Out of the Crib

Maya is taking after Daddy and is into the whole climbing business. Her latest and most loved obstacle to climb is her crib - out of it that is.
A couple of nights ago she just did not want to settle, so we stuck to our sleep training plan and let her cry it out (I know some of you might have different philosophies on this, but for us and the girls this worked. The only recommendation I have is that you do what works for your kids and family). Anyway, her crying work up Katie so we went to check and moved Katie to our bed. Maya at this point was out of her crib and banging on the door. So once Katie was settled in our room, Maya kept on her crying for a while longer. Finally it was quiet. When we checked on her Maya was sound asleep, covered up in Katie's bed!!
All this to say that today Jeff and I put the crib away and set up a second big girl bed. We'll see how this night goes.
Maya will be safely tucked against the wall, as she is liable to use the entire bed at one point or another during the night.

Katie is a little more stationary in her sleep and should be fine with only one rail, otherwise we'll just rig something to keep her in.

P.S. When the girls got to see the room Katie exclaimed: It's gorgeous!! Then both girls proceeded to jump and bounce on their beds, climb to the next, bounce some more, back and forths. So far it's a hit (we'll see how it turns out at bedtime)

Rabbits, Family and Other Fun

We had a wonderful, busy weekend off. We enjoyed getting together with family from all over North America. It was nice to relax and visit for a couple of days.
Next week is probably one of my busiest (4 groups, 2 of them need beds make up ( I still have to alter about 10 comforters to actually fit twin duvet covers) plus we have VBS at our church every morning (I'm in charge of crafts) plus Katie starts swimming lessons every Mon/Wed/Fri in July. But I am looking forward to a girls game night on the Saturday to celebrate getting through the week;) Anyway, you probably won't read much for the next couple of weeks or so and then get bombarded with yet another mile long post. So sit back, grab a coffee and enjoy this one.
RABBITS - Part 1
Monday morning we got our first litter of rabbits. Blackie had 8 babies (3 pink and 5 black). Often first litters don't make it, but so far we've only lost 1 kit.

Not sure if they are cute or ugly at this stage.

GIRLS

Katie has been watching Daddy fix the lawnmower. She told me that she was fixing the battery of the exersaucer bug. (There are not batteries, for those who are wondering)

Maya playing her piano, sporting her typical bedhead.

Eating much?? She's getting better, but anything with tomatoe sauce still seems to get her.

Katie and Maya are helping Jeff's Florida cousin Becky prepare yummy wraps for our family gathering. We so enjoyed having Jeff's aunt and cousins stay with us for a couple of days. It was nice for me to get to know them a little better and hope that maybe we can visit them in Florida sometime too.

At the family gathering we took the opportunity to finally get an updated family shot again. The girls are growing and changing so fast.

And from the other side of the continent, Jeff's sister and her two boys came up to visit. Katie latched on to cousin Alex right away. They played so nicely together.

Checking out the fishies in Grandpa's pond. Katie of course is pushing the limits by dangling her feet. She wanted the goldfish to suck on her toes. It works better though if you keep your feet still rather than trying to force feed them to the fish;)

Chocolate pudding for dessert, what more can I say???

Maya's signature "silly face". This picture has all the makings of showing up in a slide show at her wedding, don't you think?

Time to say goodbye... or gang tackling grandpa.

Portrait of the cousins. The only pose we got with all 4 "cooperating".

RABBIT- Part 2

It doesn't look all that appetizing on the picture, but it was very yummy! Our first homegrown rabbit dinner.

Maya liked it...

Hope you are all doing well and not overly disturbed by this post.

Blessings, Ursi

Teddy Bear Picnic

Warning! This is a long post with lots of pics!
I had probably one of my best birthdays ever! Grosi and Grosvati came for lunch and brough my birthday cake (Mom's Kirschtorte - and for you who have had some of it you know what a special treat that is). We enjoyed some visiting and of course a coffee time. Then shortly after 3 Jeff and I left to go shopping. We went to my favorite Goodwill store where we spent almost 3 hours picking and trying on outfits. In the end I got 12 new tops, 5 shorts and 4 skirts for just over $100. After that we went to the Mongolian grill for supper and Williams Cafe for dessert.
It was wonderful!
Katie and Grosi were snuggling. Katie asked us repetedly if we are leaving now, she just wanted to play with Grosi and Grosvati and I guess she figured as long as we are around she'll have to share their attention with us.
TEDDY BEAR PICNIC
The Christian Churches in the area work together to put on 2 annual events. We had a lot of fun at the summer one.

Katie and her teddy all set and ready to go check out the petting zoo, bouncy castle, wagon rides, puppet show and much more

We had beautiful sunny weather, but by noon it was almost too hot.

At the petting zoo. I was trying hard to keep the feed away from this pushy nanny so the girls can feed some of the other animals too.

Some of the animals were in pens, but there were also lots that were allowed to roam free (within a bigger fenced area)

Katie coming eye to eye with a donkey. Who knows, maybe a donkey will be our next addition to our little farm. Give us a couple years or so and we just might.

Maya was checking out the soft rabbits.

On to a wagon ride. All the little animal carts were made out of plastic barrels. Pretty inventive and it worked well.

Katie's piggy

Maya's sheep.

and off they go.

It was hot in the sun, but we still enjoyed the fun puppet show.

We left just before noon as it was getting pretty hot, and we wanted to get Maya home for lunch and her nap. We enjoyed a picnic at home and then we played some cards (Jass) with Grosi and Grosvati before they headed back home.

After nap time the girls played in their kiddy pool for about an hour. Dumping water out of the pool is of course more fun than keeping the water in.

Maya wanted to have a bath in the bucket. Go figure big pool, little bucket, I don't know...

Katie sporting her new bathing suit (thanks Grosi and Grosvati) is having a "shower". She did this repetedly and always after she dumped water on herself she ran away saying it was cold, then back to the pool to repeat the process.

Anyway, they had fun and we had a great weekend so far. Tomorrow we have a church for their picnic so we're technically working, but we usually get to join the groups and have lots of fun (and food too.)

Oh yes, and tonight I get to go out again with 3 of my friends! Just an all around great birthday weekend.

What a Haul!!

Some of you now that I like to knit. My ongoing project is to knit simple slippers for the mission guests to use when they are here. The flooring in the main hall is ceramic tile on a concrete floor in a room that only gets heated on the weekends. So these "socks" are always a hit with the groups.
So the other day I was given 2 bags or yarn, and they weren't small bags, they were more like garbage bags!!

Wow!! I think I will be set for quite a while until all this yarn is knitted up. I am so excited to start using some of these bright and pretty colours. Yay!

Hanging Out

So last night was one of the worst in months!!! Katie didn't fall until past 11 p.m., and not before she woke up Maya. Then Maya was up until 3 a.m. and just wouldn't settle also waking Katie up again. So it wasn't until just after 3 that both girls were asleep and I was able to go to bed and sleep myself. And then up again before 7 with Maya, and Katie was up around 7:30. Should be a fun day today!

But, there are also the cute little things that make it all worthwile:
I got a bit of a break, some peace and quiet to work on something yesterday (for about 30 min or so). You wonder what the girls were up to? After I finally got them to both stay in their own crib, they played very nicely for quite a while.
Grandma and Grandpa made those cribs for the girls last Christmas. They are great for storing toys, containing kids, and I'm sure when the girls get a little bigger, they'll actually use them for their dollies :)

They both had a stack of books, several blankets and a pile of toys.

It's a little small for a real nap, but Katie likes to pretend. Maya hasn't figured out how to curl up so either her feel or her head hang over the ends.

Enjoying her book. It is so nice to see them play nicely, and play together.

Cooling Off

These pics are from a couple of days ago, when it was hot and sunny. Now we are back to overcast and cool (well, it's 20 degrees and we shouldn't complain about that, but...)
This is my wonderful big girl, who decided that she needed swim diapers, but not a swimming suit. Go figure! Tante Sarah, I've tried to get Katie to pose for you (as she is getting camera weary) but I guess that day the trick didn't work. I'm sure you know all about little girls with a mind of their own;)

Maya is cooling off, no better way to do that than a popcicle AND a swim!

Having sooo much fun. (right now, Maya is grumpy because she saw these pictures and decided that she should have a popcicle RIGHT NOW!!! and mommy is too busy trying to finish this post)

Spash!! It's supposed to be nice again next week so hopefully they can enjoy to water again then.