Game Phone

Uncle Brian gave us one of his old gadgets awhile back— an iPod touch. Madeline has enjoyed playing educational games on it for sometime but just in the last few weeks has Audrey taken an interest in it.

Typically it is not used unless we are traveling in the car, but I had it charging in the living room the other day and this one found it while I was in the shower and made herself cozy in our bed playing it.

She loves the color, shapes, and now the letter games as she is starting to recognize more and more of them.

Needless to say, I have to keep it hidden from these little fingers or she would sit and play it all day long!

Crop Mob

It’s a fairly unfamiliar term but “crop mobs” were actually started here in NC. The overall idea is that people who don’t own their own land or farms, come together as a community to do work and reap agricultural benefits in the future. (To read more click HERE!)

Today we headed over to Shelton Herb Farm, only about 2 miles away, and got our hands dirty! They put us to work right away and oh what fun the girls had getting dirty! The girls and I were productive enough to weed out an entire row by ourselves while Mark was hauling manure to different areas.

Audrey was pretty funny after we explained what manure was. She walked around the whole rest of the time saying “Daddy’s moving poop!” and then giggling.

Here are my favorite three farmers:

And here is a picture of some of the other volunteers at work today too!

Mark and I got a good laugh as we were the only car parked there without a “Save the…” sticker on the back bumper. We don’t typically “fit in” with this crowd… but they all already knew Mark because of his job, and they loved that we brought our little girls to get dirty, so they had to accept me as part of the package deal! :)

I honestly was surprised the girls stayed as focused as they did, but when they were done working, I had to find something to keep them busy. While Mark kept hauling manure, I took the girls over to the other part of the farm to see the animals. They weren’t too impressed by the chickens/roosters—as they get to see them at Aunt Rachel’s house all the time. BUT… the pigs… they were a HUGE hit!

There were three- I am sure they are probably hogs, but nonetheless, this was the favorite because he was swimming in the water trough!

After our animal tour, we had a snack and waited on Mark to finish up his last bit of hauling. Audrey was plenty happy to join me for a verse or two of “Old MacDonald” but as you can see, Madeline was DONE and not at all amused by our singing:

We had a GREAT day being outdoors with the girls, doing something different with a community of people, and overall just appreciating what farming still is to us. We look forward to participating in more “crop mobs” in the future, but our first one is in the books!

For Isaac…

The girls LOVE the dress up area at the Kids Museum. You never know what costumes will cycle through the area, but this week it was a Snow White dress. The girls were SO excited! Not because they love Snow White, but because their cousin Isaac does.

Madeline promptly informed me that I needed to take their picture so she could send it to him. And so I did.

So Isaac… this post is for you! Snow White will forever be your “princess” in the eyes of my two little girls because no matter where we are, a Snow White sighting is always referenced back to you!

Pillowcases

The girls were SO excited to get a package in the mail today. Upon opening it, we realized Oma has been busy on her sewing machine!

Although Madeline asked why Oma made such small sleeping bags, after a more careful analysis she realized they were pillowcases and they absolutely loved them.

Oma let them decide who would get which one and like most cases Madeline couldn’t decide so asked if she and Audrey could rotate pillows each night so that they could each get a turn with each print. (This is SO Madeline. I mean really, the child has 4 favorite colors!!)

So for tonight, Madeline went to bed with the chick pillowcase and Audrey with the adorable little mice.

While I was snuggling with Audrey in bed tonight she was staring at her pillow and using her hand to scamper across the pillow as a tiny mouse. Love her little imagination! Every morning she tells us about her dreams and she is always doing something with Jesus in her dreams. No telling what she, Jesus, and the mice will be up to tonight!

And as for Madeline, she informed me that she would be having dreams about “chickadees” tonight!

Thanks Oma for the great treat in the mail, we hope you have sweet dreams tonight too! 

Driveway Time

The fall weather has been wonderful this week and we’ve certainly enjoyed being outside a lot more.

This afternoon the girls started out drawing shapes and tossing bean bags into them:

Then we moved into chalk drawings:

(I was impressed by Madeline’s bicycle drawing today! She definitely has some artistic skills from Oma and Opa in her.)

Somehow the chalk migrated to her face with a little help from dad. Doesn’t she make a fine clown?!

And finally we ended with a pre-dinner case of the sillies and we had to have a driveway dance party:

Nothing like a good fun time outside! YAY FALL!!

Paint by Number

On most days, my girls are pretty good about sharing things. They had a paint by number set that they got from our friends Shannon and Kevin and decided that today was a great day for paint by number.

The set came with a practice paper sheet and the actual paint by number canvas. Much to Madeline’s pleasure, Audrey wanted the paper practice sheet, so she got the canvas all to herself!

Although Audrey can’t recognize her numbers yet, she still did pretty amazing at staying in the lines. Not sure why, but a paintbrush is easier than a crayon for her?!

Madeline took her good sweet time, pretty sure the whole painting took her almost an hour. Look at that concentration:

Can you tell she was having fun?

For her first paint by number masterpiece, with NO help from me, I’d say she did pretty well!

(It is supposed to be an alien/UFO if you were wondering.)

Captain Crazy

If you have been a blog reader of mine for any amount of time, you probably picked up on one of the nicknames we have for Audrey: Captain Crazy.

Well, this week has certainly proved that the nickname still fits! She sure sports the sweet smile—but don’t be fooled— she is a HOT MESS!!

This week she has been in 2 year old tantrum mode. (Madeline NEVER did this, so I guess it could really be completely normal!) EVERYTHING was a throw yourself on the floor/scream for 20 minutes/battle with her: what shoes to wear, fixing her hair, going potty, walking to the car, BUT worst of all BEDTIME!!

We had 5 days in a row where she SCREAMED for 30 minutes or more—along with the “don’t want to” and “no thanks” statements thrown in—at bedtime. OH. THE. DRAMA!!

With a very deliberate bedtime routine put into place this week, where Audrey got a step by step walk through of events at each transition, we have had 2 nights with no tears. Aunt Rachel also helped by talking to her on the phone and giving her a bit of a reward if she was a big girl with no crying at bedtime.

We are hoping it was just the 2 year molar that came in this week that put her in a mood, but WOW, we are praying she works out her issue fast because she is about to drive Madeline and I crazy. (Lucky for Mark, he had to work late numerous nights this week, so he had to miss out on the fun!)

Don’t get me wrong, I love her to pieces. How could you not?

But she is working every ounce of patience I (and Madeline) have. This being a stay at home mom stuff gets REALLY hard when you have back to back days like we had this week. I think it may be the first time I actually asked Mark if I could go to work for him!

BUT… praise the Lord for a sister that understands and lets me complain on the phone, a husband that knows when to step in, and a God full of grace that forgives me when I act just like the little girl I described above, because really, I know exactly where she gets it from. :)

Chores

Although Madeline has been helping do household “chores” for awhile now, we decided this past week we would experiment with a chore chart. Madeline LOVES it! I want to make her a more permanent one, but first I needed to really see what she could do by herself and if she needed to do all of them every day. She helped come up with her list of chores and marked them off each day. (As you can see, it rained a lot this week, so watering the garden isn’t the best chore for her especially since we are moving into fall.)

Her favorite chore by far this week was doing laundry. She has helped me with sorting and folding for quite some time, but today she did it all by herself.

I keep the girls clothes separate from ours and wash/dry them on a separate day as well since all our clothes won’t fit on the clothesline to dry at one time. Not to mention our washing days get moved around based on the weather outside. ;)

I went to take Audrey to the potty and left Madeline to putting the wet laundry in the basket. I came back and found her here:

Yup, her arms are a bit too short to reach the bottom, but she figured it out!

And after washing she helped me lug it all outside to the clothesline. Since she can’t reach the clothes line, she was in charge of handing me each item after giving it the good “snapping shake” to get the wrinkles out. She is pretty good at that!!

Ahh… life skills. I am raising someone a good wife, that’s for sure! Next week, we will be trying out a few more chores and then making her permanent list.

So to answer the question of what reward she gets for doing her chores… nothing. She is so happy to color in her chart each day and have responsibility. (She is indeed intrinsically motivated!!) Wonder how long that will last?!

The Trench

It started out as just bug hunting and playing with our floating beach toys in the front yard trench…

But leave it to Grace (Madeline) – she tripped and fell in—so then we had a redneck swimming pool.

And once the water squirters came out everyone was soaked! You can tell we got a lot of rain today and it was starting to rain again while we were out tonight, but at this point, did it really matter?!

These two had a blast! Just look at that face:

So although I got several disapproving looks from people driving by on their way home as we played, I didn’t realize until Mark got out of the car laughing that the looks were probably not about what the kids were doing. But instead that I was soaking wet and wearing a white shirt!

Yup… I am now THAT lady down the street! And no, there are no pictures of that to share.

Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

Okay, maybe not quite yet, but my two sure do LOVE jewelry. It has become the latest accessory during dress up time… necklaces, bracelets, scarves, purses… I have been waiting to see when Madeline would ask when she could get her ears pierced but it hasn’t happened yet.

Great Grandpa and Grandma Weiss in Michigan, sent the girls these cute bracelets last week that have little stones with their names on them. Madeline and Audrey think they are great and have been wearing them ever since. Great job with the color selection… you got their favorites!

Thanks, G & G Weiss… we will be enjoying these for a good while to come!

The Great Toothbrush Battle

Audrey HATES brushing her teeth! I have no idea why, but all she wants to do is eat the bubblegum flavored toothpaste and brush her tongue. Seriously, every morning and night, Mark and I have to practice our American Gladiator skills just to get her teeth brushed. What a joy!!

About a week ago, we decided to try something new and bought her a fancy electric toothbrush. It spins and shakes and has BARBIE on it, so we hoped it would work. And it did!!

I now catch her brushing her teeth all the time. When she sits on the potty she wants to brush her teeth, sometimes I’ll even catch her in the playroom brushing, and when I brush them for her, she happily opens her mouth instead of trying to bite me.

Who knew that this $4 investment would change my life so drastically?! I didn’t, but I will certainly be spending the extra money to avoid the return of the tooth brushing battle we were encountering every day!!

Sand Art

Today we spent a relaxing day at the beach and it was wonderful!! Mark and the girls were occupied building their castle in the sand so I had a little fun with my camera!

Always watch out for those sand buckets!!

FORTY

40 years of marriage!! What a milestone! You think they've changed much over the years?!?

This past weekend at the Creeper Trail, we got my parents to talk a little bit about their wedding and things WAY back when. It's rare we get too much detail out of them, and when we do I still can't tell if my dad is actually telling the truth. Seriously! I believed they met at a bowling alley for at least 25 years of my life!!! I guess some things I'll always wonder. :)

After they left, Rachel and I decided it would be fun to see what the kid's thought about their upcoming anniversary! And indeed it was HYSTERICAL!

First, here is Audrey's video... I obviously had to ask more leading questions with her but she still had plenty of ideas of her own:

Then there was Madeline.

And the best by far... Madeline and Isaac!!

To recap:
- Yes, Madeline did say my parents were going to die and yes, Isaac is horrified even though she specifically said they were going to heaven.
- Yes, Madeline did say Oma likes Opa because he is a boy and has a P*E*N*I*S?!?
- And yes, Madeline is a 40 year old trapped in a 4 year old body!!
AHHHH!!! Rachel and I about died laughing listening to these two that day!


But... in all seriousness....

This week has been pretty rough for me, as a lot of you know our latest circumstances... yet, I am fairly certain that God's timing is perfect in that my parents are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary today! Really, what do these two things have in common, you ask?!

Well...40 years ago, my parents got married and moved from Michigan to NC to start their new life together.  While the nice fairy tale would say it has been fun, easy, and perfect for them in every way, I know better. They have had their share of struggles and disappointments, but yet when I look at them, I see an amazing image.

I see two people that met as friends and are now BEST friends. I see two people that have never been monetarily rich but are rich where it matters most; in love. I see two people that instilled hard work and dedication into their children by modeling it. I see two people that take joy in ALL of God's blessings, especially their grandchildren. And most of all, I see two people that are showing me each day what God meant for marriage to be... even when it isn't easy!!

So today I am especially grateful for two amazing parents that God has used to mold my life. I am also grateful for the glimpse of hope I have that one day Mark and I will look back on our life and see this time as just a bump in the road that God was using to grow us closer to each other.

I'll never know why I am one of the lucky ones but I know I am. So here's to all the great years ahead you two still have together. And with the reassurance of my 4 year old, I know that you'll be on the other side together one day too... and that makes me even happier!

I love you Mom and Dad, and I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating this great milestone!


***BIG thanks to the big sis for doing our video editing! Be sure to check out her blog, for the videos from her boys!**

Check-Up Ninjas

While we were in Gastonia I was sure to schedule our well visit appointments for the girls. (I just haven’t found a pediatrician down here that I love, so since we were there anyway…)

Madeline loved playing the games that the nurse asked her to do for her check-up --- hearing test, vision test, and finger prick. She was super cooperative and she checked out great. Her stats for her 4 year check up:

37 lbs and 39 inches—right at the 50th percentile!

Audrey did fine too and her 2 year stats (2 months late) were:

27 lbs, and 33 inches. Audrey’s weight is sitting at about the 40th percentile but her height is at the 15th percentile. Sure enough… she got the Slivensky gene. She is following her growth curve perfectly, so no worries. (And this explains why she is still wearing 18 month clothes!)

They had fun sporting their “ninja” check up suits! Such great models, huh?

When the doctor left and the nurse came in to do shots, Audrey went first. She only needed one, so I held her arms and Madeline held her hand and told her to be brave, but the second Audrey screamed, Madeline jumped off the exam table and said “I’m outta here!!”

Praise the Lord Mark was with me. He caught her before her feet hit the floor, so we took screaming Audrey to get her sticker at the check out area while I dealt with the hysterical Madeline.

Madeline is the kid that when she cries needs a brown bag so she doesn’t hyperventilate. She gets so worked up that she forgets to breathe, so I end up just holding her saying “deep breaths.” There was no calming her down, so I laid her on the exam table and held her down as she repeated over and over “I’m done.”

The nurse gave her 3 quick shots in the leg and within 30 seconds of figuring out that it was over, she was done crying. Yup, Madeline’s mind is her worst enemy. She told me when we left, “It didn’t hurt very much mom. Sorry I wasn’t brave!” She is something else.

So we survived our checkups, I mentioned that I was sweating when we left, right? Other than getting Audrey’s eczema under control, I’ve got two healthy munchkins, and that is a blessing I don’t take lightly.

Holding on to Hope

For those of you reading who don’t know, our Creeper Trail Weekend came to quite a disappointing end when Mark and I got word from our realtor that the buyers on our house backed out of the contract.

I’m not sure how I held it together all day Monday, but as I hugged my parents and sister goodbye in Hickory that night to head back to Gastonia, I lost it, and the heartache set in.

As we were traveling back for what was supposed to be three days of packing up the rest of our stuff at our old house, our minds were reeling with “what happened” and “what do we do next?”

What an emotional rollercoaster this past 16 months has been and last night as Mark and I sat in our old living room together and sorted through our latest mess, a lot of emotions surfaced: sadness, disappointment, hopelessness, fear, anger, and a whole lot of brokenness.

Over and over we have gone through our “other” options and what always surfaces:

“Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14

The tears flowed for me until the wee hours of the morning as I let go of the dreams (again) that I had allowed to creep back into my head during those last 10 days of thinking the end was at hand.

I don’t know why God allows things to happen like they do, but I do know His promises and I am clinging to them even tighter right now because really, what is my other option?!

This is it. This is the time in life, where I either live what I believe for all to see or I turn my back on God and lose faith.

So while my hope is dim and my joy is lacking right now, I still know exactly WHO my hope and joy are in!

“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in HIS word I put my hope.” Psalm 130:5

Please continue to lift us up in prayer, we need it now more than ever.

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

Creeper Trail 2o12: Day 3

Today was trail riding day! Like tradition, we have to take our pre-ride picture. (Click HERE and HERE if you want to see the links to years past.)

It was a chilly 55 degrees at the top, so the girls were nice and bundled up for the ride since the majority of the trip is in the shade.

This year was our first year without the bike trailer—all 4 of the kids were on the back of bikes. Audrey was my biking buddy for the day and wasn’t she a happy biker first thing this morning.

Well my happy biker sure didn’t last long. She got cold, didn’t like the big bumps, and proceeded to whine, whimper, and cry the entire trip down the trail. Great fun! I tried to take up the back of the pack so that no one had to listen to her. She would stop occasionally and eat her snack but overall she was such a PEACH! In this picture she was NOT asleep, she just didn’t want to look at Aunt Rachel for a picture.

The last 3 miles of the trip after a rest break where she was perfectly fine…

Mark and I switched kids and Audrey really lost it! She sobbed the entire rest of the way home and Mark made that trip in record time I am certain!

Needless to say, I enjoyed my last 3 miles with sweet Madeline who talked my ear off giving me the run down of everything she saw… I LOVED IT! Let’s just say, she saved my trip from complete failure! And Audrey… she was fine the moment she got off the bike at the house! Not sure what got into her today because she typically loves bike riding. No telling.

Once everyone got back, we ate lunch, caught some naps, and then headed off to another yearly favorite activity… the feeding of the ducks!

The geese are a bit too friendly and stole bread from everyone, chomped a few little fingers, but all in all were fun to chase around and throw food to.

We had a busy day and we are all a bit worn out tonight—but it was a beautiful fall day to ride and enjoy being outdoors. Another great ride in the books and this year we are staying over an additional night, so we are looking forward to a relaxing morning before we head back down the mountain tomorrow.

To quote Madeline as I tucked her in tonight, “I love my family!”

Creeper Trail 2012: Day 2

Today’s weather forecast was 90% chance of rain so we opted to spend the day hanging out at the house.

While Mark and Rachel had all the kids at the park first thing this morning before the rain came, Dad and I got breakfast going… after mixing up a new breakfast drink of course. :)

It still had not started raining, so we went off to Abingdon to explore a bit. Everywhere around here revolves around the train tracks, so we had no trouble finding a few old trains to play on and some exciting bridges with views of the old and new tracks.

With four little ones, we decided to skip all the art galleries and antique stores. Instead, we headed over to Ellis Soda Shoppe and Grill. They had a great menu, but we all ended up with just floats, ice cream, and hand jerk sodas! The kids were more than excited to just eat ice cream for lunch and I LOVED my cherry cola. Poor Opa lost most of his float to this little piggy:

We got back to our house in Damascus for naps and the rain finally came, bringing some chillier temperatures for the rest of the afternoon.

The rain has cleared and the forecast is for amazing FALL weather tomorrow—so we are super excited to hit the trail early in the morning. Should be a great day ahead for bike riding!