Gettin' that tree.

Do you like how we have now reached the point in life where my daughter is allowed to wear her dresses (err, skirts) out in the mud to get a Christmas tree. At least we got her to put some boots on, eh?! Do you like Eric's OLD school Reynolds jacket? Special huh.

Miles and Mommy. Courtesy of Margaret.

Just for fun.

Maggie & Sam in the saucers at 5 months.

Miles in the saucer at 5 (and a half) months. I think this kid really is the 'missing link' between Sam and Mags. What do you think?

Kickin' back.

Random pictures of the family relaxing over the weekend with G&G Viertell are following...

Miles has discovered the saucer. He's generally pretty happy in it. Now to train S&M not to bounce him so much in it....

Good Sport

Grandma and Grandpa Viertell were up to visit over the weekend. We had a GREAT time getting to hang out all together. Here are some pics showing what a good sport Grandpa was all weekend- the kids 'required' much of him. Way to go, Grandpa- they had a blast!

Solids and Turkeys.

Miles started on solids this week. (Yes, I know he is sporting his scary crossed eyes in this one...hopefully those will go away soon....)

He is loving his highchair. I think he finally feels like he is part of the family at mealtime- which makes for a much more pleasant dining experience for mama.

I made pine cone turkeys with the kids this evening. Maggie named hers Barbara. (We aren't too sure where that one came from...I don't think we even have any Barbaras in our lives right now....) Sam named his Chong-gong, said with hard 'g' sounds at the beginning and the end as well as your nose sounding plugged. (Chong-gong is also the password to get the child acting as a gate to move so you can get down the hallway unobstructed....not too sure how that became a name for a turkey....)

Eggimanns: This one is for you. We think this is a great "RuthFace". :-)

More Adventure in Gak.

Yes, it's an airplane. But whose airplane? "It's Maite's airplane!" Maggie says.

Ohh Maite, and you think that the kids have forgotten you. Never my dear. Never.
:-)

Gak, Goop, Goo, whatever.

I made the kids some gak stuff this afternoon. Notice Sam's bedhead- he wakes up SO slowly from a nap, but the promise of some gak made that kid just pop right up and out of bed.

Maggie made this: "It's you Mommy! with Miles in your tummy!".

UPDATE: Here is the website and recipe I used to make the gak stuff. :-)

Little Lady.

Here is Maggie, talking to "Grandma-in-California" on the phone last week. Wow, I think she's growing up a wee bit faster than I expected.

Baby vs. Baby vs. Baby

Okay, so I'm not up for a crop session so that I can showcase the kids in a nice 3x3 collage....BUT, I did actually grab some pics of Sam and Maggie as babies for you to compare - - - if you are so inclined. :-)

Here are 4 pics of Miles...staring blankly at the camera...as did his sister at this age. Miles is 4 1/2 months right now.

Here are Maggie and Sam at about 4 months.

And Sam and Maggie at 4 1/2 months.

Looking back at our house with TWO of everything, it looks so odd now...somehow at the time, seeing 2 bouncers or 2 high chairs or 2 saucers seemed perfectly normal. Now we see, in hindsight, that was one whacked out situation. It sure is a crazy thing, having two at a time. Thanks Lord, for giving Miles to us....without a twin. :-)

"Family"

My (Leah's) parents are wanting to come up and visit the kids so badly right now and are jealous that their good friends, Jim & Sandy, are here instead. They stopped by this afternoon for a visit on their way thru town. Jim graciously read several books to the twins, and Sandy took Miles off my hands for a while. :-) The Allen's have been (practically) lifelong friends with my parents and came up to Spokane when we got married and served my family in so many many ways by driving a van full of Viertell's all over the place for several days. Thanks for giving us a call on the way thru! It was fun to get to share our home and kids with you for a bit!

Yum.

We were aiming for a cute pic like this:

But instead we got a not-so-cute pic like this:

SpideySam and SnowMaggie

The kids didn't really respond to their given names yesterday afternoon. Sam was to be called Spiderman or SpideySam and Maggie wanted to go by SnowWhite ONLY. Whatever you say Margaret.

The princesses finally meet. Is there any other caption appropriate? :-)