Models

On Friday, Isabelle and her buddy Abby got to be models for me. I was asked to photograph some clothing for a lady who makes adorable kids clothing locally. She loved the photos so much she has hired me to photograph the entire line, I am so excited!

This is my favorite picture of Abby from our session. but it didn't make the cut for the display we are working on, so I thought I would post it separately....

New Love

Calista has fallen in love with baby dolls. She loves to carry them, cuddle them, rock them, kiss them and sing to them. Everything she does these days, she does with a baby in one arm. It is adorable.

Nothing To Worry About

There is nothing that makes me happier than when my kids get along with each other. The older they get the better they play together. It was quiet in the house and when that happens I worry, I walked by Calista's room to see the girls in the rocking chair reading books, melted my heart!

Preschool Fun!

Today Isabelle's preschool class went on a field trip to the Duarte Dairy in Elk Grove. It was extra fun because I was able to drop Calista off with a friend for the morning and not have to worry about Calista and be able to spend quality time with Isabelle.

I got to spend time in her classroom this morning before we left and see how they do things. You always wonder what is going on in class, at least I do and when I ask Isabelle what she learned, she always says, "I don't know." So it was fun to see for myself what goes on for a bit. Then we all carpooled over to the Dairy. As soon as we got out of the car the girls immediately noticed the cow smell. We got to see where the Cows eat and sleep, where they get water. Where they milk the cows and how they milk them and we even met the new baby calves that were less than a day old. It was interesting to hear the dairy farmer talk about farming in this economy and also talk about the controversy between corn feed cows and organic feed cows. The kids of course could have cared less about all that but that was my favorite part since I am into knowing where my food comes from. After the tour we had a picnic lunch and the farmer gave all the kids milk. They loved that! It was a fun field trip and I was so glad to be able to share the experience with Isabelle.

All the girls grossed out at the smell.

Issy and Mrs. Ball

Issy and Mommy

I haven't been good about uploading photos from our little camera, once I uploaded photos today, I thought I would add the other preschool photos to this post too...

Here is Isabelle earlier this week all dressed for Crazy Wacky Day at school.

Here is Isabelle with her BFF Jessica and Addyson on Super Hero Day.

I can't believe that there are just 2 more weeks left before Issy graduates from preschool and moves up to Kindergarten.... Where did my baby go?

Geocaching

Today after church we went geocaching for the first time. Freddie has been dying to get out and try it. We thought it would be a fun thing to do as a family and explained it to Isabelle and she was all for it. We searched for three, real close to our house and were starting to give up when we couldn't find anything. We decided to try one last search and we found it! It was so exciting and it was such a cute one. It was a birds nest and inside the nest was a plastic container with a chick and the geocaching log. Isabelle was so excited!! We signed the log and went on to try to find another and came up empty handed. We had a blast searching together and can't wait to try again.

Learn Something New

The other day I got the vacuum out and Isabelle says to me, "I wish I could learn how to vacuum." I said, "You want to learn how to vacuum?" She said yes and I didn't hesitate to say "OK!"

I taught her how to hold the vacuum and the cord so she wouldn't run it over and then I showed her what she needed to do and away she went. She did an excellent job and she was so happy! She couldn't wait to show Freddie what she did when he got home. She even made sure that the downstairs toys were put away after they played in order to keep the carpet looking clean until Daddy got home. We will see how long this lasts, but I can't lie, I love it!

Nana and Grandmama

Yesterday we had a special visit from my Grandma and Mom. I was lucky enough to see my Grandma last month when I went to Oregon for a retreat, normally we only get to see her once a year so our visits are always a special time.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day 2010!

Today is a day for our family to celebrate Mom's. We are thankful for DeAnna, who shows our girls what it is like to be a great Mom. She loves on these two girls with all of her heart. She gives of herself everyday and today we want to show her how special we think she is. Calista and I started today by making breakfast for DeAnna (and Isabelle who was still asleep) in bed. We had made her some cards and gave them to her, and let her relax in bed without having to worry about anything. We have a couple surprises for the rest of the day.

For our Mothers and Grandmothers, we appreciate you. You have shown us how to be good parents. Your love for us has poured out onto our children. Thank you for loving us, even when it was hard. May God bless you on this special day!

-Freddie

Preschool Mother's Day Tea

On Thursday Isabelle's preschool class had a Mother's Day Tea for the Mom's. The kids served us breakfast and gave us a special gift. A dish towel with their handprint and a poem that was ironed on to it.

You always clean the fingerprints I leave upon the wall.

I seam to make a mess of things because I am so small.

the years will pass so quickly I'll soon be grown like you,

And all my little fingerprints will surely fade from view.

So here's a special handprint a memory that's true.

So you'll recall the very day I made this just for you.

They also made us Mother's Day cards and Lily plants made out of their handprints. It was a special treat and I enjoyed every second of it!!

For Calista

Calista,

You are growing so fast and learning so much. Here are some of my favorite things you do right now.

When you want Daddy or my attention you call our names repeatedly until you get our attention. The longer you wait the louder your call gets, I'm sure that would be annoying to some people but I laugh every time.

I love the way you say "Uh huh" it is as simple as that, just a sweet sounds and I like it.

You adore baby dolls. You love to cradle them in your arms and tuck them in with a blanket.

You LOVE food like no other child I know. You eat anything and everything and I have to admit, I absolutely love that about you. I never have to worry about what you will or wont eat. I love how you make cute little "mmmmm" noises when you are eating something you really enjoy! I hope that means you will always love food the way you do now.

It's no surprise to anyone the way you adore shoes. All shoes. The minute someone comes over and takes off their shoes, you are quick to try them on. You also love purses, you love to carry one, sometimes more on your arm everywhere you go.

You are sad when your sister isn't around. When I tell you it's time to go get her from school. You drop everything and run for your shoes and sometimes mine and then you wait impatiently at the door to get in the car and if I am not fast enough you are sure to tell me.

You don't say a lot, so the best way for you to get what you want is to lead us to it. You hold out your had and wait for us to take it. As soon as we grab your hand you are quick lead us wherever it is you want us to go. Sometimes it's to show us that you are thirsty, sometimes it's to lead us outside or in your room to play. You also like to close doors when you have someone where you want them to make sure they don't run away. You are cute and you are creative and I love that about you.

You love to be outside playing, on a bike ride or in a swing, whatever it is you don't care as long as you are outside.

I love you to pieces, everything about you!

All My Love,

Mommy

For Isabelle

Isabelle,

You have blown me away the last few days at how much you have grown and how independent you have become. Your personality is adorable and there are so many things about you that I never want to forget in this season of your life.

You like to do everything on your own and the older you get the less you think you need me. One of your favorite things to do is go get the mail on your own and have me watch you from the front porch. I love how excited you get to be able to do it on your own. You asked me a hundred times before I finally agreed to let you walk just one house away while I watched from the front porch. When I finally agreed, you were shocked but you didn't hesitate, you walked right over to the box with confidence and got the mail.

You are a huge help to me. Whenever I ask you to do something you rarely hesitate.

You are a wonderful big sister, you love your sister so much it makes my heart melt. You genuinely care about her.

When I stubbed my toe this week, you were so concerned for me, you immediately came to me to see if there was anything you could do and when I said I just needed a hug you hugged me all day.

Your laugh is contagious. I love to hear you laugh, and you laugh all the time.

I love your imagination and how you want to pretend all the time, you even tell me what I am suppose to say, and most the time I play along, the things you think up are so fun and entertaining. I could spend hours watching you play.

You love to sing and often tell me you want to be a performer when you grow up and if that is what you want to do, I will sit in the front row of every show.

You love to dance, you always want the music loud, just like Daddy and you dance like no one is watching, without a care in the world. You also love to watch Daddy and I dance in the kitchen when we are making dinner. You tell Daddy to spin me and it makes you giggle.

Everywhere you go, you pick wild flowers for me, I love how you make sure you have picked every last one.

You like to make your own lunch for school. I had a hard time letting you do that at first. You wanted to pack 2 bananas and a box of raisins one day. But I taught you what was important for a healthy lunch and you do so well each time you pack your own lunch it impresses me now. You like to pack it on your own without me watching and then have me inspect it.

You love to help with the laundry and you are getting so good at it! I love that you enjoy helping me, you make doing chores fun.

You love everyone, and often remind me it is because God loves everyone too.

I love how excited you get when you see something that you know is my favorite, you can't wait to show me what it is, cause you know it will make me happy.

You love to say your own prayers and it always amazes me what you pray for and who you pray for. I know God smiles when he hears your prayers, you never leave anyone out, even random people who have come into our lives even just once.

Isabelle you are a blessing to me. You have taught me how to smile at the little things, embrace the moment, that chores can be fun, to dance every chance we get and to love everyone equally. You remind me that we are all special because that is the way God made us. That hugging should be frequent and that you can never love someone to much!

All My Love,

Mommy