Honestly ... They Get Cuter Everyday!!!

I'm not sure when I last wrote ... so I thought I'd better drop in ... for those loyal readers who check our blog!!

Last weekend the girls and I enjoyed a visit with Auntie Icki (that's Vicki to the rest of the world). She came from Florida for a long weekend and we all had a great time!! Oh, we also froze our butts off!

One cute thing is that Vicki recently colored her hair ... much darker than it has ever been. When she arrived last week ... it was late in the evening ... so the girls didn't see her until the next morning. After Juliya went to wake her up ... she (Juliya) came downstairs and found a framed photo of Auntie Icki (with her formerly highlighted blonde hair) and brought it back up stairs. Then she started telling us "dis Icki!! dis Icki!" ... she was trying to say she wanted "this Icki ... with blonde hair!" But eventually she forgot about Icki's hair color and just enjoyed having her here!

Nataliya's funny line for this week happened yesterday. Let me set it up. Nataliya really likes Mommy to carry her ... it is her preferred mode of transportation! :o) So, I have said to her on many occasions "what ... are your legs broken?" So yesterday I was carrying her from the van into the library when about half way through the parking lot she says "Taliya legs broken!" (in her cute little voice) and I laughed sooooooooooooo hard! It just cracked me up that she pulled it out of the blue!

Tonight we had a house full of people from the church planter's assessment center. It was so fun to have a houseful ... it took Chris and I both back to some of our favorite days of pastoring ... that of having lots of people in our home ... connecting ... enjoying themselves, etc. The girls were gone with friends for about half of the evening ... then came home and delighted everyone with their presence. We were so proud of how they handled having a house full of strangers when they came home. Warming up sweetly to those who spoke to them ... playing ... being themselves ... saying goodbye, etc. What little darlings they are!!!

Well, this Mommy is going to bed!!

I'm Flattered!!

Here are some pictures of our latest crazy game with Daddy. Jump down the stairs ... from the landing ... into Daddy's arms (he is standing at the bottom)! They love it!! It certainly shows the trust they have in their Daddy to catch them!! Nataliya with her piggies ... waiting in the van for her teacher to come get her for school ... and the girls talking on their cell phones! BTW, Nataliya picked out her own clothes ... she was into stripes that day!! Yes, the phones are real ... but they (obviously) don't have cell service ... but don't tell them! :o)

If "imitation is the highest form of flattery" ... then I'm very flattered. Our sweet Juliya is forever imitating much of what I do (for good and for bad!!). When I'm cooking ... she's cooking, when I'm typing on my computer ... she's typing on hers, when I'm folding laundry ... she's folding laundry, when I'm talking ... she's talking. Sometimes I find it so hard to carry on a real conversation ... b/c she echoes just about everything I say (with a phone up to her ear or making hand gestures as I do)! Yes ... this keeps me careful about what is coming out of my mouth (including my tone of voice!). I really just chalk it up to her developing her language skills!

The girls LOVE to pretend. They pretend to be lots of other people ... or piggies or puppies or ... well you just never know!! Juliya will often decide in her head who she wants to "be" ... but she can't remember their name. So, she begins patting her chest and looking at me with a big question mark ... as if to say "what's my name?" So I begin guessing ... starting with the people we have most recently been with! I'm getting pretty good at this guessing thing!! :o)

This week the girls have a special treat to look forward to. Their Auntie Icki (Vicki) is coming from Florida for a 5 day visit. We will have a wonderful time with her ... I can hardly wait!!! I'll tell you all about it next weekend.

A First

Yesterday I took the girls to meet a friend who wanted to keep them overnight. They were excited to go ... as our friend is a TON of fun ... so they always love to be with her. She actually lives close ... but she was taking the girls to see her family. Nataliya was saying "Mommy no go. Mommy stay" as we approached the drop off spot ... but once she saw our friend she was excited to go with her.

So ... Chris and I had about 30 hours without our darlings. It was quiet. It was relaxing. It was refreshing. Oh, and did I mention it was quiet?!?! We went to dinner, did a little shopping, watched football (of course ... it's the playoffs ... I can't miss any games now!!).

Now for today ... my amazing husband really pulled out all of the punches. He took my place at church. I direct and teach our children's ministry ... but he did it all. I stayed home, slept in, drank coffee, stayed in my jammies, drank more coffee ... b/c it was hot and yummy and no one was interrupting me ... read my Bible, journaled, prayed ... ahhhh it was wonderful. Wow! What a husband I have. Oh wait ... he did more ... yesterday while I was out (delivering the girls and working on some church stuff) ... he took ALL of our Christmas decorations down (tree included), packed it all up, stored it all back in the basement and cleaned the house. I know ... I have an awesome husband! I'm very grateful ... and blessed!!

The little ones are home now. It was wonderful to wrap my arms around them again. I think one night away was just the right amount for all of us (at this point in life).

Tomorrow we are back in the swing of things ... dance, gymnastics and school on Tuesday.

I'm headed to bed (I've had such a rough day!!). Not really ... but I do want to be prepared for tomorrow!!

Already a New Year!!

Ok ... so life got a little busy with Christmas! :o) Blogging was way on the back burner!!

We had a wonderful "first" Christmas with the girls (we had been home for 10 days last year). We had good friends spend Christmas with us and we made lots of great memories. Their boys, Zach and Seth just adore the girls ... so there were many sweet moments!

We first met our friends Jeff & Janna when they were in college at Black Hills State University and they attended our church. Chris was privileged to perform their marriage ceremony and to dedicate both of their babies. We all lived in Madison, WI at the same time and planted a church there. Now they live in the Chicago area now ... so they made the wintry trek over here to spend Christmas with us.

We also had a great time with Grampy and Bushka (Chris' parents) ... as they live just over the highway from us! Needless to say ... it was fun for everyone to have little ones around for Christmas!! They prepared a wonderful Christmas dinner for all of us

On Christmas Eve we had a houseful of friends for our traditional Christmas Eve Mexican dinner. This year we added a pinata for all the kids ... it was lots of fun!!

The girls are terrified of Santa. I've heard them say dozens of times "no like Santa ... like Snowman better!" So we didn't have Santa visit the house ... that would have freaked them out!!!

Happy New Year!

Pictures are on a separate post.