/stood for quite awhile today. I hope it tired her out since last night she woke up numerous times and cried. I think she still is truly confused about day and night. Since we've been back, I've had to wake her almost every time from her daytime naps but she wakes herself up numerous times at night. I realized how spoiled I've been with her usual pattern of sleeping through the night! But we hope those days will come again as soon as she figures things out a little more. Today I kept her up more and didn't let her sleep as long, so we'll hope that tonight is better. I didn't anticipate that it would take so long for her to adjust!

Ok, I know I promised pictures last time but I have not yet uploaded them to my laptop, sorry! John is busy working on the laptop (I'm on my parent's PC) so it will have to be next time. Sorry about that!

Small Town, USA

It has been so nice settling into my hometown of Rock Valley, Iowa, again. Rock Valley is truly a small town. When I say small, I mean it--about 2,700 people, one main street, and one stoplight (not counting the four way stop on the corner intersecting Hwy. 18). Rock Valley is also unique in that the majority of people who live here are of Dutch descent. In recent years, the Hispanic population has grown (so much so that there is an authentic Mexican restaurant and grocery now on Main Street!) but most people have Dutch roots. And in case you didn't know, Dutch people are known for being extremely neat and clean, along with being quite frugal and thus, prosperous. So in Rock Valley, all the homes are neat and clean. The lawns are all beautifully manicured. Even the farms are beautiful to behold--the outbuildings kept up, the animals all in their proper places, everything painted and orderly.

You can imagine that for us, coming from an Asian megacity, with its noise and pollution and dirt and people people people, Rock Valley is a refreshing change. Not only is the town neat and well-kept in general, the people are really great. The vast majority are Christians: probably 80% of the town is in one of the many churches on Sunday mornings. People here really care about their neighbors. Everyone knows everyone, and usually that's a good thing! Case in point--last week John took my dad out to run a few errands and it took them forever, simply because everywhere they went people were asking my dad about his health and reassuring him of their prayers. Since then I've been out and about a bit and just about everyone knows me and knew that I was about to come back to Rock Valley for a while.

Now when I was in high school, this close-knit community started to feel like it was closing in on me. I longed to break free, to be known as my own person and not just by my family's reputations. I wanted to experience more of the world and have exciting adventures. Well, I certainly have done that! It's been interesting to see that now, coming back again, Rock Valley is suddenly quite appealing again. I can see why so many families think it's a great place to raise a family!

On Saturday, the weather warmed up considerably and all of the big piles of snow began to melt, sending rivers running down the street to the storm drains. I was out for a walk, walking for about 30 minutes, and met exactly 6 cars in those 30 minutes, of which two of those drivers waved to me. That's when you really know you're in a small town again!

Because of the great work ethic by most locals here, Rock Valley also has great businesses. The well-stocked local grocery store is a seven minute walk from my parent's home. There's everything from heavy industry to car dealerships to restaurants to clothing and other retail stores, all in town. My favorite place to shop in Rock Valley, though, is a second hand clothing store called the Economy Shop. Since most people keep their clothes so nice (that Dutch neatness again), the second hand clothes are practically brand new! This morning I spent about 40 minutes there and found two pairs of jeans, a pair of denim capris, a sweater set, and three shirts for less than $50. It's great!!! I have been looking forward to shopping there for a long time and am thankful to have found great stuff today that I really needed! What a deal!

The rural scenery has also been a balm to my soul. Yesterday, John and I were speaking at one of our partner churches in Sioux Falls, SD, and so had to get everyone up early and out of the house in order to make the drive to Sioux Falls. Since it was also Daylight Savings Time, we really had to get up early! But we had a wonderful reward--as we drove we saw the most glorious sunrise over the fields. The huge sky was first peachy pink, then rose-colored, then redder and redder until a gigantic, golden red sun rose in all its glory. It was breathtaking! What a great God we serve!

Someone asked me today if I missed our home in Asia. I replied that I missed our friends, and I miss some of the food already, but I am really, truly, enjoying being here. My girls seem to finally be adjusted better to the time--Clara Anne adapted quite seamlessly but Chloe has been up during the night a couple times every night since we came. But it's finally getting better so I'm glad we don't have to go back anytime really soon, now that our body clocks have been reset! The girls are also having a great time with their Grandpa and Grandma, which is really fun for me to see. Today Clara Anne was sitting with Grandpa and suddenly decided she needed her blanket, so she trotted off downstairs, retrieved the blanket, and then came right back and plopped herself down on Grandpa's lap again. How fun!

I hope to have some pictures for you all to see next time--stay tuned!

A Wonderful Homecoming

In Asianese there is a word for wonderful which goes above and beyond our typical understanding of the word in English. We might say casually, "Oh, how wonderful!" about anything or everything. But in Asianese the word which is translated "wonderful" has almost a sense of the miraculous--this word is not used casually but is used to describe something incredibly fortuitous or grace-filled. For example, in the sentence "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life," this word, qimiao, is used. And that's how our homecoming was yesterday--wonderful, bordering on miraculous!

First of all, my dad was there at the airport! Not only was he released from the hospital (with strict instructions not to drive for several weeks, what he should be eating, and a list of meds to take as well as physical therapy goals to work towards), but he felt well enough to come all the way to the airport with a friend of our family in a big Suburban to pick us up! The second big surprise was that my brother Mark and his wife, Beth, and their two adorable daughters (aged 3 and 2) also made a long journey by car in order to surprise us and meet us! Mark's head was the first one I saw when we made our way down the long hallway with our two (tired) kids and myriads of assorted luggage. We also had some thoughtful friends from our home church in Sioux Falls who came bearing a great gift for us--the use of a car for the next month. What wonderful blessings! We felt so loved and appreciated!

You see, I was prepared for the worst. I had thought that perhaps if my dad was still in the hospital, we would need to go straight from the airport to the hospital in order to see him and my mom, and then John and I would just continue on to Mom and Dad's home and pick up something for supper on the way, eating by ourselves. The thought of Mark and Beth coming 6+ hours, in the middle of a week, (Mark is a busy pastor) and taking their two young children along just to stay over one night (read: hassle) had never occurred to me. So I had some fairly low expectations for our arrival. Instead, the picture was dramatically different: we were all together, having a big family reunion, laughing and talking, catching up and watching the girls form an almost instant bond together. Though just after we sat down to eat, Clara Anne had finished her yogurt and had a few bites of real supper when she announced "all done" and in the next moment was asleep in her high chair. I've never seen her do that before! She was sitting up, with her head falling forward and eyes closed, totally asleep. So she missed out on some of the fun, but was happier (and more well-rested) for it.

The flights all actually went fine--the girls both had some rough moments of inconsolable crying brought on by sheer exhaustion, but they both did sleep at various points, though not as much as I had hoped. There were just a few times, especially during the middle, longest flight, that I had tried every method of soothing Chloe and nothing was working, so I resorted to pleading with her to stop crying! She always did settle back down, so I'm thankful. Traveling that far, for that long, with such young children is not for the faint at heart, though! It required every trick in my bag and more! But we are recovering today (and probably the next few days as well!) in Grandpa and Grandma's comfy home so it's all good.

Speaking of comfort and convenience, I have been struck how convenient things are in America! Wow, having a car to go somewhere whenever you want is truly convenient! And look, hot water, right out of the tap! And look at all of the storage space in the frig and freezer! It's huge! (Actually just a normal size but it seems huge to me!) And, I am amazed to report that ALL of my laundry was done this morning by about 10am. I thought I had tons of stuff to wash, so started early, but then I realized that the capacity of my mom's washer must be at least twice that of mine in Asia. It only turned out to be two loads, and how lovely to have a dryer to immediately have things dry! I guess I have new appreciation for the simple pleasures and conveniences of the American lifestyle.

So today, I am thankful. We are here, safe and sound, all of our luggage arrived, we were granted safety traveling more than 8,000 miles, and we had the added blessing of seeing my dad recovering well and sharing precious time with Mark and Beth and their girls. When we left for Asia, their oldest daughter Marin was just 3 months old, and so to now see her a talkative, happy and musically gifted 3 year old is just wonderful. Annika, Mark and Beth's younger daughter, is just a few months younger than Clara Anne and we had never met her in person. What a joy to get acquainted, and how fun it was for Clara Anne to run around with her little cousins!

Well, we still have lots of unpacking to do, and both of my girls have already crashed this evening (let's hope they sleep all the way until the morning!) so I'd better make the most of my time. Thank you all who were praying for us as we traveled--we felt all of your prayers and it helped me during those difficult moments to remember that I wasn't the only one praying for us! Your prayers were answered so wonderfully--thank you, Lord!

Checking In...

Hi Everyone! Two main items of interest today . . .

I apologize for the lack of updates on my blog recently; we are still in transition and have barely had internet access these last weeks. (Note to self: wow, wireless is super convenient! We are going to have to invest in that!) We finished our meetings and have moved to a lovely hotel in Bangkok for a few days of "decompress" time before we take that long journey--tomorrow! Tomorrow morning at abou 1:30am our alarm will ring so that we can pack up and check out of the hotel by 2am, be on the road by 2:30, and arrive at the airport around 3am. Then we'll claim our left luggage that we have been storing there since coming into the country almost a month ago, check in at our airline, go through security and customs, find our gate, and sit down to wait for our 6am flight. It's a large plane, going first through Tokyo and then on to Minneapolis, so I anticipate some long lines in check-in. From Minneapolis we'll take a quick flight to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which is just 45 minutes away from my parent's home in northwest Iowa. According to my mom, they are in the midst of some wild winter weather, so we will be moving from the tropics to heavy snowfall!

We almost didn't get on this flight. On Friday night, when we arrived in BKK, we tried to access the internet in our hotel. The connection was slow and we couldn't download our emails, but John did manage to get on the Northwest site to check our reservation. He found our names, but it said "there are no flights in this account." Thinking that couldn't be right, he then called Northwest to confirm, and found that our tickets (purchased through a travel agent 3 months ago) had been cancelled! YIKES! What to do!!! We called on some of our colleages that live and work in this country and they were able to assist us, thankfully. Also thankfully, there were still seats on the flight so they were able to rebook tickets for us. So though it's been a bit stressful the last few days, we are thankful that everything worked out, that John had called so early to reconfirm, and that the problem was found and thus able to be fixed. PTL for watching over us!

Please pr for our long travel day! I have lots of snacks and fun things planned to do for the girls, but I am really hoping they will sleep a lot. We will arrive in the US in the middle of the afternoon, 22 hours later on our body clocks. We are looking forward to that arrival moment!

The other main item for prayer is that my dad had a heart attack over the weekend. Because of our internet difficulties, we didn't know until several days later, and thankfully he was much improved by that point. He didn't feel well over the weekend and was experiencing some chest pain, so on Monday morning he went in to the doctor and they found that one of his coronary arteries was almost 100% blocked. He was taken to a heart hospital and they performed an angioplasty; from what I know now he is doing all right--able to get up and around a bit, though not so much energy. He is still in the hospital and may still be when we arrive back at my parent's home; I'm just not sure. This was rather a shock to us since my dad has always been so healthy and still plays basketball with a group of guys--he played just last week! But we are thankful--thankful that he went to the doctor in time, thankful for the medical technology that was able to help his heart, and thankful to the Lord for sparing his life. I am also SO thankful that the Lord arranged the timing since we are on are way there and can be with Mom and Dad right now. But please pr for my dad, Jim, as he recovers. Pray for his heart, in all ways, that he will be physically, emotionally, and spiritually strengthened right now. And pray for my mom--she still has some lingering effects from her health difficulties last fall, mostly in her balance and coordination. It's a challenging time for our family ut we know that the Lord will be faithful to meet all of our needs! He is a gracious and loving Heavenly Father!

Well, this all certainly puts things in perspective. Our times are in His hands--what a reminder to make the most of our days, living for Him! Clara Anne would like to make the most of this morning by going swimming one last time, so it's time for me to sign off. Thanks for all of your prayers! Next time I post, we'll be in the States, Lord willing! See you on the other side!

And We're Off!

Hello everyone! I'm sorry for the long silence on our end . . . I actually had a blog post written to post on the day that we left our home in Asia, but I was thwarted. Our landlord (unhelpfully) cut off our internet access a few days early, so we had to wait until we were on the road to get access. And then we just a little bit busy relaxing, so I have neglected my blog. But here are a few pictures to show you from the past weeks! The one above is the last morning in our house--everything was completely ready and packed away, we were just waiting for our ride to the airport. The girls were enjoying sitting on the kitchen table!

Our home looked a little desolate--all packed up with plastic over everything.

Then...on to another Asian country, where we got some great pool time, even Chloe!
Here we are doing some snorkeling near a remote tropical island. Just gorgeous!

And here we were on the beach! It was lovely!

I have more stories to tell...but my internet access is about to run out. Stay tuned until next time!

And She's Off!

Chloe decided yesterday that she was tired of being immobile and longed to be off on her own adventures. After a large lunch, she was feeling happy and active, and when I put her down on the floor to play she began to do a variety of gymnastics--traditional style pushups with her arms and toes, and then her own variation with her forehead on the floor, then lying on her belly and pushing with her toes. Finally after I helped her by removing her pants, which were sliding on our wood floors and frustrating her efforts, she put her knees under her and actually started crawling!

So it's happened--she is now mobile. Watch out, Clara Anne! I think Chloe is going to give you a run for your money! Chloe has since then demonstrated several times that when she sees something that she wants, she is going to go after it and get it. We are going to have to keep a close eye on her!

As if that wasn't enough, and as if we didn't have enough things happening in family life this week, Chloe had an inconsolable afternoon today. I honestly did not know what to do for her. She had a good morning nap, a large lunch, and played well for awhile, but then would not go down for her afternoon nap. She cried and cried, so I let her get up again, but then she was fussy. She didn't want to play. She didn't want to nurse. When I put her in her highchair to try and eat some pureed food, she cried so hard she choked on her green beans. Finally I tried nursing her again, and while she was crying big tears with her mouth wide open, I saw the source of the agony . . . a little tiny pearly tooth, just barely poking through the gum. Aha. Well, that explains it (maybe). I could see it, but could only feel a very slight ridge on her gumline. So I suspect we may have a day or two more of this before it breaks all the way through.

In the meantime, I had my last meeting with my tutor yesterday. I am very thankful that I feel like I have made some progress in language learning recently! We have a big language test to take in the next few weeks so I will be glad to have that behind me, if I pass, that is! Now we are trying to do lots of packing and preparing our apartment to be vacant for 7 months, as well as saying goodbye to more friends. Lots to do this weekend!

In fact, I'd better get going! The girls are sleeping soundly so it's my chance to get some more things done. Since this was Chloe's big day, I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of her (toothless). Since these were taken in the last few days, they'll be the last toothless pictures we have of her!

Playing her toy piano on the couch!
Mama, let's have lunch!

More New Photos!

Hot off the presses! Here are some brand-spankin' new photos of the girls, taken to commemorate Clara Anne's second birthday. I just went to pick them up today!

It was funny, since Asianese couples usually only have one child, they weren't sure what to do with me and my two children for the photo package. In August when I took them both, they said it was fine to take both girls' pictures, separately and together, (altogether 10 photos in the cheapest package) for the same one price. This time they told me no, I should buy two packages, one for each girl. I tried to ask why it was different this time, but they seemed determined not to understand my Asianese. Finally I said, ok, I'll just buy one package then and use it for Clara Anne, since it was her birthday. But when we went upstairs to the photo-taking area, the photographer (who was not in on the previous conversation) immediately said, oh, let's take some of both of them! So here they are--Chloe too. We got some cute shots despite both of the girls getting crabby at various moments. The great part about getting pictures taken here is that they also gave me a CD of the 10 photos I chose, so I can freely share them with you all! Enjoy! Clara Anne on a surfin' safari!

Chloe, our elf-child, straight out of Rivendell

Clara Anne's efforts to make Chloe smile are sweetly rewarded

Hello? Emma? Grandpa? Grandma? Hello!

Jeans are so much better than those sleepers Mama used to make me wear!

Our fun-loving 2 year old girl!

The Dora Bed Adventure

Awhile back, John and I were discussing how to maintain some continuity for the girls as we are about to embark on 7 months of transition. One particular area I was concerned about was sleeping. Both of my girls are good sleepers and seem to need a lot of sleep. Since I know how I feel when they don't get enough sleep, much less how they feel, we were trying to figure out how to help them get good sleep while we're gone. They'll need to sleep in hotel rooms, at friend's homes, sometimes in the same room with us and sometimes in a separate room. We'll be at Grandpa and Grandma Roelofs' house for awhile, and at Grandma Wind's house for awhile. We'll be at a camp in Kentucky for several weeks, and at John's sister's home in New York for a week, and the list goes on. So in all of these transitions, how to maintain the same bedtime routine to help them sleep well?

For Chloe, it will be easy. We have a travel-sized pack-n-play for her that she has been sleeping in since she returned to our city after being born in a different country. So we're planning to take that along. But Clara Anne's situation required a bit more thought. She is 2 years old now, and potty-trained. She is still sleeping in a crib here at home, but only because we had not yet bought a big girl bed for her, since it really wouldn't fit in our present apartment--she and Chloe are in the same room and there isn't quite enough room for a twin bed.

But then someone suggested to us a toddler ready bed--essentially an air mattress which has a sleeping bag fitted over it. It is very portable and folds up easily, and yet gives the idea of a big-girl bed. "Perfect!" we thought. "We'll buy one and use it during January to help Clara Anne get the idea of it, and to train her to stay in it at night, and then when we travel she'll already be accustomed to it and it'll all be great!"

However, it wasn't quite that easy. We looked on Amazon.com and found a fun Dora the Explorer bed that we thought Clara Anne would love. (She still has only seen the show once or twice on DVD, but she loves the idea of Dora.) But Amazon wouldn't ship this product internationally. We decided it was important enough to pay shipping twice, so we had it shipped to my parents and then they shipped it over here. It arrived a few days after Christmas, but our first disappointment was that it wasn't the model we thought we had ordered! Bummer!

Oh well, we opened the package anyway and let Clara Anne see the bed and start to get excited about it. But, the very first day we opened it up, pumped it up and let Clara Anne lie/play on it for awhile, it wasn't too long when we noticed it was losing air. Bummer again!

Then, Clara Anne had her own ideas about the bed. She loved to play on it, put her dolls to sleep in it, etc, but anytime that I suggested that she sleep in it, she immediately cried and refused to get near it. I was truly baffled by this response. All of my entreaties were to no avail! Finally, since I didn't want to push it too much, I just let it go and let her sleep in her crib, where she obviously felt more safe and secure.

But the other night we had a breakthrough. As Clara Anne was going to bed for the night, she said, "Sleep on Dora! Sleep on Dora!" Seeing that she was sincere, I let her have the (deflated)Dora bed inside her crib, just so she could have the fun of sleeping on it, thinking that maybe in the future it would be an easier transition to sleeping on it alone. However, when I entered her room not more than 20 minutes later to help Chloe settle down a bit, I found that Clara Anne had gotten the sleeping bag part unzipped, climbed out of it by herself, and then proceeded to toss the entire thing over the side of her crib. Take that, Dora!

Since then though, we've had one successful nap on Dora outside the crib, and one night on Dora inside the crib. Maybe we're making progress! Tonight, though, Clara first wanted to sleep on Dora, then after I had gotten it all arranged she tossed Dora overboard again, and then cried for the Dora bed to be put back! Good grief, make up your mind, Clara Anne!

Since we only have a little more than a week left at home, the day is coming when Clara Anne will have no option--it's Dora or the floor-a! But we still haven't found the leak! I guess we'll add that to our list of to-dos before we leave! Until next time . . .

New Pictures!

To all of you faithfully checking my blog during the post-earthquake days, here's some pictures to reward you, now that our internet is working again. This first one shows you what a good little helper Clara Anne is in the kitchen--I was making banana bread and she mashed the bananas for me! Can you see her cute braids? Her clothes look like they could be out of the Brady Bunch 70's flower children days!

Here's a family photo from a few weeks ago; January 14, 2007. Almost everyone is smiling!

I have mentioned my house helper so many times, I thought I should show you all a picture of her. Here she is, chopping vegetables for our lunch.

Actually, that day I had taught her how to make my mom's famous Broccoli-Cheese soup, and also gave her my recipe for Buttery Breadmaker Rolls. It was a Thursday, and that means "play day" so you can see us all gathered around the table in my very small dining area. We are being a bit silly--many of our Asianese friends like to give the "peace" sign when taking pictures, so we thought we would do it for this one as well. We look a bit goofy! Maybe we were just excited to eat Western food that we didn't have to make. Mimi did a great job following my mom's recipe and resisted her Asianese impulses to approximate ingredients , so it truly tasted just like my mom's. Yum, yum!

And one last picture: story time with Emma and Clara Anne on my lap. They do love to read stories together!
And stay tuned until tomorrow, to find out how Clara Anne really feels about sleeping in a big girl's bed!