Summer Fun

We've been enjoying our summer! Robert has been off from work and Lily and I have enjoyed having him home. We've been doing a lot if fun summer activities like:

BBQ'ing.....yummy!

It's not BBQ if you don't look like this afterwards!



She LOVES corn on the cob.

Lily and Larry

We went along with Lily's best friend Rachel and her family to see Sesame Street Live. Boy was Lily excited! She had no idea where we were going. When we walked into the Nokia theater she said, "Are we going to see a show?" I wish I could have captured the expression on her face when Big Bird came onto the stage. She started jumping, laughing and clapping. What a wonderful memory!

Lily and Rachel with their Elmo balloons. They had so much fun playing together with them after the show.

We went to have breakfast with Aunt Paula and Robert took this picture of Lily afterwards. She looks like such a big girl. My baby is growing up...

Father's Day! Lily and I bought Daddy a new grill for his special day. He was very surprised and excited. We needed it...our old one was just trashed! Lily was so excited for him to see it...probably even more than he was to get it!

Sweet moment. She is truly becomming her daddy's girl.

Lily is growing up so fast. We are already preparing for her 4th birthday...it seems like just yesterday we were celebrating her 1st. She is so independent and LOVES learning! I think homeschooling is going to be a perfect fit for us. She loves working on her pre-K worksheets and practicing writing her letters. She is trying so hard to read. When I'm reading to her she will stop me if there is a word she doesn't understand and ask me what that means. She just continues to amaze us every day. She is such a sweet, caring and giving spirit.

And just to keep you up to date on her Nephrotic Syndrome, she has been prednisone free for 3 months. Both of her relapses happened right at this time so we are praying now that her urine will continue to be free from protein and there will be no relapse. So far all is well. We are so, so blessed.

Our Little Soccer Player

Lily had her first soccer practice this last Saturday. She did pretty well at first...a little shy but she handled herself pretty well. At least until the soccer coach wanted the kids to each practice being goalie by stopping the ball with their hands and then dropping and rolling on the ground. Lily did not take too kindly to that...get herself dirty? Are you kidding me? After a few...ok, several...tears were shed, she ended up having a lot of fun. I suppose a night of not enough sleep didn't help either.:o} She still wants to go back next week, so that's the good news!

Lily's team.

Practicing her kick...

Look at that face! This was taken just after one of her crying fits.:o)

Robert asked her to wave...however he negleted to tell her to look at him as well! She can be such a stinker sometimes.;o)

Random Cuteness

Practicing her numbers...

...and her letters.

This is the picture of a true California girl...cool shades and a Starbucks drink in her hand! (No, it's not coffee! This one loves chocolate milk.)

She took a look at herself in the mirror after we picked out this outfit and said, "I look stylish". I have to agree.:o) (And Shayna looks pretty cute too!)

Love that smile...

Easter 2010

Lily dressed in her Easter best looking for those candy-filled eggs!

Counting her loot after the hunt...

I had to take a picture of our delicious raspberry lemon cake from Susina Bakery. Yum!

Matthew 28: 1-7
Jesus Is Risen!
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. "Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."

Lefty or Righty?

Will she be a lefty?

Or a righty?

We aren't sure yet. So far she's still doing the ambidextrous thing. Either way, she loves writing and is so excited when she learns new letters. Her excitement for learning is really getting me even more excited about homeschooling her. What a joy it will be to teach her!

Our Little Cubbie

Here is our sweet little Cubbie on her first day at AWANA. The smiles make it very clear, I think...she LOVES it! She loves reading in her book every week. She loves memorizing her bible verse each week. Last week her name was drawn to bring home Ern E. Elephant! (He is one of the characters in the book.) She so looks forward to going every week and asks all week long, "When is it going to be Wednesday Mommy?" I am so thankful that our church offers this incredible program and that Lily is already learning to love the Word of God and is hiding it in her heart. She will have no class for the next two weeks due to the Easter break...we are going to have one sad little girl on our hands.

Her new book bag. Of course I have since stamped her name in the little white box.:o)
Her vest which is now covered with the patches she has earned for memorizing her bible verses. She started class late and had some catching up to do, but she is now all caught up and is doing so well. We are so proud of you Lilybug!

Merry Christmas!

Yes, it's a little late, but better late than never, right?;o) We had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus and trying so hard to teach Lily the real reason for the season. It is so important to us, and because she knows how important it is to us, we hope it will become important to her. Now of course we did our fare share of "helping the economy" this year as well. How could we not when we get smiles like this??:o)

Mommy went a little overboard this year with the stockings...we needed 2 of them to hold all of her stuff!

She was so excited to see this feather boa! Every time we go to Michael's she wants to go see the "feathers". And to think she used to be afraid of them.


Her favorite show now is "Super Why". She absolutely loves it, and it's educational too!:o) Princess Presto is her favorite and daddy found this great dress up outfit for her.

Lily loves all things kitchen related. She got some new Kitchen Littles this year...many thanks to Mantha and Jenny.:o)

These "Fur Real" toys are amazing! They move and make noises and are just adorable! Lily named hers "Effie Flower Panda" and caries her around like a real baby. She is a very good Mommy to Effie.

And the "piece de resistance" (said with a perfect French accent of course)...

I only wish I had captured the actual look on her face when she saw this, but my little point and shoot camera was a little slow. Let's just say she was VERY excited...and that is a big understatement.

This face made it all worth it.:o)

We have had many delicious meals made by Lily in her kitchen. It is so nice, I told her it's even nicer than mommy's kitchen...to which she responded, "Yes but my kitchen doesn't have a dishwasher...or a toaster!".

We had a lovely Christmas celebrated with our family and a great friend (who makes amazing rolls by the way!) After the holidays were over, it came time to "clean up Christmas". When I mentioned this to Lily, she kept asking about her kitchen and if we could give it to her again next year. I didn't understand at first, but finally figured out what was going on in her head. She thought that by "cleaning up Christmas" it meant we were going to put all of her new presents away until next year! Poor sweet thing. She just loves that kitchen so much and even though she thought we were going to put it away, she didn't get upset, but simply asked if she could get it again next year. Boy...what a sweet and precious girl we have. To this day she still says, "Thank you for my kitchen mommy. ILOVE it!". We are so blessed.