Serenade

I have multiple pictures just like this for each of our daughters.  Nick, sitting on our bed and playing his guitar for his girls.  Tonight was Havanna's turn.  She sat there smiling, listening to her daddy's voice.  Is there ever a picture of this adorable girl without a huge grin on her face?  Rarely.  She is such a little ham.  And i'm not just talking about those rolls. :)

Just one of those days...

This song popped in my head as soon as I saw this picture:  I had this CD by Monica when I was in highschool, and I know my friend Jenny will be able to sing along as soon as she reads the headline of this post.
It's just one of them daysThat a girl goes throughWhen i'm angry insideDon't wanna take it out on youJust one of them thingsDon't take it personalI just wanna be all alone
Talullah was seriously having 'one of them days'.  If she was talking, it was to whine.  On the bright side, isn't it so cute to see sisters playing in their world of make believe?  I love hearing their voices change into even higher pitches as they take on role of princess or pony.

Where's Berlyn?!

Oh.  There she is.  Hiding with Havanna's binkie, again.  For weeks we didn't have a binkie in the house.  Then, one snuck in.  Now there's two or three.  The idea is to only use them at nighttime, when Havanna goes to sleep.  But somehow... Berlyn always manages to find them.  She's so sneaky.

The more the merrier!

We had the cousins over last week.  They played outside and pulled out every toy available inside.  They laughed and had a great time running wild until Nick and I put on a movie for some down time before bed.  Havanna and Mae are missing from the photo, but here are the 'big'kids all in a row.  Notice that Berlyn has become a thumb sucker, suddenly.  What to do with that girl?!

Not allowed

But still cute.  Berlyn crawled up on the back of the couch and sat their playing in her pretend world with Rabbit.

She's almost got it!

Havanna is so close to crawling, it's ridiculous.  She moveds around, rolling, scooting, but she hasn't quiet gotten the hand/knee coordination to craw.  She has learned this new trick that is truly impressive, though.  She gets herself onto her hands and knees, then pushes off the ground into a push up position.  Then, one of her legs goes up in the air.  She balances like this over and over again!

Say a little prayer for me...

Berlyn caught it first.  Then Talullah.  And Havanna.  I'm crossing my fingers and praying daily that Nick and I do not get their sickness.  We are already barely surviving, living on three non consecutive hours of sleep, two nights in a row.  The first night we even brought both of the crib mattresses to our room just so we didn't have to keep going to their bedroom.  In the end, it was me and Havanna that ended up on the floor part of the night, curling into a ball to get the small blanket to cover my toes.  Last night Berlyn had woken up 5 times crying, and that was before midnight.  Talullah (who you'll see is in the middle of the bed...) woke up puking and I scrambled to catch her mess with a towel so that it didn't get all over the other sleeping girls.  Berlyn had an 'accident' all over the carpet that is too horrific to put into words.  I'll simply say that it left a stain on the rug.  Seriously, do you feel bad for us yet?!  Their throats hurt, their bellies hurt, and they all have a fever.  To top it off, Berlyn possibly has thrush' a rash covers her behind all the way down the backs of her legs to her ankles.  My poor little princesses!!!!  I'm thanking God for good friends and family that are always willing to help bear the heavy load.  Kate Stockman brought us dinner when we had to cancel our double date.  My mom has spent the last two days over here relaxing with us.  Having another pair of hands to hold fussy kids is always a blessing.  And how sweet it is to hear Talullah in her sad, croaky voice ask "Mom, will you pray for them to get better."  As my dad always tells me when things aren't looking bright...  This too shall pass. Let me tell you, a king size bed is not big enough for a family of 5!

GIVE ME MORE!!!

She found my salami and cheese.

Here she is with Berlyn's chocolate milk.

And again, she made her way to the girl's mac n cheese lunch.

Obviously, my baby girl is ready for the big meal.  She's wanting more than just nursing, and more than the baby moosh that I have been offering now and again at the dinner table.  A couple days ago she was napping on the bed while I sat eating salami and cheese, reading my book.  I set the food down and went to the kitchen for a second.  When I came back, not only was she NOT sleeping, she was shoving slices of meat in her mouth as fast as she could.  Having the time of her life.  This morning I was especially tired after two nights in a row of very little sleep.  I gave Berlyn and Talullah chocolate milk and let them stay snuggled in my bed in their pj's, even putting cartoons on as a plea to keep them quiet and still for a little while longer.  I sat at the computer and browsed Netflix looking for something appropriate, and by the time I stepped back to the bed I found Berlyn sucking on the babies binkie.  And there was little Havanna, happy as a clam sucking down her big sister's chocolate milk.  Later today I had the girls sit next to me eating their macaroni and cheese for lunch while I had my scrapbook supplied scattered around me.  Havanna was sitting right next to me playing with her toys and rolling around.  I look over to see that she has scooted herself to the tray of food, knocked down the bowl, and is chomping down those noodles like a pro.

Goop

Another Pinterest adventure.  The girls have been sick for days and we have been confined inside this house for way too long.  I finally got around to pulling up the "Craft for kids" board on my Pinterest page and making some Goop.  It turned out great and the girls absolutely loved it.  Talullah sat at the kitchen table for at least an hour with her purple, melty mess.  I call this: success.

Apple Pickin'

Our first 'real' CHE adventure: We joined the rest of the Christian Home Educators group for a trip to the Upton's Farm for some apple pickin' time.  It was such a wonderful experience.  There were dozen of kids running around the field searching for apples.  Mr.and Mrs. Upton were so gracious, giving of their time and resources for a great teaching experience for the children.  There were already hundreds of pounds of picked apples being cut and squished for delicious cider.  Mr. Upton told us about the process of pruning the trees and what different things can make apples undesirable for selling.  We were then set free to walk around the orchard and get as many apples as we could possibly carry.  I came straight home and turned our freshly picked fruit into a warm apple crisp.  How amazing to to teach our children the benefit of hard work by showing them how God made the trees to produce fruit, and we have to tend to the fields and work together to keep the trees growing healthy and keeping the weeds and bugs away.  It's hard work to get out in the hot sunshine and find fruit that is ripe and unblemished.  But at the end of the day, our efforts provided us with good food to fill our bellies.  I've said it before, I'll say it again.  It really is a beautiful life.

Under Sea Adventures

Our last stop for our weekend get away was to the Undersea Adventures in Crescent City.  Half way home, it was the perfect spot to get out of the car for a bit and stretch our legs.  My brave little girls had no fear reaching their arms in to pet the sharks or to pick up starfish. ("They're SEA STARS, mom!", corrects Talullah)  Even Havanna got a kick out of the fancy tricks by the seals and sea lion.  All in all, we had an absolutely fabulous trip.  I am so happy that we had a few days away, as a family, to spend quality time together laughing and making memories.  Isn't that what life is all about?

Look, mom! No hands!

Nighty Night.

                           Annabelle is obviously craving attention.  Will someone please hold me?!

Foggy day at the beach

To prove that Havanna was there, too.

Sisters so sweet.

The Downey's

LOVE!

My sweet, big girl.

I squatted low to get a good shot.  She misunderstood and copied my squat.

Daddy loves his girls!

Love father, like daughter.

Posing pretty.

I'm a bird.  Say I'm a bird!

I love those fingers clutching daddy's hand.

We had to climb ALL those stairs to get to the beach.

This is Face Rock.  Can you see the face?

It's cold out there!

It was beautiful, even through the fog.

On the 2nd day of our vacation in Bandon, Oregon, we spent hours on the beautiful beach.  Our hotel was across the street from the beach, and it was awesome to hear the crashing waves each morning as we walked to breakfast.  The weather reports had declared rain all weekend, but we were blessed with dry skies.  We didn't mind the cool temperature or the incredible fog, not one bit.