Favorite Videos

I haven't perfected the art of posting videos to the blog, so I haven't done it much over the years.  Either blogger made it easier, or I got smarter, but either way, I conquered it this weekend (mostly).  So, I wanted to post these videos - some of our favorites - from long ago.

Madison learning to ride her bike.  Check out her impressive save at about the 8 second mark!

Madison had a little trouble with the "sm" sound.  We had a little fun when she let us know how "smart" (or was it "fart"?) Daddy was!

Ellie talking on her phone - a remote.  I don't know what she was saying or who she was talking to, but it was a good conversation.  She still likes the phone!

Ellie doing the "Monster Boogie" in her Halloween outfit.

Ellie reading a book.  At around 40 seconds she falls off her chair.  Her reaction cracks me up every. single. time.

We found this hidden gem from Ellie.  She apparently video-ed herself (multiple times!).  I don't know if this was a prayer or what, but it was the last clip of about 5 of things she was glad about or thankful for.

Sometimes, there was a little rivalry for video time.  In this clip, we had been videoing Ellie relishing her first (?) corn on the cob experience.  Madison wanted to make sure we knew that she, too, could eat her corn!

But the girls have always had fun together.  Meal times, even now, get long because they can't stop making each other giggle.  I forgot how young it had started!

Thanks for taking this walk down memory lane.  I take a lot of pictures, but when I have a chance to go back and watch these clips, I can't help but wish I would take a few more videos mixed in with my pictures!

Winter Olympics Throwback

As a tribute to the upcoming Olympics, I dug these videos out of our archives.  This was from four years ago.  Madison and Ellie were watching the figure skaters and were trying to mimic their moves.  You can see in Ellie's video that she tries to "lift her leg" in the air for the spins - doesn't quite work and she couldn't quite figure it out!

Reading

We invited Grandma and Grandpa over for waffles, spoon dip/dutch honey, and white sauce one night last week when Jeremy was away.  It gave me time to talk with them.  And gave them lots of time to read lots of stories to the girls, especially Ellie!  Not much to say, except I think these pictures capture a lot of what it means to be a grandparent.

    

Snowball Fight!!!

We had a great day last Saturday (yep, a week ago).  The temperatures had increased a bit, and the sun was actually shining!  Ellie wanted to go out to play in the snow, and I forced Madison to go out.  I had been on a walk already and needed to clean the floors.  So, the girls bundled up and headed out into the winter wonderland. 

They worked very hard all by themselves out there.  The snow was good for packing, if not a little temperamental.  They stuck with it though.

And produced some pretty fantastic snowmen.

    

They asked if I would come out and help them make more snowmen.  So, I put on some snowpants and ventured out.  We built a tall tower together.  Then,they noticed the neighbors were out two doors down – two girls of similar ages from church.  Their dad ventured over his girls.  I mentioned we were going to start building a fort if they wanted to help.  Pretty soon we had three good sides. 

Then, Jeremy appeared!  We built another modified fort. 

Then, we decided it was a perfect set-up for a adults vs kids snowball fight!  (Scroll down to see a short video of the fight in the next blog post.)

  

Jeremiah (neighbor dad) defected to the kids side to help them with snowball formation … and to sling a few at Jeremy! 

It was a lot of fun!  By the end, our clothes were soaked through from the wet snow and our my shoulder was sore from throwing.  We came in hung up the wet clothes and had some hot chocolate.  Saturdays are good days when you play.

Snowball Fight 2018

Birthday Party

For better or worse, the last few years, the girls have shared a birthday party.  It just got to be too much to have everyone over twice in three weeks, right after all the holiday gatherings.  I think it works pretty well, and the girls don’t seem bothered by it.  In fact, I think they like it in some ways – they can both be excited for a joint event, they get everyone there to celebrate them, and they are both the center of attention.  The one stipulation is they both get their own cake, their own happy birthday song, and their own moment for presents. 

This year, we battled winter weather as we tried to figure out the party date and time.  We originally had planned for Saturday morning swimming at 10am, followed by the party around 12:30.  Well, with slick, snow-drifted roads, that really didn’t work.  Friday night, we decided to push it back to 4pm with no swimming.  We were not sure who all could come, but were hoping it would be enough to feel like a party.  Well, we were blessed to have every, single one of the family come (with the exception of our out-of-state aunts, uncles, and cousins!). 

It was a loud, crazy, fun, laidback kind of night.  I could hear the boys downstairs tearing around the basement playing some kind of keep away.  I only hoped they didn’t break the TV or each other in the process.  Meanwhile, other kids were scattered among the bedrooms, unearthing hibernating hermit crabs, checking out knick-knacks, and visiting with Grandpa gathering energy for the night ahead.  The adults mingled between couches, tables, and rooms as we caught up, told stories, and built our family story. 

We had shredded chicken, sloppy joes, Mexican quinoa, veggies/dip, cole slaw (thanks, Steph!), jello (thanks, Chloe!), and chips for the main meal.  There wasn’t too much left by the end of the night.

    

  

We moved downstairs for eating dessert and opening gifts. 

Madison chose an angel food cake made by Larry Mast, spoon dip and chocolate sauce made by Grandma Ediger, and varieties of ice cream. 

    

Ellie chose a DQ ice cream cake with Elsa and Anna on it.  (And picked her dress to match the colors on her cake!)

    

Then, Madison opened her gifts – carefully and methodically – while Ellie watched on.  There were some thoughtful gifts from people that know her interests and personality.

    

Ellie wrapped up the night by opening her gifts – with abandon and squeals of joy – while Madison watched.  Again, people know this girl and gave thoughtful gifts. 

    

We took some pictures at some point… both posed and candid.

               

Everyone hit the road by about 8:30, and the girls were tucked away in bed by 9:30pm.

The next day, the gifts were pulled out of their boxes and bags and put to good use!

    

Snow Days and Other Fun

We have had a nice slow transition back to school after Christmas break.  Because of my spotty voice, I was very glad for the extra days to have my health restored.  I finally sang at church yesterday, which is a huge milestone! 

So, week 1 back to school = 2 days.  Week 2 back to school = 3 days.  Week 3 back = 4 days (this week).  Week 4 back = 5 days.

What do you do with all this extra time after already having a break?  Well, you recuperate from a crazy, busy, fun-filled Christmas break.  There were days we just hunkered down, played with new toys and crafts.  And sometimes you invite a friend to help you navigate the craft.

There was a day we joined up with friends at Jump n Shout.  It was a first-time experience for us.  The girls loved racing around between bounce houses with their friends.  I enjoyed socializing (scratchy voice and all) with other moms – some of who I didn’t know very well. 

    

There was a day for spa treatments.  Madison baked all kinds of tiny treats in her EZ Bake Oven – chocolate cake, yellow cake, and m&m cookies – in the morning.  Then, we held a tea party and a spa afternoon.  We had cucumbers for our eyes, banana face mask for Madison, and an oatmeal facemask for Ellie. 

    

They wanted to take their spa on the road, so they treated Grandma and Grandpa to special treatment!  And were paid in a braided pastry treat.

         

They also helped clear our neighbor’s driveway after this last big snow with the huge drifts.  They came over with their shovels and wouldn’t let me stop when I was tired.  Both of them said, “Isn’t this so much fun?  We get to serve others!”  It makes my heart happy that they would put the time and energy into that.  I mean, we were out shoveling for almost an hour!  We rewarded ourselves with a run down the small hill behind the neighbor’s house – the perfect gradual, long slope to go down, but not too steep to come up! 

We are on snow day #4.  We hope to have no more than 5 snow days, or it starts cutting into our spring break.  So… here’s to a nice, slow start to a new year and good memories!

Ellie is 6!

Our Ellie turned 6 this month.  She didn’t let us forget it, but I forgot to post a Happy Birthday to her.  I can’t really believe she is 6.  Somehow 6 feels older than 5 exponentially.  I don’t know if it is because you have to use two hands to show the age, or that they are in kindergarten, or what.  But she doesn’t seem little anymore.  She is taller than Madison (much to Madison’s dismay).  She had her first big girl haircut that made it look thicker and more like a style than just growing hair.  She is starting to read!  Yes, words on a page.  Of a chapter book.  It is amazing to me.  It also requires more patience when reading a book at night because she wants to be the one reading! 

Ellie is a fireball.  I once found a quote for a calendar I was making that perfectly described her, “She is delightfully chaotic; a beautiful mess.  Loving her is a splendid adventure.”  She has opinions about things.  She is laid back and rolls with most situations.  She gets excited about things, like super excited.  She laughs easily and wants you to join in on the fun.  She talks incessantly about everything.  She shares willingly, opening her life to you.  She leaves a trail of stuff as a wake of all her fun… and forces others to pick their way around it. 

Ellie is a God spotter, sharing stories of seeing the hands and feet of Jesus at work.  She is a singer, a dancer, and  a performer.  She is a mother to classmates and all her babies here at home; she just wants everyone to be cared for and taken care of.  She is a snuggler with no issues with infringing on personal space.  She can be a close talker, but one that you are willing to welcome into your circle.  She is a homebody, who wants to go on new adventures, but is just so comfortable in her pjs it is hard to do it.  She is sports girl – found passing the volleyball against the front door, kicking the soccer ball in the house, or doing workout videos with me or on GoNoodle. 

We hope you keep your caring spirit, Ellie.  And we hope you never lose sight of finding God in the ordinary moments of life.  He will walk with you throughout life.  Keep your eyes on him.  May you continue to love reading, learning, befriending others, serving, laughing, and sharing, and snuggling.  You are a unique creation of God.  We pray you will one day (officially) accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior. 

 

For Ellie’s birthday, she wanted to go out to eat.  We chose Rockne’s again, just because she had a free birthday meal; we’ll have to switch that up next year!  She wanted to also go ice skating.  Originally, we were going to go swimming with family before their birthday party and that would have been her fun activity.  While this sounded fun to her, she was intent on ice skating.  Lucky for her, the swimming was derailed by the snow/ice storm, so we went ice skating on Sunday.  She had fun, but after about 30 minutes, she asked if we could be done and go home.  I thought, really? we just got here!  We kept her on the ice (after getting a bigger, more comfortable pair of skates) for another 30 minutes.  When I asked her what she pictured ice skating to be like, she said, “I didn’t think you would stand up so much.”  And I thought, “Is there another way to skate?”  I think she was wore out from shoveling snow and partying the day before.  She decided next year, she might rather go swimming…