Belle, Snow White, and Baby Christopher

Christopher continues to grow and thrive and is a charming little soul. The week ahead brings some medical tests for him and we are praying that his health issue has resolved itself. He has clearly "rocked" his sisters' world but at the same time he has brought joy and fun to their daily lives.
I was able to stay with the girls for a few hours one day this past week while Mommy and Chris ran errands and grocery shopped. Soon after arriving I was informed that Chloe and Claire were now Belle and Snow White. I was to be the Mommy of Belle and Snow White (who were apparently sisters....who knew that???) and was clearly directed into my role for the day.

Below Belle and Snow White had flowers for their Mommy. They also baked and cooked and gathered berries and other fruit for me to eat as well. Snow White (Claire) made me a "banana cream apple pie" which she carefully rolled out like dough, and baked in her oven.
When lunch time came I told them I would fix the lunch. Neither of the girls have been too keen on grilled cheese sandwiches but I decided to try again. Claire insisted that I wasn't doing it correctly and that she wouldn't like it. Below you can see her comments after tasting her sandwich. I had no sooner put the plate in front of her and she quickly took a bite. They ate a whole sandwich between them. Chloe, who at this point in time is a better eater than Claire, decided her sandwich was "yummy". Besides liking her lunch, Claire declared that she has an "amazing life". That she does...I won't argue with her.

On Thursday, our long time, dear, family friend, Gayle, cooked dinner for the family at their home. This is a gift she occasionally does for a family that has a new baby. She invited me to come along which of course I was happy to do. What a great idea it turned out to be. Chloe and Claire helped her make brownies when we first arrived, and then were in and out of the kitchen "helping", until their cousin Richard arrived with his Daddy, Uncle John, for a weekend visit.

Richard and Christopher pose for a picture. This was Richard's fist time meeting Christopher.


Richard, Paula, and Christopher.

Uncle John (Paula's brother) and Christopher pose. Uncle John was actually getting a little rest as he posed for this picture. He had, for more than an hour, experienced a good workout playing with the girls and Richard. They were all so excited to see each other and they did not let up on the physical activity. I am sure they had a wonderful weekend of visiting.

Wow, March is nearly here already and Christopher is one month old. I am looking forward to my time with the grandchildren this next week.

Snow!!!

Aunt Suzie had some time off this past week and came up with a great idea to take Claire and Chloe to the movies to see the new show, Gnomeo & Juliet. Sounded like a good idea to me and even Papa decided to come along. We made the trip to their home, bundled them up, and headed out for a quick lunch and a movie. Mommy and Daddy looked like they could really use a few hours of quiet. Just as we pulled into the restaurant the snow really began to come down. We ate lunch and watched it get whiter and whiter outside. As we drove to the theater at a bit of a higher elevation in town, we were surprised to see so much snow on the roofs and in the yards. The best part of the whole thing was to hear the excitement and giggles coming from the girls as they took it all in. Below you see them "testing the waters" before we went into the movie.

There were not many others at the theater and we were the only ones in our particular movie. I think they were trying to save on heat because the place was COLD!!!!

We all enjoyed the movie and came out to even more snow in the parking lot and area.

It was great to get the twins out and about because they had been housebound more than normal the previous few days because of weather. Christopher didn't get to come this time but give it a couple of years and he can tag along as well.

Today was Christopher's fist day at church and I was amazed that the whole family made it to the early service, no less. Wow! It is all Papa and I can do sometimes to make it on time and we have only us to dress.

Hope your week is great!!!

Happy Valentine's Day !!

Christopher is thriving and growing. He has gained almost one pound in his 2 weeks of life.

Claire and Chloe are definitely feeling the change in the family but are doing pretty well sharing Mommy and Daddy.

Below the girls are "building stairs" with their books. That activity kept them occupied for quite a while until it was a bit warmer to venture outside. Many of the books we had read that morning, but then suddenly they were bringing more and more to complete their project.

Teeth brushed, hair combed, it must be time to go outside!

We did experience some incredible weather this past week so we took advantage of it. The girls love to play with their sidewalk chalk.

Claire drew a spider......

Working on the nature walk in front of their house. Moving tiny little rocks from one place to another.

Studying the rocks and finding special things about many of them.

Not sure why Chloe wanted a picture of the "striped" rock but I quickly granted that request!

Claire is telling me about her artwork with chalk.

Back inside Claire and Chloe spend some time inside their giant exercise ball.

Claire cuddling with Christopher.

Christopher waiting for Mommy to come feed him again.

Aunt Suzie planned a great activity to do with the girls today. They made Valentine cupcakes and had a super time. Here Claire is concentrating on cracking an egg. Only one egg landed on the floor which I thought was quite an achievement for three year old cooks.

The red cake batter made for wonderful licking at every opportunity.

Chloe even got some on her arm that had to be tasted too!

A couple of samples that Aunt Suzie frosted.

Claire and Chloe begin their own decorating projects. They wanted pink and purple in addition to the white frosting.

Mommy and Christopher watch as the girls work on their cupcake creations.

And which would you rather do, frost cupcakes or hold Christopher? Christopher was an easy choice for me.

Frost a little, eat a lot!

Chloe shows her satisfaction in her afternoon of fun. Claire and Chloe also managed to squeeze in some Valentine making using construction paper and lots of stickers. Hopefully they even had time for a little nap after Aunt Suzie, Papa, and I left.

The text has a mind of its own on this posting. For some reason certain parts of it want to be "center justified" rather than to the left margin. Oh well, guess you can still read it.....Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Fabulous Sunshine!!

Chloe is always interested in helping in the kitchen. She helped prepare a dinner for the family by stirring the sauce for the pork chops that were put in the crock pot. It turned out quite tasty, I'm told, and today the girls ate a bit more of the leftovers for their lunch.

Precious little Christopher is doing what 1-2 week old babies do best, eating and sleeping! He is such a good baby his Mommy and Daddy report. He had to undergo another procedure this week which had to really be uncomfortable for him. He was a trooper and we are hoping and praying that his problems will be resolved very, very, soon.

Papa and Chloe, and then Papa and Claire, are reading a really special book about being a big sister. So far, they are terrific big sisters.

The end of the week has provided us with spectacular weather. Warm, sunny days and not so cold nights. The girls have had lots of outdoor time, I'm told, and today was no different. The creek behind their house has, and is, going to be a continual source of entertainment and learning for Claire, Chloe and eventually for Christopher.

Their self designed project for the day was getting rocks out of the creek and putting them into a pile. They likened it to a family of rocks, often describing the rocks as certain family members, daddy, mommy, brother, sister, etc. They also told me they were finding fossil rocks and would describe the rocks as "very special" or "this one is a beauty".

Oooppps! Chloe sat down in the creek!


After a good amount of creek time we ventured to the front where they decided to work in their garden.

Lunch was left over spaghetti (from Uncle Superman's birthday dinner out), left over pork chops, and fresh pears. Claire is showing us once again how Uncle Superman taught her to twist her spaghetti on her fork. I think she did a little too much twisting on this bite.

To top off this week we enjoyed a great Superbowl. Congratulations Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers!!!