Its been a while...

I've been just barely keeping up with the basics of home & family, while working through my latest bout with depression.  I feel like I've got my feet back under me now, and that my girls are getting all the attention and stimulation they need.
So! What else is new around here?
Camila is starting to talk! Very fun for all of us - especially her! I mean, it's not "English" but it is getting closer, and some words are recognizable even if you're not her mom! For example, "cookie" - she's got that one Nailed!
Jeff just finished a big two week maintenance outage at the plant. Ugh, always stressy and he never gets enough sleep.
Liv is using her "potty power" every day and most nights, too! We are all very proud of her!
The computer totally choked on its OS. It was so bad we had to send it out for repair... crazy! Jeff can always fix these things, it was ugly! So, I was essentially off line for a while there. The upside is that we also purchased a new tablet computer & so far we really like it.
The binky fairy came to our house recently. Its been a little hard to get used to, and the girls cried for their binkies sometimes. We still miss them on occasion, but not too much.  We're all doing ok, now. I never intended the binky to be such a Thing, for So Long. Sigh, hopefully no permanent damage done.
Jeff is off to Vegas with his brothers-in-law for the annual goof trip --ooops. I probably meant: "golf" trip.
Liv has a cute new haircut. And I think she's grown some more. She is dancing on this line between toddler (baby) and almost-a-big-kid. Its quite interesting to observe (and share, and guide) her excitement as well as her reluctance.
I'm sorry that haven't taken pictures or video recently, but I'll get some up here soon. Promise!

Bike Party

We went to a very fun bike riding party with the MOMS club. They roped off the cul-de-sac and big kids (out of school for spring break) and all the usual preschoolers rode their scooters, bikes, trikes, skateboards; shared hotdogs & mac-n-cheese. While moms and babies sat in the yard on our camp chairs & blankets. What a fun event!

Easter

Easter brought more fun and together time. The girls loved finding treats in the eggs.

Jelly Bean!!

mmm, jelly bean!

then the Easter Egg Hunt at the Driving Range...

Easter Egg Hunt with MOMS Club

Yesterday we had a fun Easter Egg Hunt & BBQ with the MOMS Club at a park in town -- very fun!

I thought I might get a cute posed Easter Pic of the sisters.

Hmmm.... NO.

hahaha

 almost...

I did catch a couple nice shots of pretty Livvie.

And some fun candids of the hunt!

JELLY BEANS

Hot Dogs!

Camila signing "swing"



Liv Turns Three

okay, okay... Liv turned three almost a month ago.  I'm a slacker. Sigh.

It was a very good day. Even Camila, who still had a touch of pink-eye, had a good day. We had a couple playmates over, who really needed a place to hang out - even with the risk of conjuctivitis. The day started with princess dresses!

Now skipping ahead to cake & presents. 

Liv wanted every thing in purple, even the cake. Weird, but that's what she wanted.

"Happy Birthday to Me!"

Our dear neighbors joined us, in person, for cake & presents 

and Grandpa & Grandma Ruoss in CT joined us virtually via Skype! ... how cool is that!!!?

Liv got almost everything on her wish list -- everything but the pinwheel -- plus a few bonus presents -- WHAT a lucky girl!!

Angelina was an extra from Auntie Kim, and a big hit!

hello...?

Um, yeah. We're still here. All is well. I just haven't been blogging. I'll try to catch up.
Lets see. Liv turned three! woo hoo!! Grandma and Grandpa King came for a nice visit. And lots of just nice fun days with friends -- and at home by ourselves.

i'll try to catch up.

A Spring Project: Gingerbread Bird House

While Grandpa and Grandma King were visiting at the end of March, I took advantage of their expertise (and a bunch of extra grownups on site) to try our hand at creating a gingerbread bird house (a cute idea I saw in a catalog). I was really pleased with the results! but couldn't have completed it by myself with the kiddos!

We used an old pattern I had on hand for a traditional gingerbread cottage.

But decorated it with bright spring colors and jelly beans, instead of peppermint sticks and icicles.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the actual decorating process. Which is always the most fun. but grandma and I had FOUR preschoolers helping us that day, and there were no extra hands or eyes behind the camera. We had great help and it shows in the cheerful and sweet finished product!

The only thing that competes with the fun of decorating is eating it!

Because it is such a small house we were able make it with a soft delicious cookie dough instead of a stiffer, tougher dough we use for the big houses. YUM!

A couple days ago, Liv woke up from her nap and told me this long story about making a gingerbread bird house. Rolling out the dough, using yellow and purple (her favorite!) frosting, and Jelly Beans! And stars on the roof, Jeremy decorating the roof, with purple (her favorite) and yellow stars, and grandma making it pretty with (lots of hand waving here) yellow criss-crossing frosting. And the windows, and flower sprinkles that grandma made (??) and put in the little jar with the red screw-on top. And then we ate a hole in it. And then we ate a BIG hole in it!

Fun to share her memories.