?????

We've touched on this topic before, its not a new concept for her. So WHAT would make my daughter think that its OK to take her stuffed animal for a swim in the toilet bowl along with the poopies she just deposited there??? WHY....Why...why...???

Thankful

Today my husband picked up my renewed visa from the immigration office. This is a yearly (annoying) rig-a-ma-roll that simply comes with the territory of international marriages. Anyhow, despite the extra "step" they added in for us this time and roughly an extra 80 bucks above and beyond what it usually costs, I still count this as hands down the most smooth and eventless visa "gettage" in seven years of marriage. And for that...I am very greatful! To GOD be all the glory and praise! : )

TWO!!!

My baby boy...is two years old...and quickly leaving behind all that is "baby". He's running headlong towards, dirt, mud, snails and puppy dog's tails, taunting his sister, terrorizing our poor rabbit, demonstrating his growing independance and will, devolping a unique sense of humor, and wriggling with constant energy and joy at life and all the adventures and discoverys it holds for him. He is sensitive, organized, loving, cuddly, strong willed and fun loving. He gives the best hugs and kisses in the the world, and when he wants more attention than he's getting, climbs up in my lap, puts one hand on each of my cheeks, pulls on my face until we have very close proximity eye contact and then whispers seriously, "Mooooommy". For all this and more, I love you, Buddy! Happy second birthday!

I'm not one for big bashes, we had a cake and a couple friends over to share it with.

I have never taken a class or recieved real instruction on cake making, so I take pride in what I come up with for my kids...I think I'm improving enought that by the time they are old enough to care I won't embarass them too bad! : )
He was a little overwhelmed by the attention so we didn't get many smiles on the camera, but the candles did tug out a little grin.

During this last calendar year Mic has caught on to what "Birthday" means and was beside herself with excitment about every detail of the "special day", as she kept proclaiming it again and again.

Tasting the cake.

Cars!!! This was the first gift and afterwards nothing much else was of interest to him. He would only agree to help open the others as long as a car was in one hand.

And thats the cap on turning two!

The Coast

O.K. this is it. The last picture post from our trip. Shortly before we left for home, Bob and Mom and all of Mom's offspring were able to work out a somewhat impromtu two day trip to the coast. It went by real quick, but sure was a lot of fun. Heres a few pics...

It was little D's first time to the beach

We had gorgous weather the first day

And spent almost all day on the beach

Cousins

Finally warming up to the texture of sand!

Evening bonfire

And hot dog roast

Still working on the "castles"

Singing

The next morning we went to the Marine Science Center

And then visited some tidal pools

Thanks for coming along on the picture journey of some of our summer adventures. My kids had such a special time this summer with Grandma, Grandpa Bob, Aunties, Uncles and Cousins. And me? ...My heart is full of great memories and snapshots that I plan to store carefully away.

A Grand Ol' Time

These two were a hoot together!

They especially liked to ag each other on at the table,

Can't you just about hear that belly laugh!? It was great.
Cousin Hannah helping give the ride on an evening walk

Blowing dandy lion puffs

We barely squeaked a visit in with Uncle Titus before he left for Romania,

Mic was very happy to see him!

Auntie Val did the honors of the pre-wedding hair cut...

Bribing him with a blueberry...

It tickles!!!

Finishing touches...

Whew! We're done. Good job, Auntie!

Playing dress up

My kids tried out water colors for their first time

Their cousins helped them learn.

Another favorite activity was a couple evenings that we spent at the park

It always easier to be brave, when a cousin is doing it too!

Whee, what fun!

Of course there is more, but I figured that's probably more than enough for now! I might do one more picture post of our trip later before I move back to real life again here on my blog. We got home on Friday evening safe and sound. We're working hard at unpacking, resettling, refilling the fridge, restarting hubby's business, and all that good stuff. We have some pretty intense visa paper work coming up for me and now that I have the materials I need to get organized enough to officially start kindergarten sometime this month for Mic. So, never a dull moment is to be had!

I would close by asking for a few extra prayers for Mic as she adjusts to being home again. There's been a lot of excitement and change in our lives over the last five weeks and she is definitely the family member having the hardest time with all that. She has a delicate digestive system and all the emotional upheaval seems to go straight to her gut. I am confident in the Lord to pull her through, but in the meantime it means dealing with the guessing game of feeding cuts, working on maintaining nutrition and fluids while trying to avoid and the extra vomiting. Its just not very fun to see her down, nor is it fun trying to decide whether or not to put another ounce in her tummy just to see it all come flying back up.