I couldn't pick just one... She sure loves animals!

Iron Chef

I finally made it out to MOPS this year... I haven't been in a long time! But my good friend crystal was in charge and was doing iron chef and really wanted me to come! Last year I rotated between MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) and MMO ( moms morning out) in chemainus, but this year with Adessa in school three full days, I enjoy my mornings just Amara and I. 

Anyways I was happy to make it out to this morning, it was very fun... Helps that my team won! 

We were broken into teams, had to answer questions to go pick our seven ingredients, one at a time to create two different dishes- one sweet and one savoury. I had the idea for the mine bagels, with cream cheese mixed with a chipotle seasoning, topped with a slice of ham and then a slice of avocado... It was delicious. Our dessert was a tart, with cream cheese mixed with pudding and topped with kiwi. The secret ingredient was lemon that everyone had to add and we had it in both. They both won the competition! Quite exciting as we won Starbucks gift cards. 

Amara also seemed to have fun, and I reconnected with some ladies I haven't seen in awhile... Perhaps I will start going again! 

Crystal and I have been out biking a couple of times in the last couple of weeks. The first time the week was gorgeous, and we chose to go the one day it was down pouring... Thankfully I had an umbrella in the van and the girls still had fun all cozy with their blanket. Good excercise for me- but even better for Meeko as he runs full out the entire time! 

Sad news however... My friend crystal is moving off the island in a couple of months. She is the friend who challenges me so much with excercise and always pushes me! And I get to use her bikes! She will missed a lot! I also always enjoy our deep conversations about God... She is quite the thinker! 

First campfire of the year!

Saturday was a day of chores. Even though we are only renters- Steve decided to prune the fruit trees in the front of the house. Apparently they hadn't been pruned in about 15 years. So it took Steve a day and a half to prune the four trees and they now look bare! The girls both had birthday parties in the afternoon, but not before we put them to work hauling branches to the fire pit at the back of the house. Between this weekend and last, our burn pile was massive! After Steve was done pruning, he took the gasoline and started a massive fire. And that took him the rest of the day! When Danika was dropped off from her party, the dollman family was hanging around so we invited them for a hot dog roast. Except we had no hot dogs, so I ran a few girls home to their house after the parties, Chelsea ran to get food and Steve took Dustin to pick up some new to us furniture for amara room. I have been looking for a new dresser for her room but ended up getting a smoking deal on a whole bedroom suite for Amaras room- a sleigh bed, night stand and dresser. And it is gorgeous! 

The first fire of the year... The weather has been so gorgeous it is really starting to feel like spring! We ate hot dogs and then made s'mores. 

Adessa was counting all the signs of spring the other day... Here is her list

- flowers blooming

- the lambs across the street have all been born... We love watching them! 

- cutting our lawn

- bumblebees

-robins

- blue sky and warm sun! 

My happy girl eating her hot dog... This didn't last long as she quickly got grumpy and went down for an early night... And then was sick the next day. My poor baby. 

All the 

All the pretty girls roasting hot dogs! 

Picnic

This past week has been gorgeous. On Tuesday we went for a visit at the Nagtegaal farm and 

Ended up having a picnic outside because the porch was reading +17. The girls ran around in the fields with the chickens. Amara has to see the cows, every single time we visit the farm, she either screams to go see the moo moo's or takes off in that direction. Amara is truly a farm girl, she loves all the animals and just strolls around outside finding flowers or bugs to pick up. I love it! 

100 days of school

To celebrate 100 days of school, the kindergarten class was told to dress up as one hundred year olds. Here is Adessa as a little old lady... She had fun playing the part! 

French Beach

Today was awesome. Another GORGEOUS day on the island and we were fortunate enough to be out in it! This morning at church Steve spoke and did an awesome job sharing a slideshow and what God had layed on his heart about his time in the Dominican. It is so neat, because several men after church came up to Steve and said they were all interested in going next year with the Made To Last team. So excited to see what God has in store!

After church we rushed home, ate lunch and then headed out towards Sooke and to French Beach. The sun was shining and it was Glorious! 

Meeko swam non-stop... 

 This little sweetie walked the whole time and only ate a bit of sand. She loved splashing in the mud!

 These pictures took my breath away... and I couldn't choose a favorite. These girls played together all afternoon... Sisters Forever!

The girls worked on this awesome fort with their daddy... He is so good with his girls. 

 Selfies of us all after thoroughly enjoying ourselves!

 This little girl adores her daddy... as do the rest of us! xoxo

My girls and I... how lucky am I?!? 

 Adessa's class is celebrating 100 day tomorrow, and she has to bring 100 of something. So we decided to collect 100 pebbles since the beach was covered! Perfect way to end the day!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Yesterday the girls had a valentines party at their school. So they had to make their token valentines cards... Except this year they both did them completely on their own! I gave them botha class list and away they went. Adessa wrote all her own and did amazing! In the morning I gavethe girls both a heart hair-do. They looked adorable and apparently received quite the compliments.Itis so fun having little girls! 

They both had a wonderful day at school- both coming home with a box of goodies. Then in the evening I took Danika to Awana at church where we played games, Jason gave an awesome message and the kids learned some more bible verses. Then we ended with a beautiful valentines craft and the kids got to visit the awana store to buy some gifts for their families for valentines day. 

The beautiful valentines shirts that came in the mail from grandma for the girls...

Valentines morning, we were up bright and early, I made the girls heart pancakes, whipped cream and pink sprinkles then Meagan came over and Steve and I headed to Victoria. It was a gorgeous day out! We met some lovely friends for brunch at the blue fox in victoriA... A fantastic breakfast joint we had to wait an hour to get into! But it was worth it! As we were waiting for our food at our table, tom and Kathy Watson walked past outside! It was bizarre! Such a small world. 

We had an awesome morning visiting and laughing our heads off... We haven't seen these guys in over 6 months and then we get to hang out twice in two weeks! So special! 

The boys 

Steve and I did our token costco run sans children and picked up some flowers for both our little girls and a little bouquet for Meagan as well. When we got home the house was spotless and there were some beautifully decorated cookies awaiting us! The girls had so much fun with Meagan... As always. We are blessed to have such a wonderful babysitter who has become life family as she watches our girls grow up! 

Lots of love for this girl! 

The rest of the afternoon was spent outside pruning trees. We spent hours and the girls went back in forth from jumping on the trampoline and helping carry branches to the burn pile. We gained about 6 feet of parking space just by cutting back branches! We will hopefully have a big bonfire tomorrow... Or of it is this nice hopefully head out to the beach somewhere. 

In the evening we all cuddles and rented Alexander and the no good, awful, very bad day ( or something like that!) it is such a fantastic movie... Second time watching it and we just love it!!! 

Happy valentines day!!!! Xoxoxo 

Amara Turns Two!!!

How did this happen!?! My sweet little baby is all grown up and I truly felt like I blinked and it happened!
Amara Emilie Grace.... you are a ball of joy and we all cherish you. The other night at dinner the girls were talking and Danika said, "Sometimes I feel like Amara isn't real... like she is just our doll." But then she laughed and said, " But then she reminds me she's real when she starts screaming or scratches my face!" We all had a good laugh. But seriously, we cannot imagine our life without her. She has made our family complete and her big sisters love her to pieces!
Amara's vocabulary has started to increase and she is a little copy cat! She usually repeats the last word of every sentence you say... so we REALLY have to be careful! haha! But her favorite new line is, "NO... Don't want too." So matter of fact. And we can't help but laugh. Oh dear... this little girl is soo spoiled and I am afraid she is getting away with more than the other two did... but we won't tell Steve that! ;)

Fun Facts about Amara...
-She is still very petite. Weighing in at 22 lbs.  and still wearing 18 mos to size 2.
-She is gorgeous! (I am biased!)
- She loves her blanket and her soother. However we are trying to contain the soother to her crib.
- She is the best sleeper in the world! She has been averaging 13 hours of sleep per night and a 1.5-2 hour nap each afternoon. Seriously... we put her to bed at 7 pm and often have to wake her up at 8 am or else I leave her at home, drop the girls off at school (Steve's home) and then when I get back I get her up and feed her breakfast.
- She is HILARIOUS... she makes us all laugh on a daily basis, with her funny faces and things she says.
- No interest whatsoever in potty training... but she is starting to hide in a corner when she goes #2.
- She is my little sidekick, she is going through a mommy phase of always wanting me... but for the most part I don't mind!
- She still does not cuddle, but she loves reading books. And we often find her sitting on the ground, intently studying a book by herself.
- She loves her dolls and barbies and is starting to play house, and make them food in her play kitchen.
- She likes to help me bake... but she makes a disaster and its frustrating, so I usually wait until she is sleeping!
- She LOVES being outside... she is happiest walking by herself. She does not like holding hands and she could hike forever... such great endurance!
- She picks out her own pjs and clothes now... and is adamant in her choices!
- Very strong willed and knows what she wants
-She loves treats and would eat them all day if she could!
- Becoming quite picky at dinner time
- She is loved by everyone who meets her and is not one tiny bit shy!

Yesterday we had a birthday party for Amara that the big sisters helped plan. It was a cow theme, and the girls spent most of their day off on Tuesday making white cups, balloons and a table cloth into a cow theme. They were so excited to help plan her big day! Danika has been sewing at school during recess with her teacher and she made a beautiful banner that says Amara. For the birthday cake, it was made from scratch, cake and icing. So the night before the party, the girls and I had fun, putting the 2 layer cake together and frosting it into a cow.
It was crazy and chaotic after school with tons of people (I didn't have a chance to count!) but we were overwhelmed with the amount of love for this little girl, and blessed with some pretty cute little gifts. Her favorite being a little cow she named Moo Moo from the Nagtegaals and a penguin from the dollmans that actually waddles on the ground. Thankfully the weather wasn't too rainy and the kids were on the trampoline quite a bit... that trampoline has been FANTASTIC! The girls babysitter Meagan, and her sister Lauren came to the party and were AMAZING helpers... the girls took turns taking pictures and cleaned my entire kitchen, including unloading the dishwasher! And their mom also stopped by with a beautiful little outfit for Amara from Hawaii, hula outfits for the big girls and chocolate for Steve and I... we are so blessed to have the Anderson family in our lives!
But we sure did miss our family a lot... wish we could have birthday parties with them too!!! My mom sent a package for the girls and it arrived right before the party. Beautiful shirts for Amara... she picked out the Horse one and would only wear that one, and some new shirts for the girls for their valentine party at school today!

Here is the "Happy Birthday" video... It is very loud... and the candle is very high pitched... and we are not singing with it at all! But it's a cute memory!

Family Day

This morning I woke up with a rash on my body that has steadily been getting worse every day since Friday morning. My legs are covered in a raised rash and it's creeped right to my toes and hands! My whole body is covered. I slept fine, so thankfully it is not itchy, but Steve sent me to the dr. And since it's a holiday, every single walk in clinic is closed. So I headed to emerg at the hospital and walked into a lovely face saving my spot in line. My dear friend, Sharon has been in the hospital with her youngest son, originally brought there by ambulance due to a scary all nighter with croup. They were sent home the following day and then were brought back that evening for the poor guy and got to leave this morning. So we had a big hug and they were off to say goodbye to their grandma in Victoria for the last time. My heart and prayers were with their family today. 

After waiting a few hours at the hospital, the dr came in and said it was a delayed reaction to the antibiotics I was on for the infection from my wisdom teeth. So apparently I am allergic to chlydamycin. He said there is nothing he can give me and it will probably take a week for it to clear up. 

When I got home we had a nice low key day. Steve and the girls went in the hot tub for a long time while I baked some bread and cake for bible study. We ended up sending the dessert along because our babysitter was sick and I don't feel so great either! We watched Swiss family Robinson this evening with the girls and it was a big hit! Steve's favorite show from childhood.

The beautiful picture Adessa drew for me... The whole family! I love it! 

Fun With The Lowes

Nathan, Amelia and their puppy atlas came up for the weekend from Victoria. This little family holds a special place in our hearts. Steve and Nathan worked together at camp Qwanoes for a year and then Steve was in their wedding party. We've kept in touch and our girls are always excited to see them too. Amelia started playing with the girls right away... They were in heaven! 

A little walk before our huge homemade pizza dinner. They boys and their dogs...

Fun with Amelia!

Met our friends at the park to play for a bit

Puppies this summer...

Meeko and Atlas at 7 months. 

Nathan and Adessa have a special little bond. Team Adessa, Nathan, cupcake playing Yahtzee

Team owl

And the boys layed down to rest for a bit... They are best friends!